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Nixon signs grain agreement with Taiwanese delegation

October 2, 2009 By

Governor Nixon has signed a joint communiqué with the 2009 Taiwan Agricultural Goodwill Mission, a letter of intent to buy to buy millions of metric tons of corn and soybeans from Missouri and other Midwestern states over the next two years.

Gov. Nixon signs agreement with Taiwanese Nixon welcomed the 2009 Taiwan Agricultural Goodwill Mission to his Capitol office to discuss trade. The Taiwanese trade mission actually began in Washington, D.C. last week when the trade delegation met with the United States Department of Agriculture to confirm current agreements and pledge additional purchases of grain from the United States.

While in Missouri, the Taiwanese signed a Letter of Intent to purchase between 303 and 413 million bushels of American corn and up to 750,000 metric tons of corn by-products, with an estimated value of between $1.69 and $2.37 billion. The Taiwanese delegation has also signed similar agreements with officials in Iowa, Indiana and Illinois.

Taiwan is a major purchaser of American grain. The Letter of Intent states that Taiwan is the seventh largest export market for U.S. farm products, generating in excess of $3.5 billion of trade revenue for American farmers last year. According to the Letter of Intent, Taiwan is the seventh largest export market for U.S. agricultural products, generating in excess of $3.5 billion of trade revenue for U.S. farmers in 2008.

Download/listen Gov. Nixon addresses 2009 Taiwan Agricultural Goodwill Mission (10 min MP3)

Filed Under: Agriculture, Economy, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Rescue plan seeks to help farmers, feed the poor

October 2, 2009 By

A rescue plan for farmers seeks to reduce an over-supply of food by feeding the poor and supplementing school lunches.

Missouri Agriculture Director Jon Hagler says a day doesn’t go by that he doesn’t hear from a farmer struggling to survive, such as a call he got from a dairy farmer in northwest Missouri.

"In three generations of dairy farming she has never faced it as rough as she’s facing it right now," Hagler tells the Missourinet. "(She) is at the point where she is going to have to make a decision whether to close the operation for good if it doesn’t break soon."

Hagler says he isn’t alone. During a National Association of State Departments of Agriculture conference in Montgomery, Alabama, Hagler’s fellow directors shared similar stories. From those discussions rose "Meat the Need", a play on words designed to rid the meat market of a glut of pork and poultry as well as dairy products.

All of agriculture has been hurt by the economic downturn. The dairy industry and pork has been under considerable strain, with farmers complaining of high input costs, but low prices. Poultry has also suffered under the downturn. Hagler says agriculture directors throughout the country worry they will lose farms if something isn’t done.

"Meat the Need" proposes that the federal government shift economic stimulus money to buy milk, cheese and other dairy products in up to three installments of 75 million pounds over a 120-day period. Purchases of surplus dairy products would end if the price of milk rises to $16 per hundredweight, the break-even point. The proposal requests the federal government buy 100 million pounds of pork in three installments as well, until the price rises to 49 cents per pound. The plan calls for a one-time purchase of 100 million pounds of turkey.

The proposal suggests the United States Department of Agriculture use the current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by requiring SNAP recipients to spend the new allocations only on meat and dairy products available locally, purchased with special electronic benefit transfer cards dedicated to the "Meat the Need" program.

Beef producers in Missouri are under pressure as well. Though the proposal doesn’t include beef, it would help beef production, according to Hagler, by removing excess pork and poultry products. Hagler argues that a surplus in pork and poultry has suppressed grocery store prices for those meats, leading consumers away from beef, aggravating the cost-squeeze for beef producers.

The excess dairy, pork and poultry purchased by the government would be distributed it to food banks, school lunch programs and foreign military food assistance programs, under the proposal.

"We could get rid of it in such a way so that those extra products go directly to low-income and needy families and I think that’s really an important component," Hagler says.

Hagler believes the proposal will be well-receive in Washington, D.C. He says removing the glut of dairy, pork and poultry would raise the price for farmers and help farm families make it through this tough time.

 

 

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

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Montee to conduct review of Ag Department’s Grain Regulatory Services program

September 2, 2009 By

The State Auditor’s Office has begun an audit of the Department of Agriculture’s Grain Regulatory Services program. State Auditor Susan Montee says the request for the advisory review came from Agriculture Director Jon Hagler in the wake of a grain elevator failure in Gallatin and a fraud case in Martinsburg.

Montee sees this as an effort to review current practices and to come up with ideas for making improvements in the future.

“We’re going to take look at the laws that are in place and see if they’re outdated or if there’s ways that the Legislature should look at changing things,” said Montee in an interview with the Missourinet. “We’re also going to look at other states and see what other people are doing and just come up with some new ideas that might prevent something like this from happening in the future.”

Agriculture Director Hagler agrees it makes sense to borrow good practices from other states.

“In order to be protecting Missouri farm families we need to be on top of our game,” hagler told the Missourinet. “That requires taking a look at ourselves and taking a look at other states and finding out what tools we can put in the tool box.”

Montee insists the purpose of the audit is not to heap criticism on the Department of Agriculture.

“We know that it isn’t something that, with the current structure, the Department of Agriculture could have prevented,” insisted Montee. “They were doing everything that was required of them.”

First and foremost, this will be a cooperative effort.

“There’s always some ways to improve it (current practices regarding grain elevators),” said Montee. “So we’re just going to take a look at that with them and we’ll be working together on trying to come up with some new ideas and a new way of doing things.”

Preliminary meetings have already been held and the actual field work should begin soon.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)

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USDA Chief Vilsack tries to reassure on cap and trade

August 21, 2009 By

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack brought the Obama Administration’s rural tour to Missouri, touting the benefits of the federal economic stimulus act and attempting to reassure farmers they will benefit from changes being proposed in Washington.

Vilsack.JPG Vilsack said part of the $787 billion dollar economic recovery package paid for more assistance for the 35 million Americans who receive food stamps, so they could buy more at the grocery store.

"If you’re a farmer think about this," Vilsack said Friday at State Fair Community College in Sedalia. "If more people are able to buy more at the grocery store, that means more has to be stocked at the grocery store and if more has to be stocked, than more has to be trucked and if more has to be trucked than more has to be produced and processed and if more has to be produced and processed than that means there’s more being purchased."

In June, President Obama announced that Vilsack would lead the Administration’s rural tour. Vilsack told the crowd in Sedalia that he had visited states from New Hampshire to Alaska. He counted his visit to Missouri as his 16th stop on the tour. Vilsack, who is the former governor of Iowa, called it somewhat of a homecoming, because his wife has relatives in Missouri. The stop in Sedalia drew more than 100 people.

Vilsack said the federal economic recovery package sought both to bridge from the tough times to better times, but also sought to address long-neglected infrastructure needs in rural America by financing the construction of roads and bridges.

The agriculture secretary also said the Obama Administration has a plan to revitalize rural America through bringing broad-band Internet access to farm country, steering the country toward alternative energy such as bio-fuels and linking local production to local consumption.

Vilsack acknowledged he faced a tough crowd in trying to convince farmers that climate change legislation would be "a net winner" for farmers.

"Now, I know this is a controversial issue and I know there is a lot of angst about this," Vilsack told the crowd.

Vilsack insisted the country’s capacity to innovate would create opportunities five and ten years from now that cannot be envisioned today. He cited a USDA study that estimated a net economic benefit of $10-20 billion to farm country due to the offsets which are part of the so-called cap and trade legislation.

A speaker at the forum challenged the secretary on the point, stating that there were segments of the agriculture community which will not be able to reap the benefits of the offsets, but will have to cope with the higher cost of energy the legislation will spur.

"I think we’re developing a new paradigm here for rural America, which I think is long overdue," Vilsack responded. "I’m hopeful and optimistic that it will put more money in the pockets of farmers."

Vilsack was introduced by West-Central Missouri Congressman Ike Skelton. He and Skelton earlier toured Show Me Energy Biomass Plant in Centerview prior to driving to Sedalia.

You can get more information about the rural tour, plus updates on the Web at RuralTour.gov or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RuralTour .

Download/listen Agriculture Sec Tom Vilsack brings rural tour to State Fair CC (1 hr 15 min MP3)

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Livestock and Farm Protection Task Force created

August 20, 2009 By

Cattle rustling has been addressed by the General Assembly, but Governor Nixon wants more done to deal with the stealing of cattle and other agriculture crimes. With the Missouri State Fair as a backdrop, Nixon has announced the launching of a new task force to address livestock and farms from theft.

Governor Nixon with Dozer the steer and Claire Martin of Curryville “With the reconstitution and broadening of this task force’s responsibilities all of the state and local agencies and affected agriculture and livestock associations will be able to work collaboratively toward the same goal – eliminating crimes against farms and ranches. And if those crimes do exist finding the perpetrators of them very quickly, very quickly and bringing them to justice,” said Nixon.

The Department of Public Safety will work with the Department of Agriculture, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association, and the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association to stop agriculture crime. Nixon says cooperation is essential to stopping these criminals.

“These are clearly people that are stealing cattle in one part of the state and either selling them in another part of the state or even in another state,” said Nixon. “And unless we have a seamless level of cooperation between law enforcement and farmers across the state the county line will be a defense to investigations.”

Since 2006, the State Highway Patrol has recovered $2.1 million in stolen agriculture property and has investigated more than 1,300 leads.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)

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