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Logan
Hawkes
04/12/06
Crop News Weekly
Millions around the world are observing Holy
Week. For many, Easter celebrations are gearing up for the weekend as
those of the Christian Faith observe the most "Holy of Holy Days." For
others, Passover is celebrated this week, and others yet are preparing
for observances unique to their religions. In the spirit of the season,
regardless who you are or what you believe, may your harvest and your
lives reap all that you sow - and more.
In the top of the news this week, in a time when fuel prices are running
rampant, chemigation and irrigation fertigation systems are proving
valuable on the farm in more ways than one. Also this week, the Senate
Appropriations Committee passed disaster relief for farmers on April 5.
The $106 billion bill, primarily aimed to fund wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan and provide Gulf Coast hurricane relief, allocates some $4
billion to farmers. Also this week, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns
has announced the release of an implementation plan that outlines
timelines and benchmarks for the establishment of the National Animal
Identification System. And more talk this week about biodiesel and
America's energy self-sufficiency. Finally, a delegation of Chinese
soybean buyers on a relationship-building tour signed a letter of intent
with U.S. soybean exporters at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) April
6.
You'll find these stories and more in this special Easter week edition
of Crop News Weekly. Happy reading.
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Iowa
farmer, politician could be sincerely wrong
04/11/06
Mark W. Leonard sounds like a genuinely nice guy. Last
year, he brought a cotton farmer from Mali in West Africa to church
gatherings near his farm in Holstein, Iowa, to discuss U.S. farm
subsidies. But being a nice guy doesn't mean that Leonard, who,
according to a Wall Street Journal article, is a Republican candidate
for agriculture secretary in Iowa, cannot also be terribly wrong. The
article, written by Scott Kilman and Roger Thurow, the reporters who
bushwhacked National Cotton Council Chairman and Mississippi producer
Kenneth Hood in another attack on U.S. farm programs, cites Leonard as
an example of farmers who are becoming disenchanted with U.S. subsidies.
- Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Fertigation,
chemigation combat soaring ag fuel costs
04/10/06
With the price of fuel recently approaching $3 per
gallon in the US, farmers have found their livelihoods threatened by
rising input costs cutting into already razor thin profit margins. In
October 2005, farmers suffered the highest real fuel prices on record,
according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. With the EIA
projecting an average retail fuel price of $2.58 per gallon in 2006, up
from an expected average of $2.45 in 2005, farmers at the mercy of
spiraling fuel and agricultural costs are regaining financial control
with chemigation and irrigation fertigation systems. - Farm Press
Editorial Staff
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Disaster
relief passes Senate committee
04/10/06
As part of an emergency supplemental bill, the Senate
Appropriations Committee passed disaster relief for farmers on April 5.
The $106 billion bill, primarily aimed to fund wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan and provide Gulf Coast hurricane relief, allocates some $4
billion to farmers. Aimed at lessening the impact of higher input costs,
the $4 billion will provide 30 percent of a direct payment for farmers
enrolled in the farm program for the 2005 crop. According to reports, it
will also provide USDA grants to states to provide agricultural market
and economic assistance. - David Bennett, Farm Press Editorial
Staff
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Biodiesel
vision -- 5 percent of petro-diesel market
04/10/06
In the days when every American farm family grew a
little patch of corn for fuel to power the mules that plowed their
fields, the farm was pretty much a self-contained unit, capable of
providing for the farm family and a little extra for a rainy day. Can
such a self-sustaining paradigm be modernized and applied in a larger
sense, if you will, to encompass all of America? Or perhaps we should
ask, "Can we plant enough corn and soybeans to power not only our farm
tractors and trucks, but an entire nation of automobiles?" - Elton
Robinson, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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New from the Top of the
Hill
04/07/06
National Hog Farmer
USDA Animal ID Announcement
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns has announced USDA's animal
identification system implementation plan that outlines timelines and
benchmarks for the establishment of the National Animal Identification
System (NAIS). USDA also released the general technical standards for
animal tracking databases that will "enable integration of private
systems with the NAIS." Private database owners may submit applications
for their system to be evaluated to USDA.
In June, USDA plans to begin entering into cooperative agreements with
private database owners who meet the standards. According to Johanns,
USDA plans to have the technology in place by early 2007. The
technology, called the Animal Trace Processing System, will allow state
and federal animal health officials to "query the NAIS and private
databases during a disease investigation." Also, USDA will be holding
training sessions for organizations that will be distributing animal ID
tags as either a tag manager or reseller on April 13 and April 26. The
implementation plan is available at http://www.usda.gov/nais.
House Budget Calls for Agriculture Cuts - The House of
Representatives Budget Committee approved a fiscal year 2007 budget
resolution that calls for $55 million in cuts in mandatory programs over
five years. The Senate budget resolution approved last month does not
require any cuts in agricultural programs. After the House considers its
budget resolution, there will then be a House-Senate conference
committee to resolve the differences between the two resolutions.
Senate Appropriations Approves Disaster Assistance - The Senate
Appropriations Committee passed Sen. Byron Dorgan's (D-ND) comprehensive
disaster assistance program for farmers and ranchers as part of an
emergency supplemental bill. The legislation would provide assistance
for crop and quality loss, as well as help ranchers in disaster counties
with livestock feed. The bill will now be considered by the full
Senate.
Superfund Law on Manure - A number of agricultural organizations
are increasing efforts to have Congress approve legislation that will
clarify that manure is not a hazardous substance under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or
Superfund law. Congressman Ralph Hall (R-TX) has introduced H.R. 4341 to
accomplish this effort. Currently there are 105 cosponsors. However, 14
environmental organizations have written Congress opposing H.R. 4341.
The letter states, the "size of livestock operations has increased
tremendously in recent years. Unlike traditional farms, these
industrialized operations confine thousands, or even millions, of
animals in closed buildings for most of their lives. As a result, these
facilities generate large quantities of manure. A single location often
generates as much waste as a small city. As the manure decomposes, it
generates toxic gases, such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which cause
significant health problems in workers and nearby residents."
Organizations signing the environmental letter include Earthjustice,
Friends of the Earth, The Humane Society of the United States, Natural
Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and the Waterkeepers Alliance.
Record Soybean Acres - According to USDA's 2006 "Prospective
Plantings" estimates, U.S. farmers will be planting record soybean acres
and fewer corn acres this year. Farmers intend to plant 76.9 million
acres of soybeans this year, up 7% from last year. This would be the
largest number of soybean acres planted on record. According to the
report, large increases will be in the Corn Belt, "including 600,000
more acres in Illinois and 500,000 more acres in Indiana." Corn
plantings are expected to be 78.0 million acres in 2006, down 5% from
2005. This would be the lowest corn acreage since 2001. According to
USDA, farmers are switching to other less-input-intensive crops due to
high fertilizer and fuel costs. Wheat is expected to total 57.1 million
acres, down slightly from 2005. This will be the lowest wheat acreage
since 1972.
Soybean Rust Detection Efforts - USDA released a report which
evaluates the early warning system for soybean rust surveillance,
reporting, prediction and management during the 2005 growing season. The
report," The Value of Plant Disease Early Warning Systems: A Case Study
of USDA's Soybean Rust Coordinated Framework," concluded that
information provided as part of the system "helped to increase profits
and mitigate damage caused by the fungus." USDA's Economic Research
Service (ERS) estimated that the information provided by federal, state,
industry and academic partners increased U.S. soybeans producers'
profits by a total of $11 million to $299 million in 2005. - Scott
Shearer
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Plan
to implement animal ID system moves forward
04/10/06
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns has announced the
release of an implementation plan that outlines timelines and benchmarks
for the establishment of the National Animal Identification System,
along with a plan for the initial integration of private and state
animal tracking databases with NAIS. "Developing an effective animal
identification system has been a high priority for USDA and we've made
significant strides toward achieving a comprehensive U.S. system," said
Johanns. "We recognize that this represents one of the largest
systematic changes ever faced by the livestock industry and we have
welcomed suggestions from stakeholders to ensure that we continue to
gain momentum." - Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Chinese
sign soybean letter of intent
04/07/06
A delegation of Chinese soybean buyers on a
relationship-building tour signed a letter of intent with U.S. soybean
exporters at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) April 6. The letter of
intent demonstrates the commitment of the Chinese industry to continue
purchasing U.S. soybeans. China is the number one export market for U.S.
soybeans with 435 million bushels, more than 40 percent of total U.S.
exports, sold to China in the last marketing year. The delegation
currently visiting the U.S. represents 67 percent of those 435 million
bushels. - Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Ag
Road Warrior: A dating service for farmers?
04/04/06
Dave Kohl writes: "I thought I had seen it all,
but now there is a matchmaker Web site for isolated single farmers. You
may laugh at this, but it's a serious issue facing the sustainability of
many agricultural and rural businesses. In my seminars I often discuss
that when a person hires an individual they directly or indirectly hire
the spouse also. As farms and ranches become larger and more isolated,
these are some of the major issues now being discussed in farm family
business meetings and lender strategic planning sessions." - The Corn
& Soybean Digest
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Got a
good machinery idea?
04/12/06
Got a whiz bang machinery idea? Please tell our Corn
And Soybean Digest editors about it. They're searching for shop-built or
modified farm machinery projects that you've worked on over the winter.
No idea is too big or too small. They're interested in machinery that's
been built from scratch, or several pieces of equipment that have been
torn down and re-assembled as a single unit, or simple modifications to
existing equipment. It's always interesting to see planters, anhydrous
applicators, sprayers and tillage tools that farmers have constructed to
help them farm better, bigger or more efficiently. If you have an idea
you'd like to share, please send an e-mail to csd@prismb2b.com or click on the link
below to enter your project.
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Brazilian
agribusiness crisis slash down farmland prices
04/07/06
Once a very well-priced asset, farmland in Brazil is
selling fast and cheap. The most hard-hit areas in Brazil are those
mostly dedicated to soybeans and newest to agriculture, having been
farmed 20 or 30 years. Falling soybean prices are behind this rural real
estate crisis in Brazil, a private analysis firm says. The soybean
production industry has been hit so hard in the past season that fewer
and fewer people are inclined to invest in it. - Jose Sergio Osse,
Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Could
disaster on the farm happen to you?
04/07/06
The combination of prolonged drought, winds gusting up
to 50 miles per hour and a spark of unknown origin culminated in the
loss of nearly 1 million acres of rangeland in nearly a dozen counties
in the Texas Panhandle. L. H. Webb, a Pampa, Texas, rancher, paused from
the grisly task of dragging dead cattle into a pile on his burned out
Gray County ranch to talk about the aftermath of what some have
described as a 1,000-year wildfire. "Our grass is gone, our cattle are
gone and our fences are gone," Webb said. "But we're alive and we have
our home." - Ron Smith, Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Sign Up for
MarketMaxx
04/12/06
Sign up and play The Corn And Soybean Digest's fantasy
grain game called MarketMaxx. It's easy, fun and hopefully you'll learn
a little more about how to market the corn and beans your raise. It's
easy to sign-up. Just log on to http://www.marketmaxx.net and
register at the top left and begin trading your fictitious 100,000 bu.
of corn and 50,000 bu. of soybeans. If you're a winner at the end of the
game on October 31 you could take home the grand prize of a year's use
of a Massey Ferguson tractor or combine. Or, win additional prizes such
as a computer system from Syngenta Crop Protection, customized rugged
mobile computers from Grayhill Custom Mobile Solutions or a high-speed
satellite Internet service from Agristar Global Networks. - The Corn
& Soybean Digest
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