TAMPA BAY, Fla. – The following is a collection of news tidbits from the Commodity Classic, an annual gathering of U.S. corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum growers.
This year’s convention drew 4,743 people.
Look for more detailed stories on these subjects in upcoming issues of The Western Producer.
Winter wheat crop damaged
There is little doubt that the U.S. winter wheat crop has been damaged by a combination of winterkill and drought but the extent of the damage remains to be seen.
Growers seeded 41 million acres of winter wheat, up 10 percent from last year’s plantings.
Crop reports out of Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas show that the winter wheat crop is in much worse shape than it was at this time last year.
Together, the four states that account for about half of the U.S. winter wheat acreage.
The Canadian Wheat Board says the U.S. crop is in “perilous condition.”
U.S. wheat industry leaders say there’s no doubt that the crop is off to a rough start but they point out that wheat has nine lives and could recover if the spring brings better weather conditions.
The extent of any recovery will depend on how much winterkill damage occurred earlier in the year.
If there is considerable damage to the 29.6 million acres of U.S. hard red winter wheat, there would be less quality wheat for Canadian growers to compete with on the world market.
Good year ahead
U.S. secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack says 2011 is shaping up to be another good year for farmers.
Net income is forecast at $94.7 billion, up 20 percent over last year, which was up 34 percent over the year before.
That would be the second highest inflation adjusted income level in the last three decades.
“That’s certainly good news,” Vilsack told growers attending the Commodity Classic conference.
U.S. agriculture exports are projected to be $135.5 billion, which is $20 billion more than 2010.
“It will be a record year as 2010 was a record year,” said Vilsack.
EU restricting U.S. soybeans
U.S. soybean growers say they are being shut our of the European market by a new biofuel policy.
The EU’s Renewable Energy Directive stipulates all biofuel feedstock must reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum diesel by 35 percent by 2013 and 50 percent by 2017.
The EU has established a default value for U.S. soybeans of 31 percent.
“This disqualifies it from the mandate and the (tax) credits,” said Steve Wellman, first vice-president of the American Soybean Association.
The policy jeopardizes $1 billion in annual sales to the fourth largest market for U.S. soybeans.
The association was part of a trade mission to the EU last month that is pushing for a bilateral agreement that will allow U.S. soybeans to continue to be used by the EU’s biofuel sector.
Budget cuts
American growers are upset by proposed budget cuts to federal farm programs and operating budgets for the remaining seven months of 2011.
They say the H.R. 1 Continuing Resolution would cut $5.21 billion or 22.4 percent from the agriculture budget, which is more than double the 10.3 percent cut proposed in overall discretionary spending.
Farmers were also told to expect cuts in the 2012 U.S. Farm Bill due to the country’s $14 trillion national debt.
“The best-case scenario would be to keep what we have going into the next farm bill, but even that’s not possible,” said house agriculture committee chair Frank Lucas.
“This one is shaping up to be quite a doozy.”
Rail consolidation impacts U.S. growers
Canadian farmers aren’t the only ones worried about poor rail service and unfair rates.
In 1980, there were 40 Class 1 railways operating in the U.S. After a series of mergers and consolidations, that number has fallen to seven. Three of those railways control more than 70 percent of grain movement in the country.
The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) said shippers in the central region of the country have some competition but many farmers on the outskirts rely on only one service provider.
Two pieces of legislation have been drafted by U.S. senators to protect growers against further consolidation and unfair shipping fees. NAWG hopes Congress will approve both bills in 2011.
