News Update
July 16, 2014
2014 Michigan Ag Expo
Returns to MSU
The 35th annual Ag Expo July 22-24 will feature more than 200 commercial farm equipment and supply exhibits and dozens of educational exhibits from Michigan State University (MSU) departments and programs on the 35-acre main site. The event’s location is at MSU on the corner of Farm Lane and Mount Hope Road. Hours of operation are Tuesday and Wednesday 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and Thursday 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Visitors can learn about stock dog training and animal mortality management and attend tours at campus research centers on various topics. Other demonstrations and educational sessions taking place include:
Grain bin safety and PTO safety simulation: Sponsored by the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee, this session will focus on grain bin, power takeoff (PTO) and auger safety. Every day during the Expo, the simulation will show the four most common ways that people can become entrapped in a grain bin.
The MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) tent will feature hands-on exhibits and learning stations presented by MSU Extension, departments and other units in the college, and tips by Master Gardeners will be offered daily. The MSU Dairy Store will provide free ice cream to anyone who donates to the CANR Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.
The Ag Expo VIP Breakfast begins at 7 a.m. Tuesday, July 22. Speakers will include Lou Anna K. Simon, MSU president and Gov. Rick Snyder. Legislators and agriculture leaders will also attend the breakfast, which will be hosted in the large red and white striped tent near the west gate.
A full guide is available at http://agexpo.msu.edu/. Stay connected using the hashtag #MiAgExpo on Twitter, at @MichiganAgExpo and Facebook, at http://on.fb.me/1orcfPl
For more information on Ag Expo, call 800-366-7055 or visit www.agexpo.msu.edu.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
Federal Spending Bill Includes
Important Provisions for Producers
The House Interior appropriations bill passed through committee July 15, 29 to 19. The Public Lands Council (PLC) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) strongly support the bill, which allocates how federal dollars are spent for the Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and related agencies during fiscal year 2015.
The bill included language that would help provide relief from the regulatory burdens that continue to hamper the productivity and profitability of farmers and ranchers across the country.
From language that blocks the listing of the Sage Grouse, to requiring alternative allotments where ranchers are affected by drought or wildfire without the need to complete extensive environmental analyses and many others, Dustin Van Liew, PLC and NCBA federal lands executive director, said the provisions are important to keeping livestock producers in business.
Included in the bill is a permanent extension of a grazing rider, which will allow livestock grazing to continue while the renewal process is held up through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis backlog. Often requiring multiple environmental analyses and time for public comments to be submitted when no changes are being made on the ground, the NEPA process can disrupt ranching operations indefinitely with little, if any, environmental benefit. The bill also includes a provision to extend grazing permit terms to 20 years, as opposed to the current 10-year term.
“These two provisions are vital to the agencies, allowing them the flexibility they need to continue managing the resource and processing permits,” Van Liew said. “Additionally, extending grazing permits from 10 to 20 years adds significantly to the certainty ranchers need to run successful businesses. We applaud the appropriations committee for supporting the primary language from the Grazing Improvement Act and urge the full House and Senate to pass this bill without delay.”
Van Liew added that due to a closed-door settlement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and radical environmental groups, arbitrary deadlines have been set for making hundreds of decisions on species in all 50 states to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. “Rather than embracing the research-backed benefits of grazing and giving time for state Sage Grouse management plans to take effect, the USFWS has begun to make arbitrary decisions to cut and reduce livestock grazing on public lands,” said Van Liew.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Group Opposes USDA Plan to
Establish Another International Bureaucracy
In comments filed July 14, R-CALF USA urged the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to halt its plan to implement APHIS’ proposed Draft Framework for Implementing the United States-Canada Foreign Animal Disease Zoning Arrangement (Zoning Arrangement).
The Zoning Arrangement establishes a new U.S.-Canadian governance structure that would essentially encourage each country to recognize and respect the others’ zoning plans implemented after a foreign animal disease outbreak. The zoning plans would allow each country to declare certain zones free of disease, while the country works to control and eradicate diseases in its affected zones.
“This proposal is but another of APHIS’ ongoing efforts to systematically dismantle essential import restrictions that protect the United States from the introduction and spread of dangerous foreign animal diseases,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard.
Under APHIS’ proposal, decisions to allow the importation of livestock and livestock products from designated zones within Canada, while Canada is combating one or more foreign animal diseases in other zones, would be made by APHIS’ chief veterinary officer (CVO), and the decision would not be subject to the public rulemaking process.
The group wrote that it interprets APHIS’ proposal to mean that “if an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) were detected in one of Canada’s eastern provinces and Canada declared its western provinces to be disease-free zones, then APHIS’ CVO could unilaterally decide to continue allowing the importation of cloven-hoofed livestock from Canada’s western provinces, without first conducting a public notice and comment rulemaking.”
“APHIS should redirect its limited resources internally to improve its disease prevention, identification and control capacity here in the United States. APHIS should also direct its limited resources to bolster its vigilance over imported products and animals that may harbor foreign animal diseases that APHIS is presently ill-equipped to handle should they arrive on U.S. soil,” concluded the group’s comments.
K-State Risk & Profit Conference Set for Aug. 21-22
Reforms in densely populated China and their implications for U.S. agriculture will take center stage as part of the Kansas State University (K-State) Risk & Profit Conference. The topic, along with an array of others, is part of the annual event this year set for Aug. 21-22 at the K-State Alumni Center in Manhattan.
In a keynote address, Dermot Hayes, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Chair in Agribusiness and professor of economics and finance at Iowa State University, will present “Impact of Chinese Reforms on U.S. Agriculture.”
China has the world’s largest population, estimated at 1.355 billion people as of July 2014, according to estimates by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). That compares with India at 1.236 billion, the United States at 319 million and Russia at 142 million.
The Risk & Profit Conference also features “A Conversation with a Kansas Producer,” this year featuring Michael Springer, who farms, raises hogs and works to educate the public about what farmers do to raise healthy, quality food.
Other conference highlights include “Livestock Market Outlook” by Glynn Tonsor, livestock marketing specialist and a “Grain Market Outlook” by Dan O’Brien, grain-marketing specialist, both with K-State Research and Extension.
Eighteen breakout sessions will be presented by K-State Department of Agricultural Economics faculty, include such topics as the 2014 Farm Bill; Competitive Position of the Black Sea Region in World Wheat Export Markets; Understanding Basis and the Forward Contract for Kansas Wheat; Short-Dated Options Strategies; Land Values in Kansas; Economics of Beef-Cow Herd Expansion; and Characteristics of Kansas Pasture Lease Agreements.
A complete list of presentation topics, along with online registration and more information is available at www.agmanager.info/events/risk_profit/2014/default.asp. The fee for the full two days is $200 if paid by Aug. 15, and $225 after that date. One-day registrations are $125 per person by Aug. 15; $150 after that date. Registration includes conference materials plus lunch, a social with cash bar and dinner on Aug. 21, and a light breakfast and lunch on Aug. 22.
More information is also available by contacting Rich Llewelyn at rvl@k-state.edu or 785-532-1504.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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