Syngenta is making a broad assessment of the value of atrazine in today’s agricultural economy. Syngenta is the principal registrant for atrazine which has been used with success by U.S. corn, sorghum and sugar farmers for the past 50 years, benefiting them to the tune of 3.3-billion dollars. In addition to managing weeds, atrazine and its sister triazines are critical to support conservation tillage practices that improve soil conservation in row crop production.

One key economic study being used by Syngenta was conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That study reveals that Atrazine and its sister triazine herbicides are worth an estimated annual yield benefit and net cost savings of 343-million dollars for U.S. sorghum growers, 210-million for U.S. corn growers and up to 120-million dollars for U.S. sugar cane growers. The family of products also provides substantial weed control and encourages conservation tillage and no-till farming, which reduce soil erosion and improve water quality.

It’s been one year since the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was enacted. The legislation was designed to combat child hunger and obesity and improve the health and nutrition of the nation’s children. First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are the leaders of the campaign. The First Lady says – the success of our nation tomorrow depends on the choices we make for our kids today. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is vital to the health and welfare of our kids, helping them build the healthy futures they deserve.

The Act makes many critical improvements to the child nutrition programs that serve millions of children across our country each day. It provides for improved access to make it easier for children to get nutritious meals when they are away from home. The legislation also improves the entire nutrition environment in schools and will enhance understanding of the causes and consequences of hunger and food insecurity among children.

Mrs. Obama says – we’ve seen the connection between what our kids eat and how well they perform in school. It is critical that we work to ensure that all children have the basic nutrition they need to learn, grow, and to pursue their dreams. According to Ag Secretary Vilsack, – the strength of our communities, our economy, and our national security, rely on the health of our children. Today, we celebrate those important accomplishments and look forward to those achievements which are still to come.

The National FFA Foundation reports that a record 16-million dollars has been raised through corporate and private financial contributions to support the FFA in 2011. The foundation welcomed 40 new corporate sponsors in 2011, raising the total number to 1,212. The foundation also says it drew more than 80 new companies and organizations as exhibitors at the 2011 National FFA Convention and Expo, held in Indianapolis. Also, more than 53,350 FFA members, teachers and school administrators attended the 2011 event.

National FFA Foundation executive director Rob Cooper says – we were well positioned in 2011 with the resources we needed to ensure our members received the ultimate FFA experience through our programs and key initiatives. Our core programs, including career development events, proficiencies, scholarships, award competitions and more, were funded at 90 percent – another record high.

Providing opportunities that help FFA members grow and succeed is the work of the National FFA Foundation. Foundation donors make possible award and recognition programs, scholarships, service learning activities, global engagement programs, national FFA convention functions, educational materials, teacher training and much more

 

The Senate Ag Committee held its hearing on the MF Global bankruptcy Tuesday. During the hearing, Chairwoman Senator Debbie Stabenow questioned MF Global executives over the circumstances that led to the collapse of the financial firm and the estimated 1.2-billion dollars in missing customer funds. Former MF Global CEO Jon Corzine and other MF Global executives, and regulators who oversee the commodities markets participated in the hearing.

 

Stabenow pointed out – this hearing is about three things: getting the customer’s money back, holding anyone engaged in wrongdoing accountable, and ensuring that proper customer protections are in place so that something like this doesn’t happen again. She said – our farmers and ranchers have lost trust in the system. They believed there were safeguards in place to protect their money in exactly this situation.

 

A major question concerns the separation of customer funds from organizational funds. It appears that has not happened in this case. Tuesday’s hearing is the latest step in an ongoing examination of the circumstances surrounding the October 31 bankruptcy of MF Global.

 

Last week, the House Ag Committee held a hearing, looking at the bankruptcy of MF Global. Tomorrow, the Senate Ag Committee takes its turn to learn first-hand about the bankruptcy and how it affected, and continues to affect MF Global’s customer base. The 1.2-trillion dollars in missing customer funds has left many farmers, ranchers and businesses across America in a cash bind because they depended on MF Global to handle their futures trading business.

Farmers and ranchers rely on futures markets to smooth price volatility and manage the risks that are inherent to production agriculture.  Businesses have confidence in futures investments because of a protection that ensures that customer funds used to guarantee trades must be segregated from the broker’s funds.  This separation of funds protects customers’ margin in the event that their trader defaults or files for bankruptcy.

Even after the House Ag Committee hearing last week, committee chairman Frank Lucas admitted, – there are still more questions than answers about the missing customer funds and there is a great deal more to learn if we are to restore confidence in the futures markets. How much new information will be revealed during tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) hearing remains to be seen.

Beginning with the 2012 crop year, farmers purchasing crop insurance for corn and soybeans in 14 Midwestern states will have the option to use the Trend-Adjusted Actual Production History Yield Endorsement. This endorsement will allow farmers to increase the yields used in calculating crop insurance guarantees. According to University of Illinois Extension farm management specialist Gary Schnitkey, electing to take this endorsement will give farmers more coverage for the same cost. A decision to elect the endorsement must be made by March 15, 2012.

Yields have been increasing over time and as Schnitkey explains – this trend adjustment takes that increase into consideration and adds to the APH yield, which is usually used to calculate guarantees. The new number will more accurately reflect the actual yields that we’re likely to experience in the coming year. Schnitkey says for most Illinois farmers the proposal adds about two bushels of corn to a farmer’s yield per year.

This program is an endorsement. It’s a pilot project available for corn and soybeans farmers in 14 states, roughly from Ohio to Colorado and North Dakota down to Kansas. Schnitkey predicts that – if the actuarial performance of this product works out, it will be expanded to other crops

The Ag spending bill does not provide funding for implementation of the proposed GIPSA Final Rule announced last week by USDA. A separate funding bill may cover the cost but the issue had not been addressed as of late Friday. Going past funding, several key area of concern did not find their way into the GIPSA proposal. One such concern is clarification of the definition of “competitive injury” and “likelihood of competitive injury”.

Currently, in order to make his case, a producer must prove that a packer’s anti-competitive practices damaged the entire marketplace. Much of the industry thinks a clarification should make it possible for a producer to only have to prove that his or her operation was hurt by such actions. USDA did not address this issue in the proposal Final rule.

If funded, and once the rule goes into effect, and as more of these issues come to light, more debate can be expected and more efforts made to address these issues in future rules.