In Farm Bureau Farm families named County winners for the 69th annual Arkansas Farm Family of the Year Program have been selected. The county winners will be judged June 6-8 to determine the eight district winners. The district winners will be announced June 14. They will be judged again by a different set of judges July 11-14 to determine a state winner, which will be announced Dec. 8 at the Farm Family of the Year luncheon. The county winners are: East Central District: Lee, Ramey Stiles family, Marianna; Lonoke, Brandon and Beverly Parker family, Carlisle; Prairie, John and Kristel Petrus family, Hazen; Pulaski, Jimmy D. Jennings, Sr. family, Sherwood; Saline, Helmich Farms, Alexander; St. Francis, Bobby and Lisa Jackson family, Colt; White, Chris and Nesha Smith family, Rose Bud; Woodruff, Brad and Angie Burkett family, McCrory. North Central District: Baxter, Ronnie and Tina Grayham family, Henderson; Cleburne, Rob Wilson family,
The ArFB President’s Leadership Council gathered for a photo at the State Capitol May 13 as part of a session on government and the political process. Class members include (l to r) Tyler Davis, Nathan Waldrip, Curtis Moore, Reed Storey, Jason Alexander, Kristi Weaver, Jason Murray, Terrence Scott, Sara Beth Johnson, Hannah Gray, Brad Doyle, Mary Smith, Leigh Helms Blythe, Mark Coleman, Benita Drew, Tana Henson, John Bonner and Jason Henson. Heber Springs; Fulton, David and Susan Carr family, Gepp; Independence, Fred Denison, Sr. family, Batesville; Izard, Brad Wheelis family, Melbourne; Marion, Nick and Beth Dearmore family, Yellville; Searcy, Harold Hendrix family, Marshall; Sharp, Bart and Brandi Schulz family, Cave City; Stone, Brian and Brandy Stoltze, Mountain View; Van Buren, Wade Lucas family, Shirley. Northeast District: Clay, Randal
Landon Snell (second from left) of Blevins and John Raulerson (third from left) of Nashville were presented Hempstead Co. FB scholarships May 18 in Hope. Each was awarded $2,000 to put toward their studies in agricultural business. Attending were (left to right) county Vice President Don Honea, President Mark Lloyd and agency manager Reed Camp.
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and Mark Coleman families, Cornng; Craighead, Josh and Melissa Cureton family, Cash; Crittenden, Bobby and Marianne Cupples family, Proctor; Cross, Bob Stacy family, Wynne; Greene, Jimmy Pat Blackburn family, Paragould; Jackson, Lweellyn Farms, Newport; Lawrence, Rickey and Virginia Goff family, Smithville; Mississippi, Hart Farms, Inc., Osceola; Poinsett, Keith and Kristine Bise family, Weiner; Randolph, A.L.L Farm, Adam Liebhaber family,
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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
May 27, 2016 • Vol. 19, No. 11
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St. Francis Co. FB held First Responders Day May 19 in Forrest City to show appreciation to all the county’s police officers, firefighters, paramedics and EMTs. Among those who attended were (left to right) Frank Adams, Teresa Herbert, Sharon Raines, firefighter Keith Taylor, firefighter Andrew Latham, Candice Kelso, Megan O’Neal and Holly Loewer.
Little River, Fawcett Ranch: Brett and Teresa Fawcett family, Ashdown; Miller, Wren Land and Cattle, Brandon Wren family, Texarkana; Nevada, Steve and Renee Boeckman family, Prescott. Western District: Conway, Lazy G
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Pocahontas. Northwest District: Benton, Tracy Moorman family, Gravette; Boone, Wes Parker family, Omaha; Carroll, Kirk and Lacey Powell family, Green Forest; Crawford, Brad Hall family, Rudy; Franklin, John Parish family, Ozark; Johnson, Peach Pickin’ Paradise, Mark and Shay Morgan family, Clarksville; Madison, Troy and Kathy Cline family, Kingston; Newton, Joe and Genevieve Villines family, Ponca; Sebastian, Samantha Phanouvong family, Mansfield; Washington, Kendall and Stephanie Pendergraft family, Nob Hill. Southeast District: Arkansas (North), Taylor and Nikki Burdett family, Stuttgart; Arkansas (South), Scott and Karen Place family, Gillett; Ashley, Four Star Partnership, Jerry, Ted and Chris Selby family, Portland; Chicot, Johan and Helena Loewen family, Eudora; Desha, Chuck and Marjorie Day family, McGehee; Drew, Rusty Mitchell family, Monticello; Jefferson, Steve Pharr family, Pine Bluff; Lincoln, Cody and Samantha Graham family, Star City; Phillips, Double H Farms, Jim and Dina Hubbard family, Marvell Southwest District: Bradley, Mike Harton family, Warren; Calhoun, Randy and Angie Ables family, Hampton; Hempstead, Mark and Mindy Lockhart family, Hope; Lafayette, Stephen Allen family, Lewisville;
Miller Co. FB helped sponsor the Genoa-Central FFA banquet May 17 at the Genoa-Central Elementary cafeteria. Four county leaders — (left to right) board member Terry Reeves and Women’s Committee members Angie Rogers, Nedra Turney and Barbara Sutton — attended the dinner to show support for agriculture teacher Kim Leigh (right).
During a five-day, 12- city, 1,000-mile bus tour of Arkansas May 16-20, University of Arkansas Chancellor Dr. Joe Steinmetz (center) and his wife Sandy toured the Dale Bumpers Rice Research Center in Stuttgart. Dr. Jarrod Hardke (left), extension rice agronomist for the UA System Division of Agriculture, spoke with them about current research at the center.
In mid-April, Susan Hancock (left), representing the Clay Co. FB Women’s Committee, along with her granddaughter, Hattie Geswein, donated peanut butter to the Weekenders food program at Park Elementary School in Corning. Accepting was Janet Luter (right), director of the program for the school. The Women’s Committee made donations to Piggott and Rector schools as well.
Angus Ranch: Mike and Beverly Gadberry family, Hattieville; Faulkner, Michael and Kim Dickey family, Greenbrier; Montgomery, Stephen Morrison family, Story; Perry, James Mann family, Bigelow; Polk, Joe and Jill Brinkley family, Grannis; Pope, Jared and Whitney Mahoney family, Russellville; Yell, Jerry, Kathy, Luke and Jeremy Jones family, Gravelly. West Central District: Clark, Roy Gene and George Ann Britt family, Okolona; Cleveland, Jackson and Brooke Allison family, Rison; Dallas, Lamar and Judy Evans family, Fordyce; Garland, Tommy and Joy Sorrells family, Royal; Grant, Chris and Elizabeth Hale family, Sheridan; Hot Spring, Jay and Valorie Lee family, Bismarck; Howard, Whisenhunt Farms, Joel and Amanda Whisenhunt family, Nashville; Sevier, Phillip and Patricia Maben family, DeQueen. “I share the excitement of each of these families being recognized as their county Farm Family of the Year,” said ArFB President Randy Veach. “They are great examples of the work that makes Arkansas agriculture the most significant and meaningful industry in the state. “These families represent the pillars of our state,” he continued. “Congratulations to each of them on this recognition, and we share our thanks with all those who have helped them succeed.”
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Sun Paper coming to Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Chairman Li, founder of Sun Paper, have signed a memorandum of agreement stating that Sun Paper will locate in Gum Springs (Clark County). This pulp mill will bring 250 direct jobs, 1,000 indirect jobs and more than 2,000 construction jobs over the next two and a half years. The company is set to break ground in early 2017. “This announcement is exciting news for the timber and forest products community in Arkansas,” said Max Braswell, Arkansas Forestry Association executive vice president. “New markets for the abundance of wood fiber we have in Arkansas benefit forest landowners and loggers, and can stimulate many related businesses. In addition, new infrastructure provides a real incentive for forest landowners to continue investing in sustainable forestry, which means plenty of wood fiber for our much appreciated existing industry as well.” According to Arkansas Business, Sun Paper will generate up to $100 million for
Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell will be the keynote speaker July 19 for the final session of ArFB’s Officer and Leaders Conference in Springdale. Cantrell grew up on a farm in Warner Robins, GA. She is touring to promote her platform, Healthy Children, Strong America, encouraging kids to make healthy choices and stay active.
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In Arkansas
Paul Dorris Jr., president and founder of the Arkansas Horseshoeing School in Centerville, forges a horseshoe May 19. The Dorris family has a legacy of shoeing horses dating back to Paul Dorris Sr.’s great uncle in the 1800s. The school was established seven years ago and attracts students from across the country to meet the growing demand for farriers in the U.S.
the timber industry in south Arkansas. The plant will be Sun Paper’s first in North America.
Elsewhere GMO crop safety confirmed The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine released a report earlier this month on GMO crops that reaffirmed what thousands of other studies have found, and what farmers, scientists and educated consumers have known all along: genetically engineered crops are safe and beneficial to agriculture, human health and the environment. In a statement issued May 19, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall thanked the academies for doing a thorough, scientific review of GMOs. Duvall also pointed out that the academies found that a label is not needed for food made from genetically engineered crops because those foods are as safe to consume as any other. “This finding is timely, as the Senate has yet to pass legislation to pre-empt state-bystate labeling mandates — mandates that are not based on science or food safety issues and would be misleading and costly for consumers,” Duvall said. “The study gives senators all the evidence they need to support a national, voluntary labeling standard, and we urge them to do so soon — before it is too late to halt the non-science-based labeling mandate in Vermont.”
Vilsack: Larger CRP caps needed On May 5, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that 800,000 acres will be enrolled through three different components of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Of particular note, USDA’s CRP general sign-up completed at the end of February generated more than 1.8 million acres in offers, but was only able to accept 23 percent of the 26,000 landowner applications because of the program’s 24 million acre cap. As a result, Secretary Vilsack commented on the need for a larger CRP cap to meet landowner demand and natural resource benefits. In addition to the general CRP sign-up, Vilsack also reported 4,600 additional offers were made for 1 million acres in the new CRP Grasslands program. Only 100,000 acres were accepted for a meager 10 percent acceptance rate. Finally, an additional 330,000 acres were enrolled through continuous CRP sign-ups, which is in addition to last year’s record-setting 860,000 continuous acres enrolled. “When Congress begins to deliberate the 2018 farm bill, they’re going to be faced, I think, with a demand to rethink the cap on CRP,” Vilsack said. “The deliberation should not begin with ‘You have to save an artificial dollar amount,’ but it should really look at what the demand and need is.” Editor Keith Sutton
keith.sutton@arfb.com
In the Market As of May 25, 2016
Chinese soybean buys up Official customs data show China purchased 7.071 MMT of soybeans during April, a 33.2-percent increase from the year prior. Of the total, Brazil made up 4.815 MMT of the sales, while the U.S. accounted for 2.024 MMT. For the first four months of the year, China has imported more than 23.333 MMT of soybeans, an 11.42-percent increase from this period last year. The U.S. accounted for 64.8 percent of those purchases, though its sales were down 7.3 percent from the year prior. Brazil shipped China 6.963 MMT of soybeans through April, a 75.5-percent rise from the year prior. Bayer offers to buy Monsanto German pharmaceutical and chemicals firm Bayer said its bid to acquire U.S. company Monsanto is an all-cash offer. Bayer’s CEO acknowledged that the company faces a potential backlash against its reputation in Europe over a deal with Monsanto, the world’s largest producer of genetically modified crops. European nations, particularly Germany, strongly oppose the use of GMOs in farming. Monsanto has rejected the $62 billion takeover bid for being too low. Bayer is reportedly confident it can overcome the seed company’s concerns about the regulatory and financing risks related to a deal that would create the world’s largest supplier of seeds and crop chemicals. Cattle market: mixed reports The Cattle on Feed report was mostly bearish for cattle prices, as placements jumped 7 percent from year-ago levels, and marketings were less than expected, up just 1 percent from year-ago levels. However, the cold-storage report showed supplies less than expected as beef stocks were 452.35 million pounds, a reduction of 14.91 million pounds from last month’s estimate of 467.26 million pounds. Japan’s corn use up Japan’s use of corn in animal feed stood at 46.2 percent in March, steady with the month prior and up 1.7 points
from year-ago, according to preliminary data from Japan’s farm ministry. The country’s use of wheat in feed rations also held steady with the month prior at 1.6 percent, up 0.1 point from year-ago. Japan’s sorghum and barley use are down from year-ago at 2.8 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively. Soybean technologies on hold Monsanto announced May 23 that it will suspend launching future soybean technologies in Argentina, as the company has been unable to find any common ground with the Argentine government regarding inspections of genetically modified soybeans. Earlier, Monsanto asked Argentine exporters to inspect bean shipments to make sure farmers are paying royalties for use of its seed. Argentina responded with a decree that said any such inspections must first be approved by the government. NAS report on GE crops Last week, a review released by the National Academies of Science (NAS) stated that it “found no substantiated evidence that foods from genetically engineered crops were less safe than foods from non-GE crops.” While this is a win for the proponents of genetically engineered crops, the report went further to cite that labeling would provide a benefit to consumers. USDA to join panel The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to join the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) for the review of state-owned ChemChina’s planned $43 billion acquisition of Syngenta AG, people familiar with the deal told Reuters. This comes after lawmakers wrote to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who chairs CFIUS, asking that the USDA be involved in the review so the transaction’s possible impact on domestic food security could be better assessed. New poultry rule The U.S. Department of Agriculture will propose new rules to more tightly regulate the poultry industry’s use of tournament systems as soon as September, according to the spring regulatory agenda published last week by the White House Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs. Language has repeatedly been included in appropriations bills since 2012 that block USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration from finalizing new regulations as the poultry industry argues such systems improve efficiency and animal welfare. Such a provision, known as a “GIPSA rider,” was left out of the fiscal 2016 appropriations bill, however, allowing GIPSA to resume crafting new rules. Humane Society looks to spread Meatless Monday The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) claims success in getting 200 school districts across the country to reduce their meat offerings since 2011 through its “Meatless Monday” program. That does not include hospitals, senior homes or corporate cafeterias. Politico reports this is where HSUS plans to “strike next” after its big victories in the cage-free chicken battle. The playbook is similar, creating a demand for meat-free alternatives by targeting mass buyers that feed thousands of people daily. “These institutions have massive purchasing power,” said Kristie Middleton, the Humane Society’s senior director of food policy. “They typically will market those choices to their consumers, so they are helping with that educational component and outreach as well.” New RFS proposed by EPA The law requires the Environmental Protection Agency to set a Renewable Fuel Standard mandate of 15 billion gallons of conventional biofuel, but the 2017 standard proposed by the agency last week set it at 14.8 billion gallons — a 200 million gallon gap left in place amid what the agency calls distribution problems. “It really is an unforced error, again, on the RFS,” said Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Biofuels Business Council. Opponents think 14.8 billion gallons is just too much.
CONTACT • Matt King 501-228-1297, matt.king@arfb.com.