NCGA Thanks Harkin for Ag Service, Welcomes Lincoln
 
The National Corn Growers Association today thanked Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) for his service as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and welcomed Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) as the committee’s new chairwoman.
 
“Senator Harkin has led the Senate Ag Committee through two farm bills and has been a strong supporter of the corn industry,” NCGA Chairman Ron Litterer, a farmer from Green, Iowa, said. “Our organization has worked well with Senator Harkin throughout his tenure at the Committee and we wish him well in his new role.”
 
Lincoln has been a member of the Senate Ag Committee since 1999 where she played a strong leadership role during the debate on the 2008 farm bill.  She has been an advocate of investments in renewable energy, conservation and farm programs that benefit production agriculture and rural America.
 
NCGA represents more than 36,000 members and 48 affiliated state corn associations and checkoff organizations, including Arkansas, where planted corn acres have more than doubled since 2000.
 
“Senator Lincoln has continued to be an advocate for the ag industry and we congratulate her on the newly appointed position as chairwoman of the Senate Ag Committee,” NCGA President Bob Dickey said. “We’re grateful for the senator’s previous work for corn farmers and we look forward to working with her in the future on issues important to our members.”



New MILC Fiscal Year Approaches

The approach of Fiscal Year 2010, which begins October 1, means that some dairy producers may have some paperwork to fill out at their FSA office.

The Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program has a cap of 2.895 million pounds of eligible milk per year. Producers large enough to be affected by this have had the option of picking a month to begin applying their eligible milk. If the election for FY 2009 is not changed, it becomes the default for 2010.

Producers who chose a specific start month last year, and who want to change it either to or from October for this year, have until September 14th, 2009 to do so. This is based on the MILC rule that a start month election must be made by the 14th of the month before the previously chosen month or the desired start month, whichever is earlier.

NMPF estimates that the average MILC payment rate for the eight months from February through September 2009 will be $1.60, and that about 50% of U.S. milk production during those months will have been eligible to receive payments.

For more information, go to the USDA/FSA MILC website at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=prsu&topic=mpp-mi .

 

CWT Expected to Conclude Current Herd Retirement This Month

As CWT wraps up its third herd retirement conducted in the last nine months and the second-largest herd retirement ever, it expects to complete farms audits for this current round in mid-September, with the removal of cows completed by the end of the month.

The current herd retirement round will accept 86,710 cows and 1.8 billion pounds of milk. When combined with the previous two herd retirements, CWT's actions will result in approximately 400 million fewer pounds of milk a month going to market this fall.

"These two summer 2009 herd retirements, combined with the USDA's recent price support increases, should result in very positive movement in dairy farmers' milk prices," said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF, which administers CWT.

For more information about CWT, please visit www.cwt.coop .

 

Planning that Last Cutting of Alfalfa
Steve Tonn, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Washington County

The abundant fall moisture may be making farmers wanting to try and get one more additional cutting of alfalfa.  However, keep in mind that the date you take your last harvest of alfalfa affects its winter survival and next spring’s vigor.  Alfalfa needs about six weeks of interrupted growth in the fall to become fully winterized.  This winterizing using begins about three weeks before the average first frost date.  For Washington County the average first frost is October 10.  Your last harvest can occur anytime before winterizing begins or after the winterizing period is over with little worry about affecting stand life.  But harvest during winterizing can be risky.  

How risky is it to harvest alfalfa during winterizing?  That depends on how much total stress your alfalfa has experienced this year.  The most important factor is the number of cuts you took this year.  Fields cut 4 or 5 times are more susceptible to winter injury than fields cut only three times.  Also, young stands of winter hardy, disease resistant varieties are less stressed and can be harvested during winterizing with less risk than older stands of disease susceptible varieties that are only moderately winter hardy.  Also consider your need for extra alfalfa or its value as a cash crop.  Dairy hay is priced high, so if you cut dairy hay from this final harvest it may be worth the risk of lowering next year’s yield.  But, sometimes stock cow or grinding hay is plentiful and reasonably priced.  Then it may be better to purchase any needed hay rather than risking another cutting.  Remember you can always harvest after the winterizing phase.



USDA REPORTS DUE OUT TOMORROW MORNING

USDA will release two reports Friday morning at 7:30, the Supply and Demand estimates and the latest Crop Production report.  Pre-report estimates have the 2008-09 carryout on corn at 1.712 billion bushels, up from USDA's August estimate of 1.72bb.  The average carryout estimate on soybeans is 102 million bushels, which is also under USDA's August estimate of 110mb.  For the 2009-10 carryout, the average guess on corn is 1.768 bb and soybeans at 226mb.  Traders are also taking the day today to allign ahead of the crop production report.  Traders are expecting a corn crop of 12.932bb this year, up from USDA's August estimate of 12.761bb.  Soybean expectations are for a crop of 3.256bb, up from last month's 3.199bb.  Listen for the latest information Friday morning at 7:40 on KTIC 840AM as the Rural Radio Network recaps these two reports.



2010 BEEF EXPORTS UP FOR DEBATE

U.S. beef export estimates for 2010 may be slightly optimistic as fluctuating currency prices and energy costs are becoming more important factors in the formula than the supply of cattle.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture still projects 2010 beef exports to be above 2009, although it lowered its outlook in August. The department now estimates next year's beef exports to be up about 7% from 2009 at 1.845 billion pounds down from the July estimate of 1.905 billion. This would be about 2% less than the 2008 exports of 1.887 billion pounds.

But there are a number of factors, including exchange rates, energy prices as well as a dwindling cattle herd that raise doubts among some industry analysts and participants about the accuracy of those figures. Some analysts question the figures and think they will be lowered later.

Fewer cattle means less beef production, higher prices and a reduced ability to supply export orders, the analysts said. A steady or increasing domestic demand could chew through available supplies and leave less for exports.

Others say that view is too simplistic in the current world of inter-related markets, especially when currency exchange rates are factored in.

Gregg Doud, agricultural economist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said despite important factors such as cattle availability, the weight of animals and imports, the whole topic of beef exports "rises and sets in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies."

The supply of meat is way down the list of important trade factors, Doud said.

"Energy prices and exchange rates dictate (buying) decisions more than ever," Doud said. "It's an amazing new world we live in today."

For example, 13 years ago, it took 1,050 South Korean won to buy $1, Doud said. The quote Friday put it at more than 1,200, and this limits the amount of any U.S. product South Korea can purchase.

"These extreme fluctuations represent a huge fluctuation for the average South Korean for U.S. beef," Doud said.

The USDA reported in July that the country's herd continues to shrink. The estimated number of cattle and calves at that time was 101.8 million head, down about 1% from a year earlier.

The herd has been declining since 1975 when it last peaked at 132 million head, according to figures supplied by the Livestock Marketing Information Center.

Concluding that a smaller cattle herd will equate to lower beef exports in 2010 has some merit, but "it's more complicated than that," said Michael Swanson, senior economist at Wells Fargo Economics Group. Cattle numbers are going down, but the ones being produced are larger in size so the number of pounds of beef available to the market isn't changing much.

The U.S. beef export picture also has to include U.S. beef imports, Swanson said. One can offset the other in terms of pounds of beef, but the value swings in favor of the U.S. with its higher-value, grain-fed beef products. The U.S. imports lean, usually grass-fed beef that often is ground into hamburger in response to total beef demand and affects the prices of choice, more exportable product.