News Update
Feb. 17, 2009

Farm Groups Dissect Stimulus Bill

As the House and Senate reached a tentative compromise Wednesday, Feb. 11, on a nearly $800 billion stimulus package, farm groups continued to lobby for programs to benefit farm and rural interests.

Mark Maslyn, executive director of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said issues share “first among equals” status for his organization’s hopes for the final stimulus package.

At the top of the Farm Bureau’s list are infrastructure development, from waterways, roads and bridges to broadband deployment into rural areas.

“They’re half as likely to have broadband or at least high-speed Internet access as suburban and urban areas are,” Maslyn said.

It’s a disadvantage in today’s economy, education and health care, he said.

“Just from a cultural standpoint, it would make rural areas a better, attractive place to live, raise families and do business,” he said. “You have to have high-speed Internet access.”

The House and Senate bills have differing amounts of money for the development of broadband, Maslyn said.

One possible credit provision provides 10% for broadband providers to enter rural areas to install current technology and 20% to install next-generation technology.

Rural areas also see a higher rate of crumbling highways and bridges and delayed repairs than more densely populated areas, Maslyn said.

Provisions address the issue in both bills.

For the full article, including further reaction by the National Farmer’s Union (NFU) and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), click here.

— Article provided by the Capital Press.

Grandin Clarifies Verification Program

Temple Grandin issued a statement during the weekend to clarify her involvement with the Niman Ranch humane handling and sustainability program. (Click here to read what Grandin was referring to).

Grandin issued the following statement Sunday with Meatingplace.com, saying:

“There has been considerable confusion generated by the original Niman Ranch press release dated Feb. 11. The program is an existing Niman Ranch program and I am working with them to make their standards clearer and easier to audit. My seal of approval is verification that they adhere to Niman Ranch standards and have a rigorous auditing program.

“Niman Ranch has more work to do and they are planning to have their auditing system in place by the summer. Other companies can also develop a program and seek my approval. The standards for each company are specific to each company, but they must have a high level of animal welfare that can be verified by audits.”

For the full statement from Temple Grandin, visit www.meatingplace.com or www.nimanranch.com/press.aspx.

Smithfield Restructures Pork, Closes Six Plants

Smithfield Foods announced this morning a major restructuring that includes reducing the number of independent operating companies to three from seven and closing six plants by December 2009, resulting in a net reduction of approximately 1,800 jobs in the pork group, according to Meatingplace.com.

The news site announced the following plant closings:

• The Smithfield Packing Co. South facility in Smithfield, Va., will be closed. Case-ready fresh pork production will be moved to the adjacent Smithfield North plant and a North Carolina facility. Of the 1,375 Smithfield South employees, 1,035 will be offered transfers; 745 of those employees will be offered transfers to move to Smithfield North, and the others will have the opportunity to move to Smithfield Packing Co. plants in North Carolina. The plant is scheduled to close in December.
  
• A Plant City, Fla., facility producing packaged meats will close in September, affecting 760 Smithfield Packing Co. employees. A number of salaried employees will be offered transfers.
  
• The Smithfield Packing Co. plant in Elon, N.C., will close late in the summer, and country ham production there will cease. About 160 employees will be affected.
  
• A John Morrell plant in Great Bend, Kan., with 275 employees will close in July. The plant processes fresh pork and smoked meats.
  
• Farmland Foods will close its New Riegel, Ohio, plant. The plant will be shifting spiral ham production to other facilities and closing in April. About 230 employees will be affected. The company will offer transfers to other facilities to some salaried employees.
  
• An Armour-Eckrich Meats LLC packaged meats plant in Hastings, Neb., will close in July, affecting about 370 employees.
  

The plan includes other actions at various operating units. For more information visit www.meatingplace.com.

— Information provided by Meatingplace.com.

One Calving Season vs. Two Calving Seasons

Deciding on the use of one calving season or two calving seasons is a big first decision when producers are choosing calving seasons. Many fall calving seasons have arisen from elongated spring seasons. Two calving seasons fits best for herds with more than 80 cows.

To take full advantage of the economies of scale, a ranch needs to produce at least 20 steer calves in the same season to realize the price advantage associated with increased lot size. Therefore, having 40 cows in each season as a minimum seems to make some sense. Using two seasons instead of just one can reduce bull costs a great deal. Properly developed and cared-for bulls can be used in both the fall and the spring, therefore reducing the bull battery by half. Another small advantage to having two calving seasons is the capability of taking fall-born heifers and holding them another few months to go into the spring season and visa versa.

Because of this, replacement heifers are always 2 1/2 years at first calving instead of 2 years old. These heifers should be more likely to breed early in the breeding season and have slightly less calving difficulty. Research has shown that these differences are very small, therefore the cost of the other six months of feed must be minimal to make this a paying proposition. A disadvantage to breeding heifers to calve at 30 months is found when “open” heifers are culled. They are too old to go to the feedlot and produce high grading carcasses that are available for some international markets.

Therefore, the older heifers will be discounted heavily when marketed after an unsuccessful attempt to get them bred. Many producers like the dual calving seasons because of the spread of the marketing risk. Having half of the calf crop sold at two different times allows for some smoothing of the cattle cycle roller coaster ride. It is important that an adequate number of calves be born together to a make a marketable package that will not be discounted because of small lot size.

— by Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University, at http://beef.unl.edu.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.