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Logan
Hawkes
05/03/06
Crop News Weekly
If April showers bring May rains then much of
drought-stricken America is in for more trouble. Beneficial rains have
fallen across parts of the Midwest and in the South, and have even
hampered planting in parts of Minnesota and Iowa. But producers in most
other areas are still begging for moisture. It could be a hot, dry
summer. The summer growing season, by the way, is just around the corner
and things are heating up - not just on the farm but in the world of
agriculture as well. For instance, the U.S. is not very happy with China
trade officials. China blames the U.S. for trade problems. Doha Round
has its share of new problems. There's still plenty of debate over a new
farm bill on the Hill, and President Bush is now saying ethanol
production is part of his plan for energy relief. You see, not all the
news is bad.
Elsewhere, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has announced
that more than nine out of 10 growers are aware of and effectively
complying with Insect Resistance Management (IRM) requirements as
mandated by the EPA. The findings are based on 2005 on-farm assessments.
Also this week, U.S. soybean rust experts are waiting for the other shoe
to drop. After a flurry of confirmed Asian soybean rust findings in
January and February, no new findings of the disease have been reported
since the first week of March. But that doesn't mean we're out of the
woods yet.
There's a lot more in the news this week, so let's get started. Thanks
for reading Crop News Weekly.
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Biggest
risk to ethanol margins is price of gasoline
05/02/06
The biggest risk for ethanol producers over the next
10 years is when ethanol prices drop in response to gasoline prices,
according to an analysis by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research
Institute at the University of Missouri. The report indicated that the
price of corn had a lesser effect on ethanol producer profitability.
FAPRI, USDA and the Congressional Budget Office all project rapid growth
in the amount of corn used for ethanol production through 2016. All
three estimate corn use for ethanol at around 1.5 billion bushels for
2005-06, and increasing to over 2 billion bushels by 2007-08. - Elton
Robinson, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Hu visit
leaves trade deficit with China in limbo
05/02/06
President Bush's much-anticipated meeting with Chinese
President Hu Jintao appears to have done little to address the $202
billion U.S. trade deficit with China or other sources of economic
tensions between the two superpowers. Administration officials attempted
to put a positive spin on the 90-minute, April 20 meeting, which
followed a White House arrival ceremony marked by several incidents that
might have been funny if the stakes of the Chinese president's first
official visit to Washington hadn't been so high. - Forrest Laws,
Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Planting
delays a concern
05/02/06
Heavy rains across Southern Minnesota and Northern
Iowa that occurred April 28-30 have raised major concerns in some areas
regarding delays in corn planting. Most of the region received 2-3 in.
of rain over the weekend, which brought total precipitation for April to
7-10 inches in many portions of extreme Southern Minnesota. In some
areas, fields have been too wet to plant any corn this spring, while in
other parts of southern portions of South Central and Southwest
Minnesota, less than 25 percent of the corn is planted, as of May 1.
Following the most recent rainfall event, most fields in this region are
totally saturated, many fields with standing water, and will take
several days of drying to allow spring fieldwork to resume in most
locations. - Kent Thiesse, The Corn & Soybean Digest
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Agriculture
Road Warrior: Clocking In
05/02/06
Dave Kohl writes: "This is a great quote I
heard at the Young Farmer and Rancher Institute sponsored by American
AgCredit and Farm Credit Services of the Southwest. When you get the
older and younger generations in the same room, you get some interesting
quotes. What can be said about the title of this column? Well, one of
the reasons why people select agriculture as their career is that there
is no set schedule. It is 24-7, 365 days a year." - The Corn &
Soybean Digest
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News from the Top of the
Hill
04/28/06
National Hog Farmer
AG Groups Support Peru Trade Agreement -- The
Agricultural Coalition for U.S.-Peru Trade sent a letter to every member
of Congress urging them to support the Peru Trade Promotion Agreement
(PTPA). The letter said, "The PTPA sets a new and higher standard for
future trade pacts. More than two-thirds of current U.S. agricultural
exports to Peru will immediately receive duty-free treatment upon entry
into force of the agreement. The tariffs on remaining U.S. agricultural
products will be reduced over time, with all tariffs eliminated within
17 years." At the present time, approximately 1.5 percent of U.S.
agricultural exports to Peru have duty-free access. The letter also
stated, that without implementation of the PTPA, "U.S. agriculture will
continue to be prejudiced by this non-reciprocal trade and will be
forced to compete for business in Peru against countries that already
have free trade agreements with the South American nation." The
coalition is comprised of 58 organizations including: American Farm
Bureau Federation, American Meat Institute, American Soybean
Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Cattlemen's
Beef Association, National Chicken Council, National Corn Growers
Association, National Milk Producers Federation, National Pork Producers
Council, National Turkey Federation, and U.S. Apple Association.
Mexico Continues Beef Antidumping Duties -- Mexico's Secretaria
de Economia has determined that the existing duties on bone-in and
boneless cuts of beef produced and exported from the U.S. would remain
in effect for an additional five years (April 28, 2010).
Increased Energy Costs -- The high cost of gasoline is getting
a great deal of attention in Congress and by the White House. President
Bush in a speech to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) praised the
importance of ethanol and biodiesel. He announced a number of steps the
administration is taking to try and provide some short-term relief. They
include: 1) halting the purchase of crude oil for the government's
Strategic Petroleum Reserve program for the summer; 2) federal tax
credits for hybrid and clean-diesel vehicles sold in 2006; 3) Federal
Trade Commission to investigate whether there has been manipulation of
gasoline prices; 4) ask EPA to use its authority to ease environmental
regulations that require the use of cleaner-burning fuel additives for
the summer; and 5) ask Congress to approve incentives for research and
development to advance more alternative fuels, such as ethanol,
biodiesel, and hydrogen.
Energy Legislation -- During the coming weeks we can expect
numerous energy bills to be introduced. Various proposals are being
discussed including a 60-day suspension of the gasoline tax, wind-fall
profits tax on oil companies, investigations of price-fixing, and easing
of regulations for refineries. Congressman Jim Nussle (R-IA) has
introduced the "Independence from Oil With Agriculture Act." This
legislation increases the Renewable Fuels Standard from 7.5 billion
gallons to 12 billion gallons by 2012. It also provides for a permanent
a tax credit for the installation of E85 tanks. The House Democratic
Rural Working Group is calling on Congress to provide tax incentives to
encourage increased biofuels production. Congress plans to consider
another energy bill before the August recess.
Congress Returns to a Busy Schedule -- Congress returned this
week after a two week recess to a very busy schedule. Issues that have
been identified by the House and Senate leadership for Congress to
considering in the coming weeks are lobbying reform, budget, immigration
reform, appropriations, disaster assistance, tax legislation, etc. -
Scott Shearer
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Corn
growers value insect protection technology
05/01/06
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has
announced that more than nine out of 10 growers are aware of and
effectively complying with Insect Resistance Management (IRM)
requirements as mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
These findings are based on 2005 on-farm assessments along with an
independent survey conducted on behalf of the Agriculture Biotechnology
Stewardship Technical Committee (ABSTC). - Farm Press Editorial
Staff
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Brazil
is big in production growth and potential
04/27/06
What you have heard about the mammoth increase in
production in Brazil during the last decade is either correct or more
staggering than you thought. Ditto for their potential growth in the
future. Agricultural production in Mato Grosso, the major agricultural
growth area of Brazil, is a part of a long-range economic development
process that began with (1) a subsistence economy 30 to 40 years ago.
The succeeding steps are (2) primary production, (3) establishment of
value-added industries, (4) industrial diversification beyond
agricultural products and (5) export activities. At the present time
they see themselves in the third stage of developing value-added
industries like ADM's soybean crush operation and the Feltrin's
prototype biodiesel plant. - Daryll E. Ray, Farm Press Editorial
Staff
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Soybean
rust more a "Southern" problem in 2006?
04/28/06
U.S. soybean rust experts are waiting for the other
shoe to drop. After a flurry of confirmed Asian soybean rust findings in
January and February, no new findings of the disease have been reported
since the first week of March, according to USDA's Soybean Rust Web site. But that doesn't
mean U.S. soybean farmers "are out of the woods, yet," says X.B. Yang,
Extension plant pathologist at Iowa State University, who is considered
one of the top U.S. experts on Asian soybean rust. - Forrest Laws,
Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Electrical
conductivity of soil a key to precision farming
04/28/06
By knowing the electrical conductivity of their soils,
farmers can make more precise management decisions about fertilizer
applications, irrigation, use of nematicides, and other pesticide
applications, according to Clemson University researcher Ahmed
Khalilian. Though it sounds high tech, and the science behind it has
been, the use of electrical conductivity, or EC, is really an extension
of the good old common sense farmers have been using for thousands of
years. - Roy Roberson, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Thiesse's
Thoughts: Planting Progress Varies
If you ask someone how much corn is planted and how
much spring fieldwork has occurred in their area, the response is likely
to be quite different, depending on where the person resides. There are
areas where a considerable amount of tillage has occurred and a
significant amount of corn has been planted, while in other areas field
conditions have been too wet to do any spring fieldwork. Some locations
in extreme southern Minnesota have received 6-8 in. of rainfall in
April, so soils are totally saturated, and standing water exists in some
fields. As of April 21, very little fieldwork has occurred in many parts
of the southern portions of South Central and Southwest Minnesota, and
the adjacent areas of Northern Iowa. However, as you move north from
that area, field conditions have been much more favorable, allowing most
of the small grain and alfalfa to be planted. - Kent Thiesse, The
Corn & Soybean Digest
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President
Bush backs biodiesel
04/27/06
President George W. Bush has touted biodiesel as a key
component of his plan to confront high fuel prices. A farmer-leader of
the American Soybean Association (ASA) participated in a renewable fuel
summit hosted by the Renewable Fuel Association (RFA) April 25 in
Washington, D.C., where the President announced his plan. - Farm
Press Editorial Staff
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Economic
viability of farm sector
04/27/06
"Women school teachers don't need to be paid as large
a salary as men teachers because the men have families to support, while
women teachers are either single and don't require as large an income,
or have husbands and thus their income is a bonus." This is the
explanation that we heard many times when we were growing up in the
1950s when female teachers often earned less than their male
counterparts teaching the same grade or subject. This argument was made
by school board members and citizens alike as they resisted the pressure
to pay all teachers according to a common scale: be they male or female,
high school or elementary. - Daryll E. Ray, Farm Press Editorial
Staff
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Portman
appointment may be problem for Doha Round
04/27/06
Does the "lateral" transfer of former Congressman Rob
Portman from U.S. Trade Representative to director of the Office of
Management and Budget signal a new disenchantment with the Doha Round of
WTO negotiations? That was the buzz in Washington after President Bush
nominated Portman to replace Josh Bolten, who earlier became White House
chief of staff. Susan Schwab, one of Portman's deputies, is getting the
nod to succeed Portman. - Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Former
congressman calls subsidies 'obstacle'
04/26/06
Cal Dooley's uncle might have been pleased, but it's
doubtful many Sun Belt row crop farmers would have been cheering the
former California congressman's remarks at the recent USDA Agricultural
Outlook Forum. Dooley, who served 14 years representing one of the San
Joaquin Valley districts in California, threw down the gauntlet to
producers who would like to roll over most of the provisions of the
current law into the 2007 farm bill. Turning the argument that 10
percent of farmers receive 70 percent of the farm bill's subsidies on
its head, Dooley noted that growers producing nearly 75 percent of the
the farm bill's subsidies on its head, Dooley noted that growers
producing nearly 75 percent of the U.S. agricultural output today are
doing so without those subsidies and "paying a price for our current
farm policy. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Ammonium
nitrate fertilizer 'hot potato' for dealers
04/26/06
This summer, farmers and ranchers will find it harder
and harder to buy ammonium nitrate, a commonly used nitrogen fertilizer,
said a Texas Cooperative Extension expert. Past concerns with nitrogen
fertilizer have been linked to the cost of oil and natural gas. This
time the shortage has nothing to do with fuel costs, but has originated
from fears terrorism. Ammonium nitrate can be used to make bombs such as
the one that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
City in 1995. - Robert Burns, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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China
on U.S. trade deficit: It's U.S. fault
04/26/06
It's amazing how accommodating you can be when you're
selling someone $200 billion more in goods and services than they're
selling you. The Memphis, Tenn., Commercial-Appeal had a big spread in
its April 11 editions about a Chinese delegation signing a deal to buy
1.1 million bales from seven U.S. cotton merchants and cooperatives in
Memphis. Another Chinese group traveled to Chicago and Minneapolis and
bought more than 5 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans. The groups were
expected to purchase a total of $15 billion in U.S. cotton, soybeans and
poultry. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Sign Up for
MarketMaxx
05/03/06
Sign up and play The Corn And Soybean Digest's fantasy
grain game called MarketMaxx. It's easy, fun and hopefully you'll learn
a little more about how to market the corn and beans your raise. It's
easy to sign-up. Just log on to http://www.marketmaxx.net and
register at the top left and begin trading your fictitious 100,000 bu.
of corn and 50,000 bu. of soybeans. If you're a winner at the end of the
game on October 31 you could take home the grand prize of a year's use
of a Massey Ferguson tractor or combine. Or, win additional prizes such
as a computer system from Syngenta Crop Protection, customized rugged
mobile computers from Grayhill Custom Mobile Solutions or a high-speed
satellite Internet service from Agristar Global Networks. - The Corn
& Soybean Digest
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