Prevent Plant ‘Top Up’ Payments to be Paid in October

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Farmers who filed a prevent plant claim will automatically receive a ‘top-up’ payment. A ten percent payment will be made to farmers with Yield Protection and Revenue Protection with the Harvest Price Option. Those with Revenue Protection will receive 15 percent.

“This has been such a tremendously tough year for producers and frankly, insurance guarantees aren’t as high as we’d like them based on the low commodity prices,” said Martin Barbre, administrator, Risk Management Agency. Barbre says the crop insurance companies will begin making the ‘top-up’ payments in mid-October. “I applaud the companies for stepping up and signing this agreement to bring these important funds to their producers.

USDA RMA Press Release

Goehring Seeks Changes in NASS Reporting

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North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has broad support for a resolution that he has introduced to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. “It is requesting and urging the National Agricultural Statistics Service to use RMA data to help identify the gaps that exist in their reporting.” Goehring spoke at an Ihry Insurance meeting Wednesday night in Hillsboro, ND.

The agriculture commissioner says there is a lot of frustration with NASS. “There needs to be a better job emphasizing what type of report is being issued because the trade reacts and sends the market into a tailspin. It is doing more harm to our farmers psychologically and on their balance sheet.”

International Dry Bean and Pulse Research Meetings Coming to Fargo

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Dry bean and pulse researchers from North Dakota State University and the USDA-ARS Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center in Fargo are hosting the 2019 Bean Improvement Cooperative (BIC) and North American Pulse Improvement Association (NAPIA) biennial meetings back-to-back at the Radisson Hotel in Fargo in November. The BIC meeting will be November 3-6 and the NAPIA meeting will be November 6-8.

Both meetings will include oral and poster presentations by faculty and graduate students, a banquet or luncheon, awards ceremonies, organizational business meetings, social and networking events, and optional tours of NDSU research facilities and local Fargo food production industries.

Learn more about the meetings.

Crop Insurance Interest Accrual Deferred

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USDA’s Risk Management Agency will defer accrual of interest for all farmer’s spring 2019 crop year premiums, due to the extreme weather conditions, for two months or until November 30. That’s for all policies with a premium billing date of August 15. According to the USDA, any premium not paid by one of these new deadlines will accrue interest consistent with terms of the policy. Without the deferral, policies with an August 15 premium billing date would have an interest attach starting October 1 if policies weren’t paid by September 30.

Read more.

U.S. Dry Bean Council Holds Summer Board Meeting

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The U.S. Dry Bean Council’s summer board meeting took place July 19 and 20 in Snowmass, Colorado in conjunction with the U.S. Dry Bean Convention. This year’s meeting focused on USDBC’s response to the current trade environment and the downturn in global exports.
 
The Agricultural Affairs and International Promotion Committees both discussed and defined several new approaches to shoring up global markets and expressing industry policy priorities. That includes another Washington D.C. Fly-In in the spring of 2020, and the implementation of several new trade opportunities under the new Agricultural Trade Promotion program.
 

TransFARMation: Seeking Compromise Between the Farmer and the Lender

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Mary Nell Preisler has been involved in the Minnesota Farmer-Lender Mediation Program since the farm crisis of the 1980s and now serves as the statewide coordinator. A farmer in debt has the opportunity to renegotiate, restructure or resolve debt through mediation. “It seems to me that sometimes people are just paralyzed; they don’t know which way to turn.” As a neutral party, the mediator can facilitate open communication and help resolve financial differences.
 
Learn more in the latest edition of TransFARMation.

U.S. Dry Bean Convention Presentations Now Online

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The U.S. Dry Bean Convention took place in Snowmass, Colorado July 20-23. During business sessions, attendees heard from the U.S. Dry Bean Council, got an update on international markets and listened to U.S. and Canadian crop updates. Also speaking at convention was NDSU Extension crops economist Frayne Olson on trade, tariffs and the crop market outlook.
 
The presentations from convention can be found here.

U.S. Dry Bean Convention Begins this Weekend

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The U.S. Dry Bean Convention kicks off tomorrow in Snowmass, Colorado. During business sessions, attendees will hear from the U.S. Dry Bean Council, get an update on international markets, listen to U.S. and Canadian crop updates and more. Also speaking at convention is NDSU Extension crops economist Frayne Olson on trade, tariffs and the crop market outlook.
 
A full schedule of events can be found here.

Northarvest Holds Summer Board Meeting

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The Northarvest Bean Growers Association held two productive days of board meetings at Thumper Pond Resort in Ottertail, Minnesota. Programs and budgets were approved for 2019/2020, with many projects in place for the upcoming year. LeRoy Stumpf from Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson’s office shared an update and also heard from Northarvest dry bean growers. Thank you to the farmer-led board for all your hard work and dedication to the dry bean industry!

RRV Ag Celebration Event Coming Up

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The Red River Valley Ag Celebration event is on the calendar. Northern Crops Institute Executive Director Mark Jirik is helping to organize this event. “We’ve seen a tremendous amount of change in this region in the past ten, 20, 30, 50 years and this region is better than most in taking those challenges head on and figuring out how to adapt, change and do better with what we have.” 
 
This event will also celebrate the career of Dave Torgerson, who recently retired from the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers. The Red River Valley Ag Celebration will be held Tuesday at Mentor, Minnesota. Preregistration is requested.