News Update
February 6, 2013
Angus Foundation’s ‘Faces of Progress’
Matching Gift Challenge a Success
By financially supporting the Angus Foundation’s annual fund, themed “Faces of Progress,” before Jan. 31, 2013, Angus breeders, allied industry interests and friends successfully helped the Angus Foundation receive a $10,000 matching gift to further its Angus youth, education and research programs.
Angus breeder and commercial producer Mark Milano of Milano Land & Cattle Co. LLC, Tehachapi, Calif., generously presented the Angus Foundation with a $10,000 matching gift in support of the “Faces of Progress” annual fund drive. All unrestricted outright cash gifts, regardless of size, made in response to the “Faces of Progress,” counted toward this matching offer.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Understand Your Cost of Production
to Manage Risk and Maximize Profit
Cost of production is a fundamental economic concept that applies to nearly any business model. Due to the high risk and slim profit margins of farm businesses, it is particularly important that producers understand the costs and potential revenue associated with each enterprise they manage.
Cost of production refers to the average cost of producing one unit of a commodity (e.g., $125 per ton of hay). This value is calculated by totaling all of the costs associated with a farm enterprise and dividing that total by the output (yield) produced. This seems at first like a very simple formula. However, total cost of a farm enterprise frequently includes different categories of costs that must be estimated and managed independently.
Costs that do not vary with output within a production period are known as fixed costs. These include expenses such as depreciation, taxes, land charges, salaried labor and insurance. Indirect, noncash and overhead costs are other terms used to describe fixed costs. Fixed costs are important to consider when making long-term decisions regarding which enterprises to invest in. Once a farm business is engaged in a particular enterprise, these costs are incurred whether or not production occurs, or “fixed” in the short-term.
Expenses that vary with a farm’s level of output are known as variable costs. Examples include seed, feed, fertilizer, pesticide, fuel, repairs and hourly or seasonal labor expenses. Other terms used to describe variable costs include cash costs, direct costs and out-of-pocket costs. Variable costs most often influence short-term decisions regarding the scale of production and approach to management.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Show-Me-Select Heifer Plan Explained
at Meeting in Milan for Beef Producers
Missouri beef replacement heifers are wanted by out-of-state herd owners. That demand will grow, Dave Patterson, University of Missouri (MU) Extension beef specialist, told area producers.
Higher demand will come when droughts end, Patterson added. Herd owners will need high-quality replacements then. He encouraged Missouri producers to start breeding to meet that demand now, as growing replacements takes time.
Patterson spoke in Milan, Mo., Jan. 31 at a meeting called by Gentrie Shafer, MU Extension livestock specialist. She helps area producers improve quality beef production.
Missouri herd owners hold “huge potential” for supplying replacements for drought-thinned cow herds across the country.
The Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program helps producers successfully start young cows. With better management and breeding, hundreds of Missouri herd owners have profited. Part of the program, 119 bred-heifer sales have returned more than $30 million to owners. “Sales are a small part of the benefits,” Patterson said. Producers boost profits with lower death losses of calves — and heifers. They use less labor by cutting calving assistance.
“In surveys, buyers say the main thing they want is calving ease,” Patterson said. They also like genetics that boost rapid gains and bring quality premiums from feedlots and packers.
The idea of Show-Me-Select already draws attention of herd owners in other states. “They want what we already have,” Patterson said. For more information and the full release, click here.
AgriLife Extension Sets Feb. 12
Feed-grains
Conference in Muleshoe
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Bailey County will conduct a Feed-grains Conference beginning with registration at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 12 at the AgriLife Extension office in Bailey County, 118 West Ave. C, Muleshoe, Texas.
“Many producers in the area are looking for ways to diversify their operations with feed grains,” said Curtis Preston, AgriLife Extension agent in Bailey County. “Feed-grain prices look favorable for the 2013 crop year, so we need to make sure producers have the tools they need to be successful.”
Speakers and topics will include:
- Agronomic Practices, Calvin Trostle, AgriLife Extension agronomist, Lubbock.
- Pest Management in Corn and Sorghum, Pat Porter, AgriLife Extension entomologist, Lubbock.
- Managing your Herbicide Program, Peter Dotray, AgriLife Extension agronomist, Lubbock.
- Grain Market Update, Mark Welch, AgriLife Extension economist, College Station.
Three Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units — two general and one integrated pest management — will be available.
Individual registration payable at the door is $10. For more information contact the AgriLife Extension office in Bailey County at 806-272-4583.
Corn Stover Harvest Meetings Scheduled
for Eastern and Central Iowa
There are new opportunities to harvest corn stover in two regions of Iowa — near Nevada in central Iowa and near Dubuque in eastern Iowa. Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach will host two meetings, one in each part of the state, to address emerging opportunities related to stover harvesting for the biomass feedstock needs of local industries.
The central Iowa meeting will be Feb. 28 at the Iowa Arboretum near Madrid, Iowa. This meeting is in collaboration with DuPont and will look at the use of corn stover in cellulosic ethanol production. The eastern Iowa meeting will be March 6 at the 4-H Building at the Dubuque County Fairgrounds, Dubuque, Iowa. The eastern Iowa meeting is in collaboration with JELD-WEN Fiber of Iowa to discuss use of corn stover as a fiber material. Both meetings start at 12:45 p.m.
Stover harvesting can impact economic, agronomic and water-quality production factors. The meetings will address many of the positives and negatives of stover harvesting and discuss how stover harvesting can be managed within corn production. Crop producers, landowners, crop consultants, agronomists, service providers and others with an interest in stover harvest and its removal from farm fields are encouraged to attend.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Now is a Good Time to Clean the Kitchen
Winter days keep us indoors more than out, and a Kansas State University (K-State) food scientist recommends choosing an inside day or two to clean the kitchen.
“There’s no reason to wait until spring,” said Karen Blakeslee, who noted kitchens typically get a workout during the holidays and on Super Bowl Sunday.
She suggests removing all items from one or two cupboards at a time before washing the cupboard, inside and outside.
“Allow time for the cupboards to air dry,” said Blakeslee, who advised checking clean, dry cupboards for cracks or holes that will need to be caulked to protect foods from insect damage.
Re-usable washable shelf-liners should be washed and air-dried or replaced, she said.
Blakeslee recommended discarding food products with signs of insect or other damage, such as a dented can or a cracked glass jar.
The food scientist also advises sorting products by type and date, and noted that non-perishable foods will typically carry a “Use-By” date to indicate a date to which a product is expected to retain food quality, flavor and texture.
Look for dates on canned fruits, vegetables or soups, dried food products such as fruit or packaged pastas, and soft packs, such as tuna or sauce mix, said Blakeslee, who is the Rapid Response coordinator with K-State Research and Extension.
When returning food to the clean cupboard — or restocking — she advises placing the newest foods behind older foods that should be used first.
For more information and the full release, click here.
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