It has been a tough month for cattle producers in Nebraska as  strong winter storms with blizzard conditions gave much of Nebraska a heavy blanket of snow, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office.

The USDA reported that corn harvest progressed slowly during the last half of the month as heavy drifting in the eastern third of the state currently limits corn harvest. During the second week temperatures turned bitter cold and averaged 18 degrees below normal with precipitation in the form of heavy snow. The last week temperatures averaged nine degrees below normal with precipitation in the form of freezing rain and snow.

Livestock care was difficult with producers using hay and other supplemental feeds due to ice and snow cover and extreme low temperatures.

Depth of snow at the end of December averaged eight inches across the state with the Northeast District reporting the largest amount of snow cover at nearly 20 inches and the East Central District recording 13 inches. Much of the western half of the state recorded only minimal amounts of snow cover.

Temperatures averaged below normal the entire month. During the last week of the month, soil temperatures ranged from a low of 24 in western parts of the state to a high of 34 in the east.

Corn harvested was at 96 percent complete compared to 93 percent for the week ending December 20, 2009. Wheat conditions statewide rated 0 percent very poor, 2 poor, 33 fair, 61 good, and 4 excellent, below last year.

Hay and forage supplies rated 0 percent very short, 6 short, 90 adequate, and 4 excellent, near a year ago.

Cattle and calves condition rated 0 percent very poor, 2 poor, 20 fair, 75 good, and 3 excellent, below last year’s 83 percent good or excellent.

In central Nebraska, snow, cold, and wind have challenged cow-calf producers who are calving now. The weather has also slowed all livestock production and increased feed requirements. Grain farmers with corn still in the fields are finding north rows and/or end rows with snow drifts up to the tassels, restricting harvest.

Three of the nine district seats on the Nebraska Soybean Board (NSB) will be eligible for election this year.  Soybean producers in Districts 2, 4 and 8 are invited to run for election to the Nebraska Soybean Board by filing a candidacy petition by the May 14, 2010 deadline. The election of directors will be conducted via direct-mail ballots and candidate information will be provided to all producers residing within the district in which an election is to be held.

NSB Directors receive no salary but are reimbursed for expenses incurred while carrying out Board business.

(Three-year terms for these seats begin October 1, 2010 and end September 30, 2013)

Seats open for producer election in 2010 are:

District 2:       Counties Burt, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, Stanton, Thurston and Wayne.

District 4:       Counties of Boone, Hamilton, Merrick, Nance, Platte, Polk and York.

District 8:       Counties of Arthur, Banner, Blaine, Box Butte, Brown, Chase, Cherry, Cheyenne, Custer, Dawes, Dawson, Deuel, Dundy,  Frontier, Furnas, Garden, Garfield, Gosper, Grant, Greeley, Harlan, Hayes, Hitchcock, Hooker, Howard, Keith, Keya Paha, Kimball, Lincoln, Logan, Loup, McPherson, Morrill, Perkins, Phelps, Red Willow, Rock, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, Sherman, Sioux, Thomas, Valley and Wheeler.

Candidates for the Nebraska Soybean Board must be:

• Residents of Nebraska
• At least 21 years of age
• Soybean producers in Nebraska for at least 5 previous years

Prospective candidates must collect the signatures of fifty soybean producers in their district using an official Nebraska Soybean Board Candidacy Petition and return such petition to the Nebraska Soybean Board office on or before May 14, 2010, to be eligible for placement on the ballot.  To obtain a candidacy petition, contact Victor Bohuslavsky at the Nebraska Soybean Board by calling 402-432-5720 or emailing victor@nebraskasoybeans.org.

The nine-member Nebraska Soybean Board collects and disburses the Nebraska share of funds generated by the one half of one percent times the net sales price per bushel of soybeans sold.  Nebraska soybean checkoff funds are invested in research, domestic and foreign markets, including new uses for soybeans and soybean products.

U.S. ethanol production reached an all time high in October 2009 at 740,000 barrels per day (b/d), according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

That is an increase of 93,000 b/d from October 2008.Ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, also reached an all time high at 767,000 b/d in October, up from 692,000 b/d a year ago. Ethanol demand is averaging 687,000 b/d through September.

EIA also reports fuel ethanol imports of 8.65 million gallons in September.

With a major winter storm blasting its way across the country leaving fridge temperatures, howling winds and a lot snow, global warming may not be on the minds of a lot of people.

But theWorld Meterological Organzation  (WMO) reported Tuesday that the year 2009 is likely to rank in the top 10 warmest on record since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850.

According to WMO, the global combined sea surface and land surface air temperature for 2009 (January–October) is currently estimated at 0.44°C ± 0.11°C (0.79°F ± 0.20°F) above the 1961–1990 annual average of 14.00°C/57.2°F. The current nominal ranking of 2009, which does not account for uncertainties in the annual averages, places it as the fifth-warmest year. The decade of the 2000s (2000–2009) was warmer than the decade spanning the 1990s (1990–1999), which in turn was warmer than the 1980s (1980–1989).

This year above-normal temperatures were recorded in most parts of the continents, WMO reported. Only North America (United States and Canada) experienced conditions that were cooler than average. Given the current figures, large parts of southern Asia and central Africa are likely to have the warmest year on record.

Climate extremes, including devastating floods, severe droughts, snowstorms, heatwaves and cold waves, were recorded in many parts of the world, according to WMO.  This year the extreme warm events were more frequent and intense in southern South America, Australia and southern Asia, in particular. La Niña conditions shifted into a warm-phase El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in June. The Arctic sea ice extent during the melt season ranked the third lowest, after the lowest and second-lowest records set in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

Global warming is not in your backyard type of observable phenomena. Since our planet is mostly water and our oceans are a big weather maker, warming up the seas, even by a degree or two, impacts weather across the globe.