CROP NEWS WEEKLY Penton Media April 8, 2008 Volume 9 Issue 14 If you want to view this on the web go to: http://enews.penton.com/enews/cropnewsweekly/v/320 ---------------------------------------- ADVERTISEMENT Don't Spray Glyphosate without Adding Callisto Corn Herbicide for Residual Control Year after year, growers trust Callisto® corn herbicide for proven broadleaf weed management. In glyphosate-tolerant corn, combining Callisto with Touchdown Total® glyphosate herbicide delivers effective control of emerged weeds plus long-lasting residual control. Callisto also provides another mode of action, which helps manage against weed resistance and delivers improved activity on broadleaf weeds not currently controlled by glyphosate alone. http://www.farmassist.com/Promo/callisto_landing/ ---------------------------------------- EDITOR'S NOTE Logan Hawkes 03/08/09 While late winter weather hangs on across parts of the Upper Midwest, a few growers are beginning the process of putting corn in the ground this week - at least in areas where the spring season has a hope of hanging on. And in spite of the late cold, just about every farmer will tell you, "It's about time". Forecasters are calling for improvements in the spring weather in the days and weeks ahead, and with Easter week upon us, it appears as though the time has just about arrived for quick progress on the 2009 planting season. Or at least we hope. There's news this week that food prices have dropped, and news that there are changes coming in CCC loans. And from the United Soybean Board, supporting production research on increasing yields will remain the top target area for the farmer-leaders of USB along with improving the composition of the soybean for the end users of U.S. soybeans. In other news, farming is tough enough without having to tackle the foreign language spoken by lawyers and insurance companies. But if you want to buy the right equipment insurance, you need to learn to speak - or at least understand - the jargon. You'll find these stories and more in this issue of Crop News Weekly. Thanks for stopping by. FROM OUR EDITORS --Changes coming in CCC loans, LDPs Farmers can expect to see some changes if they decide to place their crops in the Commodity Credit Corp. marketing assistance loan or request loan deficiency payments on covered commodities beginning with the 2009 crop year. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the changes, most of which are required by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, in a press release distributed by USDA today to media outlets. "Both President Obama and I want to ensure that farmers can produce agricultural products without fear that they will not earn fair market value for what they harvest," said Vilsack, referring to the market stabilizing effects of marketing assistance loans and loan deficiency payments. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff To view the full article go to: http://deltafarmpress.com/markets/marketing-law-0407/?smte=wl --Soybean checkoff outlines priorities Using priority issues established by the entire soy industry and feedback from U.S. soybean farmers, the United Soybean Board (USB) and the soybean checkoff have evaluated the checkoff's current programs and selected the most critical areas on which to focus in the near future. Supporting production research on increasing yields will remain the top target area for the farmer-leaders of USB along with improving the composition of the soybean for the end users of U.S. soybeans. To view the full article go to: http://southeastfarmpress.com/soybeans/soybean-research-0402/ --Food prices drop again Farm Bureau's informal survey shows retail prices of 16 "marketbasket" items were down 5.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008. Retail food prices at the supermarket dropped slightly for the second consecutive quarter, according to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation Marketbasket Survey. The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare a meal was $47.41, down $2.80 from the fourth quarter of 2008. Of the 16 items surveyed, 11 decreased and five increased in average price compared to the prior quarter. The overall cost of the marketbasket of foods in the first quarter dropped just under 1 percent compared to a year ago. To view the full article go to: http://deltafarmpress.com/news/food-prices-0406/ --Farm equipment insurance Farming is tough enough without having to tackle the foreign language spoken by lawyers and insurance companies. I'm in the insurance business and it confuses me at times. So today I will attempt to interpret a couple of very important terms and concepts that will help you in choosing the best insurance coverage for your farm. Let's start with something fairly basic. Should you insure equipment with blanket or specific insurance? Just like it implies, blanket insurance covers everything that is designated under it. - Rudy Martin, Farm Specialist, The Destefanis Agency To view the full article go to: http://deltafarmpress.com/equipment/farm-equipment-insurance-0407/ --ACRE signup begins in late April USDA will schedule the signup for the average crop revenue election (ACRE) program in April as part of its plan to complete sign-up for the 2009 farm programs. Sign-up for ACRE is expected to start in late April, with an official sign-up announcement to be made in the coming weeks. Producers can elect to enroll in the ACRE program at their FSA county offices after the sign-up period commences. The ACRE program, authorized by the 2008 farm bill, provides eligible producers a state-level revenue guarantee, based on the five-year state Olympic average yield and the two-year national average price. To view the full article go to: http://southeastfarmpress.com/legislation/usda-signup-0402/ --ACRE spreadsheet helps farmers Farmers thinking of signing up for the countercyclical revenue program in the 2008 farm bill should not give up in despair, said a University of Missouri economist. While benefit calculations seem complex for ACRE (Average Crop Revenue Election), new software speeds the decision, said Peter Zimmel at the MU Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). MU economists built a spreadsheet, called FARM Tool, posted on the FAPRI Web site. Farmers can download the tool for use in their farm office, Zimmel said. - Duane Dailey, University of Missouri, Cooperative Media Group To view the full article go to: http://deltafarmpress.com/legislative/acre-spreadsheet-0403/ --Biodiesel board slams EC duties The National Biodiesel Board has submitted formal written comments in response to the European Commission's decision to impose provisional antidumping and countervailing duties on U.S. biodiesel entering the European Union. The NBB comments illustrate the significant procedural and factual shortcomings in the EC's provisional ruling. "The comments we have filed highlight that arbitrary procedural conclusions and inaccurate market assumptions were used by the EC as the basis for imposing provisional duties on U.S. biodiesel," stated Manning Feraci, NBB vice president for federal affairs. To view the full article go to: http://deltafarmpress.com/biofuels/biodiesel-ec-duties-0402/ --USDA rescinds Fed Lands Rule Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that the rule terminating base acres on federal land has been rescinded. As a result of Vilsack's action, farmers who lease federal land are again considered eligible to receive payments under the direct and counter-cyclical program (DCP) on federal land with base acres. "Terminating base acres on federally-owned cropland would have hurt farmers across the United States and eroded the safety net for farmers and ranchers," said Vilsack. "In keeping with President Obama's commitment to American agriculture, we have decided to rescind this rule." - Elton Robinson, Farm Press Editorial Staff To view the full article go to: http://deltafarmpress.com/legislative/federal-lands-rule-0402/ --Conventional soybeans draw interest Two-thirds of Grover Shannon's soybean breeding program is dedicated to Roundup Ready varieties. When farmers call nowadays, however, it's almost always about the third dedicated to conventional varieties. "Monsanto is a great company and they've done a lot of good things with Roundup Ready soybeans (which were introduced in the mid-1990s)," says the University of Missouri professor, stationed at the Delta Center in Portageville, Mo. "You've got to hand it to them. The Roundup Ready system is easy to use. Some farmers won't ever quit it -- they like it too much. It provides more time to work on other things around the farm." - David Bennett, Farm Press Editorial Staff To view the full article go to: http://deltafarmpress.com/soybeans/conventional-soybeans-0403/ ---------------------------------------- Enter the Syngenta Field Performance Sweepstakes for a chance to win a prize package designed to bring you performance on and off the field. Click here to tell your own Plant Performance story and get a shot at the ultimate performance experience. Be among the first 50 to respond and you'll also receive an official NCAA Division I college hat featuring the team of your choice http://plantperformance-sweeps.com ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- By providing long-lasting, broad-spectrum disease control, Quilt(R) fungicide maximizes corn yields. Quilt protects against a variety of key corn disease, including gray leaf spot -- the most yield-robbing disease in corn. Quilt has increased yields 10-15 bu/A over the past three years in Syngenta and on-farm trials. Click here to learn more www.quilt-fungicide.com ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Residual control in a glyphosate corn herbicide. Very unexpected. New Halex_ GT gives you everything your current glyphosate does, plus residual weed control. It's the only herbicide specifically designed to improve your glyphosate corn program whether you grow AgriSure(R) GT or Roundup Ready(R) corn. Halex GT stays in the soil to take care of continuously emerging weeds. Its residual control lasts far into the season for better yield potential and a more convenient, more productive glyphosate program. Try Halex GT on your farm and see for yourself. ---------------------------------------- KENT THIESSE ---------------------------------------- CUSTOM RATES SLIGHTLY INCREASING As would be expected with increasing costs, average 2009 custom rates for farm work have also risen slightly, compared to 2008 and 2007 custom rates. Most custom rates for farm work in 2009 are listed at 3-6% above the rates a year earlier, with an average increase of near 5%. These results are based on the annual Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey that is coordinated and analyzed by Iowa State University. The survey sampled 255 custom operators, farm managers and ag lenders on what they expected 2009 custom farm rates to be for various farm operations. The survey summary lists the average custom rate and the range for various tillage, planting, fertilizer and chemical application, grain harvesting and forage harvesting functions on the farm. The survey also includes many miscellaneous faming practices, lists average machine rental rates for some equipment and includes a formula for estimating average machinery rental rates. http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/corn/0331-farm-work-rates/ ---------------------------------------- RICHARD BROCK ---------------------------------------- U.S. SOYBEAN INTENTIONS BELOW EXPECTATIONS Tuesday morning's annual USDA Prospective Plantings Report showed U.S. farmers intend to plant only 306,000 more acres of soybeans than they did a year ago, surprising a market that was generally anticipating an increase of about 3 million soy acres. USDA reported soybean-planting intentions increased by 100,000 acres or more for Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota and Ohio. The largest decreases are expected in Missouri and South Dakota, both 150,000 acres less than 2008. The planting intentions number should be supportive for soybean prices, even though U.S. soybean-planted acres would still be record large if the planting intentions are realized. USDA pegged 2009 U.S. soybean planting intentions as of March 1 at 76.024 million acres, up from last year's actual plantings of 75.718 million acres, but at the low end of trade estimates that averaged 79.539 million acres in a range from 75.9 million to 83 million. http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/richardbrock/0331-farmers-increase-soybeans/ ---------------------------------------- MORE MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS ---------------------------------------- UNSUCCESSFUL GROWTH One of my new assignments has been working with the Farm Business Management Program instructors of Minnesota on a Web cast series for producers. It has been fun seeing how lenders, producers, agribusiness people and instructors join together and answer some of my discussion questions. Recently I asked them to share successful and unsuccessful war stories concerning business growth and expansion. The following are some of the bad and ugly stories I received. Next week we will focus on the good stories. http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/ag-issues/0331-agriculture-questions/ AGRICULTURE AND THE ECONOMY The USDA-ERS recently released a report on the effects the current economic crisis is having on agriculture. The 2008-2009 world economic crisis has major impacts on U.S. agriculture. Declining incomes around the world as a result of the evolving worldwide recession combined with the short-term appreciation of the dollar result in significant declines in U.S. agricultural exports and sharply lower agricultural prices, farm income and employment, compared with those in 2007-2008. Agricultural households also suffer from declining income from off-farm jobs, as the economic recession in the U.S. ripples through to rural-based businesses and loss of tax revenue puts pressure on rural government employment and social services. Because the U.S. farm sector went into the crisis with record-high exports, prices and farm income, the declines, although substantial, will bring agriculture back to trend outcomes. While there is a great deal of uncertainty concerning the full magnitude of the U.S. and global recession, the effects of the crisis are expected to be less severe for U.S. agriculture than for many other sectors of the U.S. economy. http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/ag-issues/0407-economic-crisis-affects-agriculture/ NEW FARM & RANCH CONFIDENCE SURVEY Rabobank recently launched a survey to gauge farmers' confidence, and found that, while farmers' outlook on the economy generally mirrors that of the overall population, more than half of farmers surveyed are employing risk management strategies to help navigate this difficult economic climate. "Our survey demonstrates that U.S. farmers and ranchers are tackling the current economic environment head on by making smart choices to help them weather the storm," says John Ryan, president and CEO for Rabo AgriFinance. "While many are hurting because of the economy, there is some optimism that the situation will improve next year." http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/ag-issues/0407-farm-ranch-survey/ ---------------------------------------- ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER You are subscribed to this newsletter as #email# To subscribe to this newsletter go to: http://subscribe.cropnewsweekly.com/?tc=NLSUB To unsubscribe from this newsletter go to: http://subscribe.cropnewsweekly.com/?tc=NLSUB&cid=#message_id#&lid=#list_id#&email=#email# For information on advertising in Crop News Weekly, please contact: Roger Randall at mailto:roger.randall@penton.com For questions concerning delivery of this newsletter, please contact our Customer Service Department at: US Toll Free: 866-505-7173 International: 847-763-9504 or mailto:cropnewsweekly@pbinews.com To get this newsletter in a different format (Text or HTML), or to change your e-mail address, please go to your profile page here: http://subscribe.cropnewsweekly.com/?tc=NLSUB&email=#email# Penton Media | 249 W. 17th Street | New York, NY 10011 Copyright 2009, Penton Media. 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