Farm Bureau Press for April 5

MARCH 22, 2019 • VOLUME 22 • ISSUE 6

Farm Bureau Press A PEEK INSIDE

STAY IN THE KNOW Arkansas Rural Development Conference, the state’s annual event geared toward anyone interested in improving the quality of life in Arkansas’ rural communities is hosted by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) Division of Rural Services. This year’s conference will be held May 14-16 at the Hot Springs Convention Center. Visit http://bit.ly/ArkRuralDev for more information.

The ArFB Foundation is teaming up with the Arkansas 4-H Foundation this year for the 2019 ArFB Foundation Trap Shoot. The trap shoot will be held June 7 at the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation Shooting Sports Complex in Jacksonville. email amanda.williams@arfb.com for more information.

Marvin Vines Memorial Scholarship, page 2.

Nebraska Disaster Relief Fund, page 2.

Dr. Charles Looney ‘s mission is to improve the quality of Arkansas beef cattle through the use of technology, in particular artificial insemination.

Hear more about Dr. Looney’s work and how he is meeting with Arkansas cattlemen to encourage their use of A.I. by visiting http://bit.ly/DrLooney.

Moms on the Farm, page 3.

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

FIELDWATCH & CROPCHECK A new online pilot program known as CropCheck is being offered in partnership between FieldWatch and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. In the latest Arkansas AgCast Victor Ford, Interim Associate Director for Agriculture and Natural Resources with the Division of Agriculture, explains FieldWatch and describes how the CropCheck program could help farmers prevent damage to their neighbor’s crops caused by pesticide application. Learn more by visiting http:// bit.ly/FieldWatchandCropCheck.

MARVIN VINES MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP Clayton Holderfield of Cabot (Lonoke County) is the 2019 recipient of Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Marvin Vines Memorial Scholarship. The award was announced at Arkansas State University’s Department of Media Student Honors Banquet in Jonesboro April 4.

Holderfield is the son of Mike and Tammie Mathis. He plans to graduate in December with a degree in Creative Media Production.

Arkansas Farm Bureau endows the scholarship, which honors the memory of Marvin Vines, farm director for more than 25 years at Little Rock radio station KAAY. Since 1980, it’s been awarded annually to a broadcast major at A-State.

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Following graduation, Holderfield hopes to pursue a career in live sports production. He has produced live pregame shows for home football games, run camera for a number of football and volleyball games, and directed production of the 2018 Sunbelt Conference Indoor Track and Field championships for ESPN3. He now directs production of all football games that also air on ESPN3.

“I am very grateful to receive this scholarship,” Holderfield said. “It will certainly help me complete my degree this fall and as I begin pursuit of a career in sports production. I appreciate Arkansas Farm Bureau supporting creative media students and am honored to be selected this year.”

NEBRASKA DISASTER RELIEF FUND Nebraska Farm Bureau established a Disaster Relief Fund at the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation to provide emergency aid to Nebraska farmers, ranchers and rural communities affected by recent storms and flooding. The Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit. Any donations made to the fund are

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

Johnson County Farm Bureau Board honored Mr. Lloyd Reynolds (front center in khaki jacket) March 28 for his decades of service. At age 93, he has served on the county board for “all of his adult life.”

MOMS ON THE FARM

tax-deductible.

One hundred percent of the donations will be distributed to Nebraska farmers, ranchers and rural communities affected by the disasters.

If you would like to make a donation, visit https://www.nefb.org/get-involved/disaster-assistance.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is hosting its 10th Moms on the Farm tour April 29 in Conway.

“We want to give these ladies a chance to put faces and places behind the food they buy in the grocery store,” said Janeal Yancey, a meat scientist with the Division of Agriculture. “Over 95 percent of beef farms are family owned and I want to give people a chance to meet some of those families and learn about how hard they work to raise the animals that go into our food supply.”

This will be the program’s first tour in central Arkansas, and it will showcase two beef farms and one dairy farm in the area.

“At the farms, we will see where the cows are milked, how they spend most of their days, what they eat, and we will get to see the baby calves,” Yancey said. “Attendees will have the chance to ask any questions they may have about beef and milk production.”

The tour will begin at the Faulkner County Extension Office at 8:30 a.m. Attendees will return to the extension office for ice cream and a question and answer wrap up.

Lunch will be provided.

There is no cost, but space is limited. Those interested should contact Yancey at jws09@uark.edu or 870-6884247. The minimum age for participation is 14.

Sen. Blake Johnson’s senate bill 450 to create a new farm machinery quality assurance act, commonly known as a lemon law, was signed into law April 1 by Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

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MARKET NEWS as of March 21, 2019 Contact Brandy Carroll 501-228-1268 brandy.carroll@arfb.com

Soybeans A new wave of selling hit the soybean market last week, and several levels of chart support were violated on the way down. However, November has found support at $9.18 and the market is now working on building up from that level.

Impressive export sales are helping the market climb higher, with the weekly total coming in at 1.972 MMT, 1.7 MMT of which was sold to China.

USDA released two key reports March 29, and the market is working through the potential ramifications of both. The Stocks report, as expected, showed March 1 stocks up 29 percent from a year ago, to a total of 2.72 billion bushels. Soybeans stored on farms are up 49 percent from a year ago at 1.27 billion bushels. It remains to be seen, however, exactly how many bushels were destroyed by flooding throughout the mid-west since March 1.

The Prospective Plantings report was a little more favorable to soybeans. USDA says farmers reported their intentions to plant 84.6 million acres, down 5 percent, or 4.6 million acres, from the previous year. Arkansas farmers are planning to plant 3.1 million acres, down 180,000 from the previous year. Planting intentions are always subject to change, of course, and this year could see bigger shifts that normal. A cool, wet spring could push acres out of corn into soybeans.

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Corn Limit losses hit corn futures on Friday in reaction to the Prospective Plantings and Stocks report. While an increase in both corn acres and corn stocks weren’t entirely unexpected, both estimates were well above what traders and analysts had forecast.

March 1 corn stocks came in at 8.605 billion bushels, 270 million bushels above the average trade estimate.

Again, some of that could have been destroyed due to flooding, but that total is not yet known, and it may not be likely to have much of an impact on prices.

U.S. producers have reported their intentions to plant 92.8 million acres of corn, up 4 percent, or 3.66 million acres, from the previous year. That was above the highest pre-report estimates. Arkansas acres are forecast to be up 170,000 acres to a total of 830,000. That said, the cold, wet spring could push acres out of corn and back into soybeans if planting continues to be delayed.

USDA will begin to release crop progress reports for corn next week, and we will begin to see the impact the weather will have on acreage.

Cotton USDA surprised the cotton market with the Prospective Plantings report. According to the report, farmers reported intentions to plant 13.8 million acres of cotton, down from 300,000 acres, or 2 percent, the previous year. However, in February the National Cotton Council released their annual farmer survey, which revealed planting intentions of 14.5 million acres, up 2.9 percent over the previous year. In February at the Ag Outlook Forum, USDA projected 14.3 million. Farmers in Arkansas are still expected to increase acres to 580,000 in 2019.

Cotton has also benefitted from improved export sales. The past two weeks have seen sales of 219,000 and

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

322,100 bales of 2018-19 cotton, and 175,000 and 151,100 bales of 2019-20 cotton, respectively. China was a buyer this week, which was also encouraging. Strong shipment totals were also a positive for the market.

Techincally, May futures appear to be having a hard time moving above the 78 cent level, which has capped the market for 4 months.

Rice Rice futures look to have charted a top for the time being as selling has accelerated this week. May has taken out several levels of support after finding resistance at $11.27. The market could find some technical support between $10.20 and $10.30.

USDA’s Prospective Plantings report came in a bit higher than expected, with all rice plantings pegged at 2.87 million acres, up from the February projection of 2.7 million, and above trade expectations of 2.81 million acres. Arkansas farmers are expected to plant 1.401 million acres, 1.2 million of long grain and 200,000 acres of medium grain.

Cattle Live cattle futures appear to have topped for the time being. The March Cattle on Feed report pegged the feedlot inventory at 11.8 million head. That is up 0.7 percent from last year and well above the average trade expectations. Futures are down over $4 since the report was published. Nearby April also charted a double top at $130.45, suggesting the market has topped for the time being. June will have support at $118.

EDITOR Maddison Stewart Stone maddison.stone@arfb.com