News Update
February 3, 2014
North Dakota Stockmen’s Foundation Will Offer Seven Collegiate Scholarships
North Dakota students who are interested in the state’s beef industry have seven $500 scholarship opportunities available to them through the North Dakota Stockmen’s Foundation (NDSF) this year.
Among the offerings: the NDSF junior scholarships, which are available to college sophomores who, among other criteria, are enrolled in a beef-related major at an accredited North Dakota college or university; the NDSF Legacy Scholarships, which are available to high-school seniors and college freshmen, sophomores or juniors who have an interest in the beef cattle industry and are or will be studying any major at any college or university; and the new NDSF Endowment Scholarship, which is available to high-school seniors and college freshmen, sophomores or juniors who are or will be studying a beef-related major at any accredited North Dakota college or university.
Interested applicants can find more information and applications for each scholarship at www.ndstockmen.org. Applications will be accepted until March 1.
The scholarship recipients will be named during the NDSF Luncheon at the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association Annual Convention & Trade Show in Dickinson, N.D., in September.
House Passes Farm Bill, NFU Praises Efforts
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the H.R. 2642, the Agricultural Act of 2014, by a 251-166 vote Jan. 29.
“On behalf of the family farmers, ranchers, fishermen, rural residents and America’s consumers, I commend the House on passing the farm bill. The conference report is a true compromise and I am pleased to have certainty for all Americans.
“The farm bill has always been a bipartisan effort, and for that I am thankful. I urge the Senate to take up the conference report right away so the 2014 Farm Bill can be signed into law by the president and the policies can be put into action.”
Consumer Education is All in a Day’s Work On and Off the Farm
With 98% of the population removed from modern agriculture, connecting to consumers is critically important. Survey data from the Michigan State University Extension Breakfast on the Farm program shows that farmers are respected as being trustworthy sources of information.
Opening your doors for farm tours, ice cream socials with neighbors and legislator visits provides visitors with a firsthand look at modern agriculture. Education in a transparent format provides the public an opportunity to see what happens on the farm, ask questions and develop trust in farmers and the food produced. These tours and events can form lasting bonds between farmers and consumers.
Offering to read a book about farming or take a little bit of the farm to the school captures people’s attention. A piece of equipment, calf, lamb or small animal will grab the students’ attention and give you the perfect opportunity to share your farming story. There may be a wooden cow in your community that can be borrowed and taken to school along with samples of milk, cheese, ice cream or yogurt.
Books, audiotapes, DVDs and even works of art at local libraries can be used to help consumers of all ages understand more about agriculture. Helping your local library incorporate these into displays will create interest in learning more about agriculture. March is the perfect time to do this because National Agriculture Day is right around the corner on March 25.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Pesky Palmer Pigweed Proliferates
There’s a new No. 1 bad weed to watch in Missouri, says Kevin Bradley, University of Missouri Extension weed specialist.
Palmer pigweed, aka Palmer amaranth, acts badly in more ways than most, Bradley adds.
“The weed pest has been in the state for as long as I’ve been here (10 years),” Bradley says. It was just another weed, not noteworthy. However, three years ago that changed when Palmer became resistant to glyphosate herbicide, the most-used weed control in the state.
Palmer turned aggressive and worked its way from the boot heel to northwestern Missouri. For now it’s found mainly in counties along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
Soybean growers in particular face a challenge from the weed, which brings multiple threats, Bradley says.
For starters, each weed produces about 300,000 seeds. Worse, the herbicide resistance is transmitted by pollen.
Unlike most weeds, male and female Palmer pigweed plants are separate. Pollen must travel through the air to fertilize the flowers that produce the seeds. A characteristic of the pigweeds is the tall flower stalks with hundreds of florets.
There’s more. Palmer germinates from early spring until late in the growing season. “It just doesn’t stop reproducing,” Bradley says. That allows it to outlast the longest-lasting residual herbicides.
The plant grows fast, up to 2.5 inches a day. It grows tall, taking over a soybean field by shading out the crop.
Only 2.5 plants per foot of row can hide a growing soybean crop. Bradley shows slides of soybean fields where you must look closely to see a soybean plant.
No other weed has so many bad things going for it, Bradley says. Control requires constant intensive management.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Passing on the Farm: Not Everyone Wants It
While tax laws may have made it easier to pass the farm from one generation to the next, changing times have some families looking at the end of a way of life, according to a 30-year veteran of agricultural estate planning.
Wayne Hayenga, professor emeritus and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist from College Station, has traveled throughout Texas for three decades trying to help people pass their agricultural estates on to the next generation.
Hayenga was in the High Plains recently for seven farm and ranch estate-planning workshops which attracted about 300 people, most with the same goal in mind.
“Every time there are changes to the tax laws, we see more demand for these workshops,” he said. “But the people basically just want to figure out how to keep the business going for one or two of the children and make sure all the rest are still taken care of.”
Hayenga said estate tax laws have made that easier over the years. Forty years ago, a person could only pass on $60,000 worth of property tax-free and now that’s up to $5.3 million. Also, even if the property increased in value either because of inflation or demand, he said, “we don’t have to pay any capital gains tax on it now when someone dies.”
However, the continually changing tax laws and the dynamics of the agriculture industry itself are making estate planning anything but a one-size-fits-all deal, said the agricultural economist and attorney.
For more information, please view the full release here.
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