http://www.rrfn.com en-us Copyright© 2012 Red River Farm Network Thu, 17 May 2012 18:09:19 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6134 A coalition of 47 US Senators have asked for floor action on the 2012 Farm Bill. Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow is cautiously optimistic about the timeline. "I'm confident it will be on the floor soon," said Stabenow, "We will be able to announce something specific very shortly." Stabenow says there are some lawmakers that want to protect the status quo, but there is overwhelming bipartisan support for reform legislation. RRFN's Farm Bill Focus is sponsored, in part, by the North Dakota Grain Growers Association. Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6160 Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Pat Roberts says the committee has done the heavy lifting and now its time for Senate leadership to act on the farm bill. "September 30 is the date--three and a half months and Kansans will be putting seed in the ground," said Roberts, "All of their lenders want to know and they want to know what is in the farm bill; we simply cannot, as the chairwoman has said kick the can down the road; we have an obligation and responsibility to get this done." RRFN's Farm Bill Focus is sponsored, in part, by the National Potato Council and the North Dakota Corn Growers Association. Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6189 House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas is endorsing price protections not included in the Senate farm bill. Lucas said the safety net has to exist for all regions and all crops, and it has to be written with bad times in mind. At a House Ag Subcommittee hearing, Lucas said the commodity title must provide producers with options so they can choose the program that works best for them, whether it’s protecting revenue or price. Subcommittee Chairman Michael Conaway criticized the Senate farm bill, saying the Senate farm bill undermines crop insurance by setting up a revenue program that competes with and duplicates crop insurance. RRFN's Farm Bill Focus is sponsored, in part, by AgCountry Farm Credit Services. Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6149 House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson says the Senate committee put together a decent farm bill, but offered criticism on the commodity title. The Minnesota lawmaker is worried about a price collapse. "Some people say we are in a zone where prices will never go down, we heard the same thing in '96 with Freedom to Farm," said Peterson, "I want to remind everybody we spent quite a bit more than we saved with Freedom to Farm to bail everybody out; the thing people have to understand this time, if this happens, there is no money coming from Washington; you can forget about getting bailed out." In Wednesday's hearing, Peterson said the House Agriculture Committee should be able to mark up the farm bill next month. RRFN's Farm Bill Focus is sponsored, in part, by Growth Energy and the Minnesota Corn Growers Association. Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6179 Policy Solutions President Jay Truitt says it will be a miracle if the farm bill can be completed before the November elections. That adds to an already busy schedule during the lame-duck session. Truitt describes the lame duck session as the most critical 45 days on the congressional schedule. "The tax extender's package that is bound to come up after the elections could turn out to be critical for everybody when you look at things like the ability to use Section 179 to expense out major purchases, looking at capital gains rates changes, death tax issues and the icing on that cake, from a farmer and rancher perspective, is the farm bill," said Truitt, "Yeah, it could be a tremendously important time period for agriculture." RRFN's Farm Bill Focus is sponsored, in part, by Mayport Insurance and Realty. Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6196 SB & B Foods President and American Soybean Association member Bob Sinner testified at a hearing on the effect of trade policy on small business Wednesday in Washington, DC. Sinner, from Casselton, North Dakota, speaking before the House Small Business Committee, touched on the success of USDA’s Market Access Program, the need for consistency among trading partners with regard to sanitary and phytosanitary certification requirements, and the need for renewed investment in domestic infrastructure. Sinner also talked about the recently-enacted free trade agreement with South Korea, and the need for a practical approach to implementing any new safety requirements under the Food Safety Modernization Act. Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6187 Farm groups are praising the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement that took effect May 15th. The National Association of Wheat Growers President Erik Younggren is calling the agreement a huge victory for US wheat farmers. “It's quite a big deal for us." Canada's recent trade agreement with Colombia took marketshare away from the United States, but this agreement allows the US the chance to win back this lucrative market. Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6202 Losses paid out by crop insurance companies for 2011 crop losses have topped $10.7 billion and are edging closer to $11 billion. The top crops damaged by dollar value were corn, cotton, wheat, soybeans, grain sorghum, pasture and range land and tobacco. On average, 90 cents out of every dollar purchased in coverage was paid out in indemnities. National Crop Insurance Service president Tom Zacharias says, if not for crop insurance, those billions of dollars in damages would have landed on the plates of input suppliers, lenders, marketers and farm families. Zacharias credits Congress for their support of crop insurance. Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6186 Ramsey County Extension Agent Bill Hodous says area farmers are making good progress on the planting. Crop emergence has been good, but Hodous is concerned about dry conditions. "It's hard to imagine, us being in the Devils Lake Basin, but our soil conditions are getting dry to the point we’ve got some crops sitting in dry soils; we’re going to need a shot of rain to get some of this stuff going to this point." Hodous said the early-seeded crps and the winter wheat "look fabulous," but a good rain would be welcomed. RRFN's Crop Watch is sponsored, in part, by the North Dakota Farmers Union. Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://rrfn.com/news.php#6184 In the Penn, North Dakota area, Dan Webster says the crop is off to a very good start. “Crop conditions have been the best we’ve seen in several years," said Webster, "We weren’t fighting mud and we got a nice, early start; we weren’t fighting the clock, so it’s been a nice spring.” RRFN's weekly Crop Watch broadcast is sponsored, in part, by West Central Ag Services. Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500