August 13, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Valley. This is Aglife. My name is Bob Quinn.
With you for the next hour. We're talking about agricultural
production here in the valley and all across the country. Well, friends,
The AGG Department recently released its latest look at trends
in honeybee colonies.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
We have a report a breakdown of US honeybee colonies
so far in twenty twenty five from USDA's National Agricultural
Statistic Service.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
January first, we had two point six three million honeybee
colonies here in the US. That was down one percent
from a year earlier. But by April first of this
year that number was up to two point nine to
nine million holidays and that's actually up six percent from
that same time frame of a year earlier.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
As Lands Hodig of USDA DAS further explades, we.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Only do this report once a year, but we do
capture some counts at different times in the year.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
He adds the counts are not focused on honeybee operations,
but all the qualities themselves. For instance, loss of honeybee colonies.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Were the January March period of this year two hundred
and sixty seven thousand and some change. Number of colonies
were lost, or about ten percent. That's pretty common to
see around a ten percent loss rate. In fact, April
to June twenty twenty five also was about ten percent
of the colonies that were lost. To look back to
October through December of twenty four, that number was actually

(01:21):
fourteen percent. That was the highest quarter that we saw
all of last year, so a little bit higher loss.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yet holding gets quick to point out that colonies are
added back as well. So for this year's Honeybee Quality survey.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
First three months of this year, we added five hundred
and ninety two thousand colonies, followed up by six hundred
and forty one thousand in April to June. And so
even though we're losing normally ten percent of our colonies
on an ongoing basis, we're.

Speaker 4 (01:46):
Adding them back.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
In addition, you've also got to take care of the
colonies you've got, and so we did publish some numbers
on those renovated colonies as well, and so in other words,
they're doing some work there to revitalize things.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Survey findings for Roamite remains the top stresser of operations
with five or more honeybee colonies and qualities lost due
to quality collapse disorder symptoms are up one hundred ten
percent in operations with five or more qualities from the
same period last year. I'm Broad Bain reporting for the
US Department of Agriculture in Washington.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
D's Farm US coming up. You're listening to Aglife. Bob
Quinn back with some farm US this morning, friends, will
the soft farm economy, which has been a struggle for
many commodities for two plus years now, continues to wear
on producers in many ways. Idaho Farm Bureau Executive Director
Brian Searle says the high input costs, low commodity prices,

(02:45):
and months of trade uncertainty have led to more than
just a smaller paycheck for farmers.

Speaker 5 (02:51):
The number of farms that continue to re see go
out of business across this state and this nation is astounding.
That ag Glenn's not someone out of production. It's going
a lot of It's still remaining in ag Land, But
we're just biding farmers they can't pay the bills. That's
frustrating when it has nothing to do per se maybe.

Speaker 6 (03:12):
With their operation.

Speaker 5 (03:13):
It has more to do with those markets and political
atmosphere that just abfects them.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Cyril noted it's important for the agriculture community to educate consumers, politicians,
and others on why it's important for local farms to
stay open and operational. Well friends. With August upon us.
The tree fruit industry is seeing a shift in the
harvest season with overlap between cherries and apples. John Devaney,

(03:41):
president of the Washington Straight Tree Fruit Association, says that
transition is underway and.

Speaker 6 (03:47):
They're still cherries coming off the tree, but August means
the start of apple harvests.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
That is, for the early varieties.

Speaker 6 (03:56):
People really associate apples with fall, but many of our
right are harvested earlier and some of our growers start
picking right around the first of August, and our industry
will wrap up harvest usually in late November.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
Devanny says this is when the potential size of our
crops begins to take shape.

Speaker 6 (04:13):
Our harvest period is several months long, but at the
beginning of the harvest season, we try to produce every
year an estimate of what we think as an industry
will be picked and will be packable for the fresh market,
so that folks have an idea of how many apples
they can expect to see in the supermarket.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
And this year Devanny says things are looking good this year.

Speaker 6 (04:34):
That number has come in with an estimate of a
pretty large crop of about one hundred and forty two
forty pound boxes. That would be about tying our previous record,
which is a good good sign of the growing conditions
we've had.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
John Devany, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. Well, Frans,
what are some of the trends connected to farmland values
and cash rents for farmland revealed in USDA's annual study.
Rod Bain has that report.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
USDA's annual look at farm lad values and cash reds,
according to Chief Ecattabis seth Meyer, indicates a coolig in
year over year growth, but that tread more reflective in.

Speaker 7 (05:16):
Cash rents showing flat value changes year over year, where
we're seeing the farmer's assessed value of their agriculture re
estate increasing by four point three percent.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Explaining both ag LAD values and cash reds at how
USDA approaches them For statistical purposes, The.

Speaker 7 (05:35):
Land value is essentially what do you think the value
of your land is? And then on the other side
of that is what did you actually spend on cash
rent and those cash rents were largely determined in the fall.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Of last year, and why did the chief acattabus they
collate twenty twenty four at twenty twenty five to date
might reflect a cooling of increasing lad values and cash reds.

Speaker 8 (05:59):
As we went.

Speaker 7 (05:59):
Through you say, twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, and
even twenty twenty three with very high commodity prices, we
saw really strong growth in both cash rents and in
land values.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yet even with recent commodity prices at lower abouts, I
think we have a cooling.

Speaker 7 (06:17):
But the cooling is interestingly much more on the cash
rent side in terms of year over year growth than
it is on our producers view the value of their land.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Breaking dell lay of values by crop lands and pastures, if.

Speaker 7 (06:31):
We separated out into cropland, still producers assess that crop
land increased four point seven percent in twenty twenty five
to eight hundred and thirty dollars an acre, so assessing
that cropland is increasing at a greater rate than overall
ad land and pasture land showing an even larger increase
at four point nine percent, hitting one nine hundred and

(06:54):
twenty dollars.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Farm real estate value by state reflected year over year
increases at all all forty eight states in the Contiguous US,
led by an eight point four percent farm lad value
increase in North Carolina. Broadbane reporting for the US Department
of Agriculture in Washington, d C.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Farm US. This morning, you're listening to Aglife.

Speaker 8 (07:18):
It's another agnews update. What if every government related program
had to produce ROI more after this?

Speaker 9 (07:27):
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one going to college.

Speaker 10 (07:31):
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Speaker 9 (07:33):
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Speaker 9 (07:51):
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Speaker 8 (07:57):
Ryan LaGrand is CEO of the US cous and Bioproducts
Council on the importance of the public private partnership.

Speaker 12 (08:06):
You know those two pieces, the membership funds and then
the funds that we get from USDA within their Foreign
Agricultural Service.

Speaker 8 (08:12):
Those are our lifeblong.

Speaker 12 (08:13):
That is what keeps our lights on and keeps us
running programs in sixty countries around the globe. Extremely important
partner in fas they have. They're located at embassy posts
all around the world, and they are really our biggest
advocates for all the products that we market into those
overseas markets. They're an extremely great partner to have and

(08:34):
we couldn't be more happy to have them. And the
MAP and and FMD dollars have been set at a
certain at the same level, two hundred million dollars for MAP,
I want to say about thirty four million dollars for FMD.
And that's amongst all the American cooperators within the USDA system.
Some exciting news that we've heard recently is that there
was a supplemental fund that was set up in the

(08:57):
big beautiful bill that allows for it is going to
double those funds. So really excited to put those to use.
Studies have shown you talked about the payback. Studies have
shown that for every dollar and invested into this map program.
There's twenty three dollars of ROI there.

Speaker 8 (09:15):
It's another at News update.

Speaker 13 (09:18):
Hi.

Speaker 14 (09:18):
I'm Debbie Childress, director of the Grayson County Alliance, a
food pantry in rural Kentucky. Thanks to a local farmer,
we recently received a twenty five hundred dollars donation from
Americans Farmers Grow Communities sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, a
philanthropic arm of Bear. As a result, we expanded a
classroom where we teach families about nutrition and personal finance.

(09:39):
I encourage all farmers to enroll for a chance to
direct a twenty five hundred dollars donation to a local nonprofit.
Visit Growcommunities dot com American Cattle News.

Speaker 8 (09:50):
What's ahead for this fall? Specially for beef producers?

Speaker 9 (09:55):
More after this, Dad, what are you doing cramming for college?
I'm the one going to college. Yeah, we need to
figure out how we're going to pay for it all.
Discover student Loans.

Speaker 8 (10:04):
Discover does student loans.

Speaker 11 (10:06):
Yeah, they're one of the top student loan lenders in
the country. It takes fifteen minutes or less to apply
and there are no fees for the life of the loan.
Best of all, I can earn cash rewards if I
get good grades. Really yeah, we still have time to
apply and get a great.

Speaker 8 (10:18):
Rate, so I can just chill. College kids still say that, right.

Speaker 9 (10:21):
No one says that dad.

Speaker 8 (10:23):
Really yeah.

Speaker 10 (10:24):
Visit discoverstudent loans dot com to apply today. Limitations apply.

Speaker 8 (10:27):
Doctor daryl'peel is Oklahoma State livestock Marketing Economists takes a
look at what's coming this fall.

Speaker 15 (10:37):
Well, yeah, so it's you know, it's early August. Now,
if those producers in the southern plains that like to
graze wheat, we'll start thinking about planning by you know,
certainly by late August we'll think about it. So, you know,
one of the questions just conditions, are the soil temperatures
too high or not to plant wheat? Do we have

(10:57):
moisture conditions? And once we'll be watching those conditions going forward,
and so you know, planning weed for that Again. The
stocker operation is one of those margin operations that we
talked about, and so producers from a budget standpoint, really
need to pencil out how those stocker margins, you know,

(11:18):
pencil out for them, depending on what time of the
fall they might get started with a stocker operation when
they would be purchasing cattle relative to you know, the
end of that period next spring sometimes, so there's a
need for them to approach this pretty carefully because those
margins are a little bit tricky right now.

Speaker 8 (11:37):
So while we're looking ahead to fall, are there some
seasonal tendencies within the market?

Speaker 15 (11:44):
KEF prices normally show some seasonal decline. We haven't seen
much of that this summer. It's still a possibility to
see a little bit, but probably what it means is
that CAF prices might be more inclined to move sideways
rather than to a seasonal low. As we go into
the fall, it looks like we're going to continue to
see very strong prices there, and so you know, I

(12:05):
think producers will want to take advantage of that in
terms of the timing as well as you know, other
marketing considerations for those kids as.

Speaker 8 (12:13):
Fault Doctor Darryl Peel, American Cattle News.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
This is Dairy Radio Now.

Speaker 13 (12:24):
I'm John Clark, traveling in the countryside for Feedrick's USA. Today.
I'm at Morrison Hall, home of the Department of Animal
Science at Cornell University, and I'm with the department chair,
Professor Tom Overton tell us about technology because technology and
the dairy industry has really changed.

Speaker 16 (12:37):
There's really kind of two main things we're doing as
the technology side. The one is we doctor Hula Gerdano
is a professor of department, has a very large project
called Farm in the Future. It's a USCA funded project,
and that's really focused on our research farm and application
of technology. So evaluation of technology. I think everybody knows
there's tons of technologies out there, some of them probably
work better than others, and people are also always trying

(12:58):
to figure out how to make them more useful as
well to help farmers make decisions and things like that,
and so that's really the focus of that project. And
so Julio's got about every wearable sensor that you can
think about on some of these cows out there, and
as well as group monitoring technologies so camera, camera imaging
and things like that to really monitor groups. The other

(13:19):
thing we got going is we have a new faculty
member named Meal Houstins and Meal has been with us
about year and a half and his whole area really
relates to dairy, digital agriculture, artificial intelligence. How do you
use data to make decisions and things like that, and again,
you know, we think that that's where the future is
for our farms as well, is how do they how
do they harness all the data that they're collecting and

(13:40):
make it useful to them.

Speaker 13 (13:42):
You know, looking at it from the industry side of things,
it sounds like you are really prepared to help students
prepare to be applied out there and to really hit
the ground running once they graduate.

Speaker 16 (13:52):
And so Meal's got a teaching appointment as well, and
so he's also been you know, he's been developing that
side of data data analytics again with focus on dairy,
you know, for our students. And Julio is actually he's
co director of Cornellusry for Digital Digital Agriculture, So we're
pretty deep in these things.

Speaker 13 (14:08):
Hey, I know you're excited about the freshman class coming
in this year in particular.

Speaker 16 (14:13):
Yeah, again, we had a great class last year. We
got another really good class coming in this year of dairy,
orange students, students and livestock as well, and of course
we have our usual students urnch.

Speaker 13 (14:24):
In ventory medicine. Let's backtrack a little bit to that farm,
because that's really a special place. Tell us a little
bit about the basics of it and what you're trying
to do there.

Speaker 16 (14:32):
Yeah, So again, you know, we have a variety of
things going out going on out there.

Speaker 7 (14:36):
You know.

Speaker 16 (14:36):
Again, my group continues to do a lot of transition
count nutrition and health research. Mike van Amberg continues to
do a lot of work on nitrogen efficiency, amano acids,
how do you how do you most efficiently make milk
components right and help our farms learn how to do that,
and advanced models like the Cornell Netcrobargy and Protein System
or c and CPS that is kind of the big
dog relative to diet formulation really in North America and

(15:00):
lots of parts of the world. We have environmental things
going on too, right, Jason Oliver, you know, is looking
at you know, different manure treatments that might be able
to better capture nitrogen, phosphorus, greenhouse gas emissions, things like that.
So there's there's all kinds of different things going on
on with that. The research therea We've spent a lot
of time with our pro Ary Advisory Committee out there

(15:21):
and other groups help people understand how that farm and
how the work goes on there really does benefit the
New York Airy industry.

Speaker 13 (15:28):
When you say the word industry, that was words out
of my mouth. I was just thinking that that really
is one of the partnership areas. You've got that facility,
but really industry works with you to fund different projects.

Speaker 17 (15:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 16 (15:38):
Right, So so again, you know, you know, there's there's
there's not a whole lot of internal research funding here,
so it's up to the up to the investigators to
go out and get it, whether it comes from you know,
larger competitive grants, whether it comes from the private sector
in some way, shape or form. We're seeing more foundation
type funding for different things. So there's there's all aside.
But you know, our relationships with with keenness organizations like Deciders,

(16:00):
Feed Alliance, You're at Farm Bureau, Northeast Air Producization, So
those are all really key partnerships for us as especially
as release in New York State. One of the things
I like to call it one of the crown jewels
of animal science is coming up here in October Cornell
Nutrition Conference CEE and see it is just a special
time and I presume you've got everything ready to go
for that. It's one of the really top tier conferences

(16:20):
and we look forward to it.

Speaker 6 (16:21):
Every year.

Speaker 16 (16:22):
You know, we'll have almost five hundred people, most likely
in Syracuse for three days, hitting all kinds of different topics.
We've got to transition come into symposium that I'm part
of a couple speakers from out out of town other places,
Barry Bradford, Heather White. You know, we've got our own
kind of core and contingent of people.

Speaker 13 (16:38):
And like a lot of folks, you wear many hats,
and one of them is the pro dairy hat. Tell
us a little bit about that.

Speaker 16 (16:43):
Yeah, so pro dairy again to continue be well supported
by New York State. You know, we are hoping to
grow that program. You know, hire some more dary nutrition
expertise in the program, hire some more farmers manation expertise.
And those are areas where you know, our pro Dairy
Advisory committees really helped us to solidify that, you know,
where the needs are, and then it's up to us
and them to try to get the resources to make

(17:05):
that happen.

Speaker 13 (17:06):
Professor Talba Wision, Chair of the Department of Animal Science
here at Cornella University, thanks for being with us today.

Speaker 6 (17:11):
Ah is a pleasure.

Speaker 11 (17:11):
John.

Speaker 13 (17:12):
I'm John Clark, traveling the countryside for Feedwicks USA.

Speaker 18 (17:19):
For many decades, orchards that had reached their end of
production would typically be pushed over and then burn, but
now it's not allowed in the San Joaquin Valley from
their Resources Control Board. I'm Patrick cavanagh with the California
Tree Nut Report, part of the Vastag Information Network. Roger
Isom is CEO of the Western Tree Nut Association based

(17:42):
in Fresno.

Speaker 19 (17:43):
Sam muickin Valley put the final nail in the coffin
as of January first, you can no longer burn whatsoever
in Sanwikin Valley. And unfortunately, you know, we have nowhere
to go with it because most of the bomb mass
plants have closed and nothing else has come online. So
what do we do with that? And one of the
programs that's been funded has been the alternative to egg burning,

(18:03):
so the paste to chip and incorporate it.

Speaker 18 (18:05):
We want to continue that and many growers have pushed
their trees over and chip them back in the soil.
It has been very successful.

Speaker 19 (18:12):
We also want to look at biochart and composting operations
and help fund some of those to get those off
the ground. So those programs right there are the ones
that we see could be done through the GGRF for
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program, and we're asking for six
million dollars a year. So we're making a big presentation
of big splash hoping to get those programs funded.

Speaker 18 (18:32):
That's Roger Isom with the Tree Nut Association and more News.
One ounce of allments contains seventy seven milligrounds of magnesium
helps regulate muscle and nerve function, blood sugar levels, and
blood pressure.

Speaker 17 (18:45):
For the last forty years, the Egg Information Network has
been the source of news for farmers and ranchers.

Speaker 10 (18:51):
Yet we have never.

Speaker 17 (18:52):
Seen such an assault on farming and our food supply
as we do today, from fuel to fertilizer. Farmers are
facing unprecedented economic challenges. This is why agriculture news that
farmers receive comes from the AGG Information Network, reaching coast
to coast, deep roots and farming. In decades of reporting,
the AGG Information Network trusted and transparent journalism for generations.

(19:15):
For over forty years, the AG Information Network has been
providing news and information for the most important industry in
the world, agriculture. The AG Information Network gives you worldwide
updates from local producers to regional organizations, from major crops
like wheat and corn, to animal agriculture to specially crops
like apples, almonds, and cherries. We report on stories that

(19:37):
mean the most to you online at aginfo dot net
The AGG Information Network. Trusted and transparent journalism lasting for
the next generation.

Speaker 18 (19:45):
With the AG Information Network, I'm Patrick Kavanaugh.

Speaker 20 (19:49):
The Washington apple industry is anticipating a large twenty twenty
five crop with a potential for strong quality of Washington
Apple Commission President Michael Schadler it says what looks to
be a pretty productive harvest is quickly creeping up on producers.

Speaker 6 (20:04):
It is hard to believe.

Speaker 21 (20:05):
We're just a few probably a few weeks away from
getting started on some of the early varieties. Pretty much
across the board, everybody says it's going to be a
good crop. Looks like it's going to be on the
bigger side, probably in line with the last two seasons.

Speaker 20 (20:18):
And the weather has been great as well.

Speaker 21 (20:20):
We've had optimal growing conditions starting the winter through the
spring through the summer. So far it's been really good.
So trees are healthy, fruit looks good, big crop.

Speaker 20 (20:31):
A minor issue, Shadower says, could be a smaller apples.

Speaker 21 (20:36):
The sizing of the fruit is probably a little bit
on the small side compared to average, but nothing extreme.
You know, that kind of that often goes hand in
hand when you have the bigger crop on the trees.

Speaker 20 (20:46):
Anyway, overall, Shadower says, things are looking good.

Speaker 21 (20:50):
Of course, we'd love to have the supply demand equilibrium
just work out perfectly and you know, everybody gets the
price that they want. But in the world it can
take a while to kind of fine tune those levels
to the point where growers can get the return that
they really need.

Speaker 20 (21:08):
Again, that is Washington Apple Commission President Michael Schadler, and
he says one of the biggest concerns is having enough
labor to bring in the twenty twenty five apple crop.
A new association is stepping forward to help farmers and
ranchers navigate hosting renewable energy projects on their farm. Jeff Risley,
executive director of the Renewable Energy Farmers of America, talks

(21:30):
about the group and its goals.

Speaker 22 (21:33):
We are a nonprofit A five oh one C six specifically,
and we just launched the fact we've been working on
it for a little over a year. But the whole
mission of REFA is to help and empower these farmer
and rancher landowners who are either already hosting large renewable
energy projects or those that want to. We want to

(21:54):
help them navigate a very complex process. These are billion
dollar developments on your land, and you should have the
opportunity to get really good information, to talk to other
farmers that have been through it, to know the best
potential leases that you can negotiate. All of these are

(22:14):
things we want to help farmers and ranchers with.

Speaker 20 (22:17):
The goal is to provide every farmer and rancher with
unbiased information about the pros and cons of a potential
project on their land.

Speaker 22 (22:25):
We did research with about one hundred farmers last spring
to test our idea and one of the biggest things
they asked for was just that a trusted third party, unbiased,
nonpartisan that can bring some truth to them in the
language they are understanding how it's going to impact my
land by farming operation. The other thing they really wanted

(22:48):
was the ability to talk to other farmers and ranchers
that have been through this. So part of what we'll
do is peer to peer networking.

Speaker 20 (22:54):
REEFA will also offer professional services to answer any questions
about leases and their effects on each operation.

Speaker 22 (23:02):
They also told us really help us with professional services,
so we're going to offer non legal lease reviews. We'll
also be able to provide answers to tax questions. So
obviously these leases provide money to the farmers and ranchers,
so it can impact their income, could impact their business practices.

(23:24):
So these are the things that we want to provide
two members along with just a collective voice. I mean,
we are grounded in private property rights. We want to
make sure that farmers and ranchers have the opportunity to
host these projects if they want to, and not be
encumbered by policy that prevents that opportunity.

Speaker 20 (23:44):
Membership is open to all farmer and rancher landowners in
the United States for a two hundred and fifty dollars
annual fee. You can learn more about REFA at Renewable
Energyfarmers dot orgon That's Renewable Energyfarmers dot orgon. The Union
Pacific will buy small rival Norfolk Southern and a deal

(24:05):
worth eighty five billion dollars. UP says this would create
the first coast to coast freight rail operator in the
United States. Reuters said, if approved, the deal would be
the largest buyout in the sector's history. It would combine
Union Pacifics tracks in the western two thirds of the
US with Norfolks nineteen thousand, five hundred mile network covering

(24:27):
twenty two eastern states. Now, the two railroads would have
a combined enterprise value of two hundred and fifty billion
dollars and would unlock about two point seventy five billion
dollars in annualized synergies. The deal will likely face lengthy
regulatory scrutiny amid union concerns over potential rate increases, service disruptions,

(24:49):
and job losses.

Speaker 23 (24:51):
It's time for California AGG today on the AG Information Network,
I am Haley's ship. Well, there is an open seat
at a national table where does are made about how
beef checkoff dollars are spent, and it could have a
California rancher's name on it. I came across this while
scrolling through the latest California Cattleman's Association newsletter. The USDA's

(25:12):
AGG Marketing Service is right now looking for nominees for
the Cattleman's Beef Promotion and Research Board, established under the
Beef Promotion and Research Act of nineteen eighty five. The
board directs how checkoff dollars are invested in beef promotion
and research. It's made up of one hundred and one
members from thirty four states, plus regional units and one

(25:33):
importer unit. Right now, they are looking for someone to
represent the Southwest Unit, which includes California and Nevada, for
a three year term which will start in February. Any
beef producer who owns cattle can be nominated by a
USDA certified producer organization that does include the California Cattleman's Association,
and USDA will choose from the nominees. So if you

(25:57):
have ever wanted to represent California cattle on a national stage,
now is your chance. And if you are involved in
the California Cattleman's Association and think that they would put
your name in the ring, you can contact Katy Roberti
at katiar at kelcattleman dot org by August twenty second
to learn more and apply.

Speaker 17 (26:18):
You've probably been told that to reach a millennial farmer
you have to go digital hmm, Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest,
LinkedIn and online publication or maybe a podcast hmm, but
which one? Oh, and how receptive is this age group
to your sales pitch during non work social time. Maybe

(26:39):
the best place to reach a farmer with a farming
solution message is when they are well, quite frankly farming.
You know, it's easy for us to find them during
the day, as most farmers are behind the wheel of
a pickup truck or farm equipment with the radio on,
listening to this station for the AG Information Network of

(26:59):
the West News. If you'd like to deliver information about
your terrific product or service, give us a call and
we'll connect you directly with our community of loyal farmer listeners.
Reach real farmers right here, right now as they listen
to what is important to their farm operation. They trust us,
They'll trust you.

Speaker 23 (27:18):
On the AG Information Network. I am Hayley's ship, Bob.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
Quinn Backers who farm used this morning, friends will The
soft farm economy, which has been a struggle for many
commodities for two plus years now, continues to wear on
producers in many ways. Idaho Farm Bureau Executive Director Brian
Searle says the high input costs, low commodity prices, and
months of trade uncertainty have led to more than just

(27:45):
a smaller paycheck for farmers.

Speaker 5 (27:47):
The number of farms that continue to we see go
out of business across this state and this nation is astounding. Now,
Aglan's not coming out of production, it's going with a
lot of it's still remaining in Aglan, but we're just
leading farmers they can't pay the bills. That's frustrating when
it has nothing to do per se, maybe with their operation.

(28:09):
It has more to do with those markets and political
atmosphere that just subfects them.

Speaker 1 (28:15):
Cyril noted it's important for the agriculture community to educate consumers, politicians,
and others on why it's important for local farms to
stay open and operational well. Friends With August upon us,
the tree fruit industry is seeing a shift in the
harvest season with overlap between cherries and apples. John Devaney,

(28:37):
president of the Washington Strait Tree Fruit Association, says that transition.

Speaker 6 (28:41):
Is underway and they're still cherries coming off the tree,
but August means the start of apple harvests.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
That is for the early varieties.

Speaker 6 (28:52):
People really associate apples with fall, but many of our
varieties are harvested earlier and some of our growers start
picking right around the first of August and our industry
will wrap up harvest usually in late November.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Devanny says, this is when the potential size of our
crops begins to take shape.

Speaker 6 (29:09):
Our harvest period is several months long, but at the
beginning of the harvest season, we try to produce every
year an estimate of what we think as an industry
will be picked and will be packable for the fresh market,
so that folks have an idea of how many apples
they can expect to see in the supermarket.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
And this year, Devanny says, things are looking good.

Speaker 6 (29:29):
This year. That number has come in with an estimate
of a pretty large crop of about one hundred and
forty two forty pound boxes. That would be about tying
our previous record, which is a good good sign of
the growing conditions we've had.

Speaker 1 (29:44):
John Devany, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. Well, friends,
let's talk trade this morning. Indonesia's latest trade deal with
the US could remove burdensome non tariff barrier, as we
hear in this report this morning from the US Meat
Export Federation.

Speaker 24 (30:04):
The US and Indonesia have announced a framework for a
trade agreement. As US Meat Export Federation Vice President of
Economic Analysis, Aaron Borer points out the country has had
significant non tariff trade barriers in place. For US beef,
this is a.

Speaker 25 (30:18):
Region where we have very limited access. We have both
tariff and non tariff barriers, and for Indonesia in particular,
we are looking at not so much a tariff barrier
because their tariffs are low at five percent, but a
bunch of non tariff barriers, including specifically the import licensing regime,

(30:39):
the commodity balance, and facility registration or plant by plant approvals.
Those kind of three pillars of market access barriers are
how Indonesia has really managed imports for decades.

Speaker 24 (30:55):
At this point, removing all non tariff barriers would open
the doors for US beef demand in Indonesia.

Speaker 25 (31:01):
The opportunity there is two hundred and fifty million dollars annually.
That's a short run estimate if we remain out of
that China market. Having Indonesia compete on these short plates,
short ribs, struck short ribs, a number of the off
all items would be tremendous.

Speaker 24 (31:17):
US pork faces similar trade barriers in Indonesia, a country
with thirty million non Muslims who have shown a growing
demand for US pork.

Speaker 25 (31:25):
Well exporters and importers have seen that barrier in action
so far this year, and Indonesia again trying to manage
those pork imports through its variety of commodity balance and
import licensing regimes. We've already had a doubling in our
volumes to Indonesia on the pork side, albeit from a
small base, but you see that strong growth. African swine

(31:47):
fever remains rampant kind of in the region, so yes,
there is still more potential. We know that Indonesian customers
keep asking for more.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
US pork for war.

Speaker 24 (31:57):
Please visit USMEF dot org four the Usban Export Federation.
I'm John Harrith.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
And that's a look at some farm us this morning.
You're listening to WAG Life.

Speaker 26 (32:10):
From the ag Information Network. This is your agribusiness update.
For the first time in more than two decades, Australia
will accept shipments of fresh and frozen US beef. The
National Cattleman's Beef Association's Kent Bacchus says this is a
huge win, adding there's really been no scientific justification to
keep us out. This was just a lot of protection
and regulatory burdens we've had to overcome. Beacus says Australia

(32:33):
won't likely be a huge export market for US, but
it's really about the opportunities. The US agricultural trade deficit
hit a record high in twenty twenty five. Agricultural export
value trailed import value by four point one billion dollars
in June, pushing the deficit to twenty eight point six
billion through the first half of the year, fourteen percent
larger than a year ago. For fifty years, the usag

(32:55):
sector has consistently had major trade surpluses, but the growing
deficit signals a historic reversal. The shift began in Trump's
first term, during the trade war with China. Ex Secretary
Brook Rawlins announced the USDA's intent to purchase up to
two hundred and thirty million dollars of fresh seafood, fruits, vegetables,
and American produce to distribute to food banks and nutrition

(33:16):
assistance programs around the country. These purchases are being made
through Section thirty two of the Agricultural Act of nineteen
thirty five and will assist producers and communities in need here. Today,
USDA has provided more than nine hundred and twenty four
million dollars in purchases to benefit the Charitable Feeding Network.

Speaker 27 (33:33):
Farm Work is tough, and so is staying safe on road.
Every year, accidents happen when tractors and traffic share the
same space, whether you're behind the wheel of a tractor
or a car.

Speaker 28 (33:42):
Here's what you need to remember.

Speaker 27 (33:44):
Tractors move slower, be patient, don't pass on hills or curves. Farmers,
make sure your slow moving vehicles, signs and lights are
visible and everyone's sailor, especially on rule roads. One moment
a caution can save a life. Let's work together to
keep our roads and our farms safe. This message was
brought to you by the AG Information Network.

Speaker 10 (34:04):
On a dairy decisions are never made in a vacuum.
Your products, technologies, protocols, they're all connected, or at least
they should be. Introducing Empower Dairy from Mirk Animal Health,
the only full solution portfolio in the dairy industry. Empower
is more than just powerful identification, monitoring and biopharma tools.

(34:24):
It's about how they work together to eliminate guesswork and
solve specific problems. Learn how at mdashpowerdashdairy dot Com from
the Egg Information Network.

Speaker 28 (34:35):
I'm Bob Larson with today's Agribusiness update.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
Bomp win back and wrap up Baglie for today friends.
External stressors and management factors can compromise calves immune systems
and make them susceptible to respiratory disease. Chad Smith as
our final report.

Speaker 28 (34:52):
External stressors and management factors can compromise calves immune systems
and make them susceptible to respiratory disease. Weaning, transportation, and
vaccination are all events that can cause stress. Doctor Kurt Vleiitstra,
a professional services veterinarian with Bearinger Ingelheim, talks about why
stress management is so important.

Speaker 4 (35:15):
Stress management is going to be integral to managing almost
any type of disease. That's because in cattle are stress,
there's hormone processes that go on inside them that make
them more susceptible to disease challenges that actually downregulates their
immune response. So when we're talking young cattle, you know,
it can be different types of diseases. We typically associate

(35:37):
it mostly in calves, with respiratory disease.

Speaker 28 (35:40):
He talks about some of the biggest causes of stress
for calves.

Speaker 4 (35:43):
Some of them we can control, some of then the
ones that we can control are weaning, transportation, feed changes, grouping,
when we go from an individual cast to how big
of the group we put them in, anything that we
do from a vaccination or process standpoint, if we're dehorning
for the bulls, that they're being castrated to any of

(36:04):
those types of things that we can kind of control
and hopefully not pile them up. And then there's things
that we can't control, and the biggest one of those
is whether whether it's rain, if the cattle are outside, snow, temperature, humidity,
things like that. We can help with our environment, heating, cooling, wind,
things like that. They're all part of raising cattle. Most
of them are necessary. We just try not to group

(36:26):
them up.

Speaker 28 (36:27):
Steps farmers can take to alleviate as much stress as
possible include not combining stages like weaning and vaccination.

Speaker 4 (36:35):
Weaning can be when we're moving a calf out of
an individual pin into a group pen. It can be
transitioning them off of milk onto a solid teef. I mean,
weaning maybe means different things different operations, but if we
can make sure they're not done at the same time
when we do have to move them, be calm, cattle
are very responsive to human stress. If we move them

(36:55):
and we're calm, we're not yelling and whooping, clapping hands
and shouting and things like that. Those will help low
stress handling technique, not surprising cattle, seeing out of the
blind spot and things like that, and then having a
well formulated ration, making sure that we've got adequate energy,
addequate protein, a good vitamin trace mineral mix.

Speaker 28 (37:13):
He talks about a good protocol. When farmers do have
to treat their.

Speaker 4 (37:17):
Calves, the biggest thing is going to be early identification
and taking action quickly. A lot of times if we
wait for a calf to tell us that it's sick,
we're already well behind. So having a good, well trained
crew that is really focused on the calves subtle changes.
There are some diagnostic aids that can help with early identification.

(37:38):
Lung ultrasound is getting to be a little bit more
popular in certain parts of the country. Picking a broad
spectrum antibiotic that's going to get to work quickly, get
to decided infection quickly, but ideally one that lasts long
enough where we're not going to have to come back
in a day or two days to retreat.

Speaker 28 (37:57):
Good record keeping and continually reviewing the right records are
critical after treatment takes place.

Speaker 4 (38:03):
Are we treating early enough? Are we treating aggressively enough?
Is our treatment working? It's good to have treatment details
in terms of the day, at the time, what product
is used throughout an administration. I like having a name
associated with the person who made the diagnosis or made
the decision to treat, or who administered the treatment.

Speaker 28 (38:21):
Again, that's doctor Kurt Leitztra of behinger Ingelheim. Chad Smith
reporting with that.

Speaker 1 (38:27):
Friends, about of time for today, Thanks for joining us
back tomorrow morning with another edition of Bad Life.