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Logan
Hawkes
09/27/06
Crop News Weekly
While temps continue to drop across much of the
Midwest, farm bill fever continues to rise across America. Farm groups,
specialty organizations and rural farmers are all looking to the future
as the farm bill becomes a larger issue in the upcoming midterm
elections. But political experts are warning that with the political
focus on terrorism and the Nation's war efforts, we shouldn't expect a
lot of serious discussion and consideration of farm issues for some
time.
Yet it is the farm bill that leads our issue this week with leaders of
major U.S. farm organizations telling the House Agriculture Committee
they support the 2002 farm bill and favor extending the law. American
Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman adds to the argument,
agreeing that Congress should know the outcome of the Doha Round of
world trade talks before beginning a new farm bill. Stallman is also
urging Congress to pass an extension. In other news, a free trade
agreement between the United States and Colombia will generate
additional export opportunities for American farmers and ranchers,
President Bush said in a letter notifying the House and Senate of his
intent to sign the pact. And some bad news recently: The third time was
not a charm as Senate Republican leaders once again blocked efforts by a
bipartisan group of farm-state senators to provide assistance to farmers
and ranchers hammered by weather disasters in 2005 and 2006. Also in
this issue, get the run down on the USDA September Crop Report, read
about the new Case IH Puma tractor series, and find out farmer's
preferences for a new farm bill according to a recent survey.
You'll find these and other stories in the spotlight this issue. Thanks
for reading Crop News Weekly.
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Farm
groups call for farm bill extension
09/25/06
Leaders of the major U.S. farm organizations have told
the House Agriculture Committee they support the 2002 farm bill and
favor extending the law as is until a final WTO agreement is in place.
Some farm group presidents, meanwhile, said they would like to "build on
the farm bill's strengths" by adjusting various provisions of the law.
And the National Corn Growers Association asked for consideration of a
new revenue assurance proposal its public policy team has been
developing. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Bush
administration puts forth trade pact with Columbia
09/25/06
A free trade agreement between the United States and
Colombia will generate additional export opportunities for American
farmers and ranchers, President Bush said in a letter notifying the
House and Senate of his intent to sign the pact. It would also "help
create jobs in the United States and help American consumers save money,
while offering them more choices," he said. And it would "benefit the
people of Colombia by providing economic opportunity and strengthening
democracy." - Hembree Brandon, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Stallman
urges Ag Committee to extend farm bill
09/22/06
The World Trade Organization should be given the
opportunity to finalize a new trade agreement before Congress begins the
arduous task of writing the next farm bill, the president of the
American Farm Bureau Federation says. Bob Stallman, a rice and cattle
producer from Texas when he's not speaking for Farm Bureau, says that
because Congress should know the outcome of the Doha Round of world
trade talks before beginning a new farm bill, it should first extend the
current legislation. - Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Senate
leaders turn back Conrad disaster bill
09/25/06
The third time was not a charm as Senate Republican
leaders once again blocked efforts by a bipartisan group of farm-state
senators to provide assistance to farmers and ranchers hammered by
weather disasters in 2005 and 2006. "A fair vote has been denied here in
the Senate and the party in power has turned its back on American
farmers," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. Conrad and Conrad Burns,
R-Mont., Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and other senators introduced two other
emergency assistance bills for 2005 and 2006 that have not become law.
- Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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New from the Top of the
Hill
09/22/06
National Hog Farmer
AG Groups Inform Congress on Farm Bill --
Seventeen agricultural and commodity groups indicated their various
positions on the 2007 farm bill before the House Agriculture Committee.
A number of organizations, including the American Farm Bureau
Federation, National Farmers Union, National Cotton Council, and US Rice
Industry, indicated support for extending the current farm bill. The
National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is advocating a change in farm
policy. NCGA is supporting two new programs: the Base Revenue
Protection (BRP) and the Revenue Countercyclical Program (RCCP).
According to NCGA, these programs would work in a "complementary fashion
to assist producers when market revenue falls below target levels. BRP
provides coverage against declines in farm-level crop-specific net
revenue while RCCP builds on this base with protection against declines
in revenue measured at the county level, which is similar to Group Risk
Income Protection (GRIP) in federal crop insurance." Additional farm
bill hearings will be held this year by the House Agriculture
Committee.
Pork Producers Present Views on Farm Bill -- The National Pork
Producers Council's (NPPC) testimony before the House Agriculture
Committee urged Congress to consider the needs of pork producers when
writing the new farm bill. Those needs include: 1) maintain the U.S.
pork industry's competitive advantage globally; 2) strengthen the
industry's competitiveness; and 3) defend the industry's competitiveness
by opposing unwarranted and costly provisions and regulations. NPPC
addressed five issues important to the pork industry: risk management,
conservation and the environment, ethanol, animal welfare and market
structure and information. Concerning ethanol, NPPC indicated that
beginning in 2008, "ethanol production could be large enough to cause
displacement in the domestic pork industry. Given current and projected
ethanol prices, ethanol plants likely will be able to outbid pork
producers for corn. Additionally, any wide-spread drought would
significantly accelerate this problem."
Producers Preferences for Farm Bill -- In a survey of 15,000
producers in 27 states, producers ranked renewable energy, enhancing
opportunities for small and beginning farmers, and assuring a safe and
affordable food supply as their top three goals for the next farm bill.
Producers indicated that bioenergy production and food safety programs
should receive new or additional funding. When asked what existing
programs should continue to receive funding, producers ranked disaster
assistance and crop insurance at the top followed by working land
conservation programs, marketing loans, direct payments and
countercyclical payments. Medium and large-size operations placed a
higher priority on the safety net, while smaller operations placed a
higher priority on working land conservation programs. The survey was
conducted by the Farm Foundation.
Other key findings of the survey:
"Payment limits enjoy support among all categories of farms, but
support is greater among small farms than large farms.
Producers surveyed in seven states favor a fruit and vegetable
support program but not necessarily one modeled on traditional commodity
programs. Instead they prioritize disaster assistance, crop insurance
and block grants for state programs.
Respondents support technical and financial assistance to address
conservation goals, particularly water quality and soil erosion control
measures. Producers value continued support for the Conservation Reserve
Program (CRP) and the Conservation Security Program (CSP).
Respondents support free trade negotiations and expanded trade
opportunities. However, they also favor comprehensive negotiations that
include food safety, labor and conservation issues. They favor
negotiations that focus on domestic policy goals ahead of trade policy
goals.
Producers favor country of origin labeling and prefer mandatory
labeling over voluntary labeling. Producers support mandatory animal
identification programs. They also favor BSE testing, with preference
for voluntary guidelines for testing by industry rather than
government-mandated programs.
When asked about the expected future transition of their farm or
ranch, more than 50 percent expected the transition would be to a family
member.
Producers surveyed in three states supported agricultural credit
programs, putting the highest priority on beginning farmer programs."
The complete survey can be found at http://www.farmfoundation.org.
Oman FTA -- The United States Senate passed the U.S.-Oman Free
Trade (FTA) Agreement Implementation Act. Eighty-seven percent of Oman's
tariff lines will go to zero for agricultural products on the first day
of the agreement. The remaining tariffs will be phased out over 10
years. The legislation now goes to President Bush for his signature.
Pork Producers Come to Washington -- Over 100 pork producers
from through-out the United States were in Washington, D.C. last week to
meet with administration officials and key Senators and Congressmen to
discuss key issues facing the pork industry. Various issues discussed
were CERCLA reform, mandatory price reporting, fatigued hog legislation,
and the free trade issues with Peru, Columbia, and Vietnam. - from
the desk of Scott Shearer
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Road
Warrior: View From Canada
09/20/06
Dave Kohl writes: "I had the opportunity to
spend a week in Western Canada recently. Sometimes we take our neighbors
to the north for granted, but they are the U.S.'s biggest trading
partner. The U.S. is also the biggest foreign investor in Canada, over
50%, followed by England and Germany. The province of Alberta, north of
Montana, is becoming very wealthy. The whole area from south of Calgary
up to the Yukon border is oil patch rich. This is definitely impacting
farming and ranching..." - The Corn & Soybean Digest
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September
crop report
09/20/06
The USDA Crop Report released on September 12
increased the estimated U.S. corn production for 2006 by 1%, or by
approximately 138 million bushels from the August 1 estimate. The
expected total production level in 2006 is now projected at 11.114
billion bushels, with a national average corn yield of 154.7 bu./acre.
This may seem surprising to many growers in Minnesota, given the drought
conditions that have existed in many areas of the state for much of the
summer. Minnesota's average 2006 corn yield on Sept. 1, 2006, is
projected at 164 bu./acre, which is 10 bu./acre lower than the final
2005 corn yield of 174 bu./acre, but is up 4 bu./acre from the estimated
yield of 160 bu./acre on August 1, 2006. Some feel that the USDA corn
production estimates for 2006 are underestimated, given some good to
excellent crop growing conditions in many areas later in the growing
season. Kent Thiesse, The Corn & Soybean Digest
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Equipment
Forum: Case IH unveils Puma tractor series
09/22/06
Case IH set a standard in high horsepower tractors
with Steiger, Quadtrac, Magnum and Maxxum. Puma springs from that same
lineage. Dependable power is being brought back to growers and dealers
by the new Case IH Puma family of tractors. Designed for the grower who
wants a multi-purpose machine that's easy to use, with plenty of power
and solid reliability, the Case IH Puma tractor is the fuel-efficient
new workhorse that simplifies operations for growers. It handles a wide
variety of tasks in many different types of farm enterprises -- from
row-crops to hay and forage to vegetables.
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Reducing
harvest losses
09/18/06
Additional ear droppage can be caused by deteriorating
stalk and ear shank strength. Harvesting at higher moisture content may
be beneficial to reduce loss. The disadvantage is higher drying costs,
which can be a major factor because of high LP cost. The key to reducing
header ear loss in down corn is to get the snouts under the down corn to
lift the corn stalks up... - University of Minnesota
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Arkansas
could be biofuels production center
09/21/06
Biofuels production in Arkansas has gone from zero
last summer to 20 million gallons this summer, and it is projected to be
60 million gallons in 2007. In a few years, biofuels production could
make "energy" a major new commodity for Arkansas farmers and foresters.
That was the consensus of industry experts, scientists, legislators and
government officials at a workshop in Little Rock, Ark. - Howell
Medders, University of Arkansas
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