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March pork production hits a new record

April 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

USDA reports that pork production during March was a record 1.969 billion pounds. That's up 8% from February and fractionally larger than March 2008 with slightly higher hog weights and more available work days offsetting a modest decline in slaughter. Year to date production is5.811 billion pounds, 4% less than the January to March 2008 total.

Total red meat production for March was up 1% on the year at 4.142 billion pounds, bringing the year to date total to 12.137 billion pounds, 3% less than a year ago at this time.

Beef production 2% above a year ago at 2.145 billion pounds thanks to an increased slaughter and heavier live weights. The year to date beef production total is 6.248 billion pounds, 2% below the 6.372 billion produced during January to March 2008.

Veal production was peggedat 12.2 million pounds, an increase of 8% from March 2008; the slaughter was up 12% on the year but the average live weight was down 4% or 10 pounds. Year to date veal production is 35.2 million pounds, compared to 33.6 million this time last year.

Lamb and mutton productionwas down fractionally from last year at 15.9 million pounds as a smaller slaughter offset larger average live weights. The year to date production total is 42.0 million pounds, 3% below a year ago.

Filed Under: Livestock

Dates set for soybean request for referendum

April 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The USDA has announced that soybean producers will have an opportunity to request a referendum on the soybean checkoff program beginning May 4.

To be eligible to participate, producers must certify and provide documentation that shows that they produced soybeans and paidan assessment on the soybeans during the period of Jan. 1, 2007, through Dec. 31, 2008.

Forms will be available online , by mail, fax, or in person at local Farm Service Agency offices.Completed forms need to be returned by May 29.

USDA will conduct a referendum if at least 10 percent of the nation’s 589,182 soybean producers support a referendum.

Filed Under: USDA/Government

Stewardship Week April 26 – May 3

April 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Each year, from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in May we celebrate Stewardship Week and we have forquite sometime. In fact, the celebration goes back to 1955 when the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) first celebrated Stewardship Week as a way of promoting stewardship and conservation. Gene Schmidt, NACD 1st Vice President from Indiana says 54 years later, the 2009 celebrationis no different.

“It just gives us an opportunity to look out and realize that sometimes one person can make a difference, we can all do just little bit within our lives to enrich our resources around us and that’s what stewardship is all about,” saidSchmidt.

This year’s Stewardship Theme is “Dig It! The Secrets of Soil.”


Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Top Stories

Researcher says cattle gene sequencing historic moment

April 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Scientists have mapped and published the complete genetic sequence of domesticcattle.
The University of Illinois, Urbana/Champagne had a role in mapping the bovine genetic makeup. Harris Lewin is a professor and director of the Institute for Genomic Biology, “Truly an historical moment in the history of animal sciences to have the first genome sequenced ofany livestock species.”

He says this international effort will produce much faster results, “Now we know where every gene is in the genome. And, now, with the most recent technologies we can even locate a gene for a disease in a matter of days or weeks.”

Lewin says the advances this will give producers in meat and milk production as well as feed utlilization and efficiency cannot be underestmated, “So it’s an extremely exciting time because we can ask the question of ‘how’ and ‘why’ and from a science perspective it’s neverbeen a better time to be an animal scientist than now.”

The bovine genome sequence is in the published and online versions of the journal Science.

Filed Under: Dairy, Top Stories

Extension of EU negotiations seen as positive for U.S. beef industry

April 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Officials fromthe U.S. and the European Union have agreed to extend negotiations aimed at resolving the two-decades-old trade dispute over beef produced with growth promotants.

April 23rd was the date when the Office of U.S. Trade Representative was scheduled to impose retaliationmeasures, raising duties on a new lineup of products imported from the EU. But that action has now been delayed until at least May 9th as the two sides continue negotiations.

Thad Lively of the U.S. Meat Export Federation says the extension is a positive development.”I think it’s encouraging,” Lively says. “It means that the negotiators have gotten signals from the EU that finally they’re serious and that there’s the opportunity there to finalize this deal.”

Lively says the compromise being discussed would leavethe EU’s growth hormone ban in place—but would provide other trade relief that may allow the U.S. to export a higher volume of beef into Europe.

“Basically, what we’re looking for out of this agreement is something that would give us access to the Europeanbeef market that we don’t have today,” he says.

Lively is senior vice president for policy, planning and research at USMEF.

Filed Under: World Ag News/Trade

President promotes clean energy, cap-and-trade in Iowa

April 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

President Barack Obama spentpart of Earth Day, Wednesday, at the former Maytag plant in Newton, Iowa that now makes towers for wind turbines. Obama told the crowd it's time for a “new era of energy exploration in America,” to find new energy sources and to further develop this country's wind energyindustry, as many other countries are doing. Denmark, he says, gets 20 percent of its electricity from wind-power sources.

The president also says the time has come for a carbon cap and trade system. Obama says, over time, as the cap on greenhouse gases is lowered, thecommodity will become scarcer and the price goes up. But he says that’ll lead to better things. President Obama says, “Year by year, companies and consumers would have greater incentive to invest in clean energy and energy efficiency as the price of the status quo becomes more expensive. Whatthis does is it makes make wind power more economical, makes solar power more economical, clean energy all becomes more economical.” Obama says this kind of market-based cap would close the current “carbon loophole”, allowing the U.S. to address all facets of the energy crisis:”lowering our dependence on foreign oil, reducing our use of fossil fuels, and promoting new industries” in America.

Many in agriculture are concerned that a cap and trade system will become very expensive for ag operations. Ag Secretary Vilsack has said he willpush for carbon offsets for ag and forestry.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

South Dakota ag advocates commemorate Earth Day

April 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

South Dakota agriculture advocates gathered in Sioux Falls yesterday (Wednesday) to commemorate Earth Day.

One of the speakers was David Fremark ofMiller, president of the South Dakota Corn Council. Fremark discussed a recent Farm to Market study that shows corn farmers are using 37 percent less energy to produce a bushel of corn than they did 20 years ago.

“Not only that, emissions per bushel—in other words,the emissions put out into the air by equipment used to raise corn—decreased 30 percent in that 20-year time,” Fremark says.

Fremark says farmers are the original environmentalists and stewards of the land. “We’re using 37 percent less land today to produce thatbushel of corn—as well as soil erosion. Soil erosion has decreased 69 percent in those 20 years.”

At the same time, Fremark says, America’s corn growers have achieved impressive yield improvements. In 1944, for example, the 85 million acres planted to corn in the U.S.produced a total crop of about two-point-eight billion bushels. In 2007, those 85 million acres yielded a crop of thirteen-point-one billion bushels.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations

News and notes from around Indiana

April 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Vegetable acres up slightly in Indiana
Contract acres of tomatoes for processing are expected to be up 1 percent at 9,100 acres in 2009. Production from those acres is forecast at 288,800 tons, an increase of 16 percent from a year ago.

Nationally, contract acres for the 5major processed vegetable crops are expected to be up 4 percent from last year at 1.2 million acres.

Washington County top hay producing county in 2008

Washington County lead the state in hay production last yearwith 63,700 tons, rounding out the top 5 hay producing counties, Lawrence was second, followed by Harrison, LaGrange and Greene.

Red Meat production up in February

Commercial red meat production in Indiana was up 2percent in February compared to a year earlier at 137.2 million pounds.

Nationally red meat production showed a 4 percent decline at 3.83 billion pounds.


Filed Under: Crops

Lamb referendum passes

April 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The Lamb Promotion, Research and Information Order, better knownas the Lamb Checkoff Program has passed.

According to the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service 85.1 percent of those voting, favored the the program, those opposed totaled 14.9 percent of the votes.

Voting in the national referendum was conductedin February.

Filed Under: USDA/Government

USDA temporarily suspends Farm Service Agency foreclosures

April 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has temporarily suspended all foreclosures within the Farm Service Agency’s farm loan program.

Vilsack made theannouncement as part of a memorandum detailing a plan to promote civil rights and equal access at USDA. Vilsack says the suspension of Farm Service Agency foreclosures will not only aid farmers facing economic hardship, but will also give the agency time to review the loan granting process forpossible discriminatory conduct.

Vilsack’s memo creates a task force that will review a sample of civil rights complaints submitted to USDA. Vilsack says the complaints and inquiries total over 14-thousand, including over three-thousand that have not been processed.

Filed Under: USDA/Government
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