Month: March 2018

From Across the Field – Tough Times in Dairy

Last week I wrote about March Madness and if you have been following the NCAA tournament you know that madness is certainly what has happened in college basketball over the last week. Needless to say but my bracket is busted just like everyone else’s at this point.

When thinking about what to write about this week I thought about a variety of topics from garden planting to bull selection and buying. However, one topic has had the attention of agriculture here as of late, in that of the dairy crisis. Continue reading From Across the Field – Tough Times in Dairy →

Ohio Agriculture Reacts To Lake Erie Impairment Designation

From Ohio Ag Net

Today, Ohio EPA released the draft 2018 water quality report that outlines the general condition of Ohio’s waters and includes a list that identifies impaired waters that are not meeting their federal or state water quality goals, as well as waters that have improved to meet federal standards.

In the draft for 2018, the Agency is proposing to designate the open waters of Lake Erie’s Western Basin (from the Michigan/Ohio state line to the Marblehead Lighthouse) as impaired for recreation due to harmful algae and drinking water due to occurrences of microcystin. Previously, only the shoreline area of the Western Basin and drinking water intakes had been designated as impaired. Continue reading Ohio Agriculture Reacts To Lake Erie Impairment Designation →

Omnibus Bill Includes 199A “Grain Glitch” Change

By: Anna Lisa-Laca, Farm Journal

The omnibus spending bill before Congress this week does include a change to Section 199A of the President’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The hotly debated 199A provision gives farmers a financial incentive to sell to cooperatives instead of private companies. Continue reading Omnibus Bill Includes 199A “Grain Glitch” Change →

Understanding Corn Protein Variability Is Important For Feed Rations

By: Matt Reese, Ohio Ag Net

Agriculture in general is highly variable due to the fact that living plants and animals are a part of production systems. As such, all parts of the production chain must adjust to the variability accordingly.

With reports of potentially wider than normal variations in corn protein levels in recent years, adjustments may need to be made to livestock feed. Continue reading Understanding Corn Protein Variability Is Important For Feed Rations →

Livestock ELD Waiver Extended to Sept. 30 with Spending Bill

By: Wyatt Bechtel, For Farm Journal’s Pork

When President Trump signed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill it also passed an extension on the electronic logging device (ELD) implementation for livestock haulers. The bill passed on March 23 included a mandate for livestock and insect haulers to have a delay until Sept. 30, 2018. Continue reading Livestock ELD Waiver Extended to Sept. 30 with Spending Bill →

From Across the Field- March Madness is Here

Having grown up in a family of sports fans, few things capture my interest more than March Madness. From the Cinderella stories to the blue bloods of both college and Ohio high school tournaments, March is the highlight of the sports calendar, unless the Reds somehow reach the World Series in my lifetime. Watching high school games at various locations and filling out a handful of NCAA brackets is something I look forward to annually.

I think March in general is a time that we look forward to, get excited, or maybe a bit anxious for. Typically, March marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring and the coming growing season. As I talk to farmers around the county, the itch to pull the planter out of the shed is beginning to grow, and understandably so. In Extension, we just came out of Conservation Tillage Conference last week, and are discussing on farm agronomy research plans today. As those in the Twittersphere and on social media would say #plant18 is just around the corner here in Ohio. Continue reading From Across the Field- March Madness is Here →

Estimates for Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage Payments for Program Year 2017

By: Ben Brown, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics- The Ohio State University, Previously on the Ohio Ag Manager.

Click Here to Access the Entire Article With Figures/Tables

The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 2014 ushered in two programs to the safety net for producers in Ohio and across the country: Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC0-CO) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC). Both programs serve as shallow loss programs protecting against large variations in revenue and price respectively. The two programs operate differently and should not be compared as substitute programs. However, producers were allowed a one time choice at the beginning of the farm bill to enroll each commodity in either ARC-CO or PLC. Participation rates in Ohio largely followed the national participation rates for corn and soybeans but differed for wheat. The national participation rate for wheat favored PLC, whereas in Ohio, producers favored heavily toward ARC-CO. Nonetheless there are producers in Ohio that are enrolled in ARC-CO and PLC for corn, soybeans, and wheat. This report looks toward the end of the marketing year to estimate county level payments for ARC-CO and PLC in Ohio. As a reminder, payments finalized in October 2018 will be for program year 2017. This information will be important for producers and lenders wishing to estimate their autumn cash flow. Continue reading Estimates for Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage Payments for Program Year 2017 →

Dairy Price Woes Continue

By Matt Reese and Ty Higgins, for Ohio Ag Net

The world is awash in milk, it seems. Production is up, consumption is down and grim economic reality is settling in for many dairy farms.

Ohio State University Extension field specialist for dairy production economics Dianne Shoemaker does not see much light at the end of the tunnel for dairy prices.

“Sadly, I am not hearing a lot that is hopeful — too many cows, lots of heifers coming up behind them, too much milk. It sounds like New Zealand is having some weather issues, so if that results in lower than expected milk production, that means less milk for export to the international market,” Shoemaker said. ‘It is a bleak picture of the next 12 months. Top this off with uncertainty about NAFTA and proposed tariffs, and it is hard to be terribly optimistic. In spite of the oversupply of milk, farmers have to manage their businesses on an individual basis, which means they are likely to produce more milk and focus on components.” Continue reading Dairy Price Woes Continue →

Get Your Fertilizer Certification…Before Planting Begins

By: Eric Richer, CCA, Ohio State University Extension

Ohio is now seeing full implementation of Ohio’s Agricultural Fertilizer Applicator Certification regulation. The regulation was result of Senate Bill 150, which can be found at http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/905.322 and http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/905.321. The 2014 regulation required farmers to complete a fertilizer certification program if they applied fertilizer to more than 50 acres of land in agricultural production primarily for sale. Exemptions included fertilizer applied through a planter, individuals whose crops remained on the farm for their livestock and not sold, or fertilizer applied by a commercial applicator. Continue reading Get Your Fertilizer Certification…Before Planting Begins →

McDonald’s Sets Science-Based Target to Reduce GHG Emissions

Previously on Drovers Online

Today, McDonald’s announces it will partner with franchisees and suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to McDonald’s restaurants and offices by 36% by 2030 from a 2015 base year in a new strategy to address global climate change. Additionally, McDonald’s commits to a 31% reduction in emissions intensity (per metric ton of food and packaging) across its supply chain by 2030 from 2015 levels. This combined target has been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Through these actions, McDonald’s expects to prevent 150 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the atmosphere by 2030. This is the equivalent of taking 32 million passenger cars off the road for an entire year or planting 3.8 billion trees and growing them for 10 years. The target will enable McDonald’s to grow as a business without growing its emissions. Continue reading McDonald’s Sets Science-Based Target to Reduce GHG Emissions →