The National Pork Producers Council and the North Carolina Pork Council filed a court brief in support of lifting a judge’s gag order related to nuisance lawsuits filed against more than two dozen hog farms. Judge Earl Britt of the Eastern U.S. District Court in North Carolina imposed the gag order in late June, applying it to the lawsuit parties, lawyers, and potential witnesses in the lawsuits brought against Murphy-Brown, a Smithfield Foods subsidiary. The judge said a “significant increase in trial publicity” and the “volume and scope of prejudicial publicity” around the first two cases could taint future jurors. Both pork organizations filed a brief with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking that the Appeals court grant the Murphy-Brown petition to vacate the District Court’s prior restraint on free speech. In the brief, the pork producers say that “all but the most carefully crafted, narrow gag orders are unconstitutional.” They also pointed out that “it’s not reasonable to think that any gag order will reduce coverage of the cases or the public’s interest in them.”

(Missourinet) – Thousands of people are expected to travel Thursday to west-central Missouri’s Sedalia for the opening of the 2018 State Fair.

Governor Mike Parson (R) is expected to speak at Thursday’s opening ceremony at noon on the fairgrounds.

State Fair Director Mark Wolfe says one of the biggest changes in 2018 involves six nights of fireworks, which are being sponsored by Bryant Motors of Sedalia.

“Normally we have three (fireworks displays), so the first three nights of the fair, (and) the 15th, and then the 17th and the 18th the last Friday and Saturday of the fair we’ll have some really big fireworks shows,” Wolfe says.

You’ll also notice four new photo stations at the fairgrounds, featuring fair scenes.

There are also four new solar cell phone charging stations across the fairgrounds. They are available year-round.

The theme for the 116th Missouri State Fair is “Come Home.”

Missouri State Fair officials are encouraging you to bring canned goods to this year’s fair in Sedalia.

Director Wolfe says one in five Missourians are hungry and that in parts of rural Missouri, one in three children face being hungry on a regular basis. Children struggling with food insecurity are at greater risk of health problems and lower school test scores.

He says the 2018 goal is for Missouri FFA members and volunteers to pack 100,000 meals at the State Fair.

“We had about 300 or 350 FFA students that came in last year,” says Wolfe. “All the food was purchased in bulk and they set up down in the Lowell Mohler Assembly Hall and packed these meals and they packed 52,000 meals in a little over two hours.”

Wolfe says because of those 2017 efforts, 900 pounds of nutritious, fresh produce were donated to a “Feeding Missouri” regional food bank.

More than $146,000 was raised for “Feeding Missouri” to sustain food supply efforts throughout the year.

This will be the eighth year the State Fair has conducted a food drive, and Wolfe says the “Missouri Farmers Care Food Drive $2 Tuesday” is next Tuesday, August 14th.

“The promotion is if you as a fairgoer, if you come to the fair that day and bring two canned food items with you, we’ll let you in for a $2 admission. Regular admission is $10, so it’s a pretty good discount and gives everybody a chance to give back to those a little less fortunate.”

The 2018 fair runs through August 19.

In addition to Thursday’s noon opening ceremony, the opening day parade will take place Thursday evening at 6 on Missouri State Fair Boulevard in Sedalia.

Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce is reminding producers that the deadline to sign up for enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program is Friday, August 17th. “Any agricultural producer with eligible land should look into the benefits of this program,” Fordyce says. “It removes marginal, erodible land from production, thereby improving water quality, increases wildlife habitat, and provides more opportunities for recreational activities like fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing.” For this year’s signup, limited priority practices are available for continuous enrollment. They include grassed waterways, filter strips, riparian buffers, wetland restoration, and others. FSA will use updated soil rental rates to make their annual payments, reflecting current values. It will not offer incentive payments as part of the new signup. USDA will not open general signup this year. However, a one-year extension will be offered to existing CRP participants with expiring contracts of 14 years or less.

In spite of an ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies, China may actually have to start buying U.S. soybeans in the near future. A Reuters report says oil seed analysis organization Oil World, based in Germany, says South American countries can’t supply all the soybeans that China needs. China is the world’s largest soybean buyer and has been buying South American supplies to make up for the shortfall caused by the trade war with America. However, South American supplies that are actually available for export are down. The latest newsletter from Oil World says China will have to buy more U.S. soybeans. “The South American supply shortage will make it necessary for China, in our opinion, to import 15 million tons of U.S. soybeans in October 2018/March 2019, even if the trade war isn’t resolved,” Oil World says in its newsletter. Oil World also says those Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans could start again in the “coming weeks.” Otherwise, without buying from America, domestic supplies of soybeans will get very tight in China.

Strong June results capped a tremendous first half of 2018 for U.S. beef exports. That’s according to USDA data compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. June pork exports were lower than a year ago for the second straight month, but first-half volume and value remained ahead of last year’s pace. Beef muscle cut exports set a new volume record in June, coming in at 90,745 metric tons, 15 percent higher than in 2017. By adding in variety meat, total beef export volume was more than 115,000 metric tons. That’s six percent higher than 2017 and valued at $718 million dollars. International customers bought a larger share of beef production, even at higher prices, which indicates strong demand. After setting a new record in April, pork export volume has trended lower the past two months, mainly due to a drop in exports to the China/Hong Kong region. June pork exports totaled 191,303 metric tons, 4.5 percent lower than last year. The USMEF says pork exports face a challenging environment in China and Hong Kong. It’s not just because of retaliatory tariffs, but also because China is increasing domestic production.

(CME)The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer declined 26 points, down to 117, in July making it the largest one-month decline in producer sentiment since data collection began in October 2015. The drop in sentiment was fueled by increasing trade war concerns and decreasing commodity prices. “This summer we’ve seen tariffs placed on imports of U.S. ag products by China and Mexico that are impacting producers’ bottom line,” said James Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. “This month, we asked producers whether they expect to see their net income decline as a result of trade war conflicts. Over two-thirds of respondents indicated they expect to see lower income because of trade conflicts with over 70 percent of them expecting a net income decline of 10 percent or more.” Sharp declines were also recorded for the Index of Current Conditions, which fell from 138 to 99, and the Index of Future Expectations, which fell from 146 to 126 in July. The Ag Economy barometer is based on a monthly survey of 400 agricultural producers from across the country.
“Commodity prices dropped sharply in June and July, and there is real concern among producers that those prices will remain low and, possibly, fall even further,” said Mintert. In the July survey, approximately 4 out of 10 producers stated they think it’s likely December 2018 corn futures will trade below $3.25 per bushel and November 2018 soybean futures trade below $8 per bushel between mid-July and this fall. “Prices in that range would result in a significant cash flow squeeze for many farm operators,” said Mintert. “While prices at those levels would cover variable production expenses, it would leave some farmers falling far short of covering fixed and overhead expenses.” The negative outlook on commodity prices spilled over into farmland values as well, with 31 percent of producers saying they expect lower farmland prices over the next year. Farmers also became more apprehensive about making large purchases, as 73 percent indicated it’s a bad time for large farm investments.

China announced on Friday that it’s ready and willing to put tariffs on another $60 billion worth of American imports. If it follows through on the threat, the total tariff bill on American goods will be $130 billion. Agriculture continues to be on the hit list. Politico says an informal translation of the new list includes hops, maple syrup, whey protein, frozen corn, margarine and shortening, ginseng, and “packaged foods for young infants and children.” A list like this will affect producers from Vermont all the way to California and everywhere in between. The list also includes agricultural machinery exports like milking machines and parts. A new target on the list includes hides and leather products. A number of U.S. hides, skins, and leather products would also face tariffs of either five or 25 percent from China. The President of the U.S. Hide, Skin, and Leather Association says the Chinese market is not just important for the industry, “it’s essential for our survival as competitors continue to finalize formal trade agreements that could place us at a competitive disadvantage.”

A federal jury in North Carolina decided on Friday that Smithfield Foods would have to pay a hefty dollar amount of $473.5 million dollars to neighbors of three of the company’s large hog farms. The neighbors had filed an unreasonable nuisance lawsuit because of odors, flies, and large trucks rumbling down the road. The jury says Smithfield owes the compensation because it failed to stop the “obnoxious, recurrent odors, and the other nuisances caused by the operations.” The North Carolina Pork Council says a decision like this will spread to other states in farm country. The group is calling for an appeal of the decision, saying, “This verdict will spread from North Carolina to all corners of American agriculture.” North Carolina Representative David Rouzer says, “These nuisance lawsuits that are destroying the livelihoods and communities in North Carolina are the tip of the iceberg for what is to come, absent a well-informed public and good public policy.” He calls the lawsuits a slippery slope that threatens every form of American agriculture.