February 21, 2020
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Rise in farm income USDA foresees profits to be near average in 2020
AGRINEWS PHOTO/MARTHA BLUM
Lynn Barker looks over issues of Illinois AgriNews. Barker recently retired as publisher of Illinois AgriNews and Indiana AgriNews after a 42-year career.
By Tom C. Doran
Reflecting on 42 years at AgriNews
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
Barker retires as newspaper chief By Martha Blum
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
LA SALLE, Ill. — The words upstart, advertising and agriculture intrigued Lynn Barker to apply for a job at AgriNews that resulted in a nearly 42-year career with the company. Barker recently retired as publisher of Illinois AgriNews and Indiana AgriNews, a position he held for 24 years. The Illinois State University graduate started as an advertising representative and held the position of national advertising manager prior to becoming the newpapers’ publisher. As a student at ISU, the native of Beardstown didn’t plan to spend his entire career involved in the agricultural industry. Barker originally studied political science in college with the goal to pursue a career as a lawyer. “My parents were educators, my dad was the principal at the grade school and my mom was a grade school teacher,” Barker said. “But probably half of my class was related to farming.” Barker’s closest connection to farming was the summer he spent working on a Christmas tree farm. “My job was trimming Christmas trees with a machete,” he said. “We wore shin and toe guards for protection.” See BARKER, Page A4
SEE SECTION B
INSIDE
Digging into industrial hemp agronomics A6 New ads address common myths about beef B5 Market awaits Chinese demand to show up C8 AgriTrucker B3 Antiques B7
Farms For Sale C1 Health B6
Auction Calendar B1
Livestock B4
Business C6
Senior News B6
Calendar B2
Opinion C5
Classifieds C2
Weather A6
Vol. 42 No. 21
CONTACT AGRINEWS: 800-426-9438
AGRINEWS PHOTO/JAMES HENRY
Framed by the new Goodyear Optitorque tire, farmers and agricultural sales professionals discuss the variety of products in the Titan International Inc. exhibit at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky.
Selling on the farm Ag sales professionals share experiences By James Henry
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — Agricultural sales professionals shared their tricks of the trade at the Young Farmers and Ag Professionals Conference in Noblesville.
The panel that answered questions consisted of Jeff Demerly, owner of Demerly Ag Plus; Eric Farrand, vice president of global sales for United Animal Health; Marv Ulmet, salesman at Bane-Welker Equipment; and Shari Westerfeld, vice president for the U.S. pork business at Zoetis.
we like the people we are doing business with, than we uniquely try to find those things where we have common ground Farrand together to make those decisions.” Farrand: “The livestock side is probably drastically different than the crop side. In the pork industry, we have 175 entities that make up 90% of the pork industry. On the poultry side, 10 entities make up 90% of the poultry industry. So, we know who those people are, and they know who we are. We have pretty connected salespeople that have done a lot of networking already. It’s really about being relevant. “The dairy industry is where the pork industry was 50 years ago, where relationships can be built with consultants, with veterinarians that currently hold that relationship. If we can bring value to those consultants that are working with the farms, then we can be relevant by working in that way.”
See INCOME, Page A4
Preparing for National FFA Week By Ashley Langreck
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
Ulmet: “There is a reason why I’m a Farm Bureau member. There is a reason why I’m a county president. I’ve always been an Ulmet advocate for agriculture. Many years ago, I had an older gentleman come up to me at the state fair and he says, ‘What do you do for Farm Bureau?’ I said, ‘Well, I pay my membership.’ That’s when I found out how much more there was to it. “Networking on the state and local levels, I’ve been able to meet several farmers and producers. It’s all about networking. This is a face-to-face business. You want to be able to trust and be around the people in your community.” Demerly: “You’ve heard of the popsicle and Eskimo theory in sales? You’ve got to believe that you have the best popsicle. That’s where it starts. It starts with your business model and who you are. I believe in that.
INDIANAPOLIS — National FFA Week will be held Feb. 22-29 this year, and FFA members are busy preparing for the festivities. Nathan Fairchild, the 20192020 Indiana FFA state southern region vice president, said that one of the things he and his fellow teammates are most looking forward to during FFA Week is the Give FFA Day on Fairchild Tuesday, Feb. 25. “It’s like an online pep rally that focuses on the spirit of giving in FFA,” he said. Fairchild said that when individuals make an investment in the FFA organization, they are making a long-term impact on the FFA. Fairchild said the officers will be promoting the Give FFA Day quite a bit and also will be doing a lot of interacting on social media during National FFA Week, including a social media takeover, where a different state officer runs the various social media accounts each day of the week.
See SALES, Page A4
See FFA, Page A2
How do you communicate with farmers? Westerfeld: “Agriculture, in general, is becoming more consolidated, decision-makers and those who surround those deciWesterfeld sion-makers. So, how I look at it is the networking side, understanding who has maybe relationships with those agricultural professionals to where we can start to understand how we can build that relationship, as well. “Understanding about the business, so if we do cold calls, that we don’t go in say, ‘Tell me about your business.’ So, that we go in more with a better understanding of, ‘Hey, I’ve seen this or that about your business.’ Maybe there are unique things about that person’s business that you want to bring up in those initial discussions to try to find that common ground. “In agriculture, probably more than any other profession really out there, a lot of business is still based on we want to do business with people. So, if
WASHINGTON — Farm sector profits are forecast to be near average in 2020. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service projects net farm income for this year to increase by $3.1 billion, or 3.3%, to $96.7 billion nationwide. In inflation-adjusted terms, net farm income in 2020 would be 30.5% below its peak of $139.1 billion in 2013, but 5.4% above its 2000-2018 average at $91.7 billion. Net cash farm income is forecast to decrease by $10.9 billion, or 9%, to $109.6 billion. Inflation-adjusted net cash farm income, if realized, would be 0.6% below its 2000-2018 average at $110.2 billion. Net cash farm income encompasses cash receipts from farming, as well as farm-related income, including government payments, minus cash expenses. It does not include non-cash items — changes in inventories, economic depreciation and gross imputed rental income of operator dwellings and so forth — reflected in the net farm income measure above. The divergence between the two measures in the 2020 forecasts is largely caused by how net sales from inventories are treated. Net cash farm income records income in the year the sale occurred, while net farm income counts it in the year the production occurred.