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.