FarmWeek August 23 2010

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Monday, August 23, 2010 Two sections Volume 38, No. 34

FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com Illinois Farm Bureau®on the web: www.ilfb.org

ILLINOIS AGRICULTUREin the Classroom will use a grantfrom the Walmart Foundation toexpand its after-school ag literacyprogram. ........................................2

A UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIScrop science professor last week toldfarmers that if they have problemswith resistant waterhemp, their trou-bles likely will only get worse. ..........7

U. S. REP. TIM JOHNSONfavors elimination of the “death tax”but does not see the chances of thathappening because of the revenue theestate tax generates. ................................4

Task force mulls options

Money scarce, choices few in farm bill debateBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

With only two major agspending “buckets” left to tapand even nutrition funding — asupposedly sacred cow — nolonger strictly sacred, a Wash-ington analyst warns new farmbill ideas likely will requiresome sacrifice.

Given current indications,“We’re actually going to losemoney in the (2012) farm bill,”American Farm Bureau Federa-tion policy specialist TaraSmith advised Illinois FarmBureau’s Farm Policy TaskForce (FPTF) last week.

Beyond the forthcoming2011 budget reconciliation battleto retain ag funding, Smith citedthe possibility of a secondround of budget debate in 2012.

House Ag Committee Chair-man Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), a farm programdefender who nonethelessseeks fiscal responsibility infuture ag spending, pledged “Iwill not ask for money outsidethe farm bill budget.”

During 2008 farm bill debate,House Ways and Means andSenate Finance committees ulti-mately “pumped in” an added$10 billion — money quickly

advanced “Brownie points” forthe budget debate, “I’m notreally sure that’s going to holdtrue,” Smith said.

“Anyone with new ideas,new programs, changes to(farm) programs that cost mon-ey are really going to have to becognizant of where they’d liketo take that money from, withinthe farm program pot,” shetold FarmWeek.

“Direct payments are about$5 billion per year; crop insur-ance is about $6 billion. Onceyou look beyond those two

buckets of money, there reallyisn’t a lot to be had within farmprograms.

“Those programs are cer-tainly going to be the targets.We’ve seen crop insurance takeone hit. The question iswhether it will be ready to takeanother, or will direct paymentsbe the primary funding mecha-nism for changes?”

Smith reported Peterson has“drawn a line” against tapping2012 commodity funding to

See Farm bill, page 4

diverted to nutrition — and forPeterson, “it was a very frustrat-ing process,” Smith not-ed.

Food stampand related pro-grams havereceived largefundingincreases overthe past threeyears, but theSenate somewhatsurprisingly has target-ed some of that money to fundother areas (House action is

expected by lateSeptember),and she suggests champions of

those programs could seekto recoup that money,

potentially placing“a target on our(ag’s) backs.”

In addition,USDA’s newadministrative

agreement withcrop insurance

providers trims $4 bil-lion from the system pur-

portedly for deficit reduction.While Peterson may see that as

Crop conditions deteriorate in IllinoisBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The extreme heat and dryweather that prevailed formuch of the first three weeksof August reduced crop yieldpotential in Illinois, based onrecent yield tours.

The Pro Farmer MidwestCrop Tour last week estimatedIllinois’ corn yield at 166.5bushels per acre, down 2.2 per-cent from the three-year aver-age, according to RogerBernard, director of the easternportion of the Pro Farmer tour.

The Soy Capital Ag Ser-vices corn yield estimates inMcLean County found thesame trend. The estimatedaverage yield in McLeanCounty was 182.8 bushels peracre, down about 11 bushelsfrom Soy Capital’s projectedyield the past three years.

“You could really see thetip-back (where kernel develop-ment was aborted at the end ofears),” said Chad Hoke, assis-tant vice president and farmmanager with Soy Capital AgServices in Bloomington.“That had to do with the heatand dry weather.”

Hoke believes soil com-paction from last year’s wetharvest and plant competitionalso played a role in loweringcorn yield potential.

Participants on the Soy

per acre for soybeans, up threebushels from a year ago.

However, crop conditionratings declined between July 19and Aug. 16. The portion ofthe crops rated poor or verypoor during that time increasedfrom 10 percent to 13 percentfor corn and from 8 percent to11 percent for beans.

The rest of the state’s corncrop last week was rated 63percent good to excellent and24 percent fair while theremaining bean crop was rated64 percent good to excellentand 25 percent fair.

Capital yield tour found thehighest plant population andear counts ever recorded onthe tour. But they also foundthe average ear length this yearto be the shortest in McLeanCounty since 2001.

“Compaction is playing arole in this year’s yield,” Hokesaid. “We expect to see a lot offall tillage to help alleviate that.”

The Soy Capital tour alsofound corn after soybeansappears to have the best yieldpotential (188 bushels per acre)compared to continuous corn(176 bushels) and second-year

corn (164 bushels). Tour resultsare available online at{www.soycapitalag.com}.

Meanwhile, soybean podcounts taken in Illinois duringthe Pro Farmer tour were up 16percent. But production ofsome soy plants has slowed dueto sudden death syndrome inmany of the 122 fields thatwere scouted statewide.

USDA earlier this monthprojected statewide yield aver-ages in Illinois (based on Aug. 1conditions) of 180 bushels peracre for corn, up six bushelsfrom last year, and 49 bushels

Corn harvest began last week in some southern regions of the state. Here, Jesse Drew of Benton in FranklinCounty works on a field of 105-day corn near Ewing that was planted April 20. The moisture level was 17.2percent with a yield estimate of 140 bushels per acre. Corn yield estimates put the county’s average at133.5 bushels per acre. (Photo by Larry Miller, Franklin County Farm Bureau manager)

PORK PLANT TO REOPEN — A pork pro-cessing plant in Rantoul that closed in January 2009will reopen under a different name.

Trim-Rite, a Carpentersville-based company,recently scrapped its plan to open a pork processingfacility in DeKalb and instead plans to reopen theformer Meadowbrook Farms facility in Rantoul, theChampaign News-Gazette reported last week.

Meadowbrook Farms’ Rantoul operation was a200 farmer-member cooperative that employedabout 600 people before it filed for bankruptcy andclosed in January 2009.

Trim-Rite reportedly will employ about 200 peo-ple at the 6-year-old, 120,000-square-foot facility.

COUNTIES OK’D FOR FEDERAL FLOODHELP — Gov. Pat Quinn last week receivedapproval for federal disaster designations for Car-roll, Cook, DuPage, Jo Daviess, Ogle, Stephenson,and Winnebago counties due to flood damage. Vic-tims of the July 22-24 flash floods are now eligibleto apply for federal grants and loans for storm-relat-ed losses.

“We will begin working immediately with FEMA(Federal Emergency Management Agency) to ensureflood victims can get needed help as quickly as pos-sible,” said Joe Klinger, Illinois Emergency Manage-ment Agency interim director.

FEMA, which admin is te rs the ass i s tanceprog ram, has a to l l - f ree te lephone number800-621-3362 for victims to apply for assis-tance. Registration also can be done online at{www.disasterassistance.gov}.

LAME DUCK STILL POSSIBLE — TheHouse last week voted down a proposal by Rep.Tom Price (R-Ga.) that would have pledged Con-gress would not convene between November andJanuary except in the case of a national emergency.

The failed resolution was an attempt by Republi-cans to avoid a lame-duck session where there isconcern controversial climate change legislationwould be passed before the new Congress convenesin January. “A lame-duck session should not be usedas a post-election blitz to impose liberal programsthat Americans do not support,” Price argued.

However, a lame duck session may be needed toaddress a number of other, potentially time-sensi-tive issues, including biofuels tax credit extensions,estate tax action, and free trade agreements.

FarmWeek Page 2 Monday, August 23, 2010

(ISSN0197-6680)

Vol. 38 No. 34 August 23, 2010

Dedicated to improving the profitability of farm-ing, and a higher quality of life for Illinois farmers.FarmWeek is produced by the Illinois FarmBureau.

FarmWeek is published each week, except theMondays following Thanksgiving and Christmas, by theIllinois Agricultural Association, 1701 Towanda Avenue, P.O.Box 2901, Bloomington, IL 61701. Illinois AgriculturalAssociation assumes no responsibility for statements byadvertisers or for products or services advertised inFarmWeek.

FarmWeek is published by the Illinois AgriculturalAssociation for farm operator members. $3 from the indi-vidual membership fee of each of those members go towardthe production of FarmWeek.

Address subscription and advertisingquestions to FarmWeek, P.O. Box 2901,Bloomington, IL 61702-2901. Periodicalspostage paid at Bloomington, Illinois, andat an additional mailing office.

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© 2010 Illinois Agricultural Association

STAFFEditor

Dave McClelland ([email protected])Legislative Affairs Editor

Kay Shipman ([email protected])Agricultural Affairs Editor

Martin Ross ([email protected])Senior Commodities Editor

Daniel Grant ([email protected])Editorial Assistant

Linda Goltz ([email protected])Business Production Manager

Bob StandardAdvertising Sales Manager

Richard VerderyClassified sales coordinator

Nan FanninDirector of News and Communications

Dennis VerclerAdvertising Sales RepresentativesHurst and Associates, Inc.P.O. Box 6011, Vernon Hills, IL 600611-800-397-8908 (advertising inquiries only)

Gary White - Northern IllinoisDoug McDaniel - Southern IllinoisEditorial phone number: 309-557-2239Classified advertising: 309-557-3155Display advertising: 1-800-676-2353

Quick TakesSTATE

Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nel-son and IFB Vice President Rich Guebert Jr.will conduct regional Farm Talk meetings laterthis year throughout the state.

Dates, times, and locations are:• Monday, Aug. 30 , 11 a.m., Effingham

County, Joe Thoele farm, 13550 N. 2100St., Teutopolis; 5:30 p.m., WilliamsonCounty, John A. Logan College, 700

Logan College Rd., Carterville.• Wednesday, Sept. 1, 11 a.m., Warren

County, American Legion Post 136, 1110 N.11th St., Monmouth; 5:30 p.m., LaSalle Coun-ty, Pitstick Pavilion, 3401 N. State Rt. 23,Ottawa.

You may register by contacting your countyFarm Bureau or the IFB president’s office at 1-800-676-3217.

Farm Talk meetings slated around state

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom(IAITC) will expand its after-school ag literacyprogram with $50,000 from the Walmart Foun-dation.

Walmart executives presented Illinois FarmBureau President Philip Nelson with the con-tribution during Agriculture Day festivities atthe Illinois State Fair.

This was the second year of funding fromthe Walmart Foundation.

“Agriculture is important to our business,”Ronda Roberts, Walmart marketing manager,told FarmWeek. “About 70 percent of ourproduce comes from local producers.”

IAITC used Walmart’s initial donation todevelop a nine-week after-school program,named After School Agriculture, for such enti-

ties, as Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs,which offer childcare and summer educationprograms.

Kevin Daugherty, director of education forIAITC, explained Walmart’s donation helpedIAITC programs reach non-traditional stu-dents.

IAITC plans to expand the initial lessonsbased on farm-related ingredients used to makepizzas to explore locally grown foods, accord-ing to Daugherty.

“We’ll talk about how Illinois grows those(ag products),” he explained.

IAITC is the top funding priority of theIAA Foundation, IFB’s charitable foundation.Funding from agribusiness and related indus-tries, state government, commodity groups, andindividual donors helps support the IAA Foun-dation’s efforts.

The Illinois Council onFood and AgriculturalResearch (C-FAR) no longerwill have staff or an office onthe University of IllinoisUrbana campus. Instead, theIllinois Crop ImprovementAssociation in Champaign willprovide support staff for therestructured C-FAR.

On June 30, C-FAR mem-bers voted to revise the organi-zation’s bylaws. As a result ofthat change and elimination of

state funding, C-FAR scaledback its day-to-day activitiesand restructured its operations.

Representatives of four sec-tor caucuses: corn, soybean,pork-beef-dairy, and specialtycrops-wheat-allied industrieswill meet Aug. 30 to elect newleadership.

Mary Auth of the IllinoisCrop Improvement will serveas C-FAR program managerand oversee the sector caucusplanning, ongoing correspon-

dence, and organization over-sight.

Kraig Wagenecht, who hadserved as C-FAR executiveadministrator since 1997, willseek other opportunities.

Any correspondence to C-FAR should be mailed to MaryAuth, Box 9013, Champaign,Ill., 61826-9013.

Her telephone number is217-359-4053. The new C-FAR e-mail address [email protected].

C-FAR announces staff, office changes

Walmart gives $50,000 to IAITC

Susan Moore, right, IAA Foundation director, chats with Ronda Roberts, Walmart marketing manager, abouta $50,000 donation from the Walmart Foundation for Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom (IAITC) programs.Looking on is Kevin Daugherty, IAITC education director. This was the Walmart Foundation’s second contri-bution to IAITC for ag literacy. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

STATE FAIR


Neither heat nor long lines discouragedyoung fairgoers and their families from visiting anew farm exhibit at the Illinois State Fair-grounds known as The Farmer’s Little Helpers.

Even during a sweltering weekend, lines ofchildren and adults snaked through the “farm”buildings and a small grain bin. Young visitorscompleted hands-on activities at each stop andlearned about Illinois agriculture.

Erica Filipiak, the exhibit supervisor and afourth grade teacher, didn’t have an estimate ofhow many people had visited the site, but saidshe had received many good comments fromvisitors.

“The parents have provided great feedback.They’ve said how cute it is and educational,” Fil-ipiak said. “From looking at the kids, you cansee they’re absolutely loving it.”

The exhibit was designed for children ages 3to 10, but Filipiak said some visitors as young as

2 and as old as 12 were completing the activities.Adult visitors without children also walkedthrough the buildings and said they learned newinformation, she added.

In addition to non-farmers, the new exhibitalso caught the attention of at least one notablefarmer.

Former Illinois Agriculture Director BeckyDoyle praised Farmer’s Little Helpers whileaddressing an Ag Day luncheon crowd. “It’sreally well done. I think it will do a lot for agri-cultural education,” she said.

Filipiak thought of her own Springfield stu-dents as she looked over the youngsters movingthrough the exhibit and using the educationalmaterials that had been donated by agriculturalgroups, including the Illinois Farm Bureau.

She said some local teachers have asked if thearea and activities could be available for classfield trips after the State Fair. — Kay Shipman

Fairgoers line up for Farmer’s Little Helpers

Illinois State Fair visitors line up for a chance to milk a pretend cow in the Dairy Barn at the Farmer’s LittleHelpers exhibit at the Illinois State Fair. The new interactive, educational farm exhibit drew crowds even onthe hottest days of the fair. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

came ahead and set thecourse,” added former AgDirector Joe Hampton. “We’vegot a good thing going in Illi-nois.”

Former Ag Director Gor-don Ropp surveyed the largecrowd gathered on the direc-tor’s lawn, then concluded,“Illinois agriculture is notdead.”

IDOA isn’t the only agencydealing with state funding cuts.Earlier in the day, IllinoisAttorney General Lisa Madi-gan said she is doing her bestto reduce her office’s relianceon taxpayer funding. Madigannoted her office had raised $1billion each of the last twoyears — a majority of her bud-get — through such things asprosecution of Medicaid fraudcases.

However due to cuts, Madi-gan has reduced the number oflawyers and part-time staff inher office, the attorney generalsaid.

These reductions are occur-

ring at the same time her staffhas seen an increase in con-sumer fraud, according toMadigan. She has been focus-

ing on fraud that targets seniorcitizens.

“We want to make sure con-sumers don’t lose their hard-earned money,” Madigan said.

“I knew I could do the jobbecause I had the power ofIllinois agriculture behindme.”

“Thanks to the people who

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

State agriculture leaders cel-ebrated Illinois agriculture andthe Illinois Department ofAgriculture (IDOA) on AgDay last week at the IllinoisState Fair, but warned progresscould be jeopardized by con-tinued state funding cuts.

“We have to be careful inbudget cuts that we don’t cutessential services,” warned for-mer Illinois Agriculture Direc-tor Becky Doyle.

Six former state ag directorsaddressed the crowd duringthe Ag Day luncheon andaward ceremony on the direc-tor’s lawn on the fairgrounds.It was the first time in recentmemory that former ag direc-tors gathered on Ag Day.

Former Ag Director LarryWerries thanked current AgDirector Tom Jennings forinviting his predecessors.“This is such a good idea thatI’m amazed we didn’t think ofit,” Werries joked.

But the seriousness of state

funding cuts to IDOA andagricultural education,research, and conservationprograms were stressed by sev-eral former ag directors.

“We need an efficient andproductive Illinois Departmentof Agriculture,” said formerAg Director John “Jack”Rundquist. “I’m concernedabout the cuts to IDOA, 4-H,C-FAR (Illinois Council onFood and AgriculturalResearch), and FFA. We needto draw a line in the sand.”

Doyle said she learnedabout the breadth of servicesIDOA provides to the agindustry and consumers aftershe became state ag director.“Those are important things,”Doyle noted.

The state’s agricultureindustry continues to build onits resources, including its lead-ers and innovators, the formerdirectors noted.

Although Werries said hewas at first nervous about suc-ceeding former Ag Directorand Ag Secretary John Block,

State financial woes, budget cuts not forgotten on Ag Day

Illinois Agriculture Director Tom Jennings, left, receives applause last week from his predecessors on AgricultureDay at the Illinois State Fair. Former state ag directors, shown left to right are Larry Werries, Chuck Hartke,Becky Doyle, Jack Rundquist, Gordon Ropp, and Joe Hampton. Former Ag Director John Block sent his greet-ings from Germany. It was the first gathering of former ag directors in recent memory. (Photo by Kay Shipman)

Attorney General Lisa Madigan

GOVERNMENT


Johnson: Revise ‘confiscatory’ estate taxBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson tiresof hearing about what someon Capitol Hill call “the expi-ration of the Bush tax cuts.”

“What will happen nextyear is a dramatic tax increase— don’t try to frame it anyother way,” the UrbanaRepublican insisted last week.

Failing con-gressionalaction, the fed-eral estate tax— which wasphased out thisyear under2001 tax legis-lation —returns Jan. 1with a mere $1million individual exemptionand a high 55 percent tax rate.

The individual exemptionrose to $3.5 million in 2009prior to the tax “sunsetting”this year. Senate Ag Commit-

tee Chairman Blanche Lincoln(D-Ark.) proposes a new $5million individual/$10 millionper-couple exemption with a35 percent top rate.

At a recent public meetingin Bloomington, Johnsonargued “one of the first priori-ties of a proactive, jobs-orient-ed Congress ought to be toexpand targeted tax relief for

middle-class taxpayers.” He favors outright “death tax”

elimination, but acknowledges“that’s not going to happen for anumber of reasons,” includingthe revenue it generates.

Johnson nonetheless findsit “absolutely one of the mostconfiscatory, unfair, burden-some, and counterproductivetaxes we have in our system.”

Sangamon Countyfarmer/attorney George Tin-kham fears the burden a $1million exemption would placeon his neighbors and clients.

“All you have to have is asection of landand all of asudden, bang!— you’re overthat limit, andyou’re going tobe losing someof the familyassets you andyour ancestorsworked very

hard putting together,” Tin-kham told FarmWeek.

Tinkham himself ownsprime Sangamon County grainland.

“If this does go back to $1million, estate planners, espe-cially lawyers, will make a goodamount of money telling peo-ple how to get into trusts andhow to work around that.

“There are very valid, legal

Continued from page 1restore food stamp spending. Even if House leadership shouldchange with November’s elections, she believes prospective newchairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) would follow a similar philosophy.

Moving money from nutrition to farm programs would beimpossible “with this kind of environment, this kind of Congress,and this kind of president,” Smith argued. However, a political shiftshould not necessarily reassure farmers, she said, questioningwhether possible House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would beany friendlier toward farm programs than current Speaker NancyPelosi (D-Calif.).

Further complicating matters is pressure on marketing loan andcountercyclical programs important to southern cotton growersbut vulnerable under a recent World Trade Organization (WTO)ruling.

With the U.S. currently paying Brazil an annual $147 million toforestall trade retaliation under the ruling, Smith reports a largegroup of lawmakers are demanding full WTO compliance underthe next farm bill.

At the same time, southern producers see little value in the aver-age crop revenue election program (ACRE) or crop insurance. As aresult, direct payments remain about the only national rallyingpoint, she said.

During IFB’s August Marketers to Washington tour, a USDArepresentative suggested ACRE likely would be “revamped insome way” rather than eliminated, tour participant and LivingstonCounty FPTF member Dennis Haab related. Given strong supportin the South for direct payments, they should prove “really hard toget rid of,” the ag official told Haab.

Haab’s Kane County task force colleague Bob Gehrke notedthat with farm programs comprising less than 0.5 of a percent ofthe U.S. budget, “We’re not going to solve the U.S. deficit by takingthe programs away.”

Farm bill

Arguing Congress and theadministration have displayedan increasingly “tone-deafattitude toward agriculture,”U.S. House Ag Committeemember Tim Johnson soundsa note of concern aboutpotential 2012 ag spending.

During a Bloomington“town hall” meeting, theUrbana Republican cited sever-al ongoing threats to producers.Those ranged from proposedU.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency regulations and newhealth care policies to a lack offunding for planned UpperMississippi-Illinois locks andfailure to act on the Colombiafree trade agreement.

Johnson said he was con-cerned producer direct pay-ments could be “yet anothervictim” of apathy toward agri-culture, amid “unbelievably dis-torted priorities” in current fed-eral spending and the search fordollars to fund them.

“Our national debt now isbetween $13 trillion and $14 tril-lion, and increasing every day,”he noted. “Our annual deficit isalmost $1.6 trillion this year.”

Johnson sees “no chance” offunding for construction of fiveMississippi and two Illinois Riv-er locks approved in 2007 “untilwe have a new administration.”

The House Transportationand Infrastructure Committeerecently passed water resour-ces legislation without includ-ing an Inland Waterways Capi-

tal Development Plan pro-posed after a nearly two-yeareffort by a working group toaddress locks and other inlandwaterway needs.

The plan seeks $7.6 billionfor a 20-year navigation invest-

ment program with averageannual spending of $380 mil-lion. Annual investmentswould include $320 million forconstruction projects and $60million for major rehabilita-tion. — Martin Ross

Direct payments, locks potential ‘victims’?

Ag groups, companiesseek no-strings E12

Federal officials must bust the current ethanol “blend wall,”not create two new ones, Illinois Corn Growers Association(ICGA) President Tim Lenz warned last week amid reports thata decision may be near on E12/E15.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appearsready to approve raising the ethanol blend rate in conventionalgasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent, Ag Secretary Tom Vil-sack said at the Iowa State Fair. EPA Administrator Lisa Jacksonhas discussed E15 labeling, “an indication we’re going to haveit,” Vilsack said.

The question is “what vehicles will it apply to,” he said. Con-cerns that EPA may clear E15only for newer vehicles hasspurred Illinois corn, ethanol,and retail fuel interests to askPresident Obama instead forimmediate E12 (12 percentblend) approval.

In an Aug. 16 letter to Obama, Illinois Farm Bureau, ICGA,the Illinois Renewable Fuels Association, GROWMARK, othersnoted “no studies that indicate any significant problems with theuse of E12 or E15.”

But current EPA rules “actually allow gasoline blends con-taining an oxygen content substantially equivalent to E12,“ theystated.

With ethanol production outpacing existing demand by 10percent, E12 would “give the industry a breather” and assureplant sustainability, Lenz told FarmWeek. He urged the agencynot to hurt biofuels markets through a two-tiered E15 market,especially if E12 can be approved “with a stroke of the pen.”

“Don’t hurt the market by saying we can only use E15 in 2001or newer models.

“If (EPA’s) going to finally get down to all cars being able touse E15, let’s just wait for that. But let’s not wait for five years;we’re nine months past when they were supposed to have a rul-ing by law, anyway.”

Lenz was on hand last week as U.S. House Ag Committeemember Deb Halvorson, a Crete Democrat, pushed for two-yearextension of a soon-to-expire ethanol blenders tax credit shesees as crucial to “renewables for the future.”

Halvorson blasted media, including the Chicago Tribune, whichhave challenged justification for the 45-cent-per-gallon tax breakand insisting “it’s not a waste of money.”

“We have to invest in the first generation of ethanol so wecan get to the second,” she told reporters in Ottawa. “We haveto stop putting people in limbo.

“That’s why I’ve sponsored a bill for two years’ (extension ofthe) tax credit — so there’s certainty in the industry, so they’llcontinue to invest.” — Martin Ross

FarmWeekNow.comYou also can listen to an audiorepor t on the ethanol issuefrom RFD Radio’s Matt Kaye atFarmWeekNow.com.

‘What will happen next year is a dra-matic tax increase.’

— U.S. Rep. Tim JohnsonUrbana Republican

ways to do it. It’s just goodbusiness planning: Why would-n’t you do something like that?”

One potentially effectivestrategy is to maximum annualgifting of assets to familymembers under an irrevocable

trust. But Tinkham notedsome elder producers arereluctant to relinquish controlof their operations, “and thosepeople are really going to behit by this thing if it rollsback.”

STATE


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Brent Scholl, president of the Illinois Pork Producers Association, discusses the importance of a farmer imagecampaign on Ag Day at the Illinois State Fair. Looking on behind Scholl are representatives of a farm organi-zation coalition looking to improve the farmer image. Left to right, they are Illinois Farm Bureau PresidentPhilip Nelson, Donna Jeschke of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Illinois Soybean Association ChairmanRon Moore, and Illinois Beef Association Vice President Jeff Beasley. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

Illinois farm groups talk farmer image at State Fair

State Treasurer Alexi Gian-noulias last week awarded 10scholarships to outstandingIllinois high school seniors onAgriculture Day at the IllinoisState Fair.

Each recipient will receive a$2,000 Bright Start CollegeSavings Program account.

More than 100 high schoolstudents applied for the schol-arships.

Winners were selectedbased on their grades, commu-nity service, and essays abouttheir commitment to agricul-tural studies and careers.

The 2010 Excellence inAgriculture Scholarship win-ners are:

• Lauren Adcock, daughterof Bob and Sherry Adcock ofMoweaqua.

• Jonathon Lee Brashear,son of Gary and Pam Bras-

hear of Weldon.• Chase Michael Butler, son

of Steve and Deanna Butler ofPekin.

• Joshua Ryan Clark, son ofStan and Lisa Clark of Lin-coln.

• Ronald Thaddeus Dymers-ki Jr., son of Ronald and Dar-lene Dymerski of Beecher.

• Amelia Martens, daughterof Patrick and AnnetteMartens of Orion.

• Rodney Noe, son ofRalph and Janet Noe of EastPeoria.

• Taylor Walk, daughter ofRoger and Karen Walk ofNeoga.

• Kelcie Woker, daughter ofCraig and Jan Woker ofGreenville.

• Doug Yunker, son ofMark and Heidi Yunker ofFrankfort.

Illinois treasurer awards10 agriculture scholarships

On Ag Day at the IllinoisState Fair, a coalition of farmorganizations discussed newconsumer research that con-firms Illinois consumers careabout who produces theirfood, but they are misinformedabout the family farmers whoreally grow and raise the major-ity of food produced in thestate.

Farm organizations in theIllinois Farmers Coalitioninclude the Illinois Beef Asso-ciation (IBA), Illinois CornMarketing Board (ICMB), Illi-nois Farm Bureau (IFB), Illi-nois Pork Producers Associa-tion (IPPA), and Illinois Soy-bean Association (ISA).

Research projects conductedon the group’s behalf andsupervised by Milwaukee-basedmarketing communicationsagency Morgan & Myers showa pervasive mistrust of farmingpractices that stems from con-sumer concerns about foodsafety and animal welfare onso-called “factory farms.”

While having trouble clearlydefining “factory farms,” con-sumers uniformly feel suchfarms dominate Illinois agricul-ture.

In a statewide poll of morethan 1,100 non-farm adultscommissioned by the groupsand conducted by GfK Roper,Illinois residents believe, onaverage, that 54 percent of Illi-nois farm products come from“corporate farms” vs. 46 per-cent from family farming. Themost recent USDA statisticsshow that individual familyfarms and partnerships repre-sent 94 percent of all Illinoisfarms.

“There has been somewhatof a disconnect, and we needto tell them (consumers) notonly how we raise their food,but also how we care for ani-mals,” said IFB PresidentPhilip Nelson. “We need to tryto get a message that resonateswith consumers.”

“The American family farmshould be the most trustedfood-producing enterprise inthe world,” said Ron Moore,ISA chairman. “But our cus-tomers think the familyfarm is passing from thescene. Nothing could be fur-ther from the truth. We mayhave larger farms with lessdiversity, but we are still farm-ing together as a family, andoften on the same land as pre-vious generations.”

“We know that the bestpeople to tell the story oftoday’s agriculture are the peo-ple who raise the livestock andfarm the ground day in andday out,” said Jeff Beasley,IBA vice president.

“We look forward to shar-ing the true story of farmingand helping consumers get toknow us in a way that they canconnect with farmers andthose who raise livestock,”said Beasley.

Seventy-one percent ofconsumers polled said they feltmore positive about farmingwhen told the facts about thepercentage of family-operatedfarms in the state.

“We must look for everyopportunity to engage in ameaningful dialogue with con-sumers and be a trusted sourceof information on questionsabout how our food is grown

and raised,” said Brent Scholl,IPPA president.

“But the current misunder-standing of consumers towardfarming is really quite wide-spread and creates substantialdamage to their trust in farmsand farming,” Scholl added.

For example, two-thirds ofnonfarmers say they are not

knowledgeable about farmingpractices used on Illinoisfarms.

But two-thirds also say theyare personally concerned about“lax regulations of corporatefarms.” And an equal numberare concerned about “the roleof big business in farming.”

“Myths about food produc-

tion are today’s urban legends,invading our classrooms andchurches,” said Donna Jeschke,immediate past-chairman ofthe ICMB.

“It’s high time we in agricul-ture step back and consider thenonfarmer and why they’vecome to the conclusions theyhave.”

Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: Rainfall forthe week ending Aug. 15 totaled1.4 inches at our farm, but wasmore than 2 inches north ofRockford. Sudden death syn-drome in soybeans has beenshowing up more and moreeach week. We have never hadthat disease this far north until

this year, but it seems as if we have beenhaving Central Illinois weather up here thisyear. Corn husks are starting to turn slightlybrown and corn is ripening naturally, butthere also are some leaf diseases showingup late in the growing season. It was fairweek in Winnebago County last week, foot-ball practice has started, most schools aregetting started, and harvest will be heresoon.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: Rain on Friday,Aug. 13, totaled 1.2 inches atmy farm and as much as 2.5inches in some other areas.Cooler days brought relief forlivestock and humans. With2,400 growing degree units,early corn has now reached themilk line about two-thirds of the

way down the kernel. Yield potential is verygood. Soybeans are tall with many pods,but sudden death syndrome is showing upin more fields. Some roads that wereclosed following the July 24 storm havebeen reopened, but repairs on others willtake longer.

Ron Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: Crops arerapidly maturing. Early corn isturning brown, husks are loos-ening, and the ears are startingto drop. I am sure the cattlefeeders will be chopping silageany day. Early varieties of soy-beans have started to turn. Theyare very tall and have quite a

few pods. There is a lot of disease in almostevery field. Affected areas are scatteredthroughout and dying prematurely. Lastyear in the areas with disease, yields werecut in half. Let’s all think safety this harvestand every day.

Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: The Lee CountyExtension’s Ag MarketingClub meeting had ElwynnTaylor, professor of ag meteo-rology at Iowa StateUniversity, provide a videoconference presentation.Taylor stated that we havemoved into a La Nina weather

pattern, and that should bring drierweather to the Midwest. That’s good newswith harvest just around the corner. Fromreports I’m getting, I bet most of the otherCropwatchers will be talking about sud-den death syndrome in the soybeans.Now is a great time to scout for the dis-ease. Pay attention to the differences invarieties, tillage practices, planting dates,and crop rotation.

Joe Zumwalt, Warsaw, Hancock County: Milder weath-er graced Western Illinois lastweek and it was greatly appre-ciated. The corn is on the fasttrack to dry down. I have heardof hand-shell tests of mois-tures in the upper 20s, but noone has begun harvest yet. Iexpect most will wait until after

Labor Day. The soybeans have pro-gressed nicely and the early beans havesome excellent potential. The later-plant-ed fields are still very small and the jury isstill out as to their yield potential. I guessonly a frost will tell, but it is hard to antic-ipate a frost when it is expected to bemid-90s. Everyone is busy finishing upcutting hay, mowing roadsides, choppingsilage, and preparing equipment for forfall.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: I ended upwith more than 2.5 inches ofrain since the last report.Sudden death is hitting moreand more soybean fields. I sawone last night that will take aserious yield reduction. Corn isracing to maturity, and therewill be some harvested before

month’s end. Road paving projects andnumerous grain system updates are still inprogress.

Jacob Streitmatter, Princeville, Peoria County: It is inter-esting what two weeks can do tothe corn and soybean crop. Thecorn is getting ripe very fast, and,unfortunately, the soybeans havea lot of sudden death in them. Ihave had very little rain since Ihave been home. While on vaca-tion in Europe, Mary and I met up

with Rock and Marla Katschnig in Courbes,France. There we had an excellent time withHerve and Christelle, who are French farm-ers. Rock and I learned a lot on the visit fromHerve and his fellow farmers. We also werelucky enough to ride in his Class 570 Lexioncombine while harvesting his beans. I had noreport last week because the Internet serverwas down.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: Teachersand students are returning toschool. Crops are ripening, andfarmers are very busy gettingmachinery ready for harvest.Corn will be drying down withthis August heat. Some soy-beans are just getting a hint ofyellowing while most are still

very green. Our local elevator has offeredhalf-price drying on corn below 25 percent.So far, only one producer has found corn thisdry and it was 100-day corn. Installing cam-eras on auger carts, combines, and semishas been a help on visibility around this larg-er machinery. Another trend around here hasbeen adding stalk stompers to corn heads tobreak over those tough Bt stalks, whichsaves on tire wear. Some are locking in nextyear’s input costs in case markets explodeagain to the upside.

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: It was a dry week.Local farmers have been attend-ing plot tours and informationalmeetings along with preparingthe machinery for harvest.Almost all cornfields are in thedent stage with a few havingmoved on to R6 or physiologicalmaturity. So the most advanced

corn in development is now at black layer.The driest hand sample I tested on Aug. 20was at 24 percent moisture. Soybean fieldsare either in the R5 growth stage or R6, fullseed stage. Sudden death syndrome hasbeen advancing in local soybean fields. Thelocal closing prices for Aug. 19 were $3.82for nearby corn, $3.83 for new-crop corn,$10.12 for nearby soybeans, and $9.74 fornew-crop soybeans.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: Annualmeeting season is under way forco-ops and others. Crop sizedue to higher-than-ideal heatwas a topic of concern. Harvestwill start after Labor Day formost, but a few have tested thewaters with varying results. Weall owe former McLean County

Extension Director Don Meyer a debt of grat-itude for his years of dedicated service toagriculture. Join me in wishing Don a suc-cessful tenure at his new job at Illinois StateUniversity. Corn, $3.84, $3.87, fall; soy-beans, $10.23, $9.67, fall; wheat, $6.06.

Steve Ayers, Champaign, Champaign County: USDAhas our East-Central Illinoiscrop reporting district at 29percent very short of moisture,45 percent short, and 26 per-cent adequate. One of the dri-est areas is in VermilionCounty from Hoopeston toCissna Park. Area crop tours

gave us a good look at the variability ofconditions throughout the area. TopflightGrain tour Tuesday found a 173 bushelsper acre (BPA) average with a range of186 at Atwood to 156 just down Route 36at Pierson. Premier Co-op’s tourWednesday found a 184.94 bushel aver-age with a range of 231 at St. Joseph to154 at Gifford. Topflight was down 11bushels from 2009 and Premier was down9.5 from last year. For soybeans, Topflightfound an average pod count of 44 with arange of 51 to 38 pods per plant. Seedcorn harvest started during the weekend.Some ears are dropping and bean fieldsare yellowing. Congratulations to StateFair winners Brandon Wyatt of Ogden forhis grand champion steer, Roscoe, andHannah Foster of Paxton for her grandchampion poultry trio!

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: Another nicesummer Friday morning herewith temperatures about 74degrees and clear. But thedays are getting shorter andAugust is flying by, which alsoexplains why a lot of the earlycorn is sliding toward to matu-rity. The crop tours last week

are still saying a lot of bushels. When thecombines start rolling, we’ll learn wherethey are. Soybeans are coming along welland pod filling seems good on early beans.Later beans are going to have to push asthe growing season is winding down. Andyes, we are still mowing as the grass justkeeps growing. Be careful wherever youmay be.

Carrie Winkelmann, Menard County: We received 1.5 inch-es of rain on Friday, Aug. 13, andhad a couple of spotty showerswith no accumulation throughoutlast week. The corn is turningquickly and it sure smells likeharvest time, although I do notexpect to see combines out inour area until after Labor Day.

The soybeans look excellent and I have seenno sudden death syndrome showing up as ofyet.

Tom Ritter, Blue Mound, Macon County: On Aug. 13after filing my report, we werefortunate to have 1 inch of rainin Southern Macon County.This definitely gave a big boostto the soybeans and some ofthe greener corn. Corn is com-ing on fast. We probably willsee a few combines rolling in

the next week and definitely more going bythe week after. The dryness depends a lotupon nitrogen application, what form wasused, as well as the timing. Corn with 28percent nitrogen applied seemed to have alittle more trouble with firing, probablybecause it moved out of the soil with theheavy rains in June. Soybeans will be acouple of months before they will be readyfor harvest, but with these rains here inmid- to late August, it definitely should givethem a boost or maintain some yields.Temperatures have been hot for prepara-tion of the coming harvest as well as get-ting roadsides mowed up one last time.There are a lot of field days to attend tolook at new products.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: The heatwave finally broke at thebeginning of last week aftersome much-needed rainscame through during theweekend of Aug. 14-15.Unfortunately, the rain wasvaried across the county withthe north half getting an inch

and a half or more and southern partsbarely getting a sprinkle. The soybeancrop could still use a good rain to fill outthe pods. The corn crop is now in thedry-down phase and producers are in arush to get equipment ready for theearly harvest. Over on the far west sideof the county there were reports of a fewcombines going after wind-damagedcornfields and moisture tests that werein the low 20s in some fields. Hopefully,next report we will have some reliableyield reports to share and we can seehow this crop dealt with this season’schallenges.

Jimmy Ayers, Rochester, Sangamon County: We had1.9 inches of rain two weeksago, but none since then. Cornseems to be drying out fast.We’ve had reports of 20 per-cent moisture in hand-shelledcorn. Others have reported 23to 29 percent moisture on thecorn. It seems to be standing

pretty well. We are finding some diseasescattered in different varieties. Beanshave had a little bit of their shine taken off.They are suffering a bit from the drystretch we have had for two weeks. Therewere some guys who mowed hay andactually got a little bit of rain on it. Haven’theard much on yield checks or pod countson any of the beans, and I haven’t beenout myself. A lot of guys are eager andready to go. We need to think safety andwhat we can we do to make it safe for thefarming community.


CROPWATCHERS

Dean Shields, Murphysboro, Jackson County: Last weekbrought us a few showers hereand there but not everybody gotrain. What rain did fall was notvery much in some places. Weare still needing the rain to helpfill these beans out. It’s gettingkind of dry in spots. A couple ofguys just started picking corn

and its drier than expected right now, mainlybecause it’s burning up. Yields were waydown compared to last year. That’s a bit dis-appointing. Beans and milo are still growingpretty well. Everybody is getting ready forharvest. One note: It looks like we are goingto have a good peach and apple crop thisyear. We actually have quite a few vineyardshere in the county, too, and the grape croplooks good. Come to Jackson County and tryour wine. Everybody have a safe harvest.

Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: Another hot and dry weekhere in Southern Illinois. Cornharvest is just starting and a fewpeople are in the field. I’ve heardof moistures as low as 15 percenton some of the hills. We haven’treally started yet. We probablywill try some corn this week. Ihaven’t heard anything of yields

yet. I’ll have some more information by nextweek. Soybeans are really struggling with thehot and dry conditions. They are trying to fillpods. Looks like soybean yields are going tobe way down this year. I’m thinking maybe halfa crop. I guess time will tell. Please try to staycool in this summertime weather.

Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: It was a mostlydry, hot week with very isolatedareas receiving showers. TheMay- and June-planted corn andall the beans desperately needrain. A lot of silage has beenmade. Some fungicides andinsecticides have been appliedon beans. Farmers are spending

their time hauling grain, mowing road ditchesand waterways, repairing equipment, andbaling hay.

Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: Anotherweek without rain. Bean har-vest is going on 12 hours aday, 98 degrees at a time.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: The temperaturecooled a little this past week, butwe are still dry. The dry areas inthe soybean fields are expandingout larger every day. This dryspell has to be taking soybeansdown every day. Most people aretalking about starting corn har-vest after Labor Day.

David Schaal, St. Peter, Fayette County: It was anotherpretty hot week here, though notnearly as hot as the last two. Inthis neck of the woods, we stillneed rain. On the early morningof Aug. 14, we received between0.2 and 0.3 of an inch while otherparts to the west and north of thecounty were blessed with 2 to 3

inches. An inch or two of rain could doubleour soybean yield potential. Farmers out insome of the cornfields taking hand samplesare finding they are 25-35 percent moisture.We’re sure hoping for a nice rain.

Bob Biehl, Belleville, St. Clair County: The day after ourlast report, our area received amore generalized rain of about 1inch. That rain and cooler tem-peratures have carried usthrough much of the week ingood shape. Corn dry-down hasslowed a bit and beans lookmuch better. Many of the beans

came back after the previous week’s wind, sothat should help pod fill in those fields. Stilllots of activity around the farm because onceharvest starts, that will be the main focus.Prices at river terminals are: new corn, $4.14;January corn, $4.42; new beans, $10.20;January beans, $10.54; cash wheat, $6.13,which is down from a one-day high of $7.04.

Page 7 Monday, August 23, 2010 FarmWeek

CROPWATCHERS

Reports received Friday morning.Expanded crop information available at FarmWeekNow.com

Hottest year ever?

Meteorologist: Above-average temps through OctoberBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Crop dry-down this fal lshould not be nearly the issueit was last harvest, based on arecent forecast.

Justin Povick, meteorolo-gist with AccuWeather.com,last week predicted tempera-tures will remain above nor-mal through October.

“Through October we’reon pace to see one of the

t r a n s i t i o n f r o m E l N i n o( w a r m i n g o f t h e o c e a nwaters) to La Nina (cooling ofthe waters) conditions in thePac i f i c Ocean a long wi thlarge areas of dryness as con-tributors to extreme heat thisyear.

M o t h e r N a t u r e c o u l dreverse the thermostat ratherquickly the final two monthsof the year, based on past LaNina seasons.

“In November there couldbe a harsh change,” Povicksa id . From a tempera turestandpoint “we could divedirectly into winter.”

In the U.S., he predictedprecipitation this fall could bebelow normal in the south andpossibly near-normal in theUpper Midwest, with Illinoisin the transition area of thecontradicting precipitationpatterns.

warmest years on record,”Povick told FarmWeek.

AccuWeather.com last weekr e p o r t e d t h e f i r s t s e ve nmonths of 2010 were thewarmest on the globe sincemodern climate records beganin 1880.

All-time national recordh i g h t e m p e r a t u r e s w e r ereached during July in Finland,Belarus, and the Ukraine dueto the s t rength of severe

European heat waves.In Moscow, Russ ia , the

mercury recently reached anall-time high of nearly 101degrees. A widespread droughtthere prompted the RussianAgriculture Ministry last weekto project a 23 percent drop ingrain yields.

“The heat definitely hasbeen widespread across theglobe,” Povick said.

Povick pointed to a quick

Got resistant waterhemp? Chances are it will get worseBY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Patrick Tranel, Universityof Illinois crop science pro-fessor, last week offered farm-ers pretty good odds that ifthey have problems with resis-tant waterhemp, their troubleslikely will get worse.

“If you have glyphosate-resistant waterhemp, you havea 50-50 chance that nothing

else wil l work (as a herbi-cide),” Tranel reported at U ofI’s Agronomy Day on the Uof I Urbana research farm.

Tranel’s report was one of21 field tour presentations onthe latest field studies andcrop research at the 54thAg ronomy Day. Ano the rdozen studies and exhibitswere offered in a display tent.

U of I researchers targetedfields with suspected resistantwaterhemp and found 55 per-

hemp in their fields may havethe weeds tested by the U of Icrop sciences depar tment,according to Tranel.

For information on how to

submit weed samples, contactyour local U of I Extensiono f f i c e o r g o o n l i n e t o{http://bulletin.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=1394}.

c e n t o f t h o s e f i e l d s h a dglyphosate-resistant waterhemp.

To add insu l t to in ju r yglyphosate-resistant water-hemp in four out of 10 fieldsalso found to be resistant toother herbicides, Tranel noted,pointing to a diagram thatdepicts potential herbicideresistance.

“We will continue to seenew cases (of herbicide resis-tance),” Tranel added.

A new case of resistancewas discovered in a McLeanCounty continuous seed cornfield in July, reported AaronHager, U of I weed scientist.Waterhemp in the field is resis-tant to hydroxyphenyl pyru-vate dioxygenase (HPPD) –inhibiting herbicides.

“We need to think integrat-ed (weed) control strategy,”H a g e r a d v i s e d f a r m e r s .“Stacked (herbicide) resistanceis the reality.”

Asked about other herbi-cide-resistant weeds, Tranelreported glyphosate resistanceis common in horseweeds. Hes a i d h e a l s o h a d h e a r dglyphosate-resistant ragweed

had been found in SouthernIllinois, but he didn’t have anydetails.

Farmers who suspect theyhave herbicide-resistant water-

FarmWeekNow.comLearn more about herbicide-resistant waterhemp at Farm-WeekNow.com.

University of Illinois weed scientist Patrick Tranel reports farmers have a 50-50 chance of having water-hemp that will be resistant to several herbicides if the weed also is resistant to glyphosate. Tranel wasamong the researchers who talked about pesticide-resistant pests during U of I Agronomy Day presenta-tions on the Urbana campus last week. (Photo by Kay Shipman)

TRADE


Cuba and Illinois agriculture seen as ‘great fit’BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Cuba and Illinois are “a great fit” andU.S. House Ag Committee member DebHalvorson, a Crete Democrat, hopesCongress soon can bring them closertogether.

Halvorson joined Illinois FarmBureau and state corn and soy industryrepresentatives last week in Ottawa topromote a recently committee-passedmeasure that would ease travel and traderestrictions between the U.S. and Cuba.

According to the lawmaker, travelreforms would enable ag interests toseek market opportunities on theisland and “provide certainty to ourfarmers” by allowing commodity titletransfer in Cuba rather than at portsof departure. The bill also wouldeliminate the need for third-countryfinancing of U.S. sales.

Further, Halvorson told farmers“Cuba’s leading imports are Illinois’

leading exports,” envisioning expandedcorn and soybean markets.

“If it benefits anybody, it will benefitIllinois,” Illinois Corn Growers Associa-tion President Tim Lenz agreed.

Illinois has sold more than $40 millionworth of corn to Cuba during the 2009-2010 season, and Halvorson believessales should “grow rather significantly”with trade liberalization.

She nonetheless noted the measure,which cleared the ag panel by a tight25-20 margin, “took a long time to getout of committee.”

She sees challenges ahead on theHouse and Senate floors, especiallyamong diehard Cuban-American oppo-nents from largely Florida districts, butsuggested “the next generation of(Cuban-American) Floridians” is not asadamant about resisting travel andtrade with Castro’s Cuba.

“We in the Midwest are adamantabout doing something about exports,”

Halvorson told FarmWeek. “Thepresident has stated he wants to dou-ble exports in the next five years. Ifwe’re even going to come close, this isthe place to start.”

Lenz sees Illinois as primed to capital-ize on Cuban market potential, being“blessed with the best river infrastruc-ture system of any state” and the abilityto ship easily into the Caribbean.

More than a third of the added cornand beans moving to Cuba as a resultof trade reforms would come fromIllinois, he projected.

Halvorson acknowledged her col-league’s concerns that “whatever we dodoes not only prop up the Castroregime, which seems to own thetourism industry.” But LaSalle Countycorn grower Ken Beck challengeddecades-old political objections toopening relations with the Communistnation.

“Who owns most of our debt rightnow in this country?” Beck posed, not-ing U.S. financial obligations to China.

Illinois Farm Bureau board member ScottHalpin, Gardner, discusses Cuban tradewith U.S. Rep. Deb Halvorson, a Crete De-mocrat. Halvorson’s House Ag Committeerecently approved a measure that wouldliberalize travel and trade between theU.S. and the long-sanctioned island na-tion. (Photo by Martin Ross)

U.S. Chamber, Korean envoypitch FTAs to Illinoisans

In recessionary times, trade is a hard sell. The U.S. Chamber ofCommerce nonetheless made a statewide pitch last week for pendingfree trade agreements (FTAs) and their impact on 380,000 U.S. jobs.

The Chamber’s Trade Roots program director Liz Reilly stumpedfor congressional approval of South Korea, Colombia, and PanamaFTAs in a sweep of businesses and leaders in Peoria, Naperville,Schaumburg, Elk Grove, and Aurora.

The Elk Grove “Trade Means Job” session included Illinois Farm Bureauand U.S. Commerce Department representatives and Wheaton RepublicanRep. Peter Roskam, a leader of Congress’ Korea Working Group.

As President Obama prepares for a November meeting with SouthKorea President Lee Myung-Bak in Seoul, the bipartisan workinggroup is working to drum up free trade support on the Hill.

Korean Ambassador Han Duk-soo conferred with Chicago MayorRichard Daley during one stop. Meeting with skeptical U.S. automakers inMichigan, Han deemed the Korea FTA “one of the best opportunities tocreate U.S. jobs by providing new export opportunities for Americanmanufacturers, farmers, and small and medium-sized companies.”

Obama has asked federal officials and policymakers to “smooth out”auto, beef, and other FTA issues prior to his trip to Seoul, “so he can havean agreement he feels comfortable with,” Reilly told FarmWeek. But shestressed current FTAs focus on reducing or eliminating existing tariffs onU.S. imports, rather than easing U.S. duties on incoming products.

“There are still some small discussions about beef and about auto, but Iam confident it will be worked out by the time he goes to Seoul,” Reilly said.“Our stance on all these agreements — not just Korea, but also Colombiaand Panama — is that this is a win-win. These are no-brainer agreements.

“They’re an absolute no-cost stimulus for the economy and a job cre-ator, as well. We released a study in May that concluded that with theseagreements not moving anywhere, we’re losing the equivalent of 380,000jobs. That’s a matter of goods that aren’t being exported because of thesetariffs, business deals that aren’t being made because of tariffs.”

Reilly recognized the trade “protectionist” instinct of some lawmak-ers and labor interests but argued FTA approval is about “getting theU.S. into these countries before other countries get in.” That’s a “rapidrace we’re not winning,” she said, citing Canadian and European agree-ments with Korea and Taiwan’s newly signed deal with China.

She sees the “ag component” as particularly important in U.S. tradegrowth, particularly in the case of Korea, which would zero out itscorn duties immediately under the FTA.

U.S. soy sales to Korea have drooped since 1999. Illinois Soybean Asso-ciation (ISA) legislation/special projects director Mike Levin sees FTAsboosting bean and meal sales in Asia, Latin America, and even stateside, inthe form of higher feed demand for export-destined livestock or meat.

Levin said the Panama FTA could build on the U.S.’ existing CentralAmerican trade agreement, and noted ISA and others are working with Kore-an leaders to recover U.S. market share. As Obama prepares for Seoul, Levinadvised him to realize “the important role the farmer plays in our economy.”

“In the Midwest, we have the best soil arguably in the world,” hesaid. “We need to do whatever we can to increase that industry, know-ing full well we’re here to feed the world, to provide inexpensive pro-tein to various countries.” — Martin Ross

TRADE


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FarmWeek. “It makes us lesscompetitive.”

Japan could make up someof the difference if U.S. porksales to Mexico slip. Japan’spork production hasdecreased by about 2 percentdue to foot-and-mouth dis-ease.

Meanwhile, a pending freetrade agreement (FTA) withSouth Korea, if implemented,could be worth $10 per headto U.S. pork producers.

“There may be an opportu-

nity to increase (sales) inJapan,” Seng said. “In theKorean market, an FTA wouldbe very significant.”

Elsewhere, USMEF still isworking on regaining full mar-ket access for U.S. beef inmarkets that were closed in2003 due to the discovery ofBSE in a U.S. cow.

“We’re pretty optimisticabout beef exports,” Sengsaid. “But there still are somemajor challenges in terms of(market) access.”

Overall, Seng said theexport market has becomeeven more valuable to U.S.livestock producers due tosoftening domestic demand.Per capita meat consumptionin the U.S. the past three yearsslipped from about 225pounds to 208 pounds, Sengsaid.

“We see tremendous mar-ket opportunities (outside theU.S.),” he added. “We justhave to be positioned to takeadvantage of them.”

BY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The U.S. is on pace this yearto export more beef and porkthan it did in 2009.

Beef export volume (1.09billion pounds) the first half ofthis year was up 14 percent

compared tothe same timea year ago,while porkexports (2.1billionpounds) wereup 3 percent involume, theU.S. MeatExport Feder-

ation (USMEF) reported.And the value of those

exports ($2.32 billion for porkand $1.83 billion for beef) post-ed even greater gains (10 and22 percent, respectively) than ayear ago due to higher meatprices.

Philip Seng, president ofUSMEF, believes the trend ofincreased meat exports willcontinue.

However, he is concernedabout market access issues invarious countries as well as newtariffs that will be applied toU.S. pork products in Mexico.

Mexico is the second-largest market for U.S. porkand which last year imported$419 million worth of pork,last week announced it willassess a 5 percent tariff onhams and shoulders as part ofa retaliatory move for the U.S.not meeting North AmericanFree Trade Agreement (NAF-TA) requirements.

The U.S. early in 2009 can-celed a program that wouldhave allowed Mexican truck-ers to operate north of theborder, resulting in a NAFTAdispute-settlement panel rul-ing Mexico could retaliate.

“Mexico’s retaliationagainst U.S. pork will havenegative economic conse-quences for America’s porkproducers,” said Sam Carney,president of the NationalPork Producers Council. And“it could prompt other coun-tries to think twice aboutentering into trade deals withthe United States.”

Seng noted pork fromCanada was cheaper than U.S.pork prior to the tariff due tohigher prices in the U.S. andthe exchange rate.

“A 5 percent increase induty is significant,” he told

Outlook for meat exports bright despite new tariffs

Philip Seng

USDA this month madesome serious upward revisionsto its crop export projections.

U.S. wheat exports wereprojected to increase 200 mil-lion bushels and corn exportswere forecast to jump 100 mil-lion bushels due in large part tothe drought in Russia and itsdecision to ban grain exportsfor the rest of this year.

“Tighter foreign supplies ofwheat and coarse grains raiseprospects for U.S. corn ship-ments,” USDA noted.

Meanwhile, U.S. soybeanexports were raised 65 millionbushels to a total of 1.435 bil-lion bushels due to strongerdemand from China andreduced stocks in South Amer-ica.

The boost in exportdemand supported crop pricesthat otherwise may have tum-bled earlier this month whenUSDA also projected recordcorn and soybean productionthis year in the U.S.

And the trend toward higheroutside sales could continue ifthe National Export Initiative,unveiled by President Obamaearlier this year, is successful.The initiative set a goal of dou-bling U.S. exports in the nextfive years.

“We think agriculture cancontribute significantly to

achieve that goal,” ChristineTurner, senior adviser for theUSDA Foreign Ag Service, toldFarmWeek.

USDA in June projectedU.S. agriculture in 2010 willgenerate a surplus of $28 bil-lion compared to $23.2 billionin 2009.

The U.S. previously doubledits ag exports from 2000 to2010.

Two keys to doubling U.S.ag exports revolve aroundtrade agreements and a grow-ing middle class in Asia andother parts of the world.

Turner said it is critical forthe U.S. to enforce existingtrade agreements and to ratifypending agreements with coun-tries such as Colombia, Pana-ma, and South Korea.

Meanwhile, a growing mid-dle class around the world isexpected to increase demandfor high-protein diets, whichwill increase demand for feedgrains produced in the U.S.,Turner said.

China recently overtookJapan as the second-largesteconomy in the world behindthe U.S. And, with its expand-ing economy, China’s demandfor corn reportedly is increas-ing by nearly 200 millionbushels per year. — DanielGrant

U.S. crop exports boostcould be sign of future

FB IN ACTION


MAKING CONNECTIONS

State Rep. Fred Crespo (D-Streamwood), right, chats with Hancock County Farm Bureau Women’sCommittee members during their recent visit to his suburban district. Left to right are Martha Zumwalt,county Farm Bureau manager Carla Mudd, Doris Lionberger, and Rachel DeSotel. The group wasjoined by Women’s Committee Chairman Carol Jerred and Cook County Farm Bureau representativesBona Heinsohn and Jesse Nosbaum. They discussed the state budget, property taxes, animal care is-sues, river concerns, and other issues with their “adopted legislator.” Crespo said he learned a greatdeal and hopes to visit Hancock County next year. (Photo by Christina Nourie, Illinois Farm Bureaunortheast legislative coordinator)

Many conservation practices on display at Farm Visit DayBY DANELLE DESMITH

More than 250 visitors from throughout Illinois attendedthe Lee County Farm Bureau’s recent 16th annual Farm VisitDay.

They received a guided tour of Henkel Farms Inc., a fami-ly farm operated by Jerry,Greg, Fran, and AdamHenkel.

The visitors saw farmequipment and learned about

advancements in farming technology first hand as well as thevarious conservation efforts the family has implemented onthe farm.

Farm Visit Day provided an opportunity to highlightthings the family has done to preserve the land for futuregenerations.

Many in attendance were not from a farming backgroundand appreciated the opportunity to speak to local farmersfirst hand.

Danelle DeSmith is manager of Lee County Farm Bureau. She can bereached at 815-857-3531.

Lee County Farm Bureau member Adam Henkel describes his family’sfarming operation to visitors at the Farm Bureau’s 16th annual FarmVisit Day. (Photo courtesy of Lee County Farm Bureau)

IFB Action Teamsvolunteers sought

Illinois Farm Bureau is looking for volunteers for IFB’sAction Teams.

Each team consists of 10 to 15 volunteers who developproposed activities for the organization. Action Teams areopen to voting and associate members.

Members may choose from four teams: Quality of Life,which deals with farmer health and safety; Public Relations,which deals with the farmer’s image; Membership, which pro-motes the benefits of joining IFB; and Education, whichfocuses on the adult non-farmer.

Twice a year, Action Team members develop a plan forone or two statewide projects. The proposals then are pre-sented to the IFB board for its approval.

Action Team members serve two-year terms with a two-term limit on the same team (four years total). IFB reimburs-es meeting expenses, including mileage, lodging, and meals.

To apply, visit your county Farm Bureau for an applicationform and return it by Dec. 10. The signature of your countyFarm Bureau president is required.


Your corn ethanol isn’t good enough.

Extremists accuse you of poisoning the water.

The EPA thinks you make too much dust.

Besides, you’re not really afamily farmer anyway, right?

We went to Washington, DC this summer in an unprecedented educational campaign where positive messages about farmers were

seen and heard more than 100 million times.

in print and electronic Congressional publications

in Washington Reagan International Airportin DC Metro Stations

Illinois corn checkoff monies led this initiative.

For more information about this specifi c ad campaign,

www.CornFarmersCoalition.orgFor more information about Illinois corn checkoff programs,

www.ilcorn.org

MID-CO director.“We see our role as consult-

ing, researching, and providinghedging expertise; all of thesethings fit a niche market that willalways be needed,” Cripe said.

When MID-CO was formed,its goal was to be profitable andprovide a high level of serviceto its customers.

“The biggest change hasbeen and always will be automa-tion and technological advance-ments. However, MID-CO willcontinue to do the same job, justa little differently over time,”said Davis Anderson, GROW-MARK vice president of grainand former MID-CO manager.

“We’re currently working todevelop a one- to three-yearplan for expansion, I think thatthe best is yet to come for MID-CO,” Cripe said.

Cassie Becker is an intern withGROWMARK corporate communi-cations and marketing services.

GROWMARK


GROWMARK: a successful merger of necessity

BY KAREN JONESThere are times when it

makes more sense to mergetwo companies than to trykeeping each company prof-itable on its own. That was thecase 30 years ago when twocooperatives — FS ServicesInc., and Illinois Grain Corp.— combined to form what isnow GROWMARK Inc.

During the 1970s, the twoentities operated under a “com-bination of efforts” agreement.Yet as the groups collaboratedfurther, it became clear a merger

Glenn Webb, chairman of theboard and president from1980-2000. “Illinois Grain sup-plied the marketing, which isrepresented by the MARK.”

Although there were someminor “growing pains,” GROW-MARK members from thebeginning understood the bene-fits of bringing the two together.

“Over the past 30 years,GROWMARK has continued towork to improve the long-termprofitability of our memberowners,” Kelley said.

“That’s our mission state-ment, but it is also the focus ofeverything GROWMARK does.Our local FS member coopera-tives are the companies that sup-ply the products and grain mar-keting services to farmers. Wewant our members to be suc-cessful so they can continue tomeet the needs of their farmer-customers.”

Karen Jones is GROWMARK’spublications and news specialist. Her e-mail address is [email protected].

was the best decision for bothorganizations.

“We tried many ways tokeep the Illinois Grain Corp.profitable,” said Melvin Sims,chairman of the board andpresidentfrom1959-1980. “Itwas very difficult for me tohave to report several years oflosses, because I knew therewas great potential. There wasa lot of grain that had to bemarketed somewhere.”

Dan Kelley, GROWMARKchairman of the board and presi-dent since 2000, said that bycombining the businesses, thenew entity could capitalize onthe strengths of the two separatecompanies.

“GROWMARK leverages thebest of what FS Services and Illi-nois Grain brought to the table

— reliability, market presence,and marketing capability — forthe benefit of all involved, “ hesaid.

When the merger was final-ized in 1980, the newly formed

coopera-tive wasstill name-less. The

name GROWMARK combinedelements of both entities.

“The GROW stands forgrowing, which is what FS Ser-vices specialized in,” said

MID-CO celebrates 30 years of businessBY CASSIE BECKER

Since its inception in 1980,MID-CO Commodities Inc. hasprovided risk management ser-vices and commodity consultingand brokerage for grain eleva-tors and farmers.

Over the years, MID-CO has

witnessed many changes in theagriculture industry.

“The Reagan farm bill, theGulf Wars, and the GreatDrought of 1988 were all majorpoints in history for MID-CO,but they also personally resonat-ed with me,” said John Cripe,

County FB entries sought for AFBF

The American Farm BureauFederation (AFBF) is acceptingapplications from county FarmBureaus for its 2011 County Activi-ties of Excellence program.

The program recognizes suc-cessful county Farm Bureau activ-ities that help education the publicabout agriculture, address farmsafety, attract new members toFarm Bureau, or get membersinvolved in lobbying for yourelected officials.

Fifteen county Farm Bureausacross the nation will be selectedto display information abouttheir programs at the AFBFconvention Jan. 9-12, 2011, inAtlanta, Ga.

Entries should be sent to theattention of Peggy Romba, pro-gram manager in the IFB mem-ber services and public relationsdivision, by Sept. 3. Countiesselected to display their activitiesat the AFBF annual conventionwill receive $2,250 toward theirexpenses.

For more information, contactRomba at 309-557-2007 or e-mailher at [email protected].

Editor’s note: The 30th annualmeeting of the entity known asGROWMARK Inc., will be Aug.26 and 27 at the Hilton in down-town Chicago.

The annual meeting, however,will be the organization’s 83rd.What began as Illinois Farm Sup-ply became FS Services Inc., thenGROWMARK Inc. in 1980.

FROM THE COUNTIES


BOND — Farm Bureauwill sponsor the annual

county crop survey beginningat 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 2,at the Farm Bureau office.Teams will consist of farmers,radio and print media, andbank and agribusiness person-nel. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 618-664-3100 if youwould like to participate.

CHAMPAIGN — FarmBureau will sponsor a

legislative reception from 4:30to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at theFarm Bureau office. Stateelected officials, county boardmembers, and Farm Bureau’sadopted legislator have beeninvited. Friend of Agricultureawards will be presented. Callthe Farm Bureau office formore information.

DEWITT — Theannual meeting will be

at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30, atClinton High School. JulieRoot, RFD Illinois radio per-sonality, will be the speaker.An auction benefiting theDeWitt Farm Bureau Founda-tion will be held. Tickets are$5 and are available at theoffice or from a director.

EFFINGHAM — Afarm talk meeting with

Illinois Farm Bureau Presi-dent Philip Nelson and VicePresident Rich Guebert Jr.will be at 11 a.m. Monday,Aug. 30, at the Joseph Thoelefarm, 13550 N 2100 St., Teu-topolis. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 217-342-2103 byTuesday for reservations ormore information.

FAYETTE — FarmBureau will sponsor

the annual county crop surveyat 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31,beginning with breakfast atthe Vandalia Country Club.Teams will consist of farmers,radio and print media, andbank and agribusiness person-nel. Following the survey, asteak cookout will be at 6:30p.m. at the Farm Bureauoffice. Tickets are $5 and areavailable at the Farm Bureauoffice or from a Farm Bureaudirector. Call the FarmBureau office at 283-3276 ifyou would like to participate.

HENRY — The Leg-islative Committee

will sponsor a “Meet the Can-didates” forum at 7 p.m.Wednesday at the GeneseoCommunity Center. Candi-dates from the 14th and 17thIllinois Congressional Dis-tricts have been invited. BarbLink, Henry County clerk, willhave voter registration materi-als available. Call the FarmBureau office at 309-937-2411for more information.

KANKAKEE — FarmBureau and the Kanka-

kee Regional Chamber ofCommerce will sponsor theannual legislative receptionfrom 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tues-

Bureau office at 753-5200 formore information.

WOODFORD — Theannual appreciation

dinner will be from 4 to 6:30p.m. Tuesday at the Farm BureauPark. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 457-2347 for reserva-

tions or more information.

“From the counties” items aresubmitted by county Farm Bureaumanagers. If you have an event oractivity open to all members, con-tact your county Farm Bureaumanager.

day at the Kankakee CountryClub. A buffet dinner will beserved. Cost is $30 for FarmBureau members and $60 fornon-members. A Mark Twainimpersonator will provide theentertainment. Call the FarmBureau office at 815-932-7471for reservations or moreinformation.

LAWRENCE — FarmBureau will sponsor a

legislative dinner at 6 p.m.Tuesday at Lanterman Park,Bridgeport. State Rep. RogerEddy (R-Hutsonville), stateSen. Dale Righter (R-Mat-toon), and representativesfrom the offices of U.S. Reps.John Shimkus (R-Collinsville)and Tim Johnson (R-Urbana)will attend. Call the FarmBureau office at 618-943-2610by today (Monday) for reser-vations or more information.

PIATT — Farm Bureauand Topflight Grain

will sponsor an on-the-roadtransportation meeting at 8a.m. Thursday at the FarmBureau office. Kevin Rund,Illinois Farm Bureau, will bethe speaker. Call the FarmBureau office for reservationsor more information.

• Farm Bureau will sponsora wind energy contract infor-mation meeting for landown-ers and farmers at 6:30 p.m.Wednesday, Sept. 1, at Judy’sKitchen, Cerro Gordo. Alight dinner will be served.Call the Farm Bureau officefor reservations or moreinformation.

• The Women’s Committeeis compiling a Piatt CountyFarm Bureau cookbook. Sub-mit your recipes to the FarmBureau office, PO Box 223,Monticello, Ill., 61856, or e-mail them to piatt [email protected].

ROCK ISLAND —The annual meeting

will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursdayat the Milan Community Cen-ter. A pork chop dinner willbe served. Cost is $15 formembers and $21 for non-members. Children 4 andunder are free. Breakout ses-sions with Nic Anderson, Illi-nois Livestock DevelopmentGroup, and Jim Johansen,Wesley Acres, will be held.Call the Farm Bureau office at309-736-7432 for reservationsor more information.

• A Property Tax Assess-ment 101 meeting will beoffered from 11:30 a.m. to 1p.m. and from 5:30 to 7 p.m.Tuesday, Sept. 14, at the FarmBureau office. Brenda Math-erly, Illinois Farm Bureauassistant director of localgovernment, will be thespeaker. Call the FarmBureau office by Monday,Sept. 13, for reservations ormore information.

SANGAMON — Anopen house will be held

from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday,Aug. 31, at the new FarmBureau office, 2631 BeechlerCourt, Springfield. Membersof the General Assembly andCongress representing Sanga-mon County have been invitedto attend. Call the Farm

AGRI-QUIZ BOWL

Stephenson County’s championship team in the Agri-Quiz Bowl at the Illinois State Fair last week,shown in foreground, consisted of Deb Bremmer, right, Chad Bremmer, both of Pearl City; Coe Kem-pel of Lena; and Abe Trone of Stockton. The second-place team was Knox County No. 1, followed byChampaign County No. 1, and Montgomery County No. 1. Thirty-four teams competed in the eventthis year. Team members were quizzed on their knowledge of ag safety, management, mechanics,animal science, current events, and several other categories. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

PROFITABILITY


Feeder pig prices reported to USDA*Weight Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price10 lbs. $37.03-$41.00 $39.1440 lbs. $50.00-$56.56 $54.4250 lbs. n/a n/aReceipts This Week Last Week

12,915 24,367*Eastern Corn Belt prices picked up at seller’s farm

MARKET FACTS

Eastern Corn Belt direct hogs (plant delivered)(Prices $ per hundredweight)

This week Prev. week ChangeCarcass $79.29 $77.09 2.20Live $58.67 $57.05 1.63

Export inspections

(Million bushels)Week ending Soybeans Wheat Corn08-12-10 13.5 20.8 31.108-05-10 7.3 14.7 44.7Last year 6.7 16.7 45.4Season total 1426.0 185.8 1764.4Previous season total 1206.3 149.0 1685.2USDA projected total 1470 1200 1975Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

(Thursday’s price)This week Prv. week Change

Steers $99.82 $94.64 5.18Heifers $99.85 $95.00 4.85

USDA five-state area slaughter cattle price

This is a composite price of feeder cattle transactions in 27 states.(Prices $ per hundredweight)

This week Prev. week Change113.24 112.82 0.42

CME feeder cattle index — 600-800 Lbs.

The unnaturally low price of natural gasBY JACKIE MCKINNIS

Natural gas prices havebounced up from the reces-sionary lows made in 2009 but

remain cheapin compari-son to crudeand otherpetroleumproducts.

Pricingtypically isinfluenced byweather con-

ditions and Gulf of Mexicostorm forecasts.

We had an unseasonablywarm spring, but deviationsfrom normal this summerhaven’t been sufficient orwidespread enough to spurmuch buying interest. The2010 storm season has beenlackluster compared to earlyforecasts, but we have plentyof time left to see a hurricanerally.

Unforeseen factors alsohave contributed to the pricedecline — namely technologyadvances and the recession.High prices in 2005 drove sig-nificant investments in state-of-the-art hydraulic fracturingand horizontal drilling tech-niques that made the removalof natural gas from shale for-mations possible and dramati-cally improved production effi-ciencies.

These large capital invest-ments required that produc-tion continue, even when therecession hit and demand wasweakened.

The weakened economy hastaken a toll in the commercialand industrial sectors. Appli-ance efficiency gains and

improved housing construc-tion have resulted in a signifi-cant decrease in the volume ofgas used by households in theUnited States.

But this decrease has beenlargely replaced by the surge

of natural gas used for electricpower generation.

The robust productionlevels have kept natural gasstocks significantly abovehistorical levels, but the sur-plus relative to the five-year

average has diminished inrecent weeks. Last year’s sup-ply peak is beginning to lookout of reach, with someincreased electric generationdemand contributing to thedecline.

A wildcard in the markethas been funds trading thelong crude oil/short naturalgas spread. Sizable spreadingactivity this year may meanthat crude needs to have ahard sell-off to sustain a rallyin natural gas.

It appears crude oil and nat-ural gas have moved in oppo-site directions as spreaders liq-uidate holdings. The naturalgas market’s domestic naturetends to insulate it from fluc-

tuations in risk sentiment thathave been driving crude oilvalues up.

In some areas, natural gas-fired generation has becomecheaper than coal-fired powergeneration. With productionincreasing from shale and sandformations, storms in the Gulfof Mexico could become lessof a factor in pricing and sup-ply disruption.

With more pipeline infra-structure being built, thefuture of natural gas is lookingunnaturally bright.

Jackie McKinnis is GROW-MARK’s energy analyst. Her e-mail address is [email protected].

Jackie McKinnis

Agriculture big part of bank’s successBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Many banks in the U.S.offer similar products, accord-ing to Ken Elmore, presidentand chairman of the board ofFirst National Bank in Litch-field.

So what’s the differencebetween a bank such as theFirst National Bank, whichthis year is celebrating its150th year in business, andmany of the 110 banks thathave failed nationwide so farthis year?

Elmore, a MontgomeryCounty Farm Bureau member,believes service is a key to suc-cess.

“Banking is still a peoplebusiness,” Elmore toldFarmWeek. “It (success) boilsdown to service.”

First National Bank, whichhas been at the same locationin downtown Litchfield since

1860, alsoderives muchof its busi-ness from theag sector.

And agri-culture hasbeen some-what insulat-ed from the

U.S. recession, he said. Paul Ellinger, ag economist

at the University of Illinois,recently reported delinquencyrates at commercial banks asof last year averaged 10.14percent for residential mort-gages and 8.81 percent for

commercial real estate but just3.24 percent for ag loans.

“More than half of ourloans are in agriculture,”Elmore said. “We’re definitelycommitted to ag.”

Risk for ag loans has inten-sified, though, as prices forfarmland and cash rents con-tinue to rise while input andcommodity prices remainvolatile.

The situation has causedmany banks to require addi-tional documentation andmore detailed cash flow infor-mation for ag loans, Elmoresaid. His bank also looks foropportunities, such as cropinsurance or government pro-grams, to mitigate risk for its

farmer-customers.Fortunately, credit still is

available for good borrowers,according to Elmore.

In fact, he believes retain-ing local customers is vital forcommunity banks.

“We’re very blessed to havethree locally owned banks (inLitchfield),” he said.

First National Bank, underthe leadership of Charles M.Long, grew in the past 30years from $7 million to morethan $75 million in assets.

Future challenges includeincreased regulations as well asuncertainty of the estate tax,capital gains tax rates, and taxcredits for biofuels produc-tion, Elmore added.

Ken Elmore

Analyst: Cattle report a bit disappointingThe USDA cattle on feed

report released Friday ended astreak of four consecutivemonths of higher placementsin feedlots.

USDA report-ed placementsduring Julytotaled 1.75 mil-lion head, down6 percent from ayear ago.

“Short-term, traders maythink that’s a bit disappoint-ing,” said Rich Nelson, direc-tor of research at AllendaleInc. in McHenry. “They wereexpecting a larger drop inplacements” closer to 7.4 per-cent.

The drop in placements,however, should help lightenthe supply picture, the analystsaid.

Overall, the inventory ofcattle and calves on feedtotaled 9.87 million head, up 2percent from last year.

“It’s a little negative,” Nel-son said of the report.

However, Nelson looks forcattle prices near-term to

remain steady to slightly high-er due to a demand pull cou-pled with tight meat supplies.

The USDA cold storagereport released last week

showed sup-plies of allmeat are down15 percentcompared to ayear ago. Beef

supplies as oflast week were down 13 per-cent from last year whilepork supplies declined by 28percent.

“There is no doubt wehave a tight meat supply,”Nelson said. “When con-sumers start feeling better(about themselves and theeconomy) we’re looking at abull market (that could top$100 cash cattle by the fourthquarter).”

Nelson believes demandwill be the key driver of thecattle market.

Beef exports for the firsthalf of the year increased 14percent compared to the sametime last year.

Meanwhile, marketings offed cattle during July totaled1.9 million head, down 2 per-cent from last year. This is thelowest marketings number forthe month since at least 1996,USDA reported. — DanielGrant

FarmWeekNow.comFor more in format ion onUSDA’s cattle on feed report,go to FarmWeekNow.com.

PROFITABILITY


AgriVisor Hotline Number

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CASH STRATEGISTCorn Strategy

�2009 crop: Wrap-up old-crop sales now.

�2010 crop: Strength inwheat and soybean prices havehelped support corn, wheat inparticular. Corn started tos h o w s o m e i n d e p e n d e n tstrength last week based ontalk from the Pro Farmer croptour that yields were not asgood as anticipated. Use ral-lies into the $4.30s on Decem-ber futures for catch-up sales.

�Fundamentals: It wasn’tuntil this past week that exportdemand enjoyed the enthusi-asm noted in soybeans andwheat. Much of the businessbeing transacted was replace-ment of canceled Russian bar-ley business. The uncertaintysurrounding yields is support-ive, with the balance sheet nothaving much room for thesupply to slide before the tradebegins to get concerned thatthe supply could be getting alittle too tight. The crop tourhinted the USDA yield esti-mate could be a little too highbut maybe not enough to havemuch impact.Soybean Strategy

� 2009 crop: Old-cropbasis levels continue to erodewith the calendar marchingtoward harvest. Futures actionlast week suggested they maybe turning down into harvest.Wrap up sales.

�2010 crop: Novembersoybeans lose upside momen-tum when they approach$10.50-$10.60. The late weekdrop through the fai l-safeshould have boosted sales to60 percent. Use ral l ies to$10.15-$10.25 for catch-upsales.

�Fundamentals: The tourthat crossed the major Mid-western growing areas lastweek found high pod countsin nearly every state. Partici-pants voiced some concernabout yield potential becauseof the prevalence of suddendeath syndrome. Soybean andmeal export sales continue tobe accumulated at an extreme-ly rapid pace. That could tem-porarily stall once buyers feel agood new crop is relativelysecure, removing support themarket has enjoyed recently.

Wheat Strategy�2010 crop: Even with the

lack of certainty about the sizeof the Russian crop, the tradeis rapidly coming to a consen-sus that most of those issuesalready have been built intoprices. The quick retreat frompsychological resistance at $7on Chicago September futuresindicated bullish enthusiasmcontinues to wane. Use ralliesinto the $7-$7.40 range forcatch-up sales. Storage hedges,or hedge-to-arrive (HTA) con-tracts, for winter delivery arestill the most attractive tool formaking sales.

�2011 crop: Use rallies to$7.25 on Chicago July 2011futures for catch-up sales. Ifbasis is wide compared to thispast summer, consider a HTAcontract.

�Fundamentals: Majorimporting countries indicatethey already have covered mostof the wheat purchases thatRussia had canceled on them.New-crop sales are close tobeing on track with the latestUSDA projection. Buyers willbe less willing to chase them a r k e t u p , b u t b e m o r eaggressive as nearby futuresdip below $6.50.

With the industry starting tocoalesce around a 60 million to65 million-metric-ton (2.2 bil-lion bushels to 2.4 billionsbushels) Russian crop, importersand exporters can better under-stand the change in world tradethat will occur this year.

Over the past month, there’sbeen a burst of wheat exportbusiness, not only for the U.S.,but for the European Union(EU) as well. Importers whohad wheat purchases from Rus-sia canceled represented muchof this burst in activity.

Egypt says it has coveredmost of its Russian cancella-tions. We suspect other coun-tries have as well. With that,there will be less pressure tochase prices higher.

As prices move up, buyerswill shift into a pattern of cov-ering short-term needs. Asthey dip to more reasonablelevels, $6.50 or less on nearbyChicago futures, we’d expectimporters to push their cover-age forward more aggressively.

Even though the supply ofwheat outside of the U.S. and

Basis charts

China has become as tight as itwas in 2008, the total world sup-ply is not nearly as tight as it wasthat year. Supplies are abundantin the U.S., large enough in theEU to support good exports,and potentially large enough inAustralia and Argentina toexport more than those coun-tries have the last two years.Canada’s crop potentially issmaller than last year but stilllarge enough to support a goodexport program.

At the same time, importersare going to start building intotheir purchasing programs thepotential implications ofexpanded fall wheat plantings.

Even though the drought isfar from over in the FormerSoviet Union countries, thereare indications the hot, dryweather pattern may be startingto break down. This summer’shigh prices have ignited ideasthat wheat acreage will expandthis fall, implying larger cropsnext summer.

If it looks as though worldproduction might increase nextyear, the prospect of lowerprices would shift buyers backtoward covering short-termneeds. That would undermineprice support, giving the mar-ket more of a downward bias.

The wildcards in the mixmight be China and India.Both have exportable suppliesof wheat, China in particular.India currently has a ban onwheat exports.

China doesn’t have a historyof exporting wheat, but itcould sell wheat and buy cornto help contain the upward biasin corn prices that has plaguedthe country over the past year.

In the end, the world isn’tshort of wheat, and pricesprobably already have seentheir peak. That fits with long-term price cycles.

Cents per bu.

World isn’t short of wheat

PERSPECTIVES


Illustration by Sharon Newton

Science helped transform farms

Recently I was down on the farm in Illinois. I stillcan’t get out of my mind how different the farmingbusiness is today compared with when I was a little

boy. At the same time, in somerespects, it’s the same.

As a boy, after milking our cows byhand, we bottled the milk in the base-ment of our farmhouse and then soldit in my grandfather’s little store. Mydad planted our corn with two oldhorses pulling a two-row planter. I hadto feed the chickens and gather theeggs each day. We would butcher ahog, and my mom would can.

Can you relate to that?Now today: The milk cows are gone. The chickens

are gone. We don’t butcher any of our own hogs. Our

two horses, named Burt and Bill, are gone along withthe two-row planter. And, of course, we don’t pickany corn by hand.

Farming is more specialized with a big 32-row JohnDeere planter. We still raise hogs, corn, and soybeans.

Our improvement in efficiency and productivityhas been amazing. Corn yields have tripled. We raised200 head of hogs in those days. Now we raise 8,000with double the efficiency.

How did this happen?It happened because of:• Selective plant and animal breeding — better

plants and animals.• Genetic engineering — herbicides, fungicides, and

insecticides. Our plants are protected against pests andweeds that suck the yield potential.

• Finally, today we feed the crops and animalsexactly what they need to maximize their productivity.

Let’s take corn for example. Soil tests give us theguidance. We put on lime if the fields are too acid andenough nitrogen, phosphate, and potash to maximizeyield.

There is a science to raising a big crop or goodhogs. You can’t feed the hogs molasses as I saw inCuba 10 years ago. They won’t gain weight.

The new technology that we have available todayhas made all the difference in the world.

Think about the improvement in farming efficien-cy: Less labor needed; less fuel needed; less land toproduce more; and for livestock — less time to mar-ket.

With all the changes in this farming business overthe decades, there is one constant.

It is still exciting to grow a crop or raise a hog orcalf. You can see the transformation right beforeyour eyes. You are producing something of value.What an impressive sense of accomplishment.

Harvest is just around the corner. It’s going to befun.

John Block of Gilson, a U.S. agriculture secretary in the Rea-gan administration, is a senior policy adviser with the Wash-ington, D.C., firm of Olsson, Frank, Weeda, and Terman.His e-mail address is [email protected].

JOHNBLOCK

It’s that time of year again. New school sup-plies and school clothes are on the minds ofmany youngsters.

But, as the new school year quicklyapproaches, thoughts of sharpened pencils andthree-ring binders are being outweighed in rur-

al schools by more pressingissues, such as teacher retentionand updated classroom technol-ogy.

In Washington, D.C., law-makers currently are at oddsover federal funding formulasand rules on teacher creden-tials. But in rural communities,the heart of the matter is notabout policies, formulas, andrules; it’s about community,

opportunity, and equality.To many rural residents, the local school

plays a significant role in community develop-ment. In fact, many rural areas tend to revolvearound their schools.

A major hurdle facing rural America’s class-rooms is the hiring and retention of teachers.The inability to attract and keep teachers is dueto lower salaries in rural school systems, geo-graphic and social isolation, requirements toteach multiple subjects and grades, and lack ofprofessional development opportunities.

According to Thomas Farmer, director atthe National Research Center on Rural Educa-tion Support at the University of North Car-olina, rural school districts often have difficul-

ty finding and retaining highly qualified teach-ers, particularly in the areas of special educa-tion, English language, and secondary mathand science.

Further, according to the June 2010 issuebrief, Grow Your Own and Other Alternative Cer-tification Programs in Rural School Districts, asmany as 84 percent of rural school districtsreported some difficulty filling teaching posi-tions.

Another challenge facing rural schools isthat of access to technology. Affordablebroadband access is a real concern for ruraleducators.

While many children living in urban areashave the opportunity to click online and havethe Internet pop up within a matter of sec-onds, rural students often are faced with“wait-and-see,” dial-up Internet connections.

For rural schoolchildren to have theopportunity to be competitive and education-ally on par with urban students, it’s importantthey be brought online and equipped with thesame technological learning advantages.Incentives and funding for teachers to relo-cate to rural areas are just as crucial.

Sharpened pencils and new lunchboxesmay be important. But making sure all of thenation’s kids have the same educationalopportunities is imperative.

Tracy Taylor Grondine is director of media relationsfor the American Farm Bureau Federation. Her e-mail address is [email protected].

Farmers share blamein ag disconnectEditor:

Do you remember theexpression, “You reap what yousow?”

Mr. Ellingson’s column (July5 FarmWeek) made an excel-lent point regarding the generalpublic’s ignorance about dairyfarming and agriculture in gen-eral. I have spent most of mylife with one foot in the city andthe other on the farm, and I cantell you he is more right than herealizes.

About 60 years ago, industrialagriculture and USDA decidedthere were too many farmers atthe beginning of the chemicalfarming era, and a lot of peoplewere pushed off the farm.

Many from the southernstates ended up in slum neigh-borhoods of the industrialnorthern cities where crime,dope, and hoodlum gangs runrampant.

Then in the 1970s, Earl Butzdecreed “farm fencerow tofencerow, get big or get out,etc.” and the push to vacate thecountryside went into full swing.

Do we really need to wonderwhy so many people know solittle about farming?

With fewer farmers, we havefewer people who are related tofarmers, thus fewer people whocan go visit the farms of theirgrandparents, aunts and uncles,or cousins and get some expo-sure to farming.

The Humane Society ofUnited States’ campaigns onlyreinforce the fact that natureabhors a vacuum — in thiscase, a lack of accurate knowl-edge about agriculture.

Now those of us who havepracticed, supported, and oth-erwise encouraged industrialagriculture have only ourselvesto blame.

Social media can be helpfulin connecting farmers to citydwellers.

But farmers’ markets, pick-your-own, and other things thatbring customers and other visi-tors to the farm so you canlook them in the eye, shaketheir hand, and talk to themone on one are even better.ROBERT A. SAYRE,Dundas

Heading back to school in rural America

TRACY TAYLOR

GRONDINE

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

FarmWeek August 23 2010

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