| Business Briefs - March 11, 2009 |
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Deere & Co. announcing
325 more layoffs in Iowa
MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Deere & Co. says it will lay off an additional 325 workers at two plants in Iowa this month because of weak demand for construction and forestry equipment.
The world’s largest maker of farm machinery says 220 employees will be laid off at a plant in Dubuque and 105 in Davenport. It says employees were notified March 6 of the layoffs, to take effect March 30.
The job cuts are in addition to 388 layoffs previously announced at the two plants.
Indiana farmers to choose
soybean varieties for testing
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — For the second year, Indiana soybean farmers have the opportunity to decide which soybean seed varieties are included in the annual Purdue Crop Performance Program, as a result of a partnership between the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and Purdue Agronomy.
This checkoff-funded program allows Hoosier soybean farmers to “nominate” the soybean varieties they believe should be tested. The nomination process is quick and easy and can be done online at www.agry.purdue.edu/pcpp/farmer-nomination.html
Those farmer-nominated varieties will be rolled into the annual Purdue Crop Performance Program that is already in place, and includes varieties that seed companies pay to be included. The farmer nominating the variety must state the reason for choosing that and their county of residence.
ISA and Purdue will confirm that the seed company intends to have the seed commercially available for at least one more season before any farmer-nominated entry is accepted into the program.
ISA will collect the nominations and provide Purdue with a final list. The deadline for nominations is March 23. Producers may submit a variety online or call 317-347-3620 for more information.
ISA seeks Hoosier farmers for
upcoming director elections
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Hoosier soybean farmers interested in serving on the board of directors of the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) need to file a completed petition by March 31.
To petition to be a candidate, Hoosier farmers must sign a Director Expectation Statement and provide information on an Indiana Soybean Leader Profile form. Both are available on the ISA website – www.indianasoybean.com – or by calling the soybean office at 800-735-0195.
Voting will take place in July and ballots will be distributed to Indiana soybean farmers by mail. Those farmers elected in July will begin serving on the ISA board of directors in January 2010.
ISA has four voting districts in the state and farmers elected to the 24-member board of directors will serve a three-year term. The ISA is seeking candidates to fill two open seats in each of the four districts.
District I counties include: Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Elkhart, Fulton, Howard, Jasper, Kosciusko, La Porte, Lake, Marshall, Miami, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Starke, Tipton, Wabash and White.
District II: Adams, Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Delaware, Grant, Henry, Huntington, Jay, LaGrange, Madison, Noble, Randolph, Steuben, Wayne, Wells and Whitley.
District III: Clay, Daviess, Dubois, Fountain, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Martin, Montgomery, Owen, Parke, Pike, Posey, Putnam, Spencer, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, Warren and Warrick.
District IV: Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Harrison, Hendricks, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Lawrence, Marion, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Orange, Perry, Ripley, Rush, Scott, Shelby, Switzerland, Union and Washington.
Once elected to the Board, a director may also choose to represent the dues-paying members of the ISA. An elected director’s service on behalf of dues-paying ISA members is strictly voluntary and a candidate for the board is not required to be a dues-paying member of the Alliance.
Candidates are required to have been engaged in the growing of soybeans in Indiana between September 2007 and September 2009. Candidates must certify that they own the soybeans or share the ownership and risk of loss of the soybeans.
Competition to target new
farm policy approaches
OAK BROOK, Ill. — Farm Foundation is sponsoring a competition for innovative and promising public policy options to address challenges facing agriculture and the food system.
It is open to anyone with an interest in the public policy issues outlined in the Foundation’s report, The 30-Year Challenge: Agriculture’s Strategic Role in Feeding and Fueling a Growing World. The Foundation intends to award cash prizes totaling $20,000.
Details of the competition and entry process are available at www.farmfoundation.org/news/articlefiles/1694-Competition%20for%20Web%203-5-09.pdf
Released in December, the Foundation’s 30-Year Challenge identifies six major areas of challenges with a role in agriculture’s ability to provide food, feed, fiber and fuel to a growing world: global financial markets and recession; global food security; global energy security; climate change; competition for natural resources; and global economic development.
The report highlights key issues public and private decision makers may need to consider as they confront the challenges of feeding a growing world. The full report is posted at www.farmfoundation.org
Entries in the Farm Foundation competition are due June 1. For each of the six challenge areas, judging will be done by an independent three-member panel selected by Farm Foundation. Prize winners will be announced in September.
The 30-Year Challenge project is directed and led by Farm Foundation. Contributing financial assistance are the Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Corn Growers Assoc., the National Pork Producers Council and the United Egg Producers. |
| 3/11/2009 |
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