Farm Bureau Press | September 29

Farm Bureau Press

2023 ARFB FOUNDATION NIGHT-IN HONORING RICH AND TINA HILLMAN

The Arkansas Farm Bureau Foundation will be hosting this year’s Foundation Night-In event during the Arkansas Farm Bureau 89th Annual Convention. The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Statehouse Convention Center, Governor’s Hall IV. This year’s event will be honoring Rich and Tina Hillman for their commitment to Arkansas Farm Bureau. This will be a causal event, with opportunities to visit with Rich and Tina and other Farm Bureau leaders, while enjoying a catfish, shrimp and chicken dinner catered by Rich’s favorite, King Kat. Event tickets are $75 each or $700 for tables of 10. To reserve tickets, please contact your county office. The deadline to reserve tickets is Nov. 15. This year, several items to have been added to the live auction, including giving the highest bidder the opportunity for his/her county to have the first spot in the dinner line. Additionally, there will be an Ag in the Classroom Book Barn stocked with accurate ag children’s books, an educational cow and the Annual ArFB Foundation Picnic. There will be other great items, including a Lifetime Hunting and Fishing License, hotel packages and hunting trips included in a silent auction.

All proceeds of the Foundation Night-In Event will benefit the Arkansas Farm Bureau Foundation. Join Arkansas Farm Bureau for an evening of great food and fun, honoring the Hillman Family.

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A PEEK INSIDE

Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award Nominations Open, Page 2

Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame Seeks Nominations for Next Class, Page 2-3

STANLEY E. REED LEADERSHIP AWARD NOMINATIONS OPEN

Leadership is a trait that can be sharpened, encouraged and refined, and it is a commodity upon which our organization was built. We hope to honor the spirit of our past presidents with this year’s Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award. This award honors a Farm Bureau leader who exhibits the tenants of thoughtful leadership.

Reed, president of Arkansas Farm Bureau from 20032008, was taken from us far too early. He left a legacy of wisdom, integrity and commitment that will stand with this organization for generations to come. Both the state and national Farm Bureaus were shaped by his involvement.

The Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award honors a Farm Bureau board member between the ages of 36–45 for their outstanding leadership within their county Farm Bureau and community.

Leadership on the county Farm Bureau level is essential to the success of our organization. A lack of meaningful leadership could leave our organization without purpose or direction, like a ship with no rudder. Without question, young farmers and ranchers in your community are the future of Farm Bureau. With the assistance of your county Farm Bureau, we would like to identify appropriate individuals to be considered for this recognition.

The 13th recipient of the Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award will be named during a general session at the 89th Annual Convention of the Arkansas Farm Bureau in Little Rock.

Please consider nominating the best and most impactful young farm leaders in your county to be considered for this prestigious award. A nomination form is available on the Farm Bureau intranet, under Organization and Member Programs-Board Forms. The nomination should be limited to 300 or less words describing the impact the nominee has made on his/her county Farm Bureau and the community. Nomination submissions must be postmarked no later than Nov. 10.

ARKANSAS RICE INDUSTRY DONATES

240,000 POUNDS OF RICE IN HONOR

The Arkansas rice industry donated 240,000 pounds of rice to the Arkansas Foodbank in honor of National Rice Month. The donation from ten mills will provide nearly 1.8 million servings of rice to help feed families, children, and seniors across the state.

Participating rice mills are Anheuser Busch of Jonesboro, Arkansas River Rice of Pine Bluff, Isbell Farms of Humnoke, Poinsett Rice & Grain of Jonesboro, Producers Rice Mill of Stuttgart, Ralston Family Farms of Atkins, Riceland Foods, Inc. of Stuttgart, Riviana Foods of Carlisle, Specialty Rice, Inc. of Brinkley, and Windmill Rice Company of Jonesboro.

September is also Hunger Action Month. Arkansas ranks second in the nation for food-insecurity. One in five children do not know where their next meal will come from. The rice donation

ARKANSAS AGRICULTURE HALL OF NOMINATIONS FOR NEXT CLASS

The Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame is seeking nominations from the public for its next class. The nomination deadline is Nov. 1.

The Agriculture Hall of Fame recognizes Arkansans who have contributed significantly to the state’s largest industry while spotlighting their contributions to the state’s economic development. Since its first class was selected in 1987, a total of 181 men and women have been inducted.

Debbie Moreland, chairman of the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame, says anyone can nominate a person believed worthy of the honor.

ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU T-SHIRT

Arkansas Farm Bureau is hosting a T-shirt design contest with the theme “Breaking New Ground.” Not only will the winning design be featured on a T-shirt, but the artist’s name will also be highlighted at the Arkansas Farm Bureau 89th Annual Convention.

Young artists from freshmen in high school to seniors in college are encouraged to participate.

Design Guidelines

• Must include agriculture theme.

• The ArFB logo will be placed on the front and the back of the t-shirt, and can be added by the state office at a later date.

• Design must be one color.

DONATES MORE THAN HONOR OF RICE MONTH

will go directly to agency partners and will fill shelves at food pantries for families in need.

OF FAME SEEKS

The nomination forms are available online. Forms can also be requested by calling 501-228-1609.

The nomination form provides space to provide the principal justification for a candidate’s nomination, a summary of the nominee’s contributions to agriculture and their community, a record of their professional experiences and their involvement in public service and support of agriculture.

The induction ceremony for the next class of honorees will be held March 1 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock.

T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST

• Digital Designs: Must be in high resolution and be submitted as a .jpg, png, .pdf, .ai or .psd file.

Eligibility/Entry

There is no entry fee to submit a design. Multiple designs per contestant are eligible for submission but must be entered separately. A parent, grandparent or guardian must submit designs for those under the age of 18. Those submitting designs must be an Arkansas Farm Bureau member.

To enter the contest, simply submit designs online by Oct. 1. Entries will be reviewed and a winner will be announced Oct. 10. By submitting a design, entrants are agreeing to all contest rules and guidelines. For questions, please contact Autumn Wood.

Dairy Education | The Van Buren County Farm Bureau board of directors and Women’s Leadership Committee recently held a Farm Day with the Clinton Elementary School. Retired dairy farmers Danny and Becky Wood used the county’s newest educational purchase, “Daisy” the dairy cow, to demonstrate how to milk a cow to approximately 100 kindergartners. Students churned butter in the classroom and got to enjoy it with bread for a midmorning treat.

Snack Stick Donation | 2,600 packages of beef sticks were recently delivered to Boone County schools as a part of Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry Snack Stick Program. The program is a partnership with the Arkansas Farm Bureau, ArFB Foundation and County Farm Bureaus. County Women’s Leadership Committee and board members personally delivered snack sticks to schools in the county. Click here to learn more about the program.

MARKET NEWS

as of September 27, 2023

Contact Brandy Carroll brandy.carroll@arfb.com

Tyler Oxner tyler.oxner@arfb.com

Soybeans

The soybean market seems to have found support above the Aug. 23 low of $12.82¼. Resistance is currently at the 100-day moving average, which is at $13.05 ¾. AgRural’s report indicates that Brazilian soybean plantings have reached nearly 2%, a slight increase from the same time last year. Export inspections totaled 18 million bushels, meeting expectations. Year-to-date inspections have reached 47 million bushels, showing a 6.5% increase from last year, contrary to the USDA’s forecast of a 10% decrease. Last week, money managers sold around 28,000 soybean contracts, reducing their long position to 45,832 contracts, the smallest in over three months. Additionally, the USDA lowered soybean condition ratings by 2% for the week, now at 52% in the good to excellent category through Sunday. This was unexpected, as market analysts had anticipated the USDA would keep soybean ratings unchanged.

Corn December corn futures are trying to reach last week’s high of $4.83. The next resistance levels are the current month’s high of $4.90¼ and then the 50-day moving average at $4.98. Recent rains caused delays in harvesting across much of the central Midwest. However, better progress may have been made in the southwestern and eastern corn belts. The USDA announced the sale of 1.661 thousand metric tons (equivalent to 65.5 million bushels) of corn to Mexico. Out of this, 41.5 million bushels are for the current 2023/24 marketing year, and 24 million bushels are for 2024/25. In the

latest CFTC report from Friday, money managers sold an additional 10,000 corn contracts, increasing their short position to nearly 145,000 contracts. This is their largest short position since August 2020. As of the week ending Sept. 24, 15% of corn acres have been harvested, marking a 6% increase from the previous week.

Rice

The rice harvest is progressing well ahead of schedule. Nationwide, 66% of the crop is harvested compared with a five-year average of 59%. At home in Arkansas, 70% of the crop is in the bins, a full 10% ahead of the five-year average. November futures are holding up pretty well considering the overall bearish fundamental situation in the U.S. In the September reports, USDA raised its crop estimate to 220.9 million cwt, up from 203.6 million in August. Large increases were seen in both acreage, yield, and stocks and resulted in a big increase in all-rice ending stocks. Concerns about global supplies, particularly in Asia, are supporting the market. Export bans from India have driven prices higher, and that makes the U.S. more competitive in the global market. November futures have established support at $15.60, and resistance begins at $16.37. Ultimately, the recent high of $16.87½ could prove tough to challenge, especially as harvest winds down.

Cotton

Cotton futures are dealing with a mixed bag of fundamental factors influencing the market. In the negative column, a stronger dollar, which made a new six-month high last week, is impacting cotton’s ability to be competitive and disappointing export demand is the result. Sales last week were only 105,800 bales, which is low but up 67% from the four-week average, really illustrating how slow this market is right now. Traders are worried about the condition and yield potential of the crop in West Texas, where 24% of the crop has been harvested and only 10% of the remaining crop is in good to excellent condition. In Arkansas, 71% of the crop is rated good to excellent. From a

technical perspective, December has support near 85¢ and resistance at the recent high of 90¢.

Wheat

The December 2023 wheat contract prices are holding above support at $5.70. It’s likely that any price increase will be limited to this month’s high of $6.07½ before Friday’s report. Export inspections for wheat were in line with expectations, totaling 16.5 million bushels. Year-to-date inspections stand at 207 million bushels, showing a 28% decrease from last year, contrary to the USDA’s forecast of an 8% decrease. India’s food secretary reassured they have enough wheat supplies to prevent shortages and mentioned the government might sell additional wheat in the open market to control domestic prices. Russian wheat prices remained stable FOB late last week at $235 per metric ton, unchanged from the previous week.

Cattle

Live cattle futures have lacked direction over the past few sessions. The failure of October to challenge resistance at $187.30 prompted the market to chart a bearish key reversal. Follow-through selling has been somewhat limited so far. Support will begin at $182.50, with additional support at $177.50. October feeders are looking toppy. The market could move to retest support as $247.50. The September Cattle on Feed report showed placements at 95% of a year ago, within expectations. Total inventories are 98% of the year-ago total.

Hogs

October hog futures are under pressure after surging to new fourweek highs last week. The market has found support near $81. The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report is expected to show further herd liquidation as a 9.6% increase in summer slaughter totals has already been reported.

EDITOR

Ashley Wallace ashley.wallace@arfb.com