Phil Seng of USMEF Sees 2013 Full of Opportunities for US Meat Exports 

The President of the US Meat Export Federation, Phil Seng, sees lots of opportunities in 2013.  He says that after a year of challenges - highlighted by the worst drought in more than a half-century - the U.S. red meat (beef, pork and lamb) industry is focusing on 2013 as a year of great opportunities.  In a recent article, Seng highlights five major opportunities for U.S. red meat producers.  Among them are:

Increased Beef Access to Japan: Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor & Welfare (MHLW) is in the final stages of approving expanded access for U.S. beef - from the current 20-month cutoff to 30 months. An announcement could come as early as the end of this month. While the specific logistical details on resolving access issues must be addressed, this single change, expected to be finalized in the first half of 2013, will provide a major boost to U.S. beef exports.

China/Hong Kong: Even without access to mainland China, U.S. beef sales to this region (including Vietnam) have seen steady growth and are expected to rise in the future. While the global beef market stalled in 2012, exports to this region were up about 20 percent to nearly 500,000 metric tons and this does not include the growing volumes of water buffalo from India to Vietnam.
 

Mexico: Already the No. 1 volume market for U.S. pork, Mexico shows no sign of losing its appetite for U.S. hams, picnics, Boston butts, trimmings and variety meat. The growth of American pork exports to Mexico far exceeded last year's industry trend. Through 11 months of 2012, Mexico purchased 550,408 metric tons (1.2 billion pounds) of U.S. pork valued at $1.03 billion - increases of 15 percent and 11 percent, respectively, over 2011 and on a pace to set new records. That trend is expected to continue in 2013 as Mexican consumers look for more high-quality, affordable protein to feed a booming population and a growing middle class.

Click here to read more about expanding markets and opportunities for U.S. red meat in 2013 by clicking here.

Farm Service Agency Announces Safety Net Signup For Farm Bill Extension to Start February 19

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers that the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extended the authorization of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill) for many Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) commodity, disaster, and conservation programs through 2013. FSA administers these programs.

The extended programs include, among others: the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment Program (DCP), the Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE), and the Milk Income Loss Contract Program (MILC). 

FSA will begin sign-ups for DCP and ACRE for the 2013 crops on Feb. 19, 2013. The DCP sign-up period will end on Aug. 2, 2013; the ACRE sign-up period will end on June 3, 2013. USDA has decided to offer producers a lot of choice in this one year deal- you can pick either DCP or ACRE- it does not matter which election you had made in the earlier years of the 2008 law.  AND- if you elect ACRE- you can still drop that choice after June 3 and jump back to just a Direct Farm Program payment if you do so by the August 2nd deadline(according to USDA radio newsline report).

USDA has two fact sheets on the choices for the 2013 farm safety net- click here for the DCP factsheet and click here for the ACRE factsheet.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Congressman Frank Lucas, hailed the FSA's actions in a statement released yesterday afternoon.

"I want to commend Secretary Vilsack for today's announcement that sign-up for farm programs, including direct payments, will begin on February 19th. It is vitally important that our farmers, and lenders alike, know that Congress and the Administration intend to keep the commitment made with the one-year extension of the 2008 farm bill. Short of a five-year bill, this extension provides certainty for the 2013 crop year."  (You can read more of Rep. Lucas's statement by clicking here.) 

 

Oklahoma Wheat Producer Helping Shape NFU Policy in Advance of 2013 National Convention

The National Farmers Union Policy Committee met in Washington, D.C., last week to begin revising their policy manual. The American Farmers & Ranchers are represented by Kent McAninch, who farms in the Tonkawa, Oklahoma area. AFR is a state affiliate of the NFU and continues the tradition of the Oklahoma Farmers Union as being the largest state organization involved with NFU in the country.

According to Roger Johnson, President of the NFU, "The Policy Committee members play a vital role in carrying on the tradition of grassroots policy formation in our organization. The committee is tasked with reviewing our current policies and offering changes and addition s for the delegates to vote on at our upcoming convention. This policy is what we will advocate for during the course of the next year."

The committee heard from a number of White House, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Capitol Hill staff to ensure members have a broader working knowledge of current legislative issues as they revise NFU's organizational policy. Speakers included Doug McKalip, senior policy advisor for Rural Affairs, White House Domestic Policy Council; Jonathan Coppess, chief counsel, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and Krysta Harden, chief of staff, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

You can read more by clicking here.

U.S. Hay Production and Supplies at Record Lows, Impact on Cattle Could be Severe

Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel writes about the depleted state of forage supplies in the U.S. in the latest Cow-Calf Newsletter.

Two years of drought have taken a huge toll on U.S. hay production. In the recently released USDA Annual Crop Production Summary, total U.S. hay production in 2012 was 120 million tons, down nearly 18 percent from the 2006-2010 average. This is the lowest U.S. hay production total in data going back to 1974. This follows the 2011 hay production total of 131 million tons, down nearly 10 percent from the same five year average.

The combination of reduced hay production and increased hay feeding due to drought the past two years leaves the U.S. with severely depleted forage supplies.  Pasture conditions in most regions are similarly poor. With the final pasture and range condition report at the end of October, 15 states had more than 60 percent of pastures in poor or very poor condition and another five states had 40-60 percent poor to very poor pasture conditions. Anecdotal indications are that crop aftermath, especially corn stalks, have been heavily used this winter to provide critical feed resources for cattle. The latest Climate Prediction Center forecast for drought conditions indicates little improvement in much of the country through the forecast period to the end of April. If drought conditions extend into spring the impact on cattle is likely to be immediately severe given that forage resources across much of the country are critically low. This, combined with water shortages for livestock is some regions, will lead to another significant round of cow herd liquidation beginning in the second quarter of the year unless drought conditions moderate.  

You can read the rest of Derrell Peel's analysis of the tenuous hay situation by clicking here.

Chairwoman Stabenow Applauds Majority Leader Reid for Making Farm Bill a Top Priority

Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, applauded Majority Leader Harry Reid for his commitment to making a new Farm Bill priority legislation for the 113th Congress. Reid introduced the Senate-passed version of the Farm Bill today as one of several privileged, top priority bills, underscoring his support for and commitment to enacting a new five-year farm bill.

"I applaud Sen. Reid's leadership and commitment to getting a five-year farm bill done to provide certainty to the 16 million Americans working in agriculture," Chairwoman Stabenow said. "Last year we were able to pass a farm bill with overwhelming bipartisan support, saving more than $23 billion in taxpayer money and reforming farm bill programs to be more cost-effective and market-oriented. Unfortunately, the House didn't bring the Farm Bill to the floor. Majority Leader Reid has demonstrated that the Senate will once again make supporting our nation's agriculture economy while cutting spending a top priority." 

Click here for more.

 

KSU's Glynn Tonsor Says A Big Financial Carrot May be Needed as Incentive for Cow Herd Rebuilding

In 2011, market incentives were such that it looked like a rebuilding of the cow herd was imminent, then drought hit hard in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. Mama cow numbers then fell even further. The trend continued as the drought persisted throughout 2012. Long-term weather forecasts predict the drought may continue. So when will we see herd rebuilding?

Extension Livestock Marketing Economist Glynn Tonsor of Kansas State University says it's going to take a substantial incentive to interest cattle producers in adding mama cows back to their herds.

"It used to be a $100 per cow expected profit trigger to expand the herd. If you add uncertainty and risk to a situation, it's going to take a bigger incentive than that $100 per cow to get the typical producer to pull the trigger. I don't know if a hundred bucks is sufficient to expand the herd anymore and nearly everybody has a different threshold. I'm using 100 there as an example. The magnitude increase from that varies a lot across producers. And, underneath that, has a lot to do not just with their cost situation but how comfortable they are with this higher uncertainty; I always use the term 'new normal' in the environment, the new paradigm, we work in today.

"Those that are more comfortable with that or think that they can manage through that more than average are the ones who will do that expanding in 2013 and going forward."

Glynn is my guest on the latest Beef Buzz.  Click here for more.

 

Names to Know- John, Will, Katie, Chris and Bo 

John Mueller has been named Acting State Conservationist for the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service in Oklahoma. He assumed the duties on January 14 after being appointed by Jason Weller, Acting NRCS Chief in Washington, D.C. Mueller replaces Ronald L. Hilliard, who retired after 36 years of service. John is expected to serve until a permanent State Conservationist is named.

Mueller is from Texas- and has served in four different states, including Oklahoma, during his career as a NRCS professional. Click here to read more about John- as he sets up shop in Stillwater at the state NRCS headquarters.

Now about those other four names we listed in the headline above- I don't think they will ever be quite as famous as John, Paul, George and Ringo- but Will, Katie, Chris and Bo have been selected to help put a face at the national level on farming and ranching.  The US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance conducted a national search of young farmers and ranchers- had narrowed down to their finalists back in December and yesterday- named these four as their Faces of Farming and Ranching.   

Will Gilmer is a dairy farmer from Alabama, Katie Pratt of Illinois is a grain farmer, Chris Chinn raises hogs in Missouri and Bo Stone is a North Carolina row crop farmer who also operates several swine finishing barns. The winners will act as national spokespeople, and will share stories and experiences on a national stage to help answer consumers' questions about how food is grown and raised to feed our nation.

Click here for the webpage that can introduce you to these four bright lights of US Agriculture- you can learn more about their farming operations as well as more about their families as well.