Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative hires vice president of government affairs
Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative, a shareholder-owned producer of refined sugar and sugar products, has hired Jeffrey Rustvang to be the vice president of government affairs.
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Agweek Staff Reports | 8:00 am, May 13, 2021 ×
Renville, Minnesota-based Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative (SMBSC), announced it has hired Jeffrey Rustvang to be the vice president of government affairs.
Renville, Minn.-based Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative has hired Jeffrey Rustvang to be the vice president of government affairs.
David Bieging, SMBSC’s Washington, D.C. liaison, will be retiring in December 2021 after 21 years with the cooperative. Rustvang and Bieging will work together on the transition into Bieging’s retirement.
LIVE AT 1 p.m.: Do expanded unemployment benefits really promote unemployment? Rob Port talks with NDSU professor
Jeremy Jackson, a professor in the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota State University, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss. 12:00 am, May 13, 2021 ×
North Dakota
Governor Doug Burgum announced he was terminating the state s participation in a federal program that expanded unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burgum, along with other state leaders across the country, argues that these benefits were providing an incentive to remain unemployed even as the post-pandemic economic recovery made jobs available.
Others argue that the termination of these benefits are bad for workers.
Grains with tight husks respond very favorably to processing. 10:17 am, May 13, 2021 ×
Producers have options for getting more out of their livestock feed when feed prices become high. NDSU photo
When commodity feed prices become high, consider options for getting more out of your livestock feed.
“Added processing of grain, using totally mixed rations, feed additives and other management changes will improve the digestion efficiency of feed,” says Karl Hoppe, Extension livestock systems specialist at North Dakota State University’s Carrington Research Extension Center. “Because feed prices have drastically increased in the past year, using other methods to get more nutrients out of the feed is now cost effective.”
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana see no drought relief
Drought conditions remained relatively unchanged across the Midwest over the last week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Written By: Michael Spieker | 5:25 pm, May 13, 2021
Little to no rain was seen last week in the three states that need moisture most in the Upper Midwest North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana and, as a result, extreme drought conditions have not diminished.
North Dakota continues to be experiencing the most severe drought conditions with 85% of the state under the extreme drought category.
“Unfortunately, April didn t turn out to be even near normal, in terms of precipitation,” said North Dakota State University climatologist Adnan Akyuz. “It was the 20th driest (on record). However, the good news is that it was cooler than normal. If it were warmer than normal, it would have exacerbated the drought conditions.”
Producers May Be Dealing With Winter-killed Alfalfa
Kevin Sedivec and Marisol Berti
DEVILS LAKE - Winter-killed alfalfa may be a widespread problem this year in North Dakota and northern Minnesota because of drought conditions.
The northern Plains has been experiencing severe drought since 2020, with alfalfa plants stressed due to a shortage of water. The lack of snow cover and almost two weeks with temperatures below 0 F in February likely has caused alfalfa winter-kill.
“Alfalfa crowns tolerate temperatures down to 5 F, but without snow cover to insulate alfalfa plants and temperatures dropping below 0 F for at least 10 days in a row in February, alfalfa plants were damaged or winter-killed,” says Marisol Berti, North Dakota State University forages and biomass crops specialist.