Farm Economy Update at #CIRB2017

Cindy Zimmerman

The team of Gary Schnitkey and Jonathan Coppess from the University of Illinois gave an update on the farm economy during a presentation at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau annual meeting this week.

“We’re seeing deteriorating financial conditions on many farms and we’re likely to continue to see that as long as we have corn prices below four dollars a bushel,” said Schnitkey. He noted that the ARC-County and PLC risk management programs in the 2014 Farm Bill did help some farmers. “The ARC County payment is working as it was designed, it made payments as prices came down, but those payments will transition out over time.” Interview with Gary Schnitkey, Univ. of Ill

Coppess, who served as USDA Farm Service Agency administrator under President Obama, says as negotiations begin for the next farm bill the budget will be a limiting factor. “It’s a zero sum game to increase spending in anything,” he said. “There’s a lot of concern about how effective the programs are and what farmers are going to need to weather the economic downturn. But changing things costs money that will have to be offset somewhere else.” Interview with Jonathan Coppess, Univ. of Ill

Listen to their presentations here: Schnitkey-Coppess on Farm Economy at #CIRB2017

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

Audio, CIRB, Corn, Farm Bill, Insurance

Meet the New USPOULTRY Chair

Cindy Zimmerman

New officers for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) were elected this week during the International Poultry Expo, part of the 2017 International Production & Processing Expo.

Jerry Moye, recently retired president of Cobb-Vantress, was elected chairman of the organization. Moye has a degree in economics from Washington College in Maryland and spent 16 years in integrated chicken production for two large US integrators, Showell Farms of Maryland and Zacky Farms of California, before joining Cobb-Vantress in 1991 where he held a variety of positions and continues to consult for the company in his retirement. He served as vice chairman of USPOULTRY last year and is a former chair of The Poultry Federation.

Learn more about Jerry in this interview: Interview with Jerry Moye, 2017 USPOULTRY chairman

2017 International Production & Processing Expo Photo Album

Coverage of the International Production and Processing Expo is sponsored by
Coverage of the International Production and Processing Expo is sponsored by NOVUS
Audio, IPPE, Poultry, Poultry Expo

#CIRB2017 Gets Legislative Update

Cindy Zimmerman

Lower farm income may not seem like a good thing for farmers right now, but it might make getting a good farm bill a little easier than it was last time, according to American Farm Bureau’s Mary Kay Thatcher who gave members of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau a legislative update at their annual meeting this week.

“Certainly farmers are suffering, but if you’re looking at it from a legislative perspective on writing a farm bill, it’s actually good for inside the beltway,” she said.

As far as risk management is concerned, crop insurance has been a target during budget negotiations and Thatcher expects that to continue. “Crop insurance always has a reason to be concerned,” she said, since it is biggest section of the farm portion of the farm bill. “Why do you rob a bank, because that’s where the money is, and that’s why they look at crop insurance,” said Thatcher.

In this interview, Thatcher also discusses why she thinks the next farm bill might be the most conservation-oriented ever, and her thoughts on how the dairy program might change to make it more like crop insurance. Interview with Mary Kay Thatcher, AFBF, at CIRB2017

Listen to Mary Kay’s presentation here: Mary Kay Thatcher presentation at CIRB2017

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

AFBF, Audio, CIRB, Insurance

“Make #Ethanol Great Again!”

Cindy Zimmerman

The president of the Renewable Fuels Association took a line from the new president of the United States at the 2017 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit Tuesday, encouraging the industry to “make ethanol great again.”

“I believe we are on the cusp of making ethanol great again,” said RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen, who added that support for ethanol has been undermined for the last eight years by an administration mostly unwilling to fight for biofuels, with the notable exception of Tom Vilsack “absolutely the best secretary of agriculture for farmers and biofuels that there has ever been.”

“Unfortunately he became a lonely voice in an administration that didn’t necessarily get it…the rest of the administration kept us stuck in neutral,” Dinneen said.

Ever the optimist, Dinneen is enthusiastic about the future of ethanol with the new presidential administration. “You have a president who supports the RFS,” he said. “And you have a president who has an America first agenda.”

Listen to Dinneen’s remarks, courtesy of Brownfield Ag News, here: RFA CEO Bob Dinneen at Iowa RFA Summit

Audio, Ethanol, RFA

#CIRB2017 Faces Change, Challenge, Opportunity

Cindy Zimmerman

The 53rd annual meeting of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau is officially underway with the theme of Change-Challenge-Opportunity and record attendance, according to Executive Vice President Michael Torrey.

“I think it reflects the theme,” said Torrey. “Obviously a transition is going on, there’s going to be a lot of new people, and we’re going to have a lot of folks who probably aren’t fully aware of what risk management is for America’s farmers and ranchers.”

And that change is both a challenge and an opportunity for the industry, especially as work begins this year on a 2018 farm bill. “As folks start looking at where to get the money to spend on some programs, I think one can safely assume they are going to look at crop insurance,” Torrey said.

Considering the mood in Washington right now, Torrey says there’s “obviously a lot of uncertainty, a lot of unknowns, and folks are just trying to find their way through all of this, but there’s excitement as well.”

Learn more about the CIRB meeting here: Interview with Michael Torrey, CIRB Executive Vice President

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

#CattleCon17 is Here – Get the Scoop from NCBA CEO

Jamie Johansen

The 2017 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show is underway in Nashville, TN and we are set up to bring you updates on policy impacting the beef community and other hot topics cattlemen and women across the country need to know. My first conversation of the week was with the NCBA CEO, Kendall Fraizer, who shared highlights of #CattleCon17 and what we can see from NCBA in 2017.

Fraizer said his team looks forward to working with the new administration and Congress on trade, tax reform and environmental regulation relief. “This year’s going to be an interesting year for our business. We are expanding the cowherd in reaction to higher prices we had in 2013-2015 after liquidating the cowherd during the major drought. The inventory report says we have about a million more cows now so we are going to have a lot of beef to sell this year.”

Education is a key component of this event. Listen to my complete interview with Fraizer to here what the folks at home are missing out on: Interview with Kendall Fraizer, NCBA CEO

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photos

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Livestock, NCBA

Joining @CIRBdc in Florida for Annual Meeting

Cindy Zimmerman

Change, challenge and opportunity are the three words chosen by the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) for their annual meeting this year, being held in Bonita Springs, Florida and they seem pretty appropriate given the new political climate in Washington DC.

This will be my first time attending this event so I am looking forward to what crop insurance industry has to say about the new administration and the first steps toward a 2018 Farm Bill. Some of the experts we will be hearing from at the conference include American Farm Bureau’s Mary Kay Thatcher, University of Illinois economist Gary Schnitkey and former Farm Service Agency administrator Jonathan Coppess, and Jim Wiesemeyer of Informa Economics. We will also be getting an update on the Emerging Leaders Program just now in its second year. Stay tuned!

CIRB, Insurance

Agri-Pulse Unveils New, Improved Website

Kelly Marshall

Agri-Pulse.com has received a makeover, from homepage to new landings for topics like the Farm Bill, Energy, and Labor & Immigration.

The new website was created to offer users better support on mobile phones and tablets, in addition to providing more content, says Editor Sara Wyant. “With the growing number of our readers accessing content on mobile devices, we wanted to ensure that our top-quality content worked on a variety of platforms. This new design will enhance the Agri-Pulse brand while enhancing the user experience with more value in a user-friendly environment”.

To celebrate the launch, Agri-Pulse is celebrating with unrestricted access to their content for the rest of this week. Next week subscribers will need to login. As always, first-time visitors can receive a free, four-week trial subscription to explore the high-quality content.

Agri-Pulse

Georgia Peanut Commission Supports Tornado Relief

Kelly Marshall

Victims of the South Georgia tornado have received more than 10,000 jars of peanut butter from peanut farmers across the state. The Georgia Peanut Commission made the donation through Second Harvest earlier this week and donations are still being accepted.

“Peanut farmers in Georgia, through the Georgia Peanut Commission, have supported the Peanut Proud relief efforts since its inception and we are proud to continue to do so in disaster relief efforts,” says Armond Morris, chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission. “Peanut butter is the perfect food in disaster relief efforts since it does not have to be refrigerated, does not require cooking, and delivers a nutritional punch that is life-sustaining.”

For additional information on the project, visit www.gapeanuts.com or www.peanutproud.com.

Ag Groups, Peanuts

No Date for Ag Secretary Confirmation Yet

Cindy Zimmerman

Confirmation hearings for Trump administration cabinet members have been moving slowly, so it may be toward the end of February before Sonny Perdue is confirmed as Secretary of Agriculture, but he has been meeting with lawmakers in the meantime.

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) “had a good conversation” with the former governor of Georgia on Tuesday where they discussed “regional differences in agriculture” and the importance of sound policies. “I am confident that Governor Perdue’s experience and unique perspective will prepare him well to take on the critical role of leading the USDA,” said Fischer.

You might be wondering just who’s minding the USDA during this transition time. According to a USDA memo, various career department staffers were named by outgoing Secretary Tom Vilsack to perform critical duties in the transition period. No acting secretary was named but Michael Young (Director of the Office of Budget and Program Analysis) has the title of acting Deputy Secretary of Agriculture so is the de facto head of the department without cabinet status. Michael Scuse, who was named acting secretary for the week between Vilsack leaving and the inauguration, was just confirmed as Delaware Secretary of Agriculture last week.

Working on the transition is Dr. Sam Clovis, a political science professor and talk show host from Iowa who was named Senior White House Advisor for USDA.

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