Ag Policy
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Midwest Cropland Values Continue to Drop
The Chicago Federal Reserve released their latest AgLetter earlier this month and their survey of land values in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan found annual decreases in cropland values in Iowa and Illinois of about 6-7% and small increases Indiana and Michigan. Indiana values were actually up a bit from the first quarter and up […]
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A Tale of Two Days
Yesterday on the first day of the crop tour, I was pleasantly surprised by the South Dakota corn and soybean crop. However, the corn crop in NE Nebraska on our route was at best average (in my opinion), but most everyone else indicated it was above average. Today’s route found us heading south out of […]
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First Day of the Midwest Crop Tour
Today was the first day of the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour. This is my sixth straight trip on the tour and after spending the last three years on the Eastern Leg, I decided to spend this year on the Western Leg. My expectations for today was to see good crops in South Dakota and […]
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The ProFarmer Midwest Crop Tour
This will be my sixth year in a row of doing the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop tour. My first two years I did the western leg, the last three were on the eastern leg and this year I go back and tour the western leg. Here is a map from Pro Farmer showing the locations […]
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How Might ARC-CO Payments Look Next Year
We have final MYA prices for wheat, barley and oats. Based on those prices, the benchmark price for each of these crops for the 2015 crop is as follows: Wheat $6.70 up 10 cents from $6.60 Barley $5.57 up 12 cents from $5.45 Oats $3.48 up 23 cents from $3.25 We do not have final […]
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How Much Greater Will 2014/15 Farm Program Payments Be Than CBO Estimate
Gary Schnitkey and Carl Zulauf from the University of Illinois just released a new estimate of total estimated ARC/PLC payments for the 2014 crop year (to be paid after September 30, 2015). Their report estimates total farm program payments of about $5.7 billion for this year. In their summary and commentary section, they indicate it is […]
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Day 1 of the NSAC Annual Meeting
I am attending the annual National Society of Accountants (NSAC) annual meeting in Denver. For those of you who work with cooperatives who are not members of the NSAC, I would strongly encourage you to become a member. There are numerous education opportunities, resources, and great networking opportunities available. Also, if anyone of you reading […]
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Organic, Conventional or GMO
The Federal Reserve of Kansas City just had their annual Ag Symposium about two weeks ago. One of the presentations was by Jill McCluskey, a professor at Washington State University on the demographic trends and consumer preferences regarding food. The highlights of her presentation were as follows: Processed and fast food is the old trend – Farmers’ […]
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WA State Piece Rate Workers Must Be Compensated for Breaks
The WA Supreme Court decided on July 16, 2015 in Demetrio v. Sakuma Bros. Farms, Inc. that employers must pay piece rate workers for rest periods “separate and apart from the piece rate.” Farm workers paid by the task are entitled to rest-break pay above the negotiated piece rate. This ruling is the result of a […]