Purdue News
Purdue NewsNOTE TO JOURNALISTS: Ag Forum Jan. 21-23 at Purdue will feature programs on land use, farm management, livestock and crops. At the Science Forecast the morning of Jan. 24, Purdue researchers will explain their work. The annual four-day event will conclude with the Ag Alumni Fish Fry at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 24. Journalists are welcome to cover any or all of the events, some of which are highlighted in this roundup. Purdue ag experts say this is a pivotal time for Indiana and American agriculture. The issues surrounding hog production and land use are controversial, and will affect both farmers and consumers. The only question is magnitude. Those two national-quality programs alone will be well worth the trip to Purdue. For more background, contact Chris Sigurdson at Ag Communication Service, (765) 494-8415; e-mail, sig@ecn.purdue.edu
January 10, 1997
Lagoon breaks have sent thousands of gallons of swine waste into streams in North Carolina and Iowa, killing fish, contaminating water and galvanizing the public. A Lutheran minister in Illinois recently asked his suburban congregation to pray for the people living near hog farms. A hog barn under construction in southern Indiana was torched last September. Other producers trying to expand their operations have run into regulatory roadblocks, community opposition and death threats, according to Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service specialists.
That's the backdrop behind a daylong Purdue Ag Forum seminar entitled "Hogs and Humans: Can They Coexist in Indiana?" on Thursday, Jan. 23.
"I believe the answer is 'yes,' but it isn't an unqualified yes," said Don Jones, the seminar coordinator and a Purdue Extension agricultural engineering specialist. "Indiana is fifth in the nation in hog production, and it means a lot to the state economy. It would be foolish to ban agricultural production, but it would also be foolish not to be concerned about pollution. They're both quality-of-life issues for Indiana."
Purdue livestock market economist Chris Hurt said environmental concerns have been one of the significant forces that have shifted hog production away from the Midwest and into the Southwest and North Carolina. While the size of Indiana's breeding herd has remained stable over the last year, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio have decreased the size of their herds by 30,000 head each. Iowa, the top hog-producing state in the country, lost 100,000 head. This happened even though the economic prospects for hog production are the brightest they've been in years, Hurt said.
Most of those states are evaluating their environmental regulations on confined feeding facilities, largely in response to social concerns. "Environmental issues on hog farms have moved from the farm page to the front page," Hurt said.
Over the same period, Kansas, Colorado and Utah increased breeding herd size by 40,000 head, 15,000 head and 21,000 head, respectively. North Carolina breeding herds increased by 110,000, according to Hurt.
In Indiana, Hurt has been working with some independent hog producers who want to form a limited partnership to breed and farrow hogs that each would then raise independently. It's one of the strategies Purdue specialists have been recommending to family farmers who want to compete with large corporate farms by adapting the same technologies. While the group has earned state approval for its plan, community opposition has stopped it.
It's becoming a familiar story in Indiana, Hurt said. Corporate farms simply move on, finding a more welcoming community in Kansas or Texas. Operators of family farms in Indiana, with deep ties to their communities, can find their hands tied when it comes to expansion and growth. Then they start thinking about leaving the hog business, Hurt said.
Jones said the purpose of the seminar is to learn from the experiences of other states and evaluate technology that can reduce odor and dust problems and safeguard water supplies.
The morning session will feature a report on environmental regulations in 16 other states, and presentations on state regulations and pork industry growth by Jake Looney, University of Arkansas School of Law. James Barker, a North Carolina State University agricultural engineer, will speak on the North Carolina environmental crises and the state's response. "Will Environmental Regulations Make Iowa Number Two?" is the title of a talk by Dwayne Bundy, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University.
The afternoon session will look at practical technologies that can be used to control dust and odor problems, a panel discussion about various aspects of right-to-farm philosophies and community conflicts, a discussion of possible new regulations by Brian Daggy, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and an overview of human health concerns and hog farms by Purdue veterinarian Sandy Amass.
"Dr. Amass will look at the health issues that have been raised about hog facilities and tell us which ones are legitimate causes for concern and which ones aren't," Jones said.
The seminar will conclude with a speech by Indiana Lt. Gov. and Commissioner of Agriculture Joseph Kernan entitled "Where Does Indiana Go From Here?"
Jones said this is an Indiana and a national issue. "We need to find answers we all can live with. We can avoid some of the pitfalls by learning from other states, but Indiana will have to craft its own solutions."
The hog production seminar begins at 9 a.m. The 1997 Ag Forum, Jan. 21-23 in Stewart Center at the West Lafayette campus, also will feature programs on land-use management, marketing and risk management, and crop-planning strategies for the coming season. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. each day in Room 206 Stewart Center; the fee is $10 per day or $25 for all three days.
CONTACTS: Jones (765) 494-1178; e-mail; Don_Jones@acn.purdue.edu
Hurt, (765) 494-4273; e-mail, Chris_Hurt@acn.purdue.edu
"What we didn't realize was how big a problem it was going to be," Shaner said. His findings will be reported as part of "Crop Planning Concerns From 1996 Into 1997," a daylong seminar Thursday, Jan. 23, during Purdue's 1997 three-day Ag Forum.
Shaner has documented increases in wheat diseases such as wheat head scab and wheat leaf and glume blotch in the past 20 years. Diplodia ear and stalk rots of corn, first found in the early 1900s, had faded away by the 1960s, only to reappear in the past few years.
Gray leaf spot of corn was never a problem until farmers quit plowing. Now, in a bad year, the disease could cost Indiana farmers $475 million, Shaner said.
"If we want to continue to use reduced tillage, we must get more serious about crop rotation or make greater use of resistant varieties," Shaner said. To get the resistant varieties they need, farmers must understand the disease problems they face and ask for more information from seed dealers.
"They'll need to ask for supporting data to evaluate how resistant a variety or hybrid is," Shaner said.
In addition to Shaner's talk, the Thursday program will run the agronomic gamut, addressing herbicide-tolerant crops, how to use nitrogen efficiently, and how to protect and maintain grain quality. Entomologists also will be on hand to talk about rootworm management and how to handle corn borers given the Bt corn option. Bt corn is genetically engineered to be resistant to the corn borer by producing a naturally occurring insecticide produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis .
A curious and controversial research finding -- that corn kernels lose dry matter as well as moisture during in-field dry-down -- also will get attention during the crop-planning session, as will a demonstration of computerized tools for crop production, pest identification and disease diagnosis. Those attending the all-day crop planning concerns session will qualify to receive four continuing credit units (CCU) in categories 1A and 10, and five certified crop advisors (CCA) credits.
The 1997 Ag Forum, Jan. 21-23 in Stewart Center at the West Lafayette campus, also will feature programs on land-use management, farm-management strategies tailored to today's tricky economy, and the future of the Indiana hog industry in the face of environmental complaints. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. each day in Room 206 Stewart Center; the fee is $10 per day or $25 for all three days.
CONTACT: Shaner, (765) 494-4651; e-mail, shaner@btny.purdue.edu
"Management Strategies for Today's Economic Environment" will feature The WILL-580 Commodity Outlook Panel, hosted by farm broadcaster Charles Lindy with marketing consultants Dan Zwicker of Zwicker Consulting, Doug Yoder of Strategic Farm Marketing and Dale Durcholz of AgriVisor, and Purdue agricultural economist Chris Hurt. The panel will analyze the most recent grain-stocks report and offer suggestions for marketing last year's commodities.
Risk and uncertainty also will be the focus of the other components of the seminar, according to Hurt. The absence of government price stabilization programs under the new Farm Bill means more volatility in prices with the potential for greater swings between high and low crop prices. This means producers will have to pay more attention to market forces and take some measures to reduce their vulnerability to variables such as prices and weather, Hurt said.
Hurt said this session, in a departure from previous Ag Forum marketing seminars, will use complex computer models to project probabilities of what 1997 prices and yields could be for nine areas of the state.
"The question we'll answer is 'What are the odds you will make money in 1997?'" Hurt said. Purdue ag economists will evaluate common farming scenarios in Indiana and project revenues per acre based on a representative corn and soybean farm from each of the nine crop-reporting districts. The intention is to show farmers what they can expect under different lease, price and yield outcomes, he said.
The afternoon program will look at risk management tools producers can use to reduce uncertainty. Purdue agricultural economists George Patrick, Alan Miller, Craig Dobbins and Hurt will cover preferred land lease arrangements, crop insurance, and price and marketing strategies to protect against low prices or unfavorable weather. Strategies and timing become key, Hurt said.
"In exchange for less uncertainty, there is a cost," Hurt said. "How you use the tools and which tools you use are based more on personal factors such as risk tolerance and finances."
The seminar will wrap up with a panel discussion of when to use the tools and at what level. John Zanker, AgriSource Inc.; Bob Halderman, Farm Management Inc.; Robert Ax, First Source Bank of Starke County; and Purdue agricultural economist Mike Boehlje will talk about farm management and financial strategies that may be needed to weather the '97 growing season.
The 1997 Ag Forum, Jan. 21-23 in Stewart Center at the West Lafayette campus, also will feature programs on land-use management, the future of the Indiana hog industry in the face of environmental complaints, and crop-planning concerns for the coming season. Registration for all sessions will begin at 8:30 a.m. each day in Room 206 Stewart Center. A fee of $10 per day or $25 for all three days will be charged at registration to cover refreshments and materials.
CONTACT: Hurt, (765) 494-4273; e-mail, Chris_Hurt@acn.purdue.edu
The Ag Forum is three days of programs on land-use management, farm-management strategies, the future of the Indiana hog industry in the face of environmental complaints, and crop-planning concerns for the coming season. Then comes the annual Science Forecast and the Purdue Ag Fish Fry.
The 1997 Science Forecast is a showcase of recent research in the School of Agriculture. It begins at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 24 in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall. Refreshments will be available at 8:30 a.m. There is no charge to attend.
The forecast will include displays on research that may lead to better fat substitutes, safer basketball floors, raw eggs that are free of salmonella, and novel products from crops. Agricultural researchers will be on hand to discuss their work and how those studies will apply to people.
Following the Science Forecast, the excitement and style of Las Vegas will light up the Purdue Armory when the Purdue Ag Fish Fry hits the stage. This year's extravaganza is called "Showtime at the Fish Fry: A Little Bit of Vegas and a Whole Lot of Carp."
Wondering about the mood at the fish fry? "We changed the name from 'A Little Bit of Vegas and a Whole Lot of Fish' to 'A Whole Lot of Carp' because we thought it was funnier," said Donya Lester, executive secretary of the Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association, the organization that hosts the fish fry.
"No fish fry would be complete without plenty of spoof, satire and general tomfoolery," Lester said. "Our Vegas-style revue will also have the color, music and pageantry for which the fish fry is known. And, of course, every Vegas show needs an Elvis or two."
Fish fry tickets are $12 and must be purchased in advance. The tickets are available at county Extension offices or by calling the Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association (765) 494-8593.
CONTACT: Lester, (765) 494-8593; e-mail, dcl@admin.agad.purdue.edu
cs/agforumroundup/9701f10
Compiled by Chris Sigurdson, (765) 494-8415; Internet, sig@ecn.purdue.edu
