Salute to Agriculture Proud to be a farmer’s daughter
Sixty years ago my mom and dad moved from an apartment in Great Falls, Mont., to a farm near Larimore, N.D. My mom and dad had both grown up on farms, she a couple of miles away from the farm they moved to, and he near Stanford in central Montana. My dad had just graduated from college with a business degree and was working as an insurance salesman when my grandpa asked my dad if he wanted to farm with him. My dad and mom, along with their two young sons, moved to the farm southeast of Larimore where my grandpa grew up. My grandpa and grandma lived a couple of miles to the west where she had grown up. I’m glad my dad’s answer to my grandpa’s offer was yes. While, I know, realistically, if he had rejected it, I never would have known what I was missing out on, it’s still hard to imagine how different my life would have been if my dad hadn’t been a farmer.
Farm living
For me, the farm was the ideal place to grow up. I loved the freedom of having several acres of woods filled with trees to climb, a haymow with a rope I could swing on and pastures filled with cows. I liked having friends over to ride horses, riding in the combine with my dad and riding to the elevator in the grain truck with my brother, then getting a bottle of Nesbitt’s orange soda from the dusty pop machine at the elevator. I sometimes didn’t like walking up and down rows of pinto bean fields and pulling out volunteer sunflowers, cleaning grain bins and trudging through mud and manure to help take care of sick calves. But somehow, doing those chores with a sibling or one of my parents, made the work a little easier to swallow. Working alongside of a family member, contributing to the collective farm effort gave us a sense of satisfaction that outweighed the distasteful part of the job.
Staying in touch
After I graduated from high school and moved away to attend college, I looked forward to weekends when I could go home and visit the farm and often brought friends with me. Usually, my friends loved the farm as much as I did, commenting on the large yard, beautiful fields that surrounded the farmstead, and, of course, my mom’s cooking. I didn’t know until I was in college that all mothers didn’t cook like mine. To me, fresh gar-
den vegetables, homecanned pickles, roast beef, ham or chicken and a different of fromscratch pie every day of the week, were the norm. It wasn’t just my mom who cooked like that, either. Home-cooked meals I ate at the houses of my farm friends also were hefty and tasty. The moms usually were cooking not only for their kids and husbands, but for some farm hands as well. When I graduated from college, I lived in apartments for several years, and then, after I got married lived in a house in Grand Forks for several years. The farm remained an important part of my life, and during those 13 years, I often visited, pitched in with the chores and rode horses with my dad and brother. Being out on the farm helped keep my life in perspective and reminded me of what is really important. If I thought my career as a newspaper reporter was a busy one, all I had to do was visit the farm where my dad, mom and brother were juggling dozens of different tasks and often working twice the hours each day that I was.
Coming home
In 1993, after my grandma died, my parents asked my husband, Brian, and me if we wanted to live on her farmstead. Brian, who had grown up on a farm near Thompson, N.D., and I were ready to move back to the country. We’re glad we did and so are our children. They love living on the farm as much as we do and, like me, can’t imagine what it would be like if they were growing up in town. Although we don’t farm, they know neighbors and friends who do, and have an admiration for farmers and the work they do. I also tell my sons and daughter a lot of stories about work I did when I was growing up on the farm and how their grandpa and uncle took pride in being stewards of the land. It’s a Herald tradition to do a newspaper section each fall that focuses on agriculture and elsewhere in this section you’ll read about farmers, guys who work at grain elevators and others who work in the agricultural industry. It is with heartfelt appreciation that I say thanks to all of you who contribute to, and work in, the industry. I salute you all.
Grand Forks Herald Sunday, October 24, 2010
A year-round enterprise
Jackie Lorentz, staff photographer
Argyle Cooperative Warehouse Association employee Glen Smidt loads a truck with fertilizer.
Work never ends at Argyle (Minn.) Cooperative Warehouse Association ■
By Ann Bailey
Herald Staff Writer
ARGYLE, Minn. – The farming season has come full circle at the Argyle Cooperative Warehouse Association. A year after fertilizer for the 2010 crop was applied, applications are under way for the 2011 crop. In between times farmers, planted and harvested the crop and hauled it to the elevator and workers there unloaded and marketed it. All elevators require a joint effort between farmers and elevator employees to make the harvest successful. Some, like the Argyle Farmers Cooperative, also have a cooperative legal arrangement.
History
The Argyle cooperative has it roots in a corporation. In June 1905, the Farmers & Merchants Elevator Co. YEAR ROUND: See Page 3
Bob Kasprowicz unloads the combines in Wayne Bergeron’s field near Argyle, Minn. Rain in the background makes it even more important to get the last strip of hard red spring wheat off the field.
Eric Hylden, staff photographer
Ken Hanson, Argyle Co-op Warehouse Association assistant manager, checks a bin as soybeans are elevated into it recently.
Jackie Lorentz, Special Features staff photographer
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Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, October 24, 2010
3
Jackie Lorentz, staff photographer
Cole Wittman, left, an Argyle elevator employee talks with farmer Wayne Bergeron in his field where spring wheat is being harvested.
YEAR ROUND/
Continued from Page 1
was formed in Argyle, according to the Minnesota Grain and Feed Association website. A few months later, the Duluth Elevator Co. bought the elevator for $6,000. The elevator changed from a stock company to a co-op in 1935, and in 1937, the name was changed to the Argyle Cooperative
Warehouse Association. Cooperative board members approved construction of a new elevator in 1949. In 1968, the co-op began leasing a bulk fertilizer facility and in 1982, it started an agronomy department. In 1998, Mark Dufault was named the elevator’s manager, the eighth in the co-op’s history. About 50 area farmers are members, he said, and the elevator handles a total of 1.6 mil-
Walhalla Farmers Grain LLC Walhalla, North Dakota 701-549-3210 Chuck Lorz, Manager
lion bushels of wheat, soybeans and corn annually.
Spring work
Meanwhile, the cooperative’s agronomy department sells and applies fertilizer and chemicals for its farmer customers. This past spring the agronomy department started applying fertilizer in early April, Dufault said. Co-op employee Tony Hamrick recalls working some 20-hour-plus days last
Jackie Lorentz, staff photographer
Kent Hanson sweeps the chaff down a shaft that will hold all the chaff until it can be unloaded and used by a company to burn as pellets.
spring, running the AgChem fertilizer spreader. Some days, he spread as much as a thousand acres of fertilizer. “I’ve started at 5 o’clock in the morning and I’ve spread until 2 a.m. We were really busy. It was nuts,” Hamrick said. But he doesn’t mind spending the time in the cab of the fertilizer spreader. “It’s very accurate equip-
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YEAR ROUND/
Continued from Page 3
Jackie Lorentz, staff photographer
Argyle elevator employee Aaron Knoll scouts a field of black beans in a field the elevator was monitoring for aphids.
ment. There’s very little waste with these machines, if any at all.” The machine can adjust its fertilizer application rates, depending on the soil conditions in different areas of the field. “You can be going across the field and it will change from 100 pounds an acre to 300 pounds an acre and you don’t have to touch anything,” Hamrick said. The son of a Warren, Minn., dairy farmer, Hamrick enjoys working in an ag business and the variety of jobs he performs. Besides running the fertilizer spreader, he does custom spraying of crops for the co-op during the summer and works on machinery “I like getting to know different farmers. It’s something different all of the time,” Hamrick said. Workers at the loading area of the Argyle Cooperative Warehouse Association, like the guys who spread the fertilizer, have a hectic schedule in the spring. The employees load the trucks, which in turn are driven to the field so the fertilizer in the spreaders can be replenished. The spreader can load a ton per minute so it takes about 15 minutes to fill up, Dufault said. While the spring rush is intense, it’s short-lived. “It’s usually six weeks, then it’s done,” said Jerry Whitlow, fertilizer plant manager.
Wheat
Jackie Lorentz, Special Features staff photographer
Jackie Lorentz, Special Features staff photographer
Top: A black board in the receiving area of the elevator where semi trucks unload is used to record what grain or which beans are stored in bins in the elevator. Bottom: No aphids were found on soybeans but the good news is that nodules were forming on the root systems.
Despite some rain delays this spring the fertilizer got spread and the crops planted pretty much on schedule. By mid-July the wheat began turning from green to gold. “We were harvesting by the first part of August,” Dufault said. This year Argyle-area farmers had a good-sized quality wheat crop to harvest. Protein levels were slightly higher than last year, Dufault said. “I would guess we’re going to be in the 12-5, 13 percent range. There are some 14s around this year where last year there was none,” he said.
YEAR ROUND: See Page 9
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Crop production by the numbers
North Dakota corn production
Harvested acres in 2009: 1.7 million Harvested acres in 2010: 1.8 million Average yield in 2009: 115 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 140 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 200 million bushels Total production in 2010: 254.8 million bushels
Minnesota corn production
Harvested acres in 2009: 7.15 million Harvested acres in 2010: 7.2 million Average yield in 2009: 174 bushels Average yield in 2010: 175 bushels Total production in 2009: 1.2 billion bushels Total production in 2010: 1.3 billion bushels
United States corn production
Harvested acres in 2009: 79.6 million Harvested acres in 2010: 81.3 million Average yield in 2009: 165 bushel per acre Average yield in 2010: 155.8 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 13 billion bushels Total production in 2010: 12.7 billion bushels
North Dakota soybean production
Harvested acres in 2009: 3.9 million Harvested acres in 2010: 4 million Average yield in 2009: 30 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 37 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 116.1 million bushels Total production in 2010: 150 million bushels
Minnesota soybean production
Harvested acres in 2009: 7.1 million Harvested acres in 2010: 7.3 million Average yield in 2009: 40 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 45 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 284 million bushels Total production in 2010: 329 million bushels
United States soybean production
Harvested acres in 2009: 76.4 million Harvested acres in 2010: 76.8 million Average yield in 2009: 44 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 44.4 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 3.4 billion bushels Total production in 2010: 3.4 billion bushels
North Dakota oil sunflower production
Harvested acres in 2009: 760,000 Harvested acres in 2010: 685,000 Average yield in 2009: 1,520 pounds per acre Average yield in 2010: N/A Total production in 2009: 1.2 billion pounds Total production in 2010: N/A
Minnesota oil sunflower production
Harvested acres in 2009: 44,000 Harvested acres in 2010: 53,000 Average yield in 2009: 1,400 pounds per acre Average yield in 2010: N/A Total production in 2009: 61.6 million pounds Total production in 2010: N/A
United States oil sunflower production Harvested acres in 2009: 1.7 million Harvested acres in 2010: 1.6 million
Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, October 24, 2010
Average yield in 2009: 1,563 pounds per acre Average yield in 2010: N/A Total production in 2009: 2.6 million pounds Total production in 2010: N/A
North Dakota non-oil sunflower production Harvested acres in 2009: 108,000 Harvested acres in 2010: 177,000 Average yield in 2009: 1,500 pounds per acre Average yield in 2010: N/A Total production in 2009: 162 million pounds Total production in 2010: N/A
Minnesota non-oil sunflower production
Harvested acres in 2009: 20,000 Harvested acres in 2010: 30,000 Average yield in 2009: 1,250 pounds per acre Average yield in 2010: N/A Total production in 2009: 25 million pounds Total production in 2010: N/A
United States non-oil sunflower production Harvested acres in 2009: 300,500 acres Harvested acres in 2010: 458,300 acres Average yield in 2009: 1,508 pounds per acre Average yield in 2010: N/A Total production in 2009: 452 million pounds Total production in 2010: N/A
North Dakota canola production Harvested acres in 2009: 725,000 Harvested acres in 2010: 1.3 million Average yield in 2009: 1,840 pounds per acre Average yield in 2010: 1,810 pounds per acre Total production in 2009: 1.3 billion pounds Total production in 2010: 2.3 billion pounds
United States canola production Harvested acres in 2009: 814,000 Harvested acres in 2010: 1.4 million Average yield in 2009: 1,811 pounds per acre Average yield in 2010: 1,786 per acre Total production in 2009: 1.5 billion pounds Total production in 2010: 2.5 billion pounds
North Dakota sugar beet production Harvested acres in 2009: 218,000 Harvested acres in 2010: 208,000 Average yield in 2009: 22 tons per acre Average yield in 2010: 29.5 tons per acre Total production in 2009: 5 million tons million tons Total production in 2010: 6.1 million tons
Minnesota sugar beet production Harvested acres in 2009: 449,000 Harvested acres in 2010: 416,000 Average yield in 2009: 23.7 tons per acre Average yield in 2010: 29 tons per acre Total production in 2009: 10.6 million tons Total production in 2010: 12 million tons
United States sugar beet production Harvested acres in 2009: 1.1 million acres Harvested acres in 2010: 1.1 million acres
5
Average yield in 2009: 25.7 tons per acre Average yield in 2010: 29.6 tons per acre Total production in 2009: 29.6 million tons Total production in 2010: 33.3 million tons
North Dakota barley production Harvested acres in 2009: 1.1 mi1lion Harvested acres in 2010: 675,000 Average yield in 2009: 70 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 65 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 79.1 million bushels Total production in 2010: 43.9 million bushels
Minnesota barley production
Harvested acres in 2009: 80,000 Harvested acres in 2010: 70,000 Average yield in 2009: 61 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 62 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 4.9 million bushels Total production in 2010: 4.3 million bushels
United States barley production
Harvested acres in 2009: 3.1 mi1lion Harvested acres in 2010: 2.5 million Average yield in 2009: 73 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 73.6 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 227.3 million bushels Total production in 2010: 181.9 million bushels
North Dakota spring wheat production
Harvested acres in 2009: 6.3 mi1lion Harvested acres in 2010: 6.3 million Average yield in 2009: 46 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 45.5 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 289.8 million bushels Total production in 2010: 286.7 million bushel
Minnesota spring wheat production Harvested acres in 2009: 1.6 mi1lion Harvested acres in 2010: 1.6 million Average yield in 2009: 53 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 55 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 82.2 million bushels Total production in 2010: 85.3 million bushels
United States spring wheat production Harvested acres in 2009: 13 mi1lion Harvested acres in 2010: 13.4 million Average yield in 2009: 45.1 bushels per acre Average yield in 2010: 46.9 bushels per acre Total production in 2009: 584.4 million bushels Total production in 2010: 627 million bushels Source: September and October National Agricultural
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Agritourism: Selling the farm experience
Ag teachers find fertile ground in city schools
6 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, October 24, 2010
By Emma L. Carew
Star Tribune, Minneapolis
Most of Julie Ketterling’s high schoolers have never set foot on a farm or petted a cow. So her task of making the world of agriculture relevant to the 909 urban students at Humboldt High School in St. Paul is a tall order. “They’re real curious about what goes on at a farm,” Ketterling said of her students.
Ag ed
Agriculture education in area high schools has gained popularity recently, popping up in unlikely metro schools. Educators say it’s because they’ve expanded the focus of their programs to include topics such as natural resources, agriculture economics and food science. “Often people think that teaching agriculture means we’re teaching kids to be farmers,” said Becky Meyer, director of the Academy for Sciences and Agriculture (AFSA), a charter school in Vadnais Heights that was founded in 2001.
In nine years, Meyer said the school has seen just one student who came from a traditional background in production agriculture. Ketterling arrived at Humboldt a year ago, as part of the high school’s restructuring process to focus on career prep and environmental issues. Previously, she taught in rural and suburban schools. The programs at AFSA and Humboldt mark significant growth in ag programs in a short time, said Brad Greiman, associate professor of agriculture education at the University of Minnesota. Humboldt Principal Mike Sodomka said the goal is to arm the students with skills that go beyond high school, such as a mindset toward conserving natural resources. Students in the FFA club – which up until 1988 stood for Future Farmers of America – worked with students from the culinary arts program to build three raised-garden beds in the school courtyard. They grow herbs, tomatoes and tomatillos that are used in the school cafe, Sodomka said.
In a recent section of her Care of Small Animals class, Ketterling helped her students make the connection between animal and product as they petted her rabbit, Daisy, then passed around an angora sweater.
Jobs
The demand for agriculture education is being driven by jobs, said Meyer, of AFSA. She points to Minnesota-based Cargill and General Mills as examples of non-farming agriculture businesses. “Feeding America’s population and the world’s population is big business,” she said. “Ag grads have an inside track on jobs.” As the boomer generation of agriculture teachers begins to retire, Greiman said his program can’t churn out graduates fast enough to meet demand. Of 16 first-year agriculture education teachers in Minnesota this year, he said four of them were recruited from out of state. Ketterling teaches courses such as Intro to Agriculture, Care of Small Animals, and Environmen-
tal Science. In the spring, her students will have the chance to earn college credit through the College in the Schools program with an Animal Science class. Ketterling has also started an FFA club at Humboldt. She said she has a core of about 15 students in the club’s second year. They have competed in wildlife competitions and worked as dairy judges at the Minnesota State Fair. FFA chapters have been forming in more and more urban areas, Greiman said. FFA membership is at an all-time high nationwide, he said. Pao Thao, a Humboldt FFA student, said he is excited to learn about the environment and ways that his life can affect it. He also said he enjoyed learning about the different breeds of animals. “You can see everything and know what they are,” he said. For Thao, the agriculture courses and FFA activities “just opened up a world.”
Extension.org
Agriculture and tourism is becoming an industry. Some rural entrepreneurs are finding ways to contribute to both industries, making a profitable mixture of food production, hospitality and recreation on their farms. “Agritourism is a business venture located on a working farm, ranch or other agricultural enterprise that provides an experience for visitors while generating supplemental income for the owner,” said Whitney Wiegel, University of Missouri Extension agriculture business specialist. “Examples of agritourism include corn mazes, horseback riding, U-pick produce, fee hunting, school tours, wagon rides and on-farm sales,” he said. Agritourism can diversify revenue sources, establish an alternative marketing outlet, generate price premiums for farm products, create an opportunity to capitalize on the aesthetic value of agricultural land and allow farm owners to share their passion for agriculture with others. “Anyone planning to start an agritourism venture should look at the venture as a business,” Wiegel said. “First, ask yourself what type of agritourism business you want to operate. Will its purpose be to supplement cash flow, earn a profit or provide educational fun and enjoyment without making a profit? Identifying your goals is foundational in operating any type of farm enterprise, whether it’s agritourism or commodity production.” The next two steps go hand-in-hand – market research and resource assessment.
Beef producers can learn production practices and more by going online
Extension.org
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – RanchTV.org, an online video library that offers instruction on beef production management and practices, has passed a milestone after one year of existence, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert. “The Beef Cattle Extension faculty with AgriLife Extension, along with other faculty in the Department of Animal Science and College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University, have put online more than 250 videos on beef cattle management,” said Dan Hale, AgriLife Extension meat specialist. The RanchTV.org online video library was developed to extend education resource and information outreach to beef cattle producers via the Internet, Hale said. “They have had almost 30,000 viewers over the last year,” he said. “The goal of the online digital library is to provide cattle producers easy access to information that will help teach best management practices. This was accomplished through the sponsorship of the Texas Beef Council.” Instructional topics on the website include effective stockmanship, Beef Quality Assurance practices, grid marketing and chute-side processing, Hale said. “RanchTV.org includes information about almost every aspect of beef cattle production,” he said. “It even contains an online
File art
“The Beef Cattle Extension faculty with AgriLife Extension, along with other faculty in the Department of Animal Science and College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University, have put online more than 250 videos on beef cattle management,” said Dan Hale, AgriLife Extension meat specialist. Beef 706 program where cattle producers can learn about the value of cattle from feeder calf to boxed beef. “RanchTV.org will be an evolving online learning center for cattle producers, with many more videos scheduled to be added over the second year.” According to Hale, one of the most popular videos is where Dr. John Davidson, a Texas A&M College of Veterinary Science veterinarian, shows an intramuscular vaccination of a live calf using magnetic resonance imaging. It can currently be seen in the featured-video section on
“RanchTV.org will be an evolving online learning center for cattle producers, with many more videos scheduled to be added over the second year.”
Your niche
“Also, consider what characteristics of your farm will attract your target population,” he said. “This is where your farm resources come into the picture. Do you offer a peaceful place in the country where couples can come to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, an educational venue for elementary schools, a paradise for hunters or recreational opportunities for horse owners/riders?” The next step is to write a business plan that clearly explains the nature of your business. “Your business plan will help you determine whether or not your business will accomplish your goals and it will help you communicate your idea with people who may be able to help you succeed,” Wiegel said. For more information about business planning and resources to help you get started in agritourism, contact your local MU Extension office. Many online resources are through MU Extension at http://extension.missouri.edu/ma in/DisplayCategory.aspx ?C9.
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Dan Hale AgriLife Extension meat specialist
the home page. “It is our goal to continually add new videos on the latest issues facing the beef cattle industry,” Hale said. The RanchTV.org online
“Your market research and resource assessment should answer the following questions: ‘Who will come to my farm?’ and ‘Why will they come?’” he said. Your marketing efforts should be based on whom you intend to attract to your business. Will you try to attract families, retired people, schoolchildren or some other class of people? Will you try to attract local people, people from a nearby city, travelers along a major highway or others?
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learning center was developed in part through the checkoff funds provided by the Texas Beef Council. For more information, visit http://ranchtv.org.
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Longer rotations could provide key to fighting SDS in soybeans Extension.org
Iowa State agronomist Matt Liebman has been studying various aspects of extending the conventional corn-soybean rotation with small grains and forages for eight seasons. He has documented many benefits, including the need for fewer purchased inputs made from fossil fuels while maintaining high levels of production.
SDS resistant
Another benefit of longer rotations has surfaced, puzzling him and other researchers at Iowa State. Soybean in threeyear rotations with corn, oat and red clover, and in four-year rotations with corn, oat and alfalfa, seemed to escape the worst effects of Sudden Death Syndrome or SDS. This disease, caused by a soil fungus that infects soybean roots soon after planting, can lead to significant drops in yield. “We have had SDS in these plots, but it was very dramatic this year,” Liebman said. “It’s definitely a
rotation effect because everything else is the same, but we do not know why it’s happening.” In Liebman’s test plots at the ISU Marsden Farm west of Ames, 90 percent of the soybean plants in a two-year rotation were severely affected by SDS, while less than 10 percent were affected in the threeand four-year rotation plots. A defoliation rating of the plots showed similar effects: on average, the plots in a two-year rotation had 62.5 percent defoliation, compared to 5 and 4.4 percent for the three- and four-year rotations, respectively. The plots were harvested Oct. 5, and yields determined from an area of 6 rows by 275 feet in the four replicates of each treatment. Soybean yields did not differ between the three-year and four-year rotations and were not affected by variety (both Roundup Ready™ and non-Roundup Ready™ varieties were planted). Average yield of the two varieties was 54.5 bushels per acre.
In contrast, soybean yields in the two-year rotation were significantly lower than in the longer rotations and were significantly affected by variety. In the two-year rotation, Kruger K-287RR/SCN produced 42.1 bushels per acre, whereas Kruger K2918/SCN produced 21.6 bushels per acre. (Yield data was reported at a seed moisture level content of 13 percent.) All soybeans in the experiment follow corn. All were planted under similar conditions, on similar days, and grew with similar rainfall. The longer rotations have received substantially fewer external inputs, relying on red clover, alfalfa and cattle manure for weed control and nutrients.
Impressive results
ISU plant pathologist Leonor Leandro visited the plots in early September and was eager to look at what might be causing the differences. “We don’t know the exact mechanism,” she said, “but the
differences in SDS severity are impressive.” ISU researchers have shown that SDS fungus can survive in corn kernels and roots, but they have not looked at oats, wheat or alfalfa. Other microbes or bacteria in the soil could be suppressing the pathogen, or allowing roots to grow with fewer problems. Liebman has been comparing the different rotations the past eight years, thanks to an initial competitive grant from the Leopold Center and continued with support from the Leopold Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “We know there are many benefits of using longer rotations,” said Jeri Neal, who works with the Leopold Center’s Ecology Initiative. “Farmers who are willing to explore different rotations may significantly reduce their risks and costs associated with SDS, and save money on other energy and input costs.”
Isolate flooded soybeans when harvesting By Seth Naeve and Bruce Potter Ag News Wire
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Heavy rain that fell across much of southern Minnesota this fall left large areas of corn and soybean fields submerged. Flood waters covered perhaps 100,000 acres for several hours as rain water moved from fields into creeks and rivers. Longer term flooding of fields affected tens of thousands of acres of cropland. Many factors will affect the quality of the corn and soybean crops following standing water. These include, but are not limited to: duration of the flooding, crop stage or maturity, depth of the water, movement of the water, and air and water temperatures. Fortunately, late-season rain events of this magnitude are relatively rare. Unfortunately, there is virtually no data to help us estimate crop losses and conditions of corn and soybean crops. Flood waters are thought to affect soybeans more than corn, and will therefore be our focus. Potential flooding damage to soybean includes stem breakage and lodging, moisture-swelled seeds that
can lead to pod splitting, seeds spouting or rotting, and contamination with mud. Short-duration flooding is gentler on the crop than floods that last several days or more, but one can be sure that flooding of any duration on any soybean field in late September will damage the crop to some extent. Anecdotal information from flooding occurring in Mississippi in 2009 indicates that soybean fields that have reached full maturity (R8) at the time of flooding were found to have less damage than fields that were not yet fully mature (less than R7). So far, we have noted little loss from fields that were at R8 at the time of flooding and where ponded water receded in a few days. Significant lodging and loss is present where heavy stream flooding occurred.
Options
The only management considerations that are open to producers at this very late date may be harvest timing and logistics. Rather than waiting for wet spots to dry, harvesting the non-flooded portions of fields first will speed harvest, minimize
wear and tear on equipment and keep water-damaged soybeans separated from good quality grain. Farmers should harvest and store soybeans from flooded areas separately from areas that were not flooded. Because damage levels are difficult to estimate and thresholds and allowances provided by grain elevators are unknown, it is critical that producers not mix damaged soybeans with clean ones. Do not be tempted to blend off a few bushels of damaged soybeans with a whole bin of good ones. The risks are simply too great. Another reason to harvest flooded areas separately is related to crop insurance. It is important that producers clearly document these flooded areas so that insurance or disaster relief assistance claims may be made a later date. Isolating these flooded areas is the best means to document losses from these heavy rains. Producers affected by flood waters can get more information by visiting Extension’s flood and water website, www.extension.umn.edu/flood or direct questions to Extension’s Farm Information Line (1-800-232-9077).
Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, October 24, 2010
Farmers should choose fall tillage methods based on soil conditions By Jodi DeJongHughes
University of Minnesota Extension
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Fall tillage decisions became a lot more complicated because of the heavy rains in September. Flooding and the prospects for another wet harvest season will make effectively using tillage to manage residues more difficult. University of Minnesota Extension research can provide some guidance. In a dry fall, there are more options for residue management, and deeper tillage will have less negative effect on the soil. Even so, different implements have differing effects on soil structure and residue incorporation. Chisel plows have more of a lifting effect on the soil and the soil tends to fracture along natural plains. Extension research shows that chisel plows can incorporate about 50 to 70 percent of the residue. A disk has more down pressure. The smearing and shearing effect breaks apart more soil structure than chisels. However, disks are very effective at cutting and sizing residue for decomposition, making planting easier in the spring. Depending on the shape and size of the disk, 40 to 80 percent of the residue is incorporated. If your fields are wet during harvest and ruts are created, the first instinct is to aggressively fill them in. To protect the existing
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October climate trends reveal need to delay fall nitrogen application By Mark Seeley
University of Minnesota Extension
ST. PAUL, Minn. – October is an important month from an agricultural standpoint. Crop harvesting, crop drying, tillage and soil testing are among the many weather-sensitive activities Minnesota farmers hope to accomplish. Some Octobers are fondly remembered for providing nearly ideal conditions for these activities, while some are cursed for problematic weather. I have been looking at recent climate trends for October in Minnesota, with one practical outcome being a recommendation to consider later fall fertil-
izer applications. Since the last major widespread drought year, 1988, Minnesota farmers have had to cope with several wetter-than-normal Octobers. In 2007 and 2009 the statewide average rainfalls for October were greater than 5 inches. For the majority of Minnesota farmers this meant delays in harvest, and for several who reported more than 7 inches of October rainfall in those years the delays were not in terms of days but weeks. This was because the rainfall was frequent with 16 to 19 days bringing rain to some places. Since 2000, only October of 2003 and 2006 delivered
less-than-normal precipitation; moreover, since 1988, 12 years have brought wellabove-normal precipitation during the month. In fact, in 2005, a very rare October flash flooding occurred in portions of east-central Minnesota as severe thunderstorms brought 4- to 6-inch rains. The silver lining in this October climate trend is the large fraction of the precipitation that goes into soil moisture storage and is available for the following year’s crop. Regarding temperature trends in October, most of the years since 2000 have brought above-normal temperatures during the month. In addition, fall
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frost dates have come a bit later in the month than usual, especially in southern counties. Over the past several Octobers, including this year, daytime temperatures have exceeded 80 degrees on one or more days. In previous decades this has been a rare occurrence.
soil structure, just fill in the ruts with light tillage by running equipment at an angle. You may need two or three passes to accomplish this. These areas will not yield as well as the non-rutted area, but there is not much you can do to change this. When the soils are wet and residue management is the main issue, a light tillage pass with a vertical-till implement is useful for sizing and incorporating some residue and introducing air to the soil. Vertical tillage runs 1 to 3 inches deep and uses straight or wavy coulters, a harrow, with rolling baskets being optional. Vertical tillage fluffsup the remaining residue with shallow penetration and minimal soil movement. Lifting wet soils can create clods. If using a chisel plow or disk ripper, shallow up the shanks, and use narrow points. The wings have a higher potential for smearing the soil. Clods in themselves are not bad going into winter; they will leave more surface area for water infiltration. However, a field with clods is more difficult to break apart and may need multiple tillage passes in the spring to get ready for planting. Keep your options open as things can change quickly. Visit the tillage page on the University of Minnesota Extension website at www.extension.umn.ed u/tillage for more information.
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Iowa State researchers study energy use in pig production 8 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, October 24, 2010
Extension.org
AMES, Iowa – The concept of “life cycle assessment” was first applied to manufacturing processes but is increasingly being used to examine agriculture. It’s a technique to analyze the environmental impacts associated with a product, process or service. Iowa State University researchers used the life cycle assessment concept to estimate the amount of nonrenewable energy needed to produce pigs in Iowa. The project was supported by a two-year grant from ISU’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and a U.S. Department of Agriculture Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant.
Energy inputs
The research took into account all direct and indirect energy inputs in the construction and operation of a pig facility, plus the growing and processing of feed ingredients. Comparisons were made between a conventional
confinement system with mechanical ventilation and liquid manure handling, and one that uses bedded hoop barns for grow-finish pigs and gestating sows. The two housing systems required similar amounts of nonrenewable energy but each uses energy differently according to Pete Lammers, a former ISU doctoral candidate in animal science. Lammers now is a livestock specialist for the National Center for Appropriate Technology in Des Moines. Lammers said raising pigs in conventional confinement facilities requires the use of more energy to heat and ventilate the buildings. “Using bedded hoop barns for gestation and grow-finish reduces this energy use by almost 70 percent,” he said. However, pigs raised in hoop barns require more feed, which ultimately leads to the two systems performing similarly in terms of energy use. “Earlier ISU research showed a hoop barn-based system requires 2.4 percent more
feed. In addition, the nitrogen value in the solid manure is less than what’s available in liquid manure collected at a confinement facility. That means more fertilizer nitrogen must be applied to corn fields,” Lammers said.
Feed
The researchers found the largest single use of nonrenewable energy in pig production is growing the feed. Approximately 50 percent of the nonrenewable energy associated with growing and processing a typical corn-soybean meal diet can be attributed to synthetic nitrogen fertilizer for corn production. So although conventional facilities require more energy to operate fans, lights and heaters, the amount of energy related to crop production is slightly less when compared to hoop barn-based pig production. Mark Honeyman, animal science professor and coordinator of Iowa State’s research farms, said the research showed a huge drop in the use of nonre-
newable energy for pig production over the past 35 years. “This study showed a reduction of nearly 80 percent in nonrenewable energy use to produce one market pig in Iowa today, compared to 1975, which was the last time this topic was examined,” Honeyman said. “This can be attributed to improved genetics and nutrition, changes in housing and ventilation systems and an overall increase in production efficiency.” Honeyman said the research shows the key to further reducing nonrenewable energy use for Iowa pig production is nitrogen management. “Strategies to optimize nitrogen stocks and flows among crops, livestock, manure and soil should be a priority for future research,” he said. Peer reviewed papers on the research have appeared in “Applied Engineering in Agriculture,” “Journal of Animal Science” and “Agricultural Systems.”
Farm families should protect themselves from ATV injuries By Katherine Waters University of Minnesota Extension
Many Minnesota farmers use all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to check on crops and livestock, inspect and repair irrigation systems and fence lines, supervise field crews, herd livestock, and to move things from here to there and back again. ATVs are useful on the farm, but a growing number of deaths and injuries resulting from accidents led the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (www.necasag.org) to focus on ATVs for this year’s National Farm Safety and Health Week, September 19-25. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPCS) reported that in recent years an estimated 25,500 individuals were treated for ATV-related injuries in
hospital emergency rooms. Four out of 10 people treated in emergency rooms for ATV injuries are under the age of 16. The exact number of injuries is not known because many ATV injuries are treated at home. The CPSC report also indicated that 6.4 percent of all ATV accidents occurred on the farm. This number is expected to grow as the ATV becomes a more common agricultural machine.
Deaths
Each year, about 800 deaths are associated with ATV accidents nationwide. In Minnesota, 248 deaths have been reported in the past 26 years, with 19 percent of the deaths reported in the past two years. Clearly, the number of deaths per year associated with ATVs has increased
in recent years. The machines are getting bigger and faster, weighing 600 or more pounds, with speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour. Rollover accidents are the most common. When it comes to ATV use, the following simple safety measures can mean the difference between life and death: ■ Be aware of your surroundings. ■ Wear a helmet. ■ Be familiar with the manufacturer’s safety precautions. ■ Don’t allow passengers. ■ Take an ATV training course. ■ Make sure your ATV is equipped with headlights and tail lamps. ■ ATVs are designed for off- highway use. ■ Display red, reflective warning devices on the front and rear when oper-
ating near. public roadways ATV use in Minnesota is regulated by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). For a summary of Minnesota ATV laws, visit www.dnr.state.mn.us/regulations/ohv/index.html. If you operate an ATV, contact the DNR Information Center at (888) 646-6367 to receive a free ATV safety training CD. For more information on how to protect yourself, your farm family and your farm employees during harvest season, visit the National Agricultural Safety Database website at http://nasdonline.org/brows e/1/topic.html. During harvest, we see increased use of farm machinery in the fields and on the roads. Let’s pay attention to vehicular safety and make this season a safe one for all.
Ranchers need to exercise caution when grazing cattle in cold weather
are often found dead. Clinical signs, when noticed, occur in rapid succession and include excitement, rapid pulse and generalized muscle tremors, followed by rapid and labored breathing, staggering and collapse.” In addition to creating prussic acid in sorghum and related plants, frost also can create high levels of soluble protein in alfalfa, winter wheat and white clover. When an animal consumes these, the result is frothy or legume bloats, Lemenager said. Cattle suffering from bloat can die within an hour. Rapid swelling of the left side of the body and various signs of discomfort often can be symptoms. “It is important to know when to graze cattle and when not to,” Lemenager said. “The best prevention of both prussic acid poisoning and bloat is to keep livestock from grazing on nights when frost is likely and to keep animals from grazing at least 5-7 days after a frost.” Lemenager suggests that cattle be fed before they are let back out to graze so that they are full and less likely to over-eat infected plants. Producers also should wait until dew is off alfalfa plants before letting cattle out to graze and avoid grazing them on young plants, where the risk of bloat is often highest.
Extension.org
As frost begins to cover fields, cattle producers should protect grazing livestock against prussic acid poisoning and bloat, a Purdue University Extension beef specialist says. Prussic acid, also commonly referred to as cyanide or hydrocyanic acid, is a potent, rapidly acting poison often used in rodent and vermin killers. It accumulates in a number of common plants, and once animals consume those plants, the toxin rapidly enters the blood stream, is transported throughout the body and inhibits use of oxygen by the cells in the animal’s body. “In essence, the animal suffocates,” said Ron Lemenager. Sorghums and related plant species can easily accumulate these toxic compounds following events such as frost that rupture plant cells. Ruminants, or animals with stomachs divided into four chambers, are more susceptible to prussic acid poisoning than other animals because the ruminal microorganisms have enzymes that release the acid in the animal’s digestive tract. “Signs of prussic acid poisoning can occur anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours after animals consume toxic forages,” Lemenager said. “Animals
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Argyle Cooperative Warehouse Association manager Mark Dufault talks to a
Yields, meanwhile, were 65 to 70 bushels per acre and test weight is 60-plus pounds. The weather was mostly good during harvest and farmers were able to get the crop off in good shape. “The wheat harvest was done for the most part by the third week of August,” Dufault said “That’s probably average. Last year we didn’t get started until September because of the wet conditions.” The elevator took in about 300,000 bushels of wheat at harvest, but the bulk of the 2010 crop is stored in farmers’ bins. Customers are hoping for better wheat bids this winter, Dufault said. Once the wheat harvest was finished the cooperative began gearing up for the soybean harvest. “We moved some grain around… kind of made room for some soybeans,” Dufault said. Workers also performed maintenance on the equipment.
Row crops
Farmers started combining their soybeans in late September. Dufault expected to take in about
Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, October 24, 2010
“The crop is a little better than expected. Overall most guys are fairly happy with their yields.”
Mark Dufault Argyle Elevator manager
60,000 bushels of beans before the harvest was finished. “The crop is a little better than we expected,” he said. “Overall most guys are fairly happy with their yields.” They’re also pleased with the weather during harvest. This year, farmers were able to go almost nonstop harvesting their soybeans and most of the crop was in the bin by Oct. 10. That’s a contrast to last year when wet weather delayed the harvest. “A lot of the beans basically got harvested in November,” Dufault said. After the farmers finished harvesting corn, weather permitting, the el-
evator typically handles several thousands bushels of corn.
Gearing up for 2011
As another farming season draws to a close, customers and co-op employees are looking toward the next one. A co-op crew was set to begin applying fall fertilizer once the harvest was completed. In December and January, farmers will be delivering some of their wheat and soybeans that are under contract. “Then the next thing you know it will be next spring, again,” Dufault said.
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Trouble ahead for farms as young vets opt to treat pets 10 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, October 24, 2010
By Robert Rodriguez
responding to the need for more animal doctors with legislative remedies and outreach programs. At the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, vet school applicants interested in becoming farm-animal vets have an admissions edge. And the school has reached out to high schools in rural areas with educational programs aimed at boosting the numbers of students. “We have some undergrads who have not been to a farm or even seen a large farm animal,” said Terry Lehenbauer, an associate director at UC-Davis’ Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Calif. “So we are having to do a better job of selling our program.”
McClatchy Newspapers
FRESNO, Calif. – Stuart Hall doesn’t mind the triple-digit temperatures, the flies or the occasional temperamental cow. “This is a physical job,” said Hall, a Visalia, Calif.based farm veterinarian. “But this is what I love to do.” Agricultural leaders wish there were more like him. The vast majority of veterinarians choose to take care of dogs and cats, not cows, pigs and chickens. The trend has raised concerns among animalhealth experts who worry that there won’t be enough farm veterinarians to fill the expected vacancies at key federal agencies responsible for protecting the nation’s food supply. Nearly 30 percent of the veterinarians at the federal level, including at the Food Safety and Inspection Agency, are eligible to retire in the next three years. Rural communities also are feeling the squeeze. The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that more than 1,300 counties in the U.S. don’t have a farm veterinarian. “The demand and need for services is critical,” said Gina Luke, assistant director in the government relations division of the AVMA in Washington, D.C. “We are talking about making sure we have enough people to treat animals, and make sure that our food supply is safe.”
Progress
Farm vet shortage
For years, interest in becoming a large-animal veterinarian has gradually been waning. Veterinary schools are seeing fewer students with farm backgrounds. At the same time, the pet industry has exploded. An estimated $3.4 billion was spent on pet services last year, including trips to the vet. The lure of having a staff and working in an air-conditioned office has become a strong attraction for students, as does the prospect of an income that will help pay for their education – a cost that can be more than $100,000. The average salary for small-animal vets is $64,744, compared to $57,745 for large-animal vets, according to a 2008 survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association. “As vets, the small-animal practice looks pretty attractive from a qualityof-life point of view,” said Hall, who works for Lone Oak Veterinary Clinic in Visalia. From 1998 to 2009, the number of companion-animal vets has climbed to 47,118 from 30,255, while the number of farm-animal vets has dropped to 5,040 from 5,553, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Complicating the issue is the graying population of farmanimal vets. Half are older than 50. Only 4.4 percent are younger than 30. “There are folks who are looking to retire or sell their practice and they are finding it challenging to hire someone to take their place,” said David Kirkpatrick, spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association. Young veterinarians are more likely to take a job in a city and not in the rural areas where they often drive long distances to see their clients. Many of those rural areas are under-
McClatchy Tribune
Dr. Stuart Hall of the Lone Oak Large Animal Veterinary Services prepares a vaccine for pregnant cows at Homestead Dairy in Visalia, Calif. served, say veterinary industry officials. About 500 counties in the nation with large-animal populations have no veterinarian. In California, at least six rural counties, mostly in the northern half of the state, have just one largeanimal veterinarian. Jennifer Mather practices in rural Placer County, in California’s San Joaquin Valley. She took over an area that was served by three veterinarians who recently retired. “I would love to share this area with other vets,” said Mather, who has been practicing for a year. “There is a real need up here. I get calls from people who are at least an hour away and more, asking me if I can come see their cattle.” Mather even got a call from a beef cattle owner
who was three hours south of her. She couldn’t make the drive but she gave the rancher some advice over the phone. “Sometimes
that is all I can do,” she said. Industry officials, congressional leaders and veterinary schools are
Northern Plains
School officials know they face a challenge, but their work appears to be paying off. Over the past four years, the number of UC-Davis students interested in large-animal medicine has more than doubled to 11 students out of 127. Nearly half are studying to be small-animal veterinarians. The rest have selected different specialties, such as equine or zoological. UC-Davis student Jessica Woultee said students face a tough decision when choosing a career path. She is among a group of senior students training at Tulare’s center. The students get hands-on experience treating dairy cows and doing research in the center’s lab. “Being able to find a job is a concern of a lot of us, so we have to look at all our options,” Woultee said. Woultee likes the outdoors and enjoys taking care of large animals. But she also knows the realities of paying off thousands of dollars in student loan debt. She has considered working for the federal or state government, but also is exploring the possibility of opening a private prac-
Legislation
To help boost the number of farm animal vets, federal legislators have introduced several bills, including the Veterinary Services Investment Act, which is aimed at recruiting veterinarians, helping vets expand their practice and providing nontuition financial assistance for students. The bill has passed the House of Representatives and is awaiting approval in the Senate. If approved, it would complement an existing federal loan-repayment program that provides students up to $75,000 in exchange for agreeing to work in an underserved area for three years. Lehenbauer, who was on the program’s selection panel, said helping students defray some of the cost of their education is an important factor in attracting more veterinarians. This year, more than 500 students applied for the repayment program, and between 60 and 80 students will receive funding, Lehenbauer said. “Money can be a real magnet,” Lehenbauer said. “And we are already seeing lots of interest in this.”
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FDA egg tests may raise farmers’ costs without ensuring safety
Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, October 24, 2010 11
By P.J. Huffstutter Los Angeles Times
VALLEY CENTER, Calif. – Amid a rolling landscape of browning chaparral and battered trailers, Alan and Ryan Armstrong’s metal henhouses line up like military barracks. Keeping their 450,000 birds safe – and Salmonella enteritidis out of their henhouses – is a daily battle. Since they were old enough to drive the family skip loader and shovel chicken droppings, the Armstrong brothers followed a state-sanctioned quality-assurance program designed to curtail salmonella in eggs. So have dozens more California egg farmers, who helped develop the guidelines alongside federal and state officials following a salmonella outbreak 15 years ago that sickened thousands of people. The program, which includes vaccinating hens and testing barns regularly for bacteria, has essentially wiped out salmonella on California farms, industry officials say. Yet only nine other states have enacted similar governmentsponsored efforts. One reason, the Armstrongs and other California farmers contend, is cost. Injecting chickens and swabbing cages takes money – not a fortune, but enough to send egg distributors searching for lowercost sources. “We have lost contracts over pennies a dozen,” Ryan Armstrong said. “They want cheap eggs.”
New rules
As the nation grapples with recent salmonella outbreaks, the Food and Drug Administration has enacted rules that it said would prevent future outbreaks. The regulations force large operators to buy chicks and young birds, known as pullets, from firms that check for salmonella, create protocols to keep out pests, and perform salmonella tests in henhouses. Yet farmers, food-safety experts and lawmakers alike warn that the FDA’s new regulations may not do enough to prevent another massive recall. The problem is not a lack of oversight. Fifteen federal agencies and more than two dozen congressional committees are in the business of tracking America’s food supply as it moves from farm to fork. There are scores of lobbyists, environmentalists and animal rights groups. But there was no single entity that made sure the Iowa eggs the public ate were, in fact, safe. What went wrong at Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms underscores how regulatory confusion has made it difficult to protect the public and how, say farmers, there are economic incentives to cut corners.
Mystery
The September outbreak provided an extraordinary case study. FDA officials said they found salmonella contamination in the feed given to pullets, food that was made at a mill operated by Wright County Egg officials near Galt, Iowa. Feed mills are regulated by the FDA and checked by the state. But Iowa officials said the mill in question wasn’t licensed or inspected because Wright County Egg said it didn’t sell the feed on the open market, using it only for its own flocks. “In the confusion be-
McClatchy Tribune
Four-week-old Leghorn chicks flutter around a chicken house the Armstrong Egg Farms in Valley Center, Calif. The business keeps about half a million hens at the rural north San Diego County business. tween who does what, who tests what and who’s responsible for what, Salmonella enteritidis falls through the cracks,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. Indeed, in the world of agriculture, few things are more difficult than getting a healthy chicken to lay a healthy egg. Few people understand that better than the Armstrongs. The brothers grew up on this dry stretch of northern San Diego County, where their grandfather George poured concrete slab floors and erected corrugated metal and wire walls in 1970. People in egg farming circles called them “the boys,” young men who, unlike so many of their peers, never left for city jobs. When their father, Jerry, died in 2000, they took over the business. Alan was 24, Ryan 20. Their 56 barns – the largest are longer than a football field and wider than a four-car garage – stretch across four sites. Their hens lay 180 million eggs a year, some of which are carried at grocers Trader Joe’s, Stater Bros. and Ralphs. At 9 a.m. on a recent weekday, Alan, a ruddyfaced, barrel-chested man, had been checking on the hens for hours. So had Ryan, his trim younger brother with a quiet country drawl. The thermometer outside read 85 degrees. Inside the barns, it was 10 degrees cooler and the feeders were full – attractive to rodents and other animals seeking shade and grain. These interlopers are potential salmonella carriers, capable of contaminating feed and water with their excrement. Once a hen eats the contaminated feed, the bacteria grow in its gastrointestinal tract and spread through its feces. Bacteria can invade the chicken’s bloodstream and its ovaries, contaminating the egg. “Without testing, it’s difficult to know that there’s a problem,” said veterinarian Nancy Reimers, a
board-certified poultry specialist whose firm has worked with the Armstrongs. The hens “don’t give us hints that they’re not feeling well ... there’s no drop in egg production, no obvious clues.”
Low-tech science
Discovering salmonella can be surprisingly lowtech. After pulling sky-blue plastic booties over their scuffed work boots, the brothers stepped through the mesh door of a pullet barn. Birds scattered. Four weeks ago, these scrawny hens were dayold, pear-sized balls of fluff. They arrived in ventilated plastic boxes, cheeping and defecating on a paper lining. That lining can provide the first inkling of salmonella. The farmers remove the paper, roll it into a container and drive it to a state-run laboratory in Riverside, Calif., where scientists perform an “environmental test” on the feces. “It helps us make sure there wasn’t a problem at the hatchery,” Alan Armstrong said. The cost: one-third of a penny per chick. The new FDA rules do not require the test. The Armstrongs strode across the barn full of young white birds. By this point, each animal had received a salmonella vaccine, sprayed in the water. In October, they will got two more – including one by injection.
The brothers and their employees are trained to give the shots. On a good day, two people can vaccinate 10,000 chickens. The cost for one year: about 5 cents per bird.
ence between profit and loss. In the late 1980s, about 2,500 commercial egg producers served the U.S. market. Today, fewer than 200 big operators dominate the trade, using economies of scale to drive down production costs. Many of the cheapest eggs are produced in the Midwest, where energy, farmland and feed cost less and where regulations are less onerous. As a result, Iowa egg operators can undercut the competition. Last month it cost Midwest farmers 53.5 cents to produce a dozen eggs, about 16 percent less than in California, according to Iowa State University’s Egg Industry Center. Fullerton, Calif., wholesaler Michael Sencer, whose company supplies food service firms and chains including Ralphs, Costco and Trader Joe’s, bought inventory from Wright County Egg. His customers, he said, liked the low prices and ready supply. “It drives the demand
for Iowa eggs here in California and everywhere,” said Sencer, executive vice president of Hidden Villa Ranch.
Scrambling
Those same customers are now scrambling. Wholesale egg prices have jumped 20 percent in California since the recall, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One key reason: There are 7.5 million Midwest laying hens currently not producing eggs for the nation’s breakfasts. But in the Golden State, there are only 19 million hens – enough to meet just 56 percent of California’s demand. How long these new customers stick around, and whether less stringent safety practices will tarnish the public’s appetite for the whole industry, remains to be seen. “We talk about it every day,” Ryan Armstrong said. “All we can do is hope and wait.”
More evidence needed
The new FDA rule does not require U.S. egg farmers to vaccinate their birds. Agency officials ruled there wasn’t enough evidence that salmonella vaccines are effective. In December, the Armstrongs’ chickens will be about 18 weeks old and large enough to be moved to an egg-laying barn. A second environmental test will be done: A cotton pad is soaked in condensed milk and, like a mop, dragged through chicken excrement. (The milk allows any bacteria in the feces to survive while being transported to a lab.) The new FDA rules require egg farmers to conduct this test three times. The California program used by 95 percent of the state’s large producers demands five tests. During the average twoyear lifespan of these California hens, they will be vaccinated three times, have their droppings checked five times and have their feed tested six times. The total cost per bird: about 8.5 cents. But in the egg world, such a seemingly small sum can mean the differ-
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Stopping steroids in the show ring 12 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, October 24, 2010
By Jim Spencer
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
MINNEAPOLIS – The State Fair Market Beef Grand Champion looked like a 1,305-pound stuffed toy. His thick black coat – preserved by a summer spent lounging in an air conditioned room – fit like a plush velvet robe. His leg hair – teased and doused with adhesive – shone with freshly sprayed black paint. No question, Chance the steer was fluffed and buff. But was he a steroidsculpted illusion? Just as some athletes secretly use banned performance-enhancing drugs, owners of show animals can succumb to chemical attempts to get a leg up. It falls to veterinarians like Tom Lang to help determine whether champions like Chance are what they seem. As the champ lumbered from a photo op out the door of the fairground’s Warner Coliseum, Lang matched the massive steer stride for stride. In his right hand, the 68-year-old doctor clasped a 30-inch wooden dowel to which he had duct-taped a plastic cup to gather a urine sample.
Testing
Discouraging outlawed animal enhancement by testing for steroids and eight other banned substances is an important job. Champion status multiplies the value of animals. “Top bulls are more valuable than top athletes,” said Wisconsin cattle rancher Mark Goodrich. Champion animals headed for the slaughterhouse sell for high prices at auctions. For those bound for breeding, a fair prize helps promote sales of embryos or semen worth tens of thousands of dollars a year. On average, cows produce 60 embryos annually that bring, on average, $250 to $600 apiece. The best cows command $1,000 per embryo. A single sample of prize bull semen divided into doses can bring $8,000.
No Barry Bonds allowed
Amidst this battle for big bucks stands Steve Pooch, who ran the fair’s animal shows for 15 years and still oversees its animal testing. As far as Pooch – pronounced Poke – is concerned, nothing could spoil a Great Minnesota Get-Together like letting the Barry Bonds of bulls or the Sammy Sosa of sheep sneak into the State Fair’s hall of fame. “If you can keep the show clean, you keep get-
McClatchy Tribune
Steve Pooch who supervises the testing of the animals at the Minnesota State Fair, looks around at the dairy cows being milked after the showing. ting a strong show,” he said. “We haven’t had a lot of issues, but we test every year.” Collecting a urine sample from a prize steer, pig or sheep usually involves a lot more than cup holding. Lang and his veterinary partners – son Scott and Mike Bjorklund – can’t leave a newly crowned champion until it has relieved itself. This can mean waiting up to three hours. Sometimes the process requires some hands-on encouragement, said Lang, who has spent the past 16 State Fairs doing this strange, but critical work. “We take pigs to the wash rack and run water over the ears and snout,” the vet said. “With sheep, you cover the nostrils and mouth. They get panicky and then they urinate.” Clipping hair to test from the shoulders and tails of the animals is simply a matter of running some electric shears. Vets also conduct ultrasound tests on udders and gather milk from champion dairy cows, checking for banned substances, as well as foam or water injections that make udders look fat and symmetrical. “Think of it like using collagen to plump lips,” said Christie Ward, a University of Minnesota veterinarian, as she rubbed a scanner along the udders of a cow named Penny. Animal owners and vets sign off on all the samples and give them to Pooch, a thin, bespectacled 60-yearold who looks more like a professor than a policeman. He guards the chain of custody of the fair’s animal samples like a cop in a criminal case. He sends them to Ohio State University for testing. “Everyone loves coming to a show where there’s a level playing field,” Pooch
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Illegal
Animal doping got so bad in Ohio in the 1990s that the state passed a law to make it a crime. To thin the herd of cheaters, the North American Livestock Show and Rodeo Managers Association, to which Pooch belongs, started a national database of people caught breaking doping rules. “People on the list are banned from at any show in the country affiliated with the association,” Pooch said. While he has largely kept cheating in check at the State Fair, Pooch knows pressure to skirt rules keeps building. When he started in the fair business 37 years ago, a steer like Chance fetched “maybe 1,500 bucks” in Minnesota. Chance just sold for $14,600. The real temptation to dope animals comes at what are called “open” and “jackpot shows.”
A few years back, Pooch banned an animal owner from competition for a year after he used Lasix. The drug forces urination that not only trims hundreds of pounds pushing animals into lower weight classes, but can also wash out evidence of other banned substances. This year, the fair added another test, this one to detect the interbreeding of beef cattle with dairy steers. Breeding a little beef into a dairy steer can produce “a better looking animal for eating,” Pooch said. “They could put some beef blood in the dairy steer just to try to win the show,” he explained, “We’ve had some suspicions in the past. We’re going to take the question out of it.” If his years at the Minnesota State Fair have taught Steve Pooch anything, it is scientific data, not speculation, keeps animal doping at bay.
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History of vigilance
Across the decades Pooch, veterinarians and lab techs have had to screen the State Fair’s prize-winning pork, beef and lamb for a growing list of banned substances. Today, they look for everything from clenbuterol, a growth drug, to Lasix, a weight loss drug. The fair also weighs cows and steers on their way in and
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There, said Chance’s owner, 17-year-old Kailey Davis, the grand champion can earn $100,000. “In the open shows, it’s every person for themselves,” the Glenville teenager said. “They cheer when you lose.” As a competitor in 4-H shows, as well as open shows, Davis understands the need for drug testing. “I know people cheat,” she said. Drug testing sends the message “that you’re probably going to get caught if you do.”
out of competitions and disqualifies any animal that gains or loses more than 5 percent of its weight over the course of the fair. Weighing guards against weight-loss drugs. It also protects against grotesque, but otherwise un-provable enhancements such as shoving a hose down an animal’s throat and pumping it full of water to gain judge-pleasing plumpness. Meanwhile, some legal enhancements appear almost as harsh. “A lot of these guys raise cattle in air conditioning all summer,” Pooch said of the exhibitors. “The animal’s hair gets all heavy and thick. So it looks much nicer. The problem is we don’t allow the animals in air conditioning. So they’re panting quite a bit because they can’t handle this heat and humidity because they haven’t been in it all summer. Several years ago, we had a cow out here at the wash rack just collapse dead of a heart attack.”
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