Hog Management

Equipment Malfunction Causes Manure Spill in Ohio, Sparks Vital Lessons for Farmers

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 20:09:47 GMT

A farming equipment malfunction is the cause of a manure spill that turned a creek red in Wyandot County, Ohio, reports the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA).

According to Glen Arnold, field specialist and manure nutrient management systems professor at Ohio State University Extension, a part broke on the irrigation system that allowed the manure to flow into nearby Carey Creek, also known as Poverty Run. An alarm system should have indicated a problem did not work properly. Ohio EPA reports that the red color stemmed from a discharge of liquid manure that was pulled from an anaerobic manure lagoon on a nearby hog farm.

“As soon as it was discovered, the farmers shut the manure source off and took steps to pump the manure-contaminated water back out of the creek,” Arnold explains. “This time of the year in Ohio, we are at a minimum flow time. We haven’t had much rain, so the creeks wouldn’t have much water to carry manure downstream.”

An example of equipment being positioned to remove manure from a ditch.

(Glen Arnold)

This means the manure-contaminated water wouldn’t travel very far, he says.

Carey Creek is not a drinking water source, Ohio EPA reports. It flows into Tymochtee Creek then the Sandusky River.

Fortunately, no impacts to wildlife have been reported, Ohio EPA says. Cleanup is underway by a contractor hired by the farm. The farm is working closely with Ohio EPA, Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, and the Local Soil and Water District. Ohio EPA will continue to oversee cleanup until the issue is resolved.

Why Did the Water Turn Red?
Reports said the creek turned a light red to a pink color. Although this may seem odd to most people, for those who understand anerobic lagoons, this is anything but weird.

“That would be pretty standard for a manure lagoon,” Arnold says. “In lagoon situations, you’re hoping the bacteria will break down the solids that are in that manure pond or lagoon. You don’t generally pump it all the way out, you basically pump liquids off the top on a regular basis. Because of the bacteria that are working together to make that lagoon work as it should, the liquids generally have a red tint.”

For the most part, liquids are being pumped off the top of the manure pond or lagoon, he explains.

“It’s low-nutrient water – most of the high nutrients are down in the bottom,” Arnold says. “In that situation, that red tint that was in the manure pond then gets transferred into the creek. It’s not more toxic or more dangerous in any way, but that was the color of the original liquid manure.”

Ohio EPA reports this red tinted color is caused by purple sulfur bacteria commonly found in anaerobic manure lagoons. This color means the lagoon is working properly.

How Should You Handle a Manure Spill?
If a spill occurs, Arnold says the first thing producers should do is contact the local authorities. In Ohio, it’s generally the Soil and Water Conservation Service District, but some larger permitted farms can call the Ohio Department of Agriculture directly.

“Malfunctions happen,” Arnold points out. “Anytime a problem like this occurs, quick action is the best way to go. Get the situation mitigated as quickly as possible. Get the source stopped, get the creek or river dammed up, contain the spill, and then we can pump it back out.”

A manure tanker sucking up liquid manure from a emergency sump hole dug in a corn field.

(Glen Arnold)

He says it’s important to remember that you can’t rely 100% on technology at all times.

“You have to put eyes on the manure application process,” Arnold says. “You have to put eyes on the field tile. You’ve got to put eyes on surface ditches and be sure they’re not allowing the manure to escape from a field. It’s important producers give thought to their first line of defense and second line of defense to prevent these things from happening.”

After everything has been done to pump the water out, Arnold says the next step is to mitigate or improve the quality of the water through aerification.

“Aerification is where we shoot the water up in the air to let ammonia get out of the water, and to add oxygen to the water,” he says. “We can put bubblers in the water to bubble air into it to improve the water quality or add some additional water from a source like a fire truck or water tanker to get fresh water into the creek or ditch.”

He says this is important because manure contains ammonia, and ammonia will bind with the oxygen in the water, making it unavailable for fish, crawdads and other aquatic life.

“It’s always difficult once a manure spill has occurred to think clearly and follow a plan,” he says. “I would encourage producers to think through the steps they would take if a spill occurred. Who would you need to contact? Do you have their cell phones handy? What equipment would you need to get your hands on?”

Respect Authorities When a Manure Spill Occurs
It probably goes without saying, but it’s important to cooperate with the authorities when a spill occurs, Arnold adds.

“The agency people have a job to do,” he says. “I know how it feels – you are partly embarrassed because you’re the center of attention, and farmers rarely want to be the center of attention. You’re partly mad at the equipment that broke, or the unexpected clay tile that allowed the manure off the field that you didn’t know about in advance, or the fact that the neighbors are going to be watching you now.”

Manure being sucked from a ditch after a spill.

(Glen Arnold)

If you’ve got a solid track record and are upfront about what happened, the authorities will generally work with you to resolve it, Arnold says.

“But if someone shows a bad attitude or has a history of repeated manure escapes or spills, that’s a very different situation. The best thing you can do is demonstrate that you’re taking responsibility and making every effort to do the right thing.”

Tips for Smooth Manure Application
The old adage that ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ is true, especially when it comes to manure management.

“We don’t want to make mistakes when handling manure,” he says.

Although manure is an organic product that breaks down rapidly and does not last long in the environment, having a manure spill is disruptive, troublesome and costly.

Remember to look closely at fields this time of year before you apply manure, Arnold says.

A temporary dam built in a corn field to stop swine from manure escaping after an equipment pumping failure.

(Glen Arnold)

“Because of our clay content in our soil, we’re going to have a lot of cracks,” he says. “We use tillage to disrupt those preferential flows, the worm holes, the cracks in the soil, crawdad holes, and those types of things.”

He also urges producers to understand the tile structure in the field where manure is being applied. Check the weather forecast before applying manure, and of course, apply manure at the proper rate.

“Farmers live as close to their hog buildings as anyone in the community,” Arnold says. “The same groundwater and surface water that their families drink is the water we all depend on. Pork producers want to do right because they hope their children and grandchildren will remain on the land and be part of the farm’s future. Protecting water is not only about farming responsibly — it’s about safeguarding our own families and neighbors.”

Cheryl Day, Ohio Pork Council executive vice president, says producers are already doing a responsible job managing nutrients, but no one can afford complacency.

“Every decision we make on manure handling and application matters,” Day says. “One mistake can set back the progress our industry has made and risk both water quality and community trust. Stewardship isn’t optional — it’s our responsibility, and it must remain our highest priority.”

No one plans for a spill, but planning for the unexpected makes all the difference. Farmers who know their tile maps, watch the forecast, and have response plans ready are protecting more than their farms — they’re protecting their communities.

Better Together: The Co-op Employee Experience

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 18:18:53 GMT

Cooperative organizations are rooted in a distinct set of values and principles that set them apart from traditional business models. While many recognize these principles as guiding how co-ops serve their members, they are just as influential in shaping how co-ops support, engage, and empower their employees.

At a time when the U.S. is experiencing the lowest levels of employee engagement in over a decade, cooperative organizations are bucking the trend. A recent engagement survey conducted by FCCS revealed six standout strengths in workplace culture, each directly tied to the cooperative model. These strengths are not accidental; they are a reflection of the seven cooperative principles in action.

(Angie Coleman)

By viewing employee experiences through the lens of cooperative values—member ownership, collaboration, and shared success—it becomes clear why co-ops often cultivate highly committed, purpose-driven teams. Here’s how:

1. Strong Sense of Purpose & Mission
Connected to Cooperative Principle #7: Concern for Community
Employees in co-ops understand that their work serves a larger purpose, whether it’s supporting farmers, credit union members, healthcare communities, or electric utility customers.

How the Cooperative Model Shapes This:
• Employees witness the direct impact of their work on their communities.
• Mission-focused cultures foster intrinsic motivation and engagement.
• Employees are proud to work for something bigger than a bottom line.

2. Managerial Support and Coaching Conversations
Connected to Cooperative Principle #5: Education, Training, and Information
Managers in cooperatives often serve as mentors, coaches, and supporters, not just supervisors. One-on-one conversations are used as a tool for reflection, idea-sharing, and development.

How the Cooperative Model Shapes This:
• Continuous learning is a cultural norm, encouraged through coaching and dialogue.
• Employees feel heard and valued through regular check-ins.
• Managers focus on employee growth and alignment with organizational values.

3. Collaborative & Supportive Work Environment
Connected to Cooperative Principle #6: Cooperation Among Cooperatives
Employees frequently cite strong teamwork and cross-departmental collaboration as key strengths in cooperative workplaces.

How the Cooperative Model Shapes This:
• Shared success is prioritized over internal competition.
• Departments work together to solve problems and support one another.
• A “we over me” mindset strengthens trust and cohesion.

4. Fair & Transparent Leadership
Connected to Cooperative Principle #2: Democratic Member Control
Transparency and inclusivity in leadership are hallmarks of cooperative governance, and employees feel the difference.

How the Cooperative Model Shapes This:
• Leadership decisions are rooted in shared values, not short-term gain.
• Employees experience open forums, accessible leaders, and transparent communication.
• Trust in leadership fosters higher engagement and morale.

5. Meaningful Employee Ownership & Involvement
Connected to Cooperative Principle #3: Member Economic Participation
Even when employees are not formal member-owners, many report a strong sense of ownership in the organization’s success.

How the Cooperative Model Shapes This:
• Employees feel that their input shapes policies, decisions, and improvements.
• Career development reflects long-term investment in people, not just roles.
• A shared stake in success drives accountability and pride.

6. Work-Life Balance and Well-being
Connected to Cooperative Principle #5: Education, Training, and Information
Cooperatives often take a sustainable view of employee well-being and work-life balance.

How the Cooperative Model Shapes This:
• Training helps employees work effectively—not just more.
• Leaders model healthy boundaries and encourage time away.
• Employee well-being is prioritized as a long-term asset, not a short-term trade-off.

Cooperative Values Drive Positive Employee Outcomes
The strengths highlighted by employees across cooperative sectors reflect a deeper truth: when an organization operates by cooperative principles, the employee experience naturally improves. Employees thrive in environments where:

✔ Their work is rooted in purpose.
✔ Collaboration is prioritized.
✔ Leadership is transparent and fair.
✔ They feel ownership and involvement.
✔ Their health and balance are respected.
✔ Their growth and development are a shared priority.

By staying grounded in cooperative principles, co-ops are not just creating great places to work—they are building values-driven cultures where people can grow, contribute and belong.

Angie Coleman is an Organizational Development Consultant with FCCS Consulting.

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Why Keystone Cooperative is Investing in the Stock Show Industry

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 15:56:11 GMT

When it comes to hiring employees, Keystone Cooperative, Inc., looks for three core competencies: customer focus, drive for results and teamwork. The company says it is finding its next generation of employees within organizations like the National Junior Swine Association (NJSA).

“We talk a lot at Keystone about these core competencies, and you definitely must have all three if you’re going to be successful in the show ring,” says Nathan Hedden, vice president of swine and animal nutrition at Keystone. “You have to work hard at home and that will end up bringing the other three competencies along.”

Keystone is a farmer-owned cooperative with roots that go back to 1927, Hedden explains. Based in Indianapolis, Ind., the company operates in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan.

“We have 2,000 employees at Keystone across four different divisions: agronomy, energy, grain, swine and animal nutrition,” Hedden says. “It really made sense for us to partner with NJSA. When we think about talent, we want to be the employer of choice in the Midwest, not just in agriculture, but across all different industries. We see this as the next talent pool to continue to grow Keystone.”

(Legacy Livestock Imaging)

During the National Junior Summer Spectacular in Louisville, Ky., Keystone representatives were on site watching the show and meeting young people from all over the country.

More than 600 exhibitors from 28 states brought 1,324 pigs to the event, says Clay Zwilling, CEO of the National Swine Registry.

“One of the things that was the most exciting for me was asking how many of new families were in the crowd at our opening ceremonies,” Zwilling says. “Probably a third of the crowd raised their hands. It really heeds to the passion people have for this industry and the excitement of the long-term engagement and sustainability of our side of the business for young families that are coming in and getting engaged.”

(Jennifer Shike)

Molding Leaders
NJSA is focused on developing the next generation of leaders for the pork industry, Zwilling says.

“It’s been really exciting to watch this grow and blossom and be able to connect really talented young people back into the pork industry,” Zwilling says. “The number of new employees and tenured employees at Keystone that have come through the junior livestock project, and specifically NJSA, is incredible.”

The core competencies that Hedden looks for align with NJSA’s focus, he adds.

“It’s incredible to watch little kids that we’ve got to encourage to break out of their shell go on to have success in the show ring and ultimately come back to the industry as talented leaders,” Zwilling says. “I think this alignment makes a ton of sense. I’m very excited about the future and appreciate the support of people willing to help invest in these kids.”

It’s A Big Industry
The stockmanship skills youth learn raising and showing pigs is another reason Keystone was drawn to support this youth swine program.

“We have 282 sites across the Midwest where we raise pigs today, working with an independent farmer who is actually taking care of those pigs,” Hedden explains. “Well, as those farms have grown, we’ve seen a lot of those operations that haven’t had pigs or maybe haven’t had pigs for a while and haven’t kept up with the technology that’s available today, want to raise pigs again. If you can find employees with stockmanship skills that can stand in the gap and help them learn and develop that, that creates a huge competitive advantage for us.”

The pork industry is full of opportunities, Hedden adds. He’s committed to helping youth see that there is more waiting for them after they finish showing pigs.

“It doesn’t end at the end of your show career,” he says. “Find people that you can talk to, maybe even ride along with, to better understand what they do. That may help you find your passion for what you want to do next.”

California Has 'Gone Rogue,' Consumers Pay the Price Under Proposition 12, Rollins Says

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 15:00:07 GMT

President Donald Trump’s administration sued California on July 9 over its regulation of eggs and chicken farms, saying these California laws impose burdensome red tape on the production of eggs and egg products nationally in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“California has gone rogue and caused real harm to consumers under its cage-free egg commitments,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins said in a statement frollowing the announcement of the Trump Administration’s lawsuit. “By not allowing consumer choice, Californian’s are forced to buy more expensive eggs. California’s actions under Proposition 12 fly in the face of Federal jurisdiction and regulation over food production and safety under the Egg Products Inspection Act.”

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the State of California, Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and other state officials. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, argues that the federal Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970 pre-empts state laws related to eggs. The federal law authorizes the USDA and Health and Human Services to regulate eggs in order to protect consumers’ health and welfare, and it also requires “national uniformity” in egg safety standards, the lawsuit says.

“It is one thing if California passes laws that affects its own State, it is another when those laws affect other States in violation of the U.S. Constitution,” Secretary Rollins said. “Thankfully, President Trump is standing up against this overreach.”

Secretary Rollins has worked diligently to support American poultry and egg producers, combat avian flu, and lower the cost of eggs for consumers, USDA pointed out in a statement. In February, she announced a five-point plan to combat the avian flu and lower egg prices which has been applauded by agriculture and government leaders across the country. Since the five-point plan was announced, the price of eggs has decreased 63%.

“It is great to see the Trump administration taking decisive action to protect the country from California’s overreaching policies, but Americans facing high food costs cannot afford to wait for years of court appeals. Congress could—and should—pass legislation tomorrow to get us there sooner,” Jack Hubbard, executive director of the Center for the Environment and Welfare (CEW) said in a release. “Recent polling shows California voters now regret the passage of Proposition 12, and there is strong bipartisan support for a legislative fix to nullify California’s inflationary farm mandates.”

(YouTube)

In May, CEW launched a public education campaign urging Congress to stop the far-reaching consequences of Prop 12. According to Consumer Price Index data, national egg prices have spiked 103% since Prop 12 went into effect in 2022. Meanwhile, in California, the cost of eggs has tripled and pork prices have increased by between 20 and 40%.

What Motivates Agricultural Candidates to Apply?

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 16:49:44 GMT

Agriculture and food industry employers consistently struggle to find applicants with the right combination of skills and experience. So, where exactly are the qualified candidates going?

Candidate drop-off, a situation where job seekers initiate applications but fail to complete them, is an issue facing recruitment professionals nationwide. To better understand and address this issue, AgCareers conducted the Application Motivation Survey. We investigated the key motivators driving application completion and identified obstacles causing drop-off.

Here are essential insights into what motivates candidates to apply and select your organization:

1. Money Talks and Transparency Pays
Our survey underscores the importance of pay transparency in job advertisements. Salary and benefits information emerged as the most crucial factor candidates seek before deciding to apply. Only 32% of job seekers stated they’d apply to a role without listed salary details—meaning employers risk losing nearly 70% of potential applicants by omitting compensation details. Including salary ranges directly benefits both candidates and employers by saving time and clearly aligning expectations. Employers can further streamline the process by proactively indicating salary ranges, especially if asking for applicants’ salary expectations.

Even after a candidate applies, compensation remains the primary consideration for candidates deciding whether to join or leave an organization. Respondents said that “salary/compensation” was the most crucial factor influencing their selection in an employer and the top motivator for them to leave a job if offered another opportunity elsewhere.

2. Location & Job Description
Alongside competitive compensation, clearly articulated job descriptions and specific location details form the trifecta of essential information for candidates. Location consistently ranks as the top online job search criterion. Conversely, nearly half (46%) of respondents stated “unwillingness to relocate” as their main reason for not applying.

Job descriptions also significantly influence application decisions. Candidates feel most confident and encouraged to apply when they clearly meet all listed requirements. Conversely, failing to meet minimum education and experience criteria discourages applicants, with women significantly less likely than men to apply if they don’t fulfill all job posting requirements.

3. Application Process
Candidates express substantial frustration with repetitive application processes requiring redundant entry of resume information and lengthy, complicated steps like authentication. Additionally, respondents reported they are unlikely to apply to future openings at an organization if their initial application goes unacknowledged.

Access the Full Survey Report
Download the complete complimentary Application Motivation Survey Report to gain further insights into job search behaviors, employer branding, application processes, and candidate communication strategies. Enhance your organization’s job postings and branding efforts to attract and retain top talent.

Download the AgCareers Application Motivation Survey Final Report 2024-2025 .

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Has Prop 12 Created a Crisis in California?

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 21:00:01 GMT

Proposition 12 is exacerbating food insecurity in California – especially in the Asian and Latino communities who rely on pork as their primary protein, say representatives of the Latino Restaurant Association and the Latin Business Association.

“The impacts of Proposition 12 are devastating our Latino businesses and families across California,” says Ruben Guerra, chairman of the Latin Business Association. “With pork prices soaring up to 41% higher than the rest of the country and more than one in three Latino adults already living in food-insecure households, this misguided law is creating unintended food insecurity in our communities.”

Pork is a staple protein in Latino cuisine and culture, yet Guerra says they are seeing California’s pork consumption plummet as families struggle to afford these drastically higher prices.

“This isn’t just about numbers, this is about real families having to choose between putting food on the table and paying their bills,” he says. “Our small businesses, particularly Latino-owned restaurants and markets, are caught in the middle as they try to maintain affordable prices while absorbing these massive cost increases.”

Prop 12 hasn’t made life better for anyone, says Lilly Rocha, executive director of the Latino Restaurant Association.

“It would be one thing if the regulations imposed on pork producers were based on data and scientific research,” Rocha says. “But it’s not. We’ve had a great pork industry forever. Why do we need to change a good thing all of a sudden? It makes no sense. It seems to be regulation stemming from a social agenda, not a scientific one.”

Out-of-Control Prices
The Latino Restaurant Association is based in Houston, Texas, Los Angeles, California and New York and serves about 1,400 members across the nation. As a representative of Latino restaurant owners, Rocha says they are concerned about how Prop 12 has affected their industry in a negative way.

“Latinos are the No. 1 consumers of pork in the United States – that means our menus have a lot of pork products,” Rocha explains. “Pork has generally been the affordable protein. Now, beef and pork are the same, so the profit margin is going down on both of the proteins. It’s going to be more of a struggle to even make a profit within the menu since prices are up, resulting in an increase in overall pricing.”

She points out that the Latino community is not the most affluent of the minority groups, so the higher prices are impacting them in a big way.

“Here in California, it’s not the easiest place to run a business, especially a restaurant. We are seeing out-of-control pricing already,” Rocha says.

Pork is a staple protein in the Latino population.

(Latino Restaurant Association)

Although she doesn’t know if there is a direct correlation between higher pork prices and restaurant closures, she says there’s no question about it that closures are continuing to happen.

“I think Prop 12 is just one more regulation on top of other regulations, and all together, that’s what’s making our folks shut their doors,” she says. “Prop 12 absolutely adds to that in a very negative way.”

Rocha and Guerra are leading voices in the Food Equity Alliance, a coalition working to address rising food costs and their impact on California families, especially within the Latino community. Of course, they don’t want prices to go back down, but realize that probably won’t happen. She says they’d like to see prices not go up. Most importantly, they don’t want Prop 12 to propagate in other places.

“Latinos love pork, and we will try to find ways to be able to afford pork,” Rocha says. “We’re always going to be supportive of the pork industry and want them to know we are an ally. We are willing to do anything we can do to help or team up to educate others on what’s really going on in the industry.”

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China’s Tipping Point: What Looming Crisis Means for U.S. Pork in 2025

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 15:03:17 GMT

There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” This quote from Vladimir Lenin is particularly relevant as globalism, the dominant economic system of the past several decades, faces radical transformation entering 2025.

At the forefront of this transformation is China, the “workshop of the world” and a major destination for agricultural exports. However, China is now grappling with a host of existential threats. The question is not if but when we will witness a total system collapse, and this year appears to mark the beginning of the end, as recession looms overhead.

The challenges facing China could fill volumes, but three key factors make its problems insurmountable.

1. Population Collapse
As shown in Chart 1, China’s population structure is dire. Even a dramatic increase in birth rates would be too late to reverse the trend. Conservative estimates suggest China’s population could shrink to 500 million to 700 million within 75 years. This demographic decline would devastate any economy, but it hits China’s industrial economy particularly hard.

Population Forecast for China

(UN Population Prospects 2024)

2. Economic Model Missteps
As labor costs rise with the decline in population, China’s competitive advantage in the industrial sector will erode. This makes transitioning to a service-based economy critical. While China had begun this shift over the past decade, the process was abruptly reversed during COVID-19, when Beijing funneled stimulus investment into industry. The result? Depressed returns and mounting debt, with little progress toward a viable economic model.

3. Leadership Challenges
President Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power through the systematic purging of opposition has undermined China’s ability to make well-informed policy decisions, precisely what a country facing crisis needs most. As sole decision-maker, China’s ability to manage crisis rests entirely on President Xi, outside of him, China’s policy-making apparatus would need to be reforged from the ground up.

Implications for U.S. Producers in 2025
While the exact trajectory of events remains uncertain, several outcomes seem likely if a recession hits this year:

Declining Input Costs: Prices for commodities such as oil, steel and other inputs will drop as consumption slows in China. Feed costs would also decline if Chinese producers exit the market due to poor liquidity and reduced demand for pork. However, while inputs could become cheaper, disruptions in production chains as companies relocate outside of China will cause supply shortages. This means the cost of finished goods will remain high for the foreseeable future.

Stable U.S. Pig Prices: Pork exports to China will continue downward, but growing demand in other markets, such as Mexico, which benefit from the relocation of production chains, should help stabilize exports.

The Importance of Liquidity: In a recession, liquidity will be vital. It will enable businesses overexposed to the Chinese market to pivot to new opportunities and allow others to pursue expansion at bargain prices.

This year is shaping up to be one of rapid and dramatic changes. Although challenges loom ahead, it is during challenging times that opportunities arise for those who can adapt and respond effectively.

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2025 Ag Workplace Trends: What Employers are Saying

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:00 GMT

“What are you hearing out there? Are employers still hiring?” These are common questions posed to AgCareers.com as a job board and human resources service provider specific to the agriculture and food industry.

To help agricultural employers compete for top talent, we not only analyze what is happening on our job board and learn from conversations with employers, but we also aim to identify issues, opportunities and trends by surveying agricultural employers in our annual HR Review.

Pressure is on for Employers
AgCareers.com recently analyzed the 2025 Agriculture and Food HR Review data to provide an outlook of what agricultural employers experienced in 2024 and what they expect in 2025. Retention continues to be top of mind for employers, persistent even into the focus of recruitment strategies in the new year. Employers are also feeling the pressure to get compensation right, along with concerns about rising wage rates. Most employers are experiencing recruitment difficulties, amplifying compensation and retention issues.

Agricultural employers need people, and keeping those they already have in place is a top priority. Staying on top of how to reward their employees is essential to retention. From flexibility to bonuses and appropriate salary increases, employers in the industry are increasingly aware of the competitive nature of keeping their top talent while enabling the ability to effectively recruit new talent when posed against both competitors inside and outside the industry.

The AgCareers.com HR Review details employers’ plans for salary increases, workforce development and training, benefits and more.

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The Pork Industry Responds to EPA’s Rodenticide Strategy

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 18:03:43 GMT

Many people in agriculture fear rodenticides will become even more difficult to access and more expensive to use after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s release of the final biological evaluation, and associated response to comments, for 11 rodenticide active ingredients.

From feral hogs and Norway rats to house mice and ground squirrels, the amount of damage caused by these pests in agricultural and non-agricultural settings alike is astounding. Not only do they cause significant damage to property, crops and food supplies, but these pests also spread disease and pose a serious risk to public health.

EPA says the mitigation measures described in this final biological evaluation will serve as the agency’s Rodenticide Strategy as outlined in EPA’s Endangered Species Act Work plan.

“The Devil will be in the detail, and will vary state by state,” says Michael Formica, chief legal strategist at the National Pork Producers Council. “This strategy is going to undermine use of these important rodenticide tools. Producers will need to be licensed by their states to get them, and we’ll have fewer options at a higher price available.”

Formica says this is just another in the “thousands of over-reaching ill-considered regulations that lead to food price inflation.”

Final Biological Evaluation
The 11 rodenticides evaluated in the biological evaluation include: chlorophacinone; diphacinone and its sodium salt; warfarin and its sodium salt; brodifacoum; bromadiolone; difenacoum; difethialone; bromethalin; cholecalciferol; strychnine; and zinc phosphide.

“These rodenticides are intended to control target animals using different biochemical mechanisms (e.g., neurotoxicity, reduced blood clotting). They also have different properties that affect the types of species that may be impacted,” EPA wrote. “For example, some rodenticides may remain in target animals long enough such that predator or scavenger animals that consume the target animals may be affected. The assessment accounts for these different properties across the 11 rodenticides evaluated in the biological evaluation.”

EPA says the final biological evaluation finds that the currently labeled uses of the 11 rodenticides evaluated remained the same as those in the draft biological evaluation, and:

• Will have no effect on 88% of species and 95% percent of critical habitats
• Are not likely to adversely affect 4-11% of species and 1% of critical habitats
• Are likely to adversely affect 1-8% of listed species and 4% of critical habitat
• Have a likelihood of future Jeopardy/Adverse Modification (J/AM) of less than 5% of listed species and less than 1% of critical habitats

“The final Rodenticide Strategy does not itself impose any requirements or restrictions on pesticide use,” EPA says. “Any mitigation measures needed to address potential likelihood of future J/AM for listed species will only apply in geographically specific areas where listed species with J/AM predictions are located, using EPA’s Bulletins Live! Two system, as part of label language, or in the Terms and Conditions of registration.”

Not all of these measures will be necessary for all uses or products containing these pesticide ingredients, EPA explains in the release. These are measures from which EPA expects to choose when reducing exposure to listed species and their critical habitats, as necessary, for a specific active ingredient, use site, and application method. During formal consultation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will use EPA’s effects determinations to inform their biological opinion(s).

Formica says, “This is an overly-broad regulation that imposes unnecessary costs and an additional burden on producers because of concerns by activists and their allies at EPA over alleged misuses that have nothing to do with ag (their concern is urban and suburban consumers putting too much out indiscriminately).”

Rodenticide Access
Over 10 years ago, there was a previous attempt to ban rodenticide use, Formica recalls. Opponents feared people would see a mouse, run to a local retailer and then throw out a lot of rat poison, potentially impacting other animals.

“Then rodenticides were relabeled for ag use only. They created a minimum size you had to buy so you couldn’t buy a small 1 lb package at a suburban big box hardware store, you had to buy 20 lbs from an ag supplier.,” Formica says.

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is the Federal statute that governs the registration, distribution, sale, and use of pesticides in the United States, according to EPA’s website. Generally, before a pesticide may be sold or distributed in the U.S., it must be registered with the EPA. Before EPA may register a pesticide under FIFRA, the applicant must show, among other things, that using the pesticide according to specifications “will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.”

“What they want to do is remove it from store shelves entirely, restrict its access unless you are licensed to apply it,” Formica says. “If you are a grain farmer, you’re probably going to have a FIFRA applicator’s license anyway, but not every hog farmer is a grain farmer and not every cattle rancher is a grain farmer, so they’re going to have to go out and get their FIFRA applicator certification, which is done at the state level,” Formica explains.

In addition, losing the retail market for these rodenticides will make them more difficult to buy for those who need them, he explains.

“It won’t be impossible to buy but you are going to have much fewer choices and you will have to buy larger quantities,” Formica says. “The price goes up as well.”

The final biological evaluation is available in the docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0567 on www.regulations.gov.

Your Next Read: Why You Need to Pay Attention Now to EPA’s Proposed Rodenticide Mitigation Measures

3 Leadership Trends You Need to Adopt in 2024

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 17:06:42 GMT

What leadership goals did you accomplish in 2023? Did you reduce turnover on the farm? Improve employee engagement? Set aside more time for fun activities? Hopefully, one of these items was knocked off your list. As the calendar page flips to 2024, however, it’s time to tackle a new goal in the new year.

Setting goals is a powerful way to guide your efforts and measure your progress, especially when it comes to leadership on the farm. Leaders need to remain flexible and responsive to the evolving needs of their operation.

“Effective leadership will be more crucial than ever,” says Adrian Gostick, employee engagement columnist with Forbes magazine. “Leaders who can help their teams navigate through the coming year’s transitions with resilience and agility will create the greatest value.”

For long-term success, farm leaders should regularly assess the landscape of their operation and adjust their strategies accordingly. Gostick suggests implementing the following three strategies for improved employee management in 2024.

Focus on Transparency

“The best leaders create workplaces that value truth, encourage constant up and down communication, and insist on marked transparency,” Gostick says.

Not only is transparency a key quality to effective leadership, but it also promotes trust, credibility and open communication.

“Keeping your team informed and engaged is essential not only for maintaining trust but also for preventing misinformation,” Gostick adds. “Thus, put some thought into developing a clear and transparent strategy to communicate with your team that includes regular updates on the reasons for the ‘why’ behind any change, the expected impact, and the role each team member will play in the process.

Prioritize Your Employees’ Feelings

Dealing with the feelings and emotions of others is not something most farm leaders would put at the top of their resumè. However, according to Gostick, it’s a skill more and more leaders need to possess.

“Leaders must now learn to understand and diagnose what their employees are facing on the job: whether that be overload, work-life balance challenges, or mental health issues such as stress, burnout, anxiety, or reduced energy levels,” he says. “As leaders, we must be on the lookout for changes in employee behavior that might signal potential problems and be willing to compassionately address the issues.”

Cultivate Adaptability and Resilience

Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable. Farmers are no stranger to this as they deal with the ups and downs of the markets, new industry regulations and supply chain challenges. Despite this, it’s important to help your team adapt to bounce back from potential setbacks.

“Great leaders will provide opportunities for learning, cross-training and upskilling to ensure that their team members feel they are growing more versatile, valuable and can handle a variety of tasks,” Gostick says.

By helping your employees learn to overcome the dynamic and unpredictable changes that come with farming, your team will not only strengthen together but also become more resilient as you face upcoming challenges.

For more on farm leadership, read:

“Technical Debt” Continues To Grow Rapidly In The Agriculture Industry

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 02:17:54 GMT

Last December Southwest Airlines was forced to cancel more than 15,000 flights during the peak holiday season. It wasn’t weather, mechanical issues, or even striking airline workers that caused the chaos. Instead, the real reason for the grounding was the weight of the company’s overall “technical debt” had become too much too bear. In short, the company’s antiquated systems and technology broke down at the worst possible time.

Could the same thing happen in agriculture? Absolutely. In fact, the agricultural industry as a whole, at both the macro and micro levels are ripe for such technical tsunamis. That’s not just Chicken Little talking, such warnings are echoed by a recent McKinsey Global Institute study that placed agriculture dead last in terms of the industry’s state of digitization.

Is too much “technical debt” putting your farm’s future at risk? To answer that question you must first understand what technical debt means and how it affects your overall business.

Technical debt — or tech debt — is the implied cost incurred when businesses do not fix problems that will affect them in the future. Accruing technical debt causes existing problems to get worse over time. The longer the debt builds up, the more costly it becomes to rectify.

Learn more about the risk of technical debt at the 2024 Top Producer Summit. Register online today!

Farmers have been on the agricultural treadmill for the better part of two centuries now. It was JFK’s Chief Agricultural Economist Willard Cochrane that coined the phrase “technology tread-mill” to describe the race to adopt new technologies in order to remain cost competitive. From the Industrial Revolution to the Green Revolution, to the Biotech Revolution, to now the Information Age, it feels like Cochrane’s treadmill has accelerated to warp speed.

Assessing your farm’s technical debt is not as simple as evaluating risks from financial debt. There is not a clear formula, like a debt ratio, that measures total debt to total assets. Addressing technical debt involves taking inventory of the technology on the farm today and evaluating the short-term and long-term risks to your overall operation if one or more of those technologies fail.

That’s just the first layer of the onion when it comes to knowing your true technical debt. The exercise should also involve answering various questions about your farm’s overall technical health. Questions like — What technology is missing that I need today, or even tomorrow? What equip-ment should immediately be put out to pasture or parked in the digital fencerow? Are my technology pieces compatible? In other other words, do they play nice together and talk to each other? And finally — are you really using the technology you already have and the data that comes with it?

In the real world those questions might sound something like this — Do I need to digitize and record more of my field activities, like anhydrous or crop protection product application, in order to increase my farm’s future carbon market value? Is my yield monitor so old that they don’t even make memory card readers to download the data? Will my John Deere tractor display talk to my new Kinze planter? Do I religiously use technology to implement actionable agronomy practices like variable-rate seeding and crop removal recommendations?

Just like financial debt, not all technical debt is bad. Just like regular debt, it must be managed and serviced on a regular basis. The most important way to turn technical debt into a positive is to simply have a technology plan. What do you want your technology to do for you and does it align with the other overall future goals for your farming operation?

Tech debt cannot be eliminated by geeking out and going on a technology buying spree. Investment in tech should not be considered just a fair weather proposition, nor should it be considered when you’re behind the eight-ball like in the case of Southwest. Since the dawn of precision farm-ing, the industry’s pervasive mentality has been that technology falls into more of a luxury category than treating it as the capital expense it should be.

The agricultural treadmill has always been unforgiving. The recent rise of technical debt has only ratcheted up the intensity. If you are not proactive, you will likely spend all your time putting out fires. That leaves little time or energy left for planning. And as Winston Churchill once said: “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”

Learn more about the risk of technical debt at the 2024 Top Producer Summit. Register online today!

State of the Pork Industry Report: Takeaways from 2023

Tue, 21 May 2024 13:44:50 GMT

Looking back at the takeaways from 2023, what are the non-negotiables for pork producers going into the second half of 2024? In the first State of the Pork Industry Report hosted by Farm Journal’s PORK editor Jennifer Shike, four experts discuss this question and more as they compare the data to what they are seeing in the barns.

Find out what this group of industry leaders believes are the most important takeaways and how this can help your farm be more profitable now and in the future.

Experts include:

Cara Haden , DVM and veterinarian with Pipestone
Randy Kuker, director of swine production for The Equity
Adam Annegers, sow production manager at JBS
Brad Eckberg, business analyst with MetaFarms

What are the 2024 Non-Negotiables for U.S. Pork Producers?

For Kuker, the non-negotiables for 2024 are simple – people development and biosecurity matter.

“Develop your people, train them, coach them, try to influence them to do a good job every day and give them the support they need. Be present for them,” Kuker said in the report. “Then, really push biosecurity. Consider incentivizing people for doing good biosecurity and keeping those lateral transfers out of there.”

Annegers couldn’t agree more and added the pork industry doesn’t have time not to train. People are the industry’s No. 1 resource.

“Keeping our people happy and getting them trained, engaged and empowered to do a great job taking care of pigs is huge for us. That will continue to be a big driver for us as we go forward,” Annegers said. “Those people trees are just not growing anymore. So, when we get talented people who care a lot, we need to put all of our time and effort into those people. Without employees on the farms, we don’t have farms.”

For the self-proclaimed “data nerd” on the panel, Eckberg encouraged producers to utilize data to make decisions. He also reminded listeners that garbage in is garbage out.

“You’ve got to have quality, accurate data to make decisions,” Eckberg said. “Tracking the bare essentials is a great place to start that allows you to be proactive.”

Of course, health is a non-negotiable for Haden.

“It is so fun to raise healthy pigs. It’s a blast. They’re a really fun animal to work with,” she said. “But it’s not fun to raise sick pigs. Really look at your system. What can we do from a vaccination standpoint? What can we do from a flow standpoint? What can we do from a biosecurity standpoint? What can we do to try to keep our pigs healthy, so that we can enjoy our jobs and going into the barn every single day? I think that needs to be a huge focus.”

In addition to 2023 takeaways, the panelists dig into a variety of topics from Prop 12 to E. coli and from mortality rates and grow-finish trends. Check out the first State of the Pork Industry Report hosted by Farm Journal’s PORK on YouTube .

Read More:

A Good Start to 2024: Mortality Improves Across the Board in Latest MetaFarms Report

The Superpower the Industry Needs on Swine Farms Now

Sow Death Loss Reaches All-Time High in 2023: What Can Producers Do Now?

Keep Your Eyes Open: Ways to Reduce Wean-to-Finish Mortality

When the Data Gets Overwhelming: Key Metrics to Pay Attention to on the Swine Farm

Stop the “If Only This Would Happen” Game Now

Tue, 07 May 2024 21:09:35 GMT

You need to do what you need to do to make your life better. Is it really that simple? Ted Matthews, a mental health practitioner with Rural Minnesota Mental Health Support , told AgriTalk’s Chip Flory that far too many people hear mental health and immediately think mental illness.

For many farmers that Matthews talks to, it’s “not that bad.” Farmers say they can handle the stress, Matthews says. This works until it doesn’t.

“We’re constantly pressured into this concept that it has to get to a certain point before we take care of ourselves,” Matthews explains. “And that’s absolutely stupid.”

Instead, farmers need to take care of themselves now, so they don’t have to worry about going down that road later.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Not only is it a time to address the challenges faced by millions of Americans living with mental health conditions, but it’s also a reminder to take care of your mental health.

“Everybody’s different,” Matthews says. What drives one farmer crazy may not phase another farmer at all. He encourages people to take a step back when stress sets in and evaluate what’s under their control and what’s not.

“We can’t control the water. We can’t control the sun. We can’t control a lot of different things,” he says. “But we can focus on the things we can control. That will give us enough energy to get those things done. Far too often I see people get so wrapped up in all the things that they can’t do, that they end up not doing the things they can do because they’re so stressed.

Knowledge, however, doesn’t always result in the stress going away.

“Just because I know something, doesn’t mean I’m not going to get stressed,” he explains. “That’s something that we always need to look at. I always tell people, be nice. Take care of yourself. Do what you need to do to make your life better.”

Click here to download the eBook “Your Guide to Mental Health.”

Matthews says if you want to be more supportive of a farmer, say, “It must be really hard,” and let them tell you how they’re feeling about it. Don’t tell them what they should feel. Let them tell you what they do feel.

Everyone is always racing around like they’re at the Indy 500, he adds.

“I’m not saying it’s not important to get the crop in, but if you can take an extra half hour to have a cup of coffee, take an extra 10 minutes to talk to your wife or your kids or both, it will help,” Matthews says. “Take care of that end so it does not become an overwhelming stressor.”

Remember that your thoughts matter. When stress sets in, ask yourself these questions:
-What can I do to make life better?
-How can I listen better?
-How can I take care of myself better?
-How can I look at my mental health in a way that says, ‘I’m feeling better, and if I’m not, I’m responsible to make myself feel better.’

It’s time to stop waiting on others to step in, he adds.

“If only they would do this. If this happened, then I would (fill in the blank),” Matthews says. “Stop thinking those thoughts because we have no control over them. Focus on the things you do have control over, and you’re going to be a healthier person.”

Read More:

Mental Health on the Farm: One Swine Production Manager’s Story

5 Ways to Work Through Difficult Times

By Her Own Hand: A Farm Girl’s Miraculous Journey from Death to Hope

Pay Attention to Warning Signs of Stress

Lack of Understanding Leads to Loneliness in Farmers

Toxic Grit: Is Our Greatest Strength Our Greatest Weakness on the Farm?

Stress: Action is Key

Farmers, Ranchers Have Ways to Manage Stress

Suicide Prevention: Your Worth Isn’t Measured By The Markets

Don’t Let Social Distancing Lead to Social Isolation

Connect With Farmers In-Person On Mental Health

Simple, Daily Habits to Help Manage Stress

Pay Attention to Warning Signs of Stress

When Your Trampoline Breaks: Avoid Isolation

7 Steps to Reduce Farm and Financial Stress

How and Why to Laugh, Even When it’s Hard

Watch for Signs of Suicidal Risk on Your Farm

Skills Survey Reveals U.S. Agriculture & Food Industry Workforce Needs and Gaps

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 19:14:19 GMT

U.S. employers report challenges in finding suitable job candidates with work-ready skills to fill open roles in the agri-food industry. AgCareers.com surveyed these employers to gain deeper insights into the skills they seek and identify the most significant skills gaps in the workforce. The recently published AgCareers.com U.S. Skills Survey offers valuable market insights, data and trends to help address skill development requirements within the industry.

Employers ranked “Problem-Solving and Decision-Making” as the most necessary skills for all employees, followed by “Organization and Planning Skills” and “Teamwork.” Problem-solving and decision-making were also identified as areas with the most significant gap for both current employees and new graduate hires. Only 18% of U.S. employers said that new graduate hires were adequately prepared with work-ready skills upon hire, whereas 76% said experienced new hires were equipped with these skills.

These findings underscore the significance of soft skill development for employees at all levels, particularly for students and individuals entering the workforce for the first time. Employers indicated that they are most inclined to seek out soft skills training when considering professional development opportunities for their staff; communication and verbal skills trainings were the most useful to employees and new hires.

Survey data also examined industry-specific skills required for employee success, such as sustainability, data science, and food science. Results indicate the most extensive knowledge needs were in agronomy and precision agriculture, followed by animal sciences.

The survey report breaks down specific topics and knowledge for each subject area and outlines the skills necessary for various employment levels, such as skilled trades, production, managers, and executives. The full report is free to the public for download .

How Can Agricultural-Related Work Injuries Help Inform Safety Measures in the Future?

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 19:56:23 GMT

Agricultural occupations are hazardous with one of the highest rates of workplace injuries and fatalities in the U.S. The manual and often strenuous nature of the work, combined with the use of machinery and exposure to environmental hazards create a challenging work environment. Understanding the nature and causes of injuries can help improve safety guidelines and policy measures. However, obtaining a comprehensive overview of injuries is hindered by the absence of a central reporting system. Two new papers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign provide a systematic review of academic literature on agricultural injuries in the U.S. and globally.

“When it comes to agriculture, there’s no single source for injury data. In other occupations, work injuries in the U.S. must be reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), but farm work is often exempt from these requirements because many farms are small and have less than 10 full-time employees,” said Salah Issa, an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) and an Illinois Extension specialist; both units are part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at Illinois. ABE is also part of The Grainger College of Engineering at Illinois.

“There have been a lot of grassroots efforts to track surveillance data, but they are based on different methods so it’s hard to get a complete look at agricultural injuries. Our work combines results into one large dataset, providing a comprehensive overview of previous research,” Issa explained.

In the first study , the researchers conducted a systematic literature review of 48 academic papers published in the U.S. and Canada from 1985 to 2022.

“We identified five different surveillance methods: newspaper clippings, surveys, death certificates, hospital records and emergency medical services (EMS) data, and multiple sources,” said Sihan Li, a doctoral student in ABE and lead author on the first paper.

The researchers also analyzed and categorized information such as the type and source of injury, the event leading up to it, and the gender of the victim.

Overall, vehicles (including tractors and ATVs) were the most common source of injury, with over 55,000 incidents reported, as well as the leading source of fatalities. Other significant causes of injury included machinery, slips and trips, animals, chemicals, and tools. Men were more than twice as likely as women to be victims of injury. Age varied by surveillance method, with newspaper clippings skewed to younger victims (22% of incidents) and death certificates skewed to older victims (30% over 65).

In the second study , the researchers reviewed 69 articles from 17 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia, including the U.S., Canada, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Austria, Italy, and others.

The main data sources identified in these studies were hospital records, followed by surveys, government records (including death certificates), insurance claims, and multiple sources.

“For the global perspective, we narrowed our scope to focus primarily on machine-related injuries, which involves tractors and farm equipment,” said Mian Muhammad Sajid Raza, a doctoral student in ABE and lead author on the second paper.

The researchers found that tractors stand out as the leading cause of fatal incidents, with tractor overturns accounting for 45% of all machinery-related incidents in North America. Furthermore, injuries linked overall to agricultural machinery significantly contribute to both fatal and non-fatal incidents.

“It is also interesting to look at other sources of injury. In North America and Europe, animals are the cause of less than 3% of all injuries. But in Asia, animals represent 7% of the total injuries and 35% of the fatalities. This is likely because farming is less automated and animals are still used extensively in some Asian countries,” Raza said.

The research shows agriculture is a dangerous occupation globally, with injuries reported in at least three continents. Overall trends are as expected, with vehicles and machinery playing a large role in injuries and fatalities, Issa noted.

“One of our most important findings is that the way you conduct injury surveillance will have an impact on your results,” he said. “For example, if you use newspaper clippings, your findings will skew towards a younger age group. The discrepancies are so large it’s clearly worth evaluating the type of surveillance methods employed, and it’s important to use multiple sources to get a good picture of what’s going on.”

Understanding the nature and source of injuries is important for developing educational programs and interventions, Issa concluded.

Editor’s Notes:
Both papers, “Agricultural Injury Surveillance in the United States and Canada: A Systematic Literature Review’ [DOI: 10.1080/1059924X.2024.2304699 ] and “Global Patterns of Agricultural Machine and Equipment Injuries- A Systematic Literature Review” [DOI: 10.1080/1059924X.2024.2304704 ] are published in the Journal of Agromedicine.

Your Mental Health Toolbox: How To Recognize The Warning Signs

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 22:28:17 GMT

Working in agriculture isn’t easy, and factors such as commodity prices, weather and family dynamics often weigh heavily on those involved.

It’s important the friends, family, and business professionals close to farmers are prepared to recognize warning signs and effectively communicate in a mental health crisis. PennState Extension shares several tips to help.

What To Look For
Some of the ways increased stress presents itself is through physical changes such as headaches or frequent illness, loss of the person’s sense of humor, change in routine, isolation or the feeling that they can’t do anything right.

In farmers specifically, this could look like a decline in the care of livestock and the farmstead’s appearance, no longer stopping by the coffee shop in the morning to chat with friends, or giving up something they were previously passionate about such as volunteering as a 4-H leader.

Prolonged symptoms take a toll on a person’s body and can have long-term effects like high blood pressure and diabetes.

Extension experts also say increased stress has the ability to make farmers more accident prone and could lead to an uptick in the number of accidents or injuries around the operation.

How To Approach The Conversation
If you notice these changes in a customer, friend or family member, the way you approach them about the topic matters. Simply asking them how they’re doing will probably elicit a response similar to “I’m fine.”

PennState Extension advises using active listening during this conversation to help the person feel comfortable sharing more about what’s going on and understand that you care.

For example, if they brush off your initial question of concern, encourage them to elaborate by saying, “I’ve noticed you seem down. Is there anything on your mind?”. Restate and paraphrase what they’ve shared with you periodically, so they know you’re interested and listening. This also gives them a chance to correct anything you’ve misunderstood and give more context if necessary. You could say, “It sounds like you’re thinking/feeling X. Is that right?”

Focus on listening, rather than what you’re going to say next and make sure to give them adequate time to speak before you jump in.

Extension experts also recommend talking to the person with empathy, rather than sympathy, even if you don’t have personal experience with what they’re going through.

Phrases To Help Convey Empathy:
• I know of several farms in similar situations.
• Every situation is a little different. Help me understand better.
• I don’t know what to say, but I’m so glad you told me.
• I can see this situation is hard for you. What changes would you like to see?
• I’m eager to help. What are some things I could do for you?

Try to avoid saying things like, “at least X didn’t happen” or “at least you still have X”.

Next Steps
Make sure you check back in with the person, whether you told them you would or not, and don’t promise things you can’t commit to.

If the situation becomes urgent, ask if you can call a family member or for help. Local, state and national resources are available.

How Today's Economy is Shaping the Business-Savvy Farmer

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 21:44:47 GMT

Looking toward the year ahead, Alan Hoskins, president of American Farm Mortgage, says there’s a long road to get inflation under control.

“Just because we hear there will potentially be rate reductions, I don’t think that’s something we need to be carving on a stone tablet,” he said during a recent appearance of AgriTalk. “I think sometimes we believe numbers are numeric only. The numbers create emotions, and that’s ultimately what drives the economy is the emotion of the American consumer.”

And while higher interest rates have mitigated some sales around the ag industry, Hoskins says it’s also created a more business-savvy farmer.

“Folks are being more mindful of the long-term effect of their decisions. The rise in interest rates have allowed producers to do a much better decision-making process before they pull the trigger,” he says. “It’s causing them to make sure that’s really a good long-term acquisition for their operation.”

One of the factors he thinks is being used to determine if something is a good purchase for an operation is its ability to solve the ongoing labor issue.

"[Labor] is something I think has become much more in the mindset of producers over the past five to seven years,” Hoskins says.

As for the state of the ag economy, Hoskins believes ag lending institutions are in a good position moving forward. He credits part of that to who is operating them.

“The people that are financing agriculture today have a very savvy knowledge of the industry. That allows them to make better decisions for the banks,” Hoskins says.

To hear more from Hoskins, listen to this episode of AgriTalk.

2024 Ag Economy: What's Causing Rural Bankers To Be Pessimistic

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 17:01:36 GMT

Creighton University has released its January Rural Mainstreet Index – a survey of bank CEOs living in rural communities across a 10-state region.

This month’s survey marks the fifth-straight month where the index has been below the growth neutral mark.

Ernie Goss, PhD, Jack A. MacAllister Chair in regional economics at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business, shares the continued pessimism from the rural bankers surveyed can be attributed to a few different things.

“We’re talking about somewhat weaker agricultural commodity prices and likewise, the higher interest rates are beginning to cut into what’s going on at the farm,” Goss shared on the AgriTalk podcast. “Also, the global economic slowdown – whether that’s in China, Asia or Europe – is having some impacts on the farm economy. That’s what bankers are telling us.”

Attitudes toward the economy, however, may be on the rise. While the January survey was still below growth-neutral with a reading of 48.1, it was actually up from December’s reading of 41.7. The index ranges between 0 and 100, with a reading of 50.0 representing growth neutral.

Goss says the long-term outlook for agriculture is still very positive, with little issues in the short-to-intermediate-term outlook – especially for ag retailers.

“Delinquencies are up a bit, but less than one percentage point – so that’s the good news. I think it’s more to do with what’s going on in rural main street businesses,” he says. “That will be the retailers and the farm equipment sellers. They’re seeing some slowdowns and that’s what bankers are seeing reporting on.”

Echoing Goss’ point is the survey’s farm equipment-sales index. In January, it dropped to a reading of 47.9 from December’s reading of 49.5 –marking the seventh time in the past eight months the number has been below growth neutral.

A Bright Spot
More optimistic areas of the survey revolved around farmland. This includes the farmland price index, which read 64.0 and has been growth neutral every month since November 2019, as well as the outlook for farmland transition.

When asked about the share of farm clients facing generational transition, the bankers expected 53.8% to transfer ownership to heirs and 42.3% to sell to other farmers in the area.

“In my judgment, there’s too much hype about the sales going to the Chinese and sales going to others outside [of the country],” Goss says. “It’s mostly within the community, and that’s good in my judgment. That bodes well in the long term for the agricultural sector.”

To hear more from Goss, listen to this episode of AgriTalk .

Busting Myths and Opening Doors: How One Ag Teacher is Making an Impact in the Pork Industry

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:22:36 GMT

It’s not easy to be an award-winning FFA advisor, but Riley Hintzsche of Streator Township High School in Illinois, makes it look that way.

His passion to help students find a career in agriculture is one of the reasons why he takes advantage of the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence’s Destination Pork high school curriculum.

“It provides an opportunity for kids to see what they do and don’t know about the pork industry and take a look at their future, really looking at the industry and what is possible,” he explains.

Plus, Hintzsche appreciates the two pathways Destination Pork offers: Pathway to the Industry and Pathway to Your Future.

Not only does the curriculum open students’ eyes to the pork industry, but it also provides insight into job and career opportunities. The best part? It’s free.

“The career aspects and highlights in Destination Pork are important to me,” Hintzsche stated. “There’s a huge gap in understanding with students wanting to be involved in pork production. Anytime there’s opportunity to show what life is really like outside our school, those highlights make a difference for our students, illustrating what they can do and sink their teeth into.”

Practically speaking, Hintzsche says the format, including PowerPoint presentations, is ideal for students. It allows them to get involved and engaged without getting bored by long lessons. The interactive elements also address different student learning styles, which he says provides even more value to him as an educator.

^{Riley Hintzsche says the two curriculum options allow him to work with students to understand each corner and aspect of the pork industry.}

It’s Time to Bust Myths About Modern Pig Farming

He points out that there can be a negative public connotation at times when it comes to farrowing houses and modern pig farming practices. Students sometimes come in with a negative perception - not based on knowledge or experience, but on what they see in social media.

Streator FFA farrows two sows each year in their greenhouse, giving students irreplaceable experience with the process, he says.

“After four years watching a pig farrow, understanding almost every piglet survived the birthing and weaning process, and gaining a better understanding of modern agriculture including farrowing crates, medication, and antibiotics, perceptions change,” he says.

Hintzsche appreciates that the hands-on experience with farrowing along with Destination Pork’s curriculum make a great combination for students and for him as their ag educator.

“When I take a look at Destination Pork, I see the opportunity it provides for students as a really great access point to understanding pork production without me putting in an overwhelming amount of effort. I can work with students to understand each corner and aspect of the industry,” he adds.

The life of an ag teacher is constantly busy so for Hintzsche, Destination Pork is something quick, accessible and creates opportunities for students to excel in the classroom.

^{Streator FFA farrows two sows each year in their greenhouse, providing unique opportunities for students to engage in hands-on learning.}

How Can You Help Spread the Word?

It’s not hard to make an experience like this happen in your school. Ag educators are welcome to download the Destination Pork curriculum from the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence website for review and implementation in their own classrooms.

The two curriculum pathways include:

Pathway to the Industry is an instructor-led experience designed for an Introduction to Agriculture course. Content and objectives are aligned with AFNR (Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources) standards and focus on pork production. Pathway to the Industry features a seven-lesson unit broken into 10 45-minute sessions. Topics include an overview of the pork industry, pig anatomy, the pork production cycle, pig caretaking and well-being, pig behavior, pork reproduction (breeding and genetics), and environmental stewardship of the pork industry.
Pathway to the Future, a student-led experience designed for independent study, uses an online module. Students identify and initiate paths to a career in the pork industry. Content focuses on career exploration and individual competencies and includes a series of independent courses consisting of four 30-minute sessions. Topics covered in the independent courses are value of the pork industry, challenging misconceptions of the pork industry, the people who work in the pork industry, and personal destination mapping within the pork industry. Additional experiential activities, which are optional elements of the Pathway to the Future module, revolve around four 60-to-90-minute sessions.

Read More:

How Two Pig Farmers Are Winning People Over to Pork Now

5 Things I Learned About Hog Farming from Aerial Surveillance

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 14:35:31 GMT

Recently, an environmental group sent out a press release about taking a group of people (mostly interns) on an aerial surveillance of Eastern North Carolina to “document and expose” animal feeding operations. So I was curious to see what you can see from the sky. Luckily, I happened to know a Duplin County pig farmer who has a pilot’s license. He quickly offered to take me up in the sky when I told him what I wanted to see.

So here’s what I learned from my flight with Chad:

1. It’s awesome out here. From the air – even on a day with low cloud cover – you really get a sense for the beauty of Eastern North Carolina. To hear the opposition talk, people in Eastern North Carolina are living in a giant cesspool. (I know this isn’t true. I’ve driven all over ENC and visited dozens of pig farms. But I’ve heard how extremists describe living near hog farms in the courtroom, in public hearings, documentaries and in media interviews. They don’t paint a pretty picture.) From the air, you really get a sense of how clean and beautiful this area is. Many a pig farmer has told me that they live in God’s country. From the air, I can see why they feel this way. Flying over neighborhoods, you can tell that folks enjoy their backyards. Pools, trampolines, four wheelers, patio furniture and other evidence of outdoor activities are everywhere.

2. You don’t fly far in Eastern North Carolina without coming across long barns. Some of them are pig farms, but a lot of them house poultry. When viewing from the air, hog houses are much shorter, and they are always adjacent to a lagoon. The grain bins are on the end of the building and there’s a loading ramp. Poultry barns are long are often clustered in groups of eight or 10. The grain bins are in the center of the barns and the ends of the building have rollup doors. No matter the type of farm, from the air, you can tell that they are well maintained and clean.

3. The majority of hog farms are isolated and tucked away. This helps maintain biosecurity, and tree buffers are industry best practices. They aren’t hiding. They were just built on property out of the way. In many cases, you can see where neighborhoods are built up right to the tree buffer. Interestingly, there are rules against siting a hog farm and lagoon within a certain distance from a home, but there are no rules to prevent a residence from being built within that same buffer. The majority of hog farms are relatively small. Yes, we have some large farms, but they are the exception, not the rule. Most of them are just a few small hog houses on a small lagoon and they dot the landscape.

4. Hog farms aren’t the only ones who use lagoons and/or a spray field system. We saw municipal waste treatment facilities and manufacturing facilities that also used this technology. And yes, it is a technology that utilizes bacteria to break down waste either through aerobic or anaerobic means. It is a treatment type recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s not outdated, as some argue. It creates a valuable nutrient that can be used on crops.

5. For all the fuel and carbon footprint of their flights in their fight against CAFOs, the environmentalists must be disappointed when they fly. I daresay that they do more environmental damage than what they find. Which goes back to the fact that if you trace the money backing these groups, they aren’t really environmental groups, but anti-animal agriculture groups with a vegan agenda that are using the environment to attack the meat industry.

Editor’s Note: Jen Kendrick serves as the director of communications and outreach for the North Carolina Pork Council.

Technology Is… Considering A CTO

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 16:00:00 GMT

Is now the time to expand your tech expertise?

As you look at your farm’s capital expenditures, how many are related to technology? Think broadly. The numbers probably climb pretty fast.

“An important part of our business is to try new things,” says Brian Watkins, Ohio farmer and CEO of CropZilla, a farm software provider. “Even if you’re not an early adopter, you still have to have an intentional innovation strategy.”

Your farm’s strategy should span management information, agronomic technology and equipment technology, Watkins says. To make sure your farm is ahead of the pack (or at least in the race) you need someone to own this part of the business.

A Strategic Move

A recent Farm Journal technology survey shows 68% of farmers say they don’t see their farm needing a chief technology officer or similar positions in the future. Yet, 58% of those same farmers say their data collection practices are adequate for now but probably not good enough for tomorrow.

Don’t be intimidated by the title of chief technology officer, Watkins encourages. The job label isn’t important. Your goal is to have someone on the team at least spending part of their time evaluating technology options, determining what to buy into and chucking out products or services that are not a fit.

“The point is you don’t want to let other people lead you around in terms of technology,” he says.

Assess your technology needs to determine if you should have an in-house expertise or if you should hire an external person, suggests John Fulton, precision agriculture specialist for Ohio State University Extension.

“You need someone who at least spends time keeping up with the technology,” Fulton says. “This can include attending conferences, talking to neighbors, reviewing information online and reading articles — this person is responsible for the farm’s digital strategy.”

Fill the Need

Look around your family and team, suggests Peter Gredig, an Ontario grain farmer and technology developer with mobile app development company AgNitrion. Is there a child, sibling or new employee who geeks out on technology, is internet savvy or is a gamer?

“There are a lot of diamonds in the rough on farms,” he says. “We are hiring young people who may not be ag savvy, so we are teaching them the ag stuff. But we’re not letting them teach us what they know on the tech side.”

Technology will continue to change how you farm — make sure you’re ready to capitalize on it.

“I always say a successful tech strategy has nothing to do with what tech you’re using; it has to do with diligences and know what’s available and if it fits on your farm,” Gredig says.

What Does a CTO Do?

The responsibilities of a chief technology officer (CTO) can vary depending on the type of farm operation. Peter Gredig, an Ontario grain farmer and technology developer, says the job description can include the following tasks:

Develop a technology strategy aligned with the company’s business goals.
Discover and implement new technologies that create a competitive advantage.
Help staff use the technology profitably by cutting costs, boosting productivity or improving efficiency.
Ensure proper use and efficiency creation of new and existing technologies.
Make adjustments based on feedback from staff and clients to improve the use of technology.
Communicate the technology strategy to partners and investors.

Technology is… different for every farmer. Find resources on how to make smart technology investments.

Have a Goal to Be a Better Leader in 2023? Here are Steps to Take

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 18:13:30 GMT

What makes an effective leader? How do great leaders narrow their focus and make the most of each day?

When you think about some of the most effective leaders you’ve met, have you noticed how they can seem to make the complex simple? Or how these great leaders can often distill their areas of focus down to a handful of priorities?

“Having interviewed dozens of turnaround CEOs I have seen this narrowing of focus with most of them,” says Mark Faust, president of Echelon Management . “They have a handful of priorities for the business’ growth, as well as a handful of priorities for their own leadership behaviors and role focus.”

Mark Faust will be speaking at the 2023 Top Producer Summit , which takes place Jan. 23-25. Register now!

Listen to him discuss the event with AgriTalk’s Chip Flory:

The first step in transforming your farm, Faust says, begins with you:

Are you willing to spend even a fraction of one hour a day to think about your strategy, like a good leader?
Are you willing to recruit the retired and outcasts, to build a great team?
Are you willing to build up a culture of hope, focused on an empowering vision and intensify their focus on winning not just for themselves, but the team, their community and their world?

“Your focus within your role as the leader has an amazing power to accelerate your organization’s growth,” he says. “A leader, just like a company, has a singular point of strength, that if intensified, gives the highest return on effort of anything else you could focus upon.”
Faust says the steps for a “Leadership Transformation” are:

Create a Vision of Your Role. You need to become the best version of yourself as leader.
Prioritize the top one to three organizational objectives with which you should be most involved.
Identify one to three of your organization’s greatest constraints, empower people, and kick off innovation efforts to ameliorate or eliminate those constraints.
Ask for feedback. Share with one to three of your team members your ideas, objectives and strategy. Ask: How am I doing as a leader? What is one thing I could do better to focus? Do not respond, just take notes and say “Thank you!”
Engage an outside third party from either your board or a strategic growth advisor to hold you accountable

“You can begin at any point in the year, but the power of this is that by improving yourself first, others follow,” Faust says.

Register for the Top Producer Summit!

Preventative Maintenance for Your People: How to Reduce Turnover and Boost Morale

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:33:00 GMT

Follow this strategy to reduce turnover and increase morale on your farm team

No news from your employees is good news, right? That approach might fit your leadership preference, but it’s an archaic way of leading your team, says Dave Mitchell, founder of Walla Walla, Wash.-based consulting firm The Leadership Difference .

“I’m stunned at how little leadership interacts with their team members,” he says. “Leaders need to be more assertive in reaching out to the employees to make sure any frustrations are resolved before they fester and cause permanent damage.”

This concept is something Mitchell calls people preventative maintenance. Essentially it is a system to create continuous feedback from the employee to the employer.

It can take several months for employees to be open to providing honest feedback. But over time, Mitchell says, team members will be more eager to participate and share.

“The key is you are consistent in collecting the information and reliable in acting on what you collect,” he says. “This cycle creates a continuous improvement process based on employee feedback.”

Simple and Purposeful System for Feedback

1. Create a spreadsheet with all your team members’ names in the left column and all the months as headers for the columns.

2. Each month, schedule a casual 15-min. meeting (over a cup of coffee or during a drive to town) with each of your team members.

“The key is to execute the meeting informally but track it formally to ensure you speak with each team member each month,” Mitchell says.

3. Ask questions, such as:
How are things going at work?
What do you like most?
What do you like least?
What would you change to improve our work?
What do you need to make it easier for you to be successful?

4. Take notes on the feedback and identify any suggestions you should implement.

5. Note the meeting on your spreadsheet so you know you conducted the meeting.

6. Once you know which suggestions you will take, respond to the team member within a few days about the status of their suggestion.

Hear Dave Mitchell discuss how leadership hits your bottom line on the “Farming the Countryside” podcast:

Ag Economists Turn More Positive Longer-Term On the Farm Economy

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:01:20 GMT

The July Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor shows weather extremes and wild swings in the commodity markets are the two biggest factors impacting short-term outlooks, but the economists surveyed expressed a more favorable view longer-term. The latest survey also shows the biggest wildcard for agriculture over the next year could be geopolitical risks tied to China and the war in Ukraine.

This is the second survey of the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor , a joint effort between the University of Missouri and Farm Journal. The first-of-its-kind survey collects insights from ag economists across the U.S. Nearly 60 economists are asked each month to provide their forecasts and views. They represent a wide geography with expertise in grains, livestock and policy.

This month’s survey showed several key changes from June. Economists say they believe USDA’s current corn and soybean yield projections are still too high, and they anticipate a drop in forecasted corn and soybean prices. The economists in the July survey also predict cattle and hog prices could continue to climb higher this year.

“To me, the biggest thing that sticks out in the July survey is the more positive view 12 months into the future relative to where we were in June,” says Scott Brown, University of Missouri agricultural economist who helps author the survey each month. “In the very short run, the economists are a little less positive than where they were in June. I think that has a lot to do with the weather and general market moves we’ve seen over the last few weeks.”

The longer-term optimism revealed in the survey is despite economists’ expectations for two consecutive years of declining net farm income, falling short of the record set in 2022. The July Monthly Monitor forecasts net farm income to fall to $132.8 billion in 2023, which is below the $134.7 billion in the June survey and USDA’s current net farm income estimate of $136.9 billion. That’s still a big drop from 2022, when USDA says net farm income reached $162.7 billion.

This month’s survey also tried to peel back the layers of what commodities might be aiding the more positive long-term outlook versus weighing on the overall health of the ag economy in the short-term.

“On the crop side, it’s positive to very positive,” Brown says. “There are a few in the negative category, but a majority of economists responded the crops side of the equation looks positive. Whereas, on the livestock side, we have more negatives than we have positives.”

Economists say there are several positive developments that could shape U.S. agriculture, such as continued productivity and efficiency gains; a healthy farm economy and balance sheets; projected shifts in interest rates; new and expanded opportunities for renewable fuels; and the strength of the U.S. cattle market and meat exports as a whole. Geopolitical issues could also impact global crop production and, in turn, bring some demand back to the U.S.

Cuts to Projected U.S. Crop Yields

The survey was sent to ag economists the day after USDA released its most recent yield forecast in the July WASDE report. In what was called a rare move early in the growing season, USDA cut its corn yield forecast by 2.2% to 177.5 bu. per acre, down from 181.5 bu. per acre in the June report. The July Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor is nearly 3 bu. per acre lower than USDA, with the group of ag economists projecting a yield of 174.9 bu. per acre.

“For me, the interesting piece of this story is there’s a lot of variability in the responses from those being surveyed, which highlights how varied the weather has been as you move around the country,” Brown says. “We had yield estimates slightly below 170 bu. per acre on the low end and some above 180 bu. per acre on the high end.”

Brown says the soybean estimate also came in lower than both USDA’s July WASDE report and the June Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor survey. USDA estimates soybean yield at 52 bu. per acre, and the average ag economists’ estimate is 50.6 bu. per acre, a 0.5 bu. cut from the June survey.

“There was a little less variability from top to bottom on those yields, but when you look at prices, even with what was a lower corn yield, their estimate of 2023/2024 corn prices went from $4.99 in June to $4.80 in the July survey,” Brown says.

What Economists are Watching the Next Six Months for Crop Prices

When asked what factors will impact crop prices in the next six months, economists said:

Final yields
Export demand and competition
Weather domestically and abroad
Geopolitical risk in the Black Sea and China, including developments that impact ag exports in Ukraine/Russia

“I think a couple of things stick out beyond the weather discussion, and one is export demand as well as global competition, such as what’s going to happen with South America in terms of competing with U.S. corn and soybean markets.

“The economists certainly continue to talk about the geopolitical risk in the Black Sea and China, in particular, and what that means for our ability to export corn and soybeans as we look ahead,” Brown says. “Those are really the two big ones that came out of this survey.”

What Livestock Economists Are Watching the Next 6 Months for Livestock

Ag economists think the following factors will impact prices the next six months:

Changes in feed costs and impact of corn prices
Rising milk prices
Consumer meat demand and influences from macroeconomic factors, both domestically and abroad
Placements of cattle on feed

Brown says while the majority of economists are concerned about feed costs and the impact on livestock producers, the second-biggest concern revealed in the survey is demand. Economists pointed to both domestic and international demand as possible problem areas.

“2021 and 2022 were extremely positive from a demand standpoint, and we seem to be backing up a little bit in 2023,” Brown says.

Economists More Bullish on Cattle and Hogs

The July Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor shows economists are more positive when asked about cattle and hog prices, but they have a more negative view on dairy, which they consider the biggest weight in the livestock sector.

“When you look at where pork prices have gone over the last month, it’s gotten more positive. Now, I don’t want to suggest we’re back in black ink, but we have seen recovery in things like the pork cutout value,” Brown says. “The economists continue to worry about how the general economy will affect livestock going forward, but overall, it seems we’re seeing a more positive view from the livestock perspective in this month’s survey.”

Based on the July monitor, economists expect average milk prices to fall back to 2021 levels, but production costs will continue to be higher in 2023 versus 2021.

“No. 1, the economists continue to worry about feed costs,” Brown says. “We continue to see fairly high feed costs affecting profitability. So even in the case of beef cattle, where we’re talking record cattle prices, we’re not talking record profitability because of the feed cost side.”

Longer-Term Look at the Health of Agriculture

Over the next 12 months, there are several things that could shape the health of the ag economy, according to the July survey:

Crop prices and production costs, including inputs, rental rates, land values and supply chain disruptions
Subsequent impact on producer margins and the protein sector from rising interest rates and inflationary pressure
Weather considerations, including drought conditions in the short run and yield impacts in longer run
Geopolitical tensions and competitiveness of U.S. ag exports
Changes in consumer demand domestically and abroad, new markets for agricultural products, including biofuels

“One thing that came pretty strongly out of the survey is the continued increases in productivity in agriculture, which makes us more efficient,” Brown says. “The farm economy is generally healthy, and when you look at balance sheets, they are still really, really strong in many cases. That’s despite a lot of the issues we’ve talked about.”

In the July survey, economists voiced more concerns about interest rates and the impact on operating loans. One economist also mentioned the industry might be underestimating the negative impact Proposition 12 could have on the entire livestock industry.

The Turbulent Relationship Between the U.S. and China

While none of the ag economists surveyed think the U.S. will enter into a trade war with China in 2023, economists continue to remain cautious about China, which could have a direct impact on U.S. agriculture.

When asked to list the top factors shaping trade relations between the U.S. and China, economists said:

POTUS and political polarization in the U.S.
Non‐agricultural geopolitical tensions, including national security concerns, support of Taiwan and limits on technological production
Changes in China’s economic growth, including population and demographics
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia’s relationship with China
Quality, price and availability of U.S. products compared with global competitors

Potential Events/Factors Not Getting Enough Attention Today

The July survey also asked economists to outline any factors or events that currently aren’t receiving enough attention but could shape agriculture over the next 12 months. One economist brought up impacts of geopolitical risks and fallout from the war in Ukraine, but also a potential war between the U.S. and China.

Other potential events that could cause a major shakeup in agriculture include:

Weather events, domestically and abroad, warranting a broader conversation on climate
Potential for a significant recession in China
Focus on renewable diesel obscuring importance of RFS in overall biofuel use
Workforce concerns for producing, processing and transporting agricultural products domestically and abroad
Declining EU pork production and commerce implications of Proposition 12
Strikes at shipping ports in Vancouver and potential for upward pressure on potash prices with reduced production capacity at Nutrien mines in Saskatchewan

Previous Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor Coverage

Most Ag Economists Think It’s Unlikely the 2023 Farm Bill Will Be Written in 2023

High Production Costs Could Weigh on the Ag Economy Through 2024, New Survey of Economists Finds

A Historical Day: SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments on Proposition 12

Mon, 15 May 2023 13:41:32 GMT

Operating with the constant backdrop of uncertainty of new and pending legislation makes it difficult to run any business, let alone a farm, says National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president Terry Wolters, a Minnesota pork producer.

He was one of a handful of pork producers who watched Supreme Court justices grill attorneys with questions during oral arguments on Oct. 11 in NPPC v. Ross brought forward by the American Farm Bureau Federation and NPPC challenging the constitutionality of California Proposition 12.

“Proposition 12 is not good for my animals. It’s not good for the consumers. And it’s definitely a challenge for the future of farming,” Wolters said during a media briefing following oral arguments. “When I’m on the farm in the Midwest, it seems like Washington, DC, can be a long way away. It’s fascinating today to watch the two worlds come together on an issue so significant to our industry.”

From animal welfare and worker safety to food affordability and producer livelihoods, Wolters said Proposition 12 threatens the pork industry. One state should not be able to regulate commerce in another state and set arbitrary standards that lack any scientific, technical or agricultural basis, NPPC said in a statement.

“We’ve worked long and hard to be able to proudly tell the story of the U.S. pig farmer to the Supreme Court. And today was the day...a very remarkable day,” Wolters said.

Michael Formica, NPPC chief legal strategist, agreed it was a good day in court. He said he felt hopeful to hear the justices understand the trouble that will be created by laws like Proposition 12 that reach far outside of the state’s borders and try and impose the moral wills of one state on farmers, or in this case, on any business or operation that’s located entirely in other states.

“It has a tremendous impact on pork production and pork prices. But if let stand, it would have a tremendous impact on the U.S. economy and on the flow of commerce across borders,” Formica said.

Competing Morals

The concept of “moral will” was mentioned often throughout the oral arguments. Formica said different states having different competing morals will always be a risk.

“Some of the California voters voted for this, but we have pork producers here on our board and other pork producers in the courtroom today, who every day wake up with a moral imperative to care for their animals, to raise those animals in a sustainable fashion and then ultimately to produce food that feeds everyone and in a fashion that everyone can afford to eat it,” Formica said.

The justices pointed out that farmers’ morals command them to take care of the animals and to produce food. So, what happens when one state comes up with a decision that they determine is the best way to care for animals?

“What happens when Ohio convenes all of its experts and they come up with a decision that they determine is the best way to raise animals in Ohio? Does California have the right to usurp the legislative and regulatory authority of Ohio within the state of Ohio?” Formica asked. “I don’t think the Constitution allows it. I think we heard from justices that they’re very troubled by that notion.”

At the end of the day, NPPC and AFBF support pork producers raising pigs in a way that’s best for them and their operation. For example, Scott Hays, NPPC president elect and a pig farmer from Missouri, says gestation crates work best on his farm.

“Sows are bullies. They fight. They assert their dominance. Housing animals in individual pens where they can be fed and watered and cared for individually is a very humane way of housing them,” Hays said.

Formica said one of his concerns is the changing nature of ballot initiatives.

“If a farmer were to go and change their operation to comply with (California) Proposition 12, what is there to stop New York from turning around in two years and say it’s not 24 square feet, it’s got to be 26 square feet? And then, two years after that, California goes back and says let’s make it 30 square feet,” Formica said. “If there’s really market demand, we’ve got this thing called the free market in this country and it’s amazing. If there’s demand, supply will follow.”

Producer Perspectives

For Lori Stevermer, NPPC vice president and a pig farmer from Minnesota, being able to sit in the courtroom to hear oral arguments was exciting and reaffirms the Constitution is on pork producers’ side.

“It also made me very happy to be part of both NPPC and AFBF. These organizations are working on my behalf for important issues like this. As a smaller farmer, I can’t do it myself. But to see what they’re doing and hearing the case they brought forward, it was just very exciting and very positive,” Stevermer said.

There’s no doubt this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will long be remembered by Hays, too.

“The exchange with the judges and the lawyers was interesting. I enjoyed their comments and the depth of knowledge of what’s at stake here,” Hays said. “I felt like they were really trying to understand and come up with a decision that is best for all Americans. That’s going to be a high-quality, low-cost protein source for everyone, not imposing one group’s opinion on the rest of us.”

Stevermer said pig farmers have always been good at responding to market demands, utilizing new technology and listening to advice from veterinarians and consultants.

“We continue to evolve and learn from each other,” she said. “I don’t see that changing. That’s what makes us a great industry and such a low-cost producer. Consumers send us the signals, then we use the technology and expertise available to us to make the right decision for our farms and our animals.”

A Life-Changing Case

Even though Stevermer doesn’t own sows, she says the outcome of today has a major impact on her life.

“If the cost to implement in California is great as we expect it will be, or if the market is cut off, it’s very possible the people we raise pigs for will say, ‘we don’t need your farm anymore because we don’t have any place to sell our pork.’ And that takes us out of the business,” Stevermer said. “It’s a life-changing case for many of us – not just me.”

To that point, Wolters added there’s a large financial investment decision that’s going to have to be made for owners of sow farms.

“In today’s inflationary period and with the availability of supplies, every producer is going to have to sort that out individually whether they can financially move forward with the new model,” Wolters said.

A ruling is due by the end of June, Reuters reports.

SCOTUS Zeroes in on Key Proposition 12 Issues

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Follow California Proposition 12 SCOTUS Oral Arguments Live

Proposition 12 is Not the Way We Want to Care for Animals, Hays Says

How Prop 12 Could Impact Crop and Livestock Producers

Proposition 12 Will Push Pig Farmers Out of Business, NPPC and Farmers Say

Ironic Timing: NPPC, AFBF File Reply Brief on Prop 12, CDFA Finalizes Rules

Proposition 12 Compliancy: Don’t Do It for Free, Hollis Says

Why Agriculture Can’t Ignore Proposition 12 and Question 3

Shay Foulk: The Importance of Community in Rural America

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 16:40:30 GMT

In a normal day I see five people consistently — my wife and daughter, and our farm team. Of course, I see people in passing at the post office, stores, and waving at neighbors on the road. I often place/take 50-100 phone calls a day for business purposes. However, it’s not often that I take the time to just stop and talk to people.

No agenda, no purpose, no business — just talk.

Don’t Be Lonely

It can get lonely in rural America. Not in a depressive, down-and-out kind of way for me, but I can easily see how and why others struggle with this.

We tell ourselves we are so damn busy all the time, but what are we busy with and how important is it? Is it more important than our mental health and happiness? Absolutely not.

I stopped and talked with some neighbors the other day — admittedly the initial purpose of the visit was business. But then we just talked for almost an hour. It was so refreshing. We laughed, cussed our worries and troubles, and had sincere conversations. It was … real. Lively. Invigorating.

It made my whole day, actually. Sure, I could have drilled another 40 acres of cover crops in that time, but productivity does not equal happiness. This is a lesson I have learned over the last several years.

I have strayed from a sense of community outside of church. I love my family so dearly and having a young child can be all-encompassing. I am happy and whole with my family, and I am ok seeing the same five people day in and day out. However, I will be making a conscious effort to talk with people more and slow down a bit, because it is so rewarding.

What do we always tell ourselves and our friends when we get ready to leave them or get off the phone after not talking in a while? ‘We should do this more often! Let’s not let it go this long before we talk again.’ We feel this way because the breath of fresh air we experience after these visits! Why not just take time more often to do this?

It is Veteran’s Day today, at the time of writing, and I often find myself thinking about the men I know you have served, lost their lives, or ended their lives when they couldn’t beat the demons they were facing. Their memory, and love for them, inspires me to live my life fully and intentionally.

How much would we give to stop and talk with them for another 30 minutes? Just a passing conversation about normal things would be a memory we could cherish forever. We never know when our conversation with someone might be the last.

Be Present

I challenge you to make a conscious effort today and moving into the holiday season to reach out to people you know and love and just be present with them. Live in the moment, laugh and enjoy them, and let them know you care for or love them. Enjoy the rush of dopamine in your brain that tells you this interaction and sense of community is a good thing.

We are more than productivity, the hours we work, and the services we provide. We are people, friends, family, and community. You are important, you are loved, and you are worthy of conversation, caring, and love.

Enjoy the day, and I hope you have a great conversation with someone today and in the weeks ahead.

Read Shay’s columns for Top Producer .

Shay Foulk grew up in northeast Iowa, working on a row crop and livestock operation with his father, uncles, and grandfathers. He attended Iowa State University where he majored in Agronomy. After graduating, Shay enlisted in the United States Army, and served with the 75th Ranger Regiment. Shay now farms and runs Monier Seed with his father-in-law near Sparland, IL, and also works as a consultant with Chris Barron at Ag View Solutions . Today, Shay works with farm operations locally and globally to improve profitability and efficiency, manage risk in many forms, and develop farm businesses through coaching and consulting.

We Must Do Something Different, Alltech CEO Says

Tue, 24 May 2022 20:05:03 GMT

“Reducing is not enough; we must do something different,” urged Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, during the Alltech ONE Conference on May 23. ONE welcomed nearly 2,000 international delegates to downtown Lexington, with an additional 5,000 participating virtually.

“Our belief is that agriculture has the greatest potential to positively influence the future of our planet, to provide nutrition for all and to help rural communities thrive and replenish our planet’s resources,” Lyons said.

Lyons was joined by Heather White, author, founder and CEO of “OneGreenThing,” who brought two decades of environmental advocacy work and national nonprofit leadership to life with her book, “One Green Thing: Discover Your Hidden Power to Help Save the Planet.” She offered three steps to make climate action a joyful daily practice.

1. Think beyond your age and listen.
2. Find your unique role.
3. Apply the daily practice of sustainability.

Nikki Putnam Badding, registered dietitian nutritionist and managing director of Acutia, later spoke about the crucial importance of making nutrition accessible to all.

“The impact of malnutrition is far-reaching,” Putnam Badding said. “So, is it enough to just feed the world? Do we instead need to focus on providing nutrition for all, thereby changing the dialogue from food security to nutrition security?”

Vaughn Holder, Alltech ruminant research group director, then shared his perspective on how animal agriculture can be part of the solution to improving sustainability.

“We sit at the interface between the main carbon capturing industry in the world and the main food production industry in the world,” he said. “Those things are tied closely together and unavoidable. We sit in a unique position to be doing something about the carbon argument. It really is important that we do not talk about compromising one for the other — because we have to do both.”

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Farm-style Shark Tank Pitches Five Agriculture Technologies

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 19:25:17 GMT

In hot-box style, five diverse farm technologies associated with AgLaunch —Salin 247, Susterre, Phinite, BovIQ, and Holganix—took center stage at Top Producer Summit in Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 15.

Salin 247

Specializing in electric, lightweight farm machinery, Salin 247 , introduced a 4-row (30”) autonomous planter prototype. Dave Krog , CEO of Salin 247, says the company is building a comprehensive platform of crop production machines, and will expand to 6- and 8-row versions, capable of accommodating a boom or tank.

“These machines are small and cause no soil compaction at a weight of 1,400 lb.,” Krog describes. He says the electric machinery is capable of 24-7 field activity and offers a massive reduction in overall costs when multiple units feature on the same operation.

Susterre

In 2021, Susterre released an upgrade kit that adds ultra-high pressure water jet tech to no-till and traditional planters to cut through crop residue.

“It only uses about 10 gallons of water per acre and reduces planting costs by 10%...resulting in payback in two planting seasons,” says Michael Cully , CEO and cofounder of Susterre.

Overall, according to Cully, the ultra-high pressure water system offers a reduction in farming costs, expanded planting window, earlier germination, lower cost transition to no-till, and a solution for hairpinning.

Phinite

Regenerative fertilizer from animal waste is the domain of Phinite . Animal farms have nutrients and crops farms need nutrients: “Fertilizer is a $20 billion market in the U.S., and animal farms are capable of producing $5 billion worth of fertilizer per year,” says Phinite founder and CEO Jordan Phasey .

Phinite takes animal waste from lagoons puts the material into its heavily automated drying facilities, which transform the waste into a phosphorus-based, no-odor fertilizer that can be used by farmers.

“One application equals five years of regenerative practices,” Phasey contends.

BovIQ

Sixth-generation producer Christian Nielson introduced BovIQ, an app that keeps track of individual calf records and tells a precise story of how a calf was raised. Essentially, BovIQ provides direct evidence of the essential points of a calf’s history.

The app can provide $300 per cow-calf pair, Nielson says. “It tells a production story and makes your cattle and your land more valuable, through a grazing plan that matches supply and demand. The key benefits are healthier calves, higher prices, reduced risk of loss, and lower cost of hay.”

Holganix

Holganix manufactures and distributes microbial products intended to drive soil health, nutrient efficiency, and yield. “In 2020, we spent 18.6 billion on fertilizer—60% of that expenditure went to corn, soy, and wheat…50% of every dollar spent on fertilizer is not going to the plant,” says Barrett Ersek , CEO of Holganix.

The solution is Holganix , according to Ersek: “We have 800 species of soil microbes all working together in a systems approach. The result for a farmer is typically a 2x to 10x investment in the first year they use our product with a single application close to planting.”

Shelf stable for four weeks outside of refrigeration, Ersek says current Holganix use in corn and soybeans is expanding to cotton and rice. “The microbial technology hitting the market today, and the innovations around it are like the internet in 1999. There are really big things getting ready to happen.”

Read more coverage of the Top Producer Summit .