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OOPS!!!!!
Accidents do happen on the farm, ranch
and the highway. No OOPS on this one. It does look
like this farmer liked Dizzie
Gillespie, and cut his picture out in his crop.
*****************************************************
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National Farm-City Council Selects "Agriculture: A Growing
Story"
As
2010 Annual Symposium Topic
|
- "Agriculture: A Growing Story" will be the 2010 topic of
the annual Farm-City Week Symposium held at the Lancaster
Host Resort in Lancaster, Pa., on Thursday, Nov. 18. The
public is invited to attend.
The purpose of this symposium will be to explore friendly
methods that can help assist the urban media when preparing
news or feature stories that could significantly and
negatively impact farmers, ranchers and the many
agribusiness industries.
"Today, the
chances of incorrect information on agricultural issues
being mistakenly passed to the general public are not only a
possibility - it is a reality that has caused serious
financial damage and hardship to farmers, ranchers and
others within the industry," says
Al Pell,
noted national agricultural broadcaster andchairman of the
National Farm-City Council.
"The goal of this Symposium is to consider tools with which
local, state and national agricultural leaders and
organizations can use to assure the information obtained by
the media is from reliable and credible sources. With a
successful merging of efforts with the urban media, we can
more confidently be assured accuracy will be paramount in
communicating this growing story of agriculture."
The
Symposium begins at 10:30 a.m. EST and will continue until
noon. Discussions from 11 a.m. until noon will be broadcast
live over the nationally syndicated
AgriTalk
radio show, hosted by another nationally noted broadcaster,
Mike Adams. It will be followed by a lunch from 12:30 p.m.
to 2 p.m. with a special speaker.
Symposium participants and the lunch speaker will be
announced later.
The Lancaster Host Resort is located at 2300 Lincoln Highway
East, Lancaster, Pa., on Route 30, easy driving distance
from other major regional cities.
For more
information on the National Farm-City Council Symposium on
"Agriculture: A Growing Story," contact Holly Fritz at
610.621.2253 or
holly.fritz@hbfritz.com.
The event kicks off National Farm-City Week from Nov. 19-26,
ending on Thanksgiving, and celebrates the important
partnership between farm and urban residents in providing
the nation with a bounty of food, fiber, fuel and a growing
list of other products .
The
National Farm-City Week, recognized by a White House
proclamation, is organized by the National Farm-City
Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing
links between farm families and urban residents. The Council
provides local organizations with educational programs about
people who grow their food.
For those interested in organizing a local
Farm-City event, go to the National Farm-City Web site at
www.farmcity.org
or call 202.406.3706.
The National Farm-City Council is a 501(c) (3)
charitable organization under the Internal Revenue Service
Code.
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LIVESTOCK
NEWS
| |
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Quotes
|
Weather |
Video |
| |
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Megan
Pierce
Assoc. Editor
Dairy Herd
Management |
|
Choose To Choose
If you have not had the opportunity to
check out the “Choose2Choose” campaign recently
launched, I recommend you do.
Choose2Choose is a movement launched earlier this year
by a group of concerned mothers to help increase
awareness of the importance of having food choices and
the impact limited choices can have on our lives.
More... |
Smithfield Reports Record Profit,
Expects Pork Strength
To Continue In 2011
Smithfield Foods Inc. reported a record quarterly
profit, saying it expects a strong pork market to continue into
next year amid tight supplies and little industry expansion.
There’s been a “dramatic” change in the hog production business
this year as prices rose, Smithfield chief executive officer C.
Larry Pope said today during a conference call with analysts
following the release of the company’s quarterly results.
More...
EPA Instructs Iowa Feedlots To
Fix Water Runoff Problems
The Omaha World-Herald reports the EPA found E.
coli and other pathogens in waterways downstream from feedlots
all over Iowa and have ordered feedlots to follow the rules.
More...
Cattle Watch: Authorities Catch
Modern-Day Cattle Rustler
Oklahoma lawmen tell us they've nabbed a
modern-day cattle rustler. After a months of searching for their
thief, a lucky traffic stop provided their big break. A McClain
County deputy pulled over a truck and trailer for a simple
violation. That's when he realized it matched the description of
suspects they were after.
More...
Ohio Farmer Killed By Car While
Chasing Stray Calf
An Ohio farmer has been struck and killed by a
car on a dark road while trying to rescue a stray calf.
More...
New York City Burger Joint Lets
Customers Add To The Menu
Ever chow down at a restaurant and think, "I
could do better"? A new burger joint is giving you the chance to
prove it.
More...
Hermine
Remnants Cause Massive Flooding In Texas
The remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine caused
massive flooding in northern Texas on Wednesday, killing at
least one person and submerging much of the city of Arlington
under water.
More... |
Video
Boxed Beef Report -
Prices Decline For Third Straight Day
Join us as we take a look at
Wednesday's beef report. Boxed beef prices have now declined for
three straight days.
More...
Spot Prices
|
Name |
Today |
Previous |
Chart |
|
Live Cattle |
97.25 |
96.35 |
Chart |
|
Feeder Cattle |
112.10 |
111.93 |
Chart |
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Corn |
4.48 |
4.52 |
Chart |
|
Est. Livestock Slaughter |
131,000 |
3,000 |
Chart |
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Boxed Beef – Choice |
161.47 |
161.75 |
Chart |
|
Boxed Beef - Select |
155.44 |
155.91 |
Chart |
|
Boxed Beef –C/S Spread |
6.03 |
5.84 |
Chart |
|
Total Beef Loads |
301 |
206 |
Chart |
|
Daily Drop |
10.97 |
10.84 |
Chart |
|
Cutter Cow Cutout |
132.20 |
132.99 |
Chart |
Source: USDA Livestock and Grain Market News
Reports
Wyoming Calf Prices Soar
To Yearly High
Wyoming calf prices increased $8 to $136 setting
a new yearly high last month. August Wyoming calf prices are
nearly $13 above this year's average price.
More...
Weather
Heavy Rain Soaks Corn
Belt, Very Cool Air Expands Across West
In the West, very cool air continues to expand
across the region. Scattered showers accompany the surge of cool
air, especially across the northern Intermountain West. In
California, crops such as cotton and rice are maturing at a
slightly slower-than-normal pace.
More...
Find your local weather
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| |
DTN
AG HEADLINE NEWS
EPA Issues
The
Washington Insider Section of DTN reported
yesterday (link
requires subscription) that, “Speaking at a
recent event in Bloomington, Minn., House
Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson,
D-Minn., said he believes Environmental
Protection Agency regulators are ‘out of hand’
and that the ‘only way to temper their
regulatory zeal would be to cut their budget in
half.’
“Peterson
told his audience EPA had received a substantial
amount of money from the economic stimulus
package and was using that money to regulate.
Asked to list some of the agency’s regulations
that are affecting the feed and agriculture
industry, Peterson said, ‘There are too many to
mention…. They include dust, spray drift, you
name it.’
“Many
members of Congress have registered their
concerns about EPA’s newfound enthusiasm for
enforcing the nation’s environmental laws.
Cutting the agency’s future budgets is the usual
way for legislators to register their
disapproval in cases such as this. Long-time
Washington observers note that one of the
reasons the Food and Drug Administration has
struggled with its mission of inspecting much of
the nation’s food supply is because of past cuts
in the agency’s budgets due to congressional
concerns with former FDA commissioners and the
way FDA regulated during their tenures. Should
EPA’s budget be similarly cut, similar results
would be expected.”
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER
10th, 2010
The days of Mark Twain will come alive
again today through Sunday in Marietta, Ohio. The 35th annual Ohio River
Sternwheel Festival will draw more than two dozen sternwheel river
boats, along with some 85,000 spectators, who will enjoy music, food and
fireworks. The highlight of the gathering will be races of the vintage
boats, belching smoke and some providing their own music from
steam-powered calliopes. While less romantic than in the past, modern
river boats remain a vital part of the nation's commerce, carrying 2.5
billion tons of freight each year, with the largest category being
petroleum products.
www.census.gov
|
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U.S. Agriculture!!!!!!
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window/bumper decal (3" X 11") above is free. Just send us an
email of where to send one or more.
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RESEARCH IN
AGRICULTURE
REPORTS
ARS researchers are
crossbreeding tropical
corn with U.S. corn
adapted to temperate
regions to widen the
genetic pool for
improving corn. Click
the image for more
information about it. |
Tapping
into Corn's
Tropical Diversity
U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) scientists are tapping
into the genetic diversity of
corn from the tropics to improve
varieties grown in the United
States and other temperate
regions.
Corn, or maize, can be traced to
tropical Latin America, where
the plants flower as the days
grow shorter. As maize was
carried from tropical to
temperate regions, it had to
adapt to the longer day lengths
found during temperate summers,
according to
Jim Holland, an
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) plant geneticist at the
agency's
Plant Science Research Unit
in Raleigh, N.C. ARS is USDA's
principal intramural scientific
research agency.
The genetic diversity of
tropical maize could be used to
improve maize varieties in
temperate regions. But because
tropical varieties flower very
late when grown under long day
lengths in temperate climates,
undesirable traits such as poor
yield can mask favorable traits
such as disease resistance,
according to Holland.
Holland and his team crossed two
tropical, photosensitive maize
lines—one from Mexico, the other
from Thailand—with two temperate
maize lines found in the United
States to assess how day length
would affect flowering time in
the offspring. The lines were
added to a collection developed
by Holland and other ARS
scientists who crossed a
commonly studied corn variety
with 25 diverse lines and
repeatedly self-fertilized the
offspring to create 5,000 inbred
lines, each with a unique
combination of traits. The
collection has become a powerful
and widely used tool in the
search for genes to enhance
desirable traits in maize.
Through genetic mapping,
Holland's team identified four
regions, or quantitative trait
loci (QTLs), in the maize genome
associated with photoperiod
sensitivity. The QTLs—named
ZmPR1-4 by the
researchers—represent 2 percent
of the genetic map, showing that
the scientists sufficiently
narrowed the genome to pinpoint
four specific areas.
The results, published in
Genetics, will help
researchers select for genes in
hardy tropical varieties that
could make them better adapted
to the long day lengths of
temperate regions. They may also
help U.S. breeders develop corn
varieties that offer increased
yields, disease resistance and
other desired traits.
Read more about this and
other research to improve corn
in the September 2010 issue of
Agricultural Research
magazine.
This research supports the USDA
priority of promoting
international food security.
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ARS researchers and
their university
colleagues have created
the first genome map of
the domestic turkey.
Click the image for more
information about it. |
USDA
Scientists, Cooperators
Create
the First Genomic Map
of the
Domesticated Turkey
U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) researchers and their
university colleagues have
sequenced the majority of the
genome of Meleagris
gallopavo, the domesticated
turkey, creating the first-ever
turkey genome map. The nearly
complete map could help growers
to more efficiently produce
bigger, meatier turkeys. The
research is reported today
in
PLoS Biology, an
online journal of the
Public Library of Science.
Americans consume about 17.6
pounds of turkey per capita
every year, and the U.S.
produces nearly 6 billion pounds
of turkey meat annually.
"Turkey is the fourth most
popular meat in this country,"
said
Edward B. Knipling,
adminstrator of USDA's
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS). "The information gleaned
from these genetic studies will
help breeders develop improved
commercial turkey breeds to meet
consumers' demands in the United
States and worldwide."
The research was a partnership
led by
Curtis Van Tassell and
Julie A. Long with ARS; Otto
Folkerts and Rami Dalloul of
Virginia Tech University's
Bioinformatics Institute (VBI);
and Steven L. Salzberg of the
University of Maryland's
Center for Bioinformatics and
Computational Biology, at
College Park.
Van Tassell works in the ARS
Bovine Functional Genomics
Laboratory at Beltsville,
Md., while Long works in the ARS
Animal Biosciences and
Biotechnology Laboratory,
also at Beltsville. ARS is the
chief intramural scientific
research agency of USDA. This
research supports the USDA
priority of ensuring
international food security.
The researchers used
"next-generation" DNA sequencing
technology that relied on
high-throughput instruments at
the ARS laboratory in Beltsville
and at VBI in Blacksburg, Va.
The new technology produces
millions of DNA sequences
simultaneously.
The instrumentation used at VBI
characterized longer strands of
turkey DNA, while the ARS
researchers focused on
characterizing many more short
DNA fragments, permitting
greater detail through deeper
sequencing of those fragments,
according to Van Tassell. The
overall turkey genome was
compiled by assembling the
various DNA fragments. To
achieve that, the scientists had
to develop new computer programs
to interweave the DNA strands of
varying lengths.
The turkey genome assembly was
further strengthened when
physical, comparative and
genetic maps built by
researchers from
Michigan State University
and the
University of Minnesota were
used to match the DNA sequences
to turkey chromosomes. By the
end of the project, the original
partnership expanded to include
68 scientists affiliated with 28
national and international
institutions.
"The project underscores how
rapidly the field of genome
sequencing has changed," said
Long. "We sequenced the turkey
genome in less than a year, at a
fraction of the cost of
sequencing chicken and cow
genomes. The turkey industry and
consumers will benefit from this
research."
The turkey genome sequence is
publically available at:
www.ensembl.org/Meleagris_gallopavo.
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Key gene and chemical
interactions that allow
Escherichia coli
(E. coli)
O157:H7 bacteria to
colonize the gut of
cattle have been
identified by ARS
scientists and their
colleagues. Click the
image for more
information about it. |
Blocking E. coli
Bacteria
Before
They Move In
A
U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) scientist and his
colleagues have discovered key
gene and chemical interactions
that allow Escherichia coli
(E. coli) O157:H7
bacteria to colonize the gut of
cattle. The animals not only
host, but can shed the deadly
human pathogen.
Many E. coli O157:H7
outbreaks have been associated
with contaminated meat products
and cross contamination of
produce crops. Because the
bacteria do not cause cattle to
show clinical symptoms of
illness, and due to other
unknown variables, they can be
hard to detect within cattle and
the environment.
The researchers, including USDA
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) animal scientist
Thomas S. Edrington,
reported how the E. coli
sense a key chemical that plays
a critical role in allowing the
bacteria to colonize inside the
cattle's gastrointestinal (GI)
tract. ARS is USDA's principal
intramural scientific research
agency. This research supports
the USDA priority of ensuring
food safety.
Edrington is with the ARS
Food and Feed Safety Research
Unit in College Station,
Texas. The study, published in
the
Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences,
was conducted at the
University of Idaho, Moscow,
Idaho, campus. It involved
researchers from several
universities and was headed by
Vanessa Sperandio, who is with
the
University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center, in Dallas.
To proliferate, E. coli
express genes differently based
on their environment, such as
outside the cattle host, inside
the cattle rumen, or even at the
end of the cattle GI tract.
Having a better understanding of
when, why and how these bacteria
colonize could lead to practical
applications in the future,
according to Edrington.
The researchers showed that
"quorum sensing" chemicals
called acyl-homoserine lactones
(AHLs), which are produced by
other bacteria, are present
within the bovine rumen but
absent in other areas of the
cattle GI tract. AHLs are
important because E. coli
harbor a regulator, called SdiA,
which senses these AHLs and then
prompts the E. coli to
attach and colonize.
Limiting production of the SdiA
chemical, or blocking bacterial
reception of the AHLs, may
eventually lead to new
strategies for keeping E.
coli from attaching inside
the animal.
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ARS researchers have
found that a biological
control called Afla-Guard®
that they developed to
stop the fungi which
causes aflatoxin on
peanuts can also be used
to protect corn.
Photo courtesy of
Microsoft Clipart. |
Afla-Guard®
Also
Protects Corn Crops
Afla-Guard®, a biological
control used to thwart the
growth of fungi on peanuts, can
be used on corn as well,
according to a study by
U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) scientists who helped
develop it. After extensive
study and research trials in
Texas, Afla-Guard® was
registered by the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) for use on
corn, beginning with the 2009
crop.
Recently retired
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) microbiologist Joe Dorner
at the
National Peanut Research
Laboratory in Dawson, Ga.,
helped develop Afla-Guard®, a
biological control for the
aflatoxin-producing fungi
Aspergillus flavus and
A. parasiticus in peanuts.
ARS is USDA's principal
intramural scientific research
agency.
A. flavus
and A. parasiticus,
naturally-occurring soil fungi,
can invade food and feed crops,
contaminating them with
aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a human
carcinogen produced by the fungi
and is also toxic to pets,
livestock, and wildlife.
Afla-Guard® is composed of
hulled barley coated with spores
of a nontoxic strain of A.
flavus. The nontoxic
Aspergillus fungi
successfully compete against the
toxic species for the limited
space and nutrients each needs
to grow and thrive. In peanuts,
Afla-Guard® reduced aflatoxins
by an average of 85 percent in
farmers' stock peanuts and up to
97 percent in shelled,
edible-grade peanuts.
In light of this success, Dorner
and other ARS scientists
conducted a two-year study of
Afla-Guard® in corn. They again
found that it was effective in
reducing aflatoxin
levels—showing an overall
reduction of 85 percent, when
compared to control fields.
Afla-Guard® was applied to the
corn crop in different ways: to
soil when corn was less than a
meter tall, in plant whorls
prior to tassel formation, and
as multiple sprays during
silking.
The research was published in
the Journal of Food
Protection.
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ARS geneticist Paul
Williams is part of a
multidisciplinary team
of researchers and
university cooperators
that is developing new
corn lines that are
genetically resistant to
aflatoxin-producing
fungi. Click the
image for more
information about it. |
Corn
Lines Resist
Fungal
Toxins
Corn germplasm lines developed
by
U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) scientists are scoring
high marks in field trials for
resistance to aflatoxin produced
by Aspergilllus flavus
and A. parasiticus
fungi.
According to geneticist
Paul Williams with USDA's
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) in Mississippi State,
Miss., the presence of aflatoxin
in corn greatly reduces its
value and marketability. That's
because aflatoxin is
carcinogenic to humans, pets and
wildlife. Annual losses incurred
by the corn industry to
aflatoxin contamination of
kernels are estimated at $192
million.
At the ARS
Corn Host Plant Resistance
Research Unit in Mississippi
State, Williams works with a
multidisciplinary team of
researchers and university
cooperators to develop, test and
release new corn lines that are
genetically resistant to
aflatoxin-producing fungi.
In 2008 field trials, for
example, two germplasm lines
that the team developed—Mp715
and Mp717—showed the highest
levels yet of resistance to
aflatoxin contamination. A more
recent line, Mp04:097, also
performed well in 2009 trials.
Mp715 and Mp717 are also
resistant to the accumulation of
another fungal toxin—fumonisin,
which is produced by
Fusarium verticillioides.
The toxin causes neurological
abnormalities in horses after
they consume infected corn.
According to Williams, the lines
have been widely requested and
used in plant breeding programs
at state, federal and
international research
institutions, plus three major
commercial seed companies and
several smaller ones.
In related work, the researchers
are mapping chromosome regions
associated with aflatoxin
resistance in crosses between
resistant lines and susceptible
ones with good agronomic
qualities. The goal is to
identify markers that can be
used in marker-assisted
breeding.
On yet another front, the team
has developed corn lines that
resist fall armyworms and
southwestern corn borers, insect
pests whose feeding damage can
contribute to aflatoxin
contamination.
Read more about research to
improve corn in the September
2010 issue of Agricultural
Research magazine.
ARS is USDA's principal
intramural scientific research
agency. This research supports
the USDA priority of ensuring
food safety.
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Developing a more
heat-tolerant
biodegradable plastic is
the goal of ARS research
chemist William J. Orts
(left) and his
collaborators, Allison
Flynn and Lennard Torres
from Lapol, LLC, Santa
Barbara, Calif. Click
the image for more
information about it. |
Helping
Corn-Based Plastics Take
More
Heat
Your favorite catsup or fruit
juice might be "hot-filled" at
the food-processing plant—that
is, poured into its waiting
container while the catsup or
juice is still hot from
pasteurization. Current
containers made from corn-based
plastics literally can't take
the heat of hot-filling,
according to
U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) chemist
William J. Orts.
But Orts and a team of
collaborators from
Lapol, LLC, of Santa
Barbara, Calif., hope to change
that by making corn-derived
plastics more heat-tolerant.
Orts and Lapol co-investigators
Allison Flynn and Lennard
Torres are doing the work at the
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS)
Western Regional Research Center
in Albany, Calif., where Orts
leads the
Bioproduct Chemistry and
Engineering Research Unit.
ARS is USDA's principal
intramural scientific research
agency.
By boosting the bioplastics'
heat tolerance, the
collaboration—under way since
2007—may broaden the range of
applications for which
corn-derived plastics could be
used as an alternative to
petroleum-based plastics.
Corn-based plastics are made by
fermenting corn sugar to produce
lactic acid. The lactic acid is
used to form polylactic acid, or
PLA, a bioplastic. The Albany
team is developing a product
known as a heat-deflection
temperature modifier that would
be blended with PLA to make it
more heat-tolerant.
The modifier is more than 90
percent corn-based and is fully
biodegradable. There currently
are no commercially available
heat-deflection temperature
modifiers for PLA, according to
Randall L. Smith, chief
operating officer at Lapol. ARS
and Lapol are seeking a patent
for the invention.
Read more about this and
other ARS corn research in the
September 2010 issue of
Agricultural Research
magazine.
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The new Ornamental
Edibles exhibit in the
U.S. National Arboretum
demonstrates ways that
home gardeners can
incorporate decorative
vegetables like this
purple basil into their
landscape gardens.
Photo courtesy of
Jeanette Warriner, ARS. |
New
"Ornamental Edibles" Exhibit
Added
to Arboretum
A new exhibit that will tickle
visitors' taste buds has been
added this year at the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's
(USDA)
U.S. National Arboretum in
Washington, D.C.
The new Ornamental Edibles
exhibit in the arboretum's
National Herb Garden will
demonstrate ways that home
gardeners can incorporate
delicious vegetable plants into
their landscape gardens.
Visitors to the herb garden are
encouraged to experience plants
through sight, smell, touch and
taste. It is the largest
designed herb garden in the
nation that includes annual,
perennial and woody herbal
plants.
The exhibit is being used to
promote healthy eating and
contribute to the USDA
initiative encouraging Americans
to eat locally produced food.
The exhibit is managed by
arboretum horticulturist
Chrissy Moore and technician
Jeanette Proudfoot. The
arboretum is administered by the
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS), USDA's principal
intramural scientific research
agency.
Many vegetables make lovely
landscape plants. According to
Scott Aker, who leads the
arboretum's
Gardens Unit, ornamental
edible plants have attractive
foliage, texture and color that
give them curb appeal while they
are producing food. Even small
areas and container gardens can
be used to grow attractive
vegetables and fruits for home
use.
The arboretum's exhibit will
feature vegetables appropriate
for the current season while
also highlighting ARS research.
For example, visitors to the
arboretum this summer can see
ARS-developed,
nematode-resistant peppers
arranged with tomatoes,
eggplants, gourds and beans in
an attractive—and
tasty—landscape garden.
Visitors are encouraged to
sample the plants in the
exhibit. And should one want to
know more about the garden, a
quick call to the arboretum's
"Cell Phone Tour" phone number
displayed on a small sign will
tell visitors more about it.
The spring crop of salad greens
has been harvested and tomatoes
are being harvested. During the
fall, the exhibit will include
cool season crops such as kale
and other leafy greens. If
feedback is good, Aker and Moore
will consider continuing the
exhibit for another year.
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