Feedlot Program Q&A
Question: Which state agency is the primary authority for regulation of livestock carcass disposal?
Answer appears following the Calendar.
A Stearns County dairy farm is a recent addition to the Discovery Farms program, which is working to gather field-scale data on water quality impacts of various types of farming operations. Nick and Tara Meyer opened their farm south of Sauk Centre to a tour of their project on June 28, sponsored by the Stearns Soil and Water Conservation District and other partners. The project measures and compares field surface runoff with drainage tile output. Monitoring equipment measures flow and takes water samples. The Sauk River Watershed District handles the sampling and data collection; samples are analyzed at Minnesota Valley Testing Lab in New Ulm. The Meyers milk about 140 cows, and raise crops for feed on 450 acres. "The key to our program is producer involvement," says Tim Radatz of the Minnesota Agricultural Water Resources Center. So far there are eight Discovery Farms projects in Minnesota, with three more gaining recent approval. Other sponsors include the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Conservation Service.
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Crowell joins MPCA feedlot staff
Ben Crowell of Jackson County has accepted the MPCA feedlot staff position in the Marshall office, which was vacated when Steve Howey took a position with U of M Extension. Ben is scheduled to start July 30. He graduated from South Dakota State University with a B.S. in Animal Science in May 2000. After college he worked for Christensen Farms for 4½ years. He then worked in Lincoln County, and in 2006 he moved to the Jackson County Planning and Environmental Services Department as CFO. Ben has been active with the Minnesota Association of County Feedlot Officers, most recently serving as vice president, and member of the training and communications team.
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Pipestone County hires Adam Ossefoort
Adam Ossefoort started June 19 in Pipestone County, replacing Angie Raatz in the SWCD office. He is a native of Luverne, and graduated last May from St. Cloud State University majoring in environmental studies. In addition to feedlots, he will be working with SSTS and ag BMPs. Immediately after graduation he interned at the Rock County land management office, doing water sampling in the Rock River.
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Douglas County interviewing CFO candidates this week
Douglas County will be interviewing this week to fill the county feedlot officer position. The vacancy was created when Andy Siira took a dairy inspector position with the Department of Agriculture. Land and Resource Management assistant director Rebecca Sternquist says they hope to fill the vacancy soon.
Training scheduled for new CFOs
Training for new county feedlot officer staff is scheduled for Sept. 17-18 in Rochester. Topics will include registration, permitting, land application, MinnFarm, and inspections. CFO regional meetings have been scheduled for: Sept. 5 - Owatonna Pizza Ranch, Sept. 6 – Redwood Falls, Sept. 19 – Brainerd, and Sept. 20 - Detroit Lakes.
The Mississippi Valley Cattlemen’s Association (MVCA) hosted the Summer Beef Tour July 10. The Morrison County Fairgrounds in Little Falls served as tour headquarters. MVCA membership comes from Crow Wing, Todd, and Morrison counties.Tour stops included Smude Sunflower Oil, HB Farms, Hanneken Angus-Virnig Farms, DLCC Ranch, Camp
Ripley, Vince Waldock Farm and Rolling Thunder Ranch. The Summer Beef Tour is an annual event of the Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association. |
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The Minnesota Board of Animal Health is
proposing changes to the existing rules as they apply to animal health. The
proposed rules have been posted online at www.bah.state.mn.us
for you to review. The Dual Notice of Intent to Adopt Rules will be
published in the State Register on July 23, 2012. The comment period will end
on Aug. 23, 2012. If you have comments or questions on the
rules or written requests for a public hearing, please contact Dr. Beth
Thompson, 625 Robert St. N, St. Paul, MN, 55155, 651-201-6844, beth.thompson@state.mn.us
Applications due July 24 for ag rep on citizens' board
Applications are being accepted through July 24 for the position of agriculture representative on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's citizens' board. It was recently held by Don Schiefelbein, Meeker County farmer and cattle producer. The vacancy was announced recently by the Secretary of State, and the position is appointed by the governor. The nine-member MPCA board must include one member who is a representative of labor and
one member who is a representative of agriculture. MPCA commissioner John Linc Stine is
chair of the monthly board meetings. Application
forms can be found on the Secretary of State webpage, by mail from Secretary of State, Open Appointments, 180 State
Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN
55155-1299, or in person at Room 180 of the State Office
Building.
Website adding real-life stories
Nearly 100,000 people visit the MPCA website each month. In coming days you will see some changes to the look of the MPCA home page. You
will see an emphasis on storytelling—how one business is helping prevent water
pollution, what a new MPCA report is telling us about our groundwater, what an
air quality alert means, to name a few. The
site navigation will still work the same, and previous bookmarks will still work. In
the coming months, you’ll see changes to the primary landing pages that will
make it easier for users to navigate our site. We invite your feedback and your story ideas.
Feedlot Update newsletter notes 10-year anniversary
The first issue of MPCA Feedlot Update electronic newsletter appeared in July 2002, making this the 10th anniversary. The inaugural issue stated: "The purpose of this electronic newsletter is to provide another communication tool for the agency and county feedlot officers. It will attempt to provide accurate, objective, concise, and timely information about the feedlot program..." It was published about 10 times annually, with this issue being the 100th appearance. Distribution has increased from about 100, to nearly 1,000 today. Until this year, each issue carried a County Profile feature, focusing on an individual county and feedlot officer. In May 2011, the MPCA adopted a new web-based format using GovDelivery. Past issues through 2010 are available on the feedlot program publications webpage.
The Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program Advisory
Committee held its first meeting on Monday, July 9 in St. Paul. The program is the result
of an agreement signed in January by Governor Dayton and federal
officials, with the goal of enhancing Minnesota’s water quality by accelerating
adoption of on-farm water quality practices. The July 9 meeting was the first in
a series of half-day meetings at which the advisory committee will provide input
to Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson on the development and implementation of the
program. Future meetings will be held approximately twice a month through
October 2012. The committee will report back to the MDA, and implementation is planned for early next year.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is withdrawing a proposed rule that would have
required information to be submitted to EPA about concentrated animal
feeding operations (CAFOs). EPA will instead use existing federal, state, and
local sources of information to gather data about CAFOs and help ensure that
CAFOs are implementing practices that protect water quality. EPA also signed a
memorandum of understanding with the Association of the Clean Water
Administrators (ACWA) to facilitate the exchange of information. This
collaborative effort between the EPA and ACWA will focus on identifying CAFOs
and obtaining pertinent information about CAFOs on a state-by-state basis for
use by both ACWA members and EPA. In light of comments received from states regarding the amount of CAFO
information states already have and include as part of the CAFO permitting
process, the EPA is withdrawing the proposal to collect CAFO information by
rule. More information.
The July 20 webcast will take a look at a project that aims to refine and
improve an existing model that calculates the carbon footprint of pork
production. How does increased efficiency affect the carbon footprint of pork?
What are some of the factors being researched for the model? What tools
are/will be available to farmers? Join us on July 20 at 2:30 pm (eastern) for
an informative webinar on one of the hottest topics in animal agriculture
today. More...
Speakers are: Marty Matlock, University of Arkansas; Brian Richert and Scott
Radcliffe, Purdue University. Karl Vandevender, University of Arkansas will
moderate.
State Program Highlights
- Wisconsin: Farmers are being warned about the dangers of
spreading manure on dry, cracked soils. More...
- New York: The Cornell small dairy farms team has released
several new resources including one on deep pack barns. More...
- Iowa: The Iowa Manure Management Action Group (IMMAG) has
released a new publication for small beef open lot producers. More...
- Nebraska: UNL Extension has released an irrigation home study
(online) course. Continuing education credits are available. This course
may interest certified crop advisors and livestock producers that irrigate
using water from liquid manure storage. More...
- Pennsylvania: The Penn State dairy team has developed several new
tools for certified feed management planners. More...
- North Dakota: The NDSU nutrient management team has redesigned
their website to improve navigation and access to resources. More...
- Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska: Pit foaming continues
to perplex researchers. More...
- Indiana: Purdue University offers updates on Indiana's new
confined feeding operation rules. More...
- Michigan: Michigan State University offers safety guidelines
when pumping manure. More...
and reports that manure application coupled with cover crops works well. More...
Omaha World-Herald, 7/19/12
News release, 7/12/12
St. Cloud Times, 7/5/12
News release, 6/26/12
July 31: Rock River Manure Expo-Field Day, Wes DeKam farm, Edgerton. 507-283-8862, ext. 3.
Aug. 7-9: FarmFest,
Gilfillan Farm, Redwood County.
Aug. 17: Manure management and strip tillage field day near Milaca, pre-register by Aug. 3. Mille Lacs SWCD.
Oct. 16-18: Minnesota
Association of County Feedlot Officers annual convention, Willmar.
The MPCA Feedlot Update
welcomes news submissifrom partners about, projects, people, and upcoming
events. Email submissito forrest.peterson@state.mn.us. Please note that
the MPCA has switched to a new service, called GovDelivery, to deliver the
Feedlot Update. To ensure delivery of these messages, please add mpca@public.govdelivery.com
to your address book or safe sender list. Past issues of Feedlot Update are
available on the feedlot program publications webpage.
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