Corn: July corn closed above initial resistance at $6.22 3/4, establishing a short-term uptrend. Commercial buying remained strong as the supply-and-demand outlook grows more bullish.

Soybeans: The old-crop soybean market surged higher on news of a 480,000 mt sale to China, though the strength of commercial interest hints more demand news may be released in coming days.

The Nebraska Corn Board hosted meetings for E15 stakeholders in Lincoln and Kearney recently.  Approximately 75 ethanol producers, fuel retailers, petroleum marketers, ethanol industry personnel, agriculture commodity groups, and other stakeholders attended these informational meetings.

Robert White, director of market development from the Renewable Fuel Association, was the presenter.  He gave an overview of the next steps needed to offer E15, a blend of 15 percent ethanol, at the fuel pump.  This included information on health effects data, misfueling mitigation plan, fuel survey, and consumer efforts.  In addition, White also discussed incentives to assist with installing blender pumps.

Corn: Another strong rally has the July contract in position to clear resistance at $6.23 and turn the short-term trend up. Support continues to come from both commercial and noncommercial traders.

Soybeans: The soybean market saw its short-term trend turn up as the July contract finished with a solid gain on strong commercial support hinting that fresh demand news may be near.

Corn: Strong buying interest from both commercial and noncommercial traders sparked a sharp rally in corn Tuesday confirming the recent technical signals hinting at a near-term bottom.

Soybeans: The soybean market pushed to new highs late in the session with the July contract closing above resistance at $14.10 in part tied to renewed noncommercial buying.

Based on May 1 conditions, Nebraska's 2012 winter wheat crop is forecast at 59.7 million bushels, down 9 percent from last year’s crop and the smallest crop since 1954 due to fewer acres planted, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office. Average yield is forecast at 47 bushels per acre, up 2 bushels from last year and 6 bushels above the ten-year average.

Acreage to be harvested for grain is estimated at 1.27 million acres, down 180,000 acres or 12 percent from last year and the smallest since 1917. This would be 94 percent of the planted acres, below last year but equal to the ten-year average. The April 29 wheat condition was rated 70 percent good to excellent, above both last year and average. Crop development was
s ahead of normal with heads starting to show.

On Tuesday, May 15, 2012, the Center for Rural Affairs will release a new report entitled, The Affordable Care Act: Real Help for Real Rural People, the report documents findings about how many Americans have used or benefited from particular provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Where possible, the report also estimates how many rural residents and families have used or benefited from Affordable Care Act provisions. These estimates on rural participation are unique to this report, extrapolating rural participation from general public participation data and, thereby, demonstrating the importance of these provisions to America’s rural communities.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010. Since then numerous provisions have gone into effect or been implemented that impact health insurance coverage and provide new health care benefits for millions of Americans.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will spend the first two weeks of June surveying thousands of farmers across Nebraska to get a clear indication of the acreage and supply of major commodities for 2012.

Through two major mid-year surveys, the June Agricultural Survey and the June Area Survey, NASS will gather data on what crops have been planted and are in storage. This information will provide a comprehensive picture of how things are shaping up in 2012 for the U.S. agriculture industry.

This week marks a very special milestone for Nebraska and for American farming and ranching as we celebrate the 150th year since the creation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our country was in the throes of Civil War when, on May 15, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a law creating what he called the "people's department."  Its original mission of spreading information and developing agricultural innovations continues to this day.
 
President Lincoln signed another landmark law in 1862 – the Homestead Act, which along with the establishment of USDA helped form the cornerstone of federal agriculture policy for our country. The Homestead Act paved the way for independent farm ownership and encouraged a land rush so great that Nebraska was able to achieve statehood in just five years. In the 1850's there was one farmer for every two Americans; today one farmer feeds more than 150 people worldwide each day. Together, American farmers and ranchers make the U.S. the largest agriculture exporter in the world.

With the nice weather last week, most farmers completed corn planting, are ahead of schedule with soybean planting and have harvested their alfalfa. Some alfalfa in the region was treated for alfalfa weevil earlier in this spring. I checked some local fields a couple of weeks ago and while weevils were present, their numbers were low. If you had an infestation of alfalfa weevil larvae prior to first cutting harvest, data from a Missouri study indicates alfalfa weevil larval numbers may be reduced by 98 percent with mechanical harvest. With the warm weather predicted for this week, alfalfa should start to regrow rapidly, but if it doesn’t check for weevils. If treatment is warranted, there are several insecticides that are labeled for control of alfalfa weevil and are effective controls.

Nebraskans are rightfully proud of our role in helping feed and fuel America and the world. We are number one in production of many commodities from red meat to Great Northern Beans to popcorn.  Nebraska is second in the nation in ethanol production pumping more than two billion gallons of this home grown fuel into the system each year.  Our farmers and ranchers make us 5th in the nation in agriculture cash receipts.  Nearly one-third of all Nebraska jobs are related to agriculture in one way or another.
 
Given agriculture’s importance to Nebraska’s economy and way of life, I am proud the Senate Agriculture Committee came together recently to produce a strong bipartisan bill, which was passed by a vote of 16 to 5.
 
The bill strengthens the agricultural safety net protecting America’s food, feed, fuel, and fiber supply. It streamlines and simplifies farm programs.  It ends outdated subsidies.  And most importantly, it sets an example for how Washington can cut the federal deficit by saving $23 billion in cuts to agricultural programs.

Corn: The market's ability to hold up against the collapsing crude oil and soybean markets the past two sessions is indicating a near-term bottom may be forming.

Soybeans: Another day of sharp double-digit losses on noncommercial long-liquidation has put the soybean market near an oversold condition technically.

Corn: The corn market was able to close higher, albeit well off daily highs. The July contract ran into selling pressure near resistance at $6.32 1/2, leaving the market susceptible to increased selling pressure Wednesday.

Soybeans: The soybean market collapsed Tuesday on heavy noncommercial liquidation from their record large net-long futures position. And while fundamentals remain bullish, further downside risk exists over coming days.

Last Fall, my daughter came to me with a worried look. She had heard that the government may stop young people from working on farms. She asked me, “Dad, does this mean I can’t detassel anymore?”

For some time, it appeared that youth involvement in detasseling and other types of farm work could be curtailed by a series of proposed Department of Labor (DoL) rules. Late last week, we in the Heartland received the welcome news that DoL would be abandoning plans to enact these rules, citing the serious concerns it had heard from families across the country.

This was a great win for agriculture - and common sense. To many people in rural America, the new rules were cause for bewilderment, set against the natural operations of farm life and traditions of rural living as they were. They went as far as preventing those under 16 from working on farms not owned by their parents and potentially denying young people the opportunity to work in important summer jobs like detasseling, a rite of passage for thousands of Nebraska teenagers.

With most of the corn planted in the area and much of it having emerged with the warm temperatures and rains we have received, it is important to be aware of potential insect pests that may attack seedling corn fields. While seed treatments and (GMO) genetically modified hybrids provide protection against several pests, corn may still be at risk for some pests. In general the use of Integrated Pest Management is the best practice to use in cropping systems. Unless you have a known insect problem, it usually isn’t cost effective to apply preventative measures, such as mixing an insecticide with a herbicide to control black cutworms.

According to the Center for Rural Affairs, rural counties in 10 Midwest and Great Plains states have higher poverty and greater food insecurity than urban centers in the region. Poverty rates among rural children are most alarming.

These findings challenge conventional policy debates, which often conclude that poverty and food insecurity are primarily urban issues. According to the Center’s report, 414,331 people in rural areas, or 13.3% of the rural regional population, were living in poverty in 2010. That same year, 145,065 or 16.4% of rural children in the region lived in poverty compared to 14.1% in metropolitan counties.

A recent confirmed case of Vesicular Stomatitis in a horse in New Mexico has prompted the Nebraska Department of Agriculture to today issue an importation order for livestock entering Nebraska from New Mexico.

“Protecting the health and safety of Nebraska’s livestock herd is of utmost importance,” said State Veterinarian Dr. Dennis Hughes. “Producers should follow importation requirements and remain vigilant in looking for signs and symptoms of Vesicular Stomatitis in their own herds.

According to Hughes the disease resembles Foot-and-Mouth disease. Vesicular Stomatitis is a viral disease that is characterized by fever and the formation of vesicles (blisters) in the mouth, nostrils, hooves and teats. When blisters break, there is usually salivation, nasal discharge and anorexia. In three to four days, the animal will recover. The disease primarily affects horses, cattle, swine and occasionally sheep and goats.

Corn: The corn market continues to have a difficult time in sustaining interest from the investment community and no trouble from end users as near-term fundamentals continue to grow more bullish.

Soybeans: Traders seem to be turning their attention away from bullish near-term fundamentals to the extremely bullish longer-term supply and demand outlook.

Corn: Follow-through noncommercial interest pushed the corn market to new highs as the seasonal uptrend appears to be finally taking hold.

Soybeans: The new-crop market led the way higher on increasingly bullish fundamentals as indicated by the strengthening inverse in futures spreads.

Today, the Center for Rural Affairs praised the Senate Agriculture Committee for closing loopholes in the farm payment limitation.

“We applaud the Senate Ag Committee for passing a Farm Bill that for the first time in a generation closes the gaping loopholes that have made a mockery of the farm program payment limitation,” said Chuck Hassebrook of the Center for Rural Affairs. “Most of all, we thank Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) for his tireless advocacy for reducing subsidies for mega farms to drive family farms out of business.”

According to Hassebrook, closing the loopholes is a critical step. And the next step is to apply those limits to uncapped premium subsidies for federal crop insurance, the most expensive element of the farm program. “If one corporation farmed every acre in America,” said Hassebrook. “The federal government would pay 60 percent of its crop insurance premiums on every acre, every year.”

April 27, the Center for Rural Affairs released a report that challenges many conventional assumptions about where poverty and food insecurity exists in the central United States. The report concludes that rural counties in the Midwest and Great Plains are experiencing higher incidence of poverty as well as greater rates of food insecurity, especially among children, than urban centers in the region. These findings challenge conventional thought and policy debates which often conclude, directly or implicitly, that poverty and food insecurity are primarily urban issues.

“Rural poverty continues to be a serious issue in many parts of the Great Plains region, affecting scores of rural households and families,” said Jon Bailey, Director of Research and Analysis at the Center for Rural Affairs and co-author of the report.  “The poverty rates among rural children are most alarming, both in the immediate term and for their long-term development.”

The report, Poverty on the Great Plains, is the third in a series of briefs examining data from the 2010 Census. The analysis covers a 10 state region that includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa and selected counties in Colorado, Montana, Wisconsin and Wyoming.