This week on AgweekTV, we're bringing our show to you from the Northern Corn and Soybean Expo in Fargo, North Dakota. We'll hear from experts, including renowned ag economics speaker David Kohl. Find out what current and former members of Congress feel are the biggest priorities for the upcoming farm bill. And hear about the history and success of crop insurance.
Welcome to Agweek TV.
I'm Emily Beal.
This week we're doing our show
from the Northern Corn
and Soybean Expo in Fargo,
North Dakota.
The Fargo Dome is host
of the one day event.
The show produced by the North
Dakota Corn and Soybean Councils
and Growers
Associations, features
an expansive trade show, expert
speakers, educational seminars
and new this year, mini
sessions on the show floor
to help farmers
increase their productivity
and profitability.
Several of the speakers
are the foremost
experts in their fields.
One of those experts is ag
economist David Kohl.
So David, what are
some of the current pressures
in the ag economy right now?
I think one of the things
is it's a lot
about global economics.
And of course
we've got the European war.
The other element is
we have China who has now
opened their economy up.
And if they start spending,
of course,
that's going to be impacting
energy and fuel prices
because they consume
10 to 15% of it.
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Another big topic is inflation.
Do you think that's going
to continue to be an issue
in the AG economy?
Absolutely.
And matter of fact,
you're seeing inflation
soften in the general economy.
But it's going to be sticky
in the ag economy
because eight out of every $10
we spend in
agriculture is somehow
connected to oil and energy.
And that combined
with the fertilizer,
60% is produced in authoritarian
economies in the world,
along with, of course,
increased
labor cost and fixed cost.
As our land values
go up, our taxes go up.
All those components
make it more sticky
than it would be
in the general economy.
So what are some things
that farmers and producers
can do to help
better their chances
of fighting inflation?
Well, first of all, getting back
to basics about being a 5%.
Try to be 5%
better in many components
of your business production,
marketing, risk management,
human resource finance.
And as the younger generation
kind of start to take over
the reins
of the family operation, how's
that going to impact things?
I'm seeing
a tremendous evolution
as I'm
doing speaking engagements,
post-pandemic,
more young people,
more women in agriculture.
And one of the things
that I'm finding is
they're actually better managers
because they will do the cash
flow budgets,
they will do the marketing
and risk management plan.
They will work with a team
of advisors.
Doesn't necessarily mean
they're all doing that,
but a good share are doing it.
So I'm very, very optimistic
about the future of agriculture.
Well, thank you so much
for your insight today.
It's great to be with you.
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AG Economist David Kohl.
One of the new mini sessions
at the Expo
was Perspectives on the Farm
Bill.
Agweek publisher
Katie Pinke moderated the panel,
which included North Dakota
Congressman Kelly Armstrong
and former North Dakota
Senator Heidi Heitkamp.
Both shared their thoughts with
us on the upcoming farm bill.
That's really going to take
a lot of innovation
in the middle to get a farm
bill done in the House.
And I think it's unlikely
it's going to happen this year,
but I think it's likely
it'll get extended.
I think it's likely that
if we don't get it
by the end of September
or in this year,
if we go into an election
year,
it's going to be very difficult.
We have bifurcated ourself
as a country.
Urban areas
have gotten more blue,
rural areas
have gotten more red.
So from a political standpoint,
the places that really need
the farm bill, it comes to
ground in a lot of rural areas.
And it's something
that we have to be careful.
There could be real
political consequences
to not getting it done.
The current farm bill is set
to expire later this year.
Two North Dakota corn
groups are at odds over
who should control money
from corn check offs.
Under state law.
The North Dakota Corn
Utilization Council
gets the money
from fees collected
when a farmer sells their corn.
A growers group,
the North Dakota Corn Growers
Association, can contract
with the Corn Council,
which pays with that farmer
generated money.
But a bill in the North
Dakota legislature
would give the corn growers
half the corn checkoff dollars
directly
instead of the corn Council.
It's just
the stability of I mean, right.
Now we have contracts in place,
but a lot of times
to get that a contract approved,
the way the protocols are now,
it's just too late.
And that's tough, too
tough to get things done.
We've been diligently working on
trying to come
to come to an agreement
to keep it out of legislation.
I really like the research
and all that that we do,
and obviously if I have to
check off went away,
we would not have the ability
to fund that
at the level that we're doing
currently.
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When AgweekTV continues
from the Northern Corn
and Soybean Expo, we'll talk
crop insurance with a farmer
who's been there
nearly from the beginning.
Our agweek
special report this month is
called A Matter of Security.
It's an in-depth
look at the farm bill
as part of that,
this week's agweek cover story
looks at the history and policy
work behind crop insurance.
Reporter Jeff
Beach is with a North Dakota
farmer who knows crop insurance
as well as anyone.
Mike Clemens
has been on the federal crop
insurance board of directors.
Mike, how did you become such
an advocate for crop insurance?
Well, crop insurance
has been a real important part
of just farming in North Dakota,
either too dry to,
you know, diseases, insects.
It's just and so,
you know, to have risk
prevention on your farm
has been really my goal
of making sure we have good crop
insurance products
available for the farmers.
And how is crop insurance
evolved over the decades?
Well, it really has taken off
in the last 20 years.
You know,
multi peril was the big thing of
over the years, which was just
based on production of crops
that they had.
And then more producers
wanted a revenue type product
and then also moving
to more like enterprise units
or the new thing
now is whole farm
not catching on as well,
but revenue products
are my stand alone commodities
has really done well.
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What would you want
farmers to know about the policy
setting process for federal crop
insurance?
Well, to improve
what we're doing out there,
it was a 50H process
getting the idea
and then having a submitter
submitted to the board.
And then from there,
then we work
on developing that product
and there's just not a
one year thing.
It's probably
it can be a 2 to 3 years
before we go all through the due
diligence of it.
And it also has to meet
actuarial
goals that we set out as a board
to, to have the 1
to 1 loss ratio for the premiums
that we take in.
And what would you want people
who aren't farmers to know
about how the federal crop
insurance works?
This last year was about $18
billion of coverage
and probably $300 billion
worth of crops
that we're covering out there.
It was very interesting
when I was on the board
to see that
all the things that we did
cover,
you know, from 200 basic crops
and then you have
different types.
So you're up to about 600
different types
of your cover
putting coverage on.
Mike,
thanks for your insight today.
North Dakota farmer
Mike Clemens.
For more coverage of our crop
insurance cover story,
check out the latest AG Week
magazine or go to Agweek.com.
Conservation
practices of varying types
are growing in popularity,
but not all of them
are implemented
for the same reasons.
Dean Sponheim
was the featured speaker
at a recent Soil Innovation
tour in southern Minnesota.
He raises corn, soybeans
and cereal rye in north central
Iowa and planted everything
into green cover crops.
And he thinks promoting
conservation practices has often
been done the wrong way.
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We started trying
to tell the producers
that because of water
quality, soil health
erosion,
that we should be doing it.
And most farmers are looking at
a financial
what's in it for them?
And once you start doing that,
you will see that
there is a financial benefit.
Really, in the last two or three
years, we've seen more
and more attendance
at events like this.
Both these enduring field days.
Sponheim is known as
the accidental conservationist
because most of the practices
he's doing
or has done
were because of the financial
or agronomic reasons,
not conservation.
With calving season
right around the corner, proper
cattle management
is more important than ever.
Extension beef specialist Zac Carlson says
ranchers should keep their herds
nutrition
at the forefront of their minds
as the cattle begin to carve.
Nutrition needs go up 20 to 30%
as the cattle transition
from the second
to third trimester.
Carlson also says
ranchers should try to keep
their calves dry if possible,
which could be difficult due
to potential snowmelt.
It's really important to
to emphasize dry
because any time,
again, we get animals wet
and cows are really
resilient to cold temperatures.
If they can be dry
and and it's it's
when we
we incorporate a wet coat
that that that hair coat
can't really withstand that.
Carlson recommends
stocking up on bedding
if possible prior to calving.
Still ahead on our show,
a small town company
is making an advanced impact
in the world of grain
handling systems.
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Well, the snow continue to melt
or will the region's temps lower
once again?
Here's our AgriWeather outlook.
The next couple of weeks
are going to bring yet
a new set of weather conditions
across the United States.
Stormy weather
is returning to the West Coast.
It looks like heavy snows
for the mountains of California
and there may be some snows
even down to the lower
elevations in places in some
parts of Washington and Oregon.
That's the rest of February.
Some cold weather in the west
and some wet weather as far as
the northern Plains, upper
Midwest, corn Belt, wheat areas.
There will be a couple of snow
chances
over the next couple of weeks.
And generally February
in the north central
part of the country
will be finishing
the month of February.
And the three winter months
with colder
than average temperatures
to secure what is largely been
a colder than average winter,
especially in the northern part
of this area,
split from the jet stream
with a low pressure system
kind of persistent
down in the southwest
that's keeping this weather
generally cooler than average.
But as time goes along,
it will likely get even colder
as the main branch of the jet
drops down.
That's
going to put some potential
for some heavy
snows into the mountainous
and even the sub
mountainous areas of California.
Meanwhile, this week, relatively
cold, frigid weather will
reemerge and drop down
into the central states
by frigid,
talking about high temperatures
near or zero
or a little bit below.
This cold weather is where it's
generally freezing or colder.
So a lot of the southwestern,
two thirds
or so of the country will be in
colder than average weather.
There will start to be
a few areas down
in south Florida,
south Texas in particular
that are warmer than average,
which sets up this storm
tracking in between as being
a fairly strong storm track.
There
will be a temporary raging,
but that is all it is,
just temporary
as it looks like
another big trough of low
pressure will be carved
out in the west.
Strong jet stream winds
will continue to bring humidity
into California
and the northern plains
and western Great
Lakes will remain fairly cold
for the season as the calendar
turns into March.
Now, as
far as the storm paths go.
The stuff
out west looks most impressive.
A lot of mountain snows,
a lot of rain,
snow mix
getting down into western parts
of Washington and Oregon
and plenty of rain
for the coastal areas
and even some of the deserts
of southern California
into Arizona.
There will likely be
at least one or two,
maybe three clipper systems
this week or what
it may turn out to be
as a couple of clippers
and one slightly more Southern
oriented Colorado type low
to bring chances for snow
into some part of this region.
A lot of it will be light
the last one later in the week.
We'll have a chance
to bring heavier precipitation,
but it's hard to say exactly
where that one will track.
And the map looks almost
the same for the second week
because, again,
the southwest will be cold.
Snowy, rainy in the deserts
and along the coastal areas.
And it looks like
another potential storm system
moving out into
some part of the Great Plains
and the upper Midwest.
Active weather pattern.
Farmers in the region
have lots of choices
when it comes to installing
grain driers
and bin storage setups.
But a family owned North Dakota
company is making its mark
by being a one
stop shop for all your
grain handling setup needs.
Starting from scratch
when implementing a new grain
handling system
can be stressful.
That's
why farmers like Ethan Hansen
from Blanchard,
North Dakota, are confident
in turning to advanced
grain handling systems.
When we were looking to build,
obviously we shopped around
for some bids and prices
and ultimately
for me, advanced is
maybe closer than some of them.
So they were competitive
price wise with everybody else
in the market.
But I really wanted
that serviceability and
those guys have been excellent
as far as setup and servicing
after the fact.
Serviceability
isn't the only reason farmers
are turning to Mayvillel, North
Dakota based advanced grain.
The drying capabilities
is a huge thing
and being able to harvest,
you know, when the elevator is
closed has increased
our productivity quite a bit.
Being able to store the
bushels going past fall
and into winter, gaining. The.
The increase in the markets
paid off huge for us.
The advanced
grain handling system knows
the seeds
you plant art for today.
They made sure
that they designed me a system
that was expandable years
into the future.
And starting from scratch.
That's something
I wanted to make sure I didn't
paint myself into a corner.
And those guys spent
a lot of time and effort making
sure that this was going to be
an expandable site
with everything
that I would need.
As I grew into the years.
In advance, advanced grain
handling systems
will be there with you
every step of the way.
They handled
everything from the site,
prep the dirt, work, the gravel,
the electricians
were all excellent
and they're very knowledgeable
in the dryer setups themselves.
They have crews dedicated
just for that.
And once
we got all set in going,
they made sure we had
two guys here running it up,
getting everything going
in the middle of harvest,
which is crucial.
And they made sure they didn't
leave until everything was ready
to roll.
For farmers like
Ethan Hanson choosing advanced
grain handling systems
is an easy choice.
I would choose advanced grain
because they're
going to sell you what you need
and not anything more or less.
When AgweekTV returns,
we'll have details
on how to increase your soybean
marketing IQ.
AG Week
TV's Soy Insight brought to you
by the North Dakota
Soybean Council.
Welcome back to our show.
Joining me now is Phil Faught
and Jena Bjertness.
So, Jena, you guys have
a seminar coming up.
Tell me a little bit about that.
This is something that the
Soybean Council does every year.
It's a trading and risk
management seminar for farmers.
It is put on by doctors
Franye Olsen and Bill Wilson
at NDSU in the commodity
trading room.
It's free.
It's a training session
on strategies that you may
or may not use already
on your farm, something like
hedging futures market
contract types,
all of these skills that you may
want to develop or sharpen
for your operation.
And this is the first year
that you guys will be
implementing crush plans
into your seminars.
That's right.
So that's a huge part
of our content
this year, especially when
we talk about contract types.
It's probably the first time
that we're going to talk about,
you know, we have these bids.
What are some strategies
that farmers can do to work
those into their marketing plans
for the year.
And Phil,
you've attended these seminars.
How have those been for you?
Oh, great.
The in-person part of it,
talking to
Bill Wilson and Frayne,
as you talked about,
the crush plant,
having their take on
what's coming in,
including the rail traffic
and things,
it really puts a perspective
on what we're trying to
how we're
trying to market our crop.
And if you were talking
to a fellow producer,
would you advise that
they go to these seminars?
Absolutely.
I've I've learned a lot.
I did the same seminar again
two years
later, and I was wondering
if that was the right decision.
And I think I took as much home
from the second time
as I did the first,
if not more so.
Very valuable tool.
So, Jena, give me the exact
details about this event.
When is it? Where is it?
So this is going to be March
14th and 15th,
and it's in downtown Fargo
at the commodity
trading room at NDSU,
Barry Hall.
It is free to all soybean
farmers in North Dakota,
though we're limited
to about 30 to 40 people.
So it is kind of first come,
first serve.
So, N.D., soybean org is
where you can get registered.
This seminar is paid
for by soybean checkoff dollars.
So these are dollars
that farmers are paying.
So we really hope that farmers
come and take advantage of this
because this is a tool
we'd like to give back.
Absolutely.
It sounds like
a very interesting event so far.
Jena Bjertness and Phil Faught.
Stories you'll only see on agweek
dot com and and AG Week magazine
this week.
What was in the last farm bill?
We'll break down all 12 titles
and the last piece of Nicole
Tate's farewell column looks
at the 1990s to present day.
Thanks for joining us this week
from the northern Corn
and Soybean Expo.
Remember to check out Agweek
Daily on Facebook,Twitter, Instagram and TikTok
to keep up on all your ag news.
Have a great week.
The Trust Project
