3 Big Things Today, February 11

Grains, Beans Slightly Lower in Overnight Trading; Perdue Receives Vilsack Backing. 

1. Grains, Beans Lower Overnight as Stronger Dollar Furthers Export Concerns

Grains and beans were modestly lower overnight, reversing earlier gains, as the value of the dollar rose, curbing purchasing power for overseas buyers.
The value of the dollar was up 0.4% in overnight trading. A stronger greenback effectively makes products traded in the U.S. currency more expensive for importers.

Investors are already concerned about exports as South American production ramps up and the Trump administration exits the Trans Pacific Partnership and considers revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement, which will curb demand for U.S. products.
Corn futures for March delivery fell a penny to $3.58¾ a bushel overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Soybean futures declined 2½¢ to $10.22 a bushel overnight. Soy meal futures lost $1.80 to $332.80 a short ton, and soy oil rose 0.1¢ to 33.95¢ a pound.
Wheat for March delivery declined 2¾¢ to $4.18 a bushel in Chicago, while Kansas City futures fell 3½¢ to $4.26 a bushel.
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2. Perdue is First Trump Nominee to Receive Endorsement From Predecessor

Secretary of Agriculture nominee Sonny Perdue became the only Trump cabinet nominee to receive an endorsement from his predecessor when Tom Vilsack yesterday said he would be a solid choice for the position.
Vilsack said in a statement that Perdue is committed to U.S. farmers, ranchers, and producers and knows the challenges faced in rural communities.
“He will, I am sure, work hard to expand opportunity in rural America,” Vilsack said in a statement.
Perdue will be supportive of the Forest Service and will pay attention to the “many and varied” interests overseen by the department, including efforts to supply children with safe and affordable food, Vilsack said.
“Finally, his familiarity with our great Land Grant University system, including minority serving institutions, places him in a good place to advocate for the work at those colleges and universities in research and th
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3. Winter Storm Moving East From Wyoming Into South Dakota, Nebraska

A winter storm warning has been issued for much of Wyoming for a storm that’s headed into South Dakota and Nebraska today.
The National Weather Service office in Rapid City, South Dakota, issued the warning, along with a winter weather advisory and a winter storm watch for much of northern Wyoming, southwestern South Dakota, and northwestern Nebraska.
“Snow will slowly diminish and shift south this morning, lingering over far southwest South Dakota this afternoon,” the NWS said in a statement this morning. “Another strong disturbance will move into the region late tonight and support increasing snow chances over the area through Thursday.”
Up to 1 foot of snow is expected in the Black Hills and another 6 inches may be possible in other parts of the region, the agency said.

SoyRoy: Marketing Simulation Game to Help Growers

I was involved with The University of Nebraska 17 years ago in developing a marketing computer simulation game called Winning the Game. The game was developed by Dr. Roger Selley based on my theories about soybean marketing. In the game, participants were given the challenge of marketing a simulated lot of soybeans based on a theoretical number of acres supposedly produced on a typical Nebraska farm.
               
The game was very popular with farmer participants. Farmers evaluated their production potential and sold a make-believe crop at whatever time and amount their judgment told them would result in the best return on their farms. At the end of the day, results were calculated on a laptop and winners announced. There was a lot of friendly comparison going on among contestants. You probably wonder whatever happened to Winning the Game. If the game was so interesting and so popular why was there not a sequel?
               
The quick answer is that there were several modifications over the years. In the process of improving the game, changes were tried that involved doing the calculations by computer and eventually having contestants making all of their inputs online. The eventual goal was to have software available and free so that farmers could have their own copies to use in making management decisions at home. That proved to be a bigger challenge than anticipated. We discovered that farmers had a wide range of abilities when it came to using electronic tools.
               
The software is now finally completed and ready for general implementation. There are two series of meetings being planned in eastern Nebraska to introduce the latest version of game to the farming public. Information on locations and times are available at local cooperative Extension offices. I am happy to say that I will participate at the location at the ARDC at Mead, Nebraska, on Tuesday, February 7. The workshops were developed and sponsored by the Nebraska Corn and Soybean checkoff boards. If the software is as successful as we hope, our intention is to make it free of charge to farmers nationwide.   

source: successful farming

Ogun State recruits 2,968 Women for School Feeding Programme

Ogun State Government has recruited 2,968 women as food vendors for the State’s Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP).

Deputy Governor of the state, Yetunde Onanuga who revealed this at the formal launching of the programme in Abeokuta, applauded the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for partnering state governments to implement the HGSFP designed to ensure that pupils in classes one to three in the Nation’s primary schools enjoy one free nutritious meal per day.

According to her, “qualitative education and the well-being of the pupils are two sides of the same coin that any responsive government must take seriously. We will always say that education of the youths guarantees the future of any society; but we must also remember that only healthy body can make whatever knowledge received meaningful and of positive impact in the future. In fact, you cannot teach a hungry child”.

She expressed that the HGSFP initiative would also ensure increased access, enrollment, attendance, retention and completion in schools.

Onanuga further explained that this programme would enhance the state’s employment generation and poverty alleviation policy.

“There is no doubt, this is an intervention designed to eradicate poverty in our households as the women will make additional income from taking on catering businesses in their communities. This can be done on weekends and when schools are not in session”, she said.

Also speaking at the event, the Programme Manager, Ogun Home Grown School Feeding Programme, Tinuola Shopeju, informed that the programme would take off on January 31, 2017 in 874 of the 1,554 public primary schools in the state.

Stakeholders criticize Federal Govt’s Task Force

Stakeholders of the agricultural sector have criticized the federal government’s task force initiative to beat down food prices across the country.

The Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had set up a Task Force at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting yesterday to urgently consider measures that would ensure a steady flow of produce to the market and reverse recent price increases.

Giving the directive at the FEC meeting, Osinbajo expressed concern at some of the inflationary rates of food prices, he noted that the Task Force will explore options to promote availability and affordability of food items to Nigerians.

In a chat with AgroNigeria, the stakeholders questioned the practicability of the initiative.
The Chief Executive Officer, Cellulant Nigeria Limited, Bolaji Akinboro asserted that the only way to reduce prices is to invest properly in the country’s agricultural system.

“The only way to reduce prices is to invest properly in Nigeria’s agriculture system- starting from research all the way down to the farm gate. All we need is money and clear policies –money for the development of our research institutions, for our extension systems for our quality control system and certification systems, cold storage systems, warehouse receipt operations, to support the farmers, and lots more”, he said.

He expressed that the government needs to investment more to provide for the country’s teeming population.
“We can’t defy the laws of economics, for a country of almost 200million souls that is investing less than 100 billion naira in its agriculture system. It is only hunger that we will get in return”, he said.

The stakeholders asserted that there was huge informal trans-border trade going on across the country’s major food gateways into the sub-region.

According to the Managing Partner Jaraja E-commerce Limited, Ajibola Alfred “a survey conducted by the NEPC sometime ago showed that there are about 42 border markets and 44 loading points in the major market corridors across Nigeria through which traders carry on informal trading activities.

The report indicated that most of the agricultural, minerals snide even manufactured products are taken through these markets and loading points. The government can start by reducing the amount of food through those points to increase availability and reduce the level of speculation”.

Speaking on the need for government to invest in research and development, Ajibola noted that a country that does not pay attention to research and development will keep searching for development.

They also encouraged the use of rail transport to move the products to avoid bottle necks of road blocks, bad roads which contribute to post harvest losses and ultimately increase in prices of foods.

Dogara trains 803 women, youth on agriculture

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has sponsored the training of 803 women and youth on agriculture at the Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin Kowa, Gombe state.

The beneficiaries who were drawn from Bogoro, Dass and Tafawa Balewa Local Government Areas of Bauchi state, undergoes a two weeks training on agricultural product and practices under his zonal intervention projects.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the training at the college premises in Dadin Kowa, the speaker said he conceived the programme to encourage the youth to embrace agriculture and key in into the federal government initiative to diversify the economy through the sector.

Mr. Dogara who was represented by a member representing Tafawa Balewa LGA at the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Alhaji Aminu Tukur, urged the trainees to make good use of the opportunity provided to them in order to contribute positively to the development of the country.

In her remarks, Provost of the college, Professor Fatima BJ Sawa, said the beneficiaries were trained on production and processing of arable crops, plants, poultry and fisheries.

She urged the trainees to put into practice what they were taught, adding that the college has set up a committee to monitor the trainees.

Professor Fatima urged other youth in the country to imbibe farming and other agricultural practices.

She added that the college has trained over 1, 450 people on various agricultural areas in the last one year.