Duncan Allison again provides a “scan” of farming issues of interest to Society members.
FARMING NOTES JULY 2014
Dairy – Hoard’s 2014 Continuing Market Study is now completed and available hdads@hoards.com. The report indicates that per farm milk production has increased by 40% and milk income is now up by 125%. “Dairy operators continue to trend younger also as 41% of operators are under the age of 45…. The number one equipment purchase planned for 2014 will be a skid steer loader, followed closely by a large round baler.” Mastitis continues to be the most troublesome health issue.
Education – The new incoming Dean of Agricultural Sciences, Dr. Rick Roush, brings valuable background and experience to his task as Dean of one of the largest Ag schools in the country – around 3,000 ag students. It is estimated that the agricultural, food and renewable resource sectors of the U.S. economy will generate 54,400 annual openings between 2010 and 2015. 74% in business and science occupations, 15% in ag and forestry production and 11% in education, communication and government services. This is 5% more college graduates when compared to 2005-2010. Our huge industry is increasingly technological requiring major supply and service businesses – the demand is mostly for graduate degrees in agriculture, forestry and environmental science and management. We need to attract and educate the best and brightest.
Ag Census 2012 – Overall message was the larger farms with sales over $1million, representing 4% of the total 2.1 million farms, accounted for 67% of all sales. This farm group has increased from 23% of sales in 1982 and 50% of sales in 2002. Mid-size farms (over $500,000 to $999,999 sales) are “barely holding their own” at 14% and all the rest “account for 92% of farm numbers but only 19% of sales.” Klinefelter, DTN July 24th. Nationally I did note that there were more very small farms (0.1 to 0.9 acres) producing vegetables in 2012 compared with 2007 – 17,176 farms vs 13,426 but total acres were still only 7,511 in 2012. Our vegetables (produced on 4.5 million acres in the US) are grown on just over 72,00 farms but almost half the acreage is on 910 farms each with 1,000 or more acres. Small local farms are geared to supplying the increasing needs of the local food movement – farmers markets, CSAs, farm stands etc.
Pesticides – I am currently involved with colleagues in writing a report on Biopesticides in an attempt to assess the overall situation, current sales and prospects for biopesticides across agriculture in the US. Fascinating topic as the global crop protection companies Syngenta (#1), Bayer (#2) and BASF (#3) have been investing heavily in US and European biopesticide companies recently. Dow (#4) has been focusing on using natural substances to find chemical active ingredients that offer new modes of action. Monsanto (#5) has formed an alliance with a major international industrial biotechnology biopesticide company – Novozymes. At present biopesticides play a very small role in protecting our crops. Biopesticides must be natural substances, chemical or microbial but just because a substance is natural does not mean it is safe – some of the most toxic products are natural. However they are generally safe to the environment and often have a zero interval between application and harvest. They are usually specific and so fit in well with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which is widely used by farmers to take advantage of natural predators and only use pesticides when necessary. There is pressure to reduce use of chemicals, particularly in Europe. US regulators play a role in restricting chemical use but the global food chain is increasingly requiring reduced chemical use. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) takes the opportunity each year with their Annual Dirty Dozen list to confirm in consumers’ minds that pesticides are of major concern. The current big target is the highly successful neonicotinoid insecticides which are used very widely in row crops, produce, floriculture etc. They are toxic to bees but labels clearly state that applications must not be made when bees are visiting flowers. Studies in Europe and the US have shown that there are several reasons why bee populations are down, perhaps the biggest one being the lack of indigenous vegetation to sustain bee populations throughout the year. NGOs are quick to highlight the problems and to try and ban the “offending” products. EWG is now targeting the 10,500 unique ingredients in various personal care products – “the 126 cosmetic ingredients the average American is exposed to daily” according to a survey. Perhaps this new focus will take some of the heat off chemicals. We will still need chemical pesticides – not an either/or situation. We will need all the “tools in the toolbox” including GMOs – more on this topic next month. 7/28/14