Nam1 2018 02 27

AG Mag A look ahead Central Iowa

What the area agriculture community will be talking about this year: n Planting and prices n The 2018 farm bill n Local solar farm and wind farm projects A Publication of Shaw Media

Spring 2018

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ENERGY

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The 2018 forecast

AG Mag Central Iowa

What does the coming season have in store for local farmers? Much of the same, experts say.

Publisher & Advertising Manager Dan Goetz Managing Editor Abigail Pelzer Magazine Editor & Page Design Jeff Rogers Reporters & Photographers David Dolmage Alex Felker Mike Mendenhall Alex T. Paschal Jamee A. Pierson Rachel Rodgers Jeff Rogers Kayla Singletary Anthony Victor Reyes Published by News Publishing Co. 200 First Ave. East Newton, IA 50208 641-792-3121

COVER STORY PAGE 5

Articles and advertisements are the property of News Publishing Co. No portion of the Central Iowa Ag Mag may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Ad content is not the responsibility of News Publishing Co. The information in this magazine is believed to be accurate; however, News Publishing Co. cannot and does not guarantee its accuracy. News Publishing Co. cannot and will not be held liable for the quality or performance of goods and services provided by advertisers listed in any portion of this magazine.

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BACK IN THE FIELDS AGAIN

Soon, it will be planting season; experts forecast yet another year of high yields, low prices

BY JAMEE A. PIERSON AND RACHEL RODGERS For Central Iowa Ag Mag

B

arring big changes in production and demand, farmers are likely to see high yields and low market prices continuing into the 2018 season.

That follows a trend of record-high yields for corn and soybeans but lean margin years from depressed prices.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 2017 corn yields in Iowa were 202 bushels per acre, the second time Iowa’s average corn-for-grain yield has gone above the 200 bushels per acre mark, and the soybean crop yielded 58.5 bushels per acre.

At 10 million acres planted, Iowa saw the most planted acres to soybeans since 2006.

CONTINUED ON 64

AG Mag

5

4CONTINUED FROM 5 Corn and soybean prices are projected to be relatively similar to the past 3 years and lower than the 2007 through 2014 period when the projected price averaged $4.93 per bushel.

Planning numbers for farmers remain in the mid-$9 range for soybeans and mid-$3 range for corn, and fall delivery bids are near $3.60 per bushel for corn and $9.60 per bushel for soybeans.

Paul Hjortshoj, a lifelong farmer in Jasper and Marion counties, plans to continue on a rotation of half soybeans and half corn in 2018. He said in recent years he has been storing grains and selling them throughout the year, but prices haven’t been where he would like them to offload a large quantity.

“It probably depends more on the weather than anything else what we raise in 2019, and that is a guess,” Hjortshoj said.

“Right now, we are guessing what South America is going to do, because if their weather stays pretty good, they’ll have a bigger crop and we’ll have to deal with that.”

Lee Schulz, an agriculture economist at Iowa State University, said many issues surrounding crop markets the past few years are likely to repeat this year.

“Large crop supplies have been produced globally,” he said. “Crop demands have reached record levels, but crop stocks continue to build.”

In Iowa, corn stocks totaled 2.38 billion bushels, down 1 percent from 2016, and soybean stocks totaled 487 million bushels, up 6 percent.

Farmers have been able to break even or turn a small profit during the trend, though it’s critical farmers are prepared for another lean year by cutting costs and improving efficiency.

Profit margins will continue to be extremely tight, Iowa State University Extension Farm Management Specialist Steve Johnson said, adding that in order to come out ahead, farmers need to do a better job of managing costs, keeping records and marketing crops.

“We are heading into year five of extremely tight profit margins with large surpluses of corn and soybeans” Johnson said. “We’re in the fifth year of 7-year cycles of low commodity grain prices, and without a major weather event in a large growing area of the world, I don’t think it will change.”

Johnson said he does expect the livestock industry to benefit from the inexpensive corn and soybean prices. Also, he expects an increase in both pork and beef exports that will give a boost to livestock farmers.

Jamee A. Pierson/Central Iowa Ag Mag

Paul Hjorsthoj has farmed all his life in Jasper and Marion counties. He expects 2018 to be another year of bumper crops and steadily low crop prices. Hjorsthoj said he has been storing grains in recent years at a greater pace than he’s been selling them throughout the year. “Right now, we are guessing what South America is going to do, because if their weather stays pretty good, they’ll have a bigger crop and we’ll have to deal with that,” he said.

FARMERS FORUM What changes, if any, do you see in spring planting plans?

What do you expect grain and cattle prices to do in 2018?

“We are taking some marginal ground out of crop production and sheeting it down to pasture and we’ll run more cattle.” – Cole Vander Linden “I don’t expect to change our planting rotation, I think consistency is the best plan, otherwise you can get caught up chasing the markets.” – Dirk Van Wyk “I know there are guys that are leaving acres open for the possibility of switching to beans.

With prices, I think guys are going to plant more beans because they will not have as much input costs.” – Jeremy Terpstra “I don’t plan on making any changes to my planting plans. I will keep with a 50/50 rotation.” – Eric Siebrecht 6 Spring 2018

With Jamee A. Pierson of Central Iowa Ag Mag

“I don’t foresee much changing in the prices, but am optimistic they will go higher.” – Cole Vander Linden Cole Vander Linden

Dirk Van Wyk

“I expect the future grain markets to rise slightly, but no significant change unless there is a weather scare either here in the Midwest or in South America. I think cattle will continue to be steady.” – Dirk Van Wyk “Unless something happens as far as weather is concerned during the growing season, I don’t see much movement happening with grain anytime soon.”

– Jeremy Terpstra

Jeremy Terpstra

Eric Siebrecht

“I don’t think the grain prices will fluctuate much, unless we have delayed planting this spring or a widespread weather event this summer. If the U.S. produces another big corn and soybean crop, prices will go lower, since there is so much carryover. I believe the cattle market has a better chance of being more profitable than grain markets.” – Eric Siebrecht

A DIFFERENT KIND OF FARM

Iowa’s energy farms harvesting a growing state resource STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE MENDENHALL For Central Iowa Ag Mag

I

owa is sometimes called flyover country by those who don’t live here – much to the chagrin of many in the state. But for those who don’t go wheels down, the past two decades have added a new type of farm to the already great view.

Three-bladed white towers, and fields of blue panels have been added to the landscape. These energy farms have become an Iowa trademark as much as the fields of corn and soybeans.

In the Mitchell County seat of Osage, a 2,772-panel, 3.5-acre community solar project has been in operation for 18 months, and according to the director of the town’s municipal utility, Josh Byrnes, the solar farm is starting to

generate dividends.

Byrnes said Osage homeowners were not “knocking down the doors” to put solar on their rooftops when he took over Osage Municipal Utilities in February 2016, but customers were expecting OMU to add solar and other renewables to their energy portfolio. So he proposed the Voluntary Community Solar Program.

“Each community has its own culture climate,” Byrnes said. “If I was to go to Decorah, it has the most dense solar rooftop capacity per capita in Iowa. Each (community) is different in regards to its approach to renewable energy.”

The utility says the Solar Array, which was turned on at the end of 2016, produces a deliverable output of about

1,214,200 kilowatt hours annually. This energy will power an estimated 154 Osage homes.

The program is voluntary. OMU customers pay a one-time $250 solar capacity fee. Participating customers receive a production-related credit on their monthly utility bill for their share of the energy generated by the Solar Array. The production-related credit will be paid for a period of 20 years. The solar credit is $0.076 per kWh “It’s a good return on our investment.

If we sell out every single solar panel, then let’s build another,” Byrnes said.

“It’s better than just money sitting in the bank. To me, it’s just the right thing to do.”

CONTINUED ON 84

A small private solar installation powers the pastor’s residence at Bethany United Church of Christ in Baxter. According to Tyler Olson, president of Cedar Rapids-based SitGen Solar, solar farms and instillations are now in place in every Iowa county, a result of $160 million in investments by for-profit and residential entities in the past 6 years.

AG Mag

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4CONTINUED FROM 7 The Osage solar farm isn’t an anomaly.

Community, residential and commercial solar farms are beginning to pop up all over the state. Tyler Olson is president of SitGen Solar, a commercial solar panel design and installation firm in Cedar Rapids.

Olson said every Iowa county has solar installations, which have been growing annually. Olson is a former Democratic state representative from Cedar Rapids who closely follows statehouse policies that affect the solar industry. A state tax credit program for solar energy has been in place for 6 years, and, according to Olson, it is attributed to a combined $166 million in commercial, residential and agricultural solar installations.

But that number does not include developments installed by municipal utilities and nonprofit cooperatives like the one in Osage.

Although solar still has a long way to go before the industry catches up to the boom of wind power production in Iowa, Olson said, there are advantages to solar farms over wind turbines. With fewer or no moving parts, solar panels require less maintenance and are more accessible on a small scale. The initial investment also costs less – several hundred thousand dollars for a small solar farm compared to millions of dollars for a wind installation.

But wind energy is still king in Iowa’s renewable energy portfolio. MidAmerican Energy, Iowa’s largest utility com-

Wind turbines from a 120 megawatt wind farm near Laurel spin on a breezy day in February.

The RPAccess-own project sells power to Iowa utility MidAmerican Energy, which plans to deliver renewable energy to 90 percent of its customers by 2020.

8 Spring 2018

pany, has 23 wind farm projects across the state — the majority in western, central and north central Iowa — producing 4,048.2 megawatts of electricity. The company’s 24th wind farm will begin operation near North English in Poweshiek County this year.

MidAmerican announced plans in 2016 to invest $3.6 billion in what the company calls its Wind XI project.

According to MidAmerican Director of Corporate Communications Tina Hoffman, the project calls for adding up to 1,000 wind turbines and 2,000 megawatts of wind generation capacity in Iowa. The project is slated for completion in December 2019.

Coupled with that announcement, MidAmerican set its new goal as delivering 100 percent of its customers’ energy from renewable sources.

“MidAmerican anticipates that renewable energy generation will equate to more than 90 percent of its customers’ annual retail electricity usage by 2020,” Hoffman said.

Much of this wind generation will happen on Iowa farm fields. The company reportedly paid nearly $16 million in lease payments in 2017 to landowners who have wind turbines on their property. MidAmerican also paid $19.6 million in property tax payments related to wind energy last year.

But there is one complaint from some of Iowa’s private utility customers who employ residential solar power. A bill proposed during this legislative session would allow utilities such as MidAmerican and Alliant Energy to charge

residential solar customers at a different rate than a standard energy consumer. It would eliminate the requirement that energy companies take proposed rate changes to the Iowa Utilities Board.

Homeowners who produce their own solar energy are still connected to Iowa’s energy grid. During peak production, these residential solar panels create more energy than the home can use, and puts it back on the grid. Iowa utilities are required to credit homeowners at the retail rate for that excess energy.

The proposal in the Legislature could allow the energy companies to charge these solar users at a different rate for the power they do use from the grid.

Olson and others in Iowa’s solar industry worry this will give less incentive for people to invest in solar.

Despite possible legislative setbacks and a new Trump administration tariff on imported solar panels, Olson said the real innovation in the future of solar and wind farms is battery technology.

Olson believes that in the next 10 to 15 years, new battery technologies will allow people to efficiently store the power they generate from rooftop and municipal solar installations, as well as large wind farms. This could allow anyone to produce their own energy.

“It’s the next real change in how it’s produced and delivered,” Olsen said.

“The proliferation of renewables, along with the development of electric cars and innovations in battery technology, will lower the costs.”

Iowa’s Best Burger Café owner Scott Kennan recently had 640 solar panels installed at his business, and he said they have decreased the restaurant’s monthly energy bill to next to nothing. (Photo submitted)

Grab a bite, and some rays I

BY KAYLA SINGLETARY For Central Iowa Ag Mg

n addition to sporting a delicious menu, Iowa’s Best Burger Café is on Interstate 80 East Exit 173 is also energy efficient after recently adding more than 600 solar panels.

Café, gas station and campground owner Scott Kennan said the idea was a customer’s.

“A gentleman from Moxie Solar came in and had a hamburger last spring,” Kennan said. “While he was there, he asked me if I have ever thought about solar, and I asked him to work up the quote.”

It took several months to decide, Kennan said.

“I decided not to do it in my mind. It was a lot of money.”

But as the corporate year was ending, he started adding up what he had spent on energy costs the prior year.

He also called family and friends who live on the East and West coasts to see what their kilowatt-hour charge was.

“If we in the Midwest want to know what we will pay for things in the next 5 to 10 years, the current price of

Outlook is sunny at Iowa’s Best Burger Café after it installs solar panels

those items on the coasts are often a pretty good indicator,” Kennan said.

“The response was between 28 cents and 30 cents on each coast.”

So, he went for it.

Moxie Solar, a company in North Liberty, took 10 days to install and mount the 640 panels on the ground.

Every Iowa resident who installs a solar panel system qualifies for some level of income tax credit, Moxie Solar says. Tax credits can reduce your project costs by more than 45 percent because they are same-as-cash, and both federal and state tax credits are available for qualifying systems.

“It took another 60 days to get hooked up to the grid through Alliant Energy, where the solar panels were actually producing energy,” Kennan said.

Now with the panels installed, the business pays between 11 cents and 14 cents per month. With consideration of the life expectancy of the panels and equipment, the electrical savings should be around $684,000 over 25 years.

If the cost of electricity increases, so do the savings.

“The primary benefit of the solar panels is that my electrical energy bill is now virtually $0, aside from the monthly meter charge, which frees up a lot of revenue to put back into the business,” Kennan said.

He said he has been able to make improvements, including wages to help retain good help.

“Looking into the future, if electrical cars become more popular and viable for the public to use, I will likely install a charging station,” Kennan said. “What better option to offer fuel (electricity) that has no cost basis to me, the supplier?”

As a small business owner, Kennan said solar is the most viable alternative energy option. It won’t always work for everybody, he said, because of costs to install, space and relocation.

“It has no moving parts, minimal maintenance, and good return for the money,” Kennan said. “It is something each person should evaluate [whether] it’s a good option for them or not.”

AG Mag

9

STILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS Green Acres Unlimited, under new ownership, still lean and green

After selling Green Acres Unlimited in Prairie City to Available Material Handling earlier this year, founder John Lee was kept on staff to focus on sales. The company has sold about 2,200 hay feeders since it began in 2002. ABOVE: The message, “Can’t lock us out!!” is written on the facility’s wall because, Lee said, even cold weather cannot stop his workers from finishing their job. BELOW RIGHT: Lee speaks on the phone with a potential client Feb. 7 about a hay feeder.

ABOVE: Green Acres Unlimited employee Colton Lowe works the brake press.

Sheets of metal are bent to form bars that will be used to create products, from bunks to hay feeders. Since the company’s change in ownership, Green Acres has doubled its staff from four to eight people.

10 Spring 2018

FAR LEFT: Buckets full of the famous Green Acres Unlimited green sit in the painting area of the facility.

The distinctive color makes many of the company’s products recognizable around the area.

NEAR LEFT: A pile of cut bars sit in a bucket, ready for use in Green Acres’ various products.

CENTRAL IOWA AG MAG PHOTOS

BY ANTHONY VICTOR REYES

ABOVE: Lee talks with staff about production for the day as they prepare to showcase their products at this year’s Iowa Beef Expo. LEFT: Reg Holt (right), the new owner of Green Acres Unlimited, speaks with founder John Lee about the plans for the day at the facility in Prairie City, located at 100 N. West St. Lee said he had been developing a relationship with Holt, the president of Available Material Handling, since 2009.

LEFT: With country music playing in the background, sparks fly as Green Acres Unlimited employee Oscar Villanueva welds a bunk.

According to the company’s website, no animal, even a bull, can destroy the feeders it manufactures. ABOVE: From its fence line feed bunks to creep feeders, several of Green Acres Unlimited’s products sit in the snow outside the facility.

Green Acres Unlimited has sold an estimated 2,200 feeders since its beginning.

AG Mag 11

HE’S FOUND HIS WAY Grinnell grad plans to focus on local markets at Middle Way Farm on Highway 146

J

BY KAYLA SINGLETARY For Central Iowa Ag Mag

ordan Scheibel landed in Iowa in 2006 to attend Grinnell College.

Now, he’s firmly planted here.

Originally from rural Connecticut, Scheibel didn’t just earn a degree – in history – at Grinnell. He also became a leader of the student garden that was established in Miller Garden.

With that exprience under his belt, and with a love for agriculture, Scheibel began working full-time for Andy and Melissa Dunham at Grinnell Heritage Farm in April 2010.

His time there, Scheibel said, “introduced me to small-scale, organic agriculture, with all of its promises and challenges, and also brought me into contact with the vibrant alternative agriculture community in Iowa and the upper Midwest.”

In 2012, Scheibel started Middle Way Farm on Highway 146 north of Grinnell, on a third of an acre with a greenhouse and a wash and pack station.

“I leased the land, and I lease the use of several buildings and equipment,” Scheibel said.

Now, kicking into full gear this spring,

12 Spring 2018

Scheibel is focusing on local markets like Grinnell and Newton. He’s planning for a successful crop of fresh and organic produce in 2018.

The products are marketed directly to customers through Community Supported Agriculture shares, farmers markets, online buying clubs and cooperatives, restaurants, grocery stores, and through special events and bulk orders.

“My main business is community supported agriculture shares, and that’s a pretty common model,” Scheibel said.

“That means a weekly box of produce is delivered to you if you pre-pay in January.”

The items are then delivered from May through November.

“I also offer weekly newsletters with recipes, preparation and storing tips,” Scheibel said.

Middle Way Farm also sells its produce through the Iowa Co-op in Des Moines and at the Lemon Tree Tea House and Restaurant in Newton.

“This is my third year as a full-time farmer, and this year I want to work on profitability and buy-ability,” Scheibel said. “I also want to work on

Photos from middlewayfarm.com

Connecticut native and Iowa transplant Jordan Scheibel has owned and operated Middle Way Farm since 2012. There, he grows carrots, lettuce, zuchinni, peppers and garlic.

weed control and setting up a good system to control weeds, pests and diseases.”

Investments in equipment and improving techniques are other to-do items for 2018.

Produce items that Scheibel is most proud of are carrots, lettuce mix, zuchinni, peppers and garlic.

“The lettuce mix you buy at the store usually only lasts 7 days because it’s shipped from out of state, but my lettuce is so fresh, and it lasts for 2 weeks,” Scheibel said.

CONTINUED ON 134

4CONTINUED FROM 12 To check out Middle Way Farm, there will be plant sales for Earth Day, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day weekend.

“People are welcome to come out to the farm those Saturday mornings,” Scheibel said.

To check out more about the farm, visit middlewayfarm.com

RECIPES Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots 1 (3 pound) boneless chuck roast or beef shoulder, trimmed of excess fat 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped 3 cloves garlic , minced 1 (14.5 oz.) can beef broth 3/4 cup dry red wine (optional) 2 sprigs fresh thyme 2 sprigs fresh rosemary 1 bay leaf 2 pounds yukon gold potatoes from Middle Way Farm, cleaned then diced into 1 1/2-inch pieces 6 medium carrots from Middle Way Farm, peeled and chopped into 1 1/2-inch pieces Instructions Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season roast all over with salt and pepper, then add roast to pot and brown on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove roast to cutting board (or plate), add onions to pan and saute until they begin to brown, about 4 to 5 minutes, adding in garlic during last minute.

Return roast to pan, pour beef broth and optional red wine over roast.

Add thyme, rosemary and bay leaf to

broth. Bring to a simmer, then cover pot with lid and transfer to oven and cook 2 hours.

Remove from oven, add carrots and potatoes to pot and season with salt and pepper. Return to oven and cook 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer until roast and veggies are tender. Remove roast and shred or cut into large pieces, while removing fat, then return to pot.

Remove bay leaf and herb sprigs.

Serve warm.

Chicken Pepper Stir-Fry

1 each small green, sweet red and sweet yellow pepper from Middle Way Farm, julienned 1 medium onion from Middle Way Farm, quartered 2 garlic cloves from Middle Way Farm, minced 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cubed

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3/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 tablespoon water 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon honey mustard 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Hot cooked rice, optional Instructions In a large skillet, stir-fry the peppers, onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons oil until crisp-tender. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, stir-fry the chicken and Cajun seasoning in remaining oil until juices run clear. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch, water, lemon juice, mustard, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce; pour over chicken. Return pepper mixture to the pan; cook and stir for 1 minute.

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AG Mag

13

High-stakes negotiations Buckle up, it’s farm bill time: Insurance safety nets for farmers a priority locally

BY DAVID DOLMAGE For Central Iowa Ag Mag uried under the snow, farm fields across Iowa may have been lying dormant this winter, but for local farmers the hot stove is heating up as they wait for news about the upcoming farm bill.

Expected sometime in 2018, farmers in Jasper County are hopeful the bill will continue to provide protections that help young farmers gain a foothold in the industry.

Will Cannon, who farms outside of Newton, said he’s been watching closely for news of the bill to trickle out of Washington this winter. He’s hoping the budget cuts won’t slash the protections the bill offers to farmers, including crop insurance. Under the current system, the government shares some of the cost of crop insurance with farmers, something Cannon said is critical, especially for farmers just getting their feet wet in the industry.

The split between farmers and the federal government varies depending on the amount of risk the farmer is willing to accept, and while Cannon said it wouldn’t be “catastrophic” if the cost increased slightly, eliminating the program altogether would spell trouble for many farmers. Without the possibility of securing affordable crop insurance, many farmers wouldn’t be able to borrow the operating capital they need every year, Cannon said.

B

Photo illustration by Alex T. Paschal/Central Iowa Ag Mag

CONTINUED ON 154

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4CONTINUED FROM 14 “A bank looking at a young farmer, they’re going to look at it and say, ‘What’s my risk?” Cannon said. “It helps to steady the potential income of the farmer, which helps reduce the risk to the bank. That’s really important.”

In a statement released earlier this year, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said maintaining the crop insurance programs will be a priority. The bill needs to find a happy medium for farmers, Perdue said.

“We are talking about having a safety net that’s not so high that there’s no risk, but not so low that it’s so dangerous people can’t farm again,” Perdue said.

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has said protecting crop insurance for farmers will be a top priority for her in the upcoming farm bill. In an interview last year at the Iowa Ag Summit in Des Moines, Ernst said she wants to make sure farmers get a square deal under the new bill.

“Every group that I speak U.S. Sen. to brings this to my attenJoni Ernst tion,” she said. “I will also work to make sure dollars are being spent as intended in our farm bill programs.”

In December, Ernst said she’s committed to making sure plenty of opportunities exist for young farmers. She wants to take a long look at the Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP. Entire farms across the state have been idled with this program, and Ernst noted that counties in Iowa with the highest rates of poverty also have the highest rates of CRP land, something Ernst said hurts young farmers, and local communities.

Wade Boehm, who farms outside of Colfax in Jasper County, said he couldn’t agree more. When ground goes into CRP, it doesn’t just mean fields lie dormant for 10 years, Boehm said. It also means participation in the local

Alex Felker/Central Iowa Ag Mag

Ray Gaessar, a candidate for Iowa secretary of agriculture, speaks to members of the Creston Kiwanis Club at Windrow restaurant in southwest Iowa on Jan. 30. economy goes down as well. By basing the CRP payment off an average of the past 3 years of production, prices are inflated, meaning young farmers can’t compete with the prices the federal government is paying.

“There’s no question about it that it does,” Boehm said. “I don’t want to sound negative, but when you need to rent ground and CRP contracts are for 10 years at a time, when you lock up that ground for 10 years that makes it pretty difficult for farmers.”

Ray Gaesser had the latest scoop on on the farm bill for Creston Kiwanis Club members during an meeting earlier this year in southwest Iowa. The news wasn’t particularly optimistic.

“There ... most likely won’t be any increase in funding [for farmers],” Gaesser, a Corning farmer and candidate for Iowa secretary of agriculture told Kiwanians. “We’re just trying to

hold our own in the farm bill. ... But we just heard from the USDA that they’re going to share some of their ideas for the farm bill soon.”

Gaesser, who was chairman of the American Soybean Association when the 2014 farm bill was passed and remains on the organization’s advisory council, listed what he considers to be important aspects of the next farm bill.

“It’s really about helping young farmers get going, trying to improve the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), [and] improving markets,” Gaesser said. “We need to expand our markets – that strong dollar is good for a lot of people, but it’s not good for exports. So, all those market access programs that are being funded – we’re trying to improve those as well.”

CONTINUED ON 164

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AG Mag

15

Farm bill massive, complex

T

BY JEFF ROGERS For Central Iowa Ag Mag

he farm bill might be to agriculture what the Super Bowl is to football, the Daytona 500 to auto racing.

It’s a massive, wide-ranging bill that impacts almost every aspect of agriculture and affects the ways farmers locally and nationally go about their business. A new farm bill must be passed every 5 years, and it’s that time again. The current bill expires in September.

But legislative work on the next farm bill began 3 years ago. It never really ends. The House Agriculture Commitee, for example, had 117 hearings on the bill’s issues between 2015 and 2017. nnn

Iowa is well represented in those discussions. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst each are on the Senate Committee of Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, which will craft the Senate’s version of the bill.

Rural internet is part of the farm bill.

So, too, is foreign trade. In fact, there are 12 “titles” covered by the legislation. It’s massive, remember?

Price and income supports for farmers on commodities such as corn, soybeans and dairy are one of the most debated portions of the bill.

So, too, is crop insurance, which

4CONTINUED FROM 14 is a big priority, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said. Last December, Grassley said he wants to limit the amount of commodity payments large-scale farm operations are allowed to collect from the federal government.

“I intend to speak on the floor of the United States Senate so they know where I’m at,” Grassley said. “I want a limit on what a single farm entity can get under all these farm programs.”

As word trickles out from Washington, local farmers are also waiting to see what impact water quality legislation will have. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds 16 Spring 2018

provides premium subsidies to farmers and subsidies to private crop insurance companies that provide federal crop insurance to farmers.

And the credit title covers federal loan programs designed to help farmers access financial credit – direct loans, loan guarantees and other tools – they need to grow and sustain their farming operations.

But the farm bill also covers conservation, trade, nutrition, rural development, research, forestry, energy, specialty crops, horticulture and outreach programs for the socially disadvantaged.

In fact, spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a big part of the farm bill. It’s a lot of money. The 2014 farm bill projected spending on SNAP to be between $75 billion and $80 billion for each of the 5 years of the legislation. That spending has actually been a bit lower – between $78 billion in 2014 and a projected $68 billion this year – because SNAP participation has dropped along with the unemployment rate.

The USDA’s Economic Research Service, using data from the Congressional Budget Office, projects spending on the 2014 farm bill to cost about $489 billion. (It’s worth noting that farm policy constitutes only 0.26 percent of the federal budget.)

About 10 percent of those farm bill costs go to crop insurance. That safety net is something farmers, and lawmakers who represent agricultural communities, are hoping to at least preserve, if not boost, in the next farm bill.

Once the House and Senate

signed a statewide water quality bill into law last month, expected to allocate up to $282 million to improve water quality across the state for the next 12 years. But some U.S. Sen. local farmers don’t see the Chuck bill as going far enough.

Grassley Without incentives to encourage cover crops, Cannon said, encouraging farmers to plant cover crops to improve soil health and prevent erosion will be a tough sell.

“Because of the risks and the expense to your crop, a lot of guys getting started

committees each pass their own bills, they go to the full House and Senate. The expectation is those votes will occur in June or July. Those bills will be different, perhaps vastly so.

Which means a conference committee of members of both houses will combine the bills into one that will be voted on by the full Congress, then approved by the president.

If all goes well.

If a bill is not passed and signed by the fall, Congress can approve extension periods for the existing bill until a new one is finalized.

Said U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, a member of the House ag committee who once was its chairman: “If you care about the food on your table, if you care about making sure your neighbors have enough to eat, if you care about water quality, air quality, preserving those natural resources, wildlife, if you care about all those things, then you care about the farm bill.”

But Lucas also said something to the Associated Press earlier this month that takes into account the political divisions that must be fused to pass a farm bill or any other legislation.

“Before the farm bill and my tenure as chairman, I had neither gray hair nor did I take hypertension medicine,” he said. “I now have both for the rest of my life.

“Right now, you have to deal with a situation where you have the extreme demands on the left on one side of the room and the extreme demands of the right on the other side.”

Will farmers get caught in the middle?

right now are going to to need some benefits to get them over the hump and get them started,” Cannon said.

No matter how the farm bill shapes up this year, both Cannon and Boehm said they’re following the legislation closely as it takes shape in Washington. A member of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, Cannon said it’s more important than ever to stay on top of new developments in the farm bill.

“All those programs are really important in a time like this,” Cannon said.

“They help us understand who we need to be talking to and get us in contact with those people.”

MAKE YOUR MARK 17 PCM students aim to earn Iowa FFA Degree

B

BY ANTHONY VICTOR REYES For Central Iowa Ag Mag

orn and raised working on his family farm, it is fair to say Brock Weyers understands truly what a day’s work means.

Balancing school and a social life while helping tend to about 2,000 acres of corn and soybeans, the Prairie City-Monroe High School junior said the hard work and long hours working the outdoors is just part of being a farmer’s son.

“I do what is asked of me to do,” Weyers said. “If I need to go out and run a combine, I’ll go out and run a combine.

If I need to go run to the store, I’ll run to

the store.

“I have been doing that for as long as I remember. It has been my entire life.” nnn After his agriculture teacher, Amber Samson, encouraged him to join PCM’s FFA chapter and simply record his hours and dollars earned while working on the farm, the young Weyers will soon be awarded the highest degree the state can give an FFA member – the Iowa FFA Degree. And he won’t be the only one representing PCM. “We have 17 kids projected to get the degree this year,” Samson, the school’s FFA adviser, said.

“It gets the kids career-ready and out of their comfort zone.”

CONTINUED ON 184

PCM agriculture teacher Amber Samson looks over junior Morgan Dehaei’s Iowa FFA Degree application at the high school. Dehaei is one of 17 students who aims to earn the degree this year.

(Anthony Victor Reyes/Central Iowa Ag Mag)

AG Mag

17

TOP: Prairie City-Monroe High School senior Stephen Sanders (left) and Brady North work on their laptops at the school. North was one of two PCM students who received his Iowa FFA Degree last April. BOTTOM: PCM junior Maddie Samson shares a conversation with Brock Weyers during Amber Samson’s agriculture class at the high school. Maddie and Brock are projected to earn their Iowa FFA Degree this year.

4CONTINUED FROM 17 Last year, two PCM students, Josie Branderhorst and Brady North, received the Iowa FFA Degree award at the Iowa FFA Leadership Conference in Ames. Aiming to carrying on that success, and as a recipient of the award herself, Samson said she wanted at least five students to be bestowed the degree this year.

According to Samson, only 5 percent of FFA members receive the Iowa FFA Degree.

The degree focuses on a three-circle model – SAE, FFA and classroom/laboratory, requiring applicants to fulfill several specified requirements, such as earning at least $1,500 or working at least 375 hours in a supervised agricultural experience program, clocking in at least 25 hours of community service, and maintaining a satisfactory grade-point average, in order to earn the degree.

Photos by Anthony Victor Reyes/Central Iowa Ag Mag

CONTINUED ON 194

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PCM agriculture teacher Amber Samson advises juniors and FFA members Morgan Dehaei and Brock Weyers at the high school.

(Anthony Victor Reyes/Central Iowa Ag Mag)

4CONTINUED FROM 18 Many of the students who have earned or are on their way to acquiring the degree said meeting the requirements came naturally, as many had backgrounds similar to Weyers’ or are naturally invested in and passionate about agriculture.

“I worked on my family garden. It is four acres. We go beginning to end. I put in a lot of hours,” Iowa FFA Degree applicant Maddie Samson said. “On Thursdays, the days of our farmers market, I would wake up at 7:15 a.m. and I would pick the produce, wash it, get it ready. Then I would work on prices. The farmers market went from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., so it is an all-day process. ... It wasn’t hard getting the hours in. I would have done the work anyways.”

They said the difficult part was keeping track of all the records.

“I haven’t keep full records of hours and pay. That took the most time. If I could go back and do it again, I would keep better records,” past Iowa FFA Degree recipient, Brady North, said.

“I would keep it weekly, as opposed to once a year trying to remember the hours, mainly basing it on the paychecks.”

As the degree requires the applicants to acquire important skills such as record-keeping, time management, common business practices and a general good work ethic, the ag teacher said earning this degree will help open doors to the future for these students, no matter what field they choose.

“The Iowa Degree, to me, shows

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that the kid is organized, keeps accurate records and can keep everything straight,” North said. “The regulation of farmers is getting stricter. You got to keep more records.”

Samson said the school would know how many kids had officially received the award Feb. 8. Those students will then be recognized at the Iowa FFA Leadership Conference, which is held April 22-24 at the Hilton Coliseum on the Iowa State University campus. There, they will receive a certificate and a golden State FFA Degree Charm pin.

“That is the things they see. That is the instant gratification. What they don’t get to see, is that they learned skills.

They met people. They worked hard,” Samson said. “They made their mark. ...

It is a proud mama moment.”

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AG Mag

19

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