Wednesday April 12 Ag News

Star City BaconFest 2017  April 23 at Lincoln’s Cornhusker Marriott Hotel

Bacon lovers, this is the news you’ve been waiting for: Star City BaconFest 2017 returns to the Capital City for the third year on April 23 at Lincoln’s Cornhusker Marriott Hotel.  Again this year, chefs from several popular area restaurants will offer up their creative bacon-infused samples of everything from sweet to savory –and about everything in between.  Doors will open at 4:30, with bacon sampling continuing until 7:00 p.m. Admission is $25 for adults, with children 12 and under free. Ticket availability is limited, so purchasing early is strongly suggested. Tickets can be purchased on-line at starcitybaconfest.com. 

Star City BaconFest is sponsored again this year by the Nebraska Restaurant Association (NRA) and the Nebraska Pork Producers Association (NPPA). Proceeds go toward scholarships for culinary students in Nebraska.

Jane Stone, domestic marketing director with the Nebraska Pork Producers Association, says the NPPA is excited to join with the Nebraska Restaurant Association to bring Star City BaconFest to Lincoln again this year.  “Nebraska pork producers work hard every day to provide quality pork to our state and the world,” she says. “Since bacon is just about everyone’s favorite cut of pork, what better way to represent our industry than at a fun gathering of our consumers sampling bacon-based goodies creatively prepared by some of Lincoln’s finest chefs.”

Brandy Nielson, membership and marketing director with the Nebraska Restaurant Association, agrees.  “Lincoln is home to many fine chefs,” she says. “Star City BaconFest is a great way to get to know them by sampling their creative, often unexpected uses of bacon in a variety of surprising treats. Besides, who can resist bacon?”

Throughout the evening, BaconFest attendees will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite bacon-inspired treats. Additionally, prizes will be given away, according to Stone, including such items as Bacon for a Year, Gourmet Bacon of the Month Club membership, bacon cookbooks and bacon coupons. The grand prize will be a Traeger Lil’ Tex Smoker Grill. The Lightning Bugs, a popular Lincoln band, will entertain throughout the evening. Blue Blood Brewing Company will be providing beer samples, while Pepsi will be offering free soft drink samples.

Participating vendors include: 9 South Char Grill; Billy’s Restaurant; Brewsky’s; Cappy’s Hot Spot Bar and Grill; Coop’s Corner; Dino’s Eastside Grill; HiWay Diner; Hickory Road BBQ; Hormel Retail; Mozzarella Pizza, Smoking Gun Jerky; The Single Barrel; Traeger Grills; Venue; HopCat; Hy-Vee, 84th and Holdrege; Miller Time Pub; The Cornhusker; McKinney’s Irish Pub; Nebraska Pork Producers; Leadbelly/Toast; That Place Steakhouse  & Saloon (Ceresco); The Eatery; Blue Blood Brewing Co.

Hormel Foods is providing products for the chefs to use during Star City BaconFest 2017.  For more information, visit Star City BaconFest at starcitybaconfest.com.



CHASING GREEN TO CONTROL WEEDS IN NATIVE PASTURES
Bruce Anderson, NE Extension Forage Specialist

               The greening up of pastures usually is a good sign, except when the green is weeds like cheatgrass in native warm-season grasses.

               Early weeds should be controlled in warm-season grass pastures.  Weeds remove moisture that could be used for grass growth later on and they remove valuable nutrients from the soil.  Early weeds also can develop so much growth that they can shade, smother, and reduce early growth of your pasture grasses.

               Herbicides and prescribed burning can control many early weeds, but I think another method actually is better — grazing.  Heavy, pre-season grazing costs you nothing.  In fact, you get some feed from these weeds while herbicides or burning would only kill and remove growth.  Plus, this early pasture might be especially valuable if it saves you from feeding expensive hay.

               Chasing green, as some folks call pre-season grazing, will not harm your summer grass — provided you stop grazing before new grass shoots get more than a couple inches tall.  This usually doesn’t occur until late April or early May in southern Nebraska and slightly later as we move farther north.  Early, preseason grazing of warm-season grass can also remove some old growth from last year, which starts recycling nutrients trapped in dead plant tissue.  In fact, about the only bad news about early, preseason grazing is you have to get fences and water ready earlier, you need to move animals to the pasture, and you won't completely kill out these weeds in one year.

               Funny thing, though.  These so-called weeds might actually make pretty timely and valuable pasture.  Try chasing green with preseason grazing, I think you'll like it.



New Iowa Beef Center Fact Sheet Provides Guidance for Grazing Contracts

The lack of a futures market for forages can make it difficult for land owners and beef producers to establish a fair-market value, particularly for standing forages. Establishing that value, however, can make the difference between profit and loss for a beef operation in a given year.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach beef specialists Patrick Gunn and Joe Sellers have created a new fact sheet, "Pasture and Grazing Arrangements for Beef Cattle," for those who use pasture and grazing rentals in their operations.

"This new resource provides an overview of four common types of arrangements along with suggestions on how to structure agreements for the benefit of both parties," Gunn said.

The two-page fact sheet includes information on establishing pasture rental price for each of the four types, and links to online resources from ISU Extension and Outreach Ag Decision Maker and Iowa Beef Center.

The publication can be downloaded through the ISU Extension Store at no cost.



Grassley Reintroduces Ban on Packer Ownership of Livestock

Senator Chuck Grassley has this week reintroduced legislation to ban packer ownership of livestock after seeing continued impact of consolidation within the livestock industry.

Over the last several decades large packing companies in the poultry and pork industries have moved to concentrate and vertically integrate. The beef industry is also showing similar signs of consolidation.  According to the Department of Agriculture, the amount of cattle traded on the cash market declined from 52 percent in 2005 to 21 percent in 2015.  This trend illustrates the outsized power of packers in the marketplace.

“An effective and efficient marketplace is one where packers that control all harvest capacity do not also own a majority of the animals to be processed,” Grassley said.  “We need a competitive marketplace in the livestock industry that delivers a fair market price to farmers.  Eliminating packer ownership of livestock would be a good first step in accomplishing that goal.”          

Independent producers are seeing fewer choices of who to buy from and who to sell to.  More and more family farmers are feeling the pressure and impact of concentration in agriculture. This bill aims to ensure that family farmers and independent producers receive fair prices for their efforts.          

Grassley’s bill contains four exceptions to the ban for:

1.     an arrangement entered into within 7 days (excluding any Saturday or Sunday) before slaughter of the livestock by a packer, a person acting through the packer, or a person that directly or indirectly controls, or is controlled by or under common control with, the packer;

2.     a cooperative or entity owned by a cooperative, if a majority of the ownership interest in the cooperative is held by active cooperative members that own, feed, or control livestock; and provide the livestock to the cooperative for slaughter;

3.     a packer that is not subject to mandatory price reporting laws; or

4.     a packer that owns 1 livestock processing plant.

Grassley has introduced similar versions of the packer ban in previous Congresses.  He has long-standing concerns about the impact of concentration in agriculture on family farms.



Ethanol Output at 6-Month Low

Domestic fuel ethanol inventories plunged last week from a record high while plant production dropped to a six-month low and blending demand fell from a three-month high, the latest report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows.

The EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week-ended April 7 showed fuel ethanol inventories declined by roughly 800,000 barrels (bbl), or 3.4%, to 22.9 million bbl. Ethanol inventory was 600,000 bbl, or 2.6%, above stocks for the corresponding week in 2016.

Domestic plant production fell 33,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 3.1%, to 986,000 bpd last week, the lowest since the week-ended Sept. 30. Plant production is still up 48,000 bpd, or 5.1%, year-over-year. For the four weeks ended last week, fuel ethanol production averaged 1.026 million bpd, up 51,000 bpd, or 5.2%.

Net refiner and blender inputs, a measure for ethanol demand, fell by 10,000 bpd, or 1.1%, to 908,000 bpd during the week-ended April 7, down from a three-month high posted a week prior. On a year-over-year basis, refiner and blender inputs were flat, up 1,000 bpd last week. For the four-week period ended April 7, blending demand was up 22,000 bpd, or 2.47%.



NCGA Offers Farmers Opportunity to Grow Their Leadership Skills

The National Corn Growers Association invites farmers to become a part of the change they desire by actively honing their leadership skills through the NCGA Leadership Academy, part of Syngenta's Leadership at Its Best Program.  Growers must be nominated by their state corn association for either program.  Interested members should contact their state associations now for further information and get completed applications in to state offices by the end of May.

"Since it began in 1986, Leadership at Its Best has trained strong, confident volunteers who have helped shape the industry through their subsequent work at the state and national level," said NCGA President Wesley Spurlock.  "Having met so many farmers who feel similarly, I know that the desire to give back to their peers motivates an incredible number of farmers to look for service opportunities. NCGA depends upon this grassroots leadership, and I can personally attest that the time and effort dedicated are repaid in full through the incredible relationships built with like-minded individuals."

Open to all NCGA membership, Leadership at Its Best provides training to interested volunteers of all skill levels.  The first session, held in August in Minneapolis, Minn., addresses personal communications skills, public speaking and association management.  The second session, which will be held in January of 2018, addresses public policy issues, working with the Hill and parliamentary procedure.  Through this program, participants build the skill set needed to become a more confident public speaker with a solid background in the procedures and processes used by NCGA and many state organizations.

For more than three decades, NCGA, state corn associations and, most importantly, the U.S. corn industry, have benefited tremendously from the Syngenta co-sponsored Leadership at Its Best Program.  More than nearly 600 growers have gained invaluable knowledge and skills in media, communications, association management and public policy over the lifetime of the program.

Those interested should contact their state corn organization, which will submit nominees for the program. To learn more, click here... http://www.ncga.com/for-farmers/laib.

 

Average Retail Prices of Most Fertilizers Continue Slightly Higher

Average retail prices for most fertilizers were slightly higher the first week of April 2017, according to fertilizer retailers surveyed by DTN.

It was the third straight week that not all of the eight major fertilizers were higher-priced. And for seven of the eight fertilizers that were higher, prices were up only slightly.

DAP had average price of $438 per ton, MAP $466/ton, potash $338/ton, anhydrous $505/ton, UAN28 $248/ton and UAN32 $280/ton.

One fertilizer, urea, was down from the previous month. The nitrogen fertilizer was just slightly lower in price compared to a month ago with an average price of $354 per ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.39/lb.N, anhydrous $0.31/lb.N, UAN28 $0.44/lb.N and UAN32 $0.44/lb.N.

Retail fertilizers are lower compared to a year earlier. Three of the eight major fertilizers are still double-digits lower.

10-34-0 is 21% lower from a year ago, anhydrous is 14% less expensive and UAN32 is 11% lower. DAP, urea and UAN28 are all 9% less expensive well both MAP and potash are both 8% lower to year earlier.



ACE outlines ethanol priorities to EPA on regulatory reform agenda

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) submitted a public comment addressed to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt thanking him for establishing a Regulatory Reform Task Force to evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations regarding those that can be repealed, replaced and modified to make them less burdensome. The Task Force will consider public comments to carry out its charge.

On behalf of ACE’s 500 members, executive vice president Brian Jennings provided the EPA with the following recommendations to tackle regulatory burdens which unnecessarily limit the production and use of ethanol and stall job creation and economic growth in rural America.  
 ·    Allow Reid vapor pressure (RVP) relief to E15 and higher ethanol blends. 
 ·    Update the lifecycle analysis of corn ethanol. 
 ·    Modify EPA’s mistaken interpretation of Section 211(f) of the Clean Air Act, because it currently limits the concentration of ethanol in fuel without cause. 
 ·    Streamline the approval process for high-octane fuels such as E25-40 blends. 
 ·    Adjust fuel economy (CAFE) compliance to allow flex fuel vehicles to utilize the same incentives that are provided to other alternative fuel vehicles.  
 ·    Discontinue use of the MOVES2014 emissions model until a new emissions study based on real-world test fuels and methods is conducted.

“EPA has already stated its commitment to implementing EPA programs within the rule of law,” Jennings said. “We encourage that commitment and stand ready to work with Administrator Pruitt to ensure EPA’s regulatory actions are based on sound science, adhere to legal authority and help remove the red tape that currently discourages the use of higher blends of ethanol and obstructs the ability for high-octane fuels to compete in the marketplace. We urge the task force to consider our recommendations which will ultimately help spur economic growth while protecting the environment.”

On March 24, EPA Administrator Pruitt issued an agency-wide memorandum on implementation of Executive Order 13777, which announced members of the required Regulatory Reform Task Force and directed program offices to seek public input on existing regulations and report findings to the Task Force. EPA formerly began seeking public comments on April 11 and they will be accepted through May 15.



Trimble Introduces Industry-First Variable Rate Irrigation

Trimble introduced today its Irrigate-IQ optimal flow variable rate irrigation (VRI) solution. This industry-first pressure regulating technology allows farmers to perform VRI on center pivot irrigation systems with standard pumping equipment or limited well capacity. As a result, farmers who were unable to use VRI in the past due to pumping equipment constraints can now apply the right amount of water in the right place to improve yields. This is especially valuable in regions with water restrictions or limited water resources.

Farmers who utilize center pivots to irrigate their crops use VRI to apply different amounts of water on individual areas to ensure they receive the right amount of water based on field properties and crop requirements. Typically, farmers with standard pumping equipment, who do not have a variable frequency drive (VFD) or variable speed drive (VSD) on the pump, cannot perform VRI on center pivot irrigation systems without over pressurizing the pivot and risking damage to their equipment.

With Trimble's Irrigate-IQ optimal flow VRI, farmers can now ensure the pressure is regulated across the pivot when applying a variable amount of water. This means farmers can fully optimize their water application and prevent over- and under-watering, which can result in higher quality and yield of the crop.

"We are excited to offer the new pressure regulating technology to farmers who were previously unable to vary water application across their fields. With Irrigate-IQ optimal flow VRI, farmers can optimize water use while enjoying peace of mind that their equipment is operating in safe pressure ranges," said Neil Douglas, Irrigate-IQ market manager for Trimble's Agriculture Division. "And now, with our recently-announced distribution agreement with Valley Irrigation, more farmers worldwide will have access to Trimble's VRI solution."



U.S. Tractor, Combine Sales on the Rise

The Association of Equipment Manufacturer's monthly "Flash Report" shows that the sale of all tractors in the U.S. in March 2017, were up 6% compared to the same month last year.

For the month, two-wheel drive smaller tractors (under 40 HP) were up 10% from last year, while 40 & under 100 HP were up 2%. Sales of 2-wheel drive 100+ HP were down 15%, while 4-wheel drive tractors were up 21%. Combine sales were up 11% for the month.

For the three months in 2017, a total of 42,033 tractors were sold which compares to 39,878 sold thru March 2016 representing a 5% increase for the year.

For the first quarter, two-wheel drive smaller tractors (under 40 HP) are up 14% over last year, while 40 & under 100 HP are down 4%. Sales of 2-wheel drive 100+ HP are down 13%, while 4-wheel drive tractors are down 13%. 

Sales of combines for the year totaled 715 a decrease of 16% from 2016.



Planet and FarmShots Offer Free Trial to John Deere Operations Center Users

Planet and FarmShots have collaborated to provide John Deere Operations Center users access to Planet's unprecedented global imaging capacity, allowing farmers to view up-to-daily imagery of their fields. Planet operates the largest constellation of Earth-imaging satellites and provides cost-effective and information-rich agricultural data to users in countries across the globe.

FarmShots analyzes satellite & drone imagery of farms to help reduce field scouting effort by as much as 90%. When integrated with My John Deere Operations Center, it is possible to quickly create prescription maps based on plant health and upload these prescriptions directly to John Deere equipment for fast and easy treatment.

Anyone with a free MyJohnDeere account and organization in Operations Center can use FarmShots' precision agriculture software to access Planet's high resolution satellite imagery. With access, users can import field boundaries into FarmShots directly from Operations Center; export the plant health data layer to Field Analyzer; generate prescription maps for GreenStar 2630 displays; and compare plant health with yield maps year to year.

FarmShots' analytical tools and Planet's timely and consistent imagery ensure that Operations Center users have the latest and most accurate information about what's going on in their fields. See this integration in action—sign up for your free trial of unlimited acres. (http://farmshots.com/) This offer is valid until June 15th, 2017.