Iowa Livestock Insider – January 2018

01-12-2018 in Through The Gate

Glenister Joins Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers

Meet the newest staff member of the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers, Gabby Glenister. Glenister grew up on a diversified crop and livestock farm near Pulaski, New York. She is a graduate of Iowa State University and most recently worked for Sullivan Supply in Dunlap. As Assistant Field Specialist, she will communicate the Coalition’s mission and services by sharing the success stories of Iowa’s farm families who have grown their livestock farms successfully and responsibly using on-farm best management practices.

Read the full news release,

January 17 – Farming for the Future Conference

The Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers thirteenth annual Farming for the Future Conference will be held on January 17 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Quality Inn and Suites in Ames.

This year’s conference, themed “Financing Your Livestock Farm,” features a dynamic line-up of speakers who will help livestock farmers understand the financial programs available to them, provide strategies on ways to manage risk, provide insight on the financing and leasing programs available and how the lending process works. There will also be two expert panels – one that will discuss the opportunities available in forming partnerships to raise livestock and the other will answer your questions about financing and the lending process.

Registration and a complete agenda are available at www.supportfarmers.com/conference.

Happy New Year!

This year, the Coalition has 2018 wall calendars available for Iowa farm families that highlight the 2017 Gary Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award winners. If you’d like one for your home or office, please email bwaddingham@supportfarmers.com.

Mark Your Calendar: Upcoming Events

CSIF Available to Answer Questions During Iowa Pork Congress

The Coalition will have a booth at Iowa Pork Congress January 24 and 25. The tradeshow is held in the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. CSIF’s booth, #1510, is located next to the Pork Information Plaza in Exhibit Hall A. Stop by our booth and say hello! And if you have questions about putting up a new livestock facility, expanding a site, passing a DNR inspection, or planting trees, we’re more than happy to help. Hope to see you there!

Also During Iowa Pork Congress

Two workshops that will be offered may be of particular interest to pork producers. The first is an EMMP Update from Iowa DNR. The second workshop is the Confinement Site Manure Applicator certification. For more information about the Iowa Pork Congress visit  http://www.iowaporkcongress. org.

Kerns Family Good Farm Neighbor Award – January 24

The Kerns family of Clearfield, Iowa will be awarded the Wergin Good Farm Neighbor award on Wednesday, January 24 at Iowa Pork Congress. Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, will present the award to the family at the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers event booth #1507.

The “Big Show,” which airs on both WHO and WMT radio, will broadcast live from the presentation from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Good Farm Neighbor Award Call for Nominations

The Wergin Good Farm Neighbor award recognizes Iowa livestock farmers who take pride in doing things right. To celebrate responsible livestock farming, the Coalition is announcing a call for Good Farm Neighbor award nominations through March 1, 2018.

Support CSIF in honoring Iowa’s dedicated farm families with this prestigious award by visiting www.supportfarmers.com/goodfarmneighbor. Nominees should demonstrate outstanding environmental stewardship, animal husbandry and community service.

CSIF 2017 Annual Report Available Online

2017 was another busy year for the Coalition in providing assistance to Iowa’s farm families. Although there were some challenges along the way, there were also many opportunities within the livestock industry. We owe a big “thank you” to Iowa’s commodity groups for their generous support which allowed us to provide free and confidential assistance to livestock farmers to help them make responsible decisions about their farms. Over the last thirteen years the Coalition has become a trusted partner of Iowa’s livestock industry and its farmers.

During the 2017 fiscal year, the Coalition provided on-farm consultations to 189 farm families. The Coalition received 372 new requests for assistance, and facilitated 418 requests for continued support, whether it was answering questions over the phone or providing an on-farm consultation. Since the Coalition’s launch thirteen years ago, the organization has helped more than 4,100 livestock and poultry farm families successfully and responsibly grow their farms.

For more information and to access the 2017 CSIF Annual Report, click here.

Rules & Regs Highlight

Now is the Time to Prepare for Spring Inspections

Winter has certainly arrived in our state and with it has come some challenges – particularly for cattlemen and dairy producers. Snowfall followed by sub-zero temperatures has led to some potential issues on farms all across Iowa. Now would be a good time to take a look at your farm and check for any potential runoff concerns when warmer temperatures return. In addition to potential runoff off from your feedlot, be sure to look at your manure stockpiles, feed storage areas, compost areas and silage bunker. Another item to pay close attention to is your winter feeding areas. These include areas where cattle are wintered on corn stalks or other crop residue that have the potential for manure discharges that reach a water source. The amount of crop residue remaining on the field will need to be looked at to determine if it is a “feedlot” or “winter feeding area.”

Please give the Coalition a call if you would like someone to stop out and make certain that your farm would pass a DNR or EPA inspection. The visit is free and completely confidential. For more information, call the Coalition at 1-800-932-2436.

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