Monday November 19 Ag News

Nebraska Cattlemen Announce Young Cattlemen's Conference Class of 2019

Nebraska Cattlemen announced the 2019 class of the Young Cattlemen's Conference (YCC). YCC nominees were accepted from throughout the state and selected by committee to participate in the two-year leadership program.

The Class of 2019 includes:
Dane Miller, Wisner
Grant Potadle, Herman
Misty Stauffer, Ashland
Quentin Dailey, Lexington
Tony Elting, Hebron
Marc Hanson, Fairbury
Kat Kennedy, Purdum
Clayton Krause, Hemingford
Brock Terrell, Hay Springs
Janessa Updike, St. Paul

"There was an outstanding set of applicants for the YCC program; making the discussion process difficult." stated Ken Herz, Nebraska Cattlemen Vice President. "I am looking forward to working with this group of young leaders as they participate in the YCC program.  The beef industry will remain strong with the next generation of Nebraska Cattlemen gaining industry knowledge and building their leadership skills."

The goal of the Young Cattlemen's Conference is to expose young and emerging leaders to a variety of areas of the beef industry and provide them with necessary leadership tools. During the two-year program, YCC members are provided training on professional communication, given the opportunity to tour multiple Nebraska-based agriculture production facilities and learn to navigate state agencies and legislative processes.

All of this could not happen without generous sponsorship from Farm Credit Services of America and Nebraska Cattlemen Foundation.



REGISTRATION OPEN FOR SIX-WEEK EDUCATION COURSE FOR WOMEN IN AG

Women involved in agricultural production and management or who are interested in learning more about ag business are encouraged to attend Annie’s Project, a six-week educational course set to begin Jan. 28 in the Farm Credit Services of America Sale Barn Conference Room, 4101 N. Sixth St. in Beatrice.

Annie’s Project is a discussion-based workshop bringing women in agriculture together to learn from experts in production, financial management, human resources, marketing and the legal field.

Annie’s Project workshops aim to help women become better business partners or sole operators through networking and by managing and organizing critical information. Annie’s Project courses have successfully reached more than 9,000 women in 33 states.

“There's plenty of time for questions, sharing, reacting and connecting with presenters and fellow participants,” said Jessica Jones, extension educator and project organizer. “It's a relaxed, fun and dynamic way to learn, grow and meet other women.”

In addition to Jones, Nebraska Extension educators Austin Duerfeldt and Glennis McClure are organizing the workshops. Sponsors include Farm Credit Services of America, First State Bank, and the Southeast Community College agricultural program. Additional sponsors are welcome.

Space is limited to 20 participants, so early registration is encouraged. The cost for the course is $75 per person, which includes a workbook and support materials for all sessions. A light dinner will be served before each class at 5:30 p.m.

To register, visit https://www.regonline.com/anniesproject-beatrice.

For more information, contact the Gage County Extension Office at 402-223-1384 or gage-county@unl.edu, or Austin Duerfeldt at aduerfeldt@unl.edu. More information also can be found at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Women in Agriculture website at https://wia.unl.edu/anniesproject and on the Annie’s Project website at https://www.anniesproject.org.



WHAT’S WRONG WITH MY CORN STALKS?
Bruce Anderson, NE Extension Forage Specialist

               Corn stalks are the main winter feed resource for many cattle producers.  Are they as good a resource as they were thirty years ago?

               My corn stalks don’t take care of my cows like they used to.  I hear this complaint often these days.  What is the basis for this claim?  Or is it just imaginary?

               I think two things might be happening here.  First, stalks indeed might be different.  And second, maybe cows themselves are different.

               Cows are larger today than thirty years ago.  Larger cows need more forage and usually greater supplementation than small cows.  So, a quarter section of stalks won’t carry as many cows as it once did.  And even when stocking adjustments are made, if supplements aren’t also adjusted accordingly, cow performance still might suffer.

               But it also is quite likely that stalk fields have changed.  In fact, they might have changed quite a bit.  For starters, modern combines collect grain much more effectively than before.  We used to estimate that four percent of the grain would be left in the field after combining.  Today the amount of grain left behind probably has been cut in half, maybe less.  Less grain means we need to supplement cows earlier than before.  Otherwise they may go out of condition as well as reduce the eventual production capacity of their calves.

               The stalks themselves also might be less nutritious.  Modern hybrids draw more nutrients out of the stalk and into the kernel.  And genetic modifications for insect resistance and less lodging produces stalks that break down or digest less rapidly, leaving behind stalks that may be less palatable and provide fewer digestible nutrients.

               So if you think stalks don’t care for your cows like they used to, you may be right.  But it’s up to you to adjust, rather than complain.



Cull Cow Marketing Decisions
Steve Niemeyer – Extension Educator
    
Fall weather brings many changes to the cattle operation, one of them being pregnancy testing and the subsequent removal of open, thin, lame or poor temperament cows from the herd.

Markets for Slaughter Cows
The 2018 slaughter cow market has been impacted by the large supply of beef in storage and an increase in cow slaughter volume compared to a year earlier. The South Dakota 2018 slaughter cow prices have been at or below 2017’s average monthly prices. The Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC) 2018 average through September for breaker grade cows was $65.05, 4.3 percent lower than a year earlier.

While August is historically the high for slaughter cow prices, producers can use the seasonal price index to visualize the seasonality in the slaughter cow market.

Using this seasonality, combined with cost of production budgets, producers can make informed decisions to increase the profit generated from cull cows.
    
Feeding Considerations
While the seasonality indicates profit, in the form of higher prices per hundred weight, may be realized by delaying sales, not every cull cow should be held and placed on feed for a later sale date. Characteristics of cows that should NOT be held include:
·    Cows in a Body Condition Score (BCS) of 5 or higher. One reason to keep the cow on feed is to increase the BCS thus increasing muscle mass, the fat layer and total pounds available for sale. Cows that are already in good condition will not gain additional pounds in an efficient manner and will likely eat more in feed than the return to feeding them.
·    Cows that are unsound or injured. These animals should be sold direct to a packer. Animals must be ambulatory and a direct sale reduces further injury. If a cow has been treated with any antibiotics ensure all withdrawal periods have been reached prior to any sales.
·    Cows that are unhealthy. These cows offer a whole set of management challenges to the operation. Unhealthy cows may not gain efficiently and thus may not improve the profitability of the operation through feeding. However, cows that have received medication with any antibiotics need to be monitored to ensure they are not sold before withdrawal periods are reached.
    
Feed Cost Options
There are many feeding options for cull cows. As corn fields are harvested, grazing aftermath acres becomes one of the available options. Depending on the weather, cows may be able to graze these acres until the desired market date for limited feed cost and labor requirements.

Cows can also be placed in a feedlot system and receive a balanced ration designed to maximize average daily gain and encourage the development of white fat. Cows placed in a feeding system will take more bunk space than other cattle, so ensure adequate bunk space is available for this option.

Making Plans
Producers that accurately identify cows that have the ability to gain weight when put on feed have the opportunity to increase the profitability of their operation. However, accurate ration costs, creation of a marketing plan and timeline, adherence to the plan and the markets behaving in the expected manner will all effect the profit received.



Women in Ag Leadership Conference Is Nov. 26-27 in Ames

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Women in Ag Leadership Conference will be held Nov. 26-27 at the Iowa State Center Scheman Building on the Iowa State University campus in Ames. The cost to participate in all conference activities and meals is $30 for students and $60 for all others. The conference theme is “The Conversations of Leadership.”

An optional tour of Iowa State University will run from 1-3:30 pm on Monday, Nov. 26. The tour highlights the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and points of pride on central campus.

Conference attendees have the opportunity to participate in a workshop on building and marketing their personal brand, on Monday from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Dinner and networking activities follow the workshop.

The full-day conference on Tuesday, Nov. 27 begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 3:30 p.m. Lunch and networking activities are included. The day begins with Janine Bruder’s keynote presentation, “Why It’s Important to Have REAL Conversations,” and concludes with Amanda De Jong’s capstone presentation, “When Conversations Open Doors, You Better Walk Through.” Throughout the day, more than 10 general session and concurrent session speakers will enlighten and energize attendees with a variety of leadership topics from conflict resolution to farm transition decisions, career conversations and organizational leadership.

Highlighting the conference will be the recognition of six inspiring women from across Iowa who are being honored as the 2018 Women Impacting Agriculture.

To register, visit the Women in Ag Leadership Conference website at http://www.aep.iastate.edu/leadership. Registrations will be accepted at the door. For questions about the conference, contact ISU Extension and Outreach Program Manager Madeline Schultz at schultz@iastate.edu or 515-294-0588.

Farm Credit Services of America is a key conference sponsor. The full conference agenda and other details are available at the ISU Extension and Outreach Women in Ag website... https://www.extension.iastate.edu/womeninag/2018-women-ag-leadership-conference-november-26-27. 



Beef Checkoff connects students with beef farmer

New York Beef Council with the support of Iowa Beef Council and the Beef Checkoff hosted two virtual field trips for high school culinary classrooms involved in the ProStart program. Tim Pallokat, owner of Cayuga View Farm, located in Cayuga County gave nearly 250 students the opportunity to “visit” his farm and learn about beef production from farm to fork.

The 45 minute virtual tours included an overview of the beef life cycle including an up close look at a young calf and mother cow. The tour also included an introduction to sustainability practices and land management utilized on the farm, a demonstration of animal handling and discussion on antibiotic use and oversight, as well as, an in-depth discussion of what beef cattle eat and the finishing process.

Student from all corners of New York State joined the trips including classrooms streaming in from Long Island, Staten Island, Brooklyn, the Southern Tier, Central NY, and Western NY. When asked to assess the trip 100% of participating instructors indicated they would be very willing to both participate in another virtual field trip and recommend this virtual field trip to other teachers.

“This was my first time working with the New York Beef Council to host something like this”, shared Tim, owner of Cayuga View Farm, “the students were really engaged and I was impressed and surprised by all of their great questions, especially how interested they were in the economics of producing beef here in New York.”



U.S. Pork Advertisements Win Prestigious Japanese Award

A U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) advertising campaign that promotes the high quality of U.S. pork in Japan won accolades from the Japanese advertising industry. The “Mitsuboshi American Pork” series, featuring three newspaper ads touting the juiciness and flavor of U.S. pork, took first place honors in the Nikkei MJ Advertising Awards for 2018.

Funding for the advertising series was provided by the USDA Market Access Program (MAP) and the National Pork Board.

In Japanese, “Mitsuboshi” means “Three Star.” In the USMEF ad series, the three stars of U.S. pork are “juiciness, deliciousness and tenderness.”

“USMEF’s Mitsuboshi American Pork ad series expresses high-quality U.S. pork clearly with a combination of menus and wine,” the judging panel made up of academic and marketing experts noted in its decision. “We can sense the flow of deliciousness of U.S. pork with sophisticated use of color. And readers can feel the friendliness of ‘Gochipo,’ which is USMEF’s U.S. pork mascot. With the eye-grabbing creative and accurate message to the retail industry, this ad series reached a high degree of perfection in trade advertising.”

USMEF staff in Japan will be on hand to receive the award at a Dec. 4 ceremony.

“USMEF recognizes that the competition for the Japanese market is growing more intense and this advertising campaign is an example of our commitment to defend U.S. pork’s share,” said Dan Halstrom, USMEF president and CEO. “Although Japan is the largest value market for U.S. pork, we realize that we need to keep working very hard to maintain our relationship with the Japanese consumer to keep exports moving in the right direction.”

The three ads in the USMEF series appeared in late September in the Nikkei Marketing Journal, a Japanese publication specializing in marketing and retail businesses. The advertisements, along with descriptions provided by USMEF staff in Japan, are below:

Advertisement No. 1 - https://www.usmef.org/downloads/Ad-1.jpg
    “We used Gochipo to introduce Mitsuboshi American Pork. Juiciness, deliciousness and tenderness are three important points used by Japanese people to evaluate pork quality. We showed multiple U.S. pork dishes people can enjoy.”

Advertisement No. 2 - https://www.usmef.org/downloads/Ad-2.jpg
    “We showed mouth-watering U.S. pork loin in a photo that was highly valued by the judging panel. The text of the ad read, 'Once you have a bite, you can feel the mouthful juiciness and deliciousness of U.S. pork. American pork is raised with nutrient-rich corn and soybeans. That’s why American pork is juicy, delicious and tender. Please enjoy the ideal pork!'”

Advertisement No. 3 - https://www.usmef.org/downloads/Ad-3.jpg
    “We provided facts as to why U.S. pork is high in quality. We explained the reasons for the 'juiciness,' 'deliciousness' and 'tenderness' of U.S. pork. We compared U.S. and domestic pork. We showed the cost difference of raising hogs in the U.S. and in Japan, because some Japanese consumers and even traders don’t know why the price of U.S. pork is better than domestic pork.”



October Milk Production in the United States up 0.8 Percent

Milk production in the United States during October totaled 17.9 billion pounds, up 0.8 percent from October 2017.  Production per cow in the United States averaged 1,912 pounds for October, 21 pounds above October 2017.  The number of milk cows on farms in the United States was 9.37 million head, 30,000 head less than October 2017, and 2,000 head less than September 2018.

IOWA - Milk production in Iowa during October 2018 totaled 432 million pounds, down 1 percent from the previous October according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Milk Production report. The average number of milk cows during October, at 220,000 head, was unchanged from last month but 1,000 more than last year. Monthly production per cow averaged 1,965 pounds, down 30 pounds from last October.



CWT Assisted Export Sales Top 1.3 Billion Pounds Milk Equivalent

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted 23 offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture contracts to sell 8.607 million pounds (3,904 metric tons) of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, 716,502 pounds (325 metric tons) of butter, and 1.721 million pounds (781 metric tons) of whole milk powder. The product will be delivered during period November 2018 through May 2019.

The year-to-date 1.3 billion pounds of milk equivalent on a milkfat basis is made up of CWT member cooperative sales of 62.384 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 14.558 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat) and 54.555 million pounds of whole milk powder.

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



Meat Supply Concerns into 2019
Stephen R. Koontz, Extension Economist, Colorado State University

The fall run of feeder cattle is set to be essentially complete. The market will receive information on October placements and marketings this Wednesday. USDA AMS reports suggest the volumes of feeder cattle were slightly above the prior year. Likewise, weekly slaughter volumes suggest the total of steers and heifers will be reasonably strong compared to the prior year. Regardless of the outcome, the cattle and beef markets are entering into that time of year with continued large slaughter volumes and the heaviest slaughter weights. The hog and pork markets do the same. Thus, it is likely that the following weeks will see continued strong volumes of red meats, in the week with considerable focus on turkey.

Fed cattle and feeder cattle prices have remained at close to highs for the year. While boxed beef composite values and the choice/select spread have also remained strong. The underlying fundamentals are a bit of a mixed bag of bullish and bearish news. With the major suggesting lower prices ahead. The main concerns are the prospective marketings of heavy placements during July and August. The number of cattle on feed over 120 days on October 1 was substantially higher than the prior year and marketings/slaughter in October and November so far have not been enough to pull that inventory down. Fourth quarter volumes of beef - and for that matter pork - will be the highest for the year. But beef prices remain strong at the retail level while retail and packer margins remain excellent. Saturday slaughter volumes remain high. And there is just no bad news to be found with respect to beef exports.

Repeating what I said last newsletter, a lot has gone right for fed cattle, and calf, prices to remain strong and even improve. But, in the end, there remains considerable potential downside risk. It will be interesting to see if, and then the extent, the discounts of poultry and pork prices compared to beef will have an impact on beef trade into the last month of the year.

What do the technicals say? All live cattle contracts are off the highs established in October and the first couple of days in November. The rally in September was a bit excessive. Any uptrends drawn after the rally are broken which is a sell signal. Most contracts suggest that prices are in a correction phase and if that is the case then prices will move lower. The outside day with a strong close on 11/13 across contracts suggests overwise. The next few days will tell if the market is to drift sideways or move lower. Look for fundamentals to confirm that position. Feeder cattle charts are considerably more bearish. All contracts have moved down the months of October and November. The speed of the moves lower suggests a correct is possible but that will be difficult without stronger live cattle prices. Again, look for fundamental news to confirm any price reaction.



The Climate Corporation Partners with Farmers Mutual Hail, Simplifies Crop Insurance Reporting for U.S. Farmers

The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Bayer, today announced a platform agreement with Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa (FMH), enabling farmers to connect their field data to FMH for seamless delivery of crop insurance reporting. This collaboration will deliver new capabilities and value for farmers by simplifying this annual task and expanding Climate FieldView™ as the industry's broadest and fastest growing digital agriculture platform.

"We are working to accelerate the development and delivery of digital solutions for farmers by bringing  together participants across the agricultural value chain through our industry-leading Climate FieldView platform," said Mike Stern, Chief Executive Officer for The Climate Corporation and Head of Digital Farming at Bayer. "Like Climate, FMH recognizes the benefits of helping farmers organize their data in one place to optimize and simplify all their management decisions. Through this partnership, we look forward to bringing more streamlined insurance reporting to farmers."

With Climate FieldView, farmers across millions of acres are experiencing fast, easy field data collection and the ability to gain analytics-based insights from their data for increased productivity. With the addition of FMH as a partner, planting and harvest data captured in a farmer's FieldView account will seamlessly flow into FMH systems at the farmer's request for faster completion and delivery of planting and production reports. Ultimately, this will provide farmers and their agents a more simplified reporting experience, eliminating the need for manual data entry. In addition to enabling easy, digitized insurance reporting for farmers, Climate and FMH will be identifying further collaboration opportunities to partner in the area of digital risk management for farmers in the future.

"FMH has been focused on enhancing and expanding our use of digital ag data to best meet the needs of today's farmers. We continue to lead the industry through partnerships like these that grow our innovative insurance solutions," said Ron Rutledge, FMH President and CEO. "We are excited about working with The Climate Corporation to add an easy-to-use reporting option for our policyholders who use FieldView and agents utilizing FMH Precision Crop Insurance Solutions™. Not only will connecting our two systems enhance reporting processes, the data collected through FieldView can be used for adjusting crop losses, resulting in an enhanced claim experience for our policyholders."

First launched in the United States in 2015, the Climate FieldView digital agriculture platform is on more than 60 million paid acres across the United States, Canada, Brazil and Europe. It has quickly become the most broadly connected platform in the industry and continues to expand into new global regions.

As innovation in the digital agriculture space continues to accelerate rapidly around the globe, Climate continues to explore partnership opportunities to provide farmers with the insights they need to improve their productivity. To date, Climate has announced partnerships with more than 50 platform partners globally. Most recently, the company announcedthree new ag tech partners in Canada.



New field manager joins Soil Health Partnership team in South Dakota

The Soil Health Partnership welcomes a new field manager to the growing staff, along with a program coordinator to support farmers in the soil health effort. Madelyn Rabenhorst joins the SHP team to cover the state of South Dakota as a field manager, and Stacey Stiens is already making an impact in her role as Program Coordinator.

“As we build our organization, our priority remains ensuring that our enrolled farmers have the support they need to adopt practices that promote soil health, manage the SHP test plots, and help us in the critical process of data collection and insights generation,” said Shefali Mehta, executive director for the Soil Health Partnership. “We welcome Madelyn and Stacey to the SHP team and look forward to their expertise and enthusiasm.”

SHP field managers help new farmers get started in the program, assisting them with making decisions on which soil health-promoting practices best suit their farms. The field managers help farmers with setting test strips, as well as with soil sampling and answering questions about the farming techniques implemented on a particular site. They also help organize, attend and present at field days. They are critical in relaying individual data reports and insights back to farmers.

Rabenhorst will work in South Dakota, a state eager to begin enrolling farmers in the program, with funding support from South Dakota Corn, NRCS South Dakota, and SHP. She also is expected to cover future enrolled farms in North Dakota, where SHP is growing its incorporation of wheat farms with support from General Mills and the National Wheat Foundation. Both states represent important growth opportunities for the SHP program, which currently has about 140 farmers enrolled in other states, mostly in the Midwest.

Rabenhorst comes to the partnership after working as a precision ag manager. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from South Dakota State University, with a minor in insect pest management. She is working toward a Master of Science in Agronomy through Iowa State University’s distance learning program.

“I was born and raised here in South Dakota on our family’s farm,” said Rabenhorst. “I am excited to join an organization that focuses on helping farmers with good, realistic, reliable data.”

As program coordinator, Stacey Stiens organizes and oversees the partnership’s many events, assists with program communication and supports customer relationship management. A graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, she has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, and has 12 years in planning and implementing educational activities, programs and events.

An initiative of the National Corn Growers Association, the Soil Health Partnership works closely with diverse organizations including commodity groups, industry, foundations, federal agencies, universities and well-known environmental groups toward common goals.