September 28 Hogs & Pigs + Ag News
Posted
in Chad Moyer's Blog
at 10:20PM on 09/28/2011
NEBRASKA HOG INVENTORY UP 3 PERCENT
Nebraska inventory of all hogs and pigs on September 1, 2011, was 3.25 million head, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office. This was up 3 percent from September 1, 2010 and up 5 percent from June 1, 2011. Breeding hog inventory, at 380,000 head, was up 3 percent from September 1, 2010 and unchanged from last quarter. Market hog inventory, at 2.87 million head, was up 3 percent from last year and up 6 percent from last quarter.
The June-August 2011 Nebraska pig crop, at 1.84 million head, was up 2 percent from 2010. Sows farrowing during the period totaled 175,000 head, unchanged from last year.
Nebraska hog producers intend to farrow 180,000 sows during the September-November 2011 quarter, unchanged from the actual farrowings during the same period a year ago. Intended farrowings for December 2011-February 2012 are 180,000 sows, up 3 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period the previous year.
Iowa:
On September 1, there were 20.0 million hogs and pigs on Iowa farms, up 2 percent from the 19.6 million in both June 2011 and September 2010. This is a new record high inventory. The June - August 2011 pig crop was 5.00million head. A total of 485,000 sows farrowed with an average litter size of 10.3 pigs per sow. As of September 1, producers planned to farrow 485,000 head of sows and gilts in the September - November 2010 quarter. Farrowing intentions for the December 2011 – February 2012 period were estimated at 480,000 as of September 1, 2011.
United States Hog Inventory up 1 Percent
United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on September 1, 2011 was 66.6 million head. This was up 1 percent from September 1, 2010, and up 3 percent from June 1, 2011. Breeding inventory, at 5.81 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, and up slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 60.8 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, and up 3 percent from last quarter.
The June-August 2011 pig crop, at 29.1 million head, was up 1 percent from 2010 and up 1 percent from 2009. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.90 million head, down 1 percent from 2010 and down 2 percent from 2009. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 50 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high 10.03 for the June-August 2011 period, compared to 9.81 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 7.50 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 10.10 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.
United States hog producers intend to have 2.87 million sows farrow during the September-November 2011 quarter, down slightly from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2010, and down 1 percent from 2009. Intended farrowings for December-February 2012, at 2.86 million sows, are up slightly from 2011, but down 1 percent from 2010.
The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 46 percent of the total United States hog inventory, up from 43 percent last year.
IBACH REMINDS PRODUCERS OF IMPORT REQUIREMENTS; NDA STEPS UP ENFORCEMENT
Agriculture Director Greg Ibach is encouraging beef cattle producers to be certain they are following the state’s import requirements, as the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) continues its enforcement efforts related to cattle moving into Nebraska from other states.
“Because of the Southern drought, Nebraska continues to receive high numbers of cattle from other states,” Ibach said. “For the protection of all Nebraska beef producers, those animals must come here with the appropriate testing and paperwork completed.”
Ibach said NDA officials continue to review animal health certificates and now have started quarantining herds that are found to be in violation of the state’s cattle import requirements. All animals entering the state must have a health certificate, and producers especially need to be aware of the import requirements for trichomoniasis, a cattle disease that causes infertility and occasional abortions in cows and heifers. NDA issued an order outlining trichomoniasis import restrictions in 2008.
“We recognize that Nebraska producers want to help our southern neighbors and have the opportunity to make positive business moves at the same time,” Ibach said. “We welcome these animals into our state, as long as they meet importation requirements.”
Producers who are considering moving cattle from another state into Nebraska are urged to contact the NDA State Veterinarian’s staff for more information about specific import requirements. Staff can be reached by calling 800-572-2437. Import regulations and orders also can be reviewed on-line by visiting www.agr.ne.gov and looking under the Animal and Plant Health Protection focus area.
Pilger Woman Elected Head of PrairieLand RC&D
A Pilger, Neb., woman has been elected president of the PrairieLand Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council during its recent annual meeting and banquet at Klub 81 near Humphrey.
Elected to serve as president is Kimberly Neiman who represents the village of Pilger on the six-county, grassroots council. Other elections results include Vice President Juan Sandoval of the Center for Rural Affairs - Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP); and Treasurer Darol Ellwanger of Rural Norfolk.
The PrairieLand RC&D Council serves the communites of Boone, Colfax, Madison, Nance, Platte and Stanton counties. The next PrairieLand RC&D meeting will be held on Oct. 18. The public is invited and welcome to attend. Please contact the office at 402-454-2026 or info@prairielandrcd.org for more inforamtion.
NYBLS coming in November
High school juniors and seniors will learn about careers in the beef industry at the 9th Annual Nebraska Youth Beef Leadership Symposium November 19 - 21. During the symposium students will learn about goal setting, leadership while interacting with univeristy and industry leaders. UNL Researcher Dr. Karla Jenkins says one of group activities involves marketing and entrepreneurship... (click links below to hear audio)
Jenkins_NYBLS2 :16
Dr. Jenkins says participants will also be exposed to future careers in beef industry...
Jenkins_NYBLS1 :23 Q. in the industry.
Symposium Registration is $30 if received by Monday, October 3rd. After that date registration is $50. Registration fee for the three day event includes all materials, meals and lodging.
FSA Provides Loans on Farm-Stored Grain
Dan Steinkruger, State Executive Director for the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, reminds producers of the interim financing provided by obtaining commodity loans with Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) for eligible harvested production. The CCC nine month marketing assistance loan provides financing allowing producers to store production for later marketing.
The 2011 marketing assistance loans are available for producers who share in the risk of producing the eligible crop and maintain beneficial interest in the eligible crop through the duration of the loan. Beneficial interest means retaining the ability to make decisions about the commodity, responsibility for loss or damage to the commodity and title to the commodity. Once beneficial interest in a commodity is lost, the commodity is ineligible for loan, even if you regain beneficial interest.
For commodities to be eligible, they must have been produced by an eligible producer, be in existence, and in a storable condition. Commodities harvested from ACRE and non-ACRE farms must be distinguished separately and placed under separate loans. The county commodity loan rate will be reduced by 30 percent for the ACRE enrolled commodity quantities placed under loan.
The 2008 Farm Bill established national loan rates. The county commodity loan rates are based on each commodity’s national loan rate and vary by county based on the average prices and production of the county where the commodity is stored. The 2011 National Loan Rates are as follows:
Commodity Production Unit 2010-2012
Wheat bushel $2.94
Corn bushel $1.95
Grain Sorghum bushel $1.95
Barley bushel $1.95
Oats bushel $1.39
Soybeans bushel $5.00
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Major Investments to Spur Innovation and Job Creation in Research, Development and Production of Next Generation Biofuels
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced five major agricultural research projects today aimed at developing regional, renewable energy markets, generating rural jobs, and decreasing America's dependence on foreign oil. Altogether, the five-year program will deliver more than $136 million in research and development grants to public and private sector partners in 22 states. University partners from the states of Washington, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Iowa will lead the projects, which focus in part on developing aviation biofuels from tall grasses, crop residues and forest resources. Vilsack made the announcement with partners from private industry, research institutions, and the biofuels industry at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
"We have an incredible opportunity to create thousands of new jobs and drive economic development in rural communities across America by continuing to build the framework for a competitively-priced, American-made biofuels industry," said Vilsack. "Over the past two years, USDA has worked to help our nation develop a national biofuels economy that continues to help us out-innovate and out-compete the rest of the world while moving our nation toward a clean energy economy."
The grants announced by Vilsack in Seattle today came through USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The projects will address needs across regional supply chains and will complement existing bioenergy efforts across government, academia, and the private sector. Summaries of the five projects follow:
- A research team led by Iowa State University received $25 million to develop a regional biomass production system for advanced transportation fuels derived from native perennial grasses, such as switchgrass, big bluestem and Indian grass. The $25 million project will study the potential benefits of planting grasses with legumes to provide nutrients to land unsuitable for row crop production – adding value to marginal lands while reducing nitrogen runoff into waterways and increasing carbon sequestration. The team will also evaluate a co-product—bio-char—as a soil amendment to increase carbon sequestration.
- A research team from the University of Washington received $40 million to focus on using sustainably grown woody energy crops to produce biogasoline and renewable aviation fuel. A consortium of eight organizations will work throughout the entire woody biomass supply chain to promote the financing, construction and operation of multiple biorefineries, while reaching out to landowners and land managers, as well as regional K-12 and college students and faculty, to foster workforce development opportunities across the supply chain.
- A research team led by Washington State University received $40 million to convert closed timber mills into bioenergy development centers, improving the economic potential of rural communities affected by the downturn in timber production. The team will focus on feedstock development, sustainable forest production and establishing new methods to identify the most promising plant lines for biofuel conversion. The project aims to develop a regional source of renewable aviation fuel for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
- A team of researchers led by Louisiana State University received $17.2 million to enable the regular production of biomass for economically viable conversion using existing refinery infrastructure. Through new and existing industrial partnerships, this project will use energy cane and sorghum to help reinvigorate the Louisiana sugar and chemical industries.
- A team of scientists led by the University of Tennessee received $15 million to develop sustainable feedstock production systems (switchgrass and woody biomass) that will produce low-cost, easily converted sugars for biochemical conversion to butanol, lignin byproducts and forest and mill residues, and dedicated energy crop feedstocks to produce diesel, heat and power.
USDA made these awards through its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). AFRI's sustainable bioenergy challenge area targets the development of regional systems for the sustainable production of bioenergy and biobased products that contribute significantly to reducing dependence on foreign oil; have net positive social, environmental, and rural economic impacts; and are compatible with existing agricultural systems. All grants are awarded over a period of five years, with continued funding contingent on annual project success.
AFRI is NIFA's flagship competitive grant program and was established under the 2008 Farm Bill. AFRI supports work in six priority areas: plant health and production and plant products; animal health and production and animal products; food safety, nutrition and health; renewable energy, natural resources and environment; agriculture systems and technology; and agriculture economics and rural communities.
Vilsack also highlighted how USDA is working with federal partners like the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of the Navy and the Federal Aviation Administration to improve our country's energy security and provide sustainable jobs in communities across the country. Last month, President Obama announced a partnership between USDA, DOE and Navy to invest up to $510 million during the next three years in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced, drop-in aviation and marine biofuels to power military and commercial transportation.
Renewable energy production is a key to sustainable economic development in rural America, and USDA through renewable energy programs authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill is working to escalate the production of biofuels to meet the 2022 Federal Renewable Fuels standard goal. Much of this biofuel will come from feedstocks produced by America's farmers and ranchers. For example, yesterday, USDA announced the investment of $80 million payments to 160 energy producers in 41 states under the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels (Section 9005 of the 2008 Farm Bill). Payments are based on the amount of biofuels a recipient produces from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch. Eligible examples include biofuels derived from cellulose, crop residue, animal, food and yard waste material, biogas (landfill and sewage waste treatment gas), vegetable oil and animal fat. The payments are made to eligible producers to support and ensure an expanding production of advanced biofuels.
The Obama Administration has made domestic production of renewable energy a national priority because it will create jobs, reduce dependence on foreign oil, combat global warming, and lay a strong foundation for a strong 21st Century rural economy. At Secretary Vilsack's direction, USDA continues working to revitalize the rural economy to create opportunity for future growth and prosperity through a strategic approach to rural revitalization, including biofuels. To advance the national biofuels industry, USDA is investing in innovative technologies, supporting landowners and businesses taking risks to pursue new energy opportunities, and supporting commercialization of biofuels.
Weekly ethanol production data for the week ending 9/23/2011.
According to the Energy Information Administration data, ethanol production averaged 841,000 barrels per day (b/d) – or 35.32 million gallons daily. That is down 30,000 b/d from the week before and the lowest output since the same week in September 2010. The 4-week average for ethanol production stood at 872,000 b/d for an annualized rate of 13.4 billion gallons.
Stocks of ethanol stood at 17.4 million barrels.
Gasoline demand for the week averaged 376.5 million gallons daily. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production was 9.38%.
On the co-products side, ethanol producers were using 12.752 million bushels of corn to produce ethanol and 94,913 metric tons of livestock feed, 83,804 metric tons of which were distillers grains. The rest is comprised of corn gluten feed and corn gluten meal. Additionally, ethanol producers were providing 3.64 million pounds of corn oil daily.
Nutty PETA Marketing Exposes Skewed World View
(AP) -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is planning to launch a pornographic website to promote its animal rights and vegan diet message, a move that critics say will backfire and ostracize them from mainstream society.
PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles on Tuesday that the group has applied with ICM Registry to launch the website peta.xxx.
Rajt says the site will feature "tantalizing" videos and photographs, which will lead viewers into animal rights messages. She noted that Norfolk-based PETA has used porn stars and nudity to get its message across in the past, including an annual speech online in which a PETA representative undresses. That video later shares a message about slaughterhouses.
She says a pornographic site will allow PETA to reach a broader audience and that publicity about the site is just as important.
"I think the bottom line is we live a in a 24-hour news cycle where over the years we've found our racier actions are kind of a fast track way to get people to stand up and pay attention about the plight of animals," she said.
Rajt says November is the earliest that PETA could receive approval for the site. Critics say that by resorting to pornography, PETA is alienating itself from a large swath of the population that might otherwise be sympathetic to its cause.
"I just don't want to understand why they want to offend people who would potentially support at least part of their cause. There have got to be other ways to draw attention to their cause," said Robert Peters, general counsel for the New York-based anti-pornography group Morality in Media. "Metaphorically speaking, they're getting in bed with hard core pornographers to prevent cruelty to animals. That borders on insanity."
Rajt said PETA officials would track the website to determine if people are viewing the animal rights messages and not just the nudity. Past experience has shown that they will, she said.
J. Justin Wilson, senior research analyst for the food-industry backed Center for Consumer Freedom, said moves like this by PETA make them increasingly irrelevant in mainstream society.
"They don't seem to be changing the debate anymore, I think in large part because people are writing them off as whack jobs," he said from Washington.
"This is one more example of them being their own worst enemy. If they're trying to win the hearts and minds of people considering being vegetarians, this is probably the wrong way to do it."
Canadians to Attempt to Set World Record for Combines in Field
One hundred combines will be gathering on a Perth County farm on September 30 to set a world record soybean harvest. A group of farmers from Ontario have prepared a 160-acre field of soybeans with a goal of harvesting it in less than 10 minutes.
"Our goal is to gather as many combines as possible to harvest the field in a very short period of time," says Randy Drenth, one of the organizers.
The project, dubbed Harvest for Hunger, is a unique growing project that will raise money for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The use of the land, field work, seed, fertilizer, crop protection, fuel and crop scouting has been donated so that 100% of the proceeds from this harvest can be used to alleviate hunger around the world. The group's goal is to raise $200,000 by auctioning the soybeans at the site right after the harvest.
Nebraska, Wisconsin to Square Off in Ice Cream Battle
Camp Randall Stadium isn't the only place in Madison this weekend that Nebraska will put up its best against Wisconsin's best. The Babcock Hall Dairy Plant on the university campus will be the site of another epic battle.
Here's the scoop: It seems UW makes ice cream. Figures, right? The Dairy State and all. And, as Nebraskans know, the Dairy Store on UNL's East Campus serves up a pretty mean dish, or cone if you'd prefer. So, the UNL Dairy Store is shipping some of its signature flavor -- Scarlet and Cream -- to Madison, where it will be served up next to Wisconsin's Berry Alvarez flavor. (Barry Alvarez is UW's athletic director and a former Husker, too.)
Bill Klein, Babcock Hall Dairy Plant manager, said plans are still uncertain, but he's likely to give store visitors a chance to taste each flavor and vote on their favorite. Bryan Scherbarth, manager of UNL's Dairy Store, said next year's Wisconsin-NU game, in Lincoln, will feature a similar showdown.
Both Klein and Scherbarth declined to guarantee victory; not a lot of trash talking in the dairy business, apparently, as ice cream makers prefer to keep their cool. But since Babcock has homefield advantage, Berry Alvarez is likely a huge favorite, much like Wisconsin's football team. "It's ice cream. It's all good," Klein said modestly.
Nebraska and Wisconsin aren't the only Big 10 schools with serious ice cream chops. Scherbarth said Michigan State University's dairy produces a flavor of ice cream to honor each of its Big 10 rivals, and they're working one up for the conference's newest member. And it's likely NU and Penn State will have a similar ice cream competition when they play later this fall.
Klein said interest already is high for this weekend's ice-cream showdown. He's getting many calls from Madison-area media about the event It's all part of a very intense interest in Saturday's game, he added. "This is the best Badger team in my lifetime," Klein said. "We love the fact that we're playing Nebraska and that they're rated so high. "This town is going to be on fire Saturday night," Klein added.
Good thing there'll be ice cream.
Nebraska inventory of all hogs and pigs on September 1, 2011, was 3.25 million head, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office. This was up 3 percent from September 1, 2010 and up 5 percent from June 1, 2011. Breeding hog inventory, at 380,000 head, was up 3 percent from September 1, 2010 and unchanged from last quarter. Market hog inventory, at 2.87 million head, was up 3 percent from last year and up 6 percent from last quarter.
The June-August 2011 Nebraska pig crop, at 1.84 million head, was up 2 percent from 2010. Sows farrowing during the period totaled 175,000 head, unchanged from last year.
Nebraska hog producers intend to farrow 180,000 sows during the September-November 2011 quarter, unchanged from the actual farrowings during the same period a year ago. Intended farrowings for December 2011-February 2012 are 180,000 sows, up 3 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period the previous year.
Iowa:
On September 1, there were 20.0 million hogs and pigs on Iowa farms, up 2 percent from the 19.6 million in both June 2011 and September 2010. This is a new record high inventory. The June - August 2011 pig crop was 5.00million head. A total of 485,000 sows farrowed with an average litter size of 10.3 pigs per sow. As of September 1, producers planned to farrow 485,000 head of sows and gilts in the September - November 2010 quarter. Farrowing intentions for the December 2011 – February 2012 period were estimated at 480,000 as of September 1, 2011.
United States Hog Inventory up 1 Percent
United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on September 1, 2011 was 66.6 million head. This was up 1 percent from September 1, 2010, and up 3 percent from June 1, 2011. Breeding inventory, at 5.81 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, and up slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 60.8 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, and up 3 percent from last quarter.
The June-August 2011 pig crop, at 29.1 million head, was up 1 percent from 2010 and up 1 percent from 2009. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.90 million head, down 1 percent from 2010 and down 2 percent from 2009. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 50 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high 10.03 for the June-August 2011 period, compared to 9.81 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 7.50 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 10.10 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.
United States hog producers intend to have 2.87 million sows farrow during the September-November 2011 quarter, down slightly from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2010, and down 1 percent from 2009. Intended farrowings for December-February 2012, at 2.86 million sows, are up slightly from 2011, but down 1 percent from 2010.
The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 46 percent of the total United States hog inventory, up from 43 percent last year.
IBACH REMINDS PRODUCERS OF IMPORT REQUIREMENTS; NDA STEPS UP ENFORCEMENT
Agriculture Director Greg Ibach is encouraging beef cattle producers to be certain they are following the state’s import requirements, as the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) continues its enforcement efforts related to cattle moving into Nebraska from other states.
“Because of the Southern drought, Nebraska continues to receive high numbers of cattle from other states,” Ibach said. “For the protection of all Nebraska beef producers, those animals must come here with the appropriate testing and paperwork completed.”
Ibach said NDA officials continue to review animal health certificates and now have started quarantining herds that are found to be in violation of the state’s cattle import requirements. All animals entering the state must have a health certificate, and producers especially need to be aware of the import requirements for trichomoniasis, a cattle disease that causes infertility and occasional abortions in cows and heifers. NDA issued an order outlining trichomoniasis import restrictions in 2008.
“We recognize that Nebraska producers want to help our southern neighbors and have the opportunity to make positive business moves at the same time,” Ibach said. “We welcome these animals into our state, as long as they meet importation requirements.”
Producers who are considering moving cattle from another state into Nebraska are urged to contact the NDA State Veterinarian’s staff for more information about specific import requirements. Staff can be reached by calling 800-572-2437. Import regulations and orders also can be reviewed on-line by visiting www.agr.ne.gov and looking under the Animal and Plant Health Protection focus area.
Pilger Woman Elected Head of PrairieLand RC&D
A Pilger, Neb., woman has been elected president of the PrairieLand Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council during its recent annual meeting and banquet at Klub 81 near Humphrey.
Elected to serve as president is Kimberly Neiman who represents the village of Pilger on the six-county, grassroots council. Other elections results include Vice President Juan Sandoval of the Center for Rural Affairs - Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP); and Treasurer Darol Ellwanger of Rural Norfolk.
The PrairieLand RC&D Council serves the communites of Boone, Colfax, Madison, Nance, Platte and Stanton counties. The next PrairieLand RC&D meeting will be held on Oct. 18. The public is invited and welcome to attend. Please contact the office at 402-454-2026 or info@prairielandrcd.org for more inforamtion.
NYBLS coming in November
High school juniors and seniors will learn about careers in the beef industry at the 9th Annual Nebraska Youth Beef Leadership Symposium November 19 - 21. During the symposium students will learn about goal setting, leadership while interacting with univeristy and industry leaders. UNL Researcher Dr. Karla Jenkins says one of group activities involves marketing and entrepreneurship... (click links below to hear audio)
Jenkins_NYBLS2 :16
Dr. Jenkins says participants will also be exposed to future careers in beef industry...
Jenkins_NYBLS1 :23 Q. in the industry.
Symposium Registration is $30 if received by Monday, October 3rd. After that date registration is $50. Registration fee for the three day event includes all materials, meals and lodging.
FSA Provides Loans on Farm-Stored Grain
Dan Steinkruger, State Executive Director for the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, reminds producers of the interim financing provided by obtaining commodity loans with Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) for eligible harvested production. The CCC nine month marketing assistance loan provides financing allowing producers to store production for later marketing.
The 2011 marketing assistance loans are available for producers who share in the risk of producing the eligible crop and maintain beneficial interest in the eligible crop through the duration of the loan. Beneficial interest means retaining the ability to make decisions about the commodity, responsibility for loss or damage to the commodity and title to the commodity. Once beneficial interest in a commodity is lost, the commodity is ineligible for loan, even if you regain beneficial interest.
For commodities to be eligible, they must have been produced by an eligible producer, be in existence, and in a storable condition. Commodities harvested from ACRE and non-ACRE farms must be distinguished separately and placed under separate loans. The county commodity loan rate will be reduced by 30 percent for the ACRE enrolled commodity quantities placed under loan.
The 2008 Farm Bill established national loan rates. The county commodity loan rates are based on each commodity’s national loan rate and vary by county based on the average prices and production of the county where the commodity is stored. The 2011 National Loan Rates are as follows:
Commodity Production Unit 2010-2012
Wheat bushel $2.94
Corn bushel $1.95
Grain Sorghum bushel $1.95
Barley bushel $1.95
Oats bushel $1.39
Soybeans bushel $5.00
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Major Investments to Spur Innovation and Job Creation in Research, Development and Production of Next Generation Biofuels
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced five major agricultural research projects today aimed at developing regional, renewable energy markets, generating rural jobs, and decreasing America's dependence on foreign oil. Altogether, the five-year program will deliver more than $136 million in research and development grants to public and private sector partners in 22 states. University partners from the states of Washington, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Iowa will lead the projects, which focus in part on developing aviation biofuels from tall grasses, crop residues and forest resources. Vilsack made the announcement with partners from private industry, research institutions, and the biofuels industry at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
"We have an incredible opportunity to create thousands of new jobs and drive economic development in rural communities across America by continuing to build the framework for a competitively-priced, American-made biofuels industry," said Vilsack. "Over the past two years, USDA has worked to help our nation develop a national biofuels economy that continues to help us out-innovate and out-compete the rest of the world while moving our nation toward a clean energy economy."
The grants announced by Vilsack in Seattle today came through USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The projects will address needs across regional supply chains and will complement existing bioenergy efforts across government, academia, and the private sector. Summaries of the five projects follow:
- A research team led by Iowa State University received $25 million to develop a regional biomass production system for advanced transportation fuels derived from native perennial grasses, such as switchgrass, big bluestem and Indian grass. The $25 million project will study the potential benefits of planting grasses with legumes to provide nutrients to land unsuitable for row crop production – adding value to marginal lands while reducing nitrogen runoff into waterways and increasing carbon sequestration. The team will also evaluate a co-product—bio-char—as a soil amendment to increase carbon sequestration.
- A research team from the University of Washington received $40 million to focus on using sustainably grown woody energy crops to produce biogasoline and renewable aviation fuel. A consortium of eight organizations will work throughout the entire woody biomass supply chain to promote the financing, construction and operation of multiple biorefineries, while reaching out to landowners and land managers, as well as regional K-12 and college students and faculty, to foster workforce development opportunities across the supply chain.
- A research team led by Washington State University received $40 million to convert closed timber mills into bioenergy development centers, improving the economic potential of rural communities affected by the downturn in timber production. The team will focus on feedstock development, sustainable forest production and establishing new methods to identify the most promising plant lines for biofuel conversion. The project aims to develop a regional source of renewable aviation fuel for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
- A team of researchers led by Louisiana State University received $17.2 million to enable the regular production of biomass for economically viable conversion using existing refinery infrastructure. Through new and existing industrial partnerships, this project will use energy cane and sorghum to help reinvigorate the Louisiana sugar and chemical industries.
- A team of scientists led by the University of Tennessee received $15 million to develop sustainable feedstock production systems (switchgrass and woody biomass) that will produce low-cost, easily converted sugars for biochemical conversion to butanol, lignin byproducts and forest and mill residues, and dedicated energy crop feedstocks to produce diesel, heat and power.
USDA made these awards through its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). AFRI's sustainable bioenergy challenge area targets the development of regional systems for the sustainable production of bioenergy and biobased products that contribute significantly to reducing dependence on foreign oil; have net positive social, environmental, and rural economic impacts; and are compatible with existing agricultural systems. All grants are awarded over a period of five years, with continued funding contingent on annual project success.
AFRI is NIFA's flagship competitive grant program and was established under the 2008 Farm Bill. AFRI supports work in six priority areas: plant health and production and plant products; animal health and production and animal products; food safety, nutrition and health; renewable energy, natural resources and environment; agriculture systems and technology; and agriculture economics and rural communities.
Vilsack also highlighted how USDA is working with federal partners like the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of the Navy and the Federal Aviation Administration to improve our country's energy security and provide sustainable jobs in communities across the country. Last month, President Obama announced a partnership between USDA, DOE and Navy to invest up to $510 million during the next three years in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced, drop-in aviation and marine biofuels to power military and commercial transportation.
Renewable energy production is a key to sustainable economic development in rural America, and USDA through renewable energy programs authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill is working to escalate the production of biofuels to meet the 2022 Federal Renewable Fuels standard goal. Much of this biofuel will come from feedstocks produced by America's farmers and ranchers. For example, yesterday, USDA announced the investment of $80 million payments to 160 energy producers in 41 states under the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels (Section 9005 of the 2008 Farm Bill). Payments are based on the amount of biofuels a recipient produces from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch. Eligible examples include biofuels derived from cellulose, crop residue, animal, food and yard waste material, biogas (landfill and sewage waste treatment gas), vegetable oil and animal fat. The payments are made to eligible producers to support and ensure an expanding production of advanced biofuels.
The Obama Administration has made domestic production of renewable energy a national priority because it will create jobs, reduce dependence on foreign oil, combat global warming, and lay a strong foundation for a strong 21st Century rural economy. At Secretary Vilsack's direction, USDA continues working to revitalize the rural economy to create opportunity for future growth and prosperity through a strategic approach to rural revitalization, including biofuels. To advance the national biofuels industry, USDA is investing in innovative technologies, supporting landowners and businesses taking risks to pursue new energy opportunities, and supporting commercialization of biofuels.
Weekly ethanol production data for the week ending 9/23/2011.
According to the Energy Information Administration data, ethanol production averaged 841,000 barrels per day (b/d) – or 35.32 million gallons daily. That is down 30,000 b/d from the week before and the lowest output since the same week in September 2010. The 4-week average for ethanol production stood at 872,000 b/d for an annualized rate of 13.4 billion gallons.
Stocks of ethanol stood at 17.4 million barrels.
Gasoline demand for the week averaged 376.5 million gallons daily. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production was 9.38%.
On the co-products side, ethanol producers were using 12.752 million bushels of corn to produce ethanol and 94,913 metric tons of livestock feed, 83,804 metric tons of which were distillers grains. The rest is comprised of corn gluten feed and corn gluten meal. Additionally, ethanol producers were providing 3.64 million pounds of corn oil daily.
Nutty PETA Marketing Exposes Skewed World View
(AP) -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is planning to launch a pornographic website to promote its animal rights and vegan diet message, a move that critics say will backfire and ostracize them from mainstream society.
PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles on Tuesday that the group has applied with ICM Registry to launch the website peta.xxx.
Rajt says the site will feature "tantalizing" videos and photographs, which will lead viewers into animal rights messages. She noted that Norfolk-based PETA has used porn stars and nudity to get its message across in the past, including an annual speech online in which a PETA representative undresses. That video later shares a message about slaughterhouses.
She says a pornographic site will allow PETA to reach a broader audience and that publicity about the site is just as important.
"I think the bottom line is we live a in a 24-hour news cycle where over the years we've found our racier actions are kind of a fast track way to get people to stand up and pay attention about the plight of animals," she said.
Rajt says November is the earliest that PETA could receive approval for the site. Critics say that by resorting to pornography, PETA is alienating itself from a large swath of the population that might otherwise be sympathetic to its cause.
"I just don't want to understand why they want to offend people who would potentially support at least part of their cause. There have got to be other ways to draw attention to their cause," said Robert Peters, general counsel for the New York-based anti-pornography group Morality in Media. "Metaphorically speaking, they're getting in bed with hard core pornographers to prevent cruelty to animals. That borders on insanity."
Rajt said PETA officials would track the website to determine if people are viewing the animal rights messages and not just the nudity. Past experience has shown that they will, she said.
J. Justin Wilson, senior research analyst for the food-industry backed Center for Consumer Freedom, said moves like this by PETA make them increasingly irrelevant in mainstream society.
"They don't seem to be changing the debate anymore, I think in large part because people are writing them off as whack jobs," he said from Washington.
"This is one more example of them being their own worst enemy. If they're trying to win the hearts and minds of people considering being vegetarians, this is probably the wrong way to do it."
Canadians to Attempt to Set World Record for Combines in Field
One hundred combines will be gathering on a Perth County farm on September 30 to set a world record soybean harvest. A group of farmers from Ontario have prepared a 160-acre field of soybeans with a goal of harvesting it in less than 10 minutes.
"Our goal is to gather as many combines as possible to harvest the field in a very short period of time," says Randy Drenth, one of the organizers.
The project, dubbed Harvest for Hunger, is a unique growing project that will raise money for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The use of the land, field work, seed, fertilizer, crop protection, fuel and crop scouting has been donated so that 100% of the proceeds from this harvest can be used to alleviate hunger around the world. The group's goal is to raise $200,000 by auctioning the soybeans at the site right after the harvest.
Nebraska, Wisconsin to Square Off in Ice Cream Battle
Camp Randall Stadium isn't the only place in Madison this weekend that Nebraska will put up its best against Wisconsin's best. The Babcock Hall Dairy Plant on the university campus will be the site of another epic battle.
Here's the scoop: It seems UW makes ice cream. Figures, right? The Dairy State and all. And, as Nebraskans know, the Dairy Store on UNL's East Campus serves up a pretty mean dish, or cone if you'd prefer. So, the UNL Dairy Store is shipping some of its signature flavor -- Scarlet and Cream -- to Madison, where it will be served up next to Wisconsin's Berry Alvarez flavor. (Barry Alvarez is UW's athletic director and a former Husker, too.)
Bill Klein, Babcock Hall Dairy Plant manager, said plans are still uncertain, but he's likely to give store visitors a chance to taste each flavor and vote on their favorite. Bryan Scherbarth, manager of UNL's Dairy Store, said next year's Wisconsin-NU game, in Lincoln, will feature a similar showdown.
Both Klein and Scherbarth declined to guarantee victory; not a lot of trash talking in the dairy business, apparently, as ice cream makers prefer to keep their cool. But since Babcock has homefield advantage, Berry Alvarez is likely a huge favorite, much like Wisconsin's football team. "It's ice cream. It's all good," Klein said modestly.
Nebraska and Wisconsin aren't the only Big 10 schools with serious ice cream chops. Scherbarth said Michigan State University's dairy produces a flavor of ice cream to honor each of its Big 10 rivals, and they're working one up for the conference's newest member. And it's likely NU and Penn State will have a similar ice cream competition when they play later this fall.
Klein said interest already is high for this weekend's ice-cream showdown. He's getting many calls from Madison-area media about the event It's all part of a very intense interest in Saturday's game, he added. "This is the best Badger team in my lifetime," Klein said. "We love the fact that we're playing Nebraska and that they're rated so high. "This town is going to be on fire Saturday night," Klein added.
Good thing there'll be ice cream.
