Farm Bureau Press - October 28, 2016

In Farm Bureau Friend of FB awards All six members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation — Sen. John Boozman, Sen. Tom Cotton, Rep. Rick Crawford, Rep. French Hill, Rep. Bruce Westerman and Rep. Steve Womack — have earned Friend of Farm Bureau distinction and were recognized with the honor in ceremonies held across the state earlier this month. The award is given at the end of each session of Congress to those nominated by Arkansas Farm Bureau and approved by the American Farm Bureau Federation board of directors. Voting records on key legislative issues important to agriculture are considered in the nomination.

“We are fortunate in Arkansas that all six members of our congressional delegation understand the importance of agriculture to our state’s economy,” said ArFB President Randy Veach. “We work very closely with our congressional delegation and their staffs to make them aware of any impacts proposed legislation

Arkansas Farm Bureau extends a big congratulations to David Wildy, a fifth-generation row-crop farmer from Manila, for being selected Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year for 2016.

“Without my family, I wouldn’t be here,” said Wildy. Later, he said he was proud to be placed in the company of “so many farmers across the country who are doing things right.” For more on Wildy’s award, see the article inside. could have on the men and women of agriculture.

“This award is based upon several measurements: the member’s voting records on AFBF’s priority issues established by the board of directors, the number of bills a member has sponsored and co-sponsored, specific leadership role for Farm Bureau on priority issues and how accessible and responsive that member has been to Farm Bureau

On Oct. 13, Pulaski Co. FB donated copies of “First Peas to the Table,” an Ag in the Classroom program book, to Gibbs Elementary School in Little Rock. Attending were (l to r, back) principal Tina Greenwood; county president Fred Nickerson; Gibbs media specialist Lori Gibson; county board member Emily Bemis; and (front) Nickerson’s granddaughters Cayla and Christen.

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members and leaders.”

Veach emphasized that the ability of our government to support a food-production system that meets the needs of the citizens of our country — and many parts of the world — is critical to our nation’s stability and our ability to support allies around the globe. “The production of food should be a priority for our nation,” he said, “and our federal support programs should result in a safe and affordable supply of food, fiber

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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation

October 28, 2016 • Vol. 19, No. 21

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Rice contest Generations of Arkansas families entered this year’s Arkansas Farm Bureau Rice Cooking Contest at the Arkansas State Fair. The participants competed for honors in three classes: main dish, dessert and salads. First-place winners received two $25 gift cards to Cracker Barrel restaurants and a blue ribbon.

This year’s winners as selected by Arkansas Farm Bureau’s State Women’s Committee include: Salad, first place and best of show, Carolyn Wynn of Star City; second place, Kellie Cunningham of Star City; third place, Heidi Calhoun of Star City (these ladies are grandmother, mother and daughter, respectively). Main Dish, first place and best of show, Kellie Cunningham of Star City; second place Karen Kirkpatrick of Arkadelphia; third place Heidi Calhoun of Star City (Kellie and Heidi are mother and daughter).

Dessert, first place, Caroline Bryant of Little Rock; second place, Daniel Williams of Searcy; third place, Ruth Williams of Searcy (Daniel Williams is the son of Ruth Williams).

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and shelter for our citizens.”

Members of the Scott Co. FB Women’s Committee — (left to right) Laurie Richardson, Regina Oliver and Belinda Wright — taught more than 1,200 Waldron students the importance of agriculture at the Scott County Fair. Oliver did a presentation about rice, Richardson spoke about grapes, and Wright talked about Arkansas broiler production.

address the issues that concern farmers and ranchers the most. The organization recently asked Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump the same questions.

Both candidates explained their positions on biotechnology, trade, immigration reform, regulatory reform, food safety and more. That the candidates

took the time in the throes of this very competitive election season to go into such detail in their responses says as much about the importance of these issues and the farmers and ranchers who care about them as it does about Clinton’s and Trump’s political platforms.

For additional information on Clinton, go to http://election16.fb.org/hillaryclinton/. For more on Trump, go to http:// election16.fb.org/donald-trump/. To follow all the election news from agriculture’s perspective, visit AFBF’s election blog at http://election16.fb.org/

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Candidates answer questions Every four years, the American Farm Bureau Federation asks the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees to

Lonoke Co. FB President Robby Bevis (right) awarded $1,500 checks to representatives of four county elementary schools to buy food for their local backpack programs.

With him are (from left) Brad Horn, Carlisle; Barbara Miller, Cabot; Syrena Buck, England; and Allyson Dodds, Lonoke. Bevis made the presentation during the county annual meeting in Carlisle Oct. 3.

Jackson Co. FB agency manager Bryan Smith (left) honored Virgil Lancaster, a retired agent, with the county’s Distinguished Service Award at the annual meeting Oct. 11.

Lancaster retired recently following a 37-year career with Jackson County Farm Bureau. More than 100 Farm Bureau members attended the event at the ASU-Newport campus.

On Oct. 6 in Hampton, Justin Reynolds (right), ArFB’s South Central District Director for Organization and Member Programs, presented a $1,000 check to Calhoun Co. FB President Tom Harrell and members of the board for being the first county in the state to meet its membership quota.

The county had exceeded its quota of 420 members with several days to go.

Ask the farmer If you have medical questions, you ask a doctor. If you have questions about math, you ask a math teacher. If you have questions about farming, you should ask the farmer!

Arkansas Farm Bureau has started a new Ask the Farmer series, a monthly Facebook Live series where we interview an Arkansas farmer or rancher and answer all of your questions about farming, food production and more. You can submit questions to our Facebook page, www.

Facebook.com/ArkansasFarmBureau, or you can comment during the live feed.

We’ll sit down with Brent Butler and his three sons who are poultry producers in Benton County Nov. 18 at noon, and with Keith Cagle, a custom bull feeder in

Cleburne County, Dec. 21 at noon.

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Wildy named Farmer of the Year David Wildy, a row-crop farmer from Manila, has been selected as the overall winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award for 2016. Wildy, competing against nine other finalists, was named the winner on the opening day of the 2016 Sunbelt Ag Expo farm show.

A full-time farmer since 1975, Wildy farms more than 12,000 acres and grows cotton, corn, soybeans and wheat. He is a new grower of peanuts and potatoes. He also has a small beef cattle herd.

This is the 27th year for the Farmer of the Year award. The award recognizes excellence in agricultural production and farm management, along with leadership in farm and community organizations. The award also honors family contributions in producing safe and abundant supplies of food, fiber and shelter products.

Peter Ghiloni, president and chief executive officer of Swisher International, Inc., of Jacksonville, Florida, praised Wildy for his farming accomplishments.

“David is an outstanding representative of our nation’s best farmers,” said Ghiloni.

“It is an honor for our company and our Swisher Sweets cigar brand to recognize David and his farm.”

Chris and Nesha Smith of Searcy, and their daughter Jalyn, were recognized as White County Farm Family of the Year at the county’s annual meeting Oct. 11 in Searcy. Secretary/treasurer Michael Taylor (left) presented the Smiths a commemorative clock. The Smiths also are among eight district finalists in the running for Arkansas Farm Family of the Year.

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In Arkansas

The ArFB Women’s Committee made a $10,000 donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas. The money will help fund a kitchen in the new Little Rock home RMHC plans to complete this fall. Emily Piechocki (center), RMHCA’s development director, received the check from the Women’s Committee members in an Oct. 18 presentation in Little Rock.

Wildy paid tribute to his wife Patty and other members of his family, and how they all support the farm. “Farming is a tradition in our family,” said Wildy.

“And receiving this award is a humbling experience that we will all treasure.”

As the Southeastern Farmer of the Year, Wildy will receive a $15,000 cash award plus $2,500 as a state winner from Swisher International. He will also receive the use of a Massey Ferguson tractor for a year from Massey Ferguson North America, a $500 gift certificate from the Southern States cooperative, a Columbia jacket from Ivey’s Outdoor and Farm Supply, and a smoker-grill from Hays LTI. Bad bug area expands The Arkansas State Plant Board has expanded the emerald ash borer quarantine to include 33 counties throughout the state. The expansion adds eight new counties to the quarantine list, including Randolph County, where the presence of the invasive pest was recently confirmed, as well as the five counties that border it: Fulton, Sharp, Lawrence, Greene and Clay.

Pulaski and Perry counties also have been added to the 2014 list of quarantined counties designed to isolate the 11 counties in south-central Arkansas where the invasive beetle has previously been confirmed, including Saline, Hot

Spring, Clark, Dallas, Cleveland, Nevada, Ouachita, Calhoun, Bradley, Columbia and Union counties.

Randolph is the 12th county in which the emerald ash borer has been confirmed.

The expanded quarantine zone effectively creates a countywide buffer between the two areas in which the beetle has been confirmed — the block of 11 counties in south-central Arkansas, as well as Randolph County in the northeast — and the state’s remaining 48 counties in which the beetle has not been detected

Elsewhere Saying thank you “Thank an American Farmer or Rancher,” a Thanksgiving-themed activity for pre-K to first-grade students, helps teachers explain where food comes from, courtesy of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. Through this activity, teachers also ask students to write, draw or create thank you letters or cards for America’s farmers.

A free lesson plan and a letter from a farmer, suggestions for books to read, class discussion ideas and more are available online at www.agfoundation.org/projects/ thank-afarmer-orrancher.

Editor Keith Sutton

keith.sutton@arfb.com

In the Market As of October 25, 2016 Soybean shipments up China imported nearly 7.194 MMT of soybeans during September, a marginal increase over a year ago, with Brazil getting 3.756 MMT of the business, followed by Argentina at 1.453 MMT and the United States at 1.356 MMT. The U.S. does not usually ship China many soybeans at this point in the year, so that tally is up sharply from a year ago. For the first nine months of the year, China’s imports of soybeans stand at 61.188 MMT, a 2.58-percent increase from the year prior. The U.S. has shipped China 17.498 MMT of soybeans so far this year, a rise of 2.93 percent from a year ago.

EPA sends OMB final RFS plans Final volume levels for renewable fuels in 2017 (and biodiesel in 2018) have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a spokesman for the agency confirmed. By law, EPA is required to finalize the volume levels for the renewable fuel standard (RFS) by Nov. 30 the year prior, but it has rarely met that deadline in recent years. EPA earlier this year proposed requiring 18.8 billion gallons of biofuels be blended into the fuel supply in 2017, with up to 14.8 billion gallons of conventional ethanol, primarily produced from corn. While up from the 2016 levels, the proposed 2017 level was below levels legislated in the 2007 energy law that ramped up the biofuel mandates.

Cattle on Feed Report Friday’s Cattle on Feed Report was bullish, with the number of cattle on feed coming in near year-ago levels.

Placements were well below expectations and at a record low for the month of September. But the Cold Storage Report was highly bearish, with the amount of beef in frozen storage at the end of September at the highest level for any month since December 2002.

China targets soybean increase China plans to cut corn acreage by 0.7 percent over the next five years, with plantings reaching 82.368 million acres by 2020, according to its State Council.

On the other hand, the country plans to increase soybean area by 43 percent to 23.063 million acres. The Chinese government expects total grain output to climb 50 MMT over the next five years to 550 MMT. It also hopes to boost meat and dairy production.

Syngenta-ChemChina deal delayed Swiss seed and pesticide maker Syngenta AG said Oct. 25 that regulatory approval of its proposed acquisition

by ChemChina is likely to be delayed into early 2017, as regulators seek more information amid a consolidation wave in the sector. Previously, the company had expected the deal with China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina’s formal name) to close by the end of this year. On Oct. 24, a European Union official said Syngenta and ChemChina had not submitted proposed remedies to resolve potential antitrust concerns related to their planned merger by the Oct. 21 deadline.

REAP grant applications opened The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) applications for energy audit and renewable energy development assistance grants and renewable energy system and energy efficiency guaranteed loans and grants. Applications for renewable energy system and energy efficiency grants of $20,000 or less are due by Oct. 31 for the first funding cycle and March 31, 2017, for the second funding cycle. Applications for renewable energy system and energy efficiency grants of greater than $20,000 and all combination grants and guaranteed loans are due by March 31, 2017. USDA will set aside 20 percent of the funds for grants of $20,000 or less.

Next rate boost likely in December Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said the best time for the U.S. central bank to raise rates again likely will be at its policy gathering in December. Williams

still expects one rate increase this year and said it could happen at either of the two remaining rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meetings in 2016.

But it could be better to wait a bit longer to boost what is now a 0.25-0.50 percent overnight target rate range, he said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

USDA survey responses low The U.S. Department of Agriculture has formed an internal committee to improve survey response rates and is working with groups like the National Corn Growers Association to encourage farmers to respond to such surveys.

This comes after responses for the Sept.

30 Grain Stocks Report fell to a record low of 66.5 percent. Survey responses improved a bit to 71.3 percent for the Oct. 12 Crop Production Report, but these tallies are still historically low.

These data are especially important considering that country-level crop yield data are among the factors used to calculate payments under the 2014 Farm Bill.

NOPA crush tops expectations The National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA), the largest U.S. trade group for the industry, estimated that its members crushed 129.405 million bushels of soybeans in September, which was higher than expectations of 127.694 million bushels.

Crush forecasts ranged from 123.0 million to 131.45 million bushels. This was the largest September crush since September 2007 when NOPA processors crushed 137.564 million bushels. A month ago, NOPA processors crushed 131.822 million bushels of soybeans. In September 2015, the crush was 126.704 million bushels.

CONTACT • Matt King 501-228-1297, matt.king@arfb.com.

2016 ARKANSAS STATE FAIR & LIVESTOCK SHOW

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he 77th State Fair & Livestock Show kicked off Oct. 14 at the state fairgrounds in Little Rock. Arkansas Farm Bureau and agriculture were once again well represented at the annual festivities. Take a look at some of the people and events that made the 10-day event special.

• photos by KEITH SUTTON •

Sixteen-year-old Brandi Franchiseur, a member of the DeQueen FFA, exhibited the Grand Champion Market Steer, which the ArFB board purchased at the Jr. Livestock Auction for $19,000.

Above: Carolyn Wynn, Kellie Cunningham and Heidi Calhoun of Star City placed first, second and third respectively in the salad category of ArFB’s Rice Cooking Contest. These ladies are grandmother, mother and daughter. Above right: The Ag in Action tent provided hundreds of visitors a chance for up-close interactions with farm animals, including Josh Sutton of Wynne and his grandson Mason.

Right: Carolyn Bryant of Little Rock won first place and Best in Show in the Dessert category of ArFB’s Rice Cooking Contest with her Quick Rice Dessert.

Right: Seventeenyear-old Brittney Beck of Greenbrier showed both the Grand Champion Meat Pen and Fryer rabbit. Brittney is a member of Faulkner County 4-H. Bottom right: Thousands streamed through the Farm Bureau Arts and Crafts building to see winners in the creative arts competitions and cooking contests.

Above: A judge examines animals in the Junior Market Goat Show.

Judges play a key role in the livestock show, devoting many hours of time to selecting the best animals shown in the competitions

Right: Fun rides and great weather most of the week attracted 450,702 people to the 10-day event.

That’s the fourth best attendance in the 77-year history of the Arkansas State Fair. Far right: Lots of folks come for the food, especially with free admission at lunch time.

This year’s treats included everything from roast beef sundaes to baconwrapped Oreos.

2016 S TAT E FA I R

Left: Fairgoers had no trouble finding fun things to do, like having a caricature drawn on the midway by artists like Aaron Philby. Above: The Arkansas Farm Bureau board of directors purchased several grand and reserve-grand champion animals at the Jr. Livestock Auction on Oct. 21, including the Grand Champion Market Lamb shown by Travis Mos of Mena.

Sixteen-year-old Kaylie Stone of Gurdon exhibited the Grand Champion Market Goat at the Junior Livestock Auction, for which Blue Ribbon Campaign contributed $5,000.

Above: Hundreds of children like Dedjaran Dunbar of Little Rock had a chance to milk the ArFB cow while visiting the Ag in Action tent.