Farm Bureau Press for May 3

MAY 3, 2019 • VOLUME 22 • ISSUE 9

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 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.

Calling all upcoming high school juniors and seniors! ArFB’s Ag Youth Leadership Seminar is a chance at an up-close look at the agriculture industry in Arkansas. This experience will give an in-depth look into agricultural degrees and careers, as well as an introduction to the policy development process and issues affecting agriculture and rural Arkansas. Find more information at http://bit.ly/2VaITkv or email amanda.williams@arfb.com. The deadline to apply for this unique and exciting experience is May 24.

Honorary State FFA Degree | Each year, at the Arkansas FFA State Convention, those who have made outstanding contributions to Arkansas FFA are honored with an Honorary State FFA Degree. This year’s honorees include (from left) Donnette Spann, Arkansas Beef Council promotion director, Caleb Plyler, ArFB state board member, and Amanda Williams, ArFB Education and Foundation coordinator.

FARM

POLICY

SU M MIT 2019

ArFB 2019 Farm Policy Summit, page 2.

ArFB Public Relation’s Team New Hires, page 3.

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

2019 FARM POLICY SUMMIT The 2019 Farm Policy Summit featured an impressive list of experts and speakers, including Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin and Congressmen Bruce Westerman, French Hill, Steve Womack and Rick Crawford. Others included Gregg Doud, chief agricultural trade negotiator with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, along with representatives from the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, the National Council of Agriculture Employers, the USDA and the USEPA. The summit provided Arkansas farmers and ranchers with the opportunity to hear directly from their representatives in Congress and federal officials on issues affecting the state’s largest industry, including trade policy, crop prices, water management, regulations and farm labor. Two panel discussions were held, one on infrastructure in Arkansas and another recapping the latest legislative session.

Ambassador Gregg Doud, USTR

Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin

Rep. Bruce Westerman

Legislative Panel Rep. David Hillman, Rep. DeAnne Vaught and Sen. Mathew Pitsch

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Rep. Rick Crawford

Danielle Beck, NCBA

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

Under Secretary Greg Ibach, USDA

ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU TAPS WALLACE, MAGDEFRAU FOR PR ROLES Arkansas Farm Bureau has promoted Ashley Wallace to the role of social media specialist and hired Matthew Magdefrau as visual production specialist.

Wallace previously served as graphic design specialist in the Production Hub at Arkansas Farm Bureau, providing creative design and graphics for the company, and assisting with print production projects.

Prior to joining Arkansas Farm Bureau, she spent seven years at the Arkansas Press Association, the state’s newspaper trade association, first as graphic designer and later as director of creative services.

Wallace also worked at Thoma Thoma, a Little Rock advertising agency, and with the Federal Highway Administration. She earned a degree in graphic design from UCA in 2011 and has completed advanced training at the Institute of Newspaper Technology. In her new role, she will oversee all of Arkansas Farm Bureau’s social media channels and continue to provide graphic design support for digital and print media.

Matthew Magdefrau previously served as a public relations intern with Arkansas Farm Bureau in the summer and fall of 2018, helping to produce and edit numerous videos for the Public Relations Department.

In his new role, he will continue to assist with video production, while also supporting the Production Hub team on various projects.

Engineering Award | Evan Teague, Arkansas Farm Bureau vice president of Commodity & Regulatory Affairs, was inducted into the Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineering during a special awards banquet held in Fayetteville April 12. Membership recognizes graduates of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Arkansas for “sustained and outstanding contribution to the civil engineering profession.” This select group provides student body scholarships and contributes to the recruitment of new tenure-track faculty within the UA Department of Civil Engineering.

Magdefrau graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in May of 2018 with a degree in digital filmmaking.

“Our PR team is dedicated to helping us tell the stories of our state’s farmers and ranchers and to sharing news about our state’s largest industry,” said Warren Carter, Arkansas Farm Bureau executive vice president. “We believe social media and video are critical to these efforts, and that’s why we’re excited to have Ashley and Matthew on board. Their skills and talents are exactly what we need to help us reach new and broader audiences.”

Farm Bureau Book Scholarship Recipient | Jennifer Estes, a student at Phillips County Community College University of Arkansas, receives $1,000 a year with the scholarhsip. She is pictured with Phillps County Farm Bureau Agency Manager Mike Fielder.

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

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MARKET NEWS as of May 1, 2019 Contact Brandy Carroll 501-228-1268 brandy.carroll@arfb.com

Rice Rice planting continues at a slow pace. Nationwide, 38% of the crop is in the ground, compared with a 5-year average of 57%. In Arkansas, 34% was planted as of April 28, with a 5-year average of 65%. Farmers likely made some good progress before the rain moved in on Wednesday this week. Rice futures continue to see weakness carryover from other commodity markets. Exports and shipments have been running at a respectable pace, with Mexico, Haiti, Japan and Colombia active buyers. July is attempting to build on support at Monday’s low of $10.33 and will likely find resistance between $10.70 and $10.80. Volume has been active as traders roll out of expiring May contracts and into July, but will likely slow down as that process is complete.

Corn Corn futures are now attempting to build on support at last week’s contract low of $3.42 ¼, for May, and $3.71 ¾ for December.

The fundamentals are still overwhelmingly negative but are well known at this point. Farmers are still projected to plant 92.5 million acres of corn this year, and carryout is expected to be over 2 billion bushels from the ‘18/’19 marketing year. The export outlook remains weak, and export sales commitments are currently down 41.7% from this date a year ago. The Brazil crop 4

is likely to be large and will add further competition in the global marketplace. The corn crop is now 15% planted nationwide, compared with a 5-year average of 27%. The forecast for the Upper Corn Belt is not favorable for rapid progress, with many forecasters still calling for cooler, wetter than average conditions. So far, it’s been too early for this to be a supportive factor, but if the weather doesn’t improve soon, we will start to consider the possibility of corn acres rolling into soybeans.

Soybeans Soybean futures have continued to sell-off over the past week, with November now having no support above the contract low of $8.64 ¾.

The market is technically oversold, but there is also no indication the market will bottom before retesting those contract lows. Sales commitments are behind the pace needed to reach the USDA projected export total for ‘18/’19. We could see further downward revisions in that export total, with ending stocks creeping even higher than the 895 million bushels currently forecast.

Soybean farmers desperately need to see a positive resolution to the trade dispute with China, and they need it sooner rather than later. As mentioned above, it is still early for the weather to impact the market.

For soybeans, though, the cool, wet spring delaying corn plantings could be a negative if it means corn acres change into soybean acres.

Cotton Cotton futures continue to fare better than most of the other markets, as the market is chopping along mostly sideways. Cotton isn’t yet seeing the same planting delays as other crops, with 11% of the crop planted, compared to a 5-year average of 13%. Slow progress in the Mid-South

A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

and Deep South is being offset by progress in the West, and beneficial rains in West Texas could limit the upside potential as the acreage there gets off to a favorable start. Weekly exports of 239,000 bales for ‘18/’19 last week provided some support, especially since China was a buyer.

Cotton farmers need a positive resolution to the trade dispute between the U.S. and China soon.

Support has come from weakness in the U.S. dollar. December has support at 75.5 cents.

Arkansas Cattle Inventory Live cattle futures plunged lower last week in reaction to the monthly Cattle on Feed report showing an inventory up 2% from the year ago total, and the highest April 1 inventory since 1996. Placements were up 5% from a year ago.

Futures have clearly topped, but the downside is unclear given futures’ $11-12 discount to cash. June has chart support around the $113 level.

Hog futures have moved off contract highs and retraced a portion of the spring rally. June has support at $86.25. October has support at $82.07 ½. Negative packer margins and weakness in wholesale pork prices will limit rebound possibilities for now. The effect of the African Swine Flu epidemic in China is not clear at this time. The impact to their production has been estimated to be as high as 200 million head, which is over three times the size of the entire U.S. herd. If that comes to pass, the impact on the U.S. market will be huge.

EDITOR Ashley Wallace ashley.wallace@arfb.com