ASI Needs Additional Targeted Grazing Information
Approximately 70 people working in 24 states and two Canadian provinces have completed the American Sheep Industry Association’s Targeted Grazing Survey, but ASI is looking for more information and additional respondents to complete the survey.
About half of the respondents have been providing targeted grazing services for more than five years and 10 percent had more than 20 years of experience. The respondents use sheep, goats and cattle in their business, with goats followed by sheep as the most common type of livestock in targeted grazing.
Targeted grazing is used to manage a variety of vegetation problems with the most common being control of invasive or encroaching species (80 percent of current respondents). Other important applications of targeted grazing include open space conservation, wildlife habitat improvement, fuels management and solar grazing.
ASI is writing a second volume of the Targeted Grazing Handbook that was first published in 2006. The purpose of this volume is to provide practical information to individuals considering the use of targeted grazing either in their personal operation or as a service to others. In addition, it will help all targeted grazing providers with information on the efficacy and use of targeted grazing to market the use of livestock as a scientifically proven land management option.
Targeted graziers are asked to take the survey to assist in this process. Unless you choose to provide contact information, this survey is confidential and not associated with the name of the respondent. Thank you for taking time to assist in this project by completing the survey.
Click Here to take the survey.
NSIP Plans Replacement Ewe Sales
The first National Sheep Improvement Program Influenced Commercial Ewe Sale is scheduled for Jan. 26, 2022, and NSIP is looking for consignors.
NSIP is the organization that handles performance records for its members and turns them into Estimated Breeding Values, which are science-based, industry-tested measurements of heritable traits that can be tracked and measured. They can assist producers in making breeding decisions to maximize profit in their management scheme.
According to Polypay enthusiast Jerry Sorenson, “There is a true interest in high quality replacement females. Producers are seeking maternal ewes that give them the option to make their own replacements or use NSIP terminal cross rams to provide the market lambs the industry desperately needs.
“This sale will allow true price discovery on the value of NSIP replacement ewes across the United States. It will set precedence on the value of NSIP ewes and ewe lambs. This sale provides another opportunity for NSIP to provide value for the producers.”
The sale is open to all consigners who have ewes out of NSIP sires. The consigner can sell as few as 10 replacement ewes or ewe lambs or as many as a semi load or more per lot. The rule is the ewes must be sired by an NSIP ram. They can be bred or open. If the ewes are bred, they must be both sired by and bred by an NSIP sire.
The sale will be online at Willoughby Sales, allowing people from the East Coast to the West Coast to compete for these replacements at the same time. As in most online sales, pictures and video will be requested. Information such as age, weight and health will be listed along with NSIP sire data. The sire data will show where the sires originated, along with index information.
Two more replacement ewe sales are in the planning stages for June and September 2022, as well as the annual online ram and ewe sales in June and the Center of the Nation Sale in Spencer, Iowa, on July 30, 2022.
If you have questions or are interested in consigning, please contact Jerry Sorenson, 712-579-1511, [email protected] for Polypays; Alan Culham, 517-896-7378, [email protected] for hair breeds; or Matt Benz, [email protected], 701-870-4135, for range breeds.
Click Here for more information as the sale develops.
Source: NSIP
ALB Shares Lamb’s Story with Foodservice Media
The American Lamb Board met with foodservice and trade magazine editors at the annual International Foodservice Editorial Council conference held last week in Annapolis, Md. IFEC brings editors and public relations and marketing communications professionals together to exchange ideas, share resources and confer on editorial content for chefs and restauranteurs.
Foodservice Consultant Mary Humann represented ALB at IFEC. She discussed the lamb market and offered chef leads, recipes and images for American lamb menu items to align with editorial calendars. Meetings were held with editors of Catersource, Flavor and the Menu, Foodservice Director, FSR, National Culinary Review, Nation’s Restaurant News, Plate, Restaurant Business and more.
“We’re dedicated to telling the American lamb story to the trade restaurant media,” said ALB Executive Director Megan Wortman. “While lamb sales to the foodservice industry have been disrupted in the last few years, we know that lamb will be back on menus as restaurants recover and thrive.”
The conference opened with a reception where Oolong-braised American Lamb Leg Tacos with Duck Fat Tortillas, Harissa and Smoked Oyster Chimichurri were served by the culinary team from Annapolis restaurant Sailor Oyster Bar.
Humann also participated in the IFEC board of director’s meeting, completing her two-year term as advisor to the board. IFEC is a nonprofit association dedicated to improving the overall quality of business-to-business communication within the foodservice industry and to promoting professional standards among its members.
Source: ALB
Australian Market Posts Small Gains
The Australian wool market recorded a small overall gain in this series, although the different sectors of the market had varied results, almost entirely driven by micron.
The national offering fell by 2,757 bales to 39,360 bales. Despite this reduction, the overall offering this season continues to track well above last year. Compared to this time last year, there have been 129,674 more bales put through the auction system for an increase of 28.4 percent. Buyer demand for Merino fleece types broader than 20 micron was high. The strong competition on these wools helped push prices higher. This was reflected in the individual Micron Price Guides for 19.5 and broader, which rose by between 30 and 53 cents across the country.
This same strong buyer sentiment was lacking in the finer microns, which lost ground. This was again reflected in the MPGs for 18 micron and finer, which lost between 13 and 71 cents. The prices achieved for microns between these two groups was erratic and varied between centers. The large gains on the first selling day in some Merino microns – combined with gains in all other sectors – helped push the AWEX Eastern Market Indicator up by 14 cents. The second day, the losses in the finer Merino types prevented a further rise in the EMI, which dropped by 7 cents. The EMI gained 7 cents for the series, closing at 1,340 Australian cents.
A notable event this week was a line of 11.7 micron Merino fleece wool which sold for 21,000 greasy cents. This was the highest sold price achieved at auction since June 2015. The crossbred sector has been tracking downward for weeks, with some MPGs coming close to record lows (the 28 micron MPG in the South last week hit its lowest point in 21 years). But the crossbred sector bounced back strongly. In percentage terms, the rises in the crossbred sector MPGs were the largest for the week.
Source: AWEX
USDA Offers Estimator for Feed Transportation Costs
An online tool is now available to help producers document and estimate payments to cover feed transportation costs caused by drought, which are now covered by the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-raised Fish Program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture updated the program this year to include feed transportation costs, as well as lowered the threshold for when assistance for water hauling expenses is available, according to a news release. USDA’s Farm Service Agency will begin taking applications this fall.
The new ELAP Feed Transportation Producer Tool is a Microsoft Excel workbook that enables producers to input information specific to their operation to determine an estimated payment.
To use the tool, producers will need:
- Number of truckloads for this year.
- Mileage per truckload this year.
- Share of feed cost this year (if splitting loads).
- Number of truckloads you normally haul.
- Normal mileage per truckload.
- Share of normal feed cost
The tool requires Microsoft Excel, and a tutorial video is available at fsa.usda.gov/elap.
Source: Midwest Marketer
USDA Offers Support for Organic Operations
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide pandemic assistance to cover certification and education expenses to agricultural producers who are certified organic or transitioning to organic.
USDA will make $20 million available through the new Organic and Transitional Education and Certification Program as part of USDA’s broader Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, which provides new, broader and more equitable opportunities for farmers, ranchers and producers.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, certified organic and transitional operations faced challenges due to loss of markets, and increased costs and labor shortages, in addition to costs related to obtaining or renewing their organic certification, which producers and handlers of conventionally grown commodities do not incur.
Transitional operations also faced the financial challenge of implementing practices required to obtain organic certification without being able to obtain the premium prices normally received for certified organic commodities.
“Producers and handlers of organic commodities incur significant costs to obtain or renew organic certification each year,” said Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack. “The economic challenges that arose due to the pandemic made obtaining and renewing organic certification financially challenging for many operations. This is one more instance of USDA continuing to provide support for those who need it most, invest in the food supply chain and Build Back Better.”
Signup for 2020 and 2021 OTECP will be Nov. 8, through Jan. 7, 2022. Producers apply through their local Farm Service Agency office and can also obtain one-on-one support with applications by calling 877-508-8364. Visit farmers.gov/otecp to learn more.
Click Here for more information.