American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman says approval of the bilateral free-trade agreements between the United States and Korea, Colombia and Panama, as well as approval of Trade Adjustment Assistance, is welcome news for farmers and ranchers. Stallman says – swift implementation is critical, so we can restore a level playing field for U.S. farm exports to these three nations.

Stallman points out that – over the past four years, Korea, Colombia and Panama have opened their doors to our competitors. Congress and the administration have now given us the opportunity to improve our competitive position in these markets. Stallman says – the economic growth generated from the agreements will improve our economy and create jobs here at home.

According to Farm Bureau, combined, the three FTAs represent nearly 2.5-billion dollars in new agriculture exports for America’s farmers and are expected to create economic growth that could generate support for up to 22,500 U.S. jobs.

[For related story and audio, please see page 6]

St. Joseph
Yellow Corn	6.16 – 6.23
White Corn	6.83
Soybeans	11.96 – 12.04
LifeLine Foods
Yellow Corn	Existing contracts only
Atchison, Kansas
Yellow Cor	6.35- 6.43
Soybeans	11.94
Hard Wheat	6.51
Soft Wheat	no bid
Kansas City, Missouri Truck Bid
Yellow Corn	6.28 – 6.33
White Corn*	6.79 – 7.05
Soybeans	12.20
Hard Wheat	6.66
Soft Wheat	5.83 – 5.88
Sorghum	10.95
*this bid is only updated weekly from USDA and is a Kansas City rail bid. Call your grain merchandiser for the most current bid.

	Future Prices Grain futures from the Chicago and Kansas City Board of Trade and livestock futures from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
	USDA Market News – Kansas City Truck Bids
	For questions please contact 680 KFEQ Farm Department at [email protected]

Our next stop with the KFEQ harvest reports, we visit with Matt Brown, who farms near Skidmore Missouri.

[audio:http://www.stjosephpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/1011Brown.mp3|titles=Brown]

Gov. Jay Nixon visited Rogersville Wednesday to recognize Randy Mooney, who owns M&M Dairy LLC, with the Governor’s Award for Agricultural Achievement. The award honors outstanding farmers, growers and processors in a variety of agriculture commodities.

M&M Dairy is an innovator in Missouri grass-based dairy systems, adopting their pasture management system in 1992. M&M Dairy’s rotational grazing process maximizes forage use by intensively managing plant growth and grazing time. Over the past two decades, M&M Dairy has grown from 125 to 250 milking cows while improving pasture, soil and water quality.

In addition to operating his dairy, Mooney is also the Chairman of the Board of Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), Chairman of the National Milk Producers Federation and serves on boards of several dairy organizations including the Missouri State Milk Board.

“Agriculture has always been, and will always be, the heart of Missouri’s economy and operations like M&M Dairy are the reason why,” Gov. Nixon said. “Missouri farmers feed a hungry world, and they help strengthen America’s energy independence. Farmers also create jobs and support our economy. The farmers, ranchers and producers of Missouri are moving our state forward through innovation and conservation, breaking new ground and creating new opportunities for our future.”

Listen for next weeks Missouri Corn Update on 680 KFEQ to hear from Mooney.

 

The Federal Communications Commission and LightSquared must complete comprehensive and rigorous testing on all proposed technical fixes to ensure there is no interference between broadband and GPS signals.  That’s the message the American Farm Bureau and a dozen national producer groups told the House Small Business Committee Wednesday. They also believe LightSquared should cover the expense of all technical fixes related to the interference issue to ensure the cost is not passed along to farmers and ranchers.

AFBF President Bob Stallman says – it is critical that costs for resolving this issue are not passed along to farmers and ranchers through higher GPS or equipment costs. American Soybean Association First Vice President Steve Wellman, a farmer from Syracuse, Nebraska, says – additional testing is imperative. We need to know with certainty that any modifications and proposed solutions will work for new and existing precision agriculture equipment.

Farmers use GPS for accurate mapping of field boundaries, roads and irrigation systems; for precision planting; and for targeting the application of fertilizer and chemicals that combat weeds and crop diseases. GPS also allows farmers to work in their fields despite low-visibility conditions such as rain, dust, fog and darkness.

The House and Senate were both able to move the three free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea Wednesday. After overcoming a motion to recommit the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement with instructions .

the House went on to pass the agreement on a 262 to 167 vote; followed by the agreement with Panama – which garnered 300 yes votes; and then the Korea trade agreement – which was approved on a 278 to 151 vote. Finally – the House voted to reauthorize Trade Adjustment Assistance and the Generalized System of Preferences 307 to 122. The trade agreements immediately went to the Senate for votes.  The vote was 83 to 15 in favor of the Korea deal; 77 to 22 on the agreement with Panama; and 66 to 33 for Colombia.

Ahead of the vote – Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa took to the floor to point out the benefits of all three agreements. After noting that implementing the trade deals was a clear and simple way to create jobs and stimulate growth in the economy – the Senator focused on some of the agricultural benefits. The Korean deal – for example – is estimated to increase the price farmers receive for their hogs by 10-dollars per pig. The deal with Colombia will level the playing field for U.S. corn farmers so they can begin to reclaim some of the market share lost due to high tariffs. Panama means better opportunities for a variety of ag products – including beef, poultry and pork.

Along with the passage of these three trade agreements – Grassley believes Congress should pass trade promotion authority and the administration should make it a top priority to seek out more opportunities for opening foreign markets for U.S. products. He says that’s a way to continue helping U.S. farmers. According to Grassley – it’s time to re-establish our position as the world leader in opening and expanding markets. He encouraged the administration to move forward on other job-generating trade initiatives without delay.

St. Joseph
Yellow Corn	6.20
White Corn	6.85
Soybeans	11.74 – 11.84
LifeLine Foods
Yellow Corn	Existing contracts only
Atchison, Kansas
Yellow Cor	6.37- 6.46
Soybeans	11.79
Hard Wheat	no bid
Soft Wheat	no bid
Kansas City, Missouri Truck Bid
Yellow Corn	6.28 – 6.33
White Corn*	6.79 – 7.05
Soybeans	12.03
Hard Wheat	6.76
Soft Wheat	5.92 – 5.97
Sorghum	11.00
*this bid is only updated weekly from USDA and is a Kansas City rail bid. Call your grain merchandiser for the most current bid.

	Future Prices Grain futures from the Chicago and Kansas City Board of Trade and livestock futures from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
	USDA Market News – Kansas City Truck Bids
	For questions please contact 680 KFEQ Farm Department at [email protected]

St. Joseph
Yellow Corn	6.25
White Corn	6.90
Soybeans	11.70 – 11.80
LifeLine Foods
Yellow Corn	6.25
Atchison, Kansas
Yellow Cor6.30	6.30- 6.50
Soybeans	11.60
Hard Wheat	6.79
Soft Wheat	no bid
Kansas City, Missouri Truck Bid
Yellow Corn	6.40
White Corn*	6.49 6.69
Soybeans	11.99
Hard Wheat	6.95
Soft Wheat	6.26 – 6.31
Sorghum	11.07
*this bid is only updated weekly from USDA and is a Kansas City rail bid. Call your grain merchandiser for the most current bid.

	Future Prices Grain futures from the Chicago and Kansas City Board of Trade and livestock futures from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
	USDA Market News – Kansas City Truck Bids
	For questions please contact 680 KFEQ Farm Department at [email protected]

KFEQ harvest reports continue today as we chat with Troy Milne.  Milne is a producer from Oregon Mo. and suffered flood loss of near 2,500 acres.

[audio:http://www.stjosephpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Milne.mp3|titles=Milne]