By the Numbers: Who's Paying How Much in Cash Rent?
This week the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service released its county level statistics on cash rental rates for irrigated and non-irrigated cropland and pastureland. Available in table and map form, the Nebraska rates are based on a random sample of nearly 16,000 producers who were surveyed from March through June.
In Nebraska the highest range of irrigated cash rental rates was from $282 in Knox County to $312 in Dixon County. The next highest range was from $236 in Kearney County to $278 in Seward County.
The highest level of non-irrigated cash rental rates—all in eastern Nebraska—ranged from $188 in Pierce and Butler counties to $266 in Dakota County.
The highest range of pasture cash rental rates was from $56 in Platte County to $73 in Pierce County.
The information is based on surveys conducted with Nebraska farmers and ranchers during the first half of 2017.
County Irrigated Non-Irri Pasture
Cuming 291 262 73
Burt 258 230 60.50
Washington 262 220 58
Dodge 268 210 52.50
Saunders 251 198 51.50
Colfax 264 205 66
Platte 285 202 56
Stanton 277 214 71.50
Madison 262 194 na
Pierce 252 188 73
Wayne 290 238 na
Cedar 311 239 66
Dixon 312 248 48
Dakota na 266 43
"These rents represent an average of all rates reported for a county, which means our data set included recently negotiated rents and those that may not have been updated for some time," notes Nick Streff, deputy regional director for the Northern Plains Regional Field Office in Lincoln. "These rental rates will not always represent the current market rate for a given county."
"These rents represent an average of all rates reported for a county, which means our data set included recently negotiated rents and those that may not have been updated for some time," notes Nick Streff, deputy regional director for the Northern Plains Regional Field Office in Lincoln. "These rental rates will not always represent the current market rate for a given county."
Jim Jansen, Nebraska Extension agricultural economist, noted that variability in crop and livestock prices appears to be influencing cash rental rates as well as ag land values. Counties where there are wide production swings from year to year are more apt to have lower cash rental rates due to inconsistent income potential.
The rate growers are willing to pay in rent appears to relate to the land's income-earning potential. If commodity or livestock prices drop, rental rates tend to follow suit, Jansen said.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Agricultural Economics also tracks agland cash rental rates in Nebraska and released its most recent data earlier this year in the 2017 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Report. Its report is based on surveys made in early 2017. Rental rates published in 2017 declined an average of about 5% to 10% for the second consecutive year, with several rates dropping by more than 10%.
Renewable Fuels Nebraska Selects Troy Bredenkamp as Next Executive Director
Renewable Fuels Nebraska (RFN), the trade organization for Nebraska’s ethanol industry, announced today that they have selected Troy Bredenkamp to be the organization’s next Executive Director. Bredenkamp, who most recently served as the General Manager of the Nebraska Rural Electric Association (NREA), will begin his role with RFN on November 1.
“We are excited to have Troy and his extensive association experiences leading our organization into the Future,” said Ted Free, General Manager of Bridgeport Ethanol and President of Renewable Fuels Nebraska. “We face a lot of challenges and opportunities in Nebraska’s ethanol industry. Troy possesses the background, the expertise and the vision to help our members navigate those challenges while helping to propel our organization and industry forward”.
Prior to his last position, Bredenkamp served as CEO of the Colorado Farm Bureau, Director of Congressional Relations with American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, DC and Vice President of Technical Services with Nebraska Cattlemen.
“As the 2nd largest ethanol producing state in the US, this is a tremendous opportunity to serve as RFN’s next executive director, getting in on the ground floor and helping build an organization worthy of the significant economic role that the ethanol industry plays here in Nebraska,” Bredenkamp said. “Agriculture and ruralprosperity have always been passions of mine, and RFN represents ethanol - one of the greatest value-added agricultural products and one with substantial economic significance to this state. I am excited to get started representing this vital industry.”
A native Nebraskan born in York, Bredenkamp was raised on a small family farm near Waco, NE. He holds a BS in Education from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Bredenkamp serves on the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry State Board of Directors and as the Public Affairs Council Chair for the State Chamber. Bredenkamp also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for The Hope Venture, a Lincoln-based charity helping to improve lives in Africa, India and here in the US. He resides with his family in Lincoln, NE.
Pork Proud
Al Juhnke, Executive Director, Nebraska Pork Producers Association
As ‘Pork Month’ comes to a close, we at the Nebraska Pork Producers Association (NPPA) want everyone to know that we are here working year round on behalf of our farmers. In fact, we have been here since 1961 as a grassroots, incorporated, non-profit organization.
NPPA is a USDA Checkoff organization. Via the Pork Checkoff that every Nebraska pork producer pays, dollars are used for three things: education, promotion, and research. As stewards of the checkoff, NPPA makes sure all three of these areas are addressed within our strategic plan and that we are doing the most good for our family farmers and their farming operations.
Our goal, as described in NPPA’s vision statement, is to ensure opportunities for success - for Nebraska’s producers of pork, regardless of size or production style. We do this by educating the public about pork products, and by keeping growers up-to-date on advances in the pork industry. We seek new customers and work to expand our existing pork markets here and around the world. Finally, we know our future is dependent on strong research programs, which we advocate for, and support.
We also work with our state’s youth, by enhancing their opportunities for success within the pork industry. NPPA wants to make sure our kids understand the opportunities available to them in agriculture and the raising of pigs. These young people are our future workforce and an important piece to the economic success of our rural communities. It makes sense to focus part our resources on them.
Pork production in our state is growing and prospering. NPPA and our farmer members are proud of what they do. Know that we will be here when needed as outlined by our motto: Serving Nebraska’s Pork Industry — Responsible people. Sustainable pork.
CLIMATE ASSESSMENT RESPONSE COMMITTEE TO MEET
Mat Habrock, assistant director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, has scheduled a meeting of the Climate Assessment Response Committee (CARC) for Monday, October 30, 2017. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. in room 901, Hardin Hall on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus.
Officials will brief CARC members on existing, as well as predicted, weather conditions and provide a water availability outlook.
For more details, call the Nebraska Department of Agriculture at (402) 471-2341.
Beef Cow Production Meetings to Highlight New Iowa Cowmaker Elite Program
Iowa cow-calf producers will have five opportunities during November to learn about reproductive efficiency and investigate a new approach to managing heifers. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach beef specialist Patrick Wall said the meetings set for Nov. 17-21 will cover selecting the right genetics, right heifer and right bull to achieve individual herd goals.
"The proper timing and attention to detail for a successful A.I. program will also be vetted including age, implants, stress, nutrition, handling, synch protocols and health," he said. "Attendees will also have the opportunity to enroll their 2017 heifer calf crop in the Iowa Cowmaker Elite program at the conclusion of the meeting."
Series locations, dates, times
Friday, Nov. 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Pizza Ranch, Creston
Friday, Nov. 17, 4 - 7 p.m. – ISU Extension and Outreach Guthrie County Office, Guthrie Center
Monday, Nov. 20, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – McNay Research Farm, Chariton
Tuesday, Nov. 21, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – ISU Extension and Outreach Jones County Office, Anamosa
Tuesday, Nov. 21, 5 - 8 p.m. – ISU Extension and Outreach Washington County Office, Washington
There's no fee to attend and several meetings will conclude with tours of cooperating heifer development locations.
“We need our cows to celebrate more birthdays in order to enhance profitability and limit depreciation expense,” Wall said. “The ICE program is designed to help producers select and manage heifers to stay in the herd past age 8, and ensure that their daughters do, too.”
These meetings will feature Dr. Sandy Johnson of Kansas State University who will cover two topics: the attention to detail necessary to achieve a top-notch heifer development program, and use of The Management Minder, a calendar tool used to help producers achieve proper timing when managing heifers.
“The Minder is incredibly easy to use and especially useful for producers who want to manage their heifers for the ICE program at home,” Wall said.
For additional information, visit the ICE web page or contact Wall by email or phone at 515-450-7665.
Urea Leads Fertilizer Price Hikes
Four of the eight average retail fertilizer prices were higher, three were lower and one remained unchanged in the third week of October 2017 compared to one month earlier, according to fertilizer retailers surveyed by DTN.
Urea was up 9% compared to a month ago with an average price of $340 per ton. UAN32's average price increased by about 6% to $262/ton. The average prices for three other fertilizers were just slightly higher or unchanged. Potash and DAP were each up about 1%, at an average $348/ton and $432/ton, respectively. MAP remained unchanged at $452/ton.
The remaining average prices for three fertilizers were lower compared to last month. UAN28 saw a 3% drop in average price compared to last month, at $205/ton. Anhydrous and 10-34-0 each experienced a 1% drop compared to last month, at $397/ton and $413/ton, respectively.
On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.37/lb.N, anhydrous $0.24/lb.N, UAN28 $0.37/lb.N and UAN32 $0.41/lb.N.
Five of the eight major retail fertilizers are now lower compared to one year earlier. Only one of the five is double digits lower. Anhydrous is now 16% lower from a year ago, while 10-34-0 is 9% less expensive and UAN28 is 8% lower. UAN32 is 4% less expensive and DAP is 1% less expensive.
Three fertilizers are now higher compared to last year. MAP is less than 1% higher, urea is 7% higher and potash is now 11% more expensive.
Co-ops Oppose Increased Tax Burden on Farmers
The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) today expressed strong opposition to provisions included in the recently-released Unified Framework for Fixing our Broken Tax Code that would increase taxes for farmers across the country. By eliminating the Section 199 deduction that is passed down by farmer co-ops to their member-owners, money will flow from the pockets of farmers and rural communities to investment bankers on Wall Street and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley.
Section 199, also known as the Domestic Production Activities Deduction (DPAD) was enacted as part of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 and applies to proceeds from agricultural products that are manufactured, produced, grown, or extracted by farmer cooperatives, or that are marketed through co-ops. The great majority of cooperatives pass the benefit through directly to their farmer members. It is estimated that the deduction returns nearly $2 billion annually to rural areas in all 50 states.
“Farmer co-ops have consistently supported tax reform and related policies that support economic growth in rural America as well as the broader economy,” said Chuck Conner, president and CEO of NCFC. “The elimination of the Section 199 deduction for agriculture increases the tax burden on farmers and their co-ops and obviously runs counter to that goal. In a time of continued low commodity prices, those hardworking Americans who grow our food can ill afford for Congress to pass a law that will raise their taxes.”
“As both the House Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee begin considering detailed tax reform packages, they must preserve the Section 199 deduction for agriculture and recognize that lower rates by themselves will not offset a loss of the deduction,” Conner continued. “It would be a strange irony indeed if a Republican Congress and a Republican president pass a law that increases taxes on America’s farmers.”
ASA Welcomes ARC-CO Improvement Act
The American Soybean Association (ASA) welcomed legislation introduced this week by Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Joni Ernst (R-IA), which supports and strengthens the county Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC-CO) program.
“ARC-CO is of great importance to soy growers, who signed up over 90 percent of soybean acres in the program,” said ASA President and Roseville, Illinois grower Ron Moore. “In hard economic times, finding the best way to provide support against declines in farm revenue is on every grower’s mind.”
ASA, along with eight other agriculture groups, joined a letter to Sens. Heitkamp and Ernst applauding the ARC-CO Improvement Act and highlighting its three provisions which will benefit farmers.
The proposed legislation directs USDA to use more widely-available data from the Risk Management Agency as the first choice in yield calculations, calculates safety net payments based on the county where a farm’s is physically located, and provides the FSA state committee discretion to adjust yield data estimates to help reduce variations in yields and payments between neighboring counties.
NCGA Applauds Bill with Proposed Changes to ARC
The following is a statement from National Corn Growers Association President Kevin Skunes regarding the introduction of a bill yesterday by Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D – N.D.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) directing the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to use crop yield data from the Risk Management Agency for yield calculations.
“NCGA applauds Senators Heitkamp and Ernst for recognizing the importance of having a strong revenue-based program for farmers and taking this step to strengthen the Agriculture Risk Coverage-County Level (ARC-CO) Safety Net Program in the next Farm Bill,” said NCGA President Kevin Skunes. “In this economy, having strong farm bill risk management programs are more important than ever.”
“NCGA believes ARC can be updated to improve its effectiveness in this extended low-price environment farmers are facing,” said Skunes. “NCGA supports a program that utilizes more accurate data to ensure farmers have access to fair and accurate risk management tools.”
NMPF Applauds House Judiciary Committee for Endorsing New Agriculture Guest Worker Program
The National Milk Producers Federation said today it supports the efforts by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and the House Judiciary Committee to pass legislation creating a guestworker program that provides a new opportunity for immigration reform in agriculture.
The committee today approved the Agriculture Guestworker (AG) Act (H.R. 4092), which would establish an entirely new visa program, dubbed the H-2C visa, to allow farm employers to hire foreign workers on a year-round basis. The measure was developed by Rep. Goodlatte after NMPF provided input to the committee about the workforce needs of America’s dairy farms.
Although not ideal, the AG Act “helps advance our efforts to assure a stable, dependable and legal workforce for America’s dairy farmers, now and in the future,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The AG Act is the first step in a long process of establishing a workable solution for dairy farmers’ labor needs. It recognizes that we must improve on the current system by pursuing a new approach to matching the supply and demand for workers in U.S. agriculture.”
Goodlatte’s bill would replace the existing H-2A temporary visa program, which dairy farmers largely cannot use because their labor needs are year-round, not seasonal. In addition to establishing the new visa for future farm workers, it would allow currently undocumented farm workers to apply for H-2C visas so that they can participate legally in the agricultural workforce.
While the version of the legislation marked up in committee requires further improvements, Mulhern said that overall, the AG Act bill “merits the support of America’s farming community, and its refinement and passage must be a priority for congressional leaders.”
George Rohrer, a dairy farmer in Dayton, Va., and a member of the NMPF Board of Directors, said that farmers “have waited for years for lawmakers to fix our broken immigration system. The AG Act is evidence that Congressman Goodlatte has listened to many of our concerns, and is willing to try a new approach to the problem. As a farmer, it’s difficult to plan for tomorrow when you don’t know whether you’ll be able to hire qualified people today.”
October Cattle on Feed Report Puts Placements Higher
Brian R. Williams, Assistant Extension Professor
Department of Agricultural Economics, Mississippi State University
The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA, NASS) released their monthly Cattle on Feed report Friday afternoon (October 20, 2017). Placements totaled 2.15 million head, an increase of 13% from September 2016. Market analyst expected placements to be up 7.5%, so the reported value came in higher than the average expectation; although it did fall within the range of expectations. All weight classes saw an increase in placements, with cattle smaller than 600 pounds seeing the largest increase with a 17.4% year-over-year increase. Placements of larger cattle weighing over 900 pounds saw an 11.1% year-over-year increase in placements.
Cattle marketed in September totaled 1.783 million head, up 3% versus last year. Pre-report expectations called for marketings to be 2.6% higher than the same period last year, so estimates higher than analysts anticipated they would be.
The total number of cattle in feedlots with 1,000 head or larger capacity on October 1, 2017 totaled 10.813 million head, up 5% versus October 1, 2016. Market analysts expected a 4.7% year-over-year increase in cattle on feed, so the reported value came in very close to analysts' expectations.
The high placement numbers drove markets down as trade opened on Monday morning, but prices have slowly bounced back over the course of the day. Ultimately the numbers have only had a small impact on the cattle futures complex on Monday morning, with most feeder futures contracts trading around $0.10 to $0.45 lower and live cattle futures contracts trading around $0.15 to $0.45 higher. For the most part, the high placement numbers were still somewhat in line with what trade expected, and had already been built into the markets.
Cargill to Acquire Diamond V
Responding to growing consumer preferences for natural and wholesome food production, Cargill today announced it has signed a binding agreement to acquire Diamond V, a leading global provider of innovative natural solutions and technologies that improve animal health, animal performance, and food safety.
This acquisition, which follows Cargill's recent investment in Delacon, the global leader in natural, plant-based phytogenic additives, will give Cargill market-leading participation in the $20 billion global animal feed additives market, as well as world-class technical, regulatory and R&D capabilities and go-to-market strength in approximately 70 countries worldwide.
"This acquisition strengthens Cargill's and Diamond V's shared vision to be a leader in creating new solutions for evolving consumer preferences for sustainable and wholesome food production," said David MacLennan, Cargill's chairman and chief executive officer. "Our combined businesses will accelerate growth, build industry-leading capabilities and natural solutions for animal health and food safety, and help fulfill Cargill's purpose to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way."
Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Diamond V has a 75-year history and global reputation for developing unique, research-proven immune support technologies that work naturally with the biology of the animal to strengthen the immune system and promote a healthy digestive system to enhance animal health, animal performance, and food safety.
The purchase will encompass all of Diamond V's business, including the human health business, Embria Health Sciences, and its branded product EpiCor®.
Diamond V's headquarters will remain in Cedar Rapids and the Diamond V brand will be the platform for future investments in natural solutions for safer animal food production.
Hundreds of college students come together for animal agriculture
College students from across the nation are competing to win more than $16,000 in scholarships as they participate in the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s eighth annual College Aggies Online program. This year’s students represent 89 different universities coming from 43 states. About 300 students are competing in the individual division of the program while more than 30 collegiate clubs compete in the group division.
Each week students are tasked with posting about a facet of agriculture on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. So far, the students have shared about pigs, dairy cows, broiler chickens, laying hens, sheep and goats. This week, the students are posting about hot topics in agriculture, such as genetic engineering, hormones and antibiotics.
“The program not only helps students enhance their communication skills, but provides them with resources to learn more about areas of the industry they may not be familiar with,” said Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Alliance vice president of communications.
A few weeks ago, experts from National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council and U.S. Poultry and Egg Association hosted a webinar for students covering current issues in the beef, pork and poultry industries. Issues included the recent activist pushes for slower-growing broilers and cage-free eggs, trade and communicating about responsible antibiotic use.
Mentors from across the agriculture industry volunteer their time to help students with weekly assignments and offer advice about engaging online. This not only helps the student improve their advocating sills, but offers a unique opportunity to network with leaders who may become their future employers.
2017 mentors include:
Casey Whitaker, communications manager, Animal Agriculture Alliance
Josie Peterson, communications manager, Biotechnology Innovation Organization
Don Schindler, senior vice president of digital innovations, Dairy Management Inc.
Chloe Carson, manager of digital communications, National Pork Producers Council
Kourtney Determan, manager of strategic and digital communications, National Chicken Council
Allison Devitre, regulatory information management and communications manager, Monsanto
Eric Mittenthal, vice president of public affairs, North American Meat Institute
Charmayne Hefley, manager of organizational communications, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Tim Hammerich, agribusiness recruiter and founder, Ag Grad, LLC
In addition to weekly social media posts, the students are writing blog posts, designing infographic, creating surveys and learning how to incorporate humor into advocating. “This year’s group is the most engaged yet,” said Casey Whitaker, Alliance communications manager. “Their passion for agriculture definitely shines through in their work.”
Clubs are challenged with hosting events on their campus to start conversations about animal agriculture with their peers. Students must prepare for their event by sending out press releases, posting on social media and inviting a farm to attend. One of the most popular challenges this time of year is Scary Food Myths. For this event, students hand out candy with myths and facts about meat, milk, poultry and eggs to fellow students on their campus.
The students have two weeks left to impress the mentors for their chance to take home a scholarship and be invited to the Alliance’s 2018 Stakeholders Summit, themed “Protect Your Roots”, set for May 3-4 in Arlington, Virginia. The top three individuals and clubs will be announced before Christmas break.
To follow the students’ posts and engage with them about the program, search #CAO17 on social media.
CAO would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. 2017 sponsors include: Dairy Management Inc., the National Pork Industry Foundation, CHS Foundation, Pork Checkoff, Monsanto, Domino’s Pizza Inc., Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Kuhn North America and the Ohio Poultry Association.
Organic Certification: A Critical Link in the Supply Chain
As the demand for organic food and products in the United States has grown dramatically over the last 10 years, so has the complexity of organic supply chains. The supply chain, domestically and internationally, now involves a series of complex transactions with businesses that grow, handle, package, manufacture and transport organic goods. USDA accredited certifiers ensure that the integrity of the supply chain is unbroken from farm to table for American families.
Ensuring Public Trust in the Organic Seal
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service National Organic Program (NOP) provides training and support for more than 2,000 certifier staff worldwide so they have the necessary tools to ensure the integrity of the system through consistent enforcement of the law.
Today, the agency published an interim instruction, NOP 4013: Maintaining the Integrity of Organic Imports, that provides a range of available information in one convenient place. The interim instruction details the requirements for certifiers who oversee organic products imported into the United States. The instruction:
- Clarifies responsibilities for certifiers in the U.S. and around the world
- Recommends best practices for reviewing and issuing import related documents
- Highlights handling instructions needed to maintain the integrity of the organic status for imported organic products
- Details required documentation and recordkeeping
Public Comments Welcomed
While Interim Instruction NOP 4013 is designed to assist USDA accredited certifiers, public comment is also invited.
The 60-day public comment period runs from October 25, 2017 until December 26, 2017.
Turn the Bag Blue & Gold Program Helps FFA Students
How can a seed bag help FFA students raise funds and learn? Mycogen Seeds is partnering with the National FFA Organization, local chapters and select retailers to promote a 60th anniversary edition, blue-and-gold Mycogen Seeds bag.
Mycogen’s Turn the Bag Blue & Gold program will work with select retailers and local FFA chapters in corn-growing regions to implement a comprehensive learning program that provides foundational agronomic principles and professional selling training. Chapter members will apply the training in the field by selling special blue-and-gold bags of select Mycogen® brand corn hybrids to local farmers as part of a fundraising program.
“We’re excited about this opportunity — not only the fundraising opportunities it offers local chapters but also the career and educational development these young leaders will receive as part of the program,” says Zach Ferguson, Mycogen Seeds corn product manager. “To top things off, farmers will receive seed in an FFA blue-and-gold Mycogen Seeds bag.”
Students will hit the field this fall
Chapter members will begin the curriculum this fall and, throughout the next few months, will work with local Mycogen sales, agronomy and retailer teams to call on local corn farmers to position and sell select Mycogen® brand corn hybrids. For every bag of corn sold, the local chapter will earn funds for their local chapter.
Mycogen is piloting the program with seven retailers and FFA chapters. To learn more, visit Mycogen.com or contact your local Mycogen Seeds sales representative or retailer.
Farmers interested in supporting the program and their local FFA chapter can contact one of the following participants or Mycogen retailers.
Aurora FFA Chapter, Aurora, Nebraska
Aurora Cooperative, Aurora, Nebraska
York FFA Chapter, York, Nebraska
Central Valley Ag Cooperative, York, Nebraska
North Shelby FFA Chapter, Shelbyville, Missouri
Vortex Seeds, Leonard, Missouri
Centralia FFA Chapter, Centralia, Missouri
MFA Incorporated, Centralia, Missouri
Bureau Valley FFA Chapter, Manlius, Illinois
CPS, Sheffield, Illinois
South Newton FFA Chapter, Kentland, Indiana
Ceres Solutions, Rensselaer, Indiana
Eastern Hancock FFA Chapter, Charlottesville, Indiana
Harvestland, Wilkinson, Indiana
“We look forward to our first year in this program,” Ferguson says. “FFA members are a driven group of young leaders with high aspirations of a future career in agriculture. We’re a proud sponsor of the National FFA Organization and excited to celebrate 60 years of sponsorship with the Turn the Bag Blue & Gold program. We hope it inspires FFA members and showcases the exciting opportunities available in the agricultural industry.”
DuPont Collaborates with WinField United to Offer Best-in-Class Phytophthora Protection
WinField United and DuPont announced today that Winfield is offering DuPont™ Lumisena™ fungicide seed treatment in its United States retail locations, starting immediately.
By using a new class of chemistry, Lumisena™ fungicide seed treatment provides the most advanced seed-applied technology to help control phytophthora, the No. 1 yield-robbing disease in soybeans.
“As a farmer-owned cooperative, we constantly strive to find new ways to bring farmers the latest solutions alongside our unparalleled local expertise,” said Teri Otte, marketing manager, WinField United. “We are pleased to offer soybean growers the latest technology to combat phytophthora, protecting their seed investment in the first vulnerable weeks after planting.”
Lumisena™ fungicide seed treatment, which will be offered with other WinField United seed treatment products, received federal regulatory approval in November 2016 and was introduced into large-scale trials across the United States. According to trials,* Lumisena™ has shown to enhance vigor and emergence, improve yield 1.7 bushels per acre in the presence of phytophthora, provide the best-in-class protection and improve crop stand.
“We are excited to see Lumisena™ fungicide seed treatment reach more operations and help growers maximize their yield potential,” said David Borgmeier, U.S. Seed Applied Technologies Category leader, DuPont, “and we are pleased to be collaborating with WinField United to introduce this highly effective seed treatment to farmers.”
Lumisena™ provides a unique mode of action to control phytophthora during multiple stages of the pathogen life cycle. It is taken up systemically from the moment the seed begins to grow, providing effective protection for root growth, emergence and early stand establishment to help maximize soybean yield potential. Lumisena™ has an excellent environmental profile and is highly effective at low dose rates.
Solid first nine months with strong growth in Q3
Novozymes, the world’s largest industrial biotechnology company, today announced its results for the nine months of 2017. Solid results with 4% organic revenue growth (Q3: +8%): Household Care +2%, Food & Beverages +9%, Bioenergy +10%, Agriculture & Feed -2%, Technical & Pharma -3%. Reported EBIT margin at 27.9%. FCF bef. acq. DKK 2.1 billion.
Peder Holk Nielsen, President & CEO of Novozymes: “We grew revenue by 8% organically in the third quarter and by a satisfying 4% in the first nine months. This was better than expected. The EBIT margin was solid, as was free cash flow. And although there is still some uncertainty regarding the fourth quarter, especially within agriculture-related industries, we are adjusting the full-year outlook. With stronger innovation and a well-diversified business showing good, solid momentum, we are positive looking ahead.”
Highlights:
- Organic revenue growth in first 9M y/y of 4% (Q3: 8%) and 4% in DKK (Q3: 6%)
- 3 out of 5 areas grew; Food & Beverages and Bioenergy continue to perform well
- Agriculture & Feed improved as BioAg sales cycle moves from 1H to 2H
- Emerging markets 4%, developed markets 4% (9M y/y organically)
- 9M EBIT growth of 5% with a reported EBIT margin of 27.9% (9M 2016: 27.7%)
- Q3 EBIT margin at 29.6% (Q3 2016: 28.7%)
- Free cash flow bef. acquisitions solid at DKK 2.1 billion; higher investments as expected
- Named the “World’s 2nd best science employer” in Science Magazine
- Still some uncertainty regarding agriculture-related markets in Q4
- Full-year outlook adjusted: organic revenue growth 3-5% (2-5%), DKK revenue growth 2-4% (1-4%), EBIT growth 2-4% (1-4%). EBIT margin maintained at ~28%. FCF bef. acq. at DKK 2.1-2.3 billion (DKK 2.0-2.2 billion). Net profit growth 2-5% (2-5%), incl. a DKK 60 million write-down on net financials (DKK 47 million post-tax) in Q3
Welcome to the KTIC Agriculture Information blog!!! Check back here for the latest in ag news and information, from local events to international happenings and government reports that affect your operation. Please email with suggestions! -Chad Moyer, Farm Director, KTIC Radio
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Tuesday October 24 Ag News
NDA ANNOUNCES NEBRASKA AG YOUTH COUNCIL MEMBERS
Today, Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) Director Greg Ibach congratulated a select group of college students for their commitment to serve the ag industry as members of the 2017-2018 Nebraska Agricultural Youth Council (NAYC). The Council is made up of Nebraska students who have a passion for agriculture and who are committed to promoting the ag industry around the state. NDA sponsors NAYC and its activities throughout the year.
“As Council members, these young men and women have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of Nebraska youth by telling the story of Nebraska agriculture and the many careers available in the industry.” said NDA Director Greg Ibach. “NAYC members are the future leaders of our agricultural industry. They bring with them outstanding experience, and I know they will work hard to represent Nebraska’s proud agricultural heritage.”
NAYC is entering its 47th year with the installation of this group of Council members. Throughout the year, the Council coordinates several agricultural learning experiences for Nebraska youth including: visiting elementary classrooms to discuss where food comes from; taking urban youth on farm tours to experience what a day in the life of a farmer is like; and visiting with high school students from across the state about career opportunities in the ag industry. The primary focus of NAYC is to coordinate the annual Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute, a five-day summer conference for current high school juniors and seniors.
This year’s Council is comprised of 21 young men and women. The 2017-2018 NAYC leadership includes:
· Head Counselors: Logan Kalkowski, Omaha, and Amanda Kowalewski, Gothenburg;
· President: Ryan Schroeder, Wisner;
· Secretary: Hannah Borg, Wakefield;
· Vice President of Promotions: Kevin Sousek, Malmo;
· Vice President of Alumni Relations: Hunter Schroeder, Howells;
· Vice President of Communications and Social Media: Jacob Schlick, Fairfield;
· Vice President of Sponsorship: Hannah Settje, Raymond;
· Vice President of Youth Outreach: Brent Miller, Lyons; and
· Vice President of NAYI Improvement: Collin Thompson, Eustis.
Additional NAYC members include: Cheyenne Gerlach, De Witt; Collin Swedberg, North Platte; Cooper Grabenstein, Smithfield; Courtney Nelson, Monroe; Emily Frenzen, Fullerton; Eric Leisy, Wisner; Grant Dahlgren, Bertrand; Grant Suddarth, York; Jacce Beck, Ainsworth; Matthew Morton, Nehawka; and Sage Williams, Eddyville.
To learn more, visit NAYI’s website at www.nda.nebraska.gov/nayi/ or search for Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute on Facebook.
Waite to Discuss Drone Age in Nebraska Lecture
The possibilities for drones are almost limitless, from improving crowd security at large events, to tracking impending storms, to delivering precision agriculture.
And, of course, they could deliver Amazon packages to one's front door.
However, disagreement about how to regulate the growing field is limiting the Drone Age's potential in the United States, said University of Nebraska-Lincoln drone journalism expert Matthew Waite. He will present the Nov. 8 Nebraska Lecture, "The Drone Age is Here, and We're Screwing It Up." The public lecture is at 3:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union auditorium, 1400 R St., with a reception following.
A live webcast is available here. Follow @UNLresearch or #neblecture on Twitter for live updates during the lecture.
"To truly unleash this industry, more federal regulation is needed," said Waite, professor of practice in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, where he established the country's first drone journalism lab.
Developing a cohesive legal framework for drone operators has been a challenge for lawmakers at all levels. In part, Waite said, this is because the idea of unlimited "flying robots" zooming overhead raises questions about property rights, privacy and free speech. Even more complicated is who gets to decide -- local, state and federal lawmakers are jockeying to set the rules.
Using the birth of the aviation industry as a historical parallel, Waite's lecture will explore why federal regulation is key to the full-fledged launch of commercial drones. Local and state drone parameters often muddy the waters by overlapping with existing laws, Waite said, resulting in legal clashes and a revolving door of legislation that may hamstring progress.
The United States faced similar issues with aircraft. Though the Wright Brothers' first flights at Kitty Hawk were in 1903, Congress waited until 1926 to pass the landmark Air Commerce Act, which established federal regulation of air commerce. It took another three decades to create the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plodding pace reflected anxiety about the new technology, Waite said, and the response to drones has been no different. Federal regulation can help address some of citizens' legitimate concerns.
"We've flipped out about privacy with the Kodak Brownie camera, aircraft, camera phones and Google Street View, and yet civil society keeps humming along," he said. "Drones are inevitable. We can't put the genie back in the bottle, but we can have a serious conversation about how they enter our lives, cities and properties."
Waite joined the university in 2011. Previously, he worked for the St. Petersburg Times as a hybrid programmer-journalist, where he developed the fact-checking website Politifact. In 2009, it became the first website to win the Pulitzer Prize. He also has worked as an investigative reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and co-founded Hot Type Consulting, a company that builds applications for media outlets.
His lecture is part of The Nebraska Lectures: Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series, sponsored by the Research Council, Office of the Chancellor, Office of Research and Economic Development and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Showing Consumers How You Are Raising Beef With Care
No one needs to tell you how much care, work and dedication goes into producing the world’s best beef! But you know who does need to hear it – just about everyone else! And when we say everyone, we mean those folks who enjoy beef on the dinner table, at a tailgate party or when they go out for a nice meal to celebrate with family and friends. That’s a lot of people and they are really interested in what you do and how you produce the food they enjoy.
So that’s what your beef checkoff is doing with the #RethinkTheRanch media campaign. Based on consumer research, we know that your consumers want to know more about sustainable farming and ranching, and how you care for your cattle.
Cody Easterday, who operates feedlots in eastern Washington, knows the importance of the beef checkoff when it comes to communicating with his consumers.
“The checkoff is a conduit between us and the consumer,” says Cody. “It provides the education we need to produce the product that the consumer wants.”
Hand-in-hand with #RethinkTheRanch is the redesigned “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” website. There, your checkoff is providing a consumer-friendly, easy-to-understand way to communicate the complexities of raising quality beef today.
We’re telling people all that goes into raising cattle on a farm or ranch. It’s about the hard work and the long hours you and your family invest in your livelihood – the advanced technology you are using to raise the best beef in the world.
According to Elaine Utesch from the Triple U Ranch in Washta, Iowa, this a story worth telling.
“As a producer, it’s my responsibility to let people know that farms like ours is where their food is coming from,” says Elaine. “And the beef checkoff lets consumers know that their food is produced using sustainable, environmental practices.”
In other words, we’re telling them a cattle ranching story they’ve probably never heard – or seen – before and we think that’s good news worth sharing with everyone.
Dairy Industry Applauds Introduction of School Milk Nutrition Act of 2017
The nation’s two leading dairy organizations applauded the introduction today of a bipartisan bill to help reverse the decline of milk consumption in schools.
The School Milk Nutrition Act of 2017, introduced by Representatives G.T. Thompson (R-PA) and Joe Courtney (D-CT), would allow schools to offer low-fat and fat-free milk, including flavored milk with no more than 150 calories per 8-ounce serving, to participants in the federal school lunch and breakfast programs. The bill allows individual schools and school districts to determine which milkfat varieties to offer their students.
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) strongly support the bill and encourage Congress to pass it. Once enacted, the bill would make permanent the administrative changes in the school lunch program proposed earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, in one of his first official actions earlier this year, supported giving school districts the option to offer a variety of milk types as part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.
“Congressmen Thompson and Courtney recognize the nutritional role that milk plays in helping school-aged children to grow and develop to their full potential,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO. “We appreciate their steadfast commitment to reverse declining milk consumption by allowing schools to give kids access to a variety of milk options, including the flavored milks they love.”
The legislation includes a pilot program to test strategies that schools can use to increase the consumption of fluid milk. This could include ways to make milk more attractive and available to students, including improved refrigeration, packaging and merchandising.
“Milk is the number-one source of nine essential vitamins and minerals in children’s diets, and when its consumption drops, the overall nutritional intake of America’s kids is jeopardized,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. He pointed out that in just the first two years after low-fat flavored milk was removed from the school lunch program, 1.1 million fewer school students drank milk with their lunch.
The Act also includes a provision to allow participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, to have access to reduced-fat milk for themselves and their children.
“Expanding options for WIC participants will encourage mothers to help their young children grow up strong and healthy,” said Dykes.
“When kids don’t drink milk, it’s extremely difficult for them to get sufficient amounts of three of the four major nutrients most lacking in children’s diets: calcium, potassium, and vitamin D,” said Mulhern. “This legislation addresses that shortcoming both in schools and in the WIC program.”
Farm Bureau Supports Farm Program Fix
The American Farm Bureau Federation and seven other major farm groups today hailed introduction of bipartisan legislation to improve the Agriculture Risk Coverage program, an important component of the federal agricultural safety net for farmers. Senators Heidi Heitkamp and Joni Ernst are sponsors.
Among other things, the bill would prioritize use of data collected from USDA’s Risk Management Agency to calculate crop yields. The measure also would use data from the county in which a farm is located when calculating yields, rather than allowing farmers to use yield data from their “administrative counties” if they farm in more than one county. It also would allow state Farm Service Agency committees to adjust yield estimates when results are inexplicably different compared to neighboring counties within the same state or adjacent counties across state lines.
Text of the letter follows:
Dear Senators Heitkamp and Ernst,
The following farm and commodity groups wish to express our appreciation and support for the legislation you introduced to improve the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) program.
The bill accomplishes this goal by (a) directing USDA to use the more widely-available data from the Risk Management Agency (RMA) as the first choice in yield calculations; (b) calculating safety net payments based on a farm’s physical location, rather than using the antiquated administrative county that may not be representative of a farmer’s land; and (c) providing FSA state committees discretion to adjust yield data estimates to help reduce inexplicable variation between neighboring counties or along boundaries with neighboring states. Appropriate adjustments would be made prior to yields being finalized or published.
The 2014 Farm Bill allowed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to determine how county yields would be established for the ARC program. USDA decided to use data sources via a cascade in the following priority order: National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS), Risk Management Agency (RMA) and yields calculated by the state Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. NASS and RMA yield data comprise about 90 percent of the base acres enrolled in ARC-County (ARC-CO). The remaining 10 percent is compiled by the state FSA office.
It is important to note that a study conducted for the National Corn Growers Association on the impacts on payments to corn producers indicates that there is not likely to be a significant difference in the ARC-CO payments on a national basis simply due to changing the order in the cascade. A study by Dr. Keith Coble of Mississippi State University indicated similar results. There will be county winners and county losers.
What is important, however, is that the program would be based on more defensible data if RMA yields are used. We believe this is true because:
--only about 60 percent of producers return NASS surveys, so it is difficult to assume accuracy of the data;
--the NASS yield estimate comes from producer surveys and the RMA yield data comes from actual production history;
--there is no penalty for failure to fill out a NASS survey or misreport submitted information. However, farmers may face criminal penalties for filing an inaccurate crop production report for RMA; and
--RMA reports all its county yields as irrigated or non-irrigated yields, whereas NASS does not.
We are also quite supportive of your provision to calculate ARC-CO payments using the ARC-CO payment rate for the county in which the land is physically located rather than the rate for the administrative county used by the farmer.
Farm operators that have land in multiple counties may handle all their FSA work administratively through one county (the administrative county). Farmers had two options for calculation of ARC-CO payments for 2014 and 2015. They could be paid on where the land was located or based on their administrative county. When ARC-CO payments are determined using the administrative county’s payment rate for multi-county farms, ARC-CO payments may be higher or lower than if the payments were calculated using the payment rate for the county in which the land is physically located.
In early 2016, USDA made an administrative decision to allow ARC-CO participants with land physically located in a county with a higher ARC-CO payment than the administrative county to receive ARC-CO payments calculated according to the higher-paying county payment rate. USDA does not require ARC-CO participants with multi-county farms to be paid at the lower ARC-CO payment rate if any of the land in the farm is physically located in a lower-paying county than the administrative county.
Your final provision allows for providing FSA state committees discretion to adjust yield data estimates to help reduce inexplicable variation between neighboring counties or along boundaries with neighboring states. We heard far more about discrepancies between county payments than any other issue in the ARC program and believe this will make the program function even better in the future.
Again, we appreciate your leadership on these important issues and look forward to working with you to ensure they are included in the next farm bill.
Sincerely,
American Farm Bureau Federation
American Soybean Association
National Association of Wheat Growers
National Corn Growers Association
National Farmers Union
National Sunflower Association
USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council
US Canola Association
Farmer Co-ops Release Priorities for 2018 Farm Bill
The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) today released the organization’s priorities for farmer co-ops in the next farm bill. The organization’s Executive Council approved the framework at recent fall meeting.
“One thing that we heard from our co-ops and their members—across commodity and across the country—is that farmers, ranchers and growers need the farm bill to get done on time. This is especially true as many producers continue to experience a challenging price environment,” said Chuck Conner, president and CEO of NCFC. “I believe that NCFC’s member-led process of developing this framework positions the organization well to be flexible as the process of writing the farm bill unfolds in the coming months.”
NCFC’s framework outlines eight general principles that will guide the organization as it works with farm and commodity groups and allied interests in support of the farm bill. They are:
- Promoting the continued viability of the Capper-Volstead Act and other cooperative statutes;
- Promoting farmer cooperatives and their abilities to enhance competition in the agricultural marketplace by acting as bargaining agents for their members’ products; providing market intelligence and pricing information; providing competitively priced farming supplies; and vertically integrating their members’ production and processing.
- Supporting the cooperative Farm Credit System;
- Ensuring farmer cooperatives are eligible to leverage federal programs for the benefit of their farmer members.
- Expanding all U.S. agriculture exports and global competitiveness, including through substantially improved access to foreign markets.
- Supporting of a responsive safety net, together with adequate funding, that incorporates improved, comprehensive risk management tools and programs for producers and their cooperatives.
- Ensuring our farmers and ranchers have access to labor so they can continue to harvest our crops and care for livestock here in the United States.
- Supporting responsible and cost-effective regulatory policies that provide a safe and productive work environment while promoting our economic competitiveness.
In addition, the framework outlines farmer co-op recommendations for each title of the farm bill. The full framework can be found online at http://ncfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2018_Farm_Bill_Framework.pdf.
Cattlemen Release Fifth Video In Tax Reform Campaign
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association today released the fifth video in its media campaign to promote comprehensive tax reform. The first four videos have been viewed a combined 512,000 times and have reached more than 950,000 people on Facebook.
NCBA's latest video spotlights sixth-generation Florida rancher Cary Lightsey, who was forced to sell one of his family's ranches outside Tampa to pay a death-tax bill after his father's unexpected passing.
"We went to our attorney after we got our bill from the federal government, which was probably ten times more than we thought it would be," Lightsey explains in the video. "We showed him the cost of our estate taxes and we explained to him we had no way to pay it. He said y'all are going to have to sell one of your ranches. That land now has 1,500 apartments on it."
NCBA's new video was released as news reports indicate that comprehensive tax reform legislation may be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives next week, with committee and full House votes possible the first two weeks of November.
NCBA's tax reform campaign is centered around a website, CattlemenForTaxReform.com.The campaign is also connecting grassroots ranchers and producers with their elected officials on Capitol Hill as tax-reform legislation is considered.
Soybean Acreage in 2018
Todd Hubbs, University of Illinois
As harvest continues throughout the Corn Belt, we enter the time of year for speculation about the number of acres to be planted in the U.S. during the next crop year. Planting decisions begin with fall seeded crops, like winter wheat, and continue into the spring months. The market is currently sending a signal of maintaining the record high soybean acreage of 2017, but the necessity for that level of soybean acreage in 2018 could deteriorate quickly under evolving market conditions.
Current projections by industry analysts and academics place 2018 soybean planted acreage in a range from 86 to 90.5 million acres. Anticipating the direction of soybean planted acreage requires an understanding of the pace of consumption during the current marketing year and the level of inventory projected to be available for the next marketing year. In the October 12 WASDE report, the USDA projected soybean stocks at the start of the 2018-19 marketing year at 430 million bushels despite the forecast of a record level of consumption of 4.214 billion bushels. At 49.5 bushels, the October forecast for U.S. average soybean yield came in lower than the September forecast and provided an indication of possibly of lower estimates to come. If the final 2017 soybean production estimate is smaller than the present forecast and consumption is near the current forecast level, year ending stocks for the 2017-18 marketing year may be close to 400 million bushels. The large 2017 soybean production totals and the continued buildup of soybean stocks point toward a 2017-18 marketing year price in the low to mid $9.00 range for soybeans, well below the cost of production for many producers.
Rather than project the planted acreage of soybeans, it could be informative to think about the number of soybean acres necessary in 2018 to produce a 2018-19 marketing year average farm price for soybeans near the cost of production, which is estimated at around $9.50. In 2016-17, the marketing year average farm price was $9.47 with an ending stocks to use ratio currently estimated at 7.1 percent. If we assume a marketing year average price in the mid-$9.00 range requires an ending stocks to use near 7 percent and consumption during the 2018-19 marketing year maintains the pace of consumption currently forecast at 4.256 billion bushels, year ending stocks for 2018-19 would come in at approximately 300 million bushels. A beginning stocks for 2018-19 near 400 million bushels combined with 25 million bushels of imports and 4.256 billion bushels of consumption would require a U.S. soybean crop near 4.131 billion bushels to generate 300 million bushels of ending stocks in 2018-19.
Recent years have seen soybean yields well above the trend yield in the U.S. For this analysis, a linear trend yield of 46.8 bushels in 2018 will be used for soybean national average yield. At this level of yield, 88.4 million harvested acres of soybeans are necessary to produce 4.131 billion bushels. Given this level of harvested acreage, approximately 89.2 million planted acres would be required. This level of planted acreage is one million fewer acres than the current USDA estimate for 2017. As one would expect, a higher trend yield changes the analysis. For example, a trend yield of 48.4 bushels, provided in the USDA's long-term projections, lowers 2018 soybean planted acreage necessary, under the assumed consumption scenario, to 86.2 million acres. A continuation of above-trend soybean yields in 2018 would diminish the need for current acreage projections.
The information used in making the planting decision for soybean acreage in 2018 will likely not reflect market conditions assumed in this analysis and those conditions will fluctuate between now and planting time. Current prices for the 2018 soybean crop suggest that the market is inclined to maintain the soybean acres planted in 2017. Based on this analysis, soybean acreage may need to decline in 2018 to generate a 2018-19 marketing year average farm price in the mid-$9.00 range to cover the projected cost of production. While a decrease may be needed for soybean acreage, current prices and ending stocks projections for corn and wheat do not provide any strong indication for substantial expansion of acreage in those two crops.
At this point, it seems that soybean acreage may not decline sufficiently in 2018 to generate a 2018-19 marketing year average price in the mid-$9.00 range. When considering the planting decision for 2018, careful monitoring of the pace of soybean exports and crush in the 2017-18 marketing year, and the development of the South American crop can provide information on the evolving conditions of the soybean market in 2018. The first indicator of producer acreage decisions arrives with the release of the USDA's Winter Wheat Seedings report in early January 2018.
RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness Adds Pork and Poultry Expert to Animal Protein Team
Rabobank announces the expansion of its RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness team with the addition of Christine McCracken as Executive Director, Animal Protein. McCracken will cover the North American poultry and hog sector. Before joining the RaboResearch team, McCracken spent 18 years as a sell-side Food & Agribusiness analyst.
“Christine’s experience and knowledge will enhance our thought leadership in the protein sector. Through both her extensive knowledge of the swine and poultry sectors, and her equity knowledge, Christine will be a tremendous asset to our clients in both the rural and wholesale spaces,” says Pablo Sherwell, head of RaboResearch.
She was a founding partner at Cleveland Research, a Cleveland-based equity research firm. Earlier in her career, she held similar positions at several institutions including FTN Midwest Research, Vector Securities and BioScience Securities. McCracken had previously been named Best on the Street Food Analyst by the Wall Street Journal and the top Food Analyst by Forbes.
“Rabobank is continuing to grow our business in Animal Protein globally,” notes Bill Cordingley, Global Sector Head for Animal Protein. “We are committed to providing our clients with the capital, knowledge and networks they need to prosper in an increasingly globalized market. Christine will bring valuable experience, skills and knowledge to the bank that will undoubtedly help us serve our clients better, both in North America and globally.
McCracken holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from the University of California at Davis.
Today, Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) Director Greg Ibach congratulated a select group of college students for their commitment to serve the ag industry as members of the 2017-2018 Nebraska Agricultural Youth Council (NAYC). The Council is made up of Nebraska students who have a passion for agriculture and who are committed to promoting the ag industry around the state. NDA sponsors NAYC and its activities throughout the year.
“As Council members, these young men and women have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of Nebraska youth by telling the story of Nebraska agriculture and the many careers available in the industry.” said NDA Director Greg Ibach. “NAYC members are the future leaders of our agricultural industry. They bring with them outstanding experience, and I know they will work hard to represent Nebraska’s proud agricultural heritage.”
NAYC is entering its 47th year with the installation of this group of Council members. Throughout the year, the Council coordinates several agricultural learning experiences for Nebraska youth including: visiting elementary classrooms to discuss where food comes from; taking urban youth on farm tours to experience what a day in the life of a farmer is like; and visiting with high school students from across the state about career opportunities in the ag industry. The primary focus of NAYC is to coordinate the annual Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute, a five-day summer conference for current high school juniors and seniors.
This year’s Council is comprised of 21 young men and women. The 2017-2018 NAYC leadership includes:
· Head Counselors: Logan Kalkowski, Omaha, and Amanda Kowalewski, Gothenburg;
· President: Ryan Schroeder, Wisner;
· Secretary: Hannah Borg, Wakefield;
· Vice President of Promotions: Kevin Sousek, Malmo;
· Vice President of Alumni Relations: Hunter Schroeder, Howells;
· Vice President of Communications and Social Media: Jacob Schlick, Fairfield;
· Vice President of Sponsorship: Hannah Settje, Raymond;
· Vice President of Youth Outreach: Brent Miller, Lyons; and
· Vice President of NAYI Improvement: Collin Thompson, Eustis.
Additional NAYC members include: Cheyenne Gerlach, De Witt; Collin Swedberg, North Platte; Cooper Grabenstein, Smithfield; Courtney Nelson, Monroe; Emily Frenzen, Fullerton; Eric Leisy, Wisner; Grant Dahlgren, Bertrand; Grant Suddarth, York; Jacce Beck, Ainsworth; Matthew Morton, Nehawka; and Sage Williams, Eddyville.
To learn more, visit NAYI’s website at www.nda.nebraska.gov/nayi/ or search for Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute on Facebook.
Waite to Discuss Drone Age in Nebraska Lecture
The possibilities for drones are almost limitless, from improving crowd security at large events, to tracking impending storms, to delivering precision agriculture.
And, of course, they could deliver Amazon packages to one's front door.
However, disagreement about how to regulate the growing field is limiting the Drone Age's potential in the United States, said University of Nebraska-Lincoln drone journalism expert Matthew Waite. He will present the Nov. 8 Nebraska Lecture, "The Drone Age is Here, and We're Screwing It Up." The public lecture is at 3:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union auditorium, 1400 R St., with a reception following.
A live webcast is available here. Follow @UNLresearch or #neblecture on Twitter for live updates during the lecture.
"To truly unleash this industry, more federal regulation is needed," said Waite, professor of practice in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, where he established the country's first drone journalism lab.
Developing a cohesive legal framework for drone operators has been a challenge for lawmakers at all levels. In part, Waite said, this is because the idea of unlimited "flying robots" zooming overhead raises questions about property rights, privacy and free speech. Even more complicated is who gets to decide -- local, state and federal lawmakers are jockeying to set the rules.
Using the birth of the aviation industry as a historical parallel, Waite's lecture will explore why federal regulation is key to the full-fledged launch of commercial drones. Local and state drone parameters often muddy the waters by overlapping with existing laws, Waite said, resulting in legal clashes and a revolving door of legislation that may hamstring progress.
The United States faced similar issues with aircraft. Though the Wright Brothers' first flights at Kitty Hawk were in 1903, Congress waited until 1926 to pass the landmark Air Commerce Act, which established federal regulation of air commerce. It took another three decades to create the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plodding pace reflected anxiety about the new technology, Waite said, and the response to drones has been no different. Federal regulation can help address some of citizens' legitimate concerns.
"We've flipped out about privacy with the Kodak Brownie camera, aircraft, camera phones and Google Street View, and yet civil society keeps humming along," he said. "Drones are inevitable. We can't put the genie back in the bottle, but we can have a serious conversation about how they enter our lives, cities and properties."
Waite joined the university in 2011. Previously, he worked for the St. Petersburg Times as a hybrid programmer-journalist, where he developed the fact-checking website Politifact. In 2009, it became the first website to win the Pulitzer Prize. He also has worked as an investigative reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and co-founded Hot Type Consulting, a company that builds applications for media outlets.
His lecture is part of The Nebraska Lectures: Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series, sponsored by the Research Council, Office of the Chancellor, Office of Research and Economic Development and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Showing Consumers How You Are Raising Beef With Care
No one needs to tell you how much care, work and dedication goes into producing the world’s best beef! But you know who does need to hear it – just about everyone else! And when we say everyone, we mean those folks who enjoy beef on the dinner table, at a tailgate party or when they go out for a nice meal to celebrate with family and friends. That’s a lot of people and they are really interested in what you do and how you produce the food they enjoy.
So that’s what your beef checkoff is doing with the #RethinkTheRanch media campaign. Based on consumer research, we know that your consumers want to know more about sustainable farming and ranching, and how you care for your cattle.
Cody Easterday, who operates feedlots in eastern Washington, knows the importance of the beef checkoff when it comes to communicating with his consumers.
“The checkoff is a conduit between us and the consumer,” says Cody. “It provides the education we need to produce the product that the consumer wants.”
Hand-in-hand with #RethinkTheRanch is the redesigned “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” website. There, your checkoff is providing a consumer-friendly, easy-to-understand way to communicate the complexities of raising quality beef today.
We’re telling people all that goes into raising cattle on a farm or ranch. It’s about the hard work and the long hours you and your family invest in your livelihood – the advanced technology you are using to raise the best beef in the world.
According to Elaine Utesch from the Triple U Ranch in Washta, Iowa, this a story worth telling.
“As a producer, it’s my responsibility to let people know that farms like ours is where their food is coming from,” says Elaine. “And the beef checkoff lets consumers know that their food is produced using sustainable, environmental practices.”
In other words, we’re telling them a cattle ranching story they’ve probably never heard – or seen – before and we think that’s good news worth sharing with everyone.
Dairy Industry Applauds Introduction of School Milk Nutrition Act of 2017
The nation’s two leading dairy organizations applauded the introduction today of a bipartisan bill to help reverse the decline of milk consumption in schools.
The School Milk Nutrition Act of 2017, introduced by Representatives G.T. Thompson (R-PA) and Joe Courtney (D-CT), would allow schools to offer low-fat and fat-free milk, including flavored milk with no more than 150 calories per 8-ounce serving, to participants in the federal school lunch and breakfast programs. The bill allows individual schools and school districts to determine which milkfat varieties to offer their students.
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) strongly support the bill and encourage Congress to pass it. Once enacted, the bill would make permanent the administrative changes in the school lunch program proposed earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, in one of his first official actions earlier this year, supported giving school districts the option to offer a variety of milk types as part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.
“Congressmen Thompson and Courtney recognize the nutritional role that milk plays in helping school-aged children to grow and develop to their full potential,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO. “We appreciate their steadfast commitment to reverse declining milk consumption by allowing schools to give kids access to a variety of milk options, including the flavored milks they love.”
The legislation includes a pilot program to test strategies that schools can use to increase the consumption of fluid milk. This could include ways to make milk more attractive and available to students, including improved refrigeration, packaging and merchandising.
“Milk is the number-one source of nine essential vitamins and minerals in children’s diets, and when its consumption drops, the overall nutritional intake of America’s kids is jeopardized,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. He pointed out that in just the first two years after low-fat flavored milk was removed from the school lunch program, 1.1 million fewer school students drank milk with their lunch.
The Act also includes a provision to allow participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, to have access to reduced-fat milk for themselves and their children.
“Expanding options for WIC participants will encourage mothers to help their young children grow up strong and healthy,” said Dykes.
“When kids don’t drink milk, it’s extremely difficult for them to get sufficient amounts of three of the four major nutrients most lacking in children’s diets: calcium, potassium, and vitamin D,” said Mulhern. “This legislation addresses that shortcoming both in schools and in the WIC program.”
Farm Bureau Supports Farm Program Fix
The American Farm Bureau Federation and seven other major farm groups today hailed introduction of bipartisan legislation to improve the Agriculture Risk Coverage program, an important component of the federal agricultural safety net for farmers. Senators Heidi Heitkamp and Joni Ernst are sponsors.
Among other things, the bill would prioritize use of data collected from USDA’s Risk Management Agency to calculate crop yields. The measure also would use data from the county in which a farm is located when calculating yields, rather than allowing farmers to use yield data from their “administrative counties” if they farm in more than one county. It also would allow state Farm Service Agency committees to adjust yield estimates when results are inexplicably different compared to neighboring counties within the same state or adjacent counties across state lines.
Text of the letter follows:
Dear Senators Heitkamp and Ernst,
The following farm and commodity groups wish to express our appreciation and support for the legislation you introduced to improve the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) program.
The bill accomplishes this goal by (a) directing USDA to use the more widely-available data from the Risk Management Agency (RMA) as the first choice in yield calculations; (b) calculating safety net payments based on a farm’s physical location, rather than using the antiquated administrative county that may not be representative of a farmer’s land; and (c) providing FSA state committees discretion to adjust yield data estimates to help reduce inexplicable variation between neighboring counties or along boundaries with neighboring states. Appropriate adjustments would be made prior to yields being finalized or published.
The 2014 Farm Bill allowed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to determine how county yields would be established for the ARC program. USDA decided to use data sources via a cascade in the following priority order: National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS), Risk Management Agency (RMA) and yields calculated by the state Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. NASS and RMA yield data comprise about 90 percent of the base acres enrolled in ARC-County (ARC-CO). The remaining 10 percent is compiled by the state FSA office.
It is important to note that a study conducted for the National Corn Growers Association on the impacts on payments to corn producers indicates that there is not likely to be a significant difference in the ARC-CO payments on a national basis simply due to changing the order in the cascade. A study by Dr. Keith Coble of Mississippi State University indicated similar results. There will be county winners and county losers.
What is important, however, is that the program would be based on more defensible data if RMA yields are used. We believe this is true because:
--only about 60 percent of producers return NASS surveys, so it is difficult to assume accuracy of the data;
--the NASS yield estimate comes from producer surveys and the RMA yield data comes from actual production history;
--there is no penalty for failure to fill out a NASS survey or misreport submitted information. However, farmers may face criminal penalties for filing an inaccurate crop production report for RMA; and
--RMA reports all its county yields as irrigated or non-irrigated yields, whereas NASS does not.
We are also quite supportive of your provision to calculate ARC-CO payments using the ARC-CO payment rate for the county in which the land is physically located rather than the rate for the administrative county used by the farmer.
Farm operators that have land in multiple counties may handle all their FSA work administratively through one county (the administrative county). Farmers had two options for calculation of ARC-CO payments for 2014 and 2015. They could be paid on where the land was located or based on their administrative county. When ARC-CO payments are determined using the administrative county’s payment rate for multi-county farms, ARC-CO payments may be higher or lower than if the payments were calculated using the payment rate for the county in which the land is physically located.
In early 2016, USDA made an administrative decision to allow ARC-CO participants with land physically located in a county with a higher ARC-CO payment than the administrative county to receive ARC-CO payments calculated according to the higher-paying county payment rate. USDA does not require ARC-CO participants with multi-county farms to be paid at the lower ARC-CO payment rate if any of the land in the farm is physically located in a lower-paying county than the administrative county.
Your final provision allows for providing FSA state committees discretion to adjust yield data estimates to help reduce inexplicable variation between neighboring counties or along boundaries with neighboring states. We heard far more about discrepancies between county payments than any other issue in the ARC program and believe this will make the program function even better in the future.
Again, we appreciate your leadership on these important issues and look forward to working with you to ensure they are included in the next farm bill.
Sincerely,
American Farm Bureau Federation
American Soybean Association
National Association of Wheat Growers
National Corn Growers Association
National Farmers Union
National Sunflower Association
USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council
US Canola Association
Farmer Co-ops Release Priorities for 2018 Farm Bill
The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) today released the organization’s priorities for farmer co-ops in the next farm bill. The organization’s Executive Council approved the framework at recent fall meeting.
“One thing that we heard from our co-ops and their members—across commodity and across the country—is that farmers, ranchers and growers need the farm bill to get done on time. This is especially true as many producers continue to experience a challenging price environment,” said Chuck Conner, president and CEO of NCFC. “I believe that NCFC’s member-led process of developing this framework positions the organization well to be flexible as the process of writing the farm bill unfolds in the coming months.”
NCFC’s framework outlines eight general principles that will guide the organization as it works with farm and commodity groups and allied interests in support of the farm bill. They are:
- Promoting the continued viability of the Capper-Volstead Act and other cooperative statutes;
- Promoting farmer cooperatives and their abilities to enhance competition in the agricultural marketplace by acting as bargaining agents for their members’ products; providing market intelligence and pricing information; providing competitively priced farming supplies; and vertically integrating their members’ production and processing.
- Supporting the cooperative Farm Credit System;
- Ensuring farmer cooperatives are eligible to leverage federal programs for the benefit of their farmer members.
- Expanding all U.S. agriculture exports and global competitiveness, including through substantially improved access to foreign markets.
- Supporting of a responsive safety net, together with adequate funding, that incorporates improved, comprehensive risk management tools and programs for producers and their cooperatives.
- Ensuring our farmers and ranchers have access to labor so they can continue to harvest our crops and care for livestock here in the United States.
- Supporting responsible and cost-effective regulatory policies that provide a safe and productive work environment while promoting our economic competitiveness.
In addition, the framework outlines farmer co-op recommendations for each title of the farm bill. The full framework can be found online at http://ncfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2018_Farm_Bill_Framework.pdf.
Cattlemen Release Fifth Video In Tax Reform Campaign
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association today released the fifth video in its media campaign to promote comprehensive tax reform. The first four videos have been viewed a combined 512,000 times and have reached more than 950,000 people on Facebook.
NCBA's latest video spotlights sixth-generation Florida rancher Cary Lightsey, who was forced to sell one of his family's ranches outside Tampa to pay a death-tax bill after his father's unexpected passing.
"We went to our attorney after we got our bill from the federal government, which was probably ten times more than we thought it would be," Lightsey explains in the video. "We showed him the cost of our estate taxes and we explained to him we had no way to pay it. He said y'all are going to have to sell one of your ranches. That land now has 1,500 apartments on it."
NCBA's new video was released as news reports indicate that comprehensive tax reform legislation may be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives next week, with committee and full House votes possible the first two weeks of November.
NCBA's tax reform campaign is centered around a website, CattlemenForTaxReform.com.The campaign is also connecting grassroots ranchers and producers with their elected officials on Capitol Hill as tax-reform legislation is considered.
Soybean Acreage in 2018
Todd Hubbs, University of Illinois
As harvest continues throughout the Corn Belt, we enter the time of year for speculation about the number of acres to be planted in the U.S. during the next crop year. Planting decisions begin with fall seeded crops, like winter wheat, and continue into the spring months. The market is currently sending a signal of maintaining the record high soybean acreage of 2017, but the necessity for that level of soybean acreage in 2018 could deteriorate quickly under evolving market conditions.
Current projections by industry analysts and academics place 2018 soybean planted acreage in a range from 86 to 90.5 million acres. Anticipating the direction of soybean planted acreage requires an understanding of the pace of consumption during the current marketing year and the level of inventory projected to be available for the next marketing year. In the October 12 WASDE report, the USDA projected soybean stocks at the start of the 2018-19 marketing year at 430 million bushels despite the forecast of a record level of consumption of 4.214 billion bushels. At 49.5 bushels, the October forecast for U.S. average soybean yield came in lower than the September forecast and provided an indication of possibly of lower estimates to come. If the final 2017 soybean production estimate is smaller than the present forecast and consumption is near the current forecast level, year ending stocks for the 2017-18 marketing year may be close to 400 million bushels. The large 2017 soybean production totals and the continued buildup of soybean stocks point toward a 2017-18 marketing year price in the low to mid $9.00 range for soybeans, well below the cost of production for many producers.
Rather than project the planted acreage of soybeans, it could be informative to think about the number of soybean acres necessary in 2018 to produce a 2018-19 marketing year average farm price for soybeans near the cost of production, which is estimated at around $9.50. In 2016-17, the marketing year average farm price was $9.47 with an ending stocks to use ratio currently estimated at 7.1 percent. If we assume a marketing year average price in the mid-$9.00 range requires an ending stocks to use near 7 percent and consumption during the 2018-19 marketing year maintains the pace of consumption currently forecast at 4.256 billion bushels, year ending stocks for 2018-19 would come in at approximately 300 million bushels. A beginning stocks for 2018-19 near 400 million bushels combined with 25 million bushels of imports and 4.256 billion bushels of consumption would require a U.S. soybean crop near 4.131 billion bushels to generate 300 million bushels of ending stocks in 2018-19.
Recent years have seen soybean yields well above the trend yield in the U.S. For this analysis, a linear trend yield of 46.8 bushels in 2018 will be used for soybean national average yield. At this level of yield, 88.4 million harvested acres of soybeans are necessary to produce 4.131 billion bushels. Given this level of harvested acreage, approximately 89.2 million planted acres would be required. This level of planted acreage is one million fewer acres than the current USDA estimate for 2017. As one would expect, a higher trend yield changes the analysis. For example, a trend yield of 48.4 bushels, provided in the USDA's long-term projections, lowers 2018 soybean planted acreage necessary, under the assumed consumption scenario, to 86.2 million acres. A continuation of above-trend soybean yields in 2018 would diminish the need for current acreage projections.
The information used in making the planting decision for soybean acreage in 2018 will likely not reflect market conditions assumed in this analysis and those conditions will fluctuate between now and planting time. Current prices for the 2018 soybean crop suggest that the market is inclined to maintain the soybean acres planted in 2017. Based on this analysis, soybean acreage may need to decline in 2018 to generate a 2018-19 marketing year average farm price in the mid-$9.00 range to cover the projected cost of production. While a decrease may be needed for soybean acreage, current prices and ending stocks projections for corn and wheat do not provide any strong indication for substantial expansion of acreage in those two crops.
At this point, it seems that soybean acreage may not decline sufficiently in 2018 to generate a 2018-19 marketing year average price in the mid-$9.00 range. When considering the planting decision for 2018, careful monitoring of the pace of soybean exports and crush in the 2017-18 marketing year, and the development of the South American crop can provide information on the evolving conditions of the soybean market in 2018. The first indicator of producer acreage decisions arrives with the release of the USDA's Winter Wheat Seedings report in early January 2018.
RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness Adds Pork and Poultry Expert to Animal Protein Team
Rabobank announces the expansion of its RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness team with the addition of Christine McCracken as Executive Director, Animal Protein. McCracken will cover the North American poultry and hog sector. Before joining the RaboResearch team, McCracken spent 18 years as a sell-side Food & Agribusiness analyst.
“Christine’s experience and knowledge will enhance our thought leadership in the protein sector. Through both her extensive knowledge of the swine and poultry sectors, and her equity knowledge, Christine will be a tremendous asset to our clients in both the rural and wholesale spaces,” says Pablo Sherwell, head of RaboResearch.
She was a founding partner at Cleveland Research, a Cleveland-based equity research firm. Earlier in her career, she held similar positions at several institutions including FTN Midwest Research, Vector Securities and BioScience Securities. McCracken had previously been named Best on the Street Food Analyst by the Wall Street Journal and the top Food Analyst by Forbes.
“Rabobank is continuing to grow our business in Animal Protein globally,” notes Bill Cordingley, Global Sector Head for Animal Protein. “We are committed to providing our clients with the capital, knowledge and networks they need to prosper in an increasingly globalized market. Christine will bring valuable experience, skills and knowledge to the bank that will undoubtedly help us serve our clients better, both in North America and globally.
McCracken holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from the University of California at Davis.
Monday, October 23, 2017
Monday October 23 Crop Progress Reports + Ag News
NEBRASKA CROP PROGRESS AND CONDITION
For the week ending October 22, 2017, temperatures averaged four to eight degrees above normal across Nebraska, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Only minimal precipitation was recorded in the northwest and a few eastern counties, which allowed farmers to take advantage of the open week to make significant progress on the State’s soybean harvest. There were 6.5 days suitable for fieldwork. Topsoil moisture supplies rated 2 percent very short, 8 short, 84 adequate, and 6 surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 3 percent very short, 14 short, 80 adequate, and 3 surplus.
Field Crops Report:
Corn condition rated 3 percent very poor, 8 poor, 23 fair, 46 good, and 20 excellent. Corn mature was 97 percent, near 99 last year, and equal to the five-year average. Harvested was 26 percent, well behind 48 last year and 52 average.
Soybean condition rated 2 percent very poor, 8 poor, 26 fair, 50 good, and 14 excellent. Soybeans harvested was 67 percent, behind 76 last year and 83 average.
Winter wheat condition rated 3 percent very poor, 10 poor, 33 fair, 45 good, and 9 excellent. Winter wheat planted was 94 percent, behind 100 last year, and near 98 average. Emerged was 77 percent, behind 93 last year and 82 average.
Sorghum condition rated 3 percent very poor, 2 poor, 20 fair, 53 good, and 22 excellent. Sorghum mature was 96 percent, near 100 last year and 98 average. Harvested was 34 percent, well behind 65 last year, and behind 51 average.
Alfalfa fourth cutting was 93 percent complete, ahead of 88 last year.
Pasture and Range Report:
Pasture and range conditions rated 2 percent very poor, 11 poor, 43 fair, 39 good, and 5 excellent. Stock water supplies rated 1 percent very short, 3 short, 95 adequate, and 1 surplus.
IOWA CROP PROGRESS & CONDITION REPORT
Iowa farmers had a good week for harvesting with 5.0 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending October 22, 2017, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. However, corn and soybean harvest progress remains behind both the previous year and the five-year average. On the positive side, there were several reports for both corn and soybeans that yields were better than expected. Activities for the week included harvesting corn for grain and soybeans, spreading manure, applying fertilizer, and starting fall tillage.
Topsoil moisture levels rated 3 percent very short, 6 percent short, 79 percent adequate and 12 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 7 percent very short, 15 percent short, 71 percent adequate and 7 percent surplus.
Nearly all of the corn for grain crop had reached maturity or beyond, three days behind average. Twenty-three percent of the corn for grain crop has been harvested, remaining the smallest percentage harvested by this date since 2009 and over two weeks behind average. Moisture content of corn being harvested for grain averaged 20 percent. Corn condition rated 64 percent good to excellent.
Nearly a third of the soybean crop was harvested this past week increasing to 61 percent harvested, but this is also the smallest percentage harvested by this date since 2009. Southwest and south central Iowa remain the only districts to not reach 50 percent harvested. Soybean condition rated 64 percent good to excellent.
Pasture conditions have continued to improve for the fourth week in a row from recent rains to 35 percent good to excellent. Livestock conditions were reported as good, with reports of some cattle being turned out to graze corn stalks. Feedlots remain muddy.
USDA Weekly Crop Progress
The U.S. soybean harvest picked up speed while the corn harvest continued to fall further behind the average pace for the week ended Oct. 22, according to USDA's latest Crop Progress report released on Monday.
USDA estimated that 38% of corn was harvested as of Sunday, 21 percentage points behind 59% last year and also a five-year average of 59% harvested. In last Monday's report, the corn harvest was 19 points behind the average pace. Sixty-six percent of the corn crop was rated in good-to-excellent condition.
While corn harvest continued to move slowly, the soybean harvest gained momentum last week, jumping 21 percentage points from the previous week and coming to within 3 percentage points of the average pace. That was an improvement from last Monday's report when soybean harvest lagged the average pace by 11 points. USDA estimated that 70% of the soybean crop was harvested as of Sunday, down from 74% a year ago and down from a five-year average of 73% harvested. USDA has stopped reporting national soybean crop conditions for the year.
Meanwhile, USDA said 75% of winter wheat was planted as of Sunday, down from 78% a year ago and below the five-year average of 80% planted. Fifty-two percent of winter wheat was emerged, down from 58% a year ago and down from a five-year average of 57%.
Sorghum was 47% harvested, behind the five-year average of 59%. Cotton was 87% in the bolls opening stage and the crop was 37% harvested nationwide, slightly ahead of the average pace of 35% harvested.
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Keeping Your Equipment and Fields Fire Safe At Harvest
John Wilson - NE Extension Educator, Burt County
After a wet start in late September and early October, harvest is now progressing across the state. While getting the crop in is your first priority, don't make safety your second.
Besides my job for Nebraska Extension, I have another job... that of a volunteer firefighter and EMT for almost 35 years. Each fall our calls increase, largely due to field fires during harvest. Combines can present problems unique to their use. To stay safe from fires combine operators should check for:
- The build-up of combustible crop residue around the engine and exhaust system.
- Concealed drive belts and pulleys which can overheat due to friction when there is an accumulation of crop residue around them.
- Electrical wiring and connectors that have become worn or frayed, resulting in sparks which can ignite grain dust, crop residues or fuel vapors.
Maintain Equipment
Preventative maintenance is key to preventing many of the fires that occur on farm equipment. Good preventative maintenance not only prolongs equipment life but also reduces fire hazards. If you haven’t done so already, here are a few things you can do to prevent fires:
- Keep all bearings and gears well lubricated to prevent heat buildup and keep lubricants at proper levels.
- Repair any leaks in the fuel system and any damaged electrical wiring.
- Repair or replace damaged or worn out exhaust systems. In addition to a good exhaust system, a spark arrestor can be installed to catch burning particles. The arrestors are easy to install and require little maintenance.
Use Safe Fueling Practices
Too often during harvest season, safe fueling practices are ignored in an effort to save time. The few seconds saved are insignificant when compared to the loss of expensive farm equipment or weeks or even months spent in a hospital burn ward. Follow these safety practices:
- Never refuel equipment with the engine running. Always shut the engine off.
- Allow hot engines to cool 15 minutes before refueling.
- Extinguish all smoking materials before refueling.
- If fuel spills on an engine, wipe away any excess and allow the fumes to dissipate before starting the engine.
Be Prepared for Fire
In the rush to harvest it's often overlooked, but starting to harvest a field on the downwind side can help keep a fire from spreading. If a fire does occur, the flames will be pushed toward the harvested portion of the field.
- Always carry two fire extinguishers on the combine, one in the cab and one that you can access from the ground. Also carry a fire extinguisher in your grain hauling equipment.
- Always carry a cell phone or alternative for communicating with others in case of an emergency.
- If a field or equipment fire does occur, call 911 before trying to extinguish it yourself.
- Have a tractor hooked to a disk near the field you are harvesting, but located where it wouldn’t be affected if a field fire should occur.
- If using a fire extinguisher, stay between the fire and your path to safety.
- When using a fire extinguisher, remember to PASS. P-A-S-S stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep.
+ Pull the safety pin on the extinguisher.
+ Aim at the base of the fire.
+ Squeeze the handle.
+ Sweep the extinguisher back and forth while releasing the contents.
Following these safety tips can seem like common sense, but with the long hours and the rush to get harvest done, sometimes these are forgotten.
I want to wish everyone a prosperous and safe harvest season. For more information on harvest safety, contact you equipment dealer, your local fire department, or your local Nebraska Extension office.
WEST POINT TAKES FIRST PLACE AT FFA STATE LAND JUDGING CONTEST IN SCRIBNER
The FFA State Land Judging Contest was held Wednesday, October 18 in Scribner. The team from West Point High School finished first with the top score of 1060 points. Team members are: Austin Streeter, Bryce Ulrich, Chase Streeter, and Blake Anderson.
Southern Valley placed second with a score of 985. Third place went to Johnson County with 971 points. Fullerton and Aurora came in 4th and 5th. The top five teams will advance to the National Competition to be held in Oklahoma City in the spring.
The top individual award went to Austin Streeter of West Point with a total score of 365. Pete Brown of Southern Valley was second, Elsa Rasmussen of North Bend was third, Racole Wetzel of Palmer was fourth, and Chase Streeter of West Point came in fifth.
In the adult division, Craig Teten of Johnson County took first place with 361 points. Kevin Wetovick of Fullerton was second and Joel Miller of Hampton was third.
The contest was hosted by Duane and Scott Muller of Scribner. The site provided good diversity in soils and landscape positions for the students. The contest helps the students make informed decisions regarding soil utilization in the future. Scoring was completed at the Scribner Public Library.
To qualify for the contest, teams had to be a top finisher at one of seven regional contests in October. 120 students qualified for the event from the following 38 high schools across Nebraska: Adams Central, Alma, Auburn, Aurora, Banner County, Bayard, Blue Hill, East Butler, Falls City, Fillmore Central, Franklin, Fullerton, Hampton, Holdrege, Howells-Dodge, Johnson-Brock, Johnson County, Lewiston, Leyton, Mead, Milford, Newman Grove, Norfolk, Norris, North Bend, Ord, Palmer, Pawnee City, Pender, Raymond Central, Scottsbluff, Shelby-Rising City, Southern Valley, Tekamah-Herman, Tri County, Twin River, West Point, and Wilber-Clatonia.
The Nebraska Association of Resources Districts, the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Scribner High School, and the Nebraska FFA State Land Judging Committee organized and sponsored the contest.
LATE SEASON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SURVEY
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will survey producers in 42 states, including Nebraska, for its County Agricultural Production Survey (CAPS).
“County-level yields have a direct impact on farmers around the State. USDA’s Farm Service Agency uses the data in administering producer programs such as the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) included in the 2014 Farm Bill, and in determining disaster assistance program calculations,” said Dean Groskurth, director of the NASS Northern Plains Field Office. “NASS cannot publish a county yield unless it receives enough reports from producers in that county to make a statistically defensible estimate. So, it is very important that producers respond to this survey. In 2016, NASS was unable to publish several large producing counties due to an insufficient number of responses.”
“As required by Federal law, all responses are completely confidential,” Groskurth continued. “We safeguard the privacy of all respondents, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified. Individual responses are also exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.”
Many producers respond by mail or on-line via NASS’s secure reporting website. NASS will also contact producers by phone or in person, particularly in low-response counties, to ensure producers their opportunity to represent Nebraska agriculture. County-level crop acreage and production data is available at NASS’s Quick Stats Database at http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/.
GET THE MOST FROM GRAZING CORN STALKS
Bruce Anderson, NE Extension Forage Specialist
Corn harvest is ongoing and cows are starting to graze the stalks. How should this grazing be managed to get the most out of them?
Grazing corn stalks during winter has many benefits. It can save over a dollar a day per cow compared to feeding expensive hay.
But, the way you manage grazing of stalks by your cattle can have a big effect on its success. For instance, maybe you want to feed as little protein supplement as possible while winter grazing. Then you must make sure you have enough acres of corn stalks so your cattle only need to select just the higher quality plant parts to eat. And whenever the grain and husks are gone, move to a fresh field.
Or, maybe you use stalks just as a filler to keep cattle from bellowing while you limit feed corn, distiller’s grains, or other more nutrient dense feeds. Then high stocking levels and unrestricted access might be best.
Another strategy might be to stretch winter stalks as far as possible. In that case, restricting animal access to smaller areas at a time by strip grazing until nearly all the grazable stalk parts are gone might be best. Be careful, though, about forcing cows to eat the lower stalks. They won’t get much protein or energy from lower stalks but the nitrate levels might be dangerously high.
Whatever your strategy, consider carefully what kind of nutrition animals are getting from the stalk pasture so you neither underfeed nor overfeed expensive supplements.
Be sure to provide salt, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin A free choice at all times. And once all the grain is gone, cows need about half a pound per day of an all natural protein to meet nutrient needs.
Stalk season is here. Make wise decisions to use them best.
Effects of Proposed 2017 Tax Reform on Farmers
Tina Barrett - Executive Director of Nebraska Farm Business Inc.
It looks more likely each day that Congress will pass some sort of tax reform this session. This article looks at how the current tax reform changes proposed by President Trump would impact farmers and ranchers. Two of the main goals of the proposed changes are to reduce the taxes for families and businesses and to simplify the tax code, both of which would be great for farmers.
Increased Standard Deduction
The first proposed change was to increase the standard deduction to $24,000 and eliminate the personal exemption. The standard deduction has been a set amount ($12,700 for Married Filing Joint Returns in 2017) that reduced total income before tax was calculated. Essentially, this means everyone got this much income at a 0% rate. If you itemized your deductions and they were more than the standard deduction, you could replace the $12,700 with your number. Personal Exemptions offer another means for reducing taxable income. You get one Personal Exemption for each person in the household. For a married couple, you would get two plus one for each dependent child. The personal exemption amount was $4,050 per person in 2017.
Tax time banner
If we look at this to simplify a tax return, it certainly does that. One of the complex issues facing preparers is the definition of a child, especially with split and blended families where the child doesn’t live with both parents all year long. By eliminating the personal exemptions, we eliminate much of this problem. We will still need to work on that definition for purposes of some credits like the Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Credit, but those affect a smaller number of returns than the personal exemptions that were on almost all returns.
The drawbacks come for larger families. If you are married and have one child, you were getting three personal exemptions or $12,150 in personal exemptions and $12,700 in a standard deduction or $24,850 at “0% tax.” If you have more children, the proposed law will actually reduce the amount of income at the zero rate. There is a proposal to increase the amount of the child tax credit to help offset this difference.
The other drawback and simplification is that with a higher standard deduction, there will be fewer people who can itemize their deductions. This is a big simplification as Schedule A (the form for itemizing deductions) can be very complicated, so that’s good. The drawback is that there may be less incentive to give to charities, own your own home, etc. if you don’t get a tax deduction for those things.
Change to the Individual Tax Rate Structure
Another proposal reduces the number of individual income tax brackets from seven to three. I don’t believe this is a major simplification as the seven brackets were really just a math formula to follow to calculate tax. Whether this change creates a significant difference in the tax you pay depends on where they set the breaks for the brackets. The proposed brackets are 12%, 25% and 35% but the breaks were not part of the proposal.
Enhanced Child Tax Credit
As I mentioned above, the proposal “significantly increases” the amount of the Child Tax Credit and would raise the point where is phased out. The Child Tax Credit is currently set at $1,000 per child under the age of 17 on December 31 each year. The credit phase-out starts at $110,000 of Adjusted Gross Income. This means that if your income is above $110,000, the $1,000 per child is reduced. If this is passed, it will go a long way to replacing personal exemptions as a $1,000 credit is better for most people than a $4,000 deduction, since the credit reduces tax paid and the deduction only reduces income.
Itemized Deductions
I’ve mentioned Itemized Deductions as an alternative to the Standard Deduction, but they are proposing major changes to these as well. There are many itemized deductions, including everything from out of pocket medical expenses, personal Real Estate Taxes, mortgage interest, and charitable donations to lesser ones such as investment expenses, unreimbursed employee expenses, tax preparation fees, etc. The proposal eliminates most of these deductions. The ones expected to remain are home mortgage interest and charitable donations; however, with a higher standard deduction, fewer people will be able to itemize. According to USA today, only 30% of Americans itemized under the current law, and they expect the higher standard deduction to significantly reduce that percentage. Remember, farmers can donate grain to charities, so that may be a great practice to get back into as it will reduce farm income and you won’t need to itemize to get the benefit.
Eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
The AMT tax was imposed many years ago with the idea that it kept high-income taxpayers from taking advantage of too many tax benefits; however, the limits were not indexed for inflation, so the levels where the AMT tax would kick in started to affect many taxpayers. The limit has been raised over the past few years, but eliminating this tax would greatly simplify the farm returns we prepare. It would allow for some flexibility in tax strategies, such as doubling up itemized deductions, which we have essentially quit doing due to the impacts of AMT.
Estate and Generation-Skipping Taxes
The proposed reforms would eliminate the “death” tax and the generation-skipping transfer taxes. Any proposal in the past to eliminate this tax also eliminated the step-up in basis. This will affect every farm, instead of just those whose net worth exceeds $11 million (for a married couple). Whether elimination is better than keeping the tax depends on the farm. The heirs of an active farmer who passes away will almost always receive better tax treatment from the step-up in basis than elimination of the estate tax, but a retired landowner with significant assets may be better off forfeiting the step-up.
The other challenge that producers will face is proving basis if the step-up is eliminated. The way it is now, we have a basis “reset” every generation, so the farthest we must look back to determine basis is “when Dad died.” If we don’t get that reset, we will have to find what Grandpa paid for that ground 70 years ago if we need to sell it. That will create a recordkeeping nightmare for accountants and attorneys to try and put that information together when everyone who had firsthand knowledge of the event has passed away.
New Tax Rate for Small Businesses
Sole proprietorship (you file a Schedule F), partnerships, and S corporations will have a maximum tax rate of 25% on their business income. This means that even if you are in the top bracket of 35% for ordinary income, your farm income will only be taxed at 25%. This doesn’t simplify the tax calculation, but it will reduce the taxes paid by farmers. This could be a significant impact for high-income producers. This would also reduce the incentives for creating entities, which would go back to simplifying the process for producers.
New Tax Rate for Corporations
The corporate tax rate (for C-corporations) would be limited to 20%. It doesn’t say in the proposal if the 15% bracket would stay a part of the structure and the max would be 20%, or if all income recognized would be paid at 20%. Depending on how this is set, taxes could increase for those producers using the 15% tax bracket in a C-Corp.
There is also mention of “reducing the double taxation of corporate earnings.” Without more details, it’s hard to know what that means or how it will impact farmers, but reducing that tax would be a huge benefit to those operations with a significant deferred tax liability.
Unlimited Section 179
The proposal would lift the limit on how much you can expense for capital purchases in the year of acquisition for assets purchased after September 27, 2017 and for at least five years. This would apply to all assets except structures. There was no mention if there would still be a purchase limit in place or what would happen after the five years. It could be that there would be no Section 179, or it could go back to the levels we have today. We would be back to the uncertainty of “what are they going to do” that we have been faced with for so many years.
While this sounds like a great deal, remember that if you are front-loading depreciation on assets that you have financed, you could create a cash flow problem since you are not matching your cash outlay with a deduction on your return. It will take some discipline to use this tax benefit appropriately.
Interest Expense
There has been a lot of discussion about eliminating the deduction for interest paid. The proposal only eliminates the deduction for C-corporations, but the committee has been given direction to consider the appropriate deduction for non-corporate taxpayers. The elimination of this deduction could be huge for highly leveraged producers. Our average producers spent $35,000 in interest last year. That, with today’s brackets, would cost the producer almost $16,500 in additional taxes (assuming 15.3% self-employment taxes, 25% federal income taxes, and 7% state taxes). This will be a very interesting proposal to watch.
Domestic Production Activities Deduction
The final major change for producers is a proposed elimination of the Domestic Production Activities Deduction. This deduction has been around since 2004 and now amounts to 9% of income or 50% of wages paid, whichever is less. Elimination of this would very much simplify farm tax returns since there is an impact for the cooperatives that producers work with and the calculation is complicated. The impact of this would depend on the profitability of the operation and how much they are paying in wages. For some operations, this will have no impact and for others, it could increase taxable income by more than $50,000. This deduction has always been one that has been received with no expense so while it could have a big impact, it was a “free” deduction before.
Conclusion
Tax law changes are never all good or all bad. Many aspects of the proposed reforms will benefit farm taxpayers, however, the reality is that a lot of compromises will need to be made before any of these changes become law. This will certainly complicate the tax planning season as we don’t know exactly how to plan what’s best for producers. It will also complicate filing season since these types of sweeping changes will significantly impact the forms, calculations, and other aspects. The longer Congress takes to pass something with retroactive provisions, the more delays you should expect in the filing season.
Wintersteen named Iowa State University president
The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, today named Wendy Wintersteen the 16th president of Iowa State University.
Wintersteen’s appointment concludes a nearly six-month national search. She will take office on Nov. 20, 2017. Wintersteen, endowed dean of Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, will succeed Benjamin Allen, who has served as interim president since May 8. Steven Leath, Iowa State’s 15th president, assumed the presidency at Auburn University last spring.
Wintersteen, 61, has led the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences since 2006. During her 11 years as dean, she helped raise more than $247 million in donor support for students, faculty and staff. Undergraduate enrollment in the college has grown by 90 percent, and the college’s placement rate for recent graduates has consistently been 97 percent or higher.
Wintersteen has been with Iowa State since 1979, leaving only briefly (1989 to 1990) to serve as acting National Pesticide Education Program leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Extension Service, Washington, D.C.
Prior to becoming dean, Wintersteen served as the college’s senior associate dean and associate director of the Experiment Station. In her career at Iowa State, she also has served as professor of entomology, director of Extension to Agriculture and Natural Resources, and coordinator of pesticide management and pesticide applicator training programs. She serves on the board of trustees of the Farm Foundation and the board of directors of the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund. She is president of the board of directors for the Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation.
Wintersteen received the Carl F. Hertz Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers in 2016. She was honored as a Kansas State University Alumni Fellow for professional accomplishments and distinguished service in 2007. She also is a member of the Entomological Society of America and the American Association of University Women.
Wintersteen earned a bachelor of science in crop protection (1978) from Kansas State University and her doctorate in entomology (1988) from Iowa State.
Her annual salary at Iowa State has been set at $525,000 in year one, $550,000 in year two, and $590,000 in year three. She also will receive a three-year deferred compensation plan with an annual contribution of $125,000 in year one, $150,000 in year two, and $200,000 in year three. Wintersteen’s contract is for five years.
U.S. Pork Industry Seeks 2018 Pig Farmers of Tomorrow
The National Pork Board is searching for the next Pig Farmers of Tomorrow, with applications now open for the industry award through Nov. 21 at www.pigfarmersoftomorrow. The award, in its second year, is designed to recognize, inspire and connect with the next generation of American pig farmers.
This award recognizes future farm leaders, ages 18 to 29, who intend to make pig farming their life’s work and are committed to the U.S. pork industry and to raising pigs using the We CareSM ethical principles.
“One of the National Pork Board’s primary responsibilities is to train and motivate future pork industry leaders,” said National Pork Board President Terry O’Neel a pig farmer from Friend, Nebraska. “The award is designed to recognize and inspire youth who are investing their time and energy into responsible pig farming.”
Up to three award recipients will be selected. Winners will be invited to speak at National Pork Board events, including the March 2018 National Pork Industry Forum in Kansas City. They also will be responsible for providing content for the pork industry’s social media program, #RealPigFarming. To apply, applicants must be actively involved in raising pigs in the United States on a full- or part-time basis and be between the ages of 18 and 29 as of Jan. 1, 2018. Students currently enrolled in a college program also are encouraged to apply.
Applicants must have a completed Common Swine Industry Audit or be willing to have one conducted and paid for by the National Pork Board. Applicants must submit up to five photos that represent them as a Pig Farmer of Tomorrow. The National Pork Board selection committee will name up to eight semi-finalists who will be interviewed by a panel of judges to select the finalists. Three winners will be chosen based on a combination of all application materials.
“It is important for youth in our industry to make the right connections at the right time as they build a career in agriculture,” O’Neel said. “As the winners share their personal stories, the program will both recognize these future leaders and introduce them to experienced producers and networking opportunities.”
USDA Cold Storage September 2017 Highlights
Total red meat supplies in freezers on September 30, 2017 were up 4 percent from the previous month but down 5 percent from last year. Total pounds of beef in freezers were up 2 percent from the previous month but down 6 percent from last year. Frozen pork supplies were up 7 percent from the previous month but down 4 percent from last year. Stocks of pork bellies were up 9 percent from last month but down 17 percent from last year.
Total frozen poultry supplies on September 30, 2017 were up 1 percent from the previous month and up 8 percent from a year ago. Total stocks of chicken were up 5 percent from the previous month and up 7 percent from last year. Total pounds of turkey in freezers were down 5 percent from last month but up 11 percent from September 30, 2016.
Total natural cheese stocks in refrigerated warehouses on September 30, 2017 were down 2 percent from the previous month but up 6 percent from September 30, 2016. Butter stocks were down 8 percent from last month and down 5 percent from a year ago.
Total frozen fruit stocks were down 3 percent from last month and down 7 percent from a year ago. Total frozen vegetable stocks were up 17 percent from last month and up 5 percent from a year ago.
CWT Assists with 1.8 million Pounds of Cheese and Butter Export Sales
Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 14 requests for export assistance from members Dairy Farmers of America, Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold) and United Dairymen of Arizona that have contracts to sell 1.702 million pounds (772 metric tons) of Cheddar, Gouda and Monterey Jack cheese and 144,403 pounds (66 metric tons) of butter to customers in the Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from October 2017 through January 2018.
So far this year, CWT has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 57.895 million pounds of American-type cheeses, and 4.701 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat) to 21 countries on five continents. The sales are the equivalent of 640.147 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program in the long term helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them. This, in turn, positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.
Syngenta named top agriculture employer in 2017 Science Careers survey
Syngenta ranked in the top 20 among the world’s leading biotech employers, in an annual survey conducted by Science magazine. The company placed 12 out of 20 employers listed in the survey, which garnered more than 7,000 responses worldwide.
The Science Careers Top Employers Survey polled employees in the biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical and related industries. Respondents to the web-based survey were asked to rate companies based on 23 characteristics. The top three characteristics for Syngenta were treating employees with respect, being socially responsible and having loyal employees.
“This is a tumultuous time for the ag industry, where we as a company rely fully on the continued creativity and dedication of our people to deliver innovation into the hands of farmers around the world,” said Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, head of global seeds research, Syngenta. “We are very happy that despite these challenges, we have been able to maintain our reputation as a great place to work. This is absolutely essential for sustaining our innovation leadership in the industry.”
Syngenta is a leading innovator and collaborator in plant genetics, with biotechnology and seeds research operations based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and Beijing, China.
A robust R&D investment and pipeline enables Syngenta researchers to develop seed trait technologies that are beneficial to farmers, consumers and the future of agriculture. These efforts also help Syngenta deliver on The Good Growth Plan, the company’s global framework of sustainability commitments that include making crops more efficient.
This year marks the 8th year that Syngenta has ranked as one of the top 20 best biotech companies for which to work worldwide.
The complete rankings of the 2017 Science Careers Top Employers survey can be found online at the Science magazine website.
For the week ending October 22, 2017, temperatures averaged four to eight degrees above normal across Nebraska, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Only minimal precipitation was recorded in the northwest and a few eastern counties, which allowed farmers to take advantage of the open week to make significant progress on the State’s soybean harvest. There were 6.5 days suitable for fieldwork. Topsoil moisture supplies rated 2 percent very short, 8 short, 84 adequate, and 6 surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 3 percent very short, 14 short, 80 adequate, and 3 surplus.
Field Crops Report:
Corn condition rated 3 percent very poor, 8 poor, 23 fair, 46 good, and 20 excellent. Corn mature was 97 percent, near 99 last year, and equal to the five-year average. Harvested was 26 percent, well behind 48 last year and 52 average.
Soybean condition rated 2 percent very poor, 8 poor, 26 fair, 50 good, and 14 excellent. Soybeans harvested was 67 percent, behind 76 last year and 83 average.
Winter wheat condition rated 3 percent very poor, 10 poor, 33 fair, 45 good, and 9 excellent. Winter wheat planted was 94 percent, behind 100 last year, and near 98 average. Emerged was 77 percent, behind 93 last year and 82 average.
Sorghum condition rated 3 percent very poor, 2 poor, 20 fair, 53 good, and 22 excellent. Sorghum mature was 96 percent, near 100 last year and 98 average. Harvested was 34 percent, well behind 65 last year, and behind 51 average.
Alfalfa fourth cutting was 93 percent complete, ahead of 88 last year.
Pasture and Range Report:
Pasture and range conditions rated 2 percent very poor, 11 poor, 43 fair, 39 good, and 5 excellent. Stock water supplies rated 1 percent very short, 3 short, 95 adequate, and 1 surplus.
IOWA CROP PROGRESS & CONDITION REPORT
Iowa farmers had a good week for harvesting with 5.0 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending October 22, 2017, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. However, corn and soybean harvest progress remains behind both the previous year and the five-year average. On the positive side, there were several reports for both corn and soybeans that yields were better than expected. Activities for the week included harvesting corn for grain and soybeans, spreading manure, applying fertilizer, and starting fall tillage.
Topsoil moisture levels rated 3 percent very short, 6 percent short, 79 percent adequate and 12 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 7 percent very short, 15 percent short, 71 percent adequate and 7 percent surplus.
Nearly all of the corn for grain crop had reached maturity or beyond, three days behind average. Twenty-three percent of the corn for grain crop has been harvested, remaining the smallest percentage harvested by this date since 2009 and over two weeks behind average. Moisture content of corn being harvested for grain averaged 20 percent. Corn condition rated 64 percent good to excellent.
Nearly a third of the soybean crop was harvested this past week increasing to 61 percent harvested, but this is also the smallest percentage harvested by this date since 2009. Southwest and south central Iowa remain the only districts to not reach 50 percent harvested. Soybean condition rated 64 percent good to excellent.
Pasture conditions have continued to improve for the fourth week in a row from recent rains to 35 percent good to excellent. Livestock conditions were reported as good, with reports of some cattle being turned out to graze corn stalks. Feedlots remain muddy.
USDA Weekly Crop Progress
The U.S. soybean harvest picked up speed while the corn harvest continued to fall further behind the average pace for the week ended Oct. 22, according to USDA's latest Crop Progress report released on Monday.
USDA estimated that 38% of corn was harvested as of Sunday, 21 percentage points behind 59% last year and also a five-year average of 59% harvested. In last Monday's report, the corn harvest was 19 points behind the average pace. Sixty-six percent of the corn crop was rated in good-to-excellent condition.
While corn harvest continued to move slowly, the soybean harvest gained momentum last week, jumping 21 percentage points from the previous week and coming to within 3 percentage points of the average pace. That was an improvement from last Monday's report when soybean harvest lagged the average pace by 11 points. USDA estimated that 70% of the soybean crop was harvested as of Sunday, down from 74% a year ago and down from a five-year average of 73% harvested. USDA has stopped reporting national soybean crop conditions for the year.
Meanwhile, USDA said 75% of winter wheat was planted as of Sunday, down from 78% a year ago and below the five-year average of 80% planted. Fifty-two percent of winter wheat was emerged, down from 58% a year ago and down from a five-year average of 57%.
Sorghum was 47% harvested, behind the five-year average of 59%. Cotton was 87% in the bolls opening stage and the crop was 37% harvested nationwide, slightly ahead of the average pace of 35% harvested.
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Keeping Your Equipment and Fields Fire Safe At Harvest
John Wilson - NE Extension Educator, Burt County
After a wet start in late September and early October, harvest is now progressing across the state. While getting the crop in is your first priority, don't make safety your second.
Besides my job for Nebraska Extension, I have another job... that of a volunteer firefighter and EMT for almost 35 years. Each fall our calls increase, largely due to field fires during harvest. Combines can present problems unique to their use. To stay safe from fires combine operators should check for:
- The build-up of combustible crop residue around the engine and exhaust system.
- Concealed drive belts and pulleys which can overheat due to friction when there is an accumulation of crop residue around them.
- Electrical wiring and connectors that have become worn or frayed, resulting in sparks which can ignite grain dust, crop residues or fuel vapors.
Maintain Equipment
Preventative maintenance is key to preventing many of the fires that occur on farm equipment. Good preventative maintenance not only prolongs equipment life but also reduces fire hazards. If you haven’t done so already, here are a few things you can do to prevent fires:
- Keep all bearings and gears well lubricated to prevent heat buildup and keep lubricants at proper levels.
- Repair any leaks in the fuel system and any damaged electrical wiring.
- Repair or replace damaged or worn out exhaust systems. In addition to a good exhaust system, a spark arrestor can be installed to catch burning particles. The arrestors are easy to install and require little maintenance.
Use Safe Fueling Practices
Too often during harvest season, safe fueling practices are ignored in an effort to save time. The few seconds saved are insignificant when compared to the loss of expensive farm equipment or weeks or even months spent in a hospital burn ward. Follow these safety practices:
- Never refuel equipment with the engine running. Always shut the engine off.
- Allow hot engines to cool 15 minutes before refueling.
- Extinguish all smoking materials before refueling.
- If fuel spills on an engine, wipe away any excess and allow the fumes to dissipate before starting the engine.
Be Prepared for Fire
In the rush to harvest it's often overlooked, but starting to harvest a field on the downwind side can help keep a fire from spreading. If a fire does occur, the flames will be pushed toward the harvested portion of the field.
- Always carry two fire extinguishers on the combine, one in the cab and one that you can access from the ground. Also carry a fire extinguisher in your grain hauling equipment.
- Always carry a cell phone or alternative for communicating with others in case of an emergency.
- If a field or equipment fire does occur, call 911 before trying to extinguish it yourself.
- Have a tractor hooked to a disk near the field you are harvesting, but located where it wouldn’t be affected if a field fire should occur.
- If using a fire extinguisher, stay between the fire and your path to safety.
- When using a fire extinguisher, remember to PASS. P-A-S-S stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep.
+ Pull the safety pin on the extinguisher.
+ Aim at the base of the fire.
+ Squeeze the handle.
+ Sweep the extinguisher back and forth while releasing the contents.
Following these safety tips can seem like common sense, but with the long hours and the rush to get harvest done, sometimes these are forgotten.
I want to wish everyone a prosperous and safe harvest season. For more information on harvest safety, contact you equipment dealer, your local fire department, or your local Nebraska Extension office.
WEST POINT TAKES FIRST PLACE AT FFA STATE LAND JUDGING CONTEST IN SCRIBNER
The FFA State Land Judging Contest was held Wednesday, October 18 in Scribner. The team from West Point High School finished first with the top score of 1060 points. Team members are: Austin Streeter, Bryce Ulrich, Chase Streeter, and Blake Anderson.
Southern Valley placed second with a score of 985. Third place went to Johnson County with 971 points. Fullerton and Aurora came in 4th and 5th. The top five teams will advance to the National Competition to be held in Oklahoma City in the spring.
The top individual award went to Austin Streeter of West Point with a total score of 365. Pete Brown of Southern Valley was second, Elsa Rasmussen of North Bend was third, Racole Wetzel of Palmer was fourth, and Chase Streeter of West Point came in fifth.
In the adult division, Craig Teten of Johnson County took first place with 361 points. Kevin Wetovick of Fullerton was second and Joel Miller of Hampton was third.
The contest was hosted by Duane and Scott Muller of Scribner. The site provided good diversity in soils and landscape positions for the students. The contest helps the students make informed decisions regarding soil utilization in the future. Scoring was completed at the Scribner Public Library.
To qualify for the contest, teams had to be a top finisher at one of seven regional contests in October. 120 students qualified for the event from the following 38 high schools across Nebraska: Adams Central, Alma, Auburn, Aurora, Banner County, Bayard, Blue Hill, East Butler, Falls City, Fillmore Central, Franklin, Fullerton, Hampton, Holdrege, Howells-Dodge, Johnson-Brock, Johnson County, Lewiston, Leyton, Mead, Milford, Newman Grove, Norfolk, Norris, North Bend, Ord, Palmer, Pawnee City, Pender, Raymond Central, Scottsbluff, Shelby-Rising City, Southern Valley, Tekamah-Herman, Tri County, Twin River, West Point, and Wilber-Clatonia.
The Nebraska Association of Resources Districts, the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Scribner High School, and the Nebraska FFA State Land Judging Committee organized and sponsored the contest.
LATE SEASON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SURVEY
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will survey producers in 42 states, including Nebraska, for its County Agricultural Production Survey (CAPS).
“County-level yields have a direct impact on farmers around the State. USDA’s Farm Service Agency uses the data in administering producer programs such as the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) included in the 2014 Farm Bill, and in determining disaster assistance program calculations,” said Dean Groskurth, director of the NASS Northern Plains Field Office. “NASS cannot publish a county yield unless it receives enough reports from producers in that county to make a statistically defensible estimate. So, it is very important that producers respond to this survey. In 2016, NASS was unable to publish several large producing counties due to an insufficient number of responses.”
“As required by Federal law, all responses are completely confidential,” Groskurth continued. “We safeguard the privacy of all respondents, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified. Individual responses are also exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.”
Many producers respond by mail or on-line via NASS’s secure reporting website. NASS will also contact producers by phone or in person, particularly in low-response counties, to ensure producers their opportunity to represent Nebraska agriculture. County-level crop acreage and production data is available at NASS’s Quick Stats Database at http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/.
GET THE MOST FROM GRAZING CORN STALKS
Bruce Anderson, NE Extension Forage Specialist
Corn harvest is ongoing and cows are starting to graze the stalks. How should this grazing be managed to get the most out of them?
Grazing corn stalks during winter has many benefits. It can save over a dollar a day per cow compared to feeding expensive hay.
But, the way you manage grazing of stalks by your cattle can have a big effect on its success. For instance, maybe you want to feed as little protein supplement as possible while winter grazing. Then you must make sure you have enough acres of corn stalks so your cattle only need to select just the higher quality plant parts to eat. And whenever the grain and husks are gone, move to a fresh field.
Or, maybe you use stalks just as a filler to keep cattle from bellowing while you limit feed corn, distiller’s grains, or other more nutrient dense feeds. Then high stocking levels and unrestricted access might be best.
Another strategy might be to stretch winter stalks as far as possible. In that case, restricting animal access to smaller areas at a time by strip grazing until nearly all the grazable stalk parts are gone might be best. Be careful, though, about forcing cows to eat the lower stalks. They won’t get much protein or energy from lower stalks but the nitrate levels might be dangerously high.
Whatever your strategy, consider carefully what kind of nutrition animals are getting from the stalk pasture so you neither underfeed nor overfeed expensive supplements.
Be sure to provide salt, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin A free choice at all times. And once all the grain is gone, cows need about half a pound per day of an all natural protein to meet nutrient needs.
Stalk season is here. Make wise decisions to use them best.
Effects of Proposed 2017 Tax Reform on Farmers
Tina Barrett - Executive Director of Nebraska Farm Business Inc.
It looks more likely each day that Congress will pass some sort of tax reform this session. This article looks at how the current tax reform changes proposed by President Trump would impact farmers and ranchers. Two of the main goals of the proposed changes are to reduce the taxes for families and businesses and to simplify the tax code, both of which would be great for farmers.
Increased Standard Deduction
The first proposed change was to increase the standard deduction to $24,000 and eliminate the personal exemption. The standard deduction has been a set amount ($12,700 for Married Filing Joint Returns in 2017) that reduced total income before tax was calculated. Essentially, this means everyone got this much income at a 0% rate. If you itemized your deductions and they were more than the standard deduction, you could replace the $12,700 with your number. Personal Exemptions offer another means for reducing taxable income. You get one Personal Exemption for each person in the household. For a married couple, you would get two plus one for each dependent child. The personal exemption amount was $4,050 per person in 2017.
Tax time banner
If we look at this to simplify a tax return, it certainly does that. One of the complex issues facing preparers is the definition of a child, especially with split and blended families where the child doesn’t live with both parents all year long. By eliminating the personal exemptions, we eliminate much of this problem. We will still need to work on that definition for purposes of some credits like the Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Credit, but those affect a smaller number of returns than the personal exemptions that were on almost all returns.
The drawbacks come for larger families. If you are married and have one child, you were getting three personal exemptions or $12,150 in personal exemptions and $12,700 in a standard deduction or $24,850 at “0% tax.” If you have more children, the proposed law will actually reduce the amount of income at the zero rate. There is a proposal to increase the amount of the child tax credit to help offset this difference.
The other drawback and simplification is that with a higher standard deduction, there will be fewer people who can itemize their deductions. This is a big simplification as Schedule A (the form for itemizing deductions) can be very complicated, so that’s good. The drawback is that there may be less incentive to give to charities, own your own home, etc. if you don’t get a tax deduction for those things.
Change to the Individual Tax Rate Structure
Another proposal reduces the number of individual income tax brackets from seven to three. I don’t believe this is a major simplification as the seven brackets were really just a math formula to follow to calculate tax. Whether this change creates a significant difference in the tax you pay depends on where they set the breaks for the brackets. The proposed brackets are 12%, 25% and 35% but the breaks were not part of the proposal.
Enhanced Child Tax Credit
As I mentioned above, the proposal “significantly increases” the amount of the Child Tax Credit and would raise the point where is phased out. The Child Tax Credit is currently set at $1,000 per child under the age of 17 on December 31 each year. The credit phase-out starts at $110,000 of Adjusted Gross Income. This means that if your income is above $110,000, the $1,000 per child is reduced. If this is passed, it will go a long way to replacing personal exemptions as a $1,000 credit is better for most people than a $4,000 deduction, since the credit reduces tax paid and the deduction only reduces income.
Itemized Deductions
I’ve mentioned Itemized Deductions as an alternative to the Standard Deduction, but they are proposing major changes to these as well. There are many itemized deductions, including everything from out of pocket medical expenses, personal Real Estate Taxes, mortgage interest, and charitable donations to lesser ones such as investment expenses, unreimbursed employee expenses, tax preparation fees, etc. The proposal eliminates most of these deductions. The ones expected to remain are home mortgage interest and charitable donations; however, with a higher standard deduction, fewer people will be able to itemize. According to USA today, only 30% of Americans itemized under the current law, and they expect the higher standard deduction to significantly reduce that percentage. Remember, farmers can donate grain to charities, so that may be a great practice to get back into as it will reduce farm income and you won’t need to itemize to get the benefit.
Eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
The AMT tax was imposed many years ago with the idea that it kept high-income taxpayers from taking advantage of too many tax benefits; however, the limits were not indexed for inflation, so the levels where the AMT tax would kick in started to affect many taxpayers. The limit has been raised over the past few years, but eliminating this tax would greatly simplify the farm returns we prepare. It would allow for some flexibility in tax strategies, such as doubling up itemized deductions, which we have essentially quit doing due to the impacts of AMT.
Estate and Generation-Skipping Taxes
The proposed reforms would eliminate the “death” tax and the generation-skipping transfer taxes. Any proposal in the past to eliminate this tax also eliminated the step-up in basis. This will affect every farm, instead of just those whose net worth exceeds $11 million (for a married couple). Whether elimination is better than keeping the tax depends on the farm. The heirs of an active farmer who passes away will almost always receive better tax treatment from the step-up in basis than elimination of the estate tax, but a retired landowner with significant assets may be better off forfeiting the step-up.
The other challenge that producers will face is proving basis if the step-up is eliminated. The way it is now, we have a basis “reset” every generation, so the farthest we must look back to determine basis is “when Dad died.” If we don’t get that reset, we will have to find what Grandpa paid for that ground 70 years ago if we need to sell it. That will create a recordkeeping nightmare for accountants and attorneys to try and put that information together when everyone who had firsthand knowledge of the event has passed away.
New Tax Rate for Small Businesses
Sole proprietorship (you file a Schedule F), partnerships, and S corporations will have a maximum tax rate of 25% on their business income. This means that even if you are in the top bracket of 35% for ordinary income, your farm income will only be taxed at 25%. This doesn’t simplify the tax calculation, but it will reduce the taxes paid by farmers. This could be a significant impact for high-income producers. This would also reduce the incentives for creating entities, which would go back to simplifying the process for producers.
New Tax Rate for Corporations
The corporate tax rate (for C-corporations) would be limited to 20%. It doesn’t say in the proposal if the 15% bracket would stay a part of the structure and the max would be 20%, or if all income recognized would be paid at 20%. Depending on how this is set, taxes could increase for those producers using the 15% tax bracket in a C-Corp.
There is also mention of “reducing the double taxation of corporate earnings.” Without more details, it’s hard to know what that means or how it will impact farmers, but reducing that tax would be a huge benefit to those operations with a significant deferred tax liability.
Unlimited Section 179
The proposal would lift the limit on how much you can expense for capital purchases in the year of acquisition for assets purchased after September 27, 2017 and for at least five years. This would apply to all assets except structures. There was no mention if there would still be a purchase limit in place or what would happen after the five years. It could be that there would be no Section 179, or it could go back to the levels we have today. We would be back to the uncertainty of “what are they going to do” that we have been faced with for so many years.
While this sounds like a great deal, remember that if you are front-loading depreciation on assets that you have financed, you could create a cash flow problem since you are not matching your cash outlay with a deduction on your return. It will take some discipline to use this tax benefit appropriately.
Interest Expense
There has been a lot of discussion about eliminating the deduction for interest paid. The proposal only eliminates the deduction for C-corporations, but the committee has been given direction to consider the appropriate deduction for non-corporate taxpayers. The elimination of this deduction could be huge for highly leveraged producers. Our average producers spent $35,000 in interest last year. That, with today’s brackets, would cost the producer almost $16,500 in additional taxes (assuming 15.3% self-employment taxes, 25% federal income taxes, and 7% state taxes). This will be a very interesting proposal to watch.
Domestic Production Activities Deduction
The final major change for producers is a proposed elimination of the Domestic Production Activities Deduction. This deduction has been around since 2004 and now amounts to 9% of income or 50% of wages paid, whichever is less. Elimination of this would very much simplify farm tax returns since there is an impact for the cooperatives that producers work with and the calculation is complicated. The impact of this would depend on the profitability of the operation and how much they are paying in wages. For some operations, this will have no impact and for others, it could increase taxable income by more than $50,000. This deduction has always been one that has been received with no expense so while it could have a big impact, it was a “free” deduction before.
Conclusion
Tax law changes are never all good or all bad. Many aspects of the proposed reforms will benefit farm taxpayers, however, the reality is that a lot of compromises will need to be made before any of these changes become law. This will certainly complicate the tax planning season as we don’t know exactly how to plan what’s best for producers. It will also complicate filing season since these types of sweeping changes will significantly impact the forms, calculations, and other aspects. The longer Congress takes to pass something with retroactive provisions, the more delays you should expect in the filing season.
Wintersteen named Iowa State University president
The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, today named Wendy Wintersteen the 16th president of Iowa State University.
Wintersteen’s appointment concludes a nearly six-month national search. She will take office on Nov. 20, 2017. Wintersteen, endowed dean of Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, will succeed Benjamin Allen, who has served as interim president since May 8. Steven Leath, Iowa State’s 15th president, assumed the presidency at Auburn University last spring.
Wintersteen, 61, has led the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences since 2006. During her 11 years as dean, she helped raise more than $247 million in donor support for students, faculty and staff. Undergraduate enrollment in the college has grown by 90 percent, and the college’s placement rate for recent graduates has consistently been 97 percent or higher.
Wintersteen has been with Iowa State since 1979, leaving only briefly (1989 to 1990) to serve as acting National Pesticide Education Program leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Extension Service, Washington, D.C.
Prior to becoming dean, Wintersteen served as the college’s senior associate dean and associate director of the Experiment Station. In her career at Iowa State, she also has served as professor of entomology, director of Extension to Agriculture and Natural Resources, and coordinator of pesticide management and pesticide applicator training programs. She serves on the board of trustees of the Farm Foundation and the board of directors of the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund. She is president of the board of directors for the Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation.
Wintersteen received the Carl F. Hertz Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers in 2016. She was honored as a Kansas State University Alumni Fellow for professional accomplishments and distinguished service in 2007. She also is a member of the Entomological Society of America and the American Association of University Women.
Wintersteen earned a bachelor of science in crop protection (1978) from Kansas State University and her doctorate in entomology (1988) from Iowa State.
Her annual salary at Iowa State has been set at $525,000 in year one, $550,000 in year two, and $590,000 in year three. She also will receive a three-year deferred compensation plan with an annual contribution of $125,000 in year one, $150,000 in year two, and $200,000 in year three. Wintersteen’s contract is for five years.
U.S. Pork Industry Seeks 2018 Pig Farmers of Tomorrow
The National Pork Board is searching for the next Pig Farmers of Tomorrow, with applications now open for the industry award through Nov. 21 at www.pigfarmersoftomorrow. The award, in its second year, is designed to recognize, inspire and connect with the next generation of American pig farmers.
This award recognizes future farm leaders, ages 18 to 29, who intend to make pig farming their life’s work and are committed to the U.S. pork industry and to raising pigs using the We CareSM ethical principles.
“One of the National Pork Board’s primary responsibilities is to train and motivate future pork industry leaders,” said National Pork Board President Terry O’Neel a pig farmer from Friend, Nebraska. “The award is designed to recognize and inspire youth who are investing their time and energy into responsible pig farming.”
Up to three award recipients will be selected. Winners will be invited to speak at National Pork Board events, including the March 2018 National Pork Industry Forum in Kansas City. They also will be responsible for providing content for the pork industry’s social media program, #RealPigFarming. To apply, applicants must be actively involved in raising pigs in the United States on a full- or part-time basis and be between the ages of 18 and 29 as of Jan. 1, 2018. Students currently enrolled in a college program also are encouraged to apply.
Applicants must have a completed Common Swine Industry Audit or be willing to have one conducted and paid for by the National Pork Board. Applicants must submit up to five photos that represent them as a Pig Farmer of Tomorrow. The National Pork Board selection committee will name up to eight semi-finalists who will be interviewed by a panel of judges to select the finalists. Three winners will be chosen based on a combination of all application materials.
“It is important for youth in our industry to make the right connections at the right time as they build a career in agriculture,” O’Neel said. “As the winners share their personal stories, the program will both recognize these future leaders and introduce them to experienced producers and networking opportunities.”
USDA Cold Storage September 2017 Highlights
Total red meat supplies in freezers on September 30, 2017 were up 4 percent from the previous month but down 5 percent from last year. Total pounds of beef in freezers were up 2 percent from the previous month but down 6 percent from last year. Frozen pork supplies were up 7 percent from the previous month but down 4 percent from last year. Stocks of pork bellies were up 9 percent from last month but down 17 percent from last year.
Total frozen poultry supplies on September 30, 2017 were up 1 percent from the previous month and up 8 percent from a year ago. Total stocks of chicken were up 5 percent from the previous month and up 7 percent from last year. Total pounds of turkey in freezers were down 5 percent from last month but up 11 percent from September 30, 2016.
Total natural cheese stocks in refrigerated warehouses on September 30, 2017 were down 2 percent from the previous month but up 6 percent from September 30, 2016. Butter stocks were down 8 percent from last month and down 5 percent from a year ago.
Total frozen fruit stocks were down 3 percent from last month and down 7 percent from a year ago. Total frozen vegetable stocks were up 17 percent from last month and up 5 percent from a year ago.
CWT Assists with 1.8 million Pounds of Cheese and Butter Export Sales
Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 14 requests for export assistance from members Dairy Farmers of America, Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold) and United Dairymen of Arizona that have contracts to sell 1.702 million pounds (772 metric tons) of Cheddar, Gouda and Monterey Jack cheese and 144,403 pounds (66 metric tons) of butter to customers in the Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from October 2017 through January 2018.
So far this year, CWT has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 57.895 million pounds of American-type cheeses, and 4.701 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat) to 21 countries on five continents. The sales are the equivalent of 640.147 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program in the long term helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them. This, in turn, positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.
Syngenta named top agriculture employer in 2017 Science Careers survey
Syngenta ranked in the top 20 among the world’s leading biotech employers, in an annual survey conducted by Science magazine. The company placed 12 out of 20 employers listed in the survey, which garnered more than 7,000 responses worldwide.
The Science Careers Top Employers Survey polled employees in the biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical and related industries. Respondents to the web-based survey were asked to rate companies based on 23 characteristics. The top three characteristics for Syngenta were treating employees with respect, being socially responsible and having loyal employees.
“This is a tumultuous time for the ag industry, where we as a company rely fully on the continued creativity and dedication of our people to deliver innovation into the hands of farmers around the world,” said Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, head of global seeds research, Syngenta. “We are very happy that despite these challenges, we have been able to maintain our reputation as a great place to work. This is absolutely essential for sustaining our innovation leadership in the industry.”
Syngenta is a leading innovator and collaborator in plant genetics, with biotechnology and seeds research operations based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and Beijing, China.
A robust R&D investment and pipeline enables Syngenta researchers to develop seed trait technologies that are beneficial to farmers, consumers and the future of agriculture. These efforts also help Syngenta deliver on The Good Growth Plan, the company’s global framework of sustainability commitments that include making crops more efficient.
This year marks the 8th year that Syngenta has ranked as one of the top 20 best biotech companies for which to work worldwide.
The complete rankings of the 2017 Science Careers Top Employers survey can be found online at the Science magazine website.
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