Return to TFB Main Page
Return to Current Edition
Texas Agriculture Archive

October 18, 2002

Texas wheat acreage could expand

Favorable prices early in the season may encourage wheat growers to plant more acreage this year than last year, Texas Cooperative Extension reports.

Dr. Travis Miller, Extension agronomist in College Station, said the total number of acres to be planted is still unknown. "The best guess is that we will have a greater acreage planted this year than last due to higher wheat prices and a more favorable farm program."

July Kansas City futures prices (Oct. 8) are around $3.75 per bushel, he said. The average price received by Texas wheat farmers in 2001 was $2.64 per bushel.

Wheat quality in Europe was markedly low this year, and European mills are bidding up the prices for high quality U.S. bread wheat now, Miller said. Most Texas wheat is sold in the export market, thanks to Gulf of Mexico ports and the advantage on freight compared to other major wheat states.

Planting of wheat began in late August, he said. Wheat is being planted statewide, and the early crop has emerged.

"I estimate a little more than 40 percent of the crop is planted at this time. Planting is slightly behind where it was at this time last year," Miller said.

New data from a survey of animal health companies show that the volume of antibiotics used in animals in the United States steadily declined over the past three years. In 2001, 21.8 million pounds of antibiotics were sold, dropping from 23.7 million pounds in 2000 and 24 million in 1999.

The information was collected from a survey of members of the Animal Health Institute (AHI). The survey data include antibiotics used for both farm and companion animals.

"Veterinarians and livestock and poultry producers are constantly evaluating their use of antibiotics as part of the judicious use of these products," said Alexander S. Mathews, AHI President and CEO. "While meat production between 1999 and 2001 rose 1.1 million pounds, use of antibiotics is not rising. Therefore, the amount of antibiotics used per pound of meat produced is going down."

Mathews said the trend can be attributed to judicious use of antibiotics and continuing improvements in production practices that reduce the need for antibiotics; continued improvements in production and preventative care practices; and the ongoing efforts of various public health and consumer advocacy groups to raise awareness of the issue."

Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced that USDA has begun issuing payments of nearly $1.6 billion to eligible producers under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

In Texas, over 4 million acres are enrolled for total rental payments of $142,631,112.

Under the CRP, which was reauthorized in the 2002 Farm Bill, producers voluntarily retire environmentally sensitive cropland for 10 to 15 years. In return, USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) makes annual rental payments to producers and shares the cost of establishing approved conservation practices. Land to be enrolled must either be highly erodible, contribute to a serious water quality problem, provide important wildlife habitat, or provide substantial environmental benefits if devoted to certain specific conservation uses. Today's announcement will pay an average of $4,455 per farm and $46.68 per acre on 590,000 contracts and 355,000 farms.

Other CRP payments, including reimbursement of 50-percent of vegetative-cover establishment expenses and incentive payments for enrolling eligible conservation practices, are made throughout the year. In FY 2002, these payments are anticipated to amount to $145 million for cover cost reimbursements and $115 million for incentive payments.

The Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2002-67 to provide guidance on the federal tax treatment of USDA payments to peanut quota holders. Recent agricultural legislation repealed the marketing quota program for peanuts and directs USDA to make payments to peanut quota holders for the lost value of the quota resulting from the repeal.

Notice 2002-67 states that peanut quota holders who held a quota for investment purposes generally should treat any gain as a capital gain and any loss as a capital loss. Peanut quota holders who used a quota in the trade or business of farming and held the quota for more than one year generally may be able to treat any gain as a capital gain and any loss as an ordinary loss.

For most taxpayers, capital gain tax rates are lower than ordinary in come tax rates.

Under certain circumstances all or part of the gain should be treated as ordinary income. For instance those who previously deducted amounts for amortization, depletion or depreciation would be required to report all or part of the gain as ordinary income.

Notice 2002-67 will be published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2002-42, dated Oct. 21. It will also be available at www.irs.gov.

"When people talk of human rights, I believe human rights is the right to have a full stomach."

—Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, following a recent visit to the much-publicized U.S. Food Fair in Havana, Cuba. Ventura had a private face-to-face meeting with Cuban President Fidel Castro.