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Florida State Fair February 7-9, 2010

July 1,  ASA introduces electronic certificate storage.  This means that ASA will store your certificates electronically and a paper certificate will not automatically be printed on every animal when it is first registered. Many users no longer need a paper certificate on all new registrations, since the information on the registration certificate is available on ASA's web site.  However, a printed registration certificate can be requested at any time and there is no fee for the first registration certificate printed regardless of when it is printed.  When breeders submit registration requests through ASA's web site, a request can be made for a printed certificate. If there is no request for a paper certificate, the registrations will be completed and electronically stored at ASA. 

Annie Allen accepts new responsibilities: As you plan your marketing, Annie Allen is the one who can design your program with hard copy print and  internet advertising. Give Annie a call at 406-556-9634. As we mentioned last week, Annie will be taking on the responsibilities for selling all of the ASA Publication and website advertising. 

SimTalk circulation explodes:  The ASA Trustees have made a concerted effort to support breed promotion by providing extra dollars to increase the circulation of SimTalk.  To ensure your customers are receiving SimTalk, you can do  one of two things: 1. Transfer the animal into the buyer's name, or visit the website and request a free subscription of SimTalk for your buyers.  This last January, SimTalk was poly-bagged and sent with 20,000 BEEF Magazines, which increased our readership to more than 60,000 breeders. In that same January issue, we included a responder card to request a subscription. Our return rate has been extremely good, with nearly a 10 percent response.  

June 1, Sire Summary Cut-off date: June 1 is fast approaching. To be included in the Fall Sire Summary, your data must be processed by June 1. There's no time for delay!!  

Regional Classic Entries continue to arrive: With the May 15, deadline history, our preliminary numbers for the Regional Classics look like this — of course, the snail mail entries will still be arriving: Eastern: 33 contestants; 65 cattle entriesNorth Central: 81 contestants; 125  cattle entriesSouth Central: 28 contestants; 57 cattle entriesWestern: 11 contestants; 20 cattle entries 

National Classic Judges Confirmed: Joel Judge, San Luis Obispo, CA, has accepted the invitation to judge the National Classic Cattle Show in Wichita Falls, TX, in July. Showmanship judges include Ryan Rathman, Lubbock, TX, for the Junior Division; Jeff Sargeant, Denison, TX, Intermediate Division; and the Senior Division Showmanship Judge will be Dwight Callis, Rosenberg, TX. 

Congress Passes Farm Bill  — President Bush plans to veto it:  In very strong bipartisan votes, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the “Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.” The House vote was 318-106 and the Senate vote was 81-15 with a majority of both Democrats and Republicans supporting the bill in both chambers. Some of the highlights of the $289 billion, five-year bill are: 

• Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) – Mandatory COOL for meat, chicken, fruits and vegetables will go into effect. 
• Interstate Shipment of State-Inspected Meat – The legislation provides for the interstate shipment of state-inspected meat. Many state departments of agriculture have advocated this for decades. 
• Packers and Stockyards Violations Report — USDA shall submit an annual report by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) that will detail the number of investigations into possible violations of the Packers and Stockyards act. The report will detail the length of time that investigations are pending with GIPSA, USDA’s General Counsel and the Justice Department. 
• Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE) – Producers will have the option, beginning with the 2009 crop year, to participate in a state-level revenue protection system. 
• Rebalances Target Prices and Loan Rates – The bill adjusts loan rates and target prices of existing commodities beginning with the 2010 crop year. 
• Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Eligibility Test – To receive farm program benefits, an individual’s non-farm income may not exceed $500,000. If farm income exceeds $750,000, an individual will no longer be eligible to receive direct payments. 
• Disaster Assistance – Establishes a permanent disaster assistance program. 
• EQIP – Provides an additional $3.4 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). 
• Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) – CSP is focused on incentivizing new conservation, while simultaneously rewarding producers for achieving high levels of stewardship and addressing priority resource concerns in their area. The program will enroll nearly 115 million acres by 2017. This was formerly called the Conservation Security Program. 
• FMD & MAP – The Foreign Market Development Program (FMD) and the Market Access Program (MAP) continue funding at $34.5 million and $200 million, respectively. 
• Biomass Loan Guarantees – The bill provides $320 million in funding for loan guarantees for commercial scale biorefineries for advanced biofuels. This program is to help commercialize cellulosic ethanol. 
• Ethanol Credit Modification – The 51¢/gallon credit for ethanol is reduced by 6 cents in the year after which the 7.5 billion-gallon threshold established in the 2005 Energy Policy Act is reached. 
• Cellulosic Biofuels – A new, temporary production tax credit for up to $1.01/gallon is established for cellulosic biofuels. 
• Nutrition – Provides additional funding for food stamps, food banks and nutrition programs.

The farm bill now goes to President George W. Bush who plans to veto it. President Bush this week stated that he was “deeply disappointed” in the farm bill conference report and that it falls short of the administration’s farm bill proposal. He said, “If this bill makes it to my desk, I will veto it.” After the House of Representatives passed the bill, Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said, "The president will veto this bill, and I encourage members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to support his stand for fiscal discipline and the best interests of America's farmers and ranchers."