Hat Chat

This is not a local dealership but rather the parking lot of the Hamilton Heights School during Bring Your Tractor to School day. Part of their FFA week celebration, it always results in lots of iron showing up at school. Not only is it a great way for farm kids to promote agriculture, it is a great way for young men to show off for young ladies. During recent National FFA week and the upcoming National Agriculture Week, many of the next generation of farmers will be holding activities at their school to promote this most important of career choices, agriculture.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis was among the 40 recipients of a donation of milk coolers across the state, thanks to the Indiana Dairy & Nutrition Council. The donation will keep milk in the forefront of youth’s minds and teach youth that milk provides carbohydrates for energy to help recovery after endurance exercise. LeGore Club members enjoyed a carton of milk with Indiana Dairy Farmer Merrill Kelsay on Friday.

And the winner is, the Riesling from Wildcat Creek Winery in Lafayette. Rick Black was presented the People’s Choice award last week by Jeanette Merritt of the Indiana Wine Grape Council. Voting was based on sampling at the Indiana Pork Producers’ Taste of Elegance.

Rick and Kathy Black own and operate the winery. Rick (pictured with Merritt) says the Indiana Wine Grape Council was a big help in the long process that culminated in opening the commercial winery early last year. He told HAT, “It’s been about a 10-year relationship and we’ve gotten all kinds of advice and direction. A lot of the seminars and workshops that we’ve gone to have been through the Wine Grape Action Team. It’s been tremendously helpful.”

The award winning Riesling was from the third bottling since the winery opened. “Each time we make a wine, finish a wine, we try and improve on what we’ve had before, and that’s been the way it has gone with that particular one. Each one in our estimation has been a little bit better than the previous one. It’s been a good wine in the tasting room. It’s been probably the most popular, between that and cherry.”

Listen to the interview to learn about the other wines offered at Wildcat Creek and the nearly decade-long process to open at the current location.

Listen here:

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Keynote speakers were Dr. Phil Nelson and Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, the 2007 and 2009 winners of the World Food Prize respectively.

Winter storm left many empty seats at Fish fry.

For the second consecutive year Indiana raised yellow perch was served along with Indiana produced pork. The fish were raised on Indians soybean meal at Bell Aquaculture in Albany, IN, and was donated to the event by the Indiana Soybean Alliance. Indiana Packers Corporation of Logansport provided the pork.

10 alumni received Certificates of Distinction.

Indiana

The grain futures market showed some unusual strength in the face of massive outside pressure yesterday. Corn, soybean and wheat futures prices at the Chicago Board of Trade all went higher even though crude oil, the stock market and metals markets all dropped significantly, and the U.S. dollar was much higher.

Jim Bower of Bower Trading in Lafayette said it made for a very unique day. He told HAT, “Over all these years of trading I’ve been taught and educated by the market itself that when you see a market that is very divergent away from the other core markets, it tells me the market has come down to a level where at least it wants to hesitate. It wants to make sure it’s doing the right thing trying to press the market lower. This market Thursday did flash divergence and that’s very unusual in the way these markets have been trading since the first of the year.”

Weakness in the market since the USDA crop production report last month is attributable to a number of factors according to Bower. One factor is the dollar continuing to strengthen, and another is the South American crop. “So far anyway it has proven to be quite a good yielding year for both the Brazilian and Argentine producer,” Bower said.

As 2010 unfolds Bower expects to see plenty of volatility in the market. And what producer strategy is working the very best right now? Bower offers his thoughts.

Listen here:

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The cattle industry’s annual convention is at the end of January in San Antonio, Texas, and that’s when Steve Foglesong from Astoria in west central Illinois will assume the presidency of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Recently Hoosier Ag Today had a chance to cover a number of topics with Steve.

It will be an important year for the association as it works on key issues facing farmers and ranchers. One issue is the death tax. Foglesong says they would like to see meaningful reform in that area. The death tax, or estate tax, expired on January 1st, but it’s just a one-year layoff. It is scheduled to return in 2011 at a 55% rate, and the exemption reduced to $1 million. That compares to the 2009 rate of 45% and exemptions of $3.5 million for an individual and $7 million for a couple.

NCBA is also concerned about possible regulatory moves, including EPA changing current dust standards. That could significantly impact farmers and even a former TV superhero.

Agriculture continues to look for ways to convey positive messages to consumers. Foglesong told HAT that will always be a top issue, but it’s even more challenging because of the media.

Hear what Foglesong has to say:

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2010 will be the “Year of the Pigs” at the Indiana State Fair. Fair spokesman Andy Klotz told HAT they are partnering with Indiana Pork Producers to promote pigs and pork. Klotz said one of the reasons Pork was chosen was because of the desperate economic conditions many Hoosier pork producers find themselves in, “We want to do what we can to help turn this economic crises around.” “Indiana’s pork farmers recognize this unique opportunity to directly connect with consumers at the State Fair, and are excited about sharing with them the truly impressive story of producing pork in our state,” Mike Platt, executive director for the Indiana Pork Producers, said. “It’s a story of innovation, ingenuity, strong family values, commitment to quality, and dedication in the service of our fellow Hoosiers.”

Over the past 3 years, the fair has featured trees, tomatoes, and corn, but this August pigs will take center stage at the fair. Klotz says they are busy coming up with all kinds of creative ideas to promote pigs and pork, “We will have the Racing Pigs back, which were a big hit last year; and that is just the beginning of the many informational and educational programs we plan to have.”

Of course the special featured food at the fair will be built around pork, “There are all kinds of new food items that can be created; this may be our best year ever for the Signature Food Contest.”

The purpose of the program is to educate Hoosier consumers about some of Indiana’s major farm products. The Year of the Pig will focus on promoting pigs and pork. “This is very exciting. This will put pork in Indiana into the limelight and show many people that our industry plays a large economic role in Indiana,” said Mark York. He and his wife, Chris, run Riverbend Farms in Roann, IN, where they produce about 25,000 hogs each year.

The promotion will be a twofold event: promoting pigs and pork. Klotz said there will be plenty of live pigs and cooked pork around the fairground. The Gazebo, at the center of the fairgrounds, will reflect the theme as well, perhaps as giant Piggy bank reflecting the economic impact the pork industry has on the state of Indiana. Indiana pork producers contribute more than $4 billion annually to the state’s economy. The 2010 State Fair kicks off on Aug 6.

Listen to the complete interview with Andy Klotz

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For the farmer who likes to make a new year’s resolution to save money on electricity use around the operation, there may be help finding out if savings are possible, and it won’t cost anything to check into it. Dairy farms, hog farms, sod farms, and hay and grain operations are among those that have found cost savings through an energy audit by Discovery Energy.

Kelly Curtis is their Director of Operations. He explained, “The state of Indiana will let us go back 36 months and we will audit the utility bills for the company. We look for a variety of different overcharges and mistakes the utility companies are making. When we find those mistakes we go back to the utility companies and sometimes the state of Indiana to get those fixed and implement the changes. Sometimes we are able to go back in time and obtain a refund for the client. Sometimes they won’t let us do that, depending on the regulation, and they are just errors that we can fix to lower the bill going forward.”

Learn more about why utility company charges are often incorrect by listening to the full interview with Curtis. And go to the HAT website story for contact information for the Discovery Energy Indiana representative.

Listen here:

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Indiana Master Farmer honorees in 2009 included Rodney Hager, Chris Mann, R.D. Wolheter, and honorary winner from Purdue, Bruce McKenzie. Maurice Robeson of Camden is also on the list this year. HAT interviewed Robeson at the luncheon earlier this year to find out more about the Carroll County winner.

Robeson started farming with his father in 1960 and grows corn, soybeans, and wheat. They raised hogs up until 1997.

Robeson has some very definite advice for the future generation of farmers: always know your financial position every single week. “When I had hogs I knew exactly how many hogs I had every week, the value of the hogs, and I continually knew my financial position. In agriculture you can get under water so fast that in six months you can lose everything you had if you don’t realize what’s going on. Your cost of production is extremely important because our margins are so small. When I was involved in eggs, if we made a cent a dozen we were making good money, so margins can really be tight. So I think that’s one area that you really need to watch.”

Hear the entire HAT interview:

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The mold problem in corn is getting worse. Producers, elevator operators, and livestock feeders are all scrambling to try to find a solution to the problem. Mold is showing up in record amounts in the corn crop from parts of Indiana. Caused by the wet growing conditions, the extent of the problem is still not well known. Purdue Extension Ag Economist Dr. Chris Hurt says elevator operators are worried whether they have mold in their stored grain and how much, “The problem is confined mainly to east central and northeast Indiana, but many elevator operators I have talked with are very worried because they did not start testing for mold until they already had a lot of corn in storage.” Hurt told HAT corn stored on farm is also at risk, “There was not enough monitoring, so a lot of moldy corn got co-mingled with good corn.”

Speaking at the Indiana/Illinois Farm Equipment Show, Hurt said the mold problem is becoming a market factor, “We are seeing very weak basis levels in the affected area.” This is because farmers and elevator operators are not sure what corn they have is moldy, and processors and livestock feeders are docking some shipments as much as a dollar a bushel.

A problem being faced by some producers is having moldy corn under contract. Hurt said there are a lot of people with grain under contract for delivery in January, “What happens when you have a contract for 10,000 bushels of corn, you haul it to the elevator and they reject your load because the mold content is too high?” Another problem is corn that is in the government loan program that is found to have higher than acceptable mold contamination.

Hurt said, right now, there remain more questions than answers. One of the big questions is: what can be done with this contaminated corn? Dr. Hurt was the featured speaker at the HAT seminar that occurred Wednesday at the farm show in Indianapolis. A standing room only crowd attended the presentation which also covered an economic and market outlook for 2010.

Listen to Dr. Hurt discuss the corn mold problem and look ahead to market conditions in 2010

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