Dry spell could cost $250M in diminished crop yields 

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — This summer’s dry weather could cost Indiana about $250 million in diminished corn and soybean yields, according to an early estimate from a Purdue University agricultural economist.

The forecast, based on USDA crop-conditions reports, could change based on upcoming weather, said Chris Hurt. Frequent moderate rains and mild temperatures could reduce those projected losses, while more hot, dry weather could make yields even worse.

“A couple of weeks ago, we had something of a reprieve from the dry conditions,” Hurt said. “But now I think we’re headed back into a fairly scary period where we’re going to be very vulnerable to serious crop damage.”

Most of the corn in the state will be pollinating over the next few weeks, a process that determines how many kernels of corn are formed on each ear. Hurt said that even if pollination is successful, yields can be damaged by insufficient moisture and excessive heat.

Purdue agronomist Bob Nielsen said crops could recover from this year’s hot summer.

“Compared with the big droughts of ‘88 or even ‘91, hybrids have improved so much in their abilities to recover from stress,” he said. “Quite a few of these fields could recover.”

Soybeans are better suited to resist the effects of a drought and their critical growing period comes in August. But Brad Kohlhagen, the Adams County extension educator in agriculture and natural resources, said soybeans may already be damaged in Adams County, one of the driest areas in northeast Indiana. Some farmers wanted to replant soybeans, but the dry soil meant there was never a time to do so.

“A lot of our crops are very stressed,” Kohlhagen said.

USDA to ban slaughter of cattle unable to stand or walk

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — The U.S. government said Thursday it will permanently ban the slaughter of cattle for human food if they cannot stand or walk, a possible sign of “Mad Cow” disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), but is exempting some animals in that condition.

The Agriculture Department said the ban will be effective Oct. 1. The regulation does allow cows to be processed if they become unable to stand or walk after their initial inspection at a plant.
The Humane Society of the United States objects to this exception. Allowing such animals to be processed is “cruel and does not establish the food safety standards USDA should strive to meet,” said the group’s president and chief executive, Wayne Pacelle.

The department put interim rules in place less than three weeks after the detection of Mad Cow in an imported cow in December 2003.

Former Kahn’s, Hillshire Farm head dead at 93

CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) — Milton J. Schloss, who ran Cincinnati-based meat companies over a five-decade period, has died.

Services were Wednesday for Schloss, who died Monday at age 93.
The grandson of Elias Kahn, who founded Kahn’s meat business in the 19th century, Schloss was a decorated Army veteran of World War II. He began running Kahn’s in 1948 and headed the Kahn’s and Hillshire Farm businesses, which were acquired by the company that would become the Sara Lee Corp., until retiring as a Sara Lee executive in 1983.

After teaching at the University of Cincinnati, Schloss came out of retirement in 1988 for a three-year stint as chief executive of another meat company, John Morrell.

The Louisville, Ky., native is survived by wife Frances Huttenbauer Schloss and three sons.


Work begins on NW Iowa plant

HULL, Iowa (AP) — Construction has begun on a methane plant that developers say will turn livestock waste into clean burning fuel.
Mendota Heights, Minn.-based Bison Renewable Energy broke ground on the $12 million plant just west of Hull, in northwest Iowa, on July 10. The company claims the plant will develop a new source of renewable energy, help protect the environment, create 70 jobs and pump money into the area farm economy.

It is the first of at least 20 such plants the company plans to build nationwide over the next few years, said Steve Nelson, Bison Renewable’s finance director. Nelson said Sioux County was chosen for the plant because, per square-mile, it is one of the top five livestock producing counties in the country.

“There’s a healthy livestock environment in this county,” Nelson said.

The company raised capital from more than 200 local investors.
Bison Renewable Energy plans to contract with area livestock producers for manure, which will account for about half of the raw materials used in the plant. The other half will come from other waste, such as animal fat and from other area industrial plants.

If the plant were to run entirely on manure, it would use the equivalent of waste from about 1.6 million hogs a year. The plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2008.

Supporters said burning the methane produced from the manure and other waste is better for the environment than letting it naturally escape into the environment because it has a greater effect on the environment than carbon dioxide, which is created when methane is burned. It also creates a byproduct that can be used to fertilize crops.

The methane produced at the Hull plant would be compressed and inserted into a nearby Northern Natural Gas pipeline. Bison has a contract with Xcel Energy to buy the natural gas.

The Minneapolis-based Xcel serves about 1.8 million natural gas customers in eight Midwestern states.

Winemaker’s lawsuit refiled

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — California winemaker Jess Jackson’s lawsuit alleging fraud in the sale of a horse farm has been refiled in state court.

U.S. District Judge Karl Forester dismissed the lawsuit July 9 over worries that it didn’t meet the guidelines to be tried in federal court.

The federal lawsuit alleged that former advisers steered Jackson to Buckram Oak horse farm in Lexington in order to receive more than $500,000 in kickbacks off the $17.5 million sale.

The lawsuit filed in Fayette County Circuit Court on July 10 alleges that French bloodstock agents Emmanuel de Seroux and Frederic Sauque and California trainer Brad Martin steered Jackson to the Buckram Oak property and persuaded him to offer more than the farm was worth so they could receive kickbacks from the deal, a charge that they have all denied.

Lawyers for Sauque said they will challenge the suit on grounds that state court is not the appropriate jurisdiction.