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Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to a get a clear view.
This week, as corn was setting new all-time highs, I found myself mired
in the numbers trying to make the decision to buy or pass on a piece of
land that we’d been leasing. I found myself succumbing to a mood of
almost doom and gloom.
-- Click on headline to read the rest of this
story by Troy Marshall
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The past decade has brought tremendous change to beef-production
systems across the world. Nowhere is this more true than in South
America. It’s these systems – and the changes in them – that draw
a great deal of attention as North American producers try to understand
what’s going on down south.
-- Click on headline to read the rest of this
story by Clint Peck
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The Colorado Agritourism Program will host two agritourism workshops
in Western Colorado to promote growth in the agritourism sector. The
workshops focus on introducing ag producers to agritourism as an option
for their operations.
The workshops are scheduled for April 21 at the Technical College in
Delta, and April 22 at the San Juan Basin Technical College Industry
Training Center in Mancos. Both workshops run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Registration is $25. For info, contact Wendy White at 303-239-4119 or go
to www.coloradoagriculture.com.
-- Colorado State University release
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A series of special cattle industry events are designed for anyone
who trades feeder cattle, fed cattle and non-fed beef animals – as
well as ranchers, cattle feeders and ag lenders.
-- Click on headline to read the rest of this
story by Clint Peck
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While the March 31 USDA planting intentions report contained several
surprises, a Kansas State University (KSU) grain market analyst believes
the U.S. won't see the dramatic drop in corn acreage the report
indicates.
The report predicted a 6.5 million-acre drop in corn acres planted,
based on the planting intentions of U.S. corn producers. However, KSU
Extension ag economist Mike Woolverton believes actual acres planted
won't be that much lower than last year because market conditions have
changed since the survey was taken a month ago. "Right now, producers
can make more with corn," he says.
The report predicted an 11-million-acre increase in U.S. soybean
acreage. That sent shockwaves through the markets, with soybeans closing
down their daily limit the day the report was released and corn prices
reaching record highs on all contracts.
"I don't think we're to the panic stage yet," Woolverton says. "I think
we'll see more corn and fewer beans (than the report indicated). But
things could happen between now and then."
Woolverton says one factor that could keep corn acreage down is the
difficulty producers are having getting into the field. Corn planting is
already behind schedule in some areas, and producers and investors will
begin to breathe a little easier once some significant acreage has been
planted, he says.
-- KSU release
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In early April, President Bush placed the U.S.-Colombia free-trade
pact in the hands of Congress, which under “fast-track” rules then
had 90 days to provide an up-or-down vote on the measure.
-- Click on headline to read the rest of this
story by Joe Roybal and Scott Shearer
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The first meeting of the House-Senate farm bill conference committee
met Thursday morning. The House Ag Committee conferees presented to the
Senate its proposed farm bill framework. Senate conferees indicated
they’d take it under advisement and would be back to the House with a
counter proposal.
The Senate conferees seem intent on trying to find an additional $10
billion instead of the House offer of $5.5 billion. The key question
still remains if the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means
Committee can reach an agreement on the additional funding for the farm
bill. The conference committee is expected to meet again early next
week. Time is running out for a new farm bill.
-- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C.
correspondent
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Congress is facing an April 18 deadline on the farm bill. With this
in mind, the House of Representatives proposed to the Senate a
bipartisan farm bill framework that is $5.5 billion over baseline.
The proposal makes additional cuts in crop insurance and doesn’t
include a permanent disaster program. Nor does it include any increase
in taxes that caused such a political firestorm last summer when the
House passed its farm bill.
The House on Wednesday evening passed a motion to instruct House farm
bill conferees not to agree to any provisions that increase taxes in the
final farm bill agreement. The motion passed 400-11. The key question
remains, "will this new proposal have any support in the Senate?"
-- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C.
correspondent
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For the week ending April 7, the U.S. average retail price for
regular gasoline broke the previous week’s all-time record, climbing
by 4.2¢ to $3.332/gal., or 53¢ higher than last year. Meanwhile, the
U.S. average retail diesel price dropped for a second week, shaving
0.9¢ to $3.955/ gal., or $1.115 more than last year.
All regions were up in gasoline price. The East Coast gained 2.8¢ to
$3.284, or 52.9¢ over last year; the Midwest grew by 5¢ to $3.299, up
55.5¢ from a year earlier; the Gulf Coast added 4.7¢ to $3.253, or
57.8¢ above the year-ago price; and the Rocky Mountains added 3.5¢ to
$3.267, 54.8¢ higher than a year ago. The West Coast added 5.5¢ to hit
$3.578, 44¢ over a year ago; and California jumped 7.7¢ to
$3.685/gal., 43.3¢ above last year’s price.
Meanwhile, retail diesel fell 0.9¢ to $4.005 on the East Coast, or
$1.192 over a year ago; the Midwest dropped 1.2¢ to $3.917, $1.082
higher than a year ago; and the Gulf Coast shaved 1.3¢ to $3.894. The
Rocky Mountain region added 0.2¢ to $3.974, or $1.023 over a year
earlier, while the West Coast increased by 0.3¢ to $4.052, $1.131 above
last year’s price. California was at $4.118/gal. $1.14 over the price
a year ago.
-- Energy Information Administration
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) named 14 members of the House Ag
Committee to serve on the House-Senate farm bill conference. Also, 36
other House members from various House committees (Education and Labor,
Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, Judiciary,
Natural Resources, Oversight and Government Reform, Science and
Technology, Small Business, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Ways
and Means) were named to the conference.
These conferees will consider certain provisions with jurisdiction
beyond the Ag Committee. Members from the House Ag Committee include:
Democrats -- Chairman Collin C. Peterson (MN), Tim Holden (PA), Mike
McIntyre (NC), Bob Etheridge (NC), Leonard Boswell (IA), Joe Baca (CA),
Dennis Cardoza (CA), and David Scott (GA). Republicans include: Ranking
Member Bob Goodlatte (VA), Frank Lucas (OK), Jerry Moran (KS), Robin
Hayes (NC), Marilyn Musgrave (CO), and Randy Neugebauer (TX).
-- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C.
correspondent
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Kansas State University´s (KSU) Southeast Ag Research Center’s
Beef Cattle and Forage Crops Field Day is set for May 1. Registration
begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Mound Valley Unit, and includes a trade show
and lunch. For more info, call 620-421-4826.
Among the topics being addressed by KSU faculty are:- Corn,
ethanol and cattle: What´s ahead in 2008?
- Using body condition score to determine optimum weaning time.
- Selecting legumes for interseeding into fescue pasture.
- Forage response to fertilization.
- Supplementation of grazing stocker cattle.
-- KSU news release
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An educational program designed to give ranchers the practical tools
needed for successful management begins in June. Sponsored by the
University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UWCES) and the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Extension, the High Plains Ranch
Practicum is an eight-day, five-session, hands-on program over three
seasons.
Sessions will be at the UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center near
Scottsbluff, and at the Jim Hageman Sustainable Ag Research and
Extension Center near Lingle, WY. Limited to 35 participants, deadline
for application is May 1. A $600 fee covers materials, instructor costs,
and meals. Learn more at HPRanchPracticum.com or
contact Aaron Berger at 308-235-3122 or aberger2@unl.edu.
-- UNL news release
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On Wednesday, Minnesota’s bovine tuberculosis (TB) status
officially dropped from Modified Accredited Advanced to Modified
Accredited. The downgrade is effective immediately for producers
shipping cattle and bison out of the state. All producers must abide by
the following federal interstate movement requirements:
-- Click on headline to read the rest of this
story by Alaina Burt
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We've all seen it. That white spot on a calf's eye that sticks out
like a sore thumb in the cowherd. A quick scan of others includes a
mental inventory of teary, cloudy or photosensitive eyes.
-- Click on headline to read the rest of this
story by Alaina Burt
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Texas AgriLife Extension and the National Resource Conservation
Service (NRCS) will team up to present a range-education workshop and
tour May 1.
The workshop begins at 8:30 a.m. on the Sterling Ranch, about 25 miles
north of Big Springs, with a ranch tour beginning at 9 a.m. Tour
demonstrations on the ranch include mechanical brush control, Brush
Busters, range ripping and seeding, wildlife and grazing management and
using a “range stick” to measure available forage. Afternoon
sessions cover weed control, chemical laws and regulations, plant ID and
farm bill programs.
The workshop is free but registration is requested to plan meals. Call
NRCS in Big Springs at 432-267-1871, Ext. 3 to register.
-- Texas A&M University release
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The South Saint Paul stockyards of Minnesota are no more. The
Central livestock Association (CLA - cla.crinet.com) conducted its final
auction today – a 10 a.m. feeder-cattle sale, drawing the curtains on
a market institution that hailed back to 1886.
Located on I-494 in the southeast metro of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the
facility’s peak was in 1968 when a record 3.2 million head of cattle,
hogs and sheep traded, reports the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Last
year, just 240,000 animals coursed through the facility that once
spanned 160 acres but had dwindled to a mere 27. Read the article at
www.twincities.com/ci_8885113.
The closed stockyard is to be built over with offices, warehouses and
industrial buildings as part of the BridgePoint Business Park, a
development central to the city of South St. Paul's revival.
Along with today’s final sale, a number of other activities were held
within the “Ending Of An Era” celebration. CLA was to honor
livestock truckers with Pioneer Shipper Awards. And select CLA
memorabilia items were auctioned off by celebrity auctioneers, among
them Gov. Tim Pawlenty, with all the proceeds going toward the CLA
Foundation Scholarship fund, CLA says on its website.
In addition, guided walking and golf cart tours were available
throughout the morning, and the beef checkoff-sponsored Beef Mobile was
to be onsite throughout the day with beef samples, trivia wheel with
door prizes, and beef information.
With the market closing on April 11, expanded sale schedules are planned
for the nearby CLA facilities in Zumbrota and Albany, CLA says.
– Joe Roybal
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Stolen livestock and ranch equipment worth more than $3 million were
recovered or accounted for in 2007 by the Texas and Southwestern Cattle
Raisers Association (TSCRA).
In 2007, TSCRA’s special rangers investigated 959 cases in Texas and
Oklahoma, primarily involving stray or stolen livestock. Working closely
with federal, state and local law enforcement, the rangers recovered or
accounted for 1,404 head of cattle, 66 horses, 11 trailers, 37 saddles
and 98 items of miscellaneous ranch property, which had a total market
value of $3,037,014.77.
Offenders were given 138 years of prison, probated, deferred or
suspended sentences and ordered to perform 2,845 hours of community
service. In addition, the courts ordered those convicted to pay $106,962
in restitution to the victims, $27,450 in fines and $7,203 in court
costs.
The association also employs 72 market inspectors who identified
3,911,669 head of cattle sold through the 116 auction markets in Texas
in 2007. The inspectors report their findings to the group’s Fort
Worth headquarters, where the information is processed for computer
retrieval. TSCRA distributes information on missing and stolen livestock
to more than 700 law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Larry Gray, TSCRA director of law enforcement, encourages all producers
and owners of farm and ranch equipment to take steps to protect
themselves. For tips on theft prevention, go to beefmagazine.com/business/stop_thief/index.html.
-- TSCRA release
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The vegetarian-friendly Café Brenda in Minneapolis has added
grass-fed beef to the menu, according to the Minneapolis Star
Tribune. “The fact of the matter is that people want beef,” says
café owner Brenda Langton.
The café is serving fajitas, roasts, stroganoff and a New York strip.
“I ate my first piece of steak in my entire life last week,” she
told the newspaper. “It was delicious.”
-- Minneapolis Star Tribune
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The Wyoming Verified Program (WVP) has added a marketing claim to
certify Bovine Viral Diarrhea Persistently Infected (BVD-PI) status. The
claim verifies that the calves being sold have been tested for BVD-PI.
“This marketing claim is aimed at the buyer,” says John Henn, meat
marketing program manager for the Wyoming Business Council, which
developed WVP as a service to Wyoming producers in 2006. The program’s
verified auditing process is free to Wyoming ranchers. The program
included 16,000+ enrolled calves in 2007, and the average added income
for participation was $14.41/head, Henn says.
For more on WVP, contact Henn at 307-777-2847 or john.henn@wybusiness.org;
or visit www.wyomingbusiness.org.
-- Wyoming Business Council release
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