by Amanda  Radke in BEEF Daily                                                                                                        Oct. 23, 2012
Consumers today are blessed with a myriad of choices when they walk into a grocery store. Aside from the many brands of beef, shoppers can choose their preferred production method — conventional, organic, natural or grass-fed. With so many choices and an abundance of items, it can [...]

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July 13, 2012 | Kay Ledbetter | Source: www.extension.org
DALLAS – Reducing phosphorus in dairy diets doesn’t change a cow’s productivity, but it does affect the environmental impact that cow might have, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service specialist. Dr. Ellen Jordan, AgriLife Extension dairy specialist in Dallas, said she has long worked with nutrition consultants [...]

Colorado State University (CSU) and partners will present a webcast titled, “Livestock Mortality Composting for Large and Small Operations in the Semi-arid West” on June 20 at 12:00pm mountain (1:00pm central and 11:00am Pacific)at: http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/coloag, via Adobe Connect. 
Sponsored by The USDA Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, this webcast includes presenters from Montana [...]

June 15, 20112:30 pm (eastern), 1:30 pm (central), 12:30 pm (mountain), 11:30 am (pacific)
Have you wondered how food animal producer groups have responded to the attention given to their industries as sources of greenhouse gas emissions? Are they resting on their laurels since livestock and poultry production has been shown to be a relatively minor [...]

5/29/12     Posted By: iblinews
A new article in the Journal of Risk and Insurance by Sommarat Chantarat, Andrew Mude, Christopher Barrett and Michael Carter describes our index-based livestock insurance (IBLI) product piloted among pastoralists in Northern Kenya, where insurance markets are effectively absent and uninsured risk exposure is a main cause of poverty.
It describes the [...]

Korean animal feed company breaks ground on first US project
 May 21, 2012      From: AllAboutFeed.net
 CJ Bio America has broken ground on its first US construction project to produce amino acids to supplement animal feeds, in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

The $320 million lysine production facility will employ about 170 workers by 2014. The factory will annually produce more [...]

NCBA reportedly to join Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

From Feedstuffs (5/15/2012)

By SARAH MUIRHEAD

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Assn. (NCBA) is preparing to join the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, according to reports from Beef Central.
NCBA president J.D. Alexander was quote in the Australia media source as saying the decision to join had been delayed until [...]

Senate ag leaders release chairman’s mark of the 2012 farm bill

(4/23/2012)

By ANDY VANCE

Taking the next major step in developing the 2012 farm bill, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) and ranking member Pat Roberts (R., Kan.) released their draft of the legislation last Friday. Markup is scheduled to begin Wednesday. In releasing her summary of the draft, Stabenow said the bill would reform farm policy, consolidate and streamline a number of programs and reduce the deficit by $23 billion. “This bill saves taxpayers money while strengthening initiatives that help farmers, ranchers and small business owners create American jobs,” the chairwoman’s summary stated. Among the most notable features of the draft was the elimination of direct payments. Many farm policy watchers have long presumed that the 2012 farm bill would move away from traditional subsidy programs toward more risk-management-oriented alternatives, including crop insurance. “They make it clear they are looking at a risk management system that helps producers stay in business,” observed Dale Moore, deputy director of public policy at the American Farm Bureau Federation. “We are not surprised they are eliminating direct payments.” Moore said having options in the farm safety net and risk management toolbox is important to farmers. Stabenow and Roberts said their draft of the bill would, in addition to eliminating direct payments, consolidate two remaining safety net programs into one while strengthening crop insurance and expanding access. Initial analysis of the draft suggests that $15 billion – more than half – of the bill’s budget savings come from the commodity title of the bill. That said, a crop insurance program that is quickly becoming the cornerstone of the federal farm safety net is no longer fiscally small enough to be overlooked or ignored. “Since 1990, crop insurance has grown quite a bit,” said Carl Zulauf, Ohio State University agricultural economist. “We’ve gone from roughly 100 million acres in the early 1990s to more than 250 million today, and at the same time net payments continue to grow. In 1990, it was less than a half a billion dollars in net payments; in the 2011 crop year, payments will be around $5.5 billion-5.6 billion, and 2011 will be the first time net payments from crop insurance have exceeded direct payments.” Another central component of the bill for farmers and ranchers is the conservation title. The committee print of the bill would end “duplicative programs,” consolidating 23 existing conservation programs into just 13, while maintaining the existing tools farmers and landowners need to protect and conserve land, water and wildlife. The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) said it was pleased the Senate Agriculture Committee leaders recognized the value of conservation in supporting the nation’s long-term environmental and economic stability. NACD said the language in the Title II framework demonstrates strong bipartisan support for locally-led conservation efforts. The proposal calls for a 10% cut — about $6 billion — over 10 years to Title II farm bill programs. Following the House Agriculture Committee’s move to trim $33 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) last week, the farm bill’s nutrition programs could be a source of controversy in the writing of the 2012 bill. The Senate committee draft addressed issues with the nutrition program mainly by strengthening accountability provisions. “At a time when many out-of-work Americans are in need for the first time in their lives, it is critical that every taxpayer dollar be spent responsibly and serves those truly struggling,” the chairwoman’s summary concluded. “By closing loopholes, tightening standards, and requiring greater transparency, the proposal increases efficiency and improves effectiveness.” Specific proposals to tighten accountability in the SNAP program include: - Stopping lottery winners from continuing to receive assistance. - Ending misuse by college students. - Cracking down on retailers and recipients engaged in benefit trafficking. - Increasing requirements to prevent liquor and tobacco stores from becoming retailers. - Eliminating gaps in standards that result in overpayment of benefits. A report last week from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that SNAP program participation set a record for participation in fiscal year 2011, with one in seven Americans receiving benefits. “On average, 45 million people received SNAP benefits each month in fiscal year 2011, which represents a 70% increase over the roughly 26 million people (or one of every 11) who received benefits in 2007. Outlays for SNAP benefits (not including administrative costs) more than doubled during that period, from about $30 billion to $72 billion,” the CBO report says. Farm policy organizations summarily called on members of the House and Senate agriculture committees to complete work on the 2012 farm bill as quickly as possible given the expiration of current legislation Sept. 30. Many analysts predict that will be challenging in an election year with relatively few legislative working days left.

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APLU Seeks Applications from U.S. Higher Education
Institutions for $3.8 Million Borlaug Higher Education Agricultural Research
and Development Program

WASHINGTON (April 16, 2012) — The Association of Public
and Land-grant Universities (APLU) is seeking applications from a single
university or a consortium of universities to implement a new $3.8-million
multi-institution effort to develop the human and institutional capacity in
low-income countries and to create the knowledge and technologies essential for
food security and economic and social development.

The Borlaug Higher Education Agricultural Research and
Development Program (BHEARD) is part of the Borlaug 21st Century Leadership
Program which was announced in June 2011 as part of Feed the Future (FTF), the
U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative. The program
honors the legacy of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug.

BHEARD is primarily a long-term agriculture degree (M.Sc.
and Ph.D.) and food security training program in support of agriculture-led
growth and poverty reduction. It is a
platform both for the development, testing and evaluation of new capacity
development models as well as for shared learning on best approaches to training
in institutional development.

“Enhancing food security to meet the projected
demands of an increasing population will require a strong and empowered cadre
of agriculture scientists and researchers with professional skills and
extensive high-level knowledge across the developing world,” said Rob
Bertram, director of the Office of Agricultural Research and Policy, Bureau for
Food Security, U.S. Agency for International Development. “Through BHEARD, we hope to develop the
workforce and the workplace necessary to develop and adapt agricultural innovations
to drive long-term productivity and to build resilient systems capable of
responding to change.”

USAID’s Bureau for Food Security will manage the program,
with funding through the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
(CIMMYT). APLU will manage the
application competition and its Knowledge Center will provide an analysis of
lessons learned in the process.
USAID/BFS will provide initial core funding of approximately $3.8
million and, coupled with projected Mission funds, an approximate $7.35 million
will likely be available to start the program.
Additional Mission and USAID/BFS funding support in the future is
anticipated.

The BHEARD program aims to:

* Develop
the human and institutional capacity of Feed the Future focus countries based
on strategic analysis of institutional and national capability to address the
global initiative’s goals of agriculture-led growth and reduction of hunger.

* Create
strong and supportive linkages between the scientific and higher education
communities in Feed the Future focus countries and in the U.S. in order to
achieve the global initiative’s goals.

* Encourage
and identify innovative and effective mechanisms for human and institutional
capacity development through focused monitoring, evaluation and analysis.

* Create an
efficient implementing entity through which USAID Missions and Bureaus can
easily conduct capacity building activities with low transaction costs.

The selected institution or consortium will conduct an
open competition to award sub-grants to institutions for the components of the
capacity development program developed.
They also will conduct an in-country strategic planning process that
will further refine the design and nature of the capacity development program
it proposes in its application. Plans that involve minority-serving
institutions are encouraged.

APLU welcomes applications from any U.S. regionally
accredited, degree-granting higher education institution and encourages
applications from or with the participation of minority-serving institutions.
If a consortium is applying, the lead organization must be a higher education
institution.

Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time
(ET) on May 31, 2012. The complete RFA
and application details are available on the APLU website at: www.aplu.org/BHEARDRFA<http://www.aplu.org/BHEARDRFA>. Questions should be directed to: bheardrfa@aplu.org<mailto:bheardrfa@aplu.org>. Send applications to: BHEARD Program, APLU, 1307 New York Ave., NW,
Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005-4722.

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC AND LAND-GRANT
UNIVERSITIES Founded in 1887, the Association of Public and Land-grant
Universities (APLU) is a research and advocacy organization of public research
universities, land-grant institutions, and state university systems. As the
nation’s oldest higher education association, APLU is dedicated to excellence
in learning, discovery and engagement. Member campuses enroll more than 3.6
million undergraduate and 1.1 million graduate students, employ more than
670,000 faculty and administrators, and conduct nearly two-thirds of all
university-based research, totaling more than $34 billion annually. For more
information, visit www.aplu.org<http://www.aplu.org>.

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April 12, 2012

Manure management — important to horse owners

Story by Robyn Scherer, M.Agr. Staff Reporter

“Manure runoff is an issue in the springtime in particular, as we tend to get rain or snow in large enough amounts to cause runoff at that time of year. Manure has often built up in the winter months, so the manure pack in pens is deeper in the spring, and the combination of manure buildup with high precipitation can lead to runoff issues,” said Jessica Davis, Director for Institute for Livestock and the Environment at Colorado State University.

In the spring, horses and foals can be seen running through pastures, leisurely eating grass and lounging in the sun. However, for every bite they eat, they also produce another product, manure.

Manure management is important year-round, but it is especially important in the spring to prevent runoff that can cause manure to contaminate springs and rivers.

“Manure runoff is an issue in the springtime in particular, as we tend to get rain or snow in large enough amounts to cause runoff at that time of year. Manure has often built up in the winter months, so the manure pack in pens is deeper in the spring, and the combination of manure buildup with high precipitation can lead to runoff issues,” said Jessica Davis, Director for Institute for Livestock and the Environment at Colorado State University.

Due to the large number of horses in Colorado, this is a huge issue in the state. “Manure and waste bedding material must be properly handled to ensure that excess nitrates, phosphorous, ammonia and other nutrients are not carried by runoff into waterways or through soil into ground water. Neighbor complaints related to improper management of manure piles or storage areas are also common. Approximately 50 percent of the animal feeding operation (AFO) complaints to which the Environmental Agriculture Program responded in 2011 were directly related to horse manure being allowed to discharge to surface water,” said Sean Scott, Colorado Department of Health and Environment’s Environmental Agriculture Program Work Lead.

He continued, “Runoff from manure piles and horse paddock areas are rich with nutrients that can contaminate nearby lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands and drinking water supplies used for human and livestock consumption.”

By definition, an animal feeding operation must meet the following criteria: (a) Animals (other than aquatic animals) have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and fed or maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period, and (b) Crops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot or facility.

In Colorado, a large concentrated animal feeding operation is any operation with 500 horses or more. A medium operation has between 150 to 499 horses, and a small operation is anything less than 150 horses.

Horse manure is particularly damaging to water because of the composition of it. “Concentrated animal feeding operations are required to contain runoff, but smaller facilities may not have runoff storage ponds in place to prevent runoff from moving offsite. Manure contains nutrients, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus, that can degrade water quality. Manure may also contain pathogens and other contaminants,” said Davis.

Proper management of manure is not hard for horse owners to do, and a few simple tips can help protect the water sources from manure run-off, according to Davis. First, corrals and manure piles should be moved away from water bodies. Second, the area between corrals and manure piles and the water should be well-vegetated, which helps reduce the ability of the manure to run off. Lastly, manure should not be kept for years and years, as it will build up.

If manure must be stored, it is important to keep it away from waterways. “The most important thing is to store it away from water bodies or wells in order to protect water quality. It is not necessary to cover it in Colorado due to the semi-arid environment here,” said Davis.

Horse owners can use manure on their own place if they spread it over fields. “Horse owners should make sure they don’t have too many horses for the amount of pasture that they have. If they do this, they can spread the manure on their pastures and reduce their hay bill. Composting is helpful for improving manure spreading on established pastures,” said Davis.

However, she did caution that spreading the manure can cause another problem if the horses are not regularly wormed. “If fresh horse manure is spread on pastures where colts graze, there is a risk of spreading parasites to the colts,” she said.

Another use for the manure is as a fertilizer that can be sold or given away. “Horse owners can provide manure to gardeners and farmers for use as an organic fertilizer. Horse owners who hope to sell their manure should have samples of the manure analyzed for nutrient content information, which can be provided to potential agricultural users,” said Scott.

He continued, “Manure can be applied to pasture and grazing crops as an organic fertilizer. Horse owners that choose to land apply manure must ensure that manure is applied at an agronomic rate to support vegetative growth. Records should be retained to show the results from soil and manure analyses, manure application rates, and the method(s) used to calculate agronomic rate for each crop to which manure is applied.”

Agronomic rate means the rate of application of nitrogen to plants that is necessary to satisfy the plants’ nutritional requirements while accounting for applicable nitrogen credits, according to the Department of Public Health and the Environment.

Manure management is key to keeping waterways clean, and to help reduce the impact that manure run-off has on the environment. “If you own or stable horses in Colorado, you may be subject to regulatory requirements designed to protect Colorado’s water. Proper management of manure protects Colorado’s water resources, improves horse health, keeps land resources productive, protects property values, and minimize neighbor complaints,” said Scott.

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USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is seeking toidentify U.S. universities willing to host English-speaking agriculturalscientists from lower and middle-income countries in the area of Plant Scienceunder the Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and TechnologyFellowship Program (Borlaug Fellowship Program).  These Fellows have been competitivelyselected based on research priorities, academic and work accomplishments,commitment to Borlaug Fellowship [...]

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is seeking toidentify U.S. universities willing to host English-speaking agriculturalscientists from lower and middle-income countries in the areas of AnimalScience, Food Safety and Agricultural Policy and GIS under the Norman E.Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program(Borlaug Fellowship Program).  TheseFellows have been competitively selected based on research priorities, academicand [...]

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is seeking toidentify U.S. universities willing to host English-speaking agriculturalscientists from lower and middle-income countries in the area of Plant Science(Africa) under the Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science andTechnology Fellowship Program (Borlaug Fellowship Program).  These Fellows have been competitivelyselected based on research priorities, academic and work accomplishments, commitmentto Borlaug [...]

FOOD STUDIES: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA

4-5 October 2012

http://Food-Studies.com/conference

This conference will address contemporary food challenges
from interdisciplinary perspectives by exploring new possibilities for
sustainable food production and human nutrition. The aim is to consider the
dimensions of a ‘new green revolution’ that will meet our human needs in a more
effective, equitable and sustainable way in the twenty-first century.

Members of this knowledge community include academics,
teachers, administrators, policy makers and practitioners in food
communities. Contributions range from
broad theoretical and global policy explorations, to detailed studies of
specific human-physiological, nutritional and social dynamics of food. Other
topics are welcome, and should focus on the food sciences in the areas such as,
but not limited to agricultural and environmental food sciences, food
industries and markets, and local and global food sociologies.

Location: In 2012,
The Food Studies Conference is strategically held in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
during the Midwestern harvest season. This is the home of the land-grant
University of Illinois, located in the United States’ agricultural
heartland. With cutting-edge research at
the University, and a full range of agricultural endeavors in the community,
ranging from large agribusiness to urban farmers’ markets, Urbana-Champaign
represents an ideal location for the Food Studies community to gather.

This year’s conference will feature a special panel
discussion highlighting Urban Food Hubs and their evolving role in the local
agribusiness and food industry arena. Conference tour activities will feature
an exclusive farm-to-table dinner at Prairie Fruits Farm where participants
will experience the slow foods movement first-hand in a unique outdoor,
field-side setting. Urbana Champaign can easily be reached by commuter plane,
train and road from Chicago and Bloomington, Illinois.

Proposals: We welcome presentation proposals which range
from broad explorations of theoretical, methodological and policy questions, to
proposals which present finely grained evidence of the connections of
economics, public health, government and community practices, sociological,
medical and educational perspectives of food in our societies.

Presenters will have the option to submit to be published
in the refereed ‘Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal.’

Proposals must be in English, include a title, a 20-30
word “Short Description” (thesis statement), a 200-300 word
“Long Description” (abstract), and can be submitted electronically
through our website. For more
information regarding proposal submission requirements and to submit your
proposal, please visit the conference website at: http://food-studies.com/conference-2012/call-for-papers/

Virtual Proposals/Registrations, as well as Non-Presenter
Registrations are encouraged to submit and attend.

Submission Deadlines:
Deadlines will be announced on the conference website. Papers and
proposals will be reviewed within two weeks of submission. The deadline to receive the Early
Registration Discount is May 4 2012.

For full submission and registration details, including
an online proposal submission form, please visit the conference website.

We look forward to receiving your proposal and hope you
will be able to join us in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA in October 2012.

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Antibiotics in fish feed //01 Dec 2011 By John Mosig

The use of antibiotics in livestock diets has been controversial for as long as I can remember. Now that controversy has spread to aquaculture diets. You wouldn’t have to be Einstein to work out that continual use of even low levels of antibiotics will build up pathogenic resistance. After all, the reverse applies. Recovery from and/or exposure to any given disease is how immune systems – ours included – have developed.

So is all the commotion justified? Really, all we’re doing is artificially protecting our farm animals? That’s right – artificially protecting. In a much more leisurely world, one in which evolution muddled along at a millennium pace, famine and pestilence would have saved the blessed and consigned the unlucky to oblivion. Now with population growth on full throttle we have forfeited the luxury of a Nature Approved process of disease control.

Is the concern that the continual use of low levels of antibiotics is going to build up immunity in the very diseases we’re trying to keep at bay?

I’ll be amongst the first to argue that there’s a distinct possibility that we’re overusing antibiotics in our feeds. So why do we use them? And what choices do we have?

Maximising productivity

Firstly, antibiotics promote better growth because they generate better all round health in crowded conditions. Their use maximizes productivity and efficiency. To cut back on the former we would cutting back on the animal protein supply to the global food pool. To cut back on the latter would be to outprice the same to a large proportion of the economically challenged citizens with whom we share the planet.

The options? The use of pro-biotics has had positive, albeit limited benefit, so I guess the only serious scientific option available is to target the strains of bacteria that are causing the problems in the particular species and rigorously monitor fish health. We don’t want to wake up one morning to find our animal protein industries suffering massive disease outbreaks from a resistant strain of ‘superbug’ and any semblance of a global food security policy in tatters?

And with the global media scrambling to sell attention grabbing content and the ever-watchful social media broadcasters trumpeting their anxieties and doctrines, how, as an industry, can we live up to our responsibilities and make sure that some ‘superbug’ doesn’t slip under our radar? Apart from exposing us – as an industry – to universal derision, think of the universal disgrace.

Controlled systems

One way is to make sure our production systems are rigidly quarantined. In other words – thorough protocols and internal, and where necessary, policed regulatory controls. The more sophisticated pig producers are doing this, as are some aquaculture sectors. Environment conscious Malaysia for instance has adopted a policy of moving towards antibiotic free production using controlled aquaculture systems (CAS) to produce jade perch and barramundi from SPF seedstock.

Taking a broader perspective of the matter, there’s every evidence that disease wasn’t an issue until we gained the insight to knowledge. From the moment we changed the game plan – gave up the healthy outdoor life and took to farming and a sedentary (as in settled) life style – we have had to keep one step ahead of the game.

Breeding disease

One of my early fish health management teachers used to catch our attention by stating that ‘aquaculture breeds disease’. What he meant was that as soon as you domesticate and crowd an animal – as in intensive animal protein production systems – in this case a fish farm – you increase the likelihood of a disease outbreak a trillionfold. So let’s accept that antibiotics are a part of modern living on a planet designed for the maximum comfort of around two to three billion people at max that is now home to seven billion and counting.

True, the profit motive is likely to be driving a good part of the agenda here. And having been involved in an investigation into the subtle but devastating impact on the environment and the aquaculture industry of agricultural chemicals I’m as deeply suspicious of status quo driven regulators and the big end of town as the next man or woman. (Google Sunland two headed fish and see what you turn up)

But I guess the bottom line is that we’re on a tread mill of our own making and we’re finding we have to peddle harder and harder because if we don’t we’ll fall off. How we gear that treadmill is crucial to our survival and that of the planet we’ve been bequeathed. So until we come up with something better, it looks as though we’re going to have to live with antibiotics – and manage them holistically, honestly and precisely.

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