farmweek july 6, 2009

A new lookfor FarmWeek

When Congress approved the wording of the Declaration of Inde-pendence on July 4, 1776, the founding fathers set in motion the begin-nings of a new, sovereign nation whose 233rd birthday we celebratedthis past weekend.

It seems a fitting time for us to launch something that if notexactly new is at least different — the look of FarmWeek.

FarmWeek, which had its beginnings on June 10, 1974, hasgone through a few updates over the years, but has had thesame basic format and appearance since 1998.

Some changes you see today are subtle: A somewhat larger texttype and a few more graphics. Some are more noticeable: Thereare now two profitability pages — pages 14 and 15 of this issue —and the Perspectives page is now on the final page of the publica-tion.

I hope you find the publication a little easier to read andsomewhat more pleasing to the eye. Either way, I would appre-ciate hearing from you. My e-mail address [email protected]. — Dave McClelland, editor of FarmWeek.

Per

iod

ical

s: T

ime

Val

ued

Monday, July 6, 2009 Two sections Volume 37, No. 27

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

Does climate plan enhance or erode bottom line?BY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Despite projections of soar-ing energy and input costs underHouse-approved “cap-and-trade” measures, U.S. Ag Secre-tary Tom Vilsack sees domesticagriculture adapting and evenflourishing under a new climatemanagement agenda.

Speaking before the ChicagoCouncil on Global Affairs last

Health care reform isexpected to take priority in theSenate, and Krause believesmany senators may be reluctantimmediately to tackle anothercontroversial, costly bill.

Without further revisions, Illi-nois Farm Bureau PresidentPhilip Nelson warns the climatechange bill could cost farmers $5billion per year in increased elec-tricity, fuel, and fertilizer costsstarting in 2020 and would“reduce farm income, damageour ability to compete, and cre-ate an energy deficit that we willnot be able to simply wish away.”

Energy and Commercemember John Shimkus, aCollinsville Republican, warnsthe bill could boost gas prices by77 cents per gallon and hurt airtravel and shipping industries.

Amid estimates that annualpersonal income could drop $471million in 2012 in his district alone,he questioned measures thatwould fuel “higher unemploymentand huge costs to consumers.”

The U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency predicts thebill would encourage develop-ment of “clean” coal, biomass-fired, power plants which

sequester carbon dioxide emis-sions underground, as well asemissions-free nuclear power.

Nelson argued “we don’t livein that world,” and if coal andnuclear critics spur a push towardnatural gas to generate electricity,that would restrict supplies forfertilizer and grain drying.

During a recent AgribusinessRoundtable in Bloomington,IFB Vice President Rich Gue-bert Jr. suggested a shift to gas-generated power could doubleor triple anhydrous prices.

If “huge problems” withfertilizer costs or availabilityappear imminent under GHGregulation, “we will have tomake some adjustments,” Vil-sack assured. However, hebelieves ag carbon offsetopportunities will “equal orexceed those input costs,” pro-viding producers a “substantial-ly greater” source of greenincome than existing ag conser-vation programs.

He anticipates a “dynamicenergy” being applied to agro-nomic and nutrient strategiesunder a climate-driven regime:

See Climate, page 4

week, Vilsack hailed passage ofthe measure, which would capnationwide greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions, even whileacknowledging producer con-cerns about “exactly how thisbill’s going to impact the way wedo business.”

He called on the Senate to pass

it and the president to sign it.The House Energy and

Commerce plan, which includescompromise measures thatexempt agriculture from GHGcaps and recognize farm andforestry contributions to emis-sions reductions, cleared theHouse 219-212.

Under the plan, USDAwould determine ag practiceseligible to earn emissions “off-sets” that could be sold tocapped industries.

The American Farm BureauFederation (AFBF) nonethelesswas disappointed by House pas-

sage and is committed todefeating the overall measure inthe Senate. Rick Krause, AFBFsenior director of congressionalrelations, sees the tight Housevote as a challenge for support-ers, who must garner 60 Senatevotes to head off a potentiallyfatal Republican filibuster.

Vilsack stressed the need to“think differently” amid a rapidlyaging producer population. Henoted the average U.S. farmer’s agehas risen from 55 to 57 over thepast five years, while it has beenreported nearly 50 percent of pro-ducers today must work 200 days ayear off the farm “in order tobe able to keep the farm.”

“We’re going to see furtherconsolidation on the large farmside, and we’ll see more ofthese small farm operations,but you won’t see anything inthe middle,” he predicted.“What we want for rural Amer-ica, for all of America, is tohave a healthy percentage in allof those three categories.

“I think this climate changebill and the complementary ener-gy aspects of it enhance bottomline opportunities for mid-sizedand smaller operations.”

At a glance

Sweeping climate ‘cap-and-trade’ legislation has cleared theHouse. Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid hopes for full Senatedebate by fall.

CALIFORNIA FARMERS areattempting to get a clarification ofwhat Proposition 2 in that statewill mean to them. .........................2

A PORK ANALYST says itmay take a 10 percent reduction inthe sow herd before profits canreturn to the hog industry. ..........14

THE USDA ACREAGE reportreleased last week had some stun-ning figures. It put soybean acres at77.483 million acres, a record. .........7

WELL ABOVE THE KNEES

While many Illinois farmers were dealing with corn that was less than ankle high when July 4 arrived,some were far more fortunate. FarmWeek Cropwatcher and Carroll County dairyman Leroy Getz last Fri-day searched for the tassel in corn measuring 94 inches tall in a 30-acre field in rural Mt. Carroll. Thefield, on Getz’ cousin’s farm, was planted April 24, although most farmers started planting corn the firstpart of May. An update on the USDA crop acreage estimate is on page 7. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

ALL IN THE (AG) FAMILY — Ag Secretary TomVilsack last week defended federal support for “all typesof farms,” arguing “I love ’em all.”

At a meeting in Chicago, Vilsack took issue with a sug-gestion that USDA does not adequately support “locallygrown food.”

The new USDA ag census identified 108,000 new farm-ing operations with annual sales of less than $10,000 —according to Vilsack, “a great message” for “community-supported agriculture.”

“You’re still going to need production agriculture,” heemphasized. “In reality, the top 5 percent of farms in thiscountry produce 75 percent of what we consume in thiscountry. That’s not going to change overnight.

“We don’t want to discourage any aspect of agriculture,in my opinion. It’s like asking me which of my sons I lovethe most. I love ’em all. I want everybody to succeed.”

MICHIGAN SUPPORTS ANIMAL CARE BILLS —The Michigan Farm Bureau Federation is supporting pro-posed state legislation which would require producers toadopt science-based animal care standards. The standardsare based on existing ones that are accepted nationally byfood companies and retailers.

The two bills establish the Michigan Department ofAgriculture and the Michigan Agriculture Commission asthe sole authorities to regulate livestock health and wel-fare, require standards to be implemented by 2020, andcreate an animal care advisory council.

The council would be comprised of farmers, veterinari-ans, and individuals representing an animal welfareagency, animal welfare research, restaurants, and thestate’s food processing and retail food industries. It wouldmake recommendations and changes to existing standards.

MIDWEST HIGH-SPEED RAIL ADVANCING —Illinois and Missouri are pledging to work together forpart of the $8 billion in federal stimulus funding availablefor high-speed rail. States must preapply for funding byFriday and submit final applications by Aug. 24.

A new study commissioned by a non-profit high-speedrail group recommends a high-speed rail corridor betweenChicago and St. Louis that would pass through Cham-paign, Decatur, and Springfield, but bypass Normal andother current stops on the Amtrak route. The study wasreleased last week.

Eight Midwestern states, including Missouri and Illi-nois, are cooperating for a high-speed rail network thatwould have Chicago as a hub and link 12 metropolitanareas within 400 miles.

In its study, the Midwest High Speed Rail Association isrecommending a corridor that would allow trains to travelbetween Chicago and St. Louis at up to 220 mph, morethan 100 mph faster than the plans recommended by theeight Midwestern governors.

The group’s proposal calls for upgrading tracks andbridges and electrifying the line.

FarmWeek Monday, July 6, 2009

(ISSN0197-6680)

Vol. 37 No. 27 July 6, 2009

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.

POSTMASTER: Send change of address notices onForm 3579 to FarmWeek, P.O. Box 2901, Bloomington, IL61702-2901. Farm Bureau members should sendchange of addresses to their local county Farm Bureau.

© 2009 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 TakesGOVERNMENT

TEACHING THE TEACHERS

Nicky Geisler, right, agriculture literacy coordinator for Brown County, shows Paula Marques, sixthgrade teacher from Salt Lake City, Utah, how to play the game, “Growing Your Name,” at the 2009National Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) Conference late last month in St Louis. In the exercise,students spell out their names in glue, then plant seeds in the glue so the growing plants form theirnames. More than 580 participants from 43 states and three Canadian provinces participated in fourdays of exploring agriculture literacy and agribusiness programs. The national conference was hostedby the AITC programs in Illinois and Missouri. Geisler was one of 40 presenters who helped partici-pants learn new ways to encourage students to learn more about agriculture. (Photo by Cyndi Cook)

BY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

Illinois farmers who want tosee an example of what canhappen when new mandatesare placed on existing ag pro-duction practices shouldreview the situation unfoldingout west.

California farmers seem tobe walking on eggshells as theyattempt to get a clarification ofthe requirements of Proposi-tion 2, a ballot measure Cali-fornians approved last Novem-ber.

The initiative requires thatall farm animals “for all or themajority of any day” not beconfined in a manner that pre-vents them from turningaround or extending theirlimbs without touching anoth-er animal or enclosure. Prop 2,which appears to target cagesystems, becomes effective in2015.

The problem, according tothe Association of CaliforniaEgg Farmers (ACEF), is themandates aren’t specific aboutspace requirements.

Furthermore, the mandatesdon’t specifically ban the use

of cages to house egg-layinghens, and they could beapplied to current cage andcage-free systems because thenatural behavior of poultry isto seek social contact withother poultry, according to acommentary in Feedstuffs news-paper.

“The language doesn’t statewhat type of housing wouldbe compliant,” said Ria deGrassi, livestock director forthe California Farm BureauFederation. “Egg producers(as a result) don’t know whatto expect or what 2015 willlook like.”

ACEF has called on the

California state legislature toenact clear standards for hous-ing egg-laying hens.

“Our farmers need clear-cut housing standards todetermine how they can com-ply with the law and to contin-ue to humanely produce fresh,local, and affordable eggs inCalifornia under Proposition2,” said Debbie Murdock,executive director of ACEF.

Otherwise, an industry thatproduces 4.9 billion eggsworth $300 million annuallycould be at stake in California.

Some critics of Prop 2argue that if the mandatesoutlaw cage and cage-freeproduction systems, there willbe little or no egg productionallowed in California.

Overall, de Grassi saidProp 2 and other efforts toeliminate animal agriculture inCalifornia have created an“elevated awareness” amongfarmers that they may be atarget of such future cam-paigns.

She will discuss Prop 2with Illinois farmers July 29 atthe IFB commodities confer-ence in Springfield.

California farmers seekclarification of mandates

‘ The l anguaged o e s n ’ t s t a t ew h a t t y p e o fhous ing wou ldbe compliant.’

— Ria de GrassiCalifornia Farm Bureau

livestock director

GOVERNMENT


DEPICTING FARMING OF YORE

Eighteen murals depicting various scenes or people, including this one commemorating the Central States Threshermen’s Reunion,now adorn the sides of Pontiac businesses after artists plied their trade as part of the city’s recent Heritage Days event. Muralpainters shown here are, from left, Michael Clark, Aledo; Scott Lindley, Mt. Pulaski; and Sam Staffon, Mackinaw City, Mich. Themural, named “A Tradition of Farming in Livingston County,” was begun during the Heritage Days event and completed last week(see inset at lower left for the finished product). The Threshermen’s Reunion will be Sept. 3-7 this year in Pontiac. All the murals canbe seen at {http://pontiacwalldogs.wordpress.com/the-murals/}. (Photos by Ken Kashian)

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

State government is operating with-out a budget, and legislators aren’tscheduled to return until July 14.

“This is a fight worth fighting,”Gov. Pat Quinn told reporters shortlyafter he vetoed SB1197, one of thebudget bills.

Quinn offered little information onwhat is next for state governmentbeyond his plans to continue working

with the General Assembly for a “bal-anced” budget.

As for anyone owed money by thestate, “We can’t pay that bill until weget a budget,” the governor said.

House Speaker Michael Madigantold reporters he recommends thegovernor not shut down state govern-ment until a budget is approved.

When lawmakers return to Spring-field, they will consider the governor’sveto and any other action he has takenon bills, Madigan said.

The speaker added he will vote tooverride the veto. A vote of 71House members and 36 senators isneeded to override the veto.

The governor and speaker offereddifferent views on the budget passedby the legislature.

Quinn described the bill he vetoedas targeting social services and said it“fails to meet the basic needs of thestate” by cutting funding for those

services in half.Madigan countered the governor

misrepresented the budget and saidlegislators had approved spendingauthority “for the amount of moneyexpected to be available to be spent.”

Revenue is projected to be down 25percent, and that estimate has been ontarget, Madigan noted.

“The governor is complaining thebudget is not balanced. The governorwants more money to spend,” thespeaker said. “We (legislators) havedone several things to make moremoney available. All those things were

done at the request of the governor.”Madigan’s list of steps to provide

additional money included sweeps offunds collected for special purposesand refinancing of state debt.

He said the budget that was vetoedcovered spending for grant programsfor all types of state services — notjust social services.

“There’s enough funding to man-age the government under the spend-ing authority appropriated,” Madigansaid.

The governor stressed he plans tocontinue working with lawmakers.

“I’m confident we’ll get a budgetthat is balanced and decent,” he toldreporters.

The speaker said he plans to con-tinue working with the governor.

Asked about the potential for anincome tax increase to pass in theGeneral Assembly, Madigan answered,“Either they (the Quinn administra-tion) persuade 71 (members) in theHouse and 36 (members) in the Sen-ate to support it, or they don’t.”

New fiscal year starts without a budget

FarmWeekNow.comListen to Speaker Madigan’s reactionto the governor’s veto of the state bud-get at FarmWeekNow.com.

Easter named interim provost,ACES seeksinterim dean

Robert Easter, dean of theCollege of Agricultural, Con-sumer, and EnvironmentalSciences (ACES) at the Uni-versity of Illinois, will servethe U of I as interim provostif the U of I Board ofTrustees approves his appoint-ment at its July 22 meeting.Easter told FarmWeek he

does notintend toapply for thepermanentprovost posi-tion.

In themeantime,Easter said heis workingwith the

ACES faculty and college sup-porters about naming some-one to serve as interim ACESdean. If approved as interimprovost, Easter will officiallyassume the campuswide poston Aug. 16.

“I look forward to my newrole,” Easter recently toldmembers of the Illinois Agri-cultural Legislative Round-table.

A national search is underway for a permanent provost,and Easter speculated a newprovost might be named byJanuary.

Easter joined the U of Ifaculty as professor of swinenutrition and management in1976 and has served as ACESdean since July 2002.

Robert Easter

‘I’m confident we’ll get a budget thatis balanced and decent.’

— Gov. Pat Quinn

AG & THE PLANET


USDA focuses on helping world produce moreBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

USDA is launching asweeping more cost-consciousapproach to global food secu-rity aimed at equipping theworld to feed itself, accordingto Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Last week in Chicago, Vil-sack outlined “a more compre-hensive, holistic” U.S. strategyfor shifting from a largely foodaid-driven global agenda toefforts at improving ag produc-tivity in lower-income regions.

With U.S. technology andsupport, developing countryfarmers will be “in a betterposition to help their ownpeople,” he said.

The program also seeks toimprove foreign infrastructure(Vilsack linked transporta-tion/distribution issues withfood shortages that can lead tosociopolitical unrest) andproper storage, refrigeration,handling, and preparation oflocally produced food.

“If we can help them bemore productive, they mightalso be able to generate sur-

plus product, which in turncould be used for trade to cre-ate wealth opportunities,” Vil-sack said. That could createexport potential for U.S. farm-ers, he suggested.

USDA unveiled principlesof the program, which will bespearheaded by a team thatincludes U.S. Agency for Inter-national Development andGates Foundation representa-tives, during recent discussionswith Afghani and Pakistani agministers. Vilsack is to meetwith ministers of 28 countriesthis summer.

He outlined seven “keys”crucial to the initiative:

• Transferring of U.S. tech-nology and productivity prac-tices to needy regions. Accord-ing to Vilsack, one major chal-lenge lies in adapting “agricul-ture as we see it” — large pro-duction tracts — to the smallersubsistence farms of sub-Saha-ran Africa and other regions.

• Developing post-harvestinfrastructure. “You can be asproductive as you possibly canbe, but if you have no place to

store what you’ve grown, muchof it’s wasted,” Vilsack said.

• Preserving naturalresources. Vilsack noted“new” technologies can “tax”delicate soils or water supplies.“Water is a serious issue inthose countries.”

• Expanding local knowl-edge and training.

• Creating solid agricultural“trade flows.” That includesboth market development anddevelopment of regulationsthat “make sure trade happens.”

• Helping assure “goodgovernance and reform” toensure producers and the mar-ket can function.

• Ensuring policy supportfor women and childrenaround the world. Womentoday constitute “the vastmajority of those who arefarming and providing for theirfamilies,” Vilsack related.

Underlying the new strategyis a focus on making better useof ever-tighter internationalaid funds. “We have to besmarter with the dollars weuse,” Vilsack acknowledged.

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack discusses global food needs with AdeleSimmons, vice president of Chicago Metropolis 2020, during lastweek’s Chicago Council on Global Affairs forum on global sustainabili-ty and food security. Simmons served on President Jimmy Carter’s Com-mission on World Hunger in the late 1970s. (Photo by Martin Ross)

Acting locally: USDAexplores ‘food desert’

They’re called “food deserts” — large patches in the urbanlandscape devoid of grocers, supermarkets, and, often, soundnutrition for neighborhood residents.

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack suggests USDA literally can helpgreen up these metropolitan deserts and, hopefully, provide an oasisfor lower-income consumers and regional producers alike.

USDA has asked WalterRobb, co-president of theWhole Foods chain, to studyhow grocers might be able torespond to the challenge ofmeeting food and nutritionalneeds within food deserts servedlargely by convenience stores and fast-food restaurants.

Vilsack sees urban nutrition as a health care/economicdevelopment issue and emphasizes “the moral responsibility wehave to feed our children.”

Toward that end, he is encouraging “more local production andmore local consumption,” through cooperation with state agdepartments, non-profit groups, resources for food banks (includ-ing recent federal stimulus funds) and farm market development.

Just as Chicago farmers’ markets have given Illinois growersa new market outlet, especially among upscale consumers,introducing full-service markets into poorer neighborhoodscould boost per capita consumption of fruits and vegetables,potentially including locally grown produce.

“It doesn’t have to be fresh fruit and vegetables — it can befrozen fruits and vegetables or canned fruits and vegetables, aswell,” Vilsack told FarmWeek during a Chicago visit last week.

“The reality is that when you go into a convenience store,you have chip and dip and pretzel options, but you don’t havefrozen food options or canned food options or fresh foodoptions, for that matter.”

Vilsack also was in Chicago to help launch the administra-tion’s “United We Serve” initiative, serving lunch to children atSt. Agatha’s Family Empowerment facility.

The initiative emphasizes volunteerism and community service, andhe argued “there is no better place to start than working toward the goalof ending childhood hunger.” Vilsack hoped the program wouldencourage greater participation in USDA’s Summer Food Service Pro-gram, which is designed to ensure that children have access to healthy,nutritious food when school is out.

Meanwhile, the ag secretary stressed the need for continuedlocal education and outreach, noting “young people are discon-nected from where our food is produced.” Equipped with “asmall pack of seeds and some sweat equity,” community orga-nizations could help establish gardens in every school through-out their district, he suggested. — Martin Ross

FarmWeekNow.com

Listen to Secretary Vilsack’scomments about local foodsat FarmWeekNow.com.

Vilsack: WTO partnersmust make equal moves

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack last weekrefuted suggestions that the U.S. andEurope are alone in what one Chicagoquestioner characterized as protectionisttrade “sins.”

Vilsack stressed developing countries thatchallenge U.S. farm subsidies must respond inkind to any American concessions offered inWorld Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Roundtalks.

Chicago Council on Global Affairs Presi-dent Marshall Bouton noted there are “realtensions between our domestic agriculturalinterests and activities and those international-ly.”

The U.S. is perceived as “highly protective”— a “sin” it shares with the European Unionand Japan, Bouton said during a council outlookon global agriculture.

Vilsack refuted Bouton’s claim that fed-eral “biofuels mandates” have contributedsignificantly to global food prices (see page7), and noted concerns about ongoing

trade practices and protections across theglobe.

“The United States is prepared to becooperative in (Doha) discussions, but thehope is that in exchange for very specificsteps the United States has indicated apotential willingness to take, there’s as muchspecificity and as much detail from develop-ing nations as they expect from us in termsof market access,” Vilsack said.

This week in Rome, leaders of the G8— which includes the U.S., Canada,France, Japan, and other key industrializednations — are expected to push forrenewed Doha talks.

Beyond Doha issues, Vilsack targeted contin-uing non-tariff barriers to U.S. goods oftenbased on questionable food safety or healthconcerns. China and Russia banned U.S. porkfrom their markets amid an outbreak of theH1N1 virus — referred to by some as “swineflu.”

Russia has insisted on inspecting U.S.slaughterhouses prior to importing prod-uct. Amid reports of public fears aboutpork consumption in the government-con-trolled China Daily newspaper, the H1N1issue has further complicated debate overChina’s refusal to buy pigs treated withractopamine, a feed additive designed tokeeps pigs lean.

“I would make a strong case today thatour Chinese and Russian friends, particu-larly as it relates to pork with H1N1, havecreated some problems that are in a sensedesigned to protect their own markets asopposed to being open to science-basedinformation about what the nature of thisflu was and the fact that it’s not transmit-ted through the consumption of food,”Vilsack said. — Martin Ross

Continued from page 1“We’re going to learn a lot more about fertilizer inthe next 10 years.”

Seed technologies should boost yields whilereducing input needs, and new livestock feedsshould generate less digestive methane for herdsto emit, he said.

“This is a really comprehensive bill — it real-ly has lots of challenges and lots of unansweredquestions, and maybe we shouldn’t do it,” Vil-sack admitted. “What we do know is that if wedo nothing, the problem’s not going to goaway.”

Climate

RISK MANAGEMENT


Crop report may make ACRE more attractiveBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

As of last week, the ACREdecision may be easier for farmfence-riders. But ag analystsnonetheless urge producers torun the numbers and ask theright question.

University of Illinois ageconomist Darrel Good sug-gests USDA’s latest acreagereport could spur greater inter-est in the ACRE (average croprevenue election) program.

USDA projections suggest2009-10 marketing year cornprices may be significantly low-er than previously believed —possibly 20 to 30 cents per

necessary to participate inACRE Ohio State Universityeconomist Carl Zulauf arguesthe decision ultimately comesdown to one basic — if com-plex — question. ACRE enroll-ment extends for the life of the2008 farm bill and requires sac-rificing 20 percent of annualdirect payments and 30 percentof market loan gains.

“Is the ACRE state revenueprogram worth an annual riskmanagement fee of 20 percentof your direct payment plusany potential benefits that themarketing loan and counter-cyclical payment programwould offer you?” Zulauf

posed during a DTN-spon-sored ACRE “webinar” lastweek.

“Which program is going topay more? My answer to thatis, call me in 2013, and I willtell you which program haspaid you more. I don’t thinkthat’s a question you cananswer.

“You have to predict pricesfor 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012if you’re going to predict pay-ments not only for the ACREprogram, but also for the mar-keting loan and the counter-cyclical program. The ability topredict prices is held by veryfew, if any, people.”

bushel off original estimatesand lower than the previoustwo-year national average priceupon which ACRE revenueguarantees are based, Goodsaid.

According to the economist,that may put ACRE “in a muchmore favorable light,” especiallywith Illinois and the easternCorn Belt producers anticipat-ing a weather-related yieldpenalty that could trigger bothstate- and farm-level “paymentopportunities.”

Deadline for ACRE signupis Aug. 14, and while he agreedwith current price projections,Illinois Farm Bureau risk man-

agement specialist Doug Yodernoted price projections “couldobviously turn around betweennow and deadline.”

Equipped with newlyreleased USDA guidelines forproduction evidence that canbe used to certify five-yearOlympic average ACRE yields(see accompanying details ingraphs below), producers cantap ACRE “calculators” andother decisionmaking tools at{www.fsa.usda.gov/dcp} or Uof I’s farmdoc website{www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/fast-tools/index.asp}.

Given price projections andthe farm program tradeoffs

CRUCIAL EVIDENCE: PROGRAM PROOFUSDA recently dropped the

last major piece of the ACRE(average crop revenue election)decision-making puzzle intoplace — production evidenceproducers must submit to theFarm Service Agency (FSA) tocertify yields.

Listed here is ACRE pro-duction evidence under a vari-ety of cropping/post-harvestscenarios that FSA will accept:

Commodities sold or storedoff-farm

• Settlement sheets

• Loan deficiency payment(LDP) or marketing assistanceloan records

• Warehouse receipts,ledgers, or load summaries

• Scale tickets or weightslips

• Computer-generated doc-uments from a licensed ware-house

• Risk Management Agency(RMA) yield productionrecords or records of lossappraisals

• Measured quantities offarm-stored production

• Measured quantities per-formed by uninterested thirdparties

Crops remaining in storage• Measured quantities, if

measurements were complet-ed and documented by anFSA or crop insurance repre-sentative

• LDP and/or loan records

Production fed to livestock(see accompanying chart)Production used for seed

Production used for the

producer’s own use is accept-able if both of the followingapply:

• Producer provides writtencertification, indicating dispo-sition was for planting; pro-duction is not included inLDP, loan, or any otherrecord; seeding rate; andacreage planted

• FSA determines the quan-tity used is reasonable, evi-dence submitted is satisfactory,and using farm-raised seed iscustomary in the producer’sarea.

Grazed, silaged, or hayedacres

• Acceptable documenta-tion to prove acreage wasgrazed, silaged, or hayed,including FSA, LDP, or NAP(non-insured crop disasterassistance program) recordsor an FSA-578 acreagereport, documented duringthe applicable crop year or bythe final date to request anLDP.

• Crop insurance records,including loss adjustmentrecords or appraisalrecords, documented duringthe applicable crop year orby the final date to fileclaims.

• If existing records do notindicate the acreage wasgrazed, silaged, or hayed, noproduction will be credited.

Hybrid seed (see accompa-nying chart)

Silage productionAcceptable records of

silage production will be con-verted from tons to bushels bymultiplying the tonnage timesthe following factors:

• Corn: 7.94• Soybeans: 5 • Wheat: 6.99 • Grain sorghum: 3.114 • Barley: 6.47 • Oats: 4.08

No production evidence

is availableIf the current owners and

operators of a farm are unableto obtain acceptable produc-tion records from a previousproducer, an ACRE countyplug yield will be assigned,provided:

• Existing FSA or cropinsurance records clearly docu-ment the planted acreage ofthe crop on the farm

• The current owner or pro-ducer did not have an interestin the crop

The use of similar farms isnot authorized in assigningproduction.

Commingled production• Basic option, planted

acres. FSA is authorized toapportion commingled pro-duction from various farms,but only if it is represented byacceptable records that can’tbe identified with a specificfarm or year

If commingled productioncan’t be separated by year orfarm, FSA will apportion pro-duction based on planted acresin each applicable year orfarm. If production is com-mingled between crop yearsand farms, FSA will apportionproduction to applicable cropyears before apportioning it tofarms.

• Alternative methods. FSAmay allow apportioning ofacceptable production evi-dence based on harvestedacres in each applicable year oreach applicable farm, cropinsurance records for eachyear, or other available recordsFSA determines can reason-ably be used, such as customharvesting records, producerload summaries, or weighttickets.

FSA will only allow alter-native methods to be usedif it is satisfied the methodused will result in yieldscomparable to other similarfarms.

Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: Cool, cloudy,and no rain for the week. This isthe first time this year that I havehad no rain to report, but every-thing still looks good because ofgood soil moisture. Everyone ispretty well caught up on field-work because of the drier weath-er. Just in time for the holiday

weekend. The early-planted corn is shoulderhigh and the late-planted corn is catching up.The beans are starting to flower and thewheat is getting very close to harvest. Theweather has been good, but the marketshave not been good at all. Hope everyonehad a good fourth of July.

Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: Rain for the week,0.55 of an inch. Total for June,5.65. Strong storms on Saturdayevening (June 27) ripped treesand flattened cornfields in thesouthern part of Carroll County.Most of that corn has recovered.Rainfall during the storm was upto 1.5 inches. Cool days at 65

degrees have slowed the growth of the crop,although we do have corn plants ranging upto 7.5 feet tall. Livestock love this coolerweather. Hay-making drags on and smallgrains look great and are changing color.

Ron Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: It’s been a cou-ple of weeks since our last sub-stantial rain. The ducks have tofly farther to find ponds in thefields. Most corn is knee- towaist-high with some shoulder-high. The condition of the crop isvery poor to excellent. The major-ity of the fields have compaction

and water damage, as well as areas wherethe nitrogen leeched away. Don’t take mewrong, there are some really nice fields ofcorn. But I am having trouble figuring outwhere is all the extra corn the government isreporting. Soybeans are from not emerged to10 inches tall. I just saw a field being plant-ed. This has been a long spring. Most soy-bean fields have good populations. There isa lot of post-spraying being done. Wheat isturning. I think it will be a week later than nor-mal for harvest. I hope everyone had anenjoyable Fourth of July.

Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: Two storms were onthe horizon last week. One inthe skies and the other inUSDA’s planted acreage report.Both caused a lot of damageand cooled things down. MotherNature’s storm brought highwinds and anywhere from 0.75to 4 inches of rain. No real dam-

age to the crops, but we were without elec-tricity for 26 hours as ComEd crews workedto replace a string of high-line poles just westof my home. We finally finished spraying thelast of the corn for broadleaves on Tuesday.One more trip across the bean fields and wewill have all the weeds taken care of exceptfor a few fields with burr cucumber thatemerged later in the summer.

Joe Zumwalt, Warsaw, Hancock County: Finally a weekwith comfortable temps and norainfall. It has allowed area pro-ducers to catch up and finish upsoybean planting. One word cansum up the crops in the area:variable. Corn ranges from kneehigh to tasseling and soybeansrange from not emerged to six

and seven trifoliate. A lot of hay is being cut,along with the wheat, which surprisingly hasbeen pretty good. I have heard of yields ashigh as in the 80s, but most has had a ratherlight test weight. I am just about to wrap uppost spraying. I hope everyone had a fun andsafe holiday.

Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: An inch of rainwas common since last report.The Soil and Water ConservationDistrict transect survey of thecounty had a record 19 fields notplanted a couple of weeks ago.Some bottom fields are still beingplanted to soybeans. The first-planted corn is near tasseling,

the last didn’t make knee-high by the Fourth.Some of the corn on corn is going to take areal yield hit this year. It is very uneven andmuch of it stunted and yellow. Soybeans in15-inch rows are closing in and lookinggood.

Ron Moore, Roseville, Warren County: We received 1inch of rain on June 26. It camein about an hour. The pondedarea in the fields filled up withwater again. After the rain, itcooled off considerably. Thatwas the only rain last week.The corn that looks good (andthere is not much of that) is

now fence-post high, and I saw two tas-sels on July 1. The beans are looking bet-ter every day. I am glad they got sprayedearlier because the weeds were startingto outgrow them. Most of the first cuttingof hay is harvested now. Pasture condi-tions are excellent with all of the rain wehave had.

Jacob Streitmatter, Princeville, Peoria County: Wellover 90 degrees two weeks agohad corn growing good withplenty of moisture. Rain whichtotaled from 0.8 to 1.3 inchesbrought the cold weather. Highsin the low 70s and corn doesn’tseem to do anything. The early-planted corn is knee-high, but

the last-planted corn will have to grow fastto be knee high by the Fourth of July. Ithink corn would look halfway decent if itwere June 4. Hope everybody had a greatFourth.

Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: Cornspraying is complete and nowsoybean post herbicide spray-ing is in full swing. Sprayingcan be a challenge because itis usually too wet, too dry, toocold, too hot, too windy, or tooearly. Those disgustingJapanese beetles are starting

to show up. Maybe they will be gone bythe time pollination takes place. TheFourth of July has come and gone, so let’sget the timely summer rains we need toproduce a good crop. Markets have react-ed to a surprise USDA report. Which willwe see first, $3 or $5 corn? The weatherwill tell us.

Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: Tightprofit margins just got tighterthis past week with the USDAreport. Still, there is a lot thatcan happen between now andharvest. All your marketingtools need to be at the ready.Don’t forget to look at 2010crop prices. Growing degree

units are slightly ahead of the 30-yearaverage and last year. Corn is sprayedand soybeans are wrapping up. Japanesebeetles arrived but not in great numbers.Wheat is a few days away. Corn, $3.45;fall, $3.29; soybeans, $12.35; $9.75, fall;wheat, $4.30.

Steve Ayers, Champaign, Champaign County: Howcan we be having fall-like tem-peratures when we just fin-ished planting? Crops contin-ue to be highly variable in bothcondition and height. Earlycorn is tasseling and some isknee-high, so our tassel peri-od may be five weeks long.Beans are growing well and

weed control has been challenging thisyear. I heard a wheat yield of the low 60s,but the field was hail damaged. I saw afew Japanese beetles last week but noth-ing like the previous years when they wereswarming. The Fisher Community Fairand Horse Show and the Historic FarmDays at Penfield are this week.

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: What a dif-ference a few drying days canmake. Since last report, wehave had no rainfall in our lit-tle neck of the woods butsome did to our south andnortheast. So, our total forJune still stands at 4.15 inch-es of rain. Corn is picking up

and looking better and some are side-dressing NH3. Later corn is playingcatch-up. Soybeans that went in theground two weeks ago are poking theirnecks up already. A scattered few havestarted in wheat, and one fellow was totry his oats last Wednesday. The hayguys are finally getting a chance to putsome away with no rain. Hope you all hada safe July 4 weekend.

Harry Schirding, Petersburg, Menard County: Rainfalllast week, 1.35 inches.Rainfall for June, 6.68 inches.Normal rainfall for July, 3.53inches. Wheat harvest is wellunder way, with early yields at70 to 90 bushels. Some of thestraw is green and wet, but anumber of samples were 12 to

13 percent moisture before the rains onJune 27. Harvest is 60 to 70 percent com-plete, but cloudy weather has slowedprogress. Japanese beetles are visible,but the damage does not seem to be asdramatic as in previous years. Corn andsoybean fields are surprisingly free ofinsect pests and growing rapidly. Some ofthe early-planted fields have started totassel. Hay harvest is in full swing on avery mature crop. Corn nearby, $3.39,down 28 cents; soybeans nearby, $12.47,up 49 cents; corn for January, $3.47,down 37 cents; soybeans for January,$10, up 12 cents.

Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: I think I cansafely say planting for 2009 isalmost wrapped up. After along wait for the wettest fieldsto dry out, work resumed overthe past week as planters,sprayers, and side-dress appli-cators started catching up. Thecorn crop is looking good on

the high ground and poor in the low spots.Maturity is extremely varied with fieldsranging from V5 to V15. It is an odd sightwhen these fields are next to each other.Soybeans are ranging from V2 to just beenplanted in the wet fields and ponds. Thebean planters finished just in time to startplanting double-crop beans. Wheat harvestalso is about wrapped up. Yields reported,so far, are in the 60- to 70-bushel range,which is a bit better than I expected. Hopeeveryone enjoyed the holiday weekendand finally being able to breathe a sigh ofrelief after this exceptionally stressfulplanting season.

Ted Kuebrich, Jerseyville, Jersey County: Last Sundaymorning (June 28) we received0.2 to 0.9 of an inch of rain.Most of the beans are plantedby now. The early-planted cornhas started to tassel. Wheatharvest is still under way withyields running in the mid-60s.With all the rain in the past

couple of weeks, beans fields are startingto get some weeds popping up and arebeing sprayed. Japanese beetles are back,and they are eating leaves on ornamentaltrees and plants in the garden. Cash corn,$3.56; new corn, $3.40; January corn,$3.53; cash beans, $11.92; new beans,$9.92; January beans, $10.10; July wheat,$4.42.

Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: An entireweek without rain! The lastseveral days the humidity waslow and the temperatureswere cooler, which madeworking conditions very pleas-ant. A lot of seed went into theground. Farmers were busyreplanting corn and beans and

planting a lot of first-time beans, spray-ing, side-dressing corn, baling hay andstraw, and planting double-crop beans.Wheat harvest has wrapped up. Thecrops could use a nice shower, but thereare several fields that still need to beplanted.

Bob Biehl, Belleville, St. Clair County: Nothing likedoing serious farming in July. Ihope next year is different.First-crop bean planting isabout wrapped up, but thereare still a few first-crop beansgoing in. Wheat harvest isnearly wrapped up. Yields wereanywhere from 50 to 70

bushels an acre, but test weight and vomi-toxin dockages have taken close to $1 abushel off the price. Lots of double-cropbeans are yet to be planted. Some peopleare done and some people haven’t evenstarted.

Reports received Friday morning.

CROPWATCHERS


Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: It was another dryweek here in deep SouthernIllinois. That’s two in a row — Ithink a first for this planting sea-son. We did manage to finishplanting beans. We finished onJune 27, so we got our beansplanted and our corn side-dressed and now we are down

to spraying and the other usual summerjobs. Things are finally slowing down a littlebit. I think just about everyone is finishedplanting. The last I heard, there are just afew people trying to finish up plantingbeans. The crop is really pretty spotty. Thereis a lot of uneven corn and beans wereplanted awfully late.

Dean Shields, Murphysboro, Jackson County: No rain lastweek, which is a change.Temperatures cooled down onSunday (June 28) when a frontwent through, so we had apleasant week temperaturewise. A lot of catch-up work wasdone with the last of the plantingand the double-cropping of the

wheat acres. We’ve got corn that is tasselingright now and we have corn that is barelyknee high, so we have all sizes. The samewith the soybeans. We got some with prettygood size and some just barely out of theground, so a real mixed bag. Believe it or not,we would like to have a little shower hereanytime soon.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: Wheat har-vest is complete. I had somegood yields and some pooryields. Where I had a goodstand and sprayed a fungi-cide, yields were good.Where there was a poorstand and no fungicideapplied, the yield was not so

good. I have some corn close to tasseland other fields not close to the kneehigh by the Fourth of July. I still havesome double-crop beans to plant.

CROPWATCHERS


Acreage report negative to prices but subject to changeBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The USDA acreage reportreleased last week was nega-tive to crop prices with esti-mates of corn and wheatplantings well above pre-report projections.

The current estimate ofacres planted to corn(87.035 million) is up morethan 2 million acres com-pared to the March estimateand would be the second-largest amount of corn acresplanted in the U.S. since1946.

Meanwhile, USDA’s esti-mate of all wheat acres thisyear (59.775 million) came inabout 1.5 million acresabove trade expectations.

The soybean acreage esti-mate (77.483 million acres)was below trade expecta-tions but still up 2 percent

Extension economist. “Esti-mates were closer to expec-tations for soybeans butpoint to ample supplies dur-ing the year ahead.”

However, the crop esti-mates are subject to change.Dale Durchholz, AgriVisor

market analyst, noted USDAlast year trimmed cornacreage by about 1 millionacres in October comparedto its June estimate.

Crop prospects also are atrisk due to late planting andpoor growing conditions insome parts of the Corn Belt.

“It does lead up to aweather market,” Bastingsaid. “These crops are lag-ging in maturity.”

Durchholz agreed: “Thecrop still has vulnerability, soI don’t see downside riskbeing very big at this point.

“The odds are very smallthat we’ll go through thegrowing season like last yearwithout any hiccups,”Durchholz continued. Highheat in July would reduceyield potential, particularlyfor crops with shallow rootsystems, he said.

compared to last year andwould be a new record.

“The corn acreage numberdefies a lot of conventionalthinking as it was almost a full3 million acres above tradeexpectations,” said Greg Wag-ner of AgResource during ateleconference hosted by theCME Group.

Brian Basting of AdvanceTrading said the report con-firmed the idea that farmerswest of the Mississippi Rivertook advantage of idealplanting conditions andseeded more corn.

Corn acreage exceededplanting intentions by600,000 acres in Nebraskaand 500,000 acres in Iowa.

Stocks of corn (4.266 bil-lion bushels) and soybeans(597 million bushels) as ofJune 1 subsequently wereabove trade expectations due

to the large acreage esti-mates.

“The grain stocks andacreage reports exceededexpectations and were gener-ally very negative for cornprice prospects,” said DarrelGood, University of Illinois

Vilsack: President ‘insistent’ on biofuels successBY MARTIN ROSSFarmWeek

Last week, Ag Secre-tary Tom Vilsack reiterat-ed the administration’scommitment to a strug-gling ethanol industry andstressed the need for fur-ther education of con-sumers who sti l l l ink foodprices to biofuelsdemand.

In remarks following hisaddress before the ChicagoCouncil on Global Affairs,Vilsack said he hoped theU.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency (EPA) ulti-mately would determinethat raising the ethanolblend rate is “the rightthing to do.”

EPA is eyeing a pro-posed bump up in themaximum conventionalgasoline blend from 10percent ethanol to 15 per-cent ethanol (E15).

EPA through July 20 isaccepting comments onproposals to increase theethanol in gasoline blends.To submit a comment, visit{www.GoE15.com}.

“I think it will send animportant message to the

ously defended the existingcorn-based industry, argu-ing recent food priceincreases were due primari-ly to fossil fuel prices,weather, and changingdietary habits linked tomiddle income growth inChina, India, and otherregions.

Growing global afflu-ence has resulted in accel-erated livestock productionand thus competition forgrain, he said.

Vilsack noted foodprices have not droppedsignificantly despite sag-ging biofuels profits and

construction activity. Heinsisted “we have to do abetter job of educatingpeople about preciselywhat did cause food priceincreases.”

“There are many reasonsbeyond the fact that webegan to focus on creatinga far more independentAmerica when it comes toenergy sources,” Vilsacksaid. “Frankly, over time,that’s a good thing for thecountry. I think we have tobreak our addiction to for-eign oil; we have to moveaway from our reliance onfossil fuels.”

industry,” the ag secretarysaid. “The president is veryinsistent on this industrydoing well. We want tobreak our addiction to for-eign oil — one way we cando that is maintaining thehealth of the existing bio-fuels industry.

“We’re not only lookingat the blend rate but alsotaking a look at how wemight be able to help (theindustry) transition from acredit standpoint from badtimes to better times.”

Vilsack noted a varietyof USDA-supported pilot“next generation” ethanol

projects are under way.Based on discussions withproject coordinators andresearchers, he suggested“tangible results” may beavailable within the nextyear or so.

USDA’s BiorefineryAssistance Program pro-motes development oftechnologies for produc-tion of fuels from non-cornstarch sources, offer-ing loan guarantees to helpbuild or retrofit commer-cial-scale biorefineries forso-called “advanced biofu-els.”

However, Vilsack vigor-

IPPA to host visioning session July 14The Illinois Pork Producers Associ-

ation (IPPA) will host a visioning ses-sion on Tuesday, July 14, at NorthfieldInn and Suites in Springfield.

The visioning session is open to allpork producers and pork industrypartners. The event is an opportunityfor participants to provide input anddirection on IPPA programs and activ-ities.

Training workshops for the indus-try’s Transportation Quality Assuranceand Pork Quality Assurance (PQA)

Plus programs will be provided at theevent.

Dennis DiPietre, an economist withKnowledgeVentures, will give a pre-sentation titled “Ethical Foundationsof the Animal Welfare Issue.”

The visioning session also will fea-ture the Pork Act Election, which isthe election of pork producer delegatecandidates for the 2010 National PorkAct annual meeting.

“I hope producers will make plansto attend this important meeting to

help prioritize IPPA’s programs andresources to best meet the needs ofIllinois pork producers and addressthe many issues facing the pork indus-try,” said Phil Borgic, IPPA presidentand pork producer from Nokomis.

Advance registration for the vision-ing session is requested by July 8 toallow for the preparation of meals.

To register or for more information,contact the IPPA office at 217-529-3100 or visit the website{www.ilpork.com}.

CONFERENCES


The Illinois Wind Working Group(IWWG) will host the Advancing WindPower in Illinois Conference July 15-16 atthe Interstate Center, Bloomington.

IWWG is a coalition of 130 groupsinterested in wind energy and is adminis-tered by Illinois State University’s Centerfor Renewable Energy.

The conference will cover various windenergy topics, including small wind pro-jects, community wind projects, and largewind farms.

In eight breakout seminars and 14 panelsessions, 50 speakers will share theirexpertise.

Topics include wind assessment meth-ods, economic development, sizing andzoning, net metering, constructionissues, wind farms and aerial application,wind energy for school districts, wildlife

and environmental issues, and jobs inthe wind energy industry.

Conference information is designedfor landowners interested in wind tur-bines or leasing their land, county boardmembers, zoning board administrators,elected officials, policymakers, economicdevelopment officials, and officials withschools and universit ies interested inwind energy.

Cost for the conference is $75.An optional wind farm tour and dinner

also are offered for an additional $25.To register, or for more information about

the conference or IWWG, go online to{www.renewableenergy.ilstu.edu/wind/confer-ences} or call 309-438-7919.

Conference sponsors include Illinois FarmBureau.

State wind power conference set WIU to host alternativecrops field day July 16

Western Illinois University(WIU) will have its alternativecrops field day from 2 to 4p.m. Thursday, Ju ly 16 , a tWIU’s Agriculture Field Labo-ratory, Macomb.

The program will include aguided tour through alternativecrop plots with time allowedfor photos and ind iv idua lquestions.

D e m o n s t r a t i o n p l o t si n c l u d e b i o e n e r g y c r o p s ,oilseeds, and general alterna-tive crops. Research updateswill be presented on milkweed,cuphea, and biomass crops.

Terry Isbell, research leader

of the new crops and process-ing technology research unitwith USDA, will discuss com-mercialization of pennycressproduction.

Peter Johnsen, chief tech-nology officer of BiofuelsManufacturers of Illinois, willt a l k abou t h i s company ’se f f o r t s t o d e ve l o p a n e wbiodiesel plant.

The event is free to thepublic and registration is notrequired. The Agriculture FieldLaboratory is located north ofthe Ha r r y Mus s a t to Go l fCourse on Tower Road.

For more information, con-tact Win Phippen, associateprofessor, at 309-298-1251 [email protected]. Moreinformation also is availableonline at {www.wiu.edu/alt-crops}.

WIU bull testaccepting entries

Western Illinois Universi-ty (WIU) is accepting entriesfor its 38th annual bull testprogram.

Entries for the 112-daytest are open to any breedand are due Aug. 31, accord-ing to program co-directors,Ken Nimrick and BruceEngnell.

Nimrick noted bulls mustbe weaned and have startedon a preconditioning pro-gram no later than Aug. 22to qualify for the test.

“The WIU bull test offersbreeders the opportunity tocompare their bulls againstbulls from other breederswhen fed and managed inthe same environment,”Engnell said.

In addition to averagedaily gain and feed efficien-cy, the WIU bull test pro-gram provides informationon scrotal circumference,pelvic area, ribeye area, fatdepth, and marbling.

At the conclusion of thetest, a sale of the top bullswill be held March 19, 2010.

For more information,contact Nimrick at 309-298-1288 or Engnell at 309-298-2613 (daytime) or 309-298-1276 (evenings).

Entry packets should berequested from the WIUschool of agriculture at 309-298-1080.

Inquiries may be mailed toKen Nimrick, School ofAgriculture, 1 UniversityCircle, Macomb, IL 61455-1390.

Entry forms also are availableonline {www.wiu.edu/bulltest}

RURAL DEVELOPMENT


$7.2 billion available

Illinois preparing to vie for broadband fundsBY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Illinois will be ready tocompete for $7.2 billion infederal broadband funds,members of the state’s Broad-band Deployment Councillearned last week.

“We’ve worked collabo-rately among agencies toprepare for (federal) broad-band funds when theybecome available,” reportedRyan Croke with Gov. PatQuinn’s staff.

Last week, USDA and the

project applications from July14 through Aug. 14.

Rural residents may usehigh-speed broadband to accessgovernment services, educa-tional opportunities, health careservices, and marketing andother business prospects.

Many rural Internet usershave slow dial-up services astheir only option. In ruralareas where high-speed Inter-net is available, it often is tooexpensive compared to urbanInternet services.

More than two dozen Inter-net and Internet-related pro-jects, primarily in rural parts of

the state, were highlighted dur-ing last week’s BroadbandDeployment Council meeting.

For example, one proposalwould connect rural firehousesto the University of IllinoisFire Service Institute and pro-vide online training for ruralfirefighters. Another projectwould provide fiber opticcable to 19 counties in North-western Illinois.

For information aboutbroadband projects in thestate or the BroadbandDeployment Council, goonline to {illinoisbroadband-deployment.pbworks.com}.

Department of Commercereleased guidelines for $7.2 bil-lion in broadband stimulusfunding. The guidelines willprovide details about thebroadband initiative and out-line how much money will beused in communities withoutbroadband services or thosethat are underserved.

Croke said Quinn’s staffwould distill guideline informa-tion and then share the informa-tion with those who have projectproposals. “That’s always beenour goal — to share what we

know. Broadband (access) is ameans to an end,” Croke said.

The governor’s staff won’tbe ready to assess project pro-posals until the federal guide-lines have been reviewed,Croke noted.

Of the $7.2 billion, $4.7 bil-lion is earmarked for a newgrant program run by theDepartment of Commerce’sNational Telecommunicationsand Information Administra-tion (NTIA). An additional$2.5 billion is allocated forexisting programs adminis-tered by USDA’s Rural UtilitiesService. States may submit

The Obama administration has namedScherrie Giamanco, a 15-year Illinois USDAveteran, as the first woman to serve as execu-tive director for the Illinois Farm ServiceAgency (FSA).

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, aSpringfield Democrat, nomi-nated Giamanco for the posi-tion formerly occupied by BillGraff.

She has served as pricesupport program chiefwith the Illinois FSA since1997, overseeing deliveryof commodity loan pro-gram benefits and provid-ing program guidance to 93

FSA county offices throughout the state.

She has worked with USDA in Illinoissince 1994, and has received severalawards for outstanding performance withthe agency.

Prior to joining USDA, Giamanco workedfor U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, coordinating withfederal departments on flood relief efforts anddirecting special projects.

The Mount Vernon native earned a master’sdegree in organizational communication and abachelor’s degree in marketing from SouthernIllinois University at Carbondale.

“Her lifelong experience, more than 35years in agriculture and rural developmentrelated fields, in many facets of Illinois agricul-ture will allow her to be an effective leaderwithin the Department of Agriculture,”Durbin stated.

Giamanco named FSA state directorCallahan named state directorof Illinois Rural Development

Colleen Callahan Burns, Kickapoo, has been named directorof USDA’s Rural Development in Illinois by President Barack

Obama. Her appointment does not require Sen-ate confirmation. Callahan is expected to starther new position early this month.

Callahan has worked as a farm broadcaster ontelevision and radio in Central Illinois. She grewup on a purebred Hampshire hog, Angus cattle,and grain farm near Milford and graduated fromthe University of Illinois with a degree in agri-cultural communications.

Her family raises purebred Angus cattle onthe Kickapoo farm. She has owned a communi-cations company, based in Peoria, since 2003.

Callahan, the current president of Chicago Farmers, was acandidate for the 18th Congressional District of Illinois in thelast election.

Rural Development provides financial assistance throughguaranteed loans, direct loans, and grants in rural areas. As statedirector, Callahan will coordinate with local, regional, state, andother federal agencies and groups on business, community, orhousing needs.

Rural Development programs include those dealing withhousing, water and wastewater treatment, and renewable energyand energy efficiency.

Gridley farmer Doug Wilson was the immediate past RuralDevelopment state director.

Colleen CallahanBurns

ScherrieGiamanco

ENVIRONMENT


AISWCD giving water quality practices urban twist

Farm Bureau show to feature Illinois farmersThree Illinois farm families will discuss how they’re battling

Mother Nature this spring on Farm Bureau Today’s “Voices ofAgriculture.” The program will be broadcast at 5:30 p.m.Wednesday, July 15, on channel 231 on the Dish Network;channel 345 on Direct TV; or check your local cable channellistings for RFD-TV.

The program will be repeated at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 16,and at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, July 18.

The featured farm families are: Steve and Merry Pitstick ofKane County, Erich and Kim Schott of Kankakee County, andMark and Leslie Doty of McLean County.

The program was produced by Illinois Farm Bureau’s multi-media department.

BY KAY SHIPMANFarmWeek

Soil and Water Conser-vation Districts (SWCDs)help landowners tacklestormwater runoff andwater quality issues, espe-cially in rural areas.

And on a daily basis,their state associationheadquarters demonstratespractices designed to con-trol urban stormwaterrunoff, which also willhelp rural areas down-stream.

“We’ll get less stormwa-ter runoff from urbanareas into rural areas, espe-cially in those areas withdrains coming from urbanareas,” said Rich Nichols,executive director of theAssociation of Illinois Soil

and Water ConservationDistricts (AISWCD).

Last week, AISWCD andthe Illinois EnvironmentalProtection Agency (IEPA)discussed water quality

practices funded by IEPAand installed at the AISW-CD office, 4285 N. WalnutSt. Road, Springfield.

Water from a gardenhose immediately drainedthrough the site’s perviousconcrete driveway, whichoverwintered well andreduced runoff, accordingto Nichols.

Likewise, the permeablepavers used in the parkinglot control surface runoffand allow rain to soak intothe ground.

Rain collects in gravelunderneath both the drive-way and parking lot beforethe moisture seeps into thesoil.

Randy Kraus of Randy Kraus Landscaping puts finishing touches on bricks honoring Soil and Water Conser-vation District leaders and districts at the new state headquarters, Springfield. Behind Kraus, a special porousconcrete driveway, described on the small sign behind him, allows stormwater to drain into the ground andprevents runoff. (Photo by Kay Shipman)

‘ We ’ l l g e t l e s ss t o r m w a t e rrunoff from urbanareas into ruralareas.’

— Rich Nicholsexecutive director

AISWCD

AISWCD also is collect-ing water in rain barrels andgrowing a rain garden withwetland plants, whichreceive water from thebuilding’s downspouts.

“We bought this site todemonstrate water qualitypractices with an urban fla-vor,” Nichols said.

FROM THE COUNTIES


$2.50 donation per donor toits scholarship fund. Call theFarm Bureau office at 815-942-6400 for reservations.Walk-ins are welcome.

HANCOCK — TheHancock County 4-H

Fair will be today (Monday)through Friday at the 4-Hgrounds. The horse show willbe at the Carthage SaddleClub. The 4-H barbecue andFoundation silent auction willbe at 5 p.m. Wednesday, fol-lowed by the general exhibitawards and fashion revue.Call the Extension office at217-357-2150 for more infor-mation.

JEFFERSON — Dead-line to return scholarship

applications is Friday. Appli-cants must be JeffersonCounty Farm Bureau mem-bers or dependents. Call theFarm Bureau office at 242-4510 for more information.

KNOX — The KidsFarm Safety Camp

Committee will meet at noonMonday, July 20, at the KnoxAgri Center. Those interestedin joining the committeeshould contact the FarmBureau office at 342-2036.

LASALLE — FarmBureau has discounted

theme park tickets available toits members. Call the FarmBureau office at 815-433-0371for a listing of parks or moreinformation.

• The LaSalle County 4-Hand Junior Fair will beWednesday through Sunday.Season tickets are $12, whichprovide entrance to the fair,rodeo, tractor pull, demolitionderby, and truck pull. Ticketsare available at the FarmBureau office. Call the FarmBureau office at 815-433-0371for more information.

LEE — The Lee Coun-ty Farm Bureau Foun-

dation’s cookbook CountryKitchen Delights is available atthe Farm Bureau office. Costis $15. Call the Farm Bureauoffice at 815-433-0371 formore information.

PEORIA — FarmBureau has 5-pound

boxes of blueberries for salefor $10. Deadline for pay-ment and orders is Wednes-day, July 22. Orders may bepicked up from 8:30 a.m. to 5p.m. Friday, July 24, at theFarm Bureau office.

• A Farm Bureau exhibitwill be at the Heart of IllinoisFair Friday through Saturday,July 18, at Exposition Gar-dens, Peoria. Volunteers willbe working the booth, whichwill feature a “spin the wheel”game for fairgoers to answerquestions about agriculture.

ST. CLAIR — FarmBureau and Country

Financial will sponsor the

BUREAU — TheFarmers’ Market fami-

ly night will be from 3:30 to6:30 p.m. Tuesday at DariusMiller Park. Farm Bureauwill have an educational agri-culture activity for children.Chef Monika from the Chest-nut Street Inn, Sheffield, willprepare sample dishes madefrom the market’s produce.The market is open Tuesdayafternoons and Saturdaymornings through September,with the first Tuesday beingfamily night.

CHAMPAIGN —Farm Bureau will

sponsor three toolshed meet-ings Monday, July 13. Thefirst meeting will be at 8 a.m.at the Philo Tavern. A lunchmeeting will start at 10:30a.m. at Chris Hausman’s farmin Pesotum. An afternoonmeeting will be at 3 p.m. atJoe Burke’s farm in Thomas-boro. Hausman, IllinoisFarm Bureau District 12director, and Mark Gebhards,Illinois Farm Bureau execu-tive director of governmentalaffairs and commodities, willbe the speakers. Call theFarm Bureau office for moreinformation.

• Farm Bureau and Vermil-ion County Farm Bureau willsponsor a local governmentconference from 9 a.m. tonoon Friday, July 17, at theFarm Bureau office. Lunchwill be served. The programwill focus on local funding ofrural roads, development, andemergency medical services.Call the Farm Bureau officeat 217-352-5235 by Friday forreservations or more infor-mation.

GRUNDY — FarmBureau and Grundy

County Soil and Water Con-servation District will spon-sor a free ice cream socialfrom 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday,July 16, at the Farm Bureauoffice.

• Farm Bureau will sponsora bus trip Friday, July 17, tothe John Deere Harvesterfacility and Pavilion, Moline.The group will leave from theFarm Bureau office at 7 a.m.and return by 6 p.m. Cost is$15 for members and $20 fornon-members. You must be13 years of age to attend.Call the Farm Bureau officeat 815-942-6400 for reserva-tions or more information.

• Farm Bureau will spon-sor a blood drive from 11:30a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday,July 20, at the Farm Bureauoffice. All donors will receivea free Heartland barbecue setand apron along with acoupon for a free pint of Ben& Jerry’s ice cream. TheGrundy County Farm BureauFoundation will receive a

annual ice cream social at 7p.m. Thursday, July 16, atScheve Park, Mascoutah. Thepool is reserved for 8 p.m.There will be attendanceprizes for adults and children.Call the Farm Bureau office at618-233-6800 for reservationsor more information.

VERMILION — FarmBureau is taking orders

for Southern Illinois peachesfrom Rendleman Orchards.Cost for a 25-pound box is$24 for members and $28 fornon-members. Deadline toorder is Monday, July 13.Delivery will be the end ofJuly or the first of August.Call the Farm Bureau office at217-442-8713 for more infor-mation.

• Farm Bureau and Cham-paign County Farm Bureauwill sponsor a local govern-ment conference from 9 a.m.to noon Friday, July 17, at theChampaign County FarmBureau office. Lunch will beserved. The program willfocus on local funding of rur-al roads, development, andemergency medical services.

County, township, and firedepartment officials are invit-ed to attend. Call the FarmBureau office at 217-442-8713by Tuesday, July 14, for reser-vations or more information.

WHITESIDE — FarmBureau will host the

Whiteside County Barn Tourfrom 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdayand from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sun-day. The tour will start at theFarm Bureau office. Admis-sion is $15 per vehicle. Callthe Farm Bureau office at 815-772-2165 or go online to{[email protected]} for atour map and booklet.

WINNEBAGO — TheWinnebago and

Boone County Farm Bureaus

will sponsor a defensive dri-ving course at 9 a.m. Tuesdayand Wednesday, July 21-22, atthe Farm Bureau office. Thecourse is for those 55 years ofage and older who are FarmBureau members and Countryinsured. Cost is $15. Lunchwill be provided. Those whocomplete the two-day coursewill receive a discount on theirauto insurance. Call the FarmBureau office at 815-962-0653for reservations or more infor-mation.

“From the counties” items aresubmitted by county Farm Bureaumanagers. If you have an event oractivity open to all members, contactyour county manager.

Do you know a lot about ALOT?In 2009, Illinois Farm Bureau’s Agricultural Leaders of

Tomorrow (ALOT) will mark 30 years of fostering leaders forthe agricultural industry and Farm Bureau. Test your knowledgeabout ALOT and ALOT graduates with the questions andanswers below:

****What were the original age restrictions for ALOT participants

and when did that change?Originally, ALOT was limited to Farm Bureau members who were 25

to 42 years old. The age limit was lifted in 1990.

PRODUCTION


Forecast somewhat favorable for corn pollinationBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The National Weather Ser-vice projected the cool andwet pattern that prevailedmuch of this spring likely willcontinue during the first fullmonth of summer.

The July forecast releasedlast week called for an

increased chance of above-normal rainfall and below-nor-mal temperatures throughoutmuch of the state.

That’s good news for farm-ers because mild weather con-ditions could help shallow-rooted corn prosper throughthe critical pollination season.

“That’s the kind of forecast

you want to see. You don’twant to see something scorch-ing hot during pollination,”Jim Angel, state climatologistwith the Illinois State WaterSurvey, told FarmWeek.

“That’s one of the bulletswe dodged last year. We hadvery few days in the mid- toupper 90s.”

Crops in Illinois still have along way to go: Just 58 percentof corn and 55 percent ofbeans in the state last week wererated good to excellent com-

pared to the national averagesof 72 percent good to excellentfor corn and 68 percent good toexcellent for beans.

June was the fifth consecu-tive month in which precipita-tion was above average in thestate.

Rainfall last month aver-aged 5.3 inches statewide,which was 1.3 inches abovenormal, according to Angel.Rainfall in June totaled 8-plusinches at a number of loca-tions around the state includ-ing Belvidere (8.75), Tuscola(8.6), Farmer City (8.4), andOregon (8.3).

“Pretty much the wholestate was on the wet side inJune,” Angel said.

The bright side is wet soils

often keep a lid on temperatures.“Kind of the rule of

thumb is if we get a wetspring and early summer, thewet soils tend to hold downhigh temperatures,” saidAngel, who believes currentconditions will make it diffi-cult for temperatures incoming weeks to sustainmuch of a run in the mid-tohigh 90s.

Angel described the reversalin temperatures last month as a“Jekyll and Hyde situation.”

The temperature the firsthalf of June averaged 3degrees below normal beforethe heat wave set in and tem-peratures the second half ofJune averaged 4 degrees abovenormal.

FarmWeekNow.comCheck the latest outlook forthe upcoming corn pollina-tion season at FarmWeek-Now.com

Livestock remain big partof Illinois State Fair

Much has changed in the156-year history of the IllinoisState Fair as a large portion ofthe population during thattime shifted from agrarian toan urban-based lifestyle.

However, one aspect of thefair that remains true to formis a focus on agriculture —particularly livestock.

The 157th Illinois State Fair,which will be held Aug. 14-23in Springfield, once again willshowcase one of the state’s topindustries, according to AmyBliefnick, fair manager.

“Agriculture is one of thelargest industries in Illinois,and the fair is a perfect placeto showcase the great thingsag does for the state,”Bliefnick told FarmWeek.

This year’s event will fea-ture everything from cow-milking and horse competi-tions to culinary contests, thecommodity auction, and har-ness racing. Agriculture Daywill be Tuesday, Aug. 18.

But the top ag-related eventas always will be the livestockshows which culminate in theGovernor’s Sale of Champions.

Last year, the sale of cham-pions set a new record by gen-erating more than $190,000.

Many of the contestants whoshow livestock at the fair havemade it a tradition throughoutthe years and generations.

The presence of livestockand activity in the barns alsoprovides an opportunity forcity kids to see farm animalsup close. Bliefnick noted thefair annually attracts about800,000 visitors.

The Illinois Pork ProducersAssociation (IPPA) will takethat idea a step further at thefair by showcasing modernpork production practices.

IPPA, in conjunction withthe University of Illinoisdepartment of animal sci-ences, will coordinate the pop-ular “Piglets on Parade”birthing center that allowsfairgoers to see live animals ina simulated farm setting.

More information aboutthe fair, including entry formsfor competitions and livestockshows, is available online at{www.agr.state.il.us/isf}.

More information about

the livestock shows also maybe obtained by contacting theLand of Lincoln PurebredLivestock Breeders Associa-tion at 217-682-5739 or onlineat {www.LOLPurebredlive-stock.com}. — Daniel Grant

PROFITABILITY


Feeder pig prices reported to USDA*

Weight Range Per Head Weighted Ave. Price10 lbs. $9.00-$33.26 $24.7040 lbs. n/a n/a50 lbs. n/a n/aReceipts This Week Last Week

22,374 18,180*Eastern Corn Belt prices picked up at seller’s farm

MARKET FACTS

Confirmed lamb and sheep salesThis week 649 Last week 746 Last year 825Wooled Slaughter Lambs: Choice and Prime 2-3: 90-110 lbs, $103; 110-130 lbs., $105.25. Good and Choice 1-2: 60-90 lbs., $110.Slaughter Ewes: Utility and Good 1-3: $25-$29. Cull and Utility 1-2: $25.

Lamb prices

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

This week Prev. week ChangeCarcass $52.90 $54.81 -1.91Live $39.15 $40.56 -1.41

Export inspections

(Million bushels)Week ending Soybeans Wheat Corn06-18-09 13.4 13.3 38.106-11-09 12.8 14.0 32.1Last year 11.7 18.3 39.7Season total 1115.2 38.7 1349.3Previous season total 1006.2 50.8 1955.5USDA projected total 1210 980 1700Crop marketing year began June 1 for wheat and Sept. 1 for corn and soybeans.

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

Steers 81.00 80.78 0.22Heifers 82.13 80.66 1.47

USDA five-state area slaughter cattle price

Now is the time to be scouting, evaluating your cropBY MATT HYNES

This planting season hasbeen a challenge and far fromnormal. Rain, rain, and morerain, not to mention the cooltemperatures, made this spring

difficult. Thetemperaturesin recentweeks cameback to nor-mal and mostof the crophas beenplanted.

With all therain and cool

temperatures, our corn andsoybean crops are at the veryleast a month behind normal,so the warm temperatures arewelcome to help catch up ongrowing degree units (GDUs).

Now is a great time to start-

ing checking fields and evaluat-ing the crop. Populationchecks of both corn and soy-beans are a must. It’s best toknow now so you can plan forthe fall.

While taking populationchecks, look for other thingsthat may affect the crop, suchas insects, diseases, color, andsoil conditions. Being proac-tive could make a difference inthe profitability of the farm.

Now also is the time toscout for rootworm larvaebecause they are just startingto hatch. Corn rootworm digsare an excellent way to evaluatethe effectiveness of your root-worm management strategy.

Another common problemto look for this year is side-wallcompaction. In many cases,fields had a little more mois-

ture than normal, causing theside of the seed furrow tocompact.

That made it difficult forthe roots to expand. Symp-toms of this problem, whichcan hinder growth of the cornplant, will start to appear as thesoil dries.

Hot, humid conditions alsofavor disease development.Look for anything unusual onthe leaves or stalks. Earlydetection is critical to treat-ment options.

Soybeans should be checkedfor uniformity in stands. Asyou are evaluating the stands,look for other issues, diseases,insects, and soil conditions.Right now is the time to evalu-ate for the first post applica-tion of herbicides.

It is critical to spray the

weeds at the right size with theright rate of product. Do notwait to try and save a secondapplication — apply now. Adead weed cannot becomeresistant.

Scouting your fields andknowing what is going on arecritical to maintaining prof-itability. Your local FS cropspecialist has the agronomicknowledge to assist you indiagnosing problems, present-ing alternatives, and helping tomake the best agronomic deci-sion possible for your farm.

Contact your local FS cropspecialist for assistance in eval-uating your program.

Matt Hynes is GROW-MARK’s seed sales and marketingmanager. His e-mail address [email protected].

Matt Hynes

FarmWeek first used this “Eye onProfitability” graphic in December2006 to designate informationdesigned to enhance profitabilityby managing input expenses.Occasional feature stories grew toa full page of profitability infor-mation. Beginning with this is-sue, FarmWeek will feature thesetwo pages of information, com-bining commodity marketing in-formation and input management— the two co-equal parts of theprofit equation.

Plain: Hard management decisions loom in hog industryBY DANIEL GRANTFarmWeek

The 2 percent reduction inthe U.S. hog and pig inventoryreported last month by USDAisn’t nearly enough to bringhog prices in line with pro-duction costs, according to anindustry expert.

In fact, pork productionthis year is up compared tolast year as record slaughterweights and increased pro-ductivity offset a 2.7 percentreduction in the breedingherd.

“We need to downsize theswine herd to get higherprices,” said Ron Plain, ageconomist at the University of

Missouri, during a teleconfer-ence hosted by the NationalPork Board.

“And we are cutting back

(the size of the breeding herdand farrowing fewer sows),but productivity is offsetting abig chunk of that.”

The average pigs saved per

litter in the most recent quar-ter was a record-high 9.61(see graphic) compared to9.38 last year. Productivity

increases so far this year haveaveraged 2.5 percent com-pared to the historical aver-age of 1 percent.

Part of the increase in pro-

ductivity may be the result ofproducers getting rid of theirleast-productive sows andoverall herd management,

according to Plain.Meanwhile, the structure

of the industry makes iteven more difficult toreduce the size of the swineherd compared to five or 10years ago, the economistnoted.

“In the past whenever wecut back the sow herd, itlargely was smaller produc-ers who did the cutting,”Plain explained. “But small-

er-sized operations don’thave a whole lot of marketshare these days, so if theydo cut back, it doesn’t havethe impact it used to.”

Producers with smalloperations also likely growcrops, which provide a feedsource and income, so theycan afford to keep raisinghogs, Plain said.

What will it take for pro-ducers to reduce the swineherd to a point that hogprices cover input costs?

“I’m afraid at this pointwe may end up relying onbankers to make hard deci-sions for producers becauseit’s clear we haven’t hadenough producers step for-ward voluntarily to downsizethe sow herd,” said Plain.

He said he believes it maytake as much as a 10 percentreduction in the sow herdbefore profit returns to thehog industry.

‘We need to downsize the swine herd to gethigher prices.’

— Ron PlainUniversity of Missouri ag economist

PROFITABILITY


AgriVisor Hotline Number

309-557-2274

AgriVisor endorsescrop insurance by

Policies issued by COUNTRYMutual Insurance Company®,

Bloomington, Illinois

AgriVisor LLC1701 N. Towanda Avenue

PO Box 2500Bloomington IL 61702-2901

309-557-3147

AgriVisor LLC is not liable for any damageswhich anyone may sustain by reason of inac-curacy or inadequacy of information providedherein, any error of judgment involving any pro-jections, recommendations, or advice or anyother act of omission.

CASH STRATEGISTCorn Strategy

✓✓2008 crop: With the mar-ket in the window to post the10-week cycle low, we’ll waitfor prices to rebound beforewrapping up this year’s sales.Still, check the Cash StrategistHotline if prices drop throughkey support at $3.49 onDecember futures to see if werecommend a sale.

✓✓2009 crop: With pricesdue to make a cycle low andnear critical support at $3.49 onDecember futures, we adviseagainst making sales. Use ralliesback toward $3.90 for makingcatch-up sales. At this time, weplan to wait to see if a reboundcan carry December above $4before adding to sales.

❖❖Fundamentals: Theunexpectedly large corn plant-ing number helps ensure ade-quate supplies this growingseason, but doesn’t ensure it.The crop still has importantyield hurdles to cross yet thisgrowing season. If weather isless than ideal, yields could stillfall enough from the currentUSDA estimate to tighten sup-plies moderately this growingseason. And late planting hasmade the crop more vulnerableto problems this summer.Soybean Strategy

✓✓2008 crop: Given thepost-report response, if youstill have inventories, we’d bepatient to see if the situationcan carry prices to new highsbefore pricing soybeans.

✓✓2009 crop: BecauseNovember futures held keysupport, hold off on sales fornow, even catch-up sales. IfNovember futures close above$10.22, they should at leastchallenge the recent high. Ifthat occurs, use the rally tomake catch-up sales. IfNovember futures close above$11, set your sights on using amove above $11.50 to add sales.We’d still like to get sales up to50 percent before harvest.

❖❖Fundamentals: Theplanting number came in abovethe last report and last year, butwas still below expectations.Even with the larger area, ifweather would impinge onyield, demand could easily out-strip supply. China’s return tothe market last week was a sign

it saw the moderately lowerprices as a buying opportunity.Wheat Strategy

✓✓2009 crop: Wheat remainsin a strong bear trend withprices breaking through the$5.12 major support in the Julycontract after the USDA acreagenumbers. We aren’t advisingadditional new-crop sales at thistime with seasonal harvest pres-sure peaking. But if sales arebehind the recommended 55percent, use rallies to get caughtup. All of the bushels you planto sell directly off the combineshould have been priced.

❖❖Fundamentals: USDA’sJune wheat acreage number wasa surprise coming in at 59.775million acres, 1.5 million higherthan expected. The pace ofwinter harvest, 40 percent, is alittle behind normal. But withthe generally good weather ontap for the next week, it shouldbe close to a peak. Exportdemand has been sluggish forvarious reasons so far thisspring, but with the seasonallow at hand, we expect businessto pick up. Egypt’s purchaselast week may have been a signalthat better demand lies ahead.

Not only did USDA surprisethe trade with a higher-than-anticipated corn planting num-ber, but it also projected a larg-er planting than had been fore-cast on the March report andlarger than last year’s plantings.No one was expecting the lat-ter, although there was oneestimate calling for plantings tobe the same as last year.

In light of the extremely slowpace of planting again this year,it’s important to review how thepicture unfolded last year.

Like last year, USDA pro-jected larger corn plantingsthan were anticipated. Ironi-cally, this year’s 87 million-acreprojection was very close tolast year’s June projection.

When USDA got access tothe Farm Service Agency(FSA) acreage data in October,it revised its corn planted andharvested acreage numbersdown 1.1 million.

USDA delivers corn shock

Basis charts

A total of 600,000 acres ofthe October acreage revisioncame in Iowa and Nebraska,with modest changes noted inmany of the other states.Interestingly, this year thosesame two states accounted formore than half of the increasefrom the March projections.Nebraska’s plantings were pro-jected very close to 2007’srecord, with Iowa’s the largestother than that year.

We are not implying thosetwo states will see a reductionlike they did last year whenFSA data became available, butit is possible that lower num-bers could occur in eastern andsouthern Corn Belt stateswhere planting was delayed themost this year. A half-million-acre reduction would not be“out of the question.”

More important, though, isthe weather through the rest ofthe growing season. You’llremember that last year’s lateplanting was followed by gen-erally benign summer weatherand an extended fall allowingcrops to continue developinglater than normal.

The question we keep ask-ing ourselves is: What are theodds of that happening twoyears in a row? The last timewe had back-to-back extremelylate planting was 1973 and1974. While 1973’s yield wasthe second largest on record,1974’s was a disaster. That wasthe infamous “triple whammy”year — late planting, summerdrought, and early frost.

While we don’t necessarilybelieve that will be the casethis year, it illustrates the factthat a good crop is not yet “inthe bin.” There’s still risk ofyield problems.

PERSPECTIVES


We’re trying to shorten the recession with rapidgrowth in the money supply and with federal tax cutsand spending increases. But that means once therecovery is well under way, we’ll have two new prob-

lems to deal with: the potential forinflation and the consequences of bigbudget deficits.

The Federal Reserve has reducedthe main interest rate it controls tonear zero. It does this by buying Trea-sury bonds from banks, which thenhave more money to lend.

To attract customers, the banksreduce their interest rates. Businesses

and consumers borrow money andspend it, and people are hired to pro-duce these added goods and services.

Where does the Fed get the money to buy bonds?The Fed creates the money. The money supplyincreases when the Fed cuts interest rates. Or itwould, if banks would lend the money.

Banks have become very conservative with theirlending. The Fed has been shoving money out thedoor, but banks have been locking it in the vault.Bank reserves are at record levels. If banks don’tlend, the Fed’s new money doesn’t get into circula-tion, and the money supply doesn’t grow very much.

With the recovery, though, bank lending willloosen up. Banks will start lending, and the moneysupply will grow. With so many reserves, the moneysupply could grow a lot. That’s where the potentialfor inflation comes in.

Prices will rise if the money supply grows fasterthan the production of goods and services. The oldsaying is true: too much money chasing too fewgoods causes inflation.

Ben Bernanke, the chair of the Fed, recognizes thiscoming inflation problem. In a Feb. 18 speech to theNational Press Club, he said, “When credit marketsand the economy have begun to recover, the FederalReserve will have to moderate growth in the moneysupply... .” (You can read this speech online at{www.federalreserve.gov}. Click on News andEvents, then scroll down to Testimony and Speeches.)

In other words, when the time comes, the Fedwill reverse the growth in the money supply to pre-vent inflation. That could be a tricky business.Tighten policy too slowly and we get inflation.Tighten too fast and we could return to reces-sion.

The Federal government’s 2009budget deficit will be 13 percentof gross domestic product(GDP), according to Con-gressional Budget Office(CBO) estimates. That’sthe biggest percentagesince World War II.The recession hasdepressed taxrevenue, andthe stimulus bill cuttax rates and willincrease spending.

Lower taxes givepeople more after-taxincome to spend.

The governmentbuys goods and ser-vices, and payswages to its newemployees. Thisstimulates the econ-omy, because busi-nesses hire morepeople to producewhat consumersand the govern-ment want tobuy.

Lower taxeswon’t pay for the new spending. The Treasury bor-rows the difference. That’s not such a problem dur-ing recession. Businesses are reluctant to borrow,and lenders are reluctant to lend, so governmentborrowing doesn’t “crowd out” borrowing by busi-nesses.

Come the recovery, the budget deficit is expected

to get smaller. The CBO projects that the deficit willdrop to 3.9 percent of GDP by 2013.

But, under the proposed budget, it will grow fromthere to 5.5 percent by 2019. You’ll find these num-

bers on the CBO’s website {www.cbo.gov}.That much borrowing during an expansion is

a problem. Businesses will want to borrowfor new buildings and equipment, but

the government will be first in lineat the bank. Government bor-

rowing will crowd out busi-ness investment. Less invest-ment means a smaller stockof buildings and equip-

ment to work with, andthat can slow downeconomic growth

over the long haul.The solution to a

deficit, of course, is low-er spending and highertaxes. Congress often hastrouble enacting thosepolicies, though.

Inflation’s not a prob-lem now. Prices are actu-ally lower today thanthey were a year ago.The deficit is not a

problem now.The Treasury is bor-

rowing money that wouldnot be lent otherwise,so it’s not crowding

out private invest-ment.

These thingswon’t be problems until the economy recovers. Sincewe really want the economy to recover, they’re theproblems we wish we had.

Larry DeBoer is a professor of agricultural economics atPurdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. His e-mail addressis [email protected].

LARRYDEBOER

Oh the economic problems we wish we had

I read a very interesting article in the “Wash-ington Post” recently. There is a lesson to belearned, if you think about it.

The headline read, “In Venezuela, Land“Rescue” Hopes Unmet.” Presi-dent Hugo Chavez is systemati-cally confiscating the farms andranches of the families who haveoperated them for more than 100years. He then divides the farmsinto many small parcels for smallfarmers to operate.

This land redistribution istermed “rescue” and the objec-tive is food sovereignty — toreduce food imports. However,five years after the process was

first launched, imports are six times higher thanthey were before — $7.5 billion worth of foodwas imported last year.

Hugo Chavez, to this day, is still in theprocess of stealing land from families who wereoperating efficient commercial farms andranches. Just weeks ago, the government took20 farms in Aragua.

One 33,000-acre ranch produced 3.3 millionpounds of beef per year. Today, the 13,000 cat-tle that once roamed the fields are gone. Thereplacement farmers operating the land havejust a few cattle and a little corn. Most of theproductive land is wasted.

Chavez stated just a few weeks ago, “I say to

all who say they own land: In the first place,that land is not yours. The land is not private. Itis the property of the state.”

Think about this.The countries around the world that have

failed miserably are those in which the state hasstolen the land from the rightful owners.

We can begin with Robert Mugabe’s Zimbab-we. That dictator stole the land, redistributed it,and now the people are starving.

The former communist countries all over theworld are in the process of privatizing theirfarms because that’s necessary to increase pro-duction. Ukraine and Russia are importantexamples.

I was in Cuba in March. The governmentcontrols everything there, and — not surprising— they have to import 80 percent of theirfood.

We have people here in the United Stateswho rail against commercial farms. They wantmore regulation, government control. Privateproperty rights are not in their vocabulary. Theythink little one-donkey farms are the way to go.

If we keep an eye on Venezuela, we can seewhat not to do.

John Block, former U.S. secretary of agriculture fromGilson, is a senior policy adviser with the Washington,D.C., firm of Olson, Frank, Weeda, and Terman,which specializes in ag issues. His e-mail address [email protected].

JOHNBLOCK

Venezuela is lesson in what not to do

‘We’re in the American ag biz, Charlie, wedo not eat rice snacks.’

farmweek july 6, 2009

Documents

editor of farmweek

look of farmweek

gasgenerated power

warnsthe bill

ing energy

climatechange bill

costly bill

wouldreduce farm income