Tools for Producers Facing Volatile Prices

Amanda Nolz

LawrenceJohn_small I attended the 61st Annual South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association’s Convention and Trade Show this week in Sioux Falls, S.D. where we discussed beef industry hot topics such as estate planning, lawsuit protection, money saving ideas and the economy. In a speech given during the Pfizer sponsored Cattlemen’s College, Dr. John Lawrence of the IA Beef Center presented, “Economic Outlook & Feeding in the Midwest,” where he introduced a few valuable tools for producers to check out in tackling the current economy and the industry’s incredibly volatile prices.

The first tool Dr. Lawrence offered to producers was the new ISU Extension Margin Maker, where “Cattle Crush Margins” are updated each Wednesday for cow/calf operators and feeders to reference. The goal of this tool is stated as, “a risk management education project for livestock producers. Margin maker programs and materials center on the concept of managing the risk of declining revenues and increasing costs.”

The second resource for producers to reference is Beef Basis, a free website offering cattle basis risk analysis tools with the information needed to improve marketing decisions influenced by cattle basis risk. According to the site, “The BeefBasis website was developed by Custom Ag Solutions, Inc. (CAS) and Kansas State University (K-State) in partnership with the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA). BeefBasis gives you relevant information and analytics you need to evaluate marketing decisions and manage your price risk.”

These look like valuable tools for anyone in the business, and I encourage you to share these with your friends in the industry. Check them out, and let me know what you think!

Beef

Shopping in Morocco

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn MissionAfter our morning meetings at the Morocco Ministry of Agriculture the U.S. Grains Council team got a little time off to “shop.” We wandered through an area of shops and I did make a few purchases that included a couple of quality Fez’s for friends of mine.

Here’s a picture of some fruit stands we passed along the way.

The Morocco photo album is up to date and yet there’s so much more to come. We’ve got a dinner mtg. tonight still to go.

USGC Corn Mission In Morocco Photo Album

USGC

Morocco Ag Attache Working For U.S. Agribusiness

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn MissionThe Regional Agricultural Attache for the United States in Morocco is Hassan Ahmed. I first met Hassan when he was posted to Cairo and I was traveling on a USDA FAS trip that included stops in Cairo and Alexandria. I haven’t seen him since then until today but we still remember the “camel story” among others. Some of you have heard it. If you’re really interested I’ll share it with you some time.

Hassan spoke to the U.S. Grains Council about the work that his office does on behalf of American agribusiness. He started out by telling us that USDA’s FAS has a new mission statement which says, “Linking U.S. agriculture to the world to enhance export opportunities and global food security.” So he works along with “Cooperators” like the U.S. Grains Council and others to help create and enhance trade opportunities.

Hassan came on board in Morocco during the recent record U.S. grain export years. However, he says 2009 has not been so good but there are a number of factors to explain it and he’s very confident that the market will change. One factor he points to is the Morocco Green Plan for the growth of agriculture.

You can listen to a portion of Hassan’s presentation below.

USGC Corn Mission In Morocco Photo Album

Audio, Corn, International, USGC

Morocco’s Office of Cereals

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn MissionThe Moroccan government’s “Office of Cereals” is led by Mr. Abdelali Aziz, General Director (pictured center). He spoke to the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission this morning about the status of corn imports into Morocco and touched on quantity, quality and standards. He also commented on the impact of the USGC’s programs on the poultry and beef sectors. He says, “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the U.S. Grains Council has a clear vision . . . has an absolutely beautiful relationship with Moroccans.”

You can listen to those remarks and download them here: usgc-corn-aziz-1.mp3 Download mp3 file

Mr. Aziz also spoke to us about the Moroccan Government’s “Green Plan” for Agriculture. This is a strategy for agriculture that basically says, “You must invest in agriculture to get money.” The government essentially provides land to investors who agree to farm the land. This is important from the standpoint of how much and how quickly Morocco grows into a larger market for American grain.

You can listen to his comments on the Green Plan and download them here: usgc-corn-aziz-2.mp3 Download mp3 file

USGC Corn Mission In Morocco Photo Album

Audio, Corn, International, USGC

Illinois Student Agribloggers

Cindy Zimmerman

agmastersThis fine looking group of students from the University of Illinois are the ones responsible for most of the content on the AGMasters Conference blog this week. This group worked as a team to cover every one of the speakers at the event, including doing audio interviews. I was extremely impressed with their work!

The bloggers are (standing) Crop Science majors Ross Recker and Jared Roskamp. Seated are, left to right, Agricultural Communications major Alyssa Eade, Crop Sci major Caitlin Allen, and Ag Comm major Megan Ott.

They deserve a big round of applause for their great work. I expect to see every one of them working in the industry and making a name for themselves in the very near future. Thanks to all of you!

University

On The Road In Morocco

Chuck Zimmerman

While we get back on the road in Morocco today to the capital city of Rabat and visits with the Ministry of Agriculture I thought you might like to see what the country looked like from the road. Here’s a short video clip in which you can hear U.S. Grains Council Consultant Mustapha El Youssoufi, doing the play by play.

USGC Corn Mission In Morocco Photo Album

Ag Groups, International, USGC, Video

The Movement to Mechanized Sugarcane Harvesting in Brazil

Joanna Schroeder

I recently had the opportunity to go to Brazil to learn more about the sugarcane ethanol industry. While there, I also learned about several agricultural initiatives, including the country’s move to mechanized sugarcane harvesting. In the past, the sugarcane was harvested through what is widely known as slash and burn. Not only is this harmful to the environment, but not an economically sound approach.

In Brazil, sugarcane accounts for 8.14 million hectares of land or 2.5 percent of the arable land. Of that 2.5 percent, 1.5 percent is sugarcane for ethanol, while 48.1 percent of the country’s arable land is used for pasture for cattle. It is interesting to note that 87 percent of sugarcane production is in the state of Sao Paulo – no where near the Amazon Rain Forest.

This year the industry harvested 471.5 million tons, an increase of 7.5 percent from last year, even accounting for excessive rains that left a significant amount of sugarcane in the fields. So how many people does it take to harvest that much cane? The industry employs 850,000, of that 550,000 are cane cutters.

However, this is rapidly changing with the new mechanized harvest, spurred in part by the Green Protocol in Sao Paulo State. This protocol is an agreement between UNICA, the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, and the Sao Paulo state government, to end sugarcane straw burning by 2014. By the 2008/09 harvest year, 49 percent of the harvest was mechanized.

I was able to see a mechanized harvest when I visited, along with 19 other international journalists, a sugarcane field in Ribeirao Preto. The fields were being harvested for sugarcane delivery to Pedra Agroindustrial sugar/ethanol mill. While the state average of mechanized harvesting is 48 percent, 77 percent of Pedra Agroindustrial’s fields were mechanically harvested. Unlike the corn ethanol industry, a large portion of land is owned by the sugar mill and the remainder of the sugarcane is purchased from farmers and suppliers. Here is a brief harvest video.

While mechanized harvesting is good news for the economic vitality of a mill as well as the environment, it is not good news for cane cutters. Therefore, to address the loss of jobs issue, the renovAcao program was developed to retrain 7,000 cane cutters to work in the sugar mills and ethnol plants as well as to work in other industries. The coordinators of the program are UNICA and Feraesp; Syngenta, John Deere and Case IH are sponsors; and funding comes from the Inter American Development Bank.

Interested in seeing more of my trip? Check out my virtual tour here.

Equipment, Ethanol, Farm Machinery, Video

International News About Soybeans

Chuck Zimmerman

john-baizeJohn Baize, Baize & Associates is a regular columnist for the United Soybean Board’s Expert Advice. His company specializes in international agricultural trading and policy consulting on oilseeds and soybeans and including biotechnology policy, trade policy, agriculture policy and market development activities.

In his most recent column you’ll find information about China.

A lot has been said about the impact China has had on the global economy since it opened up to foreign investment and capitalism in the early 1990s. However, until one looks at the numbers, it is virtually impossible to gain a true grasp of how much it has impacted our world. In particular, China has been by far the most important factor impacting global demand for soybeans.

I spoke with John about his work for the United Soybean Board. He says he advises the USB on where he thinks global markets are going. He says its his goal to help them make the best decisions on where to spend Checkoff dollars. Producers will find this type of information in his column. John invites producers to submit questions which he’ll do his best to answer.

You can listen to my interview with John below.

Ag Groups, Audio, International, Soybean, USB

New Vs. Old Style Moroccan Feedlot

Chuck Zimmerman

Morocco FeedlotThe Ammar Beef Feedlot is owned by Ammar Abd El Fettah, picture on the right. He’s standing next to local U.S. Grains Council Consultant Mustapha El Youssoufi. The feedlot was our first stop on our Corn Mission tour of Morocco this morning. Ammar has been in the beef business through his family which goes back generations.

I interviewed them after we walked through the operation which included “the old and the new.” By that I mean that Ammar has built a large new modern feedlot operation which is nearing completion and it sits adjacent to his traditional style feedlot.

The USGC has worked with cooperatives and now private companies like Ammar’s to convince them to try modern style open feedlots. These are less labor intensive and the animals are much more productive. Mustapha says Ammar ran trials that showed that the system works and what he’s building will become a model for other producers in the country and region.

So when it comes to feed for these animals concentrated feed is becoming more desirable and available. Morocco produces some of its own feed products which includes a little bit of corn silage and wheat straw. But when it comes to concentrates they’re now including corn, ddgs and corn gluten feed as well as soybean meal. Ammar says the project is working and he’s very happy with the assistance of the USGC and American farmers.

He’s now planning a meat packing facility and distribution business. You can listen to my interview with them below and watch a short video clip taken at the new feedlot.

USGC Corn Mission In Morocco Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, USGC

Growth of Grain Imports In Morocco

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn MissionThe Director for the Mediterranean and Africa for the U.S. Grains Council is Kurt Shultz. He’s been our main guide and font of information so far.

I spoke with Kurt this morning to get an overview of agriculture in Morocco and the potential it holds for U.S. grain producers. He says that the USGC became involved in Morocco about 15 years ago when corn imports were low and there was a huge duty of about 75 percent. USGC formed a relationship with livestock producers and the government that has led to the reduction of those duties to about 35 percent. That has driven growth tremendously. Another reason for the increase in grain imports is growth in the poultry sector as well as more recently in beef production.

Kurt says that the USGC helped form a poultry organization that provides members with educational materials so that it can compete on a global level. He says that investment has paid off big dividends over the years. Besides corn, he says they are seeing a growth in the imports of dried distillers grains. Kurt says that imports in Morocco could double in the next five years, especially with developments in the ruminant sector.

Kurt is a short timer now here in this area as he has accepted a new position with the USGC to open a regional office in Panama which will cover the Caribbean, Central and South America. We certainly wish him well in his new adventure!

USGC Corn Mission In Morocco Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, USGC