WASHINGTON, May 17, 2011 – On Monday, May 23, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will appear on RFD-TV for a special LIVE show at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the importance of producing renewable energy here at home and reducing America’s dependence on imported oil. Secretary Vilsack will highlight the role of farmers, ranchers and rural businesses in building a more secure, sustainable energy supply and the economic and job creation opportunities for America’s small towns and communities.
The Secretary will take questions from RFD-TV’s national television audience along with special guests made up of rural youth, including FFA and 4-H members.
This funding will enable dairy producers to work with a qualified dairy business planning professional to develop a business plan for the startup, modernization, expansion or increased production of a Missouri dairy farm. Funding for the Dairy Business Planning Grant Program is provided by the Missouri Soybean Association and the Missouri Dairy Growth Council.
“The dairy industry is vitally important to Missouri, and as such we greatly appreciate the investments of organizations like the Missouri Soybean Association and Missouri Dairy Growth Council,” said Director of Agriculture, Dr. Jon Hagler. “These business planning grants will help farmers as they seek innovative ways to grow and further develop their existing operations as well as provide needed assistance to those who want to enter the dairy industry.”
Missouri Director of Agriculture Dr. Jon Hagler
The dairy planning grant may finance 90 percent of the cost of the business plan, up to $5,000. The dairy producer is required to pay at least 10 percent of the cost of the work done. Applications are scored competitively.
Applications are online at mda.mo.gov and must be received by MASBDA no later than 5 p.m. on Thurs., June 30, 2011. For more information, contact MASBDA at (573)751-2129 or masbda@mda.mo.gov.
For more information on the grant or to view an application packet, visit mda.mo.gov.
Black cutworm flights indicated this insect is in the area and some fields have high probability of cutting. Now is the time to examine fields for cutting, especially those fields which have had historically problems. Black cutworms fly in on winds from the south. They do not overwinter in northwest Missouri.
Black Cutworm
This pest generally attacks localized areas or fields. Generally, the cutting is not wide spread and with dry conditions, the insect will work beneath the soil surface and kill the growing point of corn. Heavy infestations in a concentrated area can injure corn with seed treatments or with transgenic events. It is best to scout fields now and with an insecticide if needed.
The next pest we need to watch for is wireworm. This insect feeds on the corn seed beneath the soil or later attacks the growing point of the germinated corn. This insect often makes a hole in the growing point causing injury. There have been some isolated fields affected by this pest and which need to be replanted. One should use a soil insecticide to control heavy infestations of this pest.
The other corn insect pest we need to watch for is perennial white grub. This grub stays in the soil for more than one year and has a pattern on the raster and damages corn. Annual grubs have hair that are scattered without a pattern and rarely injure corn. Insect injury to corn causing replant situations should have insecticide applied during planting and not rely on a seed treatment insecticide.
For more information, contact Wayne Flanary at 660-446-3724 or Heather Benedict at 660-425-6434, Regional Agronomists, University of Missouri Extension.
The organization’s first name change since incorporation in 1962 was prompted by several key considerations, including:
Growth in international membership.
An increase in the number of members involved in health and agromedicine.
The desire to replace “farm” with the more encompassing “agricultural.”
“Our new name and tagline, ‘Protecting People in Agriculture,’ better reflect the needs of agriculture and the work of our membership,” said ISASH President Michael DeSpain, John Deere. “With our 50th anniversary coming up in 2012, we felt it was a good time to take a look at how we’ve evolved and where we want to go.”
A name change was recommended in the 2008 NIFS Strategic Plan. The name change was approved at the January 18, 2011, board meeting.
“It was a long process, and the name change required a membership vote,” said Amy Rademaker, Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana, Illinois, and co-chair of the ISASH public relations committee. “But all the steps were important in getting the feedback necessary for truly making this the membership’s name, logo and tagline.”
ISASH is preparing for the first national meeting to be held under its new name, June 26-30, in Boise, Idaho. The theme is, “Strengthening Partnerships across Multiple Disciplines.” Details are at www.isash.org.
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The International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health is dedicated to the professional development of agriculture safety and health professionals. Its 200 members include engineers, educators, insurers, physicians, nurses, veterinarians, statisticians, communicators, business leaders and others who contribute to a safer and healthier agricultural work place. For more information, go to www.isash.org.
JR Shaw, Graceland Class of 1956, his wife Carol, and the Shaw family, have presented Graceland with a tremendous gift that will fund the transformational work on the Shaw Center during the next 14 months.
Graceland President John Sellars, along with Board of Trustees Chair Ken McClain, and many members of the Board in town for Commencement and a board meeting, shared in the historic Friday afternoon ceremonies that included testimony by grateful students and a dazzling musical number by Maestro Jack Ergo (who later that evening presented a one-man piano concert – Rhapsody in Blue – the last in the Shaw Center for more than a year) and sophomore singing sensation Angela Jensen.
Visual Art Professor Rob Stephens and English Professor Brian White had created a film documenting history of the Shaw Center, and more importantly, what our regional performing arts hub has meant to the community, and generations of students, and all Gracelanders. The excellent film was both a tribute to the Shaw family and a celebration of how the world-class facility has transformed students’ lives for 30 years.
Graceland University President John Sellars, Community of Christ President Steve Veazey, Carol Shaw, Graceland Board of Trustees Chair Ken McClain, and JR Shaw break ground Friday, May 13, for the $13.8 million Shaw Center expansion on Graceland’s Lamoni campus. The Shaw family, from Calgary, Ontario, funded construction of the original Shaw Center for the Performing Arts in 1982, and now continues their Graceland legacy with the largest single gift in Graceland history. JR Shaw is a 1956 Graceland alumnus. The 14-month project will transform the entire front section of the Shaw Center, creating a new black-box theatre, a new 150-seat recital hall, an exterior seating area, a stunning new atrium/lobby and gathering area and a long, north-facing corridor/art gallery. The center of Graceland’s campus will now be pedestrian only.
When President Sellars announced the gift, the Shaws received a thunderous, standing ovation. Both JR and Carol spoke to the audience, Carol recounting the family’s great fortune in life and speaking eloquently of the responsibility that comes with such a fortune. JR spoke forcefully of the years he worked with Graceland administration and architects to fine-tune his vision, and his family’s vision, of how a transformed Shaw Center would look and function. His was a speech full of emotion that resonated with many Gracelanders in attendance, including former presidents Bill and Barbara Higdon.
Professor Emeritus Oliver ‘Ollie’ Houston played a rousing piece on our famous Casavant organ, a fitting final performance for the mighty Casavant until the construction is complete. Houston retired in 2005 after 48 years teaching at Graceland. Ollie and the Casavant were like a single instrument, booming a powerful, joyful celebration of history throughout the Shaw Center auditorium. The Casavant organ was a gift from the Shaw family in 1995. Community of Christ President Steve Veazey, among other dignitaries, was on hand to celebrate the occasion with a speech commemorating the Shaw Center’s importance over the years.
United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
Due to the overwhelming amount of water flowing down the Mississippi – the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had to open the Morganza Spillway this weekend as part of a flood risk management plan designed to minimize damage to property, structures and to protect millions of people from historic flood levels. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate issued a joint statement assuring producers affected by the opening of the spillway in Louisiana that they will be eligible for crop insurance indemnities if they purchased crop insurance and their crops have been damaged by flooding. Producers unable to plant who have purchased crop insurance will be eligible for prevented planting payments in accordance with their policy.
USDA has been coordinating with federal partners to evaluate how to provide relief to farmers and others impacted by the natural disaster. Vilsack and Fugate say FEMA and USDA will continue working together to do everything they can to help mitigate the damage caused by the flooding and protect the families, farmland and communities they serve.
Domestic production of oil and oil subsidies are getting a lot of attention this week on Capitol Hill. This morning the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources holds a hearing on several bills which would loosen up certain regulations to encourage more domestic oil and gas production. Increasing domestic production is important to the President. Obama says it is time to increase safe and responsible oil production here at home.
The President wants the Department of the Interior to conduct annual lease sales in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, to speed up the evaluation of oil and gas resources in the mid and south Atlantic and to create new incentives for industry to develop their unused leases. At the same time – the administration is extending drilling leases in areas of the Gulf of Mexico that were impacted by a temporary moratorium.
This week a vote is expected in Congress on the issue of the elimination of taxpayer subsidies going to oil and gas companies. President Obama hopes Democrats and Republicans come together and get this done. He says the U.S. should be investing in the clean, renewable sources of energy that are the ultimate solution to high gas prices.
St. Joseph, Missouri, May 16, 2011 — Cattle producers have more options for effective parasite control with Synanthic® (oxfendazole) suspension dewormer back on the market. Now part of the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. family of products, Synanthic is once again available to beef producers.
“Synanthic offers beef producers an excellent choice in the benzimidazole dewormer class,” says Mac Devin, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Professional Services Veterinarian. “It’s important for producers to have choices in classes of parasite control products to reduce resistance issues.”
There are two classes of anthelmintics available in the marketplace: benzimidazole and macrocyclic lactones.
Devin explains that after several exposures to the same class of anthelmintics, surviving parasite populations begin to develop resistance to the class of anthelmintics. “Having more than one class of anthelmintic to use may become really important for some operations if resistance is becoming an issue,” says Devin. “Synanthic is an important and effective option to have back on the market.”
Synanthic is fast, effective and available in a low-dose formulation. Synanthic is readily absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and goes to work rapidly to reduce parasite populations. In a study, reported in the Synanthic FOI (Freedom of Information), Synanthic was 100 percent ovicidal within 24 hours.1
Devin adds that Synanthic is labeled for control of Ostertagia ostertagi inhibited L4 larvae at a dosing rate of 4.5 mg/kg. He points out that this is an advantage compared to Safe-Guard® (fenbendazole), which is not effective against L4 larvae or inhibited L4 larvae at its recommended dosage of 5 mg/kg.
Ostertagia ostertagi, otherwise known as brown stomach worm, has been shown to have significant impact on weight gain. A stocker weight gain study showed that non-parasitized animals exhibited 77% greater weight gain than parasitized animals due to appetite suppression caused by O. ostertagi.2
Synanthic is available in two presentations: 22.5% and 9.06%. The 22.5% presentation offers a low-dose option at 1 mL/110 lbs and the 9.06% presentation has a 2.5 mL/110 lbs dosage.
Synanthic® is back on the market under the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. name.
For more information on Synanthic, contact your veterinarian or Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. representative.
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (St. Joseph, MO), is a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation based in Ridgefield, CT and a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim group of companies.
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 145 affiliates and more than 42,000 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the family-owned company has been committed to researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.
For Boehringer Ingelheim—and its employees—carrying a good share of social responsibility is an important component in its business culture. Both global commitments in social projects and properly caring for all its employees are included. Respect, equal opportunity, and the balance of career and family life form the basis for mutual cooperation. And, environmental protection and sustainability are always the main focus during any of Boehringer Ingelheim’s undertakings.
In 2010, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of approximately $16.7 billion (about 12.6 billion euro) while spending almost 24% of net sales in its largest business segment, Prescription Medicines, on research and development.
References: 1Guinan JJ et al, Wellcome, Australia—Study IAS 1103-C354. FOI, Summary for Synanthic, NADA 140-854. 2Fox MT, Gerrelli D, Pitt SR, Jacobs DE, Gill M and Gale DL. Ostertagia ostertagi infection in the calf: effects of a trickle challenge on appetite, digestibility, rate of passage of digesta and liveweight gain. Res Vet Sc, 47:294-298, 1989.
(May 16, 2011) Washington – Based on what they describe as a “‘bottom-up’, data-driven, statistical approach,” researchers at Michigan State University have concluded that biofuel production in the United States through 2007 “probably has not induced any indirect land use change.” The research, conducted by MSU scientists Seungdo Kim and Bruce Dale, is discussed in a paper that will be published in the next issue of the journal Biomass and Bioenergy . The paper was made available online May 13 for a fee.
The researchers empirically tested whether indirect land use change (ILUC) occurred through 2007 as the result of U.S. biofuels expansion by using historical data on U.S. croplands, commodity grain exports to specific regions and land use trends in those geographical regions – a previously unused but commonsense approach to verify what, if any, scientific evidence supports the ILUC theory. ILUC is the theory that any acre used in the production of feedstocks for biofuels in the U.S. necessarily results in a new acres coming into food or feed production somewhere else in the world.
“Biofuel production in the United States up through the end of 2007 in all probability has not induced indirect land use change,” the authors wrote. “There are two feasible dependent conclusions that might be drawn from this interpretation: 1) crop intensification may have absorbed the effects of expanding US biofuel production or 2) the effects of US biofuel production expansion may be simply negligible, and not resolvable within the accuracy of the data.”
RFA President & CEO Bob Dineen
“Solving America’s energy crisis must rely on the best available science. Since its inception, the notion indirect land use change has been deeply flawed and repeatedly disputed. It is refreshing to see academia using real-world data and actual market behaviors to challenge the hypothetical results and ‘what if’ scenarios that have so far dominated the ILUC discussion,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “Biofuels like ethanol offered unparalleled environmental benefits as a renewable alternative to gasoline. Hiding behind the faux science of ILUC, some have attempted to stall and thwart the sustainable growth of biofuels across the globe and especially in the U.S. This work from MSU, coming on the heels of other recent scientific analyses, has demonstrated that ILUC as a matter of science and fact is wrong.”
This Michigan State University research arrives at a similar conclusion as recent work done by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Scientists at Oak Ridge concluded that ILUC resulting from corn ethanol expansion over the past decade has likely been “minimal to zero.”
The Michigan State study relied on real world data that looked at acreage, production and trade data from the past two decades during a time of unprecedented growth in U.S. ethanol production. This is a stark difference between work done by and for the California Air Resources Board (ARB) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Both CARB and EPA utilized assumption-driven future scenarios and highly uncertain economic modeling tools to develop point estimate ILUC penalties for biofuels that are enforceable by law. As Kim and Dale note in their analysis, “Prior iLUC studies have failed to compare their predictions to past global historical data.”
The report’s bottom line about U.S. cropland is clear: “No arable land increases from the 1990s are observed in the United States. Furthermore, no declines in natural ecosystem lands in the United States have been observed since 1998.” Similarly, the analysis suggests cropland expansion in foreign countries is not well correlated to U.S. biofuels demand for certain feedstocks.
Last week, the RFA released a report on the importance the livestock feed co-product of ethanol production. The report noted that the growing availability of this ethanol feed is offsetting the need for additional crop acres.
