USMCA Takes Effect: Welcome News for Struggling Farmers

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) goes into effect tomorrow, at a crucial time for farmers and ranchers struggling to recover from COVID-19 losses and a depressed agricultural economy. The expected $2 billion annual increase in U.S. agricultural exports and overall increase of $65 billion in gross domestic product will provide a welcome boost. USDA estimates COVID-19 contributed to a $50 billion decline in commodity value alone for 2019, 2020 and 2021 production totals.…

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USDA Adds Digital Options for Farmers and Ranchers to Apply for Coronavirus Food Assistance Program

Online portal, e-signature tool enable producers to apply from anywhere WASHINGTON, June 25, 2020 – USDA’s Farm Service Agency will now accept applications for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) through an online portal, expanding the options available to producers to apply for this program, which helps offset price declines and additional marketing costs because of the coronavirus pandemic. FSA is also leveraging commercial document storage and e-signature solutions to enable producers to…

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Considerations for marketing beef directly to consumers

Products like those sold at the K-State meat lab are offered direct to local customers. Due to the COVID-19 limitations, consumers are looking to farmers and ranchers to fill the void MANHATTAN, Kan. — Most will agree there is nothing that compares to the taste of fresh produce or meat that comes straight from the farm. And in light of perceived food shortages and a desire to know where their food comes from,…

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K-State chosen as hub for improving U.S. winter wheat

University will lead $1M project to improve winter wheat varieties MANHATTAN, Kan. – The USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture has selected Kansas State University to serve as a center for efforts to improve U.S. winter wheat varieties. The university received $1 million to establish the International Wheat Yield Partnership’s (IWYP) Winter Wheat Breeding Innovation Hub. K-State will lead the effort to evaluate research findings from several IWYP projects that contribute to…

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Cattle on Feed Adjustments Continue

David P. Anderson, Professor and Extension Economist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service The cattle feeding part of the industry has been in the midst of dramatic adjustments over the last couple of months, just like the rest of the industry. USDA released its June Cattle on Feed report on Friday, June 19th and it showed some more adjustments, but this time back in the direction of normal. After 2 months of 20 percent…

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Forage management and cow size

Steve Boyles, OSU Beef Extension Specialist Increased Hay Production per Cow: The increased use of the round baler and other hay production technologies since the early and mid-1970s (Van Keuren, OARDC –  The History of the Development of the Large Round Bale) has lowered the labor requirement and increased the convenience of hay production. Hay production per cow in the southeastern United States has increased by 136% (USDA NASS, 2016) since 1976. Reliance…

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Oats as a late summer forage crop

Jason Hartschuh and Al Gahler, OSU Extension AgNR Educators (originallypublished in The Ohio Farmer) Fungicide application significantly reduced the presence of rust. Oats is traditionally planted as the first crop in early April as a grain crop or an early season forage. One of the beauties of oats is its versatility in planting date. Oats can also be planted in the summer as an early fall forage for harvest or grazing. Summer oats…

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K-State vet shares tips for managing cattle through heat

Temperature is only part of the challenge, Tarpoff says MANHATTAN, Kan. – A Kansas State University veterinarian is urging cattle producers to beef up their plans for managing heat stress in their herds, a challenge that costs the U.S. cattle industry up to $370 million in losses each year. A.J. Tarpoff, a beef veterinarian with K-State Research and Extension, said cattle are resilient animals; they will often acclimate to hot temperatures. But an…

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Researchers seeking input about weed challenges for Kansas farmers

‘Help us to help you’ by completing survey, scientist says HAYS, Kan. – Every year Kansas farmers wage a silent but persistent battle with weeds that rob their crops of valuable moisture and nutrients in the soil and reduce crop yields. Compounding the problem is the fact that even as herbicides are developed to combat them, some weeds develop resistance to the herbicide, which then becomes less effective over time. At stake are…

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K-State Plans Webinar for Kansas Beef Producers — “Drought Preparedness for the Cow-Calf Producer” webinar will be hosted on Zoom July 9.

Registration is now open for a webinar that will help Kansas beef cattle producers prepare to manage and reduce the impacts of drought and reduced forage availability on cow herds. The webinar will be hosted by the Kansas State University (K-State) Animal Sciences and Industry Department and K-State Research and Extension via Zoom on Thursday, July 9, 2020, at noon CDT. “As the saying goes, failing to plan, is planning to fail.” says…

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