2012 is likely to be a very interesting year for agricultural policy as we face the writing of a new Farm Bill during a presidential election year with a huge federal deficit.
Since the GROWMARK cooperative system represents the interests of farmers on the federal level, I talked with GROWMARK government affairs director Chuck Spencer to get his perspective on what might happen in 2012 as it relates to farm policy, after the “super committee” failed to reach an agreement which would have created an new farm bill. “The super committee did find that the agriculture community stepped up to the plate and were in agreement to a $23 billion reduction over a ten year period in farm program spending,” he said. “The discussion now is ‘where do you begin?’ Do you start over? Do you begin where everybody agreed and then move forward?”
Chuck believes the groundwork has been laid and he expects the agriculture committees in Congress to use that as a framework for discussion. “It’s important to note that while the farm bill will expire in 2012, it either needs to be extended or they’ll need to come to agreement and pass a new one or the 1949 Farm Bill goes into play which is dealing with parity prices, and that would certainly be a budget buster,” Chuck noted.
Chuck also pointed out what most of us in the agriculture business already know – that of the 15 titles in the farm bill, the commodity title is what gets most of the attention, even though it only makes up 2/10ths of a percent of the federal budget. “It’s provided as a safety net, a way to manage risk,” Chuck said. “You’ll notice that 90% of the groups offering proposals to the super committee asked for a revenue-based, risk management-based safety net.”
Listen to my conversation with Chuck Spencer here: Chuck Spencer Interview
On the same day the world was officially proclaimed home of seven billion souls, the United Nations General Assembly officially declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives with the theme of “Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World”.
Randy says they recommend that growers never enter a grain bin if at all possible, but realistically he knows there are times when it might be necessary. “Don’t get into the bin unless you lock out the power and make sure someone knows you are getting in to the bin,” he says, adding that the person on the outside should ideally be able to observe you getting in and out and have a rescue line tied to you.
Each October since 1964, cooperatives across the United States have been celebrating the cooperative difference, business model and the contributions of cooperatives to their communities, during 
“Cooperatives have a long history going back to England in the mid-1800s when producers would get together to help market their products and that has resulted in the cooperative system here in the United States,” he said. “If you think of products like Welch’s grape juice, Florida’s Natural, SunMaid Raisins – those are cooperatives that have a national brand and market in some cases world wide.”
“GROWMARK invests more than $45,500 annually on scholarships. We’re investing today for a return tomorrow,” says Steve German, GROWMARK member employment manager, pictured here at the scholarship luncheon during the recent GROWMARK annual meeting. “There’s a need for agriculture businesses to support formal education to strengthen agriculture.”
As VP, Grain, Ericson will be responsible for the overall management, oversight, support and growth of GROWMARK’s grain business, which includes 80 grain members and companies inIllinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Combined, the 80 companies market approximately 1 billion bushels of grain and oilseed annually into river, rail, and processor markets.
Rick Nelson is not just a farmer from Paxton, Illinois – he’s a Master Farmer – and as such, he is helping to cultivate other master farmers in the state. 
I was out watching the field demos in the hot sun yesterday and was pleased to meet the hosts of the demo plots Dawn and David Brix.
At the 2011 Farm Progress Show, 
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The theme of the 2011 
A new website looks at “
Shelly Kruse is GROWMARK vice president of retail and acquisitions and I spoke with her earlier this year about her job. 
GROWMARK, Inc. announced today a $100,000 award to the University of Illinois initiative between the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the College of Media designed to address the growing need for effective communications in the fast-changing world of agriculture, food, feed, fiber, bio-energy and rural development.