Work on the next farm bill is underway on the floor of the U.S. Senate. But as debate begins, one of the main targets of extreme environmental groups and fiscal hawks will be the federal crop insurance program.

As we know, federal crop insurance is the most critical risk management component of any farm, ensuring that uncontrollable forces like weather won’t put farms likes yours out of business. No one knows what Mother Nature is going to do and the risk she brings to our industry.

Where would we be if not for the federal crop insurance program after facing one of the worst droughts in the last half century during 2012? This program is essential to the rural economy and preserves the production capacity of farmers. It not only provides farmers the certainty they need to plan ahead, but also to improve their operations through innovation.

The following amendments to strip away crop insurance have surfaced:

Begich-Flake Amendment

·         This amendment aims to provide transparency to federal crop insurance subsidies by disclosing information on crop insurance participants who receive benefits.

Durbin-Coburn Amendment

·         This amendment aims to reduce premium support for crop insurance participants with an Adjusted Gross Income (“AGI”) of over $750,000 by 15% for all policies beyond catastrophic coverage.

Flake Amendment (#1)

·         This amendment would prohibit premium subsidies on crop insurance policies with a Harvest Price Option (“HPO”).

Flake Amendment (#2)

·         This amendment would strike section 11011 which prohibits taxpayers from realizing budget savings upon renegotiation of Standard Reinsurance Agreement (“SRA”).

Shaheen-Toomey Amendment

·         This amendment would place a $50,000 cap on the amount of crop insurance premium subsidies a crop insurance participant can receive.

Please urge Senators John Thune and Tim Johnson to oppose these harmful amendments to the farm bill currently in debate on the Senate floor. These amendments will have an adverse impact on federal crop insurance, including adding AGI means testing, premium subsidy caps and disclosure of information on crop insurance participants. We need you to tell your senators to pass a clean farm bill that helps rural America.  Your call is very important to blocking these amendments and maintaining a strong crop insurance program.

To make your voice heard, contact your South Dakota Senators.

Senator Tim Johnson

DC: (202) 224-5842

Sioux Falls: (605) 332-8896

————

Senator John Thune

DC: (202) 224-2321

Sioux Falls: (605) 334-9596

When you are connected tell them they need to reject harmful crop insurance amendments and pass a clean farm bill.

Farmers covered a lot of ground this past week as they planted 2.24 million acres of corn from May 13-19 according to the weekly USDA-NASS Crop Progress Report. State corn plantings are now 75% complete, 6% ahead of the five-year average. South Dakota’s corn crop is also now 16% emerged, which is 8% behind the five year average.

For the complete Crop Progress Report, click here:

http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProg/CropProg-05-20-2013.pdf

Hop in the cab with South Dakota Corn Utilization Council president Brian Smith, a farmer near Montrose as he talks about the advantages of no-till planting and the technologies he uses to increase his efficiencies as he grows the next supply of food, feed, fuel and fiber.

As farmers, the state National Resources Conservation Service and independent consultants continue to work together to protect natural resources while improving farm land potential, a gigantic backlog of wetland determinations remain in South Dakota.

(A quick background on this issue: In order for land owners to perform drainage activity, they must first have Wetland Determination done by an NRCS official in order to comply with the Federal Farm Program. This is called Conservation Compliance, which ensures that wetlands are protected and Farm Program eligibility remains.)

There has been a focus on ways to improve and expedite the Wetland Determination process from both the NRCS and commodity organizations during the past couple of years. Two examples would be the temporary NRCS hires and active independent consultants. While the number of processed determinations has increased, the demand continues to grow as farmers seek to improve their land with the numerous economic and environmental benefits that drainage can provide.

With the last update on the backlog from the NRCS in February, South Dakota’s total far outweighs that of other states with a whopping 3,175. Other totals from states in the Prairie Pothole Region include Minnesota with 1,889, North Dakota with 1,592 and Iowa with only 203.

A backlog update from the last South Dakota State Technical Committee meeting in March had shown 1,173 determinations were completed during the last four months prior to the meeting, but during that same time they had received an additional 1,174 applications. No doubt this inability to make progress on the backlog is frustrating for all parties involved and further attention to possible solutions is increasingly necessary.

“Farmers have a right to know what is happening with the process so they can follow the rules and do the right thing,” noted South Dakota Corn Growers Association president Mark Gross. “Some farmers have been stalemated from investing in their own land for over two years because of the lengthy backlog in which they have no control over. That’s a genuine problem and those folks deserve answers.”

Just as farmers continue to find ways to improve their efficiencies on the farm, ethanol plants are doing much of the same in their refineries. According to a new study from the University of Illinois – Chicago which surveyed over half of the United States ethanol plants, the results revealed an increase in yields and a decrease in energy and water usage over the past five years.

• Ethanol yields have climbed from 2.78 to 2.82 gallons per bushel of corn

• Thermal energy use per gallon has declined by 9%

• Water usage per gallon of ethanol is also down from 2.72 gallons to 2.70

A newer product taking off in the ethanol industy is corn oil. The amount of corn oil being separated per bushel of corn has grown from .11 pounds per bushel in 2008 to .53 pounds per bushel in 2012. Corn oil has a number of uses, with the most notable being a popular feedstock for biodiesel as it has a low carbon intensity rating.

Even with that increase in corn oil extraction, the production of ethanol’s co-product distiller grains (high-protein livestock feed) remains nearly the same as plants seek to maximize their production of feed, fuel and now corn oil.

These improvements in efficiency are just another example of American innovation as hard-working folks find ways to further reduce ethanol’s carbon footprint and environmental impact. Ethanol now represents 10% of America’s fuel market and  continues to create jobs, lessen greenhouse gas emissions, increase octane and save consumers money.

These South Dakota farmers have started planting the next crop of food, feed, fuel and fiber.

You can follow the planting progress on Twitter with the hashtag: #plant13