Monday January 25 Ag News

Feeding Cows for Cold Weather
Steve Tonn, NE Extension Educator, Washington County

The cold blast we had last weekend makes us think there is more cold weather ahead.  When feeding cows we need to consider the effect of weather conditions when feeding our cows.  Dr. Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, offers these tips for feeding cows in cold weather.  The major effect of cold on nutrient requirement of cows is increased need for energy. To determine magnitude of cold, lower critical temperature for beef cows must first be estimated.  For cows with a dry winter hair coat the lower critical temperature is considered to be 32 degrees F.   In general, researchers have used the rule of thumb that cows' energy requirements increase 1% for each degree the wind chill is below the 32 degree lower critical temperature.

Therefore the calculation example for a cow with a winter dry hair coat would be:
Step 1: Cow's lower critical temperature is 32 degrees F.
Step 2: Expected wind-chill from weather reports (let’s use 4 degrees wind chill in this example)
Step 3: Calculate the magnitude of the cold: 32 degrees - 4 degrees = 28 degrees
Step 4: Energy adjustment is 1% for each degree magnitude of cold or 28%.
Step 5: Feed cows 128% of daily energy amount. (if cow was to receive 16 pounds of high quality grass/legume hay; then feed 20.5 pounds of hay during the cold weather event).

Research has indicated that energy requirement for maintenance of beef cows with a wet hair coat is much greater. Cows that are exposed to falling precipitation and have the wet hair coats are considered to have reached the lower critical temperature at 59 degrees F. In addition, the requirements change twice as much for each degree change in wind-chill factor. In other words, the energy requirement actually increases 2% for each degree below 59 degrees F. To calculate the magnitude of the cold when the cow is wet would be the difference between 59 degrees minus 4 degrees = 55 degrees. True energy requirements to maintain a wet cow in this weather would be 2% X 55 degrees or 110 % increase in energy (which would mean that over twice the normal energy intake is needed.)

This amount of energy change is virtually impossible to accomplish with feedstuffs available on ranches. In addition this amount of energy change in the diet of cows accustomed to a high roughage diet must be made very gradually to avoid severe digestive disorders. Therefore, the more common-sense approach is a smaller increase in energy requirements during wet cold weather and extending the increase into more pleasant weather to help regain energy lost during the storm.

Cows that were consuming 16 pounds of grass hay per day and 5 pounds of 20% range cubes could be increased to 20 pounds of grass hay offered per day plus 6 to 7 pounds of range cubes during the severe weather event. This is not a doubling of the energy intake but by extending this amount for a day or two after the storm may help overcome some of the energy loss during the storm and done in a manner that does not cause digestive disorders.  

The fact that it is not feasible to feed a wet, very cold cow enough to maintain her current body condition, underscores the need for cows to be in “good” body condition at the start of winter.



2016 Nebraska Guide for Weed, Disease, and Insect Management Now Available

With more than 300 pages of information, the 2016 Guide for Weed, Disease, and Insect Management is a must-have for farmers, advisors and crop consultants.

It's a comprehensive resource for current research-based information and UNL recommendations on pest management in Nebraska crop production, with special sections on herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and pesticide application equipment and safety. Tables of product efficacies under different farming systems and for different pests can help you select the best products for the problems on your farm. It includes detailed drawings and photos to aid in weed identification, as well as photos to aid in insect and disease identification. It also offers herbicide, fungicide, and insecticide dictionaries listing the product's active ingredients, formulation, EPA registration number and site of action to aid in resistance management.

Senior Editor was Stevan Knezevic, Extension weed management specialist. Contributing authors were Extension specialists or educators in each of the major topic areas: Weed Management — Knezevic, Cody Creech, Amit Jhala, Robert Klein, Greg Kruger, Chris Proctor, Patrick Shea, and Clyde Ogg; Disease Management — Tamra Jackson-Ziems, Anthony Adesemoye, Loren Giesler, Robert Harvston, and Stephen Wegulo; and Insect Management — Robert Wright, Jeff Bradshaw, Keith Jarvi, and Michael Rethwisch.

The guide (EC130) is available from Marketplace.unl.edu in the following formats:
-    Download only: $15 plus shipping and handling;
-    Printed: $15 plus shipping and handling;
-    Both printed and download: $25 plus shipping and handling.



American Ethanol License Plate Frames Available

Ethanol enthusiasts have the opportunity to display their pride on their vehicle with a specialty license plate frame highlighting the importance of ethanol in Nebraska’s agriculture industry.

The Nebraska Ethanol Board is giving away 250 license plate frames through Feb. 29. Please limit requests to no more than five frames per household.

If you’re interested in a license plate frame, contact Megan Grimes at 402-471-2941 or by email at megan.grimes@nebraska.gov.

Nebraska is the second largest ethanol producer in the country; and recent research by University of Nebraska-Lincoln economists reveals Nebraska’s ethanol production value is approximately $5 billion.



New Online CropClimate Tool Can Aid Preplant Decisions
Tyler Williams, NE Extension Educator
Gui Baigorria, UNL Assistant Professor, Agronomy and Horticulture

Farmers can control many variables in their operation, but they can’t control the climate, a leading factor in crop yield variability from year to year.

CropClimate.org, a new online tool developed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, provides valuable information to enhance farmer decision-making and reduce the impact of this climate variability. It is intended to support pre-planting decisions based on soil conditions and the climate phase forecast (for example La Niña or El Niño) for the upcoming growing season. The tool was developed by Gui Baigorria, assistant professor in the UNL School of Natural Resources and Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.

CropClimate allows you to select from 11 tools in three categories:
-    climate,
-    crop, and
-    crop/climate.

Tools and information in each category provide probabilities or projections for this growing season based on historical data for a given climate scenario. All of the tools are available for Nebraska and most tools are available for the entire U.S. and select foreign countries. Please remember these are probabilities based on seasonal forecasts, so use accordingly.

Climate Category
The Climate category includes tools to select the time period and threshold of interest for freeze and heat stress events, as well as the monthly seasonal forecast for temperatures and precipitation. Tools include:
-    Rainfall Amounts: Forecasted total rainfall amount for the selected month and the probability for that to happen.
-    Rainfall Days: Forecasted number of rainy days per month for the selected month and the probability for that to happen.
-    Maximum Temperature: Forecasted maximum temperature for the selected months and the probability for that to happen.
-    Minimum Temperature: Forecasted minimum temperature for the selected months and the probability for that to happen.
-    Freeze Risk Probability: Probability that a given temperature threshold will be reached during the selected date range.
-    Heat Risk Probability: Probability that a given temperature threshold will be reached during the selected date range.

Crops Category
The Crops category provides the county level crop response (irrigated or rainfed) to the selected climate phase and the projected yield forecast using this season's climate forecast. Information is available for 17 Nebraska crops: corn grain, corn silage, soybean, winter wheat, spring wheat, peanCrops category tools include:
-    County Yield Estimate Time Series: Allows you to select from your crop and track the yield of that crop for approximately 100 years. You can select irrigated or rainfed and eliminate the “technology” factor to see yield fluctuations due to climatic conditions.
-    Crop Yield Forecast: Forecasted yield of the selected crop having above or below neutral yields based on a given climate scenario (termed a teleconnection index phase in the tool). The tool allows you to select your crop and irrigated or rainfed systems to forecast yield.

Crop/Climate Category
This category combines climate information and crop response to given climate conditions. Crop/Climate tools include:
-    Best Planting Date: The user selects their field on a map on the screen. The program takes all of the soil, crop, and current climate forecast combinations and provides the probability of higher than 66% and lower than 33% yields from the historical yield records based on planting date. The user changes cultivars to select the best cultivar to plant at his/her specific climate and soil type.
-    Growing Degree Days Forecast: Forecasts cumulative growing degree days for the selected date range and temperature thresholds for a given location.
-    Chill Unit Forecast: Forecasts cumulative chill units for the selected date range and temperature thresholds for the location.

At CropClimate.org users can find video tutorials showing the step-by-step process for using these tools. Although a subscription is optional, it is recommended to get free news and updates from the site. Producers who want to volunteer to collaborate on CropClimate research to implement more crops and varieties are welcome. Just e-mail Gui Baigorria to participate in research, share your ideas, or suggest new tools.

In the next few weeks, we will be releasing the remaining tools for Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota. Other states are coming after that.



Candidates waiting to last minute to commit to Iowa Pork Congress forum

The Iowa Pork Producers Association is still waiting to hear from most of the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates on whether they will participate in a forum at the Iowa Pork Congress in Des Moines on Wednesday.

Each candidate's campaign has been extended an invitation, but most have been hesitant to commit due to uncertainty in their candidate's schedule. More could commit before the forum.

As of today, only two Republican hopefuls have committed to participating: business executive Carly Fiorina and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich will visit Pork Congress, but is unable to participate in the forum.

Each candidate will be afforded 30 minutes to deliver prepared remarks and answer questions from pig farmers and others attending the pork convention. Sessions will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Huckabee is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. and Fiorina will speak at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The 44th annual Iowa Pork Congress is being held Wednesday and Thursday at the Iowa Events Center. The "nation's largest winter swine tradeshow" offers the approximately 5,000 attendees 500 tradeshow booths, eleven free business seminars and panel discussions, youth activities and social events.

The Iowa Pork Producers Association is a non-partisan organization that does not endorse political candidates.



Biodiesel Production Rises in 2015 as Consumers Seek Cleaner Fuels

US consumers used a record of nearly 2.1 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2015, reducing America’s carbon emissions by at least 18.2 million metric tons, according to new EPA data released as the industry kicks off its 2016 Biodiesel Conference and Expo.

Biodiesel industry leaders said the year-end figures demonstrate biodiesel’s rising popularity and its continued success as America’s first and only EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel to reach commercial-scale production nationwide.

“We’re seeing it take hold across the country. Consumers are seeking out cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels and they see biodiesel as a high-performing, cost-competitive alternative to petroleum diesel,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), the industry’s US trade association. “These numbers also show without question that the Renewable Fuel Standard is delivering significant volumes of Advanced Biofuel to the American people. They prove that the RFS is absolutely working.”

“Biodiesel is still a young industry, but it is becoming a mainstream American fuel that’s having a real impact in helping us cut pollution, create jobs and diversify the fuels market.”

Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats, biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement used in existing diesel engines. It is the first and only commercial-scale fuel produced across the US to meet the EPA’s definition as an Advanced Biofuel - meaning the EPA has determined that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent when compared with petroleum diesel.

According to the data, fuel companies reported producing 2.09 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2015, up from about 1.97 billion gallons in 2014.

The figures, however, continue to show a troubling trend in which imports are increasingly flooding the US market and undercutting US production. According to the data, domestic production remained flat at about 1.42 billion gallons, compared with about 1.47 billion gallons in 2014 and 1.50 billion gallons in 2013. Meanwhile, imports rose from 510 million gallons in 2014 to an estimated 670 million gallons in 2015, a jump of more than 25 percent.

“While the overall numbers are positive, we are increasingly seeing subsidized, predatory imports undercutting U.S. production – in part by taking advantage of US policies aimed at building up the domestic industry,” Jobe said. “This is exactly what we have been warning would happen, and it will continue until we take steps to level the playing field, including by reforming the biodiesel tax incentive as a domestic production credit.”

NBB has urged Congress to reform the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive from a blender’s credit to a producer’s credit. Under the existing blender’s structure, biodiesel that is produced overseas and blended in the U.S. is increasingly taking advantage of the incentive, sending U.S. tax benefits to foreign producers. Most of the imports already receive valuable incentives overseas, while US companies are typically barred from taking advantage of those overseas incentives.

“We welcome competition but US companies can’t fairly compete against foreign companies that are double-dipping on overseas and US incentives while not letting US producers compete in their domestic markets,” Jobe said. “This reform is a simple fix that would appropriately focus US tax dollars on creating jobs and stimulating economic development here at home instead of overseas.”

While the threat of rising imports continues, Jobe said industry optimism is being fueled by stronger policies implemented late last year. In November, after several years of damaging delays, the EPA finalized new Biomass-based Diesel standards under the RFS requiring 1.9 billion gallons in 2016 and 2 billion gallons in 2017. Additionally, in December, Congress reinstated the biodiesel blender's tax incentive through the end of the year.  It had lapsed in 2015.

The reported volumes are made up mostly of biodiesel but also include renewable diesel, a similar diesel alternative that uses a different production technology. The data show volumes of biodiesel (1.58 billion gallons) and renewable diesel (510 million gallons) reported under all categories of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the federal policy requiring increasing volumes of renewable fuels to be incorporated into the US fuel supply. The data can be found here on EPA's website. NBB represents both biodiesel and renewable diesel companies, and the fuels together comprise the vast majority of Advanced Biofuel produced in the US.



CWT Assists with 1.6 million Pounds of Cheese and Whole Milk Powder Export Sales

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 8 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold) and Tillamook County Creamery Association who have contracts to sell 921,532 pounds (418 metric tons) of Cheddar cheese and 663,592 pounds (301 metric tons) of whole milk powder to customers in Asia, North Africa and South America. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from January through July 2016.

So far this year, CWT has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 3.779 million pounds of cheese, 2.866 million pounds of butter and 1.171 million pounds of whole milk powder to ten countries on five continents. The sales are the equivalent of 107.908 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program, in the long-term, helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them. This, in turn, positively impacts all U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.



Rabobank Releases Report on Global Beef Production

Beef production patterns are changing around the world and the  industry is seeing the role new trade dynamics, policy, and consumer-driven preferences will play in shaping future success.  According to a new report from the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory group, U.S. beef producers are seeing the very nature of beef trade evolving as other countries areproducing beef under favorable export agreements, the U.S. dollar is gaining in value, and domestic markets are making demands producers haven’t experienced before.

“In the U.S., we are hearing from producers that they are wrestling with strategic questions centered around whether creating a safe and nutritious product will be enough to sustain a profitable market for quality U.S. beef,” says report co-author and Rabobank protein analyst Don Close.

The report explores imports and exports of global beef-producing countries and the development of China and Southeast Asia as major consumers.

“Over the past few years, China has become a major player in the global beef trade,” notes Rabobank analyst Matt Costello. “While per capita consumption for beef is low compared to more traditional beef markets, projections suggest Greater China will become the world’s largest beef importer in the coming few years.”

Against this backdrop, the U.S. beef industry faces an increasingly competitive global beef market. While the U.S. is expected to remain the global standard for quality and supply stability, the domestic industry has the opportunity to determine future investment through a robust discussion about competitive strategy.

The report outlines three suggestions from Rabobank to keep U.S. products competitive.

“We feel a focus on enhancing U.S. export opportunities, producing beef that meets emerging consumer preferences, and implementing programs such as a voluntary, industry-driven cattle and beef traceability program are important steps to strengthen the U.S. position in the market,” notes Close. “Looking closely at trade, it’s our point of view that if TPP is not passed, it puts U.S. exports at a significant disadvantage in a global marketplace since there is an anticipated increase in exports from South American countries that have trade agreements separate from TPP.”