Obama direct payment plan criticized
	Rural agenda for Senate Democrats
	USDA - under secretaries announced
	Farmers - enthusiasm not missing
	ABC 'tragedy' for local economies
	Whittling away at the farmers' safety net
	Weed control in conventional soybeans

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“Waterhemp is a significant problem in soybeans, and the potential for it to be an even bigger problem is huge. I’ve seen a yield reduction of 40 to 50 bushels per acre when it’s taken over the field. It’s one of those weeds you have to remove from the field—physically remove. If you just pull it up and leave it there, it’ll re-root and remain or gain as a problem.” Ken Dahlenburg, grower, central Illinois. Learn more at www.resistancefighter.com

While the Irish were celebrating green this week, farmers were thinking green - or at least about how they hope for spring green in the fields soon. With the official start to the spring season just a week away, last minute prep is taking place all across the Midwest as producers gear up for what they hope will be a positive, eventful start to the new crop year.

In this issue of Crop News Weekly we explore the current political climate and how it is affecting farmers now and in the year ahead. With the recent change in the White House, other changes, we know, will be coming. But what will be the bottom line for America's farmers when all is said and done? Explore the issue this week. And take time to surf through an abundance of other issues and features you'll find in this issue. Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading.

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Criticism continues to rain down on the Obama administration’s proposal to reduce government spending by phasing out direct payments to agribusinesses with more than $500,000 in annual sales, capping payments to individual farmers at $250,000 and ending cotton storage payments.

The latest outpouring came in a letter from 39 farm organizations to the chairmen and ranking members of the agriculture and budget committees in both houses of Congress expressing “strong opposition” to the $16 billion in ag spending cuts in the administration’s 2010 budget.

But the sharpest condemnation may have come from Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., during a hearing of the Budget Committee he chairs. It occurred as Conrad, who also serves on the Agriculture Committee, scolded White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag for administration comments on the farm bill. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

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Senate Democrats have unveiled a “rural agenda” for the 111th Congress and a Web site highlighting issues important to rural communities and promoting policies that will benefit rural areas.

The developments were announced by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. She serves as chair of Rural Outreach for the Senate Democratic Caucus.

“Our rural communities are suffering during these tough economic times, and it is critical that we focus on policies that will give them the economic boost they desperately need and deserve,” said Lincoln. “This agenda will help guide Senate Democrats as we work toward policies that will revitalize and reinvest in the rural economy.”

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President Barack Obama has announced his intention to nominate James W. (Jim) Miller to be under secretary of agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and Dallas P. Tonsager to be under secretary of agriculture for Rural Development.

“Jim Miller and Dallas Tonsager are well aware of the challenges and opportunities in rural America. They have dedicated their lives to enhancing the success and improving the lives of farmers, ranchers and those living in rural areas,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Miller currently is chief of staff for the National Farmers Union, a position he accepted in 1999 after serving four years as senior analyst for agriculture and trade on the majority staff of the Senate Budget Committee. Miller also has served as chief economist for the National Farmers Union and as vice president for government relations for the National Association of Wheat Growers.

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I should no longer be surprised — but I am. In a year in which commodity prices promise less than excellent returns and rainfall is little more than a distant memory and production costs continue to hover around merely outrageous, farmers remain upbeat about the possibilities.

I’ve visited several farms in the last few weeks and talked with quite a few farmers at various meetings I’ve attended and have been a bit surprised that folks aren’t hanging their heads, muttering to themselves about how poor the economy looks and wondering out loud just how they’ll make ends meet in 2009.

Most, if not enthusiastic about the prospects for the coming season, are at least hopeful that rain will arrive in time to germinate spring-planted crops and that prices some time during the year will offer at least an opportunity to make a profit. - Ron Smith, Farm Press Editorial Staff

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“When are we going to have a Secretary of Agriculture who is for agriculture?”

That rather pointed query from Marianna, Ark., cotton producer/ginner Larry McClendon, in response to the current secretary’s recent comments on farm programs at the National Cotton Council’s annual meeting in Washington, echoes the frustration of many in the farming community about the direction in which ag policy seems headed.

“The new secretary, when asked about farm program payments, said they have to take into consideration environmental issues, trade, the budget deficit, etc.,” McClendon said at the annual meeting of the Southern Cotton Ginners Association at Memphis. - Hembree Brandon Farm Press Editorial Staff

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Former President Gerald Ford once said, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take everything you have.”

More and more farmers are feeling the ironic sting of this caution firsthand. Toward the end of February, we heard about President Obama’s proposal calling for the elimination of direct payments to large “agribusinesses,” which has drawn a strong reaction from members of Congress and some of the nation’s farm organizations.

Before that, and out of the blue, farmers who lease and farm federally-owned lands were told by USDA that their crop bases were being eliminated. For many of them, it starts now. - Elton Robinson, Farm Press Editorial Staff

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I’ve enjoyed getting more involved in soybean weed control again. For years I did more soybean work than anything else. The work Dick Oliver and I did on reduced rate herbicide programs years ago was one of the most rewarding things I have done professionally. Being in on the ground floor of evaluating the Roundup Ready technology and having a part in developing the weed control recommendations for Arkansas was probably the most fun I ever had as a weed scientist.

I am on record many times as saying Roundup Ready is miracle technology. However, ever since it received widespread grower acceptance, there has not much demand for an applied weed scientist in soybeans — until now. - Ford L. Baldwin, Practical Weed Consultants, LLC.

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