Monday September 16 Ag News

Look Up and Look Out to Keep Your Harvest Season Safe

When the crops are ready to be harvested, farmers have only a window of time—between weather events, equipment breakdowns, and life events—to get the best quality crop out of the field. To make the most of this time, farm workers trying to get as much work done as possible. Safe Electricity offers safety tips for farm and ranch workers across the nation to help keep them safe during this time.
     “The rush to harvest can lead to farmers working long days with little sleep,” cautions Duane Lammers, CCPPD Operations Manager. “Make sure before starting, to note the location of power lines.”
    One of the biggest hazards for farmers is posed by power lines. To stay safe around overhead power lines, CCPPD and Safe Electricity urges farm operators and workers to:
·    Use a spotter when operating large machinery near lines.
·    Use care when raising augers or the bed of grain trucks around power lines. 
·    Keep equipment at least 10 feet from lines—at all times, in all directions.
·    Inspect the height of the farm equipment to determine clearance.
·    Always remember to lower extensions when moving loads.
·    Never attempt to move a power line out of the way or raise it for clearance.
·    If a power line is sagging or low, call the local utility immediately. 
    “Always remember to periodically look up and be aware of your surroundings,” Lammers adds. “If you can’t safely pass under a power line, choose a different path.”
    If contact is made with a power line, remember, it is almost always safest to stay on the equipment. Make sure to warn others to stay away, and call the local utility provider immediately. The only reason to exit is if the equipment is on fire. If this is the case, jump off the equipment with your feet together and without touching the ground and vehicle at the same time. Then, still keeping your feet together, “bunny hop” away.
    Additional safety tips from CCPPD and Safe Electricity include:
·    Do not use metal poles when breaking up bridged grain inside and around bins.
·    Always hire qualified electricians for any electrical issues. 
·    Do not use equipment with frayed cables.
·    Make sure outdoor outlets are equipped with a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI).
·    When operating a portable generator, make sure nothing is plugged into it when turning it on, and never operate a generator in a confined area. Generators can produce toxic and deadly gasses like carbon monoxide.
·    Always use caution when operating heavy machinery. 
    For more farm and electrical safety information, visit SafeElectricity.org. 



1st Annual Farm Tire Auction raises $40,000 for Nebraska FFA
Stacey Agnew, Executive Director, NE FFA Foundation

On Wednesday, September 11, Graham Tire, Titan Tire and the Nebraska FFA Foundation hosted the first annual Nebraska FFA Foundation Farm Tire Auction. All items were donated by Titan Tire and Graham Tire.  We saw great successes with this year's auction and expect to see another great crowd next year. The event raised $40,000 with all funds going to Nebraska FFA and Ag Education.

Celebrate National Teach Ag Day on September 26
Ag education instructors are teaching students a wide variety of skills from science and math to leadership and communications to management and technology. They have such a unique skill set and that is why we celebrate them on September 26th for National Teach Ag Day!  On September 26th, thank your local ag instructor and encourage students to fill the growing need and becoming ag teachers.



Consider Early Harvest to Provide Stalks, Relieve Pastures
Bruce Anderson, UNL Extension Forage Specialist

The past few weeks have really fried dryland corn. With no more yield potential to gain and fairly dry grain, consider harvesting corn early to get some stalks and provide respite for your pastures.

Most pastures have suffered through two or more years of drought stress. As we approach winter, these plants need time to recover and winterize. Even if they received plenty of rain recently or get more later this year and regrow well, continued grazing now will weaken plants as they go into winter. Next spring they will green up later, early growth will be slow, and they'll compete poorly with weeds.

To given your pastures a break, consider combining your dryland corn a little early and then moving the cows to stalks. Early stalks usually have more protein and energy than late stalks so they can put some condition on your cows while also relieving your pastures. And don’t worry about leaving some grass behind ungrazed. Dry, leftover grass actually balances well with new lush growth in the spring.

With the recent excessive heat, corn grain has matured rapidly and may be ready to combine. You need a little time to set up fences and water tanks on stalk fields anyway, so consider starting corn harvest early this year. It might lessen the hectic pace later when you want to spend time in the combine harvesting crops instead of setting up stalk grazing.



Fuel Changes Are Here
John Hay, UNL Extension Educator, Biological Systems Engineering Department - UNL

Lower octane gasoline is now flowing up the pipelines to local terminals.  This “sub octane” fuel will change the choices and prices we see at the pump. Previously gasoline in the pipeline was about 87 octane, starting now gasoline in the pipeline will be about 83-84 octane.  This “sub octane” will need to be blended with an octane enhancer to meet the 87 and above octane ratings we see at the pump. This is where ethanol comes in, as the lowest cost octane booster (ethanol has an octane rating of 100). In recent years the choices have been 91 premium 89 “super” with 10% ethanol, and 87 regular. Starting now there are many choices for fuel stations yet of greatest interest to the public will be the low cost option which will change from the 89 “super” with 10% ethanol to the 87 with 10% ethanol. Don’t let the numbers confuse you, octane rating is not energy, and mileage per gallon will not change between the old 89 “super” and the new 87 with 10% ethanol. Just to make things even more confusing we are nearing the time when we switch to winter fuel which is more volatile and has lower BTU per gallon than summer fuel (more short HC chains thus lighter fuel). Below are some potential options for fuel stations and generally how they could be priced assuming premium fuel is highest cost and ethanol trades at a discount to gasoline. Note the list below generally goes from lowest cost to highest.
     - 87 with 10% ethanol
     - 89 with 10% ethanol (mix of “sub octane, premium and ethanol)
     - 87 (made from “sub octane” and premium)
     - 93 with 10% ethanol (premium with ethanol)
     - 91 (premium)

Things to know
     1. Octane rating is not energy and a car should get the same mileage with 87 as 89 or even 91.
     2. Cars with high compression engines are the only cars that need high octane fuel. Read your gas cap and your manual (most cars list a minimum octane such as 85). High compression engines are more efficient, due to the compression ratio. Not the fuel.

This new “sub octane” will shake things up for a while as fuel stations figure out how to label, price, and market these new blends.



Another View:  ACE alerts consumers that Big Oil is forcing lower quality gasoline on the market

Ron Lamberty, Senior Vice President of the American Coalition for Ethanol is warning consumers that recent changes in fuel supplied to the Midwest by oil companies will reduce the quality of gasoline available in many states.

“If people notice that their gas doesn’t seem as good as it used to be, it’s because the gas isn’t as good as it used to be.” Lamberty says. “The ethanol is exactly the same as it was last week, last month, or last year – but on September 16th, the octane of gasoline just got much lower, however consumers will pay the same as before.”

“Most of the Midwest is served by the Magellan pipeline system, and oil companies that use that system recently decided to supply 84-octane gas as their “base” gasoline instead of the 87 octane that has been the standard for as long as most of us remember. 84-octane gas can’t even be used in vehicles without adding high-octane ethanol or some very expensive premium gasoline to the low-octane fuel.” said Lamberty. “The oil industry is claiming that these changes were necessary because of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), but there is absolutely nothing in the RFS that compels oil companies to reduce the quality of the fuel by lowering the octane. Oil companies are switching to 84-octane because it increases their profits and gives them complete control of ethanol and RINs.  Oil refineries save a lot of money and get more gallons of 84-octane from a barrel than they get making 87-octane, and yet prices haven’t dropped in other U.S. markets where the change has already been made. Consumers won’t pay lower prices for these lower-octane fuels, the oil companies will just make more money.”

“The news gets even worse for consumers. This change also means gas station owners will no longer be able to buy 84-octane gasoline and save money by buying ethanol and blending it themselves. Now, oil companies have complete control over how and when ethanol is blended.  As a result, gas stations will have to pay whatever the oil company wants to charge for the pre-blended E10 or pay the oil company a much higher price for the sub-octane gasoline, putting any savings from lower-priced ethanol in the pockets of Big Oil,” explained Lamberty. “The only way consumers can share in the lower price of ethanol is by buying E85 or E15, and Big Oil is doing everything they can to make sure consumers aren’t even offered that choice,”

“This change should open some eyes to the fact that the fight against E15 and the RFS is all about control of the fuel supply, and not about Big Oil’s concern for consumers. If they were concerned about drivers, they wouldn’t continue to reduce fuel quality,” says Lamberty. “The ethanol industry wants motorists to have more choices at the pump, and the RFS was enacted so American consumers could have those options, not just choices between different oil companies. Big Oil wants consumers to have fewer choices, and they want to control all the choices. There’s only one reason for that, and it isn’t concern for motorists, it’s huge profits.”



Producers Reminded to Register for 2013 ISU Beef Nutrition Research Showcase

Those interested in what’s happening in the area of beef nutrition research at Iowa State University should register by Sept. 25 for the “Beef Nutrition Research Showcase” set for Oct. 3. The event will offer a look at the variety of related research underway at ISU, including at the ISU Beef Nutrition Farm.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach beef program specialist Joe Sellers said organizers hope that having the showcase the same date as the evening Iowa State-Texas football game will enable more people to attend and learn about the research being done at Iowa State.

“The research showcase is just that – a look at the wide variety of research happening at Iowa State,” he said. “The event will run from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., giving everyone plenty of time to attend pre-game activities before the 6:30 p.m. kickoff.”

The printable event flyer includes the agenda, sponsor listing and preregistration information. See it at http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/events/ResearchShowcaseFlyer2013.pdf.

To order tickets to the Iowa State versus Texas football game, contact the Iowa State ticket office at 515-294-1816 or 888-478-2925. See location and cost of available tickets online.

Thanks to sponsorship from Elanco Animal Health, the entire Beef Nutrition Research Showcase is free. However, it’s important to preregister by the Sept. 25 deadline to assure adequate transportation, materials and meal counts for attendees. Preregister by emailing beefcenter@iastate.edu or jrober@iastate.edu or by calling 515-294-2333 with the name and address of each attendee.

Stephanie Hansen, assistant animal science professor, said the showcase begins and ends at the Beef Nutrition Farm, and will be held rain or shine. The farm is located at 3405 North Dakota Ave., approximately 4 miles north of the Highway 30/South Dakota Avenue interchange on the southwest corner of Ames. See a map with driving directions here. Signs for parking will be posted.

“The event starts with registration at the farm from 9:30 to 10 a.m. with bus transportation to Kildee Hall on campus for research and sponsor presentations, followed by lunch,” Hansen said. “Attendees will hear about a variety of Iowa State research topics, including managing high sulfur diets, vitamin C and meat quality, and mob grazing for wildlife management.”

During and after lunch, participants will get updates from program sponsor Elanco Animal Health and farm research equipment sponsors Multimin USA, Micronutrients and Midwest PMS. Buses will then return people to the Beef Nutrition Farm where tours of several research groups and stations will run until the program ends around 3 p.m.



Bob Stallman, President, AFBF, Regarding Court Ruling Upholding EPA Chesapeake Bay TMDL

“The American Farm Bureau Federation is deeply disappointed with the district court’s ruling upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s total maximum daily load for the Chesapeake Bay. We believe the ruling is incorrect and has huge implications for farmers and many others in the Bay area and nationwide.

“Win or lose in this lawsuit, farmers care deeply about our natural environment and want to do our part to improve water quality. But Congress did not authorize EPA to dictate how farmers, builders, homeowners, and towns would share the responsibility of achieving clean water. That is the states’ job. We believe EPA’s approach wrongly puts federal agency staff in charge of intensely local land use decisions.

“AFBF and our allies in this case are reviewing the decision and evaluating next steps.”



China Purchases U.S. Sorghum for First Time Ever
Last month marked the first time in history that China purchased sorghum from the United States for feed use.

According to Bryan Lohmar, U.S. Grains Council Director in China, this was caused by a tight corn market in China and restrictions on corn imports.

"Future opportunities for U.S. sorghum in the China market are very good, particularly if China continues to enforce the TRQ on corn," Lohmar said. The TRQ policy on corn limits purchases from importers and end-users in China, even if the price was right.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China has outstanding sales of 197,000 metric tons (7.8 million bushels) of U.S. sorghum, with 58,000 tons (2.3 million tons) shipped. USDA reports outstanding sales of 498,000 tons (19.6 million bushels) for unknown destinations, which is widely speculated to be destined to China.

According to a Reuters report, "mills have already bought about 800,000 tons of U.S. sorghum for shipment in the 2013/14 year starting in September and total orders are likely to top 1 million tons, with prices still attractive."

Last week, the U.S. Grains Council hosted a team of United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP) representatives to China to assess China's potential as a future market of U.S. sorghum. While there, the team was able to familiarize the feed and livestock industry of the benefits sorghum feed has in pork, poultry and aquaculture production.



US Labor Department’s OSHA working with agriculture community to promote safety education during Farm Safety Week, Sept. 15-22

The agriculture sector accounted for 475 deaths in 2012. With a fatality rate of 21.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, agriculture recorded the highest fatality rate of any industry sector.  Additionally, 48,300 injuries were recorded in 2011, the last year for which statistics are available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This sector employs more than 2 million people in the United States.

2013farmsafetyThe U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is supporting the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety’s National Farm Safety & Health Week, Sept. 15-21, by emphasizing the importance of worker safety in the agricultural industry. The theme for this year’s National Farm Safety & Health Week is “Working Together for Safety in Agriculture.”

“By working together to protect agricultural workers from job hazards and assuring that workers have the right to safety training, we can all make a positive impact on the lives of agricultural workers,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “OSHA has worked diligently with agri-businesses, farm agencies and communities in recent years to increase awareness of the hazards of confined spaces, farm equipment, grain handling and other hazards in the this industry in an effort to promote safety and health on America’s farms.”

Farm Safety and Health Week has been observed annually since 1944 during September as farmers prepare for harvest. The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety has posted informational safety and health materials on its website at www.necasag.org.

Farmworkers are at high risk for: fatal and nonfatal injuries, work-related lung diseases, heat exposure, noise-induced hearing loss, skin diseases and certain cancers associated with chemical use and prolonged sun exposure. OSHA has additional information available on its website regarding specific agricultural hazards located at https://www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/agriculturaloperations/index.html.

Additionally, record numbers of deaths and injuries in 2010 led OSHA to develop a Local Emphasis Program for Grain Handling Facilities, focusing on the grain and feed industry’s six major hazards including: engulfment, falls, auger entanglement, “struck by,” combustible dust explosions and electrocution hazards.

In 2010, at least 26 U.S. workers were killed in grain engulfments, the highest number on record. OSHA has published information related to common grain industry hazards and abatement methods, proper bin entry techniques, sweep auger use and many other grain related topics at www.osha.gov/SLTC/grainhandling/index.html. The Grain Bin LEP is used in 25 states.

The Grain Handling Safety Coalition can also provide all the necessary training materials to train farmers, commercial grain handling employees, youth, rescue workers and more for free or at a very reduced rate. There are five different safety topics available including an overview of grain handling and storage safety, grain bin entry as well as entanglement, fall and confined space hazards. GHSC also offers “Train the Trainer” courses for companies and communities to have a local resource for training. More information is available at www.grainsafety.org.

Information is also available on the employment of youths in agriculture at https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/youth/agriculture/index.html.

Approximately one half of farmworkers are Hispanic. OSHA requires that employers conduct all required training of workers in a language and vocabulary workers can understand. OSHA's Spanish-language outreach resources, which detail how employers can work cooperatively with OSHA, are:
-    Hispanic Outreach Module of Compliance Assistance Quick Start, available at: https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/compliance_assistance/quickstarts/hispanic/index_hispanic.html
-    Spanish-Language Compliance Assistance Resources, available at: https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/compliance_assistance/index_hispanic.html and
-    Podemos Ayudar (We Can Help), available at: https://www.osha.gov/as/opa/spanish/index.html.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions exist for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.



CF INDUSTRIES NAMES NEW CEO

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF), announced Friday that its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stephen R. Wilson has informed the company's board of directors that he plans to retire as CEO effective January 1, 2014.

W. Anthony Will, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Distribution, has been selected to succeed Wilson at that time. Wilson will remain a director of the company and serve as non-executive chairman.

"This transition is the culmination of a rigorous succession planning process undertaken by the board of directors over a number of years. The board has focused on developing strong management talent and we are confident that Tony Will has the right experience and capabilities to lead CF Industries," said Wilson.

"Tony has been a key player in the evolution of the company since we recruited him following his experiences at several consulting and corporate organizations. I am confident in Tony's ability to continue to execute our focused strategy of creating value through our nitrogen fertilizer platform," he continued.

Will, 48, joined CF Industries in 2007 as the company's first vice president, corporate development. He led the company's acquisition of its 50% interest in Keytrade, played a major role on the core team that executed the Terra Industries acquisition in 2010 and led the successful integration of the five Terra manufacturing facilities with the legacy CF Industries operations. He was promoted to his present position in 2009 and has been responsible for annual production of 15 million tons of fertilizer and its distribution through some 70 locations. Will had a prominent role in developing the company's capacity expansion strategy and currently is responsible for its execution.

Wilson, 64, has been an officer of CF Industries for nearly 23 years. He joined the company as chief financial officer in 1991 and was named CEO in 2003. He was elected a director and appointed chairman in 2005 upon completion of the company's initial public offering. Under his leadership, the company was transformed from a cooperative to a public company, acquired and successfully integrated Terra Industries and currently is executing a significant expansion of its North American nitrogen platform. Today CF Industries is the second largest nitrogen fertilizer producer in the world and its market capitalization has increased from about $880 million in 2005 to over $11 billion as the share price rose from $16 to $194, an increase of some 1100%.

Stephen A. Furbacher, Lead Independent Director, commented, "The accomplishments of CF Industries over the past decade reflect Steve Wilson's strong leadership in establishing a culture of safety, integrity and operational excellence, in developing and executing strategy and in attracting and developing the management talent that has positioned the company for a smooth CEO transition."