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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Ted Wiseman, OSU Extension, Perry County (originally published in The Ohio Cattleman) I don’t think that anyone would be surprised if I stated that getting hay made this spring was a real struggle. Spring arrived with beef cows in some of the poorest body conditions that we have seen in years. It is possible for an animal to starve to death with hay in front of them every day all winter. My intent…
U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Scott Hutchins announced today that the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has invested $11 million in research that will support specialty crop farmers. “This collaborative public-private research effort will focus on applying innovative solutions to pest management problems that often are otherwise not available to specialty crop farmers,” said Hutchins, who leads USDA’s Research, Education and Economics (REE) mission area. “Practical and economic crop…
Check out the exciting line up for this year’s Range Beef Cow Symposium in Mitchell, NE November 18-20. On Monday afternoon the program will kick off with beef quality assurance training and certification and you won’t want to miss the Ron Gill Stockmanship Clinic. Tuesday morning will begin the traditional program with Drs. John Hall and Benton Glaze from University of Idaho talking about when it pays to artificially inseminate and breed complementarity. …