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News from Around the Farm World - Jan. 30, 2013
 
Council Bluffs man gets 3 years for copper thefts
ONAWA, Iowa (AP) — A Council Bluffs man who admitted to stealing copper from farm irrigation systems from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Joseph, Mo., has been sentenced to three years in federal prison.
Jonathan Dale Campbell, 32, has pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property. The Sioux City Journal reported he was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $174,000.

Campbell admitted in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that he and three other men stole copper from irrigation systems and sold the copper to an Omaha scrap yard. Earlier, Charles Douglas Nichols was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and Joseph Daniel Falknor was given a one-year sentence. Both are from Council Bluffs.

Three men accused of cattle rustling in SE Missouri
MARBLE HILL, Mo. (AP) — Three men are facing charges for allegedly rustling 10 head of cattle from a southeastern Missouri farm. And while the crime may hearken to the Wild West, authorities say new technology helped solve the crime.

The Southeast Missourian reported three cousins, 27-year-old Jonathan Goldsberry of Whitewater, Mo., 28-year-old Bernard Willett of Waverly, Ky., and 18-year-old Shawn Green of Evansville, Ind., are all charged with five counts of livestock theft.

The theft occurred Jan. 7. Bollinger County Sheriff Darin Shell said surveillance video from in and around Marble Hill showed a Ford pickup with a horse trailer that met up with a Dodge pickup at a parking lot. A license plate check showed the Dodge belonged to Goldsberry’s girlfriend.

Police said he confessed. His attorney declined comment.

Drought cited in ethanol production suspension
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — A central Missouri ethanol plant is suspending production effective Feb. 1, saying the extended drought has made it virtually impossible to get enough corn to make the fuel.

POET Biorefining said its plant in Macon will remain open and all 44 employees will keep working, spending their time doing maintenance-related work. Spokesman Matt Merritt said there is simply not enough local corn to keep making ethanol at the plant, and shipping in corn from elsewhere is too expensive. Missouri has been hit hard by the drought that has dragged on for months.
Merritt said POET will continue to purchase corn for future use when it becomes available. There is no timetable for resuming production. Sioux Falls, S.D.-based POET operates 27 plants in seven states.

Coroner: Man, 82, killed in tractor accident

BETHALTO, Ill. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of an 82-year-old man who apparently was run over by the tractor he’d been using to clear brush near his southwestern Illinois home.
Madison County Coroner Stephen Nonn said Paul Fulkrod died at an Alton hospital shortly after the accident Jan. 19 near Bethalto. Nonn said Fulkrod and his son were clearing brush when the son saw his father running alongside a tractor that apparently began rolling backwards after the elder Fulkrod had left it unattended.
The tractor rolled over the victim. Nonn said he died of chest trauma.

CME surveying expanded grain and oilseed hours effects

CHICAGO, Ill. — CME Group has begun the process of conducting outreach to customers, producer groups and other market participants on expanded Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grain and oilseed trading hours.

“We’ve received significant customer feedback about the extended hours we implemented for CBOT grains last summer,” said Tim Andriesen, managing director, CME Agricultural Commodities and Alternative Investments.

“As we start a new year, we think the timing is right to review those changes and industry feedback more formally to ensure we’re continually meeting our customers’ needs. Beyond hours, we continue to explore other suggestions from our customers on ways to enhance our products and markets.”

CME will engage participants on CBOT grain and oilseed trading hours, which were expanded to 21 hours per day in May 2012, through one-on-one conversations, customer focus groups and an online survey.

The survey is still available to participants on CME’s website through Jan. 31. The survey is open to all CBOT grain and oilseed customers and market participants and can be found online at www.cmegroup.com/agsurvey
1/30/2013