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A Penton Media Publication February 20, 2008 | 080220   
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 >> Logan Hawkes

 >> Corn, soybean, wheat prices hit all-time highs

 >> Researchers move closer to curbing pests' appetite

 >> Corn and soybean growers share on-farm research

 >> Production costs continue to climb

 >> Harkin, Chambliss counter Peterson farm bill proposal

 >> Peterson farm bill proposal limits new funding

 >> Harkin says president needs to bend a little

 >> Soybean rust forum to feature national, regional experts

 >> Machinery, energy issues highlight Farm & Gin Show

 >> Why are Democrats so eager to cave on farm bill fight?

 >> Surging foreign demand, weak dollar spur U.S. exports

 >> US appeals WTO Final Compliance Panel Report



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  EDITOR'S NOTE
Logan Hawkes
02/20/08    Crop News Weekly
Cold, wintry weather continues to grip much of the Midwest appearing to be no closer to the spring season than the farm bill is to becoming a law. Still, and eventually we believe, both will come to a conclusion -- sooner or later. In the interim, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson, D-Minnesota, has drafted a new "compromise" version of the bill that he argues may meet with White House approval. But so far, little support has been offered from the Senate, farm groups or the White House. Meanwhile, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee say they don't buy arguments that more than $6 billion has to be cut from the 2008 farm bill so that it can pass muster with the Bush administration. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman, and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., the ranking member, issued a statement saying they want to provide $12.3 billion in "above-baseline" spending for commodity, conservation, energy, nutrition and rural development programs in the 2008 farm bill. The proposal came two days after Peterson's limited spending bill. In other news, farmers continue to see the cost of doing business climb. Fertilizer prices are at record highs. Fuel and pesticide costs are also up, along with land rents and other expenses. In the past couple of months, farmers have been planning for their 2008 crops, and some have had what might best be described as sticker shock. Also this week, soybeans reached an all-time price high the night of Feb. 14 with July 2008 soybean futures selling for $14.08 on the CBOT's electronic platform. Corn equaled its all-time price high, hitting $5.45 for July 2009 futures, also on the CBOT's electronic platform.

You'll find these stories and more in this issue of Crop News Weekly. Happy reading.



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  FROM OUR MAGAZINES
Corn, soybean, wheat prices hit all-time highs
Soybeans reached an all-time price high the night of Feb. 14 with July 2008 soybean futures selling for $14.08 on the CBOT's electronic platform. Corn equaled its all-time price high, hitting $5.45 for July 2009 futures, also on the CBOT's electronic platform. According to CBOT, May beans finished up 39 1/2 at $13.86 1/2, 1/2 off the high and 39 3/4 up from the low. November beans closed up at 34 1/2 at $13.05 1/2--32 1/2 up from the low and 2 off the high. - The Corn & Soybean Digest

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Researchers move closer to curbing pests' appetite
Scientists at Kansas State University (K-State) have discovered that the salivary glands of a tiny insect may hold a key to developing pest resistance in plants. A team of K-State researchers found that by using technology to silence a gene in the salivary glands of pea aphids, the insect's lifespan was cut by more than 50%. "What we found is that when we silenced the most abundant transcript (gene), the aphids died in a few days," says K-State Professor of Entomology John Reese. - The Corn & Soybean Digest

Corn and soybean growers share on-farm research
Corn and soybean growers are invited to attend the Nebraska Soybean and Feed Grains Profitability Project (NSFGPP) on-farm research update March 11 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's (UNL) Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead. The 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. program will be at the August N. Christenson Research and Education Building. Producers will obtain valuable crop-production-related information from on-farm research projects conducted on Nebraska farms by Nebraska farmers. - The Corn & Soybean Digest

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Production costs continue to climb
Farmers continue to see the cost of doing business climb. Fertilizer prices are at record highs. Fuel and pesticide costs are also up, along with land rents and other expenses. In the past couple of months, farmers have been planning for their 2008 crops, and some have had what might best be described as sticker shock. Prices for potash, phosphorus and nitrogen are high now and aren't likely to drop. Some have locked in prices while others are waiting, hoping for lower prices. However, any real downturn in costs seems unlikely. - Laura Skillman, University of Kentucky

Harkin, Chambliss counter Peterson farm bill proposal
The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee say they don't buy arguments that more than $6 billion has to be cut from the 2008 farm bill so that it can pass muster with the Bush administration. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman, and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., the ranking member, issued a statement saying they want to provide $12.3 billion in "above-baseline" spending for commodity, conservation, energy, nutrition and rural development programs in the 2008 farm bill. The proposal came two days after House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and ranking member Bob Goodlatte offered to limit spending in the new farm bill to $6 billion above baseline to win White House support for the legislation. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

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Peterson farm bill proposal limits new funding
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson said he and the committee's ranking member have developed a farm bill with only $6 billion in new spending that President Bush will sign. Peterson, D-Minn., and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the new approach is needed so a House-Senate committee can complete a farm bill conference report, have it pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the president before an extension of the current farm law expires March 15. But major farm organizations say the Peterson-Goodlatte proposal is "seriously under-funded," and contains provisions supported by the administration that were previously rejected by the House and Senate agriculture committees. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

Harkin says president needs to bend a little
The clock is ticking, says Sen. Tom Harkin, and the Bush administration needs to show a little more flexibility if it wants farmers to have a new farm bill by the time the extension of the current law expires on March 15. Harkin, D-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, says he believes enacting a new farm bill by that date remains possible, but only if the White House relaxes its objections to what it calls tax increases and congressional leaders term 'loopholes'. "The administration has said it wants to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis to pass a farm bill the president can sign," Harkin told reporters. "I take them at their word, but, if an overwhelming majority of the Congress says we ought to close those loopholes to get some funding, I think the president is going to have to bend on this." - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

Soybean rust forum to feature national, regional experts
Soybean farmers will have an opportunity to learn what experts think Asian soybean rust could do this year and learn about tactics to manage the disease by attending the Soybean Rust Forum 2008 on March 4 at Brinkley, Ark. "Climatologist Scott Isard from Penn State University is coming to discuss how environment affects movement and spread of the disease," said Scott Monfort, associate professor/plant pathologist with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Other speakers include Clayton Hollier, an Extension plant pathologist from Louisiana State University Ag Center; Monfort; Cliff Coker, Arkansas Extension plant pathologist at Monticello; and Jeremy Ross, Arkansas Extension soybean agronomist. - Lamar James, Arkansas Extension Specialist

Machinery, energy issues highlight Farm & Gin Show
A chance to kick the tires of two hot new cotton pickers and seminars on marketing and energy are among the highlights of the 56th annual Mid-South Farm & Gin Show, to be held Feb. 29-March 1 at the Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis. "Our show offers growers an opportunity to get a handle on how the 2008 season is shaping up and to see firsthand a broad array of products and services that span more than 400 exhibits and over 200,000 square feet of floor space," says Tim Price, executive vice president of the Southern Cotton Ginners Association and Foundation and show manager. The event, the largest indoor farm show in the South, is co-sponsored by Delta Farm Press.

Why are Democrats so eager to cave on farm bill fight?
What's the rush? Some months ago, a farm bill analyst said in these pages that Congress had plenty of time to write a new farm bill; that all the scurrying around by House Agriculture Committee members was too much, too soon. That turned out to be another case of an expert not knowing what he was talking about. The House Agriculture Committee completed its work a few months later, reporting a bill the House passed in late July. The Senate Agriculture Committee dithered for months, finally voting out a bill the full Senate didn't OK until Dec. 17. Now Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., the chief architect of the House farm bill, is trying to get the process rolling again, releasing a new proposal that seems to have won at least tacit approval from the Bush administration. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

Surging foreign demand, weak dollar spur U.S. exports
Surging foreign demand, a weak U.S. dollar and unprecedented growth in the global economy are the driving forces behind increasing rates of U.S. agricultural exports, according to Mike Dwyer, chief economist with the Foreign Agricultural Service at the USDA. Dwyer spoke in front of U.S. Grains Council members at the Council's 5th International Marketing Conference and 48th Annual Membership meeting in San Antonio, Texas. "People have money in their pockets and the ability to buy despite growing prices," he said in regards to the growing middle class in countries such as China, Southeast Asia and India. The rising income of citizens in many of these markets goes hand in hand with the increasing U.S. agricultural exports. "People in other countries use their rising incomes to improve the quality of their diets. When consumers prosper, so do you," he said, addressing the grains producers in the audience.

US appeals WTO Final Compliance Panel Report
A criticism frequently brought by farmers of our Trade Representatives is that they don't stand their ground to defend American Agriculture. That's not the case this week from reading a statement from Gretchen Hamel, USTR spokeswoman, regarding the appeal of the WTO Final Compliance Panel Report in United States-Subsidies on Upland Cotton. On Tuesday of this week the United States filed its appeal in the WTO dispute brought by Brazil alleging that the United States had not implemented earlier WTO findings against U.S. agricultural support measures, including support for cotton farmers. Ms. Hamel said in her statement that, "The appeal is from the report of a compliance panel that found that certain changes made by the United States to its cotton programs were insufficient to bring the challenged measures - certain support payments under the 2002 farm bill and export credit guarantees - into conformity with U.S. WTO obligations." - Roger Haldenby, Plains Cotton Growers Inc.



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