Monday March 13 Ag News

RESEARCH AIMS TO DEVELOP BOARS MORE TOLERANT OF GESTATIONAL HEAT STRESS

In utero heat stress of boars is a significant threat to pork production, and a University of Nebraska–Lincoln reproductive physiologist is leading a research team that aims to develop boars that are more genetically tolerant of gestational heat stress.

In the United States, about 6 million sows a year produce a litter after exposure to gestational heat stress, a threat that is increasing with climate change. At an average of 11 animals in a litter, that’s 66 million piglets affected each year in the U.S. alone.

Researchers have known for decades that direct exposure to summer heat stress dramatically impairs sperm production in adult males. In addition, new evidence demonstrates that exposure to in utero heat stress, or IUHS, also impairs boar sperm production, decreasing counts by about 24% and increasing the proportion of abnormal sperm by about 42%. That renders the semen poor quality, said Amy Desaulniers, assistant professor of veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences and the project’s principal investigator.

“The developing male is especially sensitive to gestational insults, which can impair fetal testis development and predispose a lifetime of reproductive failure,” Desaulniers said.

Boar fertility is critical for the swine industry, which relies almost exclusively on artificial insemination. A typical boar sires an average of 8,398 progeny per year, compared to 23 progeny per year for a sow.

“Therefore, the boar has the greatest cumulative impact on swine reproductive performance and drives genetic progress in the herd,” Desaulniers said.

Scientists don’t know the biological mechanisms that underlie IUHS’s negative impact on the boar testis, so her research team hopes to determine the physiological effects of IUHS on endocrine function and gamete production within the boar testis. Then, they’ll try to develop strategies to make boars more tolerant of in utero heat stress.

“The overall goal is to better understand how IUHS impairs boar reproductive physiology while simultaneously testing a novel IUHS mitigation strategy — genomic selection for heat tolerance,” Desaulniers said. “The rationale is that this work will advance our understanding of the biological pathways affected by IUHS in reproductive organs of the boar.

“This research is significant because implementation of this new knowledge is expected to lead to novel methodologies to enhance gonadal function of boars, including gamete production. Ultimately, these outcomes will increase boar fertility, swine reproductive efficiency and the sustainability of U.S. pork production.”

Desaulniers said solutions might include pharmacological approaches, new genetic tests or dietary changes.

Improving pork productivity is key to feeding a growing world population and increasing profitability for producers in Nebraska and throughout the United States, Desaulniers said. Pork is the most consumed meat worldwide, and demand is expected to increase 37% by 2050.

The research is funded by a three-year, $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The research team also includes Brett White, associate professor of animal science; Jay Johnson, USDA-Agricultural Research Service; Clay Lents, U.S. Meat Animal Research Center; and Luiz Brito, Purdue University.



Ricketts Announces First Mobile Office Hours, New Hire

Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) announced his constituent casework staff will be hosting Mobile Office Hours throughout the state.

Ricketts also announced the hiring of Debbie Borg as Agriculture and Northeast Nebraska Outreach Director. Borg, a partner in the family’s fifth-generation family farm outside of Allen, will facilitate the mobile offices in Northeast Nebraska.

“My first priority is ensuring we provide effective constituent services for every Nebraskan who needs our help,” said Senator Ricketts. “Mobile offices provide a chance for Nebraskans to speak with my staff about concerns and receive assistance navigating federal agencies in communities where we don’t have a permanent office. I’m grateful for the team of dedicated public servants we are building to serve people across our state.”

Thursday, March 16th, 2023
Dakota County
Dakota County Courthouse
1601 Broadway Street
Dakota City, NE 68731-0039
Board Room
8:30– 10:30 a.m. CDT

Thursday, March 16th, 2023
Cuming County
Cuming County Courthouse
200 S. Lincoln St., Rm 50
West Point, NE 68788-0285
Lower Level Meeting Room
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. CDT

Friday, March 17th, 2023
Madison County
Norfolk Chamber of Commerce
Community Room
609 W. Norfolk Ave.
Norfolk, NE 68701
8:30 – 10:30 a.m. CDT

At Mobile Office Hours, Ricketts’ staff will be on-site to assist Nebraskans with their casework needs. If Nebraskans can’t get an answer from a federal agency in a timely fashion, or if they feel they have been treated unfairly, Ricketts and his staff may be able to help resolve a problem or get information Nebraskans need. For more information about Ricketts’ constituent services, please visit https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/services.



WINTER SURVIVAL IN ALFALFA
– Ben Beckman, NE Extension Educator
 
The time for spring planting alfalfa is just around the corner, and selecting the right seed is crucial. Two traits we should take extra time to consider are fall dormancy and winter survival. These traits are often treated the same, but are different.  Today let’s look at winter survival.
 
Winter survival or winter hardiness is the ability for an alfalfa plant to make it through winter without injury, once the plant goes dormant. This is different than the fall dormancy rating that measures the alfalfa’s ability to prepare for and recover from dormancy.  Winter survival is measured on a 1 to 6 scale with 1 being extremely hardy and 6 not hardy.  For Nebraska, a winter survival rating of 3 is about as high as we want to go.
 
As temperatures drop and days shorten, alfalfa plants change their physiology to survive freezing temperatures and make it through winter.  While increased hardiness can result in reduced yield potential, for a high dollar perennial forage, having a full stand year after year is better in the long run.
 
In the past, winter survival traits were linked with fall dormancy.  With new varieties, this isn’t always the case, so winter survival needs to be evaluated on its own.
 
We want to pick a winter survival ranking that will get us through winter without compromising yield.  Where you are in the state plays a big role in what to pick. Winter temperatures affect the choice, but maintained snow cover is also important.  As snow can help insulate the ground, parts of the state that regularly have open winters may need as high or higher survival rating than colder locations with winter-long snow cover.
 
Bottom line for Nebraska, a winter survival rating of 3 is about as high as we want to go and areas with open winters or regularly colder temperatures should be even lower.



March Madness food bracket Goes statewide with craft beer focus

Launching today, the third annual Sarah Baker Hansen March Madness-inspired food bracket is this year focused on Nebraska’s craft breweries and is moving from an Omaha-centric format to a statewide format, inviting breweries and residents from across the state to get into the action. Find all the details at https://nebraskabeerbracket.com/.

When: Monday, March 13 is the first day of voting, and voting continues through several rounds, culminating in one winner announced on April 3. Users are encouraged to vote for their favorite Nebraska breweries across the state.

What: Sarah Baker Hansen started an Omaha-focused food bracket in 2021 with the Omaha Pizza Bracket, and came back in 2022 with the Omaha Burger Bracket. This year, thanks in part to a grant from the Nebraska Craft Brewery Board, the contest has grown to a statewide event, including 64 locally owned breweries across the state of Nebraska, divided into four competitive regions.

How: Starting today, Nebraskans can visit nebraskabeerbracket.com and vote for their favorite Nebraska brewery. Breweries will advance based on individual votes, and similar to how March Madness works, the contest will continue over several weeks. For full dates and rules, read on.
Contest Dates

Bracket Announcement - Sunday, March 12
Round 1 voting - March 13 (noon) - March 16 (midnight)
Round 2 - March 17 (1 a.m.) - March 20 (noon)
Sweet 16 - March 20 (1 p.m.) - March 22 (noon)
Elite 8 - March 22 (1 p.m.) - March 25 (noon)
Final Four - March 25 (1 p.m.) - March 29 (noon)
Championship - March 29 (1 p.m.) - April 3 (noon)

Contest Rules & Disclosures
The bracket allows one vote per matchup per round. You can vote for each of the 32 matchups in the first round, for example, but you can’t vote 20 times in a row for your favorite burger place.

You must share your name and a working email address to vote. I won’t give your contact info to anyone else, but I will sign you up for my weekly newsletter. If you enter a fake email address, we’ll delete your votes.

About Sarah Baker Hansen
Sarah Baker Hansen launched her own food website covering the food scene of her hometown, Omaha, Neb., in 2020.  

For eight years, she was the food critic at the Omaha World-Herald. She started the periodic Food Prowl series, wherein she created teams of tasters and found favorites in a number of categories. The series resulted in close to 40 “best of Omaha” winners, including Reuben, fried chicken, ice cream and more.

In 2021, she debuted a partnership with Grow Omaha and now writes original food criticism every other week. The content appears on her website and at Grow Omaha Eats.

She won a 2015 Great Plains Journalism Award for best review and a 2017 Great Plains Journalism Award for best feature.

She works as the Director of Public & Media Relations at Emspace + Lovgren, in Omaha, and has written two books: “The Better Half: Nebraska’s Hidden Treasures” and “The Insider’s Guide to Omaha and Lincoln.”



Still time to respond to the 2022 Census of Agriculture

Iowa’s farmers and ranchers still have time to be counted in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). With just over 55 percent of the ag census forms returned as of mid-March, NASS has extended the deadline and will continue to accept completed forms through the end of May to ensure all producers take advantage of the opportunity to be represented in the widely used data.

"We thank everyone who has completed their census to date.” said Greg Thessen, director of the NASS Upper Midwest Regional Field Office. "Many farmers have already responded but we want the voices of all producers to be represented in the data since the resulting statistics will directly impact farming communities for years to come. Census data inform decisions about policy, farm and conservation programs, infrastructure and rural development, research, education, and more."

NASS will continue to follow up with producers through the spring with mailings, phone calls, and personal visits. Farmers and ranchers are encouraged to complete their ag census either online at agcounts.usda.gov or by mail as soon as possible. The online questionnaire is accessible on a desktop, laptop, and other mobile devices.

Federal law under Title 7 USC 2204(g) Public Law 105-113 mandates that everyone who received the 2022 Census of Agriculture questionnaire complete and return it, even if they are not currently farming. The same law requires NASS to keep all submissions confidential, use the information for statistical purposes only, and publish aggregate data to prevent disclosing the identity of any individual producer or farm operation.

NASS will release the results of the ag census in early 2024. To learn more about the Census of Agriculture, visit nass.usda.gov/AgCensus. On the website, producers and other data users can access frequently asked questions, past ag census data, special study information, and more. For highlights of these and the latest information, follow USDA NASS on Twitter at @usda_nass.



Iowa Pork Welcomes New Communications Director
    
The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) has named Kevin Hall of Ankeny as its communications director. Hall will be responsible for developing and implementing the association’s strategic communications plan, including issues management and public relations projects and campaigns. He’ll also oversee its publications and website.

“Kevin is bringing a great deal of experience working with media to IPPA’s communications programs. This is becoming increasingly critical as we continue to share the story of Iowa’s pig farmers and pork production,” said IPPA president Trish Cook of Winthrop.

Hall comes to IPPA from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office where he served as the communications director for the past eight years. Prior to that he worked as a political reporter and analyst at a variety of news outlets.

"I am thrilled to join the top-notch staff at the Iowa Pork Producers Association. Agriculture is the backbone of Iowa's economy and we're the number one pork producing state in the nation,” Hall said. “I look forward to furthering IPPA's mission of being a leading voice in the pork industry."

He began his new position at IPPA on March 13. Hall is a North Carolina native with a mass communications degree from East Carolina University. He has worked in Iowa for the past 23 years.

Hall succeeds Dal Grooms who is retiring this spring. Grooms has worked for a variety of Iowa farm and commodity groups for 40 years.



North American Grain and Oilseed Crushings - 2022 Summary
Combined United States and Canadian Soybeans Crushed Up 3 Percent From 2021

Combined United States and Canadian soybeans crushed for crude oil was 67.9 million tons in 2022, an increase of 3 percent from 2021.  Crude oil production was 26.8 billion pounds, up 3 percent from 2021.

Combined United States and Canadian canola seeds crushed for crude oil was 11.6 million tons in 2022, down 10 percent from 2021.  Crude oil production was 9.57 billion pounds, down 13 percent from 2021.

This publication is a result of a joint effort by Statistics Canada and USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service to release the soybean and canola seed crushings information for both countries within one publication. United States soybean and oilseed crushings numbers for 2022 were previously released on March 1, 2023. Canadian soybean and oilseed crushings were released on January 25, 2023.



Very Strong First Quarter
Stephen R. Koontz, Dept of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University

Cattle markets are approaching the end of the first quarter of 2023 on a very strong note. Animal prices across the board have been very robust. Fed cattle have traded above $165, 7-8 cwt feeder cattle have traded above $190, and 5-6 cwt calves have traded just short of $235/cwt. Live cattle futures approached within $11/cwt of all-time high prices established in November 2014. However, feeder cattle are well below their records due to the strength in the forage and feedgrain markets. Cow-quality hay is routinely above $200/Ton and corn has only recently shown enough weakness to press below $6/Bu on the board. Cash basis in the southern plains continues to hold at $1 over.

It is rather possible that this strength is the usual spring seasonal rally come early. There may be more up moves for the second quarter but that would likely require changes in the fundamentals not see now. Recent beef export news has been disappointing whereas pork and chicken exports have been strong. The relative protein prices do much to explain this result. While retail margins have remained wide, in contrast, packer margins narrowed considerably through the fourth quarter of 2022. These margins are large compared to what is typically observed in the first quarter of the year. But defining what is typical, or what is the new norm, is difficult given the events of the past five years. What is inarguable is the strength of domestic demand. Consumers were willing to pay very high retail prices for large offerings of beef quantities. It seems unlikely that this will persist with the slowing economy and the central bank’s aggressive moves to control inflation. The number of factors in the for-and-against list regarding optimism in cattle prices has more on the against side.

The one big change possible in the for-category is the return to more normal forage and feedgrain prices. If that is the case, then feeder cattle and calves are rather under-valued. But that will take a retreat from costs of gain that are between $1.30 and $1.50 per pound. This is the major change and current fundamentals that would result in further strength in the calf market.

All in all, the first quarter of 2023 looks to be more of a return to market conditions observed prior to 2016-17. Tighter supplies and thinner margins. Which will be made more pronounced by any herd rebuilding. But there appears to be little of this in 2023 as beef cow liquidation continues at a strong pace. Again, there is more and more evidence of normal operations through the supply chain. In particular, the volume of Saturday fed cattle slaughter is off considerably compared to last year whereas the Monday to Friday slaughter has increased.