News Update
April 11, 2014
Final Call for Angus
Scholarship Applications
The deadline is quickly approaching to apply for scholarships through the Angus Foundation and American Angus Auxiliary. Applications must be postmarked by May 1, and Angus youth should act now to ensure their materials are in order.
High school seniors and college students passionate about the beef industry are encouraged to apply for the several opportunities offered through the Angus Foundation and the American Angus Auxiliary.
Each year the Angus Foundation offers general scholarships to students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in higher education. Last year, the organization awarded more than $225,000 in scholarships.
Angus youth may apply for a wide variety of awards, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. As in past years, other specific and special criteria scholarships administered by the Angus Foundation will also be available.
“It’s humbling the Angus Foundation receives our supporters’ generous gifts of endowed and non-endowed funds to make these scholarships possible,” says Angus Foundation President Milford Jenkins. “These scholarships provide the resources our future generation needs to continue advancing the Angus breed and entire beef cattle industry.”
Eligible Angus youth meeting the qualifications for the Angus Foundation’s 2014 Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarship Programs will be considered by the Angus Foundation’s Scholarship Selection Committee. Scholarship recipients will be recognized during the 2014 National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) in Indianapolis, Ind.
Applications must be postmarked by May 1, and mailed to the Angus Foundation, 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO 64506.
More specific guidelines and information about the Angus Foundation’s scholarships and awards, along with a link to the undergraduate and graduate student applications, can be found online at www.angusfoundation.org.
For more information, please view the full release here.
New Software Helps Farmers Manage Nutrients
University of Missouri (MU) Extension has released a new Web-based application to help farmers manage soil nutrient needs on farms.
Nutrient management helps farmers set rates and timing of fertilizer applications, said John Lory, MU Extension nutrient management specialist. Plans are required for some farms in cost-share programs and permitted animal feeding operations.
The free MMPTracker tool is available to farmers anywhere in the U.S. at www.mmptracker.org. Farmers can map their fields and the system automatically calculates field sizes and retrieves field soil type information from agency sources.
The user identifies streams, wells, ponds and property boundaries. State-specific guidelines help generate suggested setbacks, which help protect water quality.
The user can print maps of the farm and export the information to other programs, such as Purdue University’s Manure Management Planner. The project is saved to a password-protected account for future editing.
The program is the first of its kind in the United States, Lory said.
Using computers to help with nutrient management decisions used to require multiple spreadsheets, expensive third-party software and many online resources. The new program is easy to use, Lory said. It helps farmers in their use of manure as an inexpensive and environmentally friendly fertilizer.
Lory developed MMPTracker with Kevin Atherton, programmer analyst at the MU Center for Applied Research and Environmental Systems. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and MU Extension provided additional support. Glenn Davis at Missouri NRCS collaborated with Lory and Atherton.
A tutorial for the program will be available soon at nmplanner.missouri.edu/software/mmptracker.asp. In the meantime, go to nmplanner.missouri.edu to learn about the program.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Johnson Testifies Before STB on Rail Access
On April 10, National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson testified before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) at a public hearing on service problems in the U.S. rail network. South Dakota Farmers Union member DuWayne Bosse is also scheduled to testify, and Montana Farmers Union and North Dakota Farmers Union submitted written testimony to the STB.
“The protection of captive shippers is one of the issues at the core of NFU’s creation more than 100 years ago,” said Johnson. “Access to rail transportation continues to be one of the most important factors in the prosperity of rural America.”
The upper Midwest in particular has experienced a significant rail car shortage for transportation of agricultural commodities, due largely to a rapidly growing energy sector and the prioritization of oil, coal and container shipments over grain. This shortage has led to costly delays and penalties for late shipments that grain elevators then pass on to farmers. The cost of shipping delays amounts to approximately 40¢ to $1 per bushel of wheat, which translates to a loss of $9,600 per average farm, at minimum.
Johnson listed three actions for the STB to take to address these problems: holding railroads responsible for losses due to delayed delivery of rail cars, requiring rail companies to guarantee a certain portion of shipments are dedicated to agricultural products, and ensuring there is increased future investment to compensate for the increased demand.
“I hope that the STB will take this issue seriously so that family farmers and ranchers can benefit from immediate and long-term solutions to current rail problems,” Johnson said.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Ranching and a West That Works,
Free Seminar April 24-25 at CSU
Kudzu, the “plant that ate the South,” is now in Ohio. And experts with the Ohio State University (OSU) College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences want people to know it.
Specialists with the college’s outreach arm, OSU Extension, have created and are distributing a new identification poster featuring the climbing, entwining, engulfing invader.
“Kudzu is in scattered spots in Ohio. One of the reasons for the poster is to get a better idea of where and how much of a problem it is,” said Kathy Smith, director of OSU Extension’s Ohio Woodland Stewards Program. “We’re hoping to raise awareness of kudzu specifically and of invasive species in general.”
She said she hopes the poster leads to more Ohioans spotting then reporting kudzu, which they can do using the program’s free Great Lakes Early Detection Network (GLEDN) smartphone app. Early detection usually leads to better and cheaper control.
The app can be downloaded at go.osu.edu/GLEDN.
Kudzu grows fast, smothers everything in its path — including trees, buildings and utility poles — and is difficult and expensive to get rid of once established.
Considered a significant invasive species, kudzu has been reported in at least 15 of Ohio’s 88 counties, mostly in the southeast part of the state but also in Summit and Cuyahoga counties in the north, according to the national Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System (EDDMapS).
In all, kudzu covers an estimated 8 million acres of land in the U.S., mostly in the Southeast, according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
For more information, please view the full release here.
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