Indiana Seed Weblog

American Ag and Energy Council Announces Formal Organization
Leaders in agribusiness, agricultural and bio-renewable research and development, education and the ethanol industry throughout the Midwest announced the formal organization of the American Ag & Energy Council. AAEC, based in Des Moines, Iowa, is a coalition formed and devoted to promoting the common link between all sectors of agriculture, agribusiness and the renewable industry. A major focus of the coalition will be to bring these various segments of the ag sector together and educate the American public on the positive narrative being created throughout rural America that blends together the strengths across the various segments of the ag sector.

Sam Turpin Indiana Seed Trade Association

Farm Bureau PAC skips endorsement
The Indiana Farm Bureau ELECT – the political action committee affiliated with the Indiana Farm Bureau – will not endorse either candidate for governor, according to a written statement issued Monday. The PAC’s state committee of trustees considered Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and Democrat Jill Long Thompson, but neither received the two-thirds vote needed to gain the endorsement.

Transportation Issues
Across the country, from grain elevator to grain elevator, golden wheat and corn are piled in towering mounds, waiting for a rail car to haul them to market. Some grain can sit for a month or more on the ground, exposed to wind, rain and rats. It’s the dark side of the booming global demand for U.S. corn, wheat and soybeans. The surge in exports is revealing inefficiencies in the country’s railways, highways and rivers that carry the grain that helps feed the world. And those bottlenecks are costing farmers, shippers and ultimately consumers millions of dollars a year.

Hoosiers spending over 6 percent of earnings on gasoline
A report released last Tuesday by the National Resources Defense Council claims that Hoosier drivers spend nearly 6.5 percent of their income on gasoline and live in the seventh most vulnerable state for rising gas prices.  Indiana moved up in the vulnerability rankings this year from 12th. The report does concede the rise might relate to changing the methodology to include state and federal taxes in the equation of what people spend on gas. Indiana is one of only a few states that pay state sales taxes on gasoline.

Sam Turpin Indiana Seed Trade Association

Agriculture is in energy business now
“We’re in the energy business now” was the message from two speakers at the annual Field Day at the Pinney-Purdue Agriculture Center on Wednesday. Chris Hurt, a Purdue agricultural economist who reported to a lunch-time audience on global commodity prices, said the agricultural industry has become linked with energy through economics and biofuel development, just as it became tied to the issues of health and nutrition and the environment. Hurt said his analysis of commodity prices that began to soar last March indicates that a lot of the “finger-pointing” is off-target.

Indiana Co-op Center to Share in USDA Award of $4.5 Million
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced that more than $4.5 million in grants will go to 23 Rural Cooperative Development Centers to improve rural economic conditions throughout 22 states. Schafer announced the multi-million dollar funding investment during remarks at the 41st annual meeting of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund. The Indiana Cooperative Development Center Inc. will share in the funding, receiving $200,000 for programs.
http://www.indianaagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=627&yr=2008

Sam Turpin Indiana Seed Trade Association

Skillman Presents AgriVision Award
Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman has presented the AgriVision Award to Charles “Shorty” Whittington for his deep commitment and vision for Indiana agriculture. The AgriVision Award is given annually to one Hoosier who demonstrates exemplary leadership, maximizes Indiana’s agricultural potential and secures the state’s future as a world leader in agricultural production. “The AgriVision Award is a way to say ‘thank you’ to one person each year who exemplifies the work of so many,” said Lt. Governor Becky Skillman. “Shorty is truly a leader in agriculture, and he exemplifies what the award is about-impacting Indiana agriculture through innovation, technology and new business approaches.”
http://www.indianaagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=629&yr=2008
Subsidy crackdown
In the first skirmish between the Bush administration and Congress over implementation of the new farm bill, the Bush administration is prohibiting farmers from combining their farm acreages so that they will have the total of 11 acres required to qualify for farm subsidies under the bill. The new farm bill bars producers from receiving direct, countercyclical or average crop revenue election payments if the sum of the base acres on their farm equals 10 acres or less, but the report accompanying the bill says “The managers intend for the department to allow for aggregation of farms for purposes of determining the suspension of payments on farms with 10 base acres or less.”
http://www.agweek.com/articles/index.cfm?id=12207&section=Farm
Ethanol Investments Outpace Oil Imports
Americans spent 10 times as much on oil imports in June than was invested in all new U.S. ethanol producing capacity last year “Americans spent 10 times as much on imported oil in the month of June than all the investment in new U.S. ethanol producing capacity for the entirety of 2007,” U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar said today. Trade data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today showed that the U.S. spent $45.207 billion on oil imports for the month of June, up from $40.36 billion in the month of May, also $20 billion more than was spent in the month of June 2007 ($26.723 billion).
http://www.indianaagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=625&yr=2008

Sam Turpin

Candidates debate farm, tax policies
The candidates for lieutenant governor squared off in a debate Wednesday at the Indiana State Fair – a tradition that focused on agriculture and rural Indiana. The turnout at the Indiana Farm Bureau building was great, with hundreds sitting and standing around the edges of the room. Indiana’s lieutenant governor has traditionally overseen state efforts on agriculture and rural affairs.
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080814/NEWS07/808140356/1002/LOCAL

 
Indiana Corn and Soybean Team Up for Farmers Day
For the first time Farmer’s Day was sponsored by Indiana Corn and the Indiana Soybean Alliance. The organizations brought out a large number of board members and volunteers to meet with other farmers and fair-goers and talk about how our corn and soybeans impact Indiana and the world. Roger Hadley was one of those volunteers. He told Hoosier Ag Today, “The point of all of this is to show the consumer, the average person walking through the fair, how corn and soybeans are used throughout the country. It’s an educational process and many of them say ‘I didn’t realize that.’ For farmers to be able to see where their corn and soybeans are actually going, it’s a big help for them. It gives them a grasp on what our groups are doing.”
http://www.hoosieragtoday.com/wire/news/01307_08farmersday_234536.php

Sam Turpin

Subsidies bypass independent farms
At a time when corn and soybeans are trading at near-record prices, the U.S. government pays out millions of dollars to Lake and Porter county farm owners. And the money doesn’t flow primarily to the many small, independent farmers the bill was supposed to protect. Many of them did not see a dime of the $3 million Lake County farmers and $2 million Porter County farmers received in corn subsidies in 2005. Who did get subsidies?
http://www.post-trib.com/news/1100760,farmsub.article

 Soybean Checkoff Powers Lincoln Mobile Exhibit
Like the great American president Abraham Lincoln, the fuel of his traveling bicentennial exhibition will be “Made in America.” Checkoff funding from the United Soybean Board (USB) and the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) will provide biodiesel to power the tractor trailer that houses a new traveling exhibit highlighting an important Lincoln milestone. This mobile museum continues to tour the United States to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, giving people across the nation an opportunity to experience the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, stationed in Springfield. The subject of the exhibit, “Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America,” highlights Lincoln’s humble beginnings and rise to a historic presidency.
http://www.indianaagconnection.com/story-regional.php?tble=IL2008&ID=608

State holds listening session in Seymour
Staff members from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) were on hand at Jackson County Education Center last Wednesday evening, conducting one of 12 rural Indiana listening sessions geared towards helping the office prioritize objectives and gather information concerning rural communities around the state.
http://www.thebanner.com/articles/2008/08/11/news/news05.txt

Lt. Governor to Present Paul Dana Award, Host ‘Celebrate Indiana Ag’
Lt. Governor Becky Skillman will honor forward thinking biofuels pioneers at the Paul Dana Leadership in Biofuels Award ceremony on Friday at 8:30 a.m. at the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand Side Lot on Main Street at the Indiana State Fair. The Paul Dana Leadership in Biofuels Award will be given in honor and memory of race car driver Paul Dana, a strong supporter of biofuels. The award recipients are those who have exemplified leadership in the biofuels industry.
http://www.indianaagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=595&yr=2008

Monsanto Looking to Divest its BGH Product, Posilac
After struggling to gain consumer acceptance, Monsanto on Wednesday announced that it would try to sell its business of producing an artificial growth hormone for dairy cows. The company will focus instead on its thriving business of selling seeds and developing ways to improve crops. The decision comes as more retailers, saying they are responding to consumer demand, are selling dairy products from cows not treated with the artificial hormone. Wal-Mart, Kroger and Publix are among the retailers that now sell house-brand milk from untreated cows. Almost all of the fresh milk sold by Dean Foods, the nation’s largest milk bottler, also comes from cows that were not treated with the artificial hormone, a spokeswoman said.
http://www.indianaagconnection.com/story-national.php?Id=1844&yr=2008

Workshop offered to help farmers write a successful grant
Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service will sponsor an IP video workshop from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 28 aimed at helping individuals learn how to write a grant proposal. “The purpose is to explain more about the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research Education Farmer Rancher Grant Program in hopes of getting people to write grant proposals,” Tom Jordan, Purdue professor of botany said.
http://www.rushvillerepublican.com/agnews/local_story_218105854.html?keyword=topstory
World Wheat Outlook is Looking Favorable
With world wheat stocks at all-time lows, a good harvest this year is vitally important. According to numbers released Tuesday, the Asian part of the equation is holding up their end. Russia has harvested 41.8 million tons of wheat from 25% of acres that were planted. That is 8.5 million tons more than the same time last year and yields are just under a ton more per hectare than last season’s harvest. The agriculture ministry expects a final harvest around 85 million tons, an increase of three million from 2007.
http://www.indianaprairiefarmer.com/index.aspx?ascxid=fpStory&fpsid=35169&fpstid=1
Indiana Analyst Says Crop Condition Does Not Justify Lower Prices
At the end of last week, the market looked as if it was finding a bottom for corn and soybean prices,, but the two days of trading this week have taken prices sharply lower. Jim Bower, with Bower Trading in Lafayette, told HAT that the sell off is still all about big speculative funds getting out of the long positions they took during our coled and wet spring, “They are still unwinding those long corn and soybean and short wheat positions.”
http://www.hoosieragtoday.com/wire/news/01259_bower_174107.php

Purdue ‘moving forward’ in research
At a time when research dollars are getting harder to come by, Purdue University is reporting a record amount in sponsored funding for the campus. A report released Monday shows the university generated $333.4 million in research-related funding during the fiscal year that ended June 30 — an 11 percent increase from research funding of $301 million received in fiscal year 2006-07. The report follows an announcement last week that Indiana University reached a record $525 million in grants and awards for research and other sponsored programs in fiscal year 2007-08.
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080805/NEWS0501/808050320/1001/NEWS

4,000-pig operation proposed
A proposed hog farm less than six miles from New Haven would be among the Fort Wayne area’s largest, according to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Doug Bradtmueller of 12102 Rohrbach Road, Fort Wayne, has applied to construct a building that could hold up to 4,000 pigs. The building would have a concrete pit below it to collect manure.
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080805/LOCAL/808050372/1002/LOCAL

11 Farmers Running in Indiana Soybean Alliance Election
Hoosier soybean farmers can cast their votes in the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) director election from the comfort of their own home this year. During the month of August, farmers should watch their mailboxes for the new mail-in ballot, which must be postmarked by August 30. “We want to make it as easy as possible for each and every soybean farmer in the state to vote and have a say on who is representing them on the ISA board,” said Doug Morrow, ISA president and Grant County farmer. “Receiving a ballot in the mail that they just have to open, fill out and mail back is convenient and accessible to all.”
http://www.indianaagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=582&yr=2008
Key Renewable Energy Research Happening in Indiana
A major renewable energy center for research, public policy and technology transfer is right here in Indiana. The Lugar Center for Renewable Energy on the IUPUI campus has been operational for just over a year and a half looking for renewable energy advances and breakthroughs.  Dr. Alan Jones, Associate Director at the Center, recently told Hoosier Ag Today they are currently focusing on fuel cells and biofuels. “We’re hoping to get a viable fuel to the consumer in the near term. We are also looking at biofuels, specifically ethanol and methanol, and how to improve the feedstock. What plant should you plant and how can we make them more durable to be used in harsher conditions so they don’t compete with good soils that food crops are currently being used with. And how do we get more energy out of those feedstocks?”
http://www.hoosieragtoday.com/wire/news/01250_joneslugar_011445.php
Food Prices Now Up 16-Percent Since Last Year
Rising costs for fuel, feed and fertilizer propelled grain prices to all-time highs in June, raising the overall price of crops and livestock by 16 percent this year compared to last year. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Thursday, prices for farm products rose 1.9 percent in June alone. Grain staples including wheat and soybeans rose 1.6 percent during June. The price of livestock rose less than 1 percent. The annual report measures the price that farmers receive for their goods, not the ultimate price that consumers pay for food. Crops and livestock costs amount to a fraction of the final cost of food, after transportation, packaging and marketing costs also are factored in, reports the Associated Press.
http://www.indianaagconnection.com/story-national.php?Id=1808&yr=2008