Crop News Weekly: Fuel Prices Going Up!

Finally planting is progressing across the corn belt -- thanks to a few days of warmer, drier weather. USDA is reporting 82% of the nation's corn crop is in the ground. That's still just over 10% off the average pace for this time of year. But that beats where we were last week. Soybean planting remains well off the average pace however, but also saw sharp progress jumps over the weekend. Forty eight-percent of the bean crop is in the ground according to USDA -- compared with 49% last year this same time.

We're full of industry information and issues this week to catch you up on what's happening. So get started and enjoy this issue of Crop News Weekly. Happy reading.

Almost 40 years after the Arab oil embargo that nearly brought this country to a standstill, and following a week in which prices at the gas pump surged 20 cents or more despite a world petroleum glut, it appears steps are finally being taken to loosen the stranglehold of foreign suppliers.

While it’s pathetic that it took last year’s $4-plus per gallon gas prices and U.S. automobile manufacturers facing bankruptcy (or worse) to finally get attention focused on the need for alternative power vehicles, the industry may at last be headed, however tentatively, down that road, with 2010 the year when these new models begin hitting showrooms. - Hembree Brandon, Farm Press Editorial Staff

The newly-created White House Food Safety Working Group has launched a Web site to provide information about the group’s activities and progress.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, both Midwesterners, head up the working group, which was created to help reinforce the nation’s food safety inspection mechanism.

“The working group will be an important tool for gathering ideas as to how we can strengthen the food safety system to be more accountable and accessible to the public it protects, flexible enough to quickly resolve new safety challenges that emerge, and able to meet the robust needs of our rapidly changing world,” said Vilsack.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and 15 other senators are trying once again to break the stranglehold of Florida politics on agricultural trade with Cuba by passing legislation that would loosen the decades-old U.S. embargo.

On Wednesday, Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced S-1089, the Promoting American Agriculture and Medical Exports to Cuba Act of 2009. A similar bill, H.R. 1531, was introduced in the House March 16.

Farm organizations have been working with Baucus and other senators and House members to try to clear a path for the legislation, which would allow trading company representatives to travel freely between the U.S. and Cuba and eliminate “payment-in-advance” rules for shipments of rice, wheat and other commodities to the island nation. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

American Soybean Association leaders say that if federal officials wanted to damage the biodiesel industry they couldn’t do a much better job of it than they are now, presumably unintentionally.

Testifying before a House Small Business subcommittee Thursday, an ASA spokesman said uncertainty over federal policy on a variety of fronts is undermining investor confidence in the biodiesel industry at a time when it needs all the help it can get.

At the top of ASA’s list of regulatory policy concerns is the Environmental Protection Agency’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for implementation of the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard-2. The rule, released on May 5, includes a number of flaws and concerns, according to ASA officials. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and the National FFA Organization will work together to promote awareness of the importance of agricultural education and agricultural career opportunities.

The AEM/FFA agreement covers activities of FFA as well as its partner groups: National Postsecondary Agricultural Student Organization (PAS) and National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE).

AEM is a longtime supporter of FFA-related programs. The association is expanding its participation in conjunction with growth of its workforce development initiatives for the off-road equipment industry.

Collin Peterson remembers the first ethanol boom in the 1970s. The Arab oil embargo and resulting long lines and high prices at the gas pumps prompted a number of entrepreneurs to jump into corn-based renewable fuels.

But when unexpected energy conservation measures by the U.S. public reduced the demand for oil, gasoline and ethanol prices plummeted and the plants were shuttered. Peterson has said ethanol producers in his state of Minnesota never recovered.

So you might understand why Peterson was visibly angry when EPA released its proposed rule for implementing the Renewable Fuels Standard earlier this month. The proposal includes calculations of greenhouse gas emissions for all fuels covered by the standard. - Forrest Laws Farm Press Editorial Staff

Corn growers want to see a mechanism in which they can sell carbon credits on a regulated market to help offset rising production costs from newly introduced climate change legislation, the president of the National Corn Growers Association says.

Bob Dickey, a corn and hog producer from Nebraska, said the NCGA and other farm organizations have been expressing that view to members of Congress for some time. But the message doesn’t seem to be getting through.

Dickey was specifically referring to the new American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2434) introduced recently by California Congressman Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The NCGA believes the current version could cause negative impacts for farmers if a “cap and trade system” is not structured properly. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

In all the controversy surrounding genetically modified crops in recent years, perhaps no segment has been more vocal in opposition than the organic foods industry.

A public comment period in 2000 generated 275,000 letters against GMOs being included in the National Organic Program.

“Many scientists, and even a few organic farmers, now believe (this) rejection was a fatal rush to judgment,” says James McWilliams, who writes widely on history and the ethics of food. He has been described as “a centrist and a reasonable voice in the middle of the food debate.” - Hembree Brandon, Farm Press Editorial Staff

Successful corn production is the product of optimum planting and preparation. Francis Childs, an Iowa farmer who won the National Corn Growers Association yield contest with a world record corn yield of 442 bushels per acre, says, “…root systems and uniform stands are the foundation of high corn yields.” That is sound advice.

Wet spring conditions are common in the Mid-South, but growers should resist the temptation to push planting when soils are marginally wet. Corn seed should be planted 1.5 to 2 inches deep to assure normal root development. Even though the soil surface may be dry and a tractor can get across the field, the planting zone may contain excess moisture, which can lead to germination and developmental problems.

One such problem too common the last couple of years is “rootless corn syndrome,” which encompasses several scenarios capable of inhibiting normal root development, specifically the nodal root system (originating from the base of the stem). Nodal roots begin developing at emergence, providing structural support and the bulk of nutrient and water uptake during the remainder of the plant's life. - Erick Larson, Delta Farm Press

EDITOR'S NOTE

FROM OUR EDITORS

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