Web Version Update preferences | Unsubscribe Like Tweet Forward Meat consumption rates, farm loan rates and sushi rice Greetings on May 1, also called May Day. Emails are welcome at chuck@thefern.org. I am on Twitter @chuckabbott1. If you received this briefing from a friend and wish to receive it directly, you can subscribe for free by clicking this link. May Day "just might have more holidays than any other day of the year," says the Web site infoplease. "It's a celebration of spring. It's a day of political protests. It's a neopagan festival, a saint's feast day, and a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday." "it's a juicy morning," remarked young Bertie Wooster, with a clement day (possibly May 1) at hand, "bring me my whangee, my yellowest shoes and the old green Homburg. I'm going to the park to do pastoral dances." ("Jeeves in the Springtime," PG Wodehouse.) Wodehouse always is a jolly read. US meat consumption rate is down 9 pct in a decade Americans are consuming 9 pct less red meat and poultry per person than a decade ago, the result of rising prices and lower production. The 2007/08 recession also was a factor. Per capita consumption is estimated for 200.6 lbs this year, compared to 222 lbs in 2004, according to the Agriculture Department. Retail beef prices are at or near record levels and are up 7.4 pct from a year ago. Pork is up 5.3 pct, chicken up 4.9 and eggs up nearly 10 pct, says USDA chief economist Joe Glauber. Meat consumption rates are forecast to increase in coming year "but only reach 215 lbs by 2023," Glauber told a House Agriculture subcommittee. Poultry will account for most of the gain, he said. High feed prices meant tight margins for livestock producers in the past few years, which limited their ability to expand output. Now, feed prices are down but cattle producers face a long biological cycle to rebuild herds. Hog production is hobbled by Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, which has killed millions of piglets. Members of the subcommittee criticized the impact of U.S. biofuels mandates and the country-of-origin meat-labeling law, says Feedstuffs. Farmer borrowing up sharply as crop prices fall Commercial banks across the country reported a dramatic increase in volume this year for short-term agricultural production loans, says the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank in its quarterly Agricultural Finance Databook. "Operating loan volumes reached a record high, exceeding year-ago levels by 28 percent." Crop prices in early 2014 were down by 40 pct from a year earlier. "Reduced cash flow coupled with elevated crop production costs contributed to the upswing in operating loan volumes," said the report. "According to a national survey of commercial banks from the first full week of February, agricultural producers borrowed larger amounts compared with last year to cover current operating expenses." The report also said "a majority of bankers felt that lower farm income expectations for 2014 would limit further farmland value gains in major crop producing areas." California drought could affect "sushi rice" The sticky medium-grain rice used in sushi could cost more in coming months, reports Marketplace, the financial news program on public radio. California grows half of the U.S. medium-grain rice crop. Growers are likely to idle 100,000 ac this year for lack of irrigation water, says Marketplace. "Economists say the mere speculation of production losses is already driving up prices." A 100-lb bag of rice is selling for $25-$30, up $10 from earlier prices, says ag economist Dan Sumner at UC-Davis. "Farming at the White House" Arlo Crawford writes in The Atlantic about his father's role in getting the kitchen garden going at the White House. Jim Crawford, a truck farmer in Pennsylvania, "was asked to provide seedlings from our greenhouse, help adjust the soil quality, offer some tips about pest control, and generally advise," he writes in a story that describes the turn of seasons and a garden-level view of food politicking. The essay is a rare glimpse into the mechanics of the garden. White House staff say they are helped by farmers but provide few details. A year or so ago, when wheat was tried at the garden, the White House identified the varieties but not the plant breeder. Wheat tour sees more damage to Kansas crop The annual Kansas wheat tour moved through southwestern and southern Kansas on Wednesday and scouts projected an average yield of 30.8 bu/ac, compared to 37.1 bu/ac last year and the five-year avg of 38.8 bu/ac. The first day of the tour also found drought-reduced yields. "This year, some of the top wheat-producing counties in Kansas have seen significant drought damage," said DTN. "Mark Hodges, executive director of Plains Grains, estimated extreme drought will limit Oklahoma's total wheat production to 66.5 million bushels on an average yield of 18.5 bpa, compared to 105 mb last year." The tour concludes on Thursday with an estimate of the Kansas crop. USDA will make its first forecast of the winter wheat crop on May 9. Last year, Kansas grew 319.2 mln bu of winter wheat, says USDA. As the No 1 wheat state, it grew 15 pct of all wheat in the nation. Grocery stores closer than thought in poor areas Many poor neighborhoods are close to a supermarket - 86 pct are within a mile, says Tufts associate professor Parke Wilde in his U.S. Food Policy blog. That's a shorter distance than commonly thought and a shorter trip than faces higher-income people, according to research by Wilde and colleagues. Overwhelmingly, Americans drive if the store is not nearby. "(T)his still leaves almost 5 pct of the population in these areas lacking both an automobile and a nearby supermarket," write Parke, Joseph Llobrera, a postdoctoral scholar at Tufts, and Michele Ver Ploeg of USDA's Economic Research Service in International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. Iowa farmland rental rates drop, first time in 15 years "For the first time in more than 15 years, average cash rents in Iowa declined," says AgWeb in reporting on an Iowa State University survey of farmers, landowners, lenders and farm managers. Rents dropped by $10/ac, or 3.7 pct, to $260/ac from the peak set in 2013. AgWeb quotes Purdue ag economist Chris Hurt as saying, "With $4.50 corn we were predicting a 15% to 20% decrease in land values in the next three to four years. The closer you can push that to $5, the less adjustment we’ll see." The ISU report is available here. Researchers seek ways to boost honeybee numbers Federal and private-sector scientists are looking at a variety of steps to help the honeybee population recover from a startling drop off in population. Winter losses average more than 30 pct, double the rate a quarter-century ago. There were 3 mln colonies in 1987 and 2.5 mln colonies now with a shorter avg lifespan. Bees are used to pollinate more than 90 fruit, nut and vegetable crops, so the population declines have broader implications. A parasite, the varroa mite, which spreads disease "is a modern honey bee plague," said Jeff Pettis, a USDA research leader on bees. At a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing, Pettis said USDA was looking for practices that beekeepers can use now, as well as long-term solutions such as breeding bees with increased resistance to the mite or that groom each other and remove the mites. Separately, two officials from Bayer described research by their company. One possibility, said David Fischer, director of polllinator safety, is a plastic strip coated with a miticide that is placed at hive entrances. "It's a way of constantly dosing the bees," said Fischer. Researchers also are looking at a "bee repellent" that could be applied to keep bees out of areas with toxic substances. USDA pays $4 mln in livestock aid in first week The Agriculture Department disbursed $4 mln in disaster payments to livestock producers in the first week that three relief programs became available. The programs expired in 2011 and were revived retroactively in the 2014 farm law. Signup opened on April 15. "Within the first week of signup, $9.4 million in LFP (Livestock Forage Program) payments had been requested or were awaiting certification, and more than $4 million had been disbursed," USDA chief economist Joe Glauber said in House testimony. Total payments for losses in 2012 and 2013 are forecast to top $2 bln. Did you enjoy FERN's Ag Insider by Chuck Abbott? 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