In Farm Bureau
ArFB Convention Nov. 29-Dec. 1 The 83rd Arkansas Farm Bureau Convention will be Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Little Rock Convention Center. This year’s theme is “Leading Across Generations.” Registration starts Nov. 29 at 9:30 a.m. The Young Farmers & Ranchers Discussion Meet will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, followed by a trade show starting at 11:30 a.m. and the first general session starting at 1 p.m. with an address by Gov. Asa Hutchinson and by motivational speaker Haydn Shaw, author of “Sticking Points.” Numerous conferences will be held Wednesday and Thursday to provide attendees with the latest information from noted experts in their fields. The Women’s Luncheon will be held on Thursday at noon. Thursday’s general session will be highlighted by awards presentations and an address by humorist, Patick Henry.
Arkansas Farm Bureau celebrated Veterans Day by hosting a Red, White and Blue Day Nov. 10 at the Farm Bureau Center in LIttle Rock. ArFB Federation Executive Vice President Warren Carter presented Angency Manager of Saline Co., Robert Balentine with the first Arkansas Farm Bureau Challenge Coin for being the longest standing present veteran. Balentine served in the U.S. Army from 1972-1977. Reba headlines AFBF conference Iconic entertainer Reba McEntire will join AFBF President Zippy Duvall during the Closing General Session of the 2018 AFBF Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, for a Q&A keynote touching on her rural roots, family, career and, of course, country music. McEntire is no stranger to agriculture — she grew up in rural Oklahoma on Pope County Farm Bureau had a “note burning” celebration at its office Nov. 6 in honor of paying off its building mortgage. (Left to right) Retired agency managers Dave Palfreeman and Don Horton joined agency manager Richard Pierce and outgoing Pope County FB president Jason Drew in a symbolic burning of the note ceremony. It took only 12 years to pay off the mortgage. The original groundbreaking ceremony for the building occurred Sept. 21, 2005.
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her family’s 8,000-acre ranch. Now, this multimedia mogul and mom is a household name with a successful career that spans across music, television, film, theater and retail. Reba McEntire’s latest album, a twodisc inspirational collection called “Sing it Now: Songs of Faith and Hope” (Nash Icon Records / Capitol Christian Music Group), topped both the Billboard Country & Christian/Gospel charts and marked her
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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
November 10, 2017 • Vol. 20, No. 22
active participation are expected from each participant. Young men and women who take part build basic discussion skills, develop a keen understanding of important agricultural issues and explore how groups can pool knowledge to reach consensus and solve problems. The competition is evaluated on an exchange of ideas and information related to a predetermined topic. Judges look for the competitor who offers constructive criticism, cooperation and communication while analyzing agricultural problems and developing solutions. Applicants for the competition must be actively involved in agriculture and must be voting Farm Bureau members between the ages of 18 and 35. The individual will not have reached their 36th birthday by Jan. 31 of the year following the Arkansas Farm Bureau state convention at which the competitive event is held. Past and present American Farm Bureau Federation YF&R committee members are ineligible. A discussion meet application and entry form is available at http://bit. ly/2fScHz7, along with additional resources, including 2017 discussion meet questions, helpful hints for competing and discussion meet format information.
In Arkansas Curtis and Branscum named by Perdue U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny
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Register now for discussion meet Have you registered for this year’s Young Farmers & Ranchers discussion meet? The contest will be held Nov. 29 in Little Rock during Arkansas Farm Bureau’s state convention. This year’s winner will receive $7,000 cash. The prize package also includes a trip to compete in the national contest held during the American Farm Bureau Convention in Nashville next January. Three runners-up will each receive $500 cash. The registration deadline is Nov. 22. The discussion meet simulates a committee meeting where discussion and
Kaylie Stone of Gurdon received five award plaques from ArFB Randy Veach at the Arkansas Purple Circle Club recognition program Oct. 28 in Little Rock. ArFB sponsors the club, which recognizes junior livestock exhibitors who earned championship honors at the Arkansas State Fair and Livestock Show. This year, 120 students received awards.
Clark County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee recently sponsored the Annual Ag in the Classroom Coloring Book and Poster Contest in conjunction with Arkansas Farm Bureau. This year’s theme was entitled “Ag Around Me.” The winners will represent Clark County Farm Bureau at the Arkansas Farm Bureau competition in December.
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13th summit to reaching a No. 1-selling album. Her iconic career has achieved a rare pinnacle with 35 No. 1 singles and more than 56 million albums sold worldwide. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member has won 15 American Music Awards, 14 ACM Awards, nine People’s Choice Awards, seven CMA Awards and two Grammy Awards, in addition to other prestigious accolades for her philanthropic endeavors and leadership. Reva McEntire is an acclaimed actress with 11 movie credits and her own six-season television sitcom, “Reba.” In 2001, she received critical acclaim for her Broadway debut starring in Irving Berlin’s “Annie Get Your Gun.”
Benton County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee participated in the Decatur Northside Elementary Farm Expo Oct. 26. Susan Anglin and the committee interacted with the kids by teaching them how to milk a cow with the FB cow. Perdue announced a slate of Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Rural Development (RD) State Directors, all serving as appointees of President Donald J. Trump. Including David Curtis as the Arkansas FSA Director and David Branscum as the Arkansas RD Director. FSA state directors help implement U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policies in planning, organizing, and administering FSA programs in their respective states. They are also responsible for running the dayto-day activities of the state FSA office. Similarly, RD state directors work to help improve the economy and quality of life in rural America. David Curtis has worked the past 34 years for FSA, serving as the county director with loan approval authority in North Central Arkansas. David Branscum is serving his fourth term in the Arkansas House of Representatives and is a cattleman who has been active with several civic organizations serving to empower rural Arkansas. “These state directors will help ensure that USDA is offering the best customer service to our farmers, ranchers, foresters, and agricultural producers across the country,” Secretary Perdue said. “FSA and RD both play a critical role in helping the people of agriculture, and are able to connect with people in their home states. They are the initial points of contact for millions of our USDA customers. Our goal is to help rural America prosper, and these state leaders will be of great assistance in that task.”
Arkansas rice industry discuss solutions for field burning Arkansas rice farmers and stakeholders met at the Brinkley Convention Center Nov. 7 for board meetings of the Arkansas Rice Council, Arkansas Rice Farmers and Arkansas Rice Federation. The Arkansas Rice Farmers board voted to form a task force and develop voluntary smoke management guidelines. The task force will work with agriculture partners in forestry and conservation to consider a model already in place by the Arkansas Prescribed Fire Council’s voluntary Smoke Management Guidelines for forest landowners, and private, state and federal forestry agencies and companies. The task force will consider farmer burn plans and the reporting of prescribed burns to the Arkansas Forestry Commission Dispatch Center as part of voluntary smoke management guidelines — a process already in place for forest landowners. “This is something the ag industry as a whole has acknowledged and is working to address collectively,” said Jeff Rutledge, chairman of the Arkansas Rice Federation. “Field burning is part of a complete crop management strategy and our growers want to ensure the continued quality of the airshed their families and neighbors breathe.” Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward and Agriculture Department Communications Director Adriane Barnes addressed attendees regarding the process for existing voluntary smoke management guidelines from the Arkansas Prescribed Fire Council. Don McBride, assistant state forester and Fred Burnett, fire management officer both of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, also entertained questions and comments during Tuesday’s meeting. “Our industry has repeatedly shown a willingness to adopt voluntary guidelines or best management practices as opposed to being subject to additional government regulations. Here our row crop industry is looking to the lessons that our forest landowners have learned in the past and we are all working together to find common sense solutions,” said Ward. “This is a perfect example of how we can accomplish more together than apart.”
ArFB President Randy Veach (right) spoke about the NAFTA Trade Agreement with Governor Asa Hutchinson (middle) and Vasken Khabayan (left) Consul, Foreign Policy & Diplomacy Service for the Government of Canada Nov. 9 in Little Rock.
Elsewhere Estate tax forces farmers to play defense Zippy Duvall | USA TODAY
Many people think the estate tax is for high rollers. An individual exemption of $5.5 million should be more than enough for anyone, they say. But things are a little different for farmers. We are land rich but cash poor. According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, 22% of the farms in Iowawere 500 acres or larger — more or less the size farmers will need to make a full-time living on their own property. At $8,100 an acre, that means $4 million in land plus several hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment, seed, fertilizer and other inventory just to make $75,000 a year or so. And that’s in a good year: Right now, commodity prices are depressed, which means far less income to the farmer. Even an exemption of $11 million means owning land that can produce maybe $160,000 a year. That’s not a trivial income, but it’s hardly the sort of cash that demands a tax designed for the truly wealthy. Many farmers play defense. They establish trusts, buy life insurance or make gifts to their families while they are still living, but this comes at a high cost. That money would be better pumped back into the farm. And that’s our biggest issue with the tax: endless expenses and legal maneuvering that accomplish nothing of value. All this happens so farmers don’t have to sell the farm piece by piece to pay the IRS. he vast majority of farmers and ranchers come from multigenerational agriculture families for the simple reason that land and equipment is very expensive. Assets like those return much, much less than a similar portfolio of stocks and bonds would. And land is not just low-performing as an investment, but difficult to sell, too. The estate tax means passing the family business on from one generation to the next remains a challenge for too many farmers.
Editor Maddison Stewart
maddison.stewart@arfb.com
In the Market As of November 9, 2017 Disappointing Chinese bean buys for October China imported 5.86 MMT of soybeans during October, a 2.23 MMT (27.7 percent drop) from September but a 650,000 MT (12.5 percent) increase from the year prior, according to preliminary customs data. Its imports came in well under expectations, with Monica Tu, an analyst with Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. Ltd., blaming shipping delays from the U.S. due to bean quality issues and logistics problems in the wake of consecutive hurricanes. China’s commodity imports as a whole were disappointing in October, in part due to seasonal factors but also because the country’s efforts to cut down on smog by year-end have impacted a number of industries. Ten months into the year, China has imported 77.31 MMT of soybeans, a 15.2 percent jump from year-ago. Japan’s efforts could leave U.S. pork at a disadvantage A trade agreement in principle between Japan and the European Union along with a possible TransPacific Partnership without the U.S. (TPP-11) could put U.S. pork at a major tariff disadvantage in Japan, reports a USDA attaché in the country. “The two agreements are likely to contain similar tariff concessions for a wide range of pork products including fresh, chilled, and frozen pork as well as processed products such as ham, bacon, sausage, ground seasoned pork, and canned ham,” the post details, adding that the Japan-EU agreement could take effect as soon as 2019. In 2016, Japan was the top destination for U.S. pork, importing $1.6 billion worth of the meat.
Days added to next round of NAFTA 2.0 talks A fifth round of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 2.0 talks in Mexico City will take place Nov. 15-21 rather than Nov. 17-21 as originally planned. The extended days will give negotiators more time to discuss several issues covered under the 23-year-old trade pact. The chief negotiators will join talks on Nov. 17 as previously scheduled. The agenda includes meetings on textiles, labor, services and intellectual property. Participants will again discuss the controversial topic of rules of origin in the second half of the round. The rules govern what share of a product must be sourced within NAFTA to receive the pact’s benefits. ProFarmer cuts Brazil soybean crop, leaves Argentina Unchanged Pro Farmer analyst Dr. Michael Cordonnier, lowered his Brazilian soybean crop peg by 2 MMT to 107 MMT this week, citing the possibility of lower yields, and he has a lower bias going forward. He explains that the last two rainfall events in central Brazil have disappointed and says that risks are rising from soybeans planted from this point forward. Cordonnier made no change to his Brazilian corn crop estimate that stands at 88 MMT, though he reiterated that soybean planting delays are actually a bigger deal for corn, as the crop is more sensitive to adverse weather during pollination and grain fill. He left his 2017-18 Argentine soybean and corn crop estimates unchanged at 55 MMT and 42 MMT, respectively. He has a neutral bias toward both pegs. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange details that 7.2 percent of the country’s bean crop has been planted, along with 34 percent of its corn crop. Trump to push trade while in Japan A Trump dinner conversation with
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will focus on trade, with the topic also on the agenda for today’s meeting. Specific trade policy news is murky, as White House officials said that trade will be discussed, but Japanese officials say there are no specific plans. The two leaders could discuss the tariffs imposed in August on frozen beef imports, including those from the U.S., as well as subsidies and industrial policies pursued by third countries. Also, while Trump has said he favors bilateral trade agreements — and wants one with Japan — Tokyo has been cool to the idea, preferring to stick with the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) accord that Trump pulled out of. Japanese officials continue to urge Trump to rejoin the TPP and do not want to talk about a bilateral until they are totally convinced he will not change his mind. Ryan defends repeal of estate tax House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was asked on Fox News Sunday why the GOP wants to repeal the estate tax when it impacts only a few thousand people. Ryan said it was important as a “fairness” argument. “People work hard to build up their business, their farm, their ranch, all their working lives. They pay taxes on that money all of their lives. And then when you die, you get it taxed away from you and you can’t pass it on to the next generation,” Ryan pointed out. “We just think it’s unfair. Death should be not a taxable event, and we should not be stopping people from being able to pass their life’s work on to their kids.”
CONTACT • Matt King 501-228-1297, matt.king@arfb.com.