Jordan Thomas of Prattsville received an award plaque from Arkansas Farm Bureau Vice President Rich Hillman at the Arkansas Purple Circle Club recognition program Oct. 29 in Little Rock. ArFB sponsors the club, which recognizes junior livestock exhibitors who earned championship honors at the Arkansas State Fair and Livestock Show. This year, 118 students received awards.
In Farm Bureau
country musician Barrett Baber will be onstage to entertain attendees.
ArFB Convention Nov. 30-Dec. 2 The 82nd Arkansas Farm Bureau Convention will be Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at the Hot Springs Convention Center. This year’s theme is “Our Common Ground.” Registration starts Nov. 30 at 9:30 a.m. The Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, followed by a trade show starting at 11 a.m. and the first general session starting at 1 p.m. A number of special awards will be presented during the general session, which will be highlighted with an address by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Numerous conferences will be held Wednesday and Thursday to provide attendees with the latest information from noted experts in their fields. Other events will include the Women’s Luncheon and Cotton Fashion Show, and the Sew with Cotton Contest. Thursday’s general session will be highlighted by awards presentations and an address by inspirational speaker Shawn Hammontree. Thursday at 5:30 p.m.,
Mannings headline AFBF conference Peyton and Archie Manning will keynote the 2017 American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show closing general session on Jan. 9 in Phoenix. A future Hall of Fame quarterback, Peyton embodies what it means to be
Kaylyn Abercrombie, a fourthgrade student at Genoa Central Elementary, won a new bicycle for placing first in Miller Co. FB’s “Why We All Need Trees” poster contest. Barbara Sutton with the county Women’s Committee presented the bike Oct. 27. Eighty-six fourth-graders competed in the contest. Kaylyn’s poster will be entered in the state competition.
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a professional athlete in this day and age, making a lasting impact both on and off the field. He has championed numerous charitable organizations and foundations to further his positive impact on the community, including the PeyBack Foundation, which he founded to help underprivileged youth in Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana and Tennessee. The two-time Super Bowl champ quarterbacked for the Indianapolis
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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
November 11, 2016 • Vol. 19, No. 22
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Fourth District Rep. Bruce Westerman spoke with panelists prior to his remarks at a State and Local Candidate Debate, Oct. 25, at National Park College in Hot Springs. Westerman was scheduled to debate Libertarian party opponent Kerry Hicks, but Hicks was unable to attend. The event was sponsored by the NPC Student Government Association and Garland Co. FB.
Arkansas placed first among 17 states entering the National 4-H Forestry Championship held recently in Weston, West Virginia. Taylor Gwin (left) coached the Bradley County 4-H team, which included (left to right) Cade Wilkerson, Hunter Saunders, Ethan Boykin and Connor Wilkerson, all students at Hermitage High School. This was the state’s first national title.
Peyton will join us and share some of their family’s stories.” For more information on the convention, visit http://annualconvention. fb.org/.
toward the Polaris ATV or side-by-side of their choice, plus $2,500, courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance and Farm Bureau Bank. The prize package also includes a trip to compete in the national contest held during the American Farm Bureau Convention in Phoenix next January. The registration deadline is Nov. 22. The discussion meet simulates a committee meeting where discussion and active participation are expected from each participant. Young men and women who take part build basic discussion skills, develop a keen understanding of important agricultural issues and explore how groups can pool knowledge to reach consensus and solve problems. The competition is evaluated on an exchange of ideas and information related to a predetermined topic. Judges look for the competitor who offers constructive criticism, cooperation and communication while analyzing agricultural problems and developing solutions. Applicants for the competition must be actively involved in agriculture and must be voting Farm Bureau members between the ages of 18 and 35. The individual will not have reached their 36th birthday by Jan. 31 of the year following the Arkansas Farm Bureau state convention at which the competitive event is held. Past and present American Farm Bureau Federation YF&R committee members are ineligible. A discussion meet application and entry form is available at http://bit. ly/2ecP6Yd, along with additional
Register now for discussion meet Have you registered for this year’s Young Farmers & Ranchers discussion meet? The contest will be held Nov. 30 in Hot Springs during Arkansas Farm Bureau’s state convention. This year’s winner will receive $7,000
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Colts and the Denver Broncos after completing his college career at the University of Tennessee. “In some of his recent television commercials, Peyton seems to be embracing his football retirement, so we’re glad to be able to give him something additional to look forward to,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Peyton Manning is a model of success, with a strong work ethic and proven track record of helping others. We look forward to hearing from him about the importance of teamwork and a good game plan.” A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Archie enjoyed an impressive college football career at the University of Mississippi that included finishing topfour in Heisman Trophy voting twice and twice being named to the All-SEC team. Archie continued his illustrious football career with the New Orleans Saints, Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings. He has continued to excel post-football, serving as a broadcaster, restaurateur, endorser, founder of the Manning Passing Academy and philanthropist. In everything he does, Archie remains grounded and true to his “hard work means everything” mentality. “Our annual convention is like a reunion for agriculture and the Farm Bureau family,” said Duvall, “so we’re excited that father and son Archie and
Baxter Co. FB recently donated $200 to the Back Pack Program administered by the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas. County board member Roberta Golmon (right) presented the check to Food Bank Director Jeff Quick Oct. 18 at the Food Bank’s Norfork office. The program provides nutritious meals to local children with food insecurities.
Fishing and canoeing were among the many activities available to the more than 300 people who attended the Arkansas 4-H Fall Festival Oct. 29 at the 4-H Center in Ferndale. Ewell Welch, executive director of the Arkansas 4-H Foundation, said more than $5,000 was raised to support 4-H youth development, scholarships and programs at the center.
resources, including 2016 discussion meet questions, helpful hints for competing and discussion meet format information.
Ken Tillman: 1946-2016 Ken Tillman, 70, of Searcy, died Oct. 27 in Searcy. He served as the rural health coordinator for Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Organization & Member Programs department and had 35 years of dedicated service to ArFB upon his retirement. Tillman was a member of College Church of Christ in Searcy. He graduated Lakeside High School in Lake Village in 1964 and Harding College in 1968 with a BA in Business Administration. He served in the United States Air Force from 1968-1971 and loved fishing and bird watching. He is survived by his wife Karen Wylie Tillman and two children, Jared and Allison.
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Arkansan crowned in pageant A Woodruff County Farm Bureau member will soon travel the country to promote one of Arkansas’ largest crops. AnnaLisa Meredith from Augusta was crowned Miss International Rice Festival Oct. 22 in Louisiana. She represented
The ArFB State Resolutions Committee met Nov. 2-3 in North Little Rock to consolidate county policy proposals into formal recommendations for consideration by voting delegates at ArFB’s state convention in December. The committee is made up of 76 county and state Farm Bureau leaders. ArFB Secretary/Treasurer Joe Christian. (pictured here) led the meeting’s general session.
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In Arkansas
On Oct. 18, a combine harvested a portion of Greg Baltz’s and Howard Thielemier’s 5,300-acre peanut crop near Pocahontas. According to the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, the state’s peanut growers planted more than 22,000 acres this year, a state record and 22-percent increase from the previous high of 18,500 acres planted in 2012. Arkansas in the pageant after she was crowned Miss Arkansas Rice Festival last year in Weiner. Winning this title was a lifetime goal for the agribusiness major at Arkansas State University-Beebe. Meredith says she plans to pursue a career in the rice industry and will get started by promoting rice production across the country for the International Rice Festival. She is the first Arkansan to win the title. Soybean forum The 2017 Tri-State Soybean Forum is set for Jan. 6 in Dumas, said Chuck Capps, event chairman and Desha County extension staff chair for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. The forum will be held at the Dumas Community Center, 18 Belmont Drive. Doors open at 8 a.m. with registration, and lunch will be provided. Each year the forum draws hundreds of people from Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi to hear top speakers talk about research and events affecting the soybean industry. This year, presentations will include an herbicide status update, market outlook on farm profitability and land rates, summary of United Soybean Board and Mid-South Soybean Board projects, overview of current pest management issues and other topics. Soybean industry firms will have displays with information. To learn more, contact Capps at
870-222-3972 or ccapps@uaex.edu, or Bob Stark at 870-460-1414.
Elsewhere Rice Outlook Conference The 2016 USA Rice Outlook Conference will be held Dec. 7- 9 at Cook Convention Center, 255 N. Main St., in Memphis. The conference brings together rice farmers, millers, merchants and representatives of allied businesses. It features a trade show devoted to ricerelated farm equipment, technology, products and services, and will include market outlooks and keynote speakers like former NASA astronaut Dr. Michael Massimino and Stuart Jones, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. For more information, visit usarice.com or contact Jeanette Davis at jdavis@usarice.com or 703-236-1447. New social media resources The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance has released new social media resources on GMO crops and sustainability. The materials include infographics and social media posts that can be used to help inform consumer audiences. Interested parties can view and download the material at www.fooddialogues. com/sustainabilityinfographics. Editor Keith Sutton
keith.sutton@arfb.com
In the Market As of November 10, 2016 Brazil soybean, corn estimates Conab trimmed its range of expectations for Brazil’s 2016-17 soybean crop from a range of 101.9104.0 MMT to a range of 101.6-103.5 MMT. The country’s official crop supply agency expects Brazil to export 57 MMT of soybeans this marketing year, a 5-MMT increase from 2015-16. Conab estimates Brazil will produce between 83.1 and 84.6 MMT of corn in 2016-17, which is a slight boost from its October forecast for production of 82.3-83.8 MMT. The supply agency expects Brazil to export 24 MMT of corn in 2016-17, up 5.5 MMT from the previous marketing year. Global food prices higher Global food prices edged higher in October, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO’s food price index climbed 1.2 points from September to an average of 172.6. The index is up 9.1 percent from a year ago and has climbed nearly continuously (barring a brief slip in July) over the past year. FAO says that while sugar and dairy values rose sharply in October, the cereal index climbed modestly. On the other hand, oils and meat indexes plunged last month. Of note, FAO raised its global wheat crop forecast by 4.3 MMT from October to 746.7 MMT, a 1.7-percent increase from a year ago, due to higher crop pegs for Russia (record-large) and Kazakhstan. Some dicamba products approved As expected, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved Monsanto Company’s new dicambabased weed killers that are designed for its next generation biotech soy and cotton varieties. Specifically, EPA gave the green light to Monsanto’s XtendiMax herbicide for use on
Roundup Ready 2 Xtend biotech soybeans and Bollgard II XtendFlex cotton. The company is still waiting for EPA to decide on its Roundup Xtend herbicide, which is a glyphosate and dicamba blend. This comes as the Midwest is dealing with weeds that are increasingly resistant to glyphosate. Warm month curbs feed demand Warm temperatures across much of the country are expected to linger through month’s end, allowing cattle producers to keep livestock on pasture and slowing feed consumption. Typically, feed grain sales ramp up in November as cooler temperatures increase cattle and hogs’ feed needs. This is adding to an already burdensome feed grain situation. Plus, this comes at a time when China is restricting shipments of U.S. distillers’ dried grains. The U.S. hog herd is the largest since 1943, and poultry flocks have rebounded after last year’s bird flu outbreak, which has helped keep feed prices from dropping even further. Chinese bean buys slow China imported 5.21 MMT of soybeans in October, which was down 5.79 percent from year-ago and a bit below expectations for the country to have purchased around 5.4 MMT. But analysts cited by Reuters are not concerned about the lower figure because October is traditionally a month where Chinese purchases slow as South America finishes sales and before the U.S. shipping season is in full swing. Buying will likely pick up going forward as China prepares for its Lunar New Year. For the first 10 months of 2016, China has imported 66.4 MMT of soybeans, up 1.2 MMT from year-ago. Pork exports should be strong U.S. shipments of pork to China are up an impressive 100 percent from year-ago levels, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). While “next year we may not see these incredible pork numbers ... they still will be high,” Joel Haggard, senior
vice president for USMEF, said. He also pointed out that competition for the Asian market will remain fierce. Mexican imports of U.S. pork are also on the rise and should remain strong in 2017 “because China will be taking less product,” said Chad Russell, regional director of USMEF for Mexico and Central America. China to boost risk monitoring Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, recently told a forum that China’s “futures exchanges and market monitoring centers must strengthen front-line supervision, closely monitor and ward off market risks, prevent excessive speculation and crack down on illegal activities such as price manipulation.” Fang also noted the country is studying ways to deregulate the sector and open it to foreign investment. China is also preparing to launch options for ag products, Fang said. Agrium, Potash Corp. merger Shareholders of Agrium Inc. and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. overwhelmingly approved an allstock merger of the companies Nov. 11. More than 99 percent of Potash investors and 98 percent of Agrium shareholders voted in favor of the deal – easy approval when a two-thirds margin was required for the deal to move ahead.
CONTACT • Matt King 501-228-1297, matt.king@arfb.com.