Prussic Acid Poisoning

As the first frost date approaches, producers often have concerns about the risk of prussic acid poisoning in livestock. Certain forage plants, especially sorghums and related species are associated with an increased risk of death loss because of prussic acid poisoning. Understanding how poisoning occurs and what factors are involved in contributing to those conditions will help producers take management steps to minimize their risk. What is Prussic Acid and How Does Poisoning…

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USDA Recognizes Hard-Working School Meals Professionals, Empowers Them to Do Right in School Lunchrooms

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2019 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today issued the following statement in support of President Donald J. Trump’s National School Lunch Week Proclamation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) celebrates food service professionals, school leaders, as well as the farmers, ranchers, and producers who grow the delicious, healthful, American-grown foods that kids enjoy every day in school lunches. “At USDA we recognize the importance a healthy lunch has…

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Huge Beef Quality Price Spreads

David P. Anderson, Professor and Extension Economist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Beef production has dipped below a year ago over the last couple of weeks, leading to some higher fed cattle prices and a widening Choice-Select price spread. Over the last four weeks total beef production is more than half a percent below the same period a year ago. As we all know, not all beef is the same. Over this period,…

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Hay Quality Indicators

Christine Gelley, AgNR Educator, Noble County, OSU Extension The drastic swing in temperatures from one day to the next last week should remind us all that it truly is autumn and that winter is coming. The challenges of the 2019 forage production season continue to add up. With droughty conditions across the state for the past two months, what was too lush for too long, is now crunchy and brown. Some producers are…

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Weaning Calves on Cover Crops

What do we do if it is time to wean calves, but the pen isn’t ready? That can be a real concern during wet fall seasons, such as 2019. Putting calves into muddy pen conditions is far from desirable, but holding calves on the cows deep into fall increases the risk of adverse winter weather and tends to pull body condition off the cows. Using cover crops as a feed resource for weaned…

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Agriculture Groups Urge USDA to Quickly Establish Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Bank

Representatives of the National Pork Producers Council, the National Milk Producers Federation, the National Corn Growers Association and Iowa State University called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to move as quickly as possible to establish a Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine bank. At a press conference today, these groups recognized the steps USDA has taken to establish the bank, but called for expedient use of mandatory funding included in the 2018 Farm…

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Study: Farm size not always a true gauge of profitability

K-State ag economists rank state’s farms based on 10 years of KFMA data MANHATTAN, Kan. – A pair of Kansas State University agricultural economists have taken a look at the characteristics that make farms successful in Kansas, and have found that bigger doesn’t always mean better. Greg Ibendahl and Terry Griffin reviewed 10 years of data from the Kansas Farm Management Association to develop a ranking of several hundred farms based on their…

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USDA Announces $16.2 Million to Support Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2019 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will issue $16.2 million in grants (PDF, 325 KB) to provide training, outreach, and technical assistance to underserved and veteran farmers and ranchers. This funding is available through the USDA’s Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program (also known as the 2501 Program), managed by the USDA Office of Partnerships and…

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Kansas leadership program kicks off two-year educational experience

New KARL class members come from farming, banking, corporate, community and more MANHATTAN, Kan. – From Kansas City to Garden City and Sharon Springs to Liberty, members of the newest class of the Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership program jumped into their first seminar recently to become better acquainted and hear updates on the state of agriculture and rural communities. And that was just the first night. “Awkward is awesome,” said one new…

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President Trump Delivers on a Key Promise to American Farmers as EPA, USDA Announce Agreement on Promoting Biofuels

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue issued the following statements after President Donald J. Trump successfully negotiated an agreement on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): “President Trump’s leadership has led to an agreement that continues to promote domestic ethanol and biodiesel production, supporting our Nation’s farmers and providing greater energy security,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Today’s agreement is the latest in a…

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