Now may be a Good Time to Check Your Farm Return on Investment (ROI)

 The concept and calculation of return on investment (ROI) is pretty simple. It can be measured as net income divided by the original capital cost of the investment. The higher the ratio, the greater the benefit earned.  

Yet, ROI is often poorly defined, sometime inaccurately calculate or assumed and it may not be as sound as you first plan.

ROI can be helpful when you are:

• Considering uncertainty.
• Comparing or benchmarking alternatives.
• Evaluating performance over time.

Some economic advisors suggest this ROI checklist: 

• Identify all costs and potential revenue. Start with a clean sheet of paper.
• Evaluate alternatives. Challenge your thinking.
• Review key assumptions and possible outcomes.
• Consider constraints: capital, labor, etc.

Higher commodity prices are available and you may think that you may be in the market to make an upgrade or new investment on your farm. You may want to do so with a realistic frame of mind and not overlook the potential additional or long-term costs.

You should have a goal to define the minimum benefit your farm needs to realize or gain too cover the total costs for the investment.

Some additional items to remember: 

• Product return price for production improvement: Projected price for the you will be using to evaluate your margin of gain in return.
• Feed/Grain/Equipment/Genetic addition price Investment Cost Per Animal/Acre: How much will it cost to make this enhancement or upgrade?
• Yield Improvement Per Animal Unit/Acre: This is your best educated guess for production improvement.
• Animal Units/Acres: Across how many AU/acres will you use this margin enhancement on? 
• Years of Use: How many years do you plan to use this margin enhancement?

 

Where does pyrethrum come from?

Scientists are looking at ways to make more of this natural pesticide

PUBLISHED ON JUNE 28, 2021

Chrysanthemums contain a natural insect repellent called pyrethrum. Researchers are studying ways to increase production of the flowerheads, which contain the most pyrethrum. Above: Chrysanthemum field. (Credit: Morguefile)

WASHINGTON — Unless you enjoy getting bit by mosquitoes, you’ve probably used insect repellent once or twice in your life. While we use cans full of chemicals, flowers have their own way of preventing pests.

This Sustainable, Secure Food blog discusses the history and current research surrounding the compound of Pyrethrum, a natural pesticide:

If you’re a gardener, you may have heard of the common trick to plant chrysanthemums around your garden to deter pests. Marigolds work, too. This is because the flowers naturally are high in chemical compounds that insects don’t like.

A particular type of chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium, isn’t typically found in nurseries. Its flowers are very high in the natural compound, pyrethrum. It can be used as both a natural pesticide on organic farms and as an insect repellent for humans. As such it’s been called a “green pesticide” and researchers are looking at ways to make more of it.

The use of pyrethrum as an insecticide was a well-kept secret by ancient Persians, for the health of their crops, but its use is documented from around 400 B.C. Japan was the leading producer of pyrethrum before World War II, and later African countries began production.

How can planting chrysanthemums around your garden protect it? Plants have glands, called trichomes. And some plants secrete a chemical compound from these glands, in this case, pyrethrum. It doesn’t have the best smell.

In the case of Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium, the highest concentration of pyrethrum is in its flowers, which are the focus of the harvest. Growers harvest the flowers at specific stages and dry the flowers. They then grind the flowers and extract the pyrethrum. From there, different products can be made, like powders and liquids.

Current research about pyrethrum

In its natural state, Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium doesn’t flower until its second year of growth. Researchers at the University of Minnesota recently published a paper about the work to breed a new type of pyrethrum that can flower in its first year. This would greatly increase the yield to growers, with an early payoff.

They were also looking for varieties that grew more flowers and less of the leaves and stalks, which don’t contain as much pyrethrum. After their initial research using seeds collected from various sources, they will continue their studies and breeding in hopes to create a higher-yielding, first-year flower producer that makes more natural pyrethrum.

Confusion with names

Ah, if it were so easy to understand the difference in names of types of pyrethrum. Pyrethrum is the natural compound found in daisies, and Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium is the type of daisy that contains the most and is used commercially.

The compound can also be made in the lab and factories (referred to as synthetic). In this case, they are referred to as pyrethrin and are often mixed with other chemicals to enhance their effects. Permethrin is another synthetic compound based off the chemical structure of the natural pyrethrum. It is used to treat clothing, tents, and outdoor equipment, not skin.

Watch for these different spellings in the name when you go to make a purchase. As always, read label directions before using any pesticide or bug spray.

Compiled by Susan Fisk, from research published in Crop Science, a journal of the Crop Science Society of America.

–Crop Science Society of America

4 the Soil

 On June 23^rd the new 4 The Soil Awareness Initiative is launching! 4 The Soil is part of a grant project funded and supported by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Agua Fund. The project aims to increase implementation of core soil health principles, raise awareness on soil as a critical resource, and work to encourage people to pledge to follow the four soil health principles. More details and resources about the initiative are available in the attached press release and at 4thesoil.org

2021 Virginia Cattlemen's Association Field Day and Virginia State Dairymen's Dairy Expo

The Virginia Cattlemen's Association Field Day and Virginia State Dairymen's Dairy Expo is scheduled to be held on Friday, July 9, from 9 am to 4 pm at Augusta Expo in Fishersville.   

 

The event will include an industry trade show with over 40 vendors, complimentary beef lunch, an update from VDACS Commissioner Brad Copenhaver, and a Congressional staffer panel.  The keynote address of the field day will feature ProFarmer ag policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer.

 

Additionally, the field day will include the Virginia Beef Council annual meeting, The Virginia State Dairymen's Association annual meeting, and the Virginia Cattlemen's Association annual meeting and a update from NCBA.

 

To register for the event please visit: 2021 Virginia Cattlemen's Field Day and Dairy Expo Registration, Fri, Jul 9, 2021 at 9:00 AM | Eventbrite or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-virginia-cattlemens-field-day-and-dairy-expo-registration-15122099306

 

4-H

 

Emergency!

 

Virginia Dairy Facts

 

Virginia AG Facts

 

Mysterious Bird Deaths

In late May, wildlife managers in Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia began receiving reports of sick and dying birds with eye swelling and crusty discharge, as well as neurological signs. No definitive cause of death is identified at this time.

The District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and National Park Service are continuing to work with diagnostic laboratories to investigate the cause of mortality. Those laboratories include the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, the University of Georgia Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study and the University of Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures Program.

Birds congregating at feeders and baths can transmit disease to one another. Therefore, the state and District agencies recommend that the public in the outbreak area:

Cease feeding birds until this wildlife mortality event has concluded;

Clean feeders and bird baths with a 10% bleach solution;

Avoid handling birds, but wear disposable gloves if handling is necessary; and

Keep pets away from sick or dead birds as a standard precaution.

If you encounter sick or dead birds, please contact your state or District wildlife conservation agency. If you must remove dead birds, place them in a sealable plastic bag to dispose with household trash.

Additional information will be shared as diagnostic results are received.

Bird with Swollen Eyes and Discharge

This bird was found in the Washington, D.C. metro region with swollen eyes and crusty discharge, a sign observed on most birds affected by a May/June 2021 mortality event in the area. (Credit: Leslie Frattaroli, NPS)

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Want to improve your landlord relationships? Consider a farmland lease annual report

 “Quality communication”, is one of the building blocks in most relationships. It is one of the most necessary attributes when forming or managing a diverse team of business partners, cooperators or even family members.

Today we have email, text, social media applications, paper and other tools that allow us to share information faster and more accurately than at any time on history.  Yet, in the field of agriculture many landlords still feel they are kept in the dark. Some only hear from their tenants when it’s time to pay rent, renegotiate the contract or if the landowner has to keep up with a certain caveat in the lease. Or, they ask for basic information and the tenant acts like its none of their business to be privy to such details.

Many landlords do not have a deep understanding of agriculture or common industry production methods and like to know what’s going on their property, want to make sure that they are doing what is best for their property, or the environment, or want to feel like they are part of the production team. They just crave some information and gain knowledge or easy some anxiety.

One way to enhance and develop communication and build the mutual trust of both parties is to consider preparing an annual farmland lease report. While not a legal document or contract, this simple tool is a guide for sharing crop information for farmland rental agreements.

An annual lease report is a written, consistent way to share information. The reported information should help the owner and producer both to grow in the understanding their relationship and priorities of each party.

If an annual report has not been used in the past, explain the purpose and the benefits with your landlords.  To protect the interests of both parties you both should agree upon the confidential nature of the information.

 Items that you may want to include in the annual report may include:

·         Acreage Planted: The crops planted in each field, as well as the planting rates. 

·         Number of animal units per acre over the year and days on pasture.

·        Fertilizer Applied: The fertilizer types and rates for each field. 

·         Crop Chemicals Used: The date of application and application rate for each chemical. 

·         Soil Tests: The date and type (grid, zone, etc.) for every soil test completed on each field.

·         Yield Results: Insurance quotes, yield maps or scale tickets to show per-acre yields for each field. You might also want to request historical yields.

·         Soil and Land Improvements: This could include tiling, drainage, fences, etc.

Iowa state University has a template that may help you design a report that will work for your operation. Download a farmland lease annual report form from Iowa State University.

 If you have questions about developing a farmland lease report please contact me at cchilds@vt.edu

 

Extend Your Forage Resources with Summer Annuals

 

Even though you are deeply involved in harvesting hay right now, you should consider extending your resource by adding summer annuals. Cool-season grasses are great during the spring and fall, but these forages tend to “lose their punch”  during the hot, dry summer months. Planting summer annuals can help negate the effects of a summer slump and ensure steady forage production the entire season.

Summer annuals such as pearl millet, crabgrass, and sorghum-sudangrass hybrids have high-yielding, high-quality potential. These grasses can supplement forage systems and be used for grazing both cows and calves and in some cases small ruminants.

Moving livestock to summer annuals can help provide nutritious, palatable forages and keep the animals on a positive plane of nutrition. Thus, adding extra weight on calves, and it can help the cows rebreed faster and milk better or the build body condition gains on all livestock.

Summer annuals can also be cut to replace hay inventories if hay is fed to compensate for poor forage production when environmental conditions are less than favorable.

Planting is fairly easy. Warmer-season summer annuals can be conventionally or no-till planted at 0.5 to 1.5 inches deep. Everything depending on variety should be planted from April 15 to early July.

Planting rates will very based on type and usually run 10-20 lbs. per acre. Many recommend to plant sorghum-sudangrass at 30 pounds per acre if drilled, or 45 pounds per acre if broadcasted. Do not be afraid of incorporating Crabgrass into the forage equation, it should be planted at 4 to 6 pounds of live seed per acre. Always use a soil test to indicate fertilization requirements for potash, phosphate and lime. As for nitrogen, applying 30 to 60 pounds per acre at establishment is needed.

Remember you have a choice to either graze or cut these grasses, however you need to harvest summer annuals before they get too mature. Quality of the crop declines quickly with maturity.

For many types plan to graze at about 15 inches tall and graze down no lower than approximately 6 inches.  Crabgrass needs to be grazed at 12 inches.

A Important thing to understand and remember is that nitrate poisoning can occur in pearl millet, crabgrass, and sorghum-sudangrass hybrids. Toxic levels of nitrate are especially likely during periods of water stress, so avoid cutting hay during these times.

Another toxicity specific to sorghum-sudangrass is prussic acid poisoning. This occurs after a frost, so delay grazing for a week or two after a freeze. However, there is no risk of prussic acid in hay or silage because it degrades during drying.

If you have additional question please contact your local Extension office or contact me at cchilds@vt.edu .

 

Livestock Transportation ?