USDA Releases Acreage Report

USDA’s June 30 Acreage Report

Summary:

 

Corn Planted Acreage Down 7%                 

Soybean Acreage Up 17%                         

All Wheat Acreage Up 5%

All Cotton Acreage Down 15%

From the USDA: Extensive rains and flooding during June caused producers in several Midwestern States to change their harvesting intentions for crops already planted, modify planting decisions for the small percentage of acres not yet planted, and consider replanting options. NASS collected most of the data for the annual Acreage report before the majority of the flooding occurred. In an effort to more accurately determine how many acres producers still intend to harvest for grain, NASS re-interviewed approximately 1,200 farmers June 23, 24, and 25 in the flood-affected areas. As a result, it was determined that U.S. farmers intend to harvest 90.4 percent of their planted acres of corn for grain. This is a change from 92.4 percent as measured during the first 2 weeks of June. U.S. farmers intend to harvest 96.8 percent of their planted acres of soybeans. Without this additional survey data, historical averages would have indicated 98.7 percent of soybean acres to be harvested. NASS will conduct a more extensive acreage update survey during July. Findings from this study will be incorporated in the August Crop Production report.

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The interesting part of the June 30th USDA Report was the large increase in planted corn acreage for 2008, given the significant planting delays in much of the Midwest, and the severe flooding in Iowa, Illinois, and other States. It should be noted that the June 30th USDA Report is based on crop conditions on June 1st, and the planted acreage does not reflect harvested corn acreage. USDA did a secondary crop survey in late June to determine preliminary changes in harvested corn acreage for 2008. Based on those results, it would appear that an estimated 90.4 percent of corn acres will be harvested for grain in 2008, compared to a normal of 92.4 percent of corn acres, obviously reflecting the floods and excessive rainfall in many areas of the Midwest in early June. Similarly, based on the late June crop survey, the percent of planted soybean acreage to be harvested for 2008 was listed at 96.8 percent, compared to a normal of 98.7 percent.

View the entire acreage report.

 

 

HSUS releases downer cow abuse video…again

Another Downer Cow Abuse Video Comes To The Surface

The Humane Society of the United States(HSUS) has released a new video allegedly depicting downer cattle being abused at a livestock auction in New Mexico.

The video allegedly depicts downer cattle being subjected to electric prods, dragged by a chain and otherwise mistreated at the Portales Livestock Auction in Portales, N.M., according to the HSUS.

It was the sixth livestock facility this year ensnared in video depictions of animal cruelty in the ongoing HSUS campaign to expose what it calls “widespread abuse of livestock across the country… This gross mistreatment of spent dairy cows should turn your stomach, and they have been uncovered in location after location.”

USDA Secretary Ed Schafer called the situation “unfortunate” and deplorable, adding that the weakened conditions of the animals would have prevented their delivery to a slaughter facility.

“Furthermore, they would not have passed ante-mortem inspection by the highly trained Food Safety Inspection Service inspection program personnel. Simply put, the condition of these cattle would prohibit them from even entering the first phase of a multi-phased process of approving cattle for slaughter,” he says.

“Of the nearly 34 million cattle that were slaughtered last year, under 1,000 cattle that were re-inspected were actually approved by the veterinarian for slaughter. This represents less than 0.003% of cattle slaughtered annually. However, to eliminate further misunderstanding of the rule and, ultimately, to make a positive impact on the humane handling of cattle, it is sound policy to simplify this matter by initiating a complete ban on the slaughter of downer cattle that go down after initial inspection.”

Biofuel Battle

The hot button issue of biofules continue to make headlines across the nation as power players from all industries begin the finger-pointing, fact throwing game. The following is a fact sheet release by the USDA in a joint effort with the DOE.

 

	Fact Sheet Gas Prices and Oil Consumption Would Increase Without Biofuels
	June 11, 2008
	Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman and Secretary of Agriculture Edward T. Schafer sent a letter on June 11, 2008 to Senator Jeff Bingaman addressing a number of questions related to biofuels, food, and gasoline and diesel prices. The letter is available at http://www.energy.gov Without Biofuels, Gas Prices Would Increase $.20 to $.35 per Gallon. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that gasoline prices would be between 20 cents to 35 cents per gallon higher without ethanol1, a first-generation biofuel. For a typical household, that means saving about $150 to $300 per year. For the U.S. overall, this saves gas expenditures of $28 billion to $49 billion based on annual gasoline consumption of roughly 140 billion gallons. Ethanol use has exceeded the requirements of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, demonstrating that refiners and gasoline marketers have an economic advantage to use more ethanol than is required by law. Biofuels are Reducing America’s Dependence on Oil. Without biofuels, DOE estimates that the United States would have to use 7.2 billion more gallons of gasoline in 2008 in order to maintain current levels of travel (a 5 percent increase). This increased demand for gasoline would drive up the price Americans pay at the pump due to basic supply and demand. Biofuels are Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions. DOE scientists found that corn ethanol from the U.S. reduced greenhouse gas emission 19 percent compared with gasoline, when the full “life cycle” of the fuel is considered – from growing it to producing the fuel and burning it. DOE scientists estimate that 13 million tons of greenhouse gases were avoided in 2007 due to biofuels production and use. The next generation of biofuels—cellulosic—made from switchgrass, corn stover, wood chips and other non-food sources promises even more significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions than corn-based ethanol – reductions of more than 86 percent compared with gasoline. [1] This estimate relies on data on the current price difference between ethanol and gasoline and the elasticity of supply for petroleum. Consequently, a range is presented. Today’s Biofuels Account for Only a Small Percentage of the Increase in Global Food Prices. Other factors are responsible for the majority of the increase in global food prices: Higher oil and gas prices leading to increased costs of fertilizer, harvest, and transportation; Increased demand as developing countries grow and people improve their diets; Two years of bad weather and drought leading to poor harvests in parts of the world; Export restrictions imposed by some countries. Future Biofuels Will Alleviate Much of the Concern about Competition Between Food and Fuel. Cellulosic biofuel feedstocks can be produced on land not suitable for crops or it can be collected from forest residues. The Administration has announced more than $1 billion for the research, development, and demonstration of new biofuels technology, with a special focus on cellulosic biofuels. Funding supports: Bioenergy Research Centers where scientists work together to make the conversion of plant fiber to fuel more cost-effective and efficient.