In Farm Bureau ArFB praises senators’ action Arkansas Farm Bureau praised a proposal cosponsored by United States Senators Mark Pryor and John Boozman, the Private Landowner Protection Act, which would amend the Endangered Species Act and require government agencies to perform a thorough economic analysis of any proposed species and critical habitat designation. This issue goes beyond Arkansas’ borders and has the potential to impact property owners nationwide. The Pryor-Boozman bill closely matches HR 4319, the Common Sense in Species Protection Act of 2014, which was proposed earlier in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Rick Crawford of Jonesboro. “It’s important to note that we have every member of the Arkansas delegation signed on as sponsor or co-sponsor of one of these bills,” said Randy Veach, president of Arkansas Farm Bureau. “This bipartisan effort adds transparency to the process and attempts to get control of what is an
® Harry Willems (left), director of Organization and Member Programs for Arkansas Farm Bureau, demonstrated how rice is milled for families attending the Arkansas Rice Expo. More than 1,000 people from throughout the state attended the fourth annual Expo on Aug. 1 at the Grand Prairie Center in Stuttgart. This year’s event featured sessions on the new farm bill, plus field tours and a wide variety of family activities.
out-of-control issue with the Endangered Species Act, where government agencies are acting beyond the scope of reason. “We recognize that the Endangered Species Act is necessary for the protection of legitimately threatened and endangered species. However, its implementation through critical habitat designation should not go without considering the true economic impacts to the human species, in other words our lives and livelihoods.”
Janice Marsh (left) of McCrory, the chair of Arkansas Farm Bureau’s State Women’s Committee, and Peggy Miller of Lake Village, vice chair of the committee, visited with hundreds of guests at the Farm Bureau booth set up at the Arkansas Rice Expo in Stuttgart. The ladies answered questions and distributed literature about agriculture and Farm Bureau programs.
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Veach said he is happy to see the Arkansas delegation’s efforts to get control of the Endangered Species Act. “In my view, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is going over and beyond the intent Congress had when putting in place the Endangered Species Act,” Veach said. “The men and women of Congress passed the ESA, and they are the ones who need to fix this. Our farmers, ranchers and landowners are often overloaded with unnecessary
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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
August 8, 2014 • Vol. 17, No. 15
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Cynthia Edwards (right), deputy secretary of the Arkansas Agriculture Department, and volunteer Amanda Machada recently helped make spaghetti sauce for the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance’s Arkansas Gleaning Project. The sauce, made from Arkansas-grown ingredients at UA’s Food Innovation Center, will be sold to raise money for the organization’s food banks.
After more than 33 years with the Cooperative Extension Service in Arkansas and Louisiana, Steve Jones (right), Arkansas’ first Extension horse specialist, has retired. ArFB’s Travis Justice (left) was at the retirement celebration where Jones received several special gifts, including a set of custom-made spurs and a framed horseshoe worn by the Lone Ranger’s horse Silver.
Public Relations and Information, Leadership Development and Policy Implementation. Learn more online at www.fb.org/ index.php?action=events.cae.
news and information like blog posts, events, contests and more using social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. After signing up, participants will receive an email whenever ArFB has new and exciting content to share. Each email contains a status update and a link to the content being shared. When you press the “click to share” button, the status update will automatically post to the social net-
Dr. Xueyan Sha, associate professor at the Rice Research and Extension Center, reviewed current research on medium-grain rice varieties during field tours conducted as part of the Arkansas Rice Expo in Stuttgart. Weed control technologies, irrigation management, insect management and agronomics were among the other topics attendees learned about at the Aug. 1 meeting.
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Be an Arkansas AgVocate Arkansas Farm Bureau wants you to help tell the story of Arkansas agriculture by joining its new Arkansas AgVocates program. AgVocates are people who share the latest
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County excellence awards Applications are available for county Farm Bureaus to enter the 2015 County Activities of Excellence Awards program. The CAE showcases up to 24 of the top county Farm Bureau programs in the nation. These county Farm Bureaus and their award-winning programs serve as models of innovation for local program development, displaying the amazing ability of local Farm Bureau volunteers working together to strengthen the lives of rural Americans and build strong, prosperous agricultural communities. Counties will display their winning activities at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show, Jan. 9-11, in San Diego, Calif. In addition, county Farm Bureaus will receive up to four free registrations to the convention (housing not included) and a $2,250 stipend to apply toward the cost of travel and exhibition. With a focus on Farm Bureau’s priority issues, the CAE program groups county activities into the following areas: Education and Ag Promotion, Member Services,
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and burdensome regulations. Passage of these proposals will bring some common sense to what has become a gross overreach by the federal government.”
Ten junior and senior high-school students from Columbia County attended a Medical Applications of Science for Health (M*A*S*H) camp July 21-Aug. 1 at Magnolia Regional Medical Center. A location change from UAMS South to Magnolia allowed the regional center to host camps at four facilities this year: Magnolia, Camden, El Dorado and Warren.
Matt King, ArFB’s director of market information and economics, discussed commodity market outlooks before a packed room of farmers at the Arkansas Rice Expo. Other ag breakout sessions included an Arkansas Water Plan update, a walk-in plant disease clinic, Sprayer Cleanup 101 and a session on increasing irrigation efficiency.
works you selected. By sharing content and generating traffic, participants earn points that can be redeemed for special prizes. In-depth information about the AgVocates program can be found at www.arfb. com/get-involved/agvocates/default.aspx. Sign up and you’ll receive a free copy of the Taste Arkansas’ digital cookbook, 10 Exceptional Entrées.
New Angus Ambassador The National Junior Angus Association has selected Emma Jumper of Paragould as the 2014-15 Angus Ambassador. In this role, Jumper will serve a one-year term as a representative for the organization’s nearly 6,000 members at cattle industry events across the United States and Canada. “As the American Jumper Angus Association, we are known as the business breed for a purpose,” Jumper says. “We lead this country, and the world, in providing one of the most stable and safe food supplies. But it’s not just about stopping where we are at and being content; it’s about growing and keeping on for the future.” Jumper, a junior at Mississippi State University double majoring in business administration and foreign language, was named the new Angus Ambassador during a competition held July 24 at the American Angus Association headquarters in Saint Joseph, Mo. Joining her in the group of top finalists were Esther McCabe of Elk City, Kan., and Will Pohlman of Prairie Grove, Ark. Garden grants The Arkansas Flower & Garden Show is currently accepting applications for its Greening of Arkansas community beautification grants. The deadline to apply is Oct. 3. Grants are awarded to nonprofit and civic groups for beautification projects on public land. Grant amounts are up to $1,500, and 50 percent of the funds must be used for horticulture (trees, shrubs and flowers). For more information, visit www. argardenshow.org/grants.htm.
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In Arkansas
This week, farmers markets all around Arkansas are celebrating the 15th annual National Farmers Market Week. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack declared Aug. 3-9 as a time to celebrate the nation’s thousands of farmers markets, the farmers who make them possible and the communities that host them.
Elsewhere Rice leaders sought The Rice Foundation is accepting applications for the 2015 Rice Leadership Development Program. Rice producers or industry-related professionals between the ages of 25 and 45 are eligible to apply. The application deadline is Oct. 4. The Rice Leadership Development Program provides a comprehensive understanding of the rice industry, with an emphasis on personal development and communication skills. During a two-year period, class members attend four oneweek sessions designed to strengthen leadership skills through studies of all aspects of the rice industry. The class is comprised of five rice producers and two industry-related professionals chosen by a committee of agribusiness leaders. The committee evaluates the applications of all candidates, reviews letters of recommendation and conducts personal interviews with the finalists. Interviews will be conducted at the USA
Rice Outlook Conference in Little Rock in December. For more info, visit www. usarice.com. More women in ag During the past 10 years, women have become increasingly involved with agriculture. Since 2002, the number of female farm operators has climbed 14 percent, and the number of principal female farm operators has jumped 21 percent. Terry Gilbert, the American Farm Bureau Federation Women’s Leadership Committee chair, attributes much of this increase to women’s interest in specialty farming, especially within the local markets. “Everybody wants to know their farmer, know their food and know where their food comes from,” said Gilbert. “I think a lot of women are getting into farming to answer that need.” Gilbert hopes this increase continues and is confident that Farm Bureau women’s programs will help train women to be spokespersons for the industry and take on leadership roles in agriculture. Editor Keith Sutton
keith.sutton@arfb.com
In the Market As of Aug. 7, 2014 USDA report Tuesday The USDA is scheduled to release its monthly supply and demand report Tuesday. This report will be our first look at survey yield data and, given the current crop conditions, we should see increases in production for most crops. These increases will likely be moved through the balance sheet and be put in the ending stocks. With already large grain and soybean stocks forecasts, this would be bearish for prices and could likely push prices to test support levels: $3.25 for corn, $10 for soybeans, $5.50 rice and 62-cent cotton. Cotton market faces lower prices Cotton prices are down sharply in recent weeks and will likely continue to decline for the time being as we are looking at not only a good crop here in the U.S. but also in India. Initially the market thought the monsoons in India were not coming, and the cotton crop would be down. However, the monsoons were just late. Now India is looking at the prospect of another of large cotton supply. In addition, the cotton market also is feeling the pressure of uncertainty of the Chinese cotton situation. It remains unclear as to whether China will import large quantities of cotton or if the government is looking to dump a portion of its cotton stocks on the Chinese textile industry. These low cotton prices could reduce Arkansas cotton acres ever further. With cotton prices near 60 cents, it will be difficult for most producers to commit to cotton in 2015. Brazil still expanding The Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board hosted a lunch for a group of visiting Brazilian weed scientists at
their summer field tour on Thursday. The group of scientists was here to visit with Dr. Tom Barber and see how U.S. farmers are dealing with resistance issues. The group told the board they have some 35 weeds in Brazil that are resistant to various chemistries. Of these, six are resistant to glyphosate. When asked about Brazil’s planting prospects for this year, the group forecast soybean acreage would be up, and could be up as much as five percent. Another interesting insight from the meeting was that the delegation was in agreement that Brazil could see planted acreage for crops increase as much as 20 percent over the next five years. Aphid could create trade barrier Over the last few weeks, Arkansas farmers have seen their sorghum become infested with the sugar cane aphid. The pest has the ability to cause serious yield loss on the crop, which is why the Arkansas State Plant Board provided section 18 approval for the use of Transform to control the aphid. While this product may save the crop, it could kill the market. Over the last year, the rejection of Viptera corn in China has caused Chinese buyers to buy record amounts of sorghum. This has help pushed U.S. sorghum prices higher than corn in some instances, as export demand is very strong. The concern now is that with Transform not being approved in China, this could lead to China rejecting sorghum shipments, which would devastate the U.S. sorghum market. WTO panel issues final COOL decision A World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel issued its final decision to parties involved in the country of origin (COOL) labeling dispute brought against the U.S. by Canada and Mexico, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative confirmed. But as was the case with a prior interim report, the final report is confidential among the parties and will be made
public later this year. It must be finalized and sent back to the dispute settlement group in Geneva, which likely won’t happen until September. As a result, the dispute may drag on until the spring of 2015. Should the WTO rule against the U.S., a July 30 letter from some House members said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack should rescind the COOL regulation while Congress works to resolve the issue. Forest2Market southern timber forecast Forest2Market anticipates moderate macro economic growth over the near term. Growth is expected to slow as 2015 progresses and will lead to a recession in 2016. Oil prices will trade sideways through 2014 and 2015. Housing starts will trend upward until mid-2015 after a sluggish first four months of the year, peaking at 1.32 million in June 2015. With housing starts beginning to pick up during the summer months, pine sawtimber and chip-n-saw prices will trend higher over the next 12-month period until growth slows during the second half of 2015. Pulpwood prices will trend lower over the same period, falling slightly over the course of 2014 and more quickly during 2015. Increased sawtimber harvest levels and higher lumber production that will accompany the surge in housing starts will drive pulpwood prices.
CONTACT • Matt King 501-228-1297, matt.king@arfb.com.