Monthly Archives: June 2012

The U.S. Senate in a 64 to 35 vote passed the 2012 Farm Bill (S. 3240) today, June 21, 2012. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) commended the passage of the legislation. NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Colin Woodall issued the following statement.

“Like many of us who have a vested interest in this legislation (S. 3240), I was pleasantly surprised by the bipartisan efforts made to move this bill through the Senate very efficiently and without much partisan rhetoric. Both Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Minority Leader Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) should be commended for their leadership on this very important piece of legislation. Their transparency and willingness to listen to all vested interests was very refreshing for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and other like-minded organizations. NCBA stands firm in our commitment to support this legislation.

“Although the amendment process was certainly concerning in its early stages, all is well for cattlemen and women thanks to their outspoken grassroots advocacy. This legislation, as written, incorporates all NCBA priorities. Bottom-line, there is no livestock title, conversation programs – specifically EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) – are maintained and the research title is sustained. All this is done with more than $20 billion in savings to the American taxpayer.

“We support this legislation and will continue working with the House to ensure amendments that would interject the federal government into production agriculture are left out of the legislation or soundly defeated. As we focus our efforts on working with the House Committee on Agriculture to ensure another version of this legislation that is positive for cattlemen, I must stress the importance of family farmers and ranchers being engaged in this process.”

Grain traders headed into the weekend trying to decipher how much benefit crops would get from
forecast rains. The system appeared as if it would be a “major” event earlier last week, but ahead of the weekend, many private forecasters
had removed much of the rain potential for the driest areas of the eastern and southern Corn Belt. All investors are holding their
breath waiting on results from the June 17 Greek elections. While neither party has promised an exit from the euro-zone if they are victorious,
the opposition leftist party opposes the austerity measures Greece must adhere to in order to get bailout funding and avoid
defaulting on sovereign debt. But if Greece leaves the euro-zone, central bankers around the world appear ready to provide liquidity for
banks and economic stimulus. With the focus on weather and Greece — two very unstable and unpredictable factors — price action could be very volatile this week. Barring a macro-economic meltdown, livestock traders are trying to focus more on cash fundamentals.

The 2012 Southern Feed and Grain Convention will be held June 24-27, 2012 at the Baytowne Warf, Destin, Florida.

The SFGA Convention features a great line up of speakers as well as surprise entertainment.  Deep sea fishing will begin at 8:00 am on Tuesday. The golf tournament will be played on the Raven Course.

Visa or MasterCard will be accepted for Convention enrollment, booth rental, and contributions.

Any registrations questions should be directed to AFGA@BellSouth.net. Faxed credit card information should be sent to the SFGA at fax number (256) 775-0136.

Visit the Sandestin Resort webpage for booking and area information.  Book your room online www.Sandestin.com and enter group code 22D5HO.

Convention Agenda
Convention Enrollment Form
Housing Request Form
Contribution Form
Booth Registration Form
Credit Card Payment

All mailed registration forms should be addressed to the SFGA’s new address:

Southern Feed & Grain Association
300 1st Avenue, Ste 202
Cullman, AL  35056
January 9-10, 2013

Call it what you want — the
“fiscal cliff” or “the biggest onetime
tax increase in history” —
that’s what the economy faces on
Jan. 1, 2013, unless Congress acts
to extend the “Bush tax cuts.”
Many market watchers are talking
about it like this is something
“new” that’s been flying under
the markets’ radar. If you were at
a Profit Briefing Seminar last winter,
you know it’s something
we’ve been talking about for
quite some time.
While it seems likely Congress
will extend most (if not all) of the
cuts, the best option being
pushed is a short-term extension
to give post-election leaders time
to clear the air and get a workable
tax package in place. That
could include a timeline for
major tax reform. Until then,
uncertainty heightens the risk of
ongoing economic struggles.
Still, many analysts are now issuing
their 2013 economic outlooks
and many focused on the potential
for another U.S. recession if the tax
cuts are not extended.
What’s going generally unnoticed
at the federal level is that
as outlays are cut, state and
local taxes are increasing. So,
unfortunately, everybody’s tax
burden is likely to be heavier in
2013 than this year. That’s bad
news for the economy and for
commodities in general.

We won’t make too “much” of the rains that fell May 30-31 across
the Corn Belt… or of the May 25-26 storms that gave the northern
Corn Belt another drink of water. But, some of the driest areas of
Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana saw much-needed relief. Only
about half of Iowa received more than a half-inch of rain and very
few locations saw an inch. With rain still falling in Illinois Thursday,
some locations were just crossing the half-inch level.

Rain will sustain the corn crop, but it’s still far from ‘made’ —
May 30-31 rains will only sustain the corn crop and will do very little
to recharge soil moisture levels in Iowa and Illinois. In fact, the rain
may have been even more beneficial for the bean crop — the moisture
will encourage germination of some seed that’s been sitting in dry dirt
for a week (or longer). It will also help erase some of the soybean seedling
problems, such as “leafing” underground, as young plants should
now find the strength to poke through a softened crust.
And even the light shower in southern Corn Belt locations will be
encouragement for soft red winter (SRW) wheat producers to follow
harvest with a double-crop of soybeans.

Still a lot of rain needed to get soil moisture back to ‘normal’ —
The map below is one most haven’t seen before. It shows how many
inches of rain are needed to completely recharge top- and subsoil
moisture and to meet the moisture needs of all vegetation. Corn and
soybean crops could perform very well with rainfall totals below the
amounts needed to return conditions to normal, but it does an excellent
job of illustrating how these crops will rely on timely rains all season.

Despite dry conditions, corn still mostly ‘good’ to ‘excellent’
The first PF Crop Condition
Index (CCI) of the year for corn
promised a strong start. The second
update of the CCI erased
much of that early start and the
CCI is already below 2010 levels.
But as the last two growing seasons
proved, the key will be the
mid-summer trend. Rains last
week set the stage for at least a
slight recovery in the CCI for
corn in the week ended June 3.