Tuesday April 4 Ag News

Prairieland sells milk brand to Hiland
Lincoln Journal Star

Lancaster County milk producer Prairieland Dairy has sold its brand name to Hiland Dairy Foods Co. of Springfield, Missouri.

The Firth dairy will continue to own and milk its 1,400 cows and use the Prairieland name, but it now will ship its creamy product, about 15,000 gallons a day, directly to the Hiland processing plant in Omaha. Hiland will be responsible for processing, sales and distribution of Prairieland products.

Prairieland General Manager Dan Rice said the brand will remain in grocery coolers in the near term, but he didn’t know whether the milk in the jugs would be coming entirely from Prairieland cows.

It was unknown Tuesday whether Hiland in the long term plans to continue offering the Prairieland brand or would phase it out like it did the Roberts Dairy name in 2013.

Brian Breci, general manager for Hiland's Nebraska division, said in a statement that the company hasn’t decided what direction it will take with the Prairieland brand.

Rice said Prairieland decided to sell off the distribution division to focus on its milk production and fertilizer businesses, Prairie Gold.

Before the sale, Prairieland sold only milk within a distribution network that included Kansas City, Lincoln, Omaha, Columbus and Grand Island. Grocers had been demanding a fuller array of products including ice cream and butter, but at its scale Prairieland couldn’t get the job done economically, Rice said.

Prairieland has closed its processing plant in Hallam, and Hiland bought the equipment in the plant and is moving it to Omaha, Rice said. Prairieland retained ownership of the Hallam building and is using it for storage.

The Prairieland distribution center in Lincoln was included in the sale and will remain in operation, Breci said.

About 20 Prairieland employees affected by the sale have been offered jobs with Hiland, although some of the Hallam processing plant employees declined the offer. Rice said Hiland, due to its size, is able to offer better benefits and opportunities for the distribution employees than Prairieland could.

Prairieland got its start when four families joined together to create the local brand.

The Rice family came west from Pennsylvania in 1998 in response to Nebraska's dairy recruitment efforts. They soon merged their milking operations with Dave and Cliff Obbink. Two other families joined the group, the Goossen family from Beatrice and the Eickhoff family out of Falls City, Rice said.

Rice declined to discuss terms of the sale, which was effective April 1.



ICBA to Congress: Enhance USDA Credit Programs to Prevent Farm Credit Crunch

The Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) today called on Congress to support agricultural programs that help community banks serve rural America amid a steady deterioration in farm incomes. Steve Handke, president and CEO of the Union State Bank of Everest, Kan., testified that implementing more robust and better-financed USDA guaranteed lending programs through the 2018 farm bill will help avoid a farm credit crunch and prevent an exodus of producers from the agricultural sector.

“Congress has the power to help avoid a farm credit crisis,” Handke told the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit. “We need to be thinking about USDA guaranteed lending programs as a major tool, along with commodity programs and crop insurance, to keep thousands of farmers in business during what could be severely stressful times ahead.”

Amid a deterioration in farm incomes—with net farm income projected by the USDA to decline another 8.7 percent this year—community banks have provided ample credit at near historically low interest rates. With farmers using up working capital, which has decreased each of the past three years and showing tighter cashflows, many are expected to need additional loans going forward.

To meet the growing demand for these programs, Handke encouraged Congress to provide adequate funding, raise loan limits to reflect the higher cost of modern agriculture, minimize origination fees and paperwork requirements, and provide uniform requirements in financing USDA loans across state lines in addition to other recommendations.

“Banks fear regulators may over-react to lower commodity prices,” Handke told the committee. “Having a much-expanded, robust and well-financed guaranteed loan program would allow banks to continue working with distressed borrowers as the guarantees would decrease classified loan amounts that count against bank capital by 90 percent, thus representing a significant step in helping to avoid a farm credit crunch.”



USDA Authorizes Emergency Grazing in Response to President Trump’s Directive

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), acting in response to a directive from President Donald J. Trump, today authorized emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands located in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas – the three states which were most heavily impacted by ongoing wildfires which began on March 6, 2017.  USDA Acting Deputy Secretary Michael L. Young issued a memorandum authorizing the emergency grazing of cattle by ranchers, who are facing the ruination of their herds due to lack of sufficient grazing land.  The authorization is pursuant to appropriate restrictions and conservation measures, which can be found in the Acting Deputy Secretary’s memorandum.

“Ranchers are facing devastating conditions and economic calamity because of these wildfires and they need some relief, or else they face the total loss of their herds in many cases,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Young.  “These measures will allow them to salvage what remains of their cattle and return to the important business of feeding Americans and the rest of the world.  I commend and thank President Trump for acting decisively in response to this dire situation.”

The USDA action is required to direct the Farm Service Agency to permit the grazing on lands covered by the CRP, which exists to conserve and improve wildlife resources.  In this case, the grazing will overlap with the primary nesting season of the lesser prairie chicken.  CRP has procedures in place, already developed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to permit emergency grazing on protected lands during nesting season.  Lesser prairie chicken nesting season runs in Texas from March 1 to June 1, in Kansas from April 15 to July 15, and in Oklahoma from May 1 to July 1.

Ranchers and farmers are only now able to begin to estimate losses, since the fires are still burning in some places and access to the lands to survey the damage has been limited.  Damages in the states are expected to grow, but are now estimated as follows:

Kansas
-    Counties affected include Clark, Comanche, Ellis, Ellsworth, Ford, Hodgeman, Kiowa, Lane, Lincoln, Meade, Ness, Russell, and Seward.
-    An estimated 630,000 acres burned, primarily pasturelands.
-    Estimated livestock loss: between 3,000 and 9,000 head of cattle.
-    Large volumes of hay and feed destroyed.
-    Estimated cost of fencing destroyed exceeds $36 million.

Oklahoma
-    Counties affected include Beaver, Ellis, Harper, Roger Mills, Woodward, and Woods.
-    An estimated 389,533 acres burned.
-    Estimated livestock loss: 3,000 head of cattle.
-    An estimated cost of structure loss of $2 million.
-    Estimated cost of fencing destroyed exceeds $22 million.

Texas
-    Counties affected include Armstrong, Carson, Collingsworth, Donley, Gray, Hansford, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman, and Wheeler.
-    An estimated 550,000 acres burned, affecting 346 farms and ranches.
-    Estimated livestock loss: at least 3,000 cattle and 1,900 swine.
-    Thousands of miles of fences expected to be a total loss, but so far unable to be surveyed.



Cattlemen Applaud USDA Decision to Allow Emergency Grazing
 
Craig Uden, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, today released the following statement in response to USDA’s authorization of emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas:

“President Trump, the USDA, and Governors Brownback, Fallin, and Abbott deserve a great deal of credit for moving swiftly to open these lands to grazing so that many of the cattle producers who were dramatically impacted by last month’s wildfires can feed their herds. Those devastating wildfires burned more than 1.5 million acres in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas and killed an estimated 9,000 – 18,000 cattle. Those cattle can’t be replaced, but today’s action will help ranchers salvage what remains of their herds.”



$2.4 Million Designated to Relieve Veterinary Shortages

The USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced $2.4 million in available funding to relieve veterinarian shortage situations and support veterinary services. Funding is made through NIFA's Veterinary Services Grant Program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.

"Veterinarians play significant roles in assuring animal health and wellbeing, food safety and security, public health, and producer profitability, especially in rural areas of the country where most livestock production occurs," said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. "VSGP supports education and extension activities that will help veterinarians, veterinary students, veterinary technicians, and veterinary technician students gain specialized skills and provide practices with additional resources."

The Veterinary Services Grant Program supports development, implementation, and sustainability of veterinary services to relieve veterinarian shortage situations in the United States and insular areas.

Eligible applicants for education, extension and training programs include: state, national, allied or regional veterinary organization or specialty board recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association; college or school of veterinary medicine accredited by the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges; university research foundation or veterinary medical foundation; department of veterinary science or department of comparative medicine accredited by the Department of Education; state agricultural experiment station; or state, local or tribal government agency.

Eligible applicants for rural practice enhancement programs include for-profit or nonprofit entities or individuals operating veterinary clinics in rural areas and veterinarian shortage areas as specified in the request for applications.



DAIRY FARMERS OF AMERICA AND SPRINT ANNOUNCE AG TECH STARTUPS SELECTED AS PART OF 2017 ACCELERATOR PROGRAM

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a national farmer-owned dairy cooperative, and Sprint (NYSE:S) recently announced the four ag tech startup companies participating in the 2017 Accelerator, an innovative program that helps accelerate and grow startup businesses, which launched this week and continues through June.

“We are very excited for the launch of our restructured program so that the 2017 Corporate Acceleratorprogram can better position our entrepreneurs to meet the needs of our corporate sponsors and, hopefully, develop long-term partnerships,” said Kevin McGinnis, vice president of Pinsight Media+ and managing executive of the Sprint Accelerator.

The Corporate Accelerator is a 90-day, immersive program focusing on startups in two verticals — digital and ag tech. Each company will work directly with leaders from Sprint, DFA, Pinsight Media+, Virgin Mobile USA and Dairy One. This year’s participants come from cities around the United States and are working to develop both hardware- and software-based solutions.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Sprint on the 2017 Accelerator program,” said Kevin Strathman, senior vice president of finance at DFA. “There is tremendous innovation happening in the agriculture space, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with and helping mentor these startup companies.”

The 2017 ag tech companies selected in the Corporate Accelerator are:
·         AgVoice from Atlanta, Ga. - AgVoice is a mobile, voice-interaction service designed for food and agriculture professionals to capture insights on the go.
·         HerdDogg from Longmont, Colo. - HerdDogg builds state-of-the-art smart ear tags and readers for livestock ID and health monitoring.
·         My Dairy Dashboard from Frisco, Texas - My Dairy Dashboard helps producers gather insights and simplify their dairy decisions through a visual dashboard of aggregated herd, feed, milk and weather data.
·         TradeLanes from Miami, Fla. - TradeLanes digitizes and automates the supply chain for shippers, merchants and traders.

As a sponsoring company for the Accelerator, DFA will provide mentorship, connections and resources to help accelerate the growth of the ag tech startups selected. Highlights of the 90-day program include:
·         Targeted, strategic meetings with senior DFA team members to discuss business development, pilots and potential sponsorships;
·         Mentoring from DFA senior team members and their networks, as well as from the investor, business development and entrepreneurial communities; and
·         Business building sessions around product, brand and marketing

“Our goal is to deliver on strategic outcomes shared by both the corporation and the startup,” said McGinnis. “Together, we hope to bring innovation to market that will be transformational to agricultural businesses.”

Visit the Sprint Accelerator calendar for public opportunities to engage with the participating companies at sprintaccelerator.com.



Titan Machinery Reports Lower Earnings in First Quarter

Titan Machinery Inc. issued revenue of $317.60 million for the first quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.31) earnings per share. Titan Machinery's revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis.

The West Fargo, North Dakota-based company says its agriculture and construction equipment missed Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $318.1 million.

For the year, the company reported that its loss narrowed to $14.2 million, or 65 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $1.21 billion.

Titan Machinery shares have risen 6.5 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has increased 32 percent in the last 12 months.