In Farm BureauLambert joins ArFB

Mark Lambert has been hired as as-sistant director of commodity activities and economics in the commodity and regulatory affairs department at Arkansas Farm Bureau. Lambert will coordinate the

activities of the wheat and feed grains and forestry divisions, and serve as administrator of both the Arkansas Wheat Promotion Board and the Arkan-sas Corn and Grain Sorghum Board. He also will assist in eco-nomic analysis work in support of Farm Bureau’s advocacy and

communications efforts.Lambert, a native of Stuttgart, previously

served as sustainability coordinator at Rice-land Foods Inc., where he helped develop a program to assist farmers with improving farm management and sustainability prac-

tices. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

“Mark has a great background in agricul-ture and an excellent understanding of the economics of farming,” said Warren Carter, ArFB’s vice president for commodity and regulatory affairs. “He grew up in the heart of rice country and brings valuable experi-ence from his time at Riceland, the largest rice exporter in the U.S. We’re excited to have him on board and look forward to his

help promoting Arkansas agriculture.” While attending the University of Ar-

kansas, Lambert was awarded scholarships from a variety of agricultural organizations, including the Arkansas Farm Bureau, the Arkansas Crop Protection Association and the Arkansas Seed Dealers Association.

How to Win an ElectionOn Oct. 21-22, Arkansas Farm Bureau

and the Arkansas State Chamber will host a seminar to train candidates. “How to Win

September 25, 2015 • Vol. 18, No. 18A

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Steve “Wild Man” Wilson, host of the “Talkin’ Outdoors”

television show, entertained attendees as the guest

speaker at the Cleburne Co. FB annual meeting Sept. 15

at the Heber Springs Commu-nity Center. Wilson regaled

the crowd with humorous stories of his 35-year career

with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Lambert

In recognition of National Rice Month, the Arkansas rice indus-try donated 110,100 pounds of rice to the Arkansas Rice Depot, which will provide 1.1 million servings to help feed hungry families. Attending were (l to r) Ark. Rice Depot CEO Kim Aaron; Scott Wallace with Riviana Foods; Jerry Hoskyn, Christy Kalder and Gary Reifeiss with Producers Rice; Mary Hall with Windmill Rice; Ark. Rice Council president Steve Orlicek; Chris Cline with Riceland; Arkansas Ag Secretary Wes Ward; Arkan-sas Rice Depot chair Brandy Carroll; and Miss Arkansas Rice Lynnsey Bowling.

an Election” has been attended by successful candi-

dates for many years in Arkansas. This seminar teaches how to evalu-

ate a candidate and the electorate, build a campaign structure, raise money, enlist allies, create coalitions and get last-min-ute election-day voter attention. It was developed by American Farm Bureau, an organization noted for its understanding of the political process, with the help of professional political consultants and staff members of Democratic and Republican parties. The instructors are trained staff members of Farm Bureau. Video record-ing, a case study and a computer simula-tion will allow atendees to test techniques, tools and methods.

The seminar will be held in the Bob Lamb Conference Room at the Arkansas State Chamber office at 1200 W. Capitol Ave. in Little Rock. It is limited to candi-dates, their spouses and campaign manag-ers. The cost is $225 ($195 for spouses at-tending with a candidate). Space is limited so register early. The registration deadline is Oct. 16.

For more information email jeff.pitch-ford@arfb.com or call 501-228-1625.

New books, pocket guides availableAmerican Farm Bureau Federation’s

“Food and Farm Facts” book and pocket guides are now available to purchase online

at http://bit.ly/1OZsr9a with a credit card. Teachers may provide a purchase order from their schools.

The book features 32 pages of color photos and graphics, as well as a wall-sized map poster showing where various foods, livestock and crops are grown. Pocket-guide versions of the book also are available. “Food and Farm Facts” activity cards (for grades 4-6 and 7-12) are being devel-oped by the American Farm Bureau Foun-

dation for Agriculture and will be available soon.

In ArkansasPreparing for avian influenza

In preparation for the possible re-emer-gence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Arkansas as wild birds begin to migrate south from Canada, the Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Commission and its industry partners have identified “Mini-mum Biosecurity Standards for Arkansas Poultry Growers.” These standards have been distributed to each county Farm Bureau office and also are available on the commission’s website, http://alpc.arkansas.gov.

Biosecurity is the poultry industry’s first line of defense to all avian diseases, including HPAI. Rigorous implementation of biosecurity principles will be essential to preventing disease introduction into Arkansas and will be even more important if Arkansas has an outbreak of HPAI.

The Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Commission has worked closely with the poultry industry to ensure these practices are applicable to a wide variety of produc-tion operations and to serve as a list of recommendations to farmers and associ-ated personnel.

Arkansas Farm Bureau is working closely with The Poultry Federation and Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Commission

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Lynnsey Bowling of McCrory, the 2015-16 Miss Arkansas Rice, was on hand Sept. 21 for a ceremony at the State Capitol where Gov. Asa Hutchin-son proclaimed September as Rice Month in Arkansas. Hutchinson told attendees he sees new opportunities for increased trade with Cuba and will promote rice and other products on a trade mission to the island nation later this month.

The Craighead Co. FB Women’s Com-mittee hosted a rice-tasting event Sept. 4 at Region’s Bank in Jonesboro. Two dozen rice dishes were served, including Ragen’s Rice-n-Wings Salad, which Miss Craighead County Rice Ragen Hodges served to (left to right) Mayor Harold Perrin, Branon Thiesse with the county extension office and Region’s Bank President Larry Worsham.

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President Burnie Sharp (at the head table) presided over Columbia Co. FB’s annual meeting Sept. 10 at the Farm Bureau office in Magnolia. More than 20 people attended for a barbecue dinner and to elect new officers, hear committee reports and to decide on resolutions that will be submitted to Arkansas Farm Bureau for consideration at its state conven-tion in December.

Kenneth Robertson (second from right) and his wife Helen received a plaque honoring Kenneth’s years of service to Farm Bureau during Hot Spring Co. FB’s annual meeting Sept. 21 in Malvern. On hand to congratu-late Kenneth were (left to right) ArFB state board member Joe Thrash, Hot Spring Co. FB President Jeremy Allen and ArFB state board member Tom Jones.

to keep our producer-members informed as to confirmed cases of HPAI. Although poultry companies will more than likely contact growers first about any possible outbreak, Arkansas Farm Bureau felt it necessary to inform poultry growers as well. Poultry growers who would like to receive updates on avian influenza can text the key-word ARFBAI to 88202 to be added to the text message group. Arkansas Farm Bureau will by no means be in front of The Poultry Federation or Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Commission on the issue, but wanted to be another outlet for information.

Howe named plant board chairThe Arkansas State Plant Board (ASPB)

has named Otis Howe of Little Rock as the new chairman to the ASPB board of directors. Howe replaces George Tidwell of Lonoke, who has been chairman of the board for the last 15 years. Howe is a field representative for DuPont Pioneer. He has served on the ASPB Board for 20 years.

“Otis is a thoughtful leader. His calm, collected nature will serve the Arkansas State Plant Board, Arkansas citizens and the agricultural community well. When he speaks, people listen. We look forward to working under his leadership,” said ASPB Director Darryl Little. “We also appreci-ate the years of loyal, dedicated service from outgoing Chairman George Tidwell.” The ASPB board of directors is comprised

of 18 members appointed by the governor and represents various agricultural indus-tries and associations across Arkansas, as well as the University of Arkansas.

The ASPB board of directors promul-gates regulations and administers enforce-ment for more then 30 laws that impact agriculture and the general public in the state, and has done so since 1917.

Governor makes appointmentsOn Sept. 11, Gov. Asa Hutchinson

announced several appointments to vari-ous agricultural boards.

Rich Hillman of Carlisle, vice president of Arkansas Farm Bureau, was reappointed to the Arkansas Rice Research and Promo-tion Board along with Bobby Hoard of Marianna and Marvin Hare of Newport. David Gairhan of Jonesboro was appointed to the same board. He replaces former ArFB state board member Mike Sullivan of Burdette.

David Wallace of Crawfordsville, Blake Swears of Carlisle, Jackie Prince of Biscoe and Kenneth Clark of Newport were appointed to the Arkansas Wheat Promotion Board.

Gary Sitzer of Weiner and Glynn Guenther of Sherrill were appointed to the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board, and Ray Dillon of Little Rock was appointed to the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

ElsewhereTop five U.S. sorghum customers

A report from the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) says China is the number one buyer of U.S. sorghum for the marketing year Sept. 1, 2014 to Aug. 31, 2015. China accounted for 98 percent of U.S. sorghum exports during that period, buying more than 326.8 million bushels.

U.S. sorghum was introduced into China through a joint effort between the USGC and the United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP) in 2013. Since then, Chi-na has rapidly grown to become the top market for U.S. sorghum, and the USGC and USCP have continued their efforts to promote U.S. sorghum through missions, trade teams and customer servicing.

Japan is currently the second-largest market for U.S. sorghum, importing 4.5 million bushels so far this marketing year. In this market, the USGC is working to promote white sorghum as a health food product by hosting tasting events, through targeted media advertisements and more.

The list of top U.S. sorghum importers is rounded out with Mexico, Canada and South Korea. While these markets are rela-tively small for U.S. sorghum this year, the USGC will continue to monitor and foster these markets to build interest in the product.

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(Left to right) State Senator Larry Teague, Polk Co. FB agency manager Floyd Clark and Polk Co. FB President Allen Stewart commended the Bryan and Sonya Maye family of Hatfield for being named the Polk County Farm Family of the Year at the county’s annual meeting in Mena Sept. 21. The Mayes have been raising and showing show lambs for 18 years.

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Randy and Linda Motley of Motley’s Tree Farm received recognition as Pulaski Co. FB’s Farm Family of the Year at the county annual meeting Sept. 10 at Sylvan Hills Church of Christ. The Motley’s run an agri-tourism operation on 15 acres that features a pumpkin patch, petting zoo, Christmas trees and a Christmas gift shop.

EditorKeith Suttonkeith.sutton@arfb.com

In the MarketAs of Sept. 21, 2015:

Strong Chinese soy importsChina imported nearly 286 million

bushels of soybeans during August, a 29.01-percent increase from one year ago. Brazil and Argentina got 93.9 per-cent of this business. Of note, the U.S. came in at No. 5 on the list of sellers for the month. For the first eight months of the year, China has purchased 1.925 billion bushels MT of soybeans, a 9.81 percent increase from the year prior. The U.S. typically ramps up its soybean exports to China in the fourth quarter, but there is some talk that ongoing ship-ments from South America and China’s aggressive buys so far this year could result in the country purchasing fewer beans from the United States.

Mixed reports for cattle marketLast week’s Cattle on Feed Report

was bullish for prices as the report was expected to show placements as of Sept. 1 at 100.2 percent of last year’s levels. Instead the report showed place-ments well below expectations at just 95 percent of year-ago levels. While this provided some brief support for prices, Wednesday’s cold-storage report confirmed slow demand concerns and is overshadowing supply. The report was expected to show frozen beef stocks around 440.1 million pounds for the end of August. Instead the report showed frozen beef stocks at 470.4 million pounds, which is a 36-per-cent increase from August 2014 and a 2-percent increase from the end of July. This bearish stocks report will continue to pressure prices as live cattle have lost more than $13 and feeders are down $20 since the first of September.

Obama announces more regulatory changes with Cuba

Certain U.S. businesses will now be permitted to open offices and bank ac-counts in Cuba, establish joint ventures

with some Cuban government entities and hire Cubans to work for them under major regulatory changes announced by the Obama administration last Friday. The move would further expand trade ties and chip away at the U.S. embargo.

France joins EU countries opting out of GM crop cultivation

France is to use a new European opt-out scheme to ensure a ban on the cultivation of genetically modified crops in the country remains in place. France, the EU’s largest grain grower and exporter, has asked the European Commission to exclude it from cultiva-tion of nine GM corn strains. Under the EU opt-out deal passed in March, an individual country can seek exclu-sion from any approval request for GM cultivation in the bloc or from varieties already cleared as safe by the EU. Pre-viously, Germany, Latvia and Greece also requested to opt out of growing certain GM crops.

China still reviewing U.S. rice proposal

Reports that a China/U.S. rice trade pact had been struck were prema-ture. On a conference call last week, APHIS officials said they wanted to confirm there is no confirmation that the Chinese have agreed to the proposal APHIS sent them in early August. APHIS confirmed its counterpart in China, AQSIQ, has sent the U.S. draft protocol to an interagency review process.

HSUS condemns ventilation shut-down

The Humane Society of the United States is opposing the recently released U.S. Department of Agriculture policy for controlling avian influenza on com-mercial poultry production operations, which allows for the use of “ventilation shutdown.” The HSUS chief veteri-nary officer, Michael Blackwell, said, “Animals suffer immensely with any outbreak of an epidemic like avian influenza, and we shouldn’t compound the problems for birds by subjecting them to a particularly miserable and protracted means of euthanasia.”

USDA approves bird flu vaccinePOLITICO reports Iowa-based Har-

risvaccines has gained the Agriculture Department’s approval for a vaccine to target a virulent strain of bird flu that wiped out tens of millions of chickens and turkeys this year, and the company says it’s preparing to churn out millions of doses. Joel Harris, head of sales and marketing for the company, told PO-LITICO that USDA tests have shown the H5N2 vaccine is 95 percent effec-tive on egg-laying hens and 93 percent effective on day-old chicks after one dose, surpassing the efficacy of a previ-ous vaccine USDA had considered that was only about 60 percent effective.

Sanders wants to “end subsidizing corporate agriculture”

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders took a jab at agricul-tural subsidy programs in an interview with Mark Halperin, host of Bloomberg Politics’ “With All Due Respect,” that posted last Friday. Following the inde-pendent senator from Vermont’s sug-gestion that he would reduce defense spending, Halperin asked if there were “any domestic programs of significant size” where he would like to also make cuts.

“I think we have got to end subsidiz-ing corporate agriculture, for example,” Sanders answered, although he declined to identify any specific commodities or subsidy programs. “Most of the way I would look at it is, if you are into large corporate farming, you really do not need subsidies from the federal gov-ernment. I am a supporter of family farms, not just dairy in my own state of Vermont. I would like to see a strength-ened and resilient family farm situation in America, where people can maintain their family farms.”

CONTACT• Matt King 501-228-1297, matt.king@arfb.com.