Robert Pore's Ag Blog

Nebraska habitat got a big lift last year as state Pheasant Forever chapters put in more than $3 million in habitat projects and youth education efforts.

According to Pete Berthelsen, PF's senior field coordinator, said it was the first time PF surpassed the $3 million mark in the state and represents a 14 percent increase over last year's $2.6 million total. It represents a 152 percent rise since the beginning of the decade.

The total represents the spending of the state's 60 PF chapters, 3 Quail Forever (QF) chapters, and statewide partnership projects.

State PF chapters gathered in Grand Island last weekend for its annual habitat meeting and banquet.

Berthelsen said that Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapter volunteers across the state should be proud of this historic accomplishment.

“Their habitat and conservation work locally is literally changing the landscape across the entire state," he said.

Berthelsen said Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Farm Service Agency, and many more organizations helped to achieve its goal.

Pheasants Forever has over 30 Nebraska partnership programs in place.
Following, are some of the highlights of those partnerships:
‰Focus on Pheasants – program focused on improving nesting cover on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields.

‰CRP-Management Access Program (MAP) – program to improve habitat and provide public access on 180,000 acres of CRP annually.

‰Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program – Pheasants Forever administers Nebraska’s CREP incentive payments, focusing on the water quality and wildlife habitat of the Central Nebraska Basin.

‰Youth Mentor Hunt Program – program to provide youth, with a high level of interest but limited opportunity, a chance to go hunting in a mentored environment.

‰Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist Partnership – program that places wildlife biologists in local USDA office to help landowners enroll in a variety of conservation programs.
‰Corners for Wildlife – program to establish permanent wildlife habitat on center pivot irrigation field corners.

Labels: Ag News: Rural events

AURORA — Aurora Coop and Giltner West LLC announced earlier this week that they have agreed to develop a new agri-business site near Giltner.

The new agri-business site will be 2.5 miles west of Giltner. The site will offer area agriculture producers contemporary grain-handling facilities, an automated fueling station, and an agronomy center to serve the needs of area producers in the Hamilton, Adams, Clay, and Hall Counties.

“With the Aurora Cooperative's Aurora West project firmly on schedule, our commitment to source feedstocks for the Aventine 220 ethanol plant is a priority,” said said George Hohwieler, President and CEO of Aurora Cooperative.

He said the Giltner West LLC endeavor is one of several projects Aurora Coop will be developing in its trade area to deliver our patrons' grain to the end-user in a proactive manner.

“We look forward to a great relationship with Giltner West's owners, Dan and Pam Hastings, and anticipate a great response from area producers as new markets, products, and services are brought to the area,” Hohwieler said.

Ownership of the grain handling facility will be Giltner West's; however, the Aurora Cooperative will be the exclusive grain purveyor within the new grain facility, and will own and operate the agronomy and petroleum facilities on the site.

“Giltner West will offer local grain producers an exciting, contemporary facility to market their grain products under the direction of this area's premier agri-business, the Aurora Cooperative,” said Dan Hastings, owner of Giltner West, LLC. “It is so important to Pam and me that the quad-county area be offered new marketing opportunities for their grain products. Giltner West begins this process.”

Giltner West is planned to be commercially-operational by June 1, 2007, in time to serve this summer's wheat harvest.

Additional expansion of the grain facility will be completed for the fall 2007 soybean and corn harvest. Aurora Cooperative's agronomy and petroleum site will be developed throughout the spring and summer of 2007.

Labels: Ag News: Agri-business

Food Check-Out Week, with its theme “Celebrating Safe, Abundant, Affordable Food” is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Food Check-Out Week will be celebrated Feb. 4-10. The American Farm Bureau Federation event commemorate the time of year when most Americans have earned enough disposable income to pay for all the food they eat, both at home and away from home, for the entire year.

According to Farm Bureau, American consumers, on average, pay less of their incomes for food than citizens of any other country in the world.
Americans spend just under 10 percent of their disposable income on food, according to Agriculture Department statistics.

“This means it takes only about 36 days or five weeks for most Americans to earn enough money to buy their groceries for the entire year,” said Terry Gilbert, chair of the American Farm Bureau Women's Leadership Committee.

She said the percentage of disposable personal income spent for food in the United States has declined over the last 37 years, due to increased standards of living.
“The last time Americans used 12 percent or more of their disposable income to purchase food was in 1983,” Gilbert said.

In 1984, she said, the average dropped to slightly less than 12 percent, and it has steadily declined since then. For the past 10 years, Americans have spent an average of less than 10 percent of their disposable income on food.

“USDA research shows that food is more affordable in the U.S. today due to a widening gap between growth in incomes and the amount of money spent for food,” Gilbert said.
She said the decrease in percentage of income used for food purchases is especially interesting when considering Americans buy more expensive convenience food items for preparation at home, as well as more food away from home.

“When you consider the average price increases that Americans have absorbed for vehicles, gasoline and other consumer products over the past 20 years, the cost of food really does seem like a bargain” Gilbert said.

Labels: Ag News: Agri-business