News Update
July 27, 2011

National FFA Organization Receives Nearly $1.9 Million From Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. has donated nearly $1.9 million of software, training and support to the National FFA Organization for the creation of a new online network to help students track educational successes, pursue awards and scholarships and ultimately obtain careers in the agriculture industry.

The Agricultural Career Network will be an online portal that students can use starting in middle school, through college and beyond to track their educational accomplishments, activities and awards. It will also allow students to build résumés and online portfolios, apply for awards and scholarships, prepare for college, pursue internships, connect with potential employers and pursue employment opportunities.

Agriculture teachers will also be able to manage FFA member information in the network, which will provide key data for Perkins plans and reports, produce local impact reports for advocacy efforts, compile information about available grant and scholarship applications and create tools that teachers can use to gauge the relevance and successes of their individual agricultural education curricula.

Microsoft’s donation to FFA includes SharePoint 2010, SQL Server 2008 R2 and additional products.

“Microsoft’s generosity and support gives us the utmost confidence that the Agricultural Career Network will deliver world-class service to FFA members, their teachers and FFA alumni to help them efficiently and professionally document their educational and career progress and achievements,” said Mark Cavell, chief technical officer at the National FFA Organization. “We envision the network will be a powerful resource that students can use now and well into their futures as agriculture-industry leaders.”

The initial focus of the Agricultural Career Network will be to improve the quality, service and impact of FFA. Data collected through the network will help document the impact and relevance of FFA and agriculture curricula, drive FFA programming and build a growing base of support for agricultural education.

“We applaud FFA for its launch of the Agricultural Career Network,” said Staci Trackey Meagher, general manager for Microsoft’s Midwest District. “Microsoft has long believed that inside each and every person there is great potential. To continue increasing digital inclusion, we are committed to providing technology, tools and resources to these organizations and are honored we can assist the FFA with this key initiative.” 

The Agriculture Career Network will roll out in phases, with the first phase being made available to FFA members and agriculture teachers this fall. Over the next two years, the network will expand, featuring additional tools and features.

— Release by the National FFA Organization.

Timely and Careful Stockpiling of Fescue Pasture Is Vital for Winter Use

Beef producers who attended a recent series of pasture management meetings in southern Iowa learned of the importance of timely and careful stockpiling of fescue pastures. Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach and Iowa Beef Center (IBC) sponsored the meetings that focused on fescue management and featured ISU Extension beef program specialist Joe Sellers and Craig Roberts of the University of Missouri (MU).

“Producers planning to stockpile fescue pastures for late fall and winter grazing should think about reducing alkaloid levels in the fescue with good management practices,” Sellers said. “Most tall fescue stands have an endophyte that produces alkaloids that can hurt cattle performance.”

Sellers said producers often think of higher body temperatures, less grass consumption, more time in shade and ponds, and symptoms like loss of tail switches and lameness as negative effects of fescue, but there can be more to that story. While these are a concern, the biggest effects from fescue are reduced gains, lowered milk production and poor rebreeding rates in cattle.

Roberts said the problem has a high price tag.

“It’s estimated that fescue toxicosis costs the Missouri beef industry over $160 million per year,” Roberts said. “Similar problems exist in Iowa, but there are several proven management steps that can reduce the problem regardless of the location.”

Practices that help cattle perform better on fescue have to do with managing the levels of alkaloid consumed by cattle. These practices include reducing spring nitrogen fertilization rates, providing more diverse stands with legumes and other grasses, rotating cattle to non-fescue-based summer pastures, haying or clipping fescue during the late spring and early summer to reduce stems and seed heads, and supplementing feeds like soybean or corn coproducts, Roberts said. More information is available in this presentation by Roberts.

Using several of these steps can alleviate the effects of fescue, but there is no “silver bullet” that will eliminate the problem. Studies looking at other methods like mineral additives and de-worming have found mixed results.

This past winter, several producers had more intense cases of fescue foot and other fescue related problems than during previous years. In part, this was due to longer than recommended rest periods, followed by grazing during very cold weather, Sellers said.

“Many years of research in Iowa and Missouri on stockpiling resulted in recommending stockpiling periods of 70 to 100 days. Much longer rest periods will increase plant volume, but also will reduce forage quality and increase the alkaloid levels in the grass,” he said. “If pastures are rested longer than 100 days, producers must be careful when those plots are grazed, graze mature bred cows in mid-pregnancy and dilute the fescue with other feeds. Late summer applications of moderate nitrogen rates can result in more grass growth and extended winter grazing, with less impact on alkaloids.”

For more information on stockpiled grazing and managing fescue, contact Sellers by phone at 641-203-1270 or by email at sellers@iastate.edu.

— Release written by Joe Sellers & Sherry Hoyer for Iowa State University Extension.

Drought Causing Significant Acceleration of Cattle Liquidation

Expanding extreme drought conditions in Oklahoma and other Southern Great Plains states seems to be causing a significant acceleration of cattle liquidation in the region.

In Oklahoma, the combined total for federally reported auctions the past two weeks has shown a 56% increase in feeder cattle sales and a 205% increase in cow and bull sales compared to the same period one year ago.

The auction totals include significant numbers of double-stocked summer stocker cattle from the Osage country that are typically marketed this time of year. However, the totals also include large numbers of cows and lightweight feeder cattle that are not typically marketed.

“Most likely we are seeing a second wave of cow liquidation made up of animals with spring-born calves that are just now big enough to wean early and sell,” said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension livestock marketing specialist.

Peel added that he is receiving anecdotal evidence from auctions large and small about excessive numbers of feeder cattle and cows being marketed. In addition, livestock haulers are booked and it is difficult to arrange shipping at this time.

Prices for slaughter cows, bred cows and cow-calf pairs have dropped sharply in the past two weeks.

“This is likely a temporary situation due, in part, to the bottlenecks of selling and shipping so many animals in a short period of time,” Peel said.

Many producers are selling because they have no other alternative given current input costs and drought-stressed resources. Those with the ability to postpone sales for a couple of weeks may find the logistics improved, not to mention a better price.

“It’s hard to say how long the current bulge in cow liquidation will last,” Peel said. “Most likely it will be a matter of no more than another two to four weeks. Unfortunately, many of the cows are going to slaughter, contributing to additional reductions in America’s already diminished cow herd compared to previous decades.”

Beef cow slaughter in Federal slaughter Region 6 — Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana — is 16% higher for the year-to-date compared to last year. In the most recent two weeks of data, beef cow slaughter in Region 6 has increased 35% compared to the same period last year.

“Drought conditions are having devastating effects on producers in the afflicted region, which in turn are affecting the beef cattle industry nationwide, and will continue to do so for several years,” Peel said. “Total U.S. beef cow slaughter for the year-to-date is down 2.7%, but the gap is closing because of large slaughter totals in the drought-afflicted south-central states.”

For most weeks of 2011, the national total beef cow slaughter decreased compared to last year. However, in the last four weeks of slaughter data, the week-to-week totals for beef cow slaughter have exceeded year-ago levels.

“By pushing beef cow slaughter close to last year’s record levels, the drought ensures additional herd liquidation that is deepening the hole from which the industry must start to rebuild,” Peel said. “That has been a frequently asked and somewhat worrisome question: When is the U.S. beef industry going to rebuild its diminished cow herd?”

The July Cattle Report confirmed that the July 1 beef cow herd was down 1% from last year. However, this survey value likely does not reflect the accelerated liquidation that has occurred in the month of July.

— Release written by Donald Stotts for Oklahoma State University Ag Communications Service.

Vilsack Announces Telecommunications Projects to Deliver Broadband to Rural Communities

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced July 27 that rural telecommunications companies have been selected to receive nearly $192 million in loans for projects that will deliver broadband services to rural customers across eight states. These funds represent the latest investment from the Department of Agriculture’s Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program and will add thousands of miles of cable to the telecommunications grid in rural America. The announcement was made by Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein on Vilsack's behalf at the summer meeting of the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunication Companies in Minneapolis.

“A significant portion of America still does not have adequate broadband for job and economic development activities,” Vilsack said. “Working with our partners, including cooperatives and the telecommunications industry, USDA delivers broadband to rural areas, creating jobs and providing critical financial, educational and health care services. We've made a good start, but it is clear that the work of the Obama Administration and USDA is far from done.”

Administered by USDA Rural Development's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), this financing is part of the $690 million investment during fiscal year 2011 and is in addition to the $3.5 billion in broadband funding RUS awarded for projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The telecommunications infrastructure program funds facilities and equipment to upgrade, expand, maintain and replace rural telecommunications networks.

Funding of each recipient is contingent upon their meeting the conditions of the loan agreement. See a complete list of the rural utilities approved for funding here.

Visit www.rurdev.usda.gov for additional information about the agency’s programs.

— Adapted from a release by USDA.

— Compiled by Linda Robbins, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.