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Texas Agriculture Archive

July 5, 2002

Although Brazilian government authorities are trying to shore up confidence among their own citizens, the anxiety could attract multi-national currency trading predators like those who accelerated the collapse in Argentina—and the currency breakdown a few years ago in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.
Source: Landowner, Vol. 24, No. 12, June 24, 2002

Milk production drops, producer returns increase
Milk production decreased 1 percent in 2001 to 165 billion pounds. The rate per cow, at 18,139 pounds, was 62 pounds below 2000. The annual average number of cows on farms, at 9.12 million head, was 91,000 head less than 2000.

Cash receipts from marketings of milk during 2001 at $24.7 billion, was 20 percent above 2000. Producer returns averaged $15.05 per hundredweight, 21 percent above 2000. Marketings totaled 164 billion pounds, 1 percent below 2000.
Source: Milk Production, Disposition and Income 2001 Summary, April 2002

Emergency grazing okayed in some Texas counties
Emergency grazing on conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres will be allowed in counties hardest hit by drought during the past year in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

Generally, to be approved for emergency grazing, a county must have suffered at least 40 percent loss of normal moisture and forage for the preceding four-month qualifying period. USDA will notify eligible counties that have been approved for grazing and will require CRP participants to submit applications with their local Farm Service Agency offices upon approval.

Grazing may be authorized until Aug. 31 or until disaster conditions no longer exist, whichever comes first. CRP annual rental payments will be reduced 25 percent to account for the areas grazed. At least 25 percent of the CRP contract acreage must be left ungrazed for wildlife. Other restrictions and limitations also apply.
Source: Doane's Agricultural Report, May 24, 2002

New farm law details at USDA web site
USDA has started a web site to provide information about the new farm law.

Farm program details, questions, and answers, program applications and signup forms, as well as other important material from USDA agencies on farm bill implementation, are included on the site.

The web site also will contain advanced electronic applications to help applicants receive program benefits faster and more efficiently.

The web site can be directly accessed from USDA's official web site at http://www.usda.gov/farmbill or by simply clicking on the 2002 farm bill icon on USDA's main web site at http://www.usda.gov/.

Crop, livestock losses to wildlife extensive
The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) reported wildlife caused an estimated $944 million damage to crops and livestock during 2001. The report states that damage last year to field crops was $619 million, to livestock and poultry, $178 million and to vegetables, fruits and nuts, $147 million.

Deer were the biggest problem for field crops and vegetables, causing 58 percent of damages and 33 percent of the damages in fruits and nuts. Coyotes were the single largest livestock predator, causing 57 percent of livestock losses.

TMDL directives affected by non-agricultural uses
In the United States, in a 1996 study, there were more acres dedicated to lawns, cemeteries, roadsides, parks and golf courses than there were to cotton, sorghum, barley and oats, or a total of 46.5 million acres.

This has important bearing on your Total Maximum Daily Load directives if you live near a big town or city.

Golf courses and lawns regularly use heavy doses of pesticides and herbicides, and a lot that goes into your watershed.

Lawn clippings make up 21 percent of the materials added to municipal waste dumps every year.
Source: Landowner, Vol. 24, No. 12, June 24, 2002

Farm worker numbers, wages show increase
There were 1.08 million hired workers on the nation's farms and ranches during the week of April 7-13, 2002, up 6 percent from a year ago.

There were 890,000 workers hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 189,000 workers. Migrant workers accounted for 8.8 percent of the April hired work force compared with 8.9 percent in April 2001.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage rate of $8.83 per hour during the April 2002 survey week, up 52 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $8.06 per hour, up 45 cents from last April. Livestock workers earned $8.43 per hour compared with $8.01 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate was up 44 cents from last year.

Number of hours worked averaged 40.2 hours for hired workers during the survey week, unchanged from a year ago.

Source: NASS, USDA, Farm Labor

Land prices, farm income relationship changed
Land prices used to track farm income fairly closely. But that relationship has changed in the past few years as off-farm earnings gained importance.

USDA is projecting a modest decline in net farm income for 2002 even with enactment of the new farm bill. This doesn't necessarily mean a decline in farmland values, though. Half of the dollars buying farmland comes from non-farm sources now. Also, farmers themselves are earning much more nonfarm income than in 1988.
Source: Landowner, Vol. 24,No. 12, June 24, 2002

Kentucky farmers switch from stogies to goats
With tobacco on the taboo list, Kentucky farmers are hoping to recoup their losses by using ethnic markets.

The math looks good, at least for transitional farming. The state will use $110 million of its tobacco lawsuit settlement to help farmers switch from stogies to goats.

U.S. goat consumption has quadrupled since 1990. In 2001 the United States imported 12.6 million pounds of goat meat, which is $1 a pound wholesale compared to beef's 70 cents.

Kosher meats—both for Jewish and Islamic markets—must be slaughtered according to ritual.
Source: Landowner, Vol. 24, No. 12, June 24, 2002