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Information To Help Your Operations

1. Audio: Future Of Swine Nutrition - Iowa State's Dr. John Patience shares his thoughts on the current state of swine nutrition and where profitable producers will focus in the future [audio] [full presentation video].
2. Video: Global Feed Economics in a Biofuel World - Dr. Chris Hurt shares some economics updates and what producers need to consider in their feed management as 2012 moves forward.

China's growth means that many of its raw materials to sustain the growth must come from other parts of the world. To help gauge Chinese demand for materials, many companies and governments rely on estimates from the China National Bureau of Statistics and other sources, like U.S. Government agencies. If, however, the estimates are wrong one way or the other by a larger than expected margin, the commodity markets start to react, and cause some companies to loose business and revenue.

China's National Bureau of Statistics said that farms produced a record corn crop in 2011 of 191.8 million tonnes. But enthusiastic local officials often overstate the size of crops in China to impress central authorities and win bigger subsidies.

According to the DairyCo (UK) Milkbench+ report, the relationship between cost of production and profit is much stronger than many dairies realize. The report states that cost of production is the most significant factor in determining profit.

Milkbench+ analyst Karolina Klaskova says: “Through robust data and statistical analysis we see that the relationship between cost of production and margin is strong.” Ms Klaskova acknowledges that the findings are challenging. “The report raises many issues, including just how difficult it can be to make a profit from milk production,” she says.

The midwest is experiencing high heat and humidity this summer. These high temperatures not only make you feel terrible but your livestock can feel bad too. It is important to keep an eye on the animals and take action before they start to get heat stress.

This document provides guidelines on identifying optimum swine temperature ranges and tactics to keeping the pigs cool.

CropVillage 0221 Show Notes:

• A conversation with Brian Diers, soybean breeder at the University of Illinois.  Why haven't soybean yields been trender higher along the same lines as corn?