ST. LOUIS (April 25, 2012) – Throughout grocery store aisles, shoppers find many soy-based choices to complete a nutritious diet. In April, Soyfoods Month, U.S. soybean farmers want to highlight the benefits of soy products and their availability in products that may not come to mind.
Jim Stillman, a soybean farmer from Emmetsburg, Iowa, and current vice chair for the United Soybean Board and soy checkoff, says he uses soy in his kitchen.

“Baking cookies or brownies, I use soy flour and soy oil,” says Stillman. “It’s just a matter of what you get used to, and I use soymilk in my cooking. I use everything I can that’s soy.”

Soy remains a popular choice for consumers looking for vegetable protein. But Stillman says you don’t have to replace meat in your diet to use soy. Soy can be used with meat instead of replacing it.

The Food and Drug Administration approved a claim that says 25 grams of soy protein a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease. Stillman notes soy products provide a variety of choices to reach that goal.

“You take 25 grams of protein a day from soy protein, and you can get that in many forms: through milk, flour or even tofu,” adds Stillman. “That small amount makes a healthier, more beneficial meal and adds protein to anything you cook.”

The 69 farmer-directors of USB oversee the investments of the soy checkoff to maximize profit opportunities for all U.S. soybean farmers. These volunteers invest and leverage checkoff funds to increase the value of U.S. soy meal and oil, to ensure U.S. soybean farmers and their customers have the freedom and infrastructure to operate, and to meet the needs of U.S. soy’s customers. As stipulated in the federal Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soy checkoff.

Video assets for this story may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/USBSoyfoods
For more information on the United Soybean Board, visit www.unitedsoybean.org
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UnitedSoybeanBoard
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ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has announced it will make the online Driftwatch™ sensitive crops registry available to Minnesota specialty crop producers for the 2012 growing season.  By providing a registry of the locations and descriptions of sensitive specialty crops, the new service helps growers avoid accidental pesticide damage from occurring on sensitive crops.

The idea behind Driftwatch™ is to help pesticide applicators and specialty crop producers communicate more effectively about the location of crops that are particularly sensitive to pesticides, such as vegetables, grapes and certified organic crops. Farmers growing these sensitive crops can post information in the registry about the location and type of crop. The information is then available to neighboring farmers as well as professional pesticide applicators hired by neighboring farmers, who can take special steps to reduce the chance of accidentally injuring the sensitive crops. The registry can be accessed online at http://www.driftwatch.org.

“The program was developed as a tool to help farmers avoid problems during pesticide applications,” said MDA Pesticide Advisor Kevin Cavanagh. “Part of our job at MDA is to enforce state pesticide laws and to investigate pesticide drift complaints, but it is always better to avoid problems in the first place. By offering another method of communication for producers and applicators, we can prevent problems before they happen.”

Minnesota is one of seven states offering the Driftwatch™ registry. Participation is voluntary and open to all Minnesota specialty crop producers and pesticide applicators. MDA is partnering with the Office of the Indiana State Chemist at Purdue University, where all registry data is maintained.  There is no cost for participation.

Driftwatch™ uses Google Maps™ to show field locations of sensitive crops.  The maps can be quickly accessed online by pesticide applicators to learn of sensitive crop locations in advance and take precautionary measures to control off-target pesticide movement. Additionally, pesticide applicators have the option to sign up for automatic notification of new registries in their service area.

Driftwatch™ is not intended for residential locations or sites with less than half an acre.  Registry data integrity is managed by an independent data steward, who performs a safeguard role in receiving and approving field sites prior to their posting on the Driftwatch™ map.  For 2012, there will be Minnesota data stewards for certified organic farms, Christmas trees, fruits, grapes and vegetables.  It is anticipated that more categories will be added in the future. For more information or assistance, farmers can contact the MDA at 651-201-6349.

 

“School cafeterias are great places to champion U.S. agriculture and to teach students where their food comes from,” said Deputy Secretary Merrigan. “More and more, schools are connecting with their local farmers, ranchers and food businesses each day and these programs are a great way to bring more local offerings into school cafeterias and support U.S. producers as well. As we struggle with obesity and associated diet related diseases, farm to school programs give us one important tool to help our kids make lifelong healthy eating choices.”

The Farm to School Grant Program is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which authorized and funded USDA to assist eligible entities, through grants and technical assistance, in implementing farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools. The new investments will assist schools in procuring food from local producers. Farm to school initiatives can also include agriculture and nutrition education efforts such as school gardens, field trips to local farms, and cooking classes.

These grants, administered by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), will help schools respond to the growing demand for locally sourced foods and increase market opportunities for producers and food businesses, including food processors, manufacturers, distributors and other value-added operations.

To fulfill the farm to school mandate in the HHFKA, effective October 1, 2012, $5 million will be provided to USDA on an annual basis to support grants, technical assistance, and the Federal administrative costs related to USDA’s farm to school program. In this first funding cycle, FNS anticipates awarding up to $3.5 million in grants, while the remaining $1.5 million will support a combination of training and technical assistance, administrative costs, and/or additional farm to school grants.

Letters of Intent are suggested but not required by May 18, 2012, while proposals are due June 15, 2012. To assist eligible entities in preparing proposals, USDA will host a webinar related to Implementation grants on May 15th at 1:00 pm EST and a webinar related to Planning grants on May 17th at 1:00 pm EST. For more information on webinars, the farm to school grant program, or USDA’s farm to school efforts in general, please visit the USDA Farm to School website.

Reducing childhood obesity and improving the nutrition and health of all Americans is a top priority the Obama administration and USDA is committed to promoting healthy eating and active lifestyles and ensuring that all Americans have access to safe, nutritious, and balanced meals. Championed by First Lady Michelle Obama as part of her Let’s Move! initative and signed by President Barack Obama, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 marked a great win for the nearly 32 million school children that participate in the National School Lunch and the 12 million school children that participate in the School Breakfast Programs each school day. USDA is working to implement historic reforms that will mark the most comprehensive change to food in schools in more than a generation, which include: updated school meals nutrition standards to increase fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy; science-based standards for all foods and beverages sold on the school campus; performance-based funding increases for schools – the first real increase in 30 years; and training and technical assistance to help schools meet improved standards.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service administers 15 nutrition assistance programs that, in addition to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and National School Lunch Program, also include the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and the Summer Food Service Program. Taken together, these programs comprise America’s nutrition safety net.

 

Hoeven discussed the Revenue Loss Assistance and Crop Insurance Enhancement Act of 2012, bipartisan legislation that he and Senators Conrad and Max Baucus recently introduced to help maintain a critical safety net for North Dakota farmers and serve as a major component of a new Farm Bill. It helps maintain the safety net by:

• Replacing the Direct Payment Program and the Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE) with a new Revenue Loss Assistance Program (RLAP) to address repetitive, shallow losses.
• Maintaining the countercyclical and marketing loan programs, while adding a supplemental coverage option along with other improvements to enhance crop insurance.  The goal is to cover farmers in a more cost-effective manner when yield and/or prices decline.
• Extending the livestock disaster assistance programs permanently and SURE disaster assistance program for 2012 in order to transition to new safety net.

“As we prepare to write a new farm bill, it’s important to hear from producers who will actually rely on the safety net, which is why we’re here in Western North Dakota today,” Hoeven said. “Producers across our state have been telling us that good crop insurance is the foundation of a strong farm safety net and their number one priority. That’s just what we have worked to accomplish in this bipartisan legislation, which is a cost-effective approach that will enable us to save money to help reduce the deficit, while providing our farmers and ranchers with strong support.”

The legislation provides help for farmers who suffered losses on acres planted for harvest at a 65 percent payment rate.  For acreage that was unable to be planted due to adverse weather, the payment rate is 45 percent. Total acreage covered under the program for a producer will not be able to exceed that producer’s total base acres.

The Revenue Loss Assistance and Crop Insurance Enhancement Act comes in response to feedback the senators received from North Dakota producers calling for new tools that build on the existing crop insurance program to deal with repetitive, shallow losses.

As part of a larger strategy to promote soy biodiesel’s benefits among diesel users, the checkoff will once again co-sponsor the National Tractor Pullers Association (NTPA) season of approximately 80 tractor pulls across the United States. The checkoff partners with the NTPA to increase biodiesel availability and use among pulling fans, many of whom work in the agricultural and trucking sectors.

“Pulling tractors perform so well on biodiesel, it’s a perfect way to show farmers biodiesel’s benefits,” says USB Communications Chair Jimmy Sneed, a soybean farmer from Hernando, Miss. “It’s important to remind farmers that using soybean oil for biodiesel is one of the components that determines the value of each bushel we grow. It makes sense for soybean farmers to use their own products and promote biodiesel.”

Under the co-sponsorship, tractors in the NTPA’s Light Pro Stock division will run on biodiesel. So these pullers will put biodiesel to the test all season long.

According to millions of miles of checkoff-funded testing, biodiesel can stand up to those tests. It offers excellent horsepower, mileage, cetane and lubricity. And, since it can be made from U.S. soybean oil, it’s the only diesel fuel that can help declare freedom from foreign oil.

Check the NTPA schedule to find out if Light Pro Stock “Powered by Biodiesel” hooks will be in your area.

The soy checkoff also established other partnerships to promote biodiesel. Later this year, the checkoff will sponsor the National Truck Driving Championships, a trucking competition that attracts tens of thousands of representatives from that industry. Additionally, the checkoff partners with Clean Cities coalitions; assorted state, county and regional fairs; and the tractor pulls at the National Farm Machinery Show to promote the use of biodiesel, Bioheat® and other soy-based products.

The soy checkoff funds most of the biodiesel research and promotion efforts through the National Biodiesel Board to help increase the use of U.S. soybean oil. Soybean oil remains the dominant feedstock for U.S. biodiesel production.

These efforts helped push production of America’s Advanced Biofuel to a record of nearly 1.1 million gallons in 2011. This exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s 800-million-gallon requirement and surpassed the industry’s previous record of 690 million gallons set in 2008.

The 69 farmer-directors of USB oversee the investments of the soy checkoff to maximize profit opportunities for all U.S. soybean farmers. These volunteers invest and leverage checkoff funds to increase the value of U.S. soy meal and oil, to ensure U.S. soybean farmers and their customers have the freedom and infrastructure to operate, and to meet the needs of U.S. soy’s customers. As stipulated in the federal Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soy checkoff.

For more information on the United Soybean Board, visit www.unitedsoybean.org
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UnitedSoybeanBoard
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/unitedsoy
View our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/UnitedSoybeanBoard

 

BILLINGS, Mont. April 2, 2012 – The USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) reminds North Dakota producers that any winter wheat planted in the fall of 2011 must have been reported to their crop insurance agent by the March 15^th sales closing date.  The request for coverage must have included the location and number of acres of fall-planted wheat.  Producers who planted winter wheat last fall did so at their own risk because winter wheat is not insurable in North Dakota unless it is determined by the insuring company that an adequate stand exists in the spring. An adequate stand is defined as a population of live plants per unit of acreage that will produce at least the yield used to establish the producer’s production guarantee.

With the warmest winter on record and above normal temperatures, the winter wheat is breaking dormancy.  There is no requirement for the insuring company to do early inspections.  The Small Grains Crop Provisions state that if the insuring company does not inspect the winter wheat, insurance will attach on the applicable spring final planting date. The fall-planted wheat will be insured as a spring type for the purpose of the production guarantee, premium, projected price, and harvest price, if applicable.

However, producers need to understand that if they have a thin or damaged stand of winter wheat they will have to make a decision whether keep it with the risk of not having crop insurance coverage on it, or to replant the acreage to a spring crop/type that is insurable in the county.  It is also important to know that any acreage of fall-planted wheat that is damaged after it is accepted for insurance by the insuring company but before the spring final planting date, to the extent that growers in the area would normally not further care for the crop, must be replanted to a spring type of wheat unless it is agreed it is not practical to replant.

If fall-planted acreage is not to be insured, it must be recorded on the acreage report as uninsured fall-planted acreage.

Producers are encouraged to contact their crop insurance agent if they have any questions.

March 29, 2012

For information contact:

Jim Bahm, District I Commissioner-Elect: 701-843-8212

Francis Leiphon, District IV Commissioner-Elect: 701-398-3136

ND Wheat Commission: 701-328-5111

Bahm and Leiphon Elected to ND Wheat Commission Board

Jim Bahm, New Salem, was elected to his first four-year term in District

I and Francis Leiphon, Crary, was elected to his third four-year term in

district IV of the North Dakota Wheat Commission (NDWC).  Bahm

represents producers in 13 counties in the southwest part of the state

and Leiphon represents 7 counties in north central North Dakota.  They

were elected by county representatives from within each of their

districts who in turn were elected from producers in their respective

counties through elections this winter.  Their official terms will begin

July 1, 2012.  The Commission is comprised of seven members, six elected

through District elections and one appointed by the governor.

Commissioners shape the policies and priorities of the NDWC, and

establish the annual budget for checkoff funded activities that

primarily focus on research, export marketing, policy and domestic

promotion activities.

Bahm has served as the Morton county representative to the NDWC since

2004.  He is also active on the New Salem-Almont School Board, serves as

Vice Chair of the Morton County Weed Board and Chairman of the Morton

County Crop Improvement.  Bahm grows hard red spring wheat, barley,

flax, corn, oats and sunflowers on his farm near New Salem.  He and his

wife Labeth have four children.

Leiphon is the Ramsey county representative and has served as the

Commissioner for District IV since 2004.  He currently serves as

Chairman of the NDWC and represents the Commission on the U.S. Wheat

Associates Board of Directors.  Leiphon is currently a director on the

Forward Devils Lake Economic Development Corporation and is a past

director for the Devils Lake Farmers Union Oil Co., Ramsey County Crop

Improvement Association, Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives and

Ramsey County Farmer’s Union.  Leiphon grows hard red spring wheat,

durum, winter wheat, barley, canola and soybeans on his farm near Crary.

He and his wife Kim have four children.

Other current Commissioners include Louis Kuster, Stanley; Brian

O’Toole, Crystal; David Clough, Fessenden; Greg Svenningsen, Valley

City, Harlan Klein, Elgin and Bruce Freitag, Scranton.  Bahm replaces

Klein, who will have served the allowable three, four-year term limits

on the Commission on June 30, 2012.

Producers elected to serve as county representatives from July 1, 2012

through June 30, 2016 in the districts are listed below. Incumbents are

denoted with an asterisk (*).

District I – Southwest

*         Adams – Steve Wegner, Reeder*

*         Billings – Loren Bock, Belfield*

*         Bowman – Neal Freitag, Scranton

*         Dunn – William Flaget, Halliday*

*         Golden Valley – Andrew Smith, Beach

*         Grant – Wes Frederick, Flasher

*         Hettinger – David Anderson, Dickinson*

*         Mercer – Gary Knell, Hazen*

*         Oliver – Patrick Doll, New Salem*

*         Sioux – Jamie Heid, Selfridge*

*         Slope – Jim Powell, Bowman

*         Stark – Bob Kuylen, South Heart

District IV – North Central

*         Benson – Phil Volk, York*

*         Bottineau – Lenny Artz, Bottineau

*         McHenry – David Thom, Granville*

*         Pierce – Ken Schaan, Rugby*

*         Rolette – Matt Graber, Rolette

*         Towner – Jeff Teubner, Cando*

The North Dakota Wheat Commission works to expand worldwide use of North

Dakota wheat.  Wheat producers finance the effort entirely themselves

through a wheat checkoff system. The checkoff rate is presently 1.5

cents per bushel.

####

February Western Best of the Best in Wheat and Barley Research Update Workshops were planned and funded by the NDSU Extension Service, the IBMS, the North Dakota Grain Growers Association, the North Dakota Crop Improvement Association and the North Dakota Wheat Commission. Topics covered included spring management of winter wheat, saline seep management, small grain disease identification and treatment options, crop rotations, marketing, in-field sensors, and malt barley quality parameters.

Additional support for the Western Best of the Best in Wheat and Barley Research Update Workshops was provided by a special grant from the Small Grains Institute in Red Lake Minnesota.  The Small Grains Institute organizes the International Crop Expo as well as supporting other informational workshops and meetings for small grain growers in the region.

Barley production information was also presented at a Regional Barley Update at the Carrington Research Extension Center in March.  Topics covered at this meeting were malting barley risk management tools, disease identification and management, rotations, weed control and soil fertility, barley variety development, barley as a feed grain, crop comparison tools and malting barley quality factors.  Support for this workshop was provided by NDSU Extension and the Carrington Research Extension Center and IBMS sponsors, including the American Malting Barley Association, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Cargill Malt, Malteurop North America, MillerCoors, the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, the North Dakota Barley Council and Rahr Malting, Inc.