As World Population Hits 7 Billion, Agriculture Feels The Pressure
 October 31, 2011 will mark the first time in history that seven billion humans will populate the planet, according to a recent United Nations report. The Executive Director of the UN’s Population Fund called the prediction “both a challenge and an opportunity,” noting that “globally, people are living longer, healthier lives and choosing to have smaller families.”
Commodity markets were already feeling pressure far in advance of the announcement as China placed record orders for feed grains to meet the demands of growing domestic protein consumption. The U.S. Grains Council projects that China will need to import 5-10 million tons of corn for the 2011/12 season, a huge increase from USDA's estimate of 2 million tons for that period.
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Living on a Prayer
by John Thamert
 Agriculture is collectively holding its breath as the “super committee” meets to determine where the $1.2 trillion worth of federal budget funds will be cut. Having already shouldered more than $12 billion in cuts for deficit reduction in the past several years, farmers and ranchers feel the pain that other sectors have yet to experience.
With this massive overhaul on the horizon, the Senate Agriculture Committee traveled to Wichita, Kansas, late last month to hear from farmers, bankers and local elected officials about what they thought were the necessary components of a strong and viable Farm Bill.
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Keeping Crop Insurance Strong
The 2012 budget will likely include modifications and reductions to the farm safety net. Policy makers should consider 12 essential strengths that make crop insurance the corner stone of the farm safety net programs. In this on-going series, we’ll introduce one strength of crop insurance per month and explain how the sum of these strengths has given us the successful program we have today.
Strength: Producers receive crop insurance indemnities in the timeliest way.
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