Tuesday March 27 Ag News

Cuming County 4-H Beef Preview

The 38th annual Cuming County 4-H Beef Preview will be held Saturday, April 14 at the Cuming County fairgrounds in West Point.  The show gives 4-H youth a chance to exhibit the progress of their beef projects.  The show is sponsored by the Cuming County Livestock Feeders Association and University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension in Cuming County.

According to Extension Educator, Larry Howard, events at the preview show will include showmanship, breeding heifers, market heifers and market steers.  Breeding classes will include Angus, Charolais, Chianina, Gelbvieh, Hereford, Limousin, Maine Anjou, Shorthorn and Simmental.  There is also a class for commercial breeding heifers.

Andrew Uden from Lincoln, Nebraska will be the judge of the show.

All projects must weigh-in and check-in on Saturday is from 7:30-8:30 a.m. The show will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 16.

The show is open to 4-H members from Cuming, Burt, Colfax, Dakota, Dodge, Stanton, Thurston, Washington, Wayne, Douglas and Sarpy counties.

For additional information, contact the Cuming County Extension office at 402/372-6006.



Farm Service Agency Announces a General Signup Period for the Conservation Reserve Program

Dan Steinkruger, State Executive Director for the Nebraska Farm Service Agency (FSA), announced that a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) signup is underway now through April 6, 2012. This is the third consecutive year that USDA has offered a general CRP signup.

“Financial incentives available through CRP afford farmers and ranchers a low risk opportunity to implement a variety of conservation practices that will benefit the environment in a number of ways,” said Steinkruger. “It is USDA’s goal to ensure that we use CRP to address our most critical resource issues. CRP is an important program for protecting our most environmentally sensitive lands from erosion and sedimentation, and for ensuring the sustainability of our groundwater, lakes, rivers, ponds and streams.”

Landowners enrolled in the CRP program receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers on eligible farmland. Land that is not currently enrolled in CRP can be offered during sign-up if all eligibility requirements are met. CRP participants with contracts expiring this fall can make new contract offers during the signup period. Contracts awarded during this general signup will become effective October 1, 2012.

All CRP offers are evaluated and ranked using an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) that indicates the environmental benefits of enrolling land in CRP. There are five environmental factors that make up the EBI:  wildlife, water, soil, air, enduring benefits and cost. Decisions will be made following the end of the sign-up period and after analyzing EBI data on all of the offers.

In addition to the general sign-up, the continuous CRP sign-up program will be ongoing.

For more information, please contact your local FSA Office or visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/crp.



There is No 'Pink Slime,' Just Beef!
from the Iowa Cattlemen's Association

During the last two weeks, the media has given much attention to lean finely textured beef (LFTB), which is being called 'pink slime' in those media reports. LFTB is the product that comes from the process of capturing protein that is in the trim. Those trim pieces are generally 2:1 fat to muscle, and are centrifuged to separate the two so the protein can be used in ground beef and other formed products, such as beef hotdogs.

The process for LFTB was approved by USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service in 1993.

The beef community is working together to answer consumer and media questions relevant to their link in the cattle production, processing and marketing chain. In Iowa, your checkoff dollars have been at work through the Iowa Beef Industry Council, which has contacted the Iowa Department of Public Health, the Iowa Department of Education (which is the link to school purchases of ground beef), and other key influencers with facts about LFTB.

The most challenging sector has been meat retailers. Several, such as Hy-Vee, have said they will exclude products with LFTB; while others, such as Walmart will offer their customers the choice of products made without LFTB, noting that both are safe.

As cattle producers, you should be prepared to discuss the issue with those who may ask you about this topic. Here are some key points:

-- Ground beef that includes lean finely textured beef is safe according to independent scientists, safety advocates and the Food Safety and Inspection Service.

-- Lean finely textured beef is just that. Beef. When steaks and roasts are cut, it creates the "trim" that becomes ground beef. The companies supplying lean finely textured beef use a process to remove a lot of the fat from some pieces of trim, which is then added to ground beef as a concentrated, lean source of protein.

-- In some cases, a puff of ammonia gas is used to produce LFTB. This reduces the potential for bacterial contamination. FSIS has reviewed and approved this practice as safe.

-- The nutritional profiles of lean finely textured beef and traditional ground beef are nearly identical. LFBT is 90%-to-95% lean and, just like all beef, is a great source of 10 essential nutrients including protein, iron, zinc and B vitamins.

In discussions you have about this topic, it's important to stay calm, factual, and acknowledge that people should have the choice to know if LFTB is included in the products they buy.



Positives, Challenges Recognized at Beef Industry Safety Summit

It was at the same time a celebration of a decade of beef safety progress and a solemn recognition of the long road ahead. When about 230 food safety experts gathered in Tampa, Fla., for the 10th anniversary of the Beef Industry Safety Summit in early March, they heard about the beef industry’s success in improving beef safety and increasing consumer confidence in the product.  But they also acknowledged more can be done to address pathogen issues.

Encouraging words didn’t just come from within the industry. Bill Marler of the law firm Marler Clark, who has litigated many lawsuits involving E. coli O157:H7 contamination – including the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak, an industry E. coli challenge 20 years ago – told the group through a keynote panel that his litigation business has gone from about 95 percent beef industry-related 20 years ago to less than 5 percent today.

“You can tell from the marketplace that the industry has done a helluva job,” he told the food safety experts in attendance. “That’s a tribute to everyone in this room.”

During the panel presentation Dave Theno, hired immediately after the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak to develop new food safety systems for the company, said the tragedy was a wake-up call that led to the formation of the Beef Industry Food Safety Council (BIFSCo), which in turn helped create best safety practices to help beef companies improve their operations.  But it was a 19 million pound ground beef recall at ConAgra in 2002 that was the impetus for creating the Beef Industry Safety Summit, which brings together leading food safety experts every year to share their ideas for making the U.S. beef supply safer.

Theno said the first summit in 2003 helped people reach across their individual beef industry sector and build bridges to think differently about feed safety. “To win this battle, everyone needs to work together,” said Theno. “We’re not in the cattle business anymore, we’re in the food business.”

Both Theno and Marler cautioned the audience that complacency was not an option.

“If you’re not focused on food safety, your priorities are messed up, because food safety is the one thing you bet your business on every day,” said Theno. Marler agreed. “You still have things to do,” he said. “You must recommit yourselves to the process.” Marler said that while national recalls have decreased significantly over the last 10 years, regional challenges still remain, and those “could have devastating consequences.”

Other speakers during the 3-day Summit, funded in part by the Beef Checkoff Program, said that while the industry has rightfully been focusing on E. coli O157:H7, other pathogens now pose significant challenges for the industry. Brian Covington, global director of regulatory affairs at Keystone Foods, said Salmonella is being scrutinized across species, and beef will incur its share of attention. The pathogen, which can live in an animal’s lymphatic system, will remain an industry challenge and E. coli O157:H7 may lose the spotlight.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) cites Salmonella as the foodborne pathogen responsible for the most hospitalizations and deaths in the United States and the second most illnesses, behind norovirus.  All strains of E. coli (including E. coli O157:H7) are responsible for about 20 deaths each year.

Participants Optimistic
Several Summit participants from the cattle production sector of the industry gave high marks to current post-harvest interventions, but thought more could be done throughout the beef production chain. They also thought it was important producers continue to support these kinds of efforts through their Beef Checkoff Program.

“This Beef Safety Summit is a perfect example of how things are getting better,” according to Dina Chacon-Reitzel, executive director of the New Mexico Beef Council (NMBC), which provided funding to the Summit from state-directed Beef Checkoff dollars. “Progress is made when all of these safety experts come together and freely share their information.”

Roger Clift, a commercial cattle feeder and processor from the North Texas panhandle, agreed, and said that while many factors will always play a role in beef production, food safety will continue to be a top priority. The Summit helps reflect that beef producer commitment to the challenge.

“From environmental stewardship to food safety, beef producers really care,” said Clift, who also serves as the 2012 Texas Beef Council chairman. “And I think all checkoff payers can be proud of what the industry is doing” on beef safety with their checkoff investments.

Chacon-Reitzel said cattlemen are an integral element in pressing for positive food safety results. “Even though I know that cattlemen are very capable in what they do, and care about their cattle and making the best quality beef product out there, seeing the food safety experts all getting together to see how they can make beef safer is valuable,” she said. “It’s just incredible to see how these people are using advanced practices and research, doing everything they can to make a better beef product for consumers.”

Part of the producer involvement in beef safety has been in helping advance pre-harvest beef safety strategies. Through the Beef Checkoff Program, research has been funded to identify practices and interventions that can effectively reduce the pathogens carried by the live animal that, while not causing illness to the animal, can challenge the effectiveness of post-harvest safety interventions.

Focusing on Essentials
“Beef safety may not be the most fun and interesting subject to a lot of cattlemen, but it’s the most crucial,” said Ashley Hughes, director of beef marketing and promotion for the Florida Beef Council (FBC). “If we don’t have a safe product to provide consumers, we’re going to lose them. They can’t have questions about our industry and what we do.”

Hughes uses what she learns from food safety events to educate a variety of audiences, including consumers. “Whenever we come up with new programs, food safety will always be top-of-mind,” she said. “We want consumers to know how to cook delicious beef, but we also want them to know how to handle it safely.”

Chacon-Reitzel agreed that consumer knowledge and confidence is the bottom line for producers. Consumers are “at the end of the chain,” she said. “That’s why we take our education programs for consumers so seriously, because we do everything we can to make sure that we’re producing safe beef all the way through the chain, but when it gets to the consumer’s home they need to handle it properly.”

Also attending the Beef Industry Safety Summit was Clay Burtrum, a cow-calf/stocker producer from Stillwater, Okla., who commented on the benefits of industry-directed beef safety from a personal viewpoint. “I’ve got three children at home, and I feed them beef because of what I know is going on behind the scenes,” he said. “We’re not just in the cattle business, we’re in the food business. If consumers don’t feel safe with our product it doesn’t matter what we produce, because they won’t buy it.”

Burtrum, who also serves as a regional vice president for the Federation of State Beef Councils, said research shows that consumer confidence in beef is high. “You can also witness that by seeing the higher prices and the fact that people are still buying and serving the product today,” he said.

Still, FBC’s Hughes believes the entire chain needs attention when it comes to beef safety. “With the information I learn at the Beef Industry Safety Summit, I can go back and show (producers) some of the research that’s been done and some of the practices taking place to produce the safest beef product, which is what they expect.”

Those expectations have taken on chain-wide implications.  Learning what is being done after a beef animal leaves a ranch or feedlot helps producers renew their commitment to reduce pathogens in the animals they market. The Summit provided information on both pre- and post-harvest interventions and practices to improve beef safety.

“I think beef producers should know their checkoff investment is being used very wisely here,” said Chacon-Reitzel. “The checkoff is really the impetus in many of the advancements in beef safety. And whether it’s the research, developing interventions, disseminating information to consumers or sharing information like we’re doing at the Beef Safety Summit, the checkoff is where it begins. That might not have happened if we hadn’t put our own (checkoff) resources behind it.”



Urea Continues Swing Higher

Urea prices continue their trek upward as has been the case for the last several weeks, according to retail fertilizer prices tracked by DTN for the third week of March 2012. Retailers report the rise should continue and could possibly spread to other forms of nitrogen in the near future.  Urea was the only fertilizer once again to show a price gain. The nitrogen fertilizer jumped 13% compared to the third week of February and had an average price of $628 per ton.

The remaining seven fertilizer prices slipped lower compared to a month ago, although these declines were fairly minimal. DAP had an average price of $645/ton, MAP $695/ton, potash $656/ton, 10-34-0 $794/ton, anhydrous $762/ton, UAN28 $380/ton and UAN32 $420/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.68/lb.N, anhydrous $0.47/lb.N, UAN28 $0.68/lb.N and UAN32 $0.66/lb.N.

Three of the eight major fertilizers are still showing double-digit increases in price compared to one year earlier. Leading the way higher is urea. The nitrogen fertilizer is 27% higher compared to last year, potash is 11% more expensive and 10-34-0 is now 10% higher compared to the third week of March 2011.  Three fertilizers have seen just slight price increases compared to a year earlier. Anhydrous has climbed 3% while both UAN28 is up 3% and UAN32 is 1% more expensive than last year.  Two fertilizers are now actually lower compared to one year ago. The average DAP price is 5% lower while MAP has decreased 1% in price.



Ethanol grassroots fly-in brings big turnout to Capitol Hill 

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and more than 60 of its grassroots members are on Capitol Hill today and tomorrow for the group’s “Biofuels Beltway March” annual fly-in.

The ethanol advocates will have 196 meetings with Members of Congress or their staff in the course of two days, bringing ethanol information to lawmakers representing 47 states.  The group’s priorities include highlighting the effectiveness of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), emphasizing how ethanol helps lower prices at the pump, the safety and affordability of E15 ethanol blends, and other issues such as oil subsidies and the clean octane value of ethanol.

“With gasoline prices and energy issues taking center stage in the national discussion recently, I can’t think of a better time our grassroots members to make the case for how ethanol is part of the solution to moderating pump prices and reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” said Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President of ACE.

Among information given to lawmakers during the fly-in is a letter ACE wrote with other national biofuels groups and the National Corn Growers Association urging Congress to continue supporting the RFS.

“We wanted to send a clear message to Congress that we stand united in support of the RFS and that it has played a critical role in saving billions of dollars for consumers at the pump and reducing oil imports to below 50 percent,” Jennings said.

Fly-in participants come from 13 different states, and represent a diverse group of ethanol plants and other companies with an interest in agriculture and the biofuels industry.

The group was addressed by special guests U.S. Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and John Thune (R-SD) on March 27.

For members who are not able to be a part of the DC fly-in, ACE has for the second year organized a “Virtual Fly-In,” which makes it possible for ethanol supporters to send email messages to Members of Congress to coincide with the group’s face-to-face meeting.  The messages urge Congress to continue to keep the Renewable Fuels Standard intact. Messages may be sent this week through ACE’s Legislative Action Center at www.capwiz.com/ethanol.



Eight Biofuels-related Groups Send Letter to Congress Championing the Success of the RFS

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) joined with seven other biofuel-related organizations to champion the success of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker John Boehner(R-OH) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).  The letter highlighted ethanol’s proven ability to lower gas prices and reduce this country’s dependence upon foreign oil.  It also noted that any changes to the RFS could dampen investment in the development of next generation biofuels.

The letter signatories were: the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC), Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the Energy Future Coalition, Growth Energy, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), and the 25x25 Alliance.

Highlights include:
“Today, ethanol is approximately $1.00 cheaper than gasoline and blending ethanol into U.S. gasoline saves consumers at the pump,” the groups said.  A Center for Agriculture and Rural Development analysis found that from 2000-2010, ethanol reduced gasoline prices at the pump an average of $0.25 per gallon which meant consumers annually saved $34 billion dollars.

“Thanks in part to the RFS, U.S. oil imports fell below 50% in 2010 for the first time since 1997, and, oil imports stand as just 45% today.  Ethanol accounts for 81% of all new domestic fuel production since 2005,” the groups stated.

“Because of the RFS, the advanced and cellulosic biofuels industry is now in the process of building new plants, innovating existing production facilities with emerging technologies, and introducing new product streams that will allow the renewable fuels sector to become more profitable, diversified and efficient,” the groups wrote.  “Several billion dollars have been invested in advanced biofuels development with the expectation that Congress will stay the course with regard to its commitment to the industry and to the stability of the RFS.  Efforts to amend or reform the RFS would send a chilling signal to a marketplace at just the time when the advanced and cellulosic biofuels industries are on the cusp of commercial production to help meet this nation’s energy independence and security needs.”

The groups concluded, “Anything short of full support for the RFS will exacerbate the problem of increasing gas prices and undercut the ethanol industry’s efforts to innovate and continue to deliver domestically-produced and affordable alternatives to foreign oil.”



Wheat Stakeholders Tell Congress There’s No More to Cut from Ag Research

Wheat farmers, researchers, millers and bakers are in Washington, D.C., Tuesday and Wednesday to deliver a simple message to Members of Congress: there is no more to cut from federal funding for agriculture research.

The 35 wheat industry visitors, including a dozen growers and 10 milling and baking representatives, are spreading that message as part of an annual fly-in focusing on wheat research, sponsored by the National Wheat Improvement Committee, a group of wheat scientists and stakeholders, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), the North American Millers’ Association and the American Bakers Association.

Key facts they are sharing with policy makers on Capitol Hill key include:
-    Funding for USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will be down 12 percent since the federal government’s 2010 fiscal year, assuming modest increases proposed in the Obama Administration’s FY2013 budget are adopted.
-    In FY2011 alone, $180 million was cut and not restored due to the elimination of earmarked spending.
-    A few weeks ago, university researchers learned that funding they receive from ARS would be cut by 30 percent to help cover costs associated with carrying out Congress’ instructions to close 12 labs.
-    Despite demonstrated return on investment of up to $32 to $1, just 1.6 percent of the $142 billion annual federal investment in research goes to agriculture research, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

For wheat industry stakeholders who depend on public funding, this is a disturbing trend. While private companies are investing more money in wheat than ever before, public researchers undertake vital basic science, and more than three-quarters of wheat acres in the United States are planted with varieties produced through the public system. Public programs, particularly those that work in collaboration with land-grant universities, also focus on addressing local or regional problems.

“As a farmer and a seedsman, my message to our leaders in Washington is that a good crop doesn’t start when I put it in the ground, it starts 10 years before, in my state wheat breeder’s labs and fields,” said Bing Von Bergen, a wheat farmer from Moccasin, Mont., and NAWG’s first vice president. “Funding for wheat research, and all ag research, is an investment in the future of farming and the future of food.”

Fly-in participants are specifically asking Members to support the Obama Administration’s requests for $1.103 billion in funding for ARS and $325 million in funding for USDA’s premier competitive grant programs, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).

As Congress prepares to finalize a 2012 Farm Bill, fly-in participants are also asking Members to ensure reauthorization of the AFRI grant program and the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI), a collaboration of public, private and federal researchers fighting the disease Fusarium head blight, or scab.

“We’ve come to Washington, D.C., many times over the years, but this visit is particularly urgent,” said Dr. Brett Carver, a wheat breeder at Oklahoma State University and NWIC chair. “Research is a long-term process that needs long-term funding. We are seeing increased investments from private companies and farmers themselves, but federal agencies still play an irreplaceable role in ensuring we can develop the best possible varieties for farmers.”



USFRA Changes the Conversation about How Food Is Grown

The movement to raise the voices of America's farmers and ranchers and facilitate the dialogue about today's food is gaining momentum. The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, a unique organization that is a collaboration of more than 75 farmer- and rancher-led organizations and agricultural partners, is creating new ways for farmers and ranchers from all types of agriculture to reach consumers - whether that's in the national news scene, popular culture or social media.

"We're changing the conversation about how food is grown and raised," said Bob Stallman, chairman of USFRA and president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. "Farmers and ranchers are telling their own stories and leading the dialogue on some of the hottest topics about food. In six months, we've been able to provide more powerful ways for farmers and ranchers to get involved, add their voices and provide their perspectives to an audience that may not have experienced this first-person interaction with the people who grow their food."

Research shows consumers welcome the opportunity to talk to "real" farmers and ranchers and turn the conversation from one that is often strained to one that is constructive, where all viewpoints are welcome. 

"For many years, people outside of actual food production have been telling our story, and sometimes not accurately," said Jim Schriver, a soybean farmer from Bluffton, Ind., and Production Chair of the United Soybean Board.

By the Numbers
USFRA's publicly debuted in September 2011 with a four-city simulcast panel discussion about food production, called The Food Dialogues Town Hall. More than 4,000 people participated in the discussion either online or in person in New York City, Washington, D.C., Davis, Calif., and Fair Oaks, Ind.  The Food Dialogues Town Hall also included an interview with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.  Newspapers, radio stations and television news programs helped spread the conversations - generating more than 24 million impressions via Twitter alone.

Between November and the end of 2011, USFRA, in partnership with Discovery Communications, produced and aired four video vignettes on Discovery's network of channels including Discovery, Animal Planet, TLC and others featuring farmers,  ranchers and consumers discussing how food is produced.  These stories of farmers and ranchers engaging with consumers about food were seen by 78 million on television and another 4 million online nationwide. Both The Food Dialogues and Food Discovery videos can be viewed at www.fooddialogues.com.

More than 2,000 farmers and ranchers have joined the Farmer and Rancher Mobilization (a.k.a. F.A.R.M.) Team - USFRA's effort to get farmers and ranchers involved in the conversation that is taking place about food production.  F.A.R.M. Team members have participated in "Conversations with EASE" - Engage, Acknowledge, Share and Earn trust - a presentation that provides tested ways to start or continue dialogues about food production based on research about what resonates and drives trust with consumers.

Farmers and ranchers have joined conversation online where much of the chatter about food production is taking place. So far, USFRA's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/usfarmersandranchers) has more than 14,000 "likes."

"Every day, the USFRA Facebook page is a multi-sided discussion that ensures agriculture is not just speaking to itself," said Gene Gregory, president and CEO of United Egg Producers.  "It's a lively dialogue between farmers, ranchers and the general public interested in learning about where their food comes from."

USFRA is taking on the hottest topics in the food production discussion through Twitter (www.twitter.com/USFRA), reaching the nearly 2,000 followers with links to key articles and discussions about agriculture.

Coming Soon
Beginning this summer, USFRA will continue its food dialogues with national events in California and New York that include key media figures and influencers.  Like USFRA's partnership with the Discovery Communications, the organization will also be creating ways for farmers and ranchers to join the popular culture discussions about food.

"It is critical that farmers and ranchers start reaching more influencers and consumers in bigger and unexpected ways," said Forrest Roberts, CEO of the National Cattleman's Beef Association. "USFRA can help these voices reach into the hearts and minds of Americans."

The F.A.R.M. Team will have a new interactive area on www.fooddialogues.com called "Grow What You Know" that provides farmers and ranchers with opportunities to share stories and respond to news articles and certain online posts.

 "USFRA's efforts not only provide several options for farmers and ranchers to share their opinions and provide Americans a close-up look at today's agriculture," said Bart Schott, chairman of the National Corn Growers Association.  "They also are successfully providing a more balanced view of today's issues."

 "We're making progress, but we still need more farmers and ranchers to tell their stories," said Dale Norton, a member of the National Pork Board.

Visit www.foodialogues.com and the USFRA Facebook page to join the conversation. With more and more affiliates joining the movement, USFRA continues to gain strength with support from various organizations and individuals around the country.