News Update
July 29, 2011

Aug. 26 Tour Includes Cover Crops, Manure, No-till and More

Cover crop skeptics and believers can see firsthand how nutrients from manure applications can be captured, held and recycled to the following season, during a free plot tour that will take place Aug. 26 at Blight Farms in Albion, Mich.

“Some perceive that no-till situations don’t mix with manure and cover crops, but these plots will also show how those situations can be turned into success,” said Natalie Rector, Michigan State University (MSU) senior extension nutrient management educator. “The tour will be short and to the point to accommodate harvesting conflicts, but these plots are too good to miss this year.”

MSU Extension researcher and associate professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Tim Harrigan planted the plots into a wheat stubble field using slurry seeding, which uses a combination of low-disturbance tillage, hog manure and cover crop seed planted all in one pass. The plots include turnips and radishes, alone, and in combination with oats, both with and without manure, and drilled compared to slurry seeding. Harrigan’s research is also supported by MSU AgBioResearch.

During the tour, Harrigan will demonstrate the slurry seeding method and discuss past research plots that have tracked nitrogen losses and the ability of the cover crop to uptake nitrogen from manure and release it the following year to a corn crop. Rector will provide how-to basics of manure and cover crops.

Practical experience from tour host Ken Blight, a hog and beef producer, will provide attendees with his success of using rye cover crops in combination with manure to decrease runoff of manure and capture both the manure liquids and nutrients for reduction in purchased nitrogen the following season. The event will conclude with a tour of the livestock and cropping farmstead at the Blight Farm and a discussion of opportunities for becoming verified by the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP). The public tour will be in combination with the Michigan Soil and Water Conservation Society’s annual event. MAEAP Phase I credits will be available to attendees.

Ken, Art and Bill Blight will be farmer hosts for the event. Please plan to stop by for this free plot tour, Friday, Aug. 26, 10 a.m. to noon at 24010 Division Drive, Albion, Mich. The farm is located at the corner of Division Drive and 24 Mile Road.

For more information, contact Natalie Rector at rector@msu.edu or 269-967-6608. To learn more about cover crops and slurry seeding with manure, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=3st0qZ_3vH0.

For information on all cover crops and options, visit www.mccc.msu.edu. For more information on manure management in Michigan, visit www.animalagteam.msu.edu.

— Release by Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Beef Industry Long Range Plan Influences Summer Conference Deliberations

The Beef Industry Long Range Plan is playing a key role in the 2011 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Kissimmee, Fla., next week. Joint committees and subcommittees developing plans for the checkoff are being reminded of the strategic intent of the plan, and coming together to create synergy in achieving several of the core strategies outlined in it.

Finalized in early 2011, the Plan identifies six core strategies and goals in reaching its mission, which is to provide the safest, highest-quality, most consumer-friendly beef and beef products in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner.

These strategies are: improving domestic consumer preference for beef; capitalizing on global growth opportunities; strengthening the image of beef and the beef industry; protecting and enhancing our freedom to operate; improving industry trust, openness and relationships; and positioning the U.S. cow herd for growth. Each of the core strategies either has a measurable goal or is in the process of establishing a benchmark so that a measurable goal can be set.

Proposed beef checkoff-funded plans are built around three of these strategies: strengthening industry image, improving consumer preference for beef and capitalizing on global growth opportunities.

Keeping their eye on the ball, Beef Industry Long Range Plan Task Force members have already adjusted their strategic intent for the plan. Initially, the plan had set out to achieve a Wholesale Beef Demand Index of 105 by year-end 2013, but due to a variety of market and economic factors, the Index has already reached 110. As a result, Task Force members met by conference call July 21 and adjusted the strategic intent goal, which now is to maintain the Beef Demand Index at 110 throughout the duration of the plan.

“The Long Range Plan is a dynamic document that has firm goals,” according to Charles Miller of C&J Cattle Co., one of the Task Force co-chairs. “While we need to know where we’re going, we have to acknowledge there are factors that can impact us along the road.”
Task Force co-chair Robert Rebholtz of Agri-Beef agrees. “It’s great to have firm, measurable objectives, and we do,” he says. “But flexibility is key to our ability to make meaningful and quantifiable progress.”

The Long Range Plan is being used at the 2011 Cattle Industry Summer Conference, where joint committees and subcommittees are meeting in an “Achieving the Long Range Plan” session prior to their regular sessions on Wednesday, Aug. 3. The combined meeting replaces those of the full Global Consumer Marketing, Public Opinion & Issues Management and Research, Education and Innovation Groups. By meeting together, committee members will gain a better understanding of the plan and an appreciation for how programs will integrate to optimize results for the industry.

“We all need to be on the same page when it comes to developing plans that will impact demand for our product,” says Wesley Grau, a beef producer from Grady, N.M., and acting chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB). “Having a single meeting at which we can better understand where we are in the process helps us do that.”

According to David Dick, a beef producer from Sedalia, Mo., and chairman of the NCBA Federation Division, the focus on the Long Range Plan’s demand-related core strategies by joint committees will bring greater unity to the checkoff planning process. “When we can integrate and concentrate our focus on this single vision, it helps us to better deliver to the producers we represent,” he says. “During these difficult times this concept is critical. By coming together we hear the same message at the same time, and are able to process it immediately in our deliberations in the joint committees.”

During the 2011 Summer Conference, joint committees will approve plans of work for fiscal year 2012, which begins Oct. 1. Those proposed plans will be shared with the Beef Promotion Operating Committee in September, which will decide which efforts to fund with beef checkoff dollars and finalize a budget. This budget and plan must be reviewed and approved by the CBB, which will submit it to the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA-AMS) for final authorization.

In addition, NCBA Policy Committees will engage at summer conference to discuss how they can best impact Long Range Plan core strategies, including the one focused on protecting and enhancing the industry’s freedom to operate. The entire industry will need to focus on the remaining core strategies that involve improving industry trust and positioning the U.S. cow herd for growth.

The Beef Industry Long Range Plan can be viewed at www.beefusa.org or www.mybeefcheckoff.com.

— Release by the CBB.

Tropical Storm Don Welcome to Texas But No Match for the Drought

Texans are all but standing on the shores to welcome Tropical Storm Don to the drought-stricken state.

But leaders of several state agencies charged with monitoring the impact of the drought believe Don’s Texas trip may be too brief to blast the dry spell.

“Texas needs rain with a name,” Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said. “As Tropical Storm Don heads our way, Texas agriculture will be waiting with more anticipation than we usually have at the beginning of a Friday night football game. Hopefully, this will be just the kickoff of a series of rain events to break the grip of this devastating drought.”

From agricultural losses to shortages in community and recreational water, the impact of extended triple-digit temperatures and historically low rainfall amounts over most of the state will not be alleviated by Don, the state officials said.

Tropical Storm Don is expected to make landfall early Saturday morning near Corpus Christi.

Generally, an area is considered in meteorological drought when it has received 75% or less than the usual amount of rain over a given period of time, according to Travis Miller, a member of the Texas Drought Task Force and specialist with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

“So, if an area normally gets 25 inches of rain a year but has only had 8 inches, that would put it in a drought situation,” Miller explained. “To end that, the area would need, say, 9 inches of rain to come back to normal.”

Weather officials are predicting at most up to 4 inches of rain from Don in Texas, and that mostly will be in the southern Coastal Bend area. The rest of the state is expected to receive less than an inch.

“If you do the math, the good rain from this tropical storm will not last long. It could help fill some livestock tanks and help with some of the state’s lakes,” Miller said, “but the low stream flow is what is impacting so much of the state’s water resources now.”

Drought is multifaceted, the experts say, with part of the impact stemming from a lack of moisture in the soil and part from the decrease in surface supplies.

The latter impact, called hydrological drought, takes its toll mostly on communities that are dependent on reservoirs and streams to supply water to homes and businesses.

“The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is tracking public drinking water supplies and working with communities that are depending on surface water to find alternate ways to manage, such as conservation, planning, release of stored water or drilling additional wells,” said spokesperson Andrea Morrow.

Tropical Storm Don may also give some reprieve to firefighters who have battled blazes on 3.4 million acres in Texas this year, but the welcomed relief likely will be short-lived, according to Texas Forest Service spokesperson Linda Moon.

“There’s still a large portion of Texas that isn’t expected to get any residual moisture from the tropical storm,” she said. “We’re grateful for any rain we may see this weekend, but our firefighters throughout the state are prepared to continue this extended attack and see even more hot, dry weather as the summer goes on.”

Miller said Tropical Storm Don — and systems that may follow it to bring rain to the state — normally help the countryside green up within a week to 10 days after rainfall.

“But if we get 3 inches from Don and then no more the rest of the summer, we will be back in the stew,” Miller said.

While the drought of 2006 was ended by tropical storms and hurricanes, he added, weather experts are predicting a return to the moisture-short La Niña pattern this fall. That would extend the already devastating drought regardless of moisture from the hurricane season.

— Release written by Kathleen Phillips for Texas AgriLife Today.

NMSU Socorro County Extension to Offer Beef Quality Assurance Training

New Mexico State University (NMSU) Socorro County Extension office will host a free beef quality assurance program from 3 p.m.-6 p.m., Monday, Aug. 15, at the Extension offices at 198 Neel Ave. N.W., Socorro.

Joining the Socorro County Extension office as host and sponsors are the Farm Bureau Financial Services in Socorro, Paul’s Vet Supply and Richard Ritter CPA, respectively.

“Any producer raising beef cattle should attend this workshop,” said Tom Dean, Socorro County Extension agriculture agent. “It’s a really good training that covers a variety of topics associated with raising healthy cattle.”

John Wenzel, NMSU Extension veterinarian, will present the program. The training will cover such beef quality assurance (BQA) management topics as feedstuffs and sources, feed additives and medications, animal treatment and health maintenance, recordkeeping and inventory control, and the why, when and how of vaccinations. Producers will qualify for certification in beef quality assurance upon completion of the course.

“Many feedyards and foodservice companies have adopted the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HAACP) system, which is designed to ensure quality control,” Dean said. “By becoming educated in the beef quality assurance practices, producers are positioning themselves to take advantage of these marketing opportunities.”

For more information about the workshop, call the Extension office at 575-835-0610.

— Written by Jane Moorman as a release for NMSU.

Vilsack Urges Philanthropists to Seek Partnerships, Investments to Maximize Impact in Rural America

Speaking July 27 at the Council on Foundations Rural Philanthropy Conference, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called on representatives of philanthropic organizations from across America to partner with the Obama Administration, through the newly announced White House Rural Council, to drive smart investment strategies in rural America.

“The Obama Administration is working to ensure that rural Americans have access to basic services and that businesses have the tools they need to expand and create jobs in rural communities, but it takes all of us working together to bring substantial improvement to rural living conditions,” Vilsack said. “Rural America wants faster, more reliable telecommunications services; improved educational resources, health services and reliable police and fire protection. While the government can provide assistance, we need you to work with us in full partnership to maximize limited resources.”

Vilsack said that rural America faces a silent crisis of poverty, lack of education, outmigration, lack of opportunity and lack of capital and credit. Many challenges stretch across geographic and political boundaries.

“We need your support in leading more communities to consider broadening their scope, and doing the necessary planning to leverage the resources around them,” said Vilsack. “I challenge you to step up, take risks and work creatively to create jobs, improve quality of life and make an impact on rural America. That doesn’t just mean increased investments — but smarter investments.”

The Secretary said philanthropic organizations can forge new partnerships to remove barriers to rural investment.

For example, in South Dakota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided a $135,000 matching grant in 2010 to the ?okata Wi?oni Teen Center. The Center then worked to complete the match requirement through donations from Running Strong for American Indian Youth, South Dakota Community Foundation, and private donations. The teen center serves a wide area and includes a library, classrooms, computer lab and commercial kitchen.

In June, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the first White House Rural Council, chaired by Secretary Vilsack, and a series of working groups have been held in recent weeks to advance the Council’s objectives. As chair of the Rural Council, Vilsack is working to coordinate USDA programs across the government and encourage public-private partnerships to improve economic conditions and create jobs in rural communities. USDA, through its Rural Development mission area, administers and manages housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a national network of state and local offices to improve the quality of life in rural America.

— Adapted from a release by USDA.

Select Sires Employees Receive Advanced Training

Twenty-six professional technicians, Select Mating Service™ (SMS™) genetic consultants, Select Reproductive Solutions™ (SRS™) specialists and sales and marketing staff participated in Select Sires’ employee orientation June 7 and 8, 2011, at the Select Sires headquarters in Plain City, Ohio. Employees from seven member cooperatives, Select Sires Canada and Select Sires Inc. were present for the two-day event where they received advanced education in serving Select Sires’ customer-owners. Fifteen Select Sires federation employees gathered for an added two days on June 9 and 10, for extensive sales training.

“Select Sires’ employee orientation and sales training are a great resource to provide both new and existing employees more knowledge and give them the opportunity to share concepts with their colleagues,” said Lyle Kruse, vice president of U.S. market development for Select Sires. “At the end of these conferences, our skilled staff departs with the latest information to better serve Select Sires’ customer-owners.”

The participants received in-depth information about Select Sires’ programs including the Program for Genetic Advancement™ (PGA™), SRS, SMS and Program for Fertility Advancement™ (PFA™). They also received advanced training on the topics of reproductive solutions, fertility research, beef and dairy sire programs, cattle evaluation, herd management products and Select Sires’ gender-Selected™ process. 

Orientation and sales training participants included

• All West/Select Sires — Dean Hibbs, Richland, Wash., and Cameron Houle, Osler, Saskatchewan, Canada;
• COBA/Select Sires — Steve Deam, Hilliard, Ohio; Adam Gross, Laurelville, Ohio; Jon Lengerich, Gibsonburg, Ohio; Jeff Riethman, Minster, Ohio; Chad Smith, Stephenville, Texas; Johan Speelman, Amarillo, Texas; and Alex Wilkerson, Muleshoe, Texas;
• East Central/Select Sires — Hernando Duarte, Madison, Wis., and Matt Staner, Platteville, Wis.;
• Minnesota/Select Sires — Ashley Schnell, Rice, Minn.;
• NorthStar Cooperative — Angela Oesterle, Mason, Mich.; Lynnae Slavik, Ashley, Mich.; Fatos Tome, Troy, Mich.; and Mary Ann Walker, Dansville, Mich.;
• Select Sire Power — Michael Davis, Leesport, Pa.; Stephen Dodds, Cohocton, N.Y.; Parke Helsey, Hershey, Pa.; Jarid Jablonski, Argyle, N.Y.; Benjamin Perron, Mooers Forks, N.Y.; Ron Riedel, Corry, Pa.; and Terry Walker, Addison, N.Y.;
• Select Sires Canada — Linda Horner, Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada; and Ray Van Der Wielen, Chelsey, Ontario, Canada; and
• Select Sires Inc. — Caitlin Patrick, Woodbine, Md.
  Select Sires Inc., is North America’s largest A.I. organization and is comprised of 10 farmer-owned and -controlled cooperatives. 

— Release by Select Sires.

New U.S. DOT Proposed Rule and Farming

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), is taking comments on a proposed new rule involving farm trucks and off-road equipment such as tractors, combines and sprayers.

The proposal states that:

In certain instances, farm trucks, off-road equipment such as tractors, combines, and sprayers will be considered commercial vehicles requiring the operator to have a commercial driver’s license (CDL) and a medical exam; hours of service records will have to be maintained; the equipment will need to be registered and have a DOT number and farm name displayed; and, ultimately, no one under 18 will be allowed to operate farm equipment.

The proposed regulations are identified by Federal Docket Management System Number FMCSA-2011-0146. Fax comments to 1-202-493-2251 or mail to Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room W-12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue S.E., Washington, D.C. 20590-0001.

Comments can also be made online at www.regulations.gov.

Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the federal electronic docket site. The last day to submit a comment is Aug. 1, 2011.  

— Compiled by Linda Robbins, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.