In Farm Bureau Important dates to remember County Farm Bureaus are reminded of these important dates coming up between now and the end of the year: Oct. 1: Deadline for receipt of all county advertising rebate program (CARP) materials in the state office in order to get credit for Gold Star Awards. Oct. 11-21: Arkansas State Fair, Little Rock. Oct. 17: Deadline for receipt of Gold Star Award materials in the state office. Oct. 17: Deadline to submit county resolutions to the state office. Oct. 31: Membership year ends. Make efforts to reach your membership goal and financial awards. Refer to the 2017 Membership Incentive Plan. Nov. 7-8: State Resolutions Committee meeting, North Little Rock. Nov. 16: Deadline for YF&R members to register for the state Discussion Meet to be held during State Convention. Nov. 28-30: ArFB State Convention, Hot Springs.
Members of the Benton Co. FB Women’s Leadership Committee welcomed ArFB President Randy Veach and his wife Thelma to the county Farm Bureau’s annual meeting on Sept. 13. Roughly 100 attended the meeting, where policy positions were affirmed, county board members were elected for next year, and state representative Dan Douglas delivered a keynote address. Jan. 13-16: American Farm Bureau Convention, New Orleans.
In Arkansas USDA designates natural disaster areas Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated two counties in Arkansas as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in Arkansas and Monroe counties who suffered losses due to hail and high winds that occurred July 20-21 may be eligible for Grace Delgado, winner of the St. Francis County Fair talent contest, impressed everyone in attendance at St. Francis County Farm Bureau‘s annual meeting with her wonderful rendition of the national anthem.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans. This designation by Secretary Perdue allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including replacing essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganizing a farming operation or refinance certain debts. Producers in the contiguous counties of
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A Publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
September 21, 2018 • Vol. 21, No. 19
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Desha, Jefferson, Lee, Lincoln, Lonoke, Phillips, Prairie, St. Francis and Woodruff in Arkansas are also eligible to apply for emergency loans. The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is May 6, 2019. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of addition programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include: Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; the Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; and the Tree Assistance Program. Farmers may contact their local USDA service center for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at www.farmers.gov/recover.
David Love (middle) was honored Sept. 18 for serving 22 years on the South Logan Co. FB board. Agency manager Keith Eichenberger (left) and county president Joe Haller presented Love with a plaque at the county’s annual meeting.
Fair will be accepting individual educational Home Economics exhibits on Sunday, Sept. 30, from 1 p.m.-6 p.m. at Hestand Stadium Fairgrounds in Pine Bluff. Residents from 17 Southeast Arkansas counties are eligible to enter the SEARK
District Fair. They are: Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Faulkner, Grant, Jefferson, Lincoln, Lonoke, Ouachita, Prairie, and White counties. Residents are encouraged to enter clean, quality, new items made or completed during the past year. They do not have to win Grand or Reserve Awards at their county fairs because new judges will be used at the District Fair. “The Jefferson County Extension Homemakers have already judged 10 county fairs and are gearing up to volunteer as assistant superintendents at the SEARK District Fair,” said Mary Ann Kizer, Jefferson County extension agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and the fair’s Home Economics superintendent. Debbie James, Home Economics assistant superintendent, reported that county fair entries are up in most counties, especially in the Craft Division. Home Economics Fair Entry Forms and entry tags are available in advance at the Jefferson County Extension Office located at 500 S. Idaho Street in Pine Bluff. Call (870) 534-1033 for details. Divisions include: Youth (12 years and under), Junior (13 to 18 years) and Adult (19 years and up). For more information on the contest, visit bit.ly/HomeEcContest.
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Southeast Home Ecomonics contest The 79th Southeast Arkansas District
Sevier Co. FB President Bruce Jackson recognized board member Philip Vanvoast on his 89th birthday, Sept. 11, during the county’s annual meeting. Vanvoast was elected to a 58th term on the county board at the meeting.
Garland Co. FB Women’s Leadership Committee served dinner to families involved in the livestock show at the county fair. The county FB also supported the fair by spending more than $3,000 purchasing aniamals at the premium sale in support of local youth.
The Jake and Jodi Moenning family of Jasper was honored Sept. 14 at the Newton Co. FB Annual Meeting as the Newton County Farm Family of the Year by county president Jack Boles. The Moennings raise beef cattle and have a custom hay operation. They have two sons, Hayden, 11, and Cooper, 3.
Elsewhere
Ways and Means tax provisions The House Ways and Means Committee approved a Farm Bureau-supported bill that would make permanent several important tax reform provisions that are set to expire after 2025. The Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018 (H.R. 6760) addresses bonus depreciation and the estate tax, among other tax provisions. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed in 2017, reduced taxes for all businesses, but only the tax cuts for incorporated businesses operated as C corporations are permanent. The vast majority of farms and ranches, however, file their taxes as soleproprietors, partnerships or S corporations. “Failure to [make these provisions permanent] will result in a huge tax increase. In addition, the uncertainty caused by temporary tax provisions makes the already tough business of running a farm or ranch even harder,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall wrote in a letter urging committee members to support the bill. The legislation would make permanent the following provisions that are particularly important to farm and ranch businesses: • Reduced pass-through tax rates and expanded brackets; • The Section 199A new 20 percent business income deduction; • Unlimited bonus depreciation
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Dairy webinar A webinar on the new Dairy Revenue Protection program, hosted by developers American Farm Bureau Insurance Services and American Farm Bureau Federation is slated for Friday, Sept. 28, 1:30 – 3 p.m. The featured presenter is AFBF Chief Economist John Newton. Participate in the webinar to learn how the program works and is likely to be quoted, in addition to the history behind its development and an overview of current dairy markets. The webinar is open to all but will be of particular interest to insurance agents, dairy farmers and commodity group members/staff. Advance registration for this free webinar is recommended. Go to bit.ly/DairyWebinarRegistry to register. Visit www.DairyRP.com for the latest information on the Dairy RP program.
Wyatt Jackson, 13-year-old president of the Benton County 4H Junior Teen Leaders, spoke at the Benton County Farm Bureau annual meeting Sept. 13. Jackson spoke about the benefits of beef as part of a balanced diet. (expensing); • The doubled estate tax exemption ($11 million person/$22 million couple); • The increased alternative minimum tax threshold for individuals. The Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018 was introduced as part of a three-bill package dubbed “Tax Reform 2.0” by the House Ways and Means Committee. The other two bills, also approved by the committee are the Family Savings Act of 2018 (H.R. 6757) and the American Innovation Act of 2018 (H.R. 6756). AFBF: Broadband is a necessity Farmers and ranchers must have access to fixed and mobile broadband to be more efficient, economical and environmentally responsible, the American Farm Bureau Federation said in recent comments on the Rural Utility Service’s e-Connectivity Pilot Program. At the heart of Farm Bureau’s comments is the need for accurate and third-party verified data to successfully target the
pilot program’s limited funding to boost access to broadband service in rural areas. Farmers and ranchers need broadband to use the latest precision agricultural equipment, follow commodity markets, communicate with their customers, gain access to new markets around the world and, increasingly, for regulatory compliance. In addition, rural communities muchneeded access to health care, government services and educational and business opportunities, in most cases, can only be gained by using broadband services and sophisticated technologies that require high-speed connections, Farm Bureau noted in the comments. “Broadband is no longer a luxury for a household or business, it’s a necessity,” the group said. To read American Farm Bureau’s full comments, visit bit.ly/AFBFbroadband. Editor Maddison Stewart
maddison.stewart@arfb.com
In the Market Rice After failing to close above resistance at $11 on Sept. 10, November rice futures have rapidly taken over a dollar off the market. Harvest pressure is in full force, with 49 percent of the crop in the bins nationwide. Arkansas farmers have harvested 47 percent of the 2018 crop, well behind their 2017 pace, but right in line with the 5-year average. Record-high global rice supplies are forecast for the 2018-2019 marketing year, mostly due to higher carry-in from the 2017-2018 crop. Rice production for 2018 is forecast to be down slightly as acreage has declined in many rice-producing nations around the world. Global rice trade is also expected to set a record for the third consecutive year, as demand from Sub-Saharan Africa and China continues to grow. U.S. prices haven’t been particularly competitive compared with Asian and South American origins, and U.S. exports reflect that. The USDA supply/demand report shows U.S. rough-rice exports for 2017-2018 at their lowest level since 2000-2001 at 28.6 million cwt, and milled rice exports of 58.4 million cwt were the lowest since 19751976. The August stocks report showed a significant decline in the previous estimate, resulting in a positive adjustment to the September supply/demand report — dropping beginning stocks to 29.4 million cwt, but the bottom line was still negative for farmers, with UDSA dropping their average farm price estimate 20 cents on either end to $11.20-$12.20/cwt. Cotton After trending sideways for the past month, cotton futures have taken a sharp downturn this week. In the latest production and supply/demand reports, USDA increased the 2018-2019 U.S. production estimate by 447,000 bales, or 2 percent from the August report. That is down 6 percent from 2017-2018 production. The increase was due to an increase of 415,000 acres in the harvested acreage estimate over the August report that outweighed a decrease in the national
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As of Sept. 20, 2018
“Rice Day” was celebrated in Arkansas on Sept.13. Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed the Rice Month proclamation at the state Capitol and rice industry representatives gathered at the Arkansas Foodbank to announce the industry’s annual rice donation to feed the hungry. average yield, which was cut to 895 lbs. per acre. The bottom line didn’t change, however, with USDA still forecasting an average farm price of 70-80 cents/pound. The production total could be revised downward, though, due to significant crop damage in the Carolinas and Virginia in the wake of Hurricane Florence. Harvest pressure will pick up in the next few weeks, as 49 percent of the crop across the cotton belt now has bolls opening.
10 states, resulting in a national average yield estimate of 52.8 bushels per acre. Record world supplies and continued trade tensions with China are also impacting futures. U.S. prices have fallen enough to be competitive with Brazil, and we have begun to see the result of that as exports pick up a bit. November futures are trading just above contract-lows, and indicators suggest the market is oversold and due a technical correction.
Corn USDA surprised almost everybody with its September corn crop estimate of 14.827 billion bushels. That number is 241 million bushels higher than the August forecast and 298 million bushels higher than the average pre-report estimate from those in the trade. The increase is due to an estimated record-high yield of 181.3 bushels per acre, representing record yields estimated for 12 states. Price weakness could continue as harvest ramps up, but demand for U.S. corn is projected to be strong throughout the 2018-2019 marketing year. Export sales for 201-2019 are currently 44 percent ahead of the year ago pace.
Livestock Livestock futures continue to see strength. October lean hog futures continue to lead the rally, charting their highest close since June. Strength in fresh pork prices and profitable packer margins are keeping demand for live animals strong. Slaughter totals have been down as plants in North Carolina have been offline due to the disruption of Hurricane Florence. News that China’s sow herd fell 4.8 percent from in one day was also good news for prices. Cattle futures have seen strength in recent weeks, but trade this week has been slow to develop ahead of the Cattle on Feed Report. August placements are expected to rise 4.4 percent. Boxed beef is finding pork to be tough competition in the market at present.
Soybeans USDA delivered a surprise for the market in the soybean crop estimate, too. The September estimate came in at 4.693 billion bushels, up 107 million bushels from the August estimate and 44 million bushels higher than the average pre-report estimate. Record yields are anticipated in
CONTACT
Brandy Carroll 501-228-1268, brandy.carroll@arfb.com