Educating Dairy and Beef Producers on Environmental Issues and Regulatory Concerns for Smaller Farms

Livestock producers in Iowa have seen a progression of regulations and compliance enforcement throughout the past two decades. Awareness through Extension meetings and information put out by commodity groups has played a substantial role in bringing confinement feeding operations and large CAFO feedlots into compliance. For small to medium-sized feedlots and dairies that may or may not be classified as CAFOs, the education and outreach was not formalized prior to the EPA beginning their recent compliance reviews. This issue surfaced because of EPA interpretation of regulations and the subsequent impact on livestock producers. The message from EPA was not well defined and still remains a challenge for livestock producers, extension personnel, and agribusiness (advisers) and agency staff

Midwest vision for sustainable fuel production

This article charts the progress of CenUSA Bioenergy, a USDA-NIFA-AFRI coordinated agricultural project focused on the North Central region of the US. CenUSA’s vision is to develop a regional system for producing fuels and other products from perennial grass crops grown on marginally productive land or land that is otherwise unsuitable for annual cropping. This article focuses on contributions CenUSA has made to nine primary systems needed to make this vision a reality: feedstock improvement; feedstock production on marginal land; feedstock logistics; modeling system performance; feedstock conversion into biofuels and other products; marketing; health and safety; education, and outreach. The final section, Future Perspectives, sets forth a roadmap of additional research, technology development and education required to realize commercialization

Beef Feedlot Systems Manual

This manual can help producers compare five feedlot facility types including confinement and open lot.Estimated costs, performance assumptions based on available research, manure value, and discussion on environmental issues are provided and analyzed for each facility type.The companion Feedlot Facility Economic Assessment calculator provides producers with a quick comparison between types of facilities and related costs. Spreadsheets can be customized to your operation to conduct an economic facility assessment, input costs, and performance related measures to optimize operations. Use it conjunction with the Beef Feedlot Manual.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/extension_pubs/1093/thumbnail.jp