Marion County
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Northeast
Missouri Agriculture Newsletter serving
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| Alix Carpenter Agronomy Specialist Marion County UOE Center Courthouse Room 201 Palmyra MO 63461 (573) 769-2177 carpenterac@missouri.edu |
Al Kennett Livestock Specialist Ralls County UOE Center P.O. Box 540 New London MO 63459 (573) 985-3911 kennetta@missouri.edu |
Kevin
Stith
Livestock Specialist Monroe County UOE Center Paris MO 65275 (660) 327-4158 stithk@missouri.edu |
Karisha
Vaughn Devlin Agribusiness Specialist Shelby County UOE Center Shelbyville MO 63469 (573) 633-2640 vaughnkl@missouri.edu |
Calendar of Events
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February 19 |
Integrated Pest Management Workshop , Greenley Research Center |
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February 19 |
Private Pesticide Applicator Training , Bowling Green |
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February 23 |
Private Pesticide Applicator Training , 7 p.m., Ewing |
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February 24 |
Private Pesticide Applicator Training , 7 p.m., Center |
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February 24 - 25 |
MO Pork Conference & Expo , Columbia |
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February 26 |
Beef Cattle Reproduction Workshop , 11a.m., F & T Livestock Market, Palmyra |
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February 26 |
Beef Cattle Reproduction Workshop , 7 p.m., Greenley Research Center, Novelty |
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March 1 |
Private Pesticide Applicator Training , 3 p.m., Bowling Green |
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March 4 |
Lewis County Extension Night , 5:30 p.m. Highland High School |
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March 6 |
State Performance Tested Bull Sale |
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March 10 |
Private Pesticide Applicator Training , Paris, 7 p.m. |
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March 18 |
Ralls County Beef Night , 7 p.m., Mark Twain High School, Center |
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March 27 |
Northeast Performance Tested Bull Sale , F & T Livestock Market, Palmyra |
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July 24 |
Youth Farm Safety Camp , Mark Twain High School, Center |
AG BUSINESS NOTES
A new value added business nearly always requires new capital investment and/or operating funds. Whether it is a new enterprise, joining an alliance or investing in a new generation cooperative; you may need to borrow money. In the past, most agricultural lenders have understood and been comfortable making loans for commodity production. However, lenders are probably less familiar with new value added ventures and may want more information before making a loan. This raises a number of questions that you need to answer in order to put together a request for a loan.
What will the money be used for?
Be specific. Describe the business and its operation in detail. Are funds
needed for investment only or will money for startup operating expenses
also be needed? Include or explain feasibility studies, business plans and
marketing plans that have been prepared. The more complete the information
about the venture, the easier it will be for the lender to decide.
How much money is needed and when will it be needed?
To answer both elements of this question requires preparation of budgets
and cash flow projections. Make sure that you request adequate funding. A
large percentage of new businesses fail because they lacked enough money
to get through the startup phase and become established in the market. In
addition, it is much better to request adequate financing "up
front" than to have to return and ask for more money later. Your
projections should be realistic about cash needs and conservative with
expected returns. A first-year monthly cash-flow projection will likely be
required. In many cases, multi-year cash-flow projections will be needed-
especially if you expect it to take time to construct operating facilities
and /or access and develop markets.
How will the loan affect your financial position?
It is important to have a current and accurate financial (net worth)
statement along with profit and loss information about your current
operation. This provides the lender (and yourself) with information about
your business trends and profit history. You also need to prepare
projected financial statements for after the loan is made to compare the
impact of the borrowing on your financial position. This can help answer
questions about how much risk you can handle or how much you can afford to
lose if the added value venture is not successful. In addition you need to
show how the loan will be secured. An important consideration for making
projected financial statements is to value assets at their expected value
when loan repayment is expected-not their value today. This helps insure
that changes in collateral value and condition provide security for the
loan.
What are your plans for managing the risks?
The value added venture will add to the risks of your farming operation. How will weather or other unexpected events affect production and income from the value added business along with your present operation? Besides production and financial risks, the value added venture also may include new marketing, personnel, legal and environmental risks. It is important that your plans include strategies to mange these additional risks.
How and when will the loan be repaid?
It is necessary to project where money for making principal and interest
payments will come from and when the money will be available. Will loan
payments be made from profits from the value added venture or will initial
payments come from your present operation? Problems can arise if loan
payments are due before the enterprise is generating income. What are your
alternative sources of income for payments if the value added project is
delayed or fails? For example, can non-farm income be used for loan
payments? How will it affect family living expenditures and other cash
needs for your current operation? It is essential that you plan and have
realistic projections and alternatives for repaying the loan.
Are your projections reasonable and do you have information to support
them?
This applies to both the new value added enterprise and your current
farming operation. You should have production and financial records to
support projections for the farming operation. You should have completed
or been provided feasibility studies, business and marketing plans for the
value added enterprise. Preparing this information based on reasonable
expectations greatly increases the probability for success of the venture.
Having it available for the lender speeds up the loan process and greatly
improves your chances of obtaining adequate funding.
LIVESTOCK NOTES
Cattle Reproduction Workshop - Feb. 26
The Northeast Missouri Beef Cattle Improvement Association and University Extension will sponsor a Cattle Reproduction Workshop on Feb. 26 in Palmyra, Mo.
The workshop will cover the latest University of Missouri research on timed artificial insemination (AI) of beef. Dr. Dave Patterson, MU Extension Beef Specialist will be the presenter.
The meeting will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at F & T Livestock Market, Palmyra, Mo. Lunch will be served. All beef cattle producers are welcome to attend.
Patterson will review Missouri studies on estrus synchronization that show promise for timed AI. Research has shown a high percentage of success in getting all cows in a beef herd cycling at the same time. This allows insemination of all cows on the same day. The system reduces labor requirements and will allow more producers to use AI.
To allow for meal reservations please call the Extension Office at (573) 985-3911 or e-mail Kennetta@missouri.edu.
The same workshop will also be held at 7:00 p.m., Feb. 26 at Greenley Research Center, Novelty, Mo. For information on it contact Randy Smoot at (660) 739-4410.
Ralls County Beef Conference - March 18
The Ralls County Beef Conference is set for March 18, 7:00 p.m. at Mark Twain High School in Center, Mo. This annual event is sponsored by University Extension and the Mark Twain Young Farmers. Topics this year will include BSE, Testing for BVD persistent infectors, mandatory animal identification systems and COOL.
Speakers are presently being lined up. More details will be available later, but you may want to mark the date on your calendar.
Performance Tested Bull Sale - March 27
The annual Northeast Mo. Performance Tested Bull Sale held in Palmyra is set for Saturday, March 27. It will be held at F & T Livestock Market starting at 1:00 p.m.
There are 48 bulls consigned to this years sale. They include 30 Angus, 7 Polled Herefords, 5 Simmental, 4 Charolais, and 2 Gelbvieh. These bulls will have met all the performance requirements of the sale such as EPD’s being in the upper 69 percentile of the breed, yearling weight and height, and have passed a semen evaluation. All weights and heights have been taken by Extension Livestock Staff as a part of the Northeast Mo. Beef Improvement program. Catalogs will be available later.
The state performance tested bull sale held in recent years at Kingdom City has been canceled this year.
New Web Site for Cattlemen
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has developed a new web site for cattlemen. If you like to use web sites, I suggest you take a look at this one. It is www.beefusa.org.
The site includes information on government affairs, USDA marketing service, check off programs, current weather information, upcoming meeting as well as several other areas.
Speak of web sites you might want to check out the Northeast Mo. Beef Cattle Improvement web site. It is www.nemobeef.com.
It contains information on both the performance tested bull sales and the Show-Me-Select heifer sales as well as requirements for these programs. It also includes a list of NEMO BCIA members and breeding stock they have for sale.
Farm Safety Camp - July 24
The Mark Twain Young Farmers will sponsor a Farm Safety Camp for kids this summer. It will be held July 24 at Mark Twain High School. They held one of these several years ago and got great response to it.
The all day event will cover several areas of safety around the farm such as electricity, animals, chemicals, farm implements, ATV’s, flowing grain and first aid.
More details will be available this spring and summer. However, you may want to get this date on your calendar and encourage your kids or grand kids to attend. It just might help save a major injury or even life.
Animal Identification Plan
The United States was working on a mandatory animal ID system prior to the recent discovery of one cow with BSE. As a result the time table for that system has probably been stepped up considerably. I would expect that we will see at the least a premise ID system in place in less than a year.
Your need to be aware of the United States Animal Identification Plan. This plan is a phased-in national identification plan for domestic cattle, bison, swine, sheep, goats, deer, elk, equine, poultry, ostriches, emus, and aquaculture. The primary objective is to provide the U.S. with a trace back system to identify animals and premises exposed to an animal with a foreign animal disease within 48 hours of discovery.
You will hear a lot about this in the coming months. Several companies are already offering RFID tags. However, most experts are saying to not get in a hurry to buy RFID - radio frequency identification tags, until we get more information on implementation of the program.
The RFID premise tagging is hoped to be set up in 2004. Your farm and your markets will be given a unique number that will be placed in the RFID tag. You may be the person to actually apply the tag or if needed you may get a third party to apply the tag.
The system will be workable for all size operations. It is not designed to push the small operator out and in fact may be more beneficial to the smaller operations. I hope this will help producers receive performance and carcass data on the calves you raise that is not now always possible.
If you wish to read more about the USAIP plan go to www.usaip.info.
Forage Variety Trial
Grass and legume variety trails were conducted at the Forage Systems Research Center in 2002 and 2003. There were four replications in the study; lespedeza was harvested twice. Dry conditions in 2003, combined with inadequate self-seeding of lespedeza, resulted in none being harvested in 2003. Grasses were established in September 2002, and harvested (because of dry conditions) only once in 2003. While these results do not adequately represent a variety’s potential over several years and in different locations, they are indicative of its performance in these particular environmental conditions. Some results follow:
Annual Lespedeza
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variety |
yield (bu/acre) |
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Marion |
7909 |
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Legend |
7811 |
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Korean |
7686 |
Tall Fescue
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variety |
yield (bu/acre) |
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Atlas |
8369 |
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Tuscany II |
8150 |
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Stag |
7996 |
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ArkPlus |
7658 |
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Jessup |
7586 |
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Martin 2 |
7250 |
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Select |
7024 |
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KY 31+ |
6115 |
Integrated Pest Management Workshop
An IPM workshop will be held at the Greenly Research Center on February 19. This is an excellent opportunity to get updates from campus-based specialists on topics such as black cutworm, winter weeds, the soybean aphid and economics of its management, and plant diseases. Certified Crop Advisor CEUs are pending. There is no charge for the workshop, although registration is requested by February 13th by calling Scott Payne at the Knox County University of Missouri Extension Center at (660) 397-2179.
Pesticide Applicator Licenses
The private pesticide applicator licenses of 120 farmers in the 5-county area will expire in 2004. To renew, you can either attend one of the training sessions (listed on the front of the newsletter), or make an appointment at your local office to watch the training video. Initial licenses can also be issued in these ways. If you plan on purchasing or applying restricted-use pesticides, you must have a private applicator license. If you have questions about your license, please call me at 573.769.2177.
Wheat Fertility
Wheat tillers develop at two times in the plant’s life: in fall (between planting and winter dormancy) and about one month in spring (between resumption of growth and jointing). The plant should produce two to three tillers in fall, and no additional tillers are needed in spring. If fall growth did not produce adequate tillers, spring tiller development is crucial to adequate yield. A small amount of nitrogen is needed for fall tiller development.
When late planting, cold fall weather, and inadequate N availability in the fall combine, wheat has an inadequate amount of N in the spring. If this is the case, the wheat should be fertilized as soon as spring growth begins (greenup). Greenup usually occurs in early to mid March in northern Missouri. Applications of N at this time will result in increased tiller formation, thereby increasing yield potential. If there are less than 60 tillers per square foot, an early spring N application is warranted.
Spring applications of N are often split, so the N is not lost prior to the period of rapid uptake. However, applying N too soon may lead to the development of excess tillers, which can cause lodging and vulnerability to disease.
Wheat that tillered adequately in the spring should not have a N application until near jointing. A sign that jointing is occurring is that upright orientation of wheat leaves. This is a signal that tillering has ended, and jointing and stem elongation will begin soon. Early applications of N, when not needed for increased tillering, can result in excessively lush growth and limit, or reduce, yield potential.
Revised: May 21, 2004.
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University of Missouri Extension Marion County marionco@missouri.edu Updated 05/21/04 |
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