+2.0 BU./A. ADVANTAGE vs. industry Roundup Ready 2 Xtend ® varieties in 12,588 head-to-head comparisons. *
October 11, 2019
www.agrinews-pubs.com
*Beck’s Roundup Ready 2 Xtend varieties versus Pioneer, Asgrow, and Syngenta Roundup Ready 2 Xtend varieties. Includes data from farmer plots, Beck’s research, and third-party data. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® is a trademark of the Bayer Group.
Hemp harvest season
Bullish surprise Year-end stocks lower than expected
Production questions answered
By Tom C. Doran
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
MINNEAPOLIS — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s quarterly stocks report provided a rare bullish surprise for the corn and soybean markets. The end-of-the-marketingyear supplies were lower than the average pre-report trade guesses, moving corn and soybean prices up. Brian Hoops, Midwest Market Solutions president, dissected the Sept. 30 numbers from the grain stocks and the small grains annual reports in a Minneapolis Grain Exchangehosted teleconference. Hoops
One move of note in the quarterly stocks report was a revision in the 2018-2019 soybean crop. “The USDA gives us a final production number each year in January. However, they do revise that number from time to time, and we had a revision of the 2018-2019 soybean crop. They revised it to 116 million bushels less than last January at 4.428 billion bushels. “The previous number was 4.544 billion bushels, so it is a pretty major revision as we don’t have quite as much inventory on hand, and you will find that from time to time when we do these stocks inventory numbers and that’s what USDA showed us. The stocks numbers were much tighter than expected.” What was the big surprise in the quarterly stocks corn number? “The 2.114 billion bushels stocks on hand is over 315 million bushels less than the average trade guess, and this would be the largest miss by the trade in history going back to my data base in 1990. “Normally, corn ending stocks will be within a range of about 50 million to maybe 100 million bushels different than what the trade expected. See SURPRISE, Page A2
SEE SECTION B
INSIDE
Dairy designs with cow comfort in mind A4 Museum offers memorable lessons B4 ATV safeguards reduce accident risk D1 AgriTrucker D1
Farms For Sale C1
Auction Calendar B1
From The Barns D3 From The Fields A8
Business D7
Lifestyle C6
Calendar B7
Livestock D2
Classifieds C3
Opinion D6
Fall Getaway B4
Weather A6 Vol. 42 No. 33
CONTACT AGRINEWS: 800-426-9438
By Tom C. Doran
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
AGRINEWS PHOTOS/MARTHA BLUM
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue talks with Kaila Wussow, while holding the halter of her Jersey cow Naomi. The 7-year-old cow, Wussow says, is the queen of the barn. “Naomi loves going to shows and people interacting,” Wussow says. “She has won multiple shows from when she was a calf to now as a cow.”
‘Share our story’ Perdue attends World Dairy Expo By Martha Blum
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
MADISON, Wis. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is interested in the prosperity and livelihood of U.S. farmers. “We want to hear from you because you can tell the story better than anyone can,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “That’s why it’s so important you come to D.C. and talk to your policy makers because you bring an authenticity that I cannot do.” Perdue spoke during a Stakeholder Townhall event on the opening day of the World Dairy Expo. “Over the past year, our farmers have been hit with a triple whammy — low prices, difficult weather and trade issues,” said Brad Pfaff, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection secretary-designee. “I think it’s extremely important to share our story about what we’re hoping to do and how we see our role in this country for providing healthy, safe and nutritious food.” Perdue encouraged farmers talk about their farming practices. “We let the other side through social media take the microphone away from us,” he said. “Farmers are fairly private, independent kind of guys that want to sit behind the
Sonny Perdue (center) stops at the John Deere booth during his visit to the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, to learn about the latest technology in forage harvesters. The secretary of agriculture answered questions from dairymen during a Stakeholder Townhall event prior to walking around the grounds of the five-day event to meet with company representatives and cattle exhibitors. farm gate and do their job to produce the best, wholesome, safe and nutritious food in the world at a lower cost than anywhere in the world.” Far mers should engage consumers in an active way, Perdue said. “We have nothing to be ashamed about, so we have to tell that story transparently,” he said. “You have a great story to tell, and you’ve got to tell that story loudly and proudly.” Pfaff said connecting consumers to farmers is the No. 1 issue that he is focused on. “We have a wonderful story to tell, and we also need to recog-
nize consumers seek choices,” he said. “I want to work with you to make sure products that come from our farm fields and dairy barns meet the expectations our consumers look for.” Perdue noted that farmers are the original environmentalists. “You make a living off the land, so most people are not out there trying to destroy the water or air quality,” he said. “We have work to do on soil health so we can be carbon sinks rather than carbon emitters.” See STORY, Page A5
ROSEVILLE, Ill. — Seed selection, corn earworm and fertilizer are among the issues facing Illinois hemp farmers. Those topics and others were discussed at recent field day presented by Andy Huston, American Hemp Research CEO, along with the University of Illinois Extension. A west-central Illinois farmer, Huston has been on the ground-floor of industrial hemp production. He and his brother, Frank, are Huston sixth-generation corn and soybean farmers and in their second year of growing hemp on their Warren County farm. The first year was via a research permit with Western Illinois University. Industrial hemp production became legal in Illinois this year and is licensed by the state agriculture department. Hemp can be grown provided the plants carry no more than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol, the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis. If the plants test high or “hot,” they are destroyed. See HEMP, Page A2
Ag Economy Barometer July 2019
153
Aug. 2019
124
Sept. 2019
121
Optimism declines in September By Erica Quinlan
Q&A: SONNY PERDUE
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
‘Better days ahead’ for dairy farms
What are you telling dairy farmers that are tired of being patient waiting for the USMCA to pass?
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University’s Ag Economy Barometer fell three points from August to September, indicating a slight dip in producer optimism. Although the overall change was minor, farmers were significantly more pessimistic about current conditions on the farm. “You can see that there was a pretty sharp drop in the Index of Current Conditions,” said Jim Mintert, director of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. “It fell to a reading of 100 from 122 a month earlier, while the Index of Future Expectations actually rose a little bit from 125 to 131 in September.” Farmers became less willing and less optimistic about making large investments in their farm operations in September. The reading on the Farm Capital Investment Index fell to 47 from 56 a month earlier, sharply below the reading of 67 in July. “Farmers became a little less optimistic about farmland values on this survey,” Mintert said.
See DAIRY, Page A5
See OPTIMISM, Page A5
By Martha Blum
“The 2018 farm bill is much different than the 2014 farm bill for dairy because it provides many more protections. We see milk prices increasing, and we see the risk management in the dairy sector improving. There has been economic stress in the dairy industry, but we believe there are better days ahead.”
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
MADISON, Wis. —Increasing trade with other countries is important to U.S. farmers. “Trade is the No. 1 issue I hear in the country,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “Labor is the No. 2 issue, and regulation is No. 3.” Perdue traveled to Wisconsin to attend the opening day of the World Dairy Expo. “I hear about trade because it is important,” he said. “Isn’t it wonderful to be in a country that’s so blessed that we have to depend on foreign markets because of productivity rather than being food dependent like we were on oil at one point in time.” Perdue answered the following questions during his visit to the World Dairy Expo.
to help keep small family-run dairies in business? “That’s been tried before, and I don’t think that’s the way we need to go in America. We tried farm programs in the past like set-aside programs and dairy buyouts. The industry has to control its balance of supply and demand.”
Would you support a national milk supply management system
What is your message to dairy farmers?
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue answers questions at World Dairy Expo.
What is the potential for exports of cheese? “The United States-MexicoCanada Agreement is critically and vitally important for the dairy industry, as well as all of agriculture. It is a better agreement than the original NAFTA, and I’m trusting the speaker will bring it to the floor of the House very quickly.”