You’ve probably heard about the benefits of using nitrogen stabilizers to protect fall-applied nitrogen over the winter, but did you know that spring nitrogen applications are at risk for loss as well? That’s because the majority of the nitrogen that is applied at planting is not going to be taken up by the plant until about 60 days later. If that nitrogen converts to nitrate before the crop is able to use it, it can be lost. It often becomes a race between the nitrate leaching and the growth rate of the plant’s roots. In a wet year, nitrate is more likely to reach the tile lines before the plant has a chance to take it up. Stabilizing nitrogen helps keep it in ammonium form longer, which greatly reduces the risk of leaching. That helps protect your nitrogen investment and improves your return on investment potential and yields.
Your farm may be eligible for short-term federal loan programs through the Small Business Administration (SBA). In the two most recent legislative coronavirus relief packages, Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and broadened eligibility for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) administered by the Small Business Administration. Congress has confirmed that farms are eligible for both programs. After the initial funds have run out in mid-April, Congress added billions more to each program in late April. Enrollment has already reopened so farms should still contact their financial institutions to discuss potential benefits if they have not done so already. For PPP loans, farms and businesses need to apply through a financial institution. For EIDL loans, farms and businesses apply directly to SBA online.
With the extra challenge of the pandemic coronavirus and resulting COVID-19, this Spring's planting season is on pace to be a crazy time for everyone trying to get a crop in the ground. Here are a few reminders of items to make sure you check off your list this May.
As we mentioned in last month’s newsletter, due to the coronavirus we were forced to postpone this year’s open house celebration. Despite this, we will be sending out this year’s patronage refund and eligible equity redemption checks later in May. Like last year, we are very pleased to be returning over $4 million in cash to our members again this year, at a time when so many need it. This past fiscal year (10/1/18-9/30/19) the minimum amount of purchases needed to qualify for a patronage check was about $930. If you purchased more than this but do not receive a check please reach out to Emily at our Mt Horeb office to be eligible for future distributions. It’s likely that we do not have the required information needed to issue patronage. The IRS requires us to report all patronage refunds we distribute by the recipient’s taxpayer identification number. This is usually a social security (for individuals) or federal ID number (for businesses). Thanks for the support that has made this patronage and equity redemption possible.
Is your alfalfa off to a good start for the season? Alfalfa in the area is breaking dormancy right now. Some of what you are seeing greening up in the field is dandelion and not alfalfa plants. It is important to scout your alfalfa fields to make sure the plants are off to a healthy start and that there are enough alfalfa plants there to obtain optimum yield. Other questions and concerns have come up: Will the recent snowfall, frost, and overall cold weather affect alfalfa plants that have already started to green up? Breaking dormancy occurs over a time frame of weeks and is not an instantaneous function.
Weekly ACH Program - I'd like to introduce you to our Weekly Autopay Discount Program. In order to incentivize automatic payments from our members, we have established the following discount program for customers who enroll their accounts in our weekly ACH autopay. Members may enroll their accounts in our weekly ACH autopay at any time. Accounts enrolled in ACH autopay will have their future purchases automatically debited to their bank accounts via ACH (often called e-check) on the Friday following the week of purchase (example below).
Tired of throwing around 50 lb bags of feed? Our Mini Bulk System is perfect for you!
Due to the current concerns over Covid-19 and for the wellbeing of our staff, customers, and the communities, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the open house events scheduled for early May for Mt Horeb, Westby, and La Farge. Since we typically have patronage and equity redemption checks available to pick up at the open houses, this year we will be mailing them out. Our goal is to start mailing out patronage refunds and equity redemptions by age by mid-May.
I hope this newsletter finds you all healthy. The world has changed a lot since the last newsletter. I’m writing this from my office but that may change. I may be writing it from home next time. Or the pandemic may be over. We have to remain flexible.
It is time to update our recommendations for optimal ration particle size. Physically effective neutral detergent fiber (peNDF) was defined by Dave Mertens in 1997 as the portion of forage or feed particles that are retained on the 1.18mm (millimeter) screen during dry sieving multiplied by the NDF content. This proportion of fiber is effective at stimulating chewing and forming a functional rumen digesta mat.