AgweekTV Full Show: Ag Outlook Forum, Agweek Livestock Tour, Farm Fit Momma

By AgweekTV

March 04, 2023 at 5:30 AM

This week on AgweekTV, we hear expert analysis of the USDA's recent Ag Outlook Forum — the first big crop and market predictor of the new crop year. We’ll continue the Agweek Livestock Tour near Rogers, North Dakota. We'll also profile a family operated hatchery that's finding the growing demand for backyard chickens
excellent for business. And we'll meet a woman who's helping folks get fit on the farm after rising from the ashes due to a family disaster.

See more from AgweekTV

Welcome to Agweek TV.

I'm Emily Beal.
What does the new crop
marketing year hold for growers?
The USDA recently held
its annual AG Outlook Forum
with its first projections.
I asked an expert what his big
takeaways were from the forum.

The big takeaway was
there wasn't a lot of surprises.
Most of the information
we got from the Outlook
Forum was very consistent
with what
a lot of the private traders
and analysts
had kind of been expecting.
There's always a few
little adjustments,
but in a big picture sense,
it was pretty close to what
everybody was anticipating.

And what did the corn Report
look like?

So specifically in Corn,
the two big things
people are talking about
right now
is an increase in planted
acreage, which was expected.
It was just a matter
of how large
was that increase going to be.
And again, USDA came out with
the numbers are very similar
to what the
private analysts were expecting.
The other,
I guess, a little bit
of a surprise was the increase
in the trend line yield.
So we're using an average yield
that's been adjusted
for technology.
But every year
the USDA uses a 30 year average
as that baseline.
But they also adjusted
up and down just a little bit
based on planting progress.
And so given the information
we had,
I do anticipate that USDA
is looking at a slightly faster
planting progress
this last spring
because of the dry
weather we have in the Western
Corn Belt.

And how about soybeans?
Soybeans?

I think a lot of the analysts
were expecting
a slight increase
in planted acreage for soybeans.
USDA didn't give us that.
The other thing
that was an adjustment on
the demand side was an increase
in crushed demand, pretty much
expected, given the growth
in the crush industry.
We're looking at plants
that are expanding
their existing capacity
and some new ones coming online.

And were there any surprises
with wheat?

You work
the math backwards there.

It looks like
there might be a slight increase
in spring wheat seedings
relative to last year.
Fortunately,
we are seeing a slight increase
in expectations for export cuts
and that was one of the things
this year
that's really been
hurting us in the wheat market
is because of the higher prices.
Our export levels are down a bit
and so USDA is giving up
kind of a recovery
in some of those export pace,
which should be hopefully
beneficial for pricing.
And why
is this outlook important?

So this is really the first time
that USDA comes out
with their projections
for the new crop marketing year.
So for the 2020 324
marketing year,
now most of that information
is based off
of historical relationships
and annual cost of production.
So it's a lot of it's
based on mathematical
forecasting
and what we typically see
farmers doing.
We really won't
get any formal information
about what farmers are expecting
to see until that March 31
Perspective Plantings report.
So coming up now,
in the beginning of March,
farmers will be gaining
surveyed on what
their planting intentions are.
We know it can change over time,
but at least that will be farmer
based information
instead of information
based off of,
again,
the historical relationships.

According to USDA farm
income and net farm
cash incomes or records in 2022
and are likely to decline.
However, it's still expected
to be an above average year

As our livestock tour continues
around the region.
Katie Pinke visited a couple
in Rogers, North Dakota.
That raises the oldest American
beef breed of cattle Shorthorn.

You might say
Shorthorn cattle brought Whitney
and Justin Vogel together.
My grandpa started his Shorthorn
Herd thing about the 1940s
and then, yeah,
I had such an interest in it.

Justin's
grandparents also raised

shorthorn cattle
in the fifties and sixties.

Whitney and Justin met
while going to school at NDSU

with an interest in short horns
and each other.

They purchased Justin's
grandma's farm in Rogers, North

Dakota, in 2010
and were soon married.

I think
once we got to know each other,

he knew that if he got me,
the cows came with.

In 2011, they established Vogel

Shorthorn Farm
and are now the fifth generation

on the original homestead
of Justin's family.

I had a neighbor
tell me one time that,

you know,
anybody can grow a crop,

but it takes really good person
to raise a good animal.

That's kind of stuck with us.

And Whitney does most picks
out of breeding and bulls.

It's kind of fun
when you get to see calves grow.

Well, Shorthorn actually started
with Whitney for a herd.

He thinks he can go in the barn
and eat whatever he wants.

So their operation is now
about 150 registered Shorthorn.

We really like Shorthorn.

I'm from for all the maternal
characteristics,

great mothering ability.

We really like the attitude

that most of the Shorthorn cows
have compared

to some of the other breeds
that we've had.

They sell their cattle
at several consignment

sales throughout the year,
as well as off the farm

and plan to start an online
sale this fall.

In addition, they go to
livestock shows not to sell

but to show and build
connections in the business.

It's definitely not
an easy industry.

Talking to other producers
in your area.

You know, learning from them.

You know what they do
that works for them.

What what didn't work for them?

If you're really passionate
about it,

the biggest thing is just

to stick with it
and accept those hard days.

But then when you have
those really good days

that feels like really pays off.

On the ag Week Livestock Tour
in Rogers, North Dakota.

This is Katie Pinke.

In January, Vogel Shorthorn won
both champion Shorthorn Bull
and Champion
Shorthorn
Female at the Black Hills
Stock Show
in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Chickens are also a focus
on this week's livestock tour.
Todd Woodbury runs a hatchery
in wyndmere near North Dakota.
It started out as a project
for his four children,
but Todd said it quickly
ramped up into something more
when the COVID 19 pandemic hit.
Along with the growing trend
of raising your own poultry.
Jeff Beach has more.

At Woodbury Hatchery.

Incubator doors come open

to reveal flats of eggs,
all different colors and kinds.

These are meran eggs.

They're darker,
more chocolate color.

What started a few years ago

is a project for his fourth
children.

Hatching about 300 eggs a week.

I turn it.

You might see some parts of it.

There has

turned into a significant side
business for the family.

They're now hatching 3
to 8000 chicks a week.

Our hatchery focuses mainly
on practical breeding for meat

or good egg producers.

And we go from from them.

And then we have birds
that lay different colored eggs.

There's a lot of hobby producers
that are interested in that.

This is a flat Easter egg,
your eggs, mainly blue, green.

And there's a few browns
in there.

While
green farming still provides

the majority of their income,
their hatchery, thanks largely

to word of mouth, has customers
in five Midwest states.

They mostly supply backyard

flocks with a typical order
of 75 to 100 chicks.

Certainly this spring

there's increased interest due
to egg supply and

their lack of egg supply

and the price is being higher

than than
what people are used to.

And so there's increased

interest in and type chickens
this year.

It's three weeks

from when eggs enter
the incubators until they hatch.

They have about a thousand
chickens in their breeding

barn and the family collects
eggs three times a day.

The busiest days.

Hatch day

because chicks
are the most exciting part.

What Berry's advice for
those interested in chickens.

Don't start too big,
you know. Yeah.

And have plenty of room
for the birds

if their nutritional
requirements are not met.

If you're
trying to skimp on their feed,

if they don't have clean water
or they don't have good shelter,

you're not going to get good
results.

Start with good feed and good
housing and things will go well.

In Wyndmere, North Dakota.

This is Jeff Beach
for the AgWeek Livestock Tour.

The first hatch of the spring
was late February.

They'll have weekly hatches
on Mondays until July,

and then every other week
until September.

The Ag Week Livestock
Tour is sponsored by Farmers
Mutual of Nebraska 701x
Autonomous Rancher and Stockman.
Livestock Exchange.

When Agweek TV continues,
the largest organic field
seed supplier in the country
is celebrating 100 years.

A Southeast Minnesota
seed company is marking

a big milestone.

Albert Lea Sheet has been
in business for 100 years.

In this week's cover story,

we look at how the business
is continuing to evolve.

Albert Lea Seed was founded
in 1923 by Lew Earhart

and has been in the family
for three generations.

It provides conventional,
non-GMO and organic

seed products
to farmers across the country.

It also carries cover crops,
small grains and forage.

The business
noticed a growing demand

for certified organic
seed in the late nineties

and is now one of the largest
suppliers of organic field seed

in the U.S..

Current co-owner
Mac Eckhart says the reason

they've been successful for
a century is customer service.

Customers, not an interruption.

And I really like that
the sentiment in that,

which is that, you know,
no matter what you're doing,

you need to make time
to talk to a customer

who calls or a customer
who shows up in the door

because they're they're the
folks that you are there for.

Albert Lee,

he'd recently acquired Blue
River Organic Seed, making it

the country's largest
organic field seed supplier.

Two new photos
exhibits are trying
to answer that question from
two very different perspectives.

One photographer captures

the painful reality

of family dairies disappearing
from central Minnesota,

while the other looks

at the resiliency of small scale
production in the same area.

John Solinger

has been photographing
rural life for about ten years.

He says he wanted to discover
the current face of sustainable

farming and ask people why. FARM

They all have a great story
to tell about how they got

into this life
and what they are doing

to make the world a better place

through their work,
through food, local food.

Now, today is the last day
to see Salinger's photos

and stories of these farmers
at the New York

Mills Regional Cultural Center.

But organizers are looking
for other venues to set up

both exhibits in the future.

Coming
up on Agweek TV, Farm Fitness.
Meet a woman who built herself
back up
from the ashes of a disaster
and now helps others
build others up.

The agri weather outlook is
sponsored by Excalibur Fungicide
from Vaillant, USA.

How will the weather fare
as the region heads into March?
Here's John
with our agri weather outlook.

The calendar
now having turned to March,

but the weather not showing
any signs in the northern plains

of warming up at all.
That's not unusual.

But this is

a colder than average weather
pattern, not necessarily record

setting cold,

but the northern plains,

it's not going to warm up
much any time

over the next couple of weeks
anyway.

And this pattern,
not in addition

to being colder than average,
looks fairly stormy.

And because it's cold,
that means snowy.

We've had in late
February and early March

now a resurgence of snow systems
into the northern plains

and the western part
of the upper Midwest.

I look for that to continue here
over the next couple of weeks.

Southern Plains, meanwhile,
also in late February,

starting to get some outbreaks
of severe weather and tornadoes,

talking Oklahoma, Texas
into the Arklatex area.

And I see at least one or two
more of those

potentially setting up
over the next couple of weeks.

So in the central part of
the country, the Great Plains,

it's a very active weather
pattern.

The jet stream
kind of meandering a bit.

High ridge up in Alaska,
they've had some warm weather

in the last few weeks.

The middle part of the country,
the jet is just meandering.

We're going to see some

some of those early warm days
of spring where the Deep South

gets up into the eighties.

But it's going to stay

consistently near and below
freezing

across the Rocky Mountains,
the northern tier of states,

and a little bit warmer,
but still cooler than average

for places like Iowa
and southern Wisconsin.

The contrast

between the warmth in the South
and the cold in the north

opens up
the potential for storms,

especially whenever you see
a southwest and northeast

curvature of the jet stream
and boom.

We'll start getting into that
toward the end of this week.

And I do think this will open up

the potential for another round
of southern plains storms

and northern plains snowfall
sometime around the weekend.

I don't know
if it'll exactly be Friday

or Saturday or Sunday,
and I can't define the track

of the storm.

Exactly, but definitely
some weather there

as we go into the second week
here of this weather pattern.

Still looking pretty cold.

The really Frigidaire subzero
highs

that retreats,
of course, in March.

You don't

typically get that south
of the Canadian border in March

except for a stray day
in the North Dakota.

And I don't see any of that,

but it does look consistently
colder than average

and consistently freezing
across the northern plains.

And there will be potential
for additional storms

this first week, March
5th through 11,

probably a couple of systems
coming over the Great Plains

that will transition
into rain, snow

and then rain in on the southern

flank of that,
some thunderstorms.

And out west,
the active weather pattern,

maybe a little bit of a breather
relative

to the last week or two,
but still potential

for a lot of heavy mountain
snows and some coastal range

from northern California
northward.

The second week of the forecast

also looking fairly snowy
across the far northern plains.

Wet weather in the Midwest as
well, a mixture of rain and snow

and very likely more
thunderstorms

down here in the southern
plains and the Deep South.

Sometimes getting off the farm
for a workout can be tough.
That's why one woman decided
to bring the gym to the farm.
I traveled to Sissiton
in South Dakota
to meet up with the farm fit
mama.

I always say this a farm
yard is like a CrossFit heaven.

You can really get
a good workout in.

You just takes
a little creativity.

Amanda Nigg, her husband
farmed corn and soybeans

on their operation
in Sisseton in South Dakota.

But in 2020, a fire
changed their lives forever.

In 2020, we lost our house

the day before
the national pandemic, and

it was just like that
humbling moment.

I say humbling there because
there was a lot of unknowns.

US as a nation,
we're going through,

but as a family
who are homeless.

The fire destroyed
the nigg’s home

and Amanda's
mental health plummeted.

She turned to fitness
as an escape and started

posting
her journey on social media.

A lot of individuals
are checking out like, well,

where are you getting
your weights?

Because I'm using like tires.

I was using like weights
that I found on the farm

because everybody was buying
gym equipment.

So for me at that time, it was
just using that creativity.

From the Ashes,
Amanda launched Farm

Fit Training in 2021.

My clientel is 100% AG,
which I'm really proud of.

That farm fit

training helps people
with their health and fitness

using equipment and material
they have on their farm.

She did my 12 week program
using buckets of oats,

and it was the coolest thing
because she was a true testament

that you didn't
need a lot of equipment.

And how we adjusted

her weight is
she would add water to the oats

and then feed it to her chickens
three days later.

Bridgette Readel
first found Amanda on Instagram

and enrolled in Farm Fit
Training about two years ago.

Choose between
which of the two workouts

I'm going to do, and then I do
my general exercise.

And my goal is to drink
a gallon of water every day. In

Bridgette loves the flexibility
the program offers.

I could use
things around me now.

I might have the war bell.

That's part of her program.

But there's a lot of other folks
that were simply using

suitcase weights
from their tractors,

tires, cement blocks.

Amanda is known as Farm Fit
Momma on social media.

She has nearly 40,000 Instagram
followers,

and she's had over 1000 clients
since launching her business.

I was just kind of doing
my thing and bringing

fitness and mental health
together for our community.

And when those opportunities
present themselves and bringing

new ideals, it just exploded.

Still ahead on
our show, we'll have a preview
of the upcoming AG Week Farm
Show in southeast Minnesota.

If you
are in southeast Minnesota.

You don't want to miss the 41st
annual

AG Week Farm Show this week.

The free show is March 7th
and eighth

at the Omsted County Fairgrounds
in Rochester.

The show will include ag
speakers, free cheese curds,

samples from the little red
dairy and a free meal and music

for the first 500
people at 5 p.m.

on March 7th.

Panel discussions
will cover estate planning, ag

careers, transportation
regulations and oats marketing.

Stories
you'll only see on Agweek.com
and AG Week magazine this week.
States
that are suing the EPA over
its water protection rules
have asked for an injunction
because the judge assigned to
the case has removed himself.
And we look at the ad bill
still live in the North
Dakota legislature.

We appreciate
you watching agri TV.
Remember to check us out daily
on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and TikTok
to keep up on all your AG News.
Have a wonderful week, everyone.

AgweekTV Full Show: Ag Outlook Forum, Agweek Livestock Tour, Farm Fit Momma

This week on AgweekTV, we hear expert analysis of the USDA's Ag Outlook Forum. We'll visit a shorthorn ranch and a hatchery. And we'll meet a woman who's helping folks get fit on the farm.