Farm Bureau Press - February 1, 2013

In Farm Bureau Farm Bureau applauds FSA action Arkansas Farm Bureau applauds the Farm Services Agency for expediting sign-up procedures after Congress extended the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 by one year to include the 2013 crop season.

“The extension of the 2008 Farm Bill by one year is helpful in that it provides some clarity for the coming season,” said ArFB President Randy Veach. “We’re thankful for FSA’s efforts to help farmers sign up for these programs, particularly at a time when many are in the process of securing their 2013 crop loans.”

The extended programs include, among others, the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment Program (DCP), the Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE) and the Milk Income Loss Contract Program (MILC).

Sign-up for the DCP and ACRE begins on Feb. 19. MILC contracts are automatically extended to Sept. 30.

As discussions with lending insti-

Arkansas Farm Bureau was recognized with five Awards for Excellence at the American Farm Bureau 94th Annual Meeting. ArFB President Randy Veach (right) accepted the awards from AFBF President Bob Stallman. More than 6,000 Farm Bureau members attended the convention Jan. 13-16 in Nashville, including 175 from Arkansas.

See highlights of the meeting in the enclosed insert. tutions are occurring and planting decisions now being made, farmers are particularly aware of the need for the FSA programs.

“Many of our farmers need these programs as they go through the loan qualifying process,” Veach said.

“Frankly, some are going to need the direct payments to make the financial equation work for them. Thankfully, the extension of the Farm Bill provides us some certainty, and we know financial institutions value that certainty.”

Family, school representatives and Poinsett Co. FB members recently met to recognize Harrisburg Elementary School second-grader Tessa Carter for winning ArFB’s 2012 state Ag in the Classroom coloring book contest.

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FSA has noted 2013 DCP and ACRE program provisions are unchanged from 2012, except that all eligible participants in 2013 may choose to enroll in either DCP or ACRE for the 2013 crop year. This means that eligible farmers who were enrolled in ACRE in 2012 may elect to enroll in DCP or may reenroll in ACRE (and vice versa).

Veach noted the one-year extension of the Farm Bill, and the stability it provides, should demonstrate to Congress the need to push

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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation

February 1, 2013 • Vol. 16, No. 2

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forward with a new five-year program that provides the needed structure for farm and ranch families to make long-range plans for their businesses.

“For the long-term health of our farm businesses, we must take a long-term view,” he said. “Farmers cannot afford to wait until September for action on the next Farm Bill.

“We are depending on our members of Congress to bring this important issue forward, so that our country’s ability to deliver food, fiber and shelter to the world is not diminished. We must have a Farm Bill that works for all of agriculture, and ensures commodity and regional differences are reflected in a meaningful way.

“We have a food production system that is the envy of the world, and it is due to the ingenuity and persistence of the American farmer and rancher, and the stability that government programs provide.”

On Jan. 10, ArFB Executive VP Ewell Welch and Vice President Rich Hillman hosted national FFA officers visiting Arkansas. Pictured (l to r) are Wiley Bailey, Southern Region VP; Joenelle Futrell, Eastern Region VP; Kalie Hall, secretary; Welch; Hillman; Lindsey Anderson, Western Region VP; Clay Sapp, president; and Brennan Costello, Central Region VP. First United Methodist Church of Morrilton.

New AFBF public policy director Dale Moore has been chosen to lead the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Public Policy Department. As executive director of public policy, Moore, an agricultural policy veteran, will manage the organization’s lobbying staff, according to AFBF Executive Vice President and Treasurer Julie Anna Potts.

Potts also announced that AFBF Chief Economist Dr. Bob Young will now serve as deputy executive director of public policy for AFBF, the

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William 'Billy' Mitchell: 1920-2013 Former ArFB state board member Billy Mitchell of Morrilton passed away Jan. 22. Mr. Mitchell served on the board of directors from 19651979. His wife, Marie, passed away earlier in the month.

Williams, 92, served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and was a retired farmer and member of

At Benton Co. FB’s January meeting in Bentonville, ArFB’s Northwest Area Coordinator Steve Hignight (left) presented the county’s 2012 Award of Merit to outgoing President Dan Douglas of Vaughn. The award recognizes Benton County as one of the state’s top 10 Farm Bureau agencies.

State Sen. David Burnett (at podium) and Rep. Wes Wagner (right) addressed members of Mississippi Co. FB at a legislative appreciation breakfast in Blytheville on Jan. 10. Ag sales tax exemptions, term limits and feral hogs were among topics discussed.

Dow Brantley (left) and his father Laudies Brantley Jr. of England are among several families recognized by the Arkansas Agriculture Department in its new Century Farm Program. The Brantleys’ fifth-generation row crop operation dates to 1909 when it was established in Lonoke County by Dow’s greatgreat-grandfather J.S. Perry. position formerly held by Moore.

Moore replaces Mark Maslyn, who retired from AFBF on Feb. 1 after 32 years of distinguished service.

In Arkansas Farm Bill workshop On Feb. 5 at the Northeast Research and Extension Center in Keiser, the National Agricultural Law Center (NALC) will hold a free workshop for producers titled “The Farm Bill: What Next?” The meeting will address the laws and regulations associated with the extension of the Farm Bill and the impact or steps in purchasing crop insurance. Presenters are Harrison Pittman, director of the NALC, and Grant Ballard, attorney with the Banks Law Firm and research consultant to the NALC. The meeting will run 10 a.m. to noon, followed by lunch. There is no cost to attend, but RSVPs to hmpittm@uark.edu or 479-5757640 are appreciated for lunch planning purposes.

ALPC director named Gov. Mike Beebe has named Preston Scroggin of Vilonia as director of the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission. Scroggin, 46, is Faulkner County judge and president of the County Judges’ Association of Arkansas. The commission’s

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ASU Agribusiness Conference Arkansas State University will host its 19th Agribusiness Conference on Feb. 13 at the Fowler and Convocation centers in Jonesboro. On-site registration begins at 8 a.m. in the Fowler Center.

The morning general session features presentations on agricultural technology by Jerry Roell of John Deere FarmSight, the 2013 farm bill by economists Joe Outlaw and David Schweikhardt, and the macroeconomic outlook by James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Lunch will be served in the Convocation Center at noon.

Bart Chilton, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will deliver the luncheon address and participate in an afternoon session on price risk management issues. Other afternoon sessions, which address rice, cotton and livestock markets and local food systems, end at 3:30 p.m.

A complete conference program and registration for the noon luncheon is available on the Internet at agri. astate.edu. There is no registration fee. For more information, contact Phyllis Johnson at 870-972-2085 or pjohnson@astate.edu.

State Sen. Uvalde Lindsey of Fayetteville (standing, center) addressed Washington Co. FB members attending a legislative breakfast on Jan. 12 in Fayetteville.

County Legislative Chairman Roger Pitts (right) of Lincoln presided over the meeting, one of several planned during the regular session of the General Assembly.

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previous director, Steve Bryles, passed away in December. Scroggin will assume his new duties February 1.

Gov. Mike Beebe (left) hosted ArFB’s officers, including President Randy Veach, Vice President Rich Hillman and Secretary-Treasurer Tom Jones on Jan. 8 to discuss ArFB’s priority policy positions prior to the 89th General Assembly session. Also attending were Beebe’s chief of staff, Morril Harriman, and ArFB staff members, including Executive Vice President Ewell Welch, VP of Public Policy Warren Carter and Director of Governmental Affairs Rodney Baker.

Elsewhere Ag census response overwhelming The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been collecting data for more than one month for the Census of Agriculture, and 25 percent of questionnaires have already been returned. Call centers are overwhelmed with calls and emails, but that’s apparently a good problem to have.

Chris Messer with USDA encourages everyone who has left a message to have patience as staffers work to respond to the large volume of questions.

Responses are due by Feb. 4 and may be submitted online or via mail.

The census collects data covering every facet of agriculture across the nation. According to federal law, all agricultural producers are required to participate in the census. All information gathered through the census remains confidential.

Free timber tax webinar On Feb. 13, from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., a free webinar on 2012 tax return filing for woodland owners, foresters, loggers, tax preparers and land managers will be held. Presenters include Dr. Linda Wang, a tax

specialist with the U.S. Forest Service and Dr. John Greene, retired research forester with the U.S. Forest Service.

Topics will include tax reporting on timber transactions, as well as the latest sweeping tax law changes from the “fiscal cliff” package. Access the webinar at forestrywebinar.net or email Brandon Hatchett at hatchett@uga.edu with questions.

Eisenhower Fellowship The Eisenhower Fellowship program is now accepting applications for 2014. Every year the EF program selects eight to 12 high-achieving professionals ages 32-45 for an allexpense paid, five-week overseas program in one or two countries of their choice.

In addition to a general USA fellowship, EF also selects one or two active farmers or ranchers to travel abroad to meet with small and commercial farmers, farm organizations, businesses in the agriculture industry, government representatives and university researchers as a USA Agriculture Fellow. Candidate criteria, selection process information, fellowship requirements and other details are available on the EF website, efworld.org.

Editor Keith Sutton

keith.sutton@arfb.com

In the Market As of Jan. 29, 2013:  Soybeans are moving higher on good demand and continued concerns about dry conditions in Argentina. Light rains provided relief, but hot, dry forecasts have returned, and yield losses are possible. The Brazilian crop is generally in good shape.

The exception is early harvest delays in Mato Grosso because of too much rain. Old crop March futures broke a downtrend early last week, moving to $14.60 before retesting the breakout level Thursday. A close above $14.60 makes the mid December high of $15.01 a likely target.

New crop November continues to gain relative to December corn. That key price ratio is 2.22 after holding near 2 much of the fall. A November close above resistance around $13.20 gives upside objectives from $13.40 to $13.60. Support is near $12.60.  Corn has firmed following the recent decline that trimmed more than 70 cents off the lead contract.

March is testing trendline resistance around $7.30, helped by a week of big export sales and dry, hot conditions in Argentina. A close above $7.30 opens the market to upside objectives from $7.60 to $7.75.

Overall weak demand for exports and ethanol use could be a limiting factor. Prospective U.S. plantings of 96 to 99 million acres add to the negative, with potential production of nearly 14 billion bushels and ending stocks greater than 1.5 billion bushels. Weather could alter the outcome, as it did last year. New crop December topped at just over $6.60 and found support at $5.70. A rebound is grinding sideways below $5.95, as the market appears reluctant to move above $6.00. Improved demand, harvest problems and yield losses in South America, or planting problems in the U.S., will likely be needed to move December higher.  In WHEAT, last week’s high of $8.13 now becomes key resistance

to a continuation of the July futures rebound. Improving export demand for soft red wheat and continuing crop concerns for hard red resulted in a bottom just above $7.50, which becomes key support. Crop conditions in the western Corn Belt continue worsening. The Kansas crop is 39 percent poor/very poor, Oklahoma 69 percent, Nebraska 50 percent and South Dakota 66 percent.

A July close above $8.13 would bring retracement objective of $8.27 and $8.45 into play.  Cotton surged to a seven-month high on renewed buying interest.

Chinese spinners and others were opportunistic buyers as U.S. cotton was seen as a good value. China is projected to have 50 percent of huge world stocks, and that will curtail demand. March hit resistance at 84 cents, which coincides with resistance on long-term charts. At the same time, December 2013 went from a 4-cents-plus premium over old crop to more than 3 cents discount. December has been in a slow uptrend since bottoming just above 74 cents. A close above the Sept. 7 high of 81.3 cents would signal additional upside potential. Further gains depend on demand and U.S. 2013 plantings, which are projected as low as 9.5 million acres.  Rice continues to struggle with huge Thai stocks overhanging the world market. U.S. sales continue good with recent total export commitments reaching 2.01 million metric tonnes, about 14 percent above a year ago. Several cargoes have been sold to Iran, and more are possible. Iraq remains a possibility. U.S. acreage could decline as corn and beans claim Mid-South acres. March futures are struggling to move higher with resistance at $15.50 to $15.90. Support is seen at $14.90.  Cattle futures soared higher early this week. Japan has agreed to allow imports of beef from cattle slaughtered at 30 months of age and younger. The limit has been 20 months since 2005, when Japan limited imports due to BSE. The result

of this decision is yet uncertain given the state of Japan’s economy, but the market reacted in a big way. Also positive this week was the monthly cattle on feed report, which revealed a drop in on-feed inventory of 6 percent from a year ago. April gapped higher and could build on support near $133. Feeder cattle have seen strength from gains in live futures.

March futures are building on support at the recent low of $144.42.  Hog futures have been supported this week by poor weather conditions. Marketing has been light, and packers have had to bid higher to bring hogs to market. However, demand is uncertain, and packer margins are negative now, which could limit the upside potential. April has support at $88 and then the recent low of $86.87.  DAIRY. Farm milk production continues along seasonal trends in most areas, with processors noting fluid demand is mostly level except for intermittent small spikes.

Cream is readily available across the country. The cost of feed inputs continues to nip at any profit margins for dairy operators using purchased feed, and the prospect of lower milk prices may push dairy farmers to reevaluate herd sizes and other possible changes in operations. The weekly average for Grade AA butter is $1.5050 (+0.0165). Cheese barrels closed at $1.5725 and 40-lb. blocks at $1.6450.

Contact •Gene Martin (501) 228-1330, gene.martin@arfb.com •Brandy Carroll (501) 228-1268, brandy.carroll@arfb.com •Bruce Tencleve (501) 228-1856, bruce.tencleve@arfb.com •Matt King (501) 228-1297, matt.king@arfb.com

The 94th Annual

American farm Bureau CONVENTION

F

ittingly themed “Many Voices, One Vision,” the 94th Annual Convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation took place Jan. 13-16 in Nashville, Tennessee. ArFB was well represented at the event, with approximately 175 delegates and staff in attendance.

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Retired astronaut Captain Mark Kelley was the convention’s keynote speaker. He spoke about the merits of hard work and “never giving up.”

ArFB Vice President Rich Hillman (standing) visited with fellow state board members Joe Christian (left) and Tom Jones and Tom’s wife Jayne during the Farm Bureau Foundation flapjack breakfast. At top right, Cody Gray of Hempstead County competed in the national Young Farmers & Ranchers Discussion Meet.

ArFB President Randy Veach carried the Arkansas flag in the Parade of Flags.

Three Arkansas natives make up Edens Edge, which entertained the crowd in the opening general session.

Farm Bureau Press Insert — Vol. 16, No. 2

ArFB’s 11 voting delegates and 14 alternates, including Derek Helms of Arkadelphia, president of Clark Co. FB, voted on policy proposals in the business session.

Dan and Mikki Hosman of Jonesboro were runners-up in the national Young Farmers & Ranchers Achievement Award competition.

94t h ANNUAL AFBF CONVENTION

Members of ArFB’s Statewide Women’s Committee gathered for a group photo before the Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Recognition Luncheon. During the meeting, Sue Billiot of Smithville (second from right) was elected to the National Women’s Committee.

At left, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke about the importance of passing a new five-year Farm Bill. At bottom left, ArFB President Randy Veach was interviewed by Agri-Pulse Communications, a D.C.-based news outlet that covers agriculture policy.

Several ArFB leaders, including Terry and Lori Dabbs of Stuttgart, participated in recording sessions with StoryCorps, an organization recording, preserving and sharing stories of Americans from all backgrounds.

Farm Bureau Press Insert — Vol. 16, No. 2