This week on AgweekTV, farmers who hire foreign workers may have to pay them more. Some small Minnesota producers get the chance to tell their representative what they'd like in the new farm bill . After nearly losing their program, the NDSU Equestrian Team is heading to nationals. And a South Dakota restaurant serves food fresh from farmers to their customers.
WELCOME TO AGWEEKTV. I'M EMILY BEAL.
Farmers across the country who are facing worker shortages may no longer be able to afford the farm labor they need. Changes by the US Labor Department in the H-2A Temporary Agriculture Program, force producers to pay many of their H-2A workers significantly more than before. UNTIL NOW, employers were required to pay the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, which is based off of the Farm Labor Survey. The new rule looks at all the jobs listed in the H-2A's job description and has employers compensate them for the highest wage rate offer for that specific task.
If you hire workers to do things that are outside of their sort of idea of what general, normal, farm work is, then what they do is they look at those specific job duties that they consider to be extra, and they say 'okay, well this job duty is also in these other occupations, and this is the highest paying of those occupations, so this is the wage rate that this employer should be paying'.
The USA Farm Labor Inc compared the new wage rates to the old wage rates and found that on average, operation costs for producers will increase by $100,000 to $200,000 per season. For many producers, this means they may not be able to afford the workers they need to keep the operations running.
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If I wouldn't be able to get H-2A workers here and couldn't come across anyone local here that wanted to work I guess I would have to downsize the operation and just farm the acres that I can all by myself. On top of the wage increase, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is also trying to significantly increase its fees for the program. The USA Farm Labor Inc encourages anyone who may be affected by this new rule to reach out to their representatives.
AS WORK CONTINUES ON THE NEXT FARM BILL, POLICY MAKERS ARE LISTENING TO PEOPLE IN THE AG INDUSTRY. U.S. HOUSE MEMBER ANGIE CRAIG, FROM MINNESOTA'S SECOND DISTRICT, HELD A ROUND TABLE WITH SMALL-SCALE PRODUCERS FROM SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA. SHE WANTED TO LEARN WHAT THEY'D LIKE IN THE NEXT FARM BILL. SHE TOURED SEEDS ORGANIC FARM, AND HEARD FROM OWNER BECCA RUDEBUSCH, ABOUT HOW CHANGES IN THE FARM BILL COULD HELP SMALL FARMS LIKE HERS GROW. SHE EMPHASIZED A NEED FOR CROP INSURANCE, AND HEALTH INSURANCE FOR HER WORKERS.
CERTAINLY WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A STRONG NUTRITION TITLE IN THE FARM BILL, BUT I ALSO WANTED TO MAKE SURE WITH THIS GROUP IN PARTICULAR, THAT I HAD A FOCUS IN VIEW ON SPECIALTY CROPS, PARTICULARLY AROUND CONSERVATION TITLE, AROUND THE CROP INSURANCE TITLE, AND ABOUT NEW AND BEGINNING FARMERS.
WITH THIS OPPORTUNITY TO RENEW OR IMPROVE THE FARM BILL, IF WE WERE TO LOWER THE BARRIERS FOR FARMERS FOR SPECIALTY CROPS LIKE MINE, TO ACCESS FARM BILL PROGRAMS, I THINK IT WOULD REALLY MAKE A BIG IMPROVEMENT.
CRAIG SAYS NONE OF THE SMALL FARMERS AT THE ROUND TABLE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BUY CROP INSURANCE IN THE PAST, SO THAT'S A HIGH PRIORITY FOR HER IN THE FARM BILL.
THE NDSU WESTERN EQUESTRIAN TEAM IS RIDING INTO NATIONALS NEXT MONTH, AFTER SAVING THEIR PROGRAM FROM BUDGET CUTS EARLIER THIS YEAR. I MET WITH THE TWO RIDERS AND THEIR COACH, WHO HAVE THEIR EYES SET ON THE BLUE RIBBON
Horses have always been in my background. And you know It's great to come and you get you love, that's what I tell my students.
TARA SWANSON IS AN EQUINE SCIENCE LECTURER AND COACH OF NDSU'S WESTERN EQUESTRIAN TEAM. SWANSON BEGAN HER ROLE IN THE EQUINE PROGRAM IN 2006. BESIDES TEACHING A VARIETY OF EQUINE CLASSES THROUGHOUT HER DAY, SHE ALSO SPENDS COUNTLESS HOURS STANDING ON THE PRACTICE ARENA'S DIRT FLOOR, HELPING HER RIDERS GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
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It's been really exciting, we worked hard this semester. We won the region, our zone seven region three and that's always a good honor to have. And then we traveled to semi finals in Florida, had really great showings there and now we're headed to Kentucky in just a few weeks to compete against the top twelve individuals in each class. It's been a lot of hard work, I couldn't be here without our coach Tara.
MICHAELA LONG IS A SENIOR STUDYING HORTICULTURE AND WILL BE SHOWING IN THE INDIVIDUAL HORSEMANSHIP CLASS AT NATIONALS. SHE GREW UP AROUND HORSES AND HAS BEEN SHOWING SINCE SHE WAS FIVE. FOR HER, HORSES ARE A FAMILY AFFAIR
My oldest sister was on the equestrian team when I came here as a freshman and so we kind of got to do that together.
I actually didn't grow up around horses, I lived in the suburbs so I couldn't have a horse in my backyard.
KAYLEE-ANNE BARRIEAU IS A JUNIOR STUDYING ANIMAL SCIENCE AND WILL BE SHOWING IN THE BEGINNER HORSEMANSHIP CLASS AT NATIONALS. SHE'S EXCITED TO RIDE BESIDE HER TEAMMATE AND HAVE HER COACH ALONG WITH HER EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. WHILE THE TEAM IS A TESTAMENT TO THE EQUINE PROGRAM'S SUCCESS, THE FUTURE OF THE PROGRAM WAS UNKNOWN AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR.
With some budget cuts, there was something happening, they weren't going to be able to keep Tara on and we all thought the equine science is just going to fall apart because Tara holds us together.
THEY STARTED AN ONLINE PETITION AND THAT GARNERED MANY SIGNATURES. THE PETITION HELPED SAVE THE EQUINE PROGRAM AND SWANSON'S POSITION.
To have students set up petitions and rally for you know write all of these impact statements about all of the things that you provided to them and all of the life skills that you helped to mentor and build was a pretty amazing feeling.
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THE PAIR WILL COMPETE MAY 4-7 AT THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK. YOU CAN READ MORE IN THE NEXT AGWEEK MAGAZINE OR AT AGWEEK.COM
UP NEXT ON AGWEEK TV... HOW A DRY FALL AND WET SPRING ARE TAKING A TOLL ON PASTURE LAND...
THE DRY CONDITIONS LAST FALL ARE GOING TO IMPACT THIS YEAR'S GRAZING SEASON. ON TOP OF THE DRY AUTUMN SOILS, THE COOL, WET SPRING WILL FURTHER DELAY GRAZING FOR PRODUCERS. MIRANDA MEEHAN, NDSU EXTENSION Livestock Environmental Stewardship Specialist, WARNS PRODUCERS TO NOT PUT THEIR LIVESTOCK OUT INTO PASTURE BEFORE IT'S READY TO GRAZE.
It's going to be later and if we start grazing too early before those grasses reach grazing readiness, which is the three leaf stage for our introduced species, such as brome grass. And in the three and a half leaf stage for our native species, we will see a set back. Because we're gonna get ahead of those grasses and we can get up to a sixty percent reduction in forage production from that.
MEEHAN SAYS RAINFALL FROM MID-APRIL TO THE BEGINNING OF JULY WILL REALLY DETERMINE AND INFLUENCE THE REGION'S FORAGE GROWTH.
A South Dakota family rooted in FFA tradition is this year's South Dakota FFA Foundation's "Family of the Year".
The Nagel family of Gettysburg has been involved with the organization for generations...and now they're being honored for their dedication to FFA.
But really looking at it as a core piece of who we are a family and wanting to help serve an organization that has given us so much in that return for our personal successes, so having the opportunity to be recognized for the fact that we truly do believe in helping others in that service to agriculture is probably where I would set my focus on in that regard.
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The award is encouraging to the family's younger generation as they continue with their FFA careers.
It makes me feel like, yes, we are involved agriculture, but like, it makes me want to do more and be involved more with FFA and agriculture and in the agriculture industry,
OVER THE YEARS, FAMILY MEMBERS HAVE SERVED as chapter and district officers, lead service projects and Supervised Agricultural Experiences, and they have been able to share their experiences with each generation of the family.
MINNESOTA FFA MEMBERS GATHERED IN MINNEAPOLIS THIS WEEK FOR THEIR 94TH STATE CONVENTION... AND IT WASN'T ALL LIVESTOCK AND COMPETITIONS. ABOUT TWO HUNDRED MUSICIANS FROM AROUND THE STATE MAKE UP THE FFA BAND AND CHOIR. ELLIE MORSCHING IS FROM JANESVILLE, MINNESOTA. THIS IS HER FIRST YEAR AT THE FFA STATE CONVENTION. SHE'S PLAYED THE TUBA SINCE FIFTH GRADE, AND.HAS BEEN IN FFA FOR TWO YEARS, BUT SHE DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A STATE BAND UNTIL THIS YEAR. SHE SAYS IT'S BEEN FUN MEETING MUSICIANS FROM AROUND THE STATE, AND SEEING HOW QUICKLY IT ALL CAME TOGETHER WHEN THEY STARTED REHEARSING.
I GOT THE MUSIC BEFORE I CAME HERE, AND SO I PRACTICED A LITTLE INDIVIDUALLY. BUT THEN WHEN THERE'S OTHER PEOPLE THAT PLAY SIMILAR PARTS AS ME IT REALLY ALL COMES TOGETHER, AND IT KIND OF JUST LIKE FLOWS TOGETHER
MORSCHING SAYS WHILE THE STATE BAND IS MUCH BIGGER THAN SHE'S USED TO, IT WAS REASSURING THAT HER HIGH SCHOOL BAND DIRECTOR IS ALSO THE DIRECTOR OF THE FFA BAND.
UP NEXT ON AGWEEK TV...GMO DETECTION COULD BE THE ANSWER TO CROSS CONTAMINATION CONCERNS
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WILL THESE APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS NEXT WEEK? HERE'S JOHN WITH OUR AGRI-WEATHER OUTLOOK.
Good evening. The pattern of the of the North American continent appears to be undergoing a fairly significant change. As we segue into May. The cold weather really retreating. Now that's seasonal this time of year. I mean, it's possible to get really cold weather in May, but it does get fairly unusual just because of the strength of the sunlight this time of year. But the overall pattern change, the jet stream is getting weak and it's getting into a pattern of being kind of stuck and bogged down. And for most cases of the northern plains, Central Plains, Corn Belt areas of the United States, generally speaking, it looks not particularly wet and not particularly uncomfortable temperature wise. So a pretty good weather pattern to kind of segway into the real heart, the big thrust of the growing season for the northern plains. Farmers are just waiting to get out into the fields. And this is a weather pattern that will that will get us there eventually. It's not terribly warm, but it is mostly dry. Jet stream winds are still coming out of the north. You may have noticed this circle. This is where an upper level low is going to kind of get cut off from the primary flow out along the West Coast. This will bring some precipitate action, again, unwanted rain and snow into the Sierras. It'll probably be some snowfall in the northern Rockies, but most of this pattern will be fairly dry. The one exception is where the upper level winds are bringing cooler weather down into the southeast and the east coast. There will be some areas of showers and thunderstorms here. Note the cold weather has really etreated to up around the Hudson Bay region. And as we go through this week, we're not seeing a ridge of high pressure anywhere except over the northern Rockies. Now, you'll notice this warm weather pattern in Alberta that's actually quite common when you get into May. It's not unusual to get weather into the seventies and eighties and sometimes nineties up here, up in the boreal forest, even sometimes up into the Northwest Territories, just happens seasonally as the snow melts up there and it tends to get fairly warm. The Hudson Bay region tends to be slow to warm in the spring because of the ice on the bay. And so it's not unusual for the cool pattern to persist around the Great Lakes into the Northeast and sometimes the northern plains. But because of this ridge, that pattern, that impact is not going to be too strong into the second week. Starting to see the subtropical jet stream beginning to take shape. That's also typical for this time of year. But overall, this is a fairly weak looking weather pattern. Precipitation wise, there will be rain and snow in the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rockies, mostly higher elevations stuff, rain and thundershowers along the southeast and the east coast. Probably some light snows around the Great Lakes. The second week now, the first full complete week of May looks mostly dry in the central northern Plains. Upper Midwest showers, thundershowers in the southeast and a shrinking area of precipitation, mostly in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.
Most people think of GMO corn as being used in ethanol. But today food-grade growers are seeing cross contamination risks. I visited with Akshay Vidwans, to see how EnviroLogix is helping corn producers and processors protect their quality. It leads to a lot of quality issues.
AKSHAY IS A PRODUCT MANAGER FOR ENVIROLOGIX. A COMPANY THAT SPECIALIZES IN GMO DETECTION. HE SAYS CERTAIN GMO'S HAVE THE ABILITY TO SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE CORN CROP'S OVERALL QUALITY AND THE QUALITY OF THE FOOD PRODUCTS LIKE TORTILLAS, CHIPS AND CORN BREAD. GMO CORN CAN ALSO CAUSE CONTAMINATION LEADING TO SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES, PROCESSING AND PRODUCTION DELAYS, AND EVEN PENALTIES FOR PRODUCTS LABELED AS GMO-FREE.
Enogen corn is a special type of GMO corn, and it has a high level of alpha-amylase. It's an enzyme that is similar to what is in our saliva, so it could break down starch into sugars. So, if that corn mixes with food grade corn, it can have an impact on the starch quality. And hence, growers, as well as corn processors should be aware of contamination risk of this GMO corn.
CONTAMINATION CAN COSTS PRODUCERS AND PROCESSORS TIME AND MONEY. AND COST FOOD MANUFACTURERS PENALITIES AND REPUTATION ALL MAKING GMO TESTING EVEN MORE IMPORTANT.
But if it mixes with food products, that can impact the quality of these products. I have heard issues like the masa flour batch failing. Companies losing up to weeks of production because of it. Then, there are tortillas that start separating in the packet; cornbread starts collapsing upon itself in the hot box. But there are some very unique quality issues if this corn mixes with food grade corn.
ENVIROLOGIX IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF GMO TESTING FOR ENOGEN CORN, RECENTLY IMPROVING THEIR GMO TEST TO DETECT AN EVEN LOWER LEVEL OF THIS GMO. THAT HELPS CORN GROWERS AND PROCESSORS PROTECT THEMSELVES AND THEIR CUSTOMERS FROM QUALITY ISSUES, SUPPLY CHAIN PROBLEMS, AND PENALTIES.
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Our previous test would detect Enogen corn down to .25 percent, but companies still faced issues and we need something under .1 percent. So, actually our new test can detect down to .04 percent.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RISKS, THE IMPACT ON FOOD QUALITY, AND WHAT PROACTIVE TESTS YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOUR CORN SUPPLY, VISIT ENVIROLOGIX.COM .
UP NEXT ON AGWEEK TV...ONE SOUTH DAKOTA RESTAURANT IS STRENGTHENING THE FIELD TO FORK CONNECTION
A RESTAURANT COMPANY IN Sioux Falls, South Dakota is working to build connections directly with the farmers growing their ingredients and educating their customers about exactly where their food comes from.
Laura Patzer is hard at work planting these seeds, which will soon grow into the produce that will be served at restaurants owned by Vanguard Hospitality throughout Sioux Falls.
This Vanguard partnership has been amazing. Not only is it providing the freshest most delicious vegetables for their end user, their customers at their restaurants, but it's also securing just different opportunities for us.
The company buys their ingredients directly from around 25 producers. During the summer, this steakhouse uses around 85 percent of ingredients sourced directly from producers and in the winter around 70 percent.
The majority of our producers are from South Dakota; we do have a couple in Iowa and a ranch in Nebraska that we do business with. You know, crossing a boarder is you know, irrelevant, but we have a hand in every single producer with what it is that we are getting for a product and building a relationship together.
Through the program, Vanguard brings another source of income to these farming and ranching operations.
We know that they want to purchase specific amounts each week, and with that we can plan accordingly, and we have the space and as well as the means coming in to continue to kind of grow our farm and they provide income for our farm as well. Through what we are doing by creating these relationships, it's also activated the conversation with the younger generation of those families, well this is interesting and we can create something more for ourselves.It might be unorthodox or a new way of looking at the world, but this is something I can get behind and we are seeing that as we continue our relationships.
Cultivating relationships with local producers to create a sustainable food chain.
We have a lot of pride when we go to their restaurants, especially in the summertime when we know that our produce is on the menu, it's just really kind of full circle for us.
Vanguard Hospitality has 3 restaurants which are buying directly from producers. Customers can see exactly where their food is coming from on the menu and get links and information about all of the operations participating.
STORIES YOU'LL ONLY SEE ON AGWEEK.COM AND IN AGWEEK MAGAZINE THIS WEEK.
A North Dakota beef operation is planning a big expansion using some unique technologies AND Marathon Petroleum's renewables business manager says renewable diesel has some advantages.
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