Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Corn Day!
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. — Close to 400 people braved sub-zero temperatures last week to attend the West Otter Tail Crop and Forage Show in Fergus Falls.
They viewed open class and FFA crop and forage exhibits, took part in educational programs and visited with more than 70 exhibitors.
Crop show chairman and West Otter Tail Crop Improvement Association president Dan Roehl was pleased with the turnout.
In the grain contest, 27 open class exhibitors participated. In the FFA contest, 22 student exhibitors entered 70 grain and forage exhibits.
Ear corn entries were up, Roehl said. Small grains exhibited included buckwheat, soybeans, kidney beans, black turtle beans, oats and wheat. Forage exhibits were down due to a rainy growing year. All grain exhibits will be entered in the Minnesota State Fair in August.
Northern Crops Institute director Brian Sorenson explained how NCI helps buyers throughout the world learn more about grains grown in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.
Sorenson travels overseas to meet with grain buyers and offers several sessions for foreign buyers at NCI headquarters in Fargo, N.D. The sessions instruct about the milling and baking properties of wheat.
Ken Herbranson, Clitherall-area dairy farmer and chairman of the Minnesota Division of the Midwest Dairy Association, showed pictures of and described his travels with the Minnesota ag trade mission to China.
The show also honored several couples receiving regional awards. Willis and Joyce Roehl of Fergus Falls were named Valley Farmer/Homemaker recipients; Joel and Britt PIekarski, also of Fergus Falls, were honored as West Otter Tail's Emerging Leaders; and Ron and Mary Moebius of Dalton were named Conservation Farmer recipients.
They viewed open class and FFA crop and forage exhibits, took part in educational programs and visited with more than 70 exhibitors.
Crop show chairman and West Otter Tail Crop Improvement Association president Dan Roehl was pleased with the turnout.
In the grain contest, 27 open class exhibitors participated. In the FFA contest, 22 student exhibitors entered 70 grain and forage exhibits.
Ear corn entries were up, Roehl said. Small grains exhibited included buckwheat, soybeans, kidney beans, black turtle beans, oats and wheat. Forage exhibits were down due to a rainy growing year. All grain exhibits will be entered in the Minnesota State Fair in August.
Northern Crops Institute director Brian Sorenson explained how NCI helps buyers throughout the world learn more about grains grown in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.
Sorenson travels overseas to meet with grain buyers and offers several sessions for foreign buyers at NCI headquarters in Fargo, N.D. The sessions instruct about the milling and baking properties of wheat.
Ken Herbranson, Clitherall-area dairy farmer and chairman of the Minnesota Division of the Midwest Dairy Association, showed pictures of and described his travels with the Minnesota ag trade mission to China.
The show also honored several couples receiving regional awards. Willis and Joyce Roehl of Fergus Falls were named Valley Farmer/Homemaker recipients; Joel and Britt PIekarski, also of Fergus Falls, were honored as West Otter Tail's Emerging Leaders; and Ron and Mary Moebius of Dalton were named Conservation Farmer recipients.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Dog Of The Month
Farmer Of The Month
This Months Farmer Of The Month is one of the most deserving people. Marvin Hook. Marvin raises cattle and grows corn and beans. For being this months recepient Marvin will be retired to the Hall Of Fame.
Iowa Farm Bureau Webinar to Discuss 2011 Crop Insurance, Marketing2/7/2011 9:45:24 AM |
The Iowa Farm Bureau’s Farm Management Webinar Series will address crop insurance and crop marketing techniques in its next session held on Thursday, Feb. 17. The live webinar will be held at 1 p.m. (CST).
Dr. William Edwards, Iowa State University economics professor, will lead the webinar, updating farmers’ crop insurance knowledge and introducing the new COMBO policy. In addition, Ed Kordick, Iowa Farm Bureau commodity services manager, will discuss pre-harvest marketing plans, along with an early look at potential profitability regarding the 2011 crop.
“This is a great opportunity for farmers to learn up-to-date information that can assist them as they make 2011 crop decisions,” said Kordick. “And they can do so from the comfort of their own homes.”
Registration is encouraged. To test your computer’s access, go online to www.extension.iastate.edu/testconnect. Once registered, you will receive an e-mail reminder. Participants can access the webinar at http://www.iowafarmbureau.com/ and look for the link on the main rotating banner.
An archived version will be available for Farm Bureau members.
To register and find more information, contact Ed Kordick at 515-225-5433
Dr. William Edwards, Iowa State University economics professor, will lead the webinar, updating farmers’ crop insurance knowledge and introducing the new COMBO policy. In addition, Ed Kordick, Iowa Farm Bureau commodity services manager, will discuss pre-harvest marketing plans, along with an early look at potential profitability regarding the 2011 crop.
“This is a great opportunity for farmers to learn up-to-date information that can assist them as they make 2011 crop decisions,” said Kordick. “And they can do so from the comfort of their own homes.”
Registration is encouraged. To test your computer’s access, go online to www.extension.iastate.edu/testconnect. Once registered, you will receive an e-mail reminder. Participants can access the webinar at http://www.iowafarmbureau.com/ and look for the link on the main rotating banner.
An archived version will be available for Farm Bureau members.
To register and find more information, contact Ed Kordick at 515-225-5433
Friday, February 11, 2011
Info on the Iowa Beef Expo
DES MOINES —The Iowa Beef Expo will be Feb. 13 to Feb. 20 on the Iowa State fairgrounds in Des Moines.
The youth judging contest gets under way Feb. 13 and will have shows and sales throughout the week. The Expo Junior Show is Feb. 19-20.
The Simmental and Charolais sales are Feb. 14. The Limousin Show and the Shorthorn, Red Angus and Gelbvieh sales are Feb. 15. The Angus and Lowline shows and the Limousin, Sales and Lowline sales are Feb. 16. The Maine-Anjou, Chianina shows and the Angus, Hereford, Maine-Anjou and Chianina sales are Feb. 17. The No Fit Showmanship Contest is Feb. 18.
Both buyers and consignors will have the opportunity to take advantage of special "Cattlemen's Offers" provided at the country's largest state beef expo.
Hawkeye Breeders Service of Adel will offer a free semen collection on any one bull that brings $2,500 or more in any of the breed sales held during the event.
Trans Ova Genetics of Sioux Center will offer the purchaser of the high selling female in each breed selling 25 head or more a free embryo flush on the female of his/her choice from his/her breeding herd and three free transfers into the owner's recipients.
Muir Embroidery of Jefferson along with Livestock Plus Inc. of Clarion will present embroidered Iowa Beef Expo jackets to consignors of the high selling bull and high selling female in each sale.
Muir Embroidery, along with Iowa Beef Breeds Council, will present embroidered windshirts to the purchaser of the high selling bull and high selling female in each sale.
All registered buyers will be eligible to win embroidered caps donated by Hawkeye Tack and Western Wear. A separate drawing will be held for each of the sales.
Cattle producers will find a live display of the country's most widely promoted AI sires. A special aisle in the barn will be set aside to allow breeders to display the top individuals from their herds. Many nationally known AI sires have been displayed at the expo in the past.
The Iowa Beef Breeds Council has chosen Robert Schlutz of Columbus Junction to receive the "Friend of the Iowa Beef Expo" award. The Driscoll Family of Walridge Farms, Williamsburg, is Iowa's Seedstock Producer of the Year.
For more information, contact Mindy Campfield, expo director at (515) 966-0075
Thank you to AgriNews.com
The youth judging contest gets under way Feb. 13 and will have shows and sales throughout the week. The Expo Junior Show is Feb. 19-20.
The Simmental and Charolais sales are Feb. 14. The Limousin Show and the Shorthorn, Red Angus and Gelbvieh sales are Feb. 15. The Angus and Lowline shows and the Limousin, Sales and Lowline sales are Feb. 16. The Maine-Anjou, Chianina shows and the Angus, Hereford, Maine-Anjou and Chianina sales are Feb. 17. The No Fit Showmanship Contest is Feb. 18.
Both buyers and consignors will have the opportunity to take advantage of special "Cattlemen's Offers" provided at the country's largest state beef expo.
Hawkeye Breeders Service of Adel will offer a free semen collection on any one bull that brings $2,500 or more in any of the breed sales held during the event.
Trans Ova Genetics of Sioux Center will offer the purchaser of the high selling female in each breed selling 25 head or more a free embryo flush on the female of his/her choice from his/her breeding herd and three free transfers into the owner's recipients.
Muir Embroidery of Jefferson along with Livestock Plus Inc. of Clarion will present embroidered Iowa Beef Expo jackets to consignors of the high selling bull and high selling female in each sale.
Muir Embroidery, along with Iowa Beef Breeds Council, will present embroidered windshirts to the purchaser of the high selling bull and high selling female in each sale.
All registered buyers will be eligible to win embroidered caps donated by Hawkeye Tack and Western Wear. A separate drawing will be held for each of the sales.
Cattle producers will find a live display of the country's most widely promoted AI sires. A special aisle in the barn will be set aside to allow breeders to display the top individuals from their herds. Many nationally known AI sires have been displayed at the expo in the past.
The Iowa Beef Breeds Council has chosen Robert Schlutz of Columbus Junction to receive the "Friend of the Iowa Beef Expo" award. The Driscoll Family of Walridge Farms, Williamsburg, is Iowa's Seedstock Producer of the Year.
For more information, contact Mindy Campfield, expo director at (515) 966-0075
Thank you to AgriNews.com
It's a mystery
The mystery of the foaming manure pits remains unsolved.
Finding clues is proving more difficult than was expected, said Larry Jacobson, professor in the University of Minnesota Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Department and Extension engineer.
"It's really a head scratcher," Jacobson said.
It was in fall 2009 that David Schmidt first started receiving several calls about foam in swine manure pits. The foam could come up a couple feet overnight, sometimes oozing through the slats. It was a nuisance because it filled up the available manure storage area and got pigs dirty. It also was hazardous, said Schmidt, a University of Minnesota research engineer in the Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Department. When the foam breaks, either through agitation or sprinkling with water, it releases the methane that's trapped in bubbles and can cause explosions. A couple barns blew up in fall 2009, Schmidt said. Most were empty and were being power-washed.
He's aware of 10 barns in three states that have had explosions because of manure foam. One was a calf and heifer raising facility with a deep pit. The others were swine barns.
Schmidt conducted a survey last year to see how prevalent manure foam is and found that 10 percent to 25 percent of barns have six inches of foam in the manure pits. The survey contained questions about pit age, production practices, feed and water.
Dried distiller's grain were suspected as a culprit behind the foam, but while everybody is feeding DDGs, not everybody has foam, Schmidt said.
Typically one in four barns has it, Schmidt said.
They have found cases where there are two rooms in the same barn and foam is found on one side of the barn and not on the other, Jacobson said.
They have collected studies and found that foaming seems to be more of an issue in the Midwest than in Nebraska or Ohio, for example, he said.
It's also disappeared from a couple regions that had it before, Schmidt said. Iowa still has a lot of barns with manure foam.
"The problem hasn't went away, it's still there," Jacobson said.
Sleuthing to find clues will continue.
Other people in the Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Department will do microbial work on manure and foam.
Schmidt is trying to get manure samples for testing. Foam will also be tested.
He encourages farmers to try pit additives that are billed to decrease foam. Sometimes theyl work, he said. The additives will likely work better if there is only a little manure in the pit.
The whole issue of foaming can be pretty complicated when other industries are looked at, Jacobson said. He suspects there are some very sensitive factors that cause foaming to occur.
"Because we don't know why it's happening, it's harder to come up with solutions," Schmidt said.
Thank you to AgriNews.com
Finding clues is proving more difficult than was expected, said Larry Jacobson, professor in the University of Minnesota Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Department and Extension engineer.
"It's really a head scratcher," Jacobson said.
It was in fall 2009 that David Schmidt first started receiving several calls about foam in swine manure pits. The foam could come up a couple feet overnight, sometimes oozing through the slats. It was a nuisance because it filled up the available manure storage area and got pigs dirty. It also was hazardous, said Schmidt, a University of Minnesota research engineer in the Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Department. When the foam breaks, either through agitation or sprinkling with water, it releases the methane that's trapped in bubbles and can cause explosions. A couple barns blew up in fall 2009, Schmidt said. Most were empty and were being power-washed.
He's aware of 10 barns in three states that have had explosions because of manure foam. One was a calf and heifer raising facility with a deep pit. The others were swine barns.
Schmidt conducted a survey last year to see how prevalent manure foam is and found that 10 percent to 25 percent of barns have six inches of foam in the manure pits. The survey contained questions about pit age, production practices, feed and water.
Dried distiller's grain were suspected as a culprit behind the foam, but while everybody is feeding DDGs, not everybody has foam, Schmidt said.
Typically one in four barns has it, Schmidt said.
They have found cases where there are two rooms in the same barn and foam is found on one side of the barn and not on the other, Jacobson said.
They have collected studies and found that foaming seems to be more of an issue in the Midwest than in Nebraska or Ohio, for example, he said.
It's also disappeared from a couple regions that had it before, Schmidt said. Iowa still has a lot of barns with manure foam.
"The problem hasn't went away, it's still there," Jacobson said.
Sleuthing to find clues will continue.
Other people in the Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Department will do microbial work on manure and foam.
Schmidt is trying to get manure samples for testing. Foam will also be tested.
He encourages farmers to try pit additives that are billed to decrease foam. Sometimes theyl work, he said. The additives will likely work better if there is only a little manure in the pit.
The whole issue of foaming can be pretty complicated when other industries are looked at, Jacobson said. He suspects there are some very sensitive factors that cause foaming to occur.
"Because we don't know why it's happening, it's harder to come up with solutions," Schmidt said.
Thank you to AgriNews.com
Crop Prices for Iowa
Corn shot up 30 cents per bushel to $6.37 for March delivery before settling back and closing at $6.31, up 24 cents per bushel. Soybeans ended the session at $14.15, up 58 cents per bushel after jumping 66 cents to $14.23 per bushel in early trading.
The USDA report showed available grain stocks at the end of the 2010 harvest stood at 1.9 billion bushels, down from 2.2 billion bushels at the end of 2009.
Iowa farmers harvested fewer acres of corn with lower yields in 2010, but the state retained its ranking as the nation’s top corn producer. The state’s corn farmers produced 2.2 billion acres, down from 2.4 billion acres in 2009.
The average yield slipped to 165 bushels per acre from a record 182 bushels per acre in 2009. Record rainfalls in July damaged corn in central Iowa and it was too late for crops to be replanted.
Iowa soybean farmers helped the state retain its position as the nation’s top soybean producer. Farmers produced 496.2 million acres of soybeans, up from 486 million acres in 2009.
The average yield was unchanged from 2009 at 51 bushels per acre.
Nationally, corn production dropped 5 percent to 12.4 billion bushels in 2010 from 13.1 billion bushels in 2009. The average yield fell to 152.8 bushels per acre from 164.7 bushels per acre in 2009.
Soybean production slipped to 3.33 billion bushels from 3.36 billion bushels in 2009. The average yield was 43.5 bushels per acre in 2010, down slightly from 44 bushels per acre in 2009.
Don Roose of U.S. Commodities in West Des Moines said the nation is down to a 20-day supply of corn and higher export demand is expected.
“The market will have to start rationing in order to satisfy demand and that will lead to higher prices,” Roose said. “The last time we were this tight on supply was in 1995-96 when we first had $5.50 (per bushel) corn. We had large demand with China buying and a shrinking crop.
“That year, we had an 18-day supply of corn. We’re in a very similar situation this year.”
Corn prices have risen since June due to excessive rainfall in parts of the U.S. Corn Belt, a drought in Central Asia, reports of hot, dry weather and a smaller corn crop in Argentina and higher demand from ethanol producers.
With export demand expected to be 4 percent higher and the livestock feed and ethanol industries bidding for corn, Roose believes someone will have to take a cut, something the ethanol producers were forced to accept when corn last topped $7 per bushel.
“I think we’re on this treadmill for years to come,” he said. “This is not a flash in the pan. Ethanol is consuming 38 percent of our corn production.”
Thank you to Eastern Iowa Business
The USDA report showed available grain stocks at the end of the 2010 harvest stood at 1.9 billion bushels, down from 2.2 billion bushels at the end of 2009.
Iowa farmers harvested fewer acres of corn with lower yields in 2010, but the state retained its ranking as the nation’s top corn producer. The state’s corn farmers produced 2.2 billion acres, down from 2.4 billion acres in 2009.
The average yield slipped to 165 bushels per acre from a record 182 bushels per acre in 2009. Record rainfalls in July damaged corn in central Iowa and it was too late for crops to be replanted.
Iowa soybean farmers helped the state retain its position as the nation’s top soybean producer. Farmers produced 496.2 million acres of soybeans, up from 486 million acres in 2009.
The average yield was unchanged from 2009 at 51 bushels per acre.
Nationally, corn production dropped 5 percent to 12.4 billion bushels in 2010 from 13.1 billion bushels in 2009. The average yield fell to 152.8 bushels per acre from 164.7 bushels per acre in 2009.
Soybean production slipped to 3.33 billion bushels from 3.36 billion bushels in 2009. The average yield was 43.5 bushels per acre in 2010, down slightly from 44 bushels per acre in 2009.
Don Roose of U.S. Commodities in West Des Moines said the nation is down to a 20-day supply of corn and higher export demand is expected.
“The market will have to start rationing in order to satisfy demand and that will lead to higher prices,” Roose said. “The last time we were this tight on supply was in 1995-96 when we first had $5.50 (per bushel) corn. We had large demand with China buying and a shrinking crop.
“That year, we had an 18-day supply of corn. We’re in a very similar situation this year.”
Corn prices have risen since June due to excessive rainfall in parts of the U.S. Corn Belt, a drought in Central Asia, reports of hot, dry weather and a smaller corn crop in Argentina and higher demand from ethanol producers.
With export demand expected to be 4 percent higher and the livestock feed and ethanol industries bidding for corn, Roose believes someone will have to take a cut, something the ethanol producers were forced to accept when corn last topped $7 per bushel.
“I think we’re on this treadmill for years to come,” he said. “This is not a flash in the pan. Ethanol is consuming 38 percent of our corn production.”
Thank you to Eastern Iowa Business
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