The bottom line is yield affects profitability. Dr. Fred Below and his Graduate Assistant Adam Henninger are working to increase corn yields. Their 7 Wonders of the Corn Yield World not only increase production but also help the farmer’s bottom line. Through his innovative research he is actively pursuing the elusive 300 bushel corn.
Water Street Solutions advises succession planning
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Ben Metzger is Director of Estate Planning for Water Street Solutions tells Brownfield succession planning is a road map of sorts, helping you to determine where you are and where you are going to go. Planning ahead is crucial to anyone who wants to transition a farm. Being proactive can save a lot of headaches, heartaches, and money.
A complete estate plan includes assessing all of the steps, which Metzger says is important no matter what the size of the operation or the number of people involved.
Earthquake felt in the Eastern States
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 5.8 earthquake was felt across much of the Mid-Atlantic region Tuesday afternoon at 151 PM EDT.
The epicenter was located 5 miles south-southwest from Mineral, VA, or 38 miles northwest from Richmond, VA, or 84 miles southwest from Washington, DC.
A new market for high oleic beans
August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Farm Progress Show is all about innovation and the future of farming. Yesterday Pioneer Hi-bred announced a new partnership that begins in 2012. ADM will contract for Plenish high oleic soybeans with intentions of marketing the oil for use by the food industry in 2013. Brad Lance with Pioneer’s Heartland Business Unit says they have begun contracting with growers. He notes they can go ahead and get started with some limited contracting in 2012 that will be processed in 2013. He says the soybeans will bring health benefits through a biotech trait to the marketplace.
Lance says this provides farmers with additional opportunities. The first opportunity will be around the Frankfort, IN area. ADM will be crushing the soybeans there and then moving the oil around the country to where the markets will be. The opportunity for growers will be to grow high yielding soybeans with the Plenish trait for a premium on the contract and then drawn in to the Frankfort location for crush.
As Lance said, the first market available to growers is in the Frankfort, IN area. He also says since Plenish high oleic oil has zero trans fats this presents a great opportunity for soybean oil to regain market share that has been lost over the year.
Wick Buildings are unique
August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Wick Buildings serves 4 different markets and agriculture, according to Steve Bohlman, VP of Sales & Marketing, is the “hot” market right now. WIth a 17 state geography, Bohlman has seen diversity in customers and buildings. Every building, explains Bohlman, is unique.
Wick Buildings stands apart from other building companies by using higher quality lumber, stronger paint and steel and screws instead of nails. The company also works with local, independent builders.
It’s getting more expensive for Texans to keep cattle
August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
It is getting more-and-more expensive for cattle producers in Texas to keep their animals. Hay is being shipped in from Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, South Dakota and beyond. USDA says the average price of hay hit $170 per ton in July and then you have to haul it. The Abilene Reporter quotes a Nebraska farmer who says trucking adds $50 to $70 per ton. An Oklahoma hay growers is offering large bales for $90 a piece plus $3.30 a mile for hauling.
A number of Texas cattle producers have sold-off everything but their cows and now some are sending them to market. Texas AgriLife Extension Economist Dr. David Anderson says agriculture in the state has suffered $5.2 billion in losses to-date and $2.06 billion of that is livestock. Predictions are the Texas cattle herd will be 12 percent smaller by the beginning of 2012. About the only “positive” is cattle prices are good.
New ginseng standards
August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
USDA is revising the standards and creating new grades for cultivated ginseng. Changes to the standards include adding tolerance levels, reclassifying sizes, removing table values and amending definitions. The Ag Marketing Service says the new standards will be based on quality and percentage of defects and make the marketing of U.S. ginseng easier on the world market.
The changes are published in Tuesday’s Federal Register, written comments on the rules will be accepted through September 29, 2011.
New strain of avian Influenza increasing in Asia
August 30, 2011 By 1 Comment
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is warning a new vaccine-resistant strain of the H5N1 Avian Influenza is spreading across Asia. The FAO is urging increased surveillance and preparedness for a flare-up of this new strain this fall as birds migrate.
Called H5N1 -2.3.2.1, the variant is currently in China, Vietnam and Cambodia where it has claimed eight lives. It has also been found in Nepal, Mongolia, Romania, Bulgaria and Israel and poses an immediate threat to Thailand and Malaysia followed by the Korean peninsula and Japan.
Another U.N. agency, the World Health Organization says a new mutation of a virus is nothing new, there have been a number of variants of the H5 virus to-date. A WHO official says it just means “we have to change the vaccine.”
FEMA funding dispute brewing
August 30, 2011 By 1 Comment
As the eastern United States assesses the damage from Hurricane Irene, it appears the Federal Emergency Management Agency may run out of funds. A battle is shaping up in Congress over additional funding for the agency. FEMA has less than $800 million in its coffers with help needed for Hurricane Irene, the earth quake last week and on-going flooding along the Missouri River. In fact, President Obama has declared 66 major disasters so far this year for everything from snowstorms to tornados and flooding.
The problem is where any additional money for FEMA will come from. While the Democrats who control the Senate want emergency funding as per normal, the Republicans who control the House are demanding off-setting cuts in spending.
FEMA says they are looking at a $5 billion disaster aid shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year and that doesn’t include Hurricane Irene. In the meantime, FEMA is using its remaining funds for immediate needs like food and shelter but putting-off any rebuilding projects
New Nebraska State Fair app offered
August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This year’s Nebraska State Fair features more interactive 4-H exhibits and activities—among them a state fair iPad app that enables fair goers to view contest results via their iPads or kiosks throughout the fairgrounds.
“We’re featuring an app that we created to really tell fairgoers about the state fair and about the 4-H interaction,” says Shane Potter, UNL extension educator and 4-H program coordinator. “This is a place you can go and find out about the university, the results, and what 4-Hers are doing.
“It’s one more chance for us to be cutting edge and really relate to where the youth are—and what they would like to use when they’re learning.”
The state fair app can be downloaded for free from the ITunes store online by searching for Nebraska Extension 4-H.
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