Own a beehive or pesticide-sensitive crop? Consider listing your operation on Driftwatch. page 3
Summer grilling could be an expensive proposition given lower supplies of beef and pork. page 5
Thanks to a bitter cold winter, western corn rootworm and bean leaf beetle pressure may be lower. page 9
Federal GMO label bill filed Inside: Livestock section
Monday, April 14, 2014
Three sections Volume 42, No. 15
SURE SIGN OF SPRING
BY DEANA STROISCH FarmWeek
Periodicals: Time Valued
Spring explodes in vivid colors at Matheny Farms & Greenhouses near Farina in Fayette County. Above, from left, owner Jennifer Matheny and daughters, Audrey and Lauren, prepare planter containers for an open house. Right, employees Abbei Thomas, left, and Ann Githinji plant young tomatoes. Jennifer and David Matheny started the greenhouse operation in 2003 with help from their daughters, son, Ryan, and David’s mom, Doris. The family also raises Angus and crossbred cattle. (Photos by Ken Kashian)
State and local governments would be prohibited from passing their own mandatory labeling laws for products made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) under a bipartisan bill introduced last week in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, formally called the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the sole authority to require labeling of foods if they are found to be unsafe or “materially different” from foods produced without GMOs. Agricultural groups, including Illinois Farm Bureau, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association and National Corn Growers Association, support HR 4432. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of misinformed people right now who are questioning the safety of GMOs,” said Adam Nielsen, IFB director of national legislation and policy development. “It makes a lot of sense to have the agency that is responsible for the safety of our nation’s food supply be involved in vouching for the safety of GMOs in food products. The
bill would also eliminate the patchwork of laws, which would do nothing more than create more confusion and raise consumer food prices.” The legislation, if passed, would do the following: • Allow companies to voluntarily label foods with GMOs. • Require the FDA to conduct a safety review of all new plant varieties for genetically engineered foods before they are introduced to the marketplace. • Prohibit individual states, and any local government, from passing rules that require mandatory GMO labeling. • Direct FDA to develop a federal definition for the use of the term “natural” on product labels. In Illinois, a bill that would require all foods containing any ingredients made from biotechnology to be labeled as “genetically engineered” stalled in the Senate Agricultural and Conservation Committee. The sponsor of the bill indicated that he will not be pursuing it during spring session, according to Kevin Semlow, IFB director of state legislation.
Export gains give crop markets new life
BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek
Crop prices received an unexpected kick last week as USDA released its world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) report that was bullish for corn and soybeans. Exports provided the main surprise of the report and drove prices higher. USDA raised its export projections from a month ago by 125 million bushels for corn to 1.75 billion bushels, and 50 million bushels for beans to 1.58 billion bushels. “Despite relatively high prices and record harvests in South America, U.S. (soybean) exports have remained strong,
especially to China,” USDA noted in its WASDE report. Traders prior to the report expected record year-to-date shipments of U.S. soybeans would slow due to possible cancellations of shipments by China and competition from South America. “The trade expected cancellations by China that didn’t materialize,” Louise Gartner, market analyst with Spectrum Commodities, said during a teleconference hosted by the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. “Here we are looking at another bump in exports.” U.S. corn exports, meanwhile, continued to rebound in a big way. The current corn export projection more than dou-
FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com
See GMO, page 4
bled foreign sales of a year ago. “We’re definitely seeing a big jump in corn use around the world,” Gartner said. “It think it will be a trend that continues. “One of our biggest competitors was Ukraine,” she continued. “But with all the issues there, (Ukrainians) are having quite a dry spell. They quite likely won’t deliver (corn) on all contracts made or make new contracts. I’d think (the U.S.) will be able to fill those gaps.” USDA in response to the greater crop demand lowered ending stocks by 125 million bushels for corn to 1.33 billion See Export, page 4
Illinois Farm Bureau on the web: www.ilfb.org ®