Monday June 03 Ag News

 Soybean Gall Midge Emergence in Nebraska

On May 30th,  soybean gall midge adult emergence was observed in east-central Nebraska in Saunders and Lancaster Counties. Soybean stage is a critical factor for the susceptibility of soybean to soybean gall midge. Only soybean with fissures at the base of the plant are susceptible to soybean gall midge infestation. Soybean planted in late April and early May are mostly at the V2 stage; however, those planted in mid to late May are VE-V1. Research being conducted this season shows that soybean planted on the same day at different depths can impact the soybean stage of development.

Soybean Gall Midge: Should I Spray Checklist
❏    Soybean gall midge adults have emerged in my area
❏    My soybean field is at the V2 stage or greater (Fig. 2)
❏    I observed soybean gall midge injury in the adjacent field last year

Management of soybean gall midge has been difficult. Foliar sprays have shown some response but are inconsistent between locations and years. No specific foliar-applied product tested to date has provided consistent control of SGM. Research to date suggests that growers can consider using a combination product that contains a pyrethroid. If an application is being considered, it should only be made in soybean fields where a history of issues with soybean gall midge injury has occurred. Since soybean gall midge is a field edge-infesting pest, growers may only need to treat the first 60 to 120 feet of a field edge that is directly adjacent to a field that was injured the previous year. Do not treat any soybean fields prior to V2, as they are not susceptible to infestation due to the lack of fissures or cracks at the base of the stem.

Hilling or covering the base of soybean stems with soil has also been found to be a very effective strategy with almost complete control of soybean gall midge. This is a difficult practice to implement when soybean plants are small, as they can easily be completely covered by soil. Studies are being conducted to evaluate the timing of hilling relative to the plant development stage. More information on hilling is available through the soybeangallmidge.org website. Little is known about the impact this management strategy could have on soybean gall midge movement in a field. Although no field studies have been conducted, it is possible that adults may continue to move into the field until they find a susceptible plant.

With no detection of soybean gall midge in other parts of the network, it would be advisable to wait for emergence to occur in those areas. You can continue to follow adult emergence at all locations through soybeangallmidge.org.



CAP Webinar: 2023 Nebraska Farm Business Financial Averages
Jun 6, 2024 12:00 PM
Tina Barrett, Director, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Inc.

Tina Barrett will review the most recent data collected by Nebraska Farm Business, Inc., from Nebraska farms and ranches including income, ratios and family living data. Tina will have lots of information from the past ten years and will interpret what that may mean for 2024. You can take this information and apply it to your farm or ranch by benchmarking the data to your own operation.

See more information and register at https://cap.unl.edu/webinars.   



HEUERMANN LECTURE PANEL TOUTS NEBRASKA’S AG TECH STRENGTH

Advanced ag technology has gained important momentum in recent years, and Nebraska is playing a key leadership role. A panel of entrepreneurs and business analysts spoke in detail on that theme during a May 29 symposium at Nebraska Innovation Campus.

The presentations and discussions, part of the Heuermann Lecture series, described Nebraska’s strengths in ag tech, including the state’s diversity of startups, increase in ag-focused venture capital, and large-scale strategic investments enabling research innovations and commercialization.

“One of the key factors for our company’s success is being in the heartland of agriculture,” said Jordyn Bader, director of industry partnerships for Marble Technologies, a Lincoln-based ag tech firm. “There is truly no better place in this country to be an entrepreneur and scientist who wants to contribute to the food and ag innovation space.”

Ambitious forays in ag tech development earlier this century did not pan out in part because they were led by coastal-based corporations that lacked deep understanding of agriculture, said Mike Jung, co-founder and managing partner of Grit Road Partners, an Omaha-based company that provides investment support for ag-tech entrepreneurs in the Midwest. That history shows that a solid understanding of agriculture is imperative for successful ag tech ventures, and Nebraska’s agricultural expertise gives it a major advantage, panelists said.

A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report pointed to another strength for Nebraska — the state ranks second in the nation in the use of precision ag technology, said Josh DeMers, program manager of The Combine, which provides supports for Nebraska food- and ag-focused startups.

Since 2019, The Combine has raised $15.5 million, received $5.7 million in grants and helped 28 companies. Several of the startups on the discussion panel received early-stage support from The Combine’s business incubator at Nebraska Innovation Campus.

The panel’s membership illustrated the breadth of innovation and business visioning in Nebraska’s ag tech ecosystem.

Marble Technologies uses machine learning and engineering innovations to enable meat processing automation. Sentinel Fertigation’s advanced crop imagery and data analysis help producers achieve nitrogen management savings. Grain Weevil’s robotics innovations promote grain bin safety. Nave Analytics boosts producers’ irrigation efficiency via data collection and climate modeling. ALA Engineering’s software and hardware innovations enable feed truck automation.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is set to expand its support for startups by building an ag- and natural resources-focused business accelerator at Nebraska Innovation Campus. The accelerator will complement the USDA’s adjacent National Center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture, which is now being built.

The $160 million federal research laboratory will focus on innovations in advanced ag technology and natural resources sustainability and is expected to double the USDA’s science and support staff presence at the university.

UNL’s accelerator will convert the USDA center’s research findings into business opportunities. Mike Boehm, vice chancellor for the university’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, described the new business accelerator as “The Combine on steroids.”

These strategic investments reinforce each other, Boehm said, and illustrate that “what happens first in ag innovation begins in Nebraska.”

Only a few years ago, venture capital investors and entrepreneurs showed little interest in advanced technology for agriculture, but ag tech has since been making notable advances on the innovative and investment front, said Yung, with Grit Road Partners. Since 2021 his company has raised more than $11 million and made 18 investments in ag tech across the Midwest, including eight investments in Nebraska.

In 2011, Nebraska tied for last among the 50 states for overall venture capital investment, but now the state is consistently around 30th place, said Ben Williamson, principal and general counsel for Invest Nebraska, which provides investment capital to early-stage startups. Nebraska’s ranking is positive because it is higher than the state’s 35th-place ranking for economic output.

Challenges the panelists described included common ones for startups, such as early-stage complications and developing certainty regarding markets and pricing. Jacob Hansen said his company, ALA Engineering, would benefit if federal authorities clarified regulations about robotics.

Startups would benefit from greater interest from corporations, to set up potential “exits” as startups are absorbed and benefit from greater capitalization and support, said Chad Johson, a Grain Weevil co-founder from Aurora.

One reason gaining such corporate attention is difficult, said Invest Nebraska’s Williamson, is that “the unit of measurement of progress in entrepreneurship is decades, not years, in terms of ecosystem growth. But if you’re in entrepreneurship, that’s an eternity” for individual startups.

Bader, with Marble Technologies, pointed to the university’s Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program as another source of strength for Nebraska ag tech. The Engler program, begun in 2012 and now with more than 340 alumni, is “one of the gems of the University of Nebraska system,” said Bader, an Ainsworth native and alumna of the program. More than 230 of those Engler alumni are living, working and growing businesses in Nebraska.

The Engler program is proving its value in giving students in-depth experience in real-world business conditions, Bader said. When her company sees that a job applicant’s resume includes an Engler connection, “that carries a lot of weight for us.”

The Heuermann Lecture series is made possible through a gift from B. Keith and Norma Heuermann of Phillips, Nebraska. The Heuermanns are longtime university supporters with a strong commitment to Nebraska's production agriculture, natural resources, rural areas and people.



Republicans Represent 81 of Top 100 Ag Production Districts

Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks reported last week that “Republicans are tightening their electoral grip on farm country, holding all but 19 of the top 100 congressional districts in terms of agricultural sales, according to an Agri-Pulse analysis of newly released data from USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture.”

“Republicans control 21 districts ranked highest for the value of sales of agricultural commodities in 2022, with Adrian Smith’s Nebraska district topping the list with $22.9 billion in sales,” Wicks reported. “Altogether, 81 of the top 100 districts in ag production are represented by Republicans. Three seats are currently vacant, and Republican Vince Fong won a race Tuesday for one of those, California’s 20th District, which was vacated by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.”

“The Democrat-held seat that ranks highest in agricultural production is California’s 18th district, which is represented by Rep. Zoe Lofgren,” Wicks reported. “…The districts held by California Democrats Raul Ruiz and Salud Carbajal rank 32nd and 36th, respectively. Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson’s seat is 38th on the list, while North Carolina Democrat and House Agriculture Committee member Don Davis’ district is 49th.”

“Even when ranking congressional districts by their overall number of farms, Republicans outnumber Democrats,” Wicks reported. “(Adrian) Smith’s Nebraska district led in 2022 with 34,297 total farms; (Michelle) Fischbach’s Minnesota district followed with 31,267 and (Randy) Feenstra’s Iowa district came in third with 29,941. New Mexico Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez is the first in her party to appear on that list, with her district ranking 43rd in terms of number of farms.”

Top 10 Congressional Districts by Overall Sales
    Adrian Smith — Nebraska District 3 ($22.9 billion)
    Randy Feenstra — Iowa District 4 ($22.1 billion)
    Tracey Mann — Kansas District 1 ($17.9 billion)
    Michelle Fischbach — Minnesota District 7 ($15.3 billion)
    Dusty Johnson — South Dakota At-Large ($12.9 billion)
    Kelly Armstrong — North Dakota At-Large ($12.1 billion)
    John Duarte — California District 13 ($11.2 billion)
    Ashley Hinson — Iowa District 2 ($10.8 billion)
    Brad Finstad — Minnesota District 1 ($10.4 billion)
    Ronny Jackson — Texas District 13 ($10.3 billion)

For the full list of U.S. Congressional Districts by overall agricultural sales, click here.
Top 10 Congressional Districts by Number of Farms
    Adrian Smith — Nebraska District 3 (34,297)
    Michelle Fischbach — Minnesota District 7 (31,267)
    Randy Feenstra — Iowa District 4 (29,941)
    Dusty Johnson — South Dakota At-Large (28,299)
    Sam Graves — Missouri District 6 (27,116)
    Tracey Mann — Kansas District 1 (26,628)
     Josh Brecheen — Oklahoma District 2 (26,466)
    Kelly Armstrong — North Dakota At-Large (25,068)
    Ashley Hinson — Iowa District 2 (23,572)
    Frank Lucas — Oklahoma District 3 (23,317)

In addition to counting overall agricultural sales and number of farms, the 2022 Census of Agriculture also counted total government payments received by farms in U.S. Congressional Districts, and many of the same districts counted above are featured in that count. Armstrong’s North Dakota At-Large District received a little more than $1 billion in government payments and Johnson’s South Dakota At-Large District received $744 million in government payments. No other district received more than $500 million.



Nebraska Farmers Union Foundation Has Successful Give to Lincoln Campaign

The Nebraska Farmers Union (NeFU) Foundation Board of Directors have called this year’s “Give to Lincoln” campaign a success, and are grateful for the opportunity to participate in this great annual fundraising event.  Before the Lincoln Foundation matching amount is known, twenty-three donors gave $2,849.87 to the NeFU Foundation as “Give to Lincoln” had another record year. A total of 463 total non-profits registered for this year’s “Give to Lincoln” program that ran from May 1st through May 30th. NeFU Foundation ranked #266 on the leaderboard in donations.

NeFU Foundation Secretary John Hansen said “We were in the middle with 255 non-profits received more and 197 received less than we did. We appreciate the opportunity to once again participate in “Give to Lincoln” and the generosity of the Lincoln Community Foundation.”

Contributions to the NeFU Foundation can either be designated for general support, or as a memorial to someone in the Farmers Union family.  All donations are put into principal where the investment earnings only are used to support programming to support family farm, ranch, and rural families while maintaining a growing permanent endowment.

NeFU Foundation President Jeff Kirkpatrick said “All contributions that help us grow our endowment are welcome, and put to good use. The larger our endowment, the more revenues are available to support our programs. Because we don’t spend the principal, and because it continues to produce revenues on an ongoing basis, donations to our foundation are gifts that continue to give year after year. We appreciate the generosity of our supporters.”

NeFU Foundation Secretary John Hansen noted that this year’s final day of “Give to Lincoln” fundraising ended on a bitter sweet note with the passing of former NeFU District 7 Director John Goeller of Pilger who in 1986 collected the first checks from George Paulson from Dakota City to start the Foundation. It was John Goeller and George Paulson who had the vision and dedication which created the NeFU Foundation and it has grown from those first two donations.

NeFU Foundation Secretary John Hansen concluded, “While our NeFU and NeFU Foundation organizations mourn the loss of our long-time leader and dreamer of big and good ideas John Goeller, it is also a testament to John’s vision and passion that the NeFU Foundation he started 38 years ago continues to grow and serve Nebraska farm, ranch, and rural families as he intended. John Goeller believed in building and growing the ability of Farmers Union to create a better tomorrow for everyone involved in the noble profession of farming and ranching.”



Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Detected in a Commercial Turkey Flock in Cherokee County

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Cherokee County, Iowa. The affected site is a commercial turkey flock.

HPAI is a viral disease that affects both wild and domestic bird populations as well as lactating dairy cattle. HPAI can travel in wild birds without those birds appearing sick, but is often fatal to domestic bird populations, including chickens and turkeys. With supportive care, dairy cattle recover with little to no mortality associated with the disease.