Crop conditions continue to deteriorate as prices hit record levels and the unintended consequences of the drought of 2012 start piling up. It is a tough year when the reports focus on the percentage of poor to very poor crop conditions. Iowa is blessed with deep soil and normally abundant rainfall. This year the states to our south with less fortuitous assets are literally burning up. Missouri has lost its fields and pastures well ahead of a similar decline here. We feel for them and hope the rains come and the heat departs before all is lost across the entire region. Even with high crop prices, farmers are forward contracting very little of their projected harvest as most have taken the conservative and pessimistic view of fall harvest.
Livestock groups took the drought as an opportunity to petition the EPA to suspend the Renewable Fuel Standard that requires a ten percent blend of ethanol in gasoline. The groups claim that the ethanol industry is mature and the government mandate is artificially raising the price of corn for their growers.
In Washington, D.C., the conservative opposition appears to have overpowered the advocates of extending the 2008 Farm Legislation for one more year. The leadership appears to be feeling heat from members of Congress who oppose new spending. The current farm bill has a hefty price tag for an extension with only one element that can be justified: livestock disaster relief. Although things are unsettled, the House and Senate Ag Leadership are now looking at a ?stand alone? disaster bill for livestock. What that means for the lapsing farm legislation is anyone?s guess. The leadership has much bigger fish to fry and the Congress is realizing it is heading into a new fiscal year on October first. There will be major cuts in spending that kick in automatically because they didn?t have the gumption to control their own destiny in the Super Committee negotiations.
August is almost on us and the traditional events that are always anticipated. The Iowa State Fair is a real treasure that invites us to enjoy it with all our senses. One of the few venues that encourages you to eat your way across the grounds while seeing the sights and taking in activities from fiddle playing to auctioneering to livestock judging and beholding the biggest and best that Iowa has to offer.
We?ve added a new reporter to our Agribusiness Report on WHO ?TV. Jordanne Blair is a former Miss Rodeo Iowa and a graduate of South Dakota State University in Radio and Television. She is a true cowgirl, who competes in barrel racing and teaches the sport as well. We are trying to figure out how to light the set so she can wear her hat!
