Category: Ag News

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 12:32:27 CDT

The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) today announced that Zachary Gihorski was joining the organization as director of government affairs and sustainability. In this role, Gihorski will manage …

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 12:21:07 CDT

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is featuring content from Farm Broadcaster, Ken Root’s podcast during his visit to the Farm Progress Show in Iowa as he speaks with the President, CEO, and …

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 11:26:46 CDT

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Cotton is Texas’ largest crop, and industry experts say they expect just half the normal annual yield — which will drive up costs for consumers.

Cotton production has been dec…

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 10:41:29 CDT

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Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is featuring comments from Senior Director for International Trade and Market Access, Kent Bacus with the National Cattle…

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 10:37:46 CDT

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer farmer sentiment index rose 14 points in August to a reading of 117. The rise in the overall measure of agricultural producer sentiment was driven by increases in both the Index of Current Conditions, which rose 9 points to 118 and the Index of Future Expectations, which climbed 16 points to 116. The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 U.S. agricultural producers’ responses to a telephone survey. This month’s survey was conducted between August 15-19, after USDA released both the August Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates reports.

“Producers in the August survey were less worried about their farm’s financial situation than in July, although they remain concerned about a possible cost/price squeeze,” said James Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.

This month, more producers indicated they’re expecting better financial performance for their farms in 2022 and the upcoming year, as the Farm Financial Performance Index improved 11 points to a reading of 99. Both corn and soybean prices rallied from their July lows into mid-August which, along with expectations for good yields, helped explain some of the improvement in financial performance expectations.

At the same time, there continues to be a tremendous amount of uncertainty among producers regarding the future cost of items they purchase both for their farms and family usage. When asked about their biggest concerns for the next year, over half (53%) of respondents chose higher input costs, followed by rising interest rates (14%), input availability (12%), and lower output prices (11%). On the farm level, there is a big disparity in opinions among farmers regarding whether or not input prices will retreat or escalate in 2023. Approximately four out of ten producers expect crop input prices in 2023 to be either unchanged or possibly decline by as much as 10%, compared to 2022. On the other hand, just over half of all producers expect input prices to rise from 1 to 20%. At the consumer level, nearly half (48%) of respondents said they expect the rate of inflation for consumer items during the next 12 months to be in the 0 to 6% range. Compared to previous barometer surveys, more producers this month said they expect inflation to be in the upper end of that range than those who felt that way earlier this year.

Producers continue to view now as a bad time to make large farm machinery and building investments. In a follow-up question, nearly half (49%) of those who said it is a bad time for investing cited increasing prices as the primary reason. The Farm Capital Investment Index remains near its record low, but was up 3 points to a reading of 39 in August.

Upward pressure on cash rental rates for Corn Belt farmland in 2023 seems likely. Four out of ten corn and soybean producers expect farmland cash rental rates to rise in 2023 compared to 2022. This month, 27% of respondents said they expect rates to rise up to 5% compared to 39% of respondents who expect rates to rise between 5 to 10% in 2023.

Expectations for both short- and long-term farmland values were nearly unchanged over the previous month. Among survey respondents who say they expect farmland values to rise over the next five years, well over half (57%) chose non-farm investor demand as the main reason they expect values to rise.

To understand producers’ exposure to and experiences with companies offering payments for capturing carbon, this month’s survey asked respondents if they’ve engaged in these types of discussions and the payments being offered. In August, 9 percent of respondents said they have engaged in discussions with companies offering payments for carbon capture, the highest percentage of respondents since the question was first included in the survey. Of those who engaged in discussions, 75% said the payment rate per metric ton of carbon offered was less than $20 and just 1 percent said they have signed a carbon contract.

Respondents who engaged in discussions and chose not to sign a contract were asked the minimum payment per acre they would accept to enroll their farm in a carbon capture program. Two-thirds of those respondents said the payment rate needed to be at least $30 per acre, suggesting that payment rates need to rise to encourage more participation in carbon capture programs.

Read the full Ag Economy Barometer report at https://purdue.ag/agbarometer. The site also offers additional resources – such as past reports, charts and survey methodology – and a form to sign up for monthly barometer email updates and webinars.

Each month, the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture provides a short video analysis of the barometer results, available at https://purdue.ag/barometervideo. For even more information, check out the Purdue Commercial AgCast podcast. It includes a detailed breakdown of each month’s barometer, in addition to a discussion of recent agricultural news that affects farmers. Available now at https://purdue.ag/agcast.

The Ag Economy Barometer, Index of Current Conditions and Index of Future Expectations are available on the Bloomberg Terminal under the following ticker symbols: AGECBARO, AGECCURC and AGECFTEX.

About the Purdue University Center for Commercial Agriculture

The Center for Commercial Agriculture was founded in 2011 to provide professional development and educational programs for farmers. Housed within Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural Economics, the center’s faculty and staff develop and execute research and educational programs that address the different needs of managing in today’s business environment.

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 10:26:48 CDT

Senator Joni Ernst met today with agricultural scientists at Iowa State University and industry leaders to discuss how public support for agricultural research and development (R&D) can strengthen national s…

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 10:19:04 CDT

Farming is never a one-woman job –– it takes a village to run a successful operation. This conference will not only prepare attendees for success in agriculture, but it will also provide them with their own network of women farmers and ranchers they can reach out to throughout the year.

Farmers, policy makers, educators, and specialists will present on a number of subjects, including business management and community building. The 2022 Women’s Conference will focus on cooperatives, farming with family, insurance, leadership, and more. Participants will have the opportunity to network with other attendees and win prizes! Registration will open Summer 2022. Click here for a conference preview.   

Join us at the?Holiday Inn & Suites Nashville Downtown Convention Center?415 4th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37201.

Women’s Conference is exclusive to Farmers Union members. Not a member, but interested in attending the event??Click here for information on becoming a Farmers Union member.   

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:23:41 CDT

There is a new blog post out on the Southern Plains Perspective by Clay Pope talking about producers taking action to plan for weather extremes. Read below!

It’s amazing what you can find when you…

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:08:40 CDT

Mark Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist, offers herd health advice as part of the weekly series known as the "Cow Calf Corner" published electronically by …

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:04:51 CDT

In this edition of the National Milk Producers Federation’s Ceo’s Corner, Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of the NMPF talks about the Inflation Reduction Act as it relates to the dairy industry.

Whatever one’s opinion of the overall legislation, which passed Congress by the narrowest of margins, the Inflation Reduction Act that became law in August could be a milestone for dairy. It will provide important support for industrywide efforts by dairy farmers to succeed in a marketplace where sustainability is becoming an increasingly important part of value.

The law’s $20 billion in new spending for agriculture includes $8.45 billion in new funds for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides important technical assistance to dairy farmers targeted toward greenhouse gas reduction. It has $4.95 billion in new funds for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which funds locally developed, targeted partnership projects, emphasizing initiatives that incentivize or target reduced methane emissions. And those are just big-dollar (by federal standards) opportunities: smaller initiatives, such as $25 million annually for Conservation Innovation Trials with funding targeted toward initiatives that use animal feed and diet management to reduce enteric methane emissions, can make a big difference too.

But the law does more than just support our sustainability and climate goals, such as those embodied in our Net Zero Initiative and other important pledges. It also makes them more important to obtain. Having more resources to help reach goals will increase interest in our efforts from stakeholders, who range from Congress and regulators to corporations and consumers, desirous of seeing us attain them. As this industry seeks opportunities in a lower-carbon world, here are a few dynamics to watch as the nation – and dairy, as a part of that nation – moves forward.

· When dairy announced its Net Zero goal in 2050, it was a leader in agricultural efforts to reduce emissions. It still is. But a 2050 goal no longer sets us apart; the Inflation Reduction Act calls on the entire country to be net-zero by 2050. It also promises ambitious goals such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. We will need to increase our efforts to explore interim benchmarks for where we can be by 2030 and 2040. Often, dairy’s net-zero goal has been discussed as something to be achieved by “2050 or sooner.” Now that resources are being devoted to make 2050 a nationwide goal, overall net zero goals are going to get more emphasis.

· As the world undertakes the wide-scale efforts needed to fulfill these goals, it’s important to note that conservation programs haven’t always emphasized key areas of opportunity for dairy. However, the Inflation Reduction Act provides $100 million for Conservation Innovation Trials focused on feed management, which will be key to reducing enteric emissions, and directs that all of the new conservation funding in the bill be put toward climate smart practices that can yield meaningful environmental benefits. Dairy must seize the opportunity this funding offers, to quickly test what works and then develop scalable solutions to bring down emissions., This broader adaptation of best practices and innovations will become increasingly more important.

· Included in the legislation is a $900 per ton tax on methane produced by the oil and gas industry. This provision does not, repeat DOES NOT, affect agriculture. More than a year ago, back when it was part of the eventually stymied Build Back Better proposal, this idea was twisted into a rumored “cow tax” that caused great concern among livestock producers. There is no cow tax in the Inflation Reduction Act. We have been working for over a decade to make sure that doesn’t happen. Undoubtedly, activists who aren’t friends to agriculture will continue pushing for a cow tax, as they have been in Europe, but we’ll fight it. At the same time, given methane’s importance to short-term greenhouse gas reduction efforts, lowering animal methane emissions through new innovations and incentives is the best – and most effective – way for agriculture to help. Fortunately, as we’ve noted, the IRA provides resources intended to help dairy farmers do just that, and NMPF and its members look forward to collaborating with USDA to bring this potential to fruition.

While dairy is a small contributor to overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions – contributing less than two percent to the nation’s emissions – we have both the need and the desire to be part of the climate solution. Through the work that’s already been done in improving our already strong stewardship and positioning ourselves for a more sustainable future, the industry is well-prepared to both gather and harness the resources that will create business opportunities and better target federal support for the groundbreaking, innovative work that we do.

It’s important to be realistic about the challenges that lie ahead. But that’s just to make sure that they are faced effectively and turned to our industry’s advantage. Change is a constant in dairy farming, and so is improvement. Our previous work has positioned us well to take advantage of what the new climate/conservation funding can offer our industry. Now it’s time to seize it and make sure we maintain our world-leading position as agricultural stewards.