Dale Minyo visit with Larry Loder family at their farm near Millersburg in Holmes County.

The organization has worked with U.S. soybean farmers to meet demand for U.S. soy in Japan.

“Japan has grown to be one of our most valued customers,” said Vanessa Kummer, USB chair. “Because customers in Japan serve as one of our largest markets abroad, soy ranks as the top U.S. agricultural export and makes a large net contribution to the U.S. agricultural trade balance. The soy checkoff, along with my fellow farmers representing ASA and USSEC, mark this very symbolic milestone with our Japanese customers and remain committed to meeting their soy needs.”

Today’s strong trade relations with Japan started in 1956, when a team of representatives of the Japanese soy industry visited the United States. Ever since, JOPA, which represents 20 Japanese oilseed processors, has been a key ally for the U.S. soy industry.

“Japan’s oilseed processing sector has long been a trusted partner for American soybean farmers,” said Danny Murphy, ASA First Vice President. “The American Soybean Association opened its first overseas international market development office in Japan in 1956, and U.S. soy exports to Japan have grown to more than $1 billion annually today. We are honored to join our Japanese counterparts and colleagues in celebrating the accomplishments of the Japanese Oilseed Processors Association as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, and we look forward to continuing the Japanese-American partnership.”

Today, nearly 70% of Japanese soybean imports originate from the United States.

“Our partnership with the Japanese crushing industry, which is the third largest buyer of U.S. soybeans, is stronger than ever,” said Roy Bardole, USSEC chairman. “U.S. soy farmers take the relationship with JOPA very seriously. We are committed to do what we can to ensure another 50 successful years as their partner.”

Prior to formal recognition marking JOPA’s anniversary, the U.S. group plans to visit a soy processing plant and feed mill at a major port near Tokyo.

“With this opportunity, we further demonstrate our dedication to independent seed companies and commitment to providing them advances in trait technologies,” said David Morgan, president of Syngenta Seeds, Inc. “Growers will enjoy greater productivity through reduced refuge and the convenience of purchasing this technology through their local independent seed supplier.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Syngenta’s Agrisure traits and Dow AgroSciences’ Herculex traits will be outlicensed for trait stack combinations through GreenLeaf Genetics, which will serve as the primary contact for independent seed companies. Syngenta and Dow AgroSciences will also continue to outlicense their respective traits independent of each other.

“This will be an effective combination of technologies that will give U.S. corn growers more genetic combinations and options to control yield-robbing pests while reducing the required number of refuge acres,” said Ben Kaehler, Dow AgroSciences commercial leader for U.S. seed affiliates.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

SCI Lance Weaver

May is also a great month because of the excitement of the planting season and, more importantly, my birthday. But that is still not all May has to offer, here are some other important days in May. I found this on the Internet, so these all must be true:

May 1 is . . . . . Mother Goose Day and Save The Rhino Day

May 2 is . . . . . Fire Day

May 3 is . . . . . Lumpy Rug Day

May 4 is . . . . . National Candied Orange Peel Day

May 5 is . . . . . National Hoagie Day (who doesn’t love a hoagie with a beverage?)

May 6 is . . . . . Beverage Day

May 7 is . . . . . International Tuba Day, Paste Up Day, and National Roast Leg of Lamb Day (Lamb and bass instruments are also worth commemorating)

May 8 is . . . . . No Socks Day and Have A Coke Day

May 9 is . . . . . Lost Sock Memorial Day (a legitimate day at my house)

May 10 is . . . . Clean Up Your Room Day (also important at my house)

May 11 is . . . . Eat What You Want Day and Twilight Zone Day

May 12 is . . . . Limerick Day

May 13 is . . . . Leprechaun Day

May 14 is . . . . National Dance Like A Chicken Day

May 15 is . . . . National Chocolate Chip Day (Chocolate chips with an egg on a hamburger could be interesting)

May 16 is . . . . Wear Purple For Peace Day

May 17 is . . . . Pack Rat Day

May 18 is . . . . International Museum Day and Visit Your Relatives Day

May 19 is . . . . Frog Jumping Jubilee Day

May 20 is . . . . Eliza Doolittle Day

May 21 is . . . . National Memo Day and National Waitresses/Waiters Day

May 22 is . . . . Buy-A-Musical-Instrument Day

May 23 is . . . . Penny Day (also my birthday, but hopefully not my present budget)

May 24 is . . . . National Escargot Day

May 25 is . . . . National Tap Dance Day

May 26 is . . . . Grey Day

May 27 is . . . . Body Painting Arts Festival

May 28 is . . . . National Hamburger Day

May 29 is . . . . End Of The Middle Ages Day

May 30 is . . . . My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It Day

May 31 is . . . . National Macaroon Day

At any rate, it is hard to believe that this month is already more than half done. So little time and so many eggs, hamburgers and macaroons to enjoy!

Will the CME changes end up hurting farmers in the wallet?

“What sets CME Group apart is our close working relationship with the grain industry, who have made our grain and oilseed futures the benchmark risk management products,” said Tim Andriesen, Managing Director, Agricultural Commodities and Alternative Investments, CME Group. “That’s why, in response to significant feedback for this customer segment, we’re further amending CBOT grain and oilseed trading hours to 5 p.m. to 2 p.m. CT Sunday through Friday. They have clearly communicated that these hours best meet their risk management needs.”

These measures are in part the result of collaboration between CME Group, the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and the North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) to address these changes and help the grain industry prepare for the transition.

“This action by the CME Group demonstrates the value of collaboration between the exchange and users of futures and options markets who rely heavily on the CBOT contracts to hedge marketplace risk,” said Randall C. Gordon, acting president of the National Grain and Feed Association. “This important change will provide time during normal business hours for grain, feed and grain processing operations and other merchants to reconcile their trading accounts and perform other required accounting and back-office operations without incurring the significant additional expense of hiring or providing overtime to employees performing these important functions.”

The change was welcomed by agriculture.

“We commend the CME Group for making this change before implementing its expanded electronic trading hours,” Gordon added. “We look forward to continuing to discuss with the CME Group, other exchanges and other parties possible ways to address industry concerns about USDA reports being released during market hours.”

Electronic trading hours for CBOT Corn, Mini-Sized Corn, Soybeans, Mini-Sized Soybeans, Wheat, Mini- Sized Wheat, Soybean Meal, Soybean Oil, Rough Rice, Oats, and Ethanol futures and options plus all related calendar spread options and inter-commodity spread options will be extended to Sunday to Friday, 5:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CT.

Daily settlements will continue to be based on market activity at or around 1:15 p.m. CT each day. Additionally, open-outcry trading hours will continue to operate from 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. CT Monday to Friday.

In addition, the Kansas City Board of Trade had submitted a new proposal in which electronic trade would open at 5 p.m. and close at 2 p.m. starting May 31. The cme and KCBOT initially coordinated the May 3 announcement of a 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. trading day. CME announced its original plan to expand its trading hours after rival IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) announced a similar set of grain trading contracts would be available on its 22-hour-a-day electronic platform on May 14.

“What a mess,” said Doug Tenney, with Leist Mercantile in Circleville. “The concern is the wild volatility one could see if the USDA report is wildly bearish or bullish, and trading straight through reports. At times, I know we can see corn have 20-30 cents and soybeans at least a 40-cent range in the first 30 minutes of trading. Pre-opening calls on report days currently can change dramatically in the two hours from the 8:30 a.m. report releases until the 10:30 a.m. opening. One thought being floated around is to suspend trading on report days.”

The changes will also have a number of other implications.

“There will be one casualty in all of this hours expansion. There is an over the counter market (OTC) that trades in the hours when the exchange, pit or electronic is not trading,” Tenney said. “With more hours, this OTC would not be needed. Trades in the OTC can be thin, and all over the board. Basically, it is a market that if you need to really do something, it can be done. It is for someone badly out of position. It can be ugly.”

Though no one seems to be quite sure about what the near future holding for the grain markets and trading, it seems that change is certain.

“Times are changing but the details are not yet sorted out. I think the CME decision to pull back was a good one,” Tenney said. “They need to sort things out rather than be a ‘me-too crowd’ just following ICE exchange.”

The method, in which strawberries are planted in early fall on a raised bed of soil covered with black plastic, results in farmers getting the berries to market at least a month earlier than the traditional matted row production that has been used by Ohio farmers, Bergefurd said.

In plasticulture, the strawberries are planted in September and grow over the winter using plastic to keep the soil warm and suppress weed growth. It not only results in larger, sweeter berries, but it also allows farmers to capture a larger share of the local strawberry market because the berries can be harvested and sold over a period of four to five months, he said.

That compares to the four- to five-week harvest period for Ohio strawberries using the traditional matted row production method.

“Farmers from Lake Erie to the banks of the Ohio River are harvesting strawberries now,” Burgefurd said. “We made it through the frost and freezes last month, and the fruit quality is fantastic.”

The OSU Extension plasticulture trial includes about a half an acre of strawberry plants at the OSU South Centers and about 100 acres total on at least 25 farms statewide this season. The trial includes evaluating new strawberry varieties, with breeding coming from Florida, California, and North and South Carolina, Bergefurd said.

The method includes using row covers during the winter to protect the plants, which aren’t as winter hardy, from frost and freeze.

The trial, in its 11th season, has entered harvest this week and is now producing the higher-quality, more commercially appealing berries, Bergefurd said. The trial will also, for the first time, produce summer-bearing fruit to allow the strawberry-harvesting season to extend up until October, depending on the weather.

“This is the first year that we are looking at these new summer-bearing varieties,” Bergefurd said. “We looked at them six years ago, and they didn’t have the commercial quality attributes and were smaller in size.

“But this year, with these new summer-bearing varieties, we’re hoping for strawberries with better commercial attributes, larger fruit size, higher sugar contents and better disease resistance.”

But there are drawbacks to the plasticulture method, he cautioned.

While plasticulture cuts down on the amount of water, fertilizer and pesticides needed, the initial input costs for farmers using this method are significantly increased, requiring an investment of at least $10,000 to $15,000 per acre, with some of that cost associated with irrigation and more management needed to grow the fields, Bergefurd said. The fields harvest from early May to October.

That compares to traditional matted row production, which averages about $4,000 per acre in production costs and harvests in June, he said.

But plasticulture strawberries have the potential to yield 20,000 to 25,000 pounds of strawberries per acre, compared to 10,000 to 15,000 pounds of strawberries per acre using the matted row method. And when you consider that retail strawberries fetch $2.50 to $3.50 per pound, the profit potential is “pretty good,” Bergefurd said.

“There’s a market just waiting to purchase the product,” he said. “Most (Ohioans) aren’t used to local strawberries until June, but there are plenty of customers that want to eat locally grown strawberries beginning in May and throughout the summer.”

Strawberries available in stores now are shipped in from Florida and California.

“But when you compare an Ohio strawberry to those, there is no comparison because Ohio growers can leave the berries ripening on the plant longer because the berries are sold locally,” Bergefurd said. “Just about every Ohio farmer that grows them for retail always sells out, so there is a strong market for the locally grown fruit.

“With the research results we’ve published, we’ve proven plasticulture has got potential and should be looked at by Ohio growers.”

Will the new farm bill be passed in 2012? The possibility is fairly slim. In fact, American Farm Bureau Federation lobbyist Mary Kay Thatcher believes there is only a 15% chance of the law moving through Congress this year. If a new farm bill is not passed before the current one expires there will be an extension of the current law. That is not the best scenario, according to Thatcher.

“I don’t think we will get that extension without a price to be paid for it,” Thatcher said. “It could be $1 billion less in direct payments a year or $2 billion less in CRP payments per year.”

There is also a really good chance that Congress will get interested in the budget deficit again after the election, which may mean more cuts. Those cuts would result in an even more difficult time coming up with a good, viable safety net in a farm bill next year.

It was just April that the farm bill process seemed to be moving along just fine. A proposal glided through the Senate Ag Committee, and the House Ag Committee is currently working on their version, so what is the holdup?

“There just aren’t enough legislative days left this year,” Thatcher said. “There were a number of farm groups that have sent a letter to Senate leader Harry Reid to urge him to get the legislation to the floor as quickly as possible. It’s going to be a stretch, and I think if we can’t get it to the Senate floor fairly soon, it is going to make it absolutely impossible to get anything done this year.”

If the farm bill doesn’t get passed during this session and gets passed along to a lame duck session, things look bleak. There are almost 100 tax provisions that need attention before the end of the year and the lame duck Congress will only have about 13 days to work through those issues. So it looks as though, if Thatcher is correct, an extension of the current farm bill is almost inevitable, and not the best result for American farmers.

“You have to give farmers some type of certainty,” Thatcher said. “A very high percentage of the farm population would say if we can extend another year that would be fine. I don’t agree. I think there will be a price to be paid for that extension.”

Thatcher Knows her message may be one of doom and gloom, but she assures that her organization and others, including nutrition groups, are fighting for a farm bill passage this year and will not give up.

“There are now 46 million people in this country on food stamps,” Thatcher said. “They represent a very large sector of Americans that this legislation will affect. They’re nervous too as they are looking at a big hit to the food stamp program.”

The Senate Ag Committee’s version of the farm bill cuts $4 billion in food stamp funding, while the House is looking at a cut of $130 billion dollars. Thatcher sees this as an opportunity to team with those concerned groups to get the bill over the goal line.

“In the end, will we all be fighting for that last dollar? Yes,” Thatcher said. “Until then, we will all fight to move this bill forward.”

The Carroll County FSA office will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm now through July 27th.
Starting July 30th, the Carroll County FSA office will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm.

Reducing the operating hours of the Carroll County FSA Office is a management decision on the part of FSA and is not intended to impact or change the operating hours of other agencies that may be co-located in the USDA Service Center.

To help provide producers with the best possible service please call (330) 339-5585 to schedule an appointment.