Vegetable production

At just 800 acres, tomatoes harvested for the fresh market in Indiana was down 11 percent in 2009. Yield per acre was down 6 percent and total production declined by 17 percent.

Processing tomato acreage in Indiana was up 18 percent in 2009 to 9,800 acres, production jumped 29 percent to 321,340 tons.

The Indiana field office of the National Ag Statistics service reports 2,200 acres of cantaloupes were harvested in Indiana in 2009, a 4 percent decline from the previous year, watermelon growers harvested 7,400 acres which was a 3 percent increase.

SDCGA: ‘EPA only got it half right’

Reacting to the EPA’s RFS2 final rule, the South Dakota Corn Growers Association says the agency “only got it half right.” 

The group is pleased with EPA’s acknowledgement of corn ethanol’s advantage over conventional gasoline when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions.  At the same time, the corn growers are disappointed with EPA’s continued reliance on international indirect land use calculations, which they call “hocus pocus”.  They’re called on EPA to reject what they call “the flawed and unproven theory” of international indirect land use change.

Iowa Soybean welcomes RFS2 rule

The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) is welcoming the EPA’s final rule on the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard—RFS2. 

ISA president Delbert Christensen of Audubon says it’s good news for Iowa as one of the leading biodiesel and soybean producing states, in that it opens the door to more biodiesel production and usage in the U.S.  He says many of the soybean industry’s concerns were addressed in the final rule. 

Over the past few months, ISA officials have met with representatives of EPA, both in Iowa and Washington, D.C., to explain modern soybean production and the importance of biodiesel to the soybean industry.  ISA director Ray Gaesser  of Corning, who is also vice president of the American Soybean Association, thinks those meetings were instrumental in convincing EPA to make revisions to the rule.

RFS2 gives more credit to distillers grains

One of the positive aspects of the EPA’s RFS2 announcement this week was the increased credit given to distillers grains.  That according to the Nebraska Corn Board. 

EPA noted that new research available since the initial RFS2 proposal indicates that distillers grains is more efficient as an animal feed than what it had originally assumed.  That means less corn is needed for animal feed—which, in turn, means that domestic corn demand and exports are not impacted as much by increased biofuel production as previously thought. 

But despite that positive news, the Corn Board still has concerns with the RFS2 rule, especially what it calls “the shaky science” of international indirect land use change.  The board points out that with the land use change theory included, EPA estimated that corn-based ethanol reduces greenhouse gases 21 percent over gasoline. Without that penalty, corn ethanol would achieve a 52 percent reduction rating. 

The Corn Board also renewed its call for approval of E15 and putting more flex fuel vehicles on the road.

NE Farm Bureau urges repeal of water checkoff

The Nebraska Farm Bureau is urging Nebraska senators to repeal the planned water checkoff on corn and grain sorghum.

The water checkoff is scheduled to go into effect at the end of 2012.  It will be an extension of the current ethanol checkoff, which sunsets that same year.  Governor Dave Heineman wants those checkoff dollars to go into a Water Resources Cash Fund, to help address water issues across the state.  Proposed legislation—LB 689—would repeal the water checkoff plan.

Testifying before the Natural Resources Committee in support of the legislation, Farm Bureau president Keith Olsen said commodity checkoffs are designed to stimulate use and demand for that commodity, not diverted to another purpose.  And Olsen said that Nebraska’s water challenges are a state-wide issue and funding to address them should be broad-based.

Olsen stressed that Farm Bureau’s opposition to the water checkoff should not be viewed as a lack of commitment to finding financial resources to address the state’s water challenges.  He says Farm Bureau is ready to work with the legislature and other interested parties to find the appropriate funding source.

Price drop likely if biotech wheat succeeds

A new report says US wheat prices could drop 40 percent or more if biotech wheat efforts succeed. The Western Organization of Resource Councils says opposition to modified wheat in European and Asian countries indicates buyers in those countries would not buy GM wheat that’s commercialized in the U.S and would turn to GM-free wheat from other countries.

Former research economist Neal Blue with Ohio State University authored the report and calls GM wheat in the U.S. a risky proposition.

U.S. Wheat Associates spokesman Steve Mercer tells www.farmfutures.com that he’s not seen the report, that the industry is working to improve the world’s acceptance of biotech wheat before it’s commercially available and that the market would have to sort it out. Mercer says the market is working hard to meet the demand of what wheat customers want.

Dunklin County, MO farmers eligible for FSA disaster loans

Farmers in Dunklin County, Missouri are eligible for natural disaster assistance after USDA designated neighboring Greene County, Arkansas a primary disaster area.

USDA made the designation January 25 following cooler than normal temperatures and excessive rainfall from October 1 to December 8, 2009.

Farmers in both counties have eight months from the declaration to apply for the low interest loans and can contact their local Farm Service Agency office for more information.

Indiana launches grain bin safety campaign

A grain bin safety campaign, “Stop Engulfment in Indiana” has been launched. The campaign is being led by the Indiana Grain and Feed Association (IGFA), Purdue University and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA).

“Our campaign is really one of raising awareness rather than re-creating any type of new wheel,” said Dan McNeil with Consolidated Grain and Barge and chairman of the IGFA. “Our goal is to get both in the industry and on the farmstead the information out so that hopefully when someone is making that decision to enter a bin when they shouldn’t that this information will be fresh in their mind and they’ll make the right decision to not go in the bin or to do it in a safe manner.”

The campaign will include grain bin training sessions and a Purdue publication, “Dangers of Flowing Grain” being sent with checks from grain elevators to their farmer customers.

AUDIO: Dan McNeil, Chairman, IGFA (4:05 MP3)

Cotton referendum passes

Three states will have a larger voice on the Cotton Research and Promotion board as a result of the referendum last fall which passed with an overwhelming majority. USDA announced the results Monday that lets Kansas, Virginia and Florida each have a seat on the board. Cotton Board Chairman, Larkin Martin, tells Brownfield the changes were called for in the 2008 Farm Bill and reflect the changes in U.S. cotton production, “There’ve been several significant shifts, historic shifts based on things like the boll weevil eradication program. Acres grew behind that program in cotton. Kansas is a relatively recent state that has a significant cotton production.”

Martin, an Alabama producer, says Florida had previously been paired with Alabama on the Cotton Board and Virginia with North Carolina.

AUDIO: Larkin Martin, Cotton Board Chairman, (7 min., MP3)

Cotton Board

Nebraska ag groups support checkoff bill

Nebraska Farm Bureau has joined six other ag organizations in a letter to the Appropriations Committee in support of LB 793, a bill to keep commodity checkoff funds from being diverted to other purposes.

Checkoff funds became an issue last fall when Nebraska governor Dave Heineman proposed transferring some of the commodity checkoff dollars into the state’s general fund to help close the state’s budget shortfall.  The legislature, during its special session to deal with the budget, rejected the proposal.

In the letter to Appropriations chair Lavon Heidemann, the ag groups stress that farmer’s investments in commodity promotion should not be treated as general tax dollars.  If allowed, the groups argue, such transfers would undermine the integrity of the checkoff programs and farmers would question whether the programs should continue. 

Along with Farm Bureau, other groups signing the letter were the Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Corn Growers, Nebraska Pork Producers, Nebraska Poultry Industries, Nebraska Soybean Association and Nebraska Wheat Growers.

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