News Update
October 22, 2013
First Public Meeting for 2013 Farm Bill Conference Committee Announced
House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders announced Oct. 23 that the first public meeting for the 2013 Farm Bill conference committee will be on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. ET in room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building (the Ways and Means Committee Room). The agenda for the meeting of conferees will include opening statements and discussion of H.R. 2642, The Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Agriculture Secretary Announces Record Sales, Income and Assets for Agriculture and Fishery Cooperatives in 2012
In recognition of October as National Cooperative Month, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Oct. 23 that U.S. farmer, rancher and fishery cooperatives set records for sales, income and assets in 2012, buoyed by strong prices for grain, farm supplies and many other agricultural commodities. Sales by agricultural and fishery co-ops of nearly $235 billion surpassed the 2011 record by $18 billion, an 8.3% gain. Record net (pre-tax) income of $6.1 billion was up nearly 13% over the $5.4 billion recorded in 2011.
“Agricultural cooperatives are a driving force in the nation’s thriving farm economy. Because they are farmer-owned- and -operated businesses, the sales dollars and income generated are much more likely to be returned and spent in rural areas and communities,” Vilsack said. “Ag cooperatives are also vital to the rural economy because they support 185,000 full- and part-time jobs, and are often the major employer in many rural towns.”
Vilsack has signed an October 2013 National Cooperative Month Proclamation that salutes not only agricultural and fishery co-ops, but the entire co-op sector — which includes utility, financial, food and many other types of co-ops — for helping to boost the economy and create jobs. Reading from the proclamation, Vilsack said: “Cooperative businesses, arising from a sense of community and common cause, are the ultimate economic self-help tool, helping member-owners market and process their crops and other products, obtain needed services and acquire high-quality, affordable supplies.”
USDA’s annual survey of the nation’s more than 2,200 agricultural and fishery cooperatives shows that grain and oilseed sales by co-ops increased more than $7 billion in 2012.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Proper Forage Sampling Methods Could
Help Prevent Prussic Acid Poisoning in Cattle
Clinical signs of prussic acid poisoning in cattle might include labored breathing and staggering. Prussic acid poisoning is a condition that occurs when cattle ingest forages with high levels of prussic acid, which inhibits the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity and causes cattle to die very quickly. Producers should be on particular lookout for the condition this time of year.
“When we move into fall and flirt with that first frost, we have risk potential for prussic acid poisoning in livestock,” said Justin Waggoner, beef systems specialist at K-State Research and Extension’s southwest area office in Garden City.
High levels of prussic acid are common in several forages native to Kansas that include sorghum, Sudan grass and crosses of those types. The high levels are caused by anything that damages the cells in plant leaves, including that first frost.
“When plant cells are damaged due to frost, the plant cell wall ruptures and releases prussic acid, or hydrocyanic acid, into the surrounding leaf tissue,” Waggoner said.
When the first frost hits a particular field, it burns the leaves and prussic acid content rises, Waggoner said. Over a period of time, five to seven days later, the prussic acid will volatilize. Once the plant becomes dormant, the risk of prussic acid is gone.
Because prussic acid is volatile, it is hard to determine if it dissipates after one frost. If the plant doesn’t become dormant, there is still a risk for high prussic acid levels if another frost comes along.
Waggoner said producers often like to turn their cows out to graze sorghum stocks before a hard killing freeze, which could be risky for cattle.
For more information, please view the full release here.
AgriLife Research Develops New Lines of Cool-season Grasses
Breeding lines of summer-dormant cool-season grasses suited for the Rolling Plains are ready for seed increase after four years of improvement at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center near Vernon.
Dariusz Malinowski, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research forage cropping systems scientist, began work in 2000 with cool-season perennial grasses for the Rolling Plains region in collaboration with GrasslaNZ Technology Ltd. in New Zealand. In 2009, the collaboration turned its focus to breeding summer-dormant, cool-season grasses.
Malinowski is now ready to send his first Texas breeding lines back to New Zealand for seed increase in 2014 to ensure a high-quality seed is available for worldwide evaluation and studies, he said. Final evaluation studies will be conducted in the U.S. and several other countries.
Others who are a part of the research effort are Bill Pinchak, AgriLife Research ruminant nutritionist; Yves Emendack, AgriLife Research postdoctoral plant pathologist; and Steve Brown, Texas Foundation Seed Service general manager, all of Vernon, Texas. The project is funded by Grasslands Innovation Ltd. of New Zealand.
Early on, AgResearch Grasslands in New Zealand was testing a cultivar eventually released as Fletcha, Malinowski said. He was working with Pinchak at the time on wheat grasses “and we didn’t have too much luck because they only lasted for one or two seasons. When we saw the Fletcha growing here, we began working with AgResearch and they sent us more lines.”
The group is trying to find forages to fill the grazing niche needed during October to December, a time when cattlemen are waiting for wheat to grow in the fall for forage, and again from March through May if wheat is produced for grain, Malinowski said.
For more information, please view the full release here.
OSU Extension Offers Livestock Mortality Composting Certification Courses Nov. 18, 20
Livestock producers looking for an economical and environmentally beneficial way to deal with dead animals can earn livestock mortality composting certification through a course offered by experts from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Livestock mortality happens on all livestock and poultry farms at some point for a variety of reasons, including illness, old age, natural disasters and birthing problems, said Clif Little, an educator with the college’s outreach arm, Ohio State University (OSU) Extension.
In Ohio, there are four approved methods for disposing of livestock mortality: composting, incineration, burial and rendering. Composting is the most economical because it not only saves farmers money, it also protects the environment and returns animals slowly to the soil, Little said.
“Livestock mortality happens on a regular basis, so producers have to be prepared to deal with the issue anytime and on an annual basis,” he said. “Composting allows producers to recycle the animals and the leftover compost can be used to add nutrients to the soil.”
While burial is an option, the Ohio Revised Code requires not less than 4 feet of soil above the animal, which can be a challenge for producers when dealing with frozen or muddy soil conditions, Little said.
Certification is required by law if producers want to use composting as a method to deal with livestock and poultry mortality, he said. “The workshop offers producers extensive training and runs through the entire process including how to do it, where it’s done, how it’s done and how to monitor the process,” Little said.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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