Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.3 million head on October 1, 2011. The inventory was 5 percent above October 1, 2010. This is the second highest October 1 inventory since the series began in 1996. The inventory included 6.95 million steers and steer calves, up 5 percent from the previous year. This group accounted for 61 percent of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.32 million head, up 5 percent from 2010.
Placements in feedlots during September totaled 2.47 million, slightly above 2010. Net placements were 2.40 million head. During September, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 685,000, 600-699 pounds were 415,000, 700-799 pounds were 504,000, and 800 pounds and greater were 865,000.
Marketings of fed cattle during September totaled 1.81 million, 1 percent above 2010. Other disappearance totaled 74,000 during September, 37 percent above 2010.
Click here for a look at the state by state information... http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CattOnFe/CattOnFe-10-21-2011.txt.
State by state... On Feed (% compared to last year)
Colorado .......: 1,070,000 107%
Iowa ...........: 570,000 100%
Kansas .........: 2,320,000 100%
Nebraska .......: 2,210,000 100%
South Dakota ...: 205,000 100%
Texas ..........: 2,950,000 112%
Placements (% compared to last year)
Colorado .........: 275,000 93%
Iowa .............: 115,000 94%
Kansas ...........: 500,000 98%
Nebraska .........: 560,000 104%
South Dakota .....: 51,000 89%
Texas ............: 560,000 97%
Marketings (% compared to last year)
Colorado .........: 185,000 103%
Iowa .............: 92,000 85%
Kansas ...........: 375,000 101%
Nebraska .........: 350,000 97%
South Dakota .....: 35,000 78%
Texas ............: 490,000 103%
USDA Cold Storage Highlights
Total natural cheese stocks in refrigerated warehouses on September 30, 2011 were down 2 percent from the previous month and down 2 percent from September 30, 2010. Butter stocks were down 9 percent from last month but up 16 percent from a year ago.
Total frozen poultry supplies on September 30, 2011 were down 3 percent from the previous month but up slightly from a year ago. Total stocks of chicken were down 3 percent from the previous month and down 5 percent from last year. Total pounds of turkey in freezers were down 2 percent from last month but up 9 percent from September 30, 2010.
Total frozen fruit stocks were up slightly from last month but down 5 percent from a year ago. Total frozen vegetable stocks were up 19 percent from last month but down 6 percent from a year ago.
Total red meat supplies in freezers were up 5 percent from the previous month and up 12 percent from last year. Total pounds of beef in freezers were down slightly from the previous month but up 8 percent from last year. Frozen pork supplies were up 11 percent from the previous month and up 16 percent from last year. Stocks of pork bellies were down 39 percent from last month but up 92 percent from last year.
President Signs Free Trade Agreements into Law
Nebraska Cattlemen is proud to announce that President Obama signed into law the three Free Trade Agreements (FTA); South Korea, Colombia and Panama. Nebraska Cattlemen along with other ag organization have urged the President to sign the agreements for many years.
“After five plus years of hard work trying to get these FTAs passed we finally are to a point where we can open new opportunities for Nebraskans," said Chuck Folken, Nebraska Cattlemen President. “Exports are a huge part of the cattle industry and with less tariffs more and more consumers can enjoy the great tasting beef we raise here in Nebraska."
The pact with Korea would phase out over 15 years South Korea’s 40 percent tariff on beef imports, with $15 million in tariff benefits for beef in the first year of the agreement alone and about $325 million in tariff reductions annually once fully implemented. The same would happen with Colombia’s 80 percent tariff and Panama’s 30 percent tariff on imports of U.S. beef.
Statement from Agriculture Secretary
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the following statement today on President Obama signing into law three trade agreements and workers' assistance expected to support tens-of-thousands of American jobs:
"Today, President Obama signed a major piece of his jobs agenda into law: new trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. These agreements will support tens of thousands of jobs here at home, put unemployed Americans back to work, and open new opportunities for American businesses. For America's farmers and ranchers, the trade agreements are an opportunity to strengthen U.S. agriculture, already a bright spot in our economy.
"Farm exports help support more than 1 million American jobs. This year and next, U.S. agricultural exports are on track to reach new highs, leading to a trade surplus of over $42 billion, eight times greater than five years ago. When implemented, these three agreements will increase farm exports by an additional $2.3 billion—supporting nearly 20,000 American jobs—by eliminating tariffs, removing barriers to trade and leveling the playing field for U.S. producers.
"Overall, these agreements are a win for the American economy—they mean higher incomes for farmers and ranchers, more opportunities for small businesses owners, and jobs for folks who package, ship, and market agricultural products."
NCBA Backs President Obama’s Action to Implement Trade Agreements
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Bill Donald said the long-awaited implementation of free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea is nearing. Today, Oct. 21, 2011, President Barack Obama signed the three agreements and the renewal of Trade Adjustment Assistance. Donald said the official signing is a step in the right direction.
“The swift passage of the trade agreements was a refreshing move of bipartisanship. We strongly urged the president to follow suit by signing these agreements. He did that and we commend him for understanding the importance of free and open trade to job creation and economic growth,” said Donald. “Cattlemen welcome the opportunity to respond to growing global demand for safe and nutritious beef raised by farm and ranch families throughout the United States.”
In his remarks, President Obama underscored that these trade agreements will significantly boost American exports and support tens of thousands of American jobs. In fact, according to the International Trade Commission, the three agreements translate into 250,000 jobs. To cattlemen like Donald, the trade agreements increase beef demand and profitability. CattleFax reports the average per head value of exports to live cattle to exceed $200.
“When I think of sustainability, I think of my children. By signing these agreements, we not only benefit in the short-term but we afford future generations the opportunity to remain in the family business providing food for this country and abroad. That’s sustainability,” said Donald. “These agreements spell opportunity for small businesses like mine. This has been a long time coming and NCBA and its affiliates have remained firm in our support for these agreements throughout the years.”
The pact with Korea would phase out over 15 years South Korea’s 40 percent tariff on beef imports, with $15 million in tariff benefits for beef in the first year of the agreement alone and about $325 million in tariff reductions annually once fully implemented. The same would happen with Colombia’s 80 percent tariff and Panama’s 30 percent tariff on imports of U.S. beef.
With FTAs Signed, Wheat Growers Urge Quick Implementation
Leaders of the U.S. wheat industry applauded President Barack Obama’s signing on Friday of three long-pending free trade agreements, with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
The agreements were passed by both chambers of Congress last week on a bipartisan basis. National Association of Wheat Growers President Wayne Hurst, a wheat farmer from Burley, Idaho, and U.S. Wheat Associates Chairman Randy Suess, a wheat farmer from Colfax, Wash., attended a ceremony Friday at the White House Rose Garden, held to mark the occasion.
Hurst, Suess and the Boards of both organizations are now urging the Administration to work closely with our trading partners to be sure the agreements enter into force as quickly as possible.
The delay in Congressional consideration of the agreements, which were signed in 2006 and 2007, has significantly hurt wheat exports, especially to Colombia.
As recently as 2007/2008, 70 percent of Colombia’s total annual wheat imports came from U.S. farmers. U.S. sales have fallen since then to a low of 46 percent of total imports. At the same time, Canada negotiated and ratified an FTA with Colombia that entered into force in August, allowing Canadian wheat to enter Colombia duty free.
“Since June, Canadian wheat exports to Colombia have doubled versus last year while U.S. wheat exports have fallen 20 percent,” Hurst said. “We need the U.S.-Colombia FTA implemented quickly to get our tariffs to zero and put us back on equal footing with Canadian wheat again.”
The FTAs with Panama and South Korea also eliminate duties on U.S. wheat. While current tariffs do not significantly affect wheat exports to those countries, research commissioned by U.S. Wheat Associates in 2010 showed that lowering barriers to trade increases the value and volume of all U.S. agricultural exports, an industry that already supports more than 800,000 U.S. jobs. As Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has stated, every $1 billion increase in exports creates more than 8,000 jobs. Liberalized trade also helps boost standards of living and quality of life for our trading partners.
“We are very pleased to see these FTAs signed into law today and we have already started the push to win back the wheat export business we lost without them,” Suess said. “Our competitors are negotiating at least 120 other bilateral trade agreements that do not include the United States. So even as we work in these markets, we will continue to urge our government to take every opportunity to expand market access for U.S. wheat and other commodities around the world.”
Tariff On U.S. Pork Lifted By Mexico
The National Pork Producers Council today praised the U.S. and Mexican governments for following through on resolving a trade dispute over trucking. Mexico today lifted tariffs on U.S. exports, including pork, and the U.S. government last week granted the first permit to a Mexican trucking firm to haul goods into the United States.
The two governments in July signed an agreement resolving the trucking issue, with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) crafting a cross-border trucking program and the Mexican government cutting the retaliatory tariffs by 50 percent. The remaining tariffs were suspended today after DOT issued the trucking permit.
“America’s pork producers are very pleased that the United States issued the first Mexican trucking permit, which has led today to the Mexican government removing the remaining retaliatory tariffs on our products, said NPPC President Doug Wolf, a producer from Lancaster, Wis. “Mexico is a very important market for the U.S. pork industry and for many other sectors. More than 6 million U.S. jobs depend on trade with Mexico.”
The long-standing dispute between the nations was over a provision of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The trucking provision was set to become effective in December 1995, but the United States failed to abide by it. Mexico imposed tariffs on 89 U.S. products in March 2009, after Congress failed to renew a two-year-old pilot program that allowed a limited number of Mexican trucks into the United States. Mexico added products, including pork, in August 2010 after the Obama administration failed to present a proposal for resolving the trucking dispute.
“It is important that the Unites States abides by its NAFTA obligations and does not yield to protectionist forces,” Wolf said. “U.S. exports and American jobs are at stake.”
Mexico is the second largest market for the U.S. pork industry, which shipped $986 million of pork south of the border in 2010. Since 1993 – the year before NAFTA was implemented – U.S. pork exports to Mexico have increased by 780 percent.
U.S. dealt another La Niña winter but ‘wild card’ could trump it
The Southern Plains should prepare for continued drier and warmer than average weather, while the Pacific Northwest is likely to be colder and wetter than average from December through February, according to the annual Winter Outlook released today by NOAA.
For the second winter in a row, La Niña will influence weather patterns across the country, but as usual, it’s not the only climate factor at play. The ‘wild card’ is the lesser-known and less predictable Arctic Oscillation that could produce dramatic short-term swings in temperatures this winter.
NOAA expects La Niña, which returned in August, to gradually strengthen and continue through the upcoming winter. It is associated with cooler than normal water temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean and influences weather throughout the world.
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| Photo courtesy NOAA |
“The evolving La Niña will shape this winter,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “There is a wild card, though. The erratic Arctic Oscillation can generate strong shifts in the climate patterns that could overwhelm or amplify La Niña’s typical impacts.”
The Arctic Oscillation is always present and fluctuates between positive and negative phases. The negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation pushes cold air into the U.S. from Canada. The Arctic Oscillation went strongly negative at times the last two winters, causing outbreaks of cold and snowy conditions in the U.S. such as the “Snowmaggedon” storm of 2009. Strong Arctic Oscillation episodes typically last a few weeks and are difficult to predict more than one to two weeks in advance.
With La Niña in place Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and parts of surrounding states are unlikely to get enough rain to alleviate the ongoing drought. Texas, the epicenter of the drought, experienced its driest 12-month period on record from October 2010 through September 2011.
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| Photo courtesy NOAA |
Stormy periods can occur anytime during the winter season. To improve the ability to predict and track winter storms, NOAA implemented a more accurate weather forecast model on Oct.18. Data gathered from the model will support local weather forecast office efforts to prepare for and protect the public from weather events. This service is helping the country to become a Weather-Ready Nation at a time when extreme weather is on the rise.
According to the U.S. Winter Outlook (December through February) odds tilt in favor of:
- Pacific Northwest: colder and wetter than average. La Niña often results in below-average temperatures and increased mountain snow in the Pacific Northwest and western Montana during the winter months. This may set the stage for spring flooding in the Missouri River Basin;
- California: colder than average and wetter than average conditions in northern California and drier than average conditions in southern California. All of the southern part of the nation are at risk of having above normal wildfire conditions starting this winter and lasting into the spring;
- Northern Plains: colder and wetter than average. Spring flooding could be a concern in parts of this region;
- Southern Plains and Gulf Coast States: warmer and drier than average. This will likely exacerbate drought conditions in these regions;
- Florida and south Atlantic Coast: drier than average, with an equal chance for above-, near-, or below-normal temperatures. Above normal wildfire conditions;
- Ohio and Tennessee Valleys: wetter than average with equal chances for above-, near-, or below-average temperatures. Potential for increased storminess and flooding;
- Northeast and Mid-Atlantic: equal chances for above-, near-, or below-normal temperatures and precipitation. Winter weather for these regions is often driven not by La Niña but by the Arctic Oscillation. If enough cold air and moisture are in place, areas north of the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast could see above-average snow;
- Great Lakes: colder and wetter than average;
- Hawaii: above-average temperatures in the western islands with above normal precipitation during the winter. Some drought recovery is expected across the state with Kauai and Oahu having the best potential for full recovery.
- Alaska: colder than average over the southern half of the state and the panhandle with below average precipitation in the interior eastern part of the state.
This seasonal outlook does not project where and when snowstorms may hit or provide total seasonal snowfall accumulations. Snow forecasts are dependent upon winter storms, which are generally not predictable more than a week in advance.
PRODUCERS ENCOURAGED TO SIGN UP FOR CONSERVATION DOLLARS.
USDA NRCS is currently accepting applications for several Farm Bill conservation programs.
Farmers and ranchers interested in soil, water and wildlife conservation or wetland restoration funds are encouraged to sign up now for conservation programs available from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The application deadline is Nov. 18, 2011.
Nebraska State Conservationist Craig Derickson said, “The Natural Resources Conservation Service will accept applications at anytime, but we encourage landowners and operators to get in and sign up for these program dollars right away since funds are limited.”
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is an Agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. NRCS has several programs available to landowners and operators interested in conserving natural resources on their land. These voluntary programs provide technical and financial assistance to install conservation practices that protect natural resources on privately owned land.
“The mission of the Natural Resources Conservation Service is ‘Helping People Help the Land,’ and our conservationists located in offices in nearly every county across the state work one-on-one with landowners to develop a conservation plan that meets individual landowner’s needs. The Farm Bill programs then provide financial assistance to help install conservation practices – such as irrigation water management, wetland restoration, wildlife habitat creation, forestry management, rangeland management or transitioning to organic agriculture – which help keep Nebraska’s privately owned land healthy and productive,” Derickson said.
For more information about the programs and services available from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, visit your local USDA Service Center, or visit www.ne.nrcs.usda.gov.
Commercial Red Meat Production Sees Slight Increase in September
Year to Date Production Also Slightly Higher
Commercial red meat production for the United States totaled 4.19 billion pounds in September, up 1 percent from the 4.16 billion pounds produced in September 2010.
Beef production, at 2.22 billion pounds, was 2 percent below the previous year. Cattle slaughter totaled 2.88 million head, down 1 percent from September 2010. The average live weight was down 11 pounds from the previous year, at 1,278 pounds.
Veal production totaled 10.7 million pounds, 5 percent below September a year ago. Calf slaughter totaled 73,800 head, up 4 percent from September 2010. The average live weight was down 22 pounds from last year, at 252 pounds.
Pork production totaled 1.95 billion pounds, up 4 percent from the previous year. Hog slaughter totaled 9.69 million head, up 4 percent from September 2010. The average live weight was unchanged from the previous year, at 270 pounds.
Lamb and mutton production, at 11.8 million pounds, was down 10 percent from September 2010. Sheep slaughter totaled 177,000 head, 14 percent below last year. The average live weight was 134 pounds, up 5 pounds from September a year ago.
January to September 2011 commercial red meat production was 36.5 billion pounds, up 1 percent from 2010. Accumulated beef production was up 1 percent from last year, veal was down 3 percent, pork was up 2 percent from last year, and lamb and mutton production was down 8 percent.
State Production (million pounds), % compared to Sept, 2010
Iowa ..................: 563.5 103%
Kansas ................: 442.7 98%
Nebraska ..............: 615.6 101%
South Dakota ..........: 89.3 105%
Herd Continues to Shrink Amid Drought, Soaring Costs
Drought in the Southern Plains and several years of high feed prices have discouraged beef producers enough that the U.S. cattle herd continues to shrink, a Purdue Extension agricultural economist says.
Since 2007, beef cow numbers have dropped by 12 percent, and the number of heifers retained for replacements is down 5 percent, Chris Hurt said. Cow slaughter has remained high this year ensuring even smaller cow numbers in 2012.
While less beef is being produced in the U.S., more is being exported. Hurt said beef exports would be up about 19 percent this year.
"A weak dollar and strong economic growth in developing countries stimulates demand," he said. "Beef exports are expected to be a record 11 percent of total U.S. production next year. This is a sharp recovery from 2004 when exports represented just 2 percent of production after discovery of a BSE cow caused many world buyers to drop U.S. beef. Imports also are down 5 percent this year, meaning the U.S. will be a net exporter of beef - an unusual situation, according to Hurt.
The smaller production numbers, higher exports and lower imports mean the amount of beef available for each person in the U.S. will be down about 6 percent in 2012.
"Since feed prices began to escalate in 2007, the per-capita supply of beef available to Americans is down 17 percent," Hurt said. "This means in 2012 there will only be 54.3 pounds of beef available per person, compared with 65.2 pounds in 2007."
Less supply and strong demand mean beef prices are likely to soar in the coming year. In 2007, finished steer prices averaged $92 per hundredweight. The 2011 average will be about $113 per hundredweight, and in 2012 Hurt expects prices to surge to new records above $120.
While drought and high feed costs are likely to stifle any herd expansion plans for now, Hurt said the outlook for cow-calf operators appears positive in coming years.
"The breeding herd is not likely to begin expansion until the drought in the Southern Plains fades," he said. "If crop yields return to normal in 2012, prices for major feedstuffs and forages will be lower, and finished cattle prices will be very high. This is a combination that can add quickly to calf prices by the fall of 2012. The start of heifer retention in late 2012 would reduce beef supplies even more and be the foundation for even higher cattle prices in 2013."
Hurt said low beef production likely will keep calf prices high through at least 2015.
"All of this favors Midwestern cow-calf operations that have reasonable forage supplies this year and can hold cows for the longer run opportunities," he said.
Senate Votes to Cap Subsidies
(AP) — The Senate has voted to end direct payments to farmers whose annual incomes exceed $1 million. The 84-15 vote approving the provision by Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn came as the Senate worked into the early morning hours Friday on a vast spending bill. Coburn argued that the government shouldn't be subsidizing the highest earning farmers at a time of deep budget deficits. The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee, who opposed Coburn, are working on legislation that could eliminate the entire $5 billion-a-year direct payment program for farmers. Direct payments go to farmers regardless of crop prices or yields. They are relied on heavily by many rice and cotton farmers in the South.
Senate Takes Up Agriculture Approps Bill As Part of "Minibus"
(from NAWG newsletter)
Senators began considering their version of the FY2012 agriculture appropriations bill this week as part of a combination bill known as a “minibus”.
As of press time, the body continued to consider amendments to the measure, which also includes provisions for two other regular appropriations bills, the Commerce-Science-Justice measure and the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development measure.
The minibus is a new strategy for moving regular-order appropriations bills through the Senate a few at a time. There’s hope that this tactic will prove less controversial than an omnibus measure incorporating all the appropriations bills and also be quicker than considering each of 12 bills individually.
Though Senate leaders had hoped to complete the minibus earlier in the week, consideration of amendments continued Thursday, which could mean consideration of the entire measure will be put off past a scheduled Senate recess next week.
Currently, the federal government is being funded by a continuing resolution that lasts until Nov. 18. The government’s 2012 fiscal year began Oct. 1.
This week, NAWG joined more than 30 other agriculture industry groups in urging Senators to oppose amendments to the FY2012 spending bill that “alter or negatively affect the mandatory funding for U.S. farm policies”.
The groups noted the Senate and House Agriculture Committees’ proposal to the super committee earlier this week regarding cuts to ag programs through that process, saying, “We believe the U.S. Senate should await the results of the ongoing work of this bipartisan, bicameral effort.”
Other work is ongoing to determine if a legislative solution to new and duplicative pesticide permitting requirements could be incorporated into the FY2012 appropriations measure.
The House has passed a bill, H.R. 872, to clarify Congressional intent with regard to the new requirements, which came out of a Sixth Circuit Court ruling. Unfortunately, that bill has thus far been held up in the Senate.
NPPC Questions Need For EPA Reporting Rule; Welcomes More Open Process
While questioning the need for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest proposed Clean Water Act (CWA) reporting rule for large livestock operations, the National Pork Producers Council applauded the agency for at least acknowledging the concerns of livestock producers and for offering options to address them.
EPA's proposed Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Reporting Rule seeks to have CAFOs submit to the agency operational information so it "can more effectively carry out its CAFO permitting programs on a national level and ensure that CAFOs are implementing practices to protect water quality and human health." The information includes basic facility facts, such as contact information, location of a CAFO's production area, permit status, the number and type of animals confined and the number of acres available for land application of manure.
The agency is considering one of two reporting options: 1) require every CAFO to report information to EPA unless states with authorized CWA permitting programs choose to provide it on behalf of the CAFOs in their state; or 2) require CAFOs in "focus" watersheds that have water quality concerns associated with CAFOs to report information to EPA.
"We applaud EPA's alternative targeted approach to addressing real water quality issues," said NPPC President Doug Wolf, a pork producer from Lancaster, Wis. "This sets the stage for a more open dialogue among stakeholders over where these policies should go."
The proposal was prompted by a May 2010 settlement agreement EPA entered with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Waterkeeper Alliance and the Sierra Club as part of a lawsuit NPPC brought and ultimately won over EPA's 2008 CAFO rule. The 2008 rule required, among other things, that large livestock operations that propose to or that might discharge into waterways obtain CWA permits. On NPPC's suit, a federal court ruled that the CWA requires permits only for operations actually discharging.
Under the settlement agreement, which was developed without the participation of the livestock industry and was not required or ordered by any court -- and now the proposed reporting rule -- EPA and the environmental groups are seeking to undermine the federal court decision by reclassifying the CWA permit process as simply informational.
"Our government is not supposed to operate through a process of secret settlements," Wolf said. "Pork producers decry that settlement agreement as the product of a bad and closed process that improperly attempted to make major policy decision out of the public eye, and this rule is a product of that flawed process."
NPPC and other livestock groups raised concerns about the settlement, including its potential to undermine farm biosecurity that protects the safety of America's food supply, with U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who worked with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to come up with a rule that acknowledges the concerns and seeks public comment on them.
Despite USDA's and DHS's intervention, the proposed reporting rule is still problematic, said NPPC, presuming, for example, that CAFOs, by nature, discharge pollutants and that, that can be proved through an information collection process.
The EPA proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register. For more information about the proposal, visit http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/afo/aforule.cfm.
EPA Extends SPCC Compliance Dates for Farms
(from National Sorghum Producers)
On Oct. 18, 2011, the EPA amended the date by which farms must prepare or amend and implement their Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plans, to May 10, 2013. If EPA receives no adverse comment by Nov. 2, 2011, then the rule will become effective on Nov. 7, 2011. Natural disasters were declared by either the federal or state government in many states and as a result, EPA believes farms were disproportionately affected and need additional time to prepare and implement a SPCC Plan.
The amendment does not remove the regulatory requirement for owners or operators of farms in operation before Aug. 16, 2002, to maintain and continue implementing an SPCC plan in accordance with SPCC regulations then in effect. Such farms continue to be required to maintain plans during the interim until the applicable compliance date for amending and implementing the amended plans. Finally, the amendment does not relieve farms from the liability of any oil spills that occur.
CFTC Limits Speculation
This week the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) voted for new speculative and derivative limits in the commodity markets. The new rule will limit speculation in grain markets, and what the new rule details will allow remains to be seen. Major questions have been raised about implementation, including what defines a speculator under the new rule and who gets exemptions. In the coming months, CFTC must provide details on how it will implement the rule, but it is already being suggested that legal challenges will come.
Billion in Cuts Recommended by Ag Committee Leadership
Leaders of the Congressional Agriculture Committees told the debt-deficit super committee this week that mandatory agriculture and nutrition programs should take $23 billion in cuts as part of the overall effort to cut $1.5 trillion from the federal budget.
The recommendation came this week in a letter signed by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.); Senate Ranking Member Pat Roberts (R-Kan.); House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.); and House Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).
In a statement released simultaneously by the four leaders, they indicated they will continue working together to fashion a detailed proposal for the spending cuts, which is expected to be submitted to the super committee by Nov. 1.
They noted in their letter that $23 billion in cuts is more than would be achieved through a sequestration process and would come in addition to multiple cuts to programs within their jurisdictions in recent years.
Crop insurance was cut $6 billion during the recent renegotiation of the contract between USDA and private crop insurance companies, in addition to $6 billion in cuts in the 2008 Farm Bill and $2 billion in cuts in the 2002 Farm Bill.
In addition, conservation programs have been cut by $3 billion during the last five years; key nutrition programs have been cut by nearly $12 billion in recent years to offset other spending; and there are 37 programs, totaling nearly $10 billion, which expire in this farm bill cycle with no baseline into future years.
The leaders also noted their effort to work on a bipartisan basis, which seems to be unique to the Agriculture Committees but will be essential to producing a legislative proposal equivalent to a 2012 Farm Bill that is acceptable to constituents of all agriculture-area programs.
China's Changing Corn Market
(from US Grains Council newsletter)
In September, the Chinese government began releasing corn from government reserves into the market and has reportedly released approximately 3.7 million metric tons (145.7 million bushels) to date. Releases were accomplished through normal sales channels rather than a public bid process. U.S. Grains Council sources suggest this may reflect an attempt to monitor sales volumes more tightly due to concerns regarding actual stock levels.
Chinese market insiders also suggest China may restrict new crop corn procurement by the main buyers in Northeast China this year. Industrial processing companies and possibly small feed mills and livestock farms are likely to be the first sectors affected, followed by large enterprises like COFCO and the China Grains & Logistics Corporation (CGLC). Finally, large grain enterprises could see restrictions on purchase volumes, and bank lending for some large buyers could be tightened.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoqian, vice director of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told the Davos Forum that China is likely to use its huge foreign exchange reserves to buy staple commodities as needed. That could mean more U.S. commodity sales as the U.S. dollar appreciates and commodity prices fall, according to the Shanghai JC Intelligence Co., Ltd, an agricultural market analysis firm.
Second Noodle Shop Adopts Corn Flour
A second Japanese noodle shop is incorporating U.S. corn flour in its ramen noodles as a result of the U.S. Grain Council’s dry milling promotion program.
The shop, located outside Tokyo, is using a blend of 10 percent corn flour and 90 percent wheat, and marketing the product as “Indian Ramen.”
The Council’s Japan office distributed its handbook containing the corn noodle formula and tasting samples to 270 Tokyo noodle shops in May and recently expanded the distribution to 250 shops in other cities. The Council is promoting a corn tortilla menu to cafes and restaurants in Tokyo as well.
U.S. corn sales to Japan for dry milled food products increased more than 17,000 metric tons (670,000 bushels) in the January-to-August period compared to the same period last year. Japanese food manufacturers produce 600,000 metric tons of noodles annually. A consistent 10 percent corn-inclusion rate would require 60,000 metric tons of corn (2.4 million bushels).
Council Actions Bear Fruit in Southeast Asia
The market for distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in Southeast Asia is poised for expansion. U.S. Grain Council efforts in the region have significantly contributed to the favorable export climate.
Exports to Vietnam, the fourth biggest market for DDGS, rose 11 percent between January and August 2011. According to Adel Yusupov, USGC director in Southeast Asia, construction of new feedmill plants in the Ha Duong and Bac Giang provinces will move forward later this year. Plans for expanding the Vietnamese swine and poultry industry using advanced breeding techniques also suggest that an increased demand for feed grain will follow.
“The region is growing increasingly dependent on feed grain imports amid declining domestic crop production and burgeoning feed demand,” commented Yusupov.
Increased DDGS exports to Malaysia and the Philippines have also been noteworthy, up 99 percent and 50 percent respectively from last year. Thailand’s imports are down 13 percent due to an abundant supply of soybean meal in the market.
The Council-led DDGS Technical Service meetings in the Philippines and Thailand have educated local buyers on the nutritional value and use of DDGS as a low-cost feed ingredient. Numerous regional seminars have targeted key audiences, including major dairy farms and feed milling companies, to provide information on U.S. DDGS production quality.
The Council has also been actively involved in trade policy issues. For example, the Council in collaboration with FAS-Bangkok worked to delay a regulation the Thai government planned to impose on protein levels in DDGS imports, thereby maintaining market access for U.S. producers.
ICA Schedules December Annual Convention
The Iowa Cattlemen's Association (ICA) will hold its annual convention Dec. 12-14 at The Meadows Event & Conference Center in Altoona. The conference center is part of Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino.
"The theme of this meeting is 'What's in Your Cards?' and we are going to show our members and other attendees options they can play as ICA meets its mission to 'Grow Iowa's beef business through advocacy, leadership and education', says ICA President Ross Havens of Wiota. "The sessions being planned are sure to deliver good information to cattle producers."
On Dec. 12, a pre-convention event will include a Cattlemen's College, hosted by Pfizer Animal Health. The program will feature Dr. D. Dee Griffin, Feedlot Production Management Veterinarian and Professor at the University of Nebraska's Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center. His topic will cover feed yard health and management issues.
A feed yard tour of three farms in Story County will be held after the Cattlemen's College to look at the various building options. The tour will include Longnecker Cattle Company, Ames, which has a hoop building; Sampson Farms, Nevada, which has a modified hoop, or non-confined hoop with an open lot; and Couser Cattle Company, Nevada, which has a monoslope and AT (alternative technology) system.
The evening of the pre-convention event will include a presentation about the economics of feed yard production in buildings, along with a producer panel.
The ICA Annual Convention activities begin Dec. 13. The Info Expo, which includes several educational sessions will begin at 10 a.m. Other activities that day include a trade show, awards luncheon, policy committee meetings, and a dinner where the ICA Hall of Fame recipient will be announced, and ICA will kick-off its 40th Anniversary year. The Iowa Cattlemen's Foundation Auction will finish the evening.
On Dec. 14, attendees can continue to talk with vendors in the trade show, as well as attend the annual business meetings of the Iowa Cattlemen's Association and the Iowa Beef Industry Council.
Early registration for the ICA Annual Convention will save attendees $35 per person. If you register by Nov. 28, registration will be $115; after that the cost rises to $150. Registration costs includes four meals, the trade show, and all educational sessions. The pre-convention event is free of charge, but registration is required so meal numbers can be properly anticipated.
Register for the conference at the ICA website, www.iacattlemen.org, or with the registration form included in the October, November and December issues of the Iowa Cattleman magazine.
Waterhemp is Evolving; Enlist™ Weed Control System Will Provide a Solution
Auxin resistance in isolated grass field reinforces need for multiple modes of action
Waterhemp has a cunning way of adapting, with an emergence pattern that lasts throughout the summer and its ability to produce a large number of seeds. The survivability of the weed was demonstrated in recently released results from a University of Nebraska evaluation involving a grass field, where sequential treatments of an auxin herbicide over a 15-year period resulted in an isolated case of resistance.
The Enlist Weed Control System, under development by Dow AgroSciences, was designed with resistance management principles in mind and an understanding that nature (including the weed control landscape) will always adapt; effective weed control technology must be ready to handle its many changes. Pending regulatory approval, the Enlist system combines herbicide tolerance traits that will enable the use of glyphosate, glufosinate (in soybeans and cotton), and FOP chemistries (in corn) as well as new 2,4-D choline, to combat a wide range of weed pressures.
“If you can control a weed with two or three mechanisms of action, the likelihood of resistance occurring to all the mechanisms used is greatly reduced,” said Steve Weller, horticulture professor, Purdue University.
The Enlist system will provide tolerance to Enlist Duo™ herbicide, which is a proprietary blend of glyphosate and new 2,4-D choline. Additionally, the system was designed to be used in a program approach with a foundation herbicide treatment such as SureStart® herbicide in corn and Sonic® herbicide in soybeans to use a total of four modes of action in one season.
“It’s known that plants adapt, and weeds are no different,” says Mark Peterson, global biology leader for the Enlist Weed Control System. “Years of research in weed science have demonstrated that continuous use of a single mode of action will ultimately result in the development of a resistant population. If a single weed management practice is used continuously, resistant weed biotypes are likely to arise.”
Unsustainable practices
In the Nebraska evaluation, seed was collected from a grass field that received sequential treatments of the auxin herbicide 2,4-D up to twice a year for 15 years. Greenhouse trials conducted this year determined the waterhemp populations developed auxin herbicide resistance because of the tremendous pressure exerted on a single mode of action over a period of many years. The report also concluded that the auxin-resistant waterhemp population is isolated.
“In looking at this specific field, the importance of multiple modes of action is very clear,” says Greg Kruger, cropping systems specialist, West Central Research & Extension Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “It is unrealistic to expect any herbicide that is used exclusively for an extended period of time to not come under some pressure.”
Peterson adds that the Nebraska evaluation reinforces the need for rotating chemistries and using multiple modes of action. The Enlist Weed Control System will be part of a program approach with the recommendation to start with a foundation herbicide.
“With the Enlist™ system and the program approach, growers will be able to keep farming the way they prefer and have renewed confidence in their herbicides,” Peterson says. “Use of multiple modes of action within one system helps growers to maintain effective weed management and efficient crop production.”
Celebrate Food Day - Every Day
Sarah Hubbart, Animal Agriculture Alliance Communications Director
October 24 marks the first-ever Food Day, a holiday organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest that is being celebrated online and at many grassroots events across the country. Unfortunately, Food Day’s founding principles downplay the importance of modern agriculture and unfairly criticize the way of life of many food producers who don’t fit the “local” or “niche” mold. For example, two of Food Day’s goals include “limiting big agribusiness” and “reforming factory farms” – terms that conjure up negative, and misleading, stereotypes about today’s agriculture industry.
Food Day has the potential to kick-start many conversations about how food is produced in our country. It represents a tremendous opportunity for farmers and ranchers to share how agriculture is more than just a business; it is a way of life, no matter if you have ten cows or 10,000.
The Animal Agriculture Alliance was excited to partner with Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan on Tuesday to announce the launch of Real Farmers Real Food, http://www.realfarmersrealfood.com, a new website that showcases the importance of America’s farmers and ranchers, large and small, to our nation’s security and vitality. Scanlan’s one-minute video message encourages Americans to celebrate the hard work of our nation’s farmers and ranchers. Audio of the PSA is also available for radio broadcast.
“Not everybody farms, but everybody has to eat,” Scanlan says in the one-minute video, also available at http://www.youtube.com/animalagalliance. “Most Americans don’t realize how essential and crucial agriculture is to our lives and to our economy.”
Scanlan explains that most people do not understand the connection between the thousands of family farms across the country and their own dinner. Real Farmers Real Food serves as a positive reminder for each of us to take time to appreciate the many people who make our safe, abundant, and affordable food supply a reality.
American agriculture has a wonderful story to tell. The Real Farmers Real Food website highlights the ways that today’s farmers and ranchers rely on both technology and tradition to meet the needs of consumers. While our industry may not be perfect, time and time again, American agriculture has shown a commitment to continuous improvement- be it for food safety, animal well-being, or environmental stewardship.
Visit the Real Farmers Real Food website to read an op-ed on Food Day by Chris Ashworth, DVM, a rancher and the Alliance’s current chairman. Other highlights include a collection of video farm tours and a section that busts many common myths about food production. Members of the agriculture community are encouraged to get involved in the Real Farmers Real Food effort by signing the pledge in support of American agriculture that is available on the website and participating in conversations about food production on Twitter by using the hashtag #FoodDay.
Let’s work together to use Food Day to celebrate the diversity of American agriculture. On October 24, all of us in agriculture should work together to help consumers learn about their food straight from the people who understand how it is produced best – farmers and ranchers.
Working Together to Create Jobs
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
Recently, both houses of Congress took action to support tens-of-thousands of American jobs by ratifying trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, as well as passing trade adjustment assistance to help train workers for the 21st century economy. And last week, the President signed them.
These agreements are a win for the American economy. For American agriculture, their passage will mean over $2.3 billion in additional exports, supporting nearly 20,000 jobs here at home for folks who package, ship, and market agricultural products.
That’s why President Obama made these trade deals a key part of his jobs agenda. And once they are implemented, they’ll level the playing field for America's farmers, ranchers and growers. They’ll open up opportunities for our businesses and immediately secure new markets as the majority of American products exported to Korea, Colombia and Panama become duty-free.
These trade agreements help build on the success story of American agriculture – already a bright spot in the American economy – by continuing record exports that support more than a million jobs here at home.
In the past months, I’ve crisscrossed the United States talking about trade and another opportunity for Congress to create jobs for the American people —President Obama’s American Jobs Act. The bill would cut taxes for small business owners and middle-class Americans. Private forecasts suggest it would put 1.9 million people back to work next year.
Right now, Congress is looking at the bill piece-by-piece, starting with a proposal to prevent teacher layoffs, keep police officers on the beat and keep firefighters on the job. $35 billion in assistance to states would support nearly 400,000 educator jobs – keeping teachers in the classroom. And it would keep cops and fire fighters in place to protect our communities.
In the same way that they supported trade deals to create jobs and help agriculture, I know that members of Congress can step up and take action to pass the American Jobs Act.
If we’re going to get Americans working again, folks in Washington DC need to come together and find solutions that work for everyone to build our economy that makes, creates, and innovates products that the rest of the world needs and wants. In doing so, America can be an exporting nation – a key to rebuilding America’s middle class.
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