Archive Tag: noble news and views

Selecting the Best Business Structure for Your Farm

When it comes to your farm or ranch, nobody knows the operation like you. You know how many acres you’re operating, and you have inventories on all your commodities. Hopefully, you even know what assets and liabilities you have by taking a quick look at your net worth statement. But what steps have you taken when it comes to managing for taxes or assessing legal risks? By reviewing your operation’s business structure, you may find creating a business entity could provide your operation with added benefits.

11 Things People Believe About Bees That Aren’t True

Raising bees can be an extremely rewarding agricultural enterprise. Interest in beekeeping has increased drastically throughout much of the United States. Several factors have contributed to this increase such as the desire to produce backyard honey, provide pollinator sources and gain an extra source of income.

Proper bull selection can increase return on investment

The past few years have seen a dramatic downturn in calf prices from historic highs to the lowest prices in four or five years. Unfortunately, some input prices are slow to come down while other inputs still remain high; thus causing a strain on budgets. This has greatly reduced the net profit of most cattle raisers. There is a desire and justifiable need by producers to reduce costs proportionally with the reduced calf prices to remain economically viable in the next few years until prices improve again.

Magnets can help prevent hardware disease in cattle herds

Cattle commonly swallow foreign objects, such as nails and wire, found in the field or their feed. These objects do not always cause problems, but they can cause a disease commonly known as hardware disease. Foreign objects ingested by cattle make their way into the animal’s rumen and reticulum. Sometimes, the animal’s body will push the objects into the peritoneal cavity, causing severe inflammation (hardware disease). In extreme cases, a sharp, metal object can damage the animal’s abdomen wall and pierce the heart sac, causing pericarditis. Typical signs of hardware disease are poor appetite, lack of movement and indigestion. If the animal’s heart is damaged, fluid can build up and cause abnormal heart sounds.

Cross pollination is essential for pecan production

Pollination in the pecan orchard is critical to both the yield and quality of nuts. Pecan trees are cross-pollinated (allogamous) and although self-pollination is possible, the result is largely unsuccessful. Pecan trees are wind-pollinated; therefore, pollinators (i.e., bees) are not required to complete pollination. Cross-pollinated pecans are usually larger and higher quality than self-pollinated pecans. Self-pollination can reduce nut quality and greatly reduce crop yield by as much as 75 percent.