Beef Nutrition News

New Tool Helps Farmers, Ranchers Identify Conservation Incentive Programs

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 12:49:38 GMT

Conservation incentive programs that fit your farm and specific agronomic practices and/or livestock are not always easy to identify and sign up for online.

But those hurdles could soon be problems in the past, thanks to a new online platform, the Conservation Connector, which was just launched this week by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC)

The new tool allows farmers, ranchers, and farm advisers to easily evaluate conservation incentive programs and connect with technical support at one online site, according to Ryan Heiniger, CTIC executive director.

As a fourth-generation farmer, Heiniger says he knows firsthand how challenging it can be to identify programs, companies and the individuals in charge of them who can provide more details in a phone call or an email.

“You might visit four or five government offices and a dozen websites, only to collect bits and pieces of information on those programs that would be a good fit for you. Our goal with the Conservation Connector is to bring all of that under one roof, so to speak, to help farmers, ranchers and advisers more easily find what is available in their area and fits with their needs,” Heiniger says.

The platform currently has around 500 programs and service providers in the Midwest that are participating, Heiniger says. He notes the tool is continually updated with the latest program offerings from trusted agencies, organizations and conservation partners. In addition, Connector.ag has no associated costs for farmers, ranchers and advisers to use.

“I want to underscore that it’s free for farmers; none of the information is behind any kind of paywall,” he says. “It’s also free for people who want to create a listing.”

The Conservation Connector is easy to navigate – it’s searchable by geography, commodity, incentive type, and/or management practice.

“We’ve made it easy for people who are on a specific mission to filter through,” Heiniger says. “You might be in New York looking for help with pasture renovation, and you don’t want or need to see what programs are available in Iowa. So, you can default right to New York. Or, you can default to a specific crop. The filters can help you ratchet down to the specific information you want to dive deeper into.”

Heiniger says the idea for Conservation Connector originated from Houston Engineering, the Nature Conservancy, and Open Team, and the CTIC invested the past 18 months in developing it.

CTIC invites farmers, ranchers, technical service providers, and conservation partners across the country to explore the platform at Connector.ag . You can provide feedback about your experience to help inform future iterations of the platform here .

Fast Delivery, Competitive Prices and Simplicity Drives FBN Customer Satisfaction

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 19:13:33 GMT

A one-stop shop for farm and ranch input needs, Farmers Business Network (FBN) serves more than 13,000 livestock producers from across the U.S. FBN is expanding its livestock offering to include Ridley Feeds, Farmers First Mineral, fencing supplies, equine products as well as pet care.

Crop and cattle producer Kyle Burk, Burk Land & Cattle in Marionville, Mo., has been a customer of FBN for two years. Initially using FBN for its competitive chemical pricing, Burk now purchases approximately 90% of his mineral products for his livestock through the company.

“We background a lot of cattle for Joplin Regional Stockyards,” Burk says. “I feel the cattle have gained tremendously better with the FBN mineral program, whether it be fly control or other attribute.”

Burk manages a 2,000-acre farm primarily focused on feed production for his family’s stock cows, dairy and grow yard. He says FBN has become an integral part of his agricultural strategy — providing not just products, but comprehensive support across purchasing, financing and consulting.

“The website is extremely easy to use,” Burk explains.

The platform’s intuitive design allows him to quickly locate and order the exact items he needs for his diverse operation.

Customer service is another key to Burk’s FBN experience. He appreciates how the company proactively contacts customers within 24 hours of an unusual order to confirm it’s correct.

Beyond product ordering, Burk has also utilized FBN’s financial services. After an accident last year, he turned to FBN classifieds to purchase a replacement silage truck and secured financing through FBN within a day. The rate, he says, was more competitive than his local bank.

Burk says he recommends and appreciates the FBN professionals who have helped him with purchasing decisions. When drought led him to switch to conventional corn, he worked FBN’s chemical specialist for product support.

“It’s probably the cleanest corn we’ve ever had,” Burk says.

Expanding Livestock Catalog

Livestock is FBN’s fastest-growing segment, powered by producer trust in speed, value and reliable delivery. According to Emily Zollinger, FBN director of livestock, the platform’s latest offerings include:

Ridley Feeds (a division of Alltech) : Sweetlix mineral and tubs now available with live, daily pricing
Farmers First Mineral : A new, simplified line of cattle mineral dynamic pricing and clear online descriptions
Fencing Supplies : Including barbed wire, woven wire, pipe, cable and other fencing tools
Equine Care : Products for grooming, nutrition, deworming, hoof care and vaccinations
Pet Health: Vaccines, parasite control, nutrition, and prescriptions filled with vet approval

“We’re building a marketplace where ranchers and livestock producers get not only great prices, but convenience and service they can count on,” Zollinger says.

(FBN)

Why Producers Choose FBN

Initially founded in 2014, FBN expanded into livestock in 2020. Today, the platform is designed to make purchasing fast, transparent and farm-friendly.

Key features include:

Free membership
Build your own online order
Fast shipping (typically two business days)
Nationwide logistics network across the U.S. and Canada
Flexible support ranging from self-service to dedicated account reps
Educational tools including blogs and resource hubs
Financing options with competitive rates
Prescription support working directly with your vet to verify orders

Zollinger says FBN’s mission is to deliver prosperity to family farmers and ranchers through every season, every segment and every challenge.

“We’re not just selling inputs,” she summarizes. “We’re giving farmers and ranchers a platform — with tools, pricing transparency and support they can build a business on.”

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Hemp Seed Livestock Meal Receives Green Lights On Way to Federal Approval

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 18:07:07 GMT

After years of work and regulatory paperwork, the The Hemp Feed Coalition announces Hemp Seed Meal for laying hens has been recommended by FDA-Center for Veterinary Medicine and voted by AAFCO into their Ingredient Definition Committee for the final step in the approval pathway.

The definition allows hemp seed meal up to 20% into feed mixes for laying hens. This marks the first hemp feed ingredient to get federal recommendation and uptake by AAFCO.

Wendy Mosher, CEO at New West Genetics and vice president of Hemp Feed Coalition, says this is something that has been in the works for at least four years.

“There’s a lengthy process for any new crop to get ingredient approval, but it’s worth it, you can’t have commodity crop without a feed opportunity for that crop,” Mosher says. “Federal approval gives us a leg up into adoption and scale.”

Mosher says before deregulation in 2014, hemp acres were zero, then by 2020, climbed to a peak of around 400,000 acres. Today, total U.S. hemp acres are reported around 55,000.

“I think this is a positive thing—it shows with the right incentives crops can be expanded rapidly, and that those participants with long term vision are still here, and are building the markets in a sustainable fashion. Hemp is a great opportunity for the crop rotation as well as soil health” Mosher says. “Hempseed meal as a feed ingredient contributes to the risk mitigation of planting the crop—it’s another place for the crop to go.”

As a feed ingredient, the coalition cites hemp grain providing essential vitamins, minerals, healthy oils, and a complete protein profile. For egg production, this can lead to a value-added product with higher omega 3 content. It has been verified that any potential cannabinoid contaminants do not transfer into the egg product.

With the regulatory obstacles starting to be removed, Mosher is optimistic about the educational opportunities for the market to increase in size.

“Hemp can serve the same basic protein and oil markets that currently use soybeans or canola,” she says. “Feed manufacturers are seeing success, including Wenger Feeds in Pennsylvania who make hemp feed for Kreider Farms’ eggs. In the next year we hope to get some additional adoption by some larger players.”

Mosher highlights her company, New West Genetics, has been developing improved hemp varieties to double grain yield.

“We’ve got momentum in hemp as we are providing high yielding and adapted genetics for hemp production in the U.S., and the industry is also near the finish line on this feed approval,” she says. “It’s a moment we’ve been waiting on for 10 years. In the not so distant future, we hope to see hemp on the million acre scale.”

Alta Seeds Brings Herbicide Tolerance to EMPYR Premier Forages

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 14:57:30 GMT

Alta Seeds, the premium seed brand of Advanta US and a leading provider of premium genetics and technology specific to sorghum, announces the first-ever herbicide-tolerant technology available in forage sorghum. Alta Seeds will feature igrowth® technology for pre- or post-emergence weed control applications with IMIFLEX® Herbicide in its newest forage sorghum hybrid, ADV F8484IG, a hybrid that is a member of EMPYR® Premier Forages, a complete line of forage sorghum, sudangrass and sorghum-sudan hybrids.

In 2020, Alta Seeds was the first to introduce herbicide-tolerant technology for grain sorghum, representing the most significant advancement in the crop since hybridization. For the first time, sorghum growers are able to apply pre- or post-emergent herbicide to control grassy and broadleaf weeds with igrowth hybrids.

The igrowth sorghum system, fully commercialized and adopted on upwards of a half million grain sorghum acres in 2021, will now be widely available for growers’ fields in the 2022 growing season in both grain sorghum and forage sorghum hybrids.

“With the current drought impacts throughout the Great Plains, igrowth in EMPYR Premier Forages provides livestock producers with groundbreaking technology to produce high-tonnage forage sorghum, with the added benefit of targeted weed control,” says Mark Kirk, Eastern/Western Regional Account Manager, Alta Seeds. “This medium- to late-season forage hybrid offers growers more value in production of silage forage. ADV F84848IG is an ideal alternative to corn silage, as it offers reduced inputs with high yields plus nutritional content that is competitive with corn silage.”

With the igrowth technology, ADV F8484IG is the first non-GMO herbicide-tolerant technology for forage sorghum. IMIFLEX Herbicide, manufactured by UPL Ltd., is the exclusive imidazolinone herbicide partner for the igrowth system. Approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in December 2020, IMIFLEX is a Group 2 herbicide that provides broad-spectrum, residual control of yield-robbing grass and broadleaf weeds, including lambsquarter, sandbur, morningglory, Texas panicum, crabgrass and foxtail. The igrowth technology allows for clean stand establishment and minimizes competition for water and nutrients, enabling maximum early season growth and weed suppression.

Feed Benefits with Excellent Standability

Not all forage sorghums are equal in performance. EMPYR Premier Forages are top-of-the-line, carefully selected hybrids that consistently outperform and outproduce in field and feed. A conventional non-BMR hybrid, ADV F8484IG offers brachytic dwarf, excellent disease resistance and high ratings for yield and standability for growers throughout the Sorghum Belt. In field trials, the hybrid yields forage equal to or greater in feed value than corn silage.

“This hybrid is an ideal selection for producers looking for next-generation technology and superior yield potential,” Kirk adds. “In a drought year like 2021, and the complications that will continue into the next growing season, forage sorghum can be a grower’s first choice for generating feed crop with a quicker turn around with an economic benefit. ADV F8484IG will only improve producer margins by controlling weeds, conserving nutrients and water usage, and improving forage quality with cleaner fields.”

EMPYR offers hybrids that fit a variety of environments, from silage production on the West Coast to haylage in the Upper Midwest, to grazing and dry hay production on the East Coast. Learn more about ADV F8484IG at http://altaseeds.advantaus.com/empyr/empyr-igrowth/ and other available hybrids at www.empyrforages.com .

Advanced Protection with Vertix Seed Treatment

ADV F8484IG seed is protected with Vertix Premier, which combines ipconazole and metalaxyl fungicides to control soil-borne diseases with imidacloprid insecticide to combat early season aphids, chinch bugs, imported fire ants and wireworms. This level of protection also includes flurazole, a safener to pre-emergent Group 15 herbicides.

Experience EMPYR at Virtual Field Day

This innovative product will be revealed to growers during Sorghum Frontiers, a virtual field day experience on November 10, 2021. Visit www.altaseeds.advantaus.com to register online. In-person tours of the EMPYR forages can be seen by contacting your local Alta Seeds retailer.

Contact Alta Seeds for more information about EMPYR Premier Forages .

Hemp Prices Tank, But New Opportunities Are On The Horizon

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:23:08 GMT

The philosophy of “go big or go home,” might work well for sports teams, but it’s not a good strategy for farmers looking to grow hemp for cannabidiol (CBD), according to Corbett Hefner, vice president of research and development for Colorado-based Formation Ag.

“We saw that happen in Oregon, and many of those farmers went broke,” he notes.

The financial opportunities with CBD are equally bleak now. Spot biomass prices have continued to trade lower on a month-over-month basis, recently transacting at a midpoint price between $0.62 in the Great Plains to $0.72 per point in Colorado, according to PanXchange, a commodity trading platform.

The price for CBD-yielding flower is based on dollars per point per pound. So, a Colorado crop containing 10% oil sold at a midpoint price of 72 cents per point the end of January, an average of $7.20 per pound.

A year ago at this time, that same crop would have been valued at $3.50 per point or $35 per pound, which is reflected in a chart by PanXchange at the bottom of this page (Learn more at https://bit.ly/3a1oH7F ).

The lack of dollars has caused farmers in much of the U.S. to apply the brakes to production, and understandably so.

“If you haven’t seen a lot of buying contracts out there lately, there are reasons for that,” says Dave Neundorfer, CEO of Open Book Extracts. The company operates a processing facility and is headquartered near Roxboro, N.C.

He says the hemp market, particularly for CBD, currently is being driven by brokers.

“Right now there are some opportunistic brokers out there making decisions based on a price game, which is a rush to the bottom,” he notes.

Most brokers aren’t buying on quality and consistency, though Neundorfer expects that to happen as consumers demand both.

Outdated or unclear regulations are a second factor contributing to the current uncertainty for farmers and other groups in the hemp industry.

In North Carolina, for instance, the state’s pilot program for producing hemp, which was developed under the authority of the 2014 Farm Bill and state law expires at the end of October.

“We’re in a transition period, waiting for the various federal agencies to develop regulations,” explains Marne Coit with North Carolina State Extension and a member of NC State’s hemp team (learn more at Industrialhemp.ces.ncsu.edu ).

“We have one of the biggest hemp programs in the country, and I don’t have good answers for our growers going into this season. This puts farmers in a precarious position, and I don’t like that,” she notes.

She adds that federal regulations guiding hemp production come under the umbrella of USDA. Once the crop is harvested and processed, it is under the jurisdiction of the FDA.

“I think the laws might be uncertain for the next three years and will continue to evolve for the foreseeable future,” she says.

So why bother growing hemp at all this season?

Maybe you don’t, Neundorfer says, because there’s still a lot of unsold product available from last year—though a lot of it is of such poor quality it will never be sold.

Or, if you do grow it, consider putting in only 100 plants or so to gain experience working with the crop.

“A 1-acre patch is a good start,” says Hefner, who says hemp is useful in a crop rotation. “Don’t plant more than you’re comfortable turning under,” he adds. “This crop isn’t like grain—you can’t take it to the elevator.”

However, there are opportunities for hemp on the horizon and offer some compelling reasons why farmers might want to work with the crop.

For instance, the Hemp Feed Coalition is an organization working in 12 states, conducting animal feeding studies particularly with cattle.

“Once hemp is approved for animal feed the market will be much more viable and available for farmers,” Hefner says.

“Start thinking about how this crop can be used to build houses—that’s what they’re doing in Europe in some areas,” he adds. “Those are the kinds of things you need to be thinking about to make money with this crop.”

For its part, Farm Journal is hosting a series of Hemp Colleges to help farmers learn the ins and outs of producing and marketing the crop. More information on the upcoming Hemp College on March 25 in Lubbock, Texas, is available at: https://bit.ly/37Y29TN