Corn 2012

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D2 SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2012

CORN 2012

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Farmers growing more with less Can Nebraska corn farmers continue the upward trend?

Nebraska Press Association

Nebraska farmers aren’t just growing record amounts of corn. They are doing so on fewer acres — using less water, less energy and less fertilizer and chemicals.

In fact, the average yield for the 2011 corn harvest was 160 bushels per acre — a 32-bushel increase from just nine years earlier. How can that happen? It’s a combination of new ideas, innovation and just plain working smarter.

One way to work smarter is conservation tillage. “You don’t see many farmers using plows any more,” said Alan Tiemann, a farmer from Seward and chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. “New tillage practices focus on disturbing the soil as little as possible.

That cuts back on the number of trips across the field — saving fuel and reducing soil compaction.”

It also leaves residue, such as cornstalks, in the field to conserve soil moisture, reduce soil erosion, provide nutrients and reduce irrigation and fertilizer requirements.

New hybrids and genetic advancements have also led to corn seeds that simply grow better under a wide variety of conditions. By continually combining the best of the best, seed geneticists are increasing the yield potential of the seeds. Additionally, these seeds carry traits that resist pests and disease—and that not only leads to increased yields, but also helps farmers cut back on the amount of chemicals they use.

Tiemann also noted that farmers are more efficient then ever when it comes to water usage. “Corn sweats, which is known as transpiration, and Nebraska farmers are working with University of Nebraska researchers to measure just how much moisture a corn crop loses during a hot spell,” he said.

Soil moisture monitoring also helps farmers understand the true amount of moisture available to their crops. By

File photo

Nebraska farmers aren’t just growing record amounts of corn. They are doing so on fewer acres—using less water, less energy and less fertilizer and chemicals. knowing more, some farmers have cut back on the water they use without seriously affecting yield. That saves both water and fuel.

A modern tractor cab is a technological marvel. GPS systems keep tractors on line to eliminate overlaps in planting and fertilizer application while satellite mapping ensures farmers apply just the right amount of fertilizers and chemicals in just the right place.

“This allows farmers to vary planting rates and fertilizer application rates based on soil maps, yield maps and other data that streams into onboard computers,” Tiemann said. “It’s just another way we can grow more corn more efficiently.”

Nebraska Corn By the Numbers 3 Nebraska’s national ranking in annual corn production.

1.52 Billion bushels of corn expected from the 2011 Nebraska harvest, making it the second-largest crop in state history.

9 Million acres of corn harvested in Nebraska annually.

26,000 The approximate number of corn farmers in Nebraska.

$2.6 Billion was invested by Nebraska corn farmers last spring just to get the crop in the ground and off to a good start.

Corn, soybeans continue to dominate ag landscape

By ROBERT PORE World-Herald News Service

Corn and soybeans continue to dominate Nebraska’s agricultural landscape, pushing aside other traditional small grain crops, such as wheat and sorghum.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office reports that corn for grain production in Nebraska, based on yearend surveys, is estimated at 1.54 billion bushels, up 5 percent from 2010 and the second largest production of record.

The report said the yield

averaged 160 bushels per acre, 6 bushels below last year, due to weather problems during the planting season. and growing Farmers harvested 9.6 million acres of corn for grain, up 8 percent from 2010 and the largest since 1933.

According to the report, soybean production for 2011 totaled 258 million bushels, down 3 percent from 2010, but still the third largest of record.

Yield, at 53.5 bushels per acre, is up 1 bushel from a year earlier and second highest of record. Area for harvest, at 4.83 million acres, is down 5 percent

from 2010.

The USDA reported that last year producers planted 19.281 million acres to principal crops in Nebraska and harvested 18.923 million acres. On those harvested acres, corn and soybeans represented 14.43 million acres or 76 percent of all principal crop land planted in Nebraska.

In contrast, other crops, such as sorghum, hay and winter wheat, have seen their planted acres diminished to record lows.

For example, the USDA reported that sorghum for

Please see AG, Page D3

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CORN 2012

SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2012

D3

Research initiative yields know-how quickly Initiative provides more information on how to use ethanol byproducts Nebraska Press Association A three-year initiative that created a beef cattle advisory committee to oversee a research partnership between the Nebraska Corn Board and University of Nebraska resulted in a number of important breakthroughs when it comes to feeding distillers grains to cattle.

Ethanol plants only use the corn portion of the kernel to produce ethanol. The other components, including protein and fiber, are returned as distillers grains, a livestock feed.

The research initiative, which wrapped up in 2011, allowed an advisory committee to work with university researchers to more quickly identify research projects that would benefit cattle producers. The Nebraska Corn Board then provided funding for the projects. This reduced the lag time between re-

search projects and doubled the amount of research conducted during the initiative.

“We were pleased with how everything came together, as it allowed the corn checkoff to fund key research and more quickly advance the understanding of feeding distillers grains to cattle,” said Kelly Brunkhorst, director of research for the Nebraska Corn Board.

“While the initiative ended, the Nebraska Corn Board continues to fund research and further expand our knowledge and understanding of feeding distillers grains to cattle,” he said.

“We believe distillers grains give Nebraska cattle producers a tremendous advantage in the marketplace, so the more we know the better.”

While many important strides were made over the last three years, the Nebraska Corn Board

File photo

The research initiative, which wrapped up in 2011, allowed an advisory committee to work with university researchers to more quickly identify research projects that would benefit cattle producers. recognizes that additional research needs remain when it comes to distillers grains.

“Ethanol production technology continues to

advance,” Brunkhorst said.

For example, some ethanol plants are extracting corn oil for other uses and that changes

the distillers grains.

“We need to understand that and devote resources to additional research,” Brunkhorst said, “but we have limi-

tations simply because our budget is limited by what is available via the corn checkoff, which is the lowest of all leading corn states.”

Research yields breakthroughs on cattle feed Nebraska Press Association A three-year initiative between the Nebraska Corn Board and University of Nebraska that wrapped up in 2011 resulted in several breakthroughs involving feeding distillers grains to cattle in feedlots and on forage.

“Distillers grains give Nebraska cattle producers an advantage in the marketplace, and helps draw cattle from other states to Nebraska,” said Kelly Brunkhorst, director of research for the Nebraska Corn Board.

“The more we know about feeding distillers grains, which come from ethanol plants, the better off we’ll be.”

Some of the key results for feedlot cattle include: n Drying distillers grains increases production cost, greenhouse gas emissions and does not have as positive an impact on cattle performance compared to using wet distillers grains. Modified distillers grains, meanwhile, is intermediate to wet and dry distillers

AG from Page D2

grain production in 2011 is estimated at 6.6 million bushels, down 3 percent from 2010. Yield, at 94 bushels per acre, is up 4 bushels from a year earlier.

Area harvested for grain is 70,000 acres, down 5,000 acres from a year ago and the lowest sorghum for grain acreage since 1937.

Hay production, according to the USDA, totaled 5.62 million tons in 2011, down 11 percent from a year earlier. Area harvested is 2.48 million acres, down 8 percent from 2010.

The average yield, at 2.27 tons per acre, is down .09 ton per acre from 2010. Alfalfa production is down 13 percent from a year earlier and all other hay production is down 9 percent.

And that trend is continuing in the 2012 crop year, as the USDA reported that Nebraska’s winter wheat seedings for the 2012 crop are expected to total 1.4 million acres. Seedings are down 8 percent, or 120,000 acres, from last year and the smallest winter wheat planted acreage since records began in 1909.

The USDA reported that the state’s winter wheat crop is doing well as topsoil moisture supplies were mostly adequate in western counties as the planting period began. As of Jan. 1, the report said, winter wheat crop conditions rated 74 percent good and excellent, compared to 42 percent good and excellent a year ago.

High prices for corn and soybeans are propelling the increase in planting acres. That, in turn, is pushing up land prices, according to the Farmers National Co., which reports prices farmland that reached a two-year high.

“What surprises us is the rate of increase over the last 12 months,” said Lee Vermeer, vice president of real estate operations at Farmers National Co. “Values are up 20 to 25 percent, compared to rises of 5 to 10 percent in 2010.

We are looking for 2012 to be another profitable year for those selling land.”

Farmers National Co. has seen record auction activity during the last six months as more properties are being sold at auction to maximize profits. Tight supply of quality land has also prompted buyers to look at less productive land that can be upgraded, according to Vermeer.

He said strong grain prices are boosting profits for farmers, prompting them to pursue land in order to expand operations.

In addition, cash rents in top production areas have increased 25 to 40 percent during 2011.

“Farmers make up 75 percent of the buyers in the market, despite continued strong interest from investors,” said Vermeer.

“Land continues to be a tangible investment that has performed well, thus the demand.”

He said the upcoming year looks positive.

“However, poor performance in the commodity market over the next year could bring downward pressure on land values,” he said. “Good weather worldwide could result in a crop surplus, dropping prices. In addition, inflation would boost interest rates, negatively affecting land values.”

The USDA also reported Thursday that Nebraska corn stocks in all positions on Dec. 1, 2011, totaled 1.16 billion bushels, down 3 percent from a year earlier. Of the total stocks, 730 million bushels are stored on

grains. Understanding this has huge implications for Nebraska as Nebraska cattle producers can utilize wet distillers grains due to the proximity of corn, cattle and ethanol plants.

“The research provided excellent results on comparing these types of distillers grains,” said Galen Erickson, a beef feedlot specialist with the University of Nebraska. n A rumen degradable sulfur concept was established and better explains hydrogen sulfide production, which can cause the polio observed with high sulfur diets from distillers grains feeding.

“Based on metabolism work on sulfur funded through the research initiative, we have degradabilities for different distillers grains, and hydrogen sulfide production in different feedlot diets containing distillers,” said Erickson. “Likewise, we have recommendations on polio incidence as dietary sulfur and rumen

degradable sulfur increase in feedlot diets.”

Some of the key results for cattle on forage include: n The energy value of distillers grains in forage based-diets was relatively unknown and a major need by the industry.

“Thanks to research conducted through the initiative, this is now known and is well established,” said Aaron Stalker, a beef range specialist with the university. The comparison was also made to other major energy supplements in forage diets, such as corn. n Research also found that replacing nitrogen fertilizer by supplementing distillers grains to grazing cattle will have major implications and has been effective in intensely grazed pastures.

“Plus, supplemented cattle have greater removal of nitrogen, from supplement compared to fertilizer, and perform better,” Terry Klopfenstein, professor of animal science added.

Corn and soybeans continue to dominate Nebraska’s agricultural landscape, pushing aside other traditional small grain crops, such as wheat and sorghum.

File photo

farms, down 1 percent from 2010. Off-farm stocks, at 433 million bushels, are down 5 percent from 2010 but still the third highest on record.

Soybeans stored in all positions on Dec. 1, 2011, totaled 200 million bushels, up 18 percent from the previous year. On-farm stocks at 63 million bushels were up 17 percent from a year earlier. Off-farm stocks at 137 million bushels were up 19 percent from 2010 and the highest on record.

Wheat stored in all positions on Dec. 1, 2011, totaled 47.7 million bushels, down 37 percent from a year ago. On-farm stocks, at 3.7 million bushels, were down 46 percent from 2010.

Off-farm stocks, at 44 million bushels, were down 36 percent from a year earlier.

Sorghum stored in all positions on Dec. 1, 2011, totaled 8.3 million bushels, down 2 percent from 2010 and the lowest since 1956.

On-farm stocks, at 1.7 million bushels, were unchanged from a year earlier and equal to the lowest since 1952. Off-farm stocks, at 6.6 million bushels, were down 3 percent from the previous year and the lowest since 1956.

Hay stocks on Nebraska farms totaled 4.3 million tons on Dec. 1, 2011, down 9 percent from a year earlier.

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CORN 2012

D4 SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2012

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Ethanol sparks Nebraska’s economy Ethanol production provides domestic, renewable source of clean-burning fuel Nebraska Press Association Our nation’s dangerous and expensive dependence on imported oil is at the root of many challenges such as national security, economic distress and environmental concerns, said David Nielsen, a farmer from Lincoln and member of the Nebraska Corn Board.

“On top of that, America spends more than $1 billion each and every day on imported oil,” Nielsen said.

“That’s money headed out of this country that could be invested right here at home. We need a solution, and ethanol is playing an important role.”

Ethanol provides a domestic, renewable source of clean-burning fuel that provides a market for Nebraska corn, creates local jobs and generates millions in tax revenues.

Of course, ethanol plants aren’t using corn niblets to make ethanol. More than 99 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. is field corn, not the sweet

corn humans eat. Field corn is typically fed to livestock or transformed into ethanol and its co-products such as animal feed and food ingredients. “We’re not turning food into fuel,” Nielsen said. “We’re actually turning corn into fuel, feed and food.”

He explained that ethanol production uses only the starch in the corn kernel. The rest of the kernel, including fiber and protein, then becomes a high value livestock feed called distillers grains, which is widely used in livestock production.

Corn used to be fed in its raw form to livestock, and it still is in many cases. Over time, however, livestock producers have increased the ratio of distillers grains in rations with significant positive results. “Distillers grains have become a preferred feed across the U.S.,” Nielsen said. “It helps create delicious red meat, poultry and dairy products enjoyed all over the world.”

Nebraska Press Association

NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace always puts the pedal to the metal during a race — and he promotes American ethanol with the same full-speed enthusiasm. In 2011, NASCAR began using E15, a 15 percent ethanol blend, as its fuel of choice. Here Wallace is shown with Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman during Husker Harvest Days when the governor proclaimed September as Renewable Fuels Awareness Month in Nebraska.

Nebraska corn checkoff dollars have supported the NASCAR ethanol sponsorship.

Ethanol – By the Numbers

Thousands of farm acres were damaged by ’11 flood

25 Number of ethanol production

More than $20M in emergency aid bound for Nebraska, Iowa

plants in Nebraska.

13 The number of gallons of ethanol produced for each gallon of petroleum-based fuel used in the entire corn to ethanol lifecycle.

565 Million bushels of corn consumed by Nebraska ethanol plants annually.

Net after distillers grains.

$56,158 Average annual pay in Nebraska’s ethanol industry, compared to a statewide pay average of $37,319.

1,300 Number of jobs created directly by the ethanolindustry in Nebraska. Another 3,000 indirect jobs have been created, many of them in rural areas of the state.

$30 million in local and state tax revenue created

by Nebraska’s ethanol industry.

World-Herald News Service More than $20 million in emergency assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is bound for Iowa and Nebraska to help locals recover from the Missouri River floods and other recent disasters.

The question is, will it be enough?

Cliff Morrow, of rural Tekamah, said he knows of one farm alone that has what he estimates as $3 million in damage. So the $10.9 million in aid bound for Nebraska might not amount to much.

“I would think that the damage in Burt County might have been that high,” said Morrow, who also chairs the Burt County Board of Supervisors. “But there [are] a lot of counties to share that money.”

The Nebraska- and Iowabound funds are part of a $308 million package being pushed to 33 states and Puerto Rico announced Wednesday by former Iowa governor and U.S. Agriculture Secre-

tary Tom Vilsack.

Vilsack noted that natural disasters wreaked widespread but varying havoc in 2011.

“There have been years that have had more intensive damage in a particular geographic area, but what’s unique about last year is that virtually every part of the country was affected,” Vilsack said. “We’ve not seen tornadoes as devastating as last spring. Flooding on the Missouri River, because of the long-standing nature of the flooding, not a two- or three-week situation, was unique. Fires in the southwest part of the country were historic in magnitude.

It’s been a tough year.”

The emergency funds are part of USDA’s annual budget and money allocated from them will be used to repair and stabilize agriculture and public safety infrastructure.

Most of the money being distributed in Nebraska and Iowa are funds from the Emergency Conservation Program, which will help

farmers defray the costs for expenses such as grading, shaping, moving silt and sand and repairing scour holes. Nebraska is getting $9.3 million in those funds, all for flood recovery.

Iowa is getting $10.8 million in Emergency Conservation funds, most for Missouri River flooding and for flooding in Dubuque County on the east side of the state.

About $360,000 of that is going toward recovery efforts from severe wind damage in Tama and Benton Counties this past summer, said Beth Grabau, spokeswoman for Iowa Farm Service Agency office.

“What it means is that we’ll be able to [help] those people that have applied,” Grabau said. “We’ll be able to provide assistance with the cost of restoring the land.”

Many landowners eligible for these funds have already applied, officials in Nebraska and Iowa said. The damage is first reported to a county’s Farm Service office, and the office inspects the damage. After that, repairs can be made.

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CORN 2012

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D5

Ag drives Neb. — corn is the fuel Through corn checkoff Neb. corn farmers help promote Nebraska beef and pork Nebraska Press Association Corn farmers know that livestock production is their bread and butter. That’s because livestock is the top customer for Nebraska corn farmers, either through corn itself or the distillers grains feed that come from ethanol plants.

That’s why Nebraska family corn farmers do their part to ensure a healthy and vibrant livestock sector in Nebraska.

Through corn checkoff support of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, Nebraska corn farmers help promote Nebraska beef and pork around the world.

“Every pound of exported beef equates to 5.7 pounds of corn required to raise that animal,” said Mark Jagels, a farmer from Davenport and member of the Nebraska Corn Board.

“As the economy of emerging nations improves, their appetite for protein increases and we want to make sure that Nebraska corn fed beef, pork and poultry is on dinner plates

FLOOD from Page D3

“A lot of this work is already done,” said Dan Steinkruger, director of the Farm Service office for Nebraska. “We got far more done this fall and winter than maybe we would have done in a normal [colder] year.”

Landowners can still file a late application for Environmental Conservation funds.

Generally, 75 percent of the work is reimbursed.

But this funding might not go that far.

“Sometimes, if we don’t receive enough funding, we cost-share at a lower level,” Steinkruger said.

Nebraska also is getting $1.57 million in Emergency Watershed Protection Program funds. These are distributed to sponsors like local governments or Natural Resource Districts

around the world.”

More than 20 percent of commercial beef processing in the U.S. takes place in Nebraska. That means more than one in five hamburgers begins in Nebraska. “Beef production and processing adds value, creates jobs and generates revenue right here by feeding Nebraska corn and distillers grains to Nebraska cattle,” Jagels said.

Some people forget how important livestock production is to the ethanol industry, he added. “Nebraska’s livestock industry is a primary reason our ethanol industry has grown across the state,” Jagels said.

That’s because ethanol producers depend on a nearby market for the distillers grains feed produced when making ethanol.

“If we lose livestock production, we stand a great risk of losing our ethanol industry as well,” he said.

The immediate availability of the distillers grains produced in Nebraska’s ethanol plants is one reason many cattle producers from other

for public projects that need fixing, like cleaning up debris in a stream.

However, that money in Nebraska is going to projects from a previous year, many of them already completed. Iowa did not receive any Watershed Protection funds this time around.

Flood- and tornado-ravaged Missouri received more than $50 million in agricultural disaster aid.

In addition to flooding, 2011 was a big year for tornadoes, including record outbreaks in the South and a monster storm that leveled a large portion of Joplin, Mo. All the Emergency Conservation funds for Texas went to wildfire recovery.

Vilsack said the emergency money is being used to help agricultural interests beyond what is covered by crop insurance. He said the USDA paid out $8.6

Nebraska Press Association

Olympic bobsledding champion and Shelby native Curt Tomasevicz serves as a spokesperson for Nebraska’s corn farmers. As part of his duties, Tomasevicz joined a trade team to Japan in July 2011 as part of a U.S. Meat Export Federation mission to promote Nebraska beef, funded in part with Nebraska corn checkoff dollars. He’s shown here with a girls’ soccer team in Japan. states ship their animals to Nebraska feedlots.

Distillers grains have become a feed of choice and our abundant supply attracts cattle from Montana to Texas to be fed and finished in Nebraska.

In addition to supporting research on feeding

billion in crop insurance claims last year, and $17.2 billion over the past three years.

Percival, Iowa, farmer Chris Boyd said he was glad to hear about the needed relief. Everything helps, he said. With the budget problems in Washington, he had figured none might be available.

He and his brother Curt farm about 1,200 acres in the Missouri River valley.

Almost all was inundated, and around 250 acres now has significant sand covering it.

“The sand, it’s still in the fields and we’re going to be dealing with it for a long time,” he said. “Nobody knows for sure how things will work, because, for the most part, nobody has dealt with a problem like this.”

This report contains material from the Associated Press.

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distillers grains and meat exports through USMEF, corn checkoff dollars support efforts to educate the public and policy makers about the importance and value of agriculture and livestock.

One way the Nebraska Corn Board does

this is by supporting the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska, or A-FAN. Others groups such as CommonGround and the Corn Farmers Coalition put real family farmers in front of consumers to tell the truth about today’s

farming and ranching.

“It’s a story of environmental stewardship, the highest level of animal care and welfare and a commitment to sustainability,” Jagels said. “Today’s farmers and ranchers are great and getting better every day.”

Check out the Telegraph website at www.nptelegraph.com

CORN 2012

D6 SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2012

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Legislative work set to begin on the 2012 farm bill World-Herald News Service

With the current farm bill set to expire this year, much speculation has been offered about what the 2012 farm bill will include or will not include, as cuts are anticipated to correspond with an effort to reduce the federal deficit.

Last year the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also called the “super committee,” met to cut about $1.5 trillion from the federal deficit but did not come to an agreement in November.

The law stated that if an agreement couldn’t be reached by the super committee, spending cuts equal to $1.5 trillion would automatically be taken from defense and domestic spending, said U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (RIA).

He continued that defense spending would take half the reduction and domestic spending, including agriculture, would take half.

Grassley stated his understanding is that agriculture would take a $14 to $16 billion cut.

“If, as some are predicting, the law would be changed to keep the Defense Department from taking too deep of cuts, while maintaining the $1.5 trillion spending cut, agriculture may have to take an even greater reduction,” Grassley wrote in an email in response to questions from the Denison Bulletin and Review, “That number should not exceed the figure of $23 billion (over 10 years) that

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was determined by the agriculture committees during the super committee negotiations.”

Staff of the Senate Agriculture Committee has already begun initial discussions on the 2012 farm bill, according Grassley.

Asked if he would have preferred the super committee to make the cuts in November as opposed to the legislative process this year, Grassley responded, “A risk is associated with taking either road. The deficit reduction committee could have put together a bill that would have left the experts in agriculture — the ag committees — out of the picture.

That’s why it was so important that the committees attempt to put together a farm bill that may have not been perfect but might have avoided the risk of even greater cuts to the safety net that could occur as the bill is developed this year.”

Grassley said direct payments would have been eliminated in the proposal that would have been submitted to the deficit reduction committee.

He hopes the 2012 farm bill will fit into the budget window with the $23 billion in cuts but continued, “It’s hard to know at this point.”

Grassley stated that the farm safety net, crop insurance and SNAP (food stamps — Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) will likely be at the center of the farm bill debate this year.

Grassley also responded to the following questions: Question: How deep to

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Bill would allow higher permit fee on food sellers

File photo

Farms and other agricultural operations around the country will be affected by the 2012 Farm Bill, currently under development in Washington. you expect the farm bill funding cuts to be?

Nobody Grassley: knows at this point. The final farm bill, though, will be quite different than what was developed for the deficit reduction committee. I want to make sure that crop insurance isn’t comprised so much that it’s ineffective. This public-private partnership has already been cut by approximately $12 billion over the last few years, and it’s pretty clear there will be no direct payments in this bill.

Question: Will any parts of the 2012 Farm Bill be considered hands-off, regarding cuts?

Grassley: In any negotiation, everything has to be on the table, but certainly we must maintain some sort of safety net for farmers.

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Question: Is protecting the safety net for farmers a priority for you, specifically concerning farmers who have lost part or all of their crops due to natural disasters?

Grassley: A safe and stable food supply is the cornerstone of a cohesive society. The farm safety net ensures that the American people have an affordable, consistent supply of food to eat. Direct payments are a thing of the past, but it’s imperative that other forms of the safety net remain in some form to ensure farmers can get through the ups and downs associated with farming.

Question: Because the super committee did not act, are you concerned about the input urban lawmakers may have on the 2012 farm bill?

Grassley: As long as the food stamp program is a part of the farm bill, we won’t have a situation where we don’t have a farm bill after September 30.

This one will either be rewritten or extended for another year.

The bottom line is that we aren’t going to let the food stamp program expire, as long as they’re held together (food stamp program and farm bill), and I don’t see anything happening to change that.

Question: Will any action be taken on the farm bill in 2012 because it’s an election year? That is, will the farm bill be considered a topic too hot to handle during an election year?

Grassley: There of course is a possibility that election-year politics can derail the 2012 farm bill. If that happens, the current farm bill will be extended and we’ll take it up in 2013.

LINCOLN (AP) — A bill that would raise the ceiling on permit fees for restaurants, grocers and pushcart vendors is critical to maintain food safety in Nebraska, an industry lobbyist said Friday.

The measure, which would apply to businesses that sell or process food, finances the state inspection program that ensures food is properly stored and prepared, said Kathy Siefken, a lobbyist for the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association.

Siefken said the bill — which, over time, would lead to higher fees for her group’s own members — is the association’s top priority this legislative session. The bill is set for a hearing Tuesday before the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee.

“If this bill doesn’t pass, there won’t be enough funding (for the inspections) provided through the cost of licenses,” Siefken said. “They would have to cut staff. It’s our opinion that food safety is one of the most important issues in this state, and we do not want to see those inspections decrease or become shorter. It’s important that those inspectors are in our stores.”

The measure by Sen. Tom Carlson of Holdrege would not raise fees directly, but would establish a new ceiling.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture adjusts the fees annually to keep pace with inflation and maintain a small cash reserve, but the maximum they can charge is set in state law. The asked department Carlson to introduce the bill to keep the program’s revenue and cost balanced, said assistant director Bobbie Kriz-Wickham.

The bill, LB771, is designed to keep the contributions from permit fees in line with the tax dollar contribution from the state’s general fund.

The maximum initial permit fee for most food services would rise to about $86, up from about $74. The highest annual inspection fee would climb to about $43, from $37.

Roughly half of the inspections are paid through the state’s general fund, while the other half is covered through permitting fees paid by restaurants, grocers, convenience stores and vendors. The cities of Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island collect their own fees and conduct their own inspections, but are required to follow the state rules.

“We didn’t want the industry to be entirely dependent on the industry for funding,” said Rick Leonard, an aide to the Agriculture Committee.

“We’ve made the argument that the consumer public benefits with confidence [in the food safety], and the industry benefits as well.”

Nebraska has 14 regional food inspection offices.

Siefken said the measure will increase funding for state agriculture department food inspectors who have seen their numbers shrink in recent years as the budget tightens.

“There’s nothing left to tighten,” she said.

“I’ve been on inspections with these people. There’s no fat left to remove. The only answer to no fee increases this year would be to reduce the number of inspectors that are out there.”

The food code is updated every four years based on scientific evidence of foodborne illnesses and safety. The bill would update Nebraska’s law to adopt the 2009 food code, Leonard said.

The measure would also double the permitting fee if restaurants, grocers and other food vendors miss their payment date by more than a month.

THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

CORN 2012

SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2012

Study finds green in irrigating cornfields

By RILEY JOHNSON World-Herald News Service

LINCOLN — Two University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers say they may have found a naturefriendly answer to how best to feed a growing world: irrigated corn.

UNL agronomists Patricio Grassini and Ken Cassman found that irrigation’s higher yields and more-efficient-than-recognized use of water and fertilizer more than offset the method’s environmental costs in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Bushel to bushel, an acre of irrigated corn produced 30 percent less emissions than an acre of rain-fed corn, Grassini said. (That same irrigated acre of corn, in the end, tallied less emissions than a quarter of one year’s emissions from a U.S. car.)

The findings could help proponents of well-managed irrigation fight the rap of being labeled environmental burdens and lead to an industrywide boost in corn production as the world population approaches a projected 9 billion by 2050, said Grassini, the report’s lead author.

“For so many years, we have been hearing people tell us high-yield agriculture cannot feed the world because of its assumed environmental impact,” he said.

This study’s findings, Grassini said, change the conversation.

In their peer-reviewed study whose results were published in November, Grassini and Cassman analyzed three years of yield data from 777 irrigated farms in the Nebraska counties of Gosper, Kearney and Phelps, in collaboration with the Tri-Basin Natural Resources District in Holdrege.

“If we’re going to feed the world, we can’t count on rain,” said Dennis Gengenbach, an irrigator and a study participant.

The 62-year-old Smithfield resident said the future of corn production lies in center-pivot-irrigated fields, and word of irrigation’s low emissions excited him.

The difficulties of replacing groundwater used for irrigation — and not greenhouse gas emissions — concern one Iowa agronomist familiar with the study.

“I am not sure that extracting water from a reservoir that’s not being refilled [as fast] is a favorable environmental impact when that water’s being used to produce feed and a product that will be used to produce energy (ethanol),” said Rick Cruse, an agronomist at Iowa State University.

It’s almost as if the authors assumed that the water pulled from the aquifer was renewable, Cruse said, despite its dependence upon rainfall for replenishment — raising questions about long-term sustainability.

Cassman is quick to point out that not every farmer can or should irrigate and that irrigation requires additional water management strategies.

But overall, the UNL

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agronomists say the study shows a “best path forward” as farmers worldwide try to maximize yields with minimal harm to the environment on limited acres.

“If your goal is to reduce greenhouse gases or produce the highest-energy-efficiency crops, you would do that by producing crops without inputs or stop farming,” Cassman said.

“And you can’t do that.”

A switch from irrigated fields to dryland farming would come at too steep a price, Grassini said.

Swapping irrigation for a rain-fed system in the region studied would decrease greenhouse gas emissions, but corn yields would fall by an estimated 50 percent and require 308,000 more acres of land to make up for the losses, Grassini said.

“It’s when you manage the water reservoir properly and don’t overproduce that irrigation agriculture is a critical component of global food security,” Cassman said.

D7

Corn crop estimated at second largest ever

File photo

UNL agronomists Patricio Grassini and Ken Cassman found that irrigation’s higher yields and more-efficient-than-recognized use of water and fertilizer more than offset the method’s environmental costs in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

LINCOLN (AP) — The 2011 corn crop was Nebraska’s second-biggest on record and its soybean crop was the state’s thirdlargest ever, according to U.S. Agriculture Department figures.

The USDA also reported Thursday that sorghum harvested for grain production in Nebraska was down 3 percent last year compared with 2010 figures. The state’s hay production dropped 11 percent from the 2010 total.

Nebraska farmers harvested an estimated 1.54 billion bushels of corn for grain production in 2011. The USDA said the estimate came from year-end surveys and was 5 percent higher than the 2010 harvest.

The state’s corn production record of 1.58 billion bushels was set in 2009.

The average yield of 160 bushels an acre was unchanged from the November forecast and was 6 bushels below the 2010 figure.

The USDA’s grain stocks report issued Friday said as of Dec. 1, 1.16 billion bushels of corn was stored in Nebraska, which is 3 percent less than stored a year earlier.

Nebraska’s soybean farmers also had a near-record harvest in 2011.

Soybean production totaled 258 million bushels, the USDA said. That’s 3 percent less than the 2010 harvest but still the third-highest on record.

Soybean yield averaged 53.5 bushels an acre, a bushel higher than 2010 and the second-highest on record.

As of Dec. 1, 200 million bushels of soybeans was being stored in Nebraska, which is 18 percent more than a year ago.

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CORN 2012

D8 SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2012

THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

Could change in labor law hurt farms?

Strengthening of child labor law could limit summer jobs like corn detassling, advocates say

BY ROBERT PORE World-Herald News Service

A proposed change in federal child labor laws would have a negative impact on Nebraska’s seed corn industry and other agricultural jobs employing children under age 18.

On Sept. 2, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule that would update regulations for youth employed in agriculture. According to the department, the changes would bring regulations for agricultural jobs into line with those in nonagricultural sectors.

The rule would prohibit workers under age 16 from operating nearly all power-driven equipment. It would also prohibit anyone under age 18 from being employed at grain elevators, bins, silos, feedlots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.

U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Mike Johanns, R-Neb., are among 32 senators who sent a letter to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, requesting a 60day extension of the comment period for the proposed changes. But the Department of Labor granted a 30-day extension, which will end on Thursday.

The senators objected to the announcement of the proposed change coming during harvest season, which is the busiest time of year for many farmers.

“Not only would this regulation, as currently drafted, have far-reaching effects on youth agricultural education programs, farms, ranches and other agricultural businesses,” the senators told Solis, “it would greatly impact the structure of family farms and rural communities.”

Johanns said the rule “doesn’t make sense when you consider how family farms operate.”

“While I believe agricultural workers and their employers need to take proper precautions to encourage workplace safety, this proposed rule raises serious questions about the administration’s understanding of the agricultural economy,” Johanns said.

For example, Johanns said the proposal exempts

children who work on their family’s farm, but it removes this exemption if the family farm is organized as a corporation.

“However, many farm operators incorporate the family farm to spread risk, provide liability protection and distribute benefits among family members or other partners,” he said. “This legal status does not make the farm any less of a family farm or have any impact on the safety of the work environment.”

One of the bigger area employers of child labor in agriculture is S&J Detasseling in Hastings. One of the owners, Julie Bohlen, has been in the detasseling business for nearly 40 years.

Bohlen said S&J Detasseling employs as many as 2,000 people each summer and does about 50 percent of the detasseling in the area. She said the proposed Department of Labor rules would impact nearly 72 percent of her company’s work force, which is under age 16.

While the detasseling season last summer was down because of weather, Bohlen said, her company was responsible for a $2 million boost to the area economy. The economic ripple effect could amplify that amount to between $8 million and $10 million.

Throughout the area during the summer, Bohlen said, her company and others can employ as many as 5,000 youth for a three-week period. Detasseling is time-sensitive, and disruption in the work force can make or break a detasseling season.

During those three weeks, Bohlen said, the average youth can earn around $700. The kids pump much of that money back into the local economy.

Bohlen said the safety of the children is given the upmost attention including proper rest breaks, water, protection from the sun and safety equipment, such as eye goggles. The kids also ride on what are called “crew carriers” when the corn is tall. She said the business is audited daily by outside agencies making sure conditions are safe for the kids.

File photo

Farm and ranching advocates say proposed changes to child labor rules could limit teenagers’ role in such traditional jobs as corn detassling, worrying many in the agricultural community.

Bohlen said machines go through the field prior to the kids to take most of the tassels out. The kids follow that up, making sure the machines have completed their work.

“The kids are not really stressed physically,” she said. “We need their eyes to get the tassels that the machines have missed. We have a lot of safety rules because they are being carried through the field on machines.”

With those rigid safety conditions, Bohlen said, they have less than 1 percent injury in any given year.

“We even count when they are scratched up because that could end up with an infection,” she said.

If youth can’t be employed as detasselers, Bohlen said, detasseling companies would have to become more dependent on migratory workers.

She said many major seed companies and detasselers already hire many migrant workers because there are not enough local workers available.

“There is not enough of a labor force in our area to

Looking ahead to 2012 spring planting Economist urges efficiency to manage costs in lean times World-Herald News Service Although winter weather appears to be just beginning, in a few months spring will arrive, and with spring comes the planting season with its production inputs.

Prices for fertilizer, seed corn, pesticide and even land are at all-time highs but remain necessary when managing a farm.

The root of high costs, according Dr. Michael Duffy, farm economist at Iowa State University, is fuel. A farm simply cannot run without fuel.

Duffy said it is a fact that production costs for corn and soybeans are up 10 and 15 percent respectively from last year but cautioned farmers to remain responsible despite high prices.

“Use good judgment,” Duffy said.

“Even though costs are high, now is not the time to abandon good management.”

Duffy said a way to manage high costs is to be efficient. He encouraged farmers to use the appropriate seed type; be aware of the planting depth; maintain good, sound pest management; and to not make unnecessary trips across the field.

“It’s always important that farmers

carefully evaluate what they’re doing,” he said.

Even with high production costs, Duffy said the projected cost of corn per bushel shows farmers can still make a profit but, again, only if they continue to watch prices and manage with the best judgment.

After evaluating production costs for 2012, Duffy also said he did not notice many dramatic price increases in pesticide, seed corn and fertilizer mainly because the price of fuel has stayed steady recently.

However, land rent has jumped nearly 20 percent compared to last year due to the spike in land costs. Landlords might charge more to tenants to meet the cost of their land; Duffy said rent will be higher everywhere. A farmer on rented land needs to be aware of costs before signing a lease.

“It’s important to not forget business practices and to evaluate all purchases,” Duffy said. “The bottom line is that people need to be very careful about their rents and avoid paying more than they can afford.”

“The bottom line” for farmers, as Duffy mentioned several times, is to settle down and use good judgment. Farmers have to be aware of every cost and purchase and the weather because good decision making may be the difference between profit and failure.

“Don’t expect an extraordinary yield,” he stated. “Plan for average and if we can get above average, then we did great.”

cover all the detasseling that needs to be done,” Bohlen said. “If this [the proposed rule] goes into place, they would have no choice.”

With the U.S. government cracking down on undocumented workers, getting enough migrant workers during detasseling season could be a serious challenge.

Bohlen said many corn companies could turn to

outsourcing seed corn production outside the U.S., which would cost a lot of jobs and the economic benefits to local economies.

“If it becomes so cost prohibitive and labor prohibitive, what are they going to do?” she asked.

Bohlen urged the public to call Nelson or Johanns or share their comments with the Department of Labor. Comments can be

mailed to Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210. Comments can also be submitted through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov.

Nelson’s Washington office can be contacted at (202) 224-6551 and Johanns’ Washington office at (202) 224-4224.