Thursday November 25 Ag News

 LENRD board approves applications for new irrigated acres

Landowners within the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District (LENRD) boundaries recently had an opportunity to apply for new irrigated acres. The LENRD board has the responsibility to develop, manage, and conserve our groundwater. Each year they look at ways to assist landowners in protecting the resource for their livelihood and that of future generations.

At their November meeting, the LENRD board voted to allow up to 292 acre-feet of new peak season streamflow depletions for the LENRD’s hydrologically connected (10/50 Area), which calculates to approximately 2,782.10 new groundwater irrigated acres. The board also voted to allow for the development of 2,542.15 new irrigated acres in the LENRD’s non-hydrologically connected (Non 10/50 Area). An approved variance from the district is required to expand groundwater irrigated acres either from an existing well, or a newly constructed well.

LENRD Assistant Manager, Brian Bruckner, said, “The variance applications are evaluated using the district’s scoring and ranking process which evaluates several factors, and provides a transparent process from which approvals are determined. The LENRD is committed to working with producers to expand acres while continuing to protect our groundwater for the future.”

Staff will be contacting the landowners in writing, for both approved and non-approved applications. After the landowners have been properly notified, the approved list will be made available by submitting a public records request to the district.

In other action, the board approved 8 Community Forestry Incentive Program applications for a total cost of $31,795.13. The communities receiving grants to remove and plant trees this year are Beemer, Norfolk, Oakland, Randolph, Wausa, West Point, West Point Schools, and Wisner.

LENRD Natural Resources Conservation Technician, Todd Stewart, said, “If you need trees for your community, your acreage, or your backyard, give me a call, I’d be happy to come out and help design your project.”  Conservation tree order forms are now available at the LENRD office, your local NRCS office, and online at lenrd.org.

The LENRD board & staff meet each month to develop and implement programs to protect our natural resources. The next LENRD board meeting will be Tuesday, December 21st at 7:30 p.m. Watch for further updates and stay connected with the LENRD by subscribing to their monthly emails.



Flood reduction measures evaluated in Maple Creek Watershed Plan

Protecting northeast Nebraska from flood events is the responsibility of the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District (LENRD), given to them by the Nebraska Legislature. The LENRD board and staff work continually to study areas where flooding occurs.

Areas in the Maple Creek watershed have been prone to flood events for decades, impacting families for generations. Citizens and community members from the watershed have asked the LENRD to assist with flood reduction projects and conservation programs to help prevent damages from flood water/sediment and minimize future flood events.

In 2020, the LENRD was awarded a grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through the Watershed Flood Prevention and Operations (WFPO) program to complete the Maple Creek Watershed Plan & Environmental Assessment. FYRA engineering is working on the plan which aims to evaluate potential flood reduction projects to reduce overall flood risk and support the largely agricultural economy in the Maple Creek Watershed. Leigh, Clarkson, Howells, and Nickerson are the four communities located within the watershed.

LENRD Projects Manager, Curt Becker, said, “The Maple Creek plan is a planning document to evaluate what is technically and economically feasible and socially acceptable. For example, the Clarkson levee and a bridge near Nickerson, can be further evaluated with this plan.”

Becker, added, “We are trying to come up with solutions to reduce flooding in the area. Most dam structures have not been adequately supported, and we’re looking for other options which can benefit these communities and rural areas.”

Letters were sent out to the public as the LENRD continues to request ideas to formulate this plan. Becker continued, “If dams are not fully supported, then we can work together on other flood reduction plans, including detention cells, wetland enhancement, and levee and channel improvements. If you have poor producing soils next to a stream channel, creating a flood water retention area could benefit your land and the watershed. We’re asking the public to bring their ideas to the table.”



ADDING MINERAL TO IRRIGATION MAY LOWER TOXIC ELEMENTS IN SOILS

Welcome to Pocket Science: a glimpse at recent research from Husker scientists and engineers. For those who want to quickly learn the “What,” “So what” and “Now what” of Husker research.

What?
Arsenic, uranium and other trace elements naturally occur in topsoil across the U.S. Corn Belt, including the Cornhusker State. Crops grown in soils containing elevated levels of those trace elements can absorb them through roots, potentially curbing growth and threatening the health of those who regularly consume them.

So what?
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Arindam Malakar, Chittaranjan Ray and colleagues were curious about whether ferrihydrite — a nanoscopic mineral sometimes found in soils but also used to treat groundwater and drinking water — might help address the issue.

As part of a greenhouse experiment using soil from the university’s Panhandle Research and Extension Center, the Husker team planted corn in three soils: one with no ferrihydrite, another with 0.05% ferrihydrite, and a third with 0.10% of the mineral. After irrigating the soils with arsenic- and uranium-fortified water, the researchers tracked the growth of the corn plants and monitored concentrations of the trace elements in water surrounding the plant roots.

The team found that ferrihydrite-enriched soils lowered the concentrations of arsenic and uranium by about 20%. They also appeared to reduce the loss of nitrate, which is essential to plant growth but can cause health issues when leaching into groundwater, by roughly 30-50%. Water retention, meanwhile, rose from about 13% with no ferrihydrite to roughly 17% with it.

Crucially, the corn likewise seemed to benefit: Plants in the ferrihydrite-enriched soils grew taller, produced 12-15% more living tissue, synthesized more chlorophyll and yielded kernels containing nearly twice as much iron.

Now what?
Conducting similar experiments in actual field conditions, rather than a greenhouse, will be necessary to validate the study’s results, the researchers said.

But the initial findings suggest that adding even small doses of ferrihydrite to irrigation could limit concentrations of toxic elements while boosting crop growth and nutrient uptake.



Nebraska Ethanol Board Dec. 9 board meeting to be held in Lincoln

The Nebraska Ethanol Board will meet in Lincoln at 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 9. The meeting will be at Hyatt Place (600 Q Street). Highlights of the agenda are as follows:
    Budget Report
    Fuel Retailer Update
    Nebraska Corn Board Update
    Renewable Fuels Nebraska Update
    Marketing Programs
    Funding Requests
    State and Federal Legislation
    Ethanol Plant Reports
    Election of Board Officers for 2022

This agenda contains all items to come before the Board except those items of an emergency nature. Nebraska Ethanol Board meetings are open to the public and also published on the public calendar.

The Nebraska Ethanol Board works to ensure strong public policy and consumer support for biofuels. Since 1971, the independent state agency has designed and managed programs to expand production, market access, worker safety and technology innovation, including recruitment of producers interested in developing conventional ethanol, as well as bio-products from the ethanol platform. For more information, visit www.ethanol.nebraska.gov.



Commercial Red Meat Production Down 7 Percent from Last Year

Commercial red meat production for the United States totaled 4.75 billion pounds in October, down 7 percent from the 5.09 billion pounds produced in October 2020.

Beef production, at 2.37 billion pounds, was 4 percent below the previous year. Cattle slaughter totaled 2.85 million head, down 3 percent from October 2020. The average live weight was down 9 pounds from the previous year, at 1,376 pounds.

Veal production totaled 4.6 million pounds, 14 percent below October a year ago. Calf slaughter totaled 35,400 head, down 4 percent from October 2020. The average live weight was down 25 pounds from last year, at 226 pounds.

Pork production totaled 2.37 billion pounds, down 9 percent from the previous year. Hog slaughter totaled 11.1 million head, down 8 percent from October 2020. The average live weight was down 3 pounds from the previous year, at 288 pounds.

Lamb and mutton production, at 11.4 million pounds, was up 7 percent from October 2020. Sheep slaughter totaled 187,300 head, 3 percent above last year. The average live weight was 121 pounds, up 5 pounds from October a year ago.

Production by State (mil. lbs  -  % Oct '20)
Nebraska ...........:           677.2     -       92       
Iowa ..................:           780.1     -       95       
Kansas ...............:           535.0     -       96       

January to October 2021 commercial red meat production was 46.2 billion pounds, up slightly from 2020. Accumulated beef production was up 3 percent from last year, veal was down 19 percent, pork was down 2 percent from last year, and lamb and mutton production was down 2 percent.



NORTHERN PLAINS FARM LABOR  
 
In the Northern Plains Region (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) there were 41,000 workers hired directly by farm operators on farms and ranches during the week of July 11-17, 2021, up 14% from the July 2020 reference week, according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Workers numbered 45,000 during the week of October 10-16, 2021, up 15% from the October 2020 reference week.
 
Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $17.08 per hour during the July 2021 reference week, up 2% from the July 2020 reference week. Field workers received an average of $17.01 per hour, up $0.18. Livestock workers earned $16.36 per hour, up $0.79. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate at $16.71, was up $0.41 from the 2020 reference week. Hired laborers worked an average of 47.1 hours during the July 2021 reference week, compared with 44.6 hours worked during the July 2020 reference week.
 
Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $17.25 per hour during the October 2021 reference week, up 2% from the October 2020 reference week. Field workers received an average of $17.21 per hour, up $0.17. Livestock workers earned $16.45 per hour, up $0.93 from a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $16.91, was up $0.46 from the October 2020 reference week. Hired laborers worked an average of 48.8 hours during the October 2021 reference week, compared with 46.0 hours worked during the October 2020 reference week.



IOWA FARM LABOR REPORT

There were 22,000 workers hired directly by farms in the Cornbelt II Region (Iowa and Missouri) during the reference week of July 11-17, 2021, according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service - Farm Labor report. Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage rate of $16.89 per hour, 99 cents above July 2020. The number of hours worked averaged 35.5 for hired workers during the reference week, compared with 37.7 hours in July 2020.
 
During the reference week of October 10-16, 2021, there were 25,000 workers hired directly by farms in the Cornbelt II Region (Iowa and Missouri). Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage rate of $17.26 per hour during the October 2021 reference week, $1.16 above October 2020. The number of hours worked averaged 41.0 for hired workers during the reference week, compared with 39.8 hours in October 2020.



USDA: October Hired Workers Up 2 Percent; Gross Wage Rate Increased 5 Percent from Previous Year

There were 772,000 workers hired directly by farm operators on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of October 10-16, 2021, up 2 percent from the October 2020 reference week. Workers hired directly by farm operators numbered 797,000 during the week of July 11-17, 2021, up 3 percent from the July 2020 reference week.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average gross wage of $16.59 per hour during the October 2021 reference week, up 5 percent from the October 2020 reference week. Field workers received an average of $16.08 per hour, up 5 percent. Livestock workers earned $15.45 per hour, up 6 percent. The field and livestock worker combined gross wage rate, at $15.92 per hour, was up 5 percent from the 2020 reference week. Hired laborers worked an average of 42.0 hours during the October 2021 reference week, down slightly from the hours worked during the October 2020 reference week.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average gross wage of $16.59 per hour during the July 2021 reference week, up 6 percent from the July 2020 reference week. Field workers received an average of $16.10 per hour, up 7 percent, while livestock workers earned $15.19 per hour, up 5 percent from a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined gross wage rate, at $15.85 per hour, was up 7 percent from the July 2020 reference week. Hired laborers worked an average of 41.0 hours during the July 2021 reference week, down 1 percent from the hours worked during the July 2020 reference week.

The 2021 all hired worker annual average gross wage rate was $16.38 per hour, up 6 percent from the 2020 annual average gross wage rate. The 2021 field worker annual average gross wage rate was $15.77 per hour, up 7 percent from the 2020 annual average. The 2021 livestock worker annual average gross wage rate was $15.08 per hour. The 2021 annual average combined gross wage for field and livestock workers was $15.56, up 6 percent from the 2020 annual average of $14.62 per hour.



HOG Awards Made at the Iowa Football State Championships
    
Seven Iowa high school football players took home awards recognizing their play during the final games at the 2021 Iowa high school state football championships Nov. 18-19 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Hog of the Game (HOG) awards went to the outstanding offensive lineman in each of the championship games. The HOG awards are sponsored by the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) and awarded by the Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN).

HOG award winners were recognized for their strength and speed in creating opportunities for their teams to be successful.

“This award recognizes the often unsung linemen who are out front and helping their team be effective,” said IPPA President Dennis Liljedahl of Essex. “Just like Iowa’s pig farmers, these players work hard to create opportunities for their team and their communities to be successful.”

Iowa high school players who received the 2021 HOG awards are:
-    Gavyn Jessen of CAM High School in Anita, the winners of the 8-player tournament. Jessen is a junior and the son of Jared Jessen and Jean Jessen, Anita.
-    Eric Martinez, a junior at West Hancock High School in Britt, the winners of the Class A contest. Martinez, of Kanawha, is the son of Victor and Yuri Martinez.
-    Casey Trudo, a senior at Van Meter High School, the Class 1A tournament winners. Trudo is the son of Eric and Shonna Trudo, Van Meter.
-    Aaron Graves, a senior at Southeast Valley High School in Gowrie, the winner of the Class 2A tournament. Graves, who is from Dayton, is the son of Mark and Amber Graves.
-    Gunner Schmitz, a junior at Harlan Community High School, which won the Class 3A championship. Schmitz is the son of Brian and Gina Schmitz of Harlan.
-    Hunter Deyo, a senior at Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, the winners of the Class 4A title. Deyo is the son of Brian Deyo and Elizabeth Swanson, Council Bluffs.
-    Carson Campisi, a sophomore at Southeast Polk High School, Pleasant Hill, the Class 5A tournament winners. Campisi, from Pleasant Hill, is the son of Mike Campisi, Altoona, and Jodi Hoover, Pleasant Hill.

“The Hog of the Game award is a highlight of the football championships each year,” said Ric Silvestrini, IHSSN’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Through the IPPA’s longtime partnership with the Iowa High School Sports Network, we are able to recognize these outstanding student athletes, who battle in the trenches. Congratulations to the seven winners this year, and thanks again to the IPPA for its continued support of high school athletics.”



Price Slide and Spread
Matthew Diersen, Risk & Business Management Specialist, South Dakota State University

Seasonally, this is the time of year with the largest runs or volume of feeder cattle sales in the northern plains. The value of feeder cattle is largely based on their potential in the feedlot. This leads to the familiar price slide, where animals at lighter weights are priced at a premium to those at heavier weights on a per cwt basis. When looked at on a per-head basis, the heavier animals are generally worth more than the lighter animals. The price slide is steep this fall compared to a year ago.

One factor affecting the slide is the cost of feed. The price of corn, for example, is currently much higher than a year ago. The higher cost of gain means that the price slide will be more pronounced or steeper. Isolating just the price of corn, however, seems to mask many of the other factors that can affect the slide. Attempts to plot the relationship shows a cluster of observations with a price slide of 5-15 cents for 5-600 pound steers. High corn price years can be reflected in high or not high corresponding price slide levels. Thus, the correlation is low or weak between the price of corn and the slide. Other factors matter or dominate the influence of any one factor. The price of hay (or similar roughages) would also factor prominently, especially for lighter animals.

The price spread between feeder steers and feeder heifers is also wide this fall compared to a year ago. Heifers, from a feedlot perspective, would be discounted compared to steers of the same weight as they would be expected to have a lower rate of gain and a lower finish weight. The greater the cost of feed (and gain), the wider the spread. The discount can be reduced (or conceivably go away entirely) if there would be another reason to value heifers differently. This can happen when heifers are demanded as replacements. The LMIC has a chart (and a data table) of heifers on feed as a percent of total cattle on feed, the heifer mix, that goes back to 2009. A low heifer mix would be an indication of heifers being diverted from feedlots to replacement programs. Comparing the October heifer mix to the historic price slide was not informative. A longer data series may be necessary to tease out signals from the cattle cycle.

The latter part of 2021 never brought improved range and pasture conditions for the western U.S. This reduced feed supplies would be partly responsible for the steeper price slide observed now. Poor pasture conditions also limit the ability of producers to retain heifers. The heifer mix in October was back up to almost 40% of cattle on feed from about 39% last year. The supply of feeder cattle outside of feedlots in October was lower than in 2020 and 2019. The November cattle on feed report was in line with trade expectations. The inventory on feed is down slightly from a year ago with placements 2% higher. Tough pasture conditions could be driving cattle to feedlots sooner, which may partially explain the higher placements. The continued higher placements means that the supply of feeders outside of feedlots is getting smaller, which would be supportive of prices for feeders in the short run. Higher placements likely means the heifer mix is not getting smaller. This will keep the spread wide going forward until the pasture, feed and returns situation changes.



Weekly Ethanol Production for 11/19/2021

According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association for the week ending November 19, ethanol production scaled up by 19,000 barrels per day (b/d), or 1.8%, to 1.079 million b/d. This is equivalent to 45.32 million gallons daily. Production was 9.0% above the same week last year, which was affected by the pandemic, and 1.9% greater than the same week in 2019. However, the four-week average ethanol production volume decreased 0.6% to 1.071 million b/d, equivalent to an annualized rate of 16.42 billion gallons (bg).

Ethanol stocks rose 0.4% to 20.2 million barrels. Stocks were 3.4% below the year-ago level and 0.6% lower than the same week in 2019. Inventories increased across all regions except the Midwest (PADD 2) and Gulf Coast (PADD 3).
                                                                                                              
The volume of gasoline supplied to the U.S. market, a measure of implied demand, climbed 1.0% to 9.33 million b/d (143.09 bg annualized). Gasoline demand was 14.8% above a year ago and 1.4% more than the same week in 2019.

Conversely, refiner/blender net inputs of ethanol declined 1.3% to a 30-week low of 886,000 b/d, equivalent to 13.58 bg annualized. Net inputs were 9.0% above a year ago but 4.7% less than the same week in 2019.

There were zero imports of ethanol recorded for the fourth consecutive week. (Weekly export data for ethanol is not reported simultaneously; the latest export data is as of September 2021.)



Nitrogen Fertilizers Prices Continue Climb, UAN32 up 32%

Retail fertilizer prices continue to skyrocket higher, according to locations tracked by DTN for the third week of November 2021. As has been the case for months now, all eight of the major fertilizers were higher.  Seven of the eight fertilizers recorded a considerable move higher compared to last month. DTN designates a significant move as anything 5% or more.

Leading the way higher was UAN32, which was up a whopping 32% from a month prior. The liquid nitrogen fertilizer's average price was at $651/ton, which continues to be an all-time high in the DTN data set.

Anhydrous was 30% more expensive compared to last month with the average price at $1,220/ton; this is also an all-time high. UAN28 was 27% higher, looking back a month with the average price of $571/ton, also an all-time high.

Urea was 17% more expensive compared to last month with an average price of $859/ton, again an all-time high with DTN data. 10-34-0 was 12% more expense looking back to last month with an average price of $739/ton.

A couple fertilizers were "only" single digits higher. Potash was 8% high compared to last month and had an average price of $769/ton. MAP was up 6% from last month and had an average price of $911/ton.

One fertilizer, DAP, had just a slight price increase. The phosphorus fertilizer had average price of $825/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.93/lb.N, anhydrous $0.74/lb.N, UAN28 $1.02/lb.N and UAN32 $1.02/lb.N.

Retail fertilizer prices compared to a year ago show all have increased significantly, with several fertilizers having well-over 100% price increases.  10-34-0 is now 62% more expensive, DAP is 81% higher, MAP is 86% more expensive, potash is 129% higher, urea is 140% more expensive, UAN32 is 161% higher, UAN28 176% is more expensive and anhydrous is 188% higher compared to last year.



Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Producers Prepare for Thanksgiving Harvest

This Thanksgiving, many biodiesel producers are prepping for the holiday surge in used cooking oil. National Biodiesel Board (NBB) members — such as Newport Biodiesel in Rhode Island, New Leaf Biofuel in San Diego and American GreenFuels in Connecticut — harvest and recycle used cooking oil into biodiesel and renewable diesel, helping to keep food costs down while lowering carbon emissions.

Many people will dine out on Thanksgiving while others choose to fry their turkey. Either of those options can support the clean fuels industry. NBB members are leaders in the circular economy, many of whom rely on local restaurants for their feedstock supply. These companies collect used cooking oil from area restaurants and recycle it to produce to high-quality biodiesel, which they sell to local businesses, governments, fleets and even use themselves. They’re keeping a waste product out of landfills and helping restaurants keep prices down by finding a second use for their waste product.

Similarly, when biodiesel is produced from soybean oil it helps keep the price of soy protein meal — which is 80% of the bean and used in livestock feed — affordable. This in turn helps keep prices for meat, eggs and dairy more affordable than they would be if there was no market for the surplus oil — the remaining 20% of the bean.

Newport Biodiesel collects waste vegetable oil from over 5,000 kitchens throughout the New England and Tri-state areas," Newport Biodiesel President Blake Banky said. "This feedstock is processed into biodiesel in Newport Rhode Island, after which it is sold back into the region, thereby closing the sustainability loop.  Our restaurant partners will be generating extra quantities of valuable waste streams during the Thanksgiving holiday and Newport Biodiesel will be there to collect them.”

Across the country in San Diego, New Leaf Biofuel is another company that collects used cooking oil from local restaurants and uses it to make high-quality biodiesel fuel that reduces carbon emissions and improves air quality.

“Biodiesel made from used cooking oil is especially good for the environment,” said Jennifer Case, founder and CEO of New Leaf Biofuel. “It can significantly reduce carbon emissions compared to petroleum diesel. It can be used in virtually any diesel engine up to 20% and it can also be blended with renewable diesel up to 20%, which allows for a complete drop-in replacement for petroleum diesel.”

American GreenFuels biodiesel is a renewable, cleaner-burning diesel replacement that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Located in New Haven, American GreenFuels is the largest biodiesel producer in both the Northeast and along the eastern seaboard of the United States. The company converts used cooking oil, which is sources from Connecticut and the surrounding states.

According to Raf Aviner, president of Kolmar Americas, Inc., American GreenFuels parent company, “Using used cooking oil helps enable our plant to be sustainable. Biodiesel is renewable and used cooking oil helps complete the cycle of turning what was once a waste product into a renewable fuel.”

American GreenFuels is currently engaged in an awareness campaign called “You Are What You Heat” which is designed to educate people about the benefits of using biodiesel in home heating systems, buildings, diesel equipment and trucks.

“Biodiesel is playing an important role in our nation’s decarbonization efforts, reducing lifecycle greenhouse gases by an average of 74% -- and oftentimes more depending on what is used to make the fuel," explained Matt Herman, NBB’s director of environmental science. “Today, tomorrow, and long into the future, biodiesel and renewable diesel will continue to do their part in reducing emissions, improving air quality and protecting public health.”