Crop News Weekly New: Can Do Spirit Sustains America

Hats off to the NFL! At least the big games of the year are not staged during spring planting or fall harvest. I don't know if you're a football fan or not, but if you are, those free Sunday afternoons are a great time to catch up with the latest, and the playoffs this year have been more than exciting. Of course, it's all about to end when Super Bowl 44 arrives on Feb. 1. Then it's back to work.

Speaking of work, newly sworn in President Barack Obama says he's ready to settle down into the massive job of grinding the economic slide to a halt. The word is out that Obama is sending clear messages down through the ranks of federal departments that his administration will be taking an active part in defining policies and enforcing a tight control of all government functions. What this means for agriculture, of course, remains to be seen. And while the question of whether the job is bigger than the man is yet to be answered, this week's historic inauguration at least indicates the President's term of office has started off with a big bang. Here's hoping the fuse doesn't fizzle.

We're loaded up this week with news, issues and interesting information you'll find helpful. So dig in and enjoy. Happy reading.

Americans’ “can-do” spirit will sustain the nation through today’s turbulent economic times, says former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, who delivered the keynote address at the 90th annual meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation in San Antonio. Two simple things need to happen in order for the nation to move out of “can’t do” mode, according to Bradley.

“We need to put country ahead of party and we need to tell people the truth,” Bradley said. “As Americans, we share more than what divides us.” He cited good jobs, access to health care, a secure pension at retirement and access to education as examples of common goals for all Americans.

In mid-January, the American Soybean Association submitted a document outlining its 2009 policy priorities to the Obama administration.

“ASA looks forward to working closely with the Obama administration to achieve these policy priorities, which not only make sense for soybean farmers, but also benefit our entire country through reduced dependence on foreign oil, job creation, increased U.S. exports and a modernized infrastructure system,” said Johnny Dodson, ASA president and soybean producer from Halls, Tenn.

In a mid-January letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln continued to push for disaster assistance for farmers impacted by severe storms in 2008. Similarly, in a letter to Barack Obama, North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad and Montana Sen. Max Baucus called on the incoming administration to take quick and decisive action to improve and implement the standing disaster provision in last year’s farm bill.

Difficulties within the financial sector became apparent in the middle of September as the U.S. government grappled with responses to a worsening credit situation. The financial meltdown, along with public perceptions of economic problems, has led to concerns that a deep, world-wide recession is occurring.

As a result, prices of many commodities have declined dramatically in the belief that demands for those commodities are being reduced. Among those commodities seeing declines are wholesale fertilizers. Lower wholesale fertilizer prices likely will lead to lower prices that farmers pay for fertilizers. Lower fertilizer prices then may lead to an increase in corn profitability relative to soybean profitability.

Food imports produced through biotechnology should be less of a problem for European Union countries as the rest of the world adopts them, EU official Dan Rotenberg said at a seminar on U.S./EU trade relations during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 90th annual meeting in San Antonio. The EU must accept biotech food and feed or it won’t be able to feed its livestock, Rotenberg said, and would then need to import meat from animals fed biotech crops in the United States or elsewhere. Rotenberg is the European Commission counselor to the United States.

Soybean farmers soon will be one step closer to better drought-tolerant soybean varieties. University of Missouri researchers will construct a comprehensive database of all proteins and metabolites in soybeans. Once compiled, the database will allow researchers to study changes in proteins and metabolites in soybeans grown under drought and other stressed conditions. When combined with data from the recently released soybean genome, scientists will have a very powerful set of tools that will help breeders engineer better-performing soybean plants. The research project will be funded by a new three-year, $1.1 million grant awarded by the United Soybean Board.

In what may be his last public speech before leaving office Jan. 20, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said one of the lessons he learned during his year in office is how interconnected the world is — and how agriculture can be a force for peace. Speaking at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 90th annual meeting in San Antonio, Schafer said that although America has long played the lead role in providing emergency food aid to the world’s hungry, it’s now time to take another step. The greatest challenge, Schafer said, is to feed the 70 million additional people who join the world’s population every year.

Agriculture Committee Chair Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota has announced the members selected to serve on the House Agriculture Committee for the 111th Congress. The House Democratic Steering Committee named 11 freshmen members and 17 returning members to serve on the Agriculture Committee. The House Republican Conference named 17 Republicans to serve on the committee and left one seat vacant.

Up to $58.4 million in financial assistance is available to agricultural producers and entities through the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program, established in the current farm bill to promote ground and surface water conservation and water quality improvement. USDA is seeking project proposals from potential partners through this program. Proposals must be submitted by March 2. The Agricultural Water Enhancement Program request for proposals can be viewed at the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Web site; at the official government regulation Web Site; and at the Federal Register.

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced changes to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the U.S. Department of Agriculture's largest conservation program for working agricultural lands. USDA published an interim final rule containing the statutory changes to EQIP in the Federal Register today. USDA is seeking public comment on the rule through March 16, 2009. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, or 2008 Farm Bill, includes non-industrial private forestland as an eligible land use and provides payments for conservation practices related to organic production or the transition to organic production. It also provides for increased payment rates to historically underserved producers, including limited resource, beginning, and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

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