Monday December 31 Ag News

Social Media & Mobile Technology Webinar Series for Farm and Ag Businesses
Larry Howard, UNL Extension Educator, Cuming County

Social media has become an exciting way to enhance a farm or food business’s marketing activities, allowing the owner or manager, to connect directly with customers in new and meaningful ways.  Often, it’s these connections, or relationships, that make a business successful over the long run.

University of Nebraska Extension is partnering with Ohio State Extension and Penn State Extension to offer the Social Media & Mobile Technology for Ag Businesses webinar series to help small business owners understand how to integrate social media and mobile applications into the company’s marketing plan.  This series is being hosted by UNL Extension in Cuming County and can be viewed at the Cuming County Courthouse Meeting Room in West Point.

Social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, etc.), offer easy methods to communicating, connecting, and engaging with customers and the public. Mobile tools, operated from a smart phone or tablet (such as an iPad), offer many other options to both businesses and customers in finding and connecting with businesses, increasing ease of transactions, and other benefits.

Webinar participants will gain a better understanding of social media and mobile tools, and more importantly, learn how the tools can improve their marketing effectiveness and customer service.  Topics and dates in the series include:
·    January 17 – Mobile Usage & Payment Techonolgy
·    January 24 – Introduction to Linkedin & Pinterest
·    January 31 – Maps & Apps, Mobile and Location based Marketing
·    February 7 – Social Media Analysis tools for Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest
·    February 14 – top 10 Trends & Cool Tools in Social Media
·    February 21 – Using Content for More Than One Social Media Tool
·    February 28 – Keeping Up with the ‘Technology’
·    March 7 – Getting the Most from Facebook

The Social Media & Mobile Technology for Ag Businesses webinar series begins on January 17, 2013 taking place weekly until March 7, 2013. Webinars are one hour in length and begin at 1:00
p.m. Central.  Pricing for the webinar series is $5 per webinar payable at the door.  Pre-registration is preferred.  Walk-ins are welcome but pre-registration would be appreciated (in case the webinar is cancelled).



Washington County Cattlemen to Meet Jan 7

The monthly meeting of the Washington County Cattlemen will be on Monday January 7th at the Blair Marina in Blair, NE.  Social Hour starts at 6pm and the dinner will be served at 7pm.  Then the featured speaker for the evening is Ron Coufal... he is the current President of the Cuming County Livestock Feeders Association.  All are welcome to attend! 



Farmers & Ranchers Cow/Calf College - 2013 Partners in Progress - Beef Seminar

The annual Farmers and Ranchers Cow/Calf  College “Partners in Progress – Beef  Seminar” will be held at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center and Great Plains Veterinary Education Center near Clay Center on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 with registration, coffee and donuts starting at 9:00 a.m.

This program is sponsored by the University of  Nebraska-Lincoln Extension’s Farmers and Ranchers College. This year’s theme will center on recovering from the 2012 drought and preparing for the potential of  a 2013 drought. There is no cost for the event and the public is invited. The seminar is packed with experts in climate, forages, economics, animal nutrition and reproduction. It is designed to provide information that should help cattlemen in planning for the upcoming year. Speakers include: Dr. John Pollak-Director USMARC, Allan Vyhnalek-UNL Extension, Dr. Bruce Anderson-UNL Extension, Aaron Stalker-UNL Extension, Dr. Rich Funston-UNL Beef  Reproductive Specialist, and Dr. Al Dutcher-UNL State Climatologist.

Any beef  producer or other interested individual should pre-register by noon on Friday, January 18th, 2013, at the UNL Extension Offce at 621 North Cedar, Red Cloud, NE 68930 or call (402) 746-3417. Walk-ins are accepted, but may not get a lunch. You may also email your registration to Dewey Lienemann at:  dlienemann2@unl.edu.  Further information may be found at the Webster County UNL Extension site at: http://www.webster.unl.edu.



30-day Port Labor Contract Extension Great News for U.S. Meat Exports

For the past several months, a potential longshoremen’s strike at major East Coast and Gulf Coast ports has created a cloud of uncertainty for exporters of U.S. beef and pork. The existing contract between the U.S. Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association was originally set to expire Sept. 30. A 90-day contract extension meant the new deadline for a possible strike was Saturday, Dec. 29.  

With this deadline rapidly approaching, Friday’s morning announcement of a 30-day extension of the existing labor contract came as very good news for the U.S. meat industry and many other U.S. agricultural interests. Paul Clayton, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) senior vice president for export services, says that while this extension is not a long-term solution to the labor impasse, exporters are relieved to know that port activity will continue without disruption until at least Jan. 28.

For U.S. beef exports, the greatest potential impact rests with the Port of Houston, which handled nearly 150,000 metric tons of outbound beef in the first three quarters of this year – or about 25 percent of all beef shipped out of the United States through an ocean port. Other East Coast and Gulf Coast ports handle smaller volumes of beef, but the cumulative impact would still be very significant.

For pork, the largest impacted outlet would be the Port of Norfolk, Va., which handled more than 90,000 metric tons from January through September. Other major outbound ports for U.S. pork that would be affected by a strike include New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Charleston, S.C., Jacksonville, Fla., Wilmington, N.C., Gulfport, Miss., and Savannah, Ga.



December Farm Prices Received Index Declined 5 Points

The preliminary All Farm Products Index of Prices Received by Farmers in December, at 201 percent, based on 1990-1992=100, decreased 5 points (2.4 percent) from November. The Crop Index is down 8 points (3.4 percent) and the Livestock Index remained unchanged. Producers received lower prices for milk, lettuce, turkeys, and eggs and higher prices for soybeans, broilers, cattle, and grapes. In addition to prices, the overall index is also affected by the seasonal change based on a 3-year average mix of commodities producers sell. Increased monthly movement of wheat, milk, broilers, and hay offset the decreased marketing of corn, soybeans, cattle, and grapes.

The preliminary All Farm Products Index is up 22 points (12 percent) from December 2011. The Food Commodities Index, at 187, decreased 3 points (1.6 percent) from last month but increased 18 points (11 percent)from December 2011.

Prices Paid Index Down 1 Point
The December Index of Prices Paid for Commodities and Services, Interest, Taxes, and Farm Wage Rates (PPITW) is 217 percent of the 1990-1992 average. The index is down 1 point (-0.5 percent) from November but 11 points (5.3 percent) above December 2011. Lower prices in December for concentrates, complete feeds, LP gas, and gasoline more than offset higher prices for feeder pigs, feeder cattle, nitrogen, and potash & phosphate.

Prices Received by Farmers
The December All Farm Products Index is 201 percent of its 1990-1992 base, down 2.4 percent from the November index but 12 percent above the December 2011 index.

All crops: 
The December index, at 228, decreased 3.4 percent from November but is 15 percent above December 2011. Index decreases for fruits & nuts, feed grains & hay, and commercial vegetables more than offset the index increases for oilseeds and food grains.

Food grains: The December index, at 268, is 1.1 percent above the previous month and 13 percent above a year ago. The December price for all wheat, at $8.33 per bushel, is down 13 cents from November but $1.13 above December 2011.

Feed grains & hay: The December index, at 299, is down 1 percent from last month but 19 percent above a year ago. The corn price, at $7.01 per bushel, is down 1 cent from last month but $1.15 above December 2011. The all hay price, at $192 per ton, is down $1.00 from November but up $18.00 from last December. Sorghum grain, at $12.30 per cwt, is 10 cents below November but $1.80 above December last year.

Cotton, Upland: The December index, at 114, is up 0.9 percent from November but 22 percent below last year. The December price, at 68.8 cents per pound, is up 0.4 cents from the previous month but 20.1 cents below last December.

Oilseeds: The December index, at 261, is up 3.6 percent from November and 23 percent higher than December 2011. The soybean price, at $14.70 per bushel, increased 40 cents from November and is $3.20 higher than December 2011.

Livestock and products: 
The December index, at 168, is unchanged from last month but up 7.0 percent from December 2011. Compared with a year ago, prices are higher for broilers, milk, cattle, and calves. Prices for eggs, turkeys, and hogs are down from last year.

Meat animals: The December index, at 161, is up 0.6 percent from last month and 3.2 percent higher than last year. The December hog price, at $62.90 per cwt, is up $1.80 from November but 60 cents lower than a year ago. The December beef cattle price of $125 per cwt is up $2.00 from last month and $5.00 higher than December 2011.

Dairy products: The December index, at 162, is down 3.6 percent from a month ago but 7.3 percent higher than December last year. The December all milk price of $21.10 per cwt is 90 cents less than last month but up $1.40 from December 2011.

Poultry & eggs: The December index, at 185, is up 0.5 percent from November and 14 percent above a year ago. The December market egg price, at 95.7 cents per dozen, decreased 6.3 cents from November and is 14.3 cents less than December 2011. The December broiler price, at 60.0 cents per pound, is up 3.0 cents from November and 13.0 cents higher than a year ago. The December turkey price, at 66.9 cents per pound, is down 8.2 cents from the previous month and 4.6 cents below last year.



Brazil Soy Planting Finishes
Soy Harvest Starts With Crop Looking Healthy

The Brazilian soybean season enters a new phase with producers finishing planting in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul just as harvesting starts in Mato Grosso, the No. 1 producing state in the center-west.  At both ends of Brazil's massive soybean belt, the outlook remains generally good, strengthening forecasts of a bumper crop of 81 million metric tons or more.  The handful of farmers who took a punt on planting soybeans in early September have started harvesting in the north, center-north and west of Mato Grosso over the last couple of days.  No news of yields has come through, and the early yields won't be that representative as conditions and varieties will be different for the bulk of the harvest, which only gathers pace in February. However, in general, Mato Grosso farmers say the crop promises strong yields, with plants looking tall and heavily laden with pods.