News Update

News Update
April 23, 2007

U.S. Beef Back in South Korea

The industry is eagerly awaiting proof that South Korea is truly reopening its borders to U.S. beef. A 6.4-ton shipment was received in South Korea Monday, Reuters news service reported earlier today. The shipment is the first since the country rejected three shipments of U.S. beef, amounting to 22 tons, because of bone fragments late last year.

Inspection of the current shipment is expected to take up to 18 days.

Reuters noted that South Korean quarantine officials have changed their guidelines so if bone chips are found, only the packages containing the chips are to be rejected.

Once the third-largest importer of U.S. beef, South Korea banned imports after the December 2003 finding of a cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States. In September 2006, South Korea partially reopened its market to U.S. beef from cattle harvested at less than 30 months of age. The rejected shipments late last year rankled the beef industry, which deemed the inspections as unrealistic.

Farmers Have Options for Freeze-Damaged Wheat

Farmers looking to salvage something from their freeze-damaged wheat may consider cutting it and ensiling it for livestock feed, but there are several precautions they need to take to avoid causing problems for livestock.

First, farmers considering this option should check the labels on any chemicals they have used to ensure they are labeled for use on wheat for forages. Some chemicals commonly used on wheat for grain production are not labeled for use on wheat that is to be harvested for hay, said Jim Martin, weeds management specialist with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

If chemicals do not preclude its use for hay, ensiling may be the better option because of the difficulty in allowing wheat to dry enough to bale for hay, according to Garry Lacefield, UK forage specialist. Plants will need to dry down to 50%-70% moisture for proper ensiling. Although silage inoculation may not be needed during the summer months, the extended cold temperatures have significantly reduced the beneficial bacteria necessary for proper ensiling. Therefore, UK forage specialists recommend using a commercial silage inoculum for this crop.

In addition to checking chemical labels, farmers trying to salvage a forage crop from the damaged wheat should let the wheat grow at least for another week to help reduce nitrate levels, said UK Grains Specialist Chad Lee. Even though the head may be destroyed, the wheat likely will grow new leaves. The additional growth may also allow a farmer to cut the wheat when temperatures are warmer and more favorable for drying down cut plant material.

Ensiling will also reduce nitrate levels in freeze-damaged wheat by 50%. Forage samples should be analyzed for nitrate levels prior to feeding, however, to prevent nitrate poisoning.

Lee said several samples of wheat submitted for testing last week showed levels of nitrates above the “safe for feed” levels.

Nitrate samples can be submitted to the Breathitt Veterinary Center in Hopkinsville or the Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Lexington, he said. Several commercial laboratories may conduct the nitrate testing as well. Local offices of the UK Cooperative Extension Service can assist farmers with the guidelines for nitrate testing.

— Release provided by the UK Agricultural Communications Service

Purdue University Offers Agribusiness Conferences and Seminars

Purdue University will host several conferences and seminars aimed at those in agribusiness. Among the seminars are:

May 1 — Managing Your Second Season: Getting the Most Out of Your Sales Team. Selling in the off-peak season offers several opportunities that don’t exist during the busiest parts of the year. This free webinar is intended to jump-start your thinking about how you can help yourself and your sales team increase productivity during the second season.
June 5-7 — Sales Management and Leadership. This seminar will focus on finding ways to lead, motivate and manage networks of employees — both inside and outside your area of supervision. This seminar demonstrates real-world applications of sales management and leadership concepts.
July 10-11 — Precision Selling: Building Relationships with Large Farmers. Managing key accounts requires a skill set often more closely aligned with management than with a traditional sales position. The seminar is intended to help you establish a framework for handling key sales accounts.
Oct. 22-26 — Agrimarketing. Strategic agrimarketing is a practical, hands-on look at market segmentation, product and pricing strategies, distribution, people, and marketing communication decisions. The program utilizes custom agribusiness case applications to help participants gain more than a conceptual understanding of marketing.
Nov. 13-14 — National Conference for Agribusiness: “Re-Thinking Service Strategies: Innovations that Drive Profit.” Combining original research with innovative ways of approaching both familiar and unfamiliar problems, the National Conference will explore the concept of service management and encourage participants to think strategically about how to manage service offerings for maximum effect on both customers and their firm.

For more information about these conferences and seminars, contact the Purdue’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business at 765-494-4247 or agbusinessinfo@purdue.edu.

— Release provided by the Purdue University Center for Food and Agricultural Business