Farm Bureau Press for July 12

JULY 12, 2019 • VOLUME 22 • ISSUE 14

Farm Bureau Press A PEEK INSIDE

ARFB PRESIDENT RANDY VEACH CELEBRATING A LEGACY OF SERVICE It was annouced July 1 that Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach plans to close his tenure at the annual convention in December.

As a way of celebrating his 11 years as president and 20 years as a member of the board of directors, there will be a special event to honor Mr. and Mrs. Veach on Wednesday, Dec. 4, the first evening of convention.

ArFB & the ArFB Foundation distribuited more the $15,000 in donations and grants in June , page 2.

The event is being called “Celebrating a Legacy of Service,” with the intent of honoring the Veaches for their commitment to Farm Bureau, the men and women of agriculture and the couples’ impact on the state of Arkansas. Plan on this being a casual evening, with plenty of opportunities to visit with the Veaches and other Farm Bureau leaders while also sharing a wonderful meal.

Proceeds from the event will be donated in the Veaches name to the Arkansas Farm Bureau Foundation. The mission is to further understanding of agricultural and rural issues, and to support the agriculture and rural community through financial support for education, research, litigation and disaster relief.

This event will be open to all county offices who wish to attend. Tables of 10 are being offered for $500 and individual tickets will also be available for $50.

If you are interested in reserving space for those in your county, please notify Amanda Williams, ArFB Foundation director, at 501-228-1493 or amanda. williams@arfb.com.

More information about the evening will be shared at Officers & Leaders, which is set for July 22-23 in Hot Springs. You can also work with your district director to confirm your participation in the event.

ArFB’s Evan Teague named to Arkansas Levee Task Force, page 2.

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Federation Donation | ArFB donated $10,000 to The Arkansas 4-H Foundation. Sara Brown (left), managing director of The Arkansas 4-H Foundation accepts the donation from Warren Carter, ArFB executive vice president.

ARFB EVAN TEAGUE NAMED Evan Teague, Arkansas Farm Bureau’s vice president of Commodity and Regulatory Affairs, has been named by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to a 25-member Arkansas Levee Task Force, created to study and analyze the current conditions of the state’s levees.

Trap Shoot Donation | The ArFB Foundation donated $5,000 in proceeds from the second annual trap shoot to The Arkansas 4-H Foundation from. Shown are (L to R) Amanda Williams, ArFB education & foundation coordinator, Sara Brown, managing director of The Arkansas 4-H Foundation and Warren Carter, ArFB executive vice president.

Teague will represent agriculture interests on the board, and also will be one of two professional engineers on the Task Force.

Jami Cook, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, will chair the committee. The task force also includes seven other state officials, four lawmakers, three county judges and two mayors. The group’s first meeting is scheduled for July 12.

In addition to Teague, the task force includes:

ArFB Foundation Grant | The ArFB Foundation awarded a $700 grant to the Hempstead County Women’s Farm Bureau Leadership Committee. The grant will assist in funding their Egg Hatching in the Classroom project. The project will consist of hatching eggs in each classroom showing third graders where a chicken comes from. Shown are (L to R) Hempstead County Women’s Leadership Committee members, Doreen Antley and Glenda Burkham, ArFB Foundation Coordinator Amanda Williams, Hempstead County Women’s Leadership Committee member Deana Gilbert, and Hempstead County Farm Bureau MSR Brandi Sanders.

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• State Land Commissioner Tommy Land from Heber Springs.

• Department of Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward.

• Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Larry Walther.

• Arkansas Natural Resources Commission Director Bruce Holland.

• Arkansas Department of Emergency Management Director A.J. Gary.

• Arkansas Waterways Commission Director Deidre Smith.

• Geographic Information Office Director Shelby Johnson.

• State Sen. Jason Rapert, Conway.

• State Sen. Gary Stubblefield, Branch.

• State Rep. Mary Bentley, Perryville.

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Lonoke County Scholarship Recipient | Juan Arguijo was selected to receive the 2019-2020 Gordon R. Brown Scholarship from Lonoke County Farm Bureau. Juan is a honor student at the University of Arkansas and is working on a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering. He is currently doing summer undergraduate research in biology at Pepperdine University.

He is a graduate of Lonoke High School, where he received the Neil Bennett, Sr. Memorial Scholarship. He is the son of Mr. & Mrs. Antonio Arguijo of Lonoke.

D TO LEVEE TASK FORCE • State Rep. David Hillman, Almyra.

• Yell County Judge Mark Thone.

• Jackson County Judge Jeff Phillips.

• Chicot County Judge Mack Ball.

• Pope County Clerk Pam Ennis.

• Dardanelle Mayor Jimmy Witt.

• Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington.

• St. Francis Levee Board member Rob Rash.

• Mike Lowe, of Miller County.

• Tim Ralston, for Pope and Conway counties.

• Marty Shell, for Sebastian and Crawford counties.

• Engineer Tommy Bond of Pulaski County.

• Attorney Hal Kemp of Pulaski County.

Teague joined ArFB in 2004 as the organization’s first environmental specialist and later became the director of Environmental & Regulatory Affairs. He has been instrumental in establishing new outreach and research efforts, such as the Illinois River Watershed Partnership and the Discovery Farms Program, a program to evaluate the environmental impact of agriculture practices by conducting edge-of-field water quality monitoring on working farms.

Teague spent almost eight years as an engineering consultant before joining ArFB. The first two years were spent in structural engineering where he worked on a variety of projects. The last six years he practiced in the environmental and water/wastewater resources engineering disciplines where he worked on municipal water and wastewater distribution, collection and treatment projects, as well as industrial wastewater pretreatment projects. He was also involved with multiple water-quality sampling studies.

Clay County Scholarship Recipient | Sarah Robinson, daughter of Nathan and Heidi Henderson and the late Josh Robinson, was awarded the Clay County Farm Bureau Scholarship. Gail Burns, on behalf of the Clay County Farm Board of Directors, presented the annual scholarship during graduation ceremonies in Rector. The scholarship is given each year to a graduating senior from one of the three Clay County high schools. The recipient must plan to enter into the field of medicine or agriculture.

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

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MARKET NEWS as of July 12, 2019 Contact Brandy Carroll 501-228-1268 brandy.carroll@arfb.com

USDA Extends Certification Deadline The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline for farmers to report certified acres. Farmers in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin now have until July 22 to report, due to flooding and excessive moisture. Farmers in all other states must still report by July 15.

Reporting by the deadline is required to maintain eligibility for USDA farm safety net, conservation, crop insurance, disaster assistance and farm loan payments.

Rice Rice futures have rallied over the past week, with the September contract putting over 70 cents on the market since setting a new low for the move on July 3. Support begins at that low of $11.21, and futures are currently testing resistance near $12.

USDA has current acreage pegged at 2.16 million acres across the U.S., with total acreage in Arkansas pegged at 1.3 million. However, many think that number is too high and will likely come down after acreage is certified later this month. Recent strength has come from those concerns and from solid exports. USDA this week lowered their 2018-2019 ending stocks estimate to 51.6 million hundredweight, down from 57.3 in the June report, thanks to more robust exports in recent weeks. That 5.7 million cwt. decrease in beginning stocks in 2019-2020 helped to offset a 10.6 million cwt. increase in the 4

production estimate. Total use for 2019-2020 was increased 6 million cwt., resulting in ending stocks down 1.1 million cwt. to 50.0 million.

The season-average farm price was pegged at $11.80, up 10 cents from the June report.

Corn The trade in corn futures has been erratic, with futures trading in wide ranges. December has clearly topped at $4.73, but has found support at $4.20 for the time being.

USDA will resurvey farmers in several states regarding acreage, as the lateness of the crop has left many uneasy with the current acreage estimate. In the June production report, USDA pegged the corn crop at 13.875 billion bushels, with planted acres of 91.7 million and a yield of 166 bushels per acre. The season average price is now estimated to be $3.70, down 10 cents from last month’s report. The weather outlook for the southern corn belt looks hot and dry for the next couple of weeks, potentially stressing the crop there.

Soybeans As bearish as the June corn numbers were, the soybean estimates were equally bullish. Exactly no one was projecting a 4.6 million acre cut from the March report to the June, but that is what we got. USDA now says 80 million acres were seeded to soybeans in the U.S. However, farmers in 14 states will be re-surveyed before the August report, and most in the trade expect to see that number revised upward. The July WASDE report saw 2018-2019 ending stocks cut to 1.05 billion bushels, down 20 million bushels from the June report. 2019-2020 ending stocks were down to 795 million bushels from 1.045 billion in the June report.

The November contract failed at resistance at $9.50 in June and had been working lower until bouncing off support at $8.90 this week.

Cotton Cotton futures are trading at contract low levels. Dec. 19 is

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currently testing the 63 cents level, while December 20 is holding above support at 65.5 cents. The July WASDE report added more fuel to the bearish outlook as USDA raised the 2018-2019 carryout by 350,000 bales to 5 million bales, and raised the carryout for 2019-2020 by 300,000 bales to 6.7 million bales. World numbers were bearish as well, with production up nearly 500,000 bales and consumption projected lower.

They cut the average on-farm price estimate by a penny, resulting in an estimate of 63 cents per pound.

Tropical Storm Barry, though, could potentially have an impact on the crop in gulf coast states. Technically, December has tested 64.70 cents two days in a row. It’s possible this could become support moving forward.

Livestock Live cattle futures have been trending higher after holding above support at the May low. October is now in position to test resistance at the $110 level, however, in the July supply/demand report, USDA pegged 4th quarter cash steer prices at $110, which suggest the market may not have much upside potential above that level. Also in the report, USDA cut its forecast for 2019 beef production by 75 million pounds and lowered projected exports a bit.

Hog futures continue to be under pressure from large hog supplies and technical selling. The recent inventory report held mixed news, with herd and market inventory at the high end of expectations, while fall farrowing intentions were lower than expected.

The October contract is building support at $67.50. Mexico is dropping their tariff on U.S. pork, which is good news, but the Chinese tariffs remain a big problem for the market. China is expected to be a big importer of pork due to African swine fever there.

EDITOR Ashley Wallace ashley.wallace@arfb.com