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Saturday, March 13 12:00 noon - Junior Market Steer Auction - Reliant Arena Sales Pavilion Friday, March 19 12:00 noon - Junior Market Barrow Auction - Reliant Arena Sales Pavilion Saturday, March 20 11:00 a.m. - Junior Market Poultry Auction - Reliant Arena Sales Pavilion |
Ag Secretary Vilsack Defends Payment Cuts To Farmers
$1.5 Billion Disaster Bill Would Renew $1 Biodiesel Tax Credit
U.S. Animal ID Plan Affects Exports Of Meat To Japan
Compromise Climate Bill Due This Month Cap And Trade Dead
National Feeder Cattle Summary
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Ag Secretary Vilsack Defends Payment Cuts To Farmers
By Chris Clayton
DTN Ag Policy Editor
Anaheim, Calif. (DTN) — While farm groups and members of Congress are rejecting proposed cuts in direct payments, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said a payment cut to large farmers sends a message in regard to the budget deficit that the agriculture community is fiscally responsible.
The White House budget proposal released last month would lower the cap on direct payments to individual farmers from $40,000 a year to $30,000, a 25 percent cut in direct payments for farmers at the highest end of the income scale.
The Obama administration’s proposal to cut direct payments affects about 32,000 of the 1.4 million farmers who receive direct payments, Vilsack said. He talked about direct payments to reporters after giving a speech at the Commodity Classic meeting in Anaheim.
“Now why is this important?” Vilsack asked. “Well, it’s important because people have to realize we can’t continue to have ongoing deficits.’’
But farm payments also are a target, Vilsack said. When President Obama put together his deficit task force, one of the chairmen highlighted that the commission needs to look at cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and farm programs.
“I get a little nervous when farm programs are linked to Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid, that are far larger issues relative to the deficit,’’ Vilsack said.
Vilsack said the administration is taking “a measured approach, and we’ve targeted our focus on folks who are in a better financial position than a lot of other farmers are,” Vilsack said. “But it sends a statement that we have taken care of our business. We don’t need a commission necessarily to focus on further reductions, and to focus where it needs to be on those larger-ticket and more significant items.’’
The House Agriculture Committee voted unanimously earlier to reject any cuts in farm programs and sent a letter to the House Budget Committee stating that the lawmakers on the Agriculture Committee are against possible cuts.
The administration wants to cut the average farm-income AGI - income attributed to farming, ranching or forestry from an average of $750,000 or less to $500,000 or less to maintain eligibility for direct payments. The proposal would also reduce allowable “non-farm” AGI — income from non-ag related activities — from $500,000 to $250,000.
If enacted, the farm-payment cap would save $2.263 billion between 2011 and 2020, the White House Office of Management and Budget states.
If the budget deficit doesn’t get under control, Vilsack suggested farmers and other borrowers would face higher interest rates. The other risk is inflation. “Farmers don’t benefit from inflation,” Vilsack said. “It becomes more difficult and harder for those who want to pass the farms on and get young farmers involved in the programs to be able to do so.’’
$1.5 Billion Disaster Bill Would Renew $1 Biodiesel Tax Credit
By Chris Clayton
DTN Ag Policy Editor
Omaha (DTN) — A $1.5 billion disaster package advocated by Southern farmers and a renewal of the $1 biodiesel tax credit are part of the latest tax-extenders and jobs bill released by the Senate Finance Committee.
The bill, projected to cost roughly $150 billion, renews more than 70 tax credits, ranging from renewable energy, to depreciation and charitable contributions, to a tax credit for “mine rescue team training.’’
Mixed into the tax bill is a $1.5 billion disaster package for the 2009 crop year being pushed by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. Farmers would be eligible if they suffered a crop disaster or are located in counties declared disaster areas that had at least one crop suffer a 5 percent yield or quality loss due to the disaster, the bill states. Payments would equal up to 90 percent of the farmers’ direct payments for 2009.
Producers who did not have crop insurance would still be eligible for the disaster aid, but would be required to buy crop insurance in 2010.
Lincoln, who is facing the toughest political battle of her career for re-election, has argued the disaster payment is needed because the new permanent disaster program, the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments program, SURE, would take too long to get aid to farmers. Still, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., has questioned the validity of making payments to farmers who suffer just a 5-percent crop loss. Peterson said the disaster package would open farm programs up to even more public challenges due to demands to cut federal spending.
Beyond direct payments to commodity producers, the bill also includes:
• $75 million in no-interest loans to poultry farmers who suffered contract terminations due to bankruptcies starting in 2008 such as Pilgrims Pride.
• $50 million in payments to livestock producers who suffered grazing losses in 2009.
• $42 million in supplemental payments to “first handlers” of the 2009 cottonseed crop in counties declared disaster areas.
• $40 million for grants to help fruit and vegetable farmers in counties that had losses in specialty crops
• $25 million in grants to states to help fish farmers who suffered losses due to high feed costs in 2009.
• $21 million to the Hawaii Transportation Cooperative, an agricultural transportation group, through the Farm Services Agency.
Along with the other tax provisions, the bill also provides a retroactive one-year extension of several tax provisions, including the $1 biodiesel excise tax credit. The credit expired at the end of 2009, causing biodiesel facilities across the country to lay off employees or idle plants. Soybean trade associations have been pushing for Congress to renew the credit.
The bill was released by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. The bill has most of the same tax provisions as a $81-billion bill Baucus co-sponsored two weeks ago with his committee ranking member, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
Grassley, however, said he now would be opposed to the bill because most of the new spending and tax-cut provisions in the bill would not be paid for or have the costs offset. None of the tax extenders need to meet that requirement because those tax provisions, though not paid for, were passed under different Senate rules during the Bush administration.
Grassley also said he could not take a position on the disaster language in the bill because he had not seen the language.
U.S. Animal ID Plan Affects Exports Of Meat To Japan
By Richard Smith
DTN Tokyo Correspondent
Tokyo (DTN) — The scrapping of the national animal identification system in the U.S. simply means that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack recognizes that some things can be better handled on a state-by-state – not national — basis, according to U.S. Meat Export Federation President Phil Seng.
“He is also recognizing that it is better for the individual states to do it,” Seng told DTN at a March 1 press conference in Tokyo.
USDA’s decision not to enforce a national ID system will, of course, restrict potential sales to Japan, said Takamichi Tawara, the managing director of the Tokyo-based Tyson International Service Center. However, Tawara told DTN this still will not have a big impact on the U.S. beef industry because it produces mostly for the domestic market, not for export.
Approximately 8 percent of total U.S. beef production is exported, said DTN Livestock Analyst John Harrington. That figure was closer to 10 percent in 2003, he said, before the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) scare prompted Japan to put age and other restrictions on U.S. beef.
The U.S. only exports to Japan meat from cattle 20 months old and younger, with all specific risk materials (SRMs) removed. U.S. exporters are limited by the difficulty in sourcing age-verified beef. Harrington said U.S. packers do have sourcing and tracing problems and could sell more beef if identification was better, but he doubts the state-by-state method will accomplish that.
Although “traceability” is all the rage in Japanese stores and supermarkets, with consumers using scanners at meat cases to identify what farmer produced their beef, Tawara said consumers here do not know what traceability really is.
“They just follow the government when it tells them whether a product is safe,” he said.
Seng said companies exporting to Japan do have a traceability system. “Any consumer who wants to verify origin can do that at this point in time,” he said.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation website says the U.S. owns 20 percent of the Japanese beef market, and Japan will always be a destination for the “finest cuts of U.S. pork and beef.”
Compromise Climate Bill Due This Month Cap And Trade Dead
Washington (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said a proposed economy-wide cap-and-trade system for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases was dead and would be replaced in a new bill.
Graham, a Republican, did not specify whether cap-and-trade might be used to control emissions in just one sector, such as utility companies, instead of earlier efforts for an economy-wide mechanism.
“The cap-and-trade bills in the House and Senate are dead. The concept of cap-and-trade is going to be replaced,” Graham said.
Democratic Senator John Kerry told reporters he hoped a compromise climate control bill could be put together this month, although many meetings still must be held. Graham told reporters it will be “weeks” before a bill is ready.
But Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent working with Graham and Kerry, said a detailed outline of a bill could come within days.
In June, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a climate change bill with cap-and-trade as its centerpiece.
As a way of bringing down industrial carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels, the House bill would impose more restrictive caps on pollution levels and require permits for every ton of carbon put into the atmosphere.
Those pollution permits could be traded in a new, regulated financial market.
Kerry refused to provide any details on the bipartisan bill that he, Graham and Lieberman are spearheading.
But, as a result of work in the past few months, Kerry said he was feeling “more confident” that a climate change bill could be presented to the Senate for passage this year.
“We’re looking at a new way of coming at this that we think can attract greater support,” Kerry said.
Environmentalists have speculated the bill the senators will produce could impose a new carbon-
pricing mechanism on utilities, which account for about 40 percent of the emissions blamed for global warming.
Sources also have said there is talk of a transportation tax. Pollution controls on manufacturers could be put off for a few years to give time for more affordable alternative energy sources to come on line, they have said.
National Feeder Cattle Summary
St. Joseph, MO — March 5 (F-S) National feeder cattle receipts: 348,600. Feeder steers and heifers sold unevenly steady with weakness noted early in the week and modest gains reported later in the trading session. Stocker cattle and calf prices continue to search for a ceiling with grazing types quoted firm to $4 higher. Last week’s slightly weaker fed cattle market tempered demand for feedlot replacements, but did not affect backgrounder’s overwhelming desire to own stockers. Auction receipts were heavy this past week as country road conditions progressively improved throughout the major cattle production areas. The Oklahoma National Stockyards sold 12,000 feeders on Monday while the Joplin Regional Stockyards to the north and east moved well over 10,000 head. Most other major salebarns also had good runs this week with nearly 350,000 head moving through reported markets across the country. Missouri’s 20 reported sales totaled over 57,000 head of cattle, which was well over twice as many as the same week a year ago. However, the nation’s reported auction receipts are still running behind normal for the year (14 percent or over 360,000 head lighter than the five year average) due to wintry weather interruptions. February was a short month but most folks were thankful we are not in a Leap Year as they could not have withstood one more day. This week’s arrival of March and much improved weather gave our first hope of spring, after the relentless winter of 2009-10 that brought all-time record snowfall to places like Omaha, NE; Oklahoma City, OK; Dallas, TX; and Memphis, TN. Weights and flesh conditions of all classes of cattle have suffered from the bitter cold and there is already a significant increase in the number of cows that have lost this spring’s calves. Even the best caretakers and the broodiest momma cows had trouble keeping protein and energy levels high enough to stave off this winter’s miserable conditions. Although, the thin and rugged appearance of a large portion of the available feeder and stocker calves have prospective buyers salivating at their immediate weight-gain potential. At Valentine, Nebraska, top quality 5 weight steers averaged 125.11, with 6 weights 114.22, and over 200 head of 740-750 lb steers averaged 108.92. This week’s reported auction volume included 55 percent over 600 lbs and 45 percent heifers.
Texas 20,000. 34 pct over 600 lbs. 42 pct heifers. Steers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (324) 131.17; 350-400 lbs (374) 128.63; 400-450 lbs (423) 123.76; 450-500 lbs (473) 120.02; 500-550 lbs (523) 114.28; 550-600 lbs (567) 112.64; 600-650 lbs (634) 110.33; 650-700 lbs (677) 105.69; 700-750 lbs (714) 102.56; 750-800 lbs (775) 98.64; 800-850 lbs (818) 97.92; 850-900 lbs (854) 96.94. Medium and Large 1-2 450-500 lbs (472) 116.46; 550-600 lbs (585) 109.77; 650-700 lbs (685) 101.94; 700-750 lbs (724) 98.40; 850-900 lbs (884) 90.27. Heifers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (328) 113.94; 350-400 lbs (371) 113.03; 400-450 lbs (426) 107.89; 450-500 lbs (477) 106.63; 500-550 lbs (524) 106.45; 550-600 lbs (574) 101.68; 600-650 lbs (625) 97.59; 650-700 lbs (671) 96.89; 700-750 lbs (713) 91.68. Medium and Large 1-2 550-600 lbs (579) 99.43; 600-650 lbs (630) 92.99; 650-700 lbs (672) 92.01.
Oklahoma 46,000. 71 pct over 600 lbs. 41 pct heifers. Steers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (328) 142.56; 350-400 lbs (376) 138.46; 400-450 lbs (423) 132.57; 450-500 lbs (475) 127.61; 500-550 lbs (527) 122.24; 550-600 lbs (570) 119.08; 600-650 lbs (623) 112.24; 650-700 lbs (676) 106.53; 700-750 lbs (724) 103.80; 750-800 lbs (772) 100.14; 800-850 lbs (824) 97.22; 850-900 lbs (872) 94.90. Medium and Large 1-2 350-400 lbs (386) 135.70; 400-450 lbs (432) 123.88; 450-500 lbs (480) 124.13; 500-550 lbs (516) 119.42; 550-600 lbs (580) 114.17; 600-650 lbs (623) 108.72; 650-700 lbs (672) 104.25; 700-750 lbs (724) 101.43; 750-800 lbs (778) 98.90; 800-850 lbs (835) 95.92; 850-900 lbs (876) 94.93. Holsteins: Large 3 500-550 lbs (510) 55.85; pkg 740 lbs 74.50. Heifers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (325) 116.54; 350-400 lbs (376) 114.19; 400-450 lbs (425) 113.58; 450-500 lbs (477) 109.85; 500-550 lbs (522) 107.07; 550-600 lbs (571) 105.54; 600-650 lbs (622) 100.58; 650-700 lbs (669) 96.98; 700-750 lbs (718) 95.35; 750-800 lbs (771) 92.81; 800-850 lbs (817) 91.49; 850-900 lbs (871) 90.20. Medium and Large 1-2 300-350 lbs (316) 118.99; 350-400 lbs (385) 109.95; 400-450 lbs (435) 109.21; 450-500 lbs (484) 106.26; 500-550 lbs (533) 105.60; 550-600 lbs (573) 102.22; 600-650 lbs (626) 97.53; 650-700 lbs (673) 95.60; 700-750 lbs (726) 93.92; 750-800 lbs (773) 91.79; 800-850 lbs (811) 90.95; 850-900 lbs (874) 88.55.
New Mexico 5600. 28 pct over 600 lbs. 40 pct heifers. Steers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (339) 128.31; 350-400 lbs (376) 130.35; 400-450 lbs (425) 131.16; 450-500 lbs (461) 122.90; 500-550 lbs (518) 119.79; 600-650 lbs (622) 111.90; 650-700 lbs (668) 104.63; 700-750 lbs (715) 103.88; 750-800 lbs (762) 100.42. Medium and Large 1-2 350-400 lbs (375) 138.50; 500-550 lbs (524) 122.71; 600-650 lbs (625) 108.47; 650-700 lbs (686) 103.99. Holsteins: Large 3 350-400 lbs (372) 84.45; 400-450 lbs (442) 93.55; 450-500 lbs (487) 88.35. Heifers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (324) 106.70; 350-400 lbs (377) 111.42; 400-450 lbs (418) 110.51; 450-500 lbs (473) 103.00; 500-550 lbs (528) 101.92; 550-600 lbs (564) 102.48; 600-650 lbs (623) 100.05; 650-700 lbs (677) 94.81; 700-750 lbs (719) 92.87; 750-800 lbs (766) 91.60. Medium and Large 1-2 450-500 lbs (481) 110.16; 500-550 lbs (517) 104.33; 550-600 lbs (579) 103.11; 650-700 lbs (660) 96.83; pkg 860 lbs 80.12.
Kansas 15,000. 87 pct over 600 lbs. 46 pct heifers. Steers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (319) 134.86; 400-450 lbs (426) 135.28; 450-500 lbs (475) 127.04; 500-550 lbs (525) 123.85; 550-600 lbs (568) 119.70; 600-650 lbs (628) 112.86; 650-700 lbs (680) 109.70; 700-750 lbs (716) 107.42; 750-800 lbs (778) 100.43; 800-850 lbs (827) 98.25; 850-900 lbs (872) 95.59. Medium and Large 1-2 350-400 lbs (383) 127.23; 400-450 lbs (411) 124.00; 500-550 lbs (527) 119.30; 550-600 lbs (586) 114.14; 600-650 lbs (639) 109.40; 650-700 lbs (691) 105.13; 700-750 lbs (739) 102.73; 750-800 lbs (778) 98.91; 800-850 lbs (839) 94.41. Heifers: Medium and Large 1 350-400 lbs (381) 116.50; 400-450 lbs (421) 115.06; 450-500 lbs (474) 113.59; 500-550 lbs (539) 108.98; 550-600 lbs (576) 106.19; 600-650 lbs (621) 102.25; 650-700 lbs (673) 97.31; 700-750 lbs (725) 95.49; 750-800 lbs (774) 93.90; 800-850 lbs (814) 93.53; 850-900 lbs (861) 92.89. Medium and Large 1-2 300-350 lbs (336) 115.39; 400-450 lbs (430) 113.53; 450-500 lbs (478) 110.41; 500-550 lbs (536) 104.45; 550-600 lbs (575) 101.62; 600-650 lbs (631) 99.25; 650-700 lbs (678) 94.81; 700-750 lbs (726) 93.15; 750-800 lbs (772) 92.42; 800-850 lbs (821) 90.90.
Missouri 57,200. 53 pct over 600 lbs. 44 pct heifers. Steers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (334) 130.97; 350-400 lbs (383) 132.40; 400-450 lbs (427) 130.28; 450-500 lbs (477) 126.04; 500-550 lbs (525) 121.91; 550-600 lbs (576) 116.41; 600-650 lbs (625) 110.97; 650-700 lbs (673) 107.33; 700-750 lbs (723) 105.02; 750-800 lbs (771) 100.69; 800-850 lbs (821) 96.52; 850-900 lbs (870) 95.27. Medium and Large 1-2 300-350 lbs (334) 125.17; 350-400 lbs (381) 125.71; 400-450 lbs (425) 121.04; 450-500 lbs (473) 119.93; 500-550 lbs (524) 115.40; 550-600 lbs (575) 112.58; 600-650 lbs (625) 107.27; 650-700 lbs (676) 103.13; 700-750 lbs (722) 101.20; 750-800 lbs (776) 98.13; 800-850 lbs (821) 94.82; 850-900 lbs (871) 92.74. Holsteins: Large 3 300-3850 lbs (341) 74.34; 550-600 lbs (582) 72.25; 800-850 lbs (838) 71.79; 850-900 lbs (865) 69.59. Heifers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (327) 114.92; 350-400 lbs (379) 112.03; 400-450 lbs (422) 109.47; 450-500 lbs (478) 107.85; 500-550 lbs (526) 107.18; 550-600 lbs (578) 104.49; 600-650 lbs (624) 100.18; 650-700 lbs (674) 97.59; 700-750 lbs (725) 95.16; 750-800 lbs (771) 93.88; 800-850 lbs (823) 89.77; 850-900 lbs (865) 90.30. Medium and Large 1-2 300-350 lbs (323) 109.29; 350-400 lbs (375) 108.03; 400-450 lbs (426) 105.19; 450-500 lbs (476) 103.48; 500-550 lbs (525) 102.62; 550-600 lbs (577) 100.09; 600-650 lbs (626) 96.20; 650-700 lbs (672) 94.18; 700-750 lbs (719) 92.73; 750-800 lbs (781) 92.60; 800-850 lbs (829) 85.76; 850-900 lbs (889) 86.23.
Arkansas 8300. 31 pct over 600 lbs. 47 pct heifers. Steers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (323) 129.67; 350-400 lbs (374) 126.07; 400-450 lbs (422) 122.27; 450-500 lbs (475) 117.85; 500-550 lbs (521) 114.39; 550-600 lbs (572) 109.41; 600-650 lbs (623) 104.16; 650-700 lbs (676) 99.68. Medium and Large 2 300-350 lbs (327) 115.75; 350-400 lbs (375) 115.38; 400-450 lbs (421) 110.65; 450-500 lbs (473) 110.00; 500-550 lbs (523) 104.96; 550-600 lbs (573) 100.31; 600-650 lbs (618) 96.04; 650-700 lbs (678) 95.38. Heifers: Medium and Large 1 300-350 lbs (321) 109.49; 350-400 lbs (374) 108.48; 400-450 lbs (423) 105.74; 450-500 lbs (470) 102.96; 500-550 lbs (524) 100.77; 550-600 lbs (573) 96.88; 600-650 lbs (624) 93.79; 650-700 lbs (672) 93.55. Medium and Large 2 300-350 lbs (329) 100.34; 350-400 lbs (378) 99.04; 400-450 lbs (423) 97.52; 450-500 lbs (476) 95.37; 500-550 lbs (526) 94.34; 550-600 lbs (576) 89.89; 600-650 lbs (623) 86.98; 650-700 lbs (673) 84.90.
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