(Kansas City, Kan., May 16, 2011) – EPA Region 7 announced today that it has issued administrative compliance orders to seven concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, directing those operations to correct a range of violations of the federal Clean Water Act.

Region 7’s latest round of CAFO enforcement activity, aimed at encouraging producers’ compliance with the Clean Water Act and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program, involves seven beef feedlots, including four in Iowa, two in Kansas and one in Nebraska.

“Feedlot-related pollutants have significantly contributed to water quality problems, causing states to list streams as impaired under the Clean Water Act,” EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said. “As Clean Water Act permits provide a crucial tool to maintain water quality, EPA works with our state partners and stakeholders to promote producers’ legal compliance. Enforcing feedlot permits and requiring producers to get them, where appropriate, will produce cleaner waters and likely require fewer enforcement actions in the future.”

Wastewater discharges and runoff from CAFOs and lands where those operations store or apply manure and wastes can cause exceedances of water quality standards, pose risks to human health, threaten aquatic life and its habitat, and impair the use and enjoyment of waterways.

Violations noted in the seven separate administrative compliance orders include wastewater discharges by unpermitted medium and large CAFOs, discharges by a large CAFO in violation of its NPDES permit, failures to maintain adequate storage capacity for wastes, and a large CAFO’s failure to adequately track its land application activities to ensure that area surface waters are protected:

Crossroads Cattle Co., Woodbine, Iowa – An inspection and review of the NPDES-permitted open beef feedlot identified failures to maintain adequate storage capacity in its lagoons, and confinement of cattle in areas lacking adequate controls to prevent unauthorized discharges. The order requires the operation to cease use of areas with inadequate controls and ensure wastewater levels in retention structures are in compliance with its NPDES permit. Discharges from the feedlot flow to a tributary of the Boyer River in Harrison County. The feedlot has a permitted capacity of 5,500 cattle and was confining approximately 3,200 to 3,500 cattle at the time of the inspection.

Feedlot Services Company, Neola, Iowa – Inspection found the unpermitted operation was confining 809 beef cattle in an open feedlot that discharges into Keg Creek in Pottawattamie County. The order requires the operation, which has a confinement capacity of 999 cattle, to cease unauthorized discharges or apply for an NPDES permit within 90 days and construct controls before September 30, 2012.

Harlan Northrup, d/b/a Harlan Northrup Feedlot, Griswold, Iowa – Inspection found the unpermitted operation was confining approximately 350 beef cattle in an open feedlot that discharges into a federally recognized wetland and a tributary of Boughman’s Creek in Cass County. The order requires the operation, which has a confinement capacity of 800 cattle, to cease unauthorized discharges or apply for an NPDES permit within 90 days and construct controls before September 30, 2012.

Petersen-Bubke LLP, Mapleton, Iowa – Inspection found the unpermitted operation was confining 1,050 beef cattle in an open feedlot that discharges into Rush Creek in Monona County. The order requires the operation to cease unauthorized discharges or apply for an NPDES permit within 90 days and construct controls before September 30, 2012.

KM Feeders, Lyons, Kan. – Inspection and file review of the NPDES-permitted feedlot found failures to maintain adequate storage capacity in its lagoons. The order requires the operation to ensure wastewater levels in retention structures are in compliance with its NPDES permit, and provide monthly reports to EPA. Discharges from the feedlot would flow to Dry Creek, which is officially listed by EPA and the State of Kansas as an impaired water because of phosphorous and total suspended solids levels. The feedlot has a permitted capacity of 5,200 cattle and was confining at capacity at the time of the inspection.

McPherson County Feeders, Marquette, Kan. – Inspection and file review of the NPDES-permitted feedlot found failures to maintain adequate storage capacity in its lagoons. The order requires the operation to ensure wastewater levels in retention structures are in compliance with its NPDES permit, install legible staff gauges in its retention structures, and provide monthly reports to EPA. Discharges from the feedlot would flow into Sharps Creek in McPherson County. Sharps Creek is officially listed by EPA and the State of Kansas as an impaired water because of E. coli and total suspended solid levels. The feedlot has a permitted capacity of 13,000 cattle and was confining approximately 8,506 cattle at the time of the inspection.

Knox County Feeders, Bloomfield, Neb. – As part of a compliance evaluation, EPA determined that the open beef feedlot had failed to sample its manure, process wastewater and land application areas as required by the terms of its Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) and its NPDES permit, and was unable to provide adequate records associated with its land applications. Those failures made it impossible to determine application rates for manure disposal, putting nearby surface water at the risk of potentially harmful discharges. The order requires the operation to update its NMP and meet all sampling and recordkeeping requirements of the NMP and NPDES permit. The feedlot has a permitted capacity of 5,000 cattle.

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Learn more about EPA’s civil enforcement of the Clean Water Act:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/cwa/index.html

Learn more about the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and how it regulates concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs):
http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=7

For a summary of how the NPDES regulations define large, medium and small CAFOs:
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/sector_table.pdf

EPA Region 7 offers 10 tips to help CAFO owners and operators prepare for inspections:
http://www.epa.gov/region07/factsheets/2010/ten_tips_cafo_inspection.htm

WASHINGTON, D.C.—May 16, 2011— Concerned with the impact of recent extreme flooding and drought conditions across the United States, National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) President Gene Schmidt sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) Acting Administrator Bruce Nelson supporting the temporary use of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands, as long as a conservation management plan is in use.

“Recent flooding and drought conditions have had major impacts on grazing lands across large portions of the country,” said Schmidt. “Some producers in hard-hit areas are in desperate need of grazing acreage, and would benefit through the emergency use of CRP lands.”

FSA rules allow for the temporary and/or emergency use of CRP lands while using a conservation management plan during certain weather events.

“We support FSA’s efforts to allow CRP land-use decisions to be handled at the local level, based on proper management plans and local environmental conditions,” Schmidt continued.

Conservation districts across the country work with private landowners to carry out a variety of conservation programs, including CRP. CRP plans are developed through the agreement of local landowners and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) technical staff. CRP provides a variety of important environmental benefits, including erosion reduction, wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration.

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The National Association of Conservation Districts is the non-profit organization that represents the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts, their state associations and the 17,000 men and women who serve on their governing boards. For more than 70 years, local conservation districts have worked with cooperating landowners and managers of private working lands to help them plan and apply effective conservation practices. For more information about NACD, visit: www.nacdnet.org.

Research Collaboration to Accelerate Agricultural Crop Improvement

DES MOINES, Iowa, and RENO, Nev., May 16, 2011 – DuPont and Biotique Systems, Inc., have entered into a research alliance to accelerate genetic discovery in agricultural crops globally, bringing better products to farmers faster.

Under the agreement, Biotique will provide knowledge and access to its proprietary “TITAN” solution for next-generation sequence management, marker analysis, and genotype to phenotype association as well as its “Make-Sense” intellectual property portfolio.  DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred will have access to the platform for agricultural applications and will retain all intellectual property for its genetic information and crops produced as a result of the alliance.  Specific milestones and terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Pioneer’s sophisticated deployment of new sequencing technologies is bringing new value-added seed technologies to market faster,” said John Soper, vice president – Pioneer Crop Genetics Research and Development.  “Our work with sequencing the genes in corn plants is helping us improve the crop faster than ever.  This alliance will help us bring those advancements to other crops faster, an important part of increasing farmer productivity to meet future demands in agriculture.”

The platform incorporates a number of methods, tools and technologies.  DNA sequence analysis allows Pioneer scientists to better understand the structure and function of genes in plants and other living things.  Recent improvements in sequencing technologies have increased the pace of sequence data accumulation by many orders of magnitude and new information platforms are essential to translate this accumulated data into knowledge, and then customer value.  The Biotique platform also enables the efficient handling and analysis of the millions of DNA sequence data points generated by Pioneer through use of second and third generation sequencing technologies.  When integrated with state-of-the-art molecular marker technologies, advanced bioinformatics and global knowledge management at DuPont, these powerful genetic discovery technologies can dramatically advance scientific discovery and product delivery for customers.

“Pioneer is an excellent choice for an agricultural research alliance,” said Stephen Sanders, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer – Biotique Systems, Inc.  “We are committed to developing and advancing use of the latest genetic technologies in crop science, health care and diagnostics.  Pioneer was an early leader in genetic marker technology and the application of next generation sequencing in crop production, and has effectively leveraged this important technology for agricultural applications.”

This collaboration is another example of Pioneer’s dedication to continued improvement in genetic technologies.  For example, genetic marker and doubled haploid technology advances at Pioneer have enabled Pioneer researchers to evaluate the commercial potential of more crop genetics in 2010 than in the 80-year history of the company.  Pioneer recently introduced high-yielding Y Series soybeans, developed through the proprietary Accelerated Yield Technology (AYT™) System, a novel integration of a proprietary matrix of molecular breeding technologies into the product development process increasing the rate of genetic gain, reducing yield variability and improving performance predictability.

Biotique Systems.  For over a decade Biotique Systems has been helping the biggest agriculture, health care and diagnostic organizations increase productivity.  Biotique provides solutions that allow large scale application of the latest genetic technologies to solve critical business and scientific problems.

Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, is the world’s leading developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics, providing high-quality seeds to farmers in more than 90 countries.  Pioneer provides agronomic support and services to help increase farmer productivity and profitability and strives to develop sustainable agricultural systems for people everywhere.  Science with Service Delivering Success™.

DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 90 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.

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The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™, The miracles of science™, AYT™ and Science with Service Delivering Success™ are registered trademarks or trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.

LINCOLN – State Veterinarian Dr. Dennis Hughes has placed five horse premises under quarantine after several cases of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) have been confirmed across the nation.

“The horse premises that are quarantined in Nebraska may have come into contact with infected horses during the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah,” said Dr. Hughes.  “We are acting quickly to take appropriate measures to protect our horse industry.  Our staff is working with the quarantined horse premise owners to monitor for signs associated with the disease.”

EHV-1 symptoms include: fever, decrease coordination, nasal discharge, urine dribbling, loss of tail bone, hind limb weakness, leaning against a wall or fence to maintain balance, lethargy, and the inability to rise.  While there is no cure, the symptoms of the disease may be treatable.

NDA encourages all horse producers to follow biosecurity measures on their operations, including: requiring individuals to wash their hands before and after contact with each horse; avoid contact with other horses; disinfect boots and change clothes that come into contact with horses other than your own; isolate horses returning from shows for 2-3 weeks.

Additional information about EHV-1 can be viewed at www.agr.ne.gov.

State-of-the-art agriculture equipment and technology learning center will serve as cornerstone of dealer and employee education efforts

DULUTH, Ga. (May 16, 2011) —AGCO(NYSE:AGCO), a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment, is pleased to open the doors to the all-new Global Learning Center, Duluth (GLC), a state-of-the-art agricultural equipment and technology learning center. The 19,500-square-foot facility, the new home of AGCO Academy and AGCO University, will serve as the cornerstone of the company’s comprehensive learning program for dealers and employees.

“At our current pace, as much as 30 percent of the company’s product line is replaced with new production-enhancing technology every three to four years. As growers invest in new technology, they rely heavily upon their dealers for information and assistance. It’s our responsibility to ensure our employees and dealers fully understand these new products and their applications,” explains Tim Miller, manager, global learning, for AGCO. “The Global Learning Center will help us deliver hands-on learning in a facility designed to meet the needs of adult learners. This investment is a testimony to an increased emphasis in education for our people.” Consistent with AGCO’s corporate mission of ‘Profitable growth through superior customer service, innovation, quality and commitment,’ the GLC is the latest in AGCO’s efforts to serve the expanding needs of customers around the world.

“Investments in educating our dealers and employees will deliver tremendous return to our increasing global success,” states Martin Richenhagen, chairman, president and CEO of AGCO. “Continued education prepares our team to embrace the innovations we’re developing, adapt to the challenges of a changing economic environment, and ultimately help our customers produce feed, food, fuel and fiber as efficiently as possible.”

Located in Duluth, Ga., just steps from AGCO’s Global headquarters, the GLC features three classrooms that boast the latest learning technologies to provide a more comprehensive instructional experience. Just as AGCO customers operate all aspects of machine and implement operation with the touch of a finger, instructors at the GLC can operate all technologies and classroom amenities from a single desktop control system.

Three fully outfitted equipment repair and service bays help ensure students can apply what they’ve learned in the classroom through hands-on learning. The biggest equipment bay accommodates even AGCO’s largest four-wheel-drive tractors and combines. Other GLC features include a student break room and a full kitchen, in addition to conference rooms and office space.

AGCO’s dealer training and education classes are offered through AGCO Academy, via seven schools that provide coursework on topics such as product training, technical service training, parts training, advanced technology solutions, dealer systems training, dealer management training and finance training. The Global Learning Center also fulfills the dealer network’s request for additional education through regional learning centers, providing an ideal location to serve the eastern United States and eastern Canada. In-the-field training also is available at regional centers located in Boise, Idaho, Hesston, Kan., and Jackson, Minn. Four more regional training centers have been proposed throughout the United States and Canada.

AGCO University is the employee-focused education program designed to develop and strengthen professional skills in management, leadership, compliance and business functions.

AGCO’s commitment to education also is being enhanced by updates to existing initiatives. During the Grand Opening event, visitors had the opportunity to preview new and improved program components such as the AGCO Academy and AGCO University websites; new online catalogs of all courses; and enhanced news pages in the AGCO Learning Management System (LMS), a system that allows dealers and employees to manage their individual learning experiences. The LMS provides users a one-stop location for information about class schedules, new curricula and course progression, among other information.

AGCO employs a full gamut of learning initiatives and techniques designed to meet the needs of adult learners. Instructor-led lessons provide hands-on demonstration and allow students to interact with teachers. Online courses, training DVDs, webinars, podcasts and printed guides are portable resources that can be accessed from just about anywhere and allow students flexibility to progress through coursework based on their changing schedules. 3D CAD/ProE Animation is used to break complex machine parts down to easy-to-understand illustrations, showing how the pieces come together to form the part.

New eLearning courses designed for people who use equipment in the field are also available through http://www.AGCOAcademy.com.The first courses cover sprayer operation or loader and backhoe operation.

Earlier this month, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) made public a plan to make dramatic reductions in staff, facilities and equipment that includes closing three rural district offices and over 100 maintenance sheds.  The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) could vote on approval of the plan as early as June 8, its next regularly scheduled meeting.

The Missouri Farm Bureau Board of Directors met on May 16 and expressed concerns about MoDOT’s proposed plan and its repercussions on rural Missouri.

“It stands to reason that rural Missourians are having doubts about MoDOT continuing services and conducting routine maintenance if rural district offices and maintenance sheds are closed,” said Blake Hurst, president of Missouri Farm Bureau.  “Because many of our members are rural and distance is an important factor when it comes to such services as maintenance and snow removal, rural Missourians are the first to be hurt by cutbacks such as the ones MoDOT is proposing.”

“While we can appreciate the efforts MoDOT is making to address fiscal reality, we urge them at the very least to slow down the process, stop any vote on of the cutbacks by MHTC at its June 8 meeting and take a second look at the negative consequences of their proposal for rural Missouri,” said Hurst.

The Missouri Farm Bureau Board of Directors agreed on the following recommendations, which are being forwarded to MoDOT’s Director Kevin Keith and the MHTC members:

• We are concerned 30 days is not enough time for MHTC to fully consider the consequences of the staff, facility and equipment reductions proposed by MoDOT, particularly given the far-reaching and long-term impact of the proposed changes; therefore, we believe MHTC should not vote on the proposed changes at its June 8 meeting.  We recommend that MHTC should wait another 30 – 90 days before voting on any proposed changes, allowing time for greater public understanding and input.
• We believe MoDOT staff should take another look at the proposed plan’s negative impact on rural Missouri given the increased distance factors for citizen access to district offices, the ability of the remaining MoDOT facilities to adequately service and maintain state highways, the current effectiveness of rural employees and the lost productivity of MoDOT employees traveling from fewer facilities to their work site.
• We call on MoDOT to reconsider its proposal to close three rural district offices, which will increase the number of counties served by the remaining rural district offices and potentially reduce their effectiveness and adequate share of state funding.
• We believe MoDOT should reexamine each proposed maintenance shed closing and the impact on servicing and maintaining highways in the area.
• We believe any proposed savings from staff, facility and equipment reductions must go directly back to maintaining and improving roads and not be redirected for other purposes or other transportation modes.  This must be clearly shown in MoDOT’s budget and verifiable that the funds are used accordingly.

AMES, Iowa (RuralWire) May 16, 2011— Whether it’s gasoline, milk, or corn, all Americans feel the broad impacts of today’s volatile commodity markets. And whether you are a consumer, business person or farmer, lately members of all three groups may have reasons to complain.

“A trip to the gas station brings home to everybody why we need more regulation. It’s projected that gasoline prices are at least a dollar higher thanks to market speculation,” said National Farmers Organization Ag Policy Analyst Gene Paul. “Position limit reform by the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) is critical to minimizing speculator impact on consumer wallets at the pump.”

Bart Chilton, a commissioner on the CFTC, writes in an opinion piece that appeared in the Mankato (Minn.) Free Press newspaper May 1, that speculator money is entering the commodity markets at a blistering pace. “In fact, speculative positions in energy contracts have increased 64 percent since we last saw such high prices in 2008,” Chilton wrote. The global investment banking and securities firm, Goldman Sachs reports a link between rising oil prices and speculation. In crude oil markets, there could be as much as a $27 a barrel speculative premium added to current price levels.

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., made reference to the Goldman Sachs report in comments about the consequences of delaying the Dodd-Frank legislation, which would limit positions speculators could take in commodity markets. Despite his comments, the U.S. House voted to delay implementing CFTC position limit rules.

Meanwhile, dairy producers saw the value of their product drop recently when a third straight week of inventory revisions by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange climaxed with the discovery of 27 million pounds of unreported butter stocks. Of course prices fell precipitously.

National Farmers Organization has long questioned the accuracy and design of the pricing system, because it does not use mandatory reporting measures. Traders believe warehouses may not necessarily call in to report their stocks on hand, which makes it extremely difficult to get a true handle on supplies.

And, despite unseasonably cold and wet weather in grain country, USDA still predicted a record corn crop, driving market prices lower. As of May 8, only 40 percent of the 2011 corn crop had been planted, dramatically down from the five-year average of 59 percent.

“National Farmers believes there should be stricter guidelines on forecasting crop projections,” said Paul. “Because of the enormous financial impact on farmers, it’s important that enough hard data be in USDA’s hands before they issue a report that impacts markets.”

And what are solutions to all of the above? National Farmers proposes a three-part approach.

1. Adopt commodity market reform similar to Dodd-Frank legislation
2. Reform federal milk marketing orders to eliminate end-product pricing, and replace it with a truly competitive pay price as the pricing basis
3. Move toward greater accuracy in acreage and crop progress reports for corn, soybean and wheat markets

National Farmers is a group marketing, price negotiating and risk management organization for the nation’s farmers and ranchers.