Monday February 18 Ag News

UNL Increasing Investment in Agriculture With 36 New Faculty Positions

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is strategically increasing its investment in agriculture and natural resources, looking to hire three dozen new faculty after a decade of budget cuts and stagnant hiring.

Ronnie Green, vice chancellor of the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, where the faculty will be housed, said the new hires will come in subject areas filling workforce gaps critical to the global challenges of the future, including expanded and more efficient food production and improved water and natural resources management.

The world's population is expected to increase from about 7 billion to 9 billion by 2050, and the challenges of feeding that population are significant, Green noted.

As one of the world's leading agricultural producers, Nebraska is the epicenter of these issues, and its land-grant university must be there too, Green said.

The 36 new positions, listed at http://ianrhome.unl.edu/web/ianr/growingianr, are primarily in the areas of science literacy, stress biology, computational sciences, healthy humans and healthy systems for agricultural production and natural resources.

"They cover a fairly wide range of areas across the institute addressing contemporary agricultural and natural resource issues," Green said.

"We are absolutely convinced that as a university it's time to double down in our investment in these areas around food, fuel and water," Green said. "All of the needs out there indicate that we need to expand our efforts to meet the challenges that are ahead."

Green said the new faculty will be in carefully targeted areas. "We really have honed our focus to where we think it will make the biggest impact."

By emphasizing areas where Nebraska and UNL already are proficient, "we're building strength on strength," he said.          

While this slate of new positions is "a big bang," Green emphasized that IANR actually has been steadily ramping up hiring over the last couple of years and expects to embark on a fresh wave of hiring in about 18 months. This follows several years of university budget cuts and holds on hiring.      

This initiative fits with UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman's goal of increasing faculty and student enrollment significantly by 2017. IANR is in a position to do this thanks to eight years of annual enrollment growth in its College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, record levels of research funding and a strong agricultural economy in Nebraska.

"It's a bold statement that we're making.  Some would say it's risky to be taking on this much at once," Green said. "But I'd say it's a calculated, strategic move that's going to pay off big in the long run."

Green also believes the move positions UNL to emerge as one of a handful of land-grant universities that will lead the way in solving the food-production needs of the future.



Project Aims to Predict Yield Potential to Help Global Food Security

Resolving the debate over how best to feed a growing global population requires basic information about current and potential yields at local levels around the world, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln agronomist said.

"We need to have a much finer ability to predict the productive capacity of every hectare of land and its water efficiency. It's fundamental to being able to prioritize the research agenda for agriculture and to determine what form agriculture should take," said Ken Cassman, Robert B. Daugherty Professor of Agronomy at UNL. Cassman, who also chairs the Independent Science and Partnership Council of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, spoke during the "Alternative Paths to Food Security: Making the Right Choices While Feeding the World" symposium Sunday (Feb. 17) at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

"We were successful in the first Green Revolution precisely because there was such a strong consensus," he said. "Everyone understood that we were running out of food and the magnitude of the problem. That's missing today because there aren't robust data and scientific consensus about how much food can be produced on existing farmland, and from that, where and how to increase production."

To provide that foundational data, Cassman and an international research team are developing the Global Yield Gap Atlas, a tool to estimate food production capacity and the gap between current and potential farm yields on every hectare of existing farmland using the best available science and data.

Unlike other efforts to estimate yield potential, the atlas uses a bottom-up approach. Working with colleagues at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the team is recruiting agronomists worldwide to identify key agricultural areas and collect data about local conditions and farming methods. These data are then scaled to national, regional and global levels.

Researchers also are developing the necessary methodologies, such as accurately converting short-term weather data into long-term patterns and scaling up local yield estimates. All information and methodologies are shared on the new public website www.yieldgap.org.

Detailed yield gap information will help reconcile widely differing views over how agriculture will feed the 9 billion people expected to populate the planet by 2050, Cassman said.

Some people advocate organic or regionally based production systems, arguing that reliance on a few major crops and cropping systems is unsustainable and environmentally destructive. Others believe that modifying current systems through incremental scientific innovations would suffice and that alternative systems are inefficient and would require destroying rain forests and grasslands to increase production.

Cassman said that if global analysis of food production potential indicates it will be possible to meet food production demands on existing farmland, it would provide justification for alternative crops and cropping systems, which require considerable time and effort to develop. In contrast, if the global analysis indicates a tight race to meet future demand on existing cropland, the incremental approach to improve current crops and cropping systems would gain sway because there would be little margin for error.

In both cases, Cassman said, the answer won't be one-size-fits-all: some areas are best suited to intensive, high-yield systems, while other locations' soil and climate favor less intensive "alternative" farming methods.

Countries must look ahead to 2050 and determine if they have the potential to self-sufficiently feed their people, he said. If not, they must adopt an effective agricultural strategy based on a fundamental understanding of their productive capacity, including knowing where they can obtain additional food through trade with other countries.

With adequate funding, the Global Yield Gap Atlas will help answer those questions within three to four years. The team received a $2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to work in India, Bangladesh and 10 Sub-Saharan African countries. The University of Nebraska's Robert B. Daugherty Institute funds collaborations in Brazil and Argentina.

"If we're serious about helping to resolve this debate, we must have certain information, basic information. Otherwise, the debate goes on ad infinitum," Cassman said. "Obviously, we'll never eliminate all of the disagreements, but what [the atlas] will do is help focus the debate on a more defendable set of assumptions about potential supply to meet the estimated demand, where it can be produced and the variability of that production."



2013 Nebraska Cattlemen’s Classic Speed Penning, Ranch Sorting and Team Roping

The 2013 Nebraska Cattlemen’s Classic experienced a large turnout for the first day of activities. Speed Penning competition was very popular again this year.  This was held in conjunction with the Ranch Sorting and Team Roping events on Monday, February 18th in Kearney, NE.  Approximately 150 teams signed up to show off their team roping skills and to participate in the inaugural jackpot competition. These three events kicked off the 22nd Annual NE Cattlemen’s Classic and attendance was phenomenal for the first day of the week-long event.

1st Place Ranch Sort honors went to:
James Hanson, St. Paul, NE
Darlene Hanson, St. Paul, NE
Bob Frye, Spalding, NE

2nd  Place Ranch Sort honors went to:
Tom Schwarzkopf, Breda, IA
Bob Frye, Spalding, NE
Doug Vondrak, Lakeview, IA

3rd Place Ranch Sort honors went to:
Roger Williams, St. Paul, NE
Doug Vondrak, Lakeview, IA
Tim Christensen, Fullerton, NE

4th  Place Ranch Sort honors went to:
Bob Frye, Spalding, NE
Don Schmitz, Elgin, NE
Gene Kasperbauer, Spalding, NE

5th  Place Ranch Sort honors went to:
Gene Kasperbauer, Spalding, NE
Tom Schwarzkopf, Breda, IA
Don Schmitz, Elgin, NE

Speed Penning honors went to: 
1st Place – Mark Sandbulte, Sanborn, IA
2nd Place- James Hanson, St. Paul, NE
3rd Place- Mark Kasperbauer,, Spalding, NE

Team roping activities culminated the evening activities and excitement was high for the second day of working horse and dog events at the 22nd Annual NE Cattlemen’s Classic.



Plan for Drought When Preparing Pasture Lease
Bruce Anderson, University of Nebraska Extension Forage Specialist

Do you rent pasture? What happens when drought lowers pasture production below expectations? In a moment, I'll discuss solving this problem directly in the lease.

Drought can play havoc on pasture leases. All too often, pasture leases fail to include an appropriate plan to adjust to this problem.

Without a plan, both the landowner and the tenant are at risk. Landowners risk having the pasture become overgrazed, resulting in future weed problems, reduced long-term production, and lowered value. The tenant risks poor performance or health of the livestock due to less forage and lower quality feed. This can lead to higher supplemental feed costs or being forced to sell the cattle.

So, who decides when drought has lowered pasture production low enough to remove the cattle? And, what should be the adjustment in the rent payment?

Unfortunately, I can't give you a specific answer. Instead, now is the time to discuss these issues as landlord and tenant. Be sure to list the length of the grazing period in the lease along with beginning and ending dates. Also make sure that stocking rates are specified in the lease, adjusting these stocking levels for increased cow size if necessary. Usually, it is best to design the lease so both landowner and tenant share in the opportunity and risk associated with drought by adding an appropriate escape clause due to drought. Indicate how a drought adjustment will be made and how that will affect rent payments. And get it all in writing to avoid any misunderstandings later.

Drought can cause a lot of headaches. But if you've planned ahead, making sudden adjustments to your pasture leases won't be one of them.



Clearing the Air at EPA
Senator Mike Johanns

What do farmers and ranchers, builders and businesspeople have in common?

One thing I keep hearing from constituents in these respective industries is that an onslaught of rules and regulations from federal agencies has hampered their abilities to develop new innovations and create needed jobs. Since President Obama took office, more than 308,000 pages of new rules have been added to the Federal Register.  That’s enough paper to cover more than four and a half acres of farmland, and weighs more than three Ford F-150 pickups trucks.

The Environmental Protection Agency is one of the worst offenders, proposing roughly $172 billion in compliance costs for new regulations last year alone. While it is important that we ensure our environment is adequately protected, the way EPA conducts business must change. That’s why, last week, I introduced four bills to help clear the air with EPA’s operation.

Although the contents of EPAs regulations are often problematic, the agency’s regulatory processes are another great cause for concern. Instead of treating states as equals, for example, EPA has chosen to force states to adopt one-size-fits-all federal enforcement plans.

EPA has also circumvented Congress by making major policy changes through guidance documents, which are not subject to Congressional review the same way rules are—a loophole that can be used to broaden the scope of existing law without following the standard rulemaking process. In 2011, EPA issued a guidance document defining waters of the United States, which are subject to certain federal laws, substantially expanding those laws’ jurisdictions.

The legislation I introduced would address these issues and increase accountability at EPA. One bill would provide Congress greater oversight, by bringing EPA guidance documents under the scope of the Congressional Review Act. A second piece of legislation would require EPA’s Inspector General to report to Congress twice a year on the agency’s progress in meeting regulatory reporting requirements in current law. A third bill would reduce EPA’s budget by $20,000 every week until EPA meets its legal deadlines for regulatory agenda-setting. And the final component would promote transparency and cooperation with state governments by requiring EPA to provide timely information and technical assistance to states working to comply with EPA mandates.

A federal agency with the reach and influence of the EPA must be transparent in its operations and cooperative with states, industries and businesses it effects. Unfortunately, EPA has been as transparent as the mud puddles it is trying to regulate.

EPA must change the way it does things.  My legislation can help to restore critical public and congressional oversight.



Senate Proposal on Sequestration Would End Direct Payments
(from National Sorghum Producers)

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) is proposing full elimination of direct payments in a Senate democratic plan that would offer an alternative solution to across-the-board sequestration cuts, which are slated to go into effect March 1. Stabenow is considering this agriculture’s contribution to the overall amount needed to curb sequestration and said, “eliminating direct payments more than satisfies sequestration for years.”

The cuts will come solely from the Commodity Title of the farm bill, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas said, “The Senate’s approach of taking away our investment in rural America without addressing the hole it will create is not balanced and not acceptable." NSP is concerned about this proposal and continues to work to protect the dollars that are critical to maintain a strong Title 1 in the next farm bill.

Food Aid Programs Cut from President’s Proposed FY 2014 Budget
Both the Food for Peace and Food for Progress programs are set to be eliminated in the Obama Administration’s FY 2014 budget. The cuts were announced following the President’s state of the union address on Tuesday. Approximately 10 percent of the nation’s grain sorghum crop is used in food aid programs and comes in a narrow second to wheat as the most frequently used commodity for Food for Peace. NSP took this issue to the Hill last Wednesday during its annual D.C. Fly-In and will continue to oversee the issue as the proposed budget moves forward, working to protect these valuable programs to the sorghum industry.



NSP Completes another Successful Annual D.C. Fly-In

Last this week, 20 sorghum producers from nine different states represented the sorghum industry in Washington, D.C., on behalf of National Sorghum Producers for its annual D.C. Fly-In. Those traveling to the beltway met with 77 offices both on Capitol Hill and with various offices within the U.S. Department on Agriculture. NSP met with separately with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, Ranking Member Collin Peterson, the office of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Thad Cochran. The other 68 Hill visits were distributed as follows:
20 visits in the Senate
-       8 meetings with Senators
-       12 meeting with Senate staffers
48 visits in the House
-       20 meetings with Representatives
-       28 meetings with House staffers

Overall, NSP representatives logged almost 300 man-hours in the House and Senate combined. NSP also had the opportunity to meet with representatives from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s office NRCS, FSA, OCE, RMA and USAID.



Protect Our Prairies Act Introduced

Last week, Representatives Kristi Noem (R-SD) and Tim Walz (D-MN) as well as six additional bipartisan co-sponsors, including Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), introduced legislation to protect America’s remaining native prairies and prime grasslands - the “Protect Our Prairies Act.” It creates a nationwide “sodsaver” provision that would ensure that taxpayer dollars do not continue to subsidize the destruction of native grass and prairie lands.

“Prairie and native grasslands are disappearing rapidly, leaving behind fewer ranching opportunities, diminished hunting, greater soil erosion and other economic and environmental losses for rural communities,” said Traci Bruckner, Assistant Policy Director at the Center for Rural Affairs. “And the Protect Our Prairies Act will protect those grasslands by prohibiting federal commodity payments on newly broken native sod and by reducing federal crop insurance premium subsidies by fifty percent on those acres.”

According to Bruckner, the bill also includes two provisions that close loopholes in the system and prevent efforts to increase revenue insurance coverage at the expense of taxpayers and the environment. The bill would require that newly broken sod be isolated from other crop acres when calculating insurable yields.  And operators would be required to take a percentage of the county average yield for any newly broken native sod until they are able to show a multi-year yield history. Bruckner notes that these two provisions are crucial to removing the federally subsidized incentive to bust up native grassland.

“Coming from a state that has both a strong hunting tradition and agriculture community, this legislation helps continue the healthy balance between production and conservation,” said Representative Noem.  “I was proud to introduce this legislation last Congress and am optimistic that we will see the bill move forward this year.  Not only will it save taxpayer money, but the Protect our Prairies Act will allow us to maintain secure habitats for wildlife in South Dakota.”

“The Protect Our Prairies Act accomplishes priorities for farmers, sportsmen, and taxpayers,” said Representative Walz, the Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry. “By working together and promoting common sense conservation practices we can support our farmers, protect critical wildlife habitat, and support the hunting and fishing industry that is an integral part of our state’s economy.”

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the national provision will save taxpayers nearly $200 million over the next ten years, money that will otherwise be spent, in the name of U.S. taxpayers, to destroy remaining prairies and prime grasslands.

“We are pleased that Representatives Noem and Walz have have once again taken the lead on a nationwide Sodsaver provision and that Representative Fortenberry signed on as an original cosponsor as well,” said Bruckner.  “We applaud all the cosponsors of the Protect Our Prairies Act for their leadership in preserving grazing land, wildlife habitat and critical natural resources.  We strongly urge the House Agriculture Committee to include this national “Sodsaver” provision in the 2013 Farm Bill.”

An identical provision to Protect Our Prairies, championed by Senator John Thune (R-SD), was included in the Senate-passed “Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act” last year, and is expected to remain in the Senate bill as the process begins again this year.

Additional cosponsors of the bill include House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN), Rep. Bennie Thompson (R-MS), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA).



USDA Announces 45th General Sign-Up for the Conservation Reserve Program

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced at the National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct a four-week general sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), beginning May 20 and ending on June 14. CRP has a 27-year legacy of protecting the nation’s natural resources through voluntary participation, while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities across the United States. Under Secretary Vilsack’s leadership, USDA has enrolled 11.7 million acres in various CRP efforts.

“Since the 1980s, the CRP program has established itself as a benchmark in voluntary conservation efforts, providing American producers with assets to address our most critical resource issues,” said Vilsack. “Last year, during one of the worst droughts in generations, the CRP proved vital in protecting our most environmentally sensitive lands from erosion. Emergency haying and grazing on CRP lands also supplied critical feed and forage for livestock producers due to the drought. And the program continues to bring substantial returns to rural areas, attracting recreation and tourism dollars into local economies while sustaining natural and wildlife habitat for future generations.”

Additional sign-ups for continuous CRP programs—such as Highly Erodible Land Initiative and Initiative to Restore Grasslands, Wetlands and Wildlife—will be announced in spring 2013.

Currently, about 27 million acres are enrolled in CRP, which is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them safeguard environmentally sensitive land. Producers enrolled in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers to improve the quality of water, control soil erosion and enhance wildlife habitat. Contracts on 3.3 million acres of CRP are set to expire on Sept. 30, 2013. Producers with expiring contracts or producers with environmentally sensitive land are encouraged to evaluate their options under CRP.

Producers that are accepted in the sign-up can receive cost-share assistance to plant long-term, resource-conserving covers and receive an annual rental payment for the length of the contract (10-15 years). Producers also are encouraged to look into CRP’s other enrollment opportunities offered on a continuous, non-competitive, sign-up basis and that often provide additional financial assistance. Continuous sign-up dates will be announced at a later date.

Over the past 27 years, farmers, ranchers, conservationists, hunters, fishermen and other outdoor enthusiasts have made CRP one of the largest and most important USDA efforts. CRP continues to make major contributions to national efforts to improve water and air quality, and to prevent soil erosion by protecting the most sensitive areas including those prone to flash flooding and runoff. CRP has also helped increase populations of pheasants, quail, ducks, and rare species, like the sage grouse, the lesser prairie chicken, and other grassland birds. Highlights of CRP include:
-    CRP has restored more than two million acres of wetlands and two million acres of riparian buffers;
-    Each year, CRP keeps more than 600 million pounds of nitrogen and more than 100 million pounds of phosphorous from flowing into our nation’s streams, rivers, and lakes.
-    CRP provides $1.8 billion annually to landowners—dollars that make their way into local economies, supporting small businesses and creating jobs; and
-    CRP is the largest private lands carbon sequestration program in the country. By placing vulnerable cropland into conservation, CRP sequesters carbon in plants and soil, and reduces both fuel and fertilizer usage. In 2012, CRP resulted in carbon sequestration equal to taking about nine million cars off the road.

The Obama Administration is leading a host of federal agencies in the America’s Great Outdoors initiative to develop a 21st century conservation agenda and reconnect Americans to the outdoors. At the same time, USDA continues to enroll a record number of acres of private working lands in conservation programs, working with more than 500,000 farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices that clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink, and prevent soil erosion. Since 2009, USDA has enrolled more than 50 million acres into the Conservation Stewardship Program to incentivize the most productive, beneficial conservation practices. And USDA’s work in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the Mississippi River Basin, and Gulf of Mexico are among 19 initiatives applying the most effective conservation practices to increase agricultural and environmental returns. USDA science is also helping to focus work in areas to reduce problematic nutrients making it to rivers and streams by as much as 45 percent.

For more information on CRP and other FSA programs, visit a local FSA service center or www.fsa.usda.gov.



Vilsack Highlights How Record Ag Exports are Bolstering the Nation's Economy

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to Minnesota this past weekend, where he visited a St. Paul rail yard to underscore President Obama's message about the importance of trade and exports to the American economy. Accompanying Vilsack were U.S. Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, as well as Commissioner Dave Fredrickson of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

"Since 2009, the President has signed into law important trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, keeping good-paying jobs here at home," said Vilsack. "And our work is not done. This week, the President and his European counterparts announced the launch of comprehensive trade negotiations. Across the country, strong agricultural trade continues to support a thriving middle class and our rural communities with good-paying jobs across a variety of sectors. For agriculture, the European Union is a significant partner, our fifth largest export market overall. The Obama Administration is now seizing an opportunity to expand existing markets and to gain new market access."

In his State of the Union Address, the President laid out how trade and exports would help America become a magnet for jobs in the generations to come, and further strengthen the middle class. Under his leadership, exports of U.S. food and agricultural products have achieved the four best years in history thanks to greater market opportunities, stronger tools for exporters, and a more level playing field for American businesses abroad. Agriculture remains one of the brightest spots in the U.S. economy, with the American brand of agriculture surging in popularity worldwide. Fiscal years 2009-2012 represent the strongest four years in history for U.S. agricultural exports, with sales exceeding $478 billion during this time. U.S. farm exports support more than 1 million good-paying American jobs in industries such as processing, packaging, transportation and sales.

The most recent farm income forecast shows the strongest net farm income in four decades--just another positive testament to the resilience and productivity of U.S. farmers and ranchers. The commitment of American producers to embrace innovation and adapt to new challenges has helped fuel growth for American agriculture since 2009.

In Minnesota, agricultural exports in 2011 were valued at $6.7 billion and supported nearly 40,000 Minnesota jobs, on and off the farm. At the same time, Minnesota is a vital shipping and transportation hub for food and agricultural products, linking major U.S. and Canadian markets via a network of railroads and trucking infrastructure. The Ports of Minneapolis and St. Paul together process more than 11 million tons of cargo to and from domestic and foreign markets each year.

While visiting with Minnesota businesses, Vilsack said comprehensive, multi-year farm legislation would provide certainty for businesses and ensure a strong safety net for producers. USDA's chief export assistance programs, part of the current 2008 Farm Bill, get resources to small and medium-sized businesses hoping to sell their products to international buyers.

The Market Access Program (MAP), for example, is a cost-share program for marketing and promoting U.S. products abroad--an especially tough market to crack for American small businesses. USDA's market development programs have a long history of helping farmers, ranchers, and businesses of all sizes build and maintain commercial markets for U.S. food and agricultural products around the world. For every dollar that government and industry invest in market development programs and activities, independent research has found agricultural exports increase by $35.

Today, only 1 percent of U.S. companies export, and yet 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside the borders of the United States, creating significant opportunities for U.S. food and agriculture.

The latest export forecast sees U.S. farm exports at their highest level ever in 2013, with estimates showing $145 billion in sales. Vilsack said new trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and the European Union will deliver even greater returns for Minnesota-based and other U.S. businesses.



Weldon Sleight receives Special Recognition from Center for Rural Affairs

On February 11, the eve of the Center for Rural Affairs’ 7th Annual MarketPlace entrepreneurship conference in West Point, Nebraska, the Center for Rural Affairs presented Dr. Weldon Sleight of Curtis, NE with a Special Recognition. This honor was bestowed by the Center’s Board of Directors to Dr. Sleight for his extraordinary contribution to revitalizing rural America’s family farms, ranches and rural communities.

"I am so honored to be recognized by the Center,” said Sleight. “I have valued our partnership and know that this wonderful recognition will bring more attention to the efforts we have to continue to put forth to help rural communities across the country."

Dr. Weldon Sleight served as Dean of the University of Nebraska’s College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) from 2006 until his retirement in December 2012.  He and his wife currently reside in Utah.

This change, however, has not deterred him from finding a way to continue to work toward his vision of repopulating rural communities through entrepreneurship.  As he mentioned upon receiving the award, “I’m not done yet.”

When Dr. Sleight was selected for the position at NCTA in 2006, he immediately recognized that the college was training young men and women to graduate and work for someone else.  He believed that the future of rural Nebraska and rural communities in general was in ownership…owning a farm, ranch or small rural business.

As a result he took his vision and developed curriculum to support entrepreneurship as well as farm, ranch and small business transition.  Students and faculty members enhanced their capacity to understand small business development, including development of a business plan, building cash flow projections, and more. Dr. Sleight put in place the processes to prepare young men and women to be farm, ranch and business owners. One of his first and greatest successes was the establishment of the 100 Cow program to help students build equity and eventually purchase 100 cows upon their graduation.

And Dr. Sleight’s efforts to utilize entrepreneurship to build business ownership continued. An early graduate of NCTA’s veterinarian-technician program under Dr. Sleight’s tenure searched extensively for a rural veterinarian who needed her skills. Unable to find one in an area in which she wanted to reside, Dr. Sleight encouraged her, since she had the business skills and savvy, to open her own veterinary clinic and hire veterinarians who would work for her. She did just that.

“Dr. Sleight has tirelessly and passionately spread the word about his vision, traveling throughout the Midwest to bring attention to the need to look to farm and business transitions and recruitment of young families back to rural communities. He started unique and innovative programs that include the 100 Cow program and the Business Builder program,” said Chuck Hassebrook, Center for Rural Affairs Executive Director.

“Throughout, he has been a vocal supporter of the Center for Rural Affairs work and has been an excellent partner, serving on the Beginning Farmer Rancher Network advisory board and on the Center’s annual entrepreneurship conference, MarketPlace advisory board.”

Hassebrook called Dr. Sleight a pioneer in his own regard, a visionary who feels passionately about our ability to build a better future for communities in rural Nebraska and throughout rural America.



2013 National FFA Week full of events, activities to heighten awareness of organization, agricultural education, industry

National FFA Week began Saturday throughout the U.S. and includes activities and events at the national, state and local level in all 50 U.S. states throughout this week.

Each year, National FFA Week gives the nearly 560,000 FFA members throughout the country, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands a chance to raise public awareness about FFA and agricultural education and share the importance of American agriculture in general.

According to responses to the National FFA Organization via social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, local FFA chapters plan to visit elementary and middle schools to talk to students about the importance of agriculture, stage local farmers’ markets and labor auctions, host teacher appreciation breakfasts, conduct Olympic-style competitions based on agricultural activities, perform community service projects and connect with state and local government leaders.

Historically, the week of President George Washington’s birthday was designated as National FFA Week in 1947 at a National FFA board of directors meeting. National FFA Week always runs from Saturday to Saturday and encompasses  Washington’s birthday, which is Feb. 22.

A sampling of events and activities throughout the country:

• Tractor Supply Co., which operates more than 1,100 stores in 45 states, is conducting a Can-Do! Canned food drive contest. FFA members are asked to collect canned food and build a creative design with them, then post an image on the National FFA Organization's Twitter or Facebook accounts by 1 p.m. Thursday for judging before donating their items to a local food pantry.

• In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proclaimed Feb. 16-23 National FFA Week in the state.

• National FFA officers will be active in six states during National FFA Week. The national FFA officer team of Clay Sapp, Wiley Bailey, Brennan Costello, Joenelle Futrell, Kalie Hall and Lindsey Anderson will meet with state and local government representatives, tour agricultural-related businesses, visit a host of high school and collegiate FFA chapters and participate in local National FFA Week festivities with local FFA members in Nevada, Vermont, South Dakota, Michigan, Louisiana and South Carolina.

• In Wisconsin, Waupaca High School’s FFA chapter will pack hundreds of meals for Kids Against Hunger on Friday. The chapter raised $10,000 to create 65,000 soy/rise casserole packages. FFA members will be joined by more than 120 volunteers to package 40,000 meals for distribution by Ruby’s Pantry, which provides food assistance to less-fortunate families in Wisconsin and Minnesota; 25,000 meals will be shipped to the Philippines.

• In Indiana, the National FFA Organization’s official mascot, Flyte the Owl, will make several appearances, including at Beech Grove High School to help FFA members thank teachers for their dedication to agricultural education, Lebanon Middle School to help local FFA members recruit new members, at Franklin Community High School during the week’s varsity boys basketball game vs. Jennings County on Senior Night and at several Tractor Supply Co. stores in central Indiana.

The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education to 557,318 student members in grades seven through 12 who belong to one of 7,498 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.



SIRE Announces First Quarter FY2013 Results

Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC ("SIRE") announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2013 ("Fiscal 2013") which ended December 31, 2012. SIRE reported a net loss of $8,683,000, or $660.83 per unit, compared to a net profit of $8,996,000, or $684.62 per unit, for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 ("Fiscal 2012") which ended December 31, 2011. The cash flow provided by operations for the first quarter of Fiscal 2013 was $1,097,000, compared to $7,141,000 for the same period in Fiscal 2012.

Adjusted EBITDA, which is defined as earnings before interest, income taxes, and depreciation and/or amortization ("EBITDA"), as adjusted for unrealized hedging losses (gains), was a loss of $1,259,000 for the first quarter of Fiscal 2013 and a gain of $10,014,000 for the same period in Fiscal 2012. At December 31, 2012, SIRE had $12,391,000 in cash and equivalents and $5,555,000 available under committed loan agreements (subject to satisfaction of specified lending conditions and covenants). For reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA to net income attributable to SIRE, see "Adjusted EBITDA" below.

Brian Cahill, SIRE's General Manager and CEO, stated, "Our first quarter in Fiscal 2013 reflects the continuing margin compression resulting from the relative high prices of our primary input and low prices our primary product during the quarter. In particular, the key factors during the quarter were relatively high prices compared to previous years of our primary input, corn, resulting from the drought conditions in the United States. In addition, pricing pressures have continued to depress ethanol prices. Notwithstanding these margins, we have continued to make scheduled payments to our banks, resulting in further principal reduction in overall debt and reduced interest costs. We have also continued to make modest capital investments that are resulting in incremental productivity improvements in our plant."

SIRE is an Iowa limited liability company, located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, formed in March, 2005 to construct and operate a 110 million gallon name plate capacity ethanol plant. SIRE began producing ethanol in February, 2009 and sells its ethanol, modified wet distillers grains with solubles, corn syrup, and corn oil in the continental United States. SIRE also sells its dried distillers grains with solubles in the continental United States, Mexico and the Pacific Rim.



ADM Reports Second Quarter 2012.5 Earnings of $510 Million, up 18 percent from year-ago quarter

Archer Daniels Midland Company has reported financial results for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2012. The company reported net earnings for the quarter of $510 million, or $0.77 per share, up from $0.12 per share in the same period one year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.60, up from $0.51 in the same period last year. Segment operating profit was $808 million.

“The ADM team managed well despite challenges from the U.S. drought and from persistent, negative margins in the ethanol industry,” said ADM Chairman and CEO Patricia Woertz. “Our results in Oilseeds and Agricultural Services demonstrated the ability of our people to use our global asset network to prepare for and manage in a range of market conditions.

“In North America, we fully utilized our oilseeds crushing capacity to meet strong global demand, and we adjusted our transportation and origination network to move goods efficiently despite constrained river traffic and a smaller corn crop. In South America, we leveraged our origination, transportation and export facilities to move the record corn crop to world markets. And, in Europe, we made some operational changes, and the market responded to reduced imports.
 
“During our abbreviated fiscal year, we drove meaningful improvements in capital, costs and cash to enhance our future competitiveness. We continued taking action to improve underperforming businesses. As part of our ongoing portfolio management, we sold $570 million of non-core investments. And, through a companywide focus, we unlocked more than $1 billion in working cash.”
 
Second Quarter 2012.5 Highlights
 •  Adjusted EPS of $0.60 excludes approximately $113 million in pretax LIFO gains ($0.11 per share) and other items that net to about $0.06 per share.
•  Oilseeds Processing profit increased $202 million, with year-over-year improvements in crushing and origination results in all regions.
•  Excluding last year’s $339 million asset impairment charge, Corn Processing profit decreased $207 million, due to ongoing weakness in industry ethanol margins.
•  Agricultural Services profit rose $77 million, as solid U.S. soybean exports, improved international merchandising and a gain on ADM’s investment in GrainCorp benefitted results.
•  Net debt balances declined to $7.2 billion, the lowest level since June 2010, as the benefits of the company wide focus on unlocking cash began to be realized.