Tuesday September 29 Ag News

NePPA Host Common Swine Industry Audit Preparation Sessions

Pick from Four Locations
Tuesday, October 6, Lifelong Learning Center, Norfolk
Wednesday, October 7, Cuming County Courthouse, West Point
Thursday, October 15, Holiday Inn Express, Beatrice
Friday, October 16, Holiday Inn Express, Columbus

Morning or Afternoon Classes Available
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Class I
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Class II

Background:
In 2013, an Industry Audit Task Force was formed, which included producers, veterinarians, animal scientists, retail food service personnel and packer representatives. Their goal was to develop a consensus on consistent on-farm auditing standards using Pork Quality Assurance®
Plus and Transport Quality Assurance® programs as a foundation.  The result is the Common Swine Industry Audit, which was announced at the 2014 World Pork Expo.

Preparation Training:
NePPA in cooperation with ISU Extension and Outreach Swine Field Specialist will provide:
·  Overview of the Audit Tool (the 89 questions which have different point values)
·  Discuss the audit process and focus points of the audit
- Critical 5 Questions - Euthanasia: articulate insensibility and confirmation of death
·  Provide a 3-ring binder to help manage records, documents and SOP’s
·  Provide a flash-drive with SOP templates which each farm may customize
·  Will assist with SOP development/customizing

Sponsored by the NE Pork Producers Assoc, Iowa State University Extension, and the National Pork Board.  Register by phone 402-472-0493 or on-line at www.nepork.org.  Walk-ins are also welcome. 



PLAN ACCESS TO WINTER HAY
Bruce Anderson, UNL Extension Forage Specialist

               What will happen to your hay if you have a snowy winter.  Will you be able to get to it?  Prepare now for any heavy snow with proper placement.

               As I think back about some of the long, cold, and snowy periods we all have experienced in years past, I begin to realize how lucky we have been the past few winters.  Sure, we've had some cold and snowy weather.  But it rarely lasted terribly long.

               But what if it does last a long time this winter?  Will you be ready?  Will you have adequate feed supplies for your livestock on hand?  Will you have easy access to all your hay supplies during a blizzard?  And will you be able to get it to your animals?

               While driving across the state, I see many hay stacks and round bales stored next to trees or in low spots or along fence lines that might get drifted in during a blizzard.  In some cases, the access road to this hay might get drifted in.  And in a lot of sites, when the snow eventually melts during winter or next spring, it might be too muddy to get to the hay.

               I also wonder how well the hay is organized.  Is good hay separated from poor hay?  Has it even been tested so you know what hay should be fed to cows needing only a maintenance diet and what hay should be saved for animals needing extra protein and energy.  And then, can you get to either one whenever you want?  Also, has the hay been tested for nitrates?  Nitrate poisoning occurs most frequently when high nitrate hay is fed to hungry animals right after a snow storm.

               Don't neglect planning for bad weather in placement of your hay yards.  Then if storms do occur, you'll be ready.



UNL LEADS $13.5 MILLION RESEARCH TO ENHANCE SORGHUM FOR BIOFUEL

    The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will lead a $13.5 million, multi-institutional research effort to improve sorghum as a sustainable source for biofuel production.

    Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, this five-year grant takes a comprehensive approach to better understand how plants and microbes interact, and to learn which sorghum germplasm grows better with less water and nitrogen. This research requires a range of expertise, and UNL is teaming with scientists at Danforth Plant Science Center, Washington State University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Boyce Thompson Institute, Clemson University, Iowa State University, Colorado State University and the DOE-Joint Genome Institute.

    "UNL is delighted to be leading this large project with partners from prestigious institutions," said Prem Paul, UNL vice chancellor for research and economic development. "Only by collaborating across disciplines and institutions can we find solutions to complex challenges, especially those at the intersection of our food, water and energy systems."

    Most U.S. biofuels currently are made from corn, but sorghum varieties create more biomass for cellulosic ethanol. That makes it a top contender to replace corn and relieve pressure on an important global food source, said project leader Daniel Schachtman, professor of agronomy and horticulture and director of UNL's Center for Biotechnology, who will lead this project.  

    "It's becoming more recognized that we need to move biofuel production to more marginal lands, so they don’t compete with food crops," Schachtman said. "You also don't want to use a ton of water or fertilizer to keep the system productive."

    To improve sorghum's productivity under resource-limited conditions, the team is taking a systems approach. Researchers will investigate sorghum genetics as well as the soil microbes that interact with plants. The research should lead to strategies to increase plant biomass as well as more water use- and nutrient-efficient sorghum crop systems.

    The work takes advantage of advances in marker-assisted breeding, metagenomics and computational genomic analysis. Geneticists will search for and study sorghum varieties that use water and nitrogen more efficiently under limited water or nitrogen conditions. At the same time, microbiologists will identify and characterize soil microbes that interact with and benefit sorghum, such as by enhancing nutrient uptake, water-use efficiency and disease protection.

    Bringing both approaches together, the team will experiment to find the genetic and microbial combinations with the greatest productivity benefits.

    The team also will create an extensive catalogue and repository of sorghum-related soil microbes and their genetic sequences as a resource for the scientific community.

    Looking for microbial solutions to improve plant productivity is not well studied, so the project will advance scientific understanding in a potentially significant direction for other crops as well, Schachtman said.

    The project's strength is the interdisciplinary depth and expertise of the team, he added, because it allows the researchers to tackle sorghum production as a whole system. Working together, researchers expect to accomplish far more than is possible at any single institution.

    UNL's Ismail Dweikat, sorghum breeder and professor of agronomy and horticulture, and Arthur Zygielbaum, remote sensing expert and associate research professor of natural resources, are teaming with Schachtman on this project.

    "Nebraska will be the focal point of a lot of the work," Schachtman said. "The university has developed fantastic field research facilities that really put us ahead. It's highly significant work because we could be creating a more sustainable biofuel system for the United States."

    Ronnie Green, Harlan Vice Chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and interim senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the project "represents a payoff on the investments we're making in faculty and facilities that expands our expertise in critical areas such as sustainable biofuels. Strengthening our capabilities to study the root microbiome enables us to take the systems approach that is so critical in agricultural research."



USDA Helps Rural Businesses Create Jobs and Increase Economic Opportunities; $336,489 Goes to Eight Nebraska Projects

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today awarded 385 grants to help support the start-up or expansion of rural small businesses.

“These grants will strengthen the economic fabric of our rural small towns and communities by providing capital to small and emerging businesses,” Vilsack said.

USDA is awarding the grants through the Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) program. Recipients may use the funds to provide technical assistance, training and job-creation activities.

The City of Atkinson is receiving $53,874 to renovate a 3,500 square foot building space and create a business incubator to grow develop entrepreneurs in the area.

Central Community College at Columbus is receiving two grants.  They will use $7,247 to provide business planning and development opportunities for entrepreneurs in Boone, Butler, Colfax, Merrick, Nance, Platte, and Polk Counties.  Another $19,193 will allow the College to provide technical assistance to new, small and emerging businesses with planning and development of business ideas to implementation, through intensive coaching and mentors in Boone, Butler, Colfax, Merrick, Nance, Platte, and Polk Counties.

The Center for Rural Affairs at Lyons is also receiving two grants, with $38,687 to provide technical assistance through a series of training session that will assist small emerging businesses in accessing and using value-added food minimal processing facilities in Burt, Cuming, Stanton, Thurston, and Wayne Counties.  Another $99,000 will be used to provide training, technical assistance, support, and farmer’s market opportunities for Native American food-based businesses in the communities of Santee and Macy, Nebraska.

Twin Cities Development Association, Inc. (TCD) at Scottsbluff/Gering will receive $44,960 to create a community commercial kitchen and technical assistance to assist food-based business entrepreneurs in Scotts Bluff County.  TCD will be collaborating with University of Nebraska Food Processing Center and their Recipe to Reality Program to assist entrepreneurs that are starting a food-based business.

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents will receive $21,039 to provide technical assistance in Kimball and Chadron, Nebraska to enhance online marketing strategies for rural business owners.

The Village of Walthill will receive $82,489 to provide technical assistance and to establish a training program to assist Native American rural small business and small business start-ups in the Village of Walthill, Nebraska.  The Village of Walthill will be collaborating with Nebraska Indian Community College, Nebraska Department of Economic Development, and the Omaha Nation Community Response Team to ensure the success of the small businesses $53,874 for a small business incubator.

Funding of each award announced is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the grant agreement. In total, USDA is providing nearly $20 million in grants.

USDA’s Rural Business Development Grant Program is one of several that support rural economic development. Since the start of the Obama administration, USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service has helped 85,000 rural businesses.



11th Annual EHS Summit Kicks Off Oct. 13 in Kearney

Safety professionals from across the state will gather in Kearney, Nebraska, for the 11th annual Environment, Health and Safety Summit Tuesday, Oct. 13.

The daylong summit, which is presented by the Nebraska Ethanol Board, includes speakers from agencies across the country including the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, Pinnacle Engineering, Fletcher Safety and Southeast Community College.

“This is a great opportunity to network and learn about the latest government regulations and compliance changes,” said Todd Sneller, Nebraska Ethanol Board administrator. “We are proud that the summit has grown to include diverse companies beyond the ethanol industry during the past 11 years.”

Originally established to provide compliance, safety, public health and emerging technology information for the rapidly developing ethanol industry, the program has attracted the attention of other professional sectors as government regulations continue to increase, Sneller said.

The Nebraska Ethanol Board works with a variety of private partners and ethanol plant personnel, who focus on compliance, worker safety and public health issues, to put on the summit. College students also are invited to attend and may qualify for a scholarship to waive the registration fee.

The event is presented in cooperation with the Association of Nebraska Ethanol Producers (ANEEP) and open to professionals who work in environmental compliance, worker safety, and processing and manufacturing. For registration details, contact the Nebraska Ethanol Board at 402-471-2941 or visit www.ethanol.nebraska.gov.



Meat Price Reporting Bill Sent To President

The National Pork Producers Council is urging the president to quickly sign into law legislation reauthorizing the livestock mandatory price reporting law. The current statute is set to expire tomorrow.

The law requires meat packers to report to the U.S. Department of Agriculture the prices they pay for cattle, hogs and lambs and other information. USDA publishes twice-daily reports with information on pricing, contracting for purchase, supply and demand conditions for livestock, livestock production and livestock products.

“America’s pork producers urge President Obama to sign into law this important legislation, which provides producers and meat packers transparent, accurate and timely national market information to make knowledge-based business decisions about selling and buying hogs,” said NPPC President Dr. Ron Prestage, a veterinarian and pork producer from Camden, S.C.

The reauthorization legislation, which the House approved yesterday after the Senate last week sent it a slightly different measure than the one the lower chamber passed in June, includes new provisions sought by the U.S. pork industry, including one that establishes a “Negotiated-Formula” price category to better reflect the total number of hogs negotiated each day regardless of how buyers and sellers arrive at the prices. Another provision will require that pigs sold after 1:30 p.m. be included in the next morning’s price report.

“Livestock producers are dependent on mandatory price reports for making informed decisions about transactions,” Prestage said. “The president’s timely action on the five-year reauthorization bill will ensure the reports will continue to be published.”

The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 changed a voluntary reporting system for hogs, cattle and other livestock at slaughter to a requirement for meat processors to report detailed price and sales data. The law requires packers to submit to USDA regional and national data on a daily and weekly basis for hogs and similar information for cattle and lambs. It also required USDA to establish a library of the types of contracts offered by packers to pork producers for the purchase of hogs, including future delivery purchases.



NAWG Applauds House Action on Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015

Following House passage last night of the Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015, Brett Blankenship, NAWG President and wheat grower from Washtucna, Wash. issued the following statement.

“This bill establishes more transparency and ensures there is no disruption in inspection services should a delegated state agency discontinue providing services. This bill provides the certainty wheat growers need. It’s important to have bipartisan bills like this make their way through Congress and we look forward to the President signing the bill into law.”

The Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015 includes three separate titles, including one to reauthorize the Grain Standards Act for five years. This component of the bill would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) to immediately take such steps as are necessary to resume inspections when a delegated State agency discontinues services. Additionally, the reauthorization will require a recertification process, including a public comment period for delegated State agencies, as well as several reporting requirements to ensure transparency.



Chinese Agriculture Minister Visits USGC Leader’s Farm To See Harvest, Build Relationships

Han Changfu, the Chinese minister of agriculture, and members of his delegation visited U.S. Grains Council (USGC) Vice Chairman Chip Councell’s farm late last week to see harvest firsthand and learn directly from Councell and his neighbors about how U.S. farmers plan, make decisions and produce their crops.

The tours included stops at Councell’s corn fields and produce stand, a ride on a combine harvesting soybeans and on-site explanations of how farmers effectively manage risk and use modern practices to increase productivity including no-till farming, nutrient management plans in the sensitive Chesapeake Bay watershed and seeds improved with biotechnology.

“We were excited to have such a rare opportunity to host Minister Han on the farm and in our region,” Councell said. “Having him and his staff here was a unique chance to not just talk about U.S. agriculture but to show it as it is happening. This type of visit makes our conversations about conservation, sustainability, biotechnology and food security come alive.”

Han and his staff also visited farms in Louisiana early in the week with USGC Chairman Alan Tiemann, a farmer in Nebraska, and USGC President and CEO Tom Sleight accompanying a group of corn and soybean farmers and industry representatives.

The Council has worked in China for more than 30 years to promote sales of U.S. coarse grains and co-products and help develop the rapidly growing Chinese agriculture industry. The size, importance and complexity of the Chinese market makes it a focus of USGC’s worldwide market development program, which touches a total of more than 50 countries.



AFBF Concerned New EPA Rule More About Regulation than Safety

The American Farm Bureau Federation is reviewing the Environmental Protection Agency's final revisions to the Worker Protection Standard, in hopes that the agency veered to a science-based approach in guarding against risk.

Farmers and ranchers are committed to the safe and effective use of all crop protection tools. And Farm Bureau agrees that chemicals should be handled with care, whether to protect a small home garden or rows of crops on commercial farmland.

"Farm Bureau shares the agency's desire to protect workers, but we are concerned that the agency is piling regulatory costs on farmers and ranchers that bear little if any relation to actual safety issues," said Paul Schlegel, director of environment and energy policy for AFBF.

AFBF filed extensive comments on the proposal more than a year ago. Then, as now, AFBF said EPA itself could not justify the regulation it was proposing.

"We are hopeful the agency's final rule will reflect our concerns and protect farmers' and ranchers' ability to promote a safe, productive environment," Schlegel said.



World Dairy Expo Kicks-Off in Wisconsin

One of the largest agricultural events in Wisconsin begins today as World Dairy Expo opens its gates in Madison. Officials with the dairy and trade show say they expect about 80,000 people from over 90 countries to attend the five-day event through Saturday.

The festivities kicked off Monday with the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, National Intercollegiate & International Post-Secondary Dairy Cattle Judging Contests, 4-H Awards Banquet and the International Post-Secondary Judging Contest Awards Banquet. The Wisconsin 4-H team placed first in their competition, with Ben Powers named top individual of the event.

Tuesday's show ring activities include the International Junior Holstein Show, International Ayrshire Show and International Jersey Show. The FFA Dairy Judging Contests will also be held today. And the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest will hold an auction of all first place winners on Tuesday, where the proceeds will go to youth dairy programs.

Meanwhile, organizers say this year's tradeshow will be as large as ever with over 1,000 exhibitors from nearly 30 countries providing producers a chance to explore everything from new self-propelled feed delivery systems to computerized herd management systems.

Daily entrance fees for World Dairy Expo are $10 per person, or $30 for a season pass. Hours for the event run from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.



Survey Examines Farm Bill Decision-Making Tools

The University of Illinois is asking farmers and land owners to participate in a survey about their decision-making for the 2014 farm programs and provide feedback on the tools and resources available during that process.

"Farmers had a variety of educational services and tools available to help them make decisions about farm bill risk management options," said Sam Willett, NCGA Senior Director of Public Policy. "We encourage all farmers to provide feedback on those resources by participating in the University of Illinois survey. This kind of feedback is important to understanding what tools and resources were useful, and what could be improved."

The survey is anonymous, and results are only reported in aggregate. Individual survey responses are confidential and will not be released. To participate in the study, please click here or copy and paste http://go.illinois.edu/2014farmbillsurvey  into your internet browser.



Evaluation Key to Building Strong Herbicide Program

As growers across the Corn Belt prepare for harvest and scout their fields, they may see an increased level of weed pressure due to summer rains, which may have delayed postemergence herbicide applications.

Harvest is an ideal time to examine a weed control program — assess weed infestation and evaluate herbicide efficacy. For Midwest growers who were unable to make postemergence applications because of heavy rain during peak growing season, it’s an ideal time to evaluate and think about using a preemergence herbicide program next spring.

Evaluating a herbicide program is fundamental to managing resistance and preventing the same weed problems from occurring next year no matter what the weather brings, says Luke Peters, corn herbicides product manager, Dow AgroSciences.

“Implementing a resistance management strategy is no longer an option; it’s a necessity,” Peters says. “The first step in building a strategy is evaluating your current program at the end of the growing season to determine what worked in your field. This will help growers craft an improved weed control program for next year that mitigates resistance issues.”

These tips can help evaluate herbicide programs and maximize weed control next year:

    Adjust. Switch to a program approach that uses multiple modes of action, which is vital to control herbicide-resistant weeds.

Glyphosate resistance was the main reason lifelong Missouri grower Jimmy Daniels started using a preemergence herbicide. Daniels, who farms 1,500 corn and soybean acres, has seen waterhemp become increasingly difficult to control over the years. As a result, he started using SureStart® II herbicide to tackle the resistant weed populations in his cornfields.

“Waterhemp and the giant ragweed are becoming more of an issue all the time,” Daniels says. “Waterhemp’s got a really bad resistance problem to glyphosate, so that’s one reason we’re using SureStart [II].”

    Scout often. Scouting fields during harvest will help determine which uncontrolled weeds compete with crops for essential nutrients during peak growth stages, Peters says. A field’s weed spectrum at harvest is a good indication of which weed problems will be lurking at planting next spring.

    Consider a residual herbicide. Residual herbicides are increasingly important to control early season weeds and make control easier later in the season. Since switching to SureStart II, a residual herbicide, Daniels says, his fields went from being heavily weed-infested to clean during the growing season.

“To have a clean field at the end of the year is a great thing,” he says.