Hefty Seed Company Announces New Location in West Point, NE
Hefty Seed Company’s newest store will be open for business just south of West Point, NE on Friday, December 20, 2013. This location marks the first Nebraska store for one of the nation’s largest ag retailers.
Hefty Seed West Point will be managed by agronomists Chad Odvody and Jacob Gubbels, who have 25 years of combined agronomy experience in eastern Nebraska.
“We’re pleased to be a part of bringing the first Hefty location to Nebraska and to the community here in West Point,” said Odvody. “Area farmers will benefit from low pricing that our new facility and vast product network enables us to offer for both seed and ag chemical supplies.”
The facility includes bulk storage facilities allowing 37,000 gallons of ag chemical to be stored on site, as well as a fully equipped ag chemical supply warehouse and seed storage area. Upon opening, Hefty Seed West Point will have pricing on more than 400 varieties of ag chemical that will be available throughout the season.
Other features of the site include an office wing that incorporates meeting areas for agronomy and informational sessions throughout the year. Upcoming events at the site include an Open House on Thursday, January 16, 2014, where the public will be invited to tour the new facilities.
Nebraska Corn Growers Elect Officers at Annual Meeting
The Nebraska Corn Growers Association held its annual meeting in Seward this week. During the meeting, the association's membership elected officers for the organization. The following corn growers were re-elected:
- Joel Grams of Minden, President
- Larry Mussack of Decatur, Vice President
- Rick Gruber of Benedict, Secretary and Market Development Chair
- Chuck Emanuel of North Bend, Treasurer
The association also gave its annual Golden Ear Award recognizing outstanding service and leadership in Nebraska's corn industry. This year's recipient was Chuck Woodside of KAAPA Ethanol in Minden.
There was considerable discussion regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's recent proposal to reduce the required amount of corn ethanol in the nation's fuel supply—a proposed reduction of nearly 1.4 billion gallons for 2014.
During the annual meeting, the Nebraska Corn Growers Association passed a resolution urging the EPA to rescind its proposal and to retain the RFS in its current form.
As part of a statewide grassroots campaign, members of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association will be asking other organizations to adopt a similar resolution. This effort will include local chambers of commerce, county commissioners, city councils, school boards, banks and services clubs.
"The point is that cutting back on our nation's commitment to renewable fuels is bad for America's energy security, our economy, our environment, and our rural communities," said NeCGA president Joel Grams of Minden. "As corn farmers, we also need to be concerned about the potential loss of demand for corn—and the effect that will have on corn prices and our bottom line."
Grams said that the nation should be focusing on building infrastructure for higher ethanol blends including more flex fuel vehicles and more flex fuel pumps. "Cutting back on the RFS sends a bad signal to companies developing the next generation of biofuels—and it plays right into the hands of the oil companies who have spent huge sums of money to keep ethanol from taking their market share," he said.
On November 29, the EPA opened a 60-day comment period regarding its proposed ethanol reduction. "As corn farmers, we need to speak out against this proposal," Grams said. He directed growers to the National Corn Growers Association website at ncga.com to send a comment to the EPA.
Commercial Manure Applicator Training Scheduled for Jan. 7th in Iowa
Commercial manure applicators can attend annual training Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 to meet commercial manure applicator certification requirements. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will conduct Commercial Manure Applicator training from 9 a.m. to noon at 76 Iowa locations, two Wisconsin locations and one Minnesota site. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. There is no fee for the workshop, but applicators must register by Dec. 30 with the ISU Extension and Outreach county office where they plan to attend. A complete list of workshop locations can be found at http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/certification/macprogrampostcard.pdf.
Commercial manure applicators needing to recertify and those wanting to certify for the first time should attend. All currently certified commercial manure applicator licenses will expire on March 1, 2014. Those wanting to renew must complete training requirements, and submit forms and fees to the DNR prior to March 1 to avoid paying late fees. The law requires all commercial manure applicators to attend three hours of training annually to meet certification requirements. Businesses that primarily truck or haul manure of any type or from any source are also required to meet certification requirements.
Those unable to attend the program on Jan. 7 may schedule time with their ISU Extension and Outreach county office to watch the training DVD. Due to scheduling conflicts, many extension offices no longer will accept walk-in appointments to watch these DVDs, but do offer scheduled dates and times to provide this training. Those who can’t attend training during one of the scheduled reshow dates at their county extension office will be charged a $10 fee to view the training at their convenience. If attending the workshops or watching the three-hour DVD is not possible, commercial applicators may contact their local DNR field office to schedule an appointment to take the certification exam.
In addition to the commercial manure applicator training offered on Jan. 7, ISU Extension and Outreach will offer eight dry/solid manure workshops for commercial manure applicators in February 2014. Information regarding these workshops and locations is also available online at the link listed above. Program requirements are the same as the regular commercial training program, but this training program is geared more toward dry/solid manure issues.
For more information or to have questions about the commercial manure applicator certification program answered, contact an ISU Extension and Otureach county office or visit http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/mac.html.
2014 IA Confinement Site Manure Applicator Workshops Scheduled
Confinement site manure applicators and those interested in learning about manure issues should plan to attend one of the two-hour workshops offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in January and February 2014. The workshops are offered in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. There is no fee to attend the workshops, but applicators will need to pay certification fees to complete certification requirements.
“Iowa law requires confinement site manure applicators to attend two hours of continuing education each year of their three-year certification period, or take and pass an exam once every three years,” said Angela Rieck-Hinz, ISU Extension program specialist and coordinator of the manure applicator certification program.
A total of 63 confinement site manure applicator workshops will be held in 59 Iowa counties. In addition, a series of eight dry/solid manure applicator certification meetings will be held in February. ISU Extension and Outreach county offices have a complete list of workshop dates and locations, or view a list online at http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/certification/confdates.html.
The workshops serve as initial certification for those applicators not currently certified, recertification for those renewing licenses, and continuing education for those applicators in their second or third year of their license.
Due to uniform certification deadlines, applicators are encouraged to attend workshops prior to March 1 to avoid being assessed a late fee of $12.50. Those unable to attend one of the workshops need to schedule time with their ISU Extension and Outreach county office to watch the training DVD. Due to scheduling conflicts, many extension offices no longer will accept walk-in appointments to watch these DVDs, but do offer scheduled dates and times to provide this training.Those who can’t attend training during one of the scheduled reshow dates at their county extension office will be charged a $10 fee to view the training at their convenience. If attending the workshops or watching the two-hour training DVD is not possible, confinement site manure applicators may contact their local DNR field office to schedule an appointment to take the certification exam to meet certification requirements.
Contact an ISU Extension and Outreach county office for more information about the Manure Applicator Certification Program or visit http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/mac.html.
Branstad, Northey Ask Harkin to Support King Amendment
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey Tuesday sent a letter to Sen. Tom Harkin encouraging him to support the inclusion of the "King amendment" as part of the ongoing farm bill negotiations.
Iowa Congressman Steve King sponsored the amendment and would prevent individual states from dictating agriculture production practices in other states.
"Supporting the King amendment will prevent a few large states like California and New York from dictating the modes of agricultural production in Iowa and other states," Branstad and Northey wrote in the Tuesday letter to Harkin. :Congressman King's amendment would still allow states to restrict agricultural operations within their own state borders and jurisdiction, but the amendment would not allow any state to violate the Commerce Clause by restricting the sale of certain agriculture goods produced differently in another state. There are already federal, state and local food safety laws to protect consumers and opposition to the King amendment in all practicality would mean California and a few other big states could dictate how family farmers and agricultural producers all across the country have to produce their products. The amendment would not prevent states from imposing future food safety requirements and merely clarifies that a state cannot prohibit the import of a product from another state based solely on that product's means of production. If a state so chose, it could enact labeling requirements for various modes of production."
The two Iowa leaders said they are very concerned that a Farm Bill lacking the King Amendment would lead to higher food prices that would disproportionately impact low income families. Regulatory production restrictions, similar to those which California seeks to impose, have already been implemented in Europe and have led to increased food costs.
In just one example, Branstad and Northey wrote, new cage size laws in the European Union have decreased the supply of eggs to consumers in Central and Eastern Europe. According to an article published in the Wall Street Journal on April 4, 2012, the average price of 10 eggs in the Czech Republic more than doubled from 2011 to 2012, and consumers on average across the entire EU were forced to pay 76.5% more per egg in 2012 than they paid in 2011. EU restrictions have had a very negative impact on the availability of eggs to the average consumer.
"If the King amendment is not included in the Farm Bill, we are very concerned the conversation will quickly move beyond how chickens are produced in Iowa or Arkansas to how milk is produced in Wisconsin or Vermont or to how corn and soybeans are grown in the Midwest.," the two wrote to Harkin.
Salute to Soil Underscores Need to Focus on its Health
It’s responsible for nearly all life on the planet, but rarely gets the respect it deserves. On December 5, this living and life-giving resource is finally getting its day—across the state and across the globe.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization will celebrate World Soil Day in Rome, Italy, under the framework of the Global Soil Partnership. The goal of the celebration is to raise awareness of the importance of healthy soils for food security, ecosystem functions and resilient farms.
The global focus on soil is being amplified across Nebraska through a new awareness and education campaign from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) titled “Unlock the Secrets in the Soil.” The campaign is designed to help more farmers and ranchers discover the basics and benefits of soil health—and to encourage the adoption of soil health-improving practices like cover crops, no-till and diverse crop rotations.
“We work every day in every county to conserve and protect this vital resource,” said NRCS State Conservationist Craig Derickson, “so to us, every day is ‘soil day.’”
Derickson said improving the nation’s soil health has broad implications related to the vitality of our nation’s farms, the health of our planet and our ability to feed more than 9 billion people who will be living on Earth by the year 2050.
“Keeping soil healthy improves water and air quality, makes farms more sustainable and resilient, provides for wildlife habitat and reduces flooding,” he said. “Increasingly, more and more producers in Nebraska and throughout the nation are harvesting a wide range of production, environmental, and business benefits—on and off the farm—by improving soil health.”
Derickson said that while improving soil health has enormous benefits, it also has its challenges. “We know that every farm is different and has its own set of unique resource issues,” he said. “Fortunately, Nebraska’s farmers are innovative, courageous and tenacious, and NRCS is committed to assist these soil health pioneers—to help make their farms more productive, resilient and profitable along the way.”
Derickson said that World Soil Day serves as a reminder to all of us that the promise of our future resides in the soil. “As we face mounting global production, climate and sustainability challenges, there is no better time to work hand-in-hand with our nation’s farmers and ranchers to improve the health of our soil,” he said.
Those interested in learning more about the basics, benefits and promise of improving soil health, Derickson said, can visit www.nrcs.usda.gov to “Unlock the Secrets in the Soil.”
Weekly Ethanol Production for 11/29/2013
According to EIA data, ethanol production averaged 913,000 barrels per day (b/d) — or 38.35 million gallons daily. That is down 16,000 b/d from the week before. The four-week average for ethanol production stood at 918,000 b/d for an annualized rate of 14.07 billion gallons.
Stocks of ethanol stood at 15.1 million barrels. That is a 0.7% increase from last week.
For the ninth week in a row, imports of ethanol were zero b/d.
Gasoline demand for the week averaged 372.7 million gallons daily.
Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production was 10.29%.
On the co-products side, ethanol producers were using 13.843 million bushels of corn to produce ethanol and 101,894 metric tons of livestock feed, 90,839 metric tons of which were distillers grains. The rest is comprised of corn gluten feed and corn gluten meal. Additionally, ethanol producers were providing 4.76 million pounds of corn oil daily.
Farmers Head to Washington, D.C., to Defend Ethanol at EPA Hearing
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to cut the amount of corn ethanol required under the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard by 10 percent will affect corn prices and rural economies, farmers plan to tell the agency at a hearing set for Thursday outside the nation’s capital.
More than 30 corn farmers and their allies from around the country are traveling to Washington for the important public hearing. Growers from NCGA will be present representing 13 states -- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
“It’s great to see so many people willing to leave their farms at this time of year for an important opportunity to give the EPA a piece of their mind,” said NCGA First Vice President Chip Bowling, a Maryland corn grower scheduled to speak at the hearing. “This has already had a negative effect on our farms, and if the EPA gets its way, it could cause serious harm to the rural economy – not to mention cutting the environmental benefits of domestic, renewable ethanol.”
For 2014, the EPA has proposed a 1.4 billion gallon reduction in how much corn ethanol will be required under the RFS, the federal law that requires the blending of domestic, renewable, cleaner-burning corn ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply. Because of the record crop, growers are already seeing corn prices falling below the cost of production, and due to the planting cycle are having to buy inputs such as fertilizer, seed and fuel at much higher prices, Bowling said.
NCGA strongly urges all its members to comment directly to the EPA about this issue before the Jan. 28 deadline. More information about how farmers can do this is available online at www.ncga.com/rfs.
Biodiesel Supporters to Voice RFS Concerns with EPA
Nearly two dozen representatives of the U.S. biodiesel industry are slated to testify at an EPA hearing Thursday about the threat to their businesses and surrounding communities under the EPA’s proposed Renewable Fuel Standard for biodiesel.
Biodiesel – made from a diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats – is the first EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel to reach commercial-scale production nationwide. Yet in its recent RFS draft, the EPA proposed reducing biodiesel production to 1.28 billion gallons, down sharply from the industry’s production rate of about 2 billion gallons since July.
Tim Keaveney, vice president for Erie, Pa.-based biodiesel producer HERO BX, plans to tell the EPA that the company is producing a record amount of biodiesel this year, reducing the cost of production as a result and helping revitalize the local economy. But the proposed EPA rule threatens jobs at the plant and its surrounding area, and has already frozen a planned expansion that would add to the company’s current work force of 43 full-time employees.
“We have invested $120 million into our biodiesel refinery with a vision of supporting a green industry, to foster innovation, and to create meaningful jobs in Erie, Pennsylvania, one of America’s oldest manufacturing towns,” Keaveney said. “The investment was made in part due to the government’s stance on establishing and supporting renewable fuels. To pull the rug out from under us now would foil current investment and likely stagnate future development in clean energy.”
Wayne Presby, head of White Mountain Biodiesel in North Haverhill, N.H, will tell the agency that the proposal threatens the survival of his company.
“We are one of the largest businesses in Northern New Hampshire and one of the few that has provided new employment over the past few years,” Presby said. “We currently employ 20 people and have grown at an annual rate of 300 percent per year for the last two years. We were intending to further increase our production this coming year and hire additional workers for a third shift, however, the current proposal by the EPA will halt our growth completely and may result in the closing of our business”
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB), the industry trade association, has warned that the EPA proposal will lead to layoffs and plant closures nationwide as biodiesel refiners sharply scale back production. The proposal also sends a devastating signal to investors that threatens future growth in the industry, while damaging prospects for other future alternatives to petroleum.
“This industry has been running at an annualized rate of about 2 billion gallons since July. That’s displacing 2 billion gallons of petroleum diesel,” said Anne Steckel, NBB’s vice president of federal affairs. “You can’t cut it almost in half and expect jobs and businesses to survive.”
“What’s so frustrating about the proposal is that biodiesel is an EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel that has exceeded RFS targets. It’s an RFS success story that is creating the clean-energy jobs that the Obama Administration has pushed so hard for in recent years,” Steckel added. “There is not a commercial-scale fuel on the planet that beats the environmental benefits that biodiesel delivers. By the EPA’s own calculations, biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emission by 57 percent to 86 percent. So we will be looking for answers from the EPA and the Administration about why they are doing this. It is not consistent with the Administration’s stated policy.”
The EPA’s draft proposal is particularly challenging for biodiesel because excess biodiesel production from this year’s record volume can be carried over and used for RFS compliance in 2014. As a result, the 1.28 billion gallon proposal could mean an effective market closer to 1 billion gallons. Additionally, it holds the biodiesel volume at 1.28 billion gallons for 2 years, in both 2014 and 2015, effectively freezing the industry.
Another Weapon to Fight FMD
Proteins called interferons are among the latest weapons U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are using to combat foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). These proteins kill or stop viruses from growing and reproducing.
Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, located at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center at Orient Point, N.Y., have demonstrated that interferons can be used to protect animals immediately against FMD infection. This rapid protection gives vaccines time to induce the animal's immune response needed to fight the disease.
Interferons consist of three families--type I (alpha-beta), type II (gamma), and type III (lambda). Retired ARS chemist Marvin Grubman discovered that type I is very effective in controlling FMD virus infection. Pigs inoculated with a viral vector containing the gene coding for swine type I interferon and challenged with FMD virus were protected for five days.
To cover the seven-day window it takes for vaccines to start protecting against FMD, Grubman combined type I and II in an antiviral vaccine-delivery system, which quickly blocks the virus in pigs. In combination with a vaccine, this patented technology provided thorough protection from day one until the vaccine immune response kicked in seven days later.
These methods work well in pigs, but not in cattle. However, ARS microbiologist Teresa de los Santos, computational biologist James Zhu and Grubman have identified a type III interferon that rapidly protects cattle against FMD virus as early as one day after vaccination. In laboratory tests, disease was significantly delayed in animals exposed to FMD virus after previously being treated with bovine type III interferon, as compared to a control group that did not receive treatment.
In other experiments, the type III interferon treatment was found to be even more protective in cows that were naturally exposed to FMD, according to de los Santos.
China Rejects GE Corn from US
China has rejected more than 120,000 metric tons in shipments of U.S. corn after finding an unapproved genetically engineered strain, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said.
The insect-resistant MIR162 strain was found in five batches by inspectors in Fujian, Shenzhen and Shandong provinces, the agency said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
The dates of the discoveries weren't disclosed.
Shenzhen regulators rejected a shipment in November for the same reason, it added.
The U.S. was asked to tighten checks ahead of export, the administration said.
China has imported about 1.54 million tons of corn from the U.S. in the first 10 months of this year.
Welcome to the KTIC Agriculture Information blog!!! Check back here for the latest in ag news and information, from local events to international happenings and government reports that affect your operation. Please email with suggestions! -Chad Moyer, Farm Director, KTIC Radio
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Tuesday December 3 Ag News
Grazing Corn Stalk Residue
Larry Howard, UNL Extension Educator, Cuming County
Having cows graze to meet their nutrient needs is less expensive than having to deliver harvested forages to them. Crop residues can be an inexpensive option. When grazing residue, cattle will select and eat the grain first, followed by the husk and leaf and finally the cob and stalk. Unless the corn field has experienced high winds causing a lot of corn to be left in the field, there is usually less than a bushel of ear drop per acre. If cows have husk and leaf to select, they will consume a diet that is 52 to 55 percent TDN and about 5% to 5.5% crude protein.
In the Midwest, weather records indicate the range in number of continuous grazing days for crop residue is 65-111 days. Weather is the major factor that determines the number of grazing days. Beef cows can successfully graze corn residue fields that have 4 to 6 inches of snow cover. Cows will not be able to graze stalk fields that are covered with ice. Ordinarily, dry cows will maintain body weight, and may gain weight, on corn and grain sorghum residue grazing programs when grain, husks, and leaves are available. Do not force cattle to eat the cobs and stalks.
Stocking rate influences the amount of grain, husk, and leaf available per animal. The amount of grain, leaf, and husk available affect diet quality because they are highly digestible. Residue (leaf and husk) yield left in the field is related to corn grain yield. There will be about 16 lb dry leaf and husk per bushel of corn yield. It is recommended to design a grazing strategy to remove only 50% of the leaf and husk. Instead of remembering this equation, there is a nice spreadsheet called the Corn Stalk Grazing Calculator that is available on the web that will help you determine the number of acres at a specific corn grain yield needed for a certain number of cows. It is available at http://beef.unl.edu/web/beef/learning/cornstalkgrazingcalc.shtml. To run this spreadsheet, you will need Excel.
For more information on cornstalk grazing is available in a series of presentations from the Sustainable Use of Crop Residues on Cow/Calf and Yearling Operations Conference that was held in June of 2013. The archive of that conference is online at http://beef.unl.edu/web/cattleproduction/sustainableuse-residues.
Nebraska Soybean Day and Machinery Expo Offers 2014 Growing Season Information
The 2013 Nebraska Soybean Day and Machinery Expo Dec. 19 will assist soybean producers in planning for next year's growing season.
The expo, which begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 2:30 p.m., will be in the pavilion at the Saunders County Fairgrounds in Wahoo, said Keith Glewen, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator.
The expo opens with coffee, doughnuts and the opportunity to view equipment and exhibitor booths. Speakers start at 9 a.m.
Presenters include UNL researchers and specialists, Nebraska Soybean Board representatives, soybean growers and private industry representatives.
This year's featured presentation is "5 Tips for Profitable Soybean Yields" with Marion Calmer, farmer and president of Calmer Research Center/Calmer Corn Heads, Alpha, Ill.
Improving profits and growing high yielding soybeans are a passion on Marion Calmer's farm in northwest Illinois. Populations, row spacing, residue management, fertility and combine settings are all part of his on-farm, research-based train of thought for maximizing profit.
Calmer started his farming operation of 80 acres of corn and 10 gilts in 1975. During his career, he has gone from conventional tillage to no-till, adopted the use of biotechnology, and has gone from growing corn and soybeans in 40-inch rows to growing both crops in 15-inch rows. He also strives to reduce input costs. Calmer has reduced the number of field passes that it takes to grow a crop from nine to three. Calmer is a researcher, inventor, business owner, and nationally recognized and sought out speaker.
Other topics of the program include: The World of Weather and Agriculture, Elwynn Taylor, climatologist, Iowa State University; Markets – The Soybean and Corn Complex, Darin Newsom, DTN senior analyst; and Research Report – No-till vs. Strip Till – Discovering Production Answers On Your Farm, Keith Glewen, UNL Extension educator – Nebraska On-Farm Research Network.
The expo also will include an update on the Nebraska Soybean Checkoff update and association information.
Producers will be able to visit with representatives from seed, herbicide, fertilizer and equipment companies and view new farm equipment during a 30-minute break at 9:45 a.m.
The Saunders County Soybean Growers Organization requests that each participant donate one or more cans of nonperishable food to the food pantry.
Soy doughnuts will be cooked on site, and noon lunch will be served.
Registration is available the day of the expo at the door. For more information about the program or exhibitor information, call 800-529-8030 or e-mail kglewen1@unl.edu.
This program is sponsored by UNL Extension in the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Nebraska Soybean Board, Saunders County Soybean Growers Organization and private industry. There is no registration fee.
NEBRASKA STUDENTS TO TOUR TAIWAN
Three Nebraska students will travel to Taiwan next week to experience the country’s agricultural education system, agricultural industry and to learn more about the role Nebraska agriculture plays in foreign markets.
The students are participating in a student exchange program between the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) and the National Taichung Agricultural Senior High School in Taiwan. For the past ten years, three students from the Taiwan school have visited Nebraska to attend the annual Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute (NAYI) – a week-long summer program coordinated by NDA. In return, NDA chooses three NAYI delegates to travel to Taiwan.
“This exchange program is a wonderful opportunity for our students to experience a different culture, and to see firsthand how far reaching Nebraska agriculture’s impact truly is,” said NDA Director Greg Ibach. “This is a program our students, and the students from Taiwan, look forward to every year and one we are proud to have been able to provide for the last decade.”
The trip is coordinated by NDA and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Kansas City and is sponsored by the Nebraska Farm Bureau and TECO.
The students will leave for Taiwan on December 8 and will return to Nebraska on December 13. While in Taiwan, the students will be staying at the Taichung school. Their visit will include tours of the campus, interaction with Taiwanese students, participation in presentations, visits to local farms, and observations of several agricultural research institutes. They also will have the opportunity to do some sightseeing.
The students will participate in the 2014 NAYI, where they will share their experiences with the delegates.
The three students selected by NDA are:
· Mr. Zach Settje from Raymond. Zach is a senior at Raymond Central and is the son of Dean and Kristi Settje.
· Mr. Brandon Nichols from Bridgeport. Brandon is a senior at Bridgeport High School and is the son of Robert Dale and Tammi Nichols.
· Mr. Shawn McDonald from Phillips. Shawn is a senior at Aurora High School and is the son of John and Susan McDonald.
Incredible, Edible Vehicle Competition Dec. 10 on UNL's East Campus
Having the dog eat this homework isn't too far-fetched.
The Dec. 10 Incredible, Edible Vehicle Competition will be at the Great Plains Room of the Nebraska East Union from 2-4 p.m.
Students in Dennis Schulte's introductory biological systems and agricultural engineering class will demonstrate their edible cars. Schulte started the Incredible Edible Car competition several years ago to foster teamwork among his students.
The cars must be made entirely of food and nothing else. Students then must be able eat the car at the end of the competition.
Teams roll their cars down a sloped track to see which one travels farthest and stays in one piece. The top three teams receive a certificate. Teams also must make a poster detailing the process of making the car.
Evan Curtis, department of Biological Systems Engineering, is coordinating the event, which is part of E-Day, a day for engineers held annually.
Curtis said there are always many unique designs using a variety of products each year. Vegetables, sausage, cheese and candy are just a few of the materials students use in making the cars. With the addition of a 1300 calorie limit, the vehicles this year are expected to be healthier than ever before, Curtis said.
It's a good way for students to show their creativity, he said.
Curtis expects to have 26 freshman teams competing as well as several alumni returning to show their support in the form of a mini-career fair. Also in attendance will be 19 senior instrumentation posters.
The Department of Biological Systems Engineering is jointly in the College of Engineering and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, which is a part of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM SIGN-UP CURRENTLY UNDERWAY.
Nebraska landowners and operators have until Jan. 17, 2014, to sign up for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) at their local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service(NRCS) office. CSP is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to help farmers and ranchers conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their agricultural and forestry land.
CSP applications are accepted at any time. However, only applications received by the Jan. 17 cutoff date will be considered for the current ranking and funding period.
Craig Derickson, NRCS state conservationist in Nebraska, encourages Nebraska farmers and ranchers to not miss out on this opportunity.
“The Conservation Stewardship Program is unique. CSP participants will receive an annual land use payment for the environmental benefits they produce on their operations. Under CSP, participants are paid for conservation performance - the higher the operational performance, the higher their payment,” Derickson said.
According to Derickson, CSP has been a very successful program for Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers. Over 2,000 CSP contracts occur in all 93 counties and cover 4.8 million acres in Nebraska.
“CSP is popular in Nebraska because farmers and ranchers don’t have to take land out of production to participate. CSP helps conserve natural resources on working lands. Keeping land in production while protecting natural resources creates a win-win for all Nebraskans. CSP makes it possible to produce crops and livestock while also improving water quality, soil health and wildlife habitat,” Derickson said.
CSP is available statewide to individual landowners, legal entities, and Indian tribes. Eligible land includes cropland, grassland, prairie, improved pastureland, non-industrial private forestland, and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe. Contracts are set at five years and include all the land controlled by an operator.
For more information about CSP, including eligibility requirements and a self-screening checklist, producers can visit http://www.ne.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/CSP.html or stop by their local NRCS field office.
Nebraska Counties Designated as Presidential Disaster Due to Severe Storms, Winter Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director, Dan Steinkruger, announced nine Nebraska counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas due to severe storms, winter storms, tornadoes, and flooding. Those counties are Adams, Dawes, Dixon, Howard, Sheridan, Sherman, Sioux, Thurston, and Wayne.
These counties were declared a Presidential Major Disaster on November 26, 2013, based on storms occurring October 2 to October 6, 2013. This designation authorizes Emergency (EM) Loans for eligible producers. Steinkruger stated, “Producers in these nine counties are encouraged to contact their local FSA Service Center for detailed information about available programs and updated disaster designations.”
In addition to the Emergency (EM) Loan Program, the FSA has other loan programs and disaster assistance programs which can be considered in assisting farmers to recover from their losses.
Contact your local FSA Service Center or access additional information about FSA Disaster Assistance and Farm Loan programs at www.fsa.usda.gov.
While this release pertains to the availability of FSA programs, other federal agencies such as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and SBA (Small Business Administration) may also have assistance to the public. Information is available from these two agencies at the following websites: www.fema.gov and www.sba.gov.
“NRDs Praise Nebraska Officials on Special Master Report”
The Republican Basin Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) and the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts are encouraged by the recommendations issued by Special Master William J. Kayatta on the Republican River case. Further, the recently released results of non-binding arbitration related to an augmentation project in the Upper Republican NRD are also favorable to Nebraska.
In particular, Governor Dave Heineman, Attorney General Jon Bruning, the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources and the legal team that defended Nebraska deserve praise for their diligent efforts to create and defend Nebraska’s methods of maintaining compliance with the Republican River Compact. The means of compliance responsibly manage natural resources while protecting the economy and the right to use water in the basin.
The irrigators in the basin also deserve praise for their compliance with regulatory actions and willingness to work with the NRDs and the State of Nebraska to develop workable, common sense, Nebraska-based water management plans that will keep Nebraska in compliance while helping preserve natural resources for generations to come.
“The local NRDs will continue to protect the local economy of Nebraska while providing adequate regulations to protect the water resources,” said Joe Anderjaska, President of the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts and a Middle Republican Natural Resources District board member. Anderjaska added, “The ability to create augmentation projects and the willingness of Nebraska irrigators to finance them will assure that Nebraska maintains compliance, sustains the water supply, and protects the local irrigated economy in the basin.”
The case went before Special Master William J. Kayatta in August of 2012. The State of Kansas had sued Nebraska asking for up to 300,000 acres permanently retired from irrigation and up to $80 million in damages for water use in 2006. Kayatta instead recommended Nebraska pay $5.5 million in damages. He didn’t recommend a massive shutdown as Kansas had requested, which is a victory worth more than $100 million annually to the State’s economy. His recommendations will now be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.
On the heels of the Special Master’s recommendations, arbitrator Jeffrey Fereday issued a non-binding arbitration order approving Nebraska’s Rock Creek Augmentation Plan and Alternative Water-Short Year Administration Plan. Fereday rejected Kansas’ multi-pronged challenge to the augmentation project in Dundy County and concluded that it complied with terms of a settlement between Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska reached in 2003. The Upper Republican NRD began operating the project early this year. It takes water that otherwise would have been used to irrigate crops in the sand hills north of Parks, Neb. and deposits it into Rock Creek, a tributary of the Republican River.
“The outcomes reflect the hard work of the Department of Natural Resources, the Attorney General’s Office, the NRDs and water users of the Basin to implement measures that achieve and assure Compact compliance,” URNRD General Manager Jasper Fanning said of the Special Master’s Report and arbitration order.
Although it would have been preferred to not have a financial damage award, $5.5 million recommended by the Special Master is much less than the requested $80 million. Kansas’ request for future restrictions on water use was denied and the Special Master acknowledged Nebraska’s accounting concerns, which are huge victories compared to the small damage award to Kansas. Among Special Master Kayatta’s recommendations were the following:
- Republican River Compact Administration (RRCA) Accounting Procedures should be corrected for accounting years after 2006 so that Nebraska is not charged with the consumption of Imported Water Supply as if it were Virgin Water Supply.
- 100% of the evaporation from Harlan County Lake during 2006 as calculated under the RRCA Accounting Procedures should be charged to Kansas.
- Kansas’ request that Nebraska be found in contempt should be denied.
- All remaining requests for relief, including Kansas’ requests for injunctive relief, sanctions, and appointment of a River Master, should be denied.
While the special master’s recommendations validate Nebraska’s compact compliance actions and procedures, the state and NRDs are working to further bolster efforts to ensure long-term compliance in ways that protect the economy.
Since 2006, several laws have changed to give the local districts the ability to develop water conservation and river augmentation projects. The Nebraska Cooperative Republican Platte Enhancement Project (NCORPE) in Lincoln County provides an opportunity to provide additional water in compact call and water-short years and avoid additional regulation. Almost 16,000 acres were retired from irrigation by the Lower Republican, Middle Republican, Upper Republican and Twin Platte NRDs with the purchase of the farm. The project is very similar to the Rock Creek Augmentation Project but significantly larger and will be operational in 2014 to help prevent an irrigation shutdown on 100,000 or more acres in the Basin In the future, water will also be piped into the Platte River to help return a portion of that Basin to 1997 levels.
Two surface water irrigation districts in the Republican Basin, Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District and Bostwick Irrigation District, took legal action to stop the Rock Creek and NCORPE projects from being implemented but a federal court dismissed the lawsuit
The NARD, the trade association for Nebraska's 23 natural resources districts, works with individual NRDs to protect lives, protect property and protect the future of Nebraska’s natural resources. These districts are unique to Nebraska. NRDs are local government entities with broad responsibilities to protect our natural resources. Major Nebraska river basins form the boundaries of the 23 NRDs, enabling districts to respond best to local conservation and resource management needs.
2013 Farm Poll: Farmers Concerned about Herbicide-Resistant Weeds
Iowa farmers are increasingly concerned about herbicide-resistant weeds and are changing their weed management practices to deal with the issue, according to the 2013 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll.
“In this year’s poll, we directed herbicide resistance questions to farmers who planted corn, soybeans or other row crops in 2012,” said J. Gordon Arbuckle Jr., a sociologist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Arbuckle co-directs the annual poll with Paul Lasley, also an ISU Extension and Outreach sociologist.
The sociologists developed herbicide resistance questions for the 2013 poll in partnership with the ISU Department of Agronomy. Associate Chair Micheal Owen, university professor and extension weed specialist, said they wanted to gather in-depth information about the state of herbicide resistance in Iowa. They hoped to reveal farmers’ impressions of herbicide resistance and gain insight into the weed management practices farmers might be using.
“Typically growers don’t realize they have an herbicide resistance problem until 30 percent of the weeds are of the resistant phenotype,” Owen said.
Arbuckle said 35 percent of farmers responding to the poll reported they had weeds they believed to be resistant to at least one herbicide group. Glyphosate resistance was most commonly cited, with 32 percent of farmers reporting glyphosate-resistant weeds. Fourteen percent of farmers reported they had weeds they believed to be resistant to ALS inhibitor herbicides. Only 5 percent or fewer reported weeds resistant to triazine, HPPD inhibitor or PPO inhibitor herbicides.
Fifty-two percent of respondents indicated that they had changed their weed management program in the past five years to address herbicide-resistant weeds. Less than half reported that they developed their own herbicide programs, and 65 percent indicated that they hired custom applicators to do at least some of their spraying.
Ninety percent of respondents reported that they used postemergence herbicides in 2012, and 64 percent applied them to more than 75 percent of their land. Eighty-five percent reported using soil-applied herbicides, with half of farmers applying them to more than 75 percent of their cropland. Eighty-one percent indicated that they used formal scouting methods to determine the need for postemergence spraying on at least some of their land.
The researchers also asked farmers whether they used particular management practices and how effective those practices were for managing herbicide-resistant weeds.
Ninety-three percent used crop rotation and 80 percent used multiple herbicide application timings. Seventy-four percent of farmers also had managed weeds using tillage, 71 percent had used multiple modes of herbicide action in a season and 60 percent had used multiple modes of herbicide action in each application.
“These most commonly used strategies for managing herbicide-resistant weeds were also rated as the most effective,” Arbuckle said. “More than 80 percent of farmers rated crop rotation and multiple herbicide application timings as effective or very effective. At least 70 percent rated tillage or multiple modes of herbicide action used in a season or in each application as effective or very effective management strategies.”
The 2013 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll “provides us with a snap shot of how agriculture in Iowa is understanding and addressing issues regarding herbicide resistance. Researchers still have a lot of work to do before growers are fully aware of the serious issues. Growers can learn there are a lot of tactics they can use,” Owen said.
The weed specialist noted that more analyses of the farm poll data would be useful. How did growers with 1,000 acres or more respond compared with growers on smaller farms? Did they use different tactics? Getting answers to those types of questions could be helpful in developing ISU Extension and Outreach education programs.
Iowans Participate in International Ag Trade Mission to China
Members of the Iowa Corn Leadership Enhancement and Development (I-LEAD) program class 6 are preparing for an international agricultural trade mission to China. The purpose of the I-LEAD foreign mission is to help class members learn about the world food and fiber system and develop a deeper appreciation for the views of international customers. The class will be spending 10 days meeting with government officials, customers, industry experts, and farmers to discuss export market development for four of Iowa's main agriculture commodities; corn, soybeans, pork and beef. This class is working closely with international offices of the U.S. Grains Council and the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Iowa Corn has a well established market development relationship with both organizations.
"The I-LEAD international trade mission shows our next leaders how important trade is to Iowa and the United States. China is a very important market for ag products today and into the future, said Shannon Textor, Iowa Corn market development director and the staff member leading the mission. "Building relationships with key customers, like China, is a top priority in growing trade opportunities. We need to understand the opportunities and challenges and make sure they understand that we grow and produce safe and reliable food and grain."
Class members determined five objectives that they wanted to focus on during the trade mission. The objectives helped to define an intensive ten day agenda. They included:
-- Reviewing competitor markets or developing markets
-- Meetings with major consumers (including those with existing relationships in Iowa)
-- Learn more about market access with current restrictions or barriers
"We hope to build on the current Iowa relationships," said Textor. "After we return, we will continue to work with these customers to make sure they are receiving the quality they need and want from us."
Informa Boosts Global Soy Production
Private analytical firm Informa Economics increased its expectations for Brazil's soybean crop to 88 million metric tons, which would be 6.5 mmt above 2012-13 production and in line with USDA's November forecast.
Informa pegged Argentina's soybean production at 59.5 mmt, which, if realized, would be 10.2 mmt more than last year's harvest. By comparison, USDA estimated Argentina's crop at 53.5 mmt last month.
Brazilian soybean acreage is likely to increase 5.9% to 29.35 million hectares, or about 72.5 million acres, Informa said. Planted area in Argentina is likely to be 8.8% larger than last season at 21.8 million hectares, or 53.9 million acres.
Brazilian planting is about 85% complete, about average, while Argentina planting is 54% complete, slightly behind last year's pace, Informa said.
Informa's world crop estimates pegged world soybean production at 289.7 mmt in 2013, up significantly from USDA's estimate of 283.5 mmt in November.
USDA will release its next round of supply and demand estimates on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 11 a.m. CST.
Informa's world crop estimate of corn totaled 966.8 mmt, up from USDA's November estimate of 962.8 mmt.
USDA: Dairy Products Production October 2013 Highlights
Total cheese output (excluding cottage cheese) was 950 million pounds, 2.1 percent above October 2012 and 6.7 percent above September 2013. Italian type cheese production totaled 411 million pounds, 5.7 percent above October 2012 and 6.9 percent above September 2013. American type cheese production totaled 368 million pounds, 0.6 percent below October 2012 but 6.4 percent above September 2013. Butter production was 146 million pounds, 1.2 percent above October 2012 and 10.2 percent above September 2013.
Dry milk powders (comparisons with October 2012)
Nonfat dry milk, human - 85.5 million pounds, down 10.1 percent.
Skim milk powders - 62.4 million pounds, up 36.7 percent.
Whey products (comparisons with October 2012)
Dry whey, total - 72.7 million pounds, down 5.7 percent.
Lactose, human and animal - 88.8 million pounds, up 8.0 percent.
Whey protein concentrate, total - 44.7 million pounds, up 20.9 percent.
Frozen products (comparisons with October 2012)
Ice cream, regular (hard) - 64.7 million gallons, down 0.9 percent.
Ice cream, lowfat (total) - 28.2 million gallons, down 21.1 percent.
Sherbet (hard) - 3.25 million gallons, up 11.6 percent.
Frozen yogurt (total) - 5.39 million gallons, down 0.4 percent.
Using, Not Buying, Livestock Gross Margin for Cattle
Matthew Diersen, Professor, South Dakota State University
While visiting with agriculture bankers in recent weeks, several asked about feeding margins and what their customers could do to manage margins. Protecting the margin is a common concern of cattle feeders too. One way to monitor the margin is to use the format from Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) insurance. The margin in LGM acts like a "cattle crush", where one sells live cattle and buys corn and feeder cattle. By tracking a specific margin, one can see its track record and decide if the margin is large enough to protect. Some of you may recall the textbook advice to use selective hedging for livestock. The reason for selective hedging is that always hedging livestock in a feeding setting will result in returns similar to always being in the cash market.
Consider the LGM margin for yearlings that are six months from marketing as fed cattle. In November, that expected margin coverage would have reflected a 1250 pound steer to be sold in May of 2014. The expected margin would have been what was left over after buying a 750 pound steer in December of 2013 and 50 bushels of corn in March of 2014. There is a formula that takes futures prices of either the contracts for those months or their surrounding months. In November, that expected margin was $181 per head, down from $207 per head in October. The actual margin will be computed based on the eventual feeder prices in a few months, corn at the end of March, and live cattle in six months. If a producer had purchased LGM in November, that is the margin covered and any combination of live cattle futures decreasing and corn or feeder cattle futures increasing would change the actual margin.
The 6-month expected margin is stable relative to the actual margin. The expected margin has averaged $164 per head over the past five years. That would also represent normal returns before non-corn feed costs. The expected margin has stayed above $100 per head since early in 2009. It has only exceeded $230 per head a couple of times - in early 2008 and again in August of 2013. The actual margin has much greater variability. The actual margin has turned negative a few times, in 2008 and 2012. Thus, cattle feeders would not have begun to cover variable costs during those stretches on unprotected cattle. However, being fully hedged all the time would have cost feeders the several times the actual margin has exceeded $300 per head, reaching a record level last month of $379 per head.
In a competitive environment, one would not expect very high or very low expected margins to last very long. One could monitor the expected margin. When it exceeds the average level, then protection could be considered. The trend, currently lower, could also be monitored as a signal to place protection before the margin becomes too low.
The expected and actual margin can be monitored on the Risk Management Agency website: www.rma.usda.gov. Details about LGM are available there also. Admittedly, LGM is not popular for cattle. So far in fiscal year 2014 only 250 head have been covered, up from 135 head in fiscal year 2013. If the volatility in the market were very high - making option protection on live cattle and/or corn expensive - then LGM can be cost-effective. To monitor the cost of premiums, the site: www.iaii.us can be used.
USDA, EPA Partnership Supports Water Quality Trading To Benefit Environment, Economy
The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have announced an expanded partnership to support water quality trading and other market-based approaches that provide benefits to the environment and economy.
"New water quality trading markets hold incredible potential to benefit rural America by providing new income opportunities and enhancing conservation of water and wildlife habitat," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. "Additionally, these efforts will strengthen businesses across the nation by providing a new pathway to comply with regulatory requirements."
"EPA is committed to finding collaborative solutions that protect and restore our nation's waterways and the health of the communities that depend on them," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "We're excited about partnering with USDA to expand support for water quality trading, which shows that environmental improvements can mean a better bottom line for farmers and ranchers."
Water quality trading provides a cost-effective approach for regulated entities to comply with EPA Clean Water Act requirements, including water quality-based effluent limits in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. Trading would allow regulated entities to purchase and use pollutant reduction credits generated by other sources in a watershed. Cost savings and other economic incentives are key motivators for parties engaged in trading. Water quality trading can also provide additional environmental and economic benefits, such as air quality improvements, enhanced wildlife habitat, carbon capture and storage, and new income and employment opportunities for rural America.
EPA and USDA are working together to implement and coordinate policies and programs that encourage water quality trading. The Department and the Agency will identify opportunities to work collaboratively to help improve water quality trading programs across the country. Cooperative management and technical assistance will improve resource management and public services, and accelerate implementation.
USDA and EPA will:
- Coordinate and enhance communications and outreach to states, agricultural producers, regulated sources, and interested third parties on water quality trading;
- Engage expertise across agencies in the review of grants, loans or technical assistance programs focused on water quality trading;
- Share information on the development of rules and guidance that have the potential to affect water quality trading;
- Collaborate on developing tools and information resources for states and credit generators to guide decision making, reduce costs in program design and implementation, improve environmental performance, and foster consistency and integrity across regional initiatives;
- Co-host a workshop by 2015 to share tools and resources available to assist in stakeholder decision making and opportunities.
The purpose of this policy is to support states, interstate agencies and tribes as they develop and implement water quality trading programs for nutrients, sediments and other pollutants where opportunities exist to achieve water quality improvements at reduced costs.
Potash Corp. to Cut Jobs
(AP) -- Potash Corp. is cutting more than 1,000 jobs, about 18 percent of its workforce, because of slumping demand for potash and phosphate, two key fertilizer ingredients.
The Saskatchewan-based company said Tuesday it will cut 440 jobs in Saskatchewan, 130 in New Brunswick, 350 in Florida, 85 in North Carolina, and 40 in other U.S. regions and Trinidad.
The company controls more than 25 percent of the world's supply of potash, which helps farmers boost crop production.
Potash CEO Bill Doyle says they must make steps to run a sustainable business.
Shares of nutrient companies were hammered this year after news that a big Russian fertilizer company would stop cooperating in a pricing cartel.
Potash has been selling for around $300 per ton, about $100 less than earlier this year.
Larry Howard, UNL Extension Educator, Cuming County
Having cows graze to meet their nutrient needs is less expensive than having to deliver harvested forages to them. Crop residues can be an inexpensive option. When grazing residue, cattle will select and eat the grain first, followed by the husk and leaf and finally the cob and stalk. Unless the corn field has experienced high winds causing a lot of corn to be left in the field, there is usually less than a bushel of ear drop per acre. If cows have husk and leaf to select, they will consume a diet that is 52 to 55 percent TDN and about 5% to 5.5% crude protein.
In the Midwest, weather records indicate the range in number of continuous grazing days for crop residue is 65-111 days. Weather is the major factor that determines the number of grazing days. Beef cows can successfully graze corn residue fields that have 4 to 6 inches of snow cover. Cows will not be able to graze stalk fields that are covered with ice. Ordinarily, dry cows will maintain body weight, and may gain weight, on corn and grain sorghum residue grazing programs when grain, husks, and leaves are available. Do not force cattle to eat the cobs and stalks.
Stocking rate influences the amount of grain, husk, and leaf available per animal. The amount of grain, leaf, and husk available affect diet quality because they are highly digestible. Residue (leaf and husk) yield left in the field is related to corn grain yield. There will be about 16 lb dry leaf and husk per bushel of corn yield. It is recommended to design a grazing strategy to remove only 50% of the leaf and husk. Instead of remembering this equation, there is a nice spreadsheet called the Corn Stalk Grazing Calculator that is available on the web that will help you determine the number of acres at a specific corn grain yield needed for a certain number of cows. It is available at http://beef.unl.edu/web/beef/learning/cornstalkgrazingcalc.shtml. To run this spreadsheet, you will need Excel.
For more information on cornstalk grazing is available in a series of presentations from the Sustainable Use of Crop Residues on Cow/Calf and Yearling Operations Conference that was held in June of 2013. The archive of that conference is online at http://beef.unl.edu/web/cattleproduction/sustainableuse-residues.
Nebraska Soybean Day and Machinery Expo Offers 2014 Growing Season Information
The 2013 Nebraska Soybean Day and Machinery Expo Dec. 19 will assist soybean producers in planning for next year's growing season.
The expo, which begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 2:30 p.m., will be in the pavilion at the Saunders County Fairgrounds in Wahoo, said Keith Glewen, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator.
The expo opens with coffee, doughnuts and the opportunity to view equipment and exhibitor booths. Speakers start at 9 a.m.
Presenters include UNL researchers and specialists, Nebraska Soybean Board representatives, soybean growers and private industry representatives.
This year's featured presentation is "5 Tips for Profitable Soybean Yields" with Marion Calmer, farmer and president of Calmer Research Center/Calmer Corn Heads, Alpha, Ill.
Improving profits and growing high yielding soybeans are a passion on Marion Calmer's farm in northwest Illinois. Populations, row spacing, residue management, fertility and combine settings are all part of his on-farm, research-based train of thought for maximizing profit.
Calmer started his farming operation of 80 acres of corn and 10 gilts in 1975. During his career, he has gone from conventional tillage to no-till, adopted the use of biotechnology, and has gone from growing corn and soybeans in 40-inch rows to growing both crops in 15-inch rows. He also strives to reduce input costs. Calmer has reduced the number of field passes that it takes to grow a crop from nine to three. Calmer is a researcher, inventor, business owner, and nationally recognized and sought out speaker.
Other topics of the program include: The World of Weather and Agriculture, Elwynn Taylor, climatologist, Iowa State University; Markets – The Soybean and Corn Complex, Darin Newsom, DTN senior analyst; and Research Report – No-till vs. Strip Till – Discovering Production Answers On Your Farm, Keith Glewen, UNL Extension educator – Nebraska On-Farm Research Network.
The expo also will include an update on the Nebraska Soybean Checkoff update and association information.
Producers will be able to visit with representatives from seed, herbicide, fertilizer and equipment companies and view new farm equipment during a 30-minute break at 9:45 a.m.
The Saunders County Soybean Growers Organization requests that each participant donate one or more cans of nonperishable food to the food pantry.
Soy doughnuts will be cooked on site, and noon lunch will be served.
Registration is available the day of the expo at the door. For more information about the program or exhibitor information, call 800-529-8030 or e-mail kglewen1@unl.edu.
This program is sponsored by UNL Extension in the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Nebraska Soybean Board, Saunders County Soybean Growers Organization and private industry. There is no registration fee.
NEBRASKA STUDENTS TO TOUR TAIWAN
Three Nebraska students will travel to Taiwan next week to experience the country’s agricultural education system, agricultural industry and to learn more about the role Nebraska agriculture plays in foreign markets.
The students are participating in a student exchange program between the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) and the National Taichung Agricultural Senior High School in Taiwan. For the past ten years, three students from the Taiwan school have visited Nebraska to attend the annual Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute (NAYI) – a week-long summer program coordinated by NDA. In return, NDA chooses three NAYI delegates to travel to Taiwan.
“This exchange program is a wonderful opportunity for our students to experience a different culture, and to see firsthand how far reaching Nebraska agriculture’s impact truly is,” said NDA Director Greg Ibach. “This is a program our students, and the students from Taiwan, look forward to every year and one we are proud to have been able to provide for the last decade.”
The trip is coordinated by NDA and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Kansas City and is sponsored by the Nebraska Farm Bureau and TECO.
The students will leave for Taiwan on December 8 and will return to Nebraska on December 13. While in Taiwan, the students will be staying at the Taichung school. Their visit will include tours of the campus, interaction with Taiwanese students, participation in presentations, visits to local farms, and observations of several agricultural research institutes. They also will have the opportunity to do some sightseeing.
The students will participate in the 2014 NAYI, where they will share their experiences with the delegates.
The three students selected by NDA are:
· Mr. Zach Settje from Raymond. Zach is a senior at Raymond Central and is the son of Dean and Kristi Settje.
· Mr. Brandon Nichols from Bridgeport. Brandon is a senior at Bridgeport High School and is the son of Robert Dale and Tammi Nichols.
· Mr. Shawn McDonald from Phillips. Shawn is a senior at Aurora High School and is the son of John and Susan McDonald.
Incredible, Edible Vehicle Competition Dec. 10 on UNL's East Campus
Having the dog eat this homework isn't too far-fetched.
The Dec. 10 Incredible, Edible Vehicle Competition will be at the Great Plains Room of the Nebraska East Union from 2-4 p.m.
Students in Dennis Schulte's introductory biological systems and agricultural engineering class will demonstrate their edible cars. Schulte started the Incredible Edible Car competition several years ago to foster teamwork among his students.
The cars must be made entirely of food and nothing else. Students then must be able eat the car at the end of the competition.
Teams roll their cars down a sloped track to see which one travels farthest and stays in one piece. The top three teams receive a certificate. Teams also must make a poster detailing the process of making the car.
Evan Curtis, department of Biological Systems Engineering, is coordinating the event, which is part of E-Day, a day for engineers held annually.
Curtis said there are always many unique designs using a variety of products each year. Vegetables, sausage, cheese and candy are just a few of the materials students use in making the cars. With the addition of a 1300 calorie limit, the vehicles this year are expected to be healthier than ever before, Curtis said.
It's a good way for students to show their creativity, he said.
Curtis expects to have 26 freshman teams competing as well as several alumni returning to show their support in the form of a mini-career fair. Also in attendance will be 19 senior instrumentation posters.
The Department of Biological Systems Engineering is jointly in the College of Engineering and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, which is a part of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM SIGN-UP CURRENTLY UNDERWAY.
Nebraska landowners and operators have until Jan. 17, 2014, to sign up for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) at their local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service(NRCS) office. CSP is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to help farmers and ranchers conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their agricultural and forestry land.
CSP applications are accepted at any time. However, only applications received by the Jan. 17 cutoff date will be considered for the current ranking and funding period.
Craig Derickson, NRCS state conservationist in Nebraska, encourages Nebraska farmers and ranchers to not miss out on this opportunity.
“The Conservation Stewardship Program is unique. CSP participants will receive an annual land use payment for the environmental benefits they produce on their operations. Under CSP, participants are paid for conservation performance - the higher the operational performance, the higher their payment,” Derickson said.
According to Derickson, CSP has been a very successful program for Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers. Over 2,000 CSP contracts occur in all 93 counties and cover 4.8 million acres in Nebraska.
“CSP is popular in Nebraska because farmers and ranchers don’t have to take land out of production to participate. CSP helps conserve natural resources on working lands. Keeping land in production while protecting natural resources creates a win-win for all Nebraskans. CSP makes it possible to produce crops and livestock while also improving water quality, soil health and wildlife habitat,” Derickson said.
CSP is available statewide to individual landowners, legal entities, and Indian tribes. Eligible land includes cropland, grassland, prairie, improved pastureland, non-industrial private forestland, and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe. Contracts are set at five years and include all the land controlled by an operator.
For more information about CSP, including eligibility requirements and a self-screening checklist, producers can visit http://www.ne.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/CSP.html or stop by their local NRCS field office.
Nebraska Counties Designated as Presidential Disaster Due to Severe Storms, Winter Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director, Dan Steinkruger, announced nine Nebraska counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas due to severe storms, winter storms, tornadoes, and flooding. Those counties are Adams, Dawes, Dixon, Howard, Sheridan, Sherman, Sioux, Thurston, and Wayne.
These counties were declared a Presidential Major Disaster on November 26, 2013, based on storms occurring October 2 to October 6, 2013. This designation authorizes Emergency (EM) Loans for eligible producers. Steinkruger stated, “Producers in these nine counties are encouraged to contact their local FSA Service Center for detailed information about available programs and updated disaster designations.”
In addition to the Emergency (EM) Loan Program, the FSA has other loan programs and disaster assistance programs which can be considered in assisting farmers to recover from their losses.
Contact your local FSA Service Center or access additional information about FSA Disaster Assistance and Farm Loan programs at www.fsa.usda.gov.
While this release pertains to the availability of FSA programs, other federal agencies such as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and SBA (Small Business Administration) may also have assistance to the public. Information is available from these two agencies at the following websites: www.fema.gov and www.sba.gov.
“NRDs Praise Nebraska Officials on Special Master Report”
The Republican Basin Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) and the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts are encouraged by the recommendations issued by Special Master William J. Kayatta on the Republican River case. Further, the recently released results of non-binding arbitration related to an augmentation project in the Upper Republican NRD are also favorable to Nebraska.
In particular, Governor Dave Heineman, Attorney General Jon Bruning, the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources and the legal team that defended Nebraska deserve praise for their diligent efforts to create and defend Nebraska’s methods of maintaining compliance with the Republican River Compact. The means of compliance responsibly manage natural resources while protecting the economy and the right to use water in the basin.
The irrigators in the basin also deserve praise for their compliance with regulatory actions and willingness to work with the NRDs and the State of Nebraska to develop workable, common sense, Nebraska-based water management plans that will keep Nebraska in compliance while helping preserve natural resources for generations to come.
“The local NRDs will continue to protect the local economy of Nebraska while providing adequate regulations to protect the water resources,” said Joe Anderjaska, President of the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts and a Middle Republican Natural Resources District board member. Anderjaska added, “The ability to create augmentation projects and the willingness of Nebraska irrigators to finance them will assure that Nebraska maintains compliance, sustains the water supply, and protects the local irrigated economy in the basin.”
The case went before Special Master William J. Kayatta in August of 2012. The State of Kansas had sued Nebraska asking for up to 300,000 acres permanently retired from irrigation and up to $80 million in damages for water use in 2006. Kayatta instead recommended Nebraska pay $5.5 million in damages. He didn’t recommend a massive shutdown as Kansas had requested, which is a victory worth more than $100 million annually to the State’s economy. His recommendations will now be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.
On the heels of the Special Master’s recommendations, arbitrator Jeffrey Fereday issued a non-binding arbitration order approving Nebraska’s Rock Creek Augmentation Plan and Alternative Water-Short Year Administration Plan. Fereday rejected Kansas’ multi-pronged challenge to the augmentation project in Dundy County and concluded that it complied with terms of a settlement between Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska reached in 2003. The Upper Republican NRD began operating the project early this year. It takes water that otherwise would have been used to irrigate crops in the sand hills north of Parks, Neb. and deposits it into Rock Creek, a tributary of the Republican River.
“The outcomes reflect the hard work of the Department of Natural Resources, the Attorney General’s Office, the NRDs and water users of the Basin to implement measures that achieve and assure Compact compliance,” URNRD General Manager Jasper Fanning said of the Special Master’s Report and arbitration order.
Although it would have been preferred to not have a financial damage award, $5.5 million recommended by the Special Master is much less than the requested $80 million. Kansas’ request for future restrictions on water use was denied and the Special Master acknowledged Nebraska’s accounting concerns, which are huge victories compared to the small damage award to Kansas. Among Special Master Kayatta’s recommendations were the following:
- Republican River Compact Administration (RRCA) Accounting Procedures should be corrected for accounting years after 2006 so that Nebraska is not charged with the consumption of Imported Water Supply as if it were Virgin Water Supply.
- 100% of the evaporation from Harlan County Lake during 2006 as calculated under the RRCA Accounting Procedures should be charged to Kansas.
- Kansas’ request that Nebraska be found in contempt should be denied.
- All remaining requests for relief, including Kansas’ requests for injunctive relief, sanctions, and appointment of a River Master, should be denied.
While the special master’s recommendations validate Nebraska’s compact compliance actions and procedures, the state and NRDs are working to further bolster efforts to ensure long-term compliance in ways that protect the economy.
Since 2006, several laws have changed to give the local districts the ability to develop water conservation and river augmentation projects. The Nebraska Cooperative Republican Platte Enhancement Project (NCORPE) in Lincoln County provides an opportunity to provide additional water in compact call and water-short years and avoid additional regulation. Almost 16,000 acres were retired from irrigation by the Lower Republican, Middle Republican, Upper Republican and Twin Platte NRDs with the purchase of the farm. The project is very similar to the Rock Creek Augmentation Project but significantly larger and will be operational in 2014 to help prevent an irrigation shutdown on 100,000 or more acres in the Basin In the future, water will also be piped into the Platte River to help return a portion of that Basin to 1997 levels.
Two surface water irrigation districts in the Republican Basin, Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District and Bostwick Irrigation District, took legal action to stop the Rock Creek and NCORPE projects from being implemented but a federal court dismissed the lawsuit
The NARD, the trade association for Nebraska's 23 natural resources districts, works with individual NRDs to protect lives, protect property and protect the future of Nebraska’s natural resources. These districts are unique to Nebraska. NRDs are local government entities with broad responsibilities to protect our natural resources. Major Nebraska river basins form the boundaries of the 23 NRDs, enabling districts to respond best to local conservation and resource management needs.
2013 Farm Poll: Farmers Concerned about Herbicide-Resistant Weeds
Iowa farmers are increasingly concerned about herbicide-resistant weeds and are changing their weed management practices to deal with the issue, according to the 2013 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll.
“In this year’s poll, we directed herbicide resistance questions to farmers who planted corn, soybeans or other row crops in 2012,” said J. Gordon Arbuckle Jr., a sociologist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Arbuckle co-directs the annual poll with Paul Lasley, also an ISU Extension and Outreach sociologist.
The sociologists developed herbicide resistance questions for the 2013 poll in partnership with the ISU Department of Agronomy. Associate Chair Micheal Owen, university professor and extension weed specialist, said they wanted to gather in-depth information about the state of herbicide resistance in Iowa. They hoped to reveal farmers’ impressions of herbicide resistance and gain insight into the weed management practices farmers might be using.
“Typically growers don’t realize they have an herbicide resistance problem until 30 percent of the weeds are of the resistant phenotype,” Owen said.
Arbuckle said 35 percent of farmers responding to the poll reported they had weeds they believed to be resistant to at least one herbicide group. Glyphosate resistance was most commonly cited, with 32 percent of farmers reporting glyphosate-resistant weeds. Fourteen percent of farmers reported they had weeds they believed to be resistant to ALS inhibitor herbicides. Only 5 percent or fewer reported weeds resistant to triazine, HPPD inhibitor or PPO inhibitor herbicides.
Fifty-two percent of respondents indicated that they had changed their weed management program in the past five years to address herbicide-resistant weeds. Less than half reported that they developed their own herbicide programs, and 65 percent indicated that they hired custom applicators to do at least some of their spraying.
Ninety percent of respondents reported that they used postemergence herbicides in 2012, and 64 percent applied them to more than 75 percent of their land. Eighty-five percent reported using soil-applied herbicides, with half of farmers applying them to more than 75 percent of their cropland. Eighty-one percent indicated that they used formal scouting methods to determine the need for postemergence spraying on at least some of their land.
The researchers also asked farmers whether they used particular management practices and how effective those practices were for managing herbicide-resistant weeds.
Ninety-three percent used crop rotation and 80 percent used multiple herbicide application timings. Seventy-four percent of farmers also had managed weeds using tillage, 71 percent had used multiple modes of herbicide action in a season and 60 percent had used multiple modes of herbicide action in each application.
“These most commonly used strategies for managing herbicide-resistant weeds were also rated as the most effective,” Arbuckle said. “More than 80 percent of farmers rated crop rotation and multiple herbicide application timings as effective or very effective. At least 70 percent rated tillage or multiple modes of herbicide action used in a season or in each application as effective or very effective management strategies.”
The 2013 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll “provides us with a snap shot of how agriculture in Iowa is understanding and addressing issues regarding herbicide resistance. Researchers still have a lot of work to do before growers are fully aware of the serious issues. Growers can learn there are a lot of tactics they can use,” Owen said.
The weed specialist noted that more analyses of the farm poll data would be useful. How did growers with 1,000 acres or more respond compared with growers on smaller farms? Did they use different tactics? Getting answers to those types of questions could be helpful in developing ISU Extension and Outreach education programs.
Iowans Participate in International Ag Trade Mission to China
Members of the Iowa Corn Leadership Enhancement and Development (I-LEAD) program class 6 are preparing for an international agricultural trade mission to China. The purpose of the I-LEAD foreign mission is to help class members learn about the world food and fiber system and develop a deeper appreciation for the views of international customers. The class will be spending 10 days meeting with government officials, customers, industry experts, and farmers to discuss export market development for four of Iowa's main agriculture commodities; corn, soybeans, pork and beef. This class is working closely with international offices of the U.S. Grains Council and the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Iowa Corn has a well established market development relationship with both organizations.
"The I-LEAD international trade mission shows our next leaders how important trade is to Iowa and the United States. China is a very important market for ag products today and into the future, said Shannon Textor, Iowa Corn market development director and the staff member leading the mission. "Building relationships with key customers, like China, is a top priority in growing trade opportunities. We need to understand the opportunities and challenges and make sure they understand that we grow and produce safe and reliable food and grain."
Class members determined five objectives that they wanted to focus on during the trade mission. The objectives helped to define an intensive ten day agenda. They included:
-- Reviewing competitor markets or developing markets
-- Meetings with major consumers (including those with existing relationships in Iowa)
-- Learn more about market access with current restrictions or barriers
"We hope to build on the current Iowa relationships," said Textor. "After we return, we will continue to work with these customers to make sure they are receiving the quality they need and want from us."
Informa Boosts Global Soy Production
Private analytical firm Informa Economics increased its expectations for Brazil's soybean crop to 88 million metric tons, which would be 6.5 mmt above 2012-13 production and in line with USDA's November forecast.
Informa pegged Argentina's soybean production at 59.5 mmt, which, if realized, would be 10.2 mmt more than last year's harvest. By comparison, USDA estimated Argentina's crop at 53.5 mmt last month.
Brazilian soybean acreage is likely to increase 5.9% to 29.35 million hectares, or about 72.5 million acres, Informa said. Planted area in Argentina is likely to be 8.8% larger than last season at 21.8 million hectares, or 53.9 million acres.
Brazilian planting is about 85% complete, about average, while Argentina planting is 54% complete, slightly behind last year's pace, Informa said.
Informa's world crop estimates pegged world soybean production at 289.7 mmt in 2013, up significantly from USDA's estimate of 283.5 mmt in November.
USDA will release its next round of supply and demand estimates on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 11 a.m. CST.
Informa's world crop estimate of corn totaled 966.8 mmt, up from USDA's November estimate of 962.8 mmt.
USDA: Dairy Products Production October 2013 Highlights
Total cheese output (excluding cottage cheese) was 950 million pounds, 2.1 percent above October 2012 and 6.7 percent above September 2013. Italian type cheese production totaled 411 million pounds, 5.7 percent above October 2012 and 6.9 percent above September 2013. American type cheese production totaled 368 million pounds, 0.6 percent below October 2012 but 6.4 percent above September 2013. Butter production was 146 million pounds, 1.2 percent above October 2012 and 10.2 percent above September 2013.
Dry milk powders (comparisons with October 2012)
Nonfat dry milk, human - 85.5 million pounds, down 10.1 percent.
Skim milk powders - 62.4 million pounds, up 36.7 percent.
Whey products (comparisons with October 2012)
Dry whey, total - 72.7 million pounds, down 5.7 percent.
Lactose, human and animal - 88.8 million pounds, up 8.0 percent.
Whey protein concentrate, total - 44.7 million pounds, up 20.9 percent.
Frozen products (comparisons with October 2012)
Ice cream, regular (hard) - 64.7 million gallons, down 0.9 percent.
Ice cream, lowfat (total) - 28.2 million gallons, down 21.1 percent.
Sherbet (hard) - 3.25 million gallons, up 11.6 percent.
Frozen yogurt (total) - 5.39 million gallons, down 0.4 percent.
Using, Not Buying, Livestock Gross Margin for Cattle
Matthew Diersen, Professor, South Dakota State University
While visiting with agriculture bankers in recent weeks, several asked about feeding margins and what their customers could do to manage margins. Protecting the margin is a common concern of cattle feeders too. One way to monitor the margin is to use the format from Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) insurance. The margin in LGM acts like a "cattle crush", where one sells live cattle and buys corn and feeder cattle. By tracking a specific margin, one can see its track record and decide if the margin is large enough to protect. Some of you may recall the textbook advice to use selective hedging for livestock. The reason for selective hedging is that always hedging livestock in a feeding setting will result in returns similar to always being in the cash market.
Consider the LGM margin for yearlings that are six months from marketing as fed cattle. In November, that expected margin coverage would have reflected a 1250 pound steer to be sold in May of 2014. The expected margin would have been what was left over after buying a 750 pound steer in December of 2013 and 50 bushels of corn in March of 2014. There is a formula that takes futures prices of either the contracts for those months or their surrounding months. In November, that expected margin was $181 per head, down from $207 per head in October. The actual margin will be computed based on the eventual feeder prices in a few months, corn at the end of March, and live cattle in six months. If a producer had purchased LGM in November, that is the margin covered and any combination of live cattle futures decreasing and corn or feeder cattle futures increasing would change the actual margin.
The 6-month expected margin is stable relative to the actual margin. The expected margin has averaged $164 per head over the past five years. That would also represent normal returns before non-corn feed costs. The expected margin has stayed above $100 per head since early in 2009. It has only exceeded $230 per head a couple of times - in early 2008 and again in August of 2013. The actual margin has much greater variability. The actual margin has turned negative a few times, in 2008 and 2012. Thus, cattle feeders would not have begun to cover variable costs during those stretches on unprotected cattle. However, being fully hedged all the time would have cost feeders the several times the actual margin has exceeded $300 per head, reaching a record level last month of $379 per head.
In a competitive environment, one would not expect very high or very low expected margins to last very long. One could monitor the expected margin. When it exceeds the average level, then protection could be considered. The trend, currently lower, could also be monitored as a signal to place protection before the margin becomes too low.
The expected and actual margin can be monitored on the Risk Management Agency website: www.rma.usda.gov. Details about LGM are available there also. Admittedly, LGM is not popular for cattle. So far in fiscal year 2014 only 250 head have been covered, up from 135 head in fiscal year 2013. If the volatility in the market were very high - making option protection on live cattle and/or corn expensive - then LGM can be cost-effective. To monitor the cost of premiums, the site: www.iaii.us can be used.
USDA, EPA Partnership Supports Water Quality Trading To Benefit Environment, Economy
The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have announced an expanded partnership to support water quality trading and other market-based approaches that provide benefits to the environment and economy.
"New water quality trading markets hold incredible potential to benefit rural America by providing new income opportunities and enhancing conservation of water and wildlife habitat," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. "Additionally, these efforts will strengthen businesses across the nation by providing a new pathway to comply with regulatory requirements."
"EPA is committed to finding collaborative solutions that protect and restore our nation's waterways and the health of the communities that depend on them," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "We're excited about partnering with USDA to expand support for water quality trading, which shows that environmental improvements can mean a better bottom line for farmers and ranchers."
Water quality trading provides a cost-effective approach for regulated entities to comply with EPA Clean Water Act requirements, including water quality-based effluent limits in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. Trading would allow regulated entities to purchase and use pollutant reduction credits generated by other sources in a watershed. Cost savings and other economic incentives are key motivators for parties engaged in trading. Water quality trading can also provide additional environmental and economic benefits, such as air quality improvements, enhanced wildlife habitat, carbon capture and storage, and new income and employment opportunities for rural America.
EPA and USDA are working together to implement and coordinate policies and programs that encourage water quality trading. The Department and the Agency will identify opportunities to work collaboratively to help improve water quality trading programs across the country. Cooperative management and technical assistance will improve resource management and public services, and accelerate implementation.
USDA and EPA will:
- Coordinate and enhance communications and outreach to states, agricultural producers, regulated sources, and interested third parties on water quality trading;
- Engage expertise across agencies in the review of grants, loans or technical assistance programs focused on water quality trading;
- Share information on the development of rules and guidance that have the potential to affect water quality trading;
- Collaborate on developing tools and information resources for states and credit generators to guide decision making, reduce costs in program design and implementation, improve environmental performance, and foster consistency and integrity across regional initiatives;
- Co-host a workshop by 2015 to share tools and resources available to assist in stakeholder decision making and opportunities.
The purpose of this policy is to support states, interstate agencies and tribes as they develop and implement water quality trading programs for nutrients, sediments and other pollutants where opportunities exist to achieve water quality improvements at reduced costs.
Potash Corp. to Cut Jobs
(AP) -- Potash Corp. is cutting more than 1,000 jobs, about 18 percent of its workforce, because of slumping demand for potash and phosphate, two key fertilizer ingredients.
The Saskatchewan-based company said Tuesday it will cut 440 jobs in Saskatchewan, 130 in New Brunswick, 350 in Florida, 85 in North Carolina, and 40 in other U.S. regions and Trinidad.
The company controls more than 25 percent of the world's supply of potash, which helps farmers boost crop production.
Potash CEO Bill Doyle says they must make steps to run a sustainable business.
Shares of nutrient companies were hammered this year after news that a big Russian fertilizer company would stop cooperating in a pricing cartel.
Potash has been selling for around $300 per ton, about $100 less than earlier this year.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Monday December 2 Ag News
Nebraska’s Pork Producers Take Proactive Approach to PED Virus
To date Nebraska remains among the states with no reported cases of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV). However, neighboring states have reported cases of PEDV making it necessary for Nebraska’s hog farmers to be ever vigilant. "The Nebraska Pork Producers Board of Directors is choosing a proactive approach,” said Shane Meyer, President of the Association. “Nebraska has been extremely fortunate not to have any reported cases of the PED Virus and we would like to keep it that way. Learning as much as we can about the virus, practicing strict biosecurity and managing proper farm protocols is a great start to keeping our animals safe and healthy”.
Leading experts from the National Pork Board, Iowa State University and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture have been assembled to convey the latest available information on the disease along with protocols that have been put in place to prevent the spread of the disease.
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus was confirmed in the United States during the week of May 13, 2013. It is a RNA coronavirus, which is related to transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEv). However, there is no cross protection afforded by immunity developed to one against the other. PED Virus was first diagnosed in 1971 in Great Britain, since that time there has been sporadic outbreaks in Europe and has become an endemic pig disease in Asia since 1982.
The seminar will be held on December 16, 2013, at the Holiday Inn Express in Columbus, Nebraska. Registration check-in will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the program will conclude at 3:30 p.m. There are no registration fees. Registration is required for meal counts. Register at www.nepork.org or call 1-888-627-7675.
Spangler Receives Wendell Burgher Beef Industry Award
Matthew Spangler, associate professor of animal science, has been selected to receive the Wendell Burgher Beef Industry Award from IANR. The award consists of an annual stipend and monetary award to support his program activities for the next two years.
The Wendell Burgher Beef Industry Award was created by a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation from Louis Burgher, M.D. and Ph.D., president of Clarkson College in Omaha, to memorialize his father, Wendell Burgher. Wendell Burgher was a prominent cattleman in central Iowa and western Nebraska for nearly 60 years. An auctioneer, order buyer and cattle feeder, Wendell and his father owned the largest sale yard in Iowa in the 1940s. He was co-owner and manager of a livestock exchange in McCook until the late 1960s. The award allows IANR to reward outstanding faculty and advance their academic endeavors.
Spangler received the award in recognition of his efforts and contributions to the beef industry. Since arriving at UNL in 2008, Spangler has had a productive career. He leads the Weight Trait Project which includes working with 24 seedstock producers from 7 breed associations with the aim to evaluate and deploy genomic selection tools to the U.S. beef industry. This project was successfully leveraged as part of the USDA funded Feed Efficiency grant and serves as the field demonstration component of the project. Spangler and colleagues have developed a certificate program at UNL (Nebraska Beef Industry Scholars) that is designed to integrate core animal science classes, internships and education trips and experiences to further develop the future leaders of the beef industry. In addition, he has developed and taught two graduate-level courses. And, he is part of a collaborative team with beef breed associations, colleagues in the Statistics Department and at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center that continue to develop and evaluate the use of genomics in beef cattle selection.
Spangler has given 140 invited talks in 15 states and in Canada and Brazil.
Vilsack Announces United Soybean Board Appointments
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the appointment of 35 members and three alternate members to the United Soybean Board. The 35 appointed board members are soybean farmers from across the United States. These volunteer farmers invest soy checkoff funds on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers in projects to increase the value of U.S. soy meal and oil; ensure U.S. farmers and their customers maintain the freedom and infrastructure to operate; and meet the needs of U.S. soy’s customers.
Appointed USB directors representing Nebraska are soybean farmers Gregg Fujan, of Weston, NE and Greg Greving, of Chapman, NE. Both directors have shown strong leadership through their dedication to service on the Nebraska Soybean Board (NSB) Fujan has served as the District 3 NSB director four terms and Greving has just completed his 4th term as the District 4 NSB director. While on the board Fujan and Greving both served as Chairman of the Board.
Victor Bohuslavsky, executive director for the Nebraska Soybean Board, commend Fujan and Greving for their dedication to the soybean industry. “They had always done a good job of representing the interests of Nebraska soybean farmers. And both brought a wealth of knowledge and business sense to our meetings, and I am confident that they will continue to be a valuable part of USB.”
Seeking Candidates for Position on the United Soybean Board
The Nebraska Soybean Board (NSB) is seeking candidates to fill a United Soybean Board (USB) Member position. If you are an interested soybean farmer please contact the NSB office.
USB is made up of 69 farmer-directors who oversee the investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers. Checkoff funds are invested in the areas of animal utilization, human utilization, industrial utilization, industry relations, market access and supply. As stipulated in the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff.
Anyone interested in applying needs to meet the following criteria:
Be involved in a farming operation that raises soybeans.
Be a resident of Nebraska.
Be at least 21 years of age.
USB Members receive no compensation but are reimbursed for expenses incurred while carrying out Board business. USB Directors serve three-year terms.
This position is open to all soybean farmers in Nebraska. NSB will nominate two candidates and the appointment will be made by the USDA Secretary of Agriculture. The USDA has a policy that membership on USDA boards and committees is open to all individuals without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation and marital or family status.
For more information please contact Victor Bohuslavsky at 402-432-5720, before the March 1, 2014 deadline.
Seeking Candidates for Directors on the Nebraska Soybean Board
There are two district seats on the Nebraska Soybean Board (NSB) eligible for election this year. Soybean farmers in Districts 5 and 7 are invited to run for election to the Nebraska Soybean Board by filing a candidacy petition by the April 15, 2014 deadline. The election of directors will be conducted via direct-mail ballots and candidate information will be provided to all soybean farmers residing within the district in which an election is to be held.
The At-Large position on the Nebraska Soybean Board is open to all soybean farmers in Nebraska and will be elected by the Directors of the Nebraska Soybean Board at the July NSB meeting. A candidacy petition must also be filed by the April 15, 2014 deadline for the At-Large position.
This is an opportunity to see for yourself how the soybean checkoff money is invested, and become a part of the decision making. You will become a VOICE representing your District on the Board.
NSB Directors and the At-Large Position receive no salary but are reimbursed for expenses incurred while carrying out Board business and will serve a three-year term which would begin October 1, 2014.
Director seats open are:
District 5: Counties of Cass, Johnson, Lancaster, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee and Richardson.
District 7: Counties of Adams, Buffalo, Clay, Franklin, Hall, Kearney, Nuckolls and Webster.
Candidates for the NSB seats and the At-Large position must be:
A resident of Nebraska
21 years of age or older
Soybean farmer in Nebraska for at least 5 previous years
Prospective candidates must collect the signatures of 50 soybean farmers in their district using an official Nebraska Soybean Board Candidacy Petition and return such petition to the Nebraska Soybean Board office on or before April 15, 2014, to be eligible for placement on the ballot. To obtain a candidacy petition, contact Victor Bohuslavsky at the Nebraska Soybean Board by calling 402-432-5720.
Ag Experts Tell A-FAN Stakeholders Farmers Should Return to Raising Both Livestock and Feed Crops to Achieve Added Value to Corn, Soybean Harvests
The future of American agriculture may include a return to the days when most row crop farmers also raised livestock, according to featured speakers at the annual stakeholders meeting of the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (A-FAN) in Lincoln. In his opening remarks,Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach said that one of his department’s areas of focus is to help build strong local communities by “layering, 1950s’ style. Then, everybody had a few acres of row crops and also raised livestock, kept dairy cows, or finished pigs,” he said.
The other areas of focus for his department include a vision for agriculture “that allows our sons and daughters to return to the family farm with promise of a successful career,” he said. “That means we need to figure out how to let those farms grow, and how we let the industries in those communities grow to support those families coming back to the farm. This ties in with A-FAN’s goal of building strong community economies through animal agriculture. This is where the “layering” comes in, he says. “The scale will be different, but that will create opportunities in those communities.”
Keynote speaker Dr. Chris Hurt, extension agronomist and agricultural economist at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, agrees that “layering” may be in the cards for American farmers as a way to create added value to their operations. While row crops may run in the $3.00 per bushel range, feeding that grain to livestock on the same farm can bump the value of that bushel of corn to $5 or $6 or more in the future. The key is finding the balance between crops and animal sectors of agriculture, he said.“We are interested in the balance between crops and animal sectors of agriculture,” Hurt said. “Go-ing back to about 2006, it turns out crop and animal receipts are pretty much in balance. There are times when we get a surge in grain prices and then in livestock prices. But in the long run things tend to balance out.”
The 2012 drought reduced crop supply, for example, “leading to increased prices in the feed market, in turn causing increased consumer prices at the meat case,” he said. But he sees a leveling off on the horizon. “After a period of a sharp up factor for the crop sector, we’re going to go through a period of moderation.
The reasons he sees moderation coming are three-fold:
• One of the big drivers is corn ethanol, he said. “This has given the illusion that corn is in short supply. The 2006-2010 period was the time of the big boom for ethanol. But we should expect just modest growth going forward. While the 2013 yield will be just slightly below trend, it is rebounding back toward normal.”
• The rising income level in foreign countries, in China primarily. “Together, these two drivers (ethanol and Chinese soybean demand) create a big demand for corn and soybeans,” he said, “amounting to 30 million new acres of cropland demand needed. Under these conditions, supply won’t catch up to demand, leading to my third driver, under-investment in agricultural production in developing countries.”
• Under-investment in agricultural production in developing countries has been caused by the low prices of U.S.-produced corn during the 1998-2005 time period, the $2.00 per bushel era, he said. “Why would these countries want to raise crops when the U.S was raising them at such low costs?”
According to Hurt, the world is anxious to raise crops. “With rising income levels worldwide, demand will continue to grow and U.S. agriculture is not going to be able to keep up in a sustainable way. That growth will go to South America, where they can bring more land into production,” he said.!Hurt said the best way to add value to your corn is to also raise livestock. This is where “layering” re-enters the conversation.
“Livestock has always been the historical value-adding system,” he said. This makes livestock people and crop people happy. If you have feed priced in the $5-6 range, both crop and livestock producers are going to be happy, keeping both sectors in balance.”
Price trends shift over time based on supply and demand in the marketplace, according to Hurt, but over the long run they achieve a balance. Consumer prices for poultry and pork will lower in the next year or so, with beef prices lowering in 2016. The marketplace trends toward moderation, he said.
Monsanto announces launch of new scholarship program
Every year, approximately 25,000 agricultural jobs go unfilled due to a lack of qualified applicants. The agriculture industry needs talented, driven and passionate young people willing to make a commitment to agriculture, especially with a growing population and the subsequent need to feed an estimated 9 billion people by the year 2050.
Monsanto Company recently announced its launch of the America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders scholarship program, to get students in rural America excited about careers in agriculture. America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders, presented by Monsanto in connection with the National FFA Scholarship program, offers students the chance to earn a $1,500 scholarship for college.
“With $1,500 to put toward their college education, students will be better prepared to make a meaningful contribution that benefits them, their rural hometowns and the future of the agricultural industry,” said Elizabeth Vancil, Monsanto customer advocacy outreach manager.
Agriculture is more than just farming—it’s thousands of careers in a variety of fields, including plant science, engineering, communications, finance and much more—and the Grow Ag Leaders scholarship is available to students pursuing these and many other agricultural majors. According to Nebraska Department of Agriculture, one in three Nebraska jobs is tied to agriculture. Monsanto is excited about helping to educate the next generation to fill those jobs and keep them actively involved in rural America.
Monsanto recognizes and supports the role farmers play in the future of agriculture, so each Grow Ag Leaders applicant must have three farmers endorse his or her application. Eligible farmers can also help generate student interest in agricultural careers by spreading the word about this scholarship opportunity to eligible students in their communities and families.
Nebraska was chosen to pilot the Grow Ag Leaders program and is one of only six states receiving the opportunity for scholarships this year. This year, America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders is available in 36 Crop Reporting Districts (CRDs) in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Nebraska, North Carolina and South Carolina. 78 Nebraska counties in eight CRDs are eligible for the program. Unless there are insufficient entries, 16 scholarships, totaling $24,000 will be awarded in Nebraska. A list of all 264 eligible counties within the 36 CRDs, and a full list of student and farmer eligibility requirements can be found at GrowAgLeaders.com.
Eligible students should visit FFA.org/scholarships to complete the application, between November 15, 2013 and February 1, 2014, and for complete program information. Eligible farmers should visit FFA.org/scholarships or call 877-267-3332 before February 8, 2014, to endorse a student. Farmers must have the student’s scholarship application ID to complete the endorsement. No purchase is necessary to apply or win.
McDonald’s Salutes Dairy Producers
(from Midwest Dairy - Nebraska Division)
McDonald’s showed its appreciation for the nation’s early risers – America’s dairy farm families – in a video shown at the 2013 Joint Annual Meeting of the National Dairy Board, National Milk Producers Federation and United Dairy Industry Association. The video is posted at the checkoff’s dairygood.org website, which provides an online forum to help reconnect consumers with dairy farming so they better understand “where good comes from.” McDonald’s and the dairy checkoff’s multi-year partnership has seen billions of pounds of additional milk sold through new and reformulated products. This includes the testing and introduction of 27 new dairy-friendly products in 2013 alone!
JAMA Report Questions Milk and Bones Relationship
A Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics study that could be portrayed as negative in terms of dairy’s bone health benefits was released this month. The study found that higher milk consumption during teenage years was not associated with a lower risk of hip fracture in older adults. The authors also found that milk intake in teens contributes to greater height, and they found an association between greater height and fracture risk in adult men (but not in adult women). The journal also ran an invited editorial by Dr. Connie Weaver of Purdue University that questions the study’s conclusions and reaffirms the value of milk for bone health and other health benefits.
The study is posted on JAMA Pediatrics.
There has been only limited media interest in the study. The journal’s press release was picked up by some media outlets and health sites, but the coverage has been balanced and the study’s lead author makes it clear that the findings do not impact standing recommendations to consume milk during teen years for optimal health.
State Leaders to Address Nebraska Farmers Union 100th Annual Convention Participants
“Proudly Serving Family Farm & Ranch Agriculture Since 1913” is the theme for the 100th Annual Nebraska Farmers Union (NeFU) State Convention. John Hansen, NeFU President said, “This year’s convention will feature several state leaders who will help Farmers Union members focus on some of the major challenges featuring agriculture.
On Friday afternoon at 1:40 p.m. USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Dan Steinkruger and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services State Conservationist Craig Derickson will update convention participants on the latest status on federal programs that affect rural Nebraskans day to day lives.
Health care has been a hot topic in the news lately. How do you navigate through the new system? A Friday 2:40 p.m. panel featuring Mark Intermill of AARP, and Scott Jensen and Stephanie Ridgway from Central Nebraska Community Services will give an update on deployment of the law, and the fundamentals of signing up.
Gubernatorial Candidate Chuck Hassebrook will be on-hand Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. to give convention participants his perspective on Nebraska. At the end of the panel Hassebrook should have time to answer questions.
At 10:30 a.m. on Saturday Seth Harder, the General Manager for Husker Ag, Inc, a farmer-owned ethanol plant will give an update on the status of the ethanol industry and address the huge economic impact ethanol has to rural Nebraska.
David Domina, the Legal Counsel for the Nebraska Easement Action Team, will keynote the Saturday Noon Luncheon and address “The Ag Economy”.
Registration costs are $35 and begin at 8:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday mornings. Convention begins at 9:00 a.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. Saturday. As always, all members and the public is always welcome. To register or to view the agenda in entirety go to our website at www.nebraskafarmersunion.org.
Dec. 31 Deadline for Confinement Manure Applicator Training in Iowa
Nearly 20 percent of current confinement site manure applicators need to complete annual training by Dec. 31. "I would encourage anyone who is currently certified and plans to renew their certificate to complete the training for this year," said Jeff Prier who coordinates the Iowa DNR's applicator certification program.
About 430 of 2,310 confinement site applicators have not yet completed this year's annual training. Prier says that's ahead of last year at the end of November when nearly half of the applicants needed to complete training by year's end.
"It's not too late," says Prier. "If they get in and get the training for all three years, they can avoid taking a make-up test when they renew their certificate. Even if they've missed a year, the training updates them on current regulations, what's happening with Iowa's nutrient reduction strategy and provides tips on how to handle land application."
Applicators can schedule with their county Extension office. Many offices have scheduled dates and times for viewing the training video.
Find out more about training opportunities at www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/maccsa.html. Program information is also available under Applicator Certification at www.iowadnr.gov/afo/.
The confinement applicator certificate is good for three years. Applicators may satisfy certification requirements through training or testing. If they choose training, they must attend all three years of training or take an exam before renewing their certificate.
Thousands of Iowa Runners Refuel with Beef Stew
More than 75 Iowa beef industry volunteers served hot beef stew to thousands of runners in the 35th annual Living History Farms Off-Road Race. Runners from across the country endured the single digit weather to run the 7-mile race, which takes place on the museum's grounds in Urbandale.
"This year, more than 20 Team Beef runners sported shirts with the message 'Beef. Fuel for the Finish,'" said Nancy Degner, Executive Director of the Iowa Beef Industry Council. "TEAM BEEF is composed of Iowa State University faculty and students with majors in animal science, as well as other cattle farmers and friends of the beef industry who are passionate about beef," she added.
Seth Watkins, cattle farmer from Clarinda, said "I am proud to wear the TEAM BEEF shirt and hear all the support along the race from runners and by-standers who shouted 'Go Beef' and 'Where's the Beef?' We answered 'at the end of the race in the beef stew!' I was proud to have cattle farmers serving the beef stew at the end of the race."
Degner said the beef checkoff became involved to carry a message to the athletes. "Our message to the runners was two-fold," said Degner. "First, that beef provides high-quality protein needed to build, maintain and repair muscle, and is a great recovery food after endurance exercise. Second, we wanted to give runners the chance to meet local cattle farmers as they served the beef stew."
The hot beef stew greeted frozen runners after a route complete with several creek crossings and other obstacles. The beef checkoff provided the 2,000 pounds of beef cubes used in the stew prepared by the Iowa Machine Shed.
Serving was completed in less than 2 hours by volunteers that included cattle producer families, Iowa State University animal science students, 4-H-ers, Madison County Youth Beef Team members, and friends of the beef industry. Beef certificates were awarded as prizes for the race, replacing the traditional frozen turkeys and chickens.
Those interested in joining or learning more about TEAM BEEF can visit the Iowa Beef Industry Council website at www.iabeef.org or by calling 515-296-2305.
Study Claims CBO May Have Overstated Crop Insurance Cost
New data by agricultural economist Art Barnaby indicates that the Congressional Budget Office may have overstated the cost of federal crop insurance.
Barnaby concludes that price volatility, the amount of uncertainty or risk in the size of the changes of a security's value, drives premium cost more than market price. If implied volatility (estimated volatility) decreases then the resulting decrease in premiums will create lower premium support costs equaling lower taxpayer costs.
The Risk Management Agency's rating system uses the market implied volatility for estimating the price risk of insuring the crop. However, higher volatility does not always correspond with higher loss years. In 2012, corn had an implied volatility of 22 percent for the crop that had the largest historical underwriting loss and largest loss ratio since 1993.
In the last four years of winter wheat production the implied volatility has decreased from 33 percent volatility in 2011 to 19 percent volatility for the 2014 crop. If the volatility for both corn and wheat remains about 20 percent, this will keep the premium prices lower indicating a lower federal cost for crop insurance.
If CBO estimated crop insurance for an average 30 percent volatility rate then the budget could be vastly overstated. Barnaby's numbers are dependent on a reduction of implied volatility, and if true then the CBO estimated crop insurance costs will likely exceed the actual cost.
"My estimates are based on an assumption that we are going to 20 percent volatility if that assumption is wrong than the CBO is probably right," said Barnaby.
This numerical error could cause major issues in the Farm Bill debate. The conference committee works within a budget cap and if one of the programs costs less than budgeted, the money could be used for other programs.
"The committee has to fit the farm bill under that magic budget number. If the CBO over estimates the cost and the committee doesn't spend that full amount then what they spent becomes the new baseline. It only impacts the current farm bill debate whether you can make current improvements through the commodity or crop insurance," Barnaby said.
Implied volatility is just one of the factors that affect premium costs for farmers. While it is the most influential factor, premium cost is also based on market price, the rate set by the RMA and the individual farmer's actual production history.
"It comes down to what you assume for implied volatility. The last two years we've been in the 20 percent range, and in the estimations that I did, we are going to return to the 20 percent volatility," said Barnaby.
Does the CBO have a history of overstating farm programs costs? Barnaby said he believes so but has not done the research to back it up. As for crop insurance costing a significant amount for taxpayers, the current loss ratio is under one dollar, meaning that the government has paid out less than it has taken in from premium payments. However, this does not account for the premium support that the government provides to assist the farmer.
Time will only tell if Barnaby's predictions prove to be true.
USDA Announces Commodity Credit Corporation Lending Rates for December 2013
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for December 2013. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for December 2013 is 0.125 percent, unchanged from 0.125 percent in November 2013.
The interest rate for commodity and marketing assistance loans disbursed during December 2013 is 1.125 percent, unchanged from 1.125 percent in November 2013.
Interest rates for Farm Storage Facility Loans approved for December 2013 are as follows, 2.000 percent with seven-year loan terms, unchanged from 2.000 percent in November 2013; 2.625 percent with 10-year loan terms, unchanged from 2.625 percent in November 2013 and; 2.875 percent with 12-year loan terms, unchanged from 2.875 percent in November 2013.
RFS Comment Period Ends Jan. 28
The comment period for the proposed 2014 Renewable Volume Obligations for the Renewable Fuel Standard will close Jan. 28, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday, Nov. 29.
The EPA on Nov. 15 released the long-awaited proposed RVOs for 2014 which includes a reduction in the overall mandate to 15.21 billion gallons from volumes set by statute at 18.15 billion.
"Relying on its Clean Air Act waiver authorities, EPA is proposing to adjust the applicable volumes of advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel to address projected availability of qualifying renewable fuels and limitations in the volume of ethanol that can be consumed in gasoline given practical constraints on the supply of higher ethanol blends to the vehicles that can use them and other limits on ethanol blend levels in gasoline," EPA said Friday. "These adjustments are intended to put the program on a manageable trajectory while supporting growth in renewable fuels over time."
Nearly all gasoline sold in the U.S. is now E10, which is fuel with up to 10% ethanol. The proposal cuts the nested RFS category primarily satisfied with the corn-based ethanol to roughly 13 billion gallons, down from 14.4 billion gallons set by statute, in an effort to avoid the ethanol blend wall -- the saturation point for ethanol in the gasoline pool based on current gasoline standards and consumer preference.
Volumes proposed for 2014 are 17 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, 1.27 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel, 2.2 billion gallons of advanced biofuel, with the total RFS at 15.21 billion gallons.
The proposal includes volume ranges within each category as follows: Cellulosic, 8 million to 30 million gallons, biomass-based diesel remaining at 1.28 billion gallons, advanced biofuels at 2.0 billion to 2.51 billion gallons and renewable fuel total at 15.0 billion to 15.52 billion gallons.
EPA expects to have a final rule in the first quarter of 2014.
Phillips Selected as Secretariat of U.S. Biotech Crops Alliance
The founding organizations of a broad-based group known as the U.S. Biotech Crops Alliance today announced that Dr. Michael J. Phillips has been selected as its first secretariat to spearhead collaborative efforts to improve the environment for technology innovation and the market for U.S. crops produced through modern biotechnology.
Established under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2012, the USBCA already has developed and is working to implement consensus positions on key policy issues designed to improve the introduction, stewardship, domestic and international regulatory policy, and distribution in U.S. and export markets of commodities and processed products containing or derived from modern biotechnology.
In his capacity as secretariat, Phillips will be the focal point of the group's efforts to further advance the reach, work and wide range of activities being pursued under the expanding broad-based national initiative that currently consists of 11 influential national organizations representing U.S. biotechnology providers; seed, grain and oilseed producers; grain handlers, feed manufacturers, grain processors and millers; exporters; and other end-users. The secretariat also will serve a key role in helping develop and implement consensus positions on specific policy issues.
Phillips is president of MJ Phillips and Associates LLC, an agricultural consulting firm that specializes in agricultural biotechnology issues. Throughout his career, he has been active in providing leadership and advice on agricultural biotechnology to U.S. and foreign governments, as well academic institutions and all sectors of the agricultural biotechnology value chain.
Prior to establishing his consulting business, Phillips was vice president for science and regulatory policy for food and agriculture at the Biotechnology Industry Organization, where he was responsible for developing and implementing policy on the science, regulatory, compliance, stewardship and trade implications of agricultural biotechnology. Among other things, he assisted technology providers in developing consensus positions on complex issues, and was responsible for facilitating outreach to producer, industry and other stakeholders, as well as to Congress and government agencies. While with BIO, he also worked with the biotech value chain in advocating establishment of a U.S. and global low-level presence policy for shipments of biotech-enhanced traits that have successfully completed thorough scientific reviews for product and environmental safety in one or more countries, while still undergoing such governmental review in other countries.
Phillips also served as director of the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources at the National Academy of Sciences, where his duties included overseeing studies on a wide range of topics, including agricultural biotechnology, conducted by the NAS at the request of the federal government. In addition, he previously was director of the food and agriculture program at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where he developed and directed policy studies for congressional committees, including several on agricultural biotechnology.
Prior to his industry and government service, Phillips served on the faculty at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and was a senior staff member in the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.
Phillips received his undergraduate degree with distinction in agricultural economics and animal science from The Ohio State University, and his Master of Science and doctorate degrees in food and agricultural policy from OSU and Purdue, respectively. An Ohio native, he grew up on his family's grain and dairy farm in northwest Ohio, and remains involved in managing the farm's grain operation.
The USBCA's founding organizations are the: National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, American Seed Trade Association, Biotechnology Industry Organization, National Grain and Feed Association, and North American Export Grain Association. Other national organizations that subsequently have become participants in the USBCA include: American Farm Bureau Federation, Corn Refiners Association, National Oilseed Processors Association, U.S. Grains Council and U.S. Soybean Export Council.
Brazil Soy Planting Nears Completion
Brazil's soybean planting moved forward 10 percentage points this past week following generous rains in the northeast and is now nearing conclusion. Farmers had planted 89% of the projected 2013-14 soybean area as of Friday, Nov. 29, in line with the five-year average for this stage of the season, according to AgRural, a local farm consultancy.
With ample rains registered across most of Brazil's vast grain belt, the crop is looking in excellent shape. As a result, AgRural raised its forecast for the 2013-14 crop to 89.4 million metric tons (mmt) from an October figure of 88.7 mmt. The new estimate pegs output 10% higher than last season.
The big news from last week was that forecast heavy rains actually did materialize in the northeastern soy states, alleviating dry conditions that were causing increasing concern and allowing planting to move forward. As a result, soybean planting jumped from 26% to 75% complete over the last week in Bahia, the principle producing state in the region. In neighboring Piaui state, planting jumped a more modestly, from 30% to 44% complete.
In Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state, abundant showers also created excellent planting conditions, allowing field work to move forward 23 percentage points to 77%. The crop in Brazil's No. 3 soy state is in excellent condition. In Mato Grosso, the No. 1 state where planting is 99% done, rains in the south and east of the state largely resolved any soil moisture deficit issues, and the crop is developing well. In Parana, where the crop is 93% planted, the crop is also in good shape, said AgRural. Caterpillar populations have been high, but chemical controls have been effective.
Classical Swine Fever Outbreak Reported in South Korea
The South Korean veterinary authorities have reported an outbreak of classical swine fever at a pig rearing farm located in South Gyeongsang Province, or Gyeongsangnam-do.
The World Organization for Animal Health received an immediate notification last week. According to the report, the outbreak was initially observed on November 27 and confirmed on the same date after polymerase chain reaction test was carried out at the Gyeongsangnamdo Livestock Promotion Research Institute.
According to the report, a total of 300 pigs were found susceptible out of which four cases were reported. All 300 pigs were destroyed.
The source of the outbreak remains inconclusive.
Applications for Conservation Stewardship program due Jan. 17
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is opening the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for new enrollments for federal fiscal year 2014. Starting today through Jan. 17, 2014, producers interested in participating in the program can submit applications to NRCS.
“Through the Conservation Stewardship Program, farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners are going the extra mile to conserve our nation’s resources,” NRCS Chief Jason Weller said. “Through their conservation actions, they are ensuring that their operations are more productive and sustainable over the long run.”
The CSP is an important Farm Bill conservation program that helps established conservation stewards with taking their level of natural resource management to the next level to improve both their agricultural production and provide valuable conservation benefits such as cleaner and more abundant water, as well as healthier soils and better wildlife habitat.
Weller said today's announcement is another example of USDA's comprehensive focus on promoting environmental conservation and strengthening the rural economy, and it is a reminder that a new Food, Farm and Jobs Bill is pivotal to continue these efforts. CSP is now in its fifth year and so far, NRCS has partnered with producers to enroll more than 59 million acres across the nation.
The program emphasizes conservation performance — producers earn higher payments for higher performance. In CSP, producers install conservation enhancements to make positive changes in soil quality, soil erosion, water quality, water quantity, air quality, plant resources, animal resources and energy.
Some popular enhancements used by farmers and ranchers include:
• Using new nozzles that reduce the drift of pesticides, lowering input costs and making sure pesticides are used where they are most needed;
• Modifying water facilities to prevent bats and bird species from being trapped;
• Burning patches of land, mimicking prairie fires to enhance wildlife habitat; and
• Rotating feeding areas and monitoring key grazing areas to improve grazing management.
Eligible landowners and operators in all states and territories can enroll in CSP through January 17th to be eligible during the 2014 federal fiscal year. While local NRCS offices accept CSP applications year round, NRCS evaluates applications during announced ranking periods.
To be eligible for this year’s enrollment, producers must have their applications submitted to NRCS by the closing date.
A CSP self-screening checklist is available to help producers determine if the program is suitable for their operation. The checklist highlights basic information about CSP eligibility requirements, stewardship threshold requirements and payment types.
Learn more about CSP by visiting the NRCS website or a local NRCS field office.
New Book- Red Tractors 1958-2013: An Authoritative Guide to International Harvester & Case IH Farm Tractors in the Modern Era
This brand new publication offers an unparalleled look at the International Harvester story and the next chapter that became the Case IH of today and the continuing legacy of successful agricultural equipment.
“This book is a showcase of how far Case IH has come in the past 55 years,” says Jim Walker, Vice President, Case IH NAFTA. “We’re proud of our equipment’s heritage, and this book would be a showpiece for any Case IH or tractor collector.”
Published by Octane Press, “Red Tractors 1958-2013” was created by a team of dedicated writers, editors, photographers and researchers, led by long-time publisher Lee Klancher. Octane Press also created two 2014 calendars: the “Farmall Calendar 2014” returns after a strong 2013 season and the “Magnum Tractor Calendar 2014” commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Case IH Magnum™ tractor.
“Case IH is proud to make these special items available for purchase now,” says Dan Danford, Case IH NAFTA Public Relations & Sponsorship Manager. “They’re pieces that any tractor enthusiast will want to add to their wish lists.”
With 384 pages and more than 700 images, the history book includes behind-the-scenes insights from the engineers and executives who created the equipment. The images include never-before-seen concept drawings, prototype and archival images, and new photographs of restored and original-condition models by Klancher.
The book explores the history of how IH and Farmall® tractors were built from the 1960s to the 1980s, and how IH and Case merged to become a global leader in agricultural equipment.
The creation of the Magnum tractor, the first tractor launched after the merger, is detailed in the book, with contributions from Dr. Glenn W. Kahle, the engineer who oversaw the tractor’s design.
Detailed accounts of every tractor line are written by several authors, including an industrial engineer who designed IH and Case IH tractors for decades.
“Red Tractors 1958-2013” will be published in regular and collector’s editions for global distribution. Regular editions will be hardcover, while collector’s editions will be leather-bound, packaged with four concept drawings of never-before-seen tractors.
Both editions of the book and the calendars are available for purchase from www.octanepress.com, through your local Case IH dealer or anywhere books are sold. You can find out more about the book at: http://youtu.be/AiE7clCKZdM.
To date Nebraska remains among the states with no reported cases of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV). However, neighboring states have reported cases of PEDV making it necessary for Nebraska’s hog farmers to be ever vigilant. "The Nebraska Pork Producers Board of Directors is choosing a proactive approach,” said Shane Meyer, President of the Association. “Nebraska has been extremely fortunate not to have any reported cases of the PED Virus and we would like to keep it that way. Learning as much as we can about the virus, practicing strict biosecurity and managing proper farm protocols is a great start to keeping our animals safe and healthy”.
Leading experts from the National Pork Board, Iowa State University and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture have been assembled to convey the latest available information on the disease along with protocols that have been put in place to prevent the spread of the disease.
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus was confirmed in the United States during the week of May 13, 2013. It is a RNA coronavirus, which is related to transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEv). However, there is no cross protection afforded by immunity developed to one against the other. PED Virus was first diagnosed in 1971 in Great Britain, since that time there has been sporadic outbreaks in Europe and has become an endemic pig disease in Asia since 1982.
The seminar will be held on December 16, 2013, at the Holiday Inn Express in Columbus, Nebraska. Registration check-in will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the program will conclude at 3:30 p.m. There are no registration fees. Registration is required for meal counts. Register at www.nepork.org or call 1-888-627-7675.
Spangler Receives Wendell Burgher Beef Industry Award
Matthew Spangler, associate professor of animal science, has been selected to receive the Wendell Burgher Beef Industry Award from IANR. The award consists of an annual stipend and monetary award to support his program activities for the next two years.
The Wendell Burgher Beef Industry Award was created by a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation from Louis Burgher, M.D. and Ph.D., president of Clarkson College in Omaha, to memorialize his father, Wendell Burgher. Wendell Burgher was a prominent cattleman in central Iowa and western Nebraska for nearly 60 years. An auctioneer, order buyer and cattle feeder, Wendell and his father owned the largest sale yard in Iowa in the 1940s. He was co-owner and manager of a livestock exchange in McCook until the late 1960s. The award allows IANR to reward outstanding faculty and advance their academic endeavors.
Spangler received the award in recognition of his efforts and contributions to the beef industry. Since arriving at UNL in 2008, Spangler has had a productive career. He leads the Weight Trait Project which includes working with 24 seedstock producers from 7 breed associations with the aim to evaluate and deploy genomic selection tools to the U.S. beef industry. This project was successfully leveraged as part of the USDA funded Feed Efficiency grant and serves as the field demonstration component of the project. Spangler and colleagues have developed a certificate program at UNL (Nebraska Beef Industry Scholars) that is designed to integrate core animal science classes, internships and education trips and experiences to further develop the future leaders of the beef industry. In addition, he has developed and taught two graduate-level courses. And, he is part of a collaborative team with beef breed associations, colleagues in the Statistics Department and at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center that continue to develop and evaluate the use of genomics in beef cattle selection.
Spangler has given 140 invited talks in 15 states and in Canada and Brazil.
Vilsack Announces United Soybean Board Appointments
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the appointment of 35 members and three alternate members to the United Soybean Board. The 35 appointed board members are soybean farmers from across the United States. These volunteer farmers invest soy checkoff funds on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers in projects to increase the value of U.S. soy meal and oil; ensure U.S. farmers and their customers maintain the freedom and infrastructure to operate; and meet the needs of U.S. soy’s customers.
Appointed USB directors representing Nebraska are soybean farmers Gregg Fujan, of Weston, NE and Greg Greving, of Chapman, NE. Both directors have shown strong leadership through their dedication to service on the Nebraska Soybean Board (NSB) Fujan has served as the District 3 NSB director four terms and Greving has just completed his 4th term as the District 4 NSB director. While on the board Fujan and Greving both served as Chairman of the Board.
Victor Bohuslavsky, executive director for the Nebraska Soybean Board, commend Fujan and Greving for their dedication to the soybean industry. “They had always done a good job of representing the interests of Nebraska soybean farmers. And both brought a wealth of knowledge and business sense to our meetings, and I am confident that they will continue to be a valuable part of USB.”
Seeking Candidates for Position on the United Soybean Board
The Nebraska Soybean Board (NSB) is seeking candidates to fill a United Soybean Board (USB) Member position. If you are an interested soybean farmer please contact the NSB office.
USB is made up of 69 farmer-directors who oversee the investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers. Checkoff funds are invested in the areas of animal utilization, human utilization, industrial utilization, industry relations, market access and supply. As stipulated in the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff.
Anyone interested in applying needs to meet the following criteria:
Be involved in a farming operation that raises soybeans.
Be a resident of Nebraska.
Be at least 21 years of age.
USB Members receive no compensation but are reimbursed for expenses incurred while carrying out Board business. USB Directors serve three-year terms.
This position is open to all soybean farmers in Nebraska. NSB will nominate two candidates and the appointment will be made by the USDA Secretary of Agriculture. The USDA has a policy that membership on USDA boards and committees is open to all individuals without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation and marital or family status.
For more information please contact Victor Bohuslavsky at 402-432-5720, before the March 1, 2014 deadline.
Seeking Candidates for Directors on the Nebraska Soybean Board
There are two district seats on the Nebraska Soybean Board (NSB) eligible for election this year. Soybean farmers in Districts 5 and 7 are invited to run for election to the Nebraska Soybean Board by filing a candidacy petition by the April 15, 2014 deadline. The election of directors will be conducted via direct-mail ballots and candidate information will be provided to all soybean farmers residing within the district in which an election is to be held.
The At-Large position on the Nebraska Soybean Board is open to all soybean farmers in Nebraska and will be elected by the Directors of the Nebraska Soybean Board at the July NSB meeting. A candidacy petition must also be filed by the April 15, 2014 deadline for the At-Large position.
This is an opportunity to see for yourself how the soybean checkoff money is invested, and become a part of the decision making. You will become a VOICE representing your District on the Board.
NSB Directors and the At-Large Position receive no salary but are reimbursed for expenses incurred while carrying out Board business and will serve a three-year term which would begin October 1, 2014.
Director seats open are:
District 5: Counties of Cass, Johnson, Lancaster, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee and Richardson.
District 7: Counties of Adams, Buffalo, Clay, Franklin, Hall, Kearney, Nuckolls and Webster.
Candidates for the NSB seats and the At-Large position must be:
A resident of Nebraska
21 years of age or older
Soybean farmer in Nebraska for at least 5 previous years
Prospective candidates must collect the signatures of 50 soybean farmers in their district using an official Nebraska Soybean Board Candidacy Petition and return such petition to the Nebraska Soybean Board office on or before April 15, 2014, to be eligible for placement on the ballot. To obtain a candidacy petition, contact Victor Bohuslavsky at the Nebraska Soybean Board by calling 402-432-5720.
Ag Experts Tell A-FAN Stakeholders Farmers Should Return to Raising Both Livestock and Feed Crops to Achieve Added Value to Corn, Soybean Harvests
The future of American agriculture may include a return to the days when most row crop farmers also raised livestock, according to featured speakers at the annual stakeholders meeting of the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (A-FAN) in Lincoln. In his opening remarks,Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach said that one of his department’s areas of focus is to help build strong local communities by “layering, 1950s’ style. Then, everybody had a few acres of row crops and also raised livestock, kept dairy cows, or finished pigs,” he said.
The other areas of focus for his department include a vision for agriculture “that allows our sons and daughters to return to the family farm with promise of a successful career,” he said. “That means we need to figure out how to let those farms grow, and how we let the industries in those communities grow to support those families coming back to the farm. This ties in with A-FAN’s goal of building strong community economies through animal agriculture. This is where the “layering” comes in, he says. “The scale will be different, but that will create opportunities in those communities.”
Keynote speaker Dr. Chris Hurt, extension agronomist and agricultural economist at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, agrees that “layering” may be in the cards for American farmers as a way to create added value to their operations. While row crops may run in the $3.00 per bushel range, feeding that grain to livestock on the same farm can bump the value of that bushel of corn to $5 or $6 or more in the future. The key is finding the balance between crops and animal sectors of agriculture, he said.“We are interested in the balance between crops and animal sectors of agriculture,” Hurt said. “Go-ing back to about 2006, it turns out crop and animal receipts are pretty much in balance. There are times when we get a surge in grain prices and then in livestock prices. But in the long run things tend to balance out.”
The 2012 drought reduced crop supply, for example, “leading to increased prices in the feed market, in turn causing increased consumer prices at the meat case,” he said. But he sees a leveling off on the horizon. “After a period of a sharp up factor for the crop sector, we’re going to go through a period of moderation.
The reasons he sees moderation coming are three-fold:
• One of the big drivers is corn ethanol, he said. “This has given the illusion that corn is in short supply. The 2006-2010 period was the time of the big boom for ethanol. But we should expect just modest growth going forward. While the 2013 yield will be just slightly below trend, it is rebounding back toward normal.”
• The rising income level in foreign countries, in China primarily. “Together, these two drivers (ethanol and Chinese soybean demand) create a big demand for corn and soybeans,” he said, “amounting to 30 million new acres of cropland demand needed. Under these conditions, supply won’t catch up to demand, leading to my third driver, under-investment in agricultural production in developing countries.”
• Under-investment in agricultural production in developing countries has been caused by the low prices of U.S.-produced corn during the 1998-2005 time period, the $2.00 per bushel era, he said. “Why would these countries want to raise crops when the U.S was raising them at such low costs?”
According to Hurt, the world is anxious to raise crops. “With rising income levels worldwide, demand will continue to grow and U.S. agriculture is not going to be able to keep up in a sustainable way. That growth will go to South America, where they can bring more land into production,” he said.!Hurt said the best way to add value to your corn is to also raise livestock. This is where “layering” re-enters the conversation.
“Livestock has always been the historical value-adding system,” he said. This makes livestock people and crop people happy. If you have feed priced in the $5-6 range, both crop and livestock producers are going to be happy, keeping both sectors in balance.”
Price trends shift over time based on supply and demand in the marketplace, according to Hurt, but over the long run they achieve a balance. Consumer prices for poultry and pork will lower in the next year or so, with beef prices lowering in 2016. The marketplace trends toward moderation, he said.
Monsanto announces launch of new scholarship program
Every year, approximately 25,000 agricultural jobs go unfilled due to a lack of qualified applicants. The agriculture industry needs talented, driven and passionate young people willing to make a commitment to agriculture, especially with a growing population and the subsequent need to feed an estimated 9 billion people by the year 2050.
Monsanto Company recently announced its launch of the America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders scholarship program, to get students in rural America excited about careers in agriculture. America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders, presented by Monsanto in connection with the National FFA Scholarship program, offers students the chance to earn a $1,500 scholarship for college.
“With $1,500 to put toward their college education, students will be better prepared to make a meaningful contribution that benefits them, their rural hometowns and the future of the agricultural industry,” said Elizabeth Vancil, Monsanto customer advocacy outreach manager.
Agriculture is more than just farming—it’s thousands of careers in a variety of fields, including plant science, engineering, communications, finance and much more—and the Grow Ag Leaders scholarship is available to students pursuing these and many other agricultural majors. According to Nebraska Department of Agriculture, one in three Nebraska jobs is tied to agriculture. Monsanto is excited about helping to educate the next generation to fill those jobs and keep them actively involved in rural America.
Monsanto recognizes and supports the role farmers play in the future of agriculture, so each Grow Ag Leaders applicant must have three farmers endorse his or her application. Eligible farmers can also help generate student interest in agricultural careers by spreading the word about this scholarship opportunity to eligible students in their communities and families.
Nebraska was chosen to pilot the Grow Ag Leaders program and is one of only six states receiving the opportunity for scholarships this year. This year, America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders is available in 36 Crop Reporting Districts (CRDs) in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Nebraska, North Carolina and South Carolina. 78 Nebraska counties in eight CRDs are eligible for the program. Unless there are insufficient entries, 16 scholarships, totaling $24,000 will be awarded in Nebraska. A list of all 264 eligible counties within the 36 CRDs, and a full list of student and farmer eligibility requirements can be found at GrowAgLeaders.com.
Eligible students should visit FFA.org/scholarships to complete the application, between November 15, 2013 and February 1, 2014, and for complete program information. Eligible farmers should visit FFA.org/scholarships or call 877-267-3332 before February 8, 2014, to endorse a student. Farmers must have the student’s scholarship application ID to complete the endorsement. No purchase is necessary to apply or win.
McDonald’s Salutes Dairy Producers
(from Midwest Dairy - Nebraska Division)
McDonald’s showed its appreciation for the nation’s early risers – America’s dairy farm families – in a video shown at the 2013 Joint Annual Meeting of the National Dairy Board, National Milk Producers Federation and United Dairy Industry Association. The video is posted at the checkoff’s dairygood.org website, which provides an online forum to help reconnect consumers with dairy farming so they better understand “where good comes from.” McDonald’s and the dairy checkoff’s multi-year partnership has seen billions of pounds of additional milk sold through new and reformulated products. This includes the testing and introduction of 27 new dairy-friendly products in 2013 alone!
JAMA Report Questions Milk and Bones Relationship
A Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics study that could be portrayed as negative in terms of dairy’s bone health benefits was released this month. The study found that higher milk consumption during teenage years was not associated with a lower risk of hip fracture in older adults. The authors also found that milk intake in teens contributes to greater height, and they found an association between greater height and fracture risk in adult men (but not in adult women). The journal also ran an invited editorial by Dr. Connie Weaver of Purdue University that questions the study’s conclusions and reaffirms the value of milk for bone health and other health benefits.
The study is posted on JAMA Pediatrics.
There has been only limited media interest in the study. The journal’s press release was picked up by some media outlets and health sites, but the coverage has been balanced and the study’s lead author makes it clear that the findings do not impact standing recommendations to consume milk during teen years for optimal health.
State Leaders to Address Nebraska Farmers Union 100th Annual Convention Participants
“Proudly Serving Family Farm & Ranch Agriculture Since 1913” is the theme for the 100th Annual Nebraska Farmers Union (NeFU) State Convention. John Hansen, NeFU President said, “This year’s convention will feature several state leaders who will help Farmers Union members focus on some of the major challenges featuring agriculture.
On Friday afternoon at 1:40 p.m. USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Dan Steinkruger and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services State Conservationist Craig Derickson will update convention participants on the latest status on federal programs that affect rural Nebraskans day to day lives.
Health care has been a hot topic in the news lately. How do you navigate through the new system? A Friday 2:40 p.m. panel featuring Mark Intermill of AARP, and Scott Jensen and Stephanie Ridgway from Central Nebraska Community Services will give an update on deployment of the law, and the fundamentals of signing up.
Gubernatorial Candidate Chuck Hassebrook will be on-hand Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. to give convention participants his perspective on Nebraska. At the end of the panel Hassebrook should have time to answer questions.
At 10:30 a.m. on Saturday Seth Harder, the General Manager for Husker Ag, Inc, a farmer-owned ethanol plant will give an update on the status of the ethanol industry and address the huge economic impact ethanol has to rural Nebraska.
David Domina, the Legal Counsel for the Nebraska Easement Action Team, will keynote the Saturday Noon Luncheon and address “The Ag Economy”.
Registration costs are $35 and begin at 8:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday mornings. Convention begins at 9:00 a.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. Saturday. As always, all members and the public is always welcome. To register or to view the agenda in entirety go to our website at www.nebraskafarmersunion.org.
Dec. 31 Deadline for Confinement Manure Applicator Training in Iowa
Nearly 20 percent of current confinement site manure applicators need to complete annual training by Dec. 31. "I would encourage anyone who is currently certified and plans to renew their certificate to complete the training for this year," said Jeff Prier who coordinates the Iowa DNR's applicator certification program.
About 430 of 2,310 confinement site applicators have not yet completed this year's annual training. Prier says that's ahead of last year at the end of November when nearly half of the applicants needed to complete training by year's end.
"It's not too late," says Prier. "If they get in and get the training for all three years, they can avoid taking a make-up test when they renew their certificate. Even if they've missed a year, the training updates them on current regulations, what's happening with Iowa's nutrient reduction strategy and provides tips on how to handle land application."
Applicators can schedule with their county Extension office. Many offices have scheduled dates and times for viewing the training video.
Find out more about training opportunities at www.agronext.iastate.edu/immag/maccsa.html. Program information is also available under Applicator Certification at www.iowadnr.gov/afo/.
The confinement applicator certificate is good for three years. Applicators may satisfy certification requirements through training or testing. If they choose training, they must attend all three years of training or take an exam before renewing their certificate.
Thousands of Iowa Runners Refuel with Beef Stew
More than 75 Iowa beef industry volunteers served hot beef stew to thousands of runners in the 35th annual Living History Farms Off-Road Race. Runners from across the country endured the single digit weather to run the 7-mile race, which takes place on the museum's grounds in Urbandale.
"This year, more than 20 Team Beef runners sported shirts with the message 'Beef. Fuel for the Finish,'" said Nancy Degner, Executive Director of the Iowa Beef Industry Council. "TEAM BEEF is composed of Iowa State University faculty and students with majors in animal science, as well as other cattle farmers and friends of the beef industry who are passionate about beef," she added.
Seth Watkins, cattle farmer from Clarinda, said "I am proud to wear the TEAM BEEF shirt and hear all the support along the race from runners and by-standers who shouted 'Go Beef' and 'Where's the Beef?' We answered 'at the end of the race in the beef stew!' I was proud to have cattle farmers serving the beef stew at the end of the race."
Degner said the beef checkoff became involved to carry a message to the athletes. "Our message to the runners was two-fold," said Degner. "First, that beef provides high-quality protein needed to build, maintain and repair muscle, and is a great recovery food after endurance exercise. Second, we wanted to give runners the chance to meet local cattle farmers as they served the beef stew."
The hot beef stew greeted frozen runners after a route complete with several creek crossings and other obstacles. The beef checkoff provided the 2,000 pounds of beef cubes used in the stew prepared by the Iowa Machine Shed.
Serving was completed in less than 2 hours by volunteers that included cattle producer families, Iowa State University animal science students, 4-H-ers, Madison County Youth Beef Team members, and friends of the beef industry. Beef certificates were awarded as prizes for the race, replacing the traditional frozen turkeys and chickens.
Those interested in joining or learning more about TEAM BEEF can visit the Iowa Beef Industry Council website at www.iabeef.org or by calling 515-296-2305.
Study Claims CBO May Have Overstated Crop Insurance Cost
New data by agricultural economist Art Barnaby indicates that the Congressional Budget Office may have overstated the cost of federal crop insurance.
Barnaby concludes that price volatility, the amount of uncertainty or risk in the size of the changes of a security's value, drives premium cost more than market price. If implied volatility (estimated volatility) decreases then the resulting decrease in premiums will create lower premium support costs equaling lower taxpayer costs.
The Risk Management Agency's rating system uses the market implied volatility for estimating the price risk of insuring the crop. However, higher volatility does not always correspond with higher loss years. In 2012, corn had an implied volatility of 22 percent for the crop that had the largest historical underwriting loss and largest loss ratio since 1993.
In the last four years of winter wheat production the implied volatility has decreased from 33 percent volatility in 2011 to 19 percent volatility for the 2014 crop. If the volatility for both corn and wheat remains about 20 percent, this will keep the premium prices lower indicating a lower federal cost for crop insurance.
If CBO estimated crop insurance for an average 30 percent volatility rate then the budget could be vastly overstated. Barnaby's numbers are dependent on a reduction of implied volatility, and if true then the CBO estimated crop insurance costs will likely exceed the actual cost.
"My estimates are based on an assumption that we are going to 20 percent volatility if that assumption is wrong than the CBO is probably right," said Barnaby.
This numerical error could cause major issues in the Farm Bill debate. The conference committee works within a budget cap and if one of the programs costs less than budgeted, the money could be used for other programs.
"The committee has to fit the farm bill under that magic budget number. If the CBO over estimates the cost and the committee doesn't spend that full amount then what they spent becomes the new baseline. It only impacts the current farm bill debate whether you can make current improvements through the commodity or crop insurance," Barnaby said.
Implied volatility is just one of the factors that affect premium costs for farmers. While it is the most influential factor, premium cost is also based on market price, the rate set by the RMA and the individual farmer's actual production history.
"It comes down to what you assume for implied volatility. The last two years we've been in the 20 percent range, and in the estimations that I did, we are going to return to the 20 percent volatility," said Barnaby.
Does the CBO have a history of overstating farm programs costs? Barnaby said he believes so but has not done the research to back it up. As for crop insurance costing a significant amount for taxpayers, the current loss ratio is under one dollar, meaning that the government has paid out less than it has taken in from premium payments. However, this does not account for the premium support that the government provides to assist the farmer.
Time will only tell if Barnaby's predictions prove to be true.
USDA Announces Commodity Credit Corporation Lending Rates for December 2013
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for December 2013. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for December 2013 is 0.125 percent, unchanged from 0.125 percent in November 2013.
The interest rate for commodity and marketing assistance loans disbursed during December 2013 is 1.125 percent, unchanged from 1.125 percent in November 2013.
Interest rates for Farm Storage Facility Loans approved for December 2013 are as follows, 2.000 percent with seven-year loan terms, unchanged from 2.000 percent in November 2013; 2.625 percent with 10-year loan terms, unchanged from 2.625 percent in November 2013 and; 2.875 percent with 12-year loan terms, unchanged from 2.875 percent in November 2013.
RFS Comment Period Ends Jan. 28
The comment period for the proposed 2014 Renewable Volume Obligations for the Renewable Fuel Standard will close Jan. 28, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday, Nov. 29.
The EPA on Nov. 15 released the long-awaited proposed RVOs for 2014 which includes a reduction in the overall mandate to 15.21 billion gallons from volumes set by statute at 18.15 billion.
"Relying on its Clean Air Act waiver authorities, EPA is proposing to adjust the applicable volumes of advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel to address projected availability of qualifying renewable fuels and limitations in the volume of ethanol that can be consumed in gasoline given practical constraints on the supply of higher ethanol blends to the vehicles that can use them and other limits on ethanol blend levels in gasoline," EPA said Friday. "These adjustments are intended to put the program on a manageable trajectory while supporting growth in renewable fuels over time."
Nearly all gasoline sold in the U.S. is now E10, which is fuel with up to 10% ethanol. The proposal cuts the nested RFS category primarily satisfied with the corn-based ethanol to roughly 13 billion gallons, down from 14.4 billion gallons set by statute, in an effort to avoid the ethanol blend wall -- the saturation point for ethanol in the gasoline pool based on current gasoline standards and consumer preference.
Volumes proposed for 2014 are 17 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, 1.27 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel, 2.2 billion gallons of advanced biofuel, with the total RFS at 15.21 billion gallons.
The proposal includes volume ranges within each category as follows: Cellulosic, 8 million to 30 million gallons, biomass-based diesel remaining at 1.28 billion gallons, advanced biofuels at 2.0 billion to 2.51 billion gallons and renewable fuel total at 15.0 billion to 15.52 billion gallons.
EPA expects to have a final rule in the first quarter of 2014.
Phillips Selected as Secretariat of U.S. Biotech Crops Alliance
The founding organizations of a broad-based group known as the U.S. Biotech Crops Alliance today announced that Dr. Michael J. Phillips has been selected as its first secretariat to spearhead collaborative efforts to improve the environment for technology innovation and the market for U.S. crops produced through modern biotechnology.
Established under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2012, the USBCA already has developed and is working to implement consensus positions on key policy issues designed to improve the introduction, stewardship, domestic and international regulatory policy, and distribution in U.S. and export markets of commodities and processed products containing or derived from modern biotechnology.
In his capacity as secretariat, Phillips will be the focal point of the group's efforts to further advance the reach, work and wide range of activities being pursued under the expanding broad-based national initiative that currently consists of 11 influential national organizations representing U.S. biotechnology providers; seed, grain and oilseed producers; grain handlers, feed manufacturers, grain processors and millers; exporters; and other end-users. The secretariat also will serve a key role in helping develop and implement consensus positions on specific policy issues.
Phillips is president of MJ Phillips and Associates LLC, an agricultural consulting firm that specializes in agricultural biotechnology issues. Throughout his career, he has been active in providing leadership and advice on agricultural biotechnology to U.S. and foreign governments, as well academic institutions and all sectors of the agricultural biotechnology value chain.
Prior to establishing his consulting business, Phillips was vice president for science and regulatory policy for food and agriculture at the Biotechnology Industry Organization, where he was responsible for developing and implementing policy on the science, regulatory, compliance, stewardship and trade implications of agricultural biotechnology. Among other things, he assisted technology providers in developing consensus positions on complex issues, and was responsible for facilitating outreach to producer, industry and other stakeholders, as well as to Congress and government agencies. While with BIO, he also worked with the biotech value chain in advocating establishment of a U.S. and global low-level presence policy for shipments of biotech-enhanced traits that have successfully completed thorough scientific reviews for product and environmental safety in one or more countries, while still undergoing such governmental review in other countries.
Phillips also served as director of the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources at the National Academy of Sciences, where his duties included overseeing studies on a wide range of topics, including agricultural biotechnology, conducted by the NAS at the request of the federal government. In addition, he previously was director of the food and agriculture program at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where he developed and directed policy studies for congressional committees, including several on agricultural biotechnology.
Prior to his industry and government service, Phillips served on the faculty at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and was a senior staff member in the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.
Phillips received his undergraduate degree with distinction in agricultural economics and animal science from The Ohio State University, and his Master of Science and doctorate degrees in food and agricultural policy from OSU and Purdue, respectively. An Ohio native, he grew up on his family's grain and dairy farm in northwest Ohio, and remains involved in managing the farm's grain operation.
The USBCA's founding organizations are the: National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, American Seed Trade Association, Biotechnology Industry Organization, National Grain and Feed Association, and North American Export Grain Association. Other national organizations that subsequently have become participants in the USBCA include: American Farm Bureau Federation, Corn Refiners Association, National Oilseed Processors Association, U.S. Grains Council and U.S. Soybean Export Council.
Brazil Soy Planting Nears Completion
Brazil's soybean planting moved forward 10 percentage points this past week following generous rains in the northeast and is now nearing conclusion. Farmers had planted 89% of the projected 2013-14 soybean area as of Friday, Nov. 29, in line with the five-year average for this stage of the season, according to AgRural, a local farm consultancy.
With ample rains registered across most of Brazil's vast grain belt, the crop is looking in excellent shape. As a result, AgRural raised its forecast for the 2013-14 crop to 89.4 million metric tons (mmt) from an October figure of 88.7 mmt. The new estimate pegs output 10% higher than last season.
The big news from last week was that forecast heavy rains actually did materialize in the northeastern soy states, alleviating dry conditions that were causing increasing concern and allowing planting to move forward. As a result, soybean planting jumped from 26% to 75% complete over the last week in Bahia, the principle producing state in the region. In neighboring Piaui state, planting jumped a more modestly, from 30% to 44% complete.
In Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state, abundant showers also created excellent planting conditions, allowing field work to move forward 23 percentage points to 77%. The crop in Brazil's No. 3 soy state is in excellent condition. In Mato Grosso, the No. 1 state where planting is 99% done, rains in the south and east of the state largely resolved any soil moisture deficit issues, and the crop is developing well. In Parana, where the crop is 93% planted, the crop is also in good shape, said AgRural. Caterpillar populations have been high, but chemical controls have been effective.
Classical Swine Fever Outbreak Reported in South Korea
The South Korean veterinary authorities have reported an outbreak of classical swine fever at a pig rearing farm located in South Gyeongsang Province, or Gyeongsangnam-do.
The World Organization for Animal Health received an immediate notification last week. According to the report, the outbreak was initially observed on November 27 and confirmed on the same date after polymerase chain reaction test was carried out at the Gyeongsangnamdo Livestock Promotion Research Institute.
According to the report, a total of 300 pigs were found susceptible out of which four cases were reported. All 300 pigs were destroyed.
The source of the outbreak remains inconclusive.
Applications for Conservation Stewardship program due Jan. 17
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is opening the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for new enrollments for federal fiscal year 2014. Starting today through Jan. 17, 2014, producers interested in participating in the program can submit applications to NRCS.
“Through the Conservation Stewardship Program, farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners are going the extra mile to conserve our nation’s resources,” NRCS Chief Jason Weller said. “Through their conservation actions, they are ensuring that their operations are more productive and sustainable over the long run.”
The CSP is an important Farm Bill conservation program that helps established conservation stewards with taking their level of natural resource management to the next level to improve both their agricultural production and provide valuable conservation benefits such as cleaner and more abundant water, as well as healthier soils and better wildlife habitat.
Weller said today's announcement is another example of USDA's comprehensive focus on promoting environmental conservation and strengthening the rural economy, and it is a reminder that a new Food, Farm and Jobs Bill is pivotal to continue these efforts. CSP is now in its fifth year and so far, NRCS has partnered with producers to enroll more than 59 million acres across the nation.
The program emphasizes conservation performance — producers earn higher payments for higher performance. In CSP, producers install conservation enhancements to make positive changes in soil quality, soil erosion, water quality, water quantity, air quality, plant resources, animal resources and energy.
Some popular enhancements used by farmers and ranchers include:
• Using new nozzles that reduce the drift of pesticides, lowering input costs and making sure pesticides are used where they are most needed;
• Modifying water facilities to prevent bats and bird species from being trapped;
• Burning patches of land, mimicking prairie fires to enhance wildlife habitat; and
• Rotating feeding areas and monitoring key grazing areas to improve grazing management.
Eligible landowners and operators in all states and territories can enroll in CSP through January 17th to be eligible during the 2014 federal fiscal year. While local NRCS offices accept CSP applications year round, NRCS evaluates applications during announced ranking periods.
To be eligible for this year’s enrollment, producers must have their applications submitted to NRCS by the closing date.
A CSP self-screening checklist is available to help producers determine if the program is suitable for their operation. The checklist highlights basic information about CSP eligibility requirements, stewardship threshold requirements and payment types.
Learn more about CSP by visiting the NRCS website or a local NRCS field office.
New Book- Red Tractors 1958-2013: An Authoritative Guide to International Harvester & Case IH Farm Tractors in the Modern Era
This brand new publication offers an unparalleled look at the International Harvester story and the next chapter that became the Case IH of today and the continuing legacy of successful agricultural equipment.
“This book is a showcase of how far Case IH has come in the past 55 years,” says Jim Walker, Vice President, Case IH NAFTA. “We’re proud of our equipment’s heritage, and this book would be a showpiece for any Case IH or tractor collector.”
Published by Octane Press, “Red Tractors 1958-2013” was created by a team of dedicated writers, editors, photographers and researchers, led by long-time publisher Lee Klancher. Octane Press also created two 2014 calendars: the “Farmall Calendar 2014” returns after a strong 2013 season and the “Magnum Tractor Calendar 2014” commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Case IH Magnum™ tractor.
“Case IH is proud to make these special items available for purchase now,” says Dan Danford, Case IH NAFTA Public Relations & Sponsorship Manager. “They’re pieces that any tractor enthusiast will want to add to their wish lists.”
With 384 pages and more than 700 images, the history book includes behind-the-scenes insights from the engineers and executives who created the equipment. The images include never-before-seen concept drawings, prototype and archival images, and new photographs of restored and original-condition models by Klancher.
The book explores the history of how IH and Farmall® tractors were built from the 1960s to the 1980s, and how IH and Case merged to become a global leader in agricultural equipment.
The creation of the Magnum tractor, the first tractor launched after the merger, is detailed in the book, with contributions from Dr. Glenn W. Kahle, the engineer who oversaw the tractor’s design.
Detailed accounts of every tractor line are written by several authors, including an industrial engineer who designed IH and Case IH tractors for decades.
“Red Tractors 1958-2013” will be published in regular and collector’s editions for global distribution. Regular editions will be hardcover, while collector’s editions will be leather-bound, packaged with four concept drawings of never-before-seen tractors.
Both editions of the book and the calendars are available for purchase from www.octanepress.com, through your local Case IH dealer or anywhere books are sold. You can find out more about the book at: http://youtu.be/AiE7clCKZdM.
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