Tuesday April 21 Ag News

Pass the Salt: Beef Cattle Gains Increased in DDGS Study

A recent Kansas State University study found that providing growing cattle with dried distillers grains plus salt on a self-feeding basis while the animals grazed native pastures helped boost average daily weight gain without the indirect expenses linked to daily delivery such as fuel and labor.

During the two growing seasons prior to the 2013 study, the Flint Hills area of Kansas, like much of the state, experienced drought which stressed pastures.

Looking for ways to optimize cattle performance and maintain pasture health, a team of K-State researchers conducted a study with beef heifers over a 78-day period at K-State’s Beef Stocker Unit in the northern Flint Hills. While grazing, some of the heifers had access to DDGS mixed with salt at two different levels.

"We have known for several years that DDGS is a good source of protein and energy when fed as a supplement for cattle," said Dale Blasi, extension beef specialist with K-State Research and Extension. "In this study we wanted to determine the consumption and resulting growth from supplemental DDGS when provided at two levels of salt addition."

DDGS are a byproduct of ethanol production and are commonly fed to beef cattle, particularly in areas where ethanol is made. Most ethanol is derived from corn, but can also be made from other feedstocks such as sorghum or wheat.



March Milk Production up 1.1 Percent
                       
Milk production in the 23 major States during March totaled 16.9 billion pounds, up 1.1 percent from March 2014. February revised production at 15.1 billion pounds, was up 1.7 percent from February 2014. The February revision represented a decrease of 10 million pounds or 0.1 percent from last month's preliminary production estimate.

Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,959 pounds for March, 2 pounds above March 2014. This is the highest production per cow for the month of March since the 23 State series began in 2003.    

The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.62 million head, 86,000 head more than March 2014, but 4,000 head fewer than February 2015.

IOWA MILK PRODUCTION
Milk production in Iowa during March 2015 totaled 408 million pounds, up 4 percent from March 2014 according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Milk Production report. The average number of milk cows during March, at 209,000 head, was down 1,000 from last month, but was 4,000 more than a year ago. Monthly production per cow averaged 1,950 pounds, up 30 pounds from last March. This is the highest March milk per cow for the state on record.

January - March Milk Production up 1.7 Percent
Milk production in the United States during the January - March quarter totaled 51.9 billion pounds, up 1.7 percent from the January - March quarter last year.  The average number of milk cows in the United States during the quarter was 9.30 million head, 17,000 head more than the October - December 2014 quarter, and 88,000 head more than the same period last year.

Q1 Milk Production by State  (# cows, million pounds production, % of Q1 '14)
Nebraska ...:       55,000 cows (+2,000 from Q1 '14)       311.0    -  106.5%    
Iowa ..........:     205,000 cows  (+5,000 from Q1 '14)    1,187.0  -  104.2%    



2015 Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin contest opens May 1

The Iowa Pork Producers Association is announcing its 13th annual Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin Contest.

Pork tenderloin enthusiasts can submit nominations for their favorite beginning on May 1. Any café, restaurant or tavern that serves hand-breaded or battered pork tenderloins on its core menu is eligible to be nominated. Preference will be given to establishments that are open year-round. Restaurant owners and operators are prohibited from nominating their own establishment.

Nominations are limited to one per household. Forms are available at iowapork.org and in the May issue of the Iowa Pork Producer magazine. The deadline for nominations is June 8, 2015.

This year marks a change in the judging process of nominees. The top five restaurants with the most nominations from each of the eight IPPA districts will be judged. The IPPA Restaurant and Foodservice Committee reserves the right to add additional restaurants to the judging process as it sees fit.

"We're thrilled to see this contest grow and love to see consumers supporting their favorite tenderloin sandwich, but with an increase in nominations it's time to up the ante!" said IPPA Marketing and Programs Director Kelsey Sutter. "This new rule will also allow us to get a better representation from across the state."

Representatives of the Iowa pork industry will judge the tenderloins on pork quality, taste, physical characteristics and eating experience.

One person who nominates the winning restaurant will win $100 from IPPA. The winning restaurant will receive $500, a plaque and banner to display in the establishment, statewide publicity and bragging rights for the year.

IPPA will announce the contest winner during October Pork Month.

The contest recognizes Iowa dining establishments that support the swine industry by putting pork on their menu.

Last year's contest brought in nearly 1,900 nominations and a record 98 tenderloin sandwiches were judged on pork quality, taste, physical characteristics and eating experience. The 2014 contest winner was the Lucky Pig Pub and Grill in Ogden.



Registration Open for AgGateway Meeting June 8-11 in Altoona

Registration is open for AgGateway's Mid-Year Meeting, June 8-11, at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa (just outside of Des Moines).

Once again AgGateway has specifically planned the meeting to be as welcoming and convenient to attend as possible, as part of its mission to promote, enable and expand eBusiness in agriculture. Registration is just $100 for both members and non-members. The special hotel rate at Prairie Meadows, available until May 18, is $105/night.

In addition, if you register by May 8 you'll be entered into a drawing to win a special VIP attendee package, including a complimentary hotel room upgrade to a suite, $50 in casino chips or resort credit; and a welcome package in your room.

The organizers also are continuing the organization's "invite a trading partner" program, which allows AgGateway members to invite a trading partner at a discounted registration fee of just $75.

The conference agenda, registration and hotel reservation information is available on AgGateway's Mid-Year Meeting webpage at aggateway.org/EventsampAwards/2015MidYearMeeting.aspx.

The Mid-Year Meeting is ideal for anyone seeking to expand eBusiness in agriculture -- from seasoned AgGateway members to ag professionals new to the organization. The working meeting provides excellent networking opportunities, as well as many open group sessions (Councils, Committees, Projects, etc.) where teams discuss ways to advance their collaborative eBusiness initiatives. This year's meeting will also feature additional educational seminars -- be sure to check the event webpage for updates.



IOWA CHICKEN AND EGGS REPORT

Iowa Egg production during March 2015 was 1.41 billion eggs, up 10 percent from last month, and up 4 percent from last year, according to the latest Chickens and Eggs release from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.  The total number of layers on hand during March was 59.5 million, virtually unchanged from last month, but up slightly from last year. Eggs per 100 layers for the month of March were 2,376, up 11 percent from February, and up 3 percent from 2,300 last year.

United States Chickens & Eggs
United States egg production totaled 8.53 billion during March 2015, up 1 percent from last year. Production included 7.42 billion table eggs, and 1.12 billion hatching eggs, of which 1.03 billion were broiler-type and 91 million were egg-type. The total number of layers during March 2015 averaged 362 million, up 1 percent from last year. March egg production per 100 layers was 2,358 eggs, up 1 percent from March 2014. 

All layers in the United States on April 1, 2015 totaled 361 million, up slightly from last year. The 361 million layers consisted of 303 million layers producing table or market type eggs, 54.5 million layers producing broiler-type hatching eggs, and 3.53 million layers producing egg-type hatching eggs. Rate of lay per day on April 1, 2015, averaged 76.8 eggs per 100 layers, up 1 percent from April 1, 2014. 

Egg-type chicks hatched during March 2015 totaled 50.4 million, up 14 percent from March 2014. Eggs inincubators totaled 49.0 million on April 1, 2015, up 13 percent from a year ago. 

Domestic placements of egg-type pullet chicks for future hatchery supply flocks by leading breeders totaled 304 thousand during March 2015, up 29 percent from March 2014. 

Broiler-type chicks hatched during March 2015 totaled 791 million, up 3 percent from March 2014. Eggs in incubators totaled 646 million on April 1, 2015, up 2 percent from a year ago.

Leading breeders placed 7.18 million broiler-type pullet chicks for future domestic hatchery supply flocks during March 2015, up 6 percent from March 2014.



ASA Applauds Senate Hearing on Cuba; Calls on Congress to Pass Legislation to Lift Embargo

The American Soybean Association welcomes the renewed focus from the Senate Agriculture Committee on expanding agricultural trade to Cuba as part of a hearing held earlier today on Capitol Hill. The hearing gave several groups, including the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba (USACC) of which ASA is a member, an opportunity to speak about the challenges and potential opportunities for trade with Cuba.

“ASA applauds Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow for holding such an important hearing, and for their attention to this issue,” said ASA First Vice President and Greenwood, Del., farmer Richard Wilkins. “Normalized and barrier-free trade with Cuba—an emerging market only 90 miles from our shores—would have a positive impact on soybean exports in the form of increased demand for pork, poultry, dairy and eggs, as well as vegetable oil for cooking.”

ASA is a charter member of the USACC, which formed in response to the need to reestablish Cuba as a market for U.S. food and agriculture exports. USACC provided two witnesses for today’s hearing panel to discuss Cuban market opportunities.

“We know that the soybean industry is losing out on valuable opportunities to market U.S. food and agriculture products in Cuba,” added Wilkins. “In the last year, Cuba imported about a half-million tons of soybeans and soybean products. A little less than half of that total came from the U.S. And those soybeans that have gone to Cuba in the last year have been exported with difficulty resulting from the red tape involved with the 1960s embargo. Lifting trade barriers and normalizing commercial trade would allow U.S. soybean producers to grow the Cuban export market and better compete with foreign suppliers who continue to increase their market share.”



NAWG Urges Close Oversight Over Federal Grain Inspection Service

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) sent a letter to the House Agriculture Committee concerning the Grains Standards Act that is up for reauthorization at the end of September. NAWG believes there must be a mechanism in place to ensure that the flow of trade is not disrupted and urges Congress to reject attempts that would undermine the current system of inspections.

“The sort of disruption to our export system that occurred last year at a United Grain facility in the Pacific Northwest cannot be allowed to occur again. Vessels were not loaded, barges could not deliver, the rail transportation system slowed down and our foreign customers began to question our ability to deliver on contracts,” states the letter.

“Our overseas customers have come to trust the current system. It is vital that we remain the world’s reliable supplier of wheat,” said NAWG President Brett Blankenship, a wheat grower from Washtucna, Wash. “It is essential that we keep the federal government in charge of inspections and grant more oversight to ensure inspections are taking place when they need to be. NAWG urges Congress to maintain a close oversight role over FGIS to ensure that the agency is following appropriate statutory obligations when disruptions occur at our ports.”

NAWG supports legislation requiring FGIS to take whatever actions are necessary to immediately restore official grain inspection and weighting service wherever and whenever it is disrupted.



4-H, Tractor Supply Co. Launch Spring Fundraising Program

The National 4-H Council announced the launch of the spring 2015 4-H Paper Clover Campaign in partnership with Tractor Supply Company. This event marks the sixth year of collaboration between the organizations on the national in-store fundraiser, benefiting state and local 4?H programming in each of the communities where a TSC or Del's Farm and Feed Supply store is located.

The spring 2015 4-H Paper Clover Campaign will take place April 22 - May 3, 2015. Shoppers at Tractor Supply Company and Del's Farm and Feed Supply stores will have the opportunity to support 4-H in 1,200 communities by choosing to purchase paper clovers for a $1 or more at checkout. All funds raised will be donated to 4-H, and will support 4-H youth development program activities in the communities where stores are located.

"For many years, the fundraising event has allowed us to provide thousands of 4-H youth across the country greater access to 4-H programs," said Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO, National 4-H Council. "We are thrilled about our continued partnership with Tractor Supply Company as it drives the excitement of local community participation and support for 4-H programs, and therefore the success of the 4-H Paper Clover Campaign."

Last year, across 48 states, the TSC 4-H Paper Clover Campaign provided more than $1.5 million to 4-H across the country. All proceeds raised directly benefit 4-H, with 70 percent of funds being returned to state and local 4-H programs. The effort has provided direct support for local camps, after-school programs and other activities, and has granted scholarships to these events that youth can explore their interests in everything from animal science to robotics.



AgriCharts Launches Online Platform for Physical Grain Trading

AgriCharts, the agricultural commodity division of Barchart, announces the release of a new online platform, named the AgriCharts Grain Offer System, which modernizes the buying and selling of physical grain between grain elevators and farmers. With the AgriCharts Grain Offer System, both producers and buyers of grain, including corn, soybeans and wheat, will be able to transact orders from their desktop, phone or tablet. The AgriCharts Grain Offer System is completely web-based and leverages advanced technologies including cloud-based infrastructure from Amazon Web Services. The Grain Offer System further compliments the range of web-based market data and trading services AgriCharts provides to the agricultural industry.

“The platform we’ve built for trading physical grain uses an incredibly simple interface and has built-in automatic notifications to keep both buyers and sellers aware of activity,” said Mark Haraburda, Managing Director of AgriCharts. “The AgriCharts Grain Offer System will also be provided at no cost to both grain buyers and producers. We will of course offer a premium version, but for the majority of the marketplace our free version will certainly meet their needs,” added Haraburda.

The AgriCharts Grain Offer System has many features designed for both buyers and sellers of grain.

For Grain Merchandisers and Elevators:
·     Seamlessly integrate online offers into your website.
·     Monitor your elevator’s farmer offers against CBOT prices.
·     Receive text and/or email notifications of changes in an offer status.
·     Download and sort reports of all current and archived offer activity.
·     Sync offer activity with your accounting system using our simple API.
·     Customize alerts when offers are within a specified value away from matching.
·     Create offers on-the-fly for a farmer.
·     Easily create and view farmer accounts on your custom dashboard.

For Farmers:
·     Register, subscribe and login to your own version of the Grain Offer System to begin creating and managing offers with your elevator.
·     Easily create and cancel your own offers.
·     Receive text and/or email notifications of offer status changes.
·     Download and sort reports of your current offer activity and history.

For more information, visit www.agricharts.com/cashbids/grainoffer.php.