Tuesday July 17 Ag News

Solar Energy in Agriculture: Considerations for investing in solar systems

This seminar is hosted by Nebraska Extension and is open to the public. The seminar will focus on applications of solar PV for farms, ranches, and rural businesses. They will mainly discuss grid tied solar PV, economics, basic design considerations and feasibility. Participants will learn about economic considerations such as payback, grants, tax credits, and depreciation.

Presented By: F. John Hay, Department of Biosystems Engineering, University of Nebraska -Lincoln & Clay Gibbs, Cornhusker Public Power District

Wednesday, July 25
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Jeff McAfee Farm
1489 Road 2 - Leigh, NE

Coming from the North on Highway 91, turn south on Road 3 and go 8 miles, turn west on Road 0 and go 1 mile, then turn south on Road 2 and go 1/8 mile.

Coming from the South on Highway 30, turn north on Road 3 and go 10 miles, turn west on Road 0 and go 1 mile, then turn south on Road 2 and go 1/8 mile.

(Site is located on West side of road)

No Cost to Attend.  Please pre-register by contacting Nebraska Extension in Colfax County at 402-352-3821 or email colfax-county@unl.edu. 



Haskell Agricultural Laboratory Climate & Crops Family Field Day
Thomas Hunt, NE Extension Entomologist and Field Day Chair

It is a pleasure to invite you to the Haskell Agricultural (HAL) Climate & Crops Family Fields Day on Tuesday, August 14 at the HAL located 1 ½ miles east of Concord, Nebraska.  Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue throughout the day.  The day will feature four speaker tracks (Climate & Livestock, Climate & Crops, Climate & You and Ag Economics including the Farm Bill), and various educational activities for all ages. 

Kids are welcome and invited to come with their parents or grandparents.  Feel free to bring guests with you.  Some of the activities available for all ages include Robotics, Animals Inside & Out, a Shooting Sports Trailer, Maker Space Trailer, a Science Literacy Trailer, the Mobile Beef Lab, Instant Pot Demonstrations. Pressure canner testing and other programs. 

Backyard Farmer will have a live question and answer panel from 1:30-2:30 p.m.  A walking tour of the Northeast Arboretum will be available in the morning and afternoon as well as drawings for free trees. These booths and activities will be available from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

A free steak sandwich  lunch sponsored by the Nebraska Soybean Board will be served and noon speakers include Al Dutcher, UNL Climatologist and Dr. Michael Boehm, Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. 

Research tours will be conducted in the afternoon.  The day will conclude at 3:30 p.m. 

I hope that your schedule will allow you to attend.  This is free and open to the public
event. 

For more information, our website is https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/nerec/ and our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/HALenres/.

To assist with planning, you can register at the following site: https://halfieldday.eventbrite.com
or call Dee at 402-585-3837 by August 7 so that we can plan for amply food for the festivities.

This event will take place regardless of the weather.  A link to a location map for the Haskell Agricultural Laboratory is: http://nerec.unl.edu/maps.

Hope to see you on August 14.



Ibach Receives Nebraska Ag Youth Institute's Highest Honor

The Nebraska Agricultural Youth Council (NAYC) presented its highest honor, the Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute's (NAYI) Award of Merit, to Greg Ibach, Under Secretary of USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs, during NAYI's annual banquet in Lincoln. Ibach is the former director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA), the state agency that oversees NAYC and NAYI.

"Under Secretary Ibach has a long-standing history of supporting Nebraska youth interested in agriculture at home and through various organizations like NAYC, FFA and 4-H," said NDA Director Steve Wellman. "He has provided guidance to numerous students encouraging and supporting them through their ag-related coursework and career choices. He is very deserving of this honor."

Ibach served as NDA's director from June 2005 until he was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue as Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs in October 2017. As NDA director, Ibach was a leader for Nebraska agriculture. He had oversight of Nebraska's plant and animal heath regulatory functions, and, effectively supervised NDA staff and programs with the ability to analyze issues, develop strategies and create solutions for domestic and global initiatives. Ibach has been actively involved in foreign and domestic marketing and development activities for the better part of his career.

Ibach earned his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from UNL with majors in Animal Science and Agricultural Economics. He has been inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement and honored with the Service to Agriculture Recognition from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, College of Agriculture Science and Natural Resources. He is also a former President of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

"When we say that NAYI is for future leaders of agriculture, we really mean it," said Wellman. "In 1979, Under Secretary Ibach was a NAYI delegate himself. As the Institute enters its 47th year, I imagine receiving this Award of Merit will be especially memorable to him."

Ibach and his wife, Teresa, own a farm/ranch operation in Sumner, Nebraska, and have three grown children.



CONTROLLING SUMMER WEEDS IN ALFALFA
Bruce Anderson, NE Extension Forage Specialist

Wet soils in alfalfa fields right after cutting will certainly do one thing.  It helps weeds and grasses grow.  Let's talk today about what you can do about these weeds.

How do you reduce the amount of foxtail, crabgrass, pigweed and other weeds in your hay?  The best way to start is to keep alfalfa thick and thrifty so it will compete aggressively with invading weeds.  Thick initial stands and good soil fertility are needed.  In addition, harvest alfalfa only after it begins to bloom or when new shoots appear at the base of the plants.  Then alfalfa should regrow rapidly so weeds don’t get much time to become a problem.

Unfortunately, this method is easier said than done, and forage quality will be lower since harvest occurs after bloom begins.

Herbicides are another option.  Roundup works great for Roundup Ready varieties.  In regular alfalfa, two chemicals that control annual grasses are Select Max and Poast Plus.  These herbicides work well on seedling grasses that are less than 4 inches tall, and alfalfa tolerates both herbicides very well.  Neither of these herbicides has any soil residual activity, so good plant coverage is necessary and you may need to repeat the spraying if new grasses emerge.  For broadleaf weeds, Raptor and Pursuit are your best choices.  They, too, need to be applied before weeds are 4 inches tall.  Fortunately, both Raptor and Pursuit have some residual activity so you can apply them a little early and still get control of many later emerging weeds.  They will, however, also set back your alfalfa just a little bit.

If weedy grasses or broadleaves are a problem in your hay, thick and vigorous alfalfa stands and some well-chosen herbicides can help you get it under control.

GRAZING TRAMPLED GRASS
How should you graze regrowth in pastures that had tall growth trampled during a previous grazing?  I don’t know but I have some ideas.

Grass growth got away from many of us Nebraskans this spring.  For some reason the rainfall and temperatures and sunshine all combined to quickly produce so much tall grass that cattle couldn’t eat fast enough.

As good as this sounds, when it came time to graze this tall grass much of it got trampled rather than eaten.  As we come back to graze those pastures a second time, there is a combination of new regrowth, tall stemmy grass, dead and brown trampled grass, and partly pushed over but still green old grass.  How should that mess be handled?

Animals turned into these pastures with enough time and space will wander around grazing just the regrowth.  And when that’s all gone they’ll stand around and beller to be moved to fresh pasture.  That may be fine if you have plenty of pasture, but there are other options.

One option that I’m kind of fond of is to increase stock density.  In other words, only give the herd part of the pasture at a time.  This requires some temporary cross fencing as well as planning regarding water access, but it can be well worth it.

If you increase stock density so your animals have access to about one day’s worth of grazing at a time, grazing and manure distribution will be more uniform.  Plus, animals will eat more of the less desirable older forage so carrying capacity will increase.  And finally, grass that was trampled previously will be better incorporated into the soil for faster recycling and soil health improvement.

Obviously, either option is acceptable.  But if you want to extend grazing and improve conditions for next time, putting a little extra management into the grazing will pay off in the long run.



FIRST DAIRY FARM IN NEBRASKA TO ADD TOP GRASSFED LABEL TO LEADING ANIMAL WELFARE CERTIFICATION

Davey Road Ranch is the first farming business in Nebraska--and the third in the U.S.--to become Certified Grassfed by A Greener World (AGW) for dairy cattle.

Certified Grassfed by AGW is an optional, additional accreditation to Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW, meaning that any farm bearing AGW's grassfed logo also meets the rigorous standards of Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW--recently designated by Consumer Reports as "The only [welfare label] we have any confidence in and think gives you value for your money."

Having already demonstrated their skills and expertise with high-welfare dairy, Ben Gotschall of Davey Road Ranch joins Working Cows Dairy in Slocomb, AL, and Pure Eiré Dairy in Othello, WA, as the third dairy cattle farm in North America to achieve this highly acclaimed certification.

Building on the Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW standards, Certified Grassfed by AGW is the only certification and logo in the U.S. and Canada that guarantees food products come from animals fed a 100 percent grass and forage diet, raised outdoors on pasture or range for their entire lives, and managed according to the Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW leading welfare and environmental standards on an independent farm. Because Certified Grassfed by AGW is an optional, additional accreditation for farmers meeting the Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW standards for high-welfare, sustainable production, the combined standards also guarantee the dairy cattle at Davey Road Ranch are not given things like growth hormones (such as rBST--recombinant bovine somatotropin) or routine antibiotics.

Ben Gotschall was raised on his family's farm and has been in the dairy business since he was 10 years old, practicing high-welfare, pasture-based management for just as long. Gotschall was Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW for dairy cattle back in October 2013, but recently decided to add Certified Grassfed by AGW to verify his 100 percent grassfed feeding protocol.

Ben Gotschall of Davey Road Ranch says, "Cattle are natural grazers and produce the healthiest, best-tasting milk from grass and forage. Our dairy cattle have been 100 percent grassfed for the last 18 years, but I pursued the Certified Grassfed by AGW label to send a clear message to customers about my commitment to high-welfare treatment of livestock and feeding 100 percent grass and forage. It's unfortunate that a lot of farms say they're grassfed or claim high-welfare management but aren't verified by a third-party certification like ours."

Demand for grassfed dairy products is sky-rocketing, and with it, the proliferation of misleading labels. While many consumers assume that Certified Organic and "grassfed" labels ensure higher welfare practices, neither actually does. In fact, Organic permits routine confinement as long as animals are fed Organic feed, and there is no standard definition for "grassfed" dairy, meaning on-farm practices can vary considerably. No other grassfed dairy label on the market incorporates meaningful welfare standards, especially important for lactating cows which can have extremely poor welfare if not fed a nutritionally appropriate diet.

This gap between consumer expectation and reality inspired demand for an audited, high-welfare grassfed claim: Certified Grassfed by AGW is the only label in the marketplace that ensures dairy products come from truly pasture-based, high-welfare, sustainable farms. Unique in the marketplace, Certified Grassfed by AGW is:
-    The only high-welfare grassfed label
-    Only awarded for cow dairies after a year of Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW
-    The only label audited to ensure 100 percent grass and forage, outdoors on pasture with high-welfare and environmental standards

AGW Director of Communications and Outreach Emily Moose says, "We are proud to announce the first Certified Grassfed by AGW dairy operation in Nebraska, and the third farm in the U.S., with a label that delivers real transparency and trust. Families want dairy products from happy cows on pasture, but with so many misleading labels it can be difficult to purchase with confidence.

Other grassfed labels just don't cut the mustard when it comes to welfare and sustainability. And while there are certainly organic farmers out there exceeding the standards, the baseline organic requirements do not meet consumer expectations for animal welfare or a 100 percent grassfed diet. That's why we exist--to support farmers like Ben Gotschall at Davey Road Ranch who are industry leaders, and ensure their products stand out in a confusing marketplace."



Calf Management Training Resources Now Available

 Having properly trained employees is critical for the health, growth and development of dairy calves and for the profitability and sustainability of a dairy farm. A new series of video resources is available through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to provide training in calf management, including newborn calf care, colostrum management, calf nutrition, animal handling, automatic calf feeder management and hygiene and sanitation.

Each video is less than three minutes in length, using video demonstration of on-farm practices to emphasize key calf management techniques.

“Employees who manage calves should thoroughly understand why and how to test colostrum, the importance of low stress handling and proper nutrition from birth, and hygiene for health and future animal performance,” said Jennifer Bentley, dairy specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach. “Long-term, these resources will provide better training and understanding of calf care, increased employee engagement and retention, better calf performance and increased farm profitability.”

Each video is available in both English and Spanish, as DVDs or on flashdrives. To request a copy, go to https://goo.gl/forms/J4HVOtHVc37iindA2 or contact Jennifer Bentley at jbentley@iastate.edu, 563-382-2949 or Kim Clark at kimclark@unl.edu, 402-472-6065.

Funding for this project was provided by the North Central Risk Management Education Center, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture under Award Number 2015-49200-24226.



NMPF Encouraged by FDA Commissioner’s Desire to Enforce Dairy Labeling Regulations

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told an audience at a Politico Pro Summit on Tuesday in Washington that his agency will soon begin enforcing regulations that define milk as an animal product, not a plant-based food – an indication that the National Milk Producers Federation’s (NMPF) requests for action by the agency are being heard. After acknowledging that “an almond doesn’t lactate,” Dr. Gottlieb said the agency soon will seek public input as a prelude to enforcing existing regulations on dairy labeling standards.

NMPF welcomed Gottlieb’s recognition today that the labeling practices of many plant-based dairy imitators violate long-standing federal standards. Gottlieb said that going forward, “he intends to enforce” those standards.

“After years of inaction in response to our complaints about these labeling violations, Dr. Gottlieb’s announcement that the agency is intending to act on this issue is very encouraging,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The marketing of non-dairy imitators must comply with federal standards of identity, and consumers should not be misled that these products have the same nutrition as real milk, yogurt, cheese and other actual dairy products.”

NMPF wrote to Gottlieb last year to complain that the agency has not been enforcing labeling standards, pointing out that FDA’s lack of action “has led to rampant consumer fraud related to the inferior nutrient content of these non-dairy products compared to their true dairy counterparts,” Mulhern said, adding that in addition to fake “milks,” there also are a proliferation of products calling themselves “yogurt,” “cheese,” “ice cream” and “butter.”

The enforcement issue is not just an arcane dispute, but has significant public health implications because dairy imitators lack any consistent nutritional profile, while real milk always has the same nutritional package, varying only by standardized fat content, NMPF said.

“Consumers who purchase these imitations are not receiving the same level of nutrients found in cow’s milk, and that contributes to Americans falling short of the recommended amount of vitamins and minerals for a healthy diet,” said Mulhern. “FDA must act on this matter or else see the further decline of proper nourishment of our children and families.”

Gottlieb’s comments today are similar to testimony he presented this spring to the Senate, when he acknowledged that the agency has “exercised enforcement discretion” in not holding food marketers to federal standards limiting the use of standardized food terms.

Mulhern said he hopes the agency will rapidly move to take enforcement action, adding that “this issue can be quickly resolved. Once FDA acts to provide guidance to industry on enforcement of existing standards of identity, manufacturers currently playing fast and loose by using standardized dairy terms on products containing no dairy will know the jig is up. Their products have every right to be in the marketplace, but they will have to be properly identified to comply with FDA standards.”



Livestock Groups Launch Media Campaign in Support of Barrasso Endangered Species Act Amendments of 2018

The Public Lands Council (PLC) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) today launched an online campaign to educate the public on the need for a modernized Endangered Species Act. The campaign, which focuses on the ranching industry, highlights the importance of working landscapes in improving ecological services and achieving species conservation targets.

The campaign comes at a pivotal time, as Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, introduced the Endangered Species Act Amendments of 2018. Barrasso’s amendments are based on bipartisan policy recommendations from the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) that was informed by several years of workshops and roundtables held throughout the west and including key stakeholders across the political spectrum. Besides PLC and NCBA (as well as many of its state affiliates) participants included state wildlife agencies, conservation groups such as The Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, and Environmental Defense Fund, as well as energy companies and sportsmen’s groups.

“The Endangered Species Act is showing its age, and needs to be modernized in order to really accomplish its core goal of recovering imperiled species. Without this bipartisan effort, we fear that litigation will remain firmly in the driver’s seat, rather than science,” PLC President Dave Eliason said. “Participating in the WGA Initiative over the past few years has been a real eye-opener for our industry, and the resulting legislation finally moves us towards a functioning ESA.”

According to Kevin Kester, California rancher and NCBA President, the Endangered Species Act Amendments of 2018 is a once in a lifetime opportunity for species conservation reform.

“This campaign will help ranchers tell their stories about how ESA impacts their operation and draw that connection for their elected officials on Capitol Hill. This is particularly important as the Endangered Species Act Amendments of 2018 are considered by the Senate,” Kester said. “But it’s also about clearing the air. We want to ensure America understands that the Endangered Species Act needs to be brought into the 21st century.  I hope our messages educates elected officials, the media, and the public about the role of ranching in species recovery and habitat conservation.” 

To learn more about the need to modernize the ESA or to watch the campaign’s kick-off video, visit www.ModernizeEsa.com. 



Legislation Would Make Much-Needed Changes to the ESA

Nine separate bills introduced by Western Caucus lawmakers will help restore common sense to an Endangered Species Act regulatory regime that has gone unchecked and grown out of control, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

 “The ESA, despite the good intentions it was built on, has failed in recovering endangered wildlife. Instead, it has threatened our ability to make productive use of the land. Perhaps the only ‘species’ that have benefited from the ESA have been lawyers and special interest groups,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a statement.

Arizona Farm Bureau Federation President and fifth-generation rancher Stefanie Smallhouse recently explained why the outdated ESA is such a problem on her ranch.

“The 20 species that we have listed for our property, there’s no data to substantiate that, it was just a general listing and that’s what happens a lot with the ESA. And, the critical habitat that has been identified doesn’t actually exist on our ranch. So, we have four fish that are listed, and the critical habitat are waterways and they don’t have any water,” Smallhouse said.

Farmers and ranchers take very seriously their role as caretakers of the land and wildlife, Duvall emphasized.

“We are blessed to live and work out in nature and we want to preserve it,” he said. “Unfortunately, the ESA discourages voluntary practices and targets farmers and ranchers rather than working in partnership with them. There is a better way.”

Farm Bureau is urging all members of Congress to support the bills and to return the ESA to what it was intended to be.

The nine ESA-reform bills are:
    The Less Imprecision in Species Treatment (LIST) Act (H.R. 6356)
    The Permit Reassurances Enabling Direct Improvements for Conservation, Tenants, and Species (PREDICTS) Act (H.R. 6360)
    The Ensuring Meaningful Petition Outreach While Enhancing Rights of States (EMPOWERS) Act (H.R. 6345)
    The Stop Takings on Reserves Antithetical to Germane Encapsulation (STORAGE) Act (H.R. 6354)
    The Weigh Habitats Offsetting Locational Effects (WHOLE) Act (H.R. 6346)
    The Land Ownership Collaboration Accelerates Life (LOCAL) Act (H.R. 6344)
    The Localizing Authority of Management Plans (LAMP) Act (H.R. 6364)
    The Permitting ESA Timing Improvements That Increase Opportunities for Non-listing (PETITION) Act (H.R. 6355)
    The Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act (H.R. 3608)




Teralytic Releases NPK Soil Probe for Pre-Ordering

Soil analytics company Teralytic has released a limited number of their wireless soil probes to be delivered in time for the 2019 planting season. The Teralytic probe contains 26 sensors, including the world’s first wireless NPK sensor, and its platform helps farmers produce more food with fewer resources by improving soil health in the fields. Probes are available worldwide and can be pre-ordered now through the Teralytic website.

"The collection of data in real-time allows growers to make more informed decisions regarding fertilization and irrigation," said Meagan Hynes, PhD, Teralytic's VP of Soil Science. "I'm also excited about the potential to use fertility and respiration data to evaluate soil health."

Combining a focus on soil health with AI, machine learning, and cloud technologies, Teralytic aims to reduce inputs and save farmers time by diagnosing the soils. "While drone and camera-based technologies can find problems as they appear on the plants, Teralytic’s probe warns farmers of changes in the soils before they become problems,” said Steven Ridder, Founder and CEO of Teralytic.

Traditionally, soil testing is a manual and time-intensive process that can take days or weeks. But Teralytic’s sensors continuously check and report on soil quality—24 hours a day and 365 days a year—so farmers can take action sooner:
-    Microclimate sensors measure air temperature, humidity, and light; soil sensors measure soil moisture, salinity, soil temperature, pH, and NPK; and gas sensors measure aeration and respiration.
-    Sensors take a snapshot of soil conditions every 15 minutes.
-    Probes connect to a gateway through LoRa wireless technology. The gateway sends data to the cloud via either cellular, satellite, or a standard internet connection, which can be accessed on any cellular device or desktop computer. 
-    Farmers can look ahead and gain insights about soil’s fertility now and into the future on an easy-to-use dashboard.

There is a 10-probe minimum starter bundle ($5,000 total) for this release, and each additional probe will be $500 each. This includes the LoRa gateway to connect probes and all the software necessary to run Teralytic’s analytics and generate custom insights.