News | Field 2 Field

October 18, 2019October 18, 2019

Fire prevention; Are you ready for an emergency?

Fire prevention is a perfect topic that should be top of mind as the winter gets ever closer. We’re all gonna spend more time inside soon. Accidents happen. Are you ready? Here’s a video to warm you up.. it’s only 92 seconds. Take a look.

Ever thought about what would happen if a fire broke out in your home? The recent National Fire Prevention Week means it’s a perfect time to consider the options, such as how to get out of each room in your house if a fire starts? This year’s theme for National Fire Prevention Week is “Not Every Hero Wears A Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape.”

“National Fire Prevention Week is a perfect time to remind people to think about fire safety, especially as we get closer to winter,” said Rushford Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chad Rasmussen. “Let’s do things like check the smoke alarms, make sure our furnaces are clean, and anything else that would make our homes a little safer.

“People are using their furnaces more in the wintertime, they’re using their wood stoves, and too much snow can block dryer vents,” he added. “There’s a lot of things to keep in mind when people are ‘boxed in’ more during the winter.”

Other preventative steps include keeping chimneys swept and moving snow away from gas meters. Keep space heaters away from things like curtains or blankets that could easily catch fire if the heater happens to tip over accidentally.

Rasmussen said people tend to downplay their chances of having a fire break out in their house. “They really do think it’s never going to happen to them,” he said. “If you aren’t prepared for it, the worst things usually happen. People lose their lives. You could be out of your home. The way we’re building our homes these days makes them burn a lot quicker than they did in the past.”

He said the best way to prepare for a possible fire is to practice an escape plan. People tend to think escape plans are for families with children but that’s not the case. Even someone who lives alone needs an escape plan to get out of their house safely.

“You could be downstairs doing something and a fire breaks out upstairs from a space heater that tipped over,” Rasmussen said. “You need to know how to get out of there as soon as possible. Have a practice fire drill every month or two with everyone in the house. People tend to panic when a fire starts. Make sure what you have to do to escape is drilled into everyone in the house.”

It’s important to have a meeting place picked out that everyone knows ahead of time so you can account for those people in the house. That way, when the fire department does get there, they’ll know right away if they need to check for someone in the house.

The National Fire Protection Association points out that in a fire, people may have as little as one to two minutes to escape safely after the smoke alarm sounds. Escape planning and practice can help make the most of the time you have to get out safely.

“Fire doesn’t care who you are, it’s going to take from you,” Rasmussen said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, an adult or child, it will take everything from you. Be prepared.”

September 17, 2019September 17, 2019

World Horseshoe Tournament: Minnesotans do well

The 2019 World Horseshoe Tournament took place in Wichita Falls, Texas, on July 22-August 3. The National Horseshoe Pitching Association sponsors the tournament once a year in different locations around the country. Once again, this year’s tournament included a contingent of “pitchers” from the Rushford-Peterson area, who all competed well down in Texas.

Darren Chambers of Rushford usually takes a delegation of area residents to the World Horseshoe tournament once a year, with this year being no exception. “This year, we had a few more people going along than in 2018,” he said. “I took three new players this year. A total of five went from the Rushford area and I took my two grandsons from West Salem too.

“My new players this year included my niece, Donata Kitchens,” he said, “along with my granddaughter, Brielle Schneider, as well as Lucas Rasmussen. They all took part in their first world tournament. The three that I took to last year’s tournament, Isaac Rasmussen, Mason Chambers, and Noah Chambers, all went again this year too.”

Brielle Schneider, who Chambers says has “only been pitching for about five months,” won the Class C Division at the tournament. “She won the round-robin tournament with a perfect 9-0 record,” Chambers said. “Brielle actually had to beat Isaac Rasmussen at one point (18-17) to win the championship. Isaac wound up in second place with an 8-1 record.

“A total of four kids were in Class C, including Brielle, Isaac, Lucas, and Noah,” he said. “Noah took sixth place in Class C and Lucas Rasmussen finished in seventh. Mason won his class last year and took fourth in this year’s World Horseshoe Tournament. He started slowly but finished the tournament on fire, throwing 15 ringers in one game (40 total throws, 37%).”

Chambers said he takes the kids to different tournaments in Iowa throughout the winter (indoors). It’s not hard to get them ready for the world tournament because “they just love the road trips” and they “love playing the game.”

Lucas Rasmussen had the distinction of being the youngest player at the World Horseshoe Tournament in Texas. He played quite a match with Brielle Rasmussen in Class C competition. “Lucas lost to Brielle in the last game of the tournament,” Chambers recalled. “He trailed 11-9 and just needed a ringer to win the game. Lucas threw a ringer that would have won him the game. However, she had a shoe that was literally standing up on the side of the pole and it flipped her shoe right on there. That canceled out his ringer and he lost 11-9.

“This old guy (Darren) finished up 9-6 at the tournament this year,” he said with a laugh. “I wound up in sixth place, which got me into a little money. They pay out through sixth place.”

Chambers said Donata Kitchens wasn’t initially going to play in the tournament. At first, Chambers said she came along to “help out with the kids.” Chambers admitted he knew they would need an extra pair of hands on the trip, especially with the extra kids going along to Texas. “Well, we decided since she’s going along, Donata might as well play,” he said. “You have to play in four tournaments to qualify for the world tournament and we just barely got her qualified. It was worth it as she took third place in the women’s Class K Division.”

It takes many hours of practice to be successful at the world tournament. Chambers likes the fact that people in each division are competing against other players with similar skill levels, thanks to the way the national association organizes the tournament.

“This tournament really has a class for everybody,” he said. “Participants are put into their class based on their ringer percentage. The more ringers you make, the higher class of competition you’re in. For example, I’m in the second-to-lowest class at the tournament because my ringer percentage is between 10-12 percent., while the number-one-ranked guy in the world will pitch somewhere between 85-90 percent.

“That’s a big difference and why they class it up the way they do,” Chambers added. “When you play someone in your class, you’ll have a good chance to win. It makes the tournament a lot more fun for everybody.”

Chambers started attending world tournaments every year since 2003 and typically went by himself, however the group traveling to next year’s world championship tournament in Monroe, Louisiana, will likely include at least 13 people from Minnesota. He said there’s always room for more people who want to play.

“Anyone interested in pitching horseshoes can give me a call if they want to get involved,” Chambers added. “I’m happy to teach them different ways to throw and would be happy to help anyone interested.”

I included a video recap of some of the action at this year’s tournament:

September 11, 2019September 11, 2019

IFYE – the International Farm Youth Exchange Program

The International Farm Youth Exchange Program recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA and IFYE (iffy) will work together to promote cultural understanding between the U.S. and overseas countries. The MOU commends IFYE for its past and continuing contribution to international cultural understanding of rural areas across the world. Victoria Warren is President of IFYE. She says the MOU also means the USDA and her group will work together to continue the IFYE mission into the future.

The IFYE program sends young adults 19 and over to farms and rural areas in other countries and helps them learn to understand different cultures and ways of doing things. Warren says the experience isn’t just for young adults in rural America either.

Program participants should be interested in things like agriculture, foods, nutrition, or family consumer science to get the best possible program experience. Warren talks about what the participants will do when they’re overseas with exchange families.

Warren says IFYE isn’t like other exchange programs because participants aren’t there to go to school. However, that doesn’t mean the young adults don’t learn anything.

Warren participated in the program too. She made an overseas trip back in the late-1970s.

For more information about the program, go to www.ifyeusa.org.

September 1, 2019September 10, 2019

Weather turns cool but won’t last in Ag country

Here is the full podcast with Bryce Anderson. You can download for later if you like. Just click on the three dots on the right and hit the download box.

Weather and agriculture go together like husband and wife, hand in glove, or ball and chain. I caught up to a guy who knows a lot about agriculture and weather. He’s Bryce Anderson, Senior Ag Meteorologist with DTN.

Temperatures have turned cool in the Midwest recently and it has some farmers concerned about a potential impact on crop development. Anderson says that cool trend is going to continue for several more days.

He says the cooler-than-normal temps cover most of the Corn Belt. In some cases, certain locations in the Corn Belt have been double-digits below where they normally are in late August-early September.

Cool high pressure dropped down from Canada and took control of the weather in the Corn Belt. However, Anderson says that high pressure will begin to move away soon.

Because much of the crops in the ground went in late, all eyes are on the weather forecast and trying to anticipate when that first frost will be. While Anderson says an early frost doesn’t look likely, that may not be good enough for this year’s crops…tape

He says the weather during harvest should be good enough to help farmers get their crops into the bins quicker than last fall. Anderson says the bigger question will be how good the condition of those crops are when they’re taken out of the fields across farm country.

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019

Agricultural trade opportunities are still out there

Here’s the podcast with Jeremy Miller. If you want to download it for later, go ahead and click on the three dots on the right side of the player and hit download.

Agricultural Trade is a sore topic of conversation these days. The agricultural sector in Minnesota and around the country has been struggling for more than a year due in large part to trade disputes with other nations, including the biggest one with China. However, there is some good news out there in international market opportunities for Minnesota farmers. District 28 Republican Senator Jeremy Miller recently took part in an overseas trade mission to Taiwan July 21-26 and says there are opportunities out there for Minnesota farmers to find markets for their commodities.

“A representative from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago reached out to me earlier this year about leading a multi-state, bipartisan legislative leaders’ delegation to Taiwan,” he recalled. “Before we go any further, people have asked who paid for the trip. I want to make it clear that the trip was paid for by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The whole purpose of the trip was to develop relationships between the United States of America, specifically Minnesota, and partners in Taiwan.”

It was the second trip Miller has taken overseas, with the first one taking place in South Korea back in 2011. He said the number one focus of these trips is to “meet people,” with the number two focus of “looking at opportunities.” The third and most important focus of the trip is “developing relationships” to see what kinds of business dealings can evolve in the future.

“The potential is there for a lot of different relationships between Minnesota and Taiwan,” he said. “By far, the biggest opportunity I see in Taiwan is for agricultural trade. Minnesota already exports a good number of crops, especially soybeans, to Taiwan. I think there’s even more opportunity there, whether it be for corn, more soybeans, and especially for pork.”

Miller looked into the numbers and found that Minnesota exported about $413 million worth of goods to Taiwan in 2018. However, that number is likely to go higher. “Last year, there was a agricultural trade mission to Taiwan that both Minnesota and Iowa took part in,” he recalled. “On that trip, Taiwan signed a $1.5 billion-dollar deal to buy 3.9 million metric tons of soybeans from both Minnesota and Iowa before 2021.

“What I’m driving at is there are even more opportunities for Minnesota and Taiwan to increase the amount of business done,” Miller said. “But, it comes down to keep lines of communication open and building on those relationships once they’re established.”

August 12, 2019August 12, 2019

Trade dispute puts U.S. agriculture right in the middle

Trade is important to agriculture. There, I said it. American agriculture is the best in the world. When you produce goods at the rate we do, there has to be somewhere to sell it overseas. However, thanks to the trade dispute with China, as well as recent disputes with some of our top trading partners, trade isn’t happening with the regularity it needs to.

In turn, when trade doesn’t happen the way it should, prices drop and farmers can’t make a living. I wanted to find out more about the trade dispute and what’s really going on. When you want to learn something like that, you find someone with skin in the game that can teach you the ins and outs.

Dan Ujczo (YOOT-zoh) is an international trade lawyer with the Dickinson-Wright Law Firm of Columbus, Ohio. I’ve known him for over a year now, ever since the dispute began. In typical Chad Smith fashion, my first question is “what the hell is going on here?” How’s that for direct and to the point?

“There was never going to be a deal in which things would go back to the way they were prior to January of 2017, when President Trump was inaugurated,” Ujczo said. “When Trump met with President Xi last December, they both thought we’d have a deal inside of 90 days. Then we heard they would make a deal in May.

“We never thought there would be a deal in which tariffs were completely rolled back,” he said. “Certainly not on the items from List One and List Two, which were an initial 25 percent duty on $50 billion worth of goods.”

When it comes to the items on List One and List Two, Ujczo says the U.S. government talked with industry and looked at the future of manufacturing, deciding then that these are the items we don’t want China taking the lead on. “Tariffs probably weren’t ever coming off those items,” he said.

Here’s the full conversation:

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019

Markets Expert Talks Trade War, USDA reports

Markets occasionally confuse me. However, one part of a career in journalism/broadcasting that I really enjoy is calling people who can educate me on things I really don’t have much expertise in. The older I get, the more fun it is to learn (and try) new things, but I digress. I was working on an assignment with the National Association of Farm Broadcasting the other day and had to find out how the trade dispute between the U.S. and China is affecting commodity markets.

Well, here’s the thing. Commodity markets are not my area of expertise, so I called up Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics and Consulting in Atchison, Kansas. He’s been in the markets for 2.5 decades so if you have a question, he’s the guy that can answer it.

As a farm broadcaster/editor, I was curious about how the China announcement that they wouldn’t be buying any American farm products right now was affecting the markets. Obviously, the effect wouldn’t be a positive one. However, as you’ll hear in the conversation, it could have been even worse.

And believe me, before we progress any further I need to stress that no one is saying things aren’t bad right now in the agricultural sector. I wanted to find out what the market reaction was to the announcement from China. Mike said the key reaction market reaction took place in the currency and stock markets.

“Quite frankly, Chad, I think this is maybe one of the few glimmers of good news, or potentially supportive news, for the commodity markets,” he said. “I think we’ve done a fairly good job in the markets of pricing in a good portion of the end result of these trade frictions turning into the beginnings of a trade war. It’s going to be playing out in the currency markets as we go forward.

“The net result is the commodity markets didn’t react as negatively as they could, simply because the strength of the U.S. dollar was dropping,” Zuzolo said. “When the dollar goes down, it makes our goods cheaper to export. At the same time when we had the news out of China, the gold market was making fresh, 6.5-year highs. That too is commodity supportive.”

Here’s the full conversation with Mike Zuzolo.

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019

Japanese Hops Invading Southeast Minnesota

Japanese hops is and invasive weed that’s overtaking the banks of the Root River in southeastern Minnesota and growing onto adjacent property. Weed experts at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) are asking for the public’s help in controlling the weed and reporting new finds.

Infestations are popping up along the Root River from Preston to the confluence of the Mississippi River. Small infestations of Japanese hops have also popped up in Winona; however, these have been controlled.

Japanese hops are annual vines native to eastern Asia that can grow up to 35 feet in a single growing season. With this explosive growth, the vines smother native vegetation and even grow into trees. Leaves are approximately 2-6 inches long and have at least 5 lobes that are shaped like a hand with the fingers extended. There are separate male and female plants that are beginning to flower this time of year. Seed production then follows.

Minnesota is also home to American hops. It is a native perennial vine that looks similar but often has 1-5 lobes and does not have more than 5 lobes on the leaves.

“We don’t know how they got to the Root River; but now that it’s here, we need to work together with the public to control this invasive weed,” said Christina Basch, Noxious Weed Specialist at the MDA. “Since Japanese hops is a prohibited noxious weed on the state’s eradicate list, it’s important that we find infestations and work to get rid of it.”

For successful Japanese hops control, the dispersal of mature seed must be stopped. This can be done by pulling or cutting the vines at the base or with herbicide treatment. Herbicide treatment is the only practical approach for large infestations that can’t be mowed. Experimental torching of seedlings appears to be effective for control of small infestations.

If you find Japanese hops on your land and the infestation is beyond what you can manage, report it to the MDA’s Arrest the Pest line at arrest.the.pest@state.mn.us or 1-888-545-6684. It is helpful to include photos with the report. It is also important to report infestations other than those on the Root River.

Work is already underway to control Japanese hops in the Root River area. Through a grant from the MDA, the Fillmore Soil Water Conservation District and Houston County Planning and Zoning are conducting hops treatments on the Root River banks. Fillmore and Houston County officials, with grants from the Board of Water and Soil Resources Clean Water Fund, are also using Conservation Corps Minnesota (CCM) to control hops along the Root River Trail. The MDA is working with landowners and CCM to control hops on private lands. The MDA’s work to control Japanese hops and oversee the coordinated efforts is supported by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizens Commission on Minnesota Resources.

July 11, 2019July 11, 2019

July WASDE is nothing more than a “placeholder”

The July World Ag Supply and Demand Estimate Report (WASDE) didn’t make many changes from the previous month. In fact, it wasn’t worth much at all to a lot of the industry. USDA admitted it will have a better picture of planted acres in the U.S. after resurveying producers this month and releasing the updated numbers in August.

Joe Vaclavik, founder and president of Standard Grain in Chicago, says this month’s WASDE report was considered by many to be a “placeholder.”

He’s not surprised that the number didn’t change a great deal from the last report…tape

There weren’t a lot of surprises on the demand side of the WASDE report…tape

Vaclavik says the grain stocks numbers likely aren’t accurate…tape

With this round of WADE reports done, Vaclavik says the markets are very much locked in on two things. He tells agweb.com that markets will be watching weather and the August report. “Because of the variability in both crop conditions and crop progress, it’s very, very difficult for anyone to look at a weather forecast or pattern and say if it’s bullish or bearish,” Vaclavik says.

He says a lot of farmers might be looking for a rise in prices because this year’s crop is anticipated to be very small. “Just because the crop is light doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to go higher,” Vaclavik says. “You don’t want to completely abandon any semblance of a marketing plan. We’ve been hoping to get to these corn prices, and it took five or six years to finally get back here.

“Be ready for volatility,” he added. “The environment will continue to be volatile until we learn more about the crop in August.”

Again, Joe Vaclavik is President and Founder of Standard Grains.

July 11, 2019July 11, 2019

Dairy Margin Coverage Program already helping producers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) opened enrollment for the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program on June 17 and has started issuing payments to producers who purchased coverage. Producers can enroll through Sept. 20, 2019.

“Times have been especially tough for dairy farmers, and while we hope producers’ margins will increase, the Dairy Margin Coverage program is providing support at a critical time for many in the industry,” said Bill Northey, USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation. “With lower premiums and higher levels of assistance than previous programs, DMC is already proving to be a good option for a lot of dairy producers across the country. USDA is committed to efficiently implementing the safety net programs in the 2018 Farm Bill and helping producers deal with the challenges of the ever-changing farm economy.”

Authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill, DMC replaces the Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy). The program offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed cost (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer. To date, nearly 10,000 operations have signed up for the new program, and FSA has begun paying approximately $100 million to producers for January through May.

May Margin Payment

DMC provides coverage retroactive to January 1, 2019, with applicable payments following soon after enrollment.

The May 2019 income over feed cost margin was $9.00 per hundredweight (cwt.), triggering the fifth payment for eligible dairy producers who purchase the $9.50 level of coverage under DMC. Payments for January, February, March and April also were triggered.

With the 50 percent hay blend, FSA’s revised April 2019 income over feed cost margin is $8.82 per cwt. The revised margins for January, February and March are, respectively, $7.71, $7.91 and $8.66.

Coverage Levels and MPP Reimbursements

Dairy producers can choose coverage levels from $4 up to $9.50 at the time of signup. More than 98 percent of the producers currently enrolled have elected $9.50 coverage on up to 95 percent of their production history.

More Information

On December 20, 2018, President Trump signed into law the 2018 Farm Bill, which provides support, certainty and stability to our nation’s farmers, ranchers and land stewards by enhancing farm support programs, improving crop insurance, maintaining disaster programs and promoting and supporting voluntary conservation. FSA is committed to implementing these changes as quickly and effectively as possible, and today’s updates are part of meeting that goal.

For more information, visit farmers.gov DMC webpage or contact your local USDA service center. To locate your local FSA office, visit farmers.gov/service-locator.