The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1359118
As much as the virus has upended our personal lives and daily habits, the ag- ricultural sector has also been affected. Because COVID was a world-wide dis- ruptor, and the United States exports a wide variety of agricultural goods, the changes experienced will likely have a multi-year or longer effect. Let's analyze where we are and how we managed to get here. Grain prices today are well above any kind of price support levels, with over 14 dollar soybeans per bushel, corn above 5.50 per bushel, and wheat hold- ing strong at over 6 dollars per bushel. Back in March of 2020, soybeans were selling under 9 dollars, corn at less than 3.50, and wheat around 5.50. When the US first entered into shutdown protocols, all those commodities initially tanked. The low for corn came in August of 2020 at 3.08, the low for soybeans in April at 8.32, and wheat in June at 4.75. The wheat market has actually acted the most resil- ient, as the low came about at the conclu- sion of winter wheat harvest, although much of the price increase since that time comes from Russian export declines due to a quota and taxes. For soybeans, Chi- na gets some credit for attempting to buy enough to meet the Phase 1 deal signed in early 2020. Reduced production in South America has further reduced quan- tity supplied to drive price higher. Corn is a similar story, although the derecho in Iowa and Illinois reduced US produc- tion last year as well. Declines in grain mar- kets due to COVID initially did occur, but the livestock sector took a relatively larg- er toll. This decline has a lot to do with how consumers eat. A little under half of In- diana corn goes to ethanol production, while both corn and soybeans have substan- tial use as animal feed. The more a prod- uct was reliant on being directly eaten by a human, the harder it was hit. Pack- aging is the reason. Let's use dairy as an example. At the same time that half pint milk containers at schools became useless, the run on milk in gallon jugs had grocery stores rationing supply. As a result, the dairy farmer was doubly squeezed. Meanwhile, slaughterhous- es were staying so busy that the work- ers could not safely space out, and large companies were shutting down due to COVID outbreaks preventing the farm- er from delivering the end product. Pro- duce growers have a product with a rel- atively short shelf life, and end markets for their products like restaurants were closed or with severely restricted capac- ity. The food box program that started up last year helped, but not enough in some cases. Today, livestock prices are on a little more solid footing. Cattle prices are recorded by the USDA at Auctions around the state, with the closest being at United Producers in Vincennes. Last week, feeders were at 1.33 dollars a pound and slaughters at 2.22, which certainly can re- sult in profit. The hog indus- try is heating up, with 1.00 dollar a pound in some markets. Dairy prices are over 17 dollars per 100 lbs. of milk, numbers much better than have been seen historically, although lately dairy numbers have been very good since the packaging issue was fixed. Their low price around the start of the pandemic was 11.23 dollars, a number that guaran- tees negative profits no matter the size of the operation. Due to tight amounts of supply in the grain industry, those prices are likely to remain high at least through another harvest and likely through South Amer- ica's 2022 harvest as well. Since corn and soybean go into animal feed, hope- fully livestock prices received remain high enough to pay for the grain as well. For more information, contact Hans at hschmitz@purdue.edu or 812-838 -1331. The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, April 7, 2021 A-11 Peter continues, "…to an in- heritance incorruptible and un- defiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…." That is your reward for maintaining your faith! Finally, he writes, "[you] who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." As a disciple, you should have no dilemmas concerning your faith in Christ and the Resur- rection! Paul wrote to the church at Rome that you have passed from death unto life: "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Yesterday, today, and forever, CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY! Hallelujah! EMBR ACE IT! DILEMMA Continued from page 10 literally telling the human smugglers how to game the system and get the max- imum number of illegal aliens into the U.S. as quickly and efficiently as possible. At the same time, the administration promotes major amnesty bills, two of which have already passed the House. Amnesty bills also spur illegal immigra- tion. The cartels use them as recruiting tools, making the case that NOW is the time to come to the U.S. "They will let you in. They will let you stay. Strike while the iron is hot." Indeed, when an ABC reporter recent- ly interviewed a person who crossed the border, he admitted he came because Biden had been elected—that he would never have tried if Trump was still pres- ident. No wonder they are coming wear- ing Biden T-shirts. So far, the administration has shown no willingness to take the kind of steps that would allow it to regain control— other than involve the vice president, an open-borders advocate who once com- pared ICE to the KKK, in some capacity. When President Obama's policies sig- naled open borders in 2014, public out- rage led his administration to reinstitute some controls—measures close to what Trump later perfected. Similarly, when Europe was flooded with immigrants, the problem was out of control until Europe- an governments finally adopted Trumpi- an measures. Biden's border crisis will not go away unless Harris follows this proven path. So far, however, the White House is loath to follow Trump's lead, even when it's de- monstrably the right step to take. Meanwhile, the president seems dis- connected, barely talking to reporters, offering vague promises of future visits to the border, and refusing to admit that the problem flows from what is just bad policy. What does all this imply for other for- eign policy and national security chal- lenges? So far, Biden has done best where his team has followed Trump policies. Where they have departed most from Trump, like on the border, they have had the most difficulty. There is a reason for that. Trump's poli- cies were, at root, not partisan. They were just realistic. Biden's team, however, seems bent on following a hard-left ideology, even if sticking with proven, non-leftist policies make the best sense for American inter- ests. This may suggest to America's ad- versaries some promising avenues for needling the administration. A seemingly disengaged president, a penchant for pushing a radical agen- da over practical policies, and a willing- ness to hide the truth about their failures rather than face and fix problems...that's a formula bad guys can play with. What's happening on our southern bor- der makes the U.S. administration looks fragile, insecure and distracted. Iran, North Korea, China and Russia must all be thinking, "How can we take advantage of that? " James Jay Carafano, Vice President, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Insti- tute, is a leading expert in national secu- rity and foreign policy challenges. BORDER Continued from page 10 ••• Now that we have the gift of resurrection, another event takes place called the Sunrise Service on Easter Sunday. The Resurrection gives us great hope that we will have the assurance of eternal life in the company of Christ af- ter our journey on earth is do- ne. As we celebrate Resurrec- tion, what follows is the affir- mation of our faith by follow- ing His commands: to love one another, to help and sup- port one another, to extend our assistance to those who are in need, to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the sick, the imprisoned and the lonely and isolated, and do all we can hu- manly possible to take care of one another. Due to conflict in schedule, I failed to attend the Good Fri- day Community service. This event happens yearly at differ- ent churches, a sign of unity in belief by different faith groups. What a blessing. ••• Wisdom of the week: My sis- ter shared this with me. "Ev- ery minute somebody leaves this world behind. We are all in the line without knowing where. We never know how many people are before us. We cannot move to the back of the line. We cannot step out of the line. We cannot avoid the line. So while we wait in line…make moments count, make priorities, make time, make your gifts known, make a nobody feel like somebody, make your voice heard, make the small good things be big, make someone smile, make the change, share and give love, make up, make peace, make sure to tell people they are loved, make sure you have no regrets, make sure you are ready." Humor of the week: Now that we are in the spirit of joy, let me share one There was a pastor named Rev. Mike who was celebrat- ing a service. He started his greeting to the congregation with this welcome. "Peace and joy to all of you! " The pastor, though, noticed the PA sys- tem was not working. So he said softly, "There is some- thing wrong with the mike." The congregation could not hear much of what he said, and they all said in unison, "And also with you! " Have a great week! . Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Candace Marie Riger charged with count I possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, and count II possession of marijuana. Douglas N. Dillon charged with count I possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, and count II possession of mar- ijuana. Barbara S. Culbertson charged with count I operating a vehicle while intoxi- cated, endangering a person less than 18 years old, a level 6 felony, count II posses- sion of methamphetamine, a level 6 felo- ny and count III possession of marijuana. Charles E. DeWeese charged with count I intimidation using a deadly weap- on, a level 5 felony, and count II interfer- ence with the reporting of a crime. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANORS Pike County Circuit Court Joe L. Thomas III charged with pos- session of marijuana. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court World Finance Company of Indiana, LLC sues Wesley Neukam on complaint. Dana R. Hautsch petitions for special- ized driving privileges. Lorri L. Hess sues James M. Hess for dissolution of marriage. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court Rick A. Cannon charged with seatbelt violation. Holly M. Waldkoetter charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Danyeal V. DeWitt charged with seat- belt violation. Kyle A. Alcantara charged with speed- ing. Bradley N. Devine charged with seat- belt violation. Mikala B. Pierce charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Charity S. Griffith charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Ashley D. Bertelsen charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Rodney D. Hughes charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Reann D. Stewart charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Julian J. Short charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Jerry W. Coleman charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Kara L. Jones charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Griffin R. Parke charged with speed- ing. Kevin Edward Kyler charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Emily A. Russell charged with speed- ing. Gary L. Cook charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Ethan Patrick Ryan charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Stefan Z. Risley charged with operat- ing with expired plates. Willem M. Terpstra charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Yusuf A. Onayemi charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Sharita R. Jones charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Jeffrey LaPointe charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Brittany T. Herringshaw charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Makayla E. Jones charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. I'zaiah Lekell Gillard charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Deravil Alberto charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Keith E. Knea charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Karina Y. Mosqueda charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Travis A. Daugherty charged with count I operating with expired plates and count II speeding. Without tests, schools of- ten choose students based on parental connections or dona- tions. Tiwalayo Aina, a Black stu- dent at MIT, got good SAT scores. He tweeted, "The SAT is fairer than the alternative: needing my parents to con- nect me with a ... professor." I say to FairTest's Schaeffer, "By eliminating tests, you're screwing the minority stu- dent who is really smart, but goes to a lousy high school, has family problems and got low grades." "That student would have shown brilliantly in her high school classes," is Schaeffer's reply. Wall Street Journal colum- nist Jason Riley says colleges scrapped tests to make it eas- ier for administrators to con- trol how many people from each racial group attend their college. Without an objective standard, who's to say an ad- ministrator's admission picks are wrong? "It really is about making these campuses look right. ... It's not about learning," says Riley. "If you want more diversi- ty," he adds, "Open up more of these charter schools (like the ones that are) able to pre- pare kids for these tests." Some charters, the Suc- cess Academies, do that well. Sadly, those charters are crit- icized and limited by politi- cians because they are not under the control of teachers unions. Ending limits on charters and allowing school choice, says Riley, would do much more to close the race gap than dropping SATs. "Elim- inate the test, you're just go- ing to delay where it shows up elsewhere in this child's life. You're not doing that child any favor." What's wrong with these schools saying we want a more diverse student body? "There's this assumption," says Riley, "We just get these kids in the door and they'll be fine. No, they won't! They're being set up to fail. I see no progress in getting a bunch of Black kids admitted to MIT, and then having them flunk out or struggle. They don't need to be struggling. They could go be going to another school and doing quite well." But woke educators want to eliminate tests. And these days, what the woke want, the woke get. John Stossel is author of "Give Me a Break: How I Ex- posed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media." WOKE Continued from page 10 EGGS Continued from page 10 jump out. First, Blacks per 100,000 population were substantial- ly MORE likely to die from COVID-19 if they reside in blue states with a Democrat- ic governor than in red states with a Republican governor. Of the 10 states with the highest rates of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 Black residents — led by New York, New Jersey and Michigan — most have Democratic gover- nors. Eight of the 10 states with the lowest death rates for Blacks have Republican governors. For example, a Black per- son living in Michigan was five times more likely to die of COVID-19 than a Black person living in West Vir- ginia. These shocking results might be an artifact of dif- ferences within states — in- comes, population density, mean temperature and so on. But they are not. I also examined the Black-white death rate WITHIN states, and the data shows the same pattern. A Black person was five times more likely to die from COVID-19 than a white in Washington, D.C., (run by Democrats), and twice as likely to die of COVID-19 in New York. Hispanics don't fare any better with Democratic lead- ership. According to the At- lantic COVID trackers: "The largest disparities between white people and Latinx peo- ple are in Washington and Oregon (blue states), where Latinx people are 3.7 times more likely to have test- ed positive than their white neighbors." What makes these results doubly amazing is that these same Democratic politicians were also much more like- ly to enforce strict and pro- longed lockdowns of schools and businesses, which were advertised as ways to keep minorities safe. Whoops! Now we know that the Dem- ocratic strategy of shutting down their local economies not only put minorities into unemployment lines but also put minorities at greater risk of hospitalization and death. Remember this the next time Democratic politicians say how much they care about minority Americans. Judging from their perfor- mance, the reality seems to be: not much. Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foun- dation and an economic con- sultant with FreedomWorks. He is the co-author of "Trum- ponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive the Amer- ican Economy." HEALTH Continued from page 10 Down on the Farm By Hans Schmitz, Purdue Extension Educator Agricultural prices through COVID That was what I considered my way of giv- ing back, until I decided to run." At some point, Frye saw no other option but to step up and try to find some of the solutions himself. "I read a lot about strong communities, strong towns. In the past, our city hasn't been reshaped to be a strong town." Turning the city into a strong town requires change. It also requires working with the City Council. "It's contentious at times," Frye said. "We're working on that relationship, working on understanding each other's roles." All five council members are white Dem- ocrats. Frye said he refuses to believe that party or race is an obstacle to their produc- tive relationship. "Sorry," he said. "I refuse to think it's racial. I do, rather, look at it as roles. Who does what? So, I'm constantly trying to clar- ify roles so we can move forward." He ad- mitted that his zeal to do things rapidly had been a source of friction. The demolition of that old factory has been a bureaucrat- ic slog. Modernization of the infrastruc- ture costs money. So does the restoration of those homes left abandoned 30 years ago when the factories closed and the popula- tion fell by half. "New Castle is a typical Rust Belt com- munity," Frye said. "It had its heyday with the tin mills. It had its heyday with the steel industry. And once that left ... there was a brain drain, a lot of folks who had those higher-level, maybe, executive jobs or en- gineering jobs. And they left at the same time, and it left the labor force, the labor workers, still here to pick up the pieces and find new ways of finding work." But that's not the end of the story be- cause now things are coming full circle. As more people work from home and look for places to relocate outside of larg- er cities, destinations such as New Castle are becoming attractive. The houses are affordable, including century-old architec- tural wonders in the North Hill district and even nearer to the city's business district's cheery, lively grid. New Castle is between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. It is also a stone's throw from ex- cellent spots for kayaking, fly-fishing, hik- ing, biking, boating and swimming. Frye said while he didn't grow up in a political household, he doesn't think that should hold people back from serving their communities, especially communities that have declined over the years. "I'm not a political wizard like some peo- ple," he said. "I'm just here. I started with $250 and a goal to do what's right and make New Castle better." Salena Zito is a staff reporter and col- umnist for the Washington Examiner. She reaches the Everyman and Everywoman through shoe-leather journalism, traveling from Main Street to the beltway and all plac- es in between. COMEBACK Continued from page 10 Quality Drive Away, Inc. needs CDL drivers with EXPERIENCE to deliver Motorhomes, Trucks, Buses, and Tractors throughout the USA. We have 20+ pickup locations. Must have DOT physical and be willing to keep logs. No DUIs in last 10 years, and clean MVR. Some Non-CDL positions available. Driven to Be the Best! 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