7 Ways to Keep Pork Moving

Hog markets have dropped to unprofitable levels for many producers this fall. “This is a challenging time for agriculture and especially for our producers,” says Jan Archer, National Pork Board (NPB) president and a pork producer from Goldsboro, North Carolina. “Our goal is to help producers during this time and provide consumers with a great value and quality pork.”

Archer shared a few of the things the NPB, using Pork Checkoff funds, is doing to keep pork moving and help producers.

1) Partnering with major grocery retailers.

This fall the NPB is working with the top 10 U.S. grocery retailers, including a holiday promotion for Walmart with on-pack recipe labels, digital marketing, email blasts, and in-store pork promotions. Costco had an October “Porktober” promotion, consisted of in-store pork product demos, instant rebate coupons on featured pork cuts, and advertising in the Costco Connection member magazine. Kroger is driving pork loin, shoulder, and ham sales for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The program includes radio and digital ads and in-store events.

2) Focusing on foodservice.
NPB is working with high-volume restaurants to present a clear message around the opportunity pork presents through versatility, profitability, availability, and customer appeal. To reach the industry at large, the foodservice team will launch a print and digital brand campaign with custom ads from February through May 2017.

3) Keeping pork top of mind via digital marketing and PR.
During the holidays, the Pork Checkoff is encouraging consumers to make every moment – big or small – one worth celebrating. The Make it a Moment campaign is helping pork stand out from the typical holiday messages. "Using social media technology, we connect social media users with great-tasting pork recipes to match their meal plans," says Archer. When people visit the Pork Be inspired Facebook page, they can open Facebook Messenger to help find the right recipe.

4) Maximizing multicultural marketing.
The NPB is promoting budget-friendly pork and building on the success of summer’s Grill For It campaign, which incorporated a Spanish-language component. New promotions showcase the Make it a Moment campaign and feature our Spanish-language site, including new 1-minute videos to help consumers become more comfortable with cooking pork.

 5) Inspiring new trends.
To help bolster pork sales, the Pork Checkoff is working with retail partners to encourage consumers to broaden their options. Along with ham, NPB is promoting pork roast as a holiday meal.

6) Promoting U.S. pork exports.
While the high value of the U.S. dollar and competition from other countries in key export markets has curbed U.S. pork export demand, there are positive signs on the horizon, says Archer. “About 25% of U.S. pork production goes overseas, and we need to keep moving product to keep producers profitable.” Mexico, China, Japan, Korea and Canada are pork’s big five buyers, and the Pork Checkoff, through the U.S. Meat Export Federation, continues to invest in pork promotions overseas.

7) Reaching online consumers.
As consumers search for recipes online for meal planning, the Pork Checkoff’s online ads are reminding them about pork’s great taste and value, says Archer. They are also working directly with food bloggers on PorkBeInspired.com.

“Together, we can get through this time,” says Archer. “Pork producers are resilient. We’ve faced challenges before. We want to help our producers in any way we can.”

Oliver’s Super Dupers

By the mid-1950s, the writing was on the wall for agriculture. Farmers, particularly those living in the West and Midwest, wanted more horsepower from their tractors.

Looking to expand its market share, Oliver responded to that call with a new generation of machines that set horsepower standards that the tractor industry would follow for the next decade. Leading Oliver’s charge was the Super 99, introduced in 1954.

Beefy in appearance and big by any measure of the day, the Oliver Super 99 was sold with a choice of either gas or diesel engines. It was the diesel power plant and, in particular, a special model hosting a General Motors two-cycle engine that caught everyone’s eye at the time.

The 70-hp. barrier

The Super 99 GM turned out a whopping rated 71½ hp. at its belt. Under a drawbar load, the tractor generated 58½ hp., which justified its rating as a five- to six-bottom plow tractor.

The heart of this beast was a three-cylinder diesel with a relatively small displacement considering its horsepower output. The engine’s three cylinders (with a 4¼×5-inch bore-and-stroke per cylinder) combined for a displacement of 213 inches. This compares with 302 cubic inches in the six-cylinder diesel powering the regular Super 99.

This was a two-cycle engine that ran at a rated 1,675 rpm. Although it had just three cylinders, the engine developed as many power strokes as the regular diesel. Due to a supercharger that forced air into the cylinders during the beginning of the intake and compression strokes, the GM diesel developed more horsepower than a comparable-size six-cylinder diesel.

Power for the regular Oliver 99 came from an Oliver-Waukesha-built six-cylinder diesel with 65-belt hp. Both Super 99s were equipped with a six-speed transmission, independent PTO, belt pulley, and hydraulic system. Although both tractors were dressed in the same styling, the Super 99 GM hosted twin air stacks and a singular supercharger protruding from its engine that lent it a distinctive look in the field.

undisputed king of horsepower

By today’s standards, the Oliver 99s seem piddling, power wise. In the 1950s, however, rarely did wheeled tractors produce more than 60 hp. The only competition for the regular Super 99 diesel (on a rated belt horsepower basis) was International Harvester’s 57-hp. McCormick Super WD-9, John Deere’s 57½-hp. 80 diesel, and Minneapolis-Moline’s 56-hp. GB diesel.

The Super 99 GM stood alone as the undisputed king of farm horsepower, overshadowed only by the massive construction crawlers of that time.

source: successful farming

3 Big Things Today, January 28

Soybeans Lower in Overnight Trading; Money Managers Most Bullish HRW Since June 2014. 

1. Soybeans Decline as Weather Improves in Argentina

Soybeans were lower in overnight trading as less precipitation in Argentina will likely allow growers to finish planting in the world’s third-largest producer of the oilseeds.

Showers will continue in eastern parts of the South American country for the next six to 10 days, but “continued drier weather in central areas this week will allow wetness there to ease further,” said Donald Keeney, a senior ag meteorologist at MDA Information Services.

Excessive rainfall has kept planting behind its normal pace in Argentina. Growers should be able to seed fields they were unable to plant due to the wet weather.

Corn and Kansas City wheat also were lower, while Chicago wheat was little changed.

Soybean futures for March delivery fell 8¢ to $10.59½ a bushel overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soy meal futures lost $3.50 to $345.20 a short ton, and soy oil declined 0.04¢ to 35.11¢ a pound.
Corn futures fell a penny to $3.68¾ a bushel overnight.

Wheat for March delivery ¼¢ to $4.28 a bushel in Chicago, while Kansas City futures dropped 2½¢ to $4.40½ a bushel.
**

2. Money Managers Push Hard Red Winter Net Longs to Highest Since June 2014

Money managers continue to get more bullish on hard red winter wheat grown in the Southern Plains, pushing their net-long positions to the highest level in more than two years.

Speculators were net-long 26,451 hard red winter wheat contracts last week, the biggest such position since June 2014, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The bullishness in hard red winter contracts comes as growers slash acres. Overall winter wheat area dropped 10% to 32.4 million acres during planting last year, the Department of Agriculture said in a report earlier this month, the second-lowest ever and the least since 1909.

Sowing of hard red winter wheat, used to make bread and highly sought by overseas buyers, declined by 12%, and soft red winter seeding fell 5.6%, according to the USDA. Growers in Nebraska and Utah planted record-low amounts of wheat, the agency said.

Money managers were actually more bearish soft red winter wheat last week, though only slightly. The number of net-short positions, or bets against higher prices, rose to 97,245 contracts from 96,583 the prior week, according to the CFTC. 
**

3. Winter Storm Watch Goes Into Effect Early Tuesday as Snow, Wind Expected

A winter storm watch will take effect starting early Tuesday for much of northern Nebraska, southern South Dakota, southern Minnesota, and northern Iowa.

The storm is expected to move into the region overnight, bringing as much as 8 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. There is a potential for higher amounts in some areas, the agency said.

Winds also may be a problem, as gusts up to 30 mph are forecast. The storm will make driving difficult as roads will become snowpacked quickly, the NWS said.  

source: successful farming

Do you know the largest grown crop in Africa?

If you do, then are you conversant with the different uses of this crop?

 

If you are still thinking of the answers to the above questions, this piece will take the burden off you.
CASSAVA is the largest grown crop in Africa, Nigeria precisely. The use of cassava is generally classified into two – Culinary and Industrial.

Culinary Use

The boiled root tastes similar to potato and is a great side for meat
dishes or in soups. Cassava is handled similarly to potatoes, meaning
they are eaten as mash, fried or boiled.

Mashing up cassava to make fufu

Cassava “mash”, fufu, is widely consumed by pounding and sieving
cassava to make flour which is then stirred in hot water. This is a
particularly popular food in Nigeria, Ghana and the Democratic
Republic of Congo.

African Dish “fufu” with vegetable sauce "egusi soap"

Cassava is used to make garri, a kind of cassava porridge, which is a
white flour made from fermented cassava tubers. The flour can be added
to cold water and milk and seasoned to taste.

Women processing cassava to make garri

Garri, made from cassava

Cassava can be fried and offered as “yuca frita” as a side dish (a chicken soup).

Carimañola is a Panamanian dish that is a stuffed cassava fritter.
It is normally stuffed with cheese, meat or chicken and then fried.

Cassava is used in the form of tapioca which is a flavorless, starchy ingredient used as a thickening agent in foods. It is gluten-free and therefore used in many gluten-free foods. Tapioca is also used to make tapioca pudding and used to make gluten-free bread. Tapioca is also a main ingredient in the popular Bubble Tea, a Taiwanese Drink that has a tea base and includes tapioca pearls.

Industrial Use

Cassava pellets is used as animal feeds. It provides a lot of calories
to animals.

Cassava Pellets

Cassava when fermented and distilled produces Ethanol. Ethanol can be
mixed with petrol or used on its own as a transport fuel. It can also
be used as a base for alcoholic beverages. Lastly, ethanol can be
utilized as industrial alcohol which is important in the
pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.
Cassava Flour is gluten-free and can be used as a substitute for wheat flour.
Starch can be extracted from cassava roots used by the food industry
to form products sold in small packages for household cooking, but
also used by the paper and textile industry, as well as an adhesive in
glass, mineral wool and clay.

Cassava Flour

Thought for a new week: How adequately do you think cassava is being utilized in Africa.

Anchor Borrowers Scheme: 16,000 farmers to participate in Bauchi

About 16, 000 farmers in Bauchi State have been selected to participate in the state’s Anchor Borrowers Programme for the 2017 rice production scheme.

The Consultant to the state government on the programme, Dr. Nura AbdulMalik who disclosed this while addressing journalists at the state capital said the 16,000 were selected out of 25,000 who registered for the programme.

According to him, “we have verified 16,000 farmers to take part in the programme and each of them is expected to cultivate one hectare of rice farm”.

Speaking on the selection process, he informed that the state government targeted 30, 000 farmers but only 25, 000 registered. However during the verification, they discovered that some of the farmers could not meet the scheme’s requirements.

“Some of them are not real practicing farmers; some did not own farmlands while the farmland of some of them are not suitable for irrigated agriculture” he explained.

AbdulMalik said the selected farmers were currently undergoing training on the best agronomic practices across all the 20 local government areas in the state.

He however urged farmers to be fully involved in the training adding that the banks would not give loan to farmers who failed to participate in the ongoing training in local government areas of the state.