Farm & Ranch Exchange - September 2013

SEPTEMBER 2013

t Rain helps some Neb. crops but not dryland corn L I NCOLN (A P) — T he re c ent rai n t h at fel l i n Nebraska mi g ht help some crops, but t he A g ricu lt u re

AG NEWS AT A GLANCE D e p a r t m e n t s ay s it a r rive d too l ate t o d o mu c h f o r t h e s t a t e ’s d r y l a n d cor n.

T h e U S DA s ay s t he rai n shou ld help i mprove germi n ation of wi nter whe at pl a nte d i n t he fa l l. About 2 2 p erc ent of t h at

crop has been pl a nte d.

N e b r a s k a’s c o r n crop rates 6 3 p erc ent goo d or exc el lent overa l l.

Ab out 81 p erc ent of t he i r rigated cor n is in good or exc el lent sh ap e c ompa re d to on ly ab out 3 6 p erc ent of

t he d r yl a nd c or n.

T h e U S DA s ay s 6 0 p erc ent of t he soyb e a ns a re i n goo d or exc el lent shape.

T h e s t a t e ’s c o r n h a r vest i s ju st gett i n g u n d e r w ay wit h about 2 p erc ent of t he crop ha r vested.

Farmers are told to urge passage of the Farm Bill Legislation has yet to go to the House, Senate conference committees

By RoBert Pore World-Herald News Service

While farmers at Husker Harvest Days examined the latest in farm and ranch equipment, talk continued on the lack of a five-year Farm Bill from Congress.

Don Hutchens, executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board, said last year at Husker Harvest Days, they were urging Congress to pass a Farm Bill. One year later, they are again asking farmers to urge their elective officials to pass a Farm Bill.

“We were out here last year with banners saying pass the Farm Bill now, and we got hundreds and hundreds of signatures in support of that, and we delivered them to our elected representatives in Washington,” Hutchens said.

While the Senate has passed a Farm Bill, the House version was stripped of its nutrition program, which traditionally makes up 80 percent of the Farm Bill.

The bill has yet to go to the House/Senate conference committee.

Also, there is strong opposition to extending the old Farm Bill for another year as a fall-back measure.

“That leaves farmers and cooperators we work with in promoting our product around the world with a lot of unknowns,” Hutchens said.

“It should honestly be unforgivable in the aspect of here we are in the second

year without a five-year Farm Bill.”

A recent Nebraska trade mission to Asia was able to sign a $400 million deal to send Nebraska corn, soybeans and wheat to Taiwan. Hutchens said corn-checkoff dollars farmers pay with the sale of every bushel of corn help fund those foreign trade offices, along with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Without a Farm Bill, that funding will be cut off at the end of the month.

To urge Congress to pass a Farm Bill, Hutchens said the Nebraska Corn Board’s website has a link that will allow farmers to email letters of support for the Farm Bill directly to House leadership.

“We need to let them know that we need a Farm Bill now,” he said.

Royce Schaneman, executive director of the Nebraska Wheat Board, said the lack of a Farm Bill has a “huge impact” on wheat farmers.

“Farmers are not one commodity specific,” Schaneman said. “They raise many commodities. But when there is uncertainty, it just creates a lot of havoc. If they have some policies and programs in place, that would really help the farmers out.”

Without market access programs funded by the Farm Bill, Schaneman said, wheat farmers, who

Please see BILL, Page 8

Drought worsens in Midwest, South; affects crops Despite lack of moisture, record corn harvest still on track DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The combination of heat and scarce amounts of rain intensified the drought in several agriculturally significant states, contributing to declining crop conditions in parts of the Midwest and South.

However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a separate report Thursday the expected record corn harvest and third-largest soybean crop are on track, since areas that

aren’t seeing as severe a drought will produce enough to make up for the driest regions.

Crops in states such as Kentucky and Tennessee look better than they did a month ago, the USDA said, while Iowa and Missouri are suffering from the heat.

“The fringes of the corn belt are producing enough to offset Iowa’s loss,” said Chad Hart, agriculture economist at Iowa State University.

This week’s national drought monitor, which tracked conditions from Sept. 3 to Tuesday, shows nearly 50.7 percent of the contiguous United States is now in moderate drought or worse, up from just over 50 percent the week before.

The report said in Iowa, the nation’s largest corn producer, severe

Judge refuses to block new meat labeling rules Despite setback, industry groups say they will continue fighting OMAHA (AP) — A federal judge has refused to block new rules that require the meat industry to include specific information about the origin of their products on labels. Industry groups say they’ll continue fighting.

The new rules took effect in May and require labels for steaks, ribs and other cuts of meat include clear information about where the animals were born,

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in Washington, D.C., refused to issue a preliminary order Wednesday, though she didn’t decide the overall lawsuit.

The American Meat Institute, a trade group that represents meatpackers, processors and suppliers, said Thursday it plans to appeal because the rules are too costly and don’t provide any health benefits. Seven other industry groups, including cattle and pork associations in the U.S. and Canada, have joined AMI’s lawsuit.

“We disagree strongly Please see BLOCK, Page 4

drought spread to nearly 42 percent of the state — up from 32 percent a week ago. All but two of the state’s counties, both in east-central Iowa, are experiencing some level of drought or abnormally dry conditions.

The trend was driven in part by unusually hot temperatures. In the Midwest, temperatures were as much as 10 degrees above normal and rainfall for many areas was sparse or nonexistent. La Crosse, Wis., for example, has received only 2.4 inches of rain between July 1 and Sept. 10 — the driest on record, said Anthony Artusa, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The city’s previous record was 2.52 inches in 1948.

The weekly drought

monitor — produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of NebraskaLincoln, the NOAA, the USDA and about 350 drought observers — rates the level of drought on a five-classification scale: abnormally dry, moderate drought, severe drought, extreme drought and exceptional drought.

Drought worsened in portions of Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Further south, conditions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas declined. And more than three-quarters of the western United States remains in moderate drought or worse.

The USDA said about a third of corn and soybeans are in good or

Judge refuses to block new meat labeling rules

excellent condition in Iowa, down from more than half rated in those categories a month ago. In Nebraska, where drought increased in some areas, non-irrigated corn is in similar shape.

However, the USDA said corn production nationally is expected to be 13.8 billion, a record for the United States. The corn yield, or amount produced per acre, is expected to be 155.3 bushels per acre, which would be the highest average yield since 2009.

Higher corn yields for the Central Plains and across the South more than offset reductions for Iowa and North Dakota, the report said.

Farmers are expected to harvest 3.15 billion bushels of soybeans, the fourth largest on record.

The Associated Press

In this Aug. 27 file photo, an ear of corn hangs on a withered stalk in Farmingdale, Ill., corn field. A growing season that began unusually wet and cold in the Midwest is finishing hot and dry renewing worries of drought and the impact it may have on crops.

HHD shows subsurface drip irrigation system Recent UNL studies indicate technology can save a third of water applied by a center pivot

By RoBert Pore World-Herald News Service

For 36 years, Husker Harvest Days has been the premiere agricultural show for the technology that drives irrigation.

This year, a subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system has been installed at the show site to irrigate a cornfield and part of the grass parking lot south of the exhibit area.

Show Manager Matt Jungmann said it’s the first time an SDI system has been installed at the site. He said he’s pleased with the results of the SDI, which Western Irrigation of Garden

City, Kan., installed in the spring.

Jungmann said last year’s drought was hard on the six-acre parking lot, but the SDI has helped restore the grass.

He said corn harvested on the ground with the SDI system is averaging more than 200 bushels per acre.

The SDI drip lines are on 60-inch centers and buried 14 inches deep. The system is fed by a 300-gallon-per-minute well powered by a submersible pump and applies water directly to the crop’s root zone using polyethylene tubing.

The new system, along with other innovations

in irrigation technology, are helping farmers conserve water while applying management practices that improve crop production.

Technology is also playing a bigger role each year in irrigation, such as connecting a control panel wirelessly to a computer or smartphone so the operator can manage the system remotely.

While companies such as Western Irrigation have been installing SDI systems throughout the Great Plains, the University of NebraskaLincoln has been researching SDI systems throughout the state.

The SDI system installed at the Husker Harvest Days site has a self-cleaning filtering system to keep fine sands out of the drip lines.

Western Irrigation estimates that SDI, because

World-Herald News Service

The morning sun shines through drops of water as they drip from a subsoil irrigation system in front of Multi-States Irrigation’s Randy Wildeman (not pictured) as he talks about his product on Sept. 10 during opening day of Husker Harvest Days at the site west of Grand Island. of its efficiency and water delivery uniformity, can save a third of the water applied by a center pivot and two thirds

BLOCK from Page 3

with the court’s decision and believe that several aspects of the ruling are susceptible to challenge,” AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle said in a statement.

The lawsuit argues that the rule violates the U.S. Constitution because it forces meat producers to provide information about their products, and the groups argue that officials overstepped their authority with the rules. Jackson said she didn’t think the arguments are likely to succeed in court.

The labeling rules have support from consumer groups, environmental groups and some other farmers’ groups.

Under the new rules,

of the water applied by gravity irrigation.

A prolonged drought last year limited many areas of the state to less

than 50 percent of annual precipitation.

While dryland corn

labels must specify, for example, “Born in Mexico, raised and slaughtered in the United States.” The previous labeling rule required only the country of origin to be noted, such as “Product of U.S.” or “Product of U.S. and Canada.”

The Agriculture Department has also prohibited meat processors from mixing meat from animals born, raised or slaughtered in other countries with meat from the U.S. Industry groups estimate that 4 percent to 7 percent of the beef and pork eaten in America comes from animals from other countries, and they’ve argued it’s not practical to keep cattle and hogs from other countries separate from domestic animals.

USDA spokesman Sam Jones-Ellard said the department was pleased with the ruling

and will continue training retailers and meat suppliers on how to comply with the new labeling rules.

Jackson wrote that the USDA made clear when it issued the labeling rule that it was trying to reduce confusion for consumers and address concerns that Canada and Mexico had raised with the World Trade Organization about the fairness of previous labeling rules.

Jackson said it is well established that companies can be compelled to provide information about their products if the government is trying to prevent consumers from being deceived. Additionally, Jackson said, some of the lawsuit’s arguments are misplaced because they are criticisms of the labeling law Congress passed in 2009, not the new USDA rule.

Please see DRIP, Page 6

Classic tractors perform at Husker Harvest Days Steel-wheel machines show off their ample prowess plowing a field, despite their age

By RoBert Pore World-Herald News Service

The real steel was the deal at Husker Harvest Days on Aug. 12 when steel-wheel tractors took to the fields as part of a classic tractor demonstration.

Despite more than an inch of rain Wednesday night and muddy conditions for parking, the antique tractors easily took to the fields in a plowing demonstration that was in stark contrast to the technological wonders on display at the show.

The steel-wheel tractors included an Allis-Chalmers, 1937; John Deere, 1938; Farmall H, 1940; Titan International Harvester, 1920; and two

McCormick-Deering, 1925 and 1936.

In their day, they were the top of the line like many of the tractors on display at the 2013 Husker Harvest Days.

Howard Raymond of Wellfleet, a member of the Nebraska Antique Farming Association, had a couple of his steel-wheel tractors on display and in the fields. He was more than happy to give a history lesson about these marvels of technology.

A fixture of Husker Harvest Days for more than 20 years, the antique tractors are an important part of the show.

For a long time, the antique tractors were just a static exhibit at

Husker Harvest Days, Raymond said, but about five years ago, he wanted to have the antique tractors in the fields plowing and picking corn.

He said Husker Harvest Days management gave the antique tractor show organizer some land where they could plow with their old tractors.

“It is more of a demonstration,” Raymond said.

The last two years, they picked corn with mechanical pickers, but that was discontinued

by HHD organizers.

To give their antique tractor show something different this year, Raymond said, they decided to showcase steel-wheel tractors.

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Although the tractors in the demonstration at Husker Harvest Days on Aug. 12 were steel-wheeled machines, there are plenty of the old work horses that followed them still in service, as shown by this photo taken north of Keystone of an old tractor still being used in the field.

The Husker Harvest Days grounds were ideal for steel-wheel tractors as there are no paved roads.

Marcellus Wall of Aurora brought the oldest steel-wheel tractor to the show, a Titan International Harvester

from 1920. Wall and his son, Daren Wall, had three steel-wheel tractors

Please see CLASSIC, Page 8

Cuming County livestock group donates to vet diagnostic center Gift of $25,00 given to support planned new facility at UNL IANR news LINCOLN — The Cuming County Livestock Feeders Association has announced a gift of $25,000 to support the Veterinary Diagnostic Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The planned new facility will help ensure livestock producers and others have access to the best available laboratory diagnostics, research, education and outreach services.

The gift made to

the University of Nebraska Foundation supports plans to replace an aging facility that no longer meets modern laboratory standards. The new facility planned to replace it will enable the university to better serve veterinarians, livestock producers, public health officials and others in Nebraska and around the country who depend on its services.

Recognizing the state’s need for a new center, the Nebraska Legislature committed to provide $41.5 million in funding through the Building a Healthier Nebraska initiative once $4.15 million is first raised from private sources. To date more than $3 million of pri-

vate and other support has been raised, and the university hopes to launch the project before the conclusion of 2014.

Ron Coufal, president of the Cuming County Livestock Feeders Association, said the organization is proud to invest in a new veterinary diagnostic facility for the state.

“Cuming County is the largest agriculture producing county and helps Nebraska continue its number one status in the beef industry,” he said. “It is only fitting that our association help Nebraska continue that ranking in all areas of livestock production, as 86 percent

Please see GROUP, Page 21

Heat, drought deplete moisture reserves in Neb. Topsoil supplies were rated at 69 percent short or very short LINCOLN — Hotter --than-normal temperatures for a third straight week, combined with little or no rainfall, continued to shrink soil moisture reserves and stress dryland crops and pastures across Nebraska.

According to the Nebraska field office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, topsoil moisture supplies were rated at 69 percent short or very short, while subsoil conditions de-

teriorated to 75 percent short or very short.

The first fields of seed corn were harvested the first week of September, and dryland corn was cut for silage.

Farmers surveyed rated irrigated corn at 81 percent good or excellent, which is above the 75 percent on average for the first week in September. Only 35 percent of dryland corn was rated good to excellent.

Maturity was reported at 72 percent dented, Please see HEAT, Page 17

DRIP from Page 4

yields suffered, irrigated corn helped lift corn production to nearly 1.3 billion bushels.

But irrigation development over several decades has diminished groundwater supplies and forced governmental entities to regulate groundwater use throughout the state.

The realization that groundwater is not a limitless resource has made finding more efficient ways to irrigate a priority. In Nebraska, nearly 9 million acres of principal cropland receive water through irrigation.

“We are looking at irrigation systems and finding ways to make them more efficient, such as different crop rotations, where different crops use different amounts of water to get their yield,” said Chuck Burr, Extension educator at the West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte.

Throughout the state,

sprinkler and furrow irrigation are the main ways groundwater is delivered to crops. Both systems have seen improvements over the years, such as low-pressure drop hoses on center pivots, for better efficiencies in groundwater delivery.

Burr said the UNL has also been researching SDI systems, where the irrigation tubing is buried under the ground and the water is metered through that tubing to the crops.

“It is a fairly new concept (SDI systems) to Nebraska, but it has been used in California in vegetable production for quite a few years,” he said.

There, Burr said, the drip tape is laid on the surface, but in Nebraska, it is typically buried 12 to 14 inches under the soil surface, where it is left for as many as 20 years.

How efficient SDI can be, Burr said, depends on how it is managed.

“Subsurface drip can be very efficient, if it is managed properly, so really the key to subsur-

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“We are looking at irrigation systems and finding ways to make them more efficient, such as different crop rotations, where different crops use different amounts of water to get their yield.”

”

—Chuck Burr, Extension educator at the West Central R esearch and Extension Center in North Platte, about use of SDI system face drip is that we are not wetting the soil surface in applying the water so we don’t lose water to evaporation,” he said.

When water is applied through a center pivot or furrow system, Burr said, some of that water evaporates.

“That is where the subsurface drip is more efficient as we don’t have that surface evaporation,” he said.

Burr said they are happy with the results of the research being done by UNL. “The main concern with SDI right now is the price,” he said. “It is very expensive, and you are probably not going to see a lot of full sections of land put into subsurface drip.”

Burr is optimistic that

SDI systems will continue to expand in Nebraska, especially as groundwater becomes more scarce.

“If the technology becomes cheaper and the water becomes more valuable, we will see more SDI systems being installed.”

Having an SDI system at HHD is a good step in educating producers about a new alternative.

Along with the many irrigation companies represented at HHD, the University of Nebraska research and extension experts will be available at Husker Harvest Days.

“Raising Our H2O IQ” is the theme for University of NebraskaLincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources exhibits at this year’s show.

Nebraska, Iowa job losses recover from plunge Drop was not as deep as some states due to a strong agriculture economy

By BarBara Soderlin World-Herald News Service

The jobs are back — all 33,000 and then some.

As of this summer, Nebraska has regained all the jobs lost during the Great Recession. So has Iowa, and most of the two states’ metropolitan areas, including Omaha and Des Moines.

Lincoln passed the milestone 18 months ago and didn’t look back.

The growth is thanks to a strong agriculture economy, expansion of government jobs and a large and booming health care sector that barely tapped the brakes during the recession.

The benchmark puts

Nebraska and Iowa among the 14 states with employment at or above pre-recession levels, according to an analysis from the Council of State Governments.

Booming energy states like North Dakota, Texas, Alaska and Oklahoma left us in their wake when it came to job creation in recent years, but Nebraska and Iowa still are places where economists say things are looking up.

“I’m pretty optimistic about our regional economic performance going forward,” said Scott Strain, economist for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. “It’ll be that steady, persistent

growth over time.”

Slow, steady growth had been the story from 2004 through 2007, with Nebraska adding 51,000 employees in four years, almost a 6 percent gain.

Nebraska didn’t see serious losses until a year into the 18-month recession that began unbeknown to most in December 2007. Five years ago this month, the crisis was clear as a series of events triggered a global financial meltdown.

Nebraska lost about 1,500 jobs in 2008. Then, in 2009, the losses accelerated and, by January 2010, the state had lost 33,000 jobs in two years.

Iowa was down more than 65,000 in 2008-09.

Borsheims, Gallup, Duncan Aviation, First Data, Nebraska Boiler and Ballantyne Strong were among the diverse longtime Nebraska employers that announced layoffs, some for the first time in company history. Many others instituted hiring freezes and furloughs. Hit by lower demand for the products they ship, BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad furloughed nearly 10,000 workers nationwide.

“The loss of our staff members is devastating,” Borsheims President Susan Jacques said at the time.

“This is the absolute last thing we wanted to do.”

But Nebraska didn’t sink as deep as the nation, and it hasn’t taken as long to surface.

The bottom here came

“

“The Omaha area, we’ve been experiencing, I wouldn’t call it robust growth by any stretch, but it’s been relatively steady.”

”

—Chris Decker, Economist at UNO, about the jobs recovery

in January 2010. Then, an unemployment rate that had been stuck for seven months at 5 percent reversed course.

Nebraska since has seen steady gains of about 750 jobs per month on average, gains that added up to a new state record in May of 968,300 employed people, surpassed again in July, in preliminary figures.

Iowa, too, set new records in June and July, reaching 1.53Â million employed people, in preliminary figures.

The recession, while

serious for many families, proved mild and short compared with the one that hit the Midwestern ag economy in the early 1980s, when Nebraska lost 5 percent of its jobs and Iowa shed 10 percent.

“The Omaha area, we’ve been experiencing, I wouldn’t call it robust growth by any stretch, but it’s been relatively steady,” said Chris Decker, economist at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Please see LOSSES, Page 18

BILL from Page 2

also help to fund those foreign trade offices, could lose important access to the international market.

“With those dollars being in jeopardy, if we don’t have those we could lose a lot of foreign market development,” Schaneman said. “We don’t want an extension; we want new policies.”

Victor Bohuslavsky, executive director of the Nebraska Soybean Board, said the lack of a Farm Bill takes away from the attributes of the soybean loan program, along with important conservation programs that help farmers increase production and protect the soil and water resources.

“It also takes away some of our export help we get from the foreign ag service,” he said.

Bohuslavsky said agriculture is dynamic and fluid on an international scale, which demands a new Farm Bill to increase trade

and protect farming interests, along with continued research and development.

“We can’t afford to go back,” Bohuslavsky said. “America is progressing faster now.”

Also, Hutchens said some members of Congress would like to diminish the Renewable Fuels Standard that Congress passed in 2007, allowing the ethanol industry to boom in Nebraska.

The RFS created a

“” “It also takes away some of our export help we get from the foreign ag service”

—Victor Bohuslavsky, Executive director, Nebraska soybean board, about delay in

passage of farm bill

new demand for corn and lifted prices above the cost of production.

Government support programs did not have to kick in to subsidize farmers’ production costs. That increase

in corn prices helped boost Nebraska’s economy, and there was an additional economic impact from the value-added processing of that corn into ethanol.

Hutchens pointed out that Nebraska is poised to become the nation’s leading cattle-feeding state because of not only its abundance of corn and soybeans but also the livestock feed by-product, both in a dry and wet form, from the production of ethanol.

Increasing the number of cattle on feed in Nebraska gives an additional boost to the red meat production industry, in which Nebraska is already the nation’s leading state.

“Our fear is that, if we open up the Renewable Fuels Standard, there is a bigger risk of something significant happening to what we have built over these years,” he said. “We prefer that it is not opened up. We are at that brink of providing 15 billion gallons of ethanol. Let the system work.”

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Soybean rivals team up on common issues Farmers from US, South America unite to work toward better biotech approval system ST. LOUIS — Farmers who grow 90 percent of the world’s soybeans and normally battle for global market share met recently to discuss how they can work together on issues that affect all farmers. Among other topics, they discussed what they could do to speed up getting new, biotechnology-enhanced soybean varieties approved in more markets around the world.

This type of gathering isn’t new to these farmers, who are members of the International Soy Growers Alliance (ISGA), a group formed

CLASSIC from Page 5

on display and out in the field.

During the early days of tractor production, up to 1934, Raymond said, the industry had not developed rubber traction tires for tractors.

“They had automobile tires and they could have made the same type of tires for tractors, but the engineers didn’t think rubber tires would work,” Raymond said. “So, they never tried it. But when they finally did some experiments with it, what they did discover was that a steel-wheel tractor takes about half of its horse power to move itself. So you don’t have anything left to work with.”

With rubber traction tires, the tractors could

in 2005 to bring together Argentine, Brazilian, Paraguayan, Uruguayan and U.S. soybean farmers around issues that affect them all.

“It’s important for us to come together and discuss issues we all have in common: trade relations, biotechnology, weather, to name a few,” says Jim Stillman, soybean farmer and United Soybean Board chairman from Emmetsburg, Iowa.

“When we are able to provide a united front on these issues that impact the global soybean industry, it makes a

much stronger impression.”

Farmer-leaders representing the soy checkoff, the American Soybean Association (ASA) and the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) participated in the most recent ISGA meeting, where members approved a resolution that, among other things, calls for science-based and more predictable approval systems for soybeans improved through biotechnology. Currently, these approvals in several countries tend to take long or not happen at all,

move easier and faster, he said.

“They lost a little bit of traction [rubber tires], but they were able to gain much more in efficiency,” Raymond said.

Like any new introduction of agricultural technology, once neighbors saw another neighbor with a tractor with rubber tires, they became more accepted, Raymond said.

Raymond had two old Farmall tractors at the show from 1940 and 1943.

He said that, by 1940, “most everybody was buying tractors with rubber tires. Then we hit World War II, and then all of a sudden, rubber tires were not available. There were a lot of tractors during the war on steel.”

Raymond said having the classic tractors at Husker Harvest Days

“shows the longevity of the engineering” of the older tractors.

“The tractors built back in the 1920s were pretty crude, but when you get up to the 1940s, those tractors are timeless,” he said. “They are still very useful in smaller applications.

They were well engineered, and they can run forever.”

Marcellus Wall said it’s a lot of fun coming to Husker Harvest Days, bringing some of his old tractors for the classic tractor demonstration and visiting with folks curious to know about these pieces of agriculture history.

“People will come and ask when were they made or that they didn’t know they made tractors like that,” he said.

“But a lot of these tractors would have been the biggest tractors of their time.”

Please see TEAM, Page 17

Tree planting grants available Free trees for fall offered to celebrate ReTree Week LINCOLN — Free trees for fall planting are available to Nebraska communities in time to celebrate ReTree Week, Sept.

22-28. “Free Trees for Fall Planting” is sponsored by the Nebraska Community Forestry Council and ReTree Nebraska and funded by the Nebraska Environmental Trust, a beneficiary of the Nebraska Lottery.

The grant helps enable communities to plant trees during the fall in conjunction with ReTree Nebraska Week and other fall planting events. Even though communities are encouraged to take part in ReTree Nebraska Week plantings, trees can be planted from Sept. 1 through Nov. 15. The recipient’s event will be considered a ReTree Nebraska event when held during this time frame. Deadline for application is Oct. 31.

This fall planting campaign helps promote the value of healthy trees for a healthy community and the healthy establishment and ongoing care of newly planted trees. The goal is to plant at least 700 high-quality trees in Nebraska communities in conjunction with a tree-related Please see TREES, Page 14

Dry bean plots support numerous cooperative projects UNL specialist hosts scientists from several universities for annual inspection World-Herald News Service

The dry edible beans being harvested in dozens of research plots at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center will yield genetic information whose use goes beyond developing new commercial varieties

for Nebraska farmers.

The plots are nurseries in which multiple generations of bean crosses, representing many breeding lines and market classes, are grown for numerous research projects — many of them collaborations with scientists in other states and

other countries.

Recently, UNL Dry Edible Bean Breeding Specialist Carlos Urrea hosted scientists from several other universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Station (ARS) to perform the an-

nual inspection of bean research plots near Scottsbluff and Mitchell.

The projects have several goals: developing drought and heat tolerance and disease resistance; conducting regional variety trials; assessing longterm progress in dry bean breeding; and bolstering agricultural production in countries plagued by poverty and hunger.

As he walked through

the plots, Tim Porch, a USDA geneticist based in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, said he and Urrea are working together on a shuttle-breeding project with a goal of introducing tolerance to drought stress into the U.S. germplasm.

Urrea and Porch shuttle between Scottsbluff and Puerto Rico, where more selections are being grown. The Puerto Rico beans are inspected at Scottsbluff in summer and Puerto

Rico in winter, the times when each region experiences drought conditions.

Porch said the second generation of drought-tolerant breeding materials looks better than the first, and they are considering releasing some materials for wider use, mainly by plant breeders.

He also inspected bean plots involved in

Please see BEAN, Page 19

Scientists help farmers create greener dairies Studies started at UW-Madison to determine how dairy farms can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wis. (AP) — Cows stand patiently in a tent-like chamber at a research farm in western Wisconsin, waiting for their breath to be tested.

Outside, corrals have been set up with equipment to measure gas wafting from the ground. A nearby corn field contains tools that allow researchers to assess the effects of manure spread as fertilizer.

Scientists based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have started a slew of studies to determine how dairy farms can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

They will look at what animals eat, how their waste is handled and the effects on soil, water and air.

Their work is part of a government-sponsored effort to help farmers adapt to more extreme weather and reduce their impact on climate change. The studies also will support a dairy industry effort to make farms more environmentally friendly, profitable and attractive to consumers. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy is developing a computer program that will allow farmers to compare water consumption, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from their

farms to the national average and learn how improving their practices could help their bottom line.

“We like to say sustainability makes cents — c-e-n-t-s,” said Erin Fitzgerald, the center’s senior vice president for sustainability.

Environmentally speaking, the big issue for dairy farms for decades was manure.

Karl Klessig remembers state agents coming to his farm in 2002 and handcuffing him after an unexpected rain washed manure spread several days earlier into nearby Lake Michigan. Klessig was told that if his family didn’t immediately till the manure into the ground, tearing up the grass that feeds their cows, he’d soon be in jail.

It was a big loss, but it

“jump-started” their environmental awareness, Klessig said. The family welcomed researchers from UW-Madison and UW-Extension onto its property in Cleveland, about 70 miles north of Milwaukee, for tests that had some unexpected results.

For example, the family had been leaving its pastures untilled for up to a decade to allow the grass to build up density, feeding the cows and reducing erosion. But scientists found that also allowed phosphorus to accumulate in the top layer of soil. Klessig said his family has been able to reduce phosphorus by tilling pastures more often and growing corn, which uses phosphorus to grow.

They also learned the farm was losing hundreds of pounds of soil Please see HELP, Page 11

The Associated Press

In this Aug. 29 photo, research technician Kris Niemann hooks up equipment that will measure the amount of ammonia, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases coming off a barnyard lined with sand at the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center in Prairie du Sac, Wis.

Agland value increase helping keep tax levies steady

By TracY Overstreet World-Herald News Service

A steady increase in the Hall County tax base has allowed local governments to keep their property tax levies at or below requests from last year, but how long that trend will continue is not known.

A recent review of Hall County valuations by class of property revealed that agricultural land values are rising at the fastest pace. Data from Hall County Assessor Jan Pelland shows ag land values have risen nearly 36 percent in two years ‫נ‬up $94 million in 2012 and up $167 million in 2013.

Those ag land increases are almost nine times more the next highest increase in real property valuation ‫נ‬a 3.6 percent increase in commercial property in three years time.

Residential property values rose 2.7 percent.

Personal property, which is equipment used for earning a living, has had a 20 percent valuation increase since

2011, while centrally assessed property such as railroads and phone lines that stretch across county lines, have risen in value at 13 percent.

“Our budgets are dependent on that growth every year,” said Hall County Supervisor Gary Quandt as the county board reviewed the valuation data Tuesday when the county was approving its own budget and tax rate.

The increases do help political subdivisions when it comes to setting budgets.

The Hall County board actually lowered its tax levy during action Tuesday. The county reduced its property tax asking by $15 on every $100,000 of valuation.

The city of Grand Island kept its property tax levy the same as last year, but raised more money doing so thanks to an increase in the value of property to tax. The Grand Island Public School District is also expected to kept three of its tax levies equal to last

year and will lower its bond levy when the school board meets Thursday night. The school’s slight decrease in tax rate is due to having more property value to tax, officials said.

Grand Island Public Schools Business Manager Virgil Harden said that the school district’s valuation increase has slowed over the years to what is now a fairly steady 1.5 to 2 percent annual increase.

But not all property values are on the uptick.

Industrial property values in Hall County dropped 11.2 percent over the same threeyear time frame.

Quandt said he hopes that’s not a leading indicator of declines yet to come in other property categories — particularly agriculture — which has seen tremendous gains.

In fact, ag land values in Hall County have risen 10 out of the last 12 years.

Please see VALUE, Page 19

Property class 201320122011 Three-year change Residential: $1,907,260,700$1,878,830,605$1,857,129,371+$50 million (+2.7%) Commercial: $865,176,004$861,460,650$835,023,085+$30 million (+3.6%) Industrial: $67,350,949$66,934,123$74,921,281-$7.5 million (-11.2%) Recreational: $528,330$509,554$532,760-$4,430 (-0.8%) Agricultural: $995,023,454$827,988,037$733,677,394+$261 million (+35.6%) Personal property: $270,857,094$239,122,202$224,651,293+$46.2 million (+20.6%) Centrally assessed: $152,212,609$146,641,070$134,683,811+17.5 million (+13 %) Grand Total: $4,258,409,140$4,022,486,241$3,860,618,995+397.7 million (+10.3%) Source: Hall County Assessor’s Office

CATTLE PERFORMANCE: The Protein Factor Protein frequently is the most limiting nutrient for cattle wintered on poor to moderate quality harvested forages as well as for mature cows and growing cattle grazing dormant grass pastures and crop residues. Ample amounts of protein are required in order for cattle to effi ciently harvest energy from forage-based feeds.

Protein is needed to support a healthy, active population of fiber-digesting microorganisms in the stomach.

Consequently, when dietary protein is limiting, fi ber digestion is not optimal.

Poor digestion results in ineffi cient energy use, and often decreases feed intake too.

The combined effect of these factors is a signifi cant decrease in overall energy balance for the animal. This can limit growth rate of young animals or lead to poor body condition scores in reproducing cows and heifers.

CATTLE PERFORMANCE TRIAL A study was performed at the Kansas State University Beef Cattle Research Center using 175 crossbred beef heifers averaging 683 pounds. Heifers were fed low quality prairie hay free-choice, or the same hay supplemented with 5 pounds daily of alfalfa hay. Heifers within each forage group had access to two low moisture blocks, one fortified with 12% crude protein, the other with 30% crude protein, or no supplement.

Heifers were fed the forage-based diets for 89 days, and had free access to white salt and water at all times. Daily gains, feed intakes, and efficiencies of heifers are shown in Table 1. Heifers fed prairie hay with no alfalfa actually lost weight,

indicating that the hay had limited energy content. Performance was improved substantially by feeding blocks. In particular, the higher protein content block improved forage intake and reduced weight loss compared to the un-supplemented controls. Feeding fi ve pounds of alfalfa daily effectively increased overall energy intake by heifers, allowing for a substantial improvement in gain compared to heifers fed only the prairie hay. Feeding the two low moisture blocks resulted in additional boosts ingain and efficiency, illustrating that low moisture block supplements are effective over a range of forage qualities.

CATTLE DIGESTION TRIAL Twelve steers averaging 640 pounds were used in an intake and digestion trial at the Kansas State University Beef Cattle Research Center. Treatments consisted of 1) no supplement, and 2) a low moisture block supplement fortified with 30% crude protein. Steers were kept in individual pens throughout the 18-day experiment. Cattle had free access to coarsely chopped prairie hay and water. All steers were fed approximately 0.7 ounces of plain salt each day. Low moisture blocks were broken into small pieces and fed once daily to the supplemented group at the rate of 0.9 lbs per head. During the fi nal 6 days of the experiment, total fecal output was measured for each animal. The proportions of dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and organic matter were subsequently determined for hay, blocks and feces.

This made it possible to calculate total digestibility for each diet. Results of the digestion experiment are shown in Table 2.

Forage intake increased approximately 13% when the low moisture block fortifi ed with

30% crude protein was fed to the cattle.

Likewise, digestibility of the hay and of the total diet increased signifi cantly by feeding low moisture block supplements.

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Digestible feed intake is a good indicator of total energy intake by the animal, and is a reasonable approximation of total diet TDN. SmartLic NE-30 increased digestible feed intake by more than 33.6%, and increased digestible crude protein intake by over 90%. Supplementing with SmartLic supplements provides essential nutrients that can improve utilization of low quality forages.

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TREES from Page 9

educational event or community celebration to promote fall planting. Organizations and communities can participate in ReTree Week without planting trees.

Informational materials such as articles, library displays and ReTree Week graphics are available on request.

Tree advocates are given priority and awarded with 1-10 trees.

Advocates include ReTree Nebraska ambassadors, Tree City USA tree boards, Tree Campus USA schools, Nebraska Statewide Arboretum curators,

individuals volunteering or supporting community forestry programs and Project Learning Tree facilitators.

Providing free trees gives volunteers and non-profit partners such as business improvement districts, neighborhood associations, government agencies and other public or private entities the added resources to plant trees in public spaces and areas of civic importance.

Focus is also on diversifying the community forest by promoting a broader mix of native and well-adapted non-native tree species recommended

by ReTree Nebraska.

A special emphasis will be placed on the planting of ReTree Nebraska’s 13 for 2013 underused trees species (retreenebraska. unl.edu/planting-diversity).

Grant applications available at retreenebraska.unl.edu/ retree-week-september-22-28-2013 Trees for Nebraska Towns is funded by the Nebraska Environmental Trust (a beneficiary of the Nebraska Lottery) as part of the ReTree Nebraska Initiative.

The program is coordinated by the Nebraska Forest Service on behalf of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, Inc. — IANR News

Check out the Telegraph website www.nptelegraph.com for all your news

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Don’t throw it out; use it in the garden Common household items can become eco-friendly tools to give garden a boost The Associated Press Looking for a cheaper way to fertilize flowers or keep pests at bay? A better tool for planting tiny seeds?

The answers may lie in your home, where common household items like coffee grounds or old pie tins can become easy, eco-friendly tools to give your garden a boost without breaking the bank.

Turn old boots or shoes into planters, or reuse packing peanuts by laying them at the bottom of large flower pots to aid in drainage and make for lighter lifting, suggests Stacy Tornio, editor of Birds & Blooms magazine.

“You can take anything you have and upcycle it,” she says.

Some simple, easy ways to repurpose household items for a bargain backyard:

Creative containers It’s easy to spend a fortune on pots and vases. But one easy way to start “upcycling” in the garden is by planting herbs, flowers and houseplants in everything from worn boots to old teapots and even bathroom sinks.

“They contribute a touch of whimsy and even a ‘settled’ look to a garden scene,” Tornio says.

Cristin Frank, a 38-year-old author and gardening blogger from Williamsville, N.Y., uses yogurt cups and other recyclable plastic containers as small pots for her “starter” plants in the spring.

Old take-out coffee cups serve as starter watering cans with their smaller, perforated plastic tops.

Birdbaths can also be made from household

items like an old glass light shade mounted on copper tubing.

Justin Cave, an Atlanta-based landscaper and former host of HGTV’s “Ground Breakers,” recently turned old shipping pallets into a vertical garden by covering the backs and sides with landscape fabric, stuffing them with dirt, and planting succulents and flowers in the slated openings.

“It turned out awesome, and was very cost-effective,” he says.

Tools of the trade In need of some new garden tools?

Save yourself a trip to the hardware store and check your kitchen drawers.

Table utensils like spoons, forks and knives are tough and sharp enough to do many gardening jobs without causing damage, according to Tornio.

Use them to separate

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flats, lift seedlings and tease apart dense root balls. Knives can also make a slim path for tiny seeds to fall into.

Tornio says she’s also seen people repurpose utensils as garden markers and borders for flower beds.

Even something as innocuous as old nylons can be reused in the backyard to tie up floppy plants or line the bottom of pots so water can get through but dirt cannot.

Packing peanuts are Please see USE, Page 23

This undated publicity photo provided by Justincave.com shows a bottle tree that makes a great accent in the vegetable garden. Common household items like coffee grounds or old pie tins can become easy, eco-friendly ways to give your garden a boost without breaking the bank.

The Associated Press

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from Page 6

behind the 97 percent in 2012 and 82 percent on average, and 5 percent mature, compared with 52 percent at this time last year and 17 percent on average.

Reports for other crops include: Soybeans: 61 percent good or excellent, 27 percent fair and 12 percent poor or very poor, with leaves dropping on 16 percent.

Sorghum: 41 percent good or excellent, 25 per-

TEAM from Page 8

holding up or blocking U.S. soybean sales or delay farmers’ ability to plant new biotech varieties.

To show support for these issues, ISGA has also begun plans to bring together farmers from both continents to meet with common customers, decision makers and government officials next year. ISGA members will stress the importance of swift and science-based approval processes to prevent trade disruptions. In 2012, ISGA conducted a similar mission to the European Union, where U.S. and South American farmers met with officials from several countries to discuss the importance of

cent fair and 34 percent poor or very poor, with 65 percent turning color.

Alfalfa: 49 percent good or excellent, 33 percent fair and 18 percent poor or very poor, with the third cutting 95 percent complete and fourth cutting 13 percent complete.

Pasture and range: 30 percent good or excellent, 31 percent fair and 39 percent poor or very poor, with 71 percent of landowners surveyed reporting adequate stock water supplies and 29 percent short or very short.

biotechnology approvals and acceptance.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of ISGA is the opportunity to come together with farmers and representatives of other soy-growing-and-exporting countries to address the challenges we face as a global soy industry,” adds Danny Murphy, soybean farmer and ASA president from Canton, Miss. “As representatives of the U.S. soy industry, together with USB and USSEC, we find that we have so many mutual goals with our ISGA partners, especially on issues like biotechnology approvals, in which barriers set up by one nation or coalition can have a significantly negative impact on all exporters.”

— United Soybean Board

Find all your news at www.nptelegraph.com

t

HEAT

AG NEWS AT A GLANCE

$15,000 grant to cover Neb. health screenings K EARNEY (AP) — Eight agricultural operations in central Nebraska are receiving free health screenings and farm safety inspections through a $15,0 0 0 grant.

The grant is intended to help prevent illness and in-

juries among agricultural workers and their families.

Farmers, their families and employees will be examined and given screenings for blood pressure, glucose, hearing loss, skin cancer and other health issues.

The Nebraska Safety Center in Kearney is partnering with the University of Nebraska Medical Center

in Omaha and the College of Nursing in Kearney to provide the services in September for farms in the Kearney area. First-year nurses in training will conduct the private health screenings.

The grant comes from Central States Center for Agricultural & Safety Health.

LOSSES from Page 7

“For the most part, the economy is going to chug along at a slow and steady pace.”

That outlook, shared by three other regional economists, doesn’t mean the states’ economies are fully recovered.

Several sectors — construction; manufacturing; information; and trade, transportation and utilities ‫נ‬have not reached pre-recession levels, collectively down almost 19,000 jobs.

All but information, however, are making steady gains.

Rural areas also haven’t seen their share of jobs return. The parts of Nebraska outside its two metropolitan areas are seeing job gains but are still down 1.2 percent of employees since the recession despite big increases in farmland and commodities prices.

Rural economic growth does not always

translate into new jobs, at least not in rural areas, because productivity is increasing on farms and in rural manufacturing operations, said Ernie Goss, Creighton University economist.

“The size of the farm is getting larger and larger, and that doesn’t produce a lot of jobs, but it does produce a lot of economics,” Goss said.

However, he said, “That does create jobs in the metropolitan areas,” including in financial services and retail sectors. “They spend that money, and they spend it in the Omahas.”

Measures of consumer spending continue to rise here, though wages and earnings have not kept pace with inflation. The national Consumer Price Index rose 9 percent from January 2008 to January 2012. Average wages earned by Nebraskans employed in private business rose 5.6 percent in that time, to $21.09 an hour, while weekly earnings rose

6.9 percent to $707.

“That one hasn’t fully come back,” said University of NebraskaLincoln economist Eric Thompson. “My $21 now is worth less than my $20 was then.”

The recession did not see Midlanders leaving the workforce in droves. Nebraska today has the nation’s highest percentage of people participating in the labor force ‫נ‬those either working or looking for work ‫נ‬at 72.8 percent, and the highest percentage of residents 16 and over who work, at 69.8 percent. Both dipped during the recession and are making their way up again. Iowa also rates among states with high participation rates.

In a recent setback, the unemployment rate, the most often-cited measure of jobs recovery, rose in Nebraska in July for the third straight month, to 4.2 percent. State labor officials said one reason is the growing number of people looking for work, a positive sign. Iowa’s

rate rose to 4.8 percent.

Both states added jobs.

Nebraska may not ever return to its record low unemployment of 2.2 percent in 1998. Thompson said Nebraska’s level of “full employment,” a figure that varies depending on characteristics of a local workforce, may settle into the middle 3 percent range.

Nebraska Labor Commissioner Cathy Lang also expects to see the rate fall from July’s climb.

“We’re thinking that is not a trend,” she said, referring to the increase.

But if it does remain around 4 percent, that might actually help entice employers to Nebraska; a very low unemployment rate can make it hard to fill jobs.

“There is a point at which it can be too low,” Lang said.

Lang is not worried about the rise. “It’s not like employers have quit hiring. There are jobs in our economy.”

Thousands of them, and listings seem concentrated in the fields that weathered the recession best: health, technology and financial services. Nebraska has added 10,000 health care jobs since the start of the recession, the most of any field.

“We are currently looking for CNAs [certi-

fied nursing assistants] that seems to be a never-ending position,” said Angie Gathye, in charge of hiring for Brookestone Meadows, a rehabilitation and long-term care facility in the Elkhorn area.

The center opened six years ago and its staff has gradually grown to 275 employees, with 20 current openings, Gathye said. Demand for Brookestone’s services has grown in part because of Nebraska’s aging population, and the center is looking for people who “really have the heart to work with our patients and residents,” she said.

Growth in assets and demand for services, along with the opening of new branches, has led to hiring at SAC Federal Credit Union, in another growing sector, financial activities, which has gained 2,700 jobs in Nebraska since the recession.

Senior Vice President Cynthia Buettner said SAC has added more than 20 employees this year on top of 26 added in 2012, with more vacancies to fill.

While some banking institutions nationally have laid off workers this year as mortgage refinancing activity slowed, Buettner said that’s not the case at SAC because of an increase in mortgage

origination loans.

“We’re actually ahead of pace of last year” on jobs, she said.

Some of SAC’s positions have demanded more IT skills, another growing area for jobs.

The growth of online and mobile banking has created a market for new skills in addition to traditional IT roles, Buettner said.

“We have the conversation internally about, are we becoming a technology company?”

A recession and its recovery are often felt first at a temporary staffing firm, and the picture at C&A Industries, a national staffing firm based in Omaha, shows how much things have turned around.

C&A cut 50 headquarters positions in 2009 because of the recession, but since 2011 has been hiring aggressively with the expectation of adding 175 people to its Omaha staff by the end of 2014, bringing the total to approximately 600, CEO Scot Thompson said.

Most growth has come in the medical and information technology fields, he said.

The recession has been officially over for four years now, and looking back, Thompson at UNL said, “It wasn’t a Great Recession here; it was a serious recession.”

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BEAN from Page 10

a North Dakota graduate student’s effort to learn about the genetics of resistance to drought.

Many bean-breeding projects involve multiple, far-flung locations, Porch said.

Growing beans in different eco-systems helps develop bean lines that are broadly adapted and have multiple resistances to disease, drought and heat.

“When we do it over several different ecological zones, we are able to get a broader resistance,” he said.

Another of the scientists was Phil Miklas of Prosser, Wash., USDA-ARS research geneticist. Miklas said he, Porch and other ARS colleagues are working on Feed the Future, a project funded by USAID.

Miklas described it as a broad program that includes a number of different crops, livestock, and also brings in disciplines such as nutrition and integrated pest management (IPM).

The program’s web site, www.feedthefuture.gov, describes it as the U.S. government’s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative, aimed at reducing poverty and hunger in 19 selected countries by increasing agricultural production and income in rural areas that rely on agriculture. Other team members are working on areas such as plant pathology, and how nutrients move through bean plants. Urrea’s plots are being used to screen genetic materials used in these efforts.

Many breeding lines are being grown in a number of states and

nations for Feed the Future, as well, Miklas said. For example, genetics from about 400 lines of Andean largeseed beans (such as kidneys) are being screened for tolerance to drought and various diseases.

“We are gathering a lot of information and trying to identify accessions with novel tolerances,” Miklas said. “At the same time, Carlos might find useful materials for his efforts.”

Also touring the plots was Mark Brick, a Colorado State University plant breeder who has a similar dry bean nursery near Fort Collins. He said the same varieties are grown in a number of locations. “I’m here to look at the varieties in Nebraska and see how they’re doing,” Brick said.

Check out the Telegraph website at www.nptelegraph.com for all your breaking news stories

HELP from Page 11

each year through its drainage system and wormholes were allowing manure to run into those pipes. It was nerve-racking to have researchers point out these problems, Klessig said.

“Sometimes you feel like you’re on top of the table, and you only have underwear on,” he said.

But the scientists also offered solutions, which Klessig said, “made us better farmers.”

Studies like the ones done at Klessig’s farm helped provide the basis for the computer program being developed by the Innovation Center. The tool will be bolstered by data from a $10 million project led by UW-Madison but including scientists, engineers and scholars from multiple universities.

It is one of four projects funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help farmers in specific regions adapt to climate change while reducing their environmental impact, said Ray Knighton, national program leader for soil and air quality at USDA’s National Institute of

VALUE from Page 12

“So far the ag ground has gone up $225 million in a matter of a couple of years and our industrial properties have gone down,” Quandt said. “I hope we don’t see the mid-80s happen all over again.”

Quandt was on the county board in the 1980s when crop values and ag land prices plummeted. It left producers and local governments making difficult finan-

Food and Agriculture.

The other projects involve the beef industry in the southern Great Plains and Southwest, wheat production in the Pacific Northwest and wood production in the Southeast.

The five-year dairy project focuses on a strip of the northern U.S. from New York to Wisconsin. It is climate-specific in part because things like temperature affect the amount of milk cows produce.

At the federally owned research farm in Prairie du Sac, scientists are looking at the impact made by relatively small changes.

For example, as cows digest, they essentially burp out methane, a greenhouse gas. So, does changing the animal’s diet make its breath less toxic?

They’re also exploring possibilities like whether there’s a relationship between the amount of milk a cow produces and how much methane it gives off.

If so, it might be possible to one day tell farmers that cows with certain genes “will enhance your profits but also enhance the environment,” said Mark Powell, the USDA soil scientist leading the

team of researchers.

His and others’ work will eventually be combined into what’s called a life cycle assessment that tallies the environmental impact of the entire industry — from the corn grown to feed cows to trucks that deliver milk to grocers.

Farmers and others in the dairy industry can then use that information to assess how their decisions add up.

“Engaging the dairy producers is the most important thing on this project,” said lead researcher Matt Ruark, a UW-Madison assistant professor and extension soil scientist. “There is a public demand for milk. But cows don’t just produce milk, they also produce manure and methane.”

Klessig, whose family owns a cheese-making business along with its dairy farm, said farmers are eager for such information because their success depends on making good choices that they can explain to customers.

“We hear it from our customers at the creamery,” he said. “It’s not that we’re organic or we’re not organic. They actually want to understand what we’re doing.”

cial decisions because of a lack of revenue.

Ag land values can be “house of cards,” said Hall County board chairwoman Pam Lancaster. Everything else will either catch up or ag land will take a hit.

“It’s what’s holding us up ‫נ‬more so than any other area,” she said of the ag values.

This past year, irrigated ground assessments went up between 25 to 30 percent while dryland increases ranged from 13 to 25 per-

cent and grassland went up 25 percent.

But early indicators show that values for the 4,000 pieces of Hall County ag property are set to rise yet again.

Lancaster said based on sales figures already this year, it appears that ag land values will see another valuation increase next year. The valuation numbers are based on the three most recent years of market sales. State law requires that ag land be assessed at not more than 75 percent of market value.

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of agriculture revenue in the county comes from livestock with beef being the largest contributor.”

Alan Doster, professor and director of the Veterinary Diagnostic Center, said, “This investment made by the Cuming County Livestock Feeders Association will be well used and will help ensure we’re able to provide a high level of service to livestock producers and veterinarians in Nebraska and across the country.

We also appreciate their help in bringing attention to the need for a new state facility.”

Built in 1975, the Veterinary Diagnostic Center on UNL’s East Campus has become outdated.

According to an accreditation review last year by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, there is a need for facility upgrades and additional space to continue its responsiveness in the development and implementation of new technologies and to address biosafety and biosecurity concerns, or the center may face loss of accreditation.

The center provides testing services to professionals and organizations across the nation and is considered a national center of excellence for testing of certain diseases in livestock, which is important for keeping them healthy.

In addition to serving livestock producers, the Veterinary Diagnostic Center provides training for large animal veteri-

narians, a profession currently in demand in Nebraska. The center provides these future doctors with hands-on experience by studying specimens from current, real life animal cases. University faculty instructors and researchers conduct tests and perform research in the center that impacts agriculture across the country.

The center is also a diagnostic resource for most small animal veterinarians in Nebraska who use the laboratory’s services for quick turnaround and accurate testing of diseases specific to family pets.

Public health officials in Nebraska even rely on the Veterinary Diagnostic Center to help protect the health of humans through diagnostic testing of certain diseases that can transfer from animals to humans, such as rabies, West Nile, H1N1 and others. The center provides disease surveillance, develops new diagnostic testing methods, conducts infectious disease research and supports continuing education programs.

The gift from Cuming County Livestock Feeders Association also provides support to the University of Nebraska’s current fundraising initiative, the Campaign for Nebraska: Unlimited Possibilities, and a top priority to increase support for agriculture and life sciences.

Support for the Veterinary Diagnostic Center initiative has also been received by numerous other generous organizations and associations including the Nebraska Cattlemen, Boone Nance Cattleman, South Central Cattlemen,

Exeter Feeders and Breeders, Thayer County Livestock Feeders, Saunders County Livestock Association, Morrill County Cattlemen and Bridgeport Affiliate.

Cuming County Livestock Feeders Association will celebrate 60 years of service in 2014. Its 240 members include livestock producers, businesses, students and related industries. With support from its members and fundraising events, the association’s board meets monthly to allocate funds for adult and youth education programs, scholarships, 4-H support, beef promotion and other worthy industry causes. It’s an affiliate of the Nebraska Cattlemen and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Over the years many local, state and national leaders have had ties to Cuming County, with the most recent being J.D. Alexander, the past president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

The University of Nebraska Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization raising private gifts to support the University of Nebraska for more than 75 years. In 2012, donors provided the university with $165 million for scholarships, medical and other research, academic programs, faculty and buildings. All foundation funds are donor designated. The foundation’s comprehensive fundraising campaign, the Campaign for Nebraska, has raised more than $1.5 billion for the university and concludes in 2014. For more information, visit campaignfornebraska. org.

For Time and Temperature information, call the Telegraph at 532-6007

5 Residential Real Estate

613 Feed/Hay/Grain EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

551 Acreages & Lots (6) 1 Acre Lots MAXWELL Sewer-Water & Electrical Ready New owner-lower Price (308) 539-4407

& 6 Farm Ranch

Big round round bales of M e a d o w H a y. N o r t h o f Arnold. $125 to $140 per ton. 402-376-4984 WA N T E D C o r n s t a l k s f o r Winter grazing with pregnant cows, References available.

Call 308-530-6045

625 Livestock

WE BUY AND SELL TRAILERS EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

828 Household Goods Need a Stair lift? Best price guarantee. www.nebraskastairlift.com 308-325-2759 Grey & mauve sofa & love seat $500. Burgundy rec l i n e r, $ 1 0 0 . M o s s g r e e n queen sofa s l e e p e r, $400. mens Extended Schwinn bike, $75. All proceeds go to MS Bike Team. 308-532-6896

FOR MORE INFO! 308-532-9263

604 Farm Machinery New, Used & Rebuilt tractor parts. Most makes and models. Buying tractors, combines & hay equipment for salvage.

Miller Repair LLC, Maxwell, NE. 308-582-4303. Email: millerrepair@yahoo. com Want to buy good used Irrigation motor - 150 HP Call 308-530-7329.

607 Farm Produce GRAPES FOR SALE Taking orders for grapes.

308-532-1397 or 308-530-9740 New Crop Potato’s & Yukon Gold’s Excellent quality.

While supplies last 50 pound bag $25.

(308) 539-7000

613 Feed/Hay/Grain NEW BIG rounds of Prairie hay & alfalfa mix (308) 532-7967 or 308- 539-7967 For Sale small square ba l e s a l f a l f a & p r a i r i e h a y, Orchard grass alfalfa mix, call Mann Hay Company. 308-537-3665 Alfalfa - Small Square Alfalfa bales for sale. 3rd c u t . Ve r y c l e a n . N e v e r rained on. Always covered. 308 386-4595

NEBRASKA’S LARGEST SHEEP & GOAT SALE Palmyra livestock Market (402) 780-5858 6:30pm Every Monday Night Palmyralivetockmarket.com Trucking Available meet at North Platte & Elm Creek Trucking info 402-890-2447

8 Merchandise 828 Household Goods Complete set of Jungle Themed decorations for a child’s bedroom.

Inc l u d e s : 2 P a l m Tr e e Shelves, Monkey picture board, Monkey Clock with swinging tail, Monkey Lamp, Set of 3 wall plaques (lion, giraffe, elephant), and 2 picture prints with jungle animals.

EXCELLENT CONDITION! Retail at over $300, asking $150.

Please call 308-5203318 Home furniture, solid oak bookcases, cedar lined cabinet, queen sleigh bed with box springs, computer a r m o r, diamond back mountain bike, china hutch, round pine table with 4 chairs, (308) 660-0833 P i c n i c Ta b l e , $ 2 0 . Ya r d swing, $40.

Glass shelved book case, $100, 6 piece sectional couch $500. Matching c h a i r, $200.

Large dresser with m i r r o r, $300. Hutch, $200. (308) 532-7432

Scooter for Sale Please call Mike or Joe Located at Hershey NE Home: 720-216-0549 Cell: 308-530-0206

849 Pets

1005 Cars

1013 Campers/RVs

A K C P u g p u p p y, 1 m a l e & 1 female. first shots & wormed. (308) 539-6031

C H E V R O L E T 2 0 0 2 C AVILER- white, runs good, tow package, 150,000 miles 4 cylinder 35 MPG, n e w m u f f l e r, n e w b r a k e s , $1,500. Great school or work car. 308-532-9034.

FLEETWOOD 1994 T E R RY - 5 t h w h e e l , v e r y good clean condition.

Lots of new parts, $4000. (308) 535-0553

Great Dane (308) 520- 3847.

Puppies.

AKC English Springer Spaniel, Born August 19, Tr i - C o l o r L i v e r, Ve r y Cute, Great Family Pet a n d H u n t e r, C a l l 3 0 8 222-0078, will email pictures.

837 Machinery & Tools

AKC German Short hair puppies. 40 years of superior hunter/pets. Black o r l i v e r, $ 5 5 0 a n d u p .

Plum Thicket Kennels.

308-627-3735 or 308-987-2294

12” 1 hp bandsaw $150.

12” drum sander $600. jointer $200. 1/3 hp concrete mixer $150. 12ton press $75. 9,000 BTU portable AC $250. 406250-8589

AKC Black & Silver Mini S c h n a u z e r s , Ta i l s a r e docked, declaws removed, 1st set of shots and dewormed.

All males left, $600. Call 308-874-6009

849 Pets German Shepherd pups.

Out of AKC parents. 1st shots & wormed.

Will deliver to North Platte.

(308) 834- 3248

& 10 Automotive Transportation 1005 Cars

CADILLAC 1996 D E VILLE CONCORE105,000 miles good condition, $3800 OBO. (308) 532-5417

AKC YORKIE PUPPY’S 1 GIRLS SHOTS, VET CHECKED, STARTED HOUSE TRAINING. 308-870-3023

CADILLAC 1993 SEVILLE - high miles (Hwy miles) Runs good (2) new front tires, wheel alignment, new serpentine belt & pulley new hood cylinders, a i r, cruise & everything works good. doesn’t use oil. $1,600 Firm (308) 289-0712

MONOCO 2000 40’- 2 slide outs, near new tires, 330 HP Cummings, Allison 6 speed auto transmission & side radiator. Very clean.

31,511 miles. Call for list of many options.

PRICE REDUCED! 308-352-4866

1025 Motorcycles

C H RY S L E R 2 0 0 2 S E B R I N G L X - V- 6 , 8 3 , 0 0 0 m i les, white, $4900. (308) 520-2612

K AWA S A K I 1997 VULCAN CLASSIC 1500-, less than 21,000 miles. $3,200. (308) 368-7411

P O N T I A C 2 0 0 7 G 6 - V- 6 Sedan, 67,000 miles, $8,500. 308-520-8563

1031 Pickups

FORD 1939 TUDOR- No Ti t l e Flat head V8, DODGE 1935 DE S O TO - N o Ti t l e , 4 d o o r S u i c i d e d o o r s , a i r f l o w, F O R D 1 9 6 6 M U S TA N G 2 door coupe. ALL original, good shape. (308) 641- 6573

1010 Boats & Motors

Brittany Puppies! NE CO’s finest birddogs.

AKC 6M 4F Hunt/ Retrieve, $500. gaylenewth@gmail. com 970-466-9915

Japanese Chins; Adorable, calm, quiet TOY breed. Excellent Senior companions Pad trained & vaccinated. Delivery available. 402-925-2976

M E R C U RY 2 0 0 0 G R A N D MARQUIS - sedan, very good condition, new tires, 130,000 miles, $3,000. (308) 534- 8607 OLDSMOBILE 1999 ALERO COUPEin good condition 151,000 miles $1,900. (308) 5348607

I N VA D E R 199418.5’ long 4.3 liter Mercruiser Inboard Boat. Only 2 owners, very clean and well taken care of. New custom Sony Marine Stereo System includes, R600-5 Rockford Fosgate Amp, 2-10” subs and 4-6x9 speakers. REDUCED $7000.

308-520-7965 SEA R AY 2007 185 S P O R T- 4 . 3 L , m e r c u r y, 190 H P, Wa k e b o a r d tower & racks, speakers, lights, swim deck & ladd e r, B r a n d n e w a m p , AM/FM/CD snap on cover & winter $22,000 OBO. 308-530-9591

GMC 2004 SIERRA- 3/4 ton, 4 wheel drive, white, 215,000 miles. $8000 OBO. 308-660-3500 CHEVROLET 2005 2500 LT - D u r a m a x , 4 w h e e l drive, extended cab, long box, heated seats, 5 t h w h e e l b a l l , t o p p e r, grill guard, 57,800 miles, new tires, $26,000. Call 308-362-9033 FORD 2003 F350 DIESEL -REDUCED must sell! off road, 4 wheel drive, extended cab, 6.0L, automatic, power seat & w i n d o w, AC, hookup for 5th wheel. $7,000. OBO. 308-5302096 or 308-530-4123

1032 SUVs CHEVROLET 1999 SUBURBAN- 3 row seating. $4,500. OBO. FORD 1994 F150- long b o x w i t h t o p p e r, $ 1 , 5 0 0 OBO. (308) 383-9594

1040 Vans DODGE 1993 RAM MARK III- Handicap lift,.

Also 3 older pickups.

928-597-0006

from Page 15

also a good drainage medium, and lighten the load when large pots need to be moved around, Tornio says.

Homemade remedies Old wives’ tales abound for solving all kinds of garden problems, from pesky deer to acidic soil, but many of them actually work.

And much of what you need may be sitting in your kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

Coffee grounds, for example, can be sprinkled at the bottom of any plant to improve drainage in clay soils, and especially plants that like rich, moist organic soils like azaleas and blueberries, Tornio says.

Tornio says soap can keep

deer from feasting on trees and plants. She suggests breaking a bar of soap into pieces and hanging them from strings or in old nylons or net bags on trees or other structures near prime deer feeding areas. The scent could also keep other pests away.

Terry Grahl, founder and CEO of the Michiganbased nonprofit Enchanted Makeovers, uses the guts left over from her husband’s fishing trips as fertilizer for her gardens.

Finely crushed egg shells can be used as compost or a way to add calcium to soils, while larger pieces keep snails and slugs at bay, according to Florida’s Manatee County Extension Service.

Whimsical decor Household items can also add a touch of whimsy to garden decor. Use an old mu-

sical instrument like a tuba to build a water fountain, or create a “bottle garden” by placing empty soda bottles over tree branches with your kids, says Sara JenkinsSutton, vice president of Chicago-based garden and floral design firm Topiarius Urban Garden.

“When your cheese grater starts to turn rusty, turn it over, hang it on a deck and fill it with flowers, plants or outdoor chalk,” she suggests.

Scatter vintage chairs or old farm equipment throughout your garden to add height and depth, and make a funky wind chime out of old wine bottles.

Worried about your reused junk looking like, well, junk?

Tornio suggests covering old containers with wallpaper or tying a ribbon around them to freshen them up and keep your front stoop looking good.

t

USE

AG NEWS AT A GLANCE

World-Herald News Service

Nebraska fall may see more precipitation

LINCOLN — It could be a wet fall, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln climatologist says.

The state is seeing an uptick in precipitation just as harvest will be getting under way across Nebraska, said Al Dutcher, state climatologist in the university’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“We have a strong monsoonal flow still holding on” in the desert southwest, he said. “We’ve seen heavy precipitation through the southern and central Rockies with mass flooding. As upper air troughs push into the Central Plains, they

are bumping up against this tropical moisture and therefore we get stationary thunderstorm development, which are high precipitation events.”

The monsoonal flow has expanded to the western high plains of Kansas and parts of Texas. western Nebraska also sits on the northern perimeter of this, he said.

“We do have some potential of seeing improvements in soil moisture levels based on this monsoon flow,” he said.

The brief battle with extreme heat is over, Dutcher said. There could still be a day or two this fall that will hit the 90 degree mark, particularly in western Nebraska, but for the most part models are showing typical fall temperature swings.

KITTENS!

KITTENS!

KITTENS!

SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM! PLEASE SPAY & NEUTER TO PREVENT OVERPOPULATION!

ATHENA & TIPSY - *Longest Shelter Cat Residents* Over a month in the shelter! 5 months old, sisters, litter trained.

Good with kids, cats, dogs. Very sleek and dazzling. Spunky best friends! Desperate for a home, so bored in a kennel!

CLARA - 5-6 year old, female, Chihuahua Blend. Can kid, cat, dog test. Was TERRIFIED but is warming up.. the loud shelter is no place for this quiet, sensitive little girl! Would make a great companion!

BANJO - 4-5 year old, neutered male, Poodle Blend. Was a stray. Loves to be held, does good on a leash. Can kid, cat, dog test. Total lap dog, cutie patootie!

REESE - Adult, neutered male. Litter trained, good with kids, cats, dogs. Reese is a very mellow, people loving cat. He just wants to be your side kick and lay by your side. If you need a forever companion, REESE is your guy! He is awesome!

STOCKMAN’S VETERINARY CLINIC N. HWY 83 • NO. PLATTE

308-532-7210

TIME TOOL AND EQUIPMENT 308.534.9370 South Jeffers Small Animal Hospital

308-534-3701

BAT - 9 month old, spayed female, Pug/Pomeranian Blend. Housebroken, good with kids & dogs, can cat test. Loves to play and be cuddled! So cute she'll drive you "batty!"

RUE - Adult, neutered male. Adopted once, he was returned due to owner allergies. He is super sad & depressed and needs a new home, asap to lift his spirits.

Good with kids, cats, dogs & litter trained.

Striking markings, fantastic cat!

BUD - 6 year old, intact male, Chocolate Lab. Knows sit, stay down - SMART! Female dogs only, bring your dog in to test for perfect match. Bright personality, lots of love to give and fun to be had!

SERENA - Adult, female. Litter trained, very outgoing & social. Thrives for attention. So beautiful and adorable!

Fur the Love of PAWS passionately dedicated to saving animals in need at the North Platte Animal Shelter as well as animals in the community facebook.com/FurtheLoveof PAWSRescue

(308) 532-4880 220 W. Fremont Dr • North Platte

CARLA - Black cats are the least likely to be adopted, simply because of their color.

Adult, female. Litter trained, good with all.

Affectionate, just wants to be with people and will bring you so much cheer!

SOPHIE - *Longest Shelter Dog Resident* 9 month old, spayed female, Greyhound Blend. Adopted once, returned due to owners moving. She has been in the shelter for far too much of her young life. Good with dogs & kids, *no cats!* Super sweet & pretty!

sjeklocha

VETERINARY CLINIC Dr. Susan Sjeklocha

1306 N. Buffalo Bill • North Platte • 308.534.1257

Westfield Small Animal Clinic 308-534-4480

NORTH PLATTE VETERINARY CLINIC 308-532-0366

308-532-5474

STUDS - 2-3 year old, intact male, Boxer/American Pit Bull Terrier Blend. Can kid, cat, dog test. Very shy and mellow boy, reserved and quiet. He loves people and loves to be by your side. Seems so sad, can't you help cheer him up by adopting? He's a great dog!

NORTH PLATTE 308-534-7636 800-303-7636 MAYWOOD 308-362-4228 800-233-4551

Cans for Critters Recycling Program Proceeds benefit the Rescue of Shelter Pets & Homeless Animals of NP Area.

Call for Drop Off Locations 520-7762

facebook.com/NPCansforCritters