A state lawmaker tells SWAT members about a proposal to mend Illinois’ school funding formula. page 4
Soybeans could gain significant ground this year if the USDA plantings report holds true. page 5
Meat eaters may want to stock their freezers as meat prices will likely continue to increase. page 14
A service of
Illinois Farm Bureau mission: Improve the economic well-being of agriculture and enrich the quality of farm family life. Monday, April 7, 2014
ISU farm coping with PEDV; other universities watchful, hope to remain virus free
Two sections Volume 42, No. 14
SPRING CLEANING
BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek
IFB lobbies for Section 179 Addison Ryan took advantage of a dry, spring day to complete repair work on a waterway last week near Wyoming in Stark County. Heavy rain and snow took a toll on the waterway over winter. He noted it was the first fieldwork done on the farm so far this spring. (Photo by Ken Kashian)
BY DEANA STROISCH FarmWeek
Periodicals: Time Valued
Illinois Farm Bureau members made more than 1,000 calls to members of Congress last week, urging them to support a Section 179 small business expensing deduction limit of $500,000. The federal lobbying effort came as the Senate Finance Committee released its proposed tax extenders package. The proposal advanced out of committee on a voice vote. The Senate proposal includes the reinstatement of the $500,000 expense limit for farm infrastruc-
ture and equipment, and continuation of 50 percent bonus depreciation on the purchase of new capital assets, including farm machinery, through 2015. IFB supports both of those provisions. Adam Nielsen, IFB’s director of national legislation and policy development, traveled to Washington, D.C., last week. He said members’ calls made a difference. “The response (to the action request) was noted in the offices that I visited,” Nielsen said. “I definitely saw and heard evidence of the activity.” But challenges remain. The House is expected to work on tax extenders, but plans a different approach than the Senate. Nielsen said the House plans to mark up individual bills and propose permanent tax extenders. “Right now, no one can explain how we’re going to marry these two ideas together — individual votes on permanent extenders in the House and the typical way of doing it, which is approving them as a package in the Senate,” said Nielsen. “Sounds like it’s going to take a longer time for this to be resolved. That doesn’t help people who are trying to make decisions for this year.”
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Section 179 small business expense deductions are among dozens of tax provisions that expired at the end of 2013. The deduction limit was set at $250,000 in 2008 and 2009 and at $500,000 from 2010-13. It dropped to $25,000 this year — and will remain at that level unless Congress acts. Several agricultural groups applauded the Senate’s proposal, which also includes a two-year extension of the dollar-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive. Wade Cowan, American Soybean Association first vice president, said extending the biodiesel credit until 2015 and reinstating the Section 179 deduction will help farm families “compete and succeed in the face of growing competition.” “The extension of the biodiesel tax credit is huge,” he said in a statement. “The industry has been operating in the absence of the credit since the end of the fiscal year in September, and we’ve seen the biodiesel industry’s production dip and progress stall in the absence of this tax credit in the past, so this proposal is a welcome first step toward putting the industry back on track for the next two years.”
FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com
Illinois State University (ISU) tightened biosecurity measures and suspended tours after an outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) on its research farm near Lexington. Research swine remain PEDV-free at the University of Illinois (U of I), Southern Illinois University (SIU) and Western Illinois University (WIU). However, the universities remain alert and have enhanced biosecurity measures on their research farms. PEDV affects pigs of all ages, but proves fatal for nursing baby pigs. The virus poses no threat to humans. Within the last 30 days, ISU hogs showed “the classic (PEDV) symptoms. We have had large mortalities,” said Pete Lammers, ISU animal science professor. PEDV claimed the litters of two farrowing groups of 40 sows and a portion of a third group. Recently, a fourth group farrowed and those pigs seem healthier. “It’s running its course,” Lammers said. “As long as we practice good sanitation, we don’t anticipate having catastrophic losses again.” The PEDV outbreak “was a significant loss of income at the farm,” said Lammers. ISU funds its farm with livestock and crop income. Given the nature of university research farms, the loss — or potential loss — of scientific study signifies a greater loss to research institutions. “The loss in research dollars will be greater than the economic loss,” said Hans Stein, U of I animal science professor. “We have projects with sows that are several years long.” Length of research funding poses another problem, added Gary Apgar, SIU animal science professor. Apgar must complete a nutrition feeding
study in a year and is counting on the farm’s existing pigs. The four universities are focusing on farm biosecurity. Along with suspending public tours, ISU relocated parking areas for staff and students, and implemented clothing and shoe restrictions. Students who have been on other farms must wait 48 hours and international visitors must wait at least 14 days before entering the farm, according to Lammers. The U of I consulted with veterinarians on security measures, Stein said. “We do the best we can,” he added. The university quarantines new hogs for eight weeks in an off-site premise before bringing them to the farm. Public visitors aren’t allowed at the Urbana swine research center, and students are denied access if they have been on other farms in the last week. In Carbondale, SIU uses its swine center for research and teaching. Recently, the university bought 10 pregnant sows that tested PEDV-free, bringing its sow herd up to 27, Apgar said. Researchers moved the new animals directly into the farrowing house. All SIU students must change into farm-supplied boots when entering the swine buildings — and they must cross benches recently moved to block the entrance as a visual reminder, Apgar noted. In Macomb, WIU uses biosecurity measures to protect its 30 sows, including 25 purebred Yorkshires, said Mark Hoge, animal science professor. WIU students practice safety protocols with clothes and boots; some keep boots at the farm. However, youth education programs and contests complicate farm biosecurity. Hoge expected 300 FFA members would attend a contest last week. WIU hosts or supplies See Universities, page 3
Illinois Farm Bureau on the web: www.ilfb.org ®