Agriculture is Bright Spot in a Bad Economy

By Lynne Finnerty

With the U.S. facing deep economic turmoil and unemployment hovering around 10 percent, it might seem as if there’s little to be optimistic about. Agriculture, however, has helped fortify the economy when it needed it most, as other sectors such as U.S. automobile manufacturing, real estate and construction have contracted and shed workers.

Funny thing, how agriculture often is overshadowed by seemingly more exciting industries, like, say, derivatives trading, but turns out to be the old reliable when other endeavors fail. Just like the tortoise and the hare in Aesop’s fable, farmers and ranchers keep plodding along, producing food, fiber and fuel stocks.

To contrast two industries in particular, auto manufacturing and agriculture, let’s zoom in on the state of Michigan, home to the big U.S. automakers and attendant industries like auto parts manufacturing. With the decline in the automakers’ fortunes, the state’s unemployment rate has risen to the highest in the nation, 14.6 percent.

Bredenkamp Testifies on HB 1195

CFB Executive Vice President Troy Bredenkamp testifying in House Finance Committee against the removal of the sales tax exemption on Ag Compounds and Pesticides.

Colorado Farm Bureau
Testimony on HB 1195
Before the Colorado House Finance Committee
January 29, 2010

Mr. Chairman, Good morning.

My name is Troy Bredenkamp, Executive Vice President of the Colorado Farm Bureau, Colorado’s largest agricultural organization.  I come before you this morning on behalf of Colorado Farm Bureau and our 23,000 member families, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the 28 member organizations of the Colorado Ag Council to express our strong opposition to HB1195.

As most are aware, Colorado agriculture is a huge part of the Colorado economy.  The ag industry as a whole, is the second largest industry in our state, made up of over 20,000 farming operations, farm families, businesses – responsible for over $16 billion of impact to Colorado’s economy.  You have just been told the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s general fund take is less than 0.01% of the entire general fund budget.  I would say spending less than one tenth of one percent on the 2^nd largest industry…and industry generating over $16 Billion of economic activity in Colorado is a pretty good return on investment in anybody’s book.

Protecting Landowners… Limiting Liability

Under current law, a landowner can be held liable for injuries suffered by a trespassing minor if the land contains an attractive nuisance. HB 1086, by Rep. Kathleen Curry and Senator Mary Hodge, is designed to help protect landowner from being held liable for injuries to members of the public who trespass onto their private land for recreational purposes, unless the landowner willfully or deliberately caused the said injuries. This bill is focused on all waterways and ditches, including facilities used for diversion, storage, conveyance, or use of water, claiming that property is not an ‘attractive nuisance’ and therefore the landowner can not be held at fault.

Colorado Farm Bureau Policy #228 titled “Landowner Liability” states that we favor legislation relieving the property owner of any responsibility for accident or injury to those parties on his premises without permission.

People of any age who trespass onto private land, must recognize that they are putting themselves at risk. This is not about public recreation; this is about people breaking the law and entering someone else’s land without their permission. We are well aware of the recreational opportunities that exist on many stretches of private land. However, we want to make clear that this land has many purposes and it is where we run our operations and businesses. It is not the landowner’s responsibility to watch out for someone else’s children.

This bill is up in the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, January 28^th. CFB Member, Brenda Seifken, will be testifying on behalf of Farm Bureau in support of this bill.

2010 CFB Board of Directors

From Left
Front Row: Angela Ryden-State Women’s Committee, Don Shawcroft-Vice President, Alan Foutz, President
Second Row: Bob Winter-District 1, Gene Kleve-District 2, Jeff Thornton-District 3, Ken Schweizer-District 4, TJ Dice YFR Chair
Third Row: Ton Verquer-District 5, Chad Stevens-District 6, Mike Mitchell-District 7, Phyllis Snyder-District 8
Back Row: Carlyle Currier-District 9, Ron Nereson-District 10, Troy Bredenkamp-CFB EVP, Jack Anderson-CFBI CEO

 

2010 Legislative Conference

TENTATIVE AGENDA
February 2-3, 2010
Crowne Plaza Downtown
1450 Glenarm Place
Denver, Colorado

Tuesday, February 2
9:30 a.m.
     Advisory Committee Meetings
     (Animal Ag, Crops, Specialty Ag, Water, & Wildlife/Environment)

12:00 p.m.
      Break for Lunch

1:30 p.m.
     CFB Legislative Conference Welcome
     Former Congressman Scott McInnis, Candidate for Governor

     Legislative Updates

     Issue Updates and Debriefings from legislators, state officials, and candidates

     Colo. Department of Ag budget

     Continued Legislative updates

5:00 p.m.
     Adjourn

5:30 p.m.
     Reception

6:30 p.m.
     Legislative Dinner – Speaker: Craig Beyrouty, CSU Dean of Ag

Check out the Contours on That One

By Dal Grooms

There’s been much talk recently about how state-of-the-art airport security equipment can reveal body contours. Many people shudder at the thought of someone looking at the very personal curves and slopes of their bodies. Farmers and ranchers, on the other hand, are more than happy to show off another kind of contours—the ones on their farmland.

Nature has given the United States many land formations but crop farmers often are most attracted to that 20 percent with rolling hills and rich soils. To protect that soil, farmers use a variety of conservation methods but the ones that really show off the land are terraces, buffers and contour planting.

These conservation practices accent the grace and beauty of America’s farmland like a string of pearls around a woman’s neck. Terraces in particular are like pearls that highlight the rich, productive hillsides.

One can clearly see conservation practices in place when driving through farm country all across our nation. There are bands of color that can be seen with strip cropping and frames around fields when borders are used. And be sure to take note of crop buffers planted to protect the branching veins of waterways.

But conservation practices aren’t just about accenting the hills and slopes of the land. They are about keeping the soil in place—an important factor in crop productivity.

The practices are working. The Agriculture Department’s most recent National Resources Inventory report shows that between 1982 and 2003, soil erosion nationwide dropped dramatically. When the amount of soil lost per acre is compared, it’s down 66 percent. That means less dust in the air and clearer water in streams. It also means wildlife will find more habitats for shelter and food.

USDA’s conservation programs during that time have included taking farmland out of production. It’s been exciting during the past seven years, however, to see more focus being put on conservation measures for working land. This approach results in a working resource that provides food, fiber and fuel. But it also yields a cleaner environment, enhanced wildlife habitat and a farmscape marked by beauty.

Under the skilled hand of a conservation-minded farmer, our farmland works in numerous ways.

So, the next time you’re driving through farm country, take a look. Appreciate the farmland resources Mother Nature gave us. Appreciate the farmer who dressed them with conservation practices. And know these are contours each of us would be glad to show off.

Study: Raising pigs indoors healthier for animals, people

(12/20/2009)
By Cliff Gauldin

– Many swine diseases saw declines or eradication since move to confined operations.

– Raising pigs indoors reduced use of anti-parasitic agents.

– Outdoor pigs can damage land, environment.

Raising pigs indoors is healthier for the animals and has allowed for a higher-quality product for consumers, according to a new study, and the researchers hope it will provide producers with CONTINUED

More Weakness Seen for Ag Machinery

Agricultural machinery manufacturers anticipate overall continued weakness in U.S. and Canadian tractor sales in 2010, according to the annual outlook survey of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

For all sizes of two-wheel-drive tractors, however, the declines are expected to be less steep than 2009 losses. Double-digit decreases are expected for four-wheel-drive tractors, following relatively flat business in 2009. Combine sales are predicted to drop in the double digits for 2010 after 2009 sales growth. Sales of tractors and combines are then predicted to start rebounding through 2011 and 2012.

For other types of farm-related equipment covered in the AEM survey, overall 2010 demand for most products in the U.S. and Canada is expected to improve after 2009 business declines. All categories are predicted to be in the plus column for 2011 and 2012.

“The recession reached the agricultural sector in 2009 and the drop in equipment sales in most categories is attributed to a combination of the fall in commodity prices, significant drops in net farm income, the tightening of credit throughout the ag equipment distribution channel and the overall reduction in economic confidence,” said Charlie O’Brien, AEM vice president of agricultural services. Survey results are available here.

Murkowski Seeks to Halt EPA Greenhouse Gas Regulation

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman sent a letter today to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) supporting any legislative effort that would forestall the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

Murkowski is expected to introduce an amendment to a bill that would raise the federal debt ceiling or may introduce a “disapproval resolution” Thursday that would seek a congressional veto of EPA’s proposed endangerment finding that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threaten public health. The Pulse covered a previous attempt by Murkowski late last year when she proposed a ‘disapproval resolution’ in the Senate.

Talk on Capitol Hill is that the Murkowski amendment will be the key environmental issue in Congress as the Senate returns to work today. A vote on the amendment is viewed as a barometer for the prospect of getting broad climate change legislation passed this year.

Forbes Writer Goes After Critics of ‘Corporate Agriculture’

No sector in America is better positioned for the future than agriculture, if it is allowed to reach its potential, according to a column penned by Joel Kotkin, a distinguished presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University.

“Like manufacturers and homebuilders before them, farmers have found themselves in the crosshairs of urban aesthetes and green activists who hope to impose their own Utopian vision of agriculture. This vision includes shutting down large-scale scientifically run farms and replacing them with small organic homesteads and urban gardens,” Kotkin wrote.

“Troublingly, the assault on mainstream farmers is moving into the policy arena. It extends to cut-offs on water, stricter rules on the use of pesticides, prohibitions on the caging of chickens and a growing movement to ban the use of genetic engineering in crops. And it could undermine a sector that has performed well over the past decade and has excellent long-term prospects.”

Kotkin strongly lashes out at the critics of “corporate agriculture.” Kotkin’s column does an excellent job of articulating the green movement’s assault on modern agriculture.

SCOTUS to Hear Roundup Ready Alfalfa Case

The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear Monsanto’s appeal of a lower court ruling which stopped the sale of Roundup Ready alfalfa. USDA had approved sale of the seed but courts in California and Oregon stopped sales in 2007 saying USDA had not sufficiently studied the potential for the genetically modified crops to cross-pollinate with conventional alfalfa.

The USDA issued a draft environmental impact statement in November and again recommended that farmers be allowed to plant it.

South Platte Task Force Holds First Meeting

Members of the task force listen to a presentation on water law in Colorado.

Members of the newly formed South Platte Task Force held their first official meeting Monday. Lee Miller, a water lawyer from the firm Burns, Figa and Will gave a presentation about the history of water law in the state of Colorado.

Background on the Task Force –

At the Annual Delegate Meeting in November a motion was made on the floor to form a task force to look into the Sr./Jr. issues of the South Platte Basin. The Directive is as follows:

“CFB shall form a working group to find solutions to the ground water and surface water conflicts.”

Lee Miller of Burns, Figa & Will

To further guide this process, the CFB Board of Directors has commissioned a task force made up of one Farm Bureau member from each South Platte River Basin county. The CFB Board has offered the following question as a focus for the task force:

Recommend and report to the CFB Board of Directors what can be done from a public policy perspective to increase water usage in the South Platte River Basin given the real and current parameters set forth by current Colorado water law including the 1969 law, the 1974 augmentation requirements and Colorado Supreme Court decisions.

FFA Heifer Wrangle

FFA Heifer Wrangle winner Garrett Keenan from Limon.

Standing with (from left) FFA advisor Cody Weber, father Fritz Gilbert and Chad Vorthmann of CFB. Look for Garrett’s updates as he puchases and raises his heifer.

Rodeo at the NWSS

Behind the chutes for the FFA Heifer Wrangle

NWSS Horse Sale Lower Than Last Year

Photo: The Denver Post

Not much of a surprise to those  in the industry, but the Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Association’s Mile High Select Sale was again a disappointment for sellers. With 14 horses (out of 100) a no-sale, the average sale price was $3521 with the top seller only fetching $12,500. It’s a shame to see such great horse blood going for so cheap.

The Denver Post covered the sale and did a great job of identifying the reason for the bad market…

The bad economy, the closure of the last U.S. horse slaughterhouse in 2007, overbreeding, an abundance of mid- and low-grade horses, and the high cost of caring for horses have all conspired to cause horse prices to plummet across the country.

“There’s no bottom to the horse market any more,” said Scot Dutcher, chief of the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s bureau of animal protection.

It remains to be seen when and where the horse market will rebound. Many observers were hopeful that this years sale would be higher, but it looks like it wasnt in the cards.

NY Times Prints Meat Association Letter

National Meat Association Director of Communications Jeremy Russell wrote a letter to the editor published in Sunday’s New York Times that took exception to an article that questioned the efficacy of Beef Products Inc.’s ammonia treatment of beef to kill pathogens, and a subsequent editorial on the same topic.

“Instead of encouraging efforts to improve food safety, you demonize a company that had the courage to invest in innovative technology proved to be effective in reducing dangerous pathogens,” Russell wrote. “Beef Products Inc.’s rate of positives is well below industry averages.”

The remainder of the short letter is available here.

Poaching Egg Farmers?

California State Capitol in Sacramento

Other states are making trying to lure egg producers away from California in the wake of last years passage of Prop 2. Lets hope they are successful.

From the Wall Street Journal…

A year after Californians approved stricter rules on the treatment of farm animals, Idaho and other states are trying to lure away the Golden State’s poultry and egg farmers with promises of friendlier regulations and lower costs.

In Idaho, as lawmakers convened Monday, Republican state Sen. Tim Corder said he would introduce legislation designed to attract California chicken farmers who might consider relocating. In Nevada, Pershing County is aggressively recruiting poultry farmers in California, the nation’s fifth-largest producer of eggs. Georgia’s poultry industry also has reached out to some California farmers in a bid to woo them eastward, California egg-industry officials say.

Legislature Convenes: Time to Rock and Roll

The City of Denver is balancing the NWSS and the start of the state legislative session.

As the current legislative session kicked off this week here at the Gold Dome there is much anticipation for what is in store over the next four months. Being an election year and now with a lame duck Governor, many questions hang in the air.

With the National Western Stock Show currently happening not too many miles away many legislators have been decked out this week in their hats and boots which should help serve as a reminder that the Ag Industry is alive and well in this state and has no intention of sitting back quietly on the sidelines this Session.

The first round of bills was released Wednesday afternoon and CFB Staff is currently sorting through them all to determine what water, wildlife, transportation, natural resource, land use, and immigrant worker issues we will engage in as we move throughout the next few weeks.

Clearly the state budget remains a priority with many proposals, but the bottom line is that the 2010-11 budget will not be dealt with until after the March 20th economic forecast is released. But before then Farm Bureau will have to deal with the supplemental bills which will balance out the current year’s budget for 2009-10.

Committee hearings will start next week with many State department reviews and briefings. Legislators are optimistic of bipartisan agreements as many tough issues will hit their desks. The Ag Community has gathered around many tables this week as notes and talking points are prepped to lead the charge on critical issues such as water, food policy and immigration.

The CFB Legislative Conference is just around the corner and we look forward to seeing many more hats and boots here in Denver!

Corn Farmer Harvests in the Snow

Photo courtesy of JournalStar.com

Alan Rippe of Syracuse Nebraska was able to get most of the corn out of a snowy field west of Tecumseh with his four-wheel drive combine. He said that it’s been an unusual harvest season delayed by weather and he’s seen bald eagles, pheasants, quail, deer, bobcat, coyotes and a badger while in the fields. He said: “It’s the first corn season I’ve combined in snow.”

Farm Bureau Elects Grassroots Leaders

At the Delegate Session of the recent AFBF Annual Meeting, current President Bob Stallman was re-elected as AFBF president for a sixth two-year term. He is a cattle and rice producer from Columbus, Texas, and previously served as Texas Farm Bureau president.

In addition, Barry Bushue was re-elected to a second two-year term as AFBF vice president. Bushue is a berry and nursery plant producer from Boring, Ore., and also serves as Oregon Farm Bureau president. Both re-elections were unanimous.

Climate Bill and Federal Deficit Top Concern Among Delegates

Delegates at the 91st American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting voted to oppose cap-and-trade climate legislation and to support balancing the federal budget over the next eight years.

Climate

The delegates approved a special resolution stating that cap-and-trade legislation would raise farmers’ and ranchers’ production costs, and the potential benefits of agricultural offsets are far outweighed by the costs to producers. Due to these and other concerns, the delegates strongly opposed “cap and trade proposals before Congress” and supported “any legislative action that would suspend EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.”

“As Congress returns to the issue of cap-and-trade this year, the message of Farm Bureau will continue to be: ‘Don’t Cap Our Future’ agricultural productivity and food security,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “We will now send that message even more strongly.”

Farm Bureau Delegates Send Strong Climate Message

AFBF President Stallman presides over the 2010 Delegate Session

Farm and ranch delegates at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting today unanimously approved a special resolution to strongly oppose “cap and trade proposals before Congress” and strongly support “any legislative action that would suspend (the Environmental Protection Agency’s) authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.”

Outlook on 2010: Bullish But Cautious

Various crop, animal ag, legislative and financial outlooks at the 2010 AFBF Annual Meeting can be summed up as optimistic but cautious.

Members had several conferences over the three day meeting, all of which provided outlooks on 2010. Crops, livestock and even legislative and regulatory forecasts were given to members to help them plan for the coming year.

Bartee a Tough Competitor

Deanna interviews with farm broadcaster Greg Akagi after the Sweet 16 round.

CFB’s Deanna Bartee made it to the Sweet 16 round of the AFBF YR&R Discussion Meet before being eliminated on Monday.

 Bartee made an excellent showing in the first three rounds of the meet and did an excellent job acting as the face of CFB YF&R.

AFBF Women’s Luncheon

The women of the Colorado delegation.

 The women of AFBF gathered Sunday for the Women’s Leadership Recognition Luncheon. AFBF President Stallman was in attendance. He commended the attendees on taking the first steps toward leadership roles and urged them to continue on their paths.

AFBF President Stallman models his paink ballcap.

Each state was recognized for their work in 2009. Colorado’s Angela Ryden accepted an award for Colorado’s Women’s Committee and the committee was recognized for their stellar fundraising during the silent auction at the State Annual meeting. Vice Chair Sherry Saylor was appreciative of the committee’s auctioning of Troy Bredenkamp, the Executive Workhorse.

Ron Nereson and Charles Ryden show that they are tough guys in pink.

All attendees were presented with pink Farm Bureau ballcaps to present to legislators in their home states and a photo was taken of all attendees showing their support by holding up the pink ballcaps in support of the Don’t Cap Our Future campaign.

Farm Bureau Takes Off the Gloves

As the 2010 AFBF Annual Meeting moves along, a common thread has emerged in many of the workshops, press conferences, and speeches. It was echoed by President Stallman, Farm Bureau staff and state Farm Bureau members.  The message is simple:

The gloves are coming off.

In his address to the General Session, President Stallman made it clear that Farm Bureau would no longer play nicely with those who seek to denigrate our industry with wild claims and emotionally charged labels.

“A line must be drawn between our polite and respectful engagement with consumers, and how we must aggressively respond to extremists who want to drag agriculture back to the days of 40 acres and a mule,” said Stallman. “The time has come to face our opponents with a new attitude. The days of their elitist power grabs are over.”

Speaking later that day, Stallman reaffirmed this new and aggressive position saying that there has never been a more critical time to fight back against those who would hurt such an important industry as agriculture. At a time of economic trouble there are those who wish to weaken and change the industry for their own personal desires. That cannot be allowed to happen.

Stallman Addresses Farm Bureau Members

The 2010 AFBF Annual Meeting kicked off this morning with an excellent speech from AFBF President Bob Stallman. In his remarks, President Stallman outlined the significant challenges that Ag will face in the coming year, chief among them: Cap and Trade, anti-ag activists and a ballooning federal deficit.

Watch the video of the speech here.

Mr. Stallman again called on members to do all they can to fight Cap and Trade legislation, noting that the measure will dramatically reduce the level of food production in the United States and have no measurable impact on climate change.

“To throttle back the ability of our farmers and ranchers to produce food at this time would be a moral failure,” he said.

President Stallman and President Foutz greet eachother at the General Session

According to Stallman Ag faces serious threats from “self-appointed experts” and other anti-ag activists who are trying to drive a wedge between various methods of production. He noted that Farm Bureau represents all manner of production be it organic, or conventional and that a “successful American agriculture will require continued diversity and innovation.”

He told assembled members and guests that “Together, we hold in trust the future of our industry ; and through our involvement, we will succeed.”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

AFBF2010- Sunday

Read the Sunday edition of The Seattle American newsletter for a briefing on whats happening on opening day of the AFBF Annual Meeting. Click here for the pdf version.

AFBF Annual Meeting on The Pulse

The Pulse will be bringing you all the action from this year’s AFBF Annual Meeting in Seattle. Multiple contributors will be covering the event both on The Pulse and on Twitter.

A new category called AFBF2010 has been set up. All updates from the meeting will be tagged with this category. It can be found by clicking on AFBF2010 in the Categories box in the right hand column.

For those members who use Twitter, a list of people who will be tweeting from the meeting is available here. Colorado Farm Bureau members and staff included in the list are as follows:

@agripundit– Shawn Martini

@ChuckColo– Chad Vorthmann

@rcvermillion– Rachel Vermillion

Follow all the action at the 2010 American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting, right here on The Pulse!

HSUS Goes After Kroger

The Humane Society of United States is pressuring supermarket giant Kroger Co. to sell only cage-free eggs under its private labels.  The group, which owns 193 shares of Kroger stock, has filed a shareholder resolution urging the company to consider going to cage-free eggs. The resolution is to be taken up at the company’s next annual meeting.

HSUS argues that hens are required to spend their entire lives in cages smaller than a piece of paper and are also… blah…blah…blah…