Farm Help

It is important to take care of your animals, for them to take care of you,” registered Angus producer Cindy Ulm said at the March meeting of the South Central Cattlemen’s Association held March 11, 2010.

What is rusty, crusty, too cold and too old? Refrigerators used by animal producers to store animal vaccines.

Richard McConnell and wife, Tina Williams, own and operate a farm in Polk County, Missouri. Spending much of their time around ranchers and cattle both, they saw the need for proper livestock handling in the cattle industry. McConnell presented this information at the Spring Forage Conference in Springfield, Mo., Feb. 23.

The breeding season has arrived; by now, producers should have had their bulls tested for breeding soundness.  Unfortunately, testing is more the exception than the rule.

Farmers in general are continually searching for new tools to put in their “farming toolbox.” The farmer's toolbox is comprised not only of wrenches and hammers, but of ideas. Poultry litter is in the news on what seems to be a daily basis. Litter, working litter and the amendments used to keep litter functional are a large cost center for poultry farmers. Shavings have gone up, by some accounts, 30 percent in the past few years. There are also areas of the country where finding a plentiful amount of shavings suitable for poultry is a challenge. In-house litter composting, also referred to as windrowing, is rapidly becoming one reliable tool.

While summer vacations and national holidays typically provide a break for everyone who would be considered a member of the working public, there is one big break ahead that’s a priority on most everyone’s calendar – retirement. And while it may be closer for some than it is for others, everyone needs to make sure they are financially prepared when the time comes to take a permanent leave from the ranks of the employed. Personal circumstances make planning for retirement different for each individual, but there are several considerations that apply if you break it down by the amount of time you have left until you retire.

The farming community can truly benefit from developing their financial record keeping skills. By having a budget to review regularly, and maintaining and filing business-related records, farm families will create an organized, reliable personal database that can help quickly respond to government requirements or lender requests for information. It can also help farmers see a “big picture” view of their operations and plan ahead.

Volatile grain markets, the unpredictable future of the biofuels industry and overall costs have farmers looking for creative and less expensive ways to get weight on their animals efficiently. This is causing many farmers to think about silage. Silage is beneficial from numerous standpoints. You can feed more of it, lower purchased feed costs, keep your animals healthy, and if you play your cards right, improve your competitive advantage. Many growers across the country, and specifically in our area, are looking toward silage to meet their needs. Two factors have been instrumental in the increased production of silage. Silage making is much less weather dependent than hay-making – the old adage about making hay while the sun shines doesn’t apply to silage. Corn and sorghum can be direct cut. Most other forages can be adequately wilted for silage in less than 24 hours, greatly limiting your risk of weather damage. Producers, especially ones running cow-calf operations typically have a job “in town”, and having a more flexible window for harvesting is a huge plus. Silage production is also easy to mechanize, and local folks who specialize in chopping are becoming easier to find.  Silage is a fermented, high-moisture fodder. It is fermented in a process called ensiling or silaging. Silage, especially in the Ozarks, can be made from a variety of crops, such as corn, alfalfa, sorghum or other cereals. The efficiency of silage comes from the usage of the entire plant, rather than just the grain. For those operators not ready to run out and build a silo, silaging can also be accomplished by piling the roughage in a large heap covered with plastic, perhaps in an old poultry pit, or by wrapping large bales in plastic film. It needn’t be a large scale investment to try out silage.

American agricultural real estate has caught the interest of investors both domestically and internationally. Between 1986 and 2008, Arkansas farmland values have steadily increased with a slight decline in 2009. All the sub-types of farmland (cropland, irrigated cropland, non-irrigated cropland, pasture and all farm real estate) increased in value since the data were collected in 1997 to 2008. The type of farmland with the most notable change in value over the last decade is pastureland. In the mid- to late-1990’s, pastureland had similar values as non-irrigated cropland. Beginning in 2002, pastureland began increasing in value faster than other forms of farmland, surpassing the value of irrigated cropland in 2006. This trend has been observed in states bordering Arkansas.

The following is a true story about Farm Credit customers. Unfortunately, it’s a story that we see play out all too often among customers who don’t include life insurance as a part of their overall financial plan.