Later this month, the Department of Agriculture will host a “match making day”. The objectives of this session will be to improve awareness and increase understanding of the biofuels supply-chain links between those involved in feedstock production and the processors of that feedstock into biofuels. This includes logistical challenges, potential roles of service providers, and potential pitfalls.

At this meeting, on March 30, federal officials will provide a short profile of each section of the supply chain and representatives from the participating stakeholders will respond with brief presentations that outline their experiences in that respective supply chain sector, barriers encountered and lessons learned. They will outline potential growth and opportunities.

Sarah Bittleman, Senior advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture, says – America needs and is developing a reliable, sustainable, fuel supply. If we are able to produce more of it here at home – rather than relying on foreign oil – we’ll generate good, middle-class jobs and strengthen our economy in the long run.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The House Financial Services oversight and investigations subcommittee will meet Wednesday to decide whether to compel Edith O’Brien, a treasurer at MF Global’s brokerage arm, to testify at a March 28 hearing on the firm’s collapse. O’Brien has been identified by former chief executive officer Jon S. Corzine as someone with knowledge of a funds transfer from the firm’s customer accounts before it filed for bankruptcy. O’Brien had “respectfully” declined to testify during an earlier hearing.

In a letter to lawmakers, Financial Services Committee staff wrote, – in light of the documents that the Subcommittee has reviewed and the interviews it has taken, as well as Mr. Corzine’s testimony regarding Ms. O’Brien’s role at MF Global, the Subcommittee believes that Ms. O’Brien’s appearance and testimony at the March 28, 2012 hearing is necessary to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the Subcommittee’s investigative record.

The MF Global bankruptcy is the eighth-largest U.S. bankruptcy.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Saying it would allow for a more streamlined liquidation process, the Commodity Customer Coalition, the primary advocate group for former MF Global customers, wants the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to handle the case under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code. Chapter 7 is designed specifically for liquidation of assets and would preserve more potential payback for customers.The coalition is hoping the CFTC will file the motion itself.

MF Global Holdings Ltd collapsed after it revealed exposure to risky European sovereign debt. According to monthly expense filings, MF Global has spent more than 11-million dollars since filing for bankruptcy on October 31. It is surviving on about 26-million in cash that had been pledged to JPMorgan Chase & Co as collateral on loans.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The Chesapeake Bay watershed, which stretches across portions of six states, is home to more than 17-million people, including farmers. And those farmers face much uncertainty as the Environmental Productions Agency is poised to impose its Total Maximum Daily Load rules. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association believes the problem with the rule is it would limit economic growth and unfairly over-regulate local agriculture producers and economies.

EPA’s Total Maximum Daily Load sets the limit on the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment discharged into the Chesapeake Bay and each of its tributaries by different types of sources. Farm Bureau says the TMDL has far-reaching impacts on all who live, work, and farm in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It has the potential to cost localities millions to comply while adding significant compliance costs for producers already hard-hit in this economy.

Farm Bureau would like to see the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act revitalized. Farm Bureau believes this legislation addresses water quality concerns and provides agriculture producers the tools and certainty they need to implement conservation practices on their land. It gives all sectors the flexibility to meet their regulatory requirements, while ensuring the strength and vitality of local economies.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Acreage intentions will be revealed in USDA’s March 30 Prospective Plantings report, but much of the current discussion centers on prospects for the U.S. average corn yield. University of Illinois agricultural economist Darrel Good says the size of the 2012 crop has substantial price implications. Crop size will be determined by: the timing of planting; the magnitude and potential change in the trend yield; the expected summer weather conditions; and the location and magnitude of acreage changes.

With all other things being equal, it is expected that early warmth will permit farmers to plant their corn crops early. Agronomic research in the Corn Belt reveals a slight yield penalty for extremely early planting, a wide planting window for maximum or near maximum yield potential would be early to mid-April through early May, and a yield penalty for late planting that increases with the lateness of planting. Good says – the majority of the crop is planted in the optimum window in most years.

Opinions about likely summer weather in the Corn Belt center on the El Nino/La Nina Southern Oscillation. The Climate Prediction Center forecasts that the winter La Nina is transitioning to neutral conditions. According to Good, – historically, such a transition has usually been associated with corn yields near trend value, although deviations in both directions have occurred. Yet, others are suggesting a transition to an El Nino and increased chances of an above-trend yield in 2012.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Saint Joseph police arrested several suspects in a shots-fired incident this morning.  No one was injured when a half-dozen rounds hit a house in the 1700 block of South 10th Street.  Four suspects were held for investigation of unlawful use of a weapon.