In Farm Bureau Award nominations sought Arkansas Farm Bureau is asking county Farm Bureaus to nominate their best and most impactful young farm leaders for this year’s Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award. The award honors a Farm Bureau board member between the ages of 36-45 for their outstanding leadership within their county Farm Bureau and community. It is named in honor of the late Stanley Reed, who served as president of Arkansas Farm Bureau from 2003-2008. “Leadership on the county Farm Bureau level is essential to the success of our organization,” ArFB President Randy Veach said in a recent letter to county presidents. “A lack of meaningful leadership could leave our organization without purpose or direction, like a ship with no rudder. Without question, young farmers and ranchers in your community are the future of Farm Bureau. With the assistance of your county Farm Bureau, we would like to identify appropriate individuals to be considered for this
Madison Gibson (seated) of Jonesboro (Craighead County) was crowned 2016-17 Miss Arkansas Rice Aug. 28 at the Brinkley Convention Center. She is seen here with the nine other contestants who competed in the state finals. Gibson is a junior at Jonesboro High School and is the daughter of Scott and Karie Gibson. For more information, see the full story inside this issue. recognition. Upon Stanley’s untimely death, I noted that Arkansas had lost a true leader and the Farm Bureau family had lost a gracious man. Let’s endeavor to identify those young leaders who can step up and be among Farm Bureau’s next generation of leaders and honor both our past and future in the process.” The sixth recipient of the Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award will be named during a general session at the 82nd U.S. Sen. John Boozman (right) visited with David Wildy on his family farm in Mississippi County Aug. 17. Boozman learned more about the diverse crops grown by the Wildys, which include cotton, corn, soybeans and peanuts. The two men also discussed issues affecting farmers, such as trade, EPA overreach and the next farm bill. The Wildys were the 2016 Arkansas Farm Family of the year.
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Annual Convention of Arkansas Farm Bureau in Hot Springs. Previous recipients include Dan Hosman of Jonesboro (2015), David Gairhan of Jonesboro (2014), Jeff Rutledge of Newport (2013), Jeremy Gillam of Judsonia (2012) and Dow Brantley of England (2011). A nomination form is available on the Farm Bureau intranet, under Organization and Member Programs-Board Forms. Each nomination must come from the
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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
September 9, 2016 • Vol. 19, No. 18
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On Aug. 25, Arkansas Farm Bureau held a Congressional reception in Little Rock to recognize state political leaders for their support of agriculture. During the event, Bobby Ballinger, a field representative for Rep. Bruce Westerman, and his wife Meagan (right) visited with ArFB state board member Bruce Jackson (left) and OMP director Harry Willems.
ArFB Executive Vice President Warren Carter was the guest speaker at Van Buren Co. FB’s annual meeting at Clinton High School Aug. 23. Carter briefed the audience on how the organization advocates for agriculture and provides services and representation for members. Wade Lucas Farms of Shirley was recognized as the county Farm Family of the Year.
posts. Counties are asked to include the hashtag #ArkAg in each post. The County Ag Promotion program also will provide resources and ideas for activities that can be counted toward Gold Star points in the Women’s Quarterly Reports, Commodity and Regulatory Affairs section and the Safety and Youth Activities section. County participation will help to
make this a successful program, but more importantly, it will assist in spreading the word about agriculture in Arkansas. For further assistance, contact Amanda Williams at 501-228-1493 or amanda. williams@arfb.com.
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County Ag Promotion program Promoting the agriculture industry is a key part of the mission of Arkansas Farm Bureau. To better assist county Farm Bureaus in their promotion efforts, ArFB has developed a County Ag Promotion program that will provide tools and resources to promote agriculture each month. ArFB will highlight a commodity or commodities of the month that will feature some of the top agricultural commodities in Arkansas. Additional information on project and activity ideas, sample proclamations, contests and social media resources can be found on the Arkansas Farm Bureau website under the Get Involved section. The direct link to the page is: www.arfb.com/get-involved/countyag-promo/default.aspx. ArFB will post facts and ideas about the commodities on social media each month. Counties are encouraged to share these posts on their county social media accounts, as well as using the resources provided to create their own
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county Farm Bureau and should be limited to 300 or less words describing the impact the nominee has made on his/her county Farm Bureau and the community. Submissions must be postmarked no later than Nov. 15.
Arkansas Farm Bureau hosted its annual appreciation luncheon Aug. 25 to thank all the state agriculture agencies for their work to support and promote Arkansas agriculture. Jeff Pitchford, ArFB’s director of public affairs and government relations, state affairs, welcomed attendees to the event, which was held at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock.
Mike Andrews with the Randolph County Cooperative Extension Service and farmer Doug Cox examine Cox’s flooded rice crop near Pocahontas Aug. 26. Ten to 15 inches of rain in mid-August caused area rivers to flood cropland and pasture in several northeast Arkansas counties, destroying thousand acres of rice and soybeans, including Cox’s 200-acre crop.
Fall photo contest Fall is just around the corner. That means harvest time and beautiful changing colors on farms and ranches across the state. To celebrate, Arkansas Farm Bureau is asking members to share their best fall photos for a chance to win big. Email your Fall on the Farm photos to publicrelations@arfb.com by Oct. 31. All photos will be posted to an album on Facebook Nov. 1. Voting will be Nov. 1-11. Visa gift cards will be awarded to the top three photos.
In Arkansas Gibson named Miss Arkansas Rice Madison Gibson of Jonesboro (Craighead County) was named 2016-17 Miss Arkansas Rice Aug. 28 at the Brinkley Convention Center. Gibson is a junior at Jonesboro High School and is the daughter of Scott and Karie Gibson. Libby Thornhill of Wynne (Cross County) was first runner-up. Second runner-up was Dawsyn Smith of Newport (Jackson County). Other county winners
Elsewhere
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Farm Safety & Health Week The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) at Northeast Iowa Community College will be sponsoring webinars in observance of National Farm Safety & Health Week, Sept. 18–24. The 2016 theme for the event is
Tina and Brad Wheelis of Melbourne were recognized as the Izard County Farm Family of the Year at the county Farm Bureau’s annual meeting Sept. 1 in Brockwell. The couple operate a cow/calf operation on 420 acres with help from Brad’s parents, Lowell and Janis Wheelis. The county also recognized local 4-H members who participated in a garden project.
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participating in the state finals were Torri Dumond of DeWitt (Arkansas County), Kristen Lanni of White Hall (Jefferson County), Chloe Griffith of Marianna (Lee County), Lacy Smith of Ward (Lonoke County), Libby Wilkison of Brinkley (Monroe County), Alexandria Rawls of Palestine (St. Francis County) and Gabriella Winkler of Augusta (Woodruff County). The goal of the Miss Arkansas Rice program is to encourage interest in rice promotion and to publicize the importance of the Arkansas rice industry to the state’s economy. Contestants were judged on their promotion activities and knowledge of the rice industry. They also cooked a rice dish at the competition on which they were judged. Gibson’s recipe was “Get Your Gumbo On!” The Arkansas Rice Council sponsors the annual contest in cooperation with Arkansas Farm Bureau and the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
Crittenden Co. FB hosted Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s Regulatory Roundtable Aug. 17 at the county office in West Memphis. The meetings allow Rutledge to hear local agriculture leaders’ concerns about various issues. Like last year, Rutledge is holding several roundtables to hear directly about government regulations impacting Arkansans. “Farm Safety … A Legacy to be Proud of.” The webinars scheduled for each day of the week will be available at www.necasag.org, along with more information and public service announcements related to this year’s theme. This year, the NECAS webinars, offered each day at noon, will cover the following themes: Monday, Agrability; Tuesday, Health; Wednesday, Children’s Day; Thursday, Confined Spaces; and Friday, Underground Utilities. The theme “Farm Safety…A Legacy to be Proud of ” reminds people that agriculture is one of the most dangerous occupations in the U.S., and farm injuries and fatalities are preventable through education. The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor indicates that in 2014 farming accounted for 568 fatalities, with an estimated 70,000 injuries. Each year since 1944, the third week of September has been recognized as National Farm Safety & Health Week. This recognition has been an annual promotion initiated by the National Safety Council and has been proclaimed as such by each sitting U.S. President since Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the first document. Over the years, the development and dissemination of National Farm Safety & Health Week materials shifted from
the National Safety Council to NECAS. NECAS is the agricultural partner for the National Safety Council and has been serving the agricultural family and business community since 1997. For more information, contact Gloria Reiter, NECAS administrative assistant, at 888-844-6322, ext. 371, or reiterg@nicc.edu. Cheese buy helps dairy farmers The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced its plans to purchase about 11 million pounds of cheese to help food banks and pantries across the nation, reducing a cheese surplus that is at its highest level in 30 years. The $20 million purchase is expected to give relief to struggling dairy farmers who have lost about a third of their business since 2014 as well as needy families across the country. “USDA’s action will help alleviate the tough realities of the market and keep family farmers in business at a time when too many are leaving,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a statement following the announcement. “More than 1,200 family dairy farms went out of business in 2015. We greatly appreciate USDA’s taking this action to help our beleaguered dairy producers.” Editor Keith Sutton
keith.sutton@arfb.com
In the Market As of September 7, 2016 Volatile 2016 for row crops As we entered into 2016, all farmers expected depressed commodity prices. Last winter, Arkansas row-crop farmers were not excited about the upcoming year. Then, about April, producers received a pleasant surprise as commodity prices began to strengthen. December corn prices topped $4. November soybeans reached $12. November rice topped $12. After putting in these 2016 highs early, prices have trended lower. While these prices were great pricing opportunities for 2016, they were significantly lower than farmers have received over the last few years. With U.S. rice, corn and soybean supplies having officially recovered, farmers are forced to survive on razor-thin margins. After almost a decade of strong commodity prices, farmers did what they always do. They created a surplus. With stocks recovered and back to comfortable levels as we end the previous marketing year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting record corn, soybean and rice crops for this year. Supplies are expected to be so large there are concerns as to whether the U.S. infrastructure will be able to move all grain supplies as they come to market. If this concern is realized, the basis levels would erode quickly as elevators will not be able to move the large supplies. While demand is expected to be strong for most commodities, particularly in soybeans, this year’s large supplies have overwhelmed the market and continue to keep pressure on prices. With private analysts forecasting the U.S. crop could be bigger than the current USDA forecast, the market will be closely watching the Sept. 12 USDA supply-and-demand report to see if the USDA increases crop acreage further. Cattle prices trend lower After reaching record price levels
in 2014, cattle prices have eroded as increased supplies have come online. Cattle prices are down almost $100/cwt in just two years, which is more than a 40-percent decline. From a historical perspective, prices are back near the level they were at five years ago. Cattle prices remain under pressure as demand remains weak, and boxed beef prices have returned to more normal levels after strong prices in recent years. With the herd recovered and a strengthening dollar reducing U.S. competitiveness in international markets, cattle prices are likely to remain depressed and have difficulty sustaining any significant gains. Philippines to import more rice The Philippines will allow higher rice imports starting next year to be in compliance with its World Trade Organization commitments. The country will not seek an extension of the 35-percent tariff or cap of 805,200 MT on rice imports for private firms that has been in place. China to subsidize soybean farmers China’s top grain-production province of Heilongjiang will run a “rotation subsidy” program for the next three to five years for farmers who rotate corn acres to soybeans. Farmers who grow a soybean crop the year after a corn crop will receive a 150 yuan ($22.46) per mu (0.067 hectare) subsidy. China National Grain and Oils Information Center expects the program to impact 433,000 hectares — 15.7 percent of the province’s current soybean area. Bayer negotiates with Monsanto Bayer raised its bid to buy Monsanto to $127.50 per share in cash. Monsanto says it is evaluating Bayer’s new proposal and other options. Meanwhile, ChemChina has extended its tender offer to buy shares of Syngenta to Nov. 8. Brazil’s GMO regulator approves Monsanto’s corn seed Brazil’s National Technical Commission for Biosafety (CTNBio) approved planting and consumption of Monsanto’s corn seed with insect resistance and glyphosate tolerance. CTNBio is still considering approval of two more GMO
corn seeds from Syngenta and Monsanto for consumption. Those decisions will be made Oct. 1. Brazil’s chicken industry is seeking approval of four U.S. GMO corn varieties to ease domestic shortages. GMO corn imports from the U.S. will only be viable if the four varieties for consumption are approved as it is difficult to segregate seeds in shipments, an industry group said. Big rise in rice stocks coming Rough rice stocks totaled 38.745 million cwt. as of Aug. 1, according to USDA’s Rice Stocks Report. Milled rice stocks totaled 5.406 million cwt. — 7.723 million cwt. converted to rough rice equivalent. That would put rice ending stocks at 46.468 million cwt. for 2015-16, roughly 7.1 million cwt. higher than USDA’s August estimate. Bigger 2015-16 ending stocks mean the projected 2016-17 carry-over also will increase from an already-inflated 54.7 million cwt. in September. Farm income forecast up USDA’s net farm income forecast for 2016 was revised to $71.5 billion from $54.8 billion in February, but will still be down 11.5 percent from last year. Net cash farm income this year was revised to $94.1 billion, up from the initial projection of $90.9 billion in February but still down 13.3 percent from 2015. The revisions to 2015 farm income were even stronger. Net farm income for 2015 was revised up significantly to $80.7 billion — a 43-percent increase from the February figure — amid lower production expenses, such as the price of fuel and inputs.
CONTACT • Matt King 501-228-1297, matt.king@arfb.com.