Agriculture

A Washington lawmaker vetting a proposal to raise the beef checkoff by $1 says he’s not sure what to do about the contentious issue.  Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, has been meeting with segments of the beef industry for seven months on whether to hike the per head tax on cattle sales to $2.50 from $1.50.He said Tuesday that the industry remains divided. “I don’t know if I’m taking a position at this time,” Dent said.The beef checkoff emerged as an issue in the 2016 Legislature. [node:read-more:link]

When dairy farmers Gray and Vicki Eatwell purchased a block of farming land just outside the tiny west coast village of Whataroa in New Zealand, the real-estate agent gestured vaguely at a cliff of striking, green-tinged rock on the border of their property at Gaunt Creek. “She said: ‘That’s the alpine fault, the meeting of the Australian and Pacific plates’,” says Gray Eatwell. “But we thought no more of it, locals were blasé about it. I had no idea my whole life would become about that rock.” With one quiet pub and only a few hundred residents, Whataroa is an easy place to overlook. [node:read-more:link]

Iowa's average farmland value declined for the third year in a row, down 5.9 percent to $7,183 an acre over the past year. It's the first time since the 1980s farm crisis that land values have fallen three straight years, according to an Iowa State University report. Despite values tumbling, chances are low that Iowa will face a replay of the devastating farm crisis, said Wendong Zhang, an ISU assistant economics professor who leads the university's annual farmland survey. Average Iowa farmland values are now 17.5 percent lower than the historic high set in 2013 at $8,716 an acre. [node:read-more:link]

DuPont recently received registration approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for DuPont Lumisena fungicide seed treatment, the newest member of the DuPont seed applied technology portfolio. Lumisena fungicide seed treatment improves crop establishment and stand uniformity by controlling phytophthora in soybeans and downy mildew in sunflower crops. In DuPont research trials, soybean seed protected with Lumisena fungicide seed treatment, which has a favorable environmental profile, had 32 percent less Phytophthora sojae incidence than untreated seed. [node:read-more:link]

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced on the second anniversary of the Craft New York Act, the number of farm distilleries has nearly doubled since the law was implemented. This growth is a direct result of the Craft New York Act, which took effect Dec. 13, 2014 and provided significant benefits to farm distillers. [node:read-more:link]

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the launch of an on-the-job training program for military veterans interested in careers in the agricultural industry. This training opportunity expands the New York State Division of Veterans’ Affairs’ On-the-Job Training initiative to allow veterans to use their military benefits while obtaining useful job skills on the farm. With assistance from Cornell Small Farms Program, Western New York’s Kreher’s Farm in Clarence, has been approved as the first farm in the state to offer this program to veterans. [node:read-more:link]

Are you an animal farmer looking for a veterinarian? A new tool is available to help you called "Find-A-Vet." This online tool was created by GlobalVetLink (GVL), and according to their website, it "allows animal owners to quickly find a veterinarian in their area who offers digital services such as Certificates of Veterinary Inspection (ICVIs/health certificates) and Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA/Coggins) certificates. [node:read-more:link]

The only remaining sugar mill in Hawaii is ending its final harvest. “Hawaii produced over a million tons of sugar per year for over 50 years. At one time that was 20 percent of all the sugar that was consumed in the United States,” said Robert Osgood, a retired consultant for the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center and co-author of “From King Cane to the Last Sugar Mill.” Sugar farms in Hawaii have closed or consolidated, and competition has increased worldwide. Alexander & Baldwin reported an operating loss of about $30 million in agribusiness in 2015. [node:read-more:link]

Net cash farm income is forecast at $90.1 billion and net farm income at $66.9 billion for 2016, according the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.Both measures are forecast to decline for the third consecutive year after reaching record highs in 2013 for net farm income and 2012 for net cash income. Net cash farm income is expected to fall by 14.6 percent in 2016, while net farm income is forecast to decline by 17.2 percent. [node:read-more:link]

Amid “a growing sense of risk in the farm sector,” bankers across the U.S. are demanding farm real estate as collateral on short-term operating loans, says the Ag Finance Databook compiled by the Kansas City Fed. Real estate provided one third of the collateral on loans of $250,000 or more issued during the summer vs. 10% a year earlier. It was an abrupt reversal of the five-year decline that began during the ag boom.  Interest on non-real estate loans is shifting higher. Some 85% of loans carry a floating rate, for only the second time since 1977. [node:read-more:link]