Woods End Labs Awarded USDA Project to Assess Climate Benefits of Perennial Grasses in CRP Lands

Woods End Labs, LLC Awarded USDA Project to Assess Climate Benefits of Perennial Grasses in CRP Lands

Woods End Laboratories LLC (“Woods End”) is a recipient of a USDA research award intended to perform integrated soil sampling, analysis and reporting of the carbon status of US CRP lands.

The project principal investigator is Bruno Basso Ph.D. whose lab at Michigan State University (MSU) is a pioneer of geo-spatial methodologies to discern spatial and temporal stability zones affecting farm soil productivity.

The Award Team will fully utilize Woods End’s expanded capabilities as a joint venture company of Deveron Corp. and A&L Canada Laboratories Inc. and will identify and sample soils at 600 CRP grassland sites across the country.

The project is a part of the USDA investment of $10 million in new initiatives to sample, measure, and monitor soil carbon on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres to better quantify the climate outcomes of the program: https://www.fsa. usda.gov/news-room/news-releases/2021/ usda-launches-first-phase-of-soil-carbon-monitoring-efforts-through-conservation-reserve-program-initiative.

The project is linked to recent updates by USDA of the Climate-Smart Practice Incentive. This aims to increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. www.fsa.usda.gov/news-room/ news-releases/2021/usda-expands-and-renewsconservation-reserve-program-in-effort-toboost-enrollment-and-address-climate-change

Woods End Labs recently demonstrated it’s new, expanded capabilities in the joint venture by integrating sampling and lab analysis for a MSU-funded 10-farm study across the Midwest. The researchers identified four spatial stability zones reflecting long-term farm productivity and closely examined topsoil and subsoil samples within each zone for soil health results. This research revealed that key soil health indicators developed since 1985 at Woods End Laboratories combined with newer microbiome methods developed by A&L Canada Laboratories Inc., correlated well with the historical field stabilities generated with the MSU mapping techniques.

Prelim findings of the study will be presented by Dr. Basso (MSU) & Dr. Brinton (Woods End) at upcoming ASA-CSSA-SSSA Int’l Annual Meetings in Salt Lake City, UT Nov 7-10 ▫

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by Donald Stotts / TSCRA Update

Agricultural producers are certain to face challenges as they plan for 2022, but there are reasons to be optimistic about the U.S. farm and ranch situation as a whole, said Rob Fox, director of Cobank’s Knowledge Exchange Division.

Fox discussed his outlook at Oklahoma State University Extension’s 2021 Rural Economic Outlook Conference in October, where he addressed the longer-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shrinking labor force, drought impacts on cattle supplies, packer concentration, poultry profitability, views on policy he has seen in evidence coming out of Washington, D.C. and more.

“Commodity prices across the board are doing pretty well, particularly the grains and especially cotton,” Fox said. “Cattle prices could be a bit better, but they’re not terrible. The most obvious challenges are some key risks on the crop inputs side.”

Among the challenges listed by Fox: Ї There are going to be shortages of chemicals and fertilizer because of plant shutdowns and logistical issues. Ї Fertilizer prices are going to be higher the remainder of this year and into 2022. Ї Supply chain issues will continue to plague producers for the foreseeable future.

“Tractor repair parts, blades for equipment, forage choppers, pesticides and herbicides; you name it, there are going to be delays and shortages,” Fox said. “As a former dairy farmer, I can attest a producer can be in big trouble if a piece of equipment goes out. To combat this, keep more spare parts on hand, if possible, and stick to a well-designed maintenance schedule.”

Trent Milacek, OSU Extension area agricultural economics specialist, agreed with Fox and recommends Oklahoma producers take all possible steps to ensure they have a plan in place for several months or more to lessen the negative effects of potential challenges.

“Get your fertilizer supplies purchased, even if you have to keep them in a shed,” Milacek said. “Take advantage of current good crop prices; forward contract, look at futures prices, lock in what you can. There

isn’t a lot an individual producer can do about the specifics of ongoing trade negotiations, but producers need to pay attention and manage as best they can any fallout and related effects.”

Ongoing trade negotiations between the United States and China could be particularly important. The current Phase One deal expires at the end of this year. Most analysts agree American agriculture has fared well overall. Unfortunately, other segments of the U.S. economy have not.

“Producers and agribusiness leaders need to watch what happens with the upcoming negotiations as America attempts to get something better across the board,” Fox said. “There is going to be a lot of pressure from various industries put on negotiators.”

Protein production is expected to do well in 2022. The world is demanding access to more meat – beef, chicken, pork, Fox recently told the agricultural television program SUNUP.

“The United States is the world’s most efficient producer of meat,” he said. “As long as we have a level playing field, there should be strong international markets for American meat, although some types will be more popular than others in specific countries, as always.”

On the home front, most beef cattle will need supplemental feed in addition to hay this winter. The amount and type of supplement depends on the type and amount of hay available. Crop and feedstuffs prices are sharply higher this year, in part because of the export-driven corn market. Current corn prices in the southern Great Plains are 40 to 50 percent higher than the same time last year.

“Hay prices in Oklahoma are up 23.5 percent year over year and up 10.6 percent in Texas compared to the same time last year,” said Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock marketing specialist. “Increased feed costs have been negatively affecting feedlots for several months. The impacts will grow as cow-calf and stocker producers face additional feed and supplement needs this winter. Plan for those needs now.”

OSU Extension recommends producers begin the process by increasing their awareness of cattle nutritional requirements based on production stages. Testing and weighing hay will help determine the nutritional contribution of hay to meet cattle needs, and careful feeding of hay can help reduce waste and make supplies stretch farther.

In terms of overall farm and ranch profit projections, commodity prices will be high, but most industry analysts – including Fox – don’t expect producers and related agribusiness operators to feel the full brunt of the cost increases this year. Rather, the increases will be felt most keenly on income generated from next year’s crops and livestock. ▫

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DOJ Says ‘The Fix Was In’ In Chicken Antitrust Trial: Bloomberg

by Julie Larson Bricher, meatingplace.com

In opening statements, Department of Justice lawyers declared “the fix was in,” as litigation began in Denver in the broiler chicken antitrust case against 10 poultry industry defendants, Bloomberg reports.

The defendants, who worked for five U.S. poultry companies including Tyson, Pilgrim’s Pride and Claxton Poultry Farms, are charged with conspiring to suppress and eliminate competition through rigging bids and fixing prices and price-related terms for broiler chickens from 2012 to 2019. All 10 defendants have pleaded not guilty and assert that there was no collusion to fix prices.

During his opening, DOJ attorney Michael Koenig accused the defendants of coming together to create “massive, historic price increases” and blocking foodservice customers’ efforts to negotiate lower prices, Bloomberg observed.

“The 10 defendants in this courtroom worked together to make sure they were not competing,” communicating in a variety of ways to coordinate pricing and guarantee high profits, Koenig was quoted as saying. “The fix was in, and the defendants didn’t budge.”

The DOJ attorney also referenced a statement made by former Pilgrim’s Pride executive Jayson Penn to Pilgrim’s then-CEO and co-defendant William Lovette characterizing 2014 as “chicken nirvana,” Bloomberg wrote.

Lovette’s attorney, John Fagg, responded to the characterization in his opening statement, Bloomberg reported. “Chicken nirvana has nothing to do with fixing prices. There was no conspiracy. There was no agreement among these men to fix prices or to rig bids.”

Michael Tubach, a lawyer for Penn, also disputed the DOJ’s opening statement, telling jurors that the defendants communicated as part of their independent efforts to collect pricing information from many sources, Bloomberg reported. Tubach stated that in 2014, demand for smaller sized chickens increased but supplies decreased, resulting in price increases for foodservice customers.

“It was market forces that drove up those prices,” Tubach argued, alleging that federal prosecutors had cherry-picked statements from more than 16 million documents but have no witnesses who can attest to any illegal price-fixing activities.

Each of the defendants faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Earlier, Tyson, Pilgrim’s Pride and Mar-Jac Poultry agreed to pay a total of nearly $93.5 million to settle price-fixing charges and cooperate in any future prosecutions in the case against other poultry processing firms. ▫