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This week on the Four
Rivers Ag Report, We get a
report on the Farm Bill
from someone who should
know what's happening,
Find out if pork chops can
get freezer burn before
they're ever in a
refrigerator and There is
a moose on the loose dude.
That and more, coming up
next on the Four Rivers
Ag Report.
(Music)
The Four Rivers Ag
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Fred: Welcome to the Four
Rivers Ag Report,
I'm Fred Peralta.
As many of you know, I
consider Snow to be a four
letter word.
This week has lead me to
use many other four letter
words to get through the
lovely weather we've
experienced.
On Tuesday, I tweeted that
we spotted 87 cars in the
ditch between Champaign
and Mattoon.
So I'm pretty sure I
wasn't the only one who's
mouth should have been
washed out with soap.
We'll talk to Cameron a
little bit later in the
show about what's
happening and what
we can expect.
But first what's
happening now?
The USDA released a key
crop production estimate
on Friday too late for us
to get it on the air, look
for something on
it next week.
But the traders and others
expect the report to show
what we already
sort of know...
it was a big crop,
probably third
biggest in history.
With almost 14 billion
bushels of corn and over 3
billion bushels of
soybeans parked in the
elevators waiting to be
used and consumed, what
are you guys thinking of
doing this spring?
Farm Futures Planting
Intentions survey shows
that producers plan to
shift from corn to
soybeans in 2014, almost
4% less than they planned
to plant when asked in
November and about 5 and a
half % less than last
year's survey.
But there is still a whole
lot of grain and that
means is lower prices and
lower prices of corn and
soybeans could lead to
higher meat production.
In fact, that's exactly
what Chris Hurt, Purdue
University Economist and
Livestock guru, thinks.
Hurt suggests that
moderate feed costs will
begin to grow in 2014, at
least in the last
half of the year.
The USDA reports that
market hogs are down a
bit, but weights are 2%
higher and that means a
one to two percent
increase in pork
production.
Poultry production should
rise about 3%, but Beef
will be down due to the
high feed costs last year
and fewer calves
read to feed.
And when we last left you,
the Farm Bill was on the
verge of...
we thought passing, but
with this bill who knew?
Someone who might know is
Representative Rodney
Davis is a first term
Congressman, representing
the Illinois Lucky 13thth
District, one of the most
rural in the state.
And Rep. Davis is
also on the House
Senate Conference
Committee for the
Farm Bill.
He's on the phone with us
and Congressman, thank you
so much for talking
to us today.
When we last visited the
progress of the farm bill,
it was before Christmas.
I don't know if it was the
good mood that everyone
was in, but it seemed that
all that stood between us
and the farm bill were a
few days of
procedural time. Are
we still looking at
sooner, as opposed to later?
>>Davis: I really believe so.
You know, I'm very
cautiously optimistic that
we'll see some movement
this week.
The framework of an
agreement's been put
together.
We have some issues that
we need to iron out, and
that's what the conference
committee will do.
And I'm looking forward to
that process moving
forward, hopefully very
quickly.
>>Fred Peralta: So, what
are some of the holdups?
Well, initially, there
were some holdups in
agreements on the
commodity title.
There are always going to
be some holdups on things
like dairy policy and
others, and there was some
initial holdup on the SNAP
side.
But the fact that we've
got a good framework
together makes it, for me
as somebody who's a member
of that conference
committee, it makes it
seem like there's light at
the end of the tunnel.
>>Fred Peralta: Now, you
talked about the SNAP
program.
There is talk of cuts
being floated around,
somewhere around the 9
billion dollar mark.
First of all, is that
accurate, and is that
going to be enough to
pass the House?
>>Davis: Well, we don't
know what the actual cost
savings will be, because
you've got to remember
that when you put
different policies in
place, that can affect how
much is saved by the
taxpayers or not.
For example, there's a lot
of discussion about going
back to the work
requirements of the
pre-Obama Administration
that were part of the very
successful Clinton era
Welfare-to-Work program.
But I don't think it's too
much to ask an able bodied
adult with no dependent
children, who's not
enrolled in school or an
approved training program,
or who doesn't meet a
plethora of other
exemptions, I don't think
it's too much to ask them
to work, and if there's
not a job available, to
provide community or
volunteer service to learn
a valuable skill for some
of those benefits.
>>Fred Peralta: So, where
are some of the 9 billion
dollars, well, whatever
number, of cuts
coming from?
>>Davis: Well, we don't, I
don't want to speculate on
what the title agreement
will be, because...
>>Fred Peralta: I was
hoping to get you
on this one.
>>Davis: That can change.
But you know, I would say
that one of the provisions
that the House and the
Senate agreed to initially
was to make some changes
to the program called the
Heat and Eat program,
which I think is a good
way to save taxpayers
upwards of 8 billion
dollars a year by just
changing the barometer at
which somebody is eligible
for SNAP benefits from
what it is today by
getting one dollar in
heating assistance
in many states.
It makes individuals
available for SNAP
benefits.
We say, let's move it up
to 20 dollars.
That was the House
proposal.
And I don't think that's
too high of a barometer to
utilize, especially when
the savings to the
hardworking taxpayers in
this country are upwards
of 8 billion dollars.
>>Fred Peralta: Now, a lot
of the conversations,
we've been talking about
the SNAP program,
nutrition programs, and
food stamps, but what
about actual ag policy?
What's being discussed,
and really, how does it
affect Illinois farmers?
>>Davis: Well, I think
Illinois farmers will be
the beneficiary of a very
good farm bill when it
comes to long
term ag policy.
We strengthened crop
insurance and made sure
that that valuable risk
management tool remains a
viable part of our local
farmers' portfolio.
Farmers, they want to
attach the national debt.
Farmers want to help
reduce our deficit, and
they gave up direct
payments, saving taxpayers
almost 20 billion dollars.
And that's in the ag side
alone, and you've got to
remember, the ag side's
only about 20% of this
farm bill.
The SNAP program makes up
the other 80%, and that's
where I think our farmers
who work very hard in
Central and Southwestern
Illinois have done their
fair share to make sure
that our country is going
to be fiscally
responsible.
>>Fred Peralta: Now,
you're talking about, our
farmers are concerned
about price supports,
they're concerned about
fair trade, they're
concerned about, you know,
we have a lot of corn
sitting in bins right now,
that the price is falling.
What's happening as far as
commodities go in the
potential farm bill?
>>Davis: Well, I'm
optimistic that with the
commodity title, we'll
have that risk management
tool, that safety net
available for our farmers,
because they have no
control over some
decisions that are made
here in Washington that
affect the price of corn.
The fact of the matter is
the President, his
Administration, through
the EPA, have just reduced
the amount of renewable
fuel standard, the amount
of ethanol that's required
by law to be produced in
this country.
That is very disappointing
to me, because I think we
need many more homegrown
fuels.
And it's specifically
lowered the price of corn
and put America and
America's farmers,
especially in the Midwest,
on the defensive, rather
than being on offense.
>>Fred Peralta: So, well,
Representative Davis,
thank you so much for
taking the time to
talk to us today.
Good luck on getting
this thing done.
One last quick question.
Much of what's prompting
us is the fear of
permanent law falling back
into place.
Is there talk about
setting up a better way of
getting this farm, getting
a farm bill through
Congress on a regular
basis, rather than this
last minute brinkmanship?
>>Davis: Well, I wish not
just the farm bill, but
every issue in Washington
didn't come down to
artificial deadlines or
brinkmanship.
ANd that's something that
longterm we're going to
have to solve out here in
Washington, D.C.
But you know, the
permanent law issue is an
issue that I think may
have run its course.
I don't think that there's
nearly as much urgency to
pass a farm bill as there
was in the past by going
to the fallback provisions
of 1939 or 49, which is
why I supported changing
the permanent law to the
bill that we're
going to pass.
And I think that is more,
I think that's much more
relative to today's
agricultural sector.
>>Fred Peralta: Well, from
your lips, farmers love to
know, they hate the
unknown, so hopefully
we'll have something to
talk about soon.
And Representative Davis,
thank you so much, and
good luck.
>>Davis: Well, thank you
very much for having me,
and I look forward to
talking to you again once
this passes.
>>Fred Peralta: Thank you
very much.
(Music)
Fred: The cold,
cold weather this week
made working outside
almost impossible, except
for the briefest periods
of time.
It's hard enough on us,
but what about our
animals.
To find out how to keep
our livestock alive, I
talked to Dr. Jim Lowe, a
veterinarian with the U of
I Vet School.
>>Fred Peralta: And now
with me is Dr. Jim Lowe,
he's a clinical instructor
for the U of I College of
Veterinary Medicine, as it
says on the comforter
behind him.
He's an expert in large
animals, a lot
of pig work.
But Dr. Lowe, you know,
how equipped are livestock
to handle these extreme
temperatures?
>>Dr.
Lowe: Well Fred, enjoy
being here today, and I
have tucked myself in at
home this morning with the
bad roads.
So, I...
>>Fred Peralta: I do not
blame you at all.
>>Dr.
Lowe: So, much like our
critters outside.
It's a little too rough to
be out of doors today.
So, let's, livestock, and
really we're talking
about, you know, pigs, or
cows, excuse me, and
horses and, you know,
goats and sheep, and those
kinds of things, certainly
are really susceptible to
this kind of weather.
They, just like people,
have got ears and feet,
and parts that aren't
covered with fur that, you
know, certainly are
susceptible to frostbite
and all kinds of other
things.
So, yeah, we do need to be
worried about our
livestock in extreme
weather like this.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay, so
do horses' coats get a
little thicker?
Do pigs' coats get thicker
when the weather gets
colder?
>>Dr. Lowe: Yeah.
Believe it or not, the
pigs that are outside do
actually put a pretty good
hair coat on in the
winter, but they need
access to good bedding to
really, to get good and
warm.
Unlike ruminant, so cows
and sheep, and even
horses, horses aren't
ruminants, but don't have
the ability to generate
their own heat, and so
they need some good
protection from this kind
of weather.
>>Fred Peralta: What sort
of things should producers
consider at this time,
when it gets below zero
and minus 30 wind chills,
that sort of thing?
>>Dr. Lowe: Yeah.
So, let's talk primarily
about ruminants.
I'm going to assume, so
sheep, goats, and horses,
or sheep, goats, and cows.
I'm going to assume that
horses generally have got
some kind of a barn, but
certainly the rules kind
of apply there.
But our ruminant critters
this time of the year,
really it's wind that's
the big deal, and then
it's been cold enough that
mud isn't a problem.
But water and wind are
really *** these kind
of animals.
It really diminishes the
value of that hair coat.
And so, we want windbreaks
for that kind of
livestock, and then I
think the management
change that we can make
that's really important is
that we need to up the
roughage in their diet.
So, we need to feed more
hay, more course hay.
>>Fred Peralta: Really?
>>Dr. Lowe: Yeah.
So, less concentrate, less
grain, and that may not be
intuitive to everybody
because grain's got a lot
of energy in it.
But what we really need in
a ruminant is a lot of
long stem hay, preferably
grass hay that's kind of
hard to digest, because
that process of digestion
in the rumen generates a
lot of heat.
A cow's going to carry
around 100 gallons of big
fermentation fat in her
belly all the time, in
that rumen, that
fermentation, just like
your making beer,
generates a lot of heat.
And so, they can keep
themselves pretty warm,
their core body
temperature pretty warm,
as long as they've got
good access to feed, can
stay out of the wind, have
got a good spot to bed
down, so they don't have
to lay on cold ground.
So, getting them up off of
bedding, getting them up
off the ground with some
bedding is pretty dang
important this time of
year.
>>Fred Peralta: So,
windbreak, nice, warm, dry
place, nice dry places for
them to bed, and they
pretty much take care of
themselves.
What about hogs?
>>Dr. Lowe: Pigs, you know, we
raise most pigs inside.
And so, the big challenge
with pigs is much like
with people, right; it's
keeping the barns warm.
Particularly in the
southern half of the
state, we really aren't
prepared for this kind of
weather from a barn design
standpoint.
If you're in Minnesota,
they build barns very
differently than we do
here.
And so, it's really a
challenge to just have
enough heat to keep the
barns warm with this wind
blowing.
So, I know my house was
bloody cold the other
night, in spite of the
fact that it appears to be
reasonably insulated.
So, you know, I think
that's one of the big
challenges.
>>Fred Peralta: So, you
mentioned barn design.
Down south, we're talking
about a lot of metal
buildings, aren't we?
>>Dr. Lowe: Yes.
So, our primary problem,
really in the southern
half of the state, if you
kind of draw a line in
Bloomington south, that
part of the state, our
primary problem is
actually heat, not cold.
I mean, if we looked at
the number of heat days
and how do we get heat out
of barns, and so we built
farms to be very efficient
cooling.
And that's whether it's
dairy cattle, or whether
that's pigs.
And they're not overly
insulated for winter, so
we tend to have curtain
sides on the buildings,
which lets some air come
in, which is good in the
summer, maybe not quite as
good when it was 9 below
the other night with a 30
mile wind out of the west.
So, we've got some
challenges.
I know a lot of producers
here this weekend spent a
lot of time getting
plastic up in barns and
doing extra things to keep
them warm.
But we really, I think the
big message is we've had a
lot of livestock producers
have to do some pretty
heroic things in some
pretty crappy weather here
over the last week to keep
things going.
>>Fred Peralta: Yeah.
Raising livestock is 365,
24 hours a day, isn't it?
>>Dr. Lowe: Yes.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay.
Well, while I have you
here, last time we talked,
we talked about the farm
bill.
But now, I'd like to talk
about, excuse me, the EPA.
But this time, I'd like to
talk about the PEDV virus.
What's the update on that?
>>Dr. Lowe: Yeah.
So, PEDV is the porcine
epidemic diarrhea virus
that was introduced, or we
discovered that virus in
April of 2013.
So last year, but nine
months ago, roughly, we
found that virus in the
United States.
It causes diarrhea in
piglets, primarily,
diarrhea in pigs, but
primarily in baby pigs or
neonatal piglets, so the
first four to seven days
of life, it's really hard
on them.
Essentially 100%
mortality.
And so, we've really been
kind of in an outbreak
situation.
It's a new disease to the
United States.
It appears that it's been
introduced from China.
It his highly infectious.
It's related to a disease
we've always had in the
United States called
transmissible
gastroenteritis, or TGE,
but it's a very different
disease.
And so, in any new disease
where you've got a naive
population that's never
seen it before, the
outbreak is significant.
I saw some data the other
day out of a data
collection that a group of
my producers belong to
that, you know, something
north of probably 20% of
the herds in the United
States have been affected
at this point.
>>Fred Peralta: Wow.
>>Dr. Lowe: It's
basically 100%
piglet mortality, or baby
pigs are going to die.
You know, we tend to have
pigs born every week in
pig production today, and
so, basically for five
weeks, we lose 100%
of the pigs.
Once we get the farm
exposed, we can
stabilize it.
They'll build immunity,
but at this point, we
don't have a vaccine, we
don't have control, and we
don't fully understand how
it's being transmitted
between farms.
If you look at the systems
that have been affected,
once it kind of gets into
one farm, it spreads
fairly quickly through the
other farms that
people own.
And so, it's a significant
challenge.
>>Fred Peralta: Bio-security
seems to be the
best defense at the
moment, but how can you
practice that if you're
moving pigs back and forth
between market, right?
>>Dr. Lowe: Yeah.
So, the market obviously
is a big risk.
We did a study on that
last summer, actually,
right at the beginning of
the outbreak with the
National Pork Board and
American Association of
Swine Veterinarians.
That data will be
published here in a
little bit.
But the take home is that
trucks that we haul pigs
to market on go to market
negative, and because
there's virus at the site,
come back positive.
The impressive thing with
this virus is that, the
data that I've heard is
that a thimbleful of virus
is enough to infect
something north of
100,000 pigs.
So, very, very small
concentration, very high
concentrations, very small
amounts of fecal materials
can transmit this.
And so, bio-security has
been a significant
challenge for us.
>>Fred Peralta: Well,
thank you so much for the
update, Dr. Jim Lowe,
clinical instructor for
the U of I College of
Veterinary Medicine.
Thank you so much, we'll
have you back.
>>Dr. Lowe: Thank you, Fred.
(Music)
Fred: So while I
was shoveling this week, I
was thinking that about
all the good moisture that
my sore back was moving.
And much to my amazement,
when I checked the US
Drought Monitor website,
we are still stuck in a
dry pocket of the country,
particularly Champaign ,
Piatt and Douglas Counties
in our area and much of
the western half of the
state in general.
So I guess we're still not
Out of the Drought.
And here to talk about the
drought and my least
favorite four letter
word, snow...
>>Cameron Craig: Snow,
yes, isn't it a
lovely word?
>>Fred Peralta: Yeah, well.
Yeah, like I said earlier
in the show, I used a
whole lot of four
letter words.
>>Cameron Craig: This was
a big event.
>>Fred Peralta: It was.
I think that's an
understatement.
>>Cameron Craig: That's right.
Here in Charleston, we got
11.2 inches of snow, which
comes down to about an
inch actually measured,
1.02 of melted
precipitation.
>>Fred Peralta: So, that's
a lot of snow for just an
inch of water.
>>Cameron Craig: That's right.
Now, a lot of people think
that when you have, you
know, 11 inches of snow,
well, that's going to help
us get out of the drought.
Well, not necessarily,
because again, that's
just one inch.
That keeps us above, but
it's not going to keep,
you know, it's not going
to help the drought
situation.
>>Fred Peralta: Now, I
remember a wise young man
telling me once that we
love snow for
precipitation in the
fields because of
the slow melt.
>>Cameron Craig: That's right.
That's right.
But this is early in
the season.
We're still, winter is
still very young.
I'm not liked around here.
But if...
>>Fred Peralta: Well,
you're liked, what you
talk about is not liked.
>>Cameron Craig: That's
exactly right.
So, what happens is, is
that you get into this
situation where you get
frequent snowfall and rain
events, and then that can
help, you know, add to the
pot, if you will.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay.
Now, I also remember that
same wise young man
telling me that the jet
stream was set up to pull
in this moisture from the
south, and we were in a
sweet spot for what
happened this weekend.
>>Cameron Craig: That's right.
Let's go back to 2012.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay.
>>Cameron Craig: The jet
stream, the ridge of the
jet stream, that's the
hump, was up in Canada,
alright, putting us into
an area of warm, dry air.
Now, this year we've had a
more active jet, which is
exciting because this
brings in the more
frequent precipitation
events.
And so, right now, we've
got the jet that has
plunged to the south, all
the way to Florida.
And so, that's why we've
got the cold air, as well.
>>Fred Peralta: Speaking
of cold air, the, what is
it, the polar...
>>Cameron Craig: The polar
vortex.
>>Fred Peralta: Yes, the
vortex.
>>Cameron Craig: A word
that has been hitting the
Internet big time,
trending on Twitter and
all this stuff.
>>Fred Peralta: I expect
to see that movie on the
Syfy channel soon, okay?
>>Cameron Craig: Me, too.
Me, too.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay, but
the polar vortex bringing
this bitter, bitter cold
way down south; are we
setting up for this again?
>>Cameron Craig: Well,
let's go back to 2012 again.
>>Cameron Craig: Because
it was then where we were
dealing with the arctic
oscillation.
Now, the arctic
oscillation is an index, a
teleconnection, that tells
us how strong or weak the
jet stream is, the polar
jet stream.
Then, during the winter of
2012, what was happening
is that the jet stream was
extremely strong and
pooling by bottling up all
that cold air.
That's why we didn't get
any cold air in the
United States.
Now, we have a weak jet
stream, which is actually
allowing the cold air to
plunge to the south.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay.
So, on our nation's fence,
we want a stronger
jet stream.
>>Cameron Craig: That's right.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay.
Well anyway, so enough of
this theory mumbo jumbo.
What are we looking for in
the next couple of weeks,
next month?
>>Cameron Craig: We're
looking at more frequent
rain, more frequent snow
events, SNOW events, yes.
So, you know, off and on,
we've got more on tap.
We've got, this weekend
we've got some rain.
We're going to see this
off and on, off and on,
over the next few months.
>>Fred Peralta: So...
>>Cameron Craig: But the
thing is, is we're going
to stay near the
climatological normal for
precipitation.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay.
>>Cameron Craig: We stayed
right near the
climatological normal
for December.
We were right on it,
which is good.
We don't want to be under
that, in set for the
planting season.
>>Fred Peralta: Right.
And temperatures?
>>Cameron Craig:
Temperatures are still
going to be up and down, a
roller coaster, because it
is an active jet.
So, we're going to warm
up, and then cool down,
warm up, and cool down.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay.
Well, I'm going to rename
my snow shovel Cameron so
I can take it out on you
that way, okay?
>>Cameron Craig: That's a
good idea.
>>Fred Peralta: Okay.
Well thank you, Cameron,
very much.
>>Cameron Craig: Thank
you.
(Music)
We all know the
soil is the engine of the
farm's productivity.
But do you know how well
your soil is functioning?
While you're giving it a
check-up with this, you
can use this as well.
Ah, that's what healthy
soil should smell like.
It has the aroma of
actinobacteria - that
smell of geosmin - that
one-of-a-kind sweet smell.
Eww. If your
soil smells sour,
metallic, like kitchen
cleanser - that may be a
good indicator that your
soil's not functioning
well, that your soil
biology is out of balance.
So go ahead.
Dig it up and give it a
sniff.
It only takes a minute.
If you dig a little, you
can learn a lot.
Fred: And finally, we've
been having fun whining
about the snow this week,
but not as much fun as a
couple of snowboarders in
Montana.
Charlie Rush and Hunter
Lamoureux were
snowboarding at the
Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Lamoureux had one of those
mobile cameras that
records what he was
seeing.
And what he saw was his
friend and a moose.
A moose was spooked and
ran down the course,
making pretty good time
from the footage.
Rush proceeded to go where
gravity sent him and he
and the moose went
downhill in tandem for a
good distance.
Rush appears to enjoy
himself.
The moose, not so much.
In fact the moose finally
turns to face his (or
her's) persuers.
Lamoureux did what I most
certainly would have done
when faced with a somewhat
winded, but angry large
mammal.
He stopped.
At which point the taping
ends and the moose
proceeded to move
uphill...
towards the other
snowboarder.
No one was hurt, not Rush,
not Lamoureux
and not the moose.
But in case you're
thinking of snow boarding with
the Mooses, think again.
Rush was fined over $200
for harassing the animal.
Rush claims he wasn't
harassing the animal, only
trying to get past it.
The moose had no comment.
So that's it
for this week.
Work Hard, Be Safe, Stay
Warm and enjoy the
Beautiful Sunsets.
I'm Fred Peralta and
thanks for watching the
Four Rivers Ag Report.
The Four Rivers Ag Report
is underwritten
in part by:
Announcer: The Department of
Geology/Geography is a
proud sponsor of the Four
Rivers Ag Report and
provides integrative
learning opportunities for
students and the community
to explore the physical
and cultural world, near
and far.
(Music)