The Farm Post eNews

Friday eNews from the Pike and Scott County Farm Bureaus
 

DECEMBER 11, 2015
PIKE AND SCOTT BRING HOME GOLD
...and some Brass
 
The Pike and Scott County Farm Bureaus were recognized for achievements during the 101st annual meeting of the Illinois Farm Bureau held in Chicago December 5-8, 2015.
 
Scott County received the following program awards: GOLD, Membership Quota, Legislative/Political Process and Local Affairs. The organization also received the coveted Liberty Bell award for excellence in Governmental Affairs programming.
 
President Wayne Brown and Executive Director Blake E. Roderick were recognized on stage to accept a special award recognizing Scott County's achievement of ending the membership year in the top spot in the state for Voting and Total membership gain in 2015.
 
Pike County received the following program awards: GOLD; Legislative/Political Process and Local Affairs and BRONZE; Policy Development. The organization also received the Liberty Bell award for excellence in Governmental Affairs programming.
Presidents pick up the gold
Pictured are Wayne Brown, Scott CFB President receiving awards from IFB President Rich Guebert. IFB Vice President David Erickson presents awards to Pike CFB President David Gay. Awards were presented on Saturday, December 5 in Chicago.
C-BMP Blog features local farmers
From the 4Rs of Nutrient Stewardship: "For fall applied nitrogen, we will recommend waiting until maximum daily soil temperatures at the 4-inch level fall to 50° and temperatures are predicted to continue to decline."
 
Not following this and the rest of the 4Rs can result in a loss of nitrogen. C-BMP spoke to three Illinois farmers including Steven Myers and Kim Curry who applied anhydrous ammonia this fall and applied some 4R best management practices, too.

Tax Extenders End Game in Play
Negotiations continue on a bill to extend more than 50 tax provisions that expired at the end of 2014. Most important to Farm Bureau is the extension of the $500,000 Section 179 small business expensing limitation followed by the extension of bonus depreciation.
 
Earlier this week Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) filed a bill to extend the expired provisions for two years (2015 retroactively and 2016). A two-year extension was also passed by the Senate Finance Committee in July. The Brady bill adds additional items including a Farm Bureau-supported deduction for contributions to ag research organizations. It is considered the fallback in case talks fail on a broader bill that includes permanence for some provisions, including Farm Bureau priority Sect. 179 small business expensing.
 
Farm Bureau continues to press for an agreement that makes Sect. 179 small business expensing permanent to eliminate the confusion that comes with an uncertain and temporary tax code.                    
PRRSv Resistant Hogs Huge Achievement
Tuesday's announcement of a health-enhanced pig able to resist Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus is a "critical scientific breakthrough in hog farmers' battles against the disease and is a real game changer for the pork industry," AFBF President Bob Stallman said in a statement. PRRSv is an incurable viral disease that causes reproductive failure in sows, reduces growth of young pigs and causes premature death in piglets. It also annually causes an estimated $664 million in lost productivity.
 
"Being able to fight this disease through advanced genetic technologies will mean healthier animals, more efficient food production and more efficient risk management options for producers," Stallman said.
 
Animal genetics company Genus developed PRRSv-resistant pigs in collaboration with the University of Missouri. Using precise gene editing, scientists bred pigs that do not produce a specific protein necessary for the virus to spread in the animals. They are expected to be available to farmers in about five years.
 
The Pig Site article
Just in Time for Christmas
Have you considered using construction equipment on your farm or ranch? Machines like skid steer loaders and compact track loaders, traditionally used on construction sites, can perform a dozen different farm jobs that could save you time and money. Farm Bureau members in Illiknois save up to $2,000 when buying or leasing a qualifying Cat Backhoe Loader, Wheel Loader, Mini Hydraulic Excavator, Multi Terrain Loader, Skid Steer Loader, Compact Track Loader, Telehandler or Small Dozer. Visit fbadvantage.com/cat to print your membership verification certificate and then visit your local Cat dealer.  
 
Cat On the Level blog
TODAY IN HISTORY
DECEMBER 11, 1620 (OS)
 Pilgrims Land at Plymouth Rock
 10th of December. On the Sabbath day we rested; and on Monday we sounded the harbor, and found it a very good harbor for our shipping. We marched also into the land, and found divers cornfields, and little running brooks, a place very good for situation.
The Pilgrim Society annually celebrates the landing (as Forefathers Day) on December 21st. Why the difference?
The answer lies both in science and in politics. The Julian calendar (established by Julius Caesar) was slightly out of sync with the actual cycle of the physical world. Every year, the Julian calendar was "off" by 11 minutes and 15 seconds. Over the course of centuries, the manmade calendar and the natural calendar grew further apart. By 1582, the difference had grown to 10 days. In that year, Pope Gregory XIII promulgated a new calendar to bring the manmade calendar back into sync with the actual physical progression of time. The Catholic countries of Europe followed Gregory's lead immediately. For intermingled reasons of politics and religion, England and her colonies did not change their calendar until 1752.
The result of these calendar systems is a dual system of dating, known as "Old Style/New Style." Hence, you may occasionally see a date, such as the date of the Pilgrims landing, referred to as "December 11/21."

Pilgrim Hall Museum
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CONGRATULATIONS!

The Pike and Scott County Farm Bureaus proved themselves leaders of the Illinois Farm Bureau in 2015.

Thanks much for the support of our members, boards of directors and staff.