JULY 3, 2020 • VOLUME 23 • ISSUE 13
Farm Bureau Press A PEEK INSIDE
BOB SCOTT SELECTED AS ARKANSAS EXTENSION DIRECTOR Bob Scott has been named director of Arkansas’ Cooperative Extension Service, the organization that delivers the education outreach portion of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s land grant mission. Mark Cochran, vice president-agriculture for the University of Arkansas System announced Scott’s appointment. Bob Scott
Scott started his new position July 1, succeeding Rick Cartwright.
New Legislation Would Help More Farmers Tap Into PPP Loans, page 2
“We are extremely pleased that we were able to attract a candidate of Dr. Scott’s caliber to this important position. Dr. Scott brings a strong understanding of Arkansas agriculture and his long connection to the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service will be a great asset as he assumes this role,” Cochran said. “We also want acknowledge the many contributions that Dr. Rick Cartwright has made to the state, the Division of Agriculture and the Cooperative Extension Service throughout his long and productive career,” Cochran said. “He has been an exemplary extension director, scientist, educator, administrator and friend and colleague. I know that we all wish him and Lynette the very best as he moves into retirement. He will be greatly missed but not forgotten.” Scott, who grew up on a family farm in Binger, Okla., is no stranger to the Cooperative Extension Service. He joined the Division of Agriculture as an extension weed scientist in 2002. During his tenure, he also maintained a partial appointment within the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the division’s land grant research arm.
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In 2013, he picked up an administrative role as director of both the Newport and Lonoke Extension Centers, a position he held until March 2018. In April 2018, Scott was appointed director of the Rice Research and
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A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION
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NEW LEGISLATION USDA SURVEYING CATFISH OPERATIONS WOULD HELP MORE FARMERS TAP This month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will INTO PPP LOANS survey catfish operations nationwide to provide an up-to-date measure of U.S. catfish inventories and water acreage used for production.
“NASS surveys catfish producers to create an accurate estimate of catfish inventories in Arkansas and the Nation,” said Eugene Young, director of the NASS Delta Regional Office. In Arkansas, NASS will survey all known catfish farmers in July asking them to provide the total water area and inventory breakdown of its usage into subcategories (broodfish, foodsize, and fingerlings). To make it as easy as possible for producers to participate in the survey, NASS offers the option of responding via the Internet, telephone, mail, or a personal interview with a local NASDA representative. The Catfish Production report will be released on July 21 at 2 pm. This and all NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov/Publications. For more information, call the NASS Delta Regional Office at (800) 327-2970.
Introduced last week in the House and Senate, the Paycheck Protection for Producers Act (H.R. 7175, S. 3918) would help more farmers and ranchers participate in the Paycheck Protection Program. While the PPP is providing vital assistance to farmers and ranchers who were able to receive loans, significant changes are necessary to allow many others to fully participate in the program, Duvall noted. Under Small Business Administration rules, farmers’ participation in the PPP is based on 2019 net farm profits (or losses), which are reported on IRS form Schedule F. Based on 2017 IRS data, 37% of self-employed farmers would have not received a loan from the PPP because they’ve reported net losses in the prior year. Program eligibility is based on returns filed for 2019, so the percentage of self-employed farmers receiving a zerodollar loan could be higher following devastating natural disasters and trade troubles that continue to weigh negatively on farm income and cash receipts, according to Market Intel analysis. The Paycheck Protection for Producers Act would help farmers and ranchers by allowing them to use their 2019 Schedule F gross income (up to $100,000) when calculating their PPP loan, rather than their 2019 net income. The bill would also allow farmers and ranchers who received a PPP loan using their 2019 net income to recalculate their loan award using 2019 gross income if it would result in a larger loan amount. The Paycheck Protection for Producers Act was introduced in the Senate by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and in the House by Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.), Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.) and John Joyce (R-Pa.).
Dairy Division Meeting | Dairy Division Chairman Bill Haak (left) and ArFB Sec.-Tres. Dan Wright presented an award to Attorney General Leslie Rutledge for her in support of the dairy industry. The award was presented as part of the Dairy Division’s summer commodity meeting. 2
A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION
BAYER TO SETTLE DIACAMBA CLAIMS According the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Bayer announced Wednesday that it will pay up to $400 million to settle claims that dicamba had damaged soybean and cotton crops in Arkansas and other states the past several years. Several hundred Arkansas farmers could be eligible for payments, attorneys involved in the case said. Bayer said $300 million will be paid to farmers, with another $100 million going to attorneys’ fees and administrative costs that will be part of the claims process.
formulations — Bayer’s XtendiMax, BASF’s Engenia, and Corteva’s FeXapan. The Arkansas board received just 15 dicamba complaints between 2000 and 2014. It received 15 complaints in 2015, with the introduction of dicamba-tolerant cotton, and 31 complaints in 2016, when Monsanto released dicamba-tolerant soybeans.
Bayer said that it will continue its appeal of that case.
In 2017, the Plant Board received 1,014 complaints, as dicamba-tolerant acreage and use of the herbicide increased. It received 200 complaints in 2018 and 209 in 2019.
On June 3, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted the sale of three in-crop dicamba
This year’s ban on in-crop use of dicamba took effect across Arkansas May 26.
USDA PROVIDES $75 MILLION FOR RURAL ELECTRIC PROGRAM The Trump Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $86 million in rural broadband service for 17,000 people and businesses in eight states. “Access to high-speed broadband internet, or e-Connectivity, is a cornerstone of prosperity anywhere, but especially in America’s rural communities,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Perdue, USDA is committed to using all available tools and resources to increase e-Connectivity across rural America because we know when rural America thrives, all of America thrives.” USDA is providing loans to six telecommunications providers to build, expand and improve broadband services in Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Since October 2019, USDA has invested $744 million to bring high-speed broadband e-Connectivity to 172,000 households, 19,000 rural small businesses and farms, and more than 500 health care centers, educational facilities and critical community facilities in 34 states. The Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program is one of several USDA rural broadband programs. On April 20, 2020, USDA announced the department has received 172 applications for $1.57 billion in round two of the ReConnect Pilot Program. The second round will enable USDA to implement innovative new solutions to rural connectivity by leveraging financial options with our partners and continuing the success of the first round of funding. The application window for round two closed on April 15. USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas. For more information, visit www. rd.usda.gov.
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Extension Center, where he oversaw rice breeding and facility modernization on the 1,000-acre facility near Stuttgart. Cochran said Scott’s experiences at Stuttgart, Lonoke and Newport “as well as his years of service as a weed science specialist have prepared him well for his new duties. And he was even a 4-H’er growing up on the family row crop and cattle farm in Oklahoma! We expect great success for the extension service under Bob’s leadership.” Scott holds a Ph.D. in weed science from Mississippi State University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in agronomy and master’s degree in weed science from Oklahoma State University. “I think it is timely that I had the opportunity to gain more experience on the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station side as we move into a new era with a unified Division of Agriculture,” he said. “I believe in this change and feel we will be a better organization because of it.”
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MARKET NEWS as of June 30, 2020 Contact Brandy Carroll 501-228-1268 brandy.carroll@arfb.com
Cattle Cattle futures remain under pressure from weaker cash cattle prices as a result of more-than-ample supplies of heavyweight cattle that backed up in the supply chain as processing plants closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks. Wholesale beef prices are also weak. The longer-term economic forecasts and predictions of a second wave of coronavirus in the fall have traders worried about beef demand and are limiting the upside potential. The August live contract is building support at the recent low of $93.57 and resistance around the $98 area. August feeders are holding above support at $128.33, and have resistance at $136.72. Hogs Hog futures contracts continue to set new lows regularly as the downtrend remains unabated. There is still a large backlog of heavyweight hogs in the pipeline after plant shutdowns this spring, and as plants have reopened that product is hitting the market. Cutout values are at their lowest level in two months. The August contract gapped lower on Friday and is now trading just above the new low of $47.53. October has also moved to new contract lows, and will have resistance at $50 on a rebound. Cotton The cotton market also got a shock 4
as USDA cut over 1.5 million acres off its March estimate. Given the price decline that has occurred since the first survey occurred, this was not entirely unexpected, but a crop of only 12.185 million acres was well below the average trade guess, and down 11.3% from last year. While the Arkansas crop appears to be in good shape, with 81% of the 500,000 acres rated good to excellent, that isn’t the case everywhere. In Texas, only 21% of its 6.6 million acres are rated good to excellent. The December contract saw sharp gains Tuesday in reaction to the report and needs to close above resistance at 61.14 cents to suggest further upside potential. Rice New crop September rice posted sharp losses Tuesday in reaction to the June Acreage report but found support at $12 and closed well above the day’s lows. U.S. acreage was pegged at 2.870 million acres, up 23,000 acres from the March prospective plantings report despite a wet spring and a late start to the planting season. Arkansas’ crop is estimated at 1.431 million acres, of which 1.25 million is long grain. Nationwide, 73% of the crop is in good to excellent condition. In Arkansas, that total is 64%. Corn USDA shocked the market with its June 30 acreage report. Corn acres were pegged at only 92.006 million. While that is up 3% from the 2019 crop, it is down from 97 million acres in the March Planting Intentions Report. It is also well below the average pre-report estimate of 95.207 million acres. It has been assumed for months that the U.S. would top 3 billion bushels of carryout. Despite mostly favorable growing conditions, this report makes that unlikely. USDA says 73% of the crop is now rated good to
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excellent, with 22% in fair condition. The weather outlook suggests the crop will be under increasing stress in the next 2 weeks. Stocks will still be more than adequate, and the June 1 stocks report shows current corn supplies at 5.224 billion bushels. December corn set a new contract low on Friday and is now working to build support at that low of $3.22. The reaction to the acreage report was sharp, and futures took out several layers of resistance on the way up. A close above $3.54 would signal additional upside potential to around $3.70. Soybeans USDA has pegged soybean acres at 83.825 million acres, up slightly from USDA’s March planting intentions estimate of 83.5 million. Pre-report estimates had pegged the crop at 84.716 million. While the report does show some of the expected shift from corn into soybeans due to corn market weakness this spring, it seems analysts did not anticipate a 7-million-acre reduction in total planted acres of all major crops. June 1 stocks totalled 1.386 billion bushels, down from 1.783 billion a year ago. 71% of the crop is currently rated good to excellent, but the forecast for the next two weeks suggests the crop will be under some stress. The November contract will have resistance in the $8.90 area and then at the chart gap between $9 and $9.03.
EDITOR Ashley Wallace ashley.wallace@arfb.com