Still a HUGE Unknown- What Can Congress Get Done in the Lame Duck  

With the November elections looming closer, Colin Woodall, the lead Washington lobbyist of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, spoke with us about the issues at stake for cattle producers over the next couple of months. A lot is riding on the election including the direction of the lame duck session which will follow it.

Woodall says he's been in contact with Congressional staffers trying to understand how to get the stalled farm bill onto the House floor after the election. He said those staffers say there is no way to know for certain because so many seats may be changing hands. The outcome will determine what is considered in the lame duck session and how quickly action can be taken. There are a number of items on the agenda not the least of which is taxes. Woodall said he doesn't foresee a scenario which will radically alter the status quo at this time.

"More than likely we're going to see a simple extension of the tax cuts we have right now. That's not ideal because it doesn't give us any sort of certainty," but, he said, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will simply not allow any overhaul of the tax package at this time.

Despite not expecting much permanent action on estate taxes and capital gains taxes, he said it is imperative to get the farm bill passed in the lame duck session. Otherwise, the process of writing a new bill will fall to the next Congress when it opens its new session.

To read more of this story or to listen to our lengthy interview with Colin Woodall, please click here.  

Study: Waiving RFS Could Increase Feed Costs for Livestock, Poultry Producers 

Waiving the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in 2013 could actually result in higher net feeding costs for livestock and poultry producers, according to a new analysis conducted by Cardno-ENTRIX and commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). The study found that if a waiver of the RFS did reduce biofuel output, trivial corn price reductions would be partially or fully offset by increased prices for other feed ingredients like distillers grains (DDGS) and soybean meal.

Distillers grains, corn gluten feed and corn gluten meal are co-products of ethanol production that are fed to livestock and poultry across the country. Every bushel of corn processed by an ethanol plant produces 2.7-2.8 gallons of ethanol and approximately 16-17 pounds of animal feed. The U.S. ethanol industry produced some 40-42 million tons of animal feed in 2011, including 37-38 million tons of distillers grains. Additionally, increased production of biodiesel from soybean oil has facilitated growth in soybean meal production in recent years. Soybean meal is a valuable source of protein for livestock and poultry worldwide; it is produced as a co-product of soybean oil. Thus, increased demand for soybean oil drives increased production of, and lower prices for, soybean meal. Obviously, if a waiver of the RFS reduced production of ethanol and biodiesel, it would also reduce production of these important animal feed co-products.

Click here to read more and to find a link to the complete study.

 

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Annual Meeting and Trade Show Set for November

The 71st Annual Meeting of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau will feature U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe among its guest speakers. The meeting will be held Nov. 9-11 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. This year's theme is "Projecting Forward... With Excellence."

Farm Bureau members from all across the state are expected to attend to conduct annual business activity and vote on policy issues to advance during the next legislative session.

In addition to Inhofe, Oklahoma Secretary of State Glenn Coffee is also slated to speak.

Another facet of the annual meeting is the cattle industry trade show. The trade show features agricultural vendors and associations. It takes place in the Exhibit Hall of the Cox Convention Center from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 9, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 10.

Click here for more information.

 

Soy Checkoff Partners with Goodyear to Develop New Tire

The United Soybean Board (USB) continues to drive demand for U.S. soy, thanks to a partnership with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Goodyear recently announced field tests for a new tire featuring U.S. soy that the company says may offer consumers increased tread life and a greener alternative to those manufactured solely with petrochemicals.

"The soy checkoff welcomes the opportunity to partner with Goodyear in bringing this tire to the market," says Russ Carpenter, a soybean farmer from Trumansburg, N.Y. and chair of the USB New Uses program.

Goodyear hopes that by using soy oil instead of petroleum in the new tires, they will save seven million gallons of oil each year.

In a two-year research project supported by U.S. Soybean Board, Goodyear discovered the soy tires were more environmentally friendly and lasted longer than their petroleum-based tires.

Click here to watch a video version of this story.

 

R-CALF USA Touts COOL as Possible FoodSafety Tool

In its unsuccessful defense of the United States' mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) law before the World Trade Organization (WTO), the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) did not mention the possible food safety benefits of COOL.

According to the international WTO panel that ruled against U.S. COOL in June, "The United States did not assert that it seeks to provide consumers with information . . . for the protection of human health and safety. . ."

In other words," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, "The U.S. failed to raise the most obvious and compelling defense to our domestic COOL law, but now the importation of millions of pounds of adulterated meat from Canada provides U.S. citizens with a clear and convincing example of how they can rely on COOL to protect themselves from tainted imported products, even when their government fails to ensure the safety of foreign products entering the United States."

The COOL law went into effect in early 2009 and informs U.S. citizens about the origins of food with a label affixed to such food products as beef, pork, lamb, chicken, fruits and vegetables and some nuts.

Click here for more of R-CALF's take on COOL.

Huelskamp Meets "We Are Hungry" Stars; Proposes 'No Hungry Kids Act'

The following release was issued by the office of Congressmen Tim Huelskamp:

Kansas First District Congressman Tim Huelskamp visited with students and teachers at Wallace County High School who produced the "We Are Hungry" viral video that addresses the new Obama Administration school lunch mandates. Days before the video was released, Congressman Huelskamp joined colleague Congressman Steve King of Iowa to introduce the "No Hungry Kids Act" to undo the mandates that went into effect at the start of the 2012-13 school year. The legislation will repeal the USDA's rule that created the new standards, will prohibit the USDA's upper caloric limits, and will protect the rights of parents to send their children to school with the foods of their choice.

"I am so honored and proud to represent Sharon Springs students and their teachers in Congress," Congressman Huelskamp said. "They refuse to let a top-down, heavy-handed federal government dictate what should be a day-to-day local decision: what goes on to the cafeteria tray."

Click here for more comments from Rep. Huelskamp and to watch the "We Are Hungry" video.

This N That- Advice on Reseeding Canola, Crop Insurance Payouts at $2 Billion and Counting and USDA Crop Production Report Today 

In our Canola TV segment that we featured yesterday with Josh Bushong, he mentioned that some farmers were asking the question of him- should we reseed parts of our canola that look very thin as they emerge?  Well, we did a little checking with our friend Bambi Sidwell of Sidwell Insurance to get the Crop Insurance take on reseeding- she checked with the underwriters who offered this bit of advice- "Before they replant any canola you need to turn in a claim so the adjuster can look at it. There is a replant payment for canola. They can replant with our permission past October 10th as long as it is considered to be good to replant."  Bambi added in her email to us that "I've had two replants on canola so far and the adjusters that looked at both determined they were good stands on all but one place. For first time growers, they are used to seeing a solid row with wheat, but that isn't the case with canola."  If you are in doubt- you may want to turn in a request to your crop insurance agent and go from there.  

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Speaking of crop insurance- With the vast majority of the U.S. corn, cotton, soybean and sorghum crops yet to be harvested, crop insurance companies have already paid out nearly $2 billion in indemnities to farmers who have suffered losses this year. The trade group, National Crop Insurance Services, has produced a video which you can see by clicking here that captures some of the emotions of farmers who have never had to file a crop insurance claim before in their farming careers- and helps put a face on huge indemnity number most folks expect by the end of the crop year.     

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USDA will release their September Crop Production numbers at 7:30 AM central time- and we will have details on our website later this morning. Pre report guesses seem to be point to a corn crop number not much different than what we saw in August- 122.8 bushels per acre while the soybean yield number may jump up a couple of bushels per acre if the analysts are right- 35 bushels an acre was the guess in August- pre report consensus is for about a 37 bushel per acre yield going forward. Come to our website by around 9 AM central and we will have numbers and analysis for you- including details of the numbers for our spring planted crops in Oklahoma.