Wednesday August 29 Ag News

Connecting Young Nebraskans Summit Oct. 25-26 in North Platte

Registration is now open for the 2012 Connecting Young Nebraskans Summit Oct. 25-26 in North Platte.

The summit, designed to connect and empower young Nebraskans, will be at the Sandhills Convention Center.

Keynote speaker Peter Shankman, an author and entrepreneur, will share his innovative thoughts about networking and how it applies to this group of young leaders.

The summit will begin at the Golden Spike Tower on Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. with a social in which participants can choose from activities including laser tag, navigating a corn maze, or gathering around a fire pit to enjoy products from Nebraska's wineries and breweries.

Coffee-shop discussions are planned Oct. 26, an opportunity for networking, as well as professional, community and civic breakout sessions. Topics will include "Understanding How the Affordable Healthcare Act Will Affect Me," "Non-Biased Political Information We All Hunger For" "Creative and Smart Ways to Invest in Your Future" and more.

CYN's goal is to help young leaders have an impact on their communities through networking and learning experiences. For more information about CYN or to register for the summit, visit cyn.nebraska.edu. Find CYN on Facebook (facebook.com/youngnebraskans), or follow CYN on Twitter (@youngnebraskans). The official summit hashtag is #CYN2012.



Livestock Producers Affected by Disasters Urged to Keep Good Records

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia today urged livestock producers affected by natural disasters such as Hurricane Isaac to keep thorough records of their livestock and feed losses, including additional expenses for such things as feed purchases because of lost supplies.

“There are extraordinary circumstances caused by a variety of disasters from fires in the west, floods in Florida, Hurricane Isaac in the Gulf region, storms in the Mid-Atlantic and drought and heat affecting the heartland,” Garcia said. “Each of these events is causing economic consequences for ranchers and producers including cattle, sheep and dairy operations, bee keepers and farm-raised fish, and poultry producers.”

FSA recommends that owners and producers record all pertinent information of natural disaster consequences, including:
-          Documentation of the number and kind of livestock that have died, supplemented if possible by photographs or video records of ownership and losses;
-          Dates of death supported by birth recordings or purchase receipts;
-          Costs of transporting livestock to safer grounds or to move animals to new pastures; and
-          Feed purchases if supplies or grazing pastures are destroyed.

Secretary Vilsack also reminds producers that the department’s authority to operate the five disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill expired on Sept. 30, 2011. This includes SURE; the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP); the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP); the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP); and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP). Production losses due to disasters occurring after Sept. 30, 2011, are not eligible for disaster program coverage.



Iowa to Require Testing Milk for Aflatoxin Starting Aug. 31

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will require aflatoxin screening and testing of milk received in Iowa beginning August 31, 2012 and continuing indefinitely.

The order announced requires milk processors to screen all Grade A and Grade B farm bulk milk pickup tankers and farm can milk loads for aflatoxin on a weekly basis.

Aflatoxin can sometimes be found in drought-stressed corn. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established action levels for aflatoxin in milk and feed.

"We were well aware that aflatoxin could be an issue this year due to the historic drought conditions," Northey said. "Now that farmers are starting to harvest silage, and corn in some cases, it is appropriate to begin this screening process to make sure our milk supply remains safe."

The Department is also instituting a state-wide corn sampling program.

The FDA has established guidelines for acceptable aflatoxin levels in corn based on its intended use. Corn containing aflatoxin in concentrations of greater than 20 ppb cannot be used for human consumption and cannot be used for feed for dairy animals or for immature livestock of others species. Corn containing aflatoxin at 100 ppb or less can be used in breeding cattle and swine and mature poultry. Corn with 200 ppb or less can be used with finishing swine greater than 100 lbs. in weight and corn with 300 ppb or less can be used in finishing beef cattle.

On Aug. 15, the Department submitted a request to FDA to allow corn containing more than 20 ppb of aflatoxin to be blended with non-aflatoxin containing corn for animal feed. The FDA has granted a similar request in previous years when aflatoxin has been present in Iowa.

More information about aflatoxin in corn can be found on the ISU Extension and Outreach "Dealing with Disasters" page at www.extension.iastate.edu/topic/recovering-disasters.



IPPA kicking off college football season with new tailgating contest

Iowa State and Iowa football fans who love tailgating with pork have a new chance to win great prizes from the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

IPPA is holding the Iowa Pork Playoffs promotion for all Iowa State and Iowa home football games and by entering their best pork recipe at iowapork.org, fans can win pork coupons, grilling gift baskets and more.

Depending on their favorite team, fans can enter either the Cyclone Pork Playoffs or the Hawkeye Pork Playoffs.

“Pork and football just seem to go together and a lot of fans regularly tailgate with pork, so we’re trying to create some added excitement to the football season and inspire fans to share their best pork recipes with us for a chance to win some nice prizes, including free pork,” said IPPA Promotions Committee Chairman Curtis Meier, a pork producer from Clarinda. “We take great pride in responsibly raising safe and affordable pork.”

Those entering a favorite pork recipe at iowapork.org are asked to describe their recipe and what inspired the dish and submit a photo of it for posting to the IPPA web site. Entries will be judged on the contestant’s ability to communicate their passion for their pork recipe. A winner will be selected from all entries prior to each ISU and Iowa home game throughout the season.



USDA is Now Surveying Producers for Final Small Grains Estimates and Hog Inventory

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is asking approximately 73,000 producers across the country to respond to some of the most important surveys involving wheat, barley, oats, rye and hogs. From August 30 to September 17, NASS is gathering final information about the 2012 U.S. small grains crops focusing on harvested acreage, crops produced and stored.  There will also be a hog survey of current inventories. 

“With NASS’s most recent crop production report forecasting corn and soybean production at the lowest levels in years and wheat production up, it is as important as ever that farmers, livestock producers, grain dealers, policy makers and others who use the statistics receive the best estimate possible of small grains harvest and off-farm stocks for year-end business decisions,” said Bob Bass, director of NASS’s data collection and processing center. “The data, which is equally available to all parties, is a direct result of accurate and complete responses to the surveys.”

In addition to small grains, NASS is asking hog producers about their summer pig crop, farrowing intentions for the next six months and current inventory for the quarterly Hogs and Pigs report.  

Many respondents have already received their surveys for both small grains and hog information in the mail and can fill out the questionnaire using NASS’s easy and secure online system or mail it back. NASS representatives will also contact producers who do not respond to the survey to help them provide responses over the telephone.

 “By participating in the surveys, farm and ranch operators can help ensure the data are complete and accurate,” said Bass.  “We do recognize that farmers and ranchers are having a rough summer. We hope they realize the value of the information to their businesses, communities and industries and that they will take the time to respond to these surveys.”

As with all NASS surveys, the information collected in the September surveys is kept strictly confidential, as required by federal law. NASS will not publish any individual’s information. By law, individual information is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act and is not shared with anyone, including other government agencies. Survey results are available in aggregate form only and are equally available to all parties. For more information about these surveys, visit www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys.



US Ethanol Inventories Steady

U.S. ethanol inventories were little changed last week, rising 1,000 bbl to 18.494 million bbl during the week ended Aug. 24, while up 3.4% from the year-ago level, the Energy Information Administration's data showed.

Production of ethanol by domestic plants fell 4,000 bpd or 0.5% to 819,000 bpd last week, while operating rates are down 7.8% compared with a year ago.

Implied demand, as measured by refiner and blender net inputs, rose 5,000 bpd or 0.6% to 845,000 bpd for the week-ended Aug. 24. Refiner and blender net inputs represent a major portion of implied demand for ethanol.

The EIA reported implied demand for motor gasoline eased, falling 17,000 bpd to 9.064 million bpd for the week-ended Aug. 24. Four-week average gasoline demand through Aug. 24 is 9.1 million bpd, down 1.0% from the level seen a year ago.

On the co-products side, ethanol producers were using 12.418 million bushels of corn to produce ethanol and 91,403 metric tons of livestock feed, 81,486 metric tons of which were distillers grains.  The rest is comprised of corn gluten feed and corn gluten meal.  Additionally, ethanol producers were providing 4.26 million pounds of corn oil daily.



Walmart Joins Field to Market Group

Walmart has officially joined the Field to Market initiative to map out sustainability efforts within agriculture and the food sector.

Field to Market announced Tuesday that the world's largest retailer had joined the group, which completes the circle given that the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, which founded Field to Market, was created in part due to the push by Walmart to improve sustainability in the agricultural supply chain.

“Walmart is proud to be the first retailer to join Field to Market. As the world’s population grows to 9 billion people, the entire supply chain – from growers to processors to food companies – must develop deep collaboration and partnership to rise to the challenge of feeding the future,” said Andrea Thomas, senior vice president of Walmart Sustainability. “We are committed to advocating with Field to Market for their outcomes-based approaches to continuously improve profitability and sustainability throughout the food chain.”

Field to Market has a growing list of businesses and groups ranging from the American Soybean Association and National Corn Growers Association to Cargill, Coca-Cola, General Mills and the World Wildlife Fund.

Field to Market released a study earlier this summer conducted by IHS Global Insight that determined major commodity groups are grown more sustainably than 30 years ago



USDA Celebrates the Start of a Healthier School Year for America’s Kids
Agriculture Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon today announced that America’s students will see healthier and more nutritious foods in the cafeteria as they return to school this year. The new nutrition standards for school meals, implemented as a result of the historic Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, will help to combat child hunger and obesity and improve the health and nutrition of the nation's children.

“Improving the nutrition of school meals is an important investment in the future of America’s children,” said Concannon. “We know that healthy food plays a vital role in strengthening a child’s body and mind and the healthier school meals will help to ensure our children can learn, grow, and reach their full potential.”

Starting this school year, schools will phase in the nutrition standards over a three-year period. Schools will focus on changes in the lunches in the first year, with most changes in breakfast to take place in future years. The new meal standards:
-          Ensure students are offered both fruits and vegetables every day of the week;
-          Substantially increase offerings of whole grain-rich foods and low-fat milk or fat-free milk varieties;
-          Limit calories based on the age of children being served to ensure proper portion size; and
-          Focus on reducing the amounts of saturated fat, trans fats and sodium.

The new meal requirements are raising standards for the first time in more than fifteen years and improving the health and nutrition of nearly 32 million kids that participate in school meal programs every school day. The healthier school meals are a key component of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was championed by the First Lady as part of her Let’s Move! campaign and signed into law by President Obama.