That is the question that many in the cattle business are asking now, less than two months after the rule was proposed. Many of the smaller cow-calf producers that the rule is supposed to benefit are expressing serious reservations about the profound impact it could have on their livelihoods.
Meet Robbie LeValley, a lifelong cow-calf producer who operates a ranch with her husband Mark and two sons in Hotchkiss, Colorado. Her family operation is one of six that together own Homestead Meats, which offers natural beef for sale direct to consumers, retailers and restaurants. The six families also own a USDA inspected packing plant where they market their own animals and provide custom processing. Robbie is also a Colorado State University Area livestock and range extension specialist and was recently elected president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association.
Robbie is worried that the proposed rule could have a negative impact on her family business. “Our innovation and our willingness to do direct marketing has basically now labeled us a packer and under the proposed rule, as I read it, now limits our marketing options – meaning not being able to sell to other packers,” she said. While some say that is not the intent of the rule, she argues that the vagueness of the language makes it very possible.
One concern for Robbie is the long term impact of the proposed rule on the next generation of livestock producers, like her two sons who represent the fourth generation in her family business. “We operate on a very thin margin already, so the potential for additional government intervention or increased litigation just reduces that margin even more,” she says. “Is there enough of a margin to bring in that fourth generation?”
Robbie would like to see an in-depth, cost-benefit analysis done on the proposal before it is rushed into implementation. “Where is the research that shows there is problems in the marketplace and that these proposed rules will do anything to address those problems?” she asks.
Robbie will be on one of the producer panels at next week’s USDA/DOJ public workshop on competition in the livestock industry in Ft. Collins, CO, where she will provide her perspective on the impact of the proposed rule. She strongly encourages other producers to carefully read the GIPSA proposal and take advantage of the public comment period between now and November 22 to make their voices heard.
Last week, the USDA announced its estimated harvest numbers for corn this fall and the report was full of good news. They are expecting another record harvest this year as well as an increase in bushels per acre. Should their predictions come true, this will be the third record harvest in a row. In addition, corn growers will achieve this feat using less acres than the year before.
While this is promising news, the report did not account for the flooding conditions in Iowa. More than 32 counties in the state are now eligible for federal disaster funding and many of the residents who have been most negatively affected are corn growers. One of the worst areas is near Ames, Iowa. (You can see the devastation is the aerial photo.)
To learn more about how the floods might affect Iowa corn farmers, I reached out to the Iowa Corn Growers Association. In an email to me, they noted that the impact of the floods on harvest has not been a major topic of discussion but many farmers are worried that the hot weather may stunt ear growth and cause denting before its time. The result would be lower test weights.
Dean Taylor, a corn and soybean farmer from Prairie City, Iowa and president-elect of the Iowa Corn Growers Association has been affected by the floods. “Three weeks ago, our crops looked great. We were looking at 200 bushels per acre corn and above, but now even non-flooded fields that received 10-15 inches of rain in one week might top out at 120 to 130 bushels per acre. I think we’ve learned from 1993, that rain does not always make grain,” explained Taylor.
Another area of concern is with the demand on growers to grow enough corn to meet the country’s diverse needs, will there be enough corn to go around? “We have more than enough corn for all markets, of which ethanol and livestock are the drivers in Iowa,” commented Iowa Corn.
The organization remains confident in Iowa’s corn growers and noted that the growers who have not been affected will step up to the plate and make up for those farmers whose harvest numbers will be lower than expected. I ran into an Iowa farmer earlier this week who is very proud of what he does, so much so that he wears his pride on his shirt. I loved his shirt so much that I thought it was appropriate to share it with you on this site (and BTW – I want one of these shirts!).
In closing, I asked Iowa Corn if they had a message they wanted to deliver to our readers. They responded, “We are sad to see so many weather issues affecting farmers across the state, but we know that farmers battle weather of some kind or another each year and continue to do what they do best- produce food, fuel, feed, and fiber for the world.”
“Although I’ve had a lot of tough interviews in my day, that was definitely the toughest and most unique interview experience of my career,” Boyle said. “I was honored to play straight man to the hilarious Stephen Colbert and to demonstrate that while meat processing is serious business, we can be good sports.” AMI reports that Boyle’s interview with the comedian was two hours long, edited down to a four minute segment for the show.
The piece generated some conversation among meat industry PR types who questioned whether the comedy segment was good or bad for the industry, since the issue of E. coli was brought up by Colbert and some people might consider the program “serious news” as opposed to entertainment. If so, those people have an IQ equal to a bacteria, because this was hysterically funny, especially the intro by Colbert that featured his “pledge of allegiance” to a bacon flag: “I pledge allegiance to the meat of the United Steaks of America. And to the ribeye for which it broils, one bacon under God, with liver and onions for all!”
Colbert starts his interview segment with Boyle by chomping down on a huge turkey leg, and ends it by asking if AMI would endorse the eating of people if there were no more animals on the planet. “The American Meat Institute would not support a policy of cannibalism,” says Boyle with a straight face.
I talked about the issue with Jerry Bohn, general manager of Pratt Feeders in Kansas, who will be taking part in next week’s USDA/DOJ public workshop on competition in the livestock industry in Ft. Collins, CO, where the GIPSA rule will be the main topic of discussion. Jerry will be part of the producer panel during the workshop, as well as a session being held the day before, sponsored by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council.
Jerry says he’s most concerned about the impact of the rule when it comes to alternative marketing arrangements. “The packer-processors will have to justify paying a premium or a discount for every group of cattle that they purchase and if they fail to do that, then there is a threat of litigation,” he explains. While the rule is supposed to help smaller producers, Jerry thinks it will have the opposite effect. “In our case, the small to medium producers are the ones who benefit most from alternative marketing arrangements” getting premiums for certain characteristics. “So, I really believe that the unintended consequence is that the small and medium producers are going to get hurt a lot worse if this law goes through,” Jerry adds, which will ultimately impact those consumers willing to pay a premium price for a consistently higher quality product that may no longer be available.
Another major problem is that it tries to be a “one size fits all” plan. “It’s a very broad-based rule, intended to cover poultry, pork and the beef industry,” says Jerry. “So, consequently we’re trying to take a broad brush, applying rules across all species, and the proposed regulations do address contract agreements between contract growers in the pork and poultry industry that have nothing to do with the beef industry.”
He recommends that everyone in the livestock industry take a very close look at the rule, which he calls “one of the most severe proposed changes to ever affect our industry.” Here is a link to the proposed rule outline and information about providing comments to the rule. The comment period deadline has been extended to November 22.
Listen to or download my complete interview with Jerry here: Jerry Bohn Interview
The Impact of Digital Media on Farmers and Ranchers was the title of a NAMA Boot Camp presentation by Jack Semler, Readex Research.
I’ve been hoping to see Jack’s research which was done for the American Business Media’s Agri Council but have missed presentations at events like the Ag Media Summit. The farmers surveyed for this project were taken from subscribers to ABM Agri Council member publications encompassing a wide cross section of commodity types. You’ll hear Jack describe it more in the program. Probably the biggest take away from the research is that “print is alive and well” and that the internet is becoming increasingly important to farmers as an information source.
You can download information from the research study on the ABM website.
Communications plan? What communications plan? Sound familiar? You need a plan and helping NAMA Boot Campers with a method to create one was Beth Burgy, Broadhead+Co. Her presentation is titled, “Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Scary Communications Plan.” To learn how little red riding hood figures in you’ll need to listen to my interview with her.
Those pesky producers. How do you communicate with them? Isn’t there just one way that reaches all farmers? Not. So to help beginning agrimarketers the morning session at NAMA Boot Camp features a producer panel led by Janelle Buxton, Successful Farming/Agriculture.com (seated on left). Next to her are Colleen Gerke, Lonny Duckworth and Ken McCauley.
I spoke with Ken before we got started. He really likes the opportunity to have this discussion because he would like to have more efficient communication targeted to him. I asked him about media choices and he says that he’s a big magazine guy. Loves to read articles. He also mentions the internet and when it comes to his involvement with organizations like the National Corn Growers Association, he says the internet is an even more important tool to use for member communications. I’m charging his iPhone up right now and you had better believe the AgWired App will be loaded on it before he gets it back. Actually, he asked me to go ahead and load it for him. He said he had been meaning to! Ken McCauley Interview 2010 NAMA Boot Camp Photo Album
Osborn & Barr launched “O&B Blog.” Created to foster continued dialogue around the issues and opportunities facing our industry today, O&B Blog will feature thought-pieces from O&B’s staff, as well as that of selected key leaders from the ag, rural and food industries.
Paul Georgy, President of Allendale, Inc., promotes Rich Nelson by expanding his responsibilities to include media relations, effective immediately.
A new interactive map and exhibitor list on the Husker Harvest Days website offers visitors unique tools for maximizing their time spent at the show. The new interactive show map and exhibitor list is available here.
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will be holding three additional public meetings on the animal disease traceability framework approach. These are the final public meetings being planned to obtain feedback on the framework and development of the proposed rule on traceability. Detailed information about the upcoming meetings is available here.
The 2010 National Agri-Marketing Association Boot Camp is in full swing in KC, MO. This is the 7th annual event. Time flies when you’re having fun. Seems like just yesterday the first Boot Camp was held.
The Chair for this year’s event is Melanie Acklin, Director of Marketing, SFP. I spoke with Melanie after the farm tour today that was coordinated by the MoKan NAMA Chapter and before the evening’s activities had started. Melanie provides an overview of this year’s agenda and speaks about the importance of this event which is geared to newcomers to the agrimarketing field. The tour today provided some of them a first time look at the “real life” on a farm. Melanie Acklin Interview
At the opening dinner this evening we heard from long time friend Dave Mehlhaff, Public Affairs Officer, Kansas City Board of Public Utilities. Dave has been involved in agrimarketing most of his career. He led our group through some networking exercises so everyone got to know each other better. It was a great way to start.
On Wednesday the program kicks in with a producer panel first thing in the morning. I’ll be in and out during the day so you can expect more right here. I have started a photo album (duh): 2010 NAMA Boot Camp Photo Album
The next USDA/DOJ public workshop on competition in the livestock industry is scheduled for next week in Ft. Collins, CO, and I will be attending. The session will be held on Friday and there will be a separate session the evening before hosted by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and National Pork Producers Council which I will also be attending. So what is so important about this session? The main issue that will probably be discussed is the proposed rule making by USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration which was published in June. This proposed rule has huge implications for both livestock producers as well as packers and others. It’s not a simple issue either. On the surface you’ve got the intention, “. . . improve fairness in the marketing of livestock and poultry,” but underneath there’s a whole lot more to it. You can download all 17 pages of the proposed rule here (pdf) or an outline here (pdf).
To get some perspective on just what this proposed GIPSA rule making is all about I spoke with Allie Devine, VP and General Counsel, Kansas Livestock Association. I think Allie provides a good background on “how we got here” and what some of the specific concerns are, especially for cattle producers. I heard a presentation on the rule at the BIVI Swine Health Seminar last week and I can tell you it has pork producers concerned too. So to better understand what this think means please give my interview with Allie a listen. Allie Devine Interview
You can register for the USDA/DOJ Public Workshop on August 27 here. During the events next week I’ll be providing full coverage here and via my Twitter account so I hope you’ll tune in. My participation is being made possible with support from NCBA. We’re going to be conducting some additional interviews in advance of the events to provide further background and information on this very important issue.
It’s time for NAMA Boot Camp and yours truly will be checking in starting later this afternoon. I see that the official Twitter hashtag for the event is #10boot.
There’s a tour going on today with MoKan NAMA and then a welcoming reception this afternoon. I will be seeing you from there!
The AgChat Foundation is looking for your assistance. One of the larger music and interactive conferences of the year, South By Southwest (SXSW) has a proposed panel title, “Agvocacy 2.0: Adding a Human Voice to the Farm.” It would be great if this is on the program since agriculture is often under or mis-represented in public forums like this . The event will be held in Austin, Texas, from March 11th through the 15th, 2011. Voting for panels closes August 27th.
Here’s how you can help:
1. You will first need to create an account with SXSW and make sure you confirm it from the email you’ll receive.
2. Then go directly to Agvocacy 2.0: Adding a Human Voice to the Farm. You vote by clicking the Thumbs Up right below the title. Comments are allowed at the bottom of the voting page. You must be registered to vote and comment.
The National Corn Growers Association announces that Paul Bertels, former director of agricultural economic analyses and environmental impacts, has been promoted to the position of vice president for Production and Utilization.
Ray Lee Equipment Co. has a new tool in hand to manage used-equipment inventory dollars across the dealer’s multiple locations: Purple Wave Auction.
Meeting customers’ aftermarket needs in today’s and tomorrow’s economy is the focus of the 2010 Customer Support Council Seminar from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. The AEM seminar will be held Oct. 3-6, 2010 in Bettendorf, Iowa.
We used to call it the “Swamp Buggy,” otherwise politely known as the sprayer. We’d run down to the end of the driveway when it passed through town and wave like kids trying to stop an ice cream truck (also not-so-politely known as the “ding ding man”). Today, inspired by the sound of the swamp buggy approaching town, I decided to look into the effects of these two different front tires on soil compaction.
According to the University of Minnesota, some soil compression can be good: it can speed up the rate of seed germination and reduce water loss. Excessive soil compaction can, however, adversely affecting crop yields. And, the number one cause of soil compaction on fields is wheel traffic.
According to a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Crop Watch report, the wider and taller a tire is, the better, as it will have a larger footprint on the soil surface and spread out the weight. Large, single tires are preferred over duals as duals often increase the total axle weight and have a “pinch row” between them.
Then, here are some test results published from Penn State: Dual tractor tires, compared to single tires, decrease pressure on soil, but the affected area is at least twice as large…Testing at USDA’s National Tillage Laboratory indicate there is no crop yield increase for dual tires over single tires. But, by spreading the weight over more axles, deep compaction is reduced or eliminated. Which also has big benefits.
This is a picture of two sprayers our family farming operation runs (the swamp buggy is on the left). I guess they couldn’t decide which one was best either.
You can’t have a swine health seminar without having a little pig on the menu and at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar we got it at our closing dinner which was a luau on the lawn. I have just updated the photo album with a lot of photos from yesterday’s events that include the dinner and entertainment. I think I’ll have a video clip to add to this post later too.
You’ll be able to see from the photos that BIVI likes to mix a little fun and fellowship with their business and the customers I talked with really enjoy and appreciate it. Like with all our event photo albums you can click on any photo and download it. You’ll find a choice of photo sizes to choose from so please enjoy them. A big thank you to BIVI for including Cindy and myself in this event for the third year now. We’re already looking forward to next year.
It’s always good to hear from the producers who attend a farm production meeting like the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar. I’ve posted interviews with all the presenters so let’s hear from a couple of the attendees.
First up is Mark Daughtry, Prestage Farms. He actually has a contract farm with Prestage bu also works for them. He says he’s only missed a couple of the BIVI seminars. He says it’s a really good opportunity to get together with other producers and hear some excellent speakers and share information. That allows them to sit back and think about how to improve the health of their animals. Some of the PRRS research he heard helped him better understand how to manage it. He says BIVI has always been good to him and very helpful when he needed anything. Mark Daughtry Interview
Next we have Jon Hoek, director of animal husbandry, Belstra Milling Co.. This was his first seminar which has found to be very informative. He describes BIVI as a very important resource for his company. At this seminar he is taking away a reminder of some of the strategies for the control and elimination of PRRS. He says their facility is part of the area regional control project in Indiana and they are now PRRS negative. Jon Hoek Interview
Too often we hear about all of the negatives in agriculture – bad weather, bad markets, opposition from groups that really don’t understand production agriculture. But attendees of the recent Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies 2010 held in a tent on the Cummings family farm just outside of the eastern Iowa town of Malcom heard that there is tremendous potential in farming.
Moe Russell, president of Russell Consulting Group of Panora, Iowa, told the group of about 600 farmers gathered for the one-day seminar last month that they need to remember the opportunity in production agriculture.
“Often times, we look at the negatives. But the successful farmer focuses on the controllables,” echoing the sentiments of fellow presenter Steve Johnson, a farm and ag business specialist with Iowa State University.
Russell admits that it can be tough for producers to focus on the controllables, with all of the distractions they face. That’s why he encourages producers to network with other growers, especially those from other states. He says this Wyffels forum provides plenty of time for interaction between farmers. “It’s the successful farmers who take the time to come to opportunities like this.”
Finally, Russell encourages farmers to get and stay excited about their business, learn the most they can, focus on the controllables, and have fun doing it.
You can hear or download my entire conversation with Moe here: Moe Russell
The last presentation at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar did not focus on PRRS. Instead we heard a presentation from Chad Stahl, North Carolina State University, on controlling post wean scours. Yeah, it’s as nasty as it sounds too.
Chad was talking about post E. coli caused post weaning diarrhea and ways to mitigate it in your herd. How bad is it? Chad says that in a USDA survey of the largest swine producers 78% reported incidences of the disease. It is a big problem but there is a tremendous amount of variation in the outcome of the disease because different pigs react to it differently. He says research has shown that one mitigating practice would be leaving the piglets on the sow longer. He says that any producer can call his department at NC State for more information. Chad Stahl Interview
Nothing like moving across country to put you a bit behind. Just a couple of things left over from last month’s 10th International Conference on Precision Agriculture that I wanted to share with you. First and foremost is the awards handed out at the ICPA gathering. The awards were presented by Paul Schrimpf, Group Editor the CropLife Media Group at Meister Media Worldwide, which includes PrecisionAg.com, the award sponsors.
Paul presented the Farmer Award to Ken Dalenberg (above) of Marshfield, Illinois – who was recognized for the role he has played in helping to develop and promote new agricultural technology for crop management. Ken has worked with a number of research projects on his farm to evaluate precision farming technology, along with other innovative products and practices through the University of Illinois, the Potash & Phosphate Institute, the United Soybean Board, and others.
Dr. Jess Lowenberg-DeBoer of Purdue University (left) and Dr. Harold Reetz (right, below) of Reetz Agronomics were honored with Legacy Awards during the conference. Dr. Lowenberg-DeBoer’s work in precision agriculture economics included groundbreaking research into the profitability of every aspect of it, including tracking the adoption of technology at the farm and service provider level, which played an important role in the growth of precision.
Reetz has been a champion of technology and precision agriculture throughout his four decade-long career, founding the InfoAg Conference in the mid-1990s as a way of getting people together to share experiences and build a networked community of vendors, users, and service providers. Now with Reetz Agronomics, Harold continues his champion role, especially in the use of precision technology for conservation. Chuck just did an interview with him last week at the Conservation in Action Tour.
Picking up the Consultant/Entrepreneur Award was the OptiGro Team at Jimmy Sanders, Inc. of Cleveland, MS. In addition, there were several student winners recognized at the event, including: Eric Allphin, Xystus Amakor, David Harper, Ming Li, Joe David Luck, Daniel K. Mullenix, Georg Ruß, Ajay Sharda, Yeyin Shi and Luciano S. Shiratsuchi. There’s too many pictures to put them all in this one post, but you can see all the photos at the conference Flickr photo site below.
We’ve heard about the oral testing of hogs for disease from Jeff Zimmerman, DVM, Iowa State University, before, here and here. But a guy with a last name of Zimmerman is worth hearing again! And that’s what we did at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar.
Jeff has found in his work that there is a better way to test pigs and that’s via oral fluids. It saves on manpower and that alone makes it a good idea for hog producers. But there are other advantages that include better reliability in testing for diseases like PRRS. Additionally, he says that there is research being done to use this type of diagnostics to monitor for antibiotics in oral fluid. Jeff showed us several video clips from his research showing how they’ve actually trained pigs to create the samples. It makes for a much easier, less volatile situation when you need to test your herd. Jeff Zimmerman Interview
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
David conducted a presentation on delivering expert opinion via social media to an audience at the start of International Poultry Expo week. He's got some great information about who consumers trust and how you can use today's consumer behavior to help communicate your message.
Meet Robbie LeValley, a lifelong cow-calf producer who operates a ranch with her husband Mark and two sons in Hotchkiss, Colorado. Her family operation is one of six that together own Homestead Meats, which offers natural beef for sale direct to consumers, retailers and restaurants. The six families also own a USDA inspected packing plant where they market their own animals and provide custom processing. Robbie is also a Colorado State University Area livestock and range extension specialist and was recently elected president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. 
I talked about the issue with Jerry Bohn, general manager of 
Jerry says he’s most concerned about the impact of the rule when it comes to alternative marketing arrangements. “The packer-processors will have to justify paying a premium or a discount for every group of cattle that they purchase and if they fail to do that, then there is a threat of litigation,” he explains. While the rule is supposed to help smaller producers, Jerry thinks it will have the opposite effect. “In our case, the small to medium producers are the ones who benefit most from alternative marketing arrangements” getting premiums for certain characteristics. “So, I really believe that the unintended consequence is that the small and medium producers are going to get hurt a lot worse if this law goes through,” Jerry adds, which will ultimately impact those consumers willing to pay a premium price for a consistently higher quality product that may no longer be available.
The Impact of Digital Media on Farmers and Ranchers was the title of a NAMA Boot Camp presentation by Jack Semler, 
Communications plan? What communications plan? Sound familiar? You need a plan and helping NAMA Boot Campers with a method to create one was Beth Burgy, Broadhead+Co. Her presentation is titled, “Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Scary Communications Plan.” To learn how little red riding hood figures in you’ll need to listen to my interview with her.
The 2010 National Agri-Marketing Association 
You can’t have a swine health seminar without having a little pig on the menu and at the 
It’s always good to hear from the producers who attend a farm production meeting like the 
The last presentation at the 
We’ve heard about the oral testing of hogs for disease from 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
