Bt Corn for Silage

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Feed, Forage, Forage Forum, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Podcast

Pioneer Hi-Bred Forage Forum PodcastIn this edition of Forage Forum, Bill Seglar, Pioneer nutritional sciences veterinarian, addresses questions on BT corn for silage. Seglar says biotechnology traits do not impact nutritional value of the corn, but it is usually environmental factors that affect silage quality and nutritional value.

Listen to the podcast here:

[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://zimmcomm.biz/pioneer/pioneer-podcast-75-wdd.mp3] Bill Seglar on Bt Corn for Silage (4:20 min MP3)

To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.

Subscribe to Forage Forum here.

Conklin Dairy Responds to Undercover Video

News EditorGeneral

The Plain City dairy farm targeted in an undercover video released by Mercy for Animals (MFA) this week responded swiftly to animal abuses depicted in the footage. A spokesman for the farm confirmed the employee prominently featured willfully abusing animals was fired immediately Wednesday morning following the video’s release. “As fourth-generation farmers, our family takes the care of our cows and calves very seriously,” the Conklin statement said. “We take equally seriously the allegations that have been made about our farm operation and the mistreatment of our animals.”

Detailing the farm’s actions in the hours following MFA’s release of footage it claimed to have obtained over a four week period on the Union County farm, a Conklin statement read: “We have conducted an initial review of the video that the activist group has released. The video shows animal care that is clearly inconsistent with the high standards we set for our farm and its workers, and we find the specific mistreatment shown on the video to be reprehensible and unacceptable.”

In explaining the immediate termination of the employee found committing the abuses shown in the video, Conklin said “We will not condone animal abuse on our farm. We have launched our own internal investigation into this matter and will be conducting interviews with everyone on our farm who works with our animals.”

“We are cooperating fully with law enforcement authorities overseeing this situation. Further, our farm will institute immediate retraining of all those who remain on the farm and who work with our animals.” Sources within the industry say a criminal investigation is currently underway, but the Union County Prosecuting Attorney has yet to make a formal public statement on the issue.

Conklin reiterated their commitment to animal welfare by stating, “The trust of our customers in the way we operate our farm, care for our herds and produce quality, safe milk is of critical importance to us, and we will work to maintain that trust as we address this issue.”

Source: Buckeye Ag Radio Network

Undercover Video Sickens Dairy Producers

Cindy ZimmermanAnimal Activists

Representatives of the dairy and agriculture industry in general are just as outraged as the general public over an alleged “undercover” video of animal abuse on an Ohio dairy released yesterday by activist organization Mercy For Animals (MFA)

MFA claims the video, which depicts savage and sick behavior toward dairy animals, was filmed over a four week period on Conklin Dairy Farm in rural Union County. Speaking on Ohio’s Buckeye Ag Radio Network, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation spokesman Joe Cornely said, “I don’t know any farmers who condone these type of actions. I haven’t spoken to anyone this morning who condones these types of actions.”

“Activists will spin this to tar the entire industry,” Cornely said, “but we know that this video does not represent the vast majority of farmers.” Comparing the video to cases of abused animals and horses, he pointed out that no one draws the conclusion that “all pet owners abuse their pets.”

The MFA release on the video quotes Dr. Temple Grandin, a cattle welfare expert and advisor to the USDA, “The handling of both the calves and cows was atrocious animal abuse. These people were deliberately torturing animals and their behavior was totally sickening.”

Dairy producer and agriculture advocate Michele Payne-Knoper wrote about the video on her blog. “The crap you see on the heinous videos from animal rights activists, like the one being released by Mercy For Animals about a Ohio dairy farm, is not what’s happening on every farm,” she writes. “And, speaking as a dairy person, seeing such cruelty makes me want to cry and keeps me up at night.”

Gary Conklin, owner of the operation, says he does not condone animal abuse on his farm. “The video shows animal care that is clearly inconsistent with the high standards we set for our farm and its workers, and we find the specific mistreatment shown on the video to be reprehensible and unacceptable,” Conklin said.

After releasing it to the media, MFA has reportedly turned the video over to the prosecutors office and will be holding a press conference today. The question that should be asked is how anyone who cares about the humane treatment of animals could have had the stomach to spend four weeks video taping such heinous abuse. The people shown in the video punching, kicking, stabbing, and viciously attacking these defenseless animals are clearly sick human beings who should be held liable for their individual actions. Whoever videotaped could be an accomplice accessory to the crime by not reporting the abuse to authorities immediately.

Animal Rights Group Releases Disturbing Video

Chuck ZimmermanAnimal Activists

This is a heads up in case you haven’t heard about it. Yesterday the Associated Press published a story about a video that was allegedly taken undercover at an Ohio dairy farm by the group Mercy For Animals. It is a shocking and disturbing video and whoever is actually involved should be put in jail for a very long time. If you click through and watch the video be warned. It’s graphic and bad.

Regardless of who is responsible for the violent acts in the video this will be used by animal rights activists to tarnish the image of good dairy farmers everywhere. This is a group of militant vegans with an agenda so it is good to question their credibility and motivation. We’ll do an update on the story when more information comes to light. You can get some perspective from a story by the ABN Radio Network which contains an interview with Joe Cornely, Ohio Farm Bureau.

T.A. Seeds Joins NutriDense Licensees

News EditorFeed

BASF Plant Science L.P. has announced the addition of T.A. Seeds as a new NutriDense® trait licensee. T.A. Seeds, headquartered in Jersey Shore, Pa., will offer NutriDense Silage traits starting this summer due to strong demand in its market area and the positive performance of NutriDense genetics.

BASF Plant Science breeding efforts have significantly improved NutriDense parent lines, and the hybrids developed from these lines have excellent agronomics, strong yield potential and outstanding nutritional performance.

“We are very excited to add T.A. Seeds to our growing list of NutriDense licensees,” said Barney Bernstein, director of trait marketing and sales for BASF Plant Science. “We have seen very positive results from NutriDense Silage hybrids in the northeast and surrounding areas, and are thrilled that T.A. Seeds can now offer NutriDense to their dairy customers.”

“We are constantly evaluating new hybrids that will increase the profitability of eastern farmers,” said Taylor Doebler, T.A. Seeds seedsman. “Based on our experience, we believe NutriDense Silage hybrids are a good fit for this geography, and we look forward to offering them to our customers.”

NutriDense is a nutritionally enhanced corn that contains a stacked set of output traits designed to improve animal feed performance. Seed companies market the product through licensing agreements with BASF Plant Science.

For dairy producers, NutriDense® Silage hybrids can increase silage tonnage while improving income over feed costs through greater feed efficiency.

Source: NutriDense; follow on Twitter @NutriDense

Governance Proposal Generates Beef Checkoff Concerns

Cindy ZimmermanBeef Checkoff

National Cattlemen's Beef AssociationRepresentatives of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Federation of State Beef Councils met with USDA officials today to discuss NCBA’s proposed governance structure and held a conference with reporters afterward to review the outcome of the meeting.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sent a letter this week to Illinois cattle producer and NCBA President Steve Foglesong expressing the need for additional clarity regarding the proposed governance structure. Foglesong says NCBA’s goals are to fuel producer profitability by building and protecting beef demand and to preserve producers freedom to operate without excessive government intervention. “I believe our proposed governance model helps deliver on these goals by increasing producer input into our programs and policies and by enabling quicker decision making through a 29 member board, rather than our current 274 member board.”

In his letter, Vilsack expressed concern that the proposed structure would “weaken the firewall between policy and checkoff funded activities, thereby jeopardizing the Beef Checkoff program and set a bad precedent for checkoff programs in general.” Foglesong and Scott George, NCBA Federation Division Chair and Wyoming dairy/beef producer addressed each of Vilsack’s concerns one at a time in answer to questions from reporters.

“The problem we’re having here is a break down in understanding what ‘firewall’ is,” said George. “We believe the firewall is an accounting firewall and that has been strictly enforced and will continue to be strictly enforced.”

Foglesong stressed their transparency throughout the restructuring process. “This is a draft,” Foglesong said. “That’s one of the reasons that it passed by 94 percent at the convention. We made changes and we listened to people.”

Industry representatives will be meeting with other groups who have concerns about the restructuring this week.

Alpharma Launches Anaplasmosis Webinar

Cindy ZimmermanAlpharma

AlpharmaAlpharma Animal Health has launched an online webinar that discusses the current status of anaplasmosis in cattle in the U.S. The webinar is based on an expert panel that convened in late 2009 featuring Dr. Hans Coetzee and Dr. Denny Hausmann, experts with extensive experience managing the disease and incorporating new strategies for diagnosis and control. The webinar provides a continued education credit hour for veterinarians, and producers and other cattle industry stakeholders also are encouraged to participate.

Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne disease that causes loss of production and abortion in beef cattle and significant decreases in milk production in dairy cattle. Each individual case of anaplasmosis is estimated to cost about $400 per animal, and the total cost to the industry is estimated to be above $300 million in the U.S.

While producers in the Southern U.S. – where anaplasmosis is considered endemic – may be familiar with the disease, the USDA’s most recent cow-calf survey found that only 16% of producers are “fairly knowledgeable” about anaplasmosis and 47 percent had never heard of it before.

The educational webinar, entitled, “Anaplasmosis: Update on Diagnostic, Control and Treatment Approaches for Improved Disease Management,” is easily accessible from the lower right-hand corner of the Alpharma website homepage or at http://alpharmawebinar.vetlearn.com/. Topics include disease prevalence, etiology, and epidemiology; disease phases and clinical progression; diagnostic rationale, tools and procedures; and strategies for intervention and control.

Reducing The Cost Of Producing Milk

Chuck ZimmermanAlltech, Audio

Kevin TuckAlltech just held its annual International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium and I was able to attend once again. Discussion dinners are an important part of the program and I attended the dairy discussion.

There I met Kevin Tuck, Global Ruminant Product Manager, who has been with the company for about 20 years. He says that the dairy business outlook is pessimistic right now even though we have a growing population that needs a nutritious dairy product. So, for Alltech, he is seeking input from customers so they can come up with solutions to help them during this challenging time. Kevin has done this on a global basis and says he hears one common denominator from all areas of the world. That is to “reduce the cost of producing a pound or liter of milk.” Another way of putting it is “how can I get more out of my existing feeds.”

You can listen to my interview with Kevin below.

2010 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Lindner is 63rd Alice in Dairyland

News EditorEducation, Media

Congratulations to Christine (Lepple) Lindner for being named the 63rd Alice in Dairyland! She was one of six final candidates for the public relations job that carries six decades of Wisconsin agricultural tradition.

“My goal as Alice in Dairyland is to encourage consumers to take action with their dollars in supporting Wisconsin agriculture by buying locally-grown products,” Lindner said. “As the 63rd Alice in Dairyland, I look forward to communicating how our state’s $59 billion agriculture industry embraces innovative technology to enrich our daily lives.”

Christine (Lepple) Lindner, Fall River, was raised on her family’s 80-cow dairy farm near Beaver Dam. She graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2006, earning a degree in agricultural journalism. Some of her first-hand experience in marketing and communication stems from serving as the publicity co-chair for the 2009 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, promoting agriculture education as a Wisconsin State FFA Officer and her internships at Agri-View, Alto Dairy Cooperative, Filament Marketing, Wisconsin State Fair and Fort Dodge Animal Health. Lindner is currently the marketing manager for ANIMART and responsible for the company’s dairy and livestock marketing, communications and public relations initiatives. As part of the selection process she was evaluated on her: public speaking, ability to answer impromptu questions, written communication skills, media interviewing, as well as her passion and involvement in agriculture.

Lindner starts her contract on June 7 and during her year will travel over 40,000 miles and visit more than 400 events, talking to students, civic groups, consumers and media about Wisconsin agriculture. She will kick off June Dairy Month in partnership with the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. “Alice” drives an E-85 flex-fuel Chevrolet Tahoe courtesy of the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board and receives a mink garment from the Kettle Moraine Mink Breeders Association. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Jewelers Association, she uses a 14K gold and platinum brooch and tiara with citrines and amethysts — gems indigenous to Wisconsin.

Other finalists for the position were Christa Behnke, Clintonville; Andrea Bloom, Loyal; Sheri Nelson, East Troy; Katie Reichling, Darlington; and Rochelle Ripp, Lodi.

Source: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection