R. F. D. News & Views, December 18, 2013

ICGA: No Farm Bill in 2013

BLOOMINGTON – U.S. farmers were given the final word December 10 that the Farm Bill conference committee will not reach a final negotiation on the farm bill prior to the end of 2013, Illinois Corn has reported. House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas filed an extension of the current farm bill in effect until January 31, allowing the House to recess for the holidays with the Food, Farm and Jobs Bill left in limbo.

The announcement follows U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s December 5 statement that he was confident Congress would end negotiations and pass a farm bill. “I’m encouraging them to find it sooner than later because the uncertainty of not having a bill for this length of time is in fact having an impact on the countryside,” Vilsack said in a USDA news release that day.

The lack of a new farm bill or an extension of the current law by January 1 would revert the bill back– for some reason– to a 1949 version that would increase subsidy prices, beginning with dairy, according to the USDA news release. Vilsack said USDA was “prepared” should Congress fail to pass or extend farm legislation.


White House: Farm Bill Passage Essential

WASHINGTON, DC – After 43 months of urging Congress to craft and approve a comprehensive, five-year farm, food and energy policy for the nation, the 2013 Farm Bill remains unfinished. As the Obama Administration made clear last week that passage of the bill is a priority and of importance to every American, a new White House Rural Council Report highlighted its economic significance.

According to the report, benefits of farm bill passage include building on the recent momentum of the U.S. agriculture economy, promoting development in communities across the country, protecting vital food assistance programs, creating a reliable safety net for farmers and ranchers through federal crop and disaster programs, continuing federal conservation efforts, promoting new export and domestic markets for farmers, supporting agricultural research and reducing the federal deficit by enacting money-saving reforms that save billions of dollars in the coming decade.

The economic benefits of a new farm bill would impact the domestic agriculture sector, its workforce, rural American communities and families and businesses across the country, according to the report.


Pork Producers Enjoy Rebound Year

NORMAL  – Illinois pork producers are beginning to recover from the financial effects of record-high input prices that resulted in herd reductions, while looking forward to what is shaping up to be a prolonged period of profitability. “Cheaper input costs will bring more profitability back to the pork industry. We weathered a pretty good storm of high input costs the last couple of years due to weather-related production of corn and soybeans, and the drought (of 2012). Now we’ve got a large corn crop, and that’s of course bringing our price for corn down,” said Dereke Dunkirk, president of the Illinois Pork Producers Association, during the recent Illinois Commodity Conference in Normal.

With an increase in operating funds, producers who supplemented their animal feed due to the drought should be able to regain any lost herd performance, Dunkirk said. “During the drought producers found new and creative ways to keep diets and operations profitable. Moving forward they’ll be able to put more corn and soybean meal back in their diets and improve pig performance to make their operations more profitable,” he explained.

Since most ag economists agree that corn is not likely to regain its record market value in the next couple of years, pork producers are making long-term plans for favorable market conditions. “All markets are cyclical and we’ve been riding on some pretty high times with commodity prices for corn, so we do believe that (corn) will trend lower for a period of time,” said Dunkirk, a fifth-generation farmer from Morrisonville. “Most of the producers I’ve talked to at regional meetings throughout the state are positive going into the new year, and looking forward to being able to fix their feed budgets and make some profit.”


IFCA: Air-Injected Ammonia Systems Off Limits

BLOOMINGTON – Following the recent severe burning of a Peoria man in an anhydrous ammonia accident and other, less severe injuries across Illinois this fall, safe ammonia transport and handling by farmers is again under scrutiny. The Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association (IFCA) is warning farmers and ammonia retailers to remain vigilant regarding safety and regulations when handling ammonia, including using proper application systems. IFCA sent an alert to its members last week warning that ammonia application systems utilizing air injection to increase pressure during cold weather are illegal in Illinois, although the systems are apparently being advertised here.

“Introducing air into anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks can eventually cause stress crack corrosion compromising the integrity of metal which could lead to a catastrophic failure,” according to IFCA. “Additionally, once air is introduced into NH3 nurse tanks, the air can travel from the nurse tank, back to the storage tank, rail car or transport semi and eventually back into the distribution chain. Ethanol plants that use anhydrous ammonia as well as distribution facilities have problems such as locked compressors from air being introduced into their ammonia system.”

Illinois Department of Agriculture regulations prohibit the addition of additives, including air, into ammonia application systems, the IFCA reported.


ICMB Seeking Interns

BLOOMINGTON – The Illinois Corn Marketing Board is seeking summer 2014 college interns for work in the areas of education specialist, video and graphics, and issues management/video and graphics. In addition, the Illinois Corn Growers Association is offering a legislative internship position. Details about the internships can be found at www.ilcorn.org.


Illinois Farm Fact:

Illinois is one of the top five states in cash income and crop cash receipts (ilagriculture.com).


(Tim Alexander is a freelance reporter who writes agriculture, news and feature articles for the News Bulletin, Farm World and many other publications.)