In Farm BureauArFB supports Arkansas Works

During the Arkansas General Assembly’s recent fiscal session, Arkan-sas Farm Bureau announced support for the Arkansas Works appropriation, the governor’s proposed revision to the use of federal Medicaid reserves to fund insur-ance coverage for eligible participants. ArFB’s board of directors met April 19 to evaluate its grassroots policy and deter-mined that defunding Arkansas Works is too large a threat to the state’s budget and rural health-care providers.

“Arkansas Works is the best path forward for the state’s fiscal well-being and our rural communities,” said ArFB President Randy Veach. “We approached this position with an open mind and open hearts. Our members need secure rural health-care providers and a sound state budget. Those tenants compelled us to support Arkansas Works.”

The appropriation bill that funded Arkansas Works did not take an easy path through the legislative process. Appropria-

tion bills need a three-quarters majority in both chambers, but votes were coming up just short of that number in the Arkansas Senate. By putting on an amendment that defunded the program, the bill passed, but that section was line-item vetoed upon arrival at the governor’s office. The General Assembly did not override the veto, thus the funding bill became law.

“Failure to pass the Department of Human Services budget that included Arkansas Works funding would have had

broad budget implications,” Veach said. “We looked most keenly at the impact to rural hospitals, the impact to our state’s economic bedrock and the communities that support our farmers and ranchers.

“As an example, without the passage of the budget bill, the public school fund would take a $31 million hit, and the state’s institutions of higher education would see losses across the board. Specific to agriculture, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, which provides

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Charles Maxwell (center) with Children’s Hospital in

Little Rock visited child devel-opment/parenting classes at Clinton, South Side and Shir-

ley high schools recently to discuss child car seat safety and the correct way to install

a car seat. The Van Buren Co. FB Women’s Committee

assisted him in the program by providing car seats from

Farm Bureau.

April 29, 2016 • Vol. 19, No. 9

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (second from left) recently met with Arkansas Farm Bureau’s officer team to discuss key agricultural issues, including foreign trade, the farm economy and crop insurance pro-grams. Involved in the meeting were Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach (left) of Manila, Vice President Rich Hillman of Carlisle and Secretary-Treasurer Joe Christian (right) of Jonesboro.

research and outreach to help keep our indus-

try competitive, would have lost almost $2 million in funding. And the Arkansas Agriculture Department’s already limited budget would have seen a cut of more than $500,000.

“Our rural hospitals – many of them financially vulnerable now – would be thrown into very challenging financial positions because of decreased payment rates. Almost 30 percent of our state’s counties do not have a hospital now, and we fear that number could grow without the funding associated with Arkansas Works.”

Mondy wins Vines scholarshipZipporah Mondy of Helena-West Hel-

ena, a junior creative media production major at Arkansas State University, is the 2016 recipient of Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Mar-vin Vines Memorial Scholarship. The award was announced at the College of Media and Communications Hon-ors Banquet April 14.

Mondy, 29, is the daughter of Elijah and Belinda Mondy. She plans to graduate in December 2017 and has a 3.5 overall grade-point average.

Arkansas Farm Bureau endows the

scholarship, which honors the memory of Marvin Vines, farm director for more than 25 years at Little Rock radio station KAAY. Since 1980, it’s been awarded annually to a broadcast major at ASU.

Mondy’s family owns KJIW-FM radio in Helena. She has worked at the station since 1997 and has gained experience as host of a live morning program, music director and sales associate. For the past two years she also has worked for the Helena-West Helena Advertising and Promotion Commission as director of communications, information and sales.

“I aspire to take my family’s radio busi-ness to a new level,” Mondy said. “I plan to build a radio network that holds fast to the old school local and personal radio principles that make the listener feel con-nected, yet takes advantage of cutting-edge technologies.”

Summer commodity meetingsMark your calendar for the 2016 Ar-

kansas Farm Bureau summer commodity divsion meetings. The date, place, time and coordinator for each meeting are listed below. (The times noted do not include registration.) Additional information about the meetings will be sent to county commodity chairmen at a later date. • Aquaculture: June 2, conference call, 2 p.m., Brandy Carroll • Beef Cattle: June 14, Lake Point Conf. Center, Russellville, 9:30 a.m., Travis Justice • Poultry: June 14, Lake Point Conf. Center, Russellville 9:30 a.m., Bruce Tencleve • Swine: June 14, Lake Point Conf. Center, Russellville, 9:30 a.m., Evan Teague • Equine: June 16, conference call, 7 p.m., Travis Justice • Specialty Crops: June 16, Southwest Research Center, Hope, 10 a.m., Bruce Tencleve • Rice: June 21, Rice Research Center, Stuttgart, 9 a.m., Brandy Carroll • Soybeans: June 21, Rice Research Center, Stuttgart, 9 a.m., Matt King

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On April 21 in Fayetteville, as part of his participation in the 2016 Arkan-sas Farm Bureau President’s Leader-ship Council, Curtis Moore of Prairie Grove spoke to the Washington Co. FB board of directors about the pro-gram, now in its third year. Moore is a board member, too, serving this year as the county’s secretary/treasurer.

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Ouachita Baptist University’s “AgCorp” team won first place and $5,000 in the Agriculture Division of the 2016 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Business Plan competition April 19. Arkansas Farm Bureau sponsored and helped judge the Ag Division entries. Travis Justice (second from left) judged the entries, and Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin (third from left) presented the awards.

ArFB President Randy Veach (right) visited with Juan Lamigueiro Leon (left), deputy chief of mission at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C., and Yusel Arias Cruz, who works for the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after their April 12 speech at the Clinton School of Public Service. Veach extended an invitation for a Cuban delegation to come to Arkansas later this year.

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Zac Bradley (left), director of public affairs and government relations for Arkansas Farm Bureau, recently spoke to the Ag Policy class from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. The class was in Little Rock to meet with local legislators and view the fiscal session of the Arkansas General Assembly.

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• Wheat & Feed Grains: June 21, Rice Research Center, Stuttgart, 10 a.m., Mark Lambert • Cotton: June 22, Cotton Branch Station, Marianna, 9:30 a.m., Brandy Carroll • Dairy: June 22, Bill Haak Dairy Farm, Bentonville. 10 a.m., Bruce Tencleve • Forestry: June 22, Forestry Com- mission Dist. 5 office, Malvern, 1 p.m., Mark Lambert

For additional information, contact Evan Teague at 501-228-1335 or evan.teague@arfb.com.

Farms face pressure, says DuvallFarmers are feeling the pain of the

continued slump in commodity prices, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall told Congress April 14. Lower prices will affect income for all farmers and ranchers but will have an even greater impact on new and young farmers who have not built up equity, are renting a significant portion of their land or are paying off equipment.

“The bottom line is that farmers and ranchers are being forced to tighten their belts and pay much closer attention to their financial situation,” Duvall told the House Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management. “They will be in greater need of safety-net and risk-management programs than has been the case for some time — for some, since they started farming.”

Duvall’s testimony included a long list of bad economic news. Cotton, 80 cents a pound just a few years ago, now brings prices in the 50-cent range. Milk that was selling for $20 or more per 100 pounds a couple years back now fetches $15 or $16. Net farm income, which includes other factors like depreciation, inventory change and other non-cash costs, declined from $123 billion in 2013 to $56 billion in 2015 and is estimated at $55 billion for 2016.

Bad news notwithstanding, Duvall found hope on the horizon. He told lawmakers there were numerous things they could do to help the farm economy, including approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership to raise overall farm income without adding to government spend-ing; stopping the Waters of the U.S. rule, which places additional costs and burdens on farming; reversing spill prevention and control requirements that add costs without clear environmental benefit; and establishing a nationwide labeling standard for genetically modified food to avoid a patchwork of state laws.

In ArkansasFood processing business workshop

Turning a favorite recipe into a market-able product requires more than simply scaling up. “Starting a Food Processing Business,” a workshop presented by the Arkansas Food Innovation Center, will train participants in the process of taking a product from concept to commercial market. The AFIC is a service of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

The workshop will run 9 a.m-5 p.m. May 18 at the Food Science Building at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Ex-tension Center in Fayetteville. Participants will learn the fundamentals of starting a food-processing business, including relat-ed regulations, business plans/marketing, food processing/equipment, packaging/labeling and other essential information. Five participants will be selected to receive personalized assistance with commercial-izing their product at the AFIC.

For more information, contact Dr. Renee Threfall at 479-575-4677 or rthrelf@uark.edu, or visit http://afic.uark.edu/train-ing.html.

ElsewhereRice award nominations wanted

USA Rice, in conjunction with Horizon Ag and Rice Farming magazine, is seek-ing nominations for the 2016 Rice Awards to recognize rice leaders who exemplify dedication, determination and innovation to the industry. The awards honor out-standing industry leaders in three catego-ries: Rice Farmer of the Year, Rice Industry Award and the Rice Lifetime Achievement Award.

To nominate someone, complete the application available at https://usarice.com/docs/default-source/communications/2016-rice-awards-form.pdf by June 15 and follow the submission instructions listed there. The award recipients will be recog-nized at the USA Rice Outlook Conference in Memphis, December 7-9. Editor

Keith Suttonkeith.sutton@arfb.com

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Robin McKinney, American Farm Bureau director of membership and program development, presents an Awards of Excellence plaque to ArFB President Randy Veach during the April 19 board meeting. ArFB earned Awards of Excellence in education and outreach, leadership develop-ment, member services, membership initiatives and public relations and communications.

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Cross Co. FB members Jennifer (left) and Jenna Martin of Hickory Ridge attended the Arkansas Women in Agriculture Conference March 10-11 at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock. The conference, sponsored in part by ArFB’s Women’s Committee, has been providing educational programs and networking opportunities for women involved in ag since 2005.

In the MarketAs of April 26, 2016

Crops surge to new highs Despite a bearish outlook, most

crops were able to post sharp gains last week before faltering late in the week and dropping back below support levels. Bullish news reports helped fuel a speculative rally that offered produc-ers their highest prices in more than a year for some crops. The question everyone is asking is, “Are even higher prices possible as we head into this 2016 crop?”

SoybeansNew crop soybeans rallied to as

high as $10.23 April 21 before prices fell sharply that afternoon back below $10, which at the time of this writing was still proving stiff resistance for soybeans. Since the first of March, new crop soybeans have rallied more than $1.50, offering producers an oppor-tunity to sell soybeans for more than $10 per bushel. This pricing oppor-tunity is a blessing for growers who just a couple of months ago were not optimistic about getting $9 for their soybeans in 2016. A string of bullish news has set the soybean market on fire over the last few weeks as turmoil in Brazil has increased the value of their currency and rains in Argentina are expected to hurt the crop there. Probably the biggest boost to soybean prices was an announcement by China that their soybean imports beat trade expectations. This announcement improved the soybean export outlook, which combined with improving soy product markets, and there is a bullish argument to be made for soybeans.

Unfortunately for growers, this bull rally may be short lived as both the U.S. and Global Soybean Balance Sheets still tell a more bearish story. U.S. soybean demand remains flat year-to-year, and monthly crush num-bers have not shown signs of strength-

ening significantly despite improve-ments in soy product prices. This has led to stocks more than doubling from last year, and assuming the acreage number from the planting intentions report and a normal yield, demand would still need to increase almost 100 million bushels just to consume all the soybeans that will be produced this year. Looking globally, stocks-to-use remains at 25 percent, up from 22 percent in 2013-14. Global stocks-to-use is increasing as global production continues to outpace demand, despite a 41.1 MMT (15 percent) increase in demand from 2013-14 to 2015-16. Overall, while the market is being driv-en by bullish news today, the support for these high prices remains weak. If the market fails to get a weather event or some other major bullish factor, it will be difficult for prices to maintain recent strength.

CornThe December 2016 corn contract

rallied back above $4 for the first time since December of last year. The corn market has recovered all of its losses following the planting intentions re-port, which pushed prices to contract lows of $3.64. This low is strong sup-port for prices, which are now likely to settle back in their established trading range between $3.70 and $3.90. The major force in the corn market right now is the improvement in the export performance over the last few weeks. Corn exports are now on pace to reach the current USDA export forecast. Furthermore, policy changes in Brazil could lead to the U.S. exporting as much as 700,000 MT of corn to Brazil as they await their safrinha harvest.

Corn prices, much like soybeans, face a challenging balance sheet when it comes to maintaining recent gains. U.S. corn stocks remain dangerously close to 2 billion bushels of stocks, which from a psychological standpoint would be very bearish for prices. The USDA report that will come out in May will incorporate planting inten-tions acreage, which will be bearish for prices as it will have an inflated stock

number, unless the USDA chooses to inflate demand to prevent a major stock increase. Overall, corn prices above $4 are going to be difficult for the market to maintain as there remain a number of bearish factors for prices.

Livestock prices search for supportLive cattle prices have collapsed

over the last couple of weeks as the June contract was down more than $8 from the previous week at one point as the market put in a new contract low last Friday at $113.90. Feeder cattle were down even more as prices were down more than $10 from the previous week when prices put in new contract lows of $141.55 last week. A neutral to bullish Cattle on Feed Report and Cold Storage Report last week should help support cattle prices.

The Cattle on Feed Report came in near trade expectations as traders expected the report to show a slight gain in the amount of cattle on feed to 100.9 percent of year-ago levels, the report showed 101 percent. Traders expected placements in March to come in around 106.4 percent of last year’s levels; the report showed 105 percent. Marketing’s were expected at 106.1 percent of last year’s levels, compared to an actual of 107 percent.

As for the Cold Storage Report, total pounds of beef in freezers were down five percent from the previous month and down three percent from last year, compared to expectations that frozen beef stocks would be slightly higher this month at around 491.4 million pounds, compared to 490.575 million pounds last month.

CONTACT• Matt King 501-228-1297,

matt.king@arfb.com.