5 years, 3 months ago National AG News
President Donald Trump will address the American Farm Bureau’s 100th Annual Convention on Monday, January 14th, in New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s the second-straight year that the president will make an appearance at the Farm Bureau event. The convention runs from January 11 through January 16. Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall says his organization is honored to host the president once again. “President Trump has made agriculture a clear priority, giving farmers and ranchers a seat at the table on the top issues affecting our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” Duvall says. “What better way to celebrate 100 years of Farm Bureau than to welcome the president of the United States to our centennial celebration?” The president spoke last year at the 99th event in Nashville. In remarks to the members, he said he was disappointed that it was “only” the 99th event. “You have to understand,” he told members, “100 is so much cooler, I have to be honest. So, I will be back next year.” Farm Bureau Vice President Scott VanderWal of South Dakota says a presidential speech will “really cap off the centennial.”
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House Passes Ag Appropriations Bill Trying to End Shutdown
Ten Republicans joined Democrats in the House of Representatives to pass a fiscal year 2019 agriculture appropriations bill. A DTN report says the bill is not supported by Senate and House Republican leadership, or by President Trump. It’s part of an effort by Democrats in the House to end the partial government shutdown. The vote was 243 to 183. The bill itself was the same appropriations bill that the Senate passed last year. As the House voting was in process, President Trump and certain cabinet members were making a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border to make his case for funding a border wall as well as other security measures. Debate over the ag appropriations bill lasted an hour. During the discussion, Georgia Representative Sanford Bishop led fellow Democrats in urging colleagues to pass the bill as part of an effort to get the shutdown ended and government reopened. House Democrats stressed during the debate that the government shutdown is putting stress on Americans, offering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as an example. They said while the Trump Administration has a plan to get SNAP benefits out in February, there’s no plan after that.
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Business Pushing for USMCA Approval
Major U.S. businesses are putting together a large coalition to help lobby lawmakers and ask them to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. An industry source tells Politico that up to three dozen associations across different sectors of the economy are involved. However, the official start date for the coalition’s efforts has not been released yet. U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue expressed confidence that lawmakers will ultimately ratify the USMCA because of just how important America’s trading relationship is with its two biggest export markets, Mexico and Canada. In his annual “State of American Business” speech, Donohue asks the Trump Administration to drop the steel and aluminum tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. “This would be an encouraging sign for all our trading partners,” he says, “including those we’re pursuing new market-opening agreements with, like Japan, the U.K., and the European Union.” Speaking of Japan, Politico also notes that the former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. says the Trump Administration needs to “be realistic” about what it can achieve on the agricultural front.
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Yearly Sales of U.S. Tractors and Combines Rise
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers released its “Flash Report” that says the total number of tractors sold in the U.S. was up seven percent when compared to 2017. The number of tractors sold in 2018 totaled 235,856, seven percent higher than the 220,605 tractors sold in 2017. During December of last year, the sales of two-wheel drive smaller tractors (under 40 horsepower) were also up seven percent compared to December of 2017, while sales of tractors with engines between 40 and 100 horsepower were four percent higher than the previous December. Sales of two-wheel drive tractors with 100+ horsepower were up six percent in December of 2018, while the sales of four-wheel drive tractors dipped by nine percent from the previous December. For the year, two-wheel drive smaller tractors under 40 horsepower were up nine percent from 2017, while sales of 40 and under 100 HP engines were two percent higher. Sales of two-wheel drive tractors 100+ horsepower were up six percent, while the four-wheel drive tractor sales were up 13 percent. Combine sales were up 30 percent for the month of December. Combine sales for the year came in at 4,849, compared to 4,104 in 2017, an 18 percent increase.
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NCGA Says No To Possible Early Withdrawal of NAFTA
The National Corn Growers Association is committed to creating new market opportunities abroad for U.S. corn producers, which means more market access around the world. It also means securing the important trade markets of Canada and Mexico, getting some stability back into those relationships with the U.S.A.’s North American trading partners. NCGA says that the first NAFTA has been an unprecedented success in helping America’s corn producers. Going back to 1994, American corn exports to these regional partners have increased 300 percent. Mexico is now the top destination for U.S. corn exports. Recent corn exports to Mexico were up 13 percent for 2017-2018 when compared to the previous year. The total reached a record high of 15.7 million tons, or 618 million bushels. As Congress begins to consider the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, it is impreative that the Administration not withdraw from NAFTA before the new agreement is officially ratified. Earlier reports have President Trump considering early withdrawal of NAFTA as a way to pressure Congress into approving the deal. However, NCGA says those markets are vital to U.S. corn farmers and far too important to potentially put at risk.
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Soybean Yield Beats Trendline, Corn More Variable
U.S. corn and soybean yields between 2013 and 2018 are both well above trendlines. Corn yields were 8.2 bushels per acre above trendline, while soybean yields were 3.7 bushels per acre above trendline. Those numbers come from a University of Illinois study. Soybeans were above trendline in every state the crop is grown in. Gary Schnitkey of the University of Illinois says the six-year run of above trendline yields has been remarkable. “A combination of good growing conditions, continuing increases in the genetic potential of soybean varieties, as well as changes in farming practices are all likely contributors to higher yields.” While all of the states show above trendline yields, they aren’t all equally high. For example, South Dakota soybean yields were much higher than the surrounding states. Corn yields varied by as much as 40 bushels to the acre geographically. Seven corn-growing states finished with yields at least 20 bushels an acre above trendline. Five states showed yields up to as many as 18 bushels an acre below trendline.
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National Ag News Audio
Suggested Lead: House approval of bills to reopen USDA and other largely-shuttered federal agencies, has put on display the political futility of the now-longest partial government shutdown in history. Lawmakers--most still accepting their paycheck while some 800-thousand federal workers lost theirs--spent days last week futilely debating bills that had no chance of being enacted, tthat would reopen affected departments, including USDA.
Neither side budged on border wall funding as the political finger-pointing and name calling escalated. Democrats passed ‘messaging bills’ going nowhere, intended to pressure Republicans and the president to reopen shuttered agencies. But the only agreement came on a bill to ensure furloughed workers get missed pay once the shutdown ends. Incoming House Ag Appropriations Chair Sanford Bishop…
“USDA has stopped making loans and grants for rural development programs, such as housing, water and waste water facilities…new grants to our universities for agriculture research cannot be made…across the nation, Farm Service Agency county offices have been closed since December 28th…farmers applying for relief from retaliatory tariffs are in limbo, waiting for the shutdown to end…nearly 33-thousand USDA employees who are funded by this bill, are currently furloughed.”
But former Ag spending Chair, Republican Robert Aderholt complained Democrats were repackaging bills the GOP Senate passed last year—never agreed to by the House--in a bid to score political points. Aderholt urged colleagues…
“Reject this strategy of passing the Senate bills, which at the end of the day, is not going to bring us any closer to ending the partial government shutdown. To paraphrase the president’s remarks two nights ago, in order for us to resolve this funding dispute, we need to invest in border security, not because we hate the people on the outside of our borders, but because we love the people within our borders. The only thing that is immoral, is for politicians to stand by and do nothing.”
using the word House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used to describe a border wall in the Democrats’ response to President Trump’s oval office address to the nation. The USDA spending bill passed 243-183, with just 10 GOP votes, but Senate Republicans refused to take up any House bills to reopen agencies until the border wall dispute is resolved.
