News Update
July 2, 2013
Plan a Picnic for Less Than
$6 Per Person
A Fourth of July picnic of Americans’ favorite foods including hot dogs, cheeseburgers, pork spare ribs, potato salad, baked beans, lemonade and chocolate milk is affordable this summer at less than $6 per person, according to an informal survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). The average cost for a summer picnic for 10 is $57.20 or $5.72 per person according to AFBF.
“Although retail food prices have increased modestly over the past year or so, most Americans should be able to find summer picnic foods at close to the average prices found by our volunteer shoppers,” said John Anderson, deputy chief economist at AFBF.
“For many of us, nothing says the Fourth of July more than firing up the grill to prepare a meal,” Anderson said. “We’re fortunate here in America to have a consistent, high-quality supply of meats and poultry that can be grilled or prepared any number of different ways.”
AFBF’s summer picnic menu for 10 consists of hot dogs and buns, cheeseburgers and buns, pork spare ribs, deli potato salad, baked beans, corn chips, lemonade, chocolate milk, watermelon for dessert, and ketchup and mustard.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Cattle Need Plenty of Clean Water
Hot and dry conditions make all famers think about how precious water can be, especially to livestock.
The source of the water is always a point that needs to be considered. If livestock are drinking from a pond or a stream, producers need to pay attention to water levels. During hot and dry weather, those water levels can decrease; as they do, contaminants that may exist in that water have the potential to increase in concentration. As those contaminants increase, so can the risk to livestock that consume them.
To ensure adequate water intake, it is critical to know how much water your cattle will consume, then provide enough access to that water source. For example, cattle that are grazing tend to all come to the water source at once, if that source is located more than 900 feet from their grazing paddock. It is highly possible that not all of the animals will consume enough water before returning to the paddock.
Producers need to size the tank according to the number of animals, and the recharge capacity of the water source. If adequate tank space is not provided, the less dominant animals in the herd will not consume adequate amounts of water, and production could be adversely affected, particularly if those animals are younger lactating females. Here are several points that one should consider for their livestock water needs: make sure water is closer than 900 feet in a rotational grazing system; utilize modern technology available for providing water to grazing animals; have the appropriate size tank to ensure adequate intake by all of the animals; and make sure the water source is clean, and free of contaminants.
NFU Urges Officials to Take Action on Farm Bill Inactivity
National Farmers Union (NFU) and a broad coalition of 532 agriculture, conservation, rural development, finance, forestry, energy and crop insurance companies and organizations sent a letter July 2 to Speaker of the House John Boehner urging the passage of a comprehensive, five-year farm bill before the current law expires on Sept. 30.
“This important legislation supports our nation’s farmers, ranchers, forest owners, food security, natural resources and wildlife habitats, rural communities, and the 16 million Americans whose jobs directly depend on the agriculture industry,” the letter stated.
The letter also noted the importance of maintaining a unified bill to include both farm and nutrition programs.
“Farm bills represent a delicate balance between America’s farm, nutrition, conservation, and other priorities, and accordingly require strong bipartisan support,” the coalition wrote. “It is vital for the House to try once again to bring together a broad coalition of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to provide certainty for farmers, rural America, the environment and our economy in general and pass a five-year farm bill upon returning in July.”
In addition, the NFU Board of Directors passed a resolution the night of July 1 highlighting the organization’s disappointment in the U.S. House of Representatives’ failure to pass a comprehensive, five-year farm bill last month, and urging them to complete the legislation before the extension of the 2008 Farm Bill expires on Sept. 30. The resolution, in part, stated:
“Family farms are crucial to our nation’s food supply, our rural communities and the overall health of our nation’s economy. The number of farmers and ranchers who make their primary living from production agriculture continues to shrink because of commodity price volatility.
“The expiration date of the 2008 Farm Bill has already lapsed once, leading to an extension to Sept. 30, 2013. Congress cannot allow the bill to expire again; we simply cannot afford it. Farmers, ranchers and the lenders that provide them credit are at Congress’s mercy, struggling to make business decisions in an uncertain policy environment.
“There is no more critical issue for rural America and the consumers we serve, both here in the United States and across the globe, than passage of a new comprehensive, five-year farm bill in 2013.
“Some have suggested splitting farms programs and nutrition programs into two separate bills. Not only would this be a jarring disruption to the historic coalition of urban, rural and conservation groups, it would also likely effectively kill both bills, producing no legislative action for either.”
For more information, please view the letter here or the resolution here.
Grasshoppers Break Out
After a dry winter, as expected, grasshoppers are becoming a problem, but they are not as severe or profuse as they were during the 2011 drought, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert.
“It’s mid-summer and the grasshoppers have gotten bigger; they’re now winged, so they’re moving into other crops and orchards,” said Allen Knutson, an AgriLife Extension entomologist, Dallas.
As they were in 2011, this year’s grasshopper outbreaks are connected to drought conditions, he said. From July through the fall, grasshoppers deposit their eggs 0.5 to 2 inches below the soil surface. On an average year, fungus and other diseases take a toll on egg survival, thereby reducing the first-generation grasshoppers that hatch in the spring.
Most of the fungi and diseases affecting egg survival depend upon moist conditions, so during a drought year, outbreaks are expected, Knutson said.
The outbreaks this year — at least so far — have been spotty, he said.
“Though some areas have had good rains, which reduce grasshopper populations, others have not, and they’ll still have problems,” he said. “They are intense in some areas, while others don’t have any.”
Reports from AgriLife Extension county agents support Knutson’s account.
Logan Lair, AgriLife Extension agent in Navarro County, northeast of Waco, reported, “Grasshoppers, grasshoppers, grasshoppers; they are back and with a vengeance. This is affecting hay production.”
Heath Lusty, AgriLife Extension agent in Lampasas County, north of Austin, reported that along with hot, dry, windy conditions, “grasshoppers are a serious issue in some parts of the county.”
For more information, please view the full release here.
Oats a Good Option as Double-Crop After Wheat
Producers and growers looking to add an alternative forage may want to consider planting oats as a double-crop after wheat as a good way to add extra forages during a time when hay inventories are down and grain values are high, a forage expert from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences said.
With hay inventories on May 1 in Ohio down 55% compared to the same time last year and at their lowest point since 1950, producers looking to add a crop after wheat harvest can consider adding oats, which can produce high yields with one cutting, said Stan Smith, an OSU Extension program assistant in agriculture and natural resources.
Since wheat in Ohio traditionally comes off around July 4 and sometimes as late as July 20, growers would have plenty of time to meet the recommended planting date of Aug. 1 for oats, Smith said.
“Not only does an Aug. 1 planting date seem to offer more yield and higher-quality oats (than planting them earlier), but it also allows growers and producers ample time to harvest straw which is in short supply, haul manure, and control any perennial weeds and volunteer wheat that might be present,” he said. “And unlike double-cropping soybeans, growers don’t have to rush to get oats planted as soon as they harvest wheat.
“In fact, planting oats in early August results in greater yield and quality and oats are more likely to remain vegetative until extremely cold temperatures shut them down in December.”
For more information, please view the full release here.
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