In Farm Bureau New Ag Hall of Fame inductees The Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame will induct five individuals whose leadership and service have brought distinction to the state’s largest business sector. The newest class includes forester Allen Bedell of Hot Springs, former state senator Neely Cassady of Nashville, rice farmer Gary Sebree of Stuttgart, poultry company executive Mark Simmons of Siloam Springs and the late Bobby Wells, a renowned plant breeder who developed many varieties of rice that have positively impacted the state’s farmers. The group will be honored at the 29th annual induction luncheon set for 11:30 a.m. March 3 at Little Rock’s Embassy Suites Hotel. Bedell was a longtime forester for Georgia-Pacific in Fordyce and also owned
The State Capitol in Little Rock was decorated for the holidays when this photo was shot Dec. 30. On Jan. 9, state legislators return to the capitol for the regular session of the 91st General Assembly. Lawmakers are expected to tackle several issues important to Arkansas farmers and ranchers, including increased funding for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, strengthening private property protections and increased highway funding. two whole-tree chipping operations, Circle B Logging and Quality Stand Density Control, Inc. He is former chairman of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, past president of the Arkansas Forestry Association and currently serves as the forestry representative on the Arkansas Department of Agriculture board. Bedell helped start the Log A Load For Kids program, an annual campaign that raises Van Buren Co. FB Women’s Committee members Cindy Wilson (left) and Sheila Brown (right) presented a holiday donation of $200, plus several hundred packets of cheesy rice packed by the Women’s Committee, to Scott and Betty Spencer with Foods for Life, a food pantry in Clinton. Foods for Life was established in 1988 to distribute food to needy local families.
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money for patients at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, which has raised more than $8 million from Arkansas loggers. He also was one of the founding organizers of the Arkansas Timber Producers Association. He was twice named as the AFA’s Outstanding Logger of the Year (1989, 1994). Cassady was a driving force for the poultry industry in southwest Arkansas,
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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
January 6, 2017 • Vol. 20, No. 1
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A dry fall gave Arkansas farmers the opportunity to plant wheat, but Jason Kelley, an agronomist with UA’s Division of Agriculture, says, “Low grain prices coupled with concerns about profitability, and lack of soil moisture during the optimum planting window of October, limited planted wheat acres ... 2017 acreage will likely be near the lowest in recent history.” in 1971 to 65.5 million bushels in 2011, while sales grew from $17.5 million in 1971 to a high of $568.5 million in 2013. Sebree was awarded the 2016 Rice Lifetime Achievement Award from USA Rice. He was on the first Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board (1979-86), chairman of the USA Rice Producers Group (20002002) and chairman of the USA Rice Federation (2002-2004). He also was named Arkansas Rice Farmer of the Year in 1998. Simmons has been chairman of the
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taking over his father’s hatchery at the age of 18 and expanding it into a vertically integrated poultry company. He built and sold two such companies that continue today as part of Pilgrim’s and Tyson Foods. He was elected to the Arkansas Senate in 1982 and served the people of southwest Arkansas for 14 years, where he was a staunch advocate for agricultural issues. Cassady was president of the Arkansas Poultry Federation (1973-74), on the Tyson Foods board of directors (1974-2001), and a longtime member of the Central Baptist College board of trustees. He was presented the Poultry Pioneer award by the University of Arkansas, given a lifetime achievement award from the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International. Sebree, a third-generation rice farmer, spent 43 years as a farmer representative on the Producers Rice Mill board of directors, 24 of those as chairman (19902014), a time of phenomenal growth for Producers and the Arkansas rice industry. A farmer-owned cooperative, Producers grew from 956 members in 1971 when Sebree first joined the board, to a high of 2,637 members in 2013. During that span, member receipts increased more than tenfold, from 6.2 million bushels
Last month, third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at Cowsert Elementary School in Clinton learned proper safety procedures in the event of a tornado from Arkansas Farm Bureau safety coordinator Jason Kaufman (back). To schedule a safety program at your school, visit www.arfb.com/pages/education/ safety-education/.
Fourteen Farm Bureau Federation and Insurance Company employees volunteered at the Arkansas Food Bank Dec. 12. Their service was part of the “Team Farm Bureau Community Outreach” effort. The team labeled and packaged fruit cups and nonperishable items donated by the public for distribution to community food banks and schools across the state.
Clark Co. FB Women’s Committee Co-Chair Karen Kirkpatrick (center) recognized Kira Alsobrook (left) and Jordan LeMay for placing second in their specific categories in the Arkansas Farm Bureau State Ag in the Classroom Coloring Book and Poster Contests. Kira is a kindergarten student at Perritt Primary School. Jordan is a fifthgrader at Cabe Middle School. board for Simmons Foods since 1987. He first joined the family business in 1968 after graduating from the University of Arkansas. He was named president in 1974, following the death of his father. Under his direction, Simmons Foods has grown into one of the nation’s largest privately held broiler-processing companies and the largest private-label wet pet food manufacturer in North America. The company has grown from a single plant with roughly $20 million in sales and 350 employees in 1974 to approximately $1.4 billion in sales and nearly 6,000 employees in more than 20 facilities across North America. Simmons was a founding member of the Northwest Arkansas Council, serves on the board of trustees at John Brown University and is a board member of the Walton Family Charitable Support Trust. He was named Man of the Year in 1990 by the Arkansas Poultry Federation, the 2009 regional Entrepreneur of the Year in the agri-business category by Ernst & Young, received the Golden Paddle Award from the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, and was inducted in 2013 into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. Wells was a world-renowned expert on rice production, with special emphasis on rice nutrition and soil fertility. He was
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active in cooperative interdisciplinary research in rice production and worked closely with others in the rice cultivar improvement program in Arkansas and adjoining states. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in 1964, he worked two years as an assistant professor at Murray State University in Kentucky. Wells then came to the UA’s Rice Research Station in Stuttgart, where he spent 16 years before moving to the Fayetteville campus in 1982. Dr. Wells received the outstanding faculty award for the UA’s Department of Agronomy in 1981, the Distinguished Rice Research and Education Award from the Rice Technical Working Group in 1988 and the Outstanding Research Award from the Arkansas Association of Cooperative Extension Specialists in 1992. Wells died Dec. 22, 1996. “What a great cross-section of Arkansas agriculture to be selected for the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame,” said Butch Calhoun of Des Arc, chairman of the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame Committee and former Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture. “The collective impact of these five are felt in every part of our state. Luncheon tickets are $35 each. Individual tickets and tables of 10 are available by calling (501) 228-1609 or
Jennifer Sirangelo (left), president and CEO of the National 4-H Council, and American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall signed a memorandum of understanding Dec. 12, which establishes a new partnership between the two groups. “We’re pleased to build on our tradition of supporting youth in agriculture through this formal collaboration,” said Duvall. emailing aghalloffame@arfb.com. Donald Leon Parker, 1937-2016 Former Arkansas Farm Bureau state board member Donald Parker of Jonesboro died Dec. 31 at the age of 79. Parker taught high school math and chemistry for three years until he started farming in 1965. He retired from farming in 1999 and worked with his wife Nancy in the retail clothing business until 2008. In addition to his work with Arkansas Farm Bureau, he served on the Harrisburg City Council, Harrisburg School Board and Poinsett County Farm Bureau board. He was appointed to the Arkansas Soybean Promotion board by Gov. Bill Clinton and also served on the Arkansas Rice Council.
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In Arkansas On Dec. 14, ArFB President Randy Veach was in Washington, D.C. representing the policy interests of Arkansas’ farmers and ranchers at the American Farm Bureau Federation Resolutions Committee meeting. FB presidents from across the nation met to decide which policy positions will be referred to AFBF delegates at the national conference in Phoenix this month.
UA professor to head Soil Society Dr. Andrew Sharpley, a professor in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas, began his term as president of the Soil Science Society of America Jan. 1. He was elected in 2015 and served as president-elect in 2016. He has been an SSSA member for more than 35 years and served it in several capacities, most recently as editor-in-chief. Sharpley also is a Fellow of SSSA and
the American Society of Agronomy, received the Environmental Quality Research, Soil Science Applied Research and Soil Science Research awards from the societies and was inducted into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Hall of Fame in 2008. He is co-chair of the UA Division of Agriculture’s Environmental Task Force and Discovery Farms Program. His research focuses on studying impacts of agricultural management on water quality and implementing practices to minimize nutrient runoff.
Elsewhere Organizations receive grants USA Rice and Ducks Unlimited were once again successful in applying for a Regional Conservation Partnership Program grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. It was announced Dec. 21 that rice-producing states would receive roughly $7 million to assist farmers adopting certain irrigation water management systems and practices that increase irrigation efficiency and reduce water consumption. Because Arkansas is the leading rice-producing state, it’s likely to receive the largest sum from the grant. Editor Keith Sutton
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In the Market As of January 4, 2017 China suspends research licenses China has suspended the trial licenses for 11 research institutes that violated rules governing the testing of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), according to the country’s ag ministry. It reports these institutes had performed tests on ag products like corn, cane and rice without reporting it to the ministry. Cattle futures Traders were unimpressed by boxed beef movement coming off of the holidays. In addition, showlist estimates are up a net 23,000 head this week, with all major locations recording increases. Therefore, traders may be comfortable with nearbys at a discount to last week’s cash trade between $117 and $118. Soybean export tax cuts Argentina plans to cut its export duty on soybeans by 12 percentage points to 18 percent by 2020, the country’s government announced Jan. 3. The decree explains that the tax will remain at 30 percent in 2017 (down 5 percentage points from 2015), but in 2018 and 2019, the tax will be dropped by 0.5 points each month. President Mauricio Macri’s original plan was to cut another five percentage points from the export tax in 2017, followed by the same cut each year thereafter. The halfpoint monthly cut for 2018 and 2019 also will apply to the 27-percent duty on soy oil and soymeal exports. Chinese reform to boost farm income China has launched reforms that will allow growers to convert their assets, including land-use rights and operating assets, into shares in various ventures to boost their income, the country’s ag minister announced Jan. 4. The government plans to conduct “verification and evaluation” of collectively owned rural assets. It will
then quantify operating assets and allocate them to members of collective economic organizations in the form of shares or allotments. Such reforms are expected to be finished in around five years. Early termination option for CRP Beginning Jan. 9, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will allow farmers and ranchers to terminate certain Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts early, Lanon Baccam, deputy undersecretary for the Farm Service Agency, announced Jan. 3. This early-termination option is intended to make it easier to transfer property from one generation to the next. The land that is eligible for early termination is among the least environmentally sensitive land enrolled in CRP. Normally if a landowner terminates a CRP contract early, he or she would be required to repay all previous payments plus interest. The new policy waives this repayment if the land is transferred to a beginning farmer or rancher through a sale or lease with an option to buy. Cotton AWP falls The Adjusted World Price (AWP) for cotton is at 59.65 cents per pound, effective Dec. 30, down from 60.04 cents per pound the prior week and the first time under 60 cents since Nov. 18. The USDA also announced Special Import Quota #15 for 63,686 bales of upland cotton, equal to one week’s domestic mill use. The quota will be established Jan. 5 and applies to cotton purchased no later than April 4 and imported into the U.S. no later than July 3. Smithfield buying elevators Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork producer, is cutting out the middleman and buying grain elevators so it can source grain directly from farmers. In September, the company purchased two grain elevators in Ohio, meaning it can ship grain directly from Ohio to feed pigs at its Tar Heel, N.C. packing plant, the world’s largest. The company now buys 65 percent of its animal feed directly from farmers versus just 10 percent in 2010. This is
another blow for grain handlers who are already struggling with low corn and soybean prices. Smithfield also hopes to work directly with producers to influence management of their farms, resulting in higher-quality grain that speeds hog weight gain. Company shift on chicken Restaurant Brands International, the parent company for Burger King and Tim Hortons, plans to switch to chicken raised without antibiotics considered “critically important” to human medicine, with the change in U.S. operations in 2017 and in Canada in 2018. “We believe it is important to reduce the use of antibiotics important for human medicine in order to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics in both veterinary and human medicine,” Restaurant Brands International said in announcing the shift. China: new soy-crushing record Chinese soy plants crushed a record 1.95 metric tons during the last week of 2016, driven by large imports and a high crushing margin, China National Grain and Oils Information Center said in a Jan. 3 report. Weekly soy crushing has remained at more than 1.8 million tons for seven consecutive weeks. More eggs to South Korea? U.S. officials are urgently seeking an agreement with South Korea that would allow imports of American eggs so farmers can cash in on a shortage caused by the Asian country’s worstever outbreak of bird flu. The two sides are negotiating over terms of potential shipments after South Korea lifted a ban on imports of U.S. table eggs it imposed when the United States grappled with its own bout of bird flu last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
CONTACT • Matt King 501-228-1297, matt.king@arfb.com.