ABC Seamless ABS Distributing Adams Bank & Trust Ag & Auto Diesel Service Ag-Logix Ag Solutions/Lamar Fertilizer Ag Valley Co-Op Ag West Commodities LLC Agri-Affiliates Inc All Points Co-Op American Mortgage American Agency The Andersons Arnold Pool Company Arrowcraft LLC Astro Buildings Bank of Stapleton Berger’s Herdmasters Big Iron/Stock Realty/Auction Bio Ag Solutions Bristol Windows Budke PowerSports Bullock Corn Stoves Carhart Kitchen & Bath
Carhart Lumber Cedar Lane Seeds Channel Charles Sargent Irrigation Cleary Building Corp CPI-Cooperative Producers Inc Cornhusker Cleaning Systems Crossroads Welding DDM Land Management LLC Dakota Brand Tags Dawson Public Power District Downey Drilling DuPont Pioneer Eagle Radio Eko Tuning Emerson Equipment Energy Wise Inc Equitable Bank Extreme Ag, Inc Farm Bureau Financial Services Farm Credit Services of America Farmers National Company Farmers State Bank Farm & Ranch Exchange -
NP Telegraph Farm & Ranch Network The Fence Post First National Bank North Platte Frontier Livestock Solutions Inc Furst-McNess Company Gateway Realty Great Western Bank Heartland Farm Partners Hershey State Bank High Plains Journal Holzfaster’s Equipment Inc Hotsy Equipment Company Huskeradio Inland Truck Parts J L Enterprises J & K Irrigation/Electric Rain Jantzen Equipment Company KC Equipment LLC K & K Service Inc KNOP/KIIT/KNPL KRVN Radio Kelly’s Sales & Service Kildare Lumber Company
Kris’ Connection - US Cellular Kugler Company Kuhn Knight of Lexington L & V Innovations Lashley Land & Recreational Brokers M & N Millwright Matheson/Linweld Mentzer Oil Company Mid-Plains Community College Mike’s Motorcycles & ATV Repair Miller Evolve LLC Miller Repair Monsanto Mycogen Murphy Tractor & Equipment NMC– Nebraska Machinery Co Nebraska AgrAbility/NE Dept of Ag Nebraskaland National Bank Pivo Trac Monitoring Plains Equipment Group Pro Printing & Graphics Professional Financial Advisors Regier Equipment
Renk Seed Sandhills Service Sandhills State Bank Sapp Bros Petroleum Scott Hourigan Company The Scoular Company Select Sprayers Servi-Tech STEPS Simplot Grower Solutions South Central Diesel Sukup Manufacturing Company Syngenta Texas Refinery Corporation Titan Machinery Twin Platte NRD Valley Pro Irrigation Inc Weathercraft Companies Webb’s Sickle Service Wells Fargo Bank NA Western Insurors Western Nebraska Bank/ Nebraska Insurance Y-Bar Enterprises
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AG BRIEF
Construction underway at site of deadly plant collapse OMAHA (AP) — A year after the partial collapse of an Omaha animal feed processing plant killed two people and injured nine others, a new, modern plant is being built at the site. After the Jan. 20, 2014, collapse of the International Nutrition plant, the facility was demolished. Construction has begun on a new plant, and officials say it
will look nothing like its predecessor. Company president Steven Silver says the new design brings the building “up to today’s code,” with state-of-the-art mixing equipment and safety features. He says the plant will resume livestock feed production. The Omaha WorldHerald reports about six of the 25 employees laid off after the accident have been rehired, including at least one injured employee. Silver says he expects the new plant to open by late summer.
Time & Temp — 532-6007
USDA seeking applicants for grants Telegraph staff reports The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development is seeking applications for the Rural Energy for America Program. REAP is available to agricultural producers and rural small for-profit businesses to complete energy efficiency improvements or install a renewable energy system to their current farm or business operations. Grants and guaranteed loans may be used for the purchase and installation of energy efficiency equipment and renewable energy systems, such as heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) units, lighting, windows, pivots or sub-surface drip tape systems as well as, irrigation engines or motors, variable frequency drives, grain dryers, geothermal systems, solar panels, wind turbines and aneorobic digesters. Grants are for 25
percent of the total eligible project costs, and guaranteed loans are for up to 75 percent of the total eligible project costs. Rural is defined as cities with a population of less than 50,000. Applications are to be submitted to your local Rural Development office no later than close of business, 4:30 p.m., April 30 and June 30. All applications submitted are selected based on a competitive scoring process, which is outlined within the application packet. A REAP grant was given to Wagner’s Supermarket, located in Arapahoe, to replace existing freezers and coolers in their grocery store. A 30 percent annual energy savings has been realized in the past year as a result of the project. REAP, authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2014, is designed to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses
to reduce energy costs and consumption and help meet the Nation’s critical energy needs. USDA is accepting the following applications: ■ Energy Audit and Renewable Energy Development Assistance Grants (for State, Tribal, or Local Government, and Councils to conduct energy audits to assist agricultural producers and rural small businesses) until Feb. 12; ■ Energy Efficiency Improvements and Renewable Energy Systems GRANT applications, combination grant and guaranteed loan applications until April 30 and June 30; ■ Energy Efficiency Improvements and Renewable Energy Systems guaranteed loan only applications will be accepted continuously and compete monthly. For more information regarding the REAP program, visit www.rurdev.usda. gov/BCP_Reap.html. To discuss a proposed project, ask
questions, or to obtain an application template, contact one of the following business programs specialists near you: ■ Bill Sheppard, bill.sheppard@ne.usda.gov or 402-371-5350 ext. 1004 — northeast and southeast counties ■ Kelley Messenger, kelley.messenger@ ne.usda.gov or 308-2373118 ext. 1120 — north and south central counties ■ Marla Marx, marla.marx@ne.usda.gov or 308-632-2195 ext. 1132 — panhandle including northwest and southwest counties For additional information on RD projects, please visit Rural Development’s new interactive Web map featuring program funding and success stories for fiscal years 2009-13. The data can be found at rurdev.usda. gov/RDSuccessStories. html.
JANUARY 2015
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Proposal could reduce rates of salmonella and campylobacter by 25%
with new standards aimed at reducing the number of cases of foodborne illness by 50,000 a year.
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Please see NEW, Page 4
WASHINGTON (AP) — A favorite staple of American diets — chicken breasts, legs and wings — could become safer to eat. Standards proposed Wednesday by the Agriculture Department aim to reduce rates of salmonella and campylobacter, another pathogen that can cause symptoms similar to salmonella, in chicken parts, ground chicken and ground turkey. The standards would be voluntary but designed to pressure companies to take steps to reduce contamination. USDA says the proposed standards could reduce raw poultry-related foodborne illnesses by about a quarter, or 50,000 illnesses a year. Among the measures companies could take to reduce the rates of the salmonella and campylobacter: better screening of flocks and better sanitation. The proposal would ask poultry producers to reduce the rates of salmonella in raw chicken parts from
an estimated 24 percent now to less than 16 percent and campylobacter rates in raw chicken parts from an estimated 22 percent to 8 percent. Rates also would be reduced in ground chicken and turkey, and sampling would be done over a longer period of time to ensure accuracy. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said companies should realize that complying is good business. “It’s in the long-term best interest of the market to have safer food,” Vilsack said. Ashley Peterson of the National Chicken Council said the industry has already made improvements. She said poultry companies have been exploring options to reduce contamination, including strengthened sanitation programs, temperature controls and ways of processing. Once the standards are put in place, “we will be meeting or exceeding the standards,” she said. The standards come after a lengthy The Associated Press outbreak of salmonella illnesses linked to California chicken com- In this September 2008 file photo, chickens huddle in their cages at an egg pany Foster Farms, which sickened processing plant at the Dwight Bell Farm in Atwater, California. The governmore than 600 people between March ment is pushing the poultry industry to make its chicken and turkey a little safer
3 JANUARY 2015
New gov’t standards target pathogens in poultry products
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Ag profits rejuvenate Iowa, Nebraska farms COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Agriculture officials say an increase in corn and soybean profit is bringing young Iowans and Nebraskans back to the farm. Charles Wiiest, market president of the Nebraska-based Arbor Bank, says young people are now more likely to start their own farm or join their family’s farming business. Wiiest credits this influx to improved profitability in the agriculture industry in recent years.
The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports corn currently can bring in up to $4 per bushel and soybeans $10 per bushel. Wiiest says these numbers show significant profit growth from when he graduated college in the late 1990s. Wiiest says expanding career opportunities in the agriculture industry has also attracted the younger generation. He says chemists and veterinarians are among new careers in high demand.
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2013 and July 2014. In 2013, USDA said inspectors at Foster Farms facilities had documented “fecal material on carcasses” along with poor sanitation. Foster Farms took measures to improve its sanitation and screening, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later said the company’s products were down to 5 percent contamination. Vilsack said the Foster Farms outbreaks led the department to realize it needed to be more focused on reducing salmonella in chicken parts. The department already had
standards in place for whole carcasses but not individual parts like breasts and wings. The new proposal would cover the various parts, which the USDA says is about 80 percent of chicken available for purchase. USDA also would make public which companies are meeting the standards or going beyond them and which companies have more work to do, giving companies more incentive to comply. Consumer advocates have lobbied for more stringent standards, saying the sale of raw poultry contaminated with salmonella should be illegal. Current law allows raw poultry to have a certain amount
of salmonella because it is so prevalent and is killed if consumers handle and cook the meat properly. By comparison, it is illegal to sell meat contaminated with E. coli, which can cause severe illness or death. Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said the proposed standards would be better if they were enforced. “USDA can’t close a facility that fails to meet these standards,” she said. Around 1 million Americans get sick from salmonella every year, and almost 20 percent of those illnesses are linked to chicken and turkey.
California ag secretary says it’s time for producers to share the spotlight
By LORI POTTER World-Herald News Service
“
dream is to make farmers the rock stars.”
”
—K AREN ROSS, CALIFORNIA AG SECRETARY, ABOUT ELEVATING STATUS OF FARMERS
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California. Farms in other states must pass a California cage inspection to sell eggs there. “[Chickens] must have to have space to stand up, turn around and flap their wings,” Ross said, joking that she calls it the “chicken dance.” She said there has been no further definition of compliance standards. California also is at the center of consumers’ growing interest in how their food is produced. “Oftentimes, it sounds like they are accusing us of things, but they really want to know,” Ross said. “So communication is critical to our future.” She never tells consumers that any method of food production is good or bad, but she does emphasize the many choices they have and the care taken by producers throughout the ag industry. Ross said today’s “foodie” discussions often focus on specialty foods and innovative cooking. Lost in the conversation is the truth that many people depend on less-expensive mass-produced commodities to put food on their tables.
KEARNEY — Farmers as rock stars? It might seem to be an “out there” idea to market down-to-earth, often humble farmers as all-star food producers. However, Nebraska native Karen Barrett Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, believes it’s time for farmers to share the spotlight as Americans’ interest in food continues to grow. “My dream is to make farmers the rock stars,” as has happened with wine makers and chefs in recent years, Ross said Saturday at the 2015 Nebraska LEAD Alumni Conference in Kearney. She grew up on a western Nebraska farm near Harrisburg in Banner County and was a member of the 34-year-old ag leadership program’s sixth class. Ross said a media series has been started that pairs California farmers and chefs. “Farmers are fabulous characters. Our young people, especially, are looking for authenticity. ... We have to stop just telling our story to each other,” she said. That’s true whether it involves reaching out to “foodies” or people with environmental concerns. Ross said that as the edges of big American cities keep spreading into rural areas, it changes how farmers’ neighbors perceive ag production practices. Such communication
efforts can include ag interests from several states. “I do look for those kinds of things,” Ross said, as she described a recent joint marketing effort in London that paired California wines with Nebraska beef. She also must defend California producers’ interests in free trade matters and look out for the needs of both large farming operations and small, specialty farms. During her time as California ag secretary, Ross has watched farmers in the state’s $7 billion (cash receipts), top-ranked dairy industry struggle to survive as their business model was “flipped” by high feed, energy, land and water costs. The old model also was tied to fluid milk sales, which now are less than 12 percent of the dairy products California producers sell across the country and as exports. “I’ve cried a lot of tears over this,” Ross said, because she’s now in a position to see the effects of decisions she makes. Labor is another concern for dairies and other California farms. Ross said California officials are trying to educate members of Congress about the need for a guest worker program that will ensure enough farm workers to produce and harvest crops. Governmentand consumer-driven regulations also are big issues. Proposition 2 govcage sizes erns for laying hens in
“My
5 JANUARY 2015
Farmers should have rock star status of chefs, wine makers
JANUARY 2015
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Study: $18B cost to divert Missouri River to farms Irrigating crops in western Kansas would need another $1B to operate each year KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Building a 360-mile aqueduct to reroute water from the Missouri River to irrigate crops in western Kansas where underwater stores are being exhausted would cost $18 billion and require an additional $1 billion each year to operate, a new draft report shows. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that building an aqueduct to transport excess
water from the river would take 20 years and cost $12.2 billion, plus $5.8 billion in interest. The estimate doesn’t include the costs of permits or restoring habitat lost as a result of the project, which could boost the cost “significantly higher,” said John Grothaus, chief of the water planning section for the corps’ Kansas City district. The proposed con-
crete-lined canal and 15 pump stations would start near White Cloud, along the Nebraska border, and end near Utica. A similar 1982 analysis, undertaken at the request of Congress, estimated construction would cost $3.7 billion and interest $4.2 billion. “Nothing materialized, and it looks like they kicked the can down the road at the very least,” Grothaus said. The Kansas Water Office posted a draft summary, which included the corps’ findings, online this month and will present
the complete analysis Jan. 29 to an advisory entity called the Kansas Water Authority. A state committee tasked with updating the 1982 analysis asked for the study because water levels are declining in the Ogallala Aquifer, a vast network of underground water locked in the porous limestone deep below the surface in the High Plains region of the U.S., stretching from Wyoming and South Dakota to the Texas and Oklahoma panhandle regions. It is the primary source of fresh water for the entire area. Kansas Gov. Sam
Brownback has said that Ogallala’s storage could be nearly 70 percent spent in 50 years if nothing changes. “This is a lot of money,” said Kansas Senate Natural Resources Committee Chairman Larry Powell. He estimated that, with the report showing that water from the aqueduct would cost farmers $450 per-acre foot in today’s dollars, it would cost upward of $90,000 to irrigate 100 acres of corn. At that price, he asked, “is it going to be feasible to raise corn to feed cattle? It might not be.”
The project already has received some pushback, with Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon calling it “ill-advised” in a November 2013 letter to Brownback. Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said in an email Wednesday that the governor’s position remained the same. Earl Lewis, assistant director of the Kansas Water Office, said, he didn’t know the chances for the project being pursued and acknowledged that concerns had been raised. “Anytime you talk about a significant
Please see RIVER, Page 7
Beef feedlot roundtables set IANR News LINCOLN — Beef feedlot managers, owners, employees and supporting industry personnel will learn the latest in feedlot health, nutrition, and economics at the 2015 Beef Feedlot Roundtables Feb. 10-12 in Bridgeport, Lexington and West Point with remote connections to locations in Iowa and South Dakota. The University of NebraskaLincoln Extension Roundtables will be offered Feb. 10 at the Prairie Winds Community Center in Bridgeport, at
the Holiday Inn Express in Lexington on Feb. 11, and the Nielsen Community Center in West Point on Feb. 12. Registration begins at 8 a.m. with introductions and welcome at 8:20 by local Nebraska Extension Educators. University and industry representatives will discuss beef cattle economics, animal health, nutrition and management. The program will also include a producer/industry panel on recruiting and retaining quality employees.
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amount of water and you are talking about moving water from one place to another, you are going to create some controversy,” Lewis said. “Even the study of looking at it, there is controversy being created with it right now.” But he said that in Western states where water-transfer projects have been completed, the benefits are “significant.” The aqueduct, he said, “becomes a policy question. What do we want to see happen in the future? And how do we want to see it happen?”
The Nebraska Beef Council will give an update on new beef products and sponsor lunch at Nebraska locations. Feedlot economics and research topics include: Performance and carcass characteristics when minimal amounts of corn grain are included in the diet; a market outlook and economics associated with re-building the cow herd; managing dairy breeds in feedlots; and current animal health issues. Pre-registration is available by phone, fax, e-mail or mail and requested by Feb. 3. Cost is $30 and will be accepted with preregistration at the door. Cost for those who have not pre-registered will be $40. For more information or a registration form contact Matt Luebbe at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center, 4502 Ave I, Scottsbluff NE 69361, 308-632-1260, FAX 308-632-1365
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LINCOLN — Starting Jan. 30, Nebraska Extension will host 11 beef profitability workshops to help beef producers evaluate their operations to make them more profitable thorough latest research information. UNL Extension educators Steve Pritchard, Larry Howard, Dennis Bauer, Gary Stauffer, Jim Jansen and Steve Niemeyer will present information and practical approaches for producers. The Extension-sponsored workshops have been held across Nebraska for 11 years. Cost is $10, but may vary from location depending on local sponsorship. Those interested can register by calling the local Extension office in the host county at least three days before the workshop to ensure there are enough handouts and refreshments. For more information, contact Steve Niemeyer, UNL Extension Educator in Garfield, Loup, and Wheeler counties, at 308-346-4200 or sniemeyer1@unl.edu. Dates, sites, speakers and contact information for the sessions are: ■ 1 p.m. Jan. 29, courthouse meeting room, Center (no meal). Speakers are Dennis Bauer and Steve Pritchard. Contact Ruth Vonderohe, 402-288-5611. ■ 6 p.m. Jan. 29, courthouse, Pierce (with meal). Speakers are Dennis Bauer and Steve Pritchard. Contact Ann Fenton, 402-329-4821. ■ 11 a.m. Jan 30, Colfax County
Fairgrounds, Leigh (with meal). Speakers are Steve Niemeyer and Gary Stauffer. Contact Aaron Nygren, 402-352-3821. ■ 6 p.m. Feb. 2, courthouse, Hartington (with meal). Speakers are Steve Pritchard and Gary Stauffer. Contact Jim Jansen, 402254-6821. ■ Noon Feb. 3, courthouse, Neligh (with lunch). Speakers are Dennis Bauer, Larry Howard and Jim Jansen. Contact Rod Wilke, 402-8875414. ■ 1:30 p.m. Feb. 5, Valley Fairgrounds, Ord (no meal). Speakers are Steve Niemeyer, Gary Stauffer and Larry Howard. Contact Doug Anderson, 308-728-5071. ■ 1:30 p.m. Feb. 10, courthouse, O’Neil (no meal). Speakers are Dennis Bauer and Gary Stauffer. Contact Gary Stauffer, 402-336-2760. ■ 6:30 p.m. Feb. 10, Methodist Church, Bassett (no meal). Speakers are Gary Stauffer and Dennis Bauer. Contact Dennis Bauer, 402-3872213. ■ 1:30 p.m. Feb. 17, location TBA, Albion (no meal). Contact Steve Pritchard, 402-395-2158. ■ 6:30 p.m. Feb. 19, courthouse, West Point (no meal). Contact Larry Howard, 402-372-6006. ■ 1:30 p.m. Feb. 24, community room, Taylor (no meal). Speakers are Dennis Bauer, Gary Stauffer and Larry Howard. Contact Steve Niemeyer, 308-346-4200.
7 or e-mail mluebbe2@unl.edu. Morning topics will cover using byproduct or corn in feedlot diets: Performance and carcass characteristics to maintain similar gain and marbling, Andrea Watson, UNL Animal Sciences; market outlook and re-building the cow herd, Kate Brooks, UNL Agriculture Economics; the 2014 feedlot labor marketing, and management survey results, Jake Birch, UNL Agribusiness Graduate Program; a producer/industry roundtable discussion of labor challenges; and Beef Council update, Doug Straight, Nebraska Beef Council. Afternoon sessions will cover feedlot health and nutrition with the following presentations: Managing Holstein beef-animal health considerations, Dan Grooms, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University; managing Holstein beef-feedlot nutrition and technology, Dan Loy, Iowa State University; Betaagonists in feedlots, Galen Erickson, UNL Animal Science; and research update, Matt Luebbe, UNL Extension.
JANUARY 2015
Extension to host beef workshops BEEF
JANUARY 2015
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ABC Seamless ABS Distributing Adams Bank & Trust Ag & Auto Diesel Service Ag-Logix Ag Solutions/Lamar Fertilizer Ag Valley Co-Op Ag West Commodities LLC Agri-Affiliates Inc All Points Co-Op American Mortgage American Agency The Andersons Arnold Pool Company Arrowcraft LLC Astro Buildings Bank of Stapleton Berger’s Herdmasters Big Iron/Stock Realty/Auction Bio Ag Solutions Bristol Windows Budke PowerSports Bullock Corn Stoves Carhart Kitchen & Bath
Carhart Lumber Cedar Lane Seeds Channel Charles Sargent Irrigation Cleary Building Corp CPI-Cooperative Producers Inc Cornhusker Cleaning Systems Crossroads Welding DDM Land Management LLC Dakota Brand Tags Dawson Public Power District Downey Drilling DuPont Pioneer Eagle Radio Eko Tuning Emerson Equipment Energy Wise Inc Equitable Bank Extreme Ag, Inc Farm Bureau Financial Services Farm Credit Services of America Farmers National Company Farmers State Bank Farm & Ranch Exchange -
NP Telegraph Farm & Ranch Network The Fence Post First National Bank North Platte Frontier Livestock Solutions Inc Furst-McNess Company Gateway Realty Great Western Bank Heartland Farm Partners Hershey State Bank High Plains Journal Holzfaster’s Equipment Inc Hotsy Equipment Company Huskeradio Inland Truck Parts J L Enterprises J & K Irrigation/Electric Rain Jantzen Equipment Company KC Equipment LLC K & K Service Inc KNOP/KIIT/KNPL KRVN Radio Kelly’s Sales & Service Kildare Lumber Company
Kris’ Connection - US Cellular Kugler Company Kuhn Knight of Lexington L & V Innovations Lashley Land & Recreational Brokers M & N Millwright Matheson/Linweld Mentzer Oil Company Mid-Plains Community College Mike’s Motorcycles & ATV Repair Miller Evolve LLC Miller Repair Monsanto Mycogen Murphy Tractor & Equipment NMC– Nebraska Machinery Co Nebraska AgrAbility/NE Dept of Ag Nebraskaland National Bank Pivo Trac Monitoring Plains Equipment Group Pro Printing & Graphics Professional Financial Advisors Regier Equipment
Renk Seed Sandhills Service Sandhills State Bank Sapp Bros Petroleum Scott Hourigan Company The Scoular Company Select Sprayers Servi-Tech STEPS Simplot Grower Solutions South Central Diesel Sukup Manufacturing Company Syngenta Texas Refinery Corporation Titan Machinery Twin Platte NRD Valley Pro Irrigation Inc Weathercraft Companies Webb’s Sickle Service Wells Fargo Bank NA Western Insurors Western Nebraska Bank/ Nebraska Insurance Y-Bar Enterprises