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Show Me Beef-U shows all sides of industry

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Another Show Me Beef University was held this week – a cooperative program between the University of Missouri, the University Extension and the Missouri Beef Checkoff. Producing higher quality beef – that’s the purpose behind Show Me Beef University. MU has partnered with the Missouri Beef Checkoff over the past several years to offer the class to not only producers but others interested in beef production. Missouri beef producers seldom get the chance to see the process through to the end product after their cattle leave the farm.

The event kicked off at the MU Bradford research facility just south of Columbia.  Missouri Beef Industry Council director John Kleiboecher says participantss got to see the bigger picture – learning about genetics and feeding to make higher quality beef. The class got to see live cattle at the MU research farm and conduct carcass evaluations – later learning about meat grading. And they observed a slaughter demonstration. Participants learned about retail packaging and marketing options.

Kleiboecher says it was a diverse group of students enrolled this session – from cow/calf producers to those several who feed cattle and direct market producers in addition to food service marketers of beef products.

Dr. Carol Lorenzen, University of Missouri Professor of Meat Science organized and led the participants who heard from a variety of Extension experts about food safety and inspection, carcass and offal values, pricing possiblities, rules of meat cutting, beef preparation, reproductive management and meat quality and nutrition management as it relates to meat quality.

The program is held in January and May.  And, yes, beef is the main course at Show Me Beef University meals.

AUDIO: John Kleiboecher (4:00 mp3)

 Show Me Beef University – May 2012 – Photos

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Branstad warms to fuel tax increase idea

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Several Iowa farm groups were disappointed this year with the Iowa legislature’s failure to address what the ag groups consider to be a rapidly deteriorating infrastructure in the state. 

One of those groups—Iowa Farm Bureau—says it will continue to push for an increase in the state’s fuel tax to help fund much needed improvements to roads and bridges. 

Earlier in the year, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad told Brownfield that he wanted to tighten up the transportation department’s budget before he would support the fuel tax increase. 

Now that those savings have been found—and with gas prices on the decline—Branstad says the timing for the fuel tax increase might be better in the next legislative session.

“I think, also, if it were phased in over a period of years, that kind of makes sense,” Branstad says, “and I think we’ll also be in a position to reduce other taxes so that people can see that it will be a net reduction in the cost to the consumers, while at the same time, the people who are using and benefitting from our roads—from out-of-state, as well as in-state—would pay the cost of it.”

And Branstad says those infrastructure improvements will need to be done on a “pay-as-you-go” basis.

“Many states have gotten themselves in trouble by doing major bonding projects and then doing it with borrowed money—and they have to pay it back with interest,” he says. “Then they have so much of their money going just to pay interest as opposed to repairing and improving their roads and bridges.

“Iowa is in much better shape because we haven’t done that.”

Iowa Farm Bureau says the fuel tax increase is the most equitable and feasible method for funding infrastructure improvements.

AUDIO: Terry Branstad (2:19 MP3)

 

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Winners really do drink milk

May 17, 2012 By 1 Comment

It all started when Louis Meyer, the Indy 500’s first three-time winner asked for a cold glass of buttermilk to quench his thirst after the 500 mile race.  In 1956 – Tony Hulman made that Bottle of Milk a tradition.

This coming Memorial Day weekend – two of Indiana’s finest dairy farmers get to deliver  “the coolest prize in the sports world”.  It’s David Forgey’s, a Logansport, IN dairy farmer, job to hand the winning driver their selection of milk. 

“We’ve got a list of all the race drivers and what milk they like to drink,” he says.  “We’ll provide them with their choice of skim, 2%, or whole milk.”  Forgey says they carry a cooler with them at all times on race day – all in anticipation of the end of the race.  Inside the cooler – the ice-cold milk for the winning driver.  He calls the Winner’s Circle “the most valuable piece of real estate in Indiana”.

“The rookie” on the team this year is Fountain City, IN dairy farmer Duane Hill.  He says he’ll spend much of his time taking notes for next year – when he’ll be the senior member of the tem.  “I’ll follow in Dave’s footsteps and learn from his leadership,” he says.  He also notes they have to make sure they are in the ‘right place – at the right time’.

As the rookie – Hill will hand the winning crew chief and team owner their bottles of milk.

Both Forgey and Hill are board members of the Milk Promotion Services of Indiana.

And in case you were wondering – the driver poll results for milk selection mostly says “no preference”.  But 2% milk is the most common “choice”.

Filed Under: Dairy, Events/Organizations, Human Interest, News Tagged With: , , ,

Domino’s targeted with online petition

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

At the same time the ag community is thanking Domino’s Pizza for its recent stand against the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), an HSUS supporter is circulating an online petition urging Domino’s to fall in line with other food companies that have come out against gestation stalls.

A Domino’s Pizza “customer petition” on the web site Change.org is asking the pizza chain to stop purchasing pork from suppliers who use gestation crates.  The petition has gone viral, collecting more than 124,000 signatures from people in all 50 states in the past week.

The woman who launched the petition campaign—Rina Khadivi of Austin, Texas—claims she is a meat eater and says she is not an animal rights activist.  But, in a posting on another web site, she does identify herself as a supporter of HSUS. 

Domino’s shareholders recently rejected a resolution proposed by HSUS to require its pork suppliers to stop housing sows in gestation stalls.  As a way of thanking the company for standing with America’s farmers, bloggers on the web site The Truth About Agriculture are promoting what they call an “Ag Pizza Party“.  They are encouraging everyone to order Domino’s pizza this weekend (May 18-20).

 

 

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Proposal to limit premium subsidies has Grassley’s attention

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A call for a 40-thousand dollar payment limit to be imposed on crop insurance premium subsidies has garnered the attention of Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley.

Two of Grassley’s colleagues, Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, have proposed the payment limit.  They cite a recent report by the Government Accountability Office that outlined possible savings of up to one billion dollars a year on crop insurance if such a cap were in place.

Grassley, a long-time advocate for payment limitations, says he’s willing to take a look at the proposal.

“The extent to which five percent of the people are getting so much of the benefit of the crop insurance program is going to cause me to take a serious look at what Coburn is proposing,” Grassley told reporters in his weekly conference call.

But the Republican senator and Senate Ag Committee member says he doesn’t want to hurt the crop insurance program.

“When 92 percent of the farmers are risk management, I don’t want to do anything to hurt the whole program that benefits 92 percent of the farmers,” Grassley says.  “But on the other hand, I don’t think people that have the capability of operating successfully ought to be subsidized through one program that—other programs I don’t think they ought to be subsidized through.”

Durbin and Coburn have not yet formally introduced legislation related to the premium subsidies.

AUDIO: Grassley comments on proposal and farm bill timetable (3:57 MP3)

 

Filed Under: Crops, Events/Organizations, News, USDA/Government Tagged With: , , , ,

Ethanol savings are even greater in Iowa

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A new report from the Iowa State University Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) shows that ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by $1.09 per gallon nationally last year.

But the savings to Midwestern motorists were even more than that.

According to Lucy Norton of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, without ethanol, pump prices in Iowa have been $1.69 more per gallon.

“So if you take that $1.69 per gallon reduction, it adds up to a very generous $2,363 in annual savings for a typical Iowa family,” Norton says.

Norton explains that the savings are higher in areas with greater ethanol production and ethanol use.

“Iowa is the number one ethanol producing state and ethanol has captured 80 percent of the fuel market here in Iowa—so Iowans are reaping the best benefits from having ethanol available to them,” she says.

Iowa’s  41 ethanol plants produce nearly three-point-seven billion gallons annually.

AUDIO: Lucy Norton (3:50 MP3)

 

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Good 2nd quarter at Deere

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A very good second quarter for Deere and Company. The company is reporting sales of $10 billion and earnings of $1.1 billion or $2.61 per share for the quarter up 23 percent from a year ago. That compares to earnings of $904 million or $2.12 per share for the same quarter last year.

For the first six months of the fiscal year, Deere reports net income of $1.589 billion compared to $1.418 billion a year ago. Analysts say record farm income last year and a big corn crop being planted this year are the reasons behind the strong numbers.

The company says equipment sales in the U.S. and Canada increased 18 percent for the quarter and 13 percent year-to-date. Net sales outside the U.S. and Canada have increased 6 percent for the quarter and 12 percent for six months.

As a reflection of the quarterly numbers, Deere raised its earnings prediction for the year to $3.3 billion.

Read more here:

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Branstad: Iowa schools sticking with LFTB

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

As the controversy over Lean Finely Textured Beef (LFTB) raged on earlier this spring, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds sent letters to all 359 Iowa school districts, urging them to continue using LFTB in their school lunch programs.

Branstad tells Brownfield, to his knowledge, no Iowa schools are planning to drop LFTB—and he says that is very encouraging.

“It says that Iowans are more thoughtful and they check things out—and they just don’t go on rumors and misinformation,” Branstad says. “Unfortunatley, there’s a lot of people on the East Coast and West Coast that don’t know much about agriculture or meat production or processing—and we have a bigger task to try to inform and educate them.

“ Part of our problem is, of course, some of the people in the media using smear language and not accurately describing products.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has received some criticism for what some felt was a weak defense of LFTB and for its quick decision to let schools opt out of using the product.

Branstad agrees, and wishes the agency would have handled LFTB the same way it handled the recent BSE case in California.

“USDA was very quick to have expertise on television the very night that it (BSE) came out to correct that,” he says, “so I think they’ve learned something from the slow and maybe ‘inappropriate’ way they responded to the smear campaign about Lean Finely Textured Beef.”

Branstad says that, in the future, he hopes USDA will be more proactive in getting correct and factual out to the media and the public—and in pushing back against what Branstad calls “smear campaigns against various food products.”

AUDIO: Terry Branstad (5:19 MP3)

 

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LG Seeds partners with Greene Co Ag Research Center

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

At the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony of the Greene County Agricultural Research Center on Tuesday, May 15, Greene County Career Center Superintendent, Dan Schroer announced a partnership with LG Seeds.

“The exciting part is, they are going to be working with our agriculture programs at Xenia High School, Cedarville High School and Greeneview High School,” said Schroer. “We have we over 250 students enrolled in those programs and those students will now have a land laboratory working with agronomists, working with soil scientists to be able to learn about soil science, crop science and data collection.”

Audio: Dan Schroer, Superintendent, GCCC (2:35 mp3)

Alex Johnson, state agronomist for LG Seeds in Ohio tells Brownfield they’ll be conducting Practical Farm Research trials on 40 acres at the Greene County Agricultural Research Center, involving not only students, but also area farmers.

“Local farmers will be a key piece in this, as they help with farming operations and the application of different products and LG Seeds will be supplying all of the seed for the trials,” said Johnson.

Planning will begin this summer, with fall herbicide and tillage operations taking place this fall.

Audio: Alex Johnson, Agronomist, LG Seeds (2:10 mp3)

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, News Tagged With: , , ,

Good first-quarter for Land O’Lakes

May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Land O’Lakes reporting net sales of $3.9 billion and net earnings of $85 million for the first quarter. Those numbers reflect a 12 percent increase in net sales but a $16 million decline in net earnings compared to the same quarter a year ago. Reduced earnings in dairy foods, layers and eggs were partially offset by improved earnings in crop inputs and feed. President and CEO Chris Policinski says the report reflects lower milk prices compared to a year ago while the early spring helped the crop input business.

Despite the decline, it still was the second-best first quarter for the cooperative.

Based in Arden Hills, Minnesota, Land O’Lakes is the second-largest cooperative in the country with annual sales of $13 billion doing business in all 50 states and more than 60 countries.

Read the report here:

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