AgWired | Page 898 | News and information from the world of AgriBusiness

Crop Scouting – Using All Your Data, Part 2

Melissa Sandfort June 6, 2014

Last week, we discussed utilizing your precision ag data while crop scouting. While it’s important to have access to that reference data in the field, you may ask yourself how can I use GPS technology to precisely and more efficiently record crop and pest observations? Or how can I precisely map and integrate my crop sensor readings into precision scouting software? How can I create custom tailored scouting reports and securely archive scouting data?

SMS Mobile software features a standard set of crop scouting attributes to easily document growth stage, height, condition, population, damage, pest count and other details regarding that observation area. Being able to choose from pre-defined pick lists saves you valuable time in the field vs manually noting these details. SMS Mobile also provides you with the flexibility of creating custom attributes for your operations unique needs. This allows SMS Mobile to be used across many different types of operations from corn fields to vineyards.

Luke James, Ag Leader Software Sales Manager, tells us more.

Listen to James explain

Interested in learning more about SMS Mobile? Please visit our website to learn more, sign up for a free introduction to SMS Mobile webinar, download a free trial version of SMS Mobile or contact us at 515-232-5363 or SMSsupport@agleader.com or reach out to a local Ag Leader Dealer.

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Industry Audit Platform Announced by NPB

Joanna Schroeder June 6, 2014

Chris Novak, CEO of the National Pork Board, announced plans for a new common industry audit platform for pork producers, packers and processors. Using the existing Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA Plus) program as the foundation, the year-long audit team is nearing the final stages of completion and the initial common audit framework. The program was unveiled during World Pork Expo 2014.

The goal of the common audit program is to provide consumers greater assurance of the care taken by farmers and pork producers to improve animal care and food safety. It is also a mechanism to reduce the need for multiple audits throughout the food chain.

Dating back to 2011, the Pork Checkoff’s Board of Directors met with European counterparts who complained about audit programs in their countries that were duplicate, costly and inefficient. This new standard procedure will:

Meet individual company and customer needs;
Focus on outcome-based criteria that measure animal welfare;
Provide clarity to producers with regard to audit standards and expectations;
Minimize duplication and prevent over-sampling; and
Ensure greater integrity of the audit process through consistent application

The common audit program framework according Sherrie Webb, Pork Checkoff, will focus on animals themselves, facilities, caretakers and record and record keeping.

Chris Hodges, chairman of the Packer Processor Industry Council and senior vice president of fresh pork at Smith-Farmland noted, “As packers, we operate between our suppliers-the pork producers-and our customers-those who are selling pork to consumers. The eye of the public is on where their food comes from and how it is raised. Meeting the demands of our customers while still appreciating the challenges of our producers is tough. That’s why this new common audit platform is needed now.”

“This approach has never been more critical. As pork producers, we know that we must do more to reassure consumers about our commitment to improving animal care,” said Emily Erickson, a member of the Industry Task Force and a pig farmer from Jackson, Minnesota. She noted at the same time the industry needs a clear and consistent approach that can ensure they are doing the right thing and this common framework delivers on that promise.

The Industry Task Force is meeting later this month to finalize the common audit framework and it will be rolled out Mid to late July 2014.

Check out the 2014 World Pork Expo photo album.

Animal Agriculture, Pork, Swine, World Pork Expo

Ag Secretary Announces PEDv Action at WPX

Cindy Zimmerman June 5, 2014

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited World Pork Expo in his home state of Iowa Thursday to announce federal actions to help combat porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) and porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV).

For one, Vilsack says there is now a Federal Order requiring the reporting of new detections of these viruses to its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) or State animal health officials. “This does not involve a restriction of movement, it does not involve quarantine, but it does involve the need for reporting, a monitoring plan and a management plan,” he said.

In addition, Vilsack announced $26.2 million in funding to be used for a variety of activities to support producers and combat these diseases, including more than $11 million in cost-share funding for producers of infected herds to support biosecurity practices and nearly $4 million for the development of vaccines. Vilsack at World Pork Expo

“We’re hopeful the USDA plan will work,” said National Pork Producers Council President Dr. Howard Hill after the announcement was made. “We still need to see the fine details of the program, but if USDA can focus a lot of the plan on researching and testing this devastating disease and on helping producers enhance their biosecurity, that would go a long way to helping us know how to control and to prevent the virus.”

2014 World Pork Expo photo album.

Audio, Pork, Swine, USDA, Video, World Pork Expo

15 Millon Rea$on$ Not to Give to HSUS

Chuck Zimmerman June 5, 2014

I don’t need 15 million reasons not to give money to HSUS. However, I saw the HumaneWatch.org ad in USA Today and was glad they could do it. Hope it helps. The pic here is a portion of that ad. If you want to support your local animal shelter donate your money directly to them. You’ll help a lot more animals than HSUS does.

Here are the details from their news release.

Today, HumaneWatch.org, a project of the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom, is running a full-page ad in USA Today calling out the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and other co-defendants who last week settled a federal racketeering lawsuit brought by Feld Entertainment, parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, for $15.75 million. The ad specifically focuses on HSUS and its CEO Wayne Pacelle, who were involved in an alleged illegal witness payment scheme to pursue malicious litigation against the circus.

The case originally stemmed from a complaint filed under the Endangered Species Act in 2000, alleging misconduct by Feld toward its Asian elephants. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ultimately ruled the case was “frivolous,” “vexatious,” and “groundless and unreasonable from its inception.” Another animal rights organization – the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) – settled for an additional $9.3 million in December 2012.

The ad is viewable here.

The ad is headlined, “15 MILLION REA$ON$ Not to Give to the Humane Society of the United States,” and features a picture of Pacelle and an image of the actual check he personally signed as part of the alleged witness payment scheme. The ad then explains, “Last week HSUS and others paid over $15 million to settle a racketeering lawsuit that involved witness bribery and obstruction of justice. Support your local humane society, not HSUS.”

“This historic case has exposed the despicable tactics of the Humane Society of the United States and other animal rights fanatics,” said Will Coggin, CCF’s senior research analyst. “Americans should think twice before donating any money to HSUS. It’s likely not being spent on dogs and cats as HSUS’s ads lead people to believe.”

Wackos

BIVI Celebrates 20 Years of PRRS Solutions

Joanna Schroeder June 5, 2014

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (BIVI) celebrated 20 years of PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome) solutions during this year’s World Pork Expo. Reid Philips, DVM, technical manager for PRRS vaccines and BIVI outlined how far the swine industry has come in the last two decades in controlling the virus.

Interestingly, Reid explained that in the 1980s when PRRS was first showing up in herds, it was known as the devastating “mystery swine disease”. Today not only is it a much less of a mystery but a virus that through collaborative research efforts between the industry, academia and producer organizations, the disease can be controlled.

Over the past 20 years, Reid said that they had to begin the process of finding solutions to PRRS by asking critical questions and then searching out the answers. The more answers they discovered, better tools and strategies emerged.

For 13 years BIVI has had a dedicated PRRS program and through the company’s continuous and innovative developments have identified five important manageable areas that will have the greatest impact on the disease: pig flow management; measurement and surveillance; immunity management; biosecurity; and communication, coordination and collaboration through area regional control programs.

Reid expanded on the key areas by noting some critical discoveries and management strategies:

Research has shown that herd closure and partial or total depopulation can have a major impact on controlling PRRS infections in the herd.
Research has enabled BIVI to develop more accurate PCR and ELISA diagnostics to test for PRRS virus in through various means including oral fluids, semen, aerosol and the environment.
Developments in immunity management of the breeding herd and growing pigs and research shows vaccination with modified live virus vaccines are effective, such as Ingelvac PRRS MLV.
Biosecurity and the development of the PRRS Risk Assessment of the system or farm is one of the first steps to identifying holes or potential disease problem areas.
In terms of communication, one successful method is through Area Regional Control Programs or ARC.

“The Key to effective PRRS control today,” said Reid, ” comes down to reducing transmission and improving immunity.”

To learn more about the 20 year history of how far the industry has come in controlling PRRS, listen to Cindy Zimmerman’s interview with Dr. Reid Philips.

BIVI Celebrates 20 Years PRRS Solutions

Check out the 2014 World Pork Expo photo album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, NPPC, Pork, Swine, World Pork Expo

Panelist for USFRA Food Dialogues Chicago

Chuck Zimmerman June 5, 2014

One guess where I’ll be next week. The USFRA Food Dialogues in Chicago. That’s where. Here’s the latest information on the discussion next week.

The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance® (USFRA®) today announce the list of panelists participating in the upcoming Food Dialogues: Chicago. Integrity in Food Marketing event, on June 10 at the InterContinental Hotel. Thirteen-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, author and Dr. OZ consumer and investigative correspondent, Elisabeth Leamy (elisabethleamy.com/home), will moderate an expert group of farmers and ranchers, food industry executives, marketing ethics academia and consumer representatives, all well-known in their respective fields for their expertise in how food is marketed. Panelists include:

Michael Dimock, president of Roots of Change
Mike Donahue, former CCO of McDonald’s, now owner and brand architect of LYFE Kitchen
Alan Moskowitz, Director, Communispace
Connie Tipton, CEO, International Dairy Foods Association
Dawn Caldwell, family farmer from Edgar, Neb.; Communications Manager for the Aurora Cooperative; Lady of Ag blogger
Clarke Caywood, professor and tenured member of the Integrated Marketing Communications Department, Northwestern University
Emily Paster, food writer, West of the Loop
Chuck Wirtz, Iowa pork producer from Whittemore, Iowa

Where: Hotel Intercontinental on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue
When: Tuesday, June 10 from 10-11:30 a.m.
Why: You’ll hear from experts and be able to frame your own thoughts on how to tell your own food production story

The event will be streamed live on the Food Dialogues website.

Ag Groups, Food, USFRA

New Holland Donation to Fisher House Foundation

Chuck Zimmerman June 5, 2014

New Holland, an AgWired sponsor, just presented another check to the Fisher House Foundation – $57,800! This check was presented on June 3 during a groundbreaking ceremony for the newest Fisher House, which will open on the grounds of the Milwaukee VA Medical Center. In the photo you can see Paul Wade, New Holland Construction Marketing Manager (center), Fisher House Foundation Chairman/CEO Ken Fisher (left), and President David Coker (right).

The check represented the donation for Fisher House Foundation accrued from New Holland’s 2013 True Blue Salute program. New Holland will continue the tradition of honoring military heroes during its 2014 True Blue Salute. From Memorial Day, May 26, 2014, and continuing through the celebration of Independence Day on July 5, 2014, New Holland will again make charitable donations to the Fisher House Foundation and extend a special equipment offer to active, reserve and retired military, first responders, and their immediate family members. Since January 2012, New Holland has raised over $1.2 million for the Fisher House Foundation through True Blue Salute programs.

Agribusiness, New Holland

TOPIGS & Norsvin Announce Merger During WPX14

Joanna Schroeder June 5, 2014

A major announcement was made during this year’s 2014 World Pork Expo: TOPIGS International and Norsvin International have merged into one company: Topigs Norsvin. The merger will create a global swine breeding company with annual revenues in excess of US $179 million. The newly merged company’s headquarters will be located in Vught, the Netherlands. TOPIGS Nederland, Varkens K.I. Nederland and Norsvin SA were not part of the merger. Both companies are farmer owned and focus on genetic progress from applied research and development. Minority shareholders include farmer-owned meat processors and a feed supplier.

Moving forward TOPIGS Norsvin will align their R&D activities to create smarter investments to accelerate the genetic process and develop new products. Previously, the two companies partnered on many projects. Now, the combination of high-throughput phenotyping, large-scale computer tomography of boars, global nucleus breeding, massive gathering of production data and genomic selection will accelerate genetic progress and add value to the entire production chain.

“Results from new, combined products are so promising that we can see that these will have a global benefit,” said Bjarne Holm, Chief Development Officer of Topigs Norsvin. “Topigs Norsvin’s strategy involves excellent support through local presence based on individual customer needs. Together we have the people, products and knowledge to offer this better than anyone else.”

With a production of more than 1.55 million crossbred gilts and over 8 million doses of semen per year, Topigs Norsvin is one of the biggest swine genetics suppliers in the world. Each year more than 90 million slaughter pigs are produced with Topigs Norsvin genetics.

“TOPIGS and Norsvin is a perfect match,” added CEO Martin Bijl of Topigs Norsvin. “We are both R&D driven and have complimentary portfolios. TOPIGS brings robust, easy to manage lines providing the best total feed efficiency. Norsvin brings extremely productive, lean and efficient lines. Also the market position is complementary with TOPIGS’ global presence and Norsvin’s solid presence in Scandinavia, the U.S. and the Baltic region.”

Listen to the full press conference announcing TOPIGS Norsvin here: TOPIGS Norsvin Press Conference

2014 World Pork Expo photo album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, International, Pork, Swine, World Pork Expo

Teach Your Children Well

Melissa Sandfort June 5, 2014

Today Aunt Jeanette writes:

I was looking forward to spending most of today outside. Our lawn, which is about the size of a football field, desperately needed mowing. There are always weeds to pull. I had flowers to plant. The tomato plants that froze a couple of weeks ago needed to be pulled and new ones planted in their places. There is just something about working outside in the sunshine with a little breeze blowing that does my body and soul good!

First on the list was mowing the lawn. Well, I had gone around the edge of the lawn twice and was ready to mow in my diagonal pattern, when I heard a sound I hadn’t heard before. I went a little farther and then smelled something like burned rubber. Not a good smell! I immediately turned the mower off, hopped down from the seat, and saw pieces of a broken belt lying in the grass. Of course nobody was around to help because everyone was out getting pivots ready so we can begin irrigating.

Fortunately, our middle son happened to drive in and see my predicament. He helped me get the mower out to the shop and he started dismantling it. I was upset and knew he was busy with other things, so I told him to leave it and get back to his more important work. I was saying things such as, “Everyone is too busy to mess with my lawn mower now. I should have mowed yesterday when someone was around to help. Why do things like this always happen at the most inconvenient times?”

Then I just laughed out loud when his reply was, “Don’t you remember? The only time nothing happens is when you don’t do anything!” As our three sons were growing up and learning how to fix the things they had broken, they had heard those words of wisdom from their dad many times. I guess it proved to be one of life’s valuable lessons.

The lawn mower is still out in the shop. Maybe it will be fixed tomorrow, maybe not. However, I did manage to spend the day outside pulling weeds, planting flowers, and replanting tomato plants. Meanwhile, the grass is growing!

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Innovation Galore At World Pork Expo

Joanna Schroeder June 5, 2014

Each year people from around the world come to World Pork Expo (WPX) and ask the question: what new things will I find there? So I asked Dr. Howard Hill, National Pork Producer Council (NPPC) president, veterinarian and Iowa pork producer, that question and his answer: a lot. A few highlights he mentioned included all the press conferences and seminars around PEDv (Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus), the Junior National with record breaking entries, great new products and technologies and of course, all the pork you can eat. This was Tuesday night when we had a discussion of what to expect and true to his word, I stumbled across this great lighting innovation from Energyficient this afternoon (story video coming soon.)

The 2014 WPX is breaking several records including nearly 20,000 pork producers and related professionals from 32 countries along with an ever expanding expo that now includes more than 400 booths.

I also asked Hill about some of the work NPPC has been doing on behalf of their producers and the swine industry. Of note is the Water of the United States or WOTUS, a proposed regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as accompanying agriculture exemptions rules related to changes in the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). Hill said several of these exemptions could negatively affect farmers and ranchers because the rule would redefine “waters of the United States” to include intermittent and ephemeral streams. This could potentially affect agriculture in various ways including application of manure on lands near such streams, for example, could be considered a discharge and require a CWA permit.

Another hot topic is the TPP or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pending trade agreement between 12 countries including United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, which account for nearly 40 percent of global GDP.

However, Hill said Japan is asking for special concessions including keeping tariffs in tact, and that the U.S. will not budge on their proposed trade agreement. Should this TPP come to fruition, the legacy trade agreement will open the doors for trade agreements with other countries including the European Union. At this time, other countries in the proposed TPP have joined the U.S. in putting pressure on Japan to reduce their demands. Hill said at this time, while they would really like Japan to remain part of the trade agreement, they could drop out and join back in at a later time.

Now back to things new. This is the first year that USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack will be speaking at WPX and while Hill is not certain about what he will be addressing, he believes he will discuss mandatory requiring of the PEDv virus as well as the status of the TPP.

Listen to my interview with Hill to learn more about all of the issues mentioned above. In addition, there will be more stories coming soon specifically related to all of the issues Hill mentioned.

Innovation Galore at World Pork Expo

Check out the 2014 World Pork Expo photo album.

Audio, NPPC, Pork, Swine, Trade, World Pork Expo

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