Tuesday July 21 Ag News

Helicopter to Make Low-Level Flights Over Eastern Nebraska to Learn More About Groundwater Aquifers

Eastern Nebraska residents should not be alarmed if they see a low-flying helicopter over areas of the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District in August.

Beginning August 1st and lasting approximately three weeks, instruments mounted below a helicopter will collect and record geologic measurements to learn more about groundwater aquifers in Dakota, Thurston, Burt, Washington, Douglas, Dodge and Sarpy Counties. The Papio NRD, as part of the Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment, have planned the flights and are completing them with financial assistance from the Nebraska Water Sustainability Fund, through the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission. A flight schedule for each area is forthcoming.

“The flights will improve our understanding of available groundwater and its possible connections with surface water in an area of the state made more complex by the presence of glacial deposits,” said Paul Woodward, Groundwater Management Engineer for the Papio NRD.

Aqua Geo Frameworks (AGF), of Mitchell, Nebraska will oversee the flights, process data and produce a final report. The equipment can collect data at a speed of more than 50 miles per hour and explore to a depth of more than 700 feet below the ground surface. Scientific equipment, that looks like a hexagon, is towed about 100 feet below the helicopter in a ‘spider web’ array and is designed to map geologic structures beneath the surface of the earth. The helicopter will be manned by experienced pilots specially trained for low-level flying with this equipment.

The flights are a continuation of previous data collected during 2016 and 2018 and will provide a geologic understanding of all remaining areas in the Papio NRD.  Similar flights have been made across Nebraska since 2007 as NRDs seek to better understand and manage groundwater resources.



Financial Considerations for Forage Purchases Webinar
Thursday July 23 at noon CDT

Every year, cattle producers buy forage for their herd. Sometimes — like this year in areas of drought — forage has to be purchased because not enough can be grown. This webinar will lay out the economics of forage sales, hay, haylage and corn silage, for both livestock growers and crop producers. Tools will be demonstrated that can be used to arrive at prices for negotiation

The webinar features Robert Tigner, extension educator and agricultural economist, Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

View Past Webinars..... Archived webinars include:
    2020 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Report Overview
    Cash Flowing to the Other Side of COVID-19
    Insurance Tools for Managing Forage Production Risk
    Managing Risk in the Hog Market
    Force Majeure: How Extraordinary Events Can Impact Ag Contracts
    Farm Survival Grain Marketing Strategies
    USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program
    Risk Management and Livestock Risk Protection
    Plus presentations on ethanol, behavioral health, the meat packing industry and managing your business during the pandemic.

Register for Thursday's webinar and view the archived programs at farm.unl.edu.



Farm Progress launches virtual show

Two major farm shows are off the calendar for 2020, to fill this gap Farm Progress is launching the first ever Farm Progress Virtual Experience, or FPVX. This information-packed event will be powered by Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days and run three days, Sept. 15 to 17.

"The beauty of a virtual event is that we will open the virtual gates on Sept. 15 with a slate of field demos and rich content, but once live farmers can engage the content all year long," says Don Tourte, senior vice president, Farm Progress. "With this event the farmer can virtually stroll through more than 500 exhibits in their own time, and each exhibitor will have valuable new information to share."

The rich information available in the FPVX will allow farmers to engage a range of content. And searching the exhibitors will be easy because they'll be sorted into the familiar categories farmers have long come to know through more than 65 years of taking part in Farm Progress events.

The event does kick off with something special, made richer in this virtual environment. "We're going to have what may be the most extensive field demonstration program we've ever conducted with corn harvest, tillage, hay and cattle equipment," says Matt Jungmann, events manager, Farm Progress. "And we'll include a first-look at a range of autonomous tools. And Max Armstrong will be on hand for the three-day online event as the host for this event too."

From videos to easy-to-access brochures, to quick contact information to connect with exhibitors, farmers checking in at FPVX will find the event is almost as information-filled as being on site. While you can't replace all the great parts of a successful live farm show, this new offering – free to anyone who attends – will provide the information you need to keep up on the newest tools and technology for agriculture.

More information will be available as the show date nears, and work is already underway to pull together a virtual farm show experience unlike any other. Adds Jungmann: "We're not asking farmers to just sit by their computers, everything we're producing will work on your smart phone and tablet, so in the heat of harvest when you're spending long hours on auto-steering, you can see what we have to offer."



Center for Rural Affairs applauds unanimous passage of rural broadband bill

A bill to improve broadband access was approved on final reading by the Nebraska Legislature Tuesday morning.

“We applaud the passage of Legislative Bill 996,” said Johnathan Hladik, policy director for the Center for Rural Affairs. “The bill opens the door for a greater share of federal funds directed at financing broadband expansion in rural and unserved areas of our state.”

Hladik also commended the work of Sen. Tom Brandt, who designated LB 996 as his priority bill for the session. The bill passed on a 47-0 vote.

“We appreciate Sen. Brandt’s diligence in working with the Center to get this important piece of legislation passed,” Hladik said.

LB 996 creates the Broadband Data Improvement Program, which will help ensure the state is able to fully access federal broadband grant programs by complying with data verification requirements set forth by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as part of the establishment of the Digital Opportunity Data Collection (DODC) program last year.

“Improving access to broadband for Nebraskans and in particular rural Nebraskans has been a focus of mine since being elected,” Brandt said. “The Broadband Data Improvement Program sets the stage for a major leap forward in our ability to identify areas within our state that are underserved or not served at all.”

The DODC program is designed to improve upon the FCC’s current approach to data collection, which relies on Form 477 to make broad access generalizations at the Census block level. Use of that form enabled providers to claim that homes and businesses had broadband coverage when in fact they did not. LB 996 directs the state Public Service Commission to establish a process to collect public input, known as crowdsourcing, to verify the accuracy of information submitted by the providers.

Improving broadband access in rural and underserved areas is long overdue, Hladik said, even more so in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“In today’s world, having access to the Internet has become just as important as other utilities citizens have come to rely on, such as electricity, water and sewer,” Hladik said. “ From Omaha to Scottsbluff, Superior to Valentine, and all areas in between, broadband service is critical to business, farms and ranches, the education of young people and health care services.”

LB 996 now heads to the governor.

“We eagerly await Gov. Rickett’s signature,” Hladik said.



$10 Million Grant to Help Scientists, Industry and Farmers Harness Biomass and Manure to Fuel Farms

A new federal grant will allow a research team led by Iowa State University, Penn State and Roeslein Alternative Energy to develop new methods of turning biomass and manure into fuel.

The five-year, $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture will power the Consortium for Cultivating Human and Natural reGenerative Enterprise (C-CHANGE) as it works to create new value chains on U.S. farms, with emphasis on the generation of renewable natural gas, improved rural economic outcomes and protection of the environment.

The project director on the transdisciplinary and multi-institutional grant is Lisa Schulte Moore, a professor of natural resource ecology and management and associate director of the Bioeconomy Institute at Iowa State. Schulte Moore said the consortium will innovate methods for farmers to make more efficient use of resources while maintaining current value chains, resulting in an agricultural economy that’s both more profitable and environmentally sound.

“We recognize the benefits of current production systems but also that there’s a lot of inefficiency in how we use land, sunlight, nutrients and water,” Schulte Moore said. “We also realize that farmers and rural communities are struggling. We know we can address inefficiencies by adding perennials and recoupling crop, livestock and energy systems. Research is needed to ensure these combinations are also profitable.”

C-CHANGE researchers are developing new ways for farmers to produce renewable natural gas that could be used as an energy source both on and off farms. The project centers on anaerobic digestion, or the process by which microorganisms break down biomatter and produce biogas, which is mostly methane, the main component of natural gas. With new separation technologies, biogas can be upgraded to renewable natural gas and distributed through the gas pipeline network, much like renewable electricity is distributed through the electrical grid. The researchers are experimenting with how to optimize the digesters, or the containers where the biomatter is broken down into methane. Researchers will test variables such as feedstock mixture, pretreatment, digester temperature and water content to make the process as practical as possible.

“For more than 50 years, anaerobic digestion has been promoted as a way to both improve environmental management of livestock manures and to produce renewable energy,” said Tom Richard, director of Penn State’s Institutes of Energy and the Environment. “But adoption of anaerobic digestion has been limited by high capital costs and management complexity, which has slowed the advance of this industry and the underlying technology. We will be working with farmers and other industrial partners to update anaerobic digestion for the 21st century, applying the principles of process intensification, automation and economies of scale to reduce costs, simplify operations and expand digester feedstocks beyond manure to incorporate perennial grasses and winter crops into their operations as a source of biomass for the digesters.”

Schulte Moore said some areas of farm fields – particularly uneven terrain that is especially susceptible to erosion, frequently inundated areas or turnrows – can yield poor or negative profits for corn and soybean producers. Switching those acres out of corn and soybeans to perennial grasses could save farmers money and protect the environment, she said.

Roeslein Alternative Energy is already pioneering work in the area of the grant. Since 2012, Roeslein has been working with Smithfield Foods to adjust practices on their hog farms that have resulted in greater efficiencies, improved environmental outcomes and a profitable new renewable natural gas enterprise. Research will help determine additional markets for the products of anaerobic digestion. For instance, the digestate – or material remaining after anaerobic digestion – could be reapplied to fields to enrich soils after the biogas has been removed. The decomposed digestate should provide a more stable source of nutrients than directly applying manure as a fertilizer, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions and less nutrients running into waterways.

Company founder Rudi Roeslein said energy production from biogas could spark significant job creation in the alternative energy and agriculture sectors while also providing new habitat for threatened wildlife, including pollinators.

“With this grant, we hope to demonstrate that land unprofitable for annual crops could be used for renewable energy production from native grasses and forbs through the anaerobic digestion process, Roeslein said. “Ecological services from this perennial biomass crop would prevent flooding, reduce nutrients running into our streams and rivers that could save hundreds of billions of taxpayer money on water treatment facilities while improving the health of our future generations.”

The consortium also will engage producers, commodity groups and companies to see how receptive farmers and businesses are to implement management practices and other knowledge emerging from experiments. Adopting these innovative approaches could be facilitated through changes in agricultural policies.

“Agriculture is always going to be vital to rural economies,” Schulte Moore said. “The C-CHANGE team is trying to meet current societal demands while returning more value to people and the land.”

In addition to Iowa State, Penn State, and Roeslein Alternative Energy, other institutions involved with the new C-CHANGE grant include FDCE of New Albany, Ohio; the USDA Agricultural Research Service National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, and 33 partner organizations.



NEBRASKA MILK PRODUCTION
Milk production in Nebraska during the April-June 2020 quarter totaled 362 million pounds, up 2% from the April-June quarter last year, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. The average number of milk cows was 59,000 head, 1,000 head more than the same period last year.

April-June U.S. Milk Production up 0.4 Percent
Milk production in the United States during the April - June quarter totaled 55.9 billion pounds, up 0.4 percent from the April - June quarter last year.  The average number of milk cows in the United States during the quarter was 9.36 million head, 12,000 head less than the January - March quarter, but 31,000 head more than the same period last year.

IOWA MILK PRODUCTION
 Milk production in Iowa during June 2020 totaled 438 million pounds, down 1% from the previous June according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Milk Production report. The average number of milk cows during June, at 217,000 head, was equal to last month but down 2,000 from last year. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,020 pounds, equal to last June.

June U.S. Milk Production up 0.5 Percent
Milk production in the 24 major States during June totaled 17.4 billion pounds, up 0.5 percent from June 2019. May revised production, at 18.0 billion pounds, was down 0.5 percent from May 2019. The May revision represented an increase of 93 million pounds or 0.5 percent from last month's preliminary production estimate.  Production per cow in the 24 major States averaged 1,974 pounds for June, unchanged from June 2019. The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major States was 8.83 million head, 43,000 head more than June 2019, but 9,000 head less than May 2020.



NEBRASKA CHICKENS AND EGGS
All layers in Nebraska during June 2020 totaled 8.47 million, down from 9.01 million the previous year, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Nebraska egg production during June totaled 170 million eggs, down from 222 million in 2019. June egg production per 100 layers was 2,003 eggs, compared to 2,463 eggs in 2019.

IOWA CHICKENS AND EGGS
Iowa egg production during June 2020 was 1.17 billion eggs, down 2% from last month and down 17% from last year, according to the latest Chickens and Eggs report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The average number of all layers on hand during June 2020 was 48.7 million, down 3% from last month and down 15% from last year. Eggs per 100 layers for June were 2,392, up 1% from last month but down 1% from last year.

June Egg Production Down 4 Percent
United States egg production totaled 8.81 billion during June 2020, down 4 percent from last year. Production included 7.60 billion table eggs, and 1.21 billion hatching eggs, of which 1.13 billion were broiler-type and 80.2 million were egg-type. The average number of layers during June 2020 totaled 382 million, down 3 percent from last year. June egg production per 100 layers was 2,304 eggs, down 1 percent from June 2019.
                                   
Total layers in the United States on July 1, 2020 totaled 381 million, down 3 percent from last year. The 381 million layers consisted of 316 million layers producing table or market type eggs, 61.2 million layers producing broiler-type hatching eggs, and 3.28 million layers producing egg-type hatching eggs. Rate of lay per day on July 1, 2020, averaged 77.9 eggs per 100 layers, up slightly from July 1, 2019.

Egg-Type Chicks Hatched Up 6 Percent
Egg-type chicks hatched during June 2020 totaled 54.9 million, up 6 percent from June 2019. Eggs in incubators totaled 46.3 million on July 1, 2020, down 3 percent from a year ago.Domestic placements of egg-type pullet chicks for future hatchery supply flocks by leading breeders totaled 363 thousand during June 2020, up 34 percent from June 2019.

Broiler-Type Chicks Hatched Down 1 Percent
Broiler-type chicks hatched during June 2020 totaled 828 million, down 1 percent from June 2019. Eggs in incubators totaled 701 million on July 1, 2020, up 1 percent from a year ago.  Leading breeders placed 8.75 million broiler-type pullet chicks for future domestic hatchery supply flocks during June 2020, up slightly from June 2019.



July 2020 Dairy Market Report Now Available
DMI & NMPF

May and June saw both highs and lows in the coronavirus-buffeted roller-coaster of dairy’s second quarter of 2020. But with exports and prices rising, the highs hold the momentum heading into the year’s third quarter, raising hopes that spring’s severe disruptions have been effectively offset by producer production cutbacks and federal government assistance.

The USDA-reported U.S. average all-milk price reached an almost eleven-year low in May, while the daily price of 40# block cheese on the CME cash market reached a record high in June – a record topped in July. Sharp reductions in milk and milk solids production, major government purchases of dairy products for food assistance programs, increased retail sales of dairy products, and a temporary spike in food service restocking purchases rapidly flipped a switch from severe oversupply to substantial market tightness within a span of weeks, dramatically raising milk and dairy-product prices.

Among the most noteworthy of these was an $8.90 per cwt. jump in the federal order Class III price from May to June. The previous largest one-month Class III price increase was $5.17 per cwt., reached in April 2004. Trade also has experienced rising momentum. U.S. dairy exports in may represented 17.7 percent of the nation’s milk solids production, the largest ever for the month of May.



Unpublished USDA Report: 40% Cash Volume Depressed Cattle Prices More Than $33 Per Head

In an unpublished 2014 investigative report by the Packers and Stockyards Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (formerly the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration, or GIPSA) titled Investigation of Beef Packers’ Use of Alternative Marketing Arrangements, the agency found, based on 2009 data, when the volume in the fed cattle cash market was nearly 40 percent, that alternative marketing agreements depressed the prices paid for cattle on the cash market. Based on GIPSA’s findings, we estimate that nationwide domestic cattle prices in the cash market were reduced by as much as $33.28 per head (based on a 1,300 lb. steer) in 2009.

In regions such as Kansas, Texas-Oklahoma-New Mexico, and Colorado, where the volume of the cash market was significantly less than the national average, using GIPSA’s findings, we estimate that the harm to the cash market was much greater:  as much as $50.44 per head in Kansas, $44.46 per head in Texas/OK/NM, and $42.77 per head in Colorado.

Also, the report found that every one percent increase in captive supply cattle, which necessarily corresponds to a reduction to the cash market volume, depressed negotiated cash prices $0.54 per head for a 1,300 lb. steer on average.

R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said this would extrapolate to a $5.40 per head loss for cash cattle sellers for each 10 percent reduction in the volume of the national average cash market below 40 percent. And, he said the loss would be significantly more in those low cash-volume regions such as Kansas, TX/OK/NM, and Colorado.

“This report, based on actual market data from 2009, firmly supports Senator Grassley’s and Senator Tester’s Senate Bill (S.3693) and Congresswoman Cindy Axne’s House Bill 7501 (H.R.7501) that restore the integrity of the thinning cash market by requiring packers to participate in the negotiated cash market at least at the 50 percent level,” Bullard said.

Bullard added, “It is clear that the report’s finding of significant producer losses associated with nearly a 40 percent cash volume level is unacceptable and bringing the volume up to 50 percent will at least minimize some of that harm to cattle producers who trade on the cash market. On the other hand, lowering the cash volume to only a 30 percent cash volume level is stripping almost $39 per head of income from cattle producers nationally, and significantly more from cattle producers selling in the low cash-volume regions.”

The report states that its findings in the investigation are generally consistent with prior studies, “though somewhat larger in magnitude.”

Bullard said he is disappointed that after finding significant harm to prices in the negotiated cash market, the report nevertheless concluded that the harm to cash-cattle sellers is offset by benefits to beef packers, the beef marketing industry, consumers, and producers (those who choose not to market in the cash market).

“But the report acknowledges that negotiated cash market sellers are likely harmed by the increase in captive supplies without receiving any of the offsetting benefits,” Bullard commented.

Bullard said this is the key point for policy makers: that producers who market in the negotiated cash market are being harmed and most of them are the small to mid-sized cattle feeders that are needed to support America’s rural economy.

“This is one reason we’ve lost 75 percent of our nation’s independent cattle feeders during the past two decades – our nation’s farmer-feeders no longer have a competitive market in which to sell their cattle and this has been the situation for years,” he concluded.

The 2014 Packers and Stockyards Division’s investigative report can be accessed at www.r-calfusa.com under “Issues” and then “Competition/Antitrust Issues.”



Ag Exports to China Expected to Increase This Year

U.S. agricultural exports to China are projected to total $13.0 billion in fiscal year 2020, up from $10.1 billion in FY 2019.

This rise in expected exports is primarily due to growth in Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans and pork with expected additional purchases of sorghum and cotton also playing a role.

This growth, much of which is expected as a result of relaxed barriers in the U.S.-China trade partnership, is projected to prevail in FY 2020 even considering the fiscal strains brought on by COVID-19.

Portions of China's economy are anticipated to continue growing while its economy as a whole is still being negatively affected by the global slowdown, especially with respect to international trade.

Even amidst the negative economic effects of COVID-19 on China's consumption of U.S. agricultural goods, China's purchases of U.S. pork, soybeans, cotton, and other products rose in the first half of FY 2020.

At this pace, U.S. exports to China are expected to increase by $2.9 billion from FY 2019, when the value of U.S. exports to China had fallen to $9.3 billion (in 2019 dollars)--its lowest point since FY 2009.



Farmers Business Network Acquires Australia’s Farmsave

Farmers Business Network (FBN), the independent farmer-to-farmer network, announced today its acquisition of Farmsave Holdings Pty Ltd (Farmsave), an online agricultural inputs platform that provides real-time input pricing transparency and services to thousands of independent Australian farmers.

Headquartered in Perth, Australia, Farmsave gives farmers across the continent access to competitive prices on key farm chemicals from a range of suppliers and arranges delivery of goods directly to local depots and farms. Currently serving over 5,000 Australian farms, Farmsave boosts farmers’ bargaining power and drives down input costs.

“We're thrilled to be working with Farmsave in one of the world’s key agricultural economies,” said Amol Deshpande, CEO & Co-Founder of FBN. “Farmsave’s focus on transparent pricing and putting the power of choice in the hands of farmers aligns perfectly with our values. Together FBN and Farmsave can bring badly needed competition to Australia and help farmers level the playing field in this vital market.”

FBN expects to announce a range of new offerings to Farmsave’s existing members – and all Australian farmers – in the months ahead. 

“Both Farmsave and FBN are built on one core principle, which is to give growers the power they deserve,” said Dirk Butter, Founder and Director of Operations at Farmsave. “Farmsave has a strong track record in delivering value to farmers and now it’s time to accelerate. By becoming part of FBN’s growing global network, we will be opening up a suite of products to assist with agronomic and operational planning, driving profits to our customer’s bottom line.”

A recent spate of consolidation among global chemical manufacturers and national retailers has resulted in dwindling choice for farmers and inelastic pricing across Australia. With limited independent information sources for chemical prices or trends, farmers have been unable to purchase inputs with confidence. With this consolidation and a murky economic outlook, more than ever, Australia farmers need to minimize their input costs and maximize return on investment (ROI) for their farms.

“Farmsave was built in collaboration with farmers for farmers,” Butter said. “We found the team at FBN shares this vision at even a larger scale, which makes our team excited for the next chapter.”

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.



USDA Announces $15 Million in Funding Opportunities to Support Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced approximately $15 million in available funding to help socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers own and operate successful farms. Funding is made through the USDA’s Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program (also known as the 2501 Program). The program is administered by the USDA Office of Partnerships & Public Engagement (OPPE).

“Socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers deserve equal access to USDA programs and services,” said Mike Beatty, director of the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement. “2501 grants go a long way in fulfilling our mission to increase awareness of and ensure equitable participation in our programs. This can lead to more sustainable farming and ranching operations.”

For 30 years, the 2501 Program has helped reach socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who have experienced barriers to service due to racial or ethnic prejudice. The 2014 Farm Bill expanded the program to veteran farmers and ranchers. The 2018 Farm Bill increased mandatory funding for the program through fiscal year 2023. With 2501 program grants, nonprofits, institutions of higher education and Indian Tribes can support socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers through education, training, farming demonstrations, and conferences on farming and agri-business, and by increasing access to USDA’s programs and services.

Since 1994, 484 grants totaling more than $119 million have been awarded. Among recent FY 2019 grantees, Developing Innovation in Navajo Education, Inc. was awarded funds to improve the operations and profitability of Arizona’s Navajo socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers, and increase the local production and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy food. The Mississippi Association of Cooperatives helped socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers and youth own and operate viable agricultural enterprises through an educational outreach program on farm management practices, financial management, and marketing.

Eligible 2501 program applicants include not-for-profit organizations, community-based organizations, and a range of higher education institutions serving African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic, Asian, and Pacific Islander communities.

The deadline for applications is August 26, 2020. See the request for applications for full details.

The Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement will host an upcoming teleconference during the open period of this announcement, and more sessions may be added. No registration is required to participate.
    July 28, 2020, 2 p.m. EDT
    Telephone Number: (877) 692-8955
    Passcode: 6433267

USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement develops and maintains partnerships focused on solutions to challenges facing rural and underserved communities in the United States, connecting those communities to the education, tools, and resources available to them through USDA programs and initiatives.