Swine Health Updates at BIVI Seminar

Cindy Zimmerman

The Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar in North Carolina offered updates in two important swine health areas – mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and PRRS.

Dr. Erin Strait with Iowa State University talked about getting the most out of diagnostics for M. hyopneumoniae. “The biggest issue I usually see is over-interpretation of diagnostics and not understanding that those diagnostics are often skewed towards false negative,” she said. “Mycoplasma hyopneumonia in live pigs can be pretty hard to detect and the diagnostics tend to be a lagging indicator. Determining prevalence in the nursery stage can be very challenging.”

Listen to my interview with Erin here: Dr. Erin Strait at BIVI Swine Health Seminar

Dr. Rick Tubbs with Green River Swine Consultants is a practicing vet who serves Tosh Farms, a family-owned hog operation in Tennessee. He presented information on the impact of the modified live PRRS virus vaccine for control of PRRS in an endemically infected continuous flow finish site. He described how they ended up with a PCV2 problem which they dealt with by depopulating finisher sites, moving to a wean-to-finish operation, changing wean age and vaccinating all pigs for PCV2.

“This particular virus disease is a constantly evolving challenge and we have to adapt to meet the challenge,” Rick says. “The PCV2 vaccine is a wonderful product. It’s been one of those home runs in the industry.”

Listen to my interview with Rick here: Dr. Rick Tubbs at BIVI Swine Health Seminar

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

New USDA-NASS Farm Computer Usage/Ownership Report

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s time to analyze some new data about farm computer use and ownership. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistic Service has released a new report, “Farm Computer Usage and Ownership, August 2011.” Here’s the opening summary. It’s interesting to see that dialup access has dropped in half since the last report in 2009. Also note how high the percentages get as you increase the income of the farm.

DSL was the most common method of accessing the Internet, with 38 percent of U.S. farms using it, up from 36 percent in 2009. Dialup access dropped from 23 percent in 2009 to 12 percent in 2011. Satellite and wireless were each reported as the primary Internet access methods on 15 and 20 percent of those U.S. farms with Internet access, respectively. Cable was reported as the primary access method on 11 percent of the farms, the same level as 2009.

A total of 62 percent of U.S. farms now have Internet access, compared with 59 percent in 2009. Sixty-five percent of farms have access to a computer in 2011, up 1 percentage point from 2009. The proportion of U.S. farms owning or leasing a computer in 2011, at 63 percent, was up 2 percentage points from 2009. Farms using computers for their farm business remained virtually stable at 37 percent in 2011 compared to 36 percent in 2009. Read More

Farming, Internet, USDA

Hog Economics in the Biofuels Era

Cindy Zimmerman

“Hog Economics in the Biofuels Era” was the topic of a presentation by Purdue University economist Dr. Chris Hurt at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar in North Carolina.

Dr. Hurt says government policies like biofuels and even food stamps were built upon a “psychology of surplus” to increase prices. “We continue to see a psychology of surplus in our policy from Washington, when it turns out we are in a period of shortage of basic food ingredients,” he said.

Hurt says that corn for ethanol has been a demand shock for the market since 2005, but another big demand shock has been soybeans to China. “If you put it on acres of land, back in 2005 we were using about 16 million acres for those two demands,” he said. “By the time we got to the 2010 crop, that was 46 million acres – almost a tripling of the acreage.”

The hog industry has finally reduced herds enough to adjust to the higher feed prices, which has increased consumer prices for pork and that has led to stagnated growth for domestic consumption. However, Hurt says exports are increasing tremendously and now make up 20% of production, with big demand coming from Mexico and China in particular.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Hurt here: Dr. Chris Hurt at BIVI Swine Health Seminar

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Corn, Ethanol, Swine

Checking Out the Soil on Ohio Farm

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2011 CTIC Conservation In Action Tour in Ohio this week included an in-depth look at the soil on a northwest Ohio farm.

USDA resource soil scientist Frank Gibbs likes to dig in the dirt a lot. He is a certified professional soil scientist and classifier and chairs the Ohio Soil Scientist Certification Board for the Soil Science Society of America. When it comes to soil, he really knows his stuff and he has a great perspective on how lucky we are in this country to have such productive land.

Watch his entertaining and informative presentation on the soil pit he dug on Dean Farms:

CTIC 2011 Conservation in Action Tour Photos

AgWired coverage of the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour is sponsored by AGROTAIN
Conservation, CTIC, Video

Dr. Temple Grandin at BIVI Swine Health Seminar

Cindy Zimmerman

Nobody talks common sense about animal welfare better than Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University.

If you are in the livestock industry, unless you live in a cave, you have heard of Dr. Grandin. In fact, a decent portion of the general public now knows this amazing woman, thanks to the HBO movie starring Claire Danes which celebrates Temple’s triumph over autism. That movie and her best-selling books have allowed her to get out and talk to the general public about animal welfare issues, something she considers to be very important for the livestock industry to do.

Temple spoke this morning to the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar in North Carolina. One of her suggestions about handling pigs humanely and effectively is to walk the pens. “Pigs are visual animals,” she explains. “Walk the pens and teach them to follow you.”

Dr. Grandin has a new book on animal welfare for the industry, called “Improving Animal Welfare: A Practical Approach.” Buy it on Amazon.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Grandin here: Dr. Temple Grandin at BIVI Swine Health Seminar

Check out photos from the BIVI Swine Health Seminar.

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Livestock, Swine

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • ANIMART, Inc. announces the recent addition of Renee Sternhagen as client services representative of the dairy and livestock division which provides animal health products, supplies and solutions to producers.
  • The American Meat Science Association in cooperation with the National Pork Board will host AMSA PORK 101 Sept. 20-22, 2011, at Iowa State University in Ames.
  • Kathy Rancour, accounting manager for Christiansen Land and Cattle Company, based in Kimball, SD, was elected to serve as the president of the Farm Financial Standards Council.
  • Growers Transplanting, Inc. launched its website as the company celebrates 30 years of industry success.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Clear Case for Cover Crops on CTIC Tour

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Participants on this week’s he 2011 CTIC Conservation In Action Tour in Ohio heard a clear case for cover crops from farmer Allen Dean in Williams County.

    “For several years now we’ve been watching our watersheds when we get these large rainfall events and it’s been interesting to see where we have some type of cover crop, water coming off those watersheds is virtually clean – you could actually drink the water, it’s so clean,” Allen said. He demonstrated the difference to the tour group with jars of water collected off fields after recent rains. He’s holding the jar with water from his fields.

    Dean Farms grows wheat and non-GMO soybeans on 1900 acres where they plant a variety of cover crops, including annual rye, cereal rye, clover and radishes. “We’ve been using radishes for 4-5 years now,” he said. “They’re called a daikon radish and the advantage of radishes is they’ll actually open up the soil, they’ll drill down deep into the soil, they have a long tap root and a lot of ladder roots.” When winter comes, the radishes die and start decomposing and come spring “the soil is clean as far as any type of residue.”

    Interesting interview with Allen Dean here: Farmer Allen Dean

    CTIC 2011 Conservation in Action Tour Photos

    AgWired coverage of the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour is sponsored by AGROTAIN
    Audio, Conservation, CTIC

    Traveling Wall Honors Our Military

    Chuck Zimmerman

    I thought this was a cool story to share from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. These bikers are huge supporters of our military men and women and it showed.

    The Traveling Wall by AVTT was on display at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This wall contains names of those who have lost their life in service to our country, defending our freedom. I met Charlie Weatherly and John Barron both of whom work for AVTT and travel with the exhibit. Outside of the interview with them which you can listen to below John told me that he’s been using ethanol mixed fuel in his motorcycle for years and has never had any problems with it. I had to make sure I asked since my coverage of the rally, mostly on Domestic Fuel, is sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association.

    AVTT (www.avtt.org) is a veteran-owned project that travels the USA to provide a forum for communities to HONOR-RESPECT-REMEMBER all who have sacrificed their lives for our country’s freedom. In so doing, AVTT also honors all Veterans and those currently serving, by letting them know they will never be forgotten. AVTT is funded through sponsorship fees, donations, and sale of merchandise at events. Donations to support AVTT’s mission are qualified charitable tax deductions through The Traveling Wall Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.

    Learn more about the Traveling Wall in my interview: Traveling Wall Interview

    2011 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Photo Album

    Audio, Ethanol

    It’s in the Can

    Melissa Sandfort

    I’ve seen them used as decorations on the front porch, or as bar stools in the shop, or flower planters … but in the early days, these cream cans were actually used for agricultural purposes. It’s just that – a 5-gallon cream can that folks used to set at the end of the driveway and once a week, a truck would come pick them up to take them to the creamery where butter and cheese were made.

    The cream would rise to the top of the can during its fateful ride and any spill or leak from the can was costly to the farmer.

    Some reports I’ve read say the first bulk storage tanks came into existence in the late 1930s.

    Either way, I can’t imagine setting a can of milk at the end of my driveway in the 110-degree heat we’ve been having.

    Until we walk again …

    Uncategorized

    Keeping up with The Andersons on CTIC Tour

    Cindy Zimmerman

    One stop on the 2011 CTIC Conservation in Action Tour where I wish we had spent more time was The Andersons.

    Al Bensch, vice president of northern operations for The Andersons Plant Nutrient Group, spoke on one of the three tour buses as we drove past much of the company’s Maumee, Ohio operations. “We have 27 locations in the fertilizer business – Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Florida,” Al said. “We handled last year a little over two million tons of fertilizer.”

    The diversified company, which was started in the late 1940’s by Harold Anderson, has various business divisions in addition to plant nutrients, including the grain and ethanol, railcar leasing and repair, turf products production, and consumer retailing industries.

    Listen to some of Al’s comments here: Al Bensch, The Andersons

    We made a very brief stop at the Anderson family compound where we heard from the Plant Nutrient Group president Denny Addis about the Andersons’ commitment to agriculture and the environment. “Production agriculture and care for the environment are not mutually exclusive, they need to work in harmony together,” he told me in an interview. “We’ve got to continue to find more ways to produce more fiber, more food, more energy for the world at the same time make sure we care for the environment.”

    Listen to my interview with Denny here: Denny Addis, The Andersons

    CTIC 2011 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour is sponsored by AGROTAIN
    Audio, CTIC