News Update
June 9, 2014
USDA Announces
Conservation Programs that
Benefit
Beginning Farmers
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced June 4 the beginning of a sign-up period for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and implementation of the Transition Incentives Program (TIP).
“I applaud the administration’s efforts to protect vulnerable agricultural land for the benefit of future generations of farmers,” said National Farmers Union (NFU) Senior Vice President of Programs Chandler Goule. “Today’s announcement not only benefits the environment, but also encourages new and beginning farmers to get started in agriculture.”
Instead of holding a general CRP sign-up period in 2014, Vilsack announced USDA will accept continuous sign-ups beginning June 9. Under the continuous sign-up, producers with CRP contracts ending in 2014 will have the option to extend their contracts for an additional year.
In addition to the CRP announcement, USDA will encourage retiring farmers to transfer a portion of their CRP land to beginning, disadvantaged or veteran farmers through the TIP. Retiring farmers who transition their land would receive two additional years of CRP payments.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Producers Should Check Grasshopper Populations Now
Parts of Oklahoma that have suffered from a lack of rainfall are likely to experience grasshopper infestations the likes of a Biblical plague this summer.
“It’s just not the western parts of the state, there are pockets in eastern Oklahoma wherein the rain just has not fallen at the right time, even with recent rainfall in June,” said Tom Royer, Oklahoma State University (OSU) Cooperative Extension entomologist. “Agricultural producers need to be taking proper preventative steps between now and July 1.”
Royer added waiting until a grasshopper sprouts wings makes effective control of the insects a “hit-and-miss” prospect and a more expensive control endeavor at any rate.
“Be aware grasshoppers can eat 25% to 50% of their body weight in forage a day,” he said. “In contrast, a steer will eat 1.5% to 2% of its body weight in forage a day.”
Depending on the level of infestation, grasshoppers can have a significant negative effect on the health and availability of a producer’s pasture resources.
The first step is for producers to assess grasshopper population numbers on their properties. Royer suggests the producer study an area about one square yard (sq. yd.) in size as he or she walks through the pasture, counting the number of grasshoppers that jump out of the area as he or she passes. Repeat the process three or four times, leaving approximately 75 feet (ft.) in between areas of study.
Once a producer has a sense of grasshopper population numbers, he or she should access OSU Extension Facts EPP-7196, “Grasshopper Management in Rangeland, Pastures and Crops,” available online at http://osufacts.okstate.edu.
“The fact sheet has easy-to-follow suggested treatment thresholds, as well as a discussion on reduced agent and area treatment options using Dimilin®,” Royer said.
Besiege® and Prevathon® are two relatively new insecticides registered for grasshopper control on rangeland and pastures. More information on these and other approved insecticides are available by consulting OSU Extension Current Report CR-7193, “Management of Insect Pests in Rangeland and Pasture.” The report is available online at http://osufacts.okstate.edu.
Alltech Research Earns AAALAC Accreditation
for Excellence in Animal Care
Global animal health leader Alltech has been officially recognized for its commitment to responsible animal care and good science practices. The company has received full Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) accreditation this year.
AAALAC International is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through voluntary accreditation and assessment programs. Alltech joins more than 900 organizations, institutions and companies in 37 countries that have earned AAALAC accreditation; which has become the “gold standard” for animal research facilities.
“Alltech recognizes the importance of animals in research and the scientific and ethical responsibility for their humane care and use,” said Kate Jacques, director of nutrition and Alltech’s AAALAC Institutional Official. “The staff and scientists at the Alltech Research Farm are responsible for ensuring optimum health and well-being of animals in our nutrition studies. We are proud to meet AAALAC standards for accreditation and view this as a benchmark in Alltech’s ACE approach, which demands safety for the animal, consumer and environment in all we do.”
AAALAC works with institutions and researchers to serve as a bridge between progress and animal well-being. Standards set by AAALAC are overseen at the institutional/research farm level by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The IACUC is a self-regulating committee that, according to federal laws, is established by institutions that use animals in research in order to oversee and evaluate all aspects of animal care and handling. It also conducts inspections of all areas where animals are housed or treated, reviews the institutional program for animal use and reports its findings to the Institutional Official.
“In order to meet these standards, all personnel that work or interact with animals must obtain IACUC training,” said Kristen Brennan, chair of Alltech’s IACUC. “AAALAC accreditation demonstrates that not only does Alltech’s Research Farm meet legal standards, it also shows that we go the extra step to achieve excellence in animal care and use.”
Fine Tune and Calibrate Sprayer to Reduce Pesticide Costs
With planting delays in some areas due to wet conditions, growers still have time to fine-tune and calibrate their sprayers to save money and protect the environment, according to an engineer from the Ohio State University (OSU) College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Sprayers can make a big difference for growers’ pocketbooks and the environment, said Erdal Ozkan, an agricultural engineering professor and spray technology expert with OSU Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC).
“With the high cost of pesticides and fertilizers, growers who want to save money and spray chemicals as efficiently as possible need to make sure they fine-tune and calibrate their sprayers to work as accurately as possible, and get the job done with less use of chemical inputs,” Ozkan said.
The costs of those wasted chemicals can be high.
Farmers spend approximately $4.1 billion on pesticides annually, according to published reports. National surveys of field application results have shown that only about one out of three sprayers are applying pesticides at the recommended rates, while two-thirds are missing the mark by either over- or underspraying, Ozkan said.
“In Ohio and other states, if we use an error margin of plus or minus 5% as the yardstick, nearly 50% of growers fail to get to that error margin,” he said. “If the intended rate and actual rate is different than that, then growers need to recalibrate their sprayer.”
Of the 50% of growers who fail to obtain the 5% margin error, nearly half of them are over-applying their chemicals at an average rate of 23%, Ozkan said.
“For example, if a grower has a $10,000 budget for chemical pesticides, and they happen to be in the group over-applying by 23%, that means they are throwing away at least $2,300 alone in that error,” he said. “If they aren’t applying the right amount of chemicals, which could result in a larger economic impact because the chemicals may not work, the grower may have to reapply and their crops could suffer from yield loss.”
For more information on sprayer calibration, see www.ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/0520.html.
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