Farm Bureau Press for Dec. 28

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In Farm Bureau Sec. Perdue to address FB members U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will give the closing general session keynote address Jan. 14, 2019 at the 100th American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show in New Orleans.

More than 6,000 Farm Bureau members from across the nation are expected to gather in New Orleans Jan. 11-16 to hear from distinguished leaders and participate in a grassroots policy-setting process that will guide AFBF through 2019.

Perdue has served as U.S. agriculture secretary since 2017 and joined Farm Bureau members at the 2018 Annual Convention. Prior to his appointment to the Trump administration, he served as governor of Georgia from 2003-2011 and as a Georgia state senator from 1991-2002.

“We are honored that Secretary Perdue will join us as a keynote speaker,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Well before his first day in office in Washington, D.C., the secretary has been a champion for farmers and ranchers. We are excited

President Donald Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law Dec. 20 during a ceremony in the Old Executive Office Building near the White House.

Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach (left) and ArFB Board Member Terry Dabbs (right) were on hand for the signing event, where they spoke to members of Arkansas’s Congressional delegation, leaders from American Farm Bureau and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue (middle). To see highlights and hear from Veach and Dabbs on the event, visit bit.ly/2018farmbillsigning. to kick off Farm Bureau’s 100th year hearing from such a strong advocate for agriculture in the administration. He truly understands how trade, regulations and labor shortages affect a farmer’s bottom line and ability to stay in business from one season to the next.”

To learn more about the annual convention, visit https://www.fb.org/events/ afbf-annual-convention.

In Arkansas Isbells named Farm Family of the Year Chris and Judy Isbell of Humnoke (Lonoke County) are the 2018 Arkansas Farm Family of the Year. The honor was announced Dec. 6 at the annual luncheon honoring the county and district Farm Families of the Year.

As Arkansas Farm Family of the Year, the Isbells will compete with 10 southeastern state winners in the 2019 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year program next October in Moultrie, Ga. The Isbells said they were humbled to receive the honor.

“I was shocked, when they called our name,” Chris said. “But we are very honored. Our farm is a group of people.

It’s a family. It’s not just me. It’s not just Judy. It’s Shane and Lisa, our son Mark and our daughter Whitney and their families.

Of all the people in that room, many of them I know and many I don’t, they are all worthy. It is an honor to be selected out of that group.

“People need to understand their food doesn’t just come from the grocery store.

Farmers are out there working hard every day to produce it. I’m just proud to be in a business that feeds people.”

The Isbells have cultivated rice in Lonoke County for more than 70 years and currently grow 3,000 acres of the crop.

Isbell Farms is a fifth-generation family operation and partners include Chris and Judy Isbell, their son Mark and his wife Marda, their daughter Whitney and her husband Jeremy Jones and their nephew Shane Isbell and his wife Lisa.

The Isbells pioneered and employ “zero grade practices” on their farm as a means of conserving water. They also were a member of a small group of farmers who marketed and produced the world’s first

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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation

December 28, 2018 • Vol. 21, No. 24

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The Isbell Family of Lonoke County were named the 2018 Arkansas Farm Family of the Year. Pictured left to right: Chris, Judy, Lisa and Shane Isbell. Meet the family by visiting our website bit.ly/ar2018ffoy.

(Miller County) in the Southwest District; • Travis and Valerie Sims of Center Ridge (Conway County) in the Western District; • Damon and Jana Helton of Lonsdale (Saline County) West Central District.

Elsewhere Benefits of the 2018Farm Bill The Agriculture Improvement Act—H.R. 2—is now law. Enactment means risk management tools, foreign market development and environmental stewardship programs continue to be

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carbon credits created through rice production.

Chris has been farming for 50 years and guided the farm’s shift to Japanese varieties. Of the 3,000 rice acres, approximately 100 are grown for the production of sake. They also provide specialty varieties to sake companies, boutique brewers and other businesses throughout the United States and the world.

The Farm Family of the Year program, now in its 71st year, is the longest-running farm family recognition program of its type in the United States. It begins with selection of the top farm family in each county. Then, eight district Farm Families of the Year are selected. The competition is judged on production, efficiency and management of farm operations, family life and rural/community leadership and values.

The Isbells were selected from the eight 2018 District Farm Family of the Year winners, who were • Jared and Lacey Standridge of Dennard (Van Buren County), North Central District; • Mark and Dee Ahrent and Michael and Rhonda Ahrent of Corning (Clay County) in the Northeast District; • Carl and Christie Campbell of Harrison (Boone County) in the Northwest District; • Dean and Tawana Watson of St. Charles (South Arkansas County) in the Southeast District; • Jimmy and Crystal Hewitt of Fouke

Jim Carroll III of Monroe Co. was recently elected vice chair of the United Soybean Board. He sat down with us to discuss the honor. Hear from Carroll by visiting bit.ly/jcusb.

The Maloch Family of Emerson in Columbia County has a legacy of service in FFA, on both the state and national levels. Watch their family story by visiting bit.ly/maloch.

available, and on terms that reflect a much tougher farm economy than the one the country faced when the last farm bill became law.

The farm bill helps to ensure the food security and economic security of the nation. This farm bill: • Brings another five years of certainty to farm and ranch families; • Upholds fiscal responsibility by being budget neutral; • Improves risk management programs; • Protects crop insurance; • Funds much-needed trade development; • Invests in the future with funding for ag research and beginning farmer programs; and • Continues nutrition assistance (threequarters of total farm bill funding) for lower-income Americans.

See a more in-depth breakdown of the Farm Bill on the back page.

Round two of USDA trade payments U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue launched the second and final round of trade mitigation payments Dec. 17 aimed at assisting farmers suffering from damage due to unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations. Producers of certain commodities will now be eligible to receive Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments for the second half of their 2018 production.

“The President reaffirmed his support for American farmers and ranchers and

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Farmers and ranchers throughout northwest Arkansas attended the Northwest Legislative Planning Meeting in Fayetteville, Dec. 11. Six legislative planning meetings were held throughout the state, preparing Farm Bureau leaders for the upcoming Legislative session that starts Jan. 14. targeted by unjustified retaliation.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is distributing these commodities through nutrition assistance programs, such as the Emergency Food Assistance Program and child nutrition programs. So far, USDA has procured some portion of 16 of the 29 commodities included in the program, totaling more than 4,500 truckloads of food. AMS will continue purchasing commodities for delivery throughout 2019.

• Through the Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) program, $200 million is being made available to

BAXTER CO. FB photo

BAXTER CO. FB photo

made good on his promise, authorizing the second round of payments to be made in short order. While there have been positive movements on the trade front, American farmers are continuing to experience losses due to unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations. This assistance will help with short-term cash flow issues as we move into the new year,” said Perdue.

Secretary Perdue announced in July that USDA would act to aid farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation. President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a short-term relief strategy to help protect agricultural producers while the Administration works on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals to open more markets to help American farmers compete globally. In September, USDA initiated three programs to aid American agriculture in sustaining the short-term damages associated with the trade disputes and securing long-term, stable export markets.

Details of programs currently employed

by USDA: • USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has been administering MFP to provide the first payments to almond, corn, cotton, dairy, hog, sorghum, soybean, fresh sweet cherry, and wheat producers since September 2018 for the first 50 percent of their 2018 production.

• USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is administering a food purchase and distribution program to purchase up to $1.2 billion in commodities unfairly

Baxter Co. FB President Robert Benedict (left) presented a appreciation plaque to retiring Baxter County Cooperative Extension Agent Mark Keaton at his retirement reception.

Mark Coleman, Clay Co. FB Young Farmers & Ranchers chair teamed up with Ag in the Classroom and visited a third grade class in Corning to talk with students about agriculture.

develop foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products. The program will help U.S. agricultural exporters identify and access new markets and help mitigate the adverse effects of other countries’ restrictions.

The application period closed in November with more than $600 million in requested activities from more than 70 organizations. FAS will announce ATP funding awards in early January.

American Farm Bureau internships The American Farm Bureau Federation is accepting online applications through Jan. 7, 2019, for five paid summer internships.

The dates of AFBF’s internships are between mid-May and mid-August, depending on schedules, and will last 8 to 10 weeks. It is preferred that interns begin their internships no later than June 10. Interns are supervised by an intern coordinator in their assigned department and are responsible for their own housing.

Applications are being accepted for the intern positions below.

• Business Operations & Revenue Development • Communications • Leadership, Education & Engagement • Public Policy – Economic Analysis • Public Policy – Legislative Visit https://www.fb.org/about/careers/ category/internship for information on how to apply. Applications will be accepted through Jan. 7, 2019.

Editor Maddison Stewart Stone maddison.stone@arfb.com

2018 Farm Bill: Highlights of Title I Now that the 2018 Farm Bill has been agreed-upon, farmers and ranchers can begin to plan for next year, and the next five-years, with some certainty about the risk management tools available to them.

After the 2014 Farm Bill introducted a major shift for Title I, away from direct payments and into risk management programs, the 2018 bill is considered more evolutionary in nature.

For row crops, the Marketing Loan, Price Loss Coverage (PLC), and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) programs all continue for the next five years. All programs see some adjustments from the previous bill.

PLC provides assistance to producers when the market price for a covered commodity falls below the statutory reference prices. ARC provides assistance to producers when actual crop revenue for a covered commodity falls below 86 percent of the benchmark revenue. The 2018 bill offers producers a new choice between ARC and PLC on a crop-by-crop, farm-by-farm basis, applied jointly for the 2019 and 2020 crop years. Annual election will be available beginning in the 2021 crop year.

Increased loan rates and reference prices The Marketing loan program allows farmers to use their crop as collateral and receive a loan for a portion of the crop’s value, providing the opportunity to hold the crop after harvest until prices improve.

Loan rates had not been meaningfully changed in over 10 years. The 2018 bill updated loan rates to better reflect the current cost of production and market prices and provide more relevant support to farmers.

The bill also allows PLC Reference Prices to adjust with improvements in market prices. The Effective Reference Price is calculated as the greater of 85% of the five-year Olympic average price and the PLC Reference Price established in the 2014 Farm Bill. The Maximum Effective Reference Price represents 115 percent of the PLC Reference Price. To reach the maximum Effective Reference Price, the

five-year average price of the covered commodity must exceed the statutory reference price by 135 percent.

Optional yield update Beginning in crop year 2020, producers will have the opportunity to update the program yield used on the farm to calculate assistance under PLC. Producers may update the yield on the farm for each covered commodity to 90 percent of the average yield per planted acre on the farm from 2013-2017, ignoring years where the covered commodity was not planted, multiplied by a yield factor update designated in the bill.

Agriculture risk coverage-county (ARC-CO) Farmers electing ARC-CO will see changes in both the price and yield calculations, designed to improve revenue support. The yield plug will increase from 70 to 80 percent of the county transitional yield, and the Effective Reference price will be incorporated into the calculation of benchmark revenue. The bill also adds a trend adjustment factor similar to that used in crop insurance policies, and establishes guarantees for irrigated and non-irrigated yields in each county.

Base Acres and Program Eligibility The bill suspends ARC and PLC payments base acres that have been entirely in grass or pasture since 2009, to ensure programs are targeted at farms that are producing covered commodities.

However, those farms are guaranteed an opportunity to participate in a five-year grassland incentive contract under the Conservation Stewardship Program at a rate of $18 per acre.

The bill also continues regulations to ensure that individuals eligible to participate in farm safety net programs are required to be actively engaged in farming by contributing, land, labor, or capital to the operation and provide the necessary amount of labor and/or management. The bill maintains the current family farm exemption, and expands the definition of family to include first cousins, nieces and nephews.

Payment limits are capped at $125,000 per eligible individual or entity, and marketing loan gains and loan deficiency payments are not included in the calculation. Producers with an adjusted gross income of $900,000 or above are not

eligible to participate.

Dairy The bill builds on the dairy program passed in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which added $800 million to the dairy safety net. The bill creates Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC), and eliminates the restriction between DMC and Livestock Gross Margin insurance.

DMC adds $8.50, $9.00, and $9.50 coverage levels for the first five million pounds of covered milk production, and expands the range of production allowed to be covered, currently 5 percent up to 95 percent of production history. Dairies with covered production in excess of 5 million pounds are allowed to enroll in $8.50, $9.00, or $9.50 coverage under Tier I and make an independent coverage level election in Tier II. Premiums are reduced significantly to make catastrophic coverage levels more affordable.

Disaster Programs The bill maintains important disaster programs for producers not eligible for other Title I safety net programs.

The Livestock Indemnity Program provides assistance to livestock producers in the event of the death or forced sale of livestock due to an eligible cause of loss. Eligible causes of loss are updated to include disease and deaths of unweaned livestock, so all livestock death losses are consolidated under this program.

The Livestock Forage Program provides feed cost replacement for livestock producers in the event of severe drought that results in forage loss.

The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish program provides assistance to those producers to aid in the reduction of losses not covered under other disaster programs. The 2018 bill removes the arbitrary payment limitation on the program in the 2014 bill.

The Tree Assistance Program offers cost share assistance to eligible orchardists who suffer loss or damage to tree groves.

Producers may receive 65 percent of the cost of replanting trees, or 50 percent of the cost to remove damaged limbs and vines. The cost share rate is increased to 75 percent for beginning farmers and veterans.

CONTACT • Brandy Carroll brandy.carroll@arfb.com