Farm Bureau Press | December 4

DECEMBER 7, 2020 • VOLUME 23 • ISSUE 24

Farm Bureau Press A PEEK INSIDE

ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU ELECTS LEADERS, SETS PRIORITIES Rich Hillman of Carlisle was reelected as Arkansas Farm Bureau’s president and Mike Freeze was reelected vice president Dec. 3 at Farm Bureau’s 86th Annual Convention, held virtually and through a live meeting of the board at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

Delegates also elected seven other board members during the session and set the organization’s policy priorities for 2021.

Rich Hillman Hillman, 57, was elected president last year, after serving 11 years as Farm Bureau’s vice president. Hillman is Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 11th president since its creation in 1935. He is a sixth-generation farmer whose main crops are rice, soybeans and wheat. He and his wife Tina have two grown children, Collin and Caroline.

ArFB Annual Convention Coverage, page 2 • Kallem Hill Earns ArFB Leadership Award • ArFB Honors Top County and Women Leaders

“I am once again humbled and honored to be chosen to lead Arkansas Farm Bureau,” Hillman said. “Arkansas farmers and ranchers are critical to this state and our country and that’s only become more evident during this challenging year. I look forward to working on their behalf for a better, brighter future.”

Mike Freeze, 68, of Little Rock begins his second term as vice president. He operates a fish farm in Keo. He and his wife Betty have two grown daughters, Rachael and Kelly.

“It’s a huge honor. We’re all in this together, and we all have a lot of the same issues,” Freeze said. “Our memberdefined policy is what’s so important. It serves as a map or guideline for us to get change done to get our farms Mike Freeze more profitable and to keep our environment clean. It’s good to have a road map.”

Board action resulted in the reelection of Dan Wright of Waldron as Secretary/ Treasurer. Wright, 60, raises poultry and grows hay. He and his wife, Belinda, have two grown children, Dustin and Megan. They have five grandchildren.

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ArFB Women’s Leardship and YF&R Committees Make Food Bank Donations, page 3

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ArFB ELECTS LEADERS

KALLEM HILL EARNS ArFB LEADE Kallem Hill of Oppelo was announced Dec. 3 as winner of the 2020 Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award from the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation. The award announcement came during the organization’s 86th annual state convention held remotely from the Hot Springs Convention Center.

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The voting delegates re-elected seven board members to new two-year terms. They include: Caleb Plyler, Hope; Joe Christian, Jonesboro; Rusty Smith, Des Arc; Jeremy Miller, Huntsville; Tom Jones of Pottsville; Terry Dabbs of Stuttgart; and Wright.

Also elected was a new board Dan Wright member, Jack Evans of Carlisle.

Evans grows rice and soybeans.

Voting delegates also addressed a range of state and federal policy issues, including support for reinstatement of a state meat inspection under the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and funding for the program; resources for broadband access to underserved and unserved areas; improvements to the Levee and Drainage Board structure in order to ensure efficient operation and to maintain the integrity of the overall systems; expansion of the state lemon law to cover additional farm vehicles; and various forestry and tax-related issues.

Hill once made a living watching grass grow… literally. Like his grandparents before him, he was a sod farmer on land scattered at the base of Petit Jean Mountain between Oppelo and Perry.

He saw the opportunity to convert it all to poultry houses and now has 19 chicken houses where he raises broilers. He also

ArFB HONORS TOP COUNTY AND

Arkansas Farm Bureau announced its major county and women’s leadership award winners at its 86th Annual Convention. The event was conducted virtually Dec. 3 from the Hot Springs Convention Center.

The 2020 President’s Award winner for the top Farm Bureau county went to Stone County Farm Bureau. Larry Smith serves as county president. Despite the pandemic, Stone County Farm Bureau remained active in fulfilling the Farm Bureau mission of agricultural advocacy and demonstrated exemplary volunteer service in all 10 Gold Star program areas.

The Women’s Leadership Committee (WLC) from Scott County earned the Outstanding County Women’s Program award for 2020.

Regina Oliver is committee chair.

Newly elected ArFB Board Member Jack Evans, right, receives his board pin from ArFB President Rich Hillman.

This year’s winning committee didn’t let Covid-19 keep it from educating students in its county. The committee turned a field trip into a live-streaming video adventure, Scott County WLC brought the annual Farm Day to students through pre-recorded videos of the demonstration stations they would have attended in person, promoted Ag Week with “7 Days of Exploring Agriculture Through Students’ Eyes” and used the Read Across America campaign to talk to students about

ArFB RECOGNIZED BY AMERICAN

Arkansas Farm Bureau received State Awards of Excellence in all four categories of the American Farm Bureau’s annual awards program.

The organization received commendation for its work in Advocacy, Engagement & Outreach, Leadership & Business Development and Membership Value.

Arkanasas 4H | Last week, ArFB Education Coordinator Jason Kaufman presented leather bags to the Arkansas 4H State Officer Team.

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A total of 22 states earned recognition in all four categories.

“We are pleased that the work we perform on behalf of our county Farm Bureau members has been recognized by the American Farm Bureau,” said Warren Carter, Executive Vice

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

ERSHIP AWARD

serves as associate pastor at the First Baptist Church of Oppelo.

His farming success and leadership in Farm Bureau and his community landed him the award, which honors the memory of the late Arkansas Farm Bureau president Stanley E. Reed (20032008), who died in a July 2011 automobile accident. It’s awarded to an active member, 36 to 45 years old, for outstanding leadership within their county Farm Bureau and community. It’s intended to honor a county leader who has demonstrated the leadership qualities that were evident in Stanley Reed’s life and will help lead Farm Bureau into the future.

Hill, 40, is president of Perry County Farm Bureau and has been active in Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee.

D WOMEN LEADERS agriculture.

Each year, Arkansas Farm Bureau honors the county WLC Committee that exhibits exemplary support of its county organization, activities and goals. Farm Bureau women help accomplish the organization’s mission by working with local schools and educating children about agriculture and where people get their food, fiber and fuel. From a variety of Ag in the Classroom activities to informing people about the safety and affordability of our food, the women of Farm Bureau enthusiastically represent the organization by telling the farming and ranching story.

Pat Schaefers of the Faulkner County Farm Bureau WLC received the Arkansas Farm Bureau Women’s Diamond Award. The award honors a county Farm Bureau woman leader whose volunteer efforts are above and beyond the norm.

Schaefers has spent four decades promoting agriculture. She has also served Pat Schaefers as chair of the State WLC. Whether in the classroom or hosting an event on her family farm, educating the public about agriculture has been her mission.

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President of Arkansas Farm Bureau. “Especially in a year when a public health pandemic forced us to readjust many of our efforts, it is obvious our staff works diligently to listen to the needs of our county membership and then work to address those needs. I am proud of our staff for their continued diligence and commitment to the organization.”

AFBF will announce winners of the Pinnacle Award and the New Horizons Award, which got to the stop state efforts in each membership category, at its virtual national convention in January.

Food Bank Donations | The ArFB Women’s Leadership Committee and the YF&R Committee partnered together to make $1,000 donations to each of the six food banks in Arkansas, through the Health and Wellness Program.

(From top) The Arkansas Foodbank, the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas, the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas, the River Valley Regional Food Bank, the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank and the Harvest Regional Food Bank.

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MARKET NEWS as of December 2, 2020 Contact Brandy Carroll 501-228-1268 brandy.carroll@arfb.com

Cattle Cattle futures have been supported this week by positive economic news and stronger stock markets both at home and abroad. Expectations for firm cash trade to develop this week and improving wholesale beef prices have also been supportive. Packer margins remain firm. Despite wide gains this week, February has not yet challenged resistance at $115.50.

January feeders surged to a new 3-month high on Tuesday, closing a downward gap charted in August between $142.97½ and $142.65.

However, follow-through buying has been limited as the market has now backed away from those highs.

Hogs Hog futures are under some pressure from seasonally large hog marketings, but strong economic indicators in the U.S. and around the world have provided support.

Manufacturing data coming out of China suggests that meat demand in that country will be strong. Their hog herd is recovering from the Swine Flu epidemic in 2018, but demand is expected to remain solid as the middle class grows. The February contract has traded to a new onemonth high, but needs to close above $69 to indicate further gains are possible.

Corn Corn futures charts are beginning to look toppy. Both current crop March and new crop December charted 4

bearish key reversals on Monday and have seen follow-through selling develop. March violated their longrunning uptrend drawn off the August low. A close for March below $4.15 would likely spark additional selling, but that support has held so far, despite the marking briefly trading to $4.14½ on Wednesday before closing at the top of the day’s trading range. There has been little news on the export front, and beneficial weather in South America has improved the crop prospects in growing regions there. Additional Chinese demand could support the market if/when it materializes.

Soybeans Soybean futures have also been under pressure this week and are likewise looking like a top has been charted for the time being. The issues are the same as those in corn.

The weather in South America is favorable at the moment, improving prospects for a good crop and more competition for export markets.

There hasn’t been much activity in the export markets to really fuel the bull market, and we are seeing that bullishness wane. Technically, January has been trading at fouryear highs but continually failed at the $12 level before charting a bearish reversal on Monday. A close below $11.50 would likely spark additional selling.

January futures hit at a new 4-year high this week at $11.78¼. Deferred contracts are also trending sharply higher, but over $1 discount to current crop contracts, as these higher prices will certainly impact farmer planting decisions this spring.

Wheat Wheat futures topped a few weeks before corn and soybeans, but selling pressure had been limited as strength in other commodities helped to support wheat futures,

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too. However, March charted a huge bearish reversal on Monday and will likely see renewed weakness without that carryover support. There are some indications of dryness in the southern plains, but it is way too early in the growing season to provide much support.

Cotton Cotton futures will undoubtedly be impacted by carryover weakness from the grain and oilseed markets.

We have seen accelerated selling this week, but the technical signals in cotton aren’t quite as negative just yet. Some of the bearishness taking over the market has been overcome by continued strength in the stock market and the lower dollar, which plunged to a new 2½ year low this week. USDA says 84% of the crop is now harvested, up from 77% last week and the five-year average of 79%. There is still a lot of skepticism about USDA’s November production report. USDA raised production by 40,000 bales while the industry was expecting a cut of nearly half a million bales, and many private analysts believe a downward revision will be necessary in the January annual report.

Rice January rice futures found resistance at $12.70 this week. The chart doesn’t look as bearish as other grain and oilseed charts, but it does look like rice put in the high in early October. The market looks to be building support at $12.40, but a close below that support could result in additional selling pressure and opening up the possibility of a retest of the spike lows of $12.15 and $12.05.

EDITOR Ashley Wallace ashley.wallace@arfb.com