During a press conference at Commodity Classic, the question was posed to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack whether the Department of Agriculture should be re-named the Department of Food – which I guess would make him the Secretary of Food.
Vilsack said you could look at the department in a number of different ways. “When the department was founded in 1862, the substantial percentage of the population was in the farming business, so it made all the sense in the world to call it the department of agriculture. Today, the mission of the department of agriculture is fairly diverse and not very well understood by a lot of people in the country. Seventy percent of our budget is in the form of food assistance – the SNAP program, the WIC program, the school lunch and school breakfast programs. Now, one could say that makes the argument for the Department of Food, but I would say a lot of those programs are benefited from commodity purchases which help stabilize markets and that’s beneficial to the farmers, so maybe it’s okay to say Department of Agriculture.”
“We do a lot of rural development activities, trying to build strong communities and regions and trying to promote business and industry, and so you might think we should call it the Department of Rural Development. Except that the vast majority of farm families get a substantial percentage of their income off the farm, so the capacity to create jobs in rural communities basically helps people keep the farm, so maybe it’s okay to call it the Department of Agriculture.”
Ditto for the department of global food aid, or forestry, or food safety. “The point is this is a department that has multiple missions but at the end of the day, every single mission comes back to the beginning of this department, which is that it’s beneficial in some form or fashion, directly or indirectly, to farmers,” Vilsack concluded.
There may still be corn left standing in the snow, but USDA says the 2009 corn crop was a record setter.
In today’s crop production summary report, USDA projects U.S. corn production at a record 13.2 billion bushels, up from 12.9 billion bushels projected in USDA’s December forecast and 1 percent above the previous record of 13.0 billion bushels set in 2007. The corn yield is estimated at a record 165.2 bushels per acre in 2009, 2.3 bushels higher than the December forecast and 4.9 bushels above the previous record of 160.3 bushels per acre set in 2004.
Rebecca Fecitt, U.S. Grains Council director of biotechnology programs, said the continued utilization of scientifically proven biotechnology applications provided by life science companies will help to increase corn yields, solidifying the need to continue developing markets for U.S. coarse grains.
“We hope to see this upward trend in yields for U.S. corn continue. As science becomes even more sophisticated, it will help increase and maintain our yields. This will be instrumental in feeding the world’s forecasted 9.1 billion people by 2050,” said Fecitt. “The growing population, especially in developing countries, will demand more meat, milk and eggs as incomes continue to increase. We have to maintain our biotechnology education efforts in order to ensure that grain derived from biotechnology is accepted around the world.”
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) says this proves the amazing productivity of the American farmer. “The unparalleled productivity of America’s farmers continues to amaze even the most skeptical of critics,” said RFA president Bob Dinneen. “Despite unfavorable weather conditions from start to finish, farmers produced considerably more corn than the food, feed, and fuel markets are demanding. Such gains in productivity undermine any claims that U.S. biofuel production will require new lands in other nations to come into production. There can be no question that American farmers have both the capability and the can-do attitude to feed the world while simultaneously helping reduce our nation’s reliance on imported oil.”
American farmers should be commended for this accomplishment.
There’s still a lot of corn in “field storage” out there, as the cold and snow continues throughout the corn belt.
The term “field storage” may be somewhat euphemistic, but pretty accurate at this point, since most of it will probably be there for some time yet. While I have heard some growers say that leaving corn in the field through winter is not totally unheard of, it is definitely not normal and even kind of sad – as Stu Ellis writes in the Decatur Herald-Review:
There is something about a cornfield full of snow that reflects tragedy. “What happened here?” “Why wasn’t this harvested earlier?” “Was this farmer hurt, or was there a death in the family?” Corn is just not supposed to be standing in snow, but currently 5% of the US corn crop remains in the field and there is snow on the ground throughout the Cornbelt.
USDA is still keeping track of the harvest, although they stopped issuing official weekly updates before Christmas. According to meteorologist Brad Rippey, “The corn harvest has reached just 71 percent in North Dakota, meaning that more than 1 out of 4 fields is left to be harvested there,” Rippey said. That is the worst of it, but there is still 3-7 percent of corn left in the fields of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. “That is very little progress from what we saw two weeks ago, mainly due to the big holiday blizzard that the western corn belt experienced making any field work just about impossible,” Rippey said.
The good news is that we still have plenty of corn to meet demand both domestically and internationally. The corn that is left remains in pretty good condition, although test weights will be lower and mold could be an issue. And, most importantly, the farmers who struggled with the elements in 2009 to produce another excellent crop to feed and fuel the country and the world will be back at it again this spring, as long as the good Lord is willing and even if the creeks do rise.
Nationally, the corn harvest progressed 14 percent last week, but remains 26 points behind normal for this time of year, according to USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service. Harvest was most active in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin where producers combined 21 percent or more of their crop. Despite the active harvest pace in these States, overall progress remained over 2 weeks behind normal. Wet weather in Illinois and Missouri held the harvest pace to single digits during the week.
Meanwhile, the soybean harvest has just about caught up to normal at this point, with 94 percent of the crop now done – just three percent behind average.
A new report out this week from USDA shows that over 85 percent of American households have enough – or more than enough – to eat. As a nation, we are food secure.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that almost 15 percent are reportedly some level of “food insecure” – which sounds like some type of psychological condition, but according to USDA means families that “had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year.”
There is frankly no excuse for anyone in this country to go hungry, ever – much less 17 million households with children. That’s some 49 million people. That’s the most since 1995, when the USDA conducted its first survey on food insecurity and 29 percent higher than the previous record in 2004. USDA says, “The fundamental cause of food insecurity and hunger in the United States is poverty – marked by a lack of adequate resources to address basic needs such as food, shelter and health care.”
I don’t believe that. We have more than abundant resources in this nation to feed those who are without the means to feed themselves. The resources are there, if people are “food insecure” it is because they are not taking advantage of those resources.
We produce more than enough food for everyone to eat. Any child who attends a public school in this country should never be hungry. And the fact of the matter is that even the 15 percent who are classified as “food insecure” in our nation have more to eat than the poor in other nations.
As Thanksgiving approaches, we should be thankful for the food security of our nation and reach out to those who may be “insecure” to make sure they take advantage of the resources available to help them. No one should ever go hungry in this country. It is our job as citizens and fellow human beings to feed those in need. Give to a local homeless shelter or Samaritan center or soup kitchen. There are people who are experiencing loss of jobs and income and we should help them as individuals, companies, organizations and governments.
We should also be thankful that this year’s Thanksgiving dinner is even more affordable than last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. AFBF’s 24th annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table found the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $42.91, a $1.70 price decrease from last year’s average of $44.61. That’s four percent less than a year ago.
There is no excuse for anyone going hungry in the United States but we should be very thankful for the great abundance of affordable food brought to us by our farmers and ranchers. Spread the word by using the Give Thanks signature on your email this month, or just by giving Thanks every time you eat a meal. We are indeed blessed.
USDA lowered its forecast for 2009 corn production in the latest report out today, due to lower yields. Despite the decrease, yields are still expected to be a record and production is still expected to be the second highest on record.
Corn production is forecast at 12.9 billion bushels, down 1 percent from last month but 7 percent higher than 2008. Based on conditions as of November 1, yields are expected to average 162.9 bushels per acre, down 1.3 bushels from October but 9.0 bushels above last year. Despite the drop in yield from October, this yield will be the highest on record if realized. Total production will be second highest on record, only behind 2007. Within the Corn Belt, forecasted yields in Minnesota and Wisconsin increased, while
Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan yields decreased.
High moisture, low test weights, and mold issues are getting to be major concerns throughout the Midwest. According to USDA, just 37 percent of the corn had been combined as of Sunday, compared to 82 percent average and even well behind last year’s slow harvest which was 69 percent complete at this time in 2008.
Analyst Brian Hoops with Midwest Market Solutions told reporters on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange crop call that many farmers are talking about leaving their corn in the field. “There’s a lot of producers in the northern part of the corn belt, North Dakota in particular, that are likely to leave the crop sit throughout the winter because of the concerns about dry down and the cost of drying the corn down manually.”
Corn yield champion Kip Cullers of Purdy, Missouri told me that was a possibility for him. “We started combining corn August 12 and its now November and I’ve never combined corn in my entire life in the month of November,” Kip said. “I think we’re actually cut some corn in January, if the ground ever freezes up.”
Iowa Corn Growers Association and Corn Promotion Board farmer leaders met by conference call last week to talk about harvest conditions including wet weather, slow harvest, and grain quality. They expressed concern about the situation, but overall confidence in getting the harvest complete. “Corn growers have a different set of weather conditions to deal with each season,” said Gary Woodley, a farmer from Clarion on the board. “Each year brings challenges, but I have never met a corn grower who wasn’t up to the challenge to bring in the crop.”
Grain quality specialist Dr. Charles Hurburgh with Iowa State University recommends that corn coming out of the field with visible mold should be segregated and samples should be saved for testing. “Right now, we are seeing some mold, more in hail damaged areas,” he said. “We will continue to monitor the crop as harvest rolls on.”
Mother Nature never fails to make farming a challenge.
According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, this year’s corn harvest is proceeding at “the slowest pace since at least the mid-1970’s, when National crop progress tables first appeared in the Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin.”
As of November 1, just 25 percent of the corn was harvested nationwide, which way beats the previous slowest harvest record of 44 percent at this time of year in 1992. Average harvest progress in the main corn producing area was between four and six percent, but North Dakota made no progress compared to the previous week – continuing to lag far behind with just two percent of the crop harvested. In a normal year, the harvest would be halfway done by now in that state. Nationwide, we should be over 70 percent complete at this point.
The delay is causing some states, like Missouri, to relax transportation regulations so farmers can get move more grain out of the fields faster once they get that window of opportunity to harvest. The Missouri Corn Growers Association (MCGA) reports that the Missouri Department of Transportation has issued an emergency declaration that allows farmers to run their loaded trucks at 10 percent above the maximum licensed weight limit.
The harvest is gearing back up in many areas this week with drier weather, but there are still lots of fields with standing water. Some little piece of good news in the latest report from USDA is that at least all the states, except North Dakota, are finally in the double digits with harvest progress.
The corn harvest continues to crawl along at a snail’s pace due to unfavorable weather conditions across most of the corn belt.
“The corn harvest progress crept ahead just three points during the last week to reach 20 percent by the 25th of October,” says USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. “That’s behind last year’s pace of 37 percent and way behind the five year average of 58 percent.”
According to the latest report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service, nearly every major corn producing state saw crop harvest progress of only 2-3 percent. Only two states – Tennessee and Kentucky – saw double digit progress. Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Colorado made a little better than average progress. But, North Dakota is only reporting two percent of the corn crop harvested at this point, compared to 33 percent on average.
On the upside, the crop remains in good condition, off just one percent from the previous week at 69 rated good to excellent – and 90 percent is now rated mature.
Just four percent of the nation’s corn crop was harvested last week, thanks to cool, rainy conditions that kept combines out of the fields. Only 17 percent of the crop had been harvested as of Sunday, according to USDA.
“We should be approaching the halfway mark,” says USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. “46 percent is the five year average and we see tremendous harvest delays in much of the Midwest and down into the south.”
Only one percent of the crop has been harvested in North Dakota, three percent in Michigan and Minnesota, five and six percent in Wisconsin and South Dakota and eight percent in Ohio. Maturity is running almost 50 percent behind normal in North Dakota, with just over 40 percent of the corn crop mature. Nationwide, 83 percent is mature, compared to the five year average of 97 percent.
But, the harvest can catch up quickly. Here in Missouri, just 40 percent of the corn crop was harvested as of yesterday. I just took a quick drive around the river bottom near the capitol and saw whole fields had been harvested courtesy of the warm, sunny and dry weather we had today.
Snow, frost and freeze over the past week have effectively put an end to the growing season across the Corn Belt.
Freezing temperatures were recorded as far south as Missouri and Illinois and wet conditions also slowed the harvest in most areas. According to USDA, just 13 percent of the crop was harvested as of this weekend, compared to 35 percent normal for this time of year. Only 74 percent was mature, with states like Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan reporting barely half the crop mature and North Dakota only 37 percent.
However, it will still take some time to determine how much the crop will suffer as a result. USDA is still rating the crop as 70 percent good to excellent this week. “The problem here is that the freeze was underway at the time of the survey,” said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. “So, I think we will see in the coming weeks more reports on the impact.”
During a press conference at Commodity Classic, the question was posed to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack whether the Department of Agriculture should be re-named the Department of Food – which I guess would make him the Secretary of Food. 
“We do a lot of rural development activities, trying to build strong communities and regions and trying to promote business and industry, and so you might think we should call it the Department of Rural Development. Except that the vast majority of farm families get a substantial percentage of their income off the farm, so the capacity to create jobs in rural communities basically helps people keep the farm, so maybe it’s okay to call it the Department of Agriculture.”
There may still be corn left standing in the snow, but USDA says the 2009 corn crop was a record setter. 
The term “field storage” may be somewhat euphemistic, but pretty accurate at this point, since most of it will probably be there for some time yet. While I have heard some growers say that leaving corn in the field through winter is not totally unheard of, it is definitely not normal and even kind of sad – as 
Nationally, the corn harvest progressed 14 percent last week, but remains 26 points behind normal for this time of year, 
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We produce more than enough food for everyone to eat. Any child who attends a public school in this country should never be hungry. And the fact of the matter is that even the 15 percent who are classified as “food insecure” in our nation have more to eat than the poor in other nations. 
High moisture, low test weights, and mold issues are getting to be major concerns throughout the Midwest. 
As of November 1, just 25 percent of the corn was harvested nationwide, which way beats the previous slowest harvest record of 44 percent at this time of year in 1992. Average harvest progress in the main corn producing area was between four and six percent, but North Dakota made no progress compared to the previous week – continuing to lag far behind with just two percent of the crop harvested. In a normal year, the harvest would be halfway done by now in that state. Nationwide, we should be over 70 percent complete at this point.
The corn harvest continues to crawl along at a snail’s pace due to unfavorable weather conditions across most of the corn belt.
Just four percent of the nation’s corn crop was harvested last week, thanks to cool, rainy conditions that kept combines out of the fields. Only 17 percent of the crop had been harvested as of Sunday, 
Snow, frost and freeze over the past week have effectively put an end to the growing season across the Corn Belt.