Friday October 8 Ag News

Survey to Evaluate Chemical Weed Control Methods in Corn, Soybeans
Chris Proctor - Weed Management Extension Educator

Midwestern growers are invited to participate in a new survey on weed management.

The objective of the 2021 Soybean and Corn Weed Management, Weed Escapes, and Targeted Spraying Technologies Survey is to understand the main chemical weed control strategies and weed escapes in soybean and corn production fields in the United States during the 2021 growing season and to evaluate the interest and awareness regarding novel targeted herbicide spraying technologies (e.g., See & Spray systems, drone-mounted weed sensors and sprayers).

You can access the survey link here... https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e8rltNtwDgwtQXA.

Your time participating in this survey is much appreciated and your responses will be of great value to our future weed management research and extension efforts.

For questions regarding the survey, please contact UNL Weed Management Extension Educator Chris Proctor at caproctor@unl.edu.



Applications open for NeCGA FLAGship Program

The NeCGA Future Leaders in Ag Scholarship Program (FLAGship Program) is open to Nebraska high school seniors or college freshman who are continuing their education in state. The Nebraska Corn Growers Association (NeCGA) will award up to five $2,000 scholarships to high school seniors or college freshman in the state of Nebraska.

To be eligible for this scholarship students must be a member of NeCGA or the son/daughter of an NeCGA member. The application for the FLAGship Program must include one letter of recommendation, a current resume, as well as proof that the student is continuing their education. Students are asked to explain how they will be an advocate for agriculture in their future careers as well as what issues they feel the ag industry is currently facing. Applications typically open after the first of the year. If you have questions regarding the scholarship or the application process, please call the office or email Katherine Byrne, the Director of Grower Services, at kbyrne@necga.org.  Also, more details here.... https://necga.org/flagship-program/.  



Free Farm and Ag Law Clinics Set for October, November

Free legal and financial clinics are being offered for farmers and ranchers across the state in October and November 2021. The clinics are one-on-one in-person meetings with an agricultural law attorney and an agricultural financial counselor. These are not group sessions, and they are confidential.

The attorney and financial advisor specialize in legal and financial issues related to farming and ranching, including financial and business planning, transition planning, farm loan programs, debtor/creditor law, debt structure and cash flow, agricultural disaster programs, and other relevant matters. Here is an opportunity to obtain an independent, outside perspective on issues that may be affecting your farm or ranch.

Clinic Dates
    Thursday, Oct. 21 — Norfolk
    Friday, Oct. 22 — Valentine

    Wednesday, Nov. 3 — Norfolk
    Thursday, Nov. 4 — Chadron
    Thursday, Nov. 11 — Fairbury
    Thursday, Nov. 18 — Norfolk

To sign up for a free clinic or to get more information, call the Nebraska Farm Hotline at 1-800-464-0258.  Funding for this work is provided by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and Legal Aid of Nebraska.



2022 ISU Swine Experience Application Deadline is Nov. 1

The Iowa Pork Industry Center and the ISU Department of Animal Science are excited to announce the 2022 ISU Swine Industry Experience. The goal of the ISU Swine Industry Experience is to develop undergraduate student exposure, knowledge, skills, and professional relationships in the swine industry in order to help meet the critical need for trained professionals in the swine industry. This experience will include hands-on farm learning, classroom lectures, and industry networking opportunities. The best thing is, thanks to our sponsors, accepted students will pay nothing! Application deadline is Nov. 1, 2021. See more info and application requirements here.... https://www.ipic.iastate.edu/information/ISUSwineIndustryExperience2022.pdf.  



USDA to survey corn production costs and chemical use

In the next few weeks, a U.S. Department of Agriculture representative may contact you to participate in the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). This survey is a major source of U.S. farm production and economic data that has a direct impact on farm policy. This year the survey will focus on production practices and chemical use for corn producers.

Please help enumerators complete the survey by providing input on your nutrient and fertilizer use, tillage and pest management practices, and production costs for corn farming. To protect the health and safety of producers, partners, and employees, NASS has suspended in-person interviews. Instead, representatives from USDA will call to schedule a telephone interview.

For more information about ARMS, visit:
nass.usda.gov/go/arms

For analysis of ARMS data, visit:
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/Ag_Resource_Management/

If you have additional questions about this survey, please contact Brad Summa at brad.summa@usda.gov, or 314-595-9594.



MASSACHUSETTS TAKES MAJOR STEP TOWARD DELAYING IMPLEMENTATION OF PROP. 12-TYPE INITIATIVE
NPPC Newsletter

The Massachusetts House – by an overwhelming margin of 156-1 – voted this week to delay until Jan. 1, 2023, a provision of the Question 3 initiative that will prohibit the sale of pork that doesn’t meet the state’s production standards, a move championed by the National Pork Producers Council, which aggressively has been seeking relief for pork producers and the pork supply chain. The House also transferred jurisdiction for drafting regulations from the state’s Attorney General to the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture. The measure is expected to easily pass the state Senate next week before heading to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker for signing.

Originally set to take effect Jan. 1, 2022, the voter-approved 2016 ballot initiative – similar to California’s Proposition 12 – bans the sale of pork from hogs born to sows housed in pens that don’t comply with Massachusetts’ new standards. It applies to any uncooked pork sold in the state, whether it’s produced there or outside its borders. Nearly all pork currently produced in the United States fails to meet Massachusetts’ arbitrary standards. Like California’s 2018 ballot initiative, Question 3’s supporters claimed it would improve animal welfare and food safety. But the measure’s requirements will have no effect on either and may negatively affect both, according to numerous studies on animal housing.

NPPC and the American Farm Bureau Federation recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take their case against California’s Prop. 12. The agricultural organizations are challenging the constitutionality of one state imposing regulations that reach outside its borders, arguing that it stifles interstate and international commerce.

VIETNAM WEIGHS REDUCTION OF TARIFFS ON IMPORTED FROZEN PORK
A tariff rate reduction on imported frozen pork is still under review by Vietnamese authorities, but sources indicate the Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff will be cut from 15 to 10 percent, a major success for NPPC and the U.S. pork industry. This comes on the heels of a visit to Vietnam by Vice President Kamala Harris, where pork market access was at the top of her list of deliverables.

Late last year, NPPC Assistant Vice President of International Affairs Maria Zieba testified on the importance to U.S. pork producers of the Vietnamese market and urged the Trump administration not to impose U.S. tariffs on goods from Vietnam over that country’s alleged currency manipulation. NPPC also led recent efforts, including a letter from more than 70 members of Congress, asking U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to press Vietnam to eliminate tariffs on U.S. pork.

While the tariff cut will help, because the United States does not have a free trade agreement with Vietnam, the U.S. pork industry remains at a competitive disadvantage to pork-supplying countries that do, including the countries in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. NPPC has been urging the Biden administration to join the 11-nation CPTPP. The United States was part of that trade pact’s predecessor, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which NPPC strongly supported, but the Trump administration withdrew from the deal before it was finalized. In a presentation this week to the Global Business Dialogue, NPPC Vice President and Counsel, Global Government Affairs Nick Giordano laid out the case for U.S. participation in the CPTPP.



Administration Can't Designate Their Way to a Conservation Win on Paper

Today, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) criticized the Biden administration's unilateral decision to put sweeping federal designations on millions of acres surrounding the Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.

After months of rhetoric touting their intent to work collaboratively with state governments and local communities, the administration opted to make these designations rather than create a conservation strategy that would incorporate local stakeholder input and avoid the management whiplash of a unilateral federal designation.

By ignoring efforts to reach a constructive, permanent solution, the administration has prolonged the back-and-forth political football that occurs with national monument boundaries during each change of administration.

"Rural states and communities across America are, sadly, all too familiar with the federal government's routine of feigned partnership. Monument designations may bring the White House closer to scoring 'conservation' points on paper but in reality, they lead to the kind of preservation strategies that we know from experience do not support healthy ecosystems long-term," said NCBA Executive Director of Natural Resources and PLC Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover.

"Conservation is more than signing a piece of paper and considering the matter closed. Conservation requires long-term planning. Conservation requires active management. Conservation requires the help and investment of knowledgeable land users, local residents, and state leaders who can perform the day-to-day work of maintaining landscapes and ecosystems. We will deliver that message to President Biden and his team as many times as needed," she added.

Today's proclamations expand Bears Ears to a total of 1.36 million acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante to 1.87 million acres, directly in conflict with the Antiquities Act’s direction to designate the “smallest area compatible” with the desired protections.

Designations made under the Antiquities Act — now more than a century old — prohibit many land management tools. Restricting local communities' ability to respond quickly and nimbly to historic drought, record-breaking wildfire seasons, and a host of other environmental challenges is not a sustainable strategy for land management.

NCBA and PLC ranchers will continue to work with local Bureau of Land Management teams, conservation and wildlife groups, rural communities, and state governments to employ multi-faceted land management strategies that protect America's most iconic landscapes for generations to come.