Industry News
Sept. 30, 2008

American Agri-Women Set Annual Meeting Nov. 5-9

Investigative reporter Tim Findley will be American Agri-Women’s (AAW) keynote speaker at their annual convention Nov. 5-9 at the historic Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas.

Findley made a name for himself during the most liberal decade in the nation’s most liberal metropolis, San Francisco, Calif. He is a 25-year veteran of the media industry who wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle and broke the stories on Patty Hearst while working there. He had also done work for Rolling Stone, UPI, KPIX-TV and KGO-TV.

Now Findley covers issues dear to America’s rural people as a mainstay writer for Range Magazine, fighting urban media bias with good independent journalism and telling the stories of cattlemen, ranchers and farmers.

Robert Balling Jr., professor in the climatology program in the School of Geographical Sciences at Arizona State University, will be at the convention to speak on climatology issues facing our world today.

Balling has served as a climate consultant to the United Nations Environment Program, the World Climate Program, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He has also written four books on climate change, published more than 125 articles, received more than $3,000,000 in research grants, presented lectures throughout the world, and appeared in a number of scientific documentaries and news features.

The program will also include an international panel of representatives from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. participating in AAW’s second annual summit. Policy-making and leadership roles will be conducted through roundtable discussions on rural public policy and what it takes to excel in today’s business and political environment and including immigration, NAFTA superhighway, global warming and the FairTax.

For a complete agenda of the 2008 American Agri-Women Annual Meeting & Convention visit www.texasagriwomen.org.

AAW is the nation’s largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women, with 50 state, commodity, agribusiness affiliate organizations and collegiate chapters throughout the country. AAW is a volunteer organization, working to provide true information about agriculture to the public since 1974. For more information, contact Marcie Williams, president, at president@americanagriwomen.org, or visit the web site at www.americanagriwomen.org.

— Release provided by American Agri-Women.

DTN Launches Agriculture Industry’s First Daily Online Market Commentary Videos

DTN, the leading business information services company focused on agricultural, energy and weather business markets, today announced the launch of the agriculture industry’s first daily online commodity market commentary video, DTN Closing Market Comment. Offered exclusively through DTN products and services, including www.dtnprogressivefarmer.com, DTN Closing Market Comment online videos will provide industry-tailored expert commentary and analysis on each day’s grains market activity from the industry’s leading agricultural editorial staff.

Hosted by DTN Chief Agriculture Meteorologist Bryce Anderson, DTN Closing Market Comment videos will be posted online after market close at 3 p.m. (CST). Each daily video will feature additional expert market analysis from DTN Senior Analyst Darin Newsom or DTN Grains Analyst Elaine Kub.

“Utilizing the industry’s largest and most decorated agricultural newsroom, DTN strives to help producers and traders take the guesswork out of today’s more volatile commodity markets to make better business decisions,” said Robert Gordon, DTN chief executive officer (CEO). “Offering daily DTN Closing Market Comment videos will further our efforts to provide agriculture professionals with the most accurate, real-time commodity market information and analysis.”

In addition to daily DTN Closing Market Comment videos, producers can view DTN Morning Weather Outlook. Also hosted by Bryce Anderson, this daily online video is posted each morning before the bell at 8:30 a.m. (CST) and provides producers with a daily look at weather conditions that might affect commodity prices in the grains market.

— Release provided by DTN.

OSU South Centers Lands Grant to Assist Farmers’ Markets

Ohio farmers’ markets and their vendors looking to boost their marketing efforts in providing fresh, local foods to consumers will receive assistance through a new Ohio State University (OSU) Extension program.

OSU South Centers at Piketon was recently awarded a $99,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Business Enterprise grant to launch the Growing! Ohio Farmers’ Markets program. The program provides assistance to farmers’ market managers, boards of directors and vendors/producers in three main areas of business: marketing, money and management.

“With the tremendous growth in consumer demand for locally produced foods, we are pleased to be able to assist Ohio’s food producers in taking advantage of this opportunity,” said Christie Welch, an OSU Extension farmers’ market specialist for OSU South Centers at Piketon. “This is a win-win for producers and consumers alike. The producers increase their financial stability, which helps maintain their farms, and the consumers have access to the fresh local foods they demand.”

Welch and her colleagues are partnering with USDA Rural Development in implementing the program, the focus of which will be on providing business training and technical assistance. The technical assistance is designed to increase the knowledge, skills and abilities of the farmers’ markets participating in the program. Training will include such areas as developing marketing plans, establishing producer standards, building a business plan, developing accounting systems, leveraging resources and conducting feasibility studies.

Trainings will be provided beginning this fall.

Tom Worley, director of OSU South Centers emphasized the importance of the program and its connection with local foods.

“This funding is expected to expand the availability of locally grown products by working with current and potential growers and vendors, as well as managers of farmers’ markets,” Worley said.

According to the Farmers’ Market Coalition, the number of farmers’ markets in the U.S. has increased 40% during the past decade. More than 3 million consumers shop at farmers’ markets, spending more than $1 billion per year.

For more information on the program, contact Christie Welch at 740-289-2071, ext. 234, or e-mail welch.183@osu.edu.

— Release provided by OSU’s CFAES.

Poultry Litter Can Be Valuable Source of Nitrogen and Phosphorus

The high cost of fertilizer nutrients is convincing some producers to go to the birds — poultry, that is. More specifically, they are turning to poultry waste, or “litter.”

Poultry litter can provide a significant and important supply of nutrients for crop production in areas of Kansas where a supply of litter is available, said Doug Shoup, Kansas State University (K-State) Research and Extension Southeast crops and soils specialist.

“Although Kansas is not a major producer of poultry, there is an abundant supply of litter from the nearby states of Arkansas and Oklahoma, which rank among the largest producers of poultry in the U.S.,” Shoup said.

Poultry litter can serve as an excellent complement to commercial nitrogen fertilizer, said Dorivar Ruiz Diaz, K-State Research and Extension nutrient management specialist. It should not be seen as a complete replacement for commercial nitrogen fertilizer, however.

“Poultry litter has a high phosphorus concentration relative to nitrogen. Poultry litter application rates should be based on phosphorus levels, not nitrogen levels, to avoid potential water contamination problems,” Ruiz Diaz said.

Applications in excess of agronomic needs can lead to high concentrations of phosphorus in surface runoff, leading, in turn, to potential contamination of surface water bodies, said Bill Hargrove, director of the Kansas Center for Agricultural Resources and the Environment (KCARE). High nutrient loading into lakes contributes to unwanted algal blooms and eutrophication, he said.

KCARE is part of K-State Research and Extension.

When storing litter, producers should place piles in areas farthest from ditches, waterways, and streams to minimize the potential for runoff into surface waters, Shoup said. Incorporation of litter immediately after application will reduce the potential for volatilization losses and potential loss caused by water runoff in case of a rainfall event, Ruiz Diaz said.

Nutrient concentration in poultry litter can be highly variable and depends mainly upon production conditions, and storage and handling methods. Therefore, laboratory analysis is the best way to determine the level of nitrogen and phosphorus in the litter, he added.

Nitrogen and phosphorus crop availability shortly after application is a common question.

“Field and laboratory studies suggest that the fraction of total nitrogen that becomes plant available the first year of application is approximately 45 to 55 percent, depending upon components in the litter, and the method of handling and application,” Ruiz Diaz said.

Phosphorus availability from poultry litter is considered similar to commercial fertilizers, he said. Therefore supplemental phosphorus fertilization after application of poultry litter is unnecessary when litter application rates provide sufficient amounts of phosphorus.

“However, it is important to remember that supplemental nitrogen may be required when application rates are based on the phosphorus content of the litter,” Ruiz Diaz said.

The use of poultry litter can contribute to a reduced cost of fertilizer inputs for many operations, depending on the price and transportation cost of the litter. For many farmers the use of poultry litter may represent significant savings, the agronomists said.

More information is available in the K-State Extension publication MF-2562, “Estimating Manure Nutrient Availability,” at: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/crpsl2/mf2562.pdf.

—   Release provided by K-State Research & Extension News.

— compiled by Tosha Powell, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.