Dedicated Insurance Professionals you know and trust...like Family
Issue No. 74

November 11,  2014

 


 


 

Four down ballot state executive positions were up for election in the state of Texas for 2014 last week. The four races on the ballot were the Texas Comptroller of Public AccountsTexas Land CommissionerTexas Agriculture Commissioner and Texas Railroad Commission


 
All four down ballot races featured Democratic, Republican, Green Party and Libertarian Party candidates vying for office with no incumbents seeking re-election to these offices, and three incumbents seeking higher office, as well as Comptroller Susan Combs (R) retiring in 2014.


 
Texas is one of 21 states with a mixed primary system. Voters do not have to register with a party. At the primary, they may choose which party primary ballot to vote on, but in order to vote they must sign a pledge declaring they will not vote in another party's primary or convention that year.


 
Despite statewide rain in Texas, voters were not deterred from voicing their opinion, casting their ballots. The 2014 midterm elections brought an historic victory for Republicans, handing the GOP its largest congressional majority since World War II.


 

  

  

Now serving ALL of Texas Agriculture -

Contact us for more information

  

  

  

TACT - Dedicated Insurance Professionals
you know and trust...like Family. 

  

  

  Texas Elects First New Governor Since 2000

  

Associated Press - Republican Greg Abbott has been elected Texas governor in a decisive victory over Democrat Wendy Davis, whose national star power outshined her flickering candidacy.


 

As state attorney general, Abbott has stridently defended tough conservative Texas laws over voter ID and abortion.


He is the first new Texas governor in 14 years. Gov. Rick Perry, the longest-serving governor in state history, declined to seek a fourth full term while mulling another White House run in 2016.


Davis never gave Abbott a close race despite record-breaking fundraising and supporters nationwide. She was the most high-profile Texas Democrat to run in decades after winning fame with her nearly 13-hour filibuster over new Texas abortion restrictions last year.


A teary-eyed  Davis told her supporters that it's OK to be disappointed, but not discouraged, by her loss in the governor's race.


Speaking in Fort Worth, Davis called on Democrats to keep fighting for their values and candidates. She thanked her supporters for never backing down.


Davis vaulted to national prominence thanks to her filibuster of a tough abortion restrictions law last year, and her campaign raised tens of millions of dollars statewide and nationally. But she was considered a heavy underdog to Abbott in a state that hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office in 20 years.


 

Read More:

Texas' Governor Not the Same Kind of Cowboy


 

Other Results:

Dan Patrick is our new Lt. Governor. 

Comptroller of Public Accounts - Glenn Hegar (R)

Land Commissioner - George P. Bush (R)

Agriculture Commissioner - Sid Miller (R)

Railroad Commissioner - Ryan Sitton (R)

 
 

  

  Republicans Seize Senate, 

Gain Full Control of Congress

  

Washington (CNN) -- A Republican tide ripped the Senate away from Democrats Tuesday, giving the GOP full control of Congress and the power to pin down President Barack Obama during his last two years in office.

The thumping win upends the balance of power between the White House and Capitol Hill only six years after Obama's Democrats swept to power and marginalized Republicans in a rush to reform health care, Wall Street and pass a huge stimulus package.


Now, it's Democrats who will take the back seat on Capitol Hill, relying mostly on the power of the filibuster to stymie Republicans and keep Obama's legacy intact.


In the House, CNN projected the GOP will have at least 246 seats, its largest majority since World War II. Speaker John Boehner, celebrating a widened majority, said he is "humbled by the responsibility the American people have placed with us."


"But this is not a time for celebration," he said. "It's time for government to start getting results and implementing solutions to the challenges facing our country, starting with our still-struggling economy.


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has controlled the Senate since 2007, congratulated Republicans on their victory.


"The message from voters is clear: they want us to work together," Reid said. "I look forward to working with Senator McConnell to get things done for the middle class."


Obama began hosting bipartisan leaders last Friday to try to chart a way forward.


 



 


 


 

 
 

 Healthcare in the News

 

  

  HHS Advances Development of Ebola Vaccine

  

Courtesy HHS.gov

Studies will prepare vaccine candidate for clinical trials

The development of a vaccine to prevent Ebola virus disease will be accelerated with support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). 


Under a one-year contract with Profectus BioSciences Inc., headquartered in Baltimore, ASPR's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will provide approximately $5.8 million in funding, in addition to subject matter expertise and technical assistance, to further develop an experimental Ebola vaccine. The company will manufacture vaccine for use in animal safety studies and future clinical trials and conduct animal studies to test safety. The contract can be extended to a total of 13 months and $8.6 million.

Upon successful completion of this work, the company is expected to submit an investigational new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This application, once accepted by the FDA, would allow the vaccine to begin the first clinical trials for safety in humans.


"We are pushing hard to advance the development of multiple products as quickly as possible for clinical evaluation and future use in preventing or treating this deadly disease," said BARDA Director Robin Robinson, Ph.D.  "Our goal is to close the global gap in vaccines and therapeutics needed to protect the public health from Ebola as highlighted by the epidemic in West Africa."


The project builds on early research of this experimental vaccine supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and animal studies supported by the Department of Defense. In the DoD-supported studies, a single dose of the experimental Ebola vaccine provided 100 percent protection in non-human primates. BARDA will support further development of the vaccine against the Ebola virus strain responsible for the current epidemic.

Clinical trials are under way with other experimental vaccines. NIAID currently is supporting Phase 1 clinical trials that examine an investigational Ebola vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline and an experimental Ebola vaccine developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada and licensed to NewLink Genetics Corp. Phase 2 clinical efficacy trials for these vaccine candidates are expected in 2015.


BARDA also continues to explore how its Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, itsFill Finish Manufacturing Network, or other measures can accelerate the manufacturing time for Ebola therapeutics and vaccines.


The agency is seeking additional proposals for the advanced development of antibody treatments, antiviral drugs, and vaccines against the Ebola and Marburg viruses, both of which cause viral hemorrhagic fever. Program requirements are described in BARDA's Broad Agency Announcement BARDA-BAA-13-100-SOL-00013 athttps://www.fbo.gov.


HHS is the principal federal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) leads HHS in preparing the nation to respond to and recover from adverse health effects of emergencies, supporting communities' ability to withstand adversity, strengthening health and response systems, and enhancing national health security.


Within ASPR, BARDA develops and procures medical countermeasures - vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and medical equipment - that address the public health and medical consequences of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) accidents, incidents and attacks, pandemic influenza, and emerging infectious diseases.


For more information about advanced research and development of medical countermeasures, visit www.medicalcountermeasures.gov


 


 


 

Healthcare news such as this can be found on our Facebook Page! 


 

Like us on Facebook
 


 
 

Agriculture News
  
Pain in Trains Falls 
Mainly on Grain


 

Courtesy Wall Street Journal 

Rail Delays Slow Shipments, Pushing Prices Up Despite Bumper Crops


By Jacob Bunge

ONIDA, S.D.-The worst rail delays in more than a decade are impeding crop shipments in the Midwest, causing grain-storage facilities to fill up and sending pries for corn, soybean and soybean meal up sharply.


Congestion on railroad networks, now threatening to extend into a second year in the U.S. Farm Belt, is forcing some buyers to purchase additional soybean meal, used mainly in animal feed, to ensure a steady supply, analysts said.


That helped push futures prices up 11% in the past week. And soybeans and corn both jumped by around 7% as livestock and poultry operations in the eastern U.S. rushed to avoid feed shortages and speculators bid up the price of the commodities related to soy meal, analysts said.


"It's panic buying," says Charlie Sernatinger, global head of grain futures at brokerage ED&F Man Capital Markets in Chicago. "You have to feed these animals."


 
The delays-the worst for the agriculture industry since 2002, according to Agriculture Department officials-have slowed business for grain companies in the upper Midwest that ship crops to customers who process them into feed and other products or export them overseas.


Analysts worry that unless railroad congestion abates, soybean-meal futures prices could march higher in the weeks ahead, potentially lifting some consumer prices for meat and other animal products. Any impact on baked goods or other processed foods in the U.S. is likely to be very limited, because grains tend to account for a small share of their prices.


For farmers who are able to ship their crops, last week's commodity-price run-up offered a chance to sell at higher prices after an extended period of decline. Abundant summer rain this year nurtured what is projected to be the biggest U.S. corn and soybean crops in history. That has hammered prices: Even after last week's surge, corn futures are down 11% since the start of the year at the Chicago Board of Trade, the main global marketplace for agricultural commodity futures. Soybean futures are down 20%.


But for other growers, the recent price gains may not help if they can't get their product to market. At Oahe Grain Corp., a grain elevator in this central South Dakota town, business has nearly halted at what is normally its busiest time of year because railcars needed to pick up crops have been running about six weeks behind schedule.

The company's 110-foot silver towers, with several holding hundreds of thousands of bushels of wheat, have been full for most of the past month, said Tim Luken, general manager for Oahe, which markets grain, sunflower seeds and other crops. Last week, Oahe ran out of space in its corn bins, too.


While Oahe waits for railcars to arrive, it can't buy any more grain because there is no place to put it, Mr. Luken said. "Farmers call me every day ... I'm telling people not to bring anything in."


The rail snarls will cut grain-trading volumes to 8 million to 10 million bushels at Oahe this year, from 12 million to 15 million in a typical year, Mr. Luken said.


The transport problems are caused by several factors: Rail companies are experiencing an overall rise in demand to move goods, including consumer goods, crude oil from the shale fields of the upper Midwest, as well as increased grain from two years of bumper crops. Last year, an unusually harsh winter compounded problems by forcing shippers to run shorter, slower trains.


That overflowing demand has lifted profits for railroad companies such as BNSF Railway, owned by Warren Buffett 's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. , the two primary railroads serving the upper Midwest. Canadian Pacific shares have soared 37% this year, while rival railroads CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. have climbed 24% and 19%, respectively.

Rail companies have claimed progress in easing bottlenecks. BNSF earmarked $1 billion for expanded capacity along its northern U.S. tracks this year.


"We're delivering consistently better performance than we did last year," said John Miller, BNSF's vice president of agricultural products, who said the biggest factor influencing grain shipment speeds this fall is the scale of the crop to be moved, rather than rail congestion.


Canadian Pacific is investing $500 million to help boost capacity and upgrade tracks in its U.S. network, Chief Executive Hunter Harrison told U.S. railroad regulators in a September letter. A spokeswoman said its fleet should be able to handle this year's harvest, but "the entire grain supply chain must function efficiently in order for CP to continue our recent strong performance."


A spokeswoman for CSX, which operates railroads across the East Coast, said the company is "putting all possible resources toward efficient grain service."


A spokesman for Norfolk Southern, another major railroad operator in the eastern U.S., said "all traffic is being impacted by unexpected increased volume."


Track congestion threatens profits for big agricultural traders and processors such asArcher Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill Inc. Logistics problems contributed to profit declines for the companies earlier this year, and Bunge Ltd. cited higher U.S. transport costs among its headwinds after its third-quarter results missed expectations last week.


Analysts expect railroad capacity issues to remain a challenge this winter, with J.P. Morgan Chase warning recently that higher freight costs and congestion will weigh on farmers' crop prices and agricultural-processing profits.

The logjams have led grain companies to rely more on river barges to move goods, while others are looking at using trucks as a more expensive, but possibly more reliable, option. U.S. barge freight rates in the week ended Oct. 28 ran 60% higher than the past three years' average, according to a USDA report.


Because grain processors and exporters face higher shipping costs for the crops they buy, grain elevators-the middlemen which gather crops from farmers for transport-are offering some growers in the upper Midwest sharply lower prices.


In South Dakota, some grain elevators are offering to buy corn for 70 to 80 cents below the December futures price, about double the normal discount of about 35 cents, according to Bob Metz, a farmer who grows corn and soybeans near Peever, S.D.


"It's a huge hit to my balance sheet," Mr. Metz said.

Futures markets reflect expectations for further snags. Contracts for the price of corn delivered next spring have climbed higher than December contracts. Traders say the move shows that commercial grain buyers are providing a financial incentive for farmers to store crops away for the winter rather than sell them immediately after harvest, partly due to anticipated shipping backlogs.


Corn for December delivery at the Chicago Board of Trade, the front-month contract, rose 0.7% on Friday to $3.7675 a bushel. That compares with higher prices for contracts for March ($3.8925) and May ($3.98).

The price difference "has a lot to do not just with the size of the crop, but the fear it's not going to get loaded," says Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics & Consulting LLC.


 


 

Read agriculture news on

our Facebook Page!


 

Like us on Facebook 
  
  
 Healthful Hint

 

 What You Should Know For the 2014-2015 

Flu Season


 

 

Courtesy CDC

What sort of flu season is expected this year?

It's not possible to predict what this flu season will be like. Flu seasons are unpredictable in a number of ways. While flu spreads every year, the timing, severity, and length of the season usually varies from one season to another.

Will new flu viruses circulate this season?

Flu viruses are constantly changing so it's not unusual for new flu viruses to appear each year. For more information about how flu viruses change, visit How the Flu Virus Can Change.


 

When will flu activity begin and when will it peak?

The timing of flu is very unpredictable and can vary from season to season. Flu activity most commonly peaks in the U.S. between December and February. However, seasonal flu activity can begin as early as October and continue to occur as late as May.


 

What should I do to prepare for this flu season?

CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older as the first and most important step in protecting against this serious disease. While there are many different flu viruses, the seasonal flu vaccine is designed to protect against the main flu viruses that research suggests will cause the most illness during the upcoming flu season. People should begin getting vaccinated soon after flu vaccine becomes available, ideally by October, to ensure that as many people as possible are protected before flu season begins.


In addition to getting vaccinated, you can take everyday preventive actions like staying away from sick people and washing your hands to reduce the spread of germs. If you are sick with flu, stay home from work or school to prevent spreading flu to others.


 

What should I do to protect my loved ones from flu this season?

Encourage your loved ones to get vaccinated as soon as vaccine becomes available in their communities, preferably by October. Vaccination is especially important for people at high risk for serious flu complications, and their close contacts.


Children between 6 months and 8 years of age may need two doses of flu vaccine to be fully protected from flu. Your child's doctor or other health care professional can tell you whether your child needs two doses. Visit Children, the Flu, and the Flu Vaccine for more information.


Children younger than 6 months are at higher risk of serious flu complications, but are too young to get a flu vaccine. Because of this, safeguarding them from flu is especially important. If you live with or care for an infant younger than 6 months of age, you should get a flu vaccine to help protect them from flu. See Advice for Caregivers of Young Children for more information.

In addition to getting vaccinated, you and your loved ones can take everyday preventive actions like staying away from sick people and washing your hands to reduce the spread of germs. If you are sick with flu, stay home from work or school to prevent spreading influenza to others.


 

Questions You May Have:

For answers to these and other questions, visit here.

 
To read featured health news
Like us on Facebook

 

  

  

 

 

   Refer Us!

Click above to learn more or

 to contact the TACT office.

In This Issue
Texas Elects First New Governor Since 2000
Republicans Seize Senate, Control of Congress
Health News - HHS Advances Development of Ebola Vaccine
Agriculture News - Rail Delays Slow Shipments
Healthful Hint - What You Should Know For the 2014-2015 Flu Season
Facebook Feature 
Find us on Facebook and 
access more detailed,
industry-related information.
Interact with us!
We're waiting to talk to you!

Like us on Facebook

 
Contact Us
Texas Ag Coop Trust
915 Austin Street
Levelland, TX 79336
806-747-7894

  

Texas Ag Coop Trust
Officers, Board of Trustees
 
Kimberly Tullo-Holcomb
TACT Executive Director
Lubbock, TX
 
Jim Turner, Chairman
Dalhart Consumers Fuel Association
Dalhart, TX

Bret Brown, Secretary/Treasurer
Ag Producers Co-op
Sunray, TX 
 
Ben Boerner
Texas Grain & Feed Assn.
Fort Worth, TX
 
Craig Rohrbach
Parmer County Cotton Growers
Farwell, TX
 
Dean Sasser 
Farmers Coop Elevator
Levelland, TX

Tony Williams
Texas Cotton Ginners' Association
Austin, TX
 
Paul Wilson 
United Cotton Growers
Levelland, TX


Texas Ag Coop Trust
is endorsed by:
  
 Texas Grain  & Feed
 Association
 
Texas Cotton Ginners Association
 
 

Texas Coop Marketing Exchange
 
 
 
     Texas Corn Producers 
Join Our Mailing List
  
 
       
                                            

 

  

 
 


 


 

American Diabetes Awareness Month


Diabetes is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the United States. If it's not controlled, diabetes can cause blindness, nerve damage, kidney disease, and other health problems.


 

One in 12 Americans has diabetes - that's more than 25 million people. And another 79 million adults in the United States are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.


 

The good news? People who are at high risk for type 2 diabetes can lower their risk by more than half if they make healthy changes. These changes include: eating healthy, increasing physical activity, and losing weight.


 

How can American Diabetes Month make a difference?

We can use this month to raise awareness about diabetes risk factors and encourage people to make healthy changes.

Here are just a few ideas:

  • Encourage people to make small changes, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
  • Talk to people in your community about getting regular checkups. They can get their blood pressure and cholesterol checked, and ask the doctor about their diabetes risk.
  • Ask doctors and nurses to be leaders in their communities by speaking about the importance of healthy eating and physical activity.
The vision of the American Diabetes Association is a life free of diabetes and all of its burdens. Raising awareness of this ever-growing disease is one of the main efforts behind the mission - See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/in-my-community/american-diabetes-month.html#sthash.ZLqFirZq.dpuf

 


 

You are a partner in decision making and you are partnered with a thriving coverage provider. 
Keeping YOU the priority. Keeping YOUR NEEDS in perspective. 
With TACT, YOU are our business.


 

 


 


 


 

 TACT - Dedicated Insurance Professionals
  you know and trust...like Family. 
 

 

Next Issue:  November 25, 2014
Newsletter Archives - click here