News Update

News Update
Oct. 27, 2008

Beef Quality Summit Will Be Nov. 6-7 in ~~Fort Collins~~ Colorado Springs

BEEF magazine will host its third annual Beef Quality Summit Nov. 6-7 at the Antlers Hilton in Colorado Springs, Colo. The theme of this year’s conference is “Quality – A Solution to Rising Costs.” The Beef Quality Summit provides attendees with the opportunity to network with producers, vendors and others in the industry, and to learn how to increase the value of their beef-cattle production. Full conference details are available at www.beefconference.com.

Registration is $150, which includes the program, trade show, two breakfasts, two lunches and an evening reception. The program features some of the nation’s top experts providing participants with background and insight into considerations, tools and practices that can help producers optimize beef quality as a competitive tactic in these challenging times.

— Release provided by BEEF magazine.

Predator Awareness Workshop Slated for Nov. 6 in Sterling City

Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the Sterling County Range and Livestock Committee will host a predator awareness workshop Nov. 6 at the Sterling County Community Center. The program will begin at 8:30 a.m. Lunch will be provided.

Chad Coburn, AgriLife Extension agent in Sterling County, said the program has been approved for five and a half Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units (3.5 general, 1.5 integrated pest management and 0.5 laws and regulations).

Program topics include appreciating predators, interpreting physical evidence of predation, predator biology, predator control and wildlife management, non-lethal approaches, traps and snares, M-44s and LPCs, aerial gunning and calling, predators as disease vectors, a code of ethics for predator management, and preventing illicit use of pesticides in predator control programs.

Individual preregistration by Nov. 3 is $15 and $25 thereafter. The fee includes program materials and a catered lunch by Kenny Blanek of San Angelo. For more information and to preregister, call the AgriLife Extension office in Sterling County at 325-378-3181.

— Release written by Steve Byrns and provided by Texas AgriLive Extension

Contact: Chad Coburn, 325-378-3181, c-coburn@tamu.edu

Livestock Manure Management Conference Slated Nov. 18

Among the myriad of challenges livestock producers face on a day-to-day basis, there is at least one constant — the issue of manure management, including capturing its full value. To help livestock producers of all operation sizes address this challenge, Kansas State University (K-State) and K-State’s Beef Cattle Institute will host a Livestock Manure Management Conference Nov. 18 in Garden City.

The event starts with registration at 10 a.m. in the K-State Research and Extension Southwest Area Office. The program will begin at 10:30 a.m. Topics to be addressed include how feed ingredients influence diet nutrient level, diet affects on nutrient excretion and land needs, determining the economic value of manure, composting and changes in value, legality of manure and crop nutrient removal, and agronomics of manure and crop nutrient removal.

A live webcast will be available for those who are not able to travel to Garden City. Contact Chris Reinhardt for additional webcast information at 785-532-1672 or cdr3@ksu.edu.

The advance registration fee of $15 includes lunch and is due by Nov. 11. The fee to participate in the webcast is $20 and to register at the door is $25. More information about registration and the event itself is available on the web at www.asi.ksu.edu/manure or by calling Justin Waggoner in the K-State Research and Extension Southwest Area office at 620-275-9164.

 — Release provided by K-State Research and Extension

USDA Scientist Gives Insight on Climate Change, Implications for World Agriculture

Plenty of media reports have been devoted to the subject of global climate change, but farmers and ranchers may still be wondering what the change means for how they’ll grow the food supply in coming years.

“No sector of agriculture is going to escape the impact of climate change,” said Jerry Hatfield, who’s with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS). He joined several other experts to speak about climate change at K-State Oct. 21. The presentation was part of the 2008 K-State Research and Extension Annual Conference, held to update Extension agents on research in various disciplines.

Hatfield, the lead scientist and director of the USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Lab in Ames, Iowa, noted that in any given year, farmers and consumers see the effect of climate fluctuations on a crop in a particular area. It may be an early freeze that kills the citrus crop in Florida or a drought that cuts wheat output in Australia. Those are normal, regional fluctuations that affect supplies and prices.

In the case of global climate change, however, agriculture around the world is affected, Hatfield said, noting that farmers as far north as Pierre, S.D., are now planting corn and soybeans.

Hatfield cited the example of livestock — which, like humans, have an optimum range of temperatures at which they are most comfortable. With cattle, for instance, if the air temperature is far enough above the animals’ comfort range, their appetite is reduced. In turn, their rate of weight gain is reduced. Milk production and conception rates can also be affected.

Likewise, when the temperature falls far enough below animals’ comfort level, more of the calories they ingest will go toward maintaining their health.

Climate change could mean capital investment in livestock facilities to reduce the potential for livestock stress, Hatfield said.

Crop production also will be affected, he said. “This increasing impact of climate change will tax our ability to efficiently produce crops,” Hatfield said. “Every plant species has a point at which it quits growing.” 

For example, he said, corn has an optimal temperature range that tops out at 95° F. Up to that topping-out point, warmer temperatures cause faster plant development. But, faster plant development does not necessarily mean greater grain yields, the scientist added. The plants may grow, but the nutrients they provide may be diminished.

“Another one of the challenges will be managing soil to conserve water,” Hatfield said.

Global climate change will have an impact on weed and insect populations and will prompt changes in planting dates, he said.

Hatfield acknowledged that corn yields have generally been increasing in recent years. He said he believes, however, that they will start leveling off within five to 10 years because of the growth-affecting impacts of increasing temperatures and the related variability in precipitation. 

 — Release written by Mary Lou Peter-Blecha and provided by K-State Research and Extension

U.S. Ethanol Production Grows, Increasing Supply of Livestock Feed

The U.S. ethanol industry will continue to grow in 2009, creating a substantial increase in the supply of distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a coproduct of ethanol.

More than 500 attendees at the U.S. Grains Council’s International Distillers’ Grains Conference (IDGC) in Indianapolis, Ind., heard that ethanol production increased in 2008 by approximately 3 billion gallons to 9.3 billion gallons compared to last year. Production is projected by Informa Economics to reach 11.9 billion gallons in 2009. According to Ken Hobbie, USGC president and chief executive officer (CEO), roughly 33% of the grain going into U.S. ethanol production will come out as DDGS.

“Who would have believed five years ago that the ethanol industry would be the largest supplier of energy in this country? That will happen by the conclusion of 2009,” Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Council member Hawkeye Renewables, told more than 140 international participants.

Senior Vice President of Informa Economics Scott Richman said that due to the growth of the U.S. ethanol industry this year, 22.8 million tons of DDGS were available for global use in the 2007-2008 marketing year, nearly a 50% increase from the 2006-2007 marketing year. He said the 2008-2009 marketing year, which just began Oct. 1, will likely experience an additional 50% increase in the availability of DDGS, reaching 31.3 million tons.

“There will be a substantial amount of DDGS available for global livestock industries,” said Richman. “It looks like we are going to be pushing more DDGS into export markets.”

— Adapted from release written by Mike Deering, provided by the U.S. Grains Council

— compiled by Shauna Rose Hermel, editor, Angus Productions Inc.