Monday May 14 Ag News

Key Improvements Being Made by Cattle Industry

A beef checkoff-funded report is highlighting the commitment cattle producers demonstrate in the areas of animal welfare, beef quality, sustainability and community involvement. The Cattlemen’s Stewardship Review (CSR) gathers data from an independent 2017 telephone survey of beef producers to deliver a comprehensive profile of the U.S. beef community today. The report and survey were coordinated by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) as a contractor to the Beef Checkoff Program.

The report compares to a 2010 checkoff-funded benchmark survey. It shows that improvements have been made in all four of the cattle industry areas studied. In addition to a national news release to national media outlets, the report and information from it are being presented to key national media by the NCBA communications team, as a beef checkoff contractor.

“We want consumers to know we aren’t just farmers and ranchers, but also animal caretakers, nutritionists, small business owners, environmentalists, and members of our communities,” said Joan Ruskamp, part owner of J & S Feedlot in Nebraska and Cattlemen’s Beef Board chairman.  “This report is a way to benchmark our progress, celebrate our successes and identify opportunities for improvement.”

Among the findings of the survey, conducted by Aspen Research of a proportionate number of producers to the Agricultural Census, are:
-    The well-being of cattle is the top priority for 95 percent of producers. That commitment is demonstrated by the fact that the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program influences more than 80 percent of the U.S. fed cattle supply, according to BQA managers;
-    Ninety-seven percent of cattle farmers and ranchers believe producing safe beef is crucial to the future of the industry. Producing the best beef possible is supported by nearly a century of research-based improvements funded by the industry in nutritional value, beef quality and safety assurance;
-    About 95 percent of producers say conservation of land is extremely important to them, while 86 percent manage their operations in a way that protects the quality of natural resources, including wildlife and biodiversity; and
-    Beef is produced in all 50 states by a diverse group of men and women of all ages who have different backgrounds and production methods, but who share the same core values. The CSR found that more than nine of ten cattle operations are family owned, and 78 percent of farmers and ranchers say they intend to pass their operations on to future generations – with 58 percent of current operations being in the family for at least three generations.

“When consumers understand the level of care that goes into the production of their beef, they feel better about enjoying it,” said Ruskamp. “This report helps show that our attention to the needs of our animals, land and relationships parallel the concern our customers have for the beef they eat.”



Handling Animal Health Products
Steve Niemeyer – NE Extension Educator 

As the beef cattle industry focuses on stewardship in animal health and antimicrobial use, we are continually reminded to follow FDA Labels on all animal products. We understand the importance of strong vaccination programs, proper diagnosis and treatment, and the good stockmanship when handling livestock. The beef cattle community is committed to the best care and well-being of the animals entrusted into their care.

One thing that is many times overlooked with reading labels and handling the products used for prevention and treatment is proper handling and storage. All animal health products have storage and handling information on the FDA label whether vaccines or antimicrobials/antibiotics. It is important to take a minute to review these labels each time you use or purchase them.

When handling vaccines, keeping them out of sunlight and in cool storage (35° F – 45° F) is common practice. When you store them prior to use, you should check that your refrigerator is maintaining proper temperature within the storage range on the label. It is also recommended to store in the center of the cooling area and not the door racks due to routine opening and closing of the door. Purchasing a simple thermometer to check temperatures can be a valuable tool. When preparing to handle vaccines and use them, keep a cooler with ice packs to ensure the temperature while processing cattle. There are a few companies designing coolers for cattlemen with locations for syringes and needles plus a cool storage area for the product. You can also make your own with a styrofoam or small cooler drilling a hole for syringes.

Antimicrobials/antibiotics are many times overlooked when it comes to storage and handling. Most can be stored at room temperature, but that temperature can vary by product. Checking labels on seven antibiotics used in beef cattle, showed there were five different storage claims: 1) Below 77° F, 2) Below 86° F, 3) Between 68° F – 86 °F, 4) Between 59° F – 86° F, and 5) Between 59° F – 77° F. Producers can see the different ranges of storage temperatures so it is important to read and follow these labels to maintain effectiveness of the product when used judiciously for treatment. When transporting or carrying these products during routine livestock observation use appropriate coolers to maintain these temperatures. A small cooler with a cool pack might be the best.

In addition to storage, read and record lot numbers and expiration dates of all animal products in your inventory. When purchasing any animal health product consider the amount of product needed. Vaccines should be purchased as close to the amount needed as possible to insure the product doesn’t expire before administration. With antimicrobial, you need to consider the disease pressure or risk, and how many diagnosis and treatments you may encounter in a given period of time. This can be difficult as these risks are unpredictable, so visiting with your veterinarian under a Valid Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship is a first step. Purchasing smaller volumes might be the best for your operation insure product doesn’t expire before being used.

As a reminder always follow BQA guidelines and labels when administering animal products. All injectables should be administered in the neck using subcutaneous injection when possible, only administer 10 cc per injection location, use a clean syringe and needles, and always follow the FDA Approved Label.



BE READY FOR FIRST CUTTING
Bruce Anderson, NE Extension Forage Specialist

               Got all your corn planted?  Working on the beans?  Don’t look now, but alfalfa harvest is approaching fast.

               You’ve been busy planting crops and getting work done with the late start this spring.  But don’t relax just yet because your alfalfa soon may be ready to cut.

               Looking at alfalfa in Nebraska this past week, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see some growers getting ready to start cutting.  In fact, some folks that need high quality for their dairy cows or for a cash crop may already have started cutting, and others should be looking for the next available good weather period.

               Being aggressive on the first cutting is critical if high forage quality is needed.  Alfalfa’s forage quality changes faster during the first spring growth than at any other time of the year.  Plants are maturing and temperatures are increasing; both cause quality to decline.  So don’t delay if high quality is needed.

               But what about alfalfa for beef cows?  That might be a little different story, especially if you need to rebuild hay supplies.  Normally we get our highest total yield by waiting until alfalfa is near full bloom.  Not only is yield highest, this also uses available soil moisture most efficiently for alfalfa growth.  Some dryland fields may need quite a bit more rain for good summer and fall harvests since many deep subsoils remain dry.  But with a good first cut you at least will have some hay of good enough quality to feed your beef cows next winter.

               Timing of hay harvest is important whether your needs are for high quality or for high yield.  With alfalfa becoming ready to cut soon this spring, don’t miss your best time.



Lower Elkhorn NRD will move to new location May 24th

The Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District (LENRD) will soon have a new home.

LENRD Board Chairman, Dennis Schultz, said, “It wasn’t an easy decision to make because of the district’s longtime, strong partnership with Northeast Community College, but the need to be as fiscally responsible as possible is what led the board to approve the purchase of the former Sterling Computer building at 1508 Square Turn Boulevard in Norfolk.”

The district will be moving out of its offices in the Lifelong Learning Center (LLC) on the campus of Northeast Community College, which has been its home since the center was constructed 20 years ago.  The office will be closed to the public on Thursday, May 24th and Friday, May 25th as they move to their new location.

LENRD General Manager, Mike Sousek, said, “The LLC has been a great location for us to grow and expand our programs.  However, our lease with the college recently came up for review and the board felt savings to the taxpayer could be realized by relocating.”

Sousek said, “With our increasing workload, this location will allow for future growth.  The new space has ample storage as well as a building for vehicles and equipment on-site.  More importantly, over the next 10 years the district will realize $500,000 in savings just in operation and maintenance costs by making this move.  In the end, the taxpayer will be the real winner with this change."

He continued, “We want to thank Northeast Community College for serving as the district’s home for two decades.  We hope our move provides new opportunities for the college in creating available space at the learning center for other potential partners.”

Sousek said the staff and directors are looking forward to making a smooth transition to the new facility while providing the same high-level of public service to the citizens of the district.  He said, “We plan to be moved in and open for business at our new location on Tuesday, May 29th.”



Ribbon Cutting, Fuel Savings at Bosselman Travel Center

Gov. Ricketts highlights Renewable Fuels Month at Bosselman Travel Center in Grand Island Friday, May 18. Festivities include a ribbon cutting for the Travel Center’s new flex fuel pumps and fuel promotions with discounts on ethanol and biodiesel fuel blends.

“We are excited to host Governor Ricketts for our ribbon cutting at the Bosselman Travel Center in Grand Island,” said Charlie Bosselman, president of Bosselman Enterprises. “Our company has been supplying travelers’ fuel needs at our flagship travel center since 1948. With the addition of flex fuel pumps at Bosselman Travel Center, we now offer a broad range of fuels, and will feature Nebraska-produced ethanol fuel, which burns cleaner and adds octane to every gallon.”

There will be a ribbon cutting at 3:45 p.m. to mark the grand opening of the Bosselman Travel Center’s flex fuel pumps, which now dispense E85, E30 and Clean 88 – a high-octane, cleaner-burning blend of 15 percent ethanol. The Travel Center also offers several blends of biodiesel, making it the largest Biofuels Plaza in Nebraska.

· Friday, May 18 – Bosselman Travel Center
o   3335 W. Wood River Rd. (North of I-80 Exit 312), Grand Island
o   Ribbon cutting with Gov. Pete Ricketts, 3:45 p.m.
o   Fuel Promotion, 4-7 p.m.
§  Clean 88 (E15) for $1.88/gallon, E85 for $0.85/gallon, and $1 off per gallon of automotive biodiesel

“We are a pioneer and firm supporter of Nebraska-based renewable fuels at all of our locations,” added Bosselman. “Selling and promoting Nebraska-grown ethanol and biodiesel is one of the cornerstones of how we market fuel to our customers.”

E15 (15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline) is approved for use in all passenger vehicles 2001 and newer. Ethanol blends higher than 15 percent are approved for use in flex fuel vehicles. One in seven Nebraskans are driving a flex fuel vehicle, which can run on any blend of American Ethanol up to E85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline). Drivers can check their owner’s manual to see if they’re driving a flex fuel vehicle. The vehicle might also have a flex fuel badge on the trunk or tailgate — or have a yellow gas cap.

Renewable Fuels Month is coordinated through the Nebraska Ethanol Board, the Nebraska Corn Board and the Nebraska Soybean Board. Several promotional events are also being posted throughout the month on their social media platforms. Visit www.AmericanEthanolNE.org and www.BiodieselNE.com for more details.



Calling for a Ban on Factory Farming in the United States

A group of farmers, advocates and community leaders gathered in Iowa today to announce the launch of a national campaign to ban factory farming. Factory farming facilitates an unjust, corporate-driven food system that results in unethical, unsafe and polluting food production practices.

The call for a ban on factory farming is a decisive step necessary to protect all Americans from the dangers of unsustainable food animal production. Factory farms exacerbate climate change and contribute to public health crises, release dangerous toxins into the air we breathe and the water we drink, disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color, and create dangerous and unhealthy conditions for workers and animals. The rise of factory farms in our nation has transformed rural and economically diverse communities into agribusiness-controlled nightmares.

“In 2011, we joined grassroots groups that were demanding a ban on fracking because it’s a threat to our water that turns rural areas into sacrifice zones,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “Now, we’re banding together with communities around the country who believe the time for a ban on factory farming has come as well.”

Food & Water Watch also released a report, The Urgent Case for a Ban on Factory Farms, which outlines the policy and regulatory failures that have led the groups to call for a ban on the practice. The report also outlines the climate impacts, the environmental injustice of where these facilities are sited, air and water pollution concerns, antibiotic resistance and other food safety issues, and the impact on rural economies. The report also highlights the massive amounts of manure that highly consolidated livestock operations produce, threatening our waterways: For example, Food & Water Watch calculates that the nearly 500,000 dairy cows on factory farms in Tulare County, California produce five times as much waste as the New York City metropolitan area.

Currently, Iowa houses an estimated 10,000 industrial livestock operations that employ unsustainable methods of raising food animals. Like all factory farms, they pack thousands of animals into confined spaces, pose enormous public health risks, and generate massive amounts of waste. Factory farms in Iowa have high released levels of polluting nitrates into drinking water resources, causing the Des Moines Water Works to pursue costly treatment and upgrades over the years.

“People in Des Moines shouldn’t have to worry about our water quality and rate increases required to clean up the pollution that is coming downstream,” said Cherie Mortice, retired Des Moines teacher and Iowa CCI board president. “But, this isn’t a rural versus urban issue. We’re all in this together, and we’re all concerned about our water.”

The groups are calling for a ban on any new or expanding factory farms, as well as new policies to create a food system that can feed people without this destructive model. Those new policies should include:
-    Enforcing antitrust laws to break up the agribusiness stranglehold on our food system;
-    Establishing programs to ensure grain producers can make a fair living without flooding the market with cheap grains that feed factory farms;
-    And rebuilding the local and regional infrastructure needed for small- and mid-sized livestock producers to transport animals to market.

The groups support existing efforts to enact a legislative moratorium on new and expanded factory farms in Iowa because it would provide immediate relief to people in impacted communities. A legislative moratorium would also allow for an opportunity to quantify the harms the industry has had on Iowa’s water. The groups said they plan to continue working together to build support for legislation that would stop the spread of the factory farming industry in Iowa.

“We’ve seen family farmers essentially wiped out of the livestock business across Iowa, which in turn has decimated our rural communities,” said Barb Kalbach, fourth-generation family farmer and Iowa CCI member from Adair County, Iowa. “Reforming our food and agriculture system so that it works for farmers, workers, eaters, and our environment starts with stopping factory farms.”

“Like fracking, factory farming is too dangerous for our environment to simply regulate,” said Hauter. “We need to work together around the country to stop factory farms and protect our communities, our air and water, and our climate.”

To access the report The Urgent Case for a Ban on Factory Farms, visit: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/urgent-case-ban-factory-farms. 



USDA Launches Ag Resource Management Survey

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is beginning to collect data from more than 50,000 farmers and ranchers, for its annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). The survey looks at all aspects of U.S. agricultural production, including farm financial well-being, chemical usage, and various farm characteristics. In 2018, the survey will take a closer look at soybean and beef cattle production in the United States.

The information producers provide through the survey influences national and state policy-making decisions. In addition, ARMS data are used to calculate the farm sector portion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The survey also collects detailed information on production practices, costs, and returns for 13 principal commodities on a rotating basis. The last time ARMS focused on soybeans was in 2012.

"Data from the 2018 ARMS will be used to assess the crop insurance choices made by farmers, helping policymakers better understand the impact of crop insurance offerings on farm production decisions and financial outcomes," said Barbara Rater, director of NASS Census and Survey Division.

The survey is conducted in three phases from May 2018 through April 2019. The current (first) phase screens participants to make sure they have the commodity of interest and will accurately represent the entire U.S. farm sector. During the second phase, NASS will collect information on production practices and chemical use for specific commodities. In the final phase, NASS will survey producers on cost of production, farm income, and production expenditures.



CWT Assists with 1.2 Million Pounds of Cheese and Butter Export Sales

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 7 requests for export assistance from cooperatives that have contracts to sell 709,889 pounds (322 metric tons) of Cheddar, Gouda and Monterey Jack cheese, and 440,925 pounds (200 metric tons) of butter, to customers in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from June through October 2018.

CWT-assisted member cooperative 2018 export sales total 34.776 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 10.593 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat) and 923,737 pounds of whole milk powder to 25 countries on five continents. These sales are the equivalent of 566.071 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

This activity reflects CWT management beginning the process of implementing the strategic plan approved by the CWT Committee in March. The changes will enhance the effectiveness of the program and facilitate member export opportunities.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program in the long term helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them. This, in turn, positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.



The Andersons Declares Cash Dividend for Third Quarter

The Andersons, Inc. announced a third quarter 2018 cash dividend of 16.5 cents ($0.165) per share payable July 23, 2018, to shareholders of record on July 2, 2018.

This is The Andersons' 87th consecutive quarterly cash dividend since listing on the Nasdaq on February 20, 1996. There are approximately 28.3 million common shares outstanding.

The Andersons is a diversified company rooted in agriculture. Founded in Maumee, Ohio, in 1947, the company conducts business across North America in the grain, ethanol, plant nutrient and rail sectors. Through its Statement of Principles, The Andersons strives to provide extraordinary service to its customers, help its employees improve, support its communities and increase the value of the company.



 ADVOCACY TAKEN TO THE NEXT LEVEL FOR CHEF’S ATTENDING BEEF CHECKOFF MEDIA TRAINING

The Beef Checkoff hosted a comprehensive one-day training on May 9 with eight chefs from across the Northeast region. Chefs are valuable members of the beef community, bringing delicious and nutritious beef meals to consumers via a foodservice setting each day. The training centered around building these regional chefs up as beef advocates. Kaitlyn Carey, Director of Consumer Affairs with the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative noted, “This was a first of its kind training for our chefs located here in the Northeast. We want to engage with and build up chefs as advocates for beef, as they all have their unique circles of influence.”

Ryan Goodman, Director of Grassroots Advocacy and Spokesperson Development with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, hosted a Media Training session and Mock Interviews attendees. His session left the chefs with confidence and skills to help prepare for any kind of interview or demo opportunity – phone, radio, on-air. Laura Hagen, Senior Director of Culinary with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association was on-hand to share the logistics of on-air demonstrations. Bill Collier, Executive Chef and General Manager of Bricco, an Italian Restaurant located in Harrisburg, PA commented, “The training that I received from all of the presenters was phenomenal. They are all very well-trained experts in their field, not only from education, but also boots on the ground experience in the field. The training was interactive and helped me better prepare myself for the next time I am presenting to an audience, whether on camera or live demonstration." The next step is securing on-air television cooking demonstrations with the chefs surrounding peak beef consumption times, like summer grilling, tailgating and holiday roasting.

Events such as this allow the beef checkoff to engage directly with our regional channel influencers, all while building them up as beef advocates. Arming these influencers with beef’s positive nutritional messaging will help us disseminate this vital information to more consumers. Beef checkoff-funded research in the Northeast shows that nutrition-focused efforts are making a difference with the Northeast’s metropolitan consumers. Messaging related to beef’s protein, lean cuts and essential nutrients appear to be reaching, and favorably influencing, consumers.