Groups back continued safety net

For the first time, the leaders of the four associations meeting at the Commodity Classic have issued a joint statement to the media on farm policy.

The statement called for no reopening of the 2012 farm bill while working to "look forward to continued work with the Obama Administration and Congress to ensure farm program monies are spent wisely."

The statement, as published at the website of the National Association of Wheat Growers, is at the link. http://wheatworld.org/html/printfriendly.cfm?ID=1560

Commodity groups talk issues

During a round table discussion at the Commodity Classic, the presidents of the four commodity groups hosting the conference talked of issues important to their groups.

Led by Mark Mayfield, the "corporate comedian," Toby Bostwick of the National Sorghum Producers, David Cleavinger of the National Association of Wheat Growers, Bob Dickey of the National Corn Growers Association and Johnny Dodson of the American Soybean Association combined to discuss farm prices, biotechnology, food versus fuel and public perception of agriculture

ASA leader criticizes new group

Leaders of the American Soybean Association Feb. 26 criticized the members of the new U.S. Soybean Federation (USSF). Formed by members of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association and the Missouri Soybean Association, USSF was criticized by John Hoffman, chairman of the ASA Executive Committee, during a news conference held by ASA at the Commodity Classic.

"We've got a lot of members in good standing from Minnesota and Missouri. We've been told by producers and by our industry partners and by those in the halls of Congress that we need one strong voice for the soybean grower and that's the ASA. I think the federation will flutter away," said Hoffman, a Waterloo, Iowa, producer.

The smell of success

The first item on the agenda for many visiting the Commodity Classic Trade Show isn't the latest machinery display, or to see the latest in seed and crop input advancements. Rather, it's to follow their noses to find the source of the amazing cinnamon aroma. The Oklahoma Wheat Commission's traveling kitchen made a stop yet again for Commodity Classic, and is the centerpiece of the National Association of Wheat Growers' booth at the trade show. Here, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers members Paul Penner and Joe Kejr set out cinnamon rolls and hot buttered bread for attendees. The booth was staffed with volunteers from wheat associations and commissions across the country. (Journal photos by Jennifer M. Latzke.)

Coppock pleased with response to petition, discusses budget proposal

Daren Coppock, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers, speaks to reporters during the opening of the 2009 Commodity Classic Trade Show, Feb. 26.

Coppock said he was pleased with the response from wheat growers to the biotech survey, especially from those states that export a large amount of their wheat to overseas customers.
"The states really were behind the petition," Coppock said. States like Montana and others in the Pacific Northwest, as well as Oklahoma and Colorado showed solid support.

A key to the eventual commercialization of any biotech wheat variety will be the education of foreign and domestic consumers of wheat, and both NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates are ready to meet that goal.

Coppock also spoke about the recent omnibus bill, which just came out. Two weeks ago, the boards of USW and NAWG held their joint meeting in Washington, D.C. Afterward, NAWG set up appointments with leaders to discuss research funding needs, and took representatives from many segments of the wheat chain along to explain why it's important for federal dollars to be spent on research. Coppock announced that as a result of those conversations, and many others in offices on the Hill, the omnibus bill has $1.5 million set aside for rust research.

Another concern of wheat growers is the recently released proposed budget from President Obama. Coppock said proposal calls for payment limitations of $250,000 per year, and a three-year phase out of direct payments to farms with sales exceeding $500,000 each year. Opposition to the President's proposal is already coming from ag leaders in Congress, Coppock said. NAWG's heard from House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-MN, and from Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, who say it makes no sense to re-open the 2008 farm bill, that was just passed. Senate Budget Committeee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-ND, has stated that it would be a mistake to cut farm supports with the nation in an economic recession.

The budget proposal also calls for cuts to the Market Access Program by 20 percent and cutting crop insurance subsidies to farmers and insurers for crop insurance by $5.2 billion over 10 years.

Wheat growers approve biotech petition

The National Association of Wheat Growers released the final results from its biotech survey at the Commodity Classic, Feb. 26. More than three-quarters of American growers who responded said they would be in favor of biotechnology in wheat.

The survey was commissioned by NAWG as a project of the NAWG Foundation and questioned wheat growers about their views on commercialization of biotechnological traits in wheat. NAWG representatives have explained that while many wheat producers have stated they would support a biotech trait in their crop, and national organizations have voted to support biotech trait commercialization, private technology providers needed further reassurance.

"Until now, there has only been speculation about the breadth of grower support for biotechnology in wheat," said NAWG CEO Daren Coppock. "This petition was designed to gather those answers from across our wheat producing areas, and now we have an objective and clear answer."

As of the announcement, the survey had a 32 percent response rate, with approval rates similar across states and farm sizes. It was mailed to a list of about 21,000 producers in January and February. Producers surveyed had more than 500 acres of wheat, and 1,000 total acres in production.

In the High Plains Journal/Midwest Ag Journal coverage area, Kansas had the highest number of responses, with 1,448, out of a total 4,530 surveyed. Of those, 76 percent were in support of commercializing biotech wheats.

The other Journal states responded as follows:
—Colorado, 85 percent in favor;
—Missouri, 79 percent in favor;
—Montana, 76 percent in favor;
—Nebraska, 81 percent in favor;
—New Mexico, 92 percent in favor;
—Oklahoma, 79 percent in favor;
—South Dakota, 74 percent in favor;
—and, Texas, 79 percent in favor.

NAWG and many other wheat industry groups believe biotechnology will be key to the future competitiveness of wheat as a crop. With wheat acres on a steady decline, and other crops with biotech traits competing for acres, and the need to feed more people on more acres, biotech has the potential to provide various agronomic and consumer advantages.

NAWG will take these results to the public, trait providers and others in the wheat value chain to educate them and to move forward in the progress of commercializing a biotech wheat.

For more information, visit www.wheatworld.org/biotech.

Ethanol plant designer touts sorghum

The principal scientist for the nation’s leading designer and builder of ethanol production plants gave his praise to forage sorghum production as a way to expand biofuels use.

Dr. Rob Meyer, principal scientist at ICM, Colwich, Kan., spoke to the National Sorghum Producers/Sorghum Improvement Conference of North America bi-annual conference at the Commodity Classic Feb. 26 at Grapevine, Texas.

Forage sorghum is a good fit for producers as an annual crop, Meyer told the producers and scientists in attendance, as it uses traditional planting and harvesting equipment and that, unlike perennial crops, producers likely know already how to grow the crop with successful yields in the first year of production.

Mayer admits that there’s situations that may hamper some producers from making forage sorghum a crop of choice for ethanol production.
“One of the things ethanol plants need is a consistent run of feedstock,” Mayer said. “You can’t mix and match different stocks, like square bales and round bales. You can’t wraps or strings. Another question, do you put sweet sorghum in billets or do you chop it before you take it to the ethanol plant.”

Producers will need to have consistent quality of product, which means producers will need to be “variety sensitive” to make sure these plants have good quality feedstocks.

“The good thing is that we in sorghum have better varieties right now than other biomass crops,” Mayer said. “The traditional approaches to fertility and current supplies of good herbicides available make sorghum a good choice for producers to enter the ethanol area.”

By
Larry Dreiling

Kohl: Cash is king

Cash and liquidity will be king during the economic crisis, said Dr. David Kohl, professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech. Kohl spoke during the Ag Issues Forum, sponsored by Bayer Crop Science. He warned that farmers should not be lulled into feeling safe because last year was so profitable for grain producers. He said a large number of bankruptcies in businesses are in the year immediately following record profits. They make mistakes by expanding too quickly and finding themselves exposed. In addition to cash and liquidity, Kohl said it will be extremely important for agricultural producers to be innovative, resourceful and selective.

NSP chair says sorghum is the “comeback kid”

The chairman of the board of the National Sorghum Producers proclaimed Feb. 25 he’s excited about the future of his crop.

“It’s an exciting place to be in representing this industry at a time when so many good things are going on,” said Toby Bostwick, a Melrose, N.M., producer, during NSP’s bi-annual joint conference with the Sorghum Improvement Conference of North America.

The joint meeting is being held during the Commodity Classic at Grapevine, Texas.
“With the beginning of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program, NSP will continue to represent farmers as they have for the last 54 years, speaking out for farmers, encouraging research and providing high quality educational materials.”

NSP will now be spending more of its time on representing producers in the legislative and regulatory arenas.

“We will be able to focus more of our time on what we do best,” Bostwick (pictured) said.
Calling sorghum the “comeback kid,” Bostwick explained that U.S. sorghum acreage has increased from 6.4 million acres in 2005 to 8.3 million acres in 2008.

“This is based on the faith farmers have in this crop,” Bostwick said. “Sorghum is good for our water supplies, good for input costs, good for biofuels and good for the producer’s bottom line.”
Bostwick said three issues will concern NSP in the next year: Retaining the farm safety net, the 2009 energy bill and climate change legislation, adding he was concerned by secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack’s recent comments about replacing direct payments to producers with conservation payments.

“While we fully support conservation programs, we believe farmers rely on the safety net when commodity prices fall,” Bostwick said. “A weakened farm safety net could prove disastrous to the rural economy.

“It is imperative that farmers remain in business to provide a vital commodity to the 98 percent of Americans who are not involved in production agriculture. This is the most vital line of our national defense.”

Bostwick added that sorghum is an advanced biofuel crop and deserved a seat at the table in an discussion on U.S. energy policy and that, as climate change continued to be a priority to the Obama Administration, sorghum producers should stand ready to prove how successful their crop is as a carbon sink.

“Farmers are already conserving in so many ways,” Bostwick said, “and should be compensated for their contributions.”

By Larry Dreiling

Agriculture leader says the future of the ag economy is bright

Murray Wise, CEO and chairman of the Westchester Group said the global economy and the global agriculture economy is at a very trying time.
"It's hard to know what will happen in the next 18 months. Beyond that U.S. agriculture is a bright spot in the world economy," he said during an Agriculture Issues Forum on Feb. 24, in Grapevine, Texas.
Through the years, the total percent of the population involved in agriculture has dwindled, yet those people are still expected to provide for the entire world.
Wise said changes in the need for grain around the world have led to ending grain stocks not being near as high as in the past.
Currently, the challenge appears to be with the amount of soybean acres that are expected for the coming year.
"If there is a dramatic shift in soybean acres we may have an excess amount of soybeans available and a lack of corn, which will likely lead to problems," he added.
U.S. pork producers have a bright spot in the export markets with dramatic increase in exports to China.
"Even with a poor economy, the Chinese people are not willing to give up their pork. China has 25 percent of the world's population ad eats 50 percent of the world's pork," he said. "They also have almost eight times the amount of pork on feed as the U.S., so they will have a need for feed for those pigs."
Wise said even with all the challenges that farmers face, the agriculture economy for the long term has a bright outlook.

NAWG committees gather at Classic

It was standing-room-only at the National Association of Wheat Growers Domestic & Trade Policy Committee meeting the morning of Feb. 25, at the 2009 Commodity Classic. Most growers were concerned with one thing—NAWG's policy response to President Barack Obama's address to a joint session of Congress from the previous evening. The president called for cuts in direct payments to farmers, as well as increased spending in research of renewable energy sources. The simple answer, from Cori Wittman, NAWG director of Government Affairs for Environmental Policy, is that the administration doesn't authorize the budget, rather it just proposes and it's up to the appropriations committees to figure out a final budget. Congress just passed the 2008 farm bill, and Wittman wasn't optimistic that any major changes to the Direct Payment would happen in appropriations. (Journal photo by Jennifer M. Latzke.)

USCP committees meet in Texas

The first day of the 2009 Commodity Classic began with committee meetings for all of the commodity groups. Committees for the new United Sorghum Checkoff Program were no exception. The USCP Marketing and Research Committees were fine-tuning their goals and tactics for the new checkoff. Here, Jeff Casten, USCP secretary, Quenemo, Kan., looks over a few of the recommendations during the USCP Research Committee Meeting. (Journal photo by Jennifer M. Latzke.)

United Sorghum Checkoff Program hires executive director

The United Sorghum Checkoff Program announced Feb. 24, it has named Virgil Smail of Manhattan, Kan., as the new USCP Executive Director. 
 
According to a release from USCP, Smail's former work as president and CEO of the American Institute of Baking will be vital to his new role. Smail was responsible for drastically expanding institute programs and worked with a Board of Directors representing the top 30 baking and allied industry presidents and senior vice presidents. Most recently, Snail served as Senior Director of Research and Development for the Milling Division of ConAgra Foods.
 
“The USCP Board and I look forward to working with Virgil and are extremely confident in his leadership ability,” said Bill Greving, USCP Board chairman. “He brings a successful track record from his past employment and brings a level of expertise that we believe will be beneficial in furthering Checkoff Program initiatives to improve profitability for sorghum producers.”
 
Smail served as the first full-time director and CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers Foundation in Washington, D.C. and collaborated closely with growers and industry representatives while implementing foundation activities. He also worked with sorghum breeding programs as the vice president of Corporate Development for Biotechnica Agriculture and on the Egyptian Major Cereals Improvement Program in Egypt, a USAID project.
 
“I am excited about the opportunity to work closely with the USCP Board to make significant progress in improving the sorghum industry. I plan to hit the ground running in this new position,” Smail said. “The USCP is a huge step forward for this industry. From producers to end-users, I am confident that sorghum has a bright future.”
 
Smail has worked in the grain industry for 25 years. He has also served as the department head for the Grain and Science Industry at Kansas State University and as center director for the Grain Marketing and Production Research Center for U.S. Department of Agriculture-Ag Research Service.

2009 Commodity Classic

The 2009 Commodity Classic starts February 26th in Grapevine, Texas.

Watch here for updates throughout the day on happenings with the
National Corn Growers Association,
American Soybean Association,
National Sorghum Producers, and
National Association of Wheat Growers.

Need more information? Visit Commodity Classic.