Monday June 24 Ag News

Part 107 Remote Pilot Exam Prep Course Continues Throughout the Summer

Nebraska Extension continues to offer a one-day course to prepare individuals to pass the FAA Aeronautical Knowledge Exam — the first step towards receiving a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate or drone license.

To date, over 30 students have either enrolled or successfully completed the 2024 summer sessions. The Part 107 Remote Pilot Exam Prep course is suitable for anyone wanting to receive a drone license for working in agriculture, law enforcement and emergency management, real estate, insurance, education, or any activity requiring a commercial drone license.

“One of the advantages of taking this course with Nebraska Extension is being able to complete the training in one day,” said Dr. Dirk Charlson, statewide extension educator and course instructor.  “There are many online options available, but these online courses require 10 hours or more of watching videos and reading online materials with very little, if any, instructor support.”

In a day, this course provides straightforward and understandable lessons on regulations, airspace, radio communication, weather, aircraft performance, and other basic aviation concepts necessary to pass the Part 107 knowledge exam.

“This course taught me more today than what I purchased online and having to watch 15 hours of online videos. This course is much better and more efficient,” said Chris Dankleff of Otoe County, who recently completed the course.

The Part 107 Remote Pilot Exam Prep courses are available to the public. Aviation experience is not essential to be successful in the course. There are four remaining dates/locations in the course's summer session, held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time:
    Friday, June 28 — Gage County Extension Office, 1115 W. Scott St., Beatrice.
    Wednesday, July 10 — Henry J. Stumpf International Wheat Center, 76025 Rd. 329, Grant.
    Thursday, Aug. 8 — Dodge County Extension Office, 1206 W. 23rd St., Fremont.
    Friday, Aug. 16 — UNL West Central Research, Extension and Education Center, 402 W. State Farm Rd., North Platte.

Registration is available online for each location https://cvent.me/x1AQD2. Pre-registration is required with a $275 registration fee. Study materials, and light breakfast and lunch will be provided. An educational discount is available to students and educators through an application process available on the registration link.

Please contact Dirk Charlson for more information on this course at 402-460-0742 (text or call).



CAP Webinar: Insurance for Annual Forages
Jun 27, 2024 12:00 PM in
With Jay Parsons, Professor and Director, UNL Center for Agricultural Profitability
Register at https://cap.unl.edu/webinars
 
Many producers are planting annual forages on cropland for use as livestock feed. Insurance for annual forages is available in the form of a rainfall index product much like the popular Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) insurance available for perennial forages.

The Annual Forage insurance program (AFIP) is available in all counties of Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. Use of the program continues to grow with acres insured with AFIP in Nebraska more than doubling between the 2022 and 2023 crop years. Several changes to the AFIP took effect last year. The current sign-up period for Annual Forage insurance ends July 15 for annual forages planted from August 1, 2024 through July 31, 2025. We will discuss these changes and tips for how to integrate Annual Forage insurance coverage into your program.



2024 Nebraska Custom Rates: What to Charge?
Glennis McClure - Extension Educator, Farm and Ranch Management Analyst

2024 Nebraska Custom Rates Webinar
Thursday, July 11, 2024, at noon CT
With: Glennis McClure, Farm and Ranch Management Analyst, UNL Center for Agricultural Profitability.
This webinar provides a summary of the newly released 2024 Nebraska Farm Custom Rates Report, with information on how the data might be applied.
Register at https://cap.unl.edu/webinars

Download 2024 Report here: https://cap.unl.edu/publications/2024/custom-rates-ec823-2024.pdf

The 2024 Nebraska Custom Rates Report, which offers insights for agricultural producers and service providers, is now available through Nebraska Extension and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Agricultural Profitability. The report, published at cap.unl.edu/customrates, compiles survey data from 159 respondents, providing current market rates for 138 different custom operations and services across Nebraska.

This comprehensive resource serves as an essential guide for those offering and seeking custom agricultural services. While the report offers a detailed overview of market trends, custom service providers are encouraged to consider their own operational costs when determining their rates.

Agricultural custom rate charges can vary across the state. Therefore, the Nebraska Custom Rates Report provides rate details from survey responses grouped by Nebraska Agricultural Statistics Districts. Several factors contribute to rate differences reported by survey participants, including field and job sizes, soil conditions and the number of responses for the various operations. Some operators may charge lower than market rate prices to neighbors or relatives. Rates can change from year to year due to expense differences and local market forces.

Determining appropriate charges for custom machine hire and agricultural services includes consideration of various elements such as current market rates reported in the custom rates survey report, market demand in the area for specific types of custom work, and availability of services.

Adjusting custom rates for fuel costs
Fuel cost is a key expense when operating machinery and fluctuates over time. The 2024 custom rates survey data was received primarily during the first quarter of 2024. The average expected farm-delivered diesel fuel rate reported by survey participants was $3.26 per gallon. If fuel costs change, custom operators may adjust their rates accordingly. For example, if fuel (diesel) cost used in the power unit jumps to $4.20 per gallon, and the machine has a consumption rate of 0.85 gallons per acre, the additional rate can be figured using this equation: $4.20 - $3.26 = $0.94 diesel price increase x 0.85 consumption rate = $0.80. This 80-cent increase would be added to the per-acre custom charge to factor in the fuel rate increase.

Factoring in machinery and equipment to custom rates
Aside from the custom rates reported by Nebraska operators in the survey, establishing custom rate fees should involve calculation of machine ownership and operation costs, with a profit margin added if desired. The UNL Center for Agricultural Profitability developed the Agricultural Budget Calculator (ABC) program to assist producers in determining cost of production for their enterprises, which includes machinery and equipment costs used in agricultural operations. Producers and custom operators can utilize the online program, agbudget.unl.edu  to enter their machinery and equipment information such as purchase value, length of anticipated ownership, and other key machinery information such as coverage rate, along with fuel prices, labor costs, and estimated annual repair expense for each machine to determine operation costs per acre. Fuel, repair, and salvage value cost factors and calculations from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) are utilized in the ABC program.

Setting custom rates
Determining a rate to charge for agricultural custom services should be no different than establishing prices for other industry business services. First, observing current market rates or prices, as provided in the Nebraska Custom Rates report or other resources that provide such information, then figuring total operating and ownership costs, and if desired, adding an extra amount or profit margin to the price charged.

Full summaries from the custom rates survey, including regional rates for the eight Nebraska Statistics Districts and the overall state, are published as University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Circular (EC) 823 and available online at: cap.unl.edu/customrates. The information presented in the state summary and full report should be used only as a guide when determining what to charge or pay for custom operations.



USDA moves to gain better understanding of forest and grazing conservation practices

This summer, the Conservation Practice Adoption Motivations Survey (CPAMS), a joint project between USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), will be mailed to 43,000 forest and grazing landowners and managers across the nation. The CPAMS gathers information to understand why people choose to use different conservation practices, and whether they continue to use practices over time. The data will help improve voluntary conservation programs. NASS will mail an invitation to respond early online at agcounts.usda.gov starting June 24. NASS will mail questionnaires on July 8 with the option for survey recipients to respond online, by mail, or fax. If NASS does not receive completed questionnaires by July 28, they may reach out to schedule interviews. A data highlights publication is scheduled for October 2024 and will be published at nass.usda.gov.

Four different conservation categories are researched through CPAMS overall: crop practices, confined livestock practices, grazing practices and forestry practices. This year, NASS will survey grazing practices and forestry practices. Crop practices and confined livestock practices were surveyed in 2022. The grazing sample respondents are randomly selected from NASS records of operations that meet the grazing land criteria. The forestry sample respondents are determined by the USDA Forest Service area frame determination of wood or forest landowners.

“By responding to CPAMS, you can help shape the future of conservation, agriculture, and forestry,” said NASS Administrator Joseph L. Parsons. “With better data to help us understand how
conservation fits into existing agriculture and forest management operations, program resources can be focused on where they will be most effective. I encourage everyone who receives a CPAMS questionnaire to respond.”

Protected by federal law, responses are confidential and used for statistical purposes only. No single respondent can be identified from the published data.

“Your input will help improve our voluntary conservation programs, including technical and financial assistance,” said NRCS Chief Terry Cosby. “By responding to CPAMS, you also help document and give credit to your ongoing stewardship of America’s agricultural forest land resources.”

Previous CPAMS data are available on the Highlights page of the NASS website. For more information, visit nass.usda.gov/go/CPAMS. For help with the CPAMS questionnaire, call 888-424- 7828.



Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Detected in a Sioux County Dairy Herd

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 an additional three cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in dairy herds in Sioux County, Iowa on Friday and Saturday last week. To date, the Department has announced 11 detections of HPAI within dairy herds in Iowa.