Wednesday March 06 Ag News

Cuming County Cow-Calf Association to Meet

The annual Cuming County Cow-Calf membership dinner will be held on Tuesday, March 12, at Pizza Ranch, West Point. Social at 5:30 p.m. with a meal at 6:00 p.m. The meal will be sponsored by Merck Animal Health. The program topic will be “Managing the Herd for Greater Profit Margins.” Connor Klitz, Merck Animal Health territory manager will be the presenter. The evening will conclude with a question & answer session.



Fischer, Colleagues Lead Letter Urging EPA to Withdraw Concerning Wastewater Rule on Meat and Poultry Processors

This week, U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) led a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan urging the agency to withdraw a proposed rule covering wastewater discharged by meat and poultry processors. Nine of their Senate Republican colleagues and 17 of their House Republican colleagues also joined the letter.

“Given the technical complexity and high costs of wastewater treatment alterations, coupled with the massive expansion of the number of regulated facilities, a 60-day comment period demonstrates EPA is not interested in seeking meaningful input from the regulated industry. As such, we urge EPA to withdraw the rule,” wrote the Members.

In their letter, the Members called on Administrator Regan to earnestly work with stakeholders in any future rulemaking, ensuring that the EPA’s actions do not compromise the U.S. food system.

“The proposed rule exposes hundreds of operators to a new regulatory regime with significant costs and a disregard of the ramifications on stakeholders … We are concerned the number of potential closures is likely much higher than estimated, and we believe it is irresponsible for EPA to propose regulations that will arbitrarily close plants and eliminate jobs from the rural economy,” the Members continued.

In addition to Senators Fischer and Ernst, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), James Risch (R-Idaho), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).

In the House, the letter was led by U.S. Representative Tracey Mann (R-Kan.). In addition to Representative Mann, the letter was signed by U.S. Representatives Glenn “GT” Thompson (R- Pa.), Steve Womack (R-Ark.), Austin Scott (R-Ga.), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Ron Estes (R-Kan.), James Baird (R-Ind.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.), Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Brad Finstad (R-Minn.), Mike Flood (R-Neb.), and Mark Alford (R-Mo.).

Stakeholder Support: American Association of Meat Processors, North American Renderers Association, and North American Meat Institute.

Background:
On January 24, 2024, the EPA published its proposed rule on the Meat and Poultry Products (MPP) category wastewater discharge regulations and standards. The rule included three regulatory options that the EPA estimates will impact between 844 and 1,618 facilities.

The proposed rule only provides a 60-day comment period and will close on March 25, 2024. The EPA recently announced to stakeholders that it will not be extending the comment period.

The Members’ letter calls on EPA to withdraw the proposed rule. It claims that a 60-day comment period does not allow time for meaningful feedback on the three proposals and expanding regulations on meat, poultry, and rendering facilities.



Nebraska kids dive into ag at urban literacy festivals

Nebraska is bridging the gap between urban areas and agriculture through its Ag Literacy Festivals, focusing on metro regions such as Cass, Douglas, Lancaster, Sarpy, and Saunders Counties.

Led by the Agricultural Literacy Coalition of Nebraska and coordinated by Extension Educator Cole Meador, these festivals are a platform for students to explore the agricultural world in an engaging and interactive manner.

The festivals cover a wide array of topics including beef, dairy, poultry, corn, soybeans, ag technology, and more. Through activities like corn relay races and technology demonstrations, students get to experience agriculture up close.

They learn about the size of an acre by comparing it to a football field and discover the technology used by farmers to check plant health.

A key feature of the festival is its hands-on approach, allowing kids to touch and see what farming and agriculture involve. From checking chlorophyll content in corn leaves to understanding water sources for irrigation, the activities are designed to be both educational and entertaining.

Beyond just fun and games, the festivals aim to cultivate a realistic and positive awareness of agriculture. Students leave with a greater appreciation for agricultural products, recognizing their health, convenience, versatility, and environmental sustainability.

Teachers see the value in these festivals, especially for 4th graders studying Nebraska and science and technology in agriculture. With high approval ratings from educators, the festivals are marked as an essential learning experience that aligns with curriculum goals.

In 2023, over 6,070 students from 153 schools participated in the Nebraska Extension Ag Literacy Festivals. This experiential learning opportunity opened students' eyes to the technology-driven, innovative world of agriculture, highlighting the industry's vital role in producing everyday products and shaping the future.

Through these festivals, Nebraska Extension is successfully connecting urban youth with the agricultural sector, ensuring a deeper understanding and appreciation for farming and food production among the next generation.



January DMC Margin Inches Up Just Four Cents Over December
NMPF

The January Dairy Margin Coverage program margin remained mired below the $9.50/cwt maximum Tier 1 coverage level, gaining just 4 cents over December to come in at $8.48/cwt and generating a payment of $1.02/cwt for that maximum coverage.

The national average All-milk price in January dropped $0.50/cwt from December to $20.10/cwt, while a $0.54/cwt drop in the DMC feed cost calculation offset that decline to result in the margin’s small improvement. The feed-cost decline was mostly driven mostly by a falling soybean meal price, assisted by slightly lower corn and premium alfalfa hay prices.

End-of-February futures-based forecasts indicated that DMC margins would remain mostly above the $9.50/cwt maximum Tier 1 coverage level for the rest of 2024.



USDA Announces Next Major Step in Promoting Competition in Agriculture and Advancing Economic Opportunity and Fairness for Growers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the finalization of Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act. The final rule will be effective 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. The final rule Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act (the Inclusive Competition Rule) establishes clearer, more effective standards under the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Act for prohibited practices relating to discrimination, retaliation and deception in contracting. This will help producers and growers that have suffered from increasingly consolidated markets over the last 30 years by enhancing market integrity and ensuring fair access to economic opportunities.

“Discrimination, retaliation, and deception against producers and growers has no place in modern livestock and poultry markets,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “The Biden-Harris Administration is making significant progress in tackling the abuses that have left producers and growers excluded from economic opportunities and fair and equal access to the marketplace. This rule establishes clearer, more effective standards to govern the modern marketplace, and they are another example of how USDA is focused on building new, fairer, more resilient and more competitive markets for our farmers, ranchers, and producers.”

USDA is finalizing a series of rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act as part of President Biden’s historic Executive Order on Promoting Competition in America’s Economy, a key pillar of Bidenomics. These rules complement a series of other all-encompassing actions by USDA to increase competition in agricultural markets, create a fairer playing field for small- and mid-size farmers, lower grocery costs for consumers, and strengthen local and regional food systems. Actions include enhancing independent meat and poultry and other diversified food processing capacity, expanding domestic, innovative fertilizer production, creating a fairer market for seeds and other agriculture inputs, investing in State Attorney General enforcement capacity and supporting more robust and resilient supply chains. These investments will create better economic opportunities, which will result in more affordable prices and choices for consumers at the grocery store, in addition to more opportunities and revenue for producers.

“The Packers & Stockyards Act stands for the basic proposition that livestock producers and poultry growers should be able to compete, cooperate, communicate, and more without fear of retaliation, and should never be subject to discrimination because of who they are or deceptive in their contracting,” said USDA’s Senior Advisor for Fair and Competitive Markets Andy Green. “To deliver the best products and the most competitive prices, we need competitive markets and markets with integrity. That’s what this final rule is designed to deliver.”

The rule:
    Prohibits the adverse treatment of livestock producers and poultry growers based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), disability, marital status, or age. It also prohibits discrimination against a livestock and poultry producer cooperative.
    Prohibits retaliation against producers and growers for their engaging in certain protected activities: lawful communications or refusals to communicate, assertion of contractual and Packers & Stockyards Act rights, participation in associations and cooperatives, exploring or entering into a business relationship with a competing packer/swine contractor/live poultry dealer, and certain other protected activities.
    Prohibits employing false or misleading statements or omissions of material information in contract formation, performance, and termination; and prohibits regulated entities from providing false or misleading representations regarding refusal to contract.
    Supports USDA monitoring, evaluation, and enforcement of compliance with aspects of this rule through certain recordkeeping requirements.

This rule is part of a suite of Packers and Stockyards Act rules proposed by USDA to enhance transparency, stop discrimination, and support market fairness in a range of circumstances. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register. More information on the final rule is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s Inclusive Competition Rule website.



NCBA Statement on Latest Packers and Stockyards Rule

Tuesday, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane issued a statement following the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) latest Packers and Stockyards rule:

“NCBA’s concern with this regulation has always been based in the rule’s unforeseen impacts to standard business practices. We have remained consistently opposed to any discriminatory practices in the marketplace. While we still have concerns about the unintended consequences of the rule, we are pleased that USDA has addressed most of our significant concerns between the proposed and final rules. We continue to urge USDA to ensure this rule remains focused on its stated objective—with which we wholeheartedly agree—and does not stray into extraneous, unrelated subject matter discussed in the proposal’s preamble.”



Changes to Packers & Stockyards Act Will Not Affect Competition
 
The latest attempt by the Biden Administration to disrupt the meat and poultry industry with changes to the Packers and Stockyards Act’s (PSA) regulations does nothing to encourage competition and instead attempts to give new authorities to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to exert federal control over business contracts.

“The Biden Administration says these changes to the PSA’s regulations are about increasing competition, but they have nothing to do with competition,” said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute. “These changes are simply an attempt to assert even more federal authority to regulate the equities of industry business practices, clogging the federal courts with every contract dispute. Congress never intended to give the agency such broad-ranging authority over meat industry contracts and practices, regardless of their effect on competition – and the courts have agreed.”

For more on legal precedent and congressional intent, see the Meat Institute’s comments regarding the proposed rule.

“While the actions described by USDA have no place in the meat industry, other federal statutes and state laws already exist to address the rare instances in which they may occur,” Potts said. “An antitrust statute is not the appropriate statute for these rules.”

“At a time when Americans are paying more and more for food, the President and his Administration continue to pursue policies that will be directly responsible for the increased cost of meat for consumers,” Potts said. “From Secretary Vilsack’s proposed changes to the Packers and Stockyards Act’s rules to USDA’s delayed modernization of pork inspection to EPA’s proposed wastewater guidelines, these policies will prove costly to the 98 percent of American households who purchase meat to feed their families.”
 


Firestone Ag Introduces Improved Regency Plus Bias Tire Portfolio to Deliver Enhanced Durability, Affordability

Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) today announced the introduction of the improved Regency Plus bias tire portfolio for Firestone Ag, built tough for today’s modern farmer. With extensive, cost-effective options for a variety of applications – including fronts and implements plus solutions for utility, light construction, and lawn and garden equipment – the Regency Plus bias tire line expands and strengthens the portfolio from its original 15 sizes and includes the backing of a five-year warranty from Firestone Ag.  
 
“The Regency Plus bias tire line is designed to bring farmers more affordable tire options and the ability to consistently partner with Firestone Ag on all their tire and service needs,” said Tony Orlando, president, Bridgestone Integrated Agriculture Tire Business – Americas, Europe, Middle East, India, Africa. With nearly 100 sizes to be available by the end of 2024, Regency Plus bias tires support today’s farmers across a variety of applications.  
 
As high farm production costs are forecast to continue into 2024, Regency Plus bias tires are designed to help farmers manage machinery costs and choose products they can count on. Regency Plus bias tires are:
    Competitively designed to deliver comparable wearability and reliability in challenging field and weather conditions
    Manufactured to help resist stubble, cracking and ozone damage
    Heavy-duty, featuring high ply ratings to effectively carry heavy loads
    Backed by a five-year warranty from Firestone Ag
 
Select sizes of Regency Plus bias tires are now available. Additional sizes will become available each month throughout 2024. To learn more about Regency Plus or order the tires, visit your local Firestone Ag Dealer or FirestoneAg.com.
 
The Firestone Ag Regency Plus bias tire portfolio aligns with the Economy and Efficiency values of the Bridgestone E8 Commitment, which consists of eight Bridgestone-like values starting with the letter “E” (Energy, Ecology, Efficiency, Extension, Economy, Emotion, Ease, and Empowerment) to realize a sustainable society.