Wednesday March 6 Ag News

New Dean Hired at Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture

            The current provost of Southeast Missouri State University will be the new dean of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis.

            Ronald Rosati will assume the position this summer.

            "We are most excited to have a person of Dr. Rosati's talent, skills and experience to be our next dean of NCTA," said Ronnie Green, vice president of agriculture and natural resources for the University of Nebraska.

            Rosati has been provost of Southeast Missouri State since 2010. Previously, he served in a number of roles at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, including dean of the College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences.

            Rosati received his associate's degree in agriculture from Farmingdale Agricultural and Technical College, his bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural education from Cornell University and his doctorate in agricultural education from Iowa State University.

            Rosati replaces Weldon Sleight, who retired last year.

            "I appreciate the opportunity to join the team at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.  I studied the institution extensively and I've been very impressed by the quality and dedication of its faculty and staff, and the support NCTA receives from the University of Nebraska, state legislators, Nebraska's agricultural community, and the town of Curtis," said Rosati. "NCTA offers some creative and visionary academic programs that are very high quality and serve the needs of its students very well. I look forward to working with the NCTA community to continue to grow the institution, including its enrollment, programs, and service to Nebraska's agricultural community."

            "With the foundation that has been established, NCTA is poised to move to the next level under Dr. Rosati's vision, leadership and management capabilities," said Green, who also serves as the Harlan vice chancellor of the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

            Rosati also has experience at Illinois State University, Ohio State University, Iowa State University and Alfred State College, where he also served as provost.

            NCTA is a two-year college that offers associate of science and applied science degrees in agriculture fields. It includes a 600-acre land and livestock laboratory.

            Rosati's appointment is pending NU Board of Regents approval.



Nebraska Corn Board to Meet

The Nebraska Corn Board will hold its next meeting on Thursday, March 21 at UNL East Campus to hear updates on proposed research projects and Friday, March 22 at Embassy Suites.  The board will address regular board business and consider funding requests.  The meeting is open to the public.  A copy of the agenda is available by writing the Nebraska Corn Board, PO Box 95107, Lincoln, NE  68509, or calling either 402/471-2676 or 800-NECORN1.



Iowa Western team wins IPPA Student Taste of Elegance

A student culinary team from Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs prepared the winning entrée in the Iowa Pork Producers Association’s 11th annual Student Taste of Elegance competition on March 4 at the Des Moines Area Community College Culinary Institute in Ankeny.

The Iowa Western team of Adrianne Kessenich, Magdalena Francisco and Jenna Dunn prepared Grilled Honey Jalapeno Loin Chops with Sauté Spaghetti Squash and Grilled Asparagus with Blue Cheese Reduction and won the event’s top prize. IPPA presented each winning team member with $100 cash and $1,000 for their school to use for scholarships or educational costs.

“We would like to thank the Iowa Pork Producers Association for their hard work in putting this competition together and the Des Moines Area Community College for hosting this event each year,” said Karen Hander, an Iowa Western Community College culinary instructor. “We are so humbled to take home first place. The girls worked hard and I am so proud of their accomplishments.”

A record 18 teams from culinary programs at Iowa Western, DMACC, Iowa Central Community College, Iowa State University and Scott Community College entered the IPPA competition.

A Scott Community College team was second and an ISU team took third. Members of the top three teams each received a certificate from IPPA and each participating school was given $500 for expenses.

The purpose of the event is to inspire innovative and exciting ways for culinary arts students to use pork in their menus and to measure their progress. The students were required to prepare a main pork entrée using any fresh pork cut. A team of three professional Iowa chefs judged the entrees on taste, appearance and design. A fourth chef served as a critic and met with each team after judging to provide professional advice and answer questions.

“Pork is such a versatile product and we love providing the opportunity for students to be creative with it. We had 18 teams this year – the most we’ve ever had – so we were pleased to see so many students show up eager to compete,” said Linda Madison of the IPPA Restaurant & Foodservice Committee. “The judges were tough, but I think the students learned a lot about elegant food preparation.”

The IPPA Student Taste of Elegance is open to any Iowa college that has a culinary arts program.



Scientists Offer Parents, School Officials Clarity on Sweetener Questions

As the debate over childhood nutrition gains prominence in national discourse, scientists are weighing in with the truth about high fructose corn syrup through a new report, What School Officials and Parents Should Know about High Fructose Corn Syrup.

The document compiles opinions from respected academics and medical professionals on a variety of common concerns about the sweetener, including perceived links between its consumption and obesity, diabetes and attention deficit disorder. While the experts address a broad array of topics, one common theme becomes clear: Sugar is nutritionally and metabolically the same, whether it comes from corn, cane or beet.

"Like so many issues, the amount of media attention dedicated to sensationalized reports based in unsound science has created a cloud of confusion surrounding HFCS," said National Corn Growers Association Chairman Garry Niemeyer. "We are glad to see that resources such as Sweetener Studies are bringing clarity to consumers and provide those entrusted with our children's nutrition education with concise, credible information from experts."

Including information from pediatric nutritionists, food industry researchers and sports nutritionists, this brochure addresses confusion surrounding purported links between sugar and hyperactivity, HFCS and obesity and generalized questions on how to determine what a healthy, moderate diet really is. By thoroughly explaining the cause of confusion and the science behind the issue, these experts offer real answers that can help those looking to build a healthy, balanced diet plan for children.

To view the report in its entirety, click here... http://www.ncga.com/upload/files/documents/pdf/School%20Officials%20and%20Parents%20Trifold.pdf.  



Weekly Ethanol Production for 3/01/2013

According to EIA data, ethanol production averaged 805,000 barrels per day (b/d) — or 33.81 million gallons daily. That is down 7,000 b/d from the week before. The four-week average for ethanol production stood at 801,000 b/d for an annualized rate of 12.28 billion gallons.

Stocks of ethanol stood at 19.4 million barrels. That is a 0.1% decrease from last week.

Imports of ethanol showed zero b/d.

Gasoline demand for the week averaged 351.3 million gallons daily.

Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production was 9.62%.

On the co-products side, ethanol producers were using 12.206 million bushels of corn to produce ethanol and 89,840 metric tons of livestock feed, 80,093 metric tons of which were distillers grains. The rest is comprised of corn gluten feed and corn gluten meal. Additionally, ethanol producers were providing 4.19 million pounds of corn oil daily.



United States and Canadian Hog Inventory Down Slightly

United States and Canadian inventory of all hogs and pigs for December 2012 was 79.1 million head. This was down slightly from December 2011, but up 2 percent from December 2010. The breeding inventory, at 7.03 million head, was up slightly from a year ago and up slightly from 2010. Market hog inventory, at 72.0 million head, was down slightly from last year but up 2 percent from 2010. Combined data for quarterly farrowings and pig crop will no longer be provided due to publication changes from Statistics Canada.

United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on December 1, 2012 was 66.3 million head. This was down slightly from December 1, 2011 and down 2 percent from September 1, 2012. The breeding inventory, at 5.82 million head, was up slightly from last year and up slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 60.5 million head, was down slightly from last year, and down 2 percent from last quarter. The pig crop, at 29.4 million head, was up slightly from 2011 and up 3 percent from 2010. Sows farrowed during this period totaled 2.90 million head, down 1 percent from 2011 but up 1 percent from 2010. 

Canadian inventory of all hogs and pigs on January 1, 2013 was 12.7 million head. This was down 1 percent from January 1, 2012 but up slightly from January 1, 2011. The breeding inventory, at 1.21 million, was down 1 percent from last year and down 1 percent from 2011. Market hog inventory, at 11.5 million head, was down slightly from last year but up slightly from 2011.

United States and Canadian Cattle Inventory Down 1 Percent
All cattle and calves in the United States and Canada combined totaled 101.6 million head on January 1, 2013, down 1 percent from the 103.0 million on January 1, 2012. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 43.4 million head, were down 2 percent from a year ago.
                       
All cattle and calves in the United States as of January 1, 2013, totaled 89.3 million head, 2 percent below the 90.8 million on January 1, 2012. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 38.5 million head, were down 2 percent from a year ago.

All cattle and calves in Canada as of January 1, 2013, totaled 12.3 million head, up 0.5 percent from the 12.2 million on January 1, 2012. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 4.92 million, were down 1 percent from a year ago.

United States and Canadian Sheep Inventory Down Slightly
All sheep and lambs in the United States and Canada combined totaled 6.23 million head on January 1, 2013, down slightly from the 6.25 million on January 1, 2012. Breeding sheep, at 4.65 million head, were down slightly from a year ago and market sheep and lambs, at 1.58 million head, down from last year's 1.59 million head.
                       
All sheep and lambs in the United States as of January 1, 2013, totaled 5.34 million head, 1 percent below the 5.37 million head on January 1, 2012. Breeding sheep, at 3.98 million head, were down 1 percent from a year ago, while market sheep and lambs, at 1.36 million head, were down 1 percent from last year.

All sheep and lambs in Canada as of January 1, 2013, totaled 893 thousand head, up 1 percent from last year's number of 887 thousand. Breeding sheep, at 671 thousand head, were up slightly percent from last year. Market sheep and lambs, at 222 thousand head, were up 2 percent from a year ago.



Retail Fertilizer Prices Still Unmoved

Retail fertilizer prices tracked by DTN for the fourth week of February 2013 continue to show mainly steady prices. Prices have been stable now for over four months.

Five of the eight major fertilizers edged higher compared to last month, but these moves were fairly small. Urea had average price of $573 per ton, 10-34-0 $610/ton, anhydrous $864/ton, 28% $392/ton and UAN32 $439/ton.

The other three fertilizers were lower compared to the fourth week of January but again the move was slight. DAP had an average price of $621/ton, MAP $665/ton and potash was at $593/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.62/lb.N, anhydrous $0.53/lb.N, UAN28 $0.70/lb.N and UAN32 $0.69/lb.N.

Two of the eight major fertilizers are showing a price increase compared to one year earlier. Anhydrous is now 11% higher while UAN28 is 1% compared to last year.  Five fertilizers are single digits lower in price compared to February 2012. Urea is 1% less expensive, DAP is 4% lower, MAP and UAN32 are both 5% lower and potash is 8% less compared to last year.  The remaining fertilizer is now down double digits from a year ago. 10-34-0 is 25% less expensive.



ConAgra, Cargill, CHS to Form Joint Flour Milling Venture

ConAgra Foods, Cargill and CHS announced a definitive agreement to combine their North American flour milling businesses to form Ardent Mills, a new flour milling company that will serve customers in the baking and food industries.

Ardent Mills will bring together two of the nation's leading and most respected flour milling companies: ConAgra Mills and Horizon Milling, a Cargill-CHS joint venture formed in 2002. The new company will take advantage of the combined assets, capabilities and experience of ConAgra Foods, Cargill and CHS to bring innovative flour and grain products, services and solutions to the marketplace.

Ardent Mills' vision will be to help customers increase their growth and profitability in an ever-changing marketplace. Its products will be backed by an extensive network of wheat sourcing capabilities and flour milling and bakery mix facilities across North America. The company will offer a unique set of services, including product development resources, technical and application support, supply chain management and commodity price risk management. Ardent Mills also will tap the market knowledge, transportation logistics, consumer insights, food ingredients and culinary expertise currently available through ConAgra Foods, Cargill and CHS.

Suppliers, including the many farmers and cooperatives that currently provide wheat to the milling operations of ConAgra Mills and Horizon Milling, are expected to benefit from the additional sourcing opportunities provided by Ardent Mills' asset base, as well as from more opportunities to make value-adding connections to consumers.

Ardent Mills will operate as an independent joint venture of its three parent companies, Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra Foods, Minneapolis, Minn.-based Cargill and St. Paul, Minn.-based CHS. Dan Dye, who currently serves as president of Horizon Milling, will lead Ardent Mills as chief executive officer once the new company is formed. Dye will be joined by Bill Stoufer, current president of ConAgra Mills, as Ardent Mills' chief operating officer and chief integration officer. The company's operations and services will be supported by 44 flour mills, three bakery mix facilities and a specialty bakery, all located in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. The location of its headquarters will be determined at a later date.

ConAgra Foods and Cargill will each own a 44 percent stake in Ardent Mills, with CHS owning a 12 percent interest. All three companies will have representatives on Ardent Mills' board of directors.

"We're excited about this unprecedented step to further our heritage in milling while creating long-term value for ConAgra Foods' shareholders," said ConAgra Foods Chief Executive Officer Gary Rodkin. "Ardent Mills will set the new industry standard by addressing the most important issues facing customers, such as commodity price volatility, increasingly sophisticated food safety requirements, the need for more cost-effective supply chains and growing market demand for more innovation in products and processes."

"The future of flour milling is tied to serving the innovation and supply chain management challenges of food producers," said Scott Portnoy, corporate vice president, Cargill. "This is what makes us excited about Ardent Mills. It will have the knowledge and experience to help customers develop foods that appeal to consumers' changing taste and texture preferences, while also meeting their nutritional needs. It will also have the assets and capabilities to help customers improve the efficiency of their supply chains and strengthen their commodity risk management."

"As part of Ardent Mills, CHS farmer-owners will have more opportunity to further connect the wheat they produce to the consumer marketplace," said Mark Palmquist, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Ag Business, CHS. Palmquist added that CHS, the nation's leading producer-owned cooperative, will be among the new company's wheat suppliers.

ConAgra Foods, Cargill and CHS will contribute their respective milling operations to Ardent Mills on a cash-free, debt-free basis in exchange for the agreed ownership interests. Sales for ConAgra Mills, currently a part of ConAgra Foods' Commercial Foods segment, were approximately $1.8 billion in its fiscal year ended May 27, 2012. Sales for Horizon Milling were approximately $2.5 billion in its fiscal year ended May 31, 2012. The owners intend for Ardent Mills to be self-financed through cash flow from operations and its own bank debt and credit facility. The structure and amount of Ardent Mills' debt financing will be determined during the pre-close period. The owners intend to receive cash distributions from Ardent Mills at closing. Initial estimates of the total proceeds to be distributed range from $800 million to $1 billion.

The formation of Ardent Mills is expected to be completed in late calendar year 2013, following regulatory clearances, financing and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

ConAgra Foods, Cargill and CHS look forward to completing the formation of Ardent Mills, creating an exciting, dynamic new company that will utilize its farm-to-consumer knowledge and capabilities to serve bakery and food company customers even better than today.



DuPont Pioneer Research Investment Yields 132 New Products for 2013 Season

DuPont Pioneer announced final advancements of 132 new Pioneer® brand corn products for 2013, including 36 new genetic platforms. These new products are available to growers for their 2013 planting.

“Each of these products exemplifies the ‘right product for the right acre’ strategy to help growers across the U.S. address their local agronomic challenges and continue to maximize yield in the toughest growing environments,” says Bob Heimbaugh, North American director of corn product evaluation.

The expansive Pioneer product lineup includes 57 new additions to the Optimum® AcreMax® family of products — providing an innovative single-bag integrated refuge. Of these products, 34 new corn choices — including Optimum AcreMax 1, Optimum AcreMax Xtra and Optimum AcreMax XTreme products — feature insect protection from above and below ground insect pests with the integrated refuge for Corn Belt acres. Also available are 23 new Optimum AcreMax products with dual mode-of-action for above ground insect protection with a 95/5 percent integrated blend which satisfies refuge requirements in the Corn Belt.

The introductions include 27 new Optimum® AQUAmax™ products which doubles the availability of these products from Pioneer. Now, growers ranging from the western to the eastern Corn Belt and north to the Dakotas and Minnesota will have Optimum AQUAmax products to consider for planting.

Growers in geographies where Optimum AQUAmax products are available now have the opportunity to select from 45 new or proven corn products for water-limited environments. Ranging in comparative relative maturity from 89 to 115 CRM, more growers can plant Optimum AQUAmax products on acres annually challenged by water limitations.

“Just about every farm has a field that has a challenging soil type or situation limiting water availability,” Heimbaugh says. “Optimum AQUAmax hybrids continue to thrive in dry periods during a growing season or a full-on drought.”

On 11,269 on-farm comparisons with competitive products, 2012 yield data from DuPont Pioneer shows an advantage of 8.9 percent with Optimum AQUAmax products in water-limited environments; and a 1.9 percent yield advantage in favorable growing environments at locations harvested. Across the past two growing seasons based on 19,207 on-farm comparisons, Optimum AQUAmax products have shown an 8.7 percent yield advantage in water-limited environments and a 2.6 percent yield advantage in favorable growing conditions.*

“Our dedication to robust genetics and long-lasting trait solutions is especially evident this year as our Optimum AQUAmax products were put to the ultimate test in the widespread drought of 2012,” Heimbaugh says.



WinField Recognized for Innovative Technology Tools

As crop production strategies become more technical, the need for agronomic innovation increases. WinField, the Land O’Lakes company known for matching top-performing seed and crop protection products with local agronomic expertise, is being recognized for its contributions to spray technology and precision agriculture.

The WinField™ Spray Analysis System recently received the CropLife America (CLA) Information Technology Innovation Award, and its R7® Tool was recognized as the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) Technology Contest Winner. More recently, the R7® Tool received the 2013 FinOvation Award from Farm Industry News at the National Farm and Machinery Show on February 14.

“The Spray Analysis System and R7® Tool represent our commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions that help farmers achieve greater results,” says Mitch Eviston, vice president of marketing, WinField. “We’re honored to be recognized by leaders in our industry for these endeavors.”

The CLA and ARA awards were presented to the WinField and Land O’Lakes leadership teams on February 5 at the corporate headquarters.

“CLA is pleased to present WinField with this year’s IT Innovation Award. This system represents a dedication to precision agriculture that coincides with a greater national trend to develop increasingly effective and environmentally sound solutions for U.S. farmers,” said Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CLA. “It is crucial that we continue to invest in research and development that will bring these technologies to the agricultural industry.”

“This is the first year ARA and AgGateway have partnered to present a Technology Award, and we are very pleased to present this first award to WinField for their R7® Tool,” said Daren Coppock, president and CEO of ARA. “It’s extremely beneficial for ag retailers to have new technology available to them that helps ensure they are informing their customers about the right amount of seed, nutrients and crop protection products to place in their fields at the right time. Innovations like the R7® Tool enable our industry to produce crops in a more environmentally sound and efficient manner.”