Fertilizer Institute Issues Annual Industry Report

The Fertilizer Institute 2017 State of the Fertilizer Industry report shows a continued investment in nutrient management and stewardship, among other things. Organizers say the annual report, which is part of the organizations stewardship and sustainability programs, quantifies the industry’s performance record on environmental, economic and social indicators. The report also documents the fertilizer industry's contribution to meeting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals of zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, industry innovation and infrastructure, along with climate action. The report shows the fertilizer industry invested nearly $1 million in 4R Nutrient Stewardship research to strengthen best management practices and seek solutions that reduce nutrient loss to the environment. The report also shows the industry captured and reused 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, a savings equivalent to taking nearly two million cars off the road for an entire year, along with investing $4.3 billion to advance innovation, improve infrastructure, and enhance sustainable production of fertilizer. Finally, the report states the fertilizer industry is two times as safe as peer industries

USDA Temporarily Expands Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance

As Puerto Rico continues to recover from the 2017 hurricane season, the Department of Agriculture will extend temporary nutrition assistance to the island. A grant from USDA is providing eligibility for increased nutrition assistance through the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Program beginning March first. The grant comes from the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, and delivers an additional $1.27 billion. The funds allow Puerto Rico to expand assistance to additional households and increase the benefit amount for current and new participants on a temporary basis. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says the grant “fulfills the Administration’s pledge to support the recovery” of Puerto Rico. The nutrition assistance program in Puerto Rico is different from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program operated in the United States and operated as a block grant. Through the grant, Puerto Rico has the flexibility to create a plan to provide temporary benefits for victims of the hurricanes in a way that best suits the needs on the island.

Plant-based Protein Eaters: It’s About Taste

New results from a research firm shows U.S. adults who eat plant-based proteins do so for taste above all other factors. Research firm Mintel reports 52 percent of adults surveyed say taste is the top reason for the choice, outranking diet concerns at ten percent, animal protection at 11 percent, the environment at 13 percent and even health at 39 percent. Meat industry publication Meatingplace reports the research was based on responses from more than 1,800 U.S. internet users aged 18 or over that eat plant-based proteins. The study also indicated that 46 percent of Americans agree that plant-based proteins are better for you than animal-based options. However, Mintel senior analyst Billy Roberts notes that overall consumption of plant-based proteins remains low. The Mintel survey showed that 67 percent of Americans agree that meat is essential to a balanced diet and 51 percent believe a meal is not complete without meat.

Packer margins under $20 per head last week

A $3-plus rally in cash fed cattle prices pulled packer margins under $20 per head last week. Despite the increase in cash prices, cattle feeding margins slipped $6 per head, but remain at $206. Declines in cattle feeding profits were the result of higher costs, mostly due to a $57 per head increase in the cost of feeder cattle calculated against last week’s marketings, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker.The 5-area average Choice steer price last week was $129.88, up $3.68 per cwt. The price of feeder cattle calculated against the fed cattle sales were $153.30 per cwt., or $6.21 per cwt. higher. The cost of finishing a steer last week was calculated at $1,601, which is $169 higher than the $1,432 a year ago. The beef cutout remained relatively steady at $207.79 per cwt. The Beef and Pork Profit Trackers are calculated by Sterling Marketing Inc., Vale, Ore.A month ago cattle feeders were earning $196 per head, while a year ago profits were calculated at $233 per head. Feeder cattle represent 74% of the cost of finishing a steer, compared to 73% last year.Farrow-to-finish pork producers saw their margins decline $9 per head to $25. Lean carcass prices traded at $69.48, a decline of $4.32 per cwt. from the previous week. A year ago pork producers earned an average of $39 per head. Pork packer margins improved from breakeven to an $8 profit per head.Cash prices for fed cattle are $10 per cwt. higher than the same week a year ago. Lean hog prices are about $2 per cwt. lower than last year.Sterling Marketing president John Nalivka projects cash profit margins for cow-calf producers in 2018 will average $122 per cow. That would be $36 per head less than the estimated average profit of $158 for 2017. Estimated average cow-calf margins were $438 per cow in 2015.For feedyards, Nalivka projects an average profit of $86 per head in 2018, which would be $150 less than the average of $236 per head in 2017. Nalivka expects packer margins to average about $90 per head in 2018, down from $123 in 2017.For farrow-to-finish pork producers, Nalivka projects 2018 profit margins will average $18.25 per head, compared to $20.87 in 2017. Pork packers are projected to earn $19 per head in 2018, down slightly from $25 profit per head in 2017.

NILE is offering an opportunity to win scholarships

Are you strapped for cash and stressed about how to cover your next college tuition payment? Maybe your in need of something to do on "snow day" from school? It's scholarship season and the NILE is offering an opportunity to win scholarships!
Who: High school seniors and current college students
What: FREE College Money $$$
Where: Applications online www.thenile.org
When: Due March 1st at 5 p.m. (postmarked March 1st will not be accepted)
Why: NILE preserves and embraces the western way of life through the promotion of livestock, and agriculture education. We believe in the future of agriculture by supporting youth involved in the industry.
How: Must be a 4-H or FFA member and must have participated in NILE activities
Questions? Contact the NILE Office at (406) 256-2495 or by emailing shelby@thenile.org.

Gorsuch Vote Could Be Deciding In Financial Viability Of Unions Support Of Democratic Candidates And Causes

WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's union leaders are about to find out if they were right to fiercely oppose Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court as a pivotal, potentially devastating vote against organized labor.The newest justice holds the deciding vote in a case to be argued Feb. 26 that could affect the financial viability of unions that are major supporters of Democratic candidates and causes. The unions represent more than 5 million government workers in 24 states and the District of Columbia who could be affected by the outcome. The other eight justices split 4 to 4 when the issue was last at the court in 2016.The court is being asked to jettison a 41-year-old ruling that allows states to require government employees who don't want to be union members to pay for their share of activities the union undertakes on behalf of all workers, not just its members. These so-called fair share fees cover the costs of collective bargaining and grievance procedures to deal with workplace complaints.Employees who don't join the union do not have to pay for the unions' political activities.Conservative anti-union interests are backing an Illinois government employee who says that being forced to pay anything at all violates his First Amendment speech rights."I'm not against unions," said the employee, 65-year-old Mark Janus, who is represented by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31. "I don't oppose the right of workers to organize. But the right to say no to unions is just as important as the right to say yes." He said he opposes his union's fight for wage and benefit increases when the state is "in pretty terrible financial condition right now."William Messenger, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation lawyer who is representing Janus at the Supreme Court, said everything the union does, including its bargaining with the state, is political and employees should not be forced to pay for it.The issue might have been settled in Janus' favor two years ago. In January 2016, the court heard an identical complaint from California teachers and appeared to be ready to decide that states have no right to compel workers to pay money to unions.But less than a month later, Justice Antonin Scalia died and the court soon after announced its tie, in effect a win for the unions. The one-sentence opinion did not identify how each justice voted, but the court appeared split between its conservatives and liberals, the same breakdown seen in two other recent cases about public sector unions. 

Washington Insider: US Risks from Steel Tariffs

Amid uncertainty in ag markets regarding the outcome of the NAFTA talks, Bloomberg is pointing to another concern for U.S. exporters. It says that the U.S. sounds confident that proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum won’t break global trade rules, despite warnings from other countries that are threatening to retaliate. Now the Commerce Dept is saying that “it is up to the president to decide if that’s a risk he’s willing to take.”The Commerce Department on Friday laid out a range of options for President Trump to consider, including a tariff of at least 24% on steel imports from all countries. In announcing the long-awaited proposals, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross acknowledged other nations may respond in kind.“We believe, and our counsel believe, that this is a perfectly valid interpretation of national security,” Ross told reporters on a conference call. “As to whether there will be a challenge, it wouldn’t surprise us if there were. Anytime you do something that affects a number of countries, the likelihood is that they will bring a WTO action or take other measures.”China said the U.S. already has excessive protections on domestic iron and steel products and that it reserves the right to retaliate. “If the final decision impacts China’s interests, China will certainly take necessary measures to protect its own rights,” Wang Hejun, chief of the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau at China’s Ministry of Commerce, said in a statement on its website.An official of Japan’s Kobe Steel Ltd. warned it would be difficult for the industry not to be impacted by such tariffs.The question is whether the President is willing to court more trade conflict at a time when doubts are being raised about the longevity of the U.S. economic recovery. Assets such as stocks plunged this month as investors weighed whether the American economy may be overheating. The President has complained repeatedly about what he sees as the unfair trading practices of countries such as China. But he has also touted the American economy’s strong performance of late.Some analysts are already predicting a backlash, Bloomberg says. Any of the options presented to Trump on steel would have a more significant and broader impact than expected, BMO Capital Markets analyst David Gagliano said,American steel companies and steelworker unions have been pushing for Trump to follow through on his promise to protect the industry. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he hoped the recommendations “are the beginning of efforts by this administration to finally get tough on China.”Sweeping tariffs may not solve the problem of excess capacity in China, the world’s biggest steel producer. The U.S. and European Union have complained for years that Chinese steel producers unfairly benefit from state subsidies, and dump their products on the world at below-market prices.But China only accounts for about 1% of U.S. steel imports, Bloomberg says. Its steel exports overall shrank to the lowest in almost five years in January as strong domestic growth consumed most production and environmental curbs trim capacity.“It’s a clumsy instrument for dealing with this problem, and it won’t change China’s behavior,” said Christine McDaniel, senior research fellow at Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia. The U.S. imposed tariffs on steel early last decade, but wasn’t able to convince China to change its state-driven economic model, said McDaniel, who served as a senior trade economist in the White House Council of Economic Advisors.“This is a pretty expansive use of national security which will inspire two things: one, retaliation, and two, it’s kind of a passport for other countries to emulate,” said Gary Hufbauer, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.In addition to tariffs of their own, countries such as China could challenge U.S. action at the World Trade Organization, a process that could take years.The president last year ordered Commerce to probe whether imports of steel and aluminum imperil U.S. national security. In doing so, he invoked seldom-used Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Act, which allows the president to impose tariffs without congressional approval.Trump has until April 11 to decide on any action on steel and April 19 for aluminum. He’s facing pressure from lawmakers in his own party, some of whom gave him an earful this week on the potential fallout. The president also risks alienating industries that either rely on steel and aluminum as inputs, or are worried about retaliation. A group called Farmers for Free Trade warned on Friday that US agricultural products such as chickens and sorghum could be first in the line of fire.Canada is not only the top exporter of steel to the U.S. also is a large buyer, Adam Austen, the spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister said. The Canadian government will continue stressing the importance of that trading relationship as it awaits the final outcome from Trump, said Austen.So, we will see. The risks Secretary Ross talked about seem real, but so do the policy interventions that undercut global competition. Increasingly, the trade debate is one producers should watch very closely as it proceeds, Washington Inside believes