MANAGING FOR LEAN TIMES

When Travis and Dana Dagman moved home in 2011 to take over the family farm near Enderlin, North Dakota, crop prices were high and profit margins were wide. 

“When we first started out, it was hard to set up a profit-and-loss projection that didn’t look profitable,” says Travis. “It was easy to make money then. At today’s low prices, it’s gotten to be a challenge to make a profit-and-loss projection work out on the positive side.”

As beginning farmers with limited available capital at their start-up, the Dagmans fortunately avoided incurring heavy debt for purchasing land and new equipment. Now, with today’s marginal to nonexistent profit margins, they don’t have big debt payments to service.

Like other farmers, they do have high operating costs to manage while producing their crops of spring wheat, winter wheat, barley, soybeans, and corn. “Limiting our production expenses is a critical way we’ve tried to make our profit projections come out on the positive side,” says Travis.

Following are the management tactics the Dagmans are using to trim down expenses or to increase economic efficiencies on their 2,500-acre farm:

• Limit custom hiring of services. “We’ve tried to eliminate a lot of hiring of custom services and custom use of machinery,” says Travis. “For instance, by buying a sprayer, we’ve been able to apply herbicide ourselves.
  We don’t have to pay $7 or $8 an acre for custom spraying. By investing in good, used equipment to do the work, we get equity back for the money we spend.” The same goes for fertilizer applications. When split-applying nitrogen to corn, for example, Dana does the work with a John Deere 4440 tractor pulling a narrow-track fertilizer spreader. “The old tractor is nimble, and it’s easy to drive inside the corn rows,” Travis says.
• Shop for reasonably priced chemical. By applying their own herbicide, the Dagmans are able to shop around for effective products more reasonably priced than name-brand chemicals. Price differences can amount to a savings of as much as $5 an acre or more.
• Be cautious of add-on products. “It seems like some company is always coming along selling an add-on product that it claims will add 2 to 5 bushels per acre in yield, for instance,” says Travis. “There’s a slew of these products out there, and it’s easy to get caught up in their claims. They may cost $10 an acre, but their effectiveness is not necessarily proven.” Before buying a product unfamiliar to them, the Dagmans do their own research. “I won’t buy any new product unless I can find a respected university study that has proven its effectiveness,” says Travis.

• Make conservative nitrogen applications. The Dagmans shoot for a modest yield goal when purchasing and applying N. In corn, for instance, they aim for a 160-bushel average yield, which reflects their realistic appraisal of yield potential based on soil type, historic annual precipitation, and other growing conditions on their farm. By split-applying modest amounts of N, they hope to get the most effective use of N. “We hope to reduce our potential fertilizer losses due to weather conditions,” says Travis. “If we happen to get a lot of rain, the excess rain can push the N down below the roots or lead to the loss of the N through runoff and evaporation.”
• Provide their own labor. Aside from capable part-time help when needed from a retired individual, the Dagmans provide all their own labor. Travis works full time on the farm in spring, summer, and fall. Dana flexes in and out of farm tasks while she also cares full time for their three sons. “The farm is our bread and butter,” says Travis. “When everybody pitches in, it goes a long way in making things more efficient and helping to save some money.”
• Expand grain storage. By expanding their grain-storage facilities, the Dagmans have increased profit potential by marketing crops at times of the year when prices tend to be strongest.
  “The extra storage also helps to cut down on our harvest workload,” says Travis. “When everyone is combining, the truck lines are long at the elevators. If we hauled all of our crops to town and waited in line, we’d probably need another truck and another driver.”
• Control family living costs. A cost-savings benefit to the young Dagmans is their opportunity to live rent-free in the farm home of Travis’ parents, who have moved away from the farm.
  “Not having a house payment is helpful, and we do look after the house and the yard, which my parents appreciate,” says Travis. 
  “Dana and I are on the same page when it comes to spending money. We’ve saved money, for instance, by spending very little on recreation. We have no boat, no motorcycle, no lake home, and when we do take a vacation, it’s a modest one. The savings lets us direct more of our money into the farming operation,” he says.
  The Dagmans draw relaxation and enjoyment from their joint participation in farm-advocacy groups such as Farm Bureau and the North Dakota Soybean Council.
  Despite the lean times facing all farmers, they’re glad they exchanged high-paying jobs and city life for their present life on the farm.
  “It appealed to us to raise our kids on a farm and in a small town,” says Travis. “We both wanted to get involved in work that was more fulfilling. We’re working together at building our dream. Because of that, our farm life is bigger than just a job. That’s what makes it fun.”

MOST COSTS FALL INTO FOUR AREAS

While price and production are big players in profitability, cost-cutting strategies play a big role, too.

“Costs are a little more under our control than are price and weather,” says Travis’ father, Virgil Dagman, who is also a longtime farmer and instructor for North Dakota Farm Management (NDFM).

Shaving spending from one of the four major areas of production expense can save a significant amount. 

“The four biggest groups of expenses account for 50% to 55% of total expenses,” says Virgil who analyzes financial records for NDFM participants. The four largest cost categories are land rent, seed, fertilizer, and chemical. 

“Shaving 10% off one of these areas of costs would save more money than shaving costs off some other, lesser areas of expense,” says Virgil.

“What works for one farm may not work for another,” he adds. “Every farm is different; every situation is different.”

DRY WEATHER SPEEDS UP SOYBEAN HARVEST IN BRAZIL

Long queues of trucks loaded with soybeans have been forming in front of elevators in the heart of Brazil's grain belt this week, a sure sign the harvest is speeding up and will soon pour an expected record volume of the oilseed into the market.

Brazil, the world's largest soybean exporter, started harvesting its 2016/17 crop around Christmas, earlier than in previous seasons. Planting started in late September, earlier than usual, on the back of excellent wet weather conditions.

Still, the dry weather that now boosts harvesting conditions in mature fields also raises concerns among farmers about yields in areas where pods are still developing.

"We have favorable weather for harvest ... but fields sowed later are now suffering with insufficient rains," said Gladir Tomazelli, head of local farmers association in Campo Verde, in the state of Mato Grosso.

Some farms have not gotten a single drop of rain in two weeks, he said.

Any eventual loss is not yet factored into current crop forecasts, though.

Earlier this week, Brazil's official crop agency Conab estimated national soybean production at a record 103.8 million tonnes, up 1.3 million tonnes from the December report, mostly supported by ideal conditions around the country. Mato Grosso's forecast increased by about 150,000 tonnes.

So far, the 2016/17 crop is in much better shape than 2015/16, when irregular rains influenced by the El Niño phenomenon frustrated an expected harvest of more than 100 million tonnes.

In the end, production was 95.4 million tonnes.

In Sorriso, Brazil's largest soybean county, located in northern Mato Grosso, dry and hot weather is also helping farmers to expedite harvest.

"There is a lot of work going on ... Some fields were supposed to be harvested only next week, but the sun accelerated the drying process," farmer Laércio Lenz told Reuters on the phone from inside his combine as he harvested on his farm.

Rains forecast for next week are helping to ease some farmers' concerns.

The weather forecasting firm Somar Meteorologia said Wednesday that precipitation will return to Mato Grosso next week, especially in the center and northern areas of the state.

Intermittent showers are expected, which should allow the soil to keep its moisture but quickly dry enough to allow harvesting to continue. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)

FG INAUGURATES AGRIC, NUTRITION INTER-MINISTERIAL WORKING GROUP

The Federal Government through the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh on Thursday inaugurated the Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Agriculture and Nutrition.

Chief Ogbeh at the inauguration stressed the need for improved agriculture and nutrition, saying” food is the best medicine but can also be the worst poison”

According to Chief Ogbeh, ” We also have to deal with the issue of self poison, so it’s important to know what to eat otherwise,we simply ingest poison”.

The Minister further  decried the situation where children have no access to milk,beaf, Chicken and basic proteins, Adding that “when they lack this,it means there is a problem.”

Chief Ogbeh stressed that “The assignment before Group   is a very serious one,noting that the best time to develop a child’s brain is between ages of 1-5 so as not to have mentally stunted children.

He maintained that now that we are attaining self sufficiency in rice, we should adopt the Japan model and not be growing rice from the same parcel of the land.”if we do we will be increasing the arsenic in crop which is harmful to humans.”

Presenting the Group to the Minister earlier, Director of Agriculture in the Ministry, Dr Amin Mohammed Babandi said “Members of the committee are culled from Ministries of Water Resources, Health, Education, Budget and National Planning, Women Affairs, Environment respectively as well as from Development Partners, Agencies and the Nigeria Agribusiness group.”

The  major objective of the Working Group is to increase and sustain the availability, access, affordability and consumption of nutritious and diverse foods among vulnerable groups in Nigeria to reduce stunting, micro nutrients deficiencies , over weight and obesity” he said.

He added that “It is expected that the activities of the group will lead to the implementation of programmes that would result and  improve access to foods through improved processing,storage and preservation along the food value chain.”

The objectives would further “Diversify household for food production resulting in the consumption of adequate diets and nutrition,increase the resilience and social protection of the Working Group, context appropriate nutrition research and adequate and appropriate nutrition information and surveillance systems,improve capacity within government to address food and nutrition, security problems and establishment of sustainable nutrition and evaluation systems in Nigeria” he said

SWAS 2016 Fallout: Ambode to lead charge for regional Agric integration

Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode has expressed readiness to integrate the six States in the South West region into its the food security drive with a view to addressing the demand and supply deficit for the overall benefit of the people.

The Governor expressed the need for a South Western inter-state cooporation in Agriculture during the courtesy visit by the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II at Lagos House, Ikeja.

Ambode revealed that his Government joined the Oodua Investment Group in addition to the acquisition of land in Ogun and Oyo States for agricultural purposes, as part of efforts to scale up the economic integration of the South West States as well as the cultural heritage of the region.

“I believe strongly that the test case of what we are trying to do about food security in Lagos State is just more or less like an elixir for what it should be across the western region and on that note, we want to say that we have already acquired land in Ogun and Oyo States but what is imperative for us to move forward now is that we would integrate all other Southwestern States into the food security mechanism of demand and supply for us to move forward,” he said.

Speaking further “Everything Ooni has said on food security is in consonance with our belief and we believe that if we move forward, Nigeria will also move foward. The future is brighter as we see it and we will not relent to ensure that our traditional values and culture are enhanced further than what it is presently.”

Meanwhile, Oba Ogunwunsi who had paid a visit to identify with the developmental achievements of Governor Ambode and to seek ways of partnership especially in the area of food security also commended the Governor’s agenda.

Speaking on partnership on food security, the monarch said it was important for the South West States to explore partnership for the benefit of its people.

According to him “We can partner in respect of food security. In Osun State, we have land for agriculture and same in Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti States”.

He also affirmed that the various states of the South West could achieve great success through the integration.

“You will not believe that 80 per cent of all the products from those farmlands are wasted; it is only about 20 per cent that get to the metropolis of Lagos for consumption. Now imagine, if we can just synchronise and work together on how to take food security to another level,” the Ooni said.

In a related development, stakeholders in the agricultural sector have lauded the plans of the Lagos State Government for regional integration into its food security drive, noting that it rides on the crest wave of the South West Agric Summit (SWAS 2016) – a regional Agriculture Summit that held in October 2016, in the ancient city of Ibadan. 

The theme of SWAS 2016 which was tagged; “Achieving an Agro-Powered Regional Economy”, had witnessed the attendance of stakeholders from both the public and private sectors who had unanimously agreed on the need to chart a new course of collaboration, in pursuance of a collective effort for agricultural development in the region and the country at large.

AgroNigeria recalls that the Chief Executive Officer, Foremost Development Service Limited, Fatai Afolabi, had canvassed for a regional approach to food production which was also accepted by the forum.

NSCDC apprehends 7 suspects for Soyabeans theft in Taraba

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Taraba on Wednesday arrested seven suspects for stealing 36 bags of Soyabeans in various communities in Gassol Council Area of the State.

The suspects are: Osama Adama,33, Mohammed Inusa, 35, Sani Dabo, 40, Danjuma Suleiman, 30, Mukawo Abdullahi, 28, Laulo Sale,27, and Abdulkadir Umar,68.

The State Commandant of the Corps, Mr Kamilu Isah, told newsmen in Jalingo, the state capital, that the suspects were arrested after the body received an intelligence report.

According to Isah, the syndicate specialises in threatening farmers with attacks in the aim of making the farmers desert their farms in fear so that they can steal the produce therein.

He identified Umar as the buyer of the bags of Soyabeans which were stolen from Nanguru, Kurukuru, Burnun ,Maigamu and Oga villages in the area.

He said investigation revealed that Umar bought the bags of the Soyabeans at the rate of N369,000.

“These men have continuously caused crisis in the state by attacking Tiv communities during harvest season just to drive the farmers away and steal their produce.

“Needless to mention that so many people have died as a result of their activities and a lot of destruction done,” he said.

Isah said the command got wind of their tactics and extended its surveillance to the remote areas where they were arrested.

He called on the Taraba State government to constitute and empower a joint task force to patrol the hinterlands to curb the menace.

Mr Aondoakura Agim, one of the affected framers, commended the efforts of the NSCDC, urging other security operatives to also extend their surveillance to the rural areas.