Monday Memo April 4

Monday Memo

State News

The Beef Cattle Boot Camps offered through the Mississippi State University Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Stations (MAFES) are a new opportunity to gain hands-on experience with cattle management skills.
The 2011 Boot Camps are scheduled for Friday, April 8, 2011 at the MAFES Prairie Research Unit in Prairie, MS and Friday, April 15, 2011 at the MAFES White Sands Unit in Poplarville, MS. The program will be the same at each location..

Beef Quality Assurance Tonight Only

Producers from Mississippi and Louisiana are invited to Tylertown Stockyard tonight at 6:00 for the BQA training and certification meeting.
The BQA program previously scheduled for Tuesday, April 5th in Poplarville has been cancelled.

Cattlemen's Exchange Board Sale

Cattleman's Exchange Feeder Calf Board Sale

EE Ranch
Winona, MS

Tuesday, April 5, 7:00 p,m,

Selling 30 Loads

Videos

Gill Elected VP

R-CALF USA directors recently elected Joel Gill, partner in Mississippi Order Buyers, for a 2-year term as vice president of the national organization. George Chambers, regional director from Georgia, was elected president of the board.
Gill serves on the Mississippi Beef Council, representing the Mississippi Livestock Markets Association.

Double L Cattle Auction

Double L Double L ring

Mississippi's first new auction market in 28 years opened Saturday in Thaxton. Built by Lawrence Lindsey, the barn hosted Pontotoc County Cattlemen's Association last week for an open house.

Making Tracks 2011

Apply today for Making Tracks 2011, June 13 - 15 on the Mississippi State University campus.

Magnolia Beef & Poultry Expo

Thursday, April 7, producers can visit vendors and hear seminars on both beef and poultry production at the Smith County Ag Complex in Raleigh. Exhibits open at 9:00 a.m. and run until 4:00 p.m.

Policy

Senate Update

from Kristina Butts, Executive Director, NCBA Legislative Affairs

Senator Tom Coburn's Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) amendment will no longer be offered as an amendment to S. 493, instead it will be considered as a suspension which will now require 67 votes instead of 60. NCBA continues to support the Coburn VEETC legislation, which would eliminate the .45 cent VEETC upon enactment.

1099 Repeal Legislation Update
It is likely that Senator Johanns' (R-NE) 1099 repeal legislation might also be considered this week. While most Senators and even the White House have expressed support for 1099 repeal, Senate Democrats and the White House oppose the budget offsets.
NCBA supports immediate and full repeal of the new IRS 1099 return filing requirements that are part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Under existing law, a Form 1099 must be issued to unincorporated service-providers that are paid more than $600 during a tax year. Under new reporting rules set to start in 2012, 1099s will be required for payments to incorporated vendors and will be expanded to cover payments made for goods as well as services. Virtually all business-to-business transactions will be covered, creating a new major paperwork burden for the farms, ranches and related agri-businesses.

House Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee Hearing
On Wednesday, April 6, two NCBA members will testify before the House Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee. This is the first subcommittee hearing of the 112th Congress and it is entitled "Reviewing the State of the Beef Industry." Mr. Jim Strickland, President of the Florida Cattlemen's Association will be the cow/calf representative and Mrs. Anne Burkholder, NCBA's Vice Chair of the Cattle Health and Well-being Committee will be the feedyard representative. The third and final witness on the panel will be Mr. Ken Bull representing Cargill, Inc. This hearing is a great opportunity for NCBA to educate the members of this subcommittee on the beef industry and highlight our current policy priorities.

Reps. Noem/Fincher Dust Letter Update
Many thanks to everyone who helped us get congressional support for the letter Reps. Noem (R-SD) and Fincher (R-TN) sent to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on March 29th. With your help they had 101 Members of Congress support our efforts. Thank you for engaging in the grassroots process!

4.04.11

MARKET NOTES

Dr. John Michael Riley

April 1, 2011

Cash Cattle:

Fed cattle moved higher this week. Cattle in Texas sold for $121-$122/cwt and in Kansas fed cattle traded at mostly $123/cwt live and $195/cwt dressed. In Nebraska, live cattle sold for $124-$125/cwt and upwards of $200/cwt for dressed cattle. In Oklahoma City feeder steers and heifers were $1-$3/cwt higher while steers calves were steady and heifer calves were $2-$5/cwt higher. Mississippi feeder steers and heifers were $1-$3/cwt higher; cull cows were steady and bulls were $1-$3/cwt higher.

Futures:

A strong week was experienced for live cattle futures. The front four months (April to October) were in the mid three dollar range higher. The strength was spurred by higher cash prices and the continued concern of scarce supplies.
Feeder cattle futures ignored higher moving corn prices and followed the live price higher this week. Feeder cattle availability is expected to start shrinking due to strong placements over the past months.
Corn futures were much higher for old contract months - those contracts that represent stored corn from the 2010 crop. New crop contracts were still higher but less so than the May and July 2011 contracts. The tight supply of corn was proved yet again on Thursday as the quarterly Grain Stocks report from USDA revealed less corn than expected in the bin both on and off farms. The stocks report was the shocker of the week as the Prospective Plantings report released on the same day was in-line with expectations.

Beef:

Wholesale beef prices were mostly steady this week despite surging cash prices. Choice beef ended at $188.06/cwt for the weekly average but moved higher each day with Friday's price at $189.78. Select dipped mid-week and ended the week with an average of $185.14/cwt , down from last week's average by $0.44.

Calendar