News Update
May 6, 2011

CBB, NCBA Leadership Agree To Move Forward

The officers and leadership representing the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) met in Denver May 3-4 to discuss their mutual commitment to the beef checkoff and to working together in the future. Attending the meeting were CBB officers Tom Jones, chairman; Wesley Grau, vice chairman; Weldon Wynn, treasurer; Dan Dierschke, immediate past chairman; and Executive Committee member Ted Greidanus; and NCBA officers Bill Donald, president; J.D. Alexander, president-elect; Scott George, vice president; Steve Foglesong, immediate past president; and David Dick, Federation Division chairman. Lance Woodbury of Garden City, Kan., facilitated the meeting.
During the meeting, the following points of agreement were reached:

1. CBB is the organization that administers the Beef Checkoff Program, and NCBA is a checkoff contractor. CBB and NCBA will work in partnership to increase the profitability of the industry.
2. The checkoff program staff is doing excellent work managing checkoff programs and their efforts are fully supported by both volunteer leadership and staff. NCBA will continue to be a checkoff contractor.
3. NCBA, as a part of the beef industry but representing all segments, will continue working on making all beef industry participants feel welcome at industry meetings.
4. Improvements need to be made in the relationships between our CEOs and staffs, and the volunteer leadership of both organizations is committed to improving those working relationships.
5. CBB and NCBA agree to work together to develop a clearer understanding of the expectations and consequences related to compliance with the Act, Order and guidelines. As part of this effort, CBB agreed to review its contractor acknowledgement guidelines.
6. NCBA will provide CBB with written input on CBB’s Roles and Responsibilities recommendations. After the Beef Board takes action on those recommendations during summer conference, a new joint agreement will be developed. Work will continue under the prior joint committee coordination agreement until a new agreement is reached.

“We were able to have a constructive dialogue and find common ground,” said Jones, a third-generation farmer and rancher in Pottsville, Ark. “At this time, we have not scheduled additional meetings with the NCBA leadership, but we will be open to additional meetings prior to summer conference in Orlando.”

NCBA’s Donald commented, “We are committed to our partnership with the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. The partnership has resulted in the effective and efficient use of checkoff resources to conduct demand building programs which have produced significant results for every cattleman and beef producer that pays the checkoff.”

Donald said the leadership of both organizations will work together to determine the next steps to build on the agreements reached at the meeting in Denver.

— Adapted from releases by CBB and NCBA.

Kentucky Corn Plantings at 17% May 1

According to the Kentucky Weekly Crop and Weather report, 17% of the state’s corn crop was planted as of May 1. This is a great deal behind 2010, which had 82% of planting completed at this time, and less than the five-year average of 59%.

— Excerpt from release by Katie Pratt, University of Kentucky.

Ohio Corn Plantings at 1% May 1

Only 1% of Ohio’s corn crop was planted May 1, which was 60% behind last year and 32% behind the average of the past five years, reports Ohio State University (OSU) Extension Agronomist Peter Thomison, citing the latest data from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Soybeans are also behind schedule compared to 2010. No soybeans had been planted as of May 1 in Ohio, while a year ago 23% were already in the ground by May 2.

— Excerpt from release by Ohio State University.

Sara Lee Buys Aidells

Meatingplace.com reports Sara Lee Corp. has agreed to buy Aidells Sausage Co. of San Leandro, Calif., for $87 million in cash. The purchase adds a premium meats brand to the company’s existing Jimmy Dean sausage and Hillshire Farm lunchmeat lines.

Set Calves Up for a Stress-free Transition

Click here to link to a video (1 minute, 23 seconds) featuring Irsik & Doll Feedyard managers Mark Sebranek and Jerry Jackson with some tips for ranchers on how to set calves up for a stress-free transition to the feedlot, on track to hit the high-quality beef target:

— Video news release by Certified Angus Beef LLC.

2011 Farmland Rental Rates Increase Sharply

Current Iowa cash rent rates quickly responded to the fall 2010 increase in corn and soybean prices caused by tight grain supplies and increased demand worldwide, according to William Edwards, Iowa State University (ISU) Extension economist. As those involved with the Iowa farmland rental market know, rental rates were pushed significantly higher by the favorable corn and soybean prices in 2007 and early 2008. That was followed by lower prices in late 2008 and 2009, which took much of the steam out of the land market. Cash rent for farmland in 2010 saw significant increases.

Results of the 2011 cash rental rate survey for Iowa , conducted by Edwards and his staff, estimate that the average cash rent for corn and soybean land in the state for 2011 is $214 per acre, an increase of $30 per acre or 16% from a year earlier.

“This is the largest one-year increase since the statewide survey was started in 1994,” said Edwards. “Even more interesting was the range of typical rents reported.” 

The range represents the highest and lowest estimates for typical rents in each county submitted by survey respondents, not rents for individual farms. In most counties, the lower end of the range was about the same as in 2010, but the high end of the range was as much as $50 to $100 an acre above the previous year. 

Average rents were higher in all nine crop reporting districts, with increases ranging from $23 per acre (12%) in east central Iowa to $37 per acre (21%) in southwest Iowa. “Individual farm rents that were set before the Sept. 1, 2010, termination deadline probably changed very little,” Edwards said. “Rents that were negotiated later likely reflected the higher corn and soybean prices being offered then.”

The intent of the Iowa State survey is to report typical rents in force, not the highest or lowest values heard through informal sources. Rental values were estimated by asking more than 3,000 people familiar with the land market what they thought were typical rates in their county for high, medium and low quality row cropland, as well as for oats, hay and pasture acres. The number of responses received this year was 1,567, an increase of 25% compared to last year. Of these, 33% came from farmers, 24% from landowners, 22% from professional farm managers, 14% from lenders and 7% from other professionals.

The Cash Rental Rates for Iowa 2011 Survey is available online as a downloadable document; from the Ag Decision Maker website, www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/pdf/c2-10.pdf, and from the ISU Extension online store, www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/FM1851.pdf.

— Release by William Edwards, Ann Johanns, Willy Klein, Iowa Beef Center.

— Compiled by Shauna Rose Hermel, Editor, Angus Productions Inc.