News Update
March 15, 2013
Free Branding Demo Set for March 26 in Mount Vernon, Mo.
A branding demonstration will begin at 1:30 p.m., March 26, at the Jackie Moore Ranch headquarters located two miles north of Highway 174 on Missouri 39 at 12592 Lawrence 2090, Mount Vernon.
Many beef cattle farmers are concerned about the continued problem of cattle theft in southwestern Missouri, according to Eldon Cole, livestock specialist with University of Missouri (MU) Extension.
“One of the precautions offered as a deterrent to theft is to have a legible brand on all of your cattle. Currently, it’s estimated that fewer than 10% of the cattle have a brand as a permanent identification mark on them,” said Cole.
Missouri does have a brand law in place, but inspection is not required. However, Cole says most cattle thieves do not steal clearly branded cattle.
“Discussion at this event will focus on the brand law, choosing a brand and location to place it on the animal,” said Cole.
A number of cattle will be available at the demonstration to observe being branded with both hot iron and freeze brands. Those attending will have an opportunity to test their own skill at applying a legible brand on cattle.
A representative of an electric branding-iron company will also be on hand to explain the tips on selecting a brand that won’t end up being unreadable.
“We will also be sharing tips on how a brand can be used in successful marketing of breeding stock and feeder cattle,” said Cole.
The program will be hosted under-roof regardless of weather. This program is a cooperative effort of the Moore Ranch crew, Southwest Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, MU Extension and local law enforcement officials.
For more details or directions, contact the MU Extension Center in Mount Vernon at 417-466-3102.
NFU Members Continue to Prod Congress for a
Five-year Farm Bill
National Farmer’s Union (NFU) members renewed the organization’s priorities for a five-year farm bill recently at the NFU 111th Anniversary Convention in Springfield, Mass. Delegates in attendance passed a special order of business that outlined these important issues, and members wrote letters to their members of Congress expressing the importance of the expedient passage of a five-year bill.
“We urge Congress to immediately pass, and the president sign, a comprehensive five-year farm bill in its entirety. We are opposed to any further piecemeal extension of the current expired farm bill,” the special order states.
Priorities include a strong safety net, a robust conservation title, mandatory funding for renewable energy programs, adequate funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and restored funding for the 2008 Farm Bill programs that were extended in January 2013 without funding or programs that weren’t extended at all.
“The policy uncertainty caused by short-term farm bill extensions and delays are affecting family farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to obtain commercial credit, improve their business, or pass their farm on to their children,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “It is time that the internal politics go by the wayside and for Congress to come together to do right by their constituents and pass a five-year farm bill.”
Also at the convention, NFU unveiled its new Family Farmer Advocacy Network (FFAN), a group of grassroots advocates who will lead Farmers Union members in grassroots activities across the country. FFAN members penned more than 350 letters, in only two days, to their members of Congress urging prompt action on the farm bill and other legislative issues.
Ag Degrees in Demand, Ohio State University Agricultural Graduates Report Positive Job Outlook
By New Year’s Day this year, graduating senior Linsey Howell already had five job offers.
Although the 21-year-old double major in agribusiness and applied economics in Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) won’t receive her degree until graduation day May 5, Howell already has a start date for her new job working in grain merchandising for The Andersons: June 3.
“Thanks to the degrees I’m earning from Ohio State and the internships I’ve had, I was able to take the time to really consider the job offers and decide which one would be the best fit for me and what I want to do in my professional career,” the Danville, Ohio, native said. “There are a lot of companies looking to hire agriculture graduates.
“The opportunities are nationwide and worldwide, if you are open to them. A lot of students in the college (CFAES) have job offers at the end of their junior year and a lot of students had jobs by the first career fair, and the ones who aren’t looking for jobs have already been accepted into graduate school.”
For more information and the full release, click here.
Iowa State University Study Examines Farmer Use of Conservation Loan Programs
Iowa is one of the most productive agricultural states in the United States, but it also faces water-quality challenges related to crop and livestock production practices. A number of conservation programs are in place to help farmers and landowners improve conservation practices; however, demand for the programs often outweighs the funds available. To help address this issue, Iowa introduced Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) nonpoint source pollution programs within the state in 2005. To see if the programs were making a difference, state CWSRF staff contacted Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach to help conduct an evaluation.
Results from an ISU Extension and Outreach-led evaluation of the CWSRF’s Local Water Protection Program were published in the February 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Water Resources Association. Extension sociologist J. Gordon Arbuckle Jr. led the research team.
Congress established the CWSRF in 1987 to help communities fund infrastructure and other water-quality improvement projects. In 1992, some states’ CWSRF programs began providing loans for agricultural pollution projects. These programs use federal money to provide subsidized loans to help farmers and landowners fund conservation practices that improve water quality. In 2004, the Iowa CWSRF established the Local Water Protection Program and the Livestock Water Quality program. The programs are jointly administered by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
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