verdict. and our market expert, looks at hot markets. >> its farm report brought to you by the 2012 chevy, the most dependable. longest lasting full sized pick up on the road. hello and welcome to united states farm report. perhaps it's the olympics or politics or just fatigue but the drought seems to be fading from media popularity. i suspect since food prices didn't double overnight we all just moved on. even on our farms, despite crops continuing to go downhill, many of us have switched from worry over the next rain to simple damage control. combines started to role this week. public attention is fickle. unless we find worse yields

than we now imagine as withered crops disappear so will the headlines i think. tine is here now with the news. >> thank you. with the clock ticking before the august recess -- the house packs a disaster relief bill. it voted to revive several program that expired last year. many main stream -- wanted the house to finish the new farm bill instead of approving the temporary measure while others have crop insurance livestock producers don't have that coverage and are reeling from sharp increases in feed prices. a patent infringement case, monsanto walk away with a victory. they sued pioneer for what they called unauthorized use of their technology. they said pioneer used their technology to patch problems

with dupont's own technology. the court gave them one billion dollars, though dupont is a pealing. in response to the verdict dupont released a statement saying they believe the damages award of one billion dollars are unjust identified, particularly farring that pioneer has never sold a single seed and has no plans to do so in the future. with most of the corn belt suffering drought conditions, one major official has dropped its production forecast. they have dropped their united states corn estimate by one billion bushel, pegging the crop at 11.5 billion. the estimate took an 8.5-bushel approximate per acre reduction to 134. the estimates were also cut by the firm and they project the yields to be 38.5-bushels an acre down a bushel and a half. overall production is forecast by the firm at just under 3

billion-bushels. those are the headline, now back to john for crop watch. >> >> okay, we will start crop watch in the very southeast corner of minnesota. a warmer in houston county said they are getting just enough rain to keep going but not one drop over. pastures turning a little greener from the dead tan color. now to wyoming according to thes in office, ranchers reporting that hay production is short. several producers have sold livestock and are bringing water due to dry ponds and springs. march corn is hitting the combine. they are heard from 30 to 70- bushel yields, his farm looks. up next we are off to michigan as our team talks

markets. we will be right back.

. united states farm report at soybean college is brought to you by the united soybean board. learn more about the billion dollar appetite of animal agate beyond the elevator.com. >> our round table comes to us from the farm journal soybean college held this week in cold water michigan. . >> we are going to talk a little bit about soybeans and the markets and we had interesting questions and -- we are going to start out with the -- one of the first questions that everybody is concerned about and that is volatility and why is it so great at this point in time and mike i think i will start with you. why? >> let's face it. we are at historicly high

levels andalways a lot of question as to what is next. the worry creates the volatility. there are people that come in as speculator that see see this as they -- the potential continuation and are looking to buy soybeans, looking at this as high level that maybe should be sold and this question of what the right move is, creates the worry and it's like a wild west shoot out. everybody is waiting for the other guy to make the first move and so, you will get dies with -- real big voids in volume, other days where the volume floods the market and so the market can push in either direction on a dime. we saw soybeans drop more than a dollar just last week and here we -- in a couple days recovered most of it. you are going to see that kind of conditionation as we go

forward, volatility not just here in the 2012 market, here to say. we have a much bigger market place, a lot more volume and we will have greater volatility. . >> does that enhance trade something. >> i think from a producer standpoint what we want to talk about is you can view it one of two ways, with fear, very no idea what the market will do from one minute to the next, much less one day to the next or as opportunity and we like to view it as opportunity. take advantage of marketing, not only for this year's crop but also for next year. i think the key thing is to have your plan in place, a discipline plan where are you prepared for the market to go lower and also giving the market the opportunity to go higher. it is actually your friend as long as you embrace it and view it with discipline marketing. >> the market doesn't move. that opportunity for you. >> yeah.

have you to move. my perception is right to you that we are not done going up -- we are kind of at a time frame where the markets in the past drought years have paused, from 30 to 34 trading days, is what they have lasted in length and we are in that period right now. the problem is that most drought years have stocks that carry forward from the previous years. this it year -- the only other year i could get was 1974 where we didn't have stocks. the market continued to go higher. it went up 77% from the low to the high. it topped in the fall. if we get a similar situation in corn this year that means nine dollar corn. >> a lot of question that came from the audience and when someone says how long will it last? >> it's -- i think it'll last until the fall. we are maybe at a point right now where we could maybe get a pause in the market and i don't think at the top but i think we are just going to pause and ready to go up again.

>> you think we will still --. >> as we watch the market we have got tone a point where it is taken us back and forth in both directions and you can never predict price. i'm in brian's camp where we need to respect the market's ability to move but i wouldn't be -- maybe skip forward to the next question, i wouldn't wait for the markets to produce nine dollar corn. we have beans that are 16 and a half dollars. this is a market that will have to work through its supply challenges but as we will talk about in a minute there is the other side of the balance sheet and and that's demand. have you to ask yourself how much longer the livestock guys are willing to pay for 8-dollar corn and that's a big question to answer. >> that's one of the questions we will talk about when we come back here. soybean college and that's demand. what causes demand and some of

the questions, demand is -- demand rating or what was it? >> rationing verses destruction. yeah we can talk about that. >> we will tell you what it'll be when when we he come back.

. united states farm report at soybean college brought to you by the united soybean board. learn more about the t(billion dollar appetite of animal agate beyond the elevator.com. >> the soybean college, talking to a group of producers and we -- came up with a question -- that is demand, destruction or demand, rationing. which of you would like to tell us the difference between demand destruction and demand

rationing? we are talking about for agriculture products. >> i will take a shot. i think it's a relatively new tomorrow the way i would -- is in the case of soybean meal liquidation dzi of corn, liquidation of cattle herds, permanent -- taking a long time to ftñrr,iúv6"j# jw íi back into production. demand rations could be substitution to cut back in use a little bit. it's more of a short term type of situation where demand destruction is permanent over the next year or two at least. at these high prices that's the concern that we are sees liquidation of herds in the case of cattle and perhaps hog. >> any other comments? >> we have seen cow slaughter up 12% and last year was a big cow slaughter year with the drought we had in the south. we are liquid ating herds, at this moment.

you don't bring cows back on feed after they go to the plant. they are done. that is -- that's something we are experiencing right now. along with that ethanol plants are like a cow in that they are microbrial in nature. you don't turn them off and on, have you to take them off and ramp they will back and is takes a while. we have seen plants, closing as a result of these high pieces prices. >> since you mentioned ethanol you want to say anything about the mandate? will that be changed or anything? >> if you list tone the administration they say no. if you listen to the epa they say they have a limited scope with which they can change it. if you talk to legislators they are moving to put legislation in force, some that will be hitting the floor this week. actually believe that the -- congressman introducing it is from michigan. it was a bill that was

introduced out of virginia last year and never made it to the floor. you know this has been actively looked for for a number of years and scores of livestock group that are working to get this legislation passed because they are afraid of the feed situation. >> let's move on, next year and somebody asked, how about around the world? the high prices, they always say high prices a good cure for high prices and that means everybody will be planting more because prices are up to make money. what will happen? south america will grow more? >> big time. we always have that kind of situation. high prices get more grain. that's true. look at demand. this is -- demand is never been as large as it has been ever. you know i -- i guess i take the opposite view of this that everybody is looking for what is going to make the market break. everybody is afraid of that. my view is that what will prevent it from going higher?

there is so much demand i know we will ration things but things have a way of catching up. all you can look at your prices and say we aren't deserving of eight dollar corn. what about your tractor prices in what about your gas prices,? fertilizer prices, those keep going up. they are okay to be at these level its but the products you produce aren't? i don't buy that it. i think prices will stay high for a long time. there will be a food shortage. you are in a good spot because i think you will get the benefits. >> food shortage in the worlds. that a worry we need to talk about? >> it is a concern. i think we have a situation this year where aren't only looking at coming in with tight stocks but we have the drought. probably the worst since 1936. it's a serious situation. we need bush manies, south america we need them, the united states, in russia, everywhere. it's a concern. >> yeah. we need production and we are

seeing growth elsewhere in the world. there is reports coming out of south america that they are opening up new ground, they are going to add a lot of extra acres to their production and we will see growth everywhere. at these lie prices you can afford to invest in new real estate. >> quick question, quick answer and that is i want to know when should you sell? now or take a look at -- or lock yourself in? >> we like to use options. put options, rolling up put options. >> i agree. we can talk about making sales but you would be hard pressed to find many to make a sale. put oposition is a very good alternative and that's a great tool to use in this environment. >> and what do you say? >> the market stays up and you don't sell anything until you get a 10% break-in the market and when you get that signals

the high and then you sell the rallies back, you start selling them at that point. no selling until the 10% break- in price. >> thank you. for all being here. we will be back with more in just a moment.

. cindy clawson, i think i'm watching theo olympics to much because the overall total of the drought stats had dropped a fraction of a percent and i remember thinking shoot we aren't going to break the record and then i thought you don't want to break the record. >> no. >> this is bad news. >> it's very bad news. despite the fact that areas a little further to the north got some rain, we are not seeing any change in our drought monitor map here. it's very, very little change as john said from the previous week. the areas where we are seeing a

lot of drought continue to expand, especially into southwestern indiana into the boot heel of missouri and into much of arkansas and we have scattered other spot was a lot of drought and a lot of these areas continue to expand. the news is not good and the outlook is not good either because most of the nation's midsection, most of the areas we are seeing these reds and maroons, they are expected to stay that way for the next couple months. we are expecting to see maybe slightly cooler air in parts of the northeast but its been so hot we don't expect a lot. the jet stream staying near the border and that means real heat continues, especially in the west and southwest united states as we head through the next week. maybe some cooler temperatures for the far northeast but still very, very hot as we get out to the west. so as far as the day today map here is how it looks, on monday high pressure controlling parts

of the great lake, rain in parts of the southeast and some of the western plains and the four corners area. another front that will start off in the northern plains, we he will see that starting to come through, i don't think it'll have quite as much moisture but we will have to watch that chance of showers and thunderstorms, stationary front bringing more rain and four corners area could see a little bit of rain as well. here comes friday. we have another front that will come through much of the plain states, this is maybe a little more hopeful for some of the area that are really hot and dry for some relief there. stationary front may continue to bring the chance for showers and thunderstorms along the gulf coast. we will take another look at weather coming up in the next half hour. >>

many farmers, the leadership of the u-s house re nah. the leadership the house

refused to bring the farm bill to the floor. though this is now a familiar pattern the strangeness of this year's movements indicate we are no longer operating close to the business as usual. not only did rivalry cause problems but the party split along ring regional line was pressure stopping the productional pattern of compromise which is sweetening the pot to get extra votes, legislators seem to be stumped on how to negotiate. other less noticed problems face in new bill. for the first time opposition to all farm subsides had fringe votes and the possibility of separating from the farm portion from snap got a lot of attention. farm program proponents have spent to much time complaining about how most of the farm bill goes to nutrition. farm subsides a barnacle on the

freighter of snap assistance, using to go through the house. should farm payments be isolated in a stand alone bill i down it would come close to passing. we all know it. whining about how little money goes to farmer social s is counter productive. these head winds will only get stronger after congress gets back together and possible budget cuts will be draconian. send e-mails to united states farm bill or call. coming up in the next half hour how a historic drought convinced me to try on a new hat. the second half is coming up. it's almost hair cut time.how

to get this

today on u-s farm report... we take a look at the ongoing . today on united states farm report. we take a look at the ongoing misery for livestock producers as the drought gets worse. meet an asparagus grower helping disabled veterans. and i look at the world of mainly head wear for farmers in summers like this one. >> united states farm report brought to you by the 2012 chevy. farm report, . hello and welcome to united states farm report. as we get continued forecast without meaningful weather for changes farmers sticking a fork

in the 2012 crop, what you see is as good as it's going to be. this can be almost a type of relief as we move from hoping to coping, nor should will belong to wait for numbers. one of the stranger challenges facing many is adjusting high capacity equipment to small wilds, another is wonder what if anything the last three years tell us about next year. until we get widespread significant rains that question will loom larger and larger. >> thank you john. as much of the united states continues to be under some type of drought the agriculture secretary announced u.s.d.a. is responding with more relief. he announced more than 200 counties have been added to the list as disaster areas, as this map shows about half of the united states is now under that. in addition he announced two new forms of disaster help for

farmers ers and ranchers. the first expanding grazing. he announced crop insurance companies have agreed to let farmers to have a 30 day grace period to make payments without getting interest penalties on unpaid premiums. livestock groups have file ford a waiver of the current ethanol mandate. it's for the rest of this year and part of next. the group said producers already feeling the bunt from lower projected corn field and with the amount of corn to meet the mandate is creates a losing situation. the association spend responded to the request saying it won't help them like they want. the united states house of representatives has voted to keep the current tax code for another year. included in that is the estate

tax which has been voted to remain at 35%. groups such as the national cattle man's beef association said the tax is unnecessary on family farmers. if copping doesn't pass it by the end of the year it'll revert to a one million exemption level at a 55% rate. urban sprawl is something agriculture knows all to well and with the everglades its forcing the area to be drained. this has hurt habitats and now the u.s.d.a. is helping restore that area. >> through the program -- the wetland program, we are working with farmers and ranchers to enter into restoring the lands that previously were drained, that is going to contribute to a cleaner water, more quantity of water and more importantly, a healthier everglades. >> wonderful wetland in the

middle of iran much is a lot more regulation than asphalt in the middle of an open area. >> they help improvements that help keep livestock out of wetlands and reduces run off from waste and fertilizer. we have been talking about yield estimates and the u.s.d.a. comes out with theirs next friday. >> all the private analysts have theirs. we had a shocker below ten billion bushels. that's the one we want to watch. go head and -- question about harvested acre and yield. take a look at the total bushels. it's all over the board but it won't be good. >> they said abandoned acres were a major contributor. >> thank you. cindy joining us now for the weather. >> we take a look at the week ahead we expect to see the jet stream way up by the canada

border especially in the western united states. we will see a few chances for rain but the heat is probably going to stay. into monday we will see a chance for showers and thunderstorms along the eseaboard and especially into the southeast united states. as we head into wednesday, we are going to see a chance for showers and thunderstorms from the forth east and into parts of the great lakes area and then we will see more showers and storms as a stationary front will hang out in the southeast united states, maybe rain for the four corners area there as well. here comes friday. the heat remains in the western part of the united states. may get a break though from the heat from the eastern lakes on in to the northeast. sun there for friday with rain continuing at least spotty showers for the southeast along the gulf coast and maybe rain for some of the areas in the plains as well. as we look a little further in to the future, our temperatures for next week not really look that good with above normal temperatures the midatlantic

states through the plains into parts of the northwest, maybe just a touch cool along the pacific northwest coast. as far as precipitation is concerned, below normal in the areas where we really need that rain. we will see a normal -- above normal conditions and the upper great lakes and along the eastern seaboard and also into the four corners area. as we look further into future, 30 day temperatures, that is not good, warm conditions for a good piece of the united states, and we are looking at cooler than normal conditions just conditioning over there along the pacific northwest coast and as far as your 30 day precipitation, little on the wet side along the eastern seaboard. basically hot and dry in the area. we really need relief not only from the drought but from the heat as well. unfortunately really not very good news we have for a lot of the areas in the corn belt, areas in the plains, it's -- it's just depressing. >> one thing i have seen the

even evenings have been a little cooler. we seem to have a wider temperature swing. >> it's like a desert. >> in a couple weeks it'll be all over. spirit of the heart land is next. >> you're watching united states farm report.

. when you think of crops that are produced in what a corn and soybeans probably the first to that come to minute. there is a business in iowa that creates pickled asparagus. al jones says that the business started with one man's desire

to share a secret recipe. >> he is known as the asparagus guy but he doesn't grow it, he gives it zing. >> salty flavor but also garlic in there. it's got a little zip to it, little heat. >> he is the man behind tall paul's pickled asparagus. he has made pickling them a full time job. >> i pickle probably three to five hundred pounds a week and i do it year round. >> maybe you have seen it on your local store shelf or in a bloody mary. it is a product that trent said sales well, well enough that he sales them to more than 250 outlets in four states. >> people are attracted to to it because a lot have eaten it by getting it from the ditch and like to see something different and like to try it. >> he said it does grow well

in this part of the country but he pickles way to much of it to try to grow his own for his business. he buys it and then works his magic. >> the process is what give itself it's flavor. it's a 40-year-old family recipe created by his dad paul. this former caterer knows his business in the kitchen. >> hear is quake in that's fresh. >> he launched his venture in his hometown eight years ago, more or less as a hobby. two years ago he got serious about it and moved in to this building, known as the pickle palace. it's here where trent trent and his four part time employees cut, pickle, pack and parcel, this is al jones reporting.

>> he uses part of every sale to fund a program he founded calleddennable veterans outdoors near his hometown. through this program wounded veterans able to go hunting with wheelchair accessible chairs, hunting blinds and docks. next week we will take you up with a family in indiana. their business is risky they are well grounded. just how bad is the drought for livestock producers? brand new data that may surprise you. that is next and later tractor tales in the pacific northwest.

. travel watch brought -- tough, durable, center pivot, visit lindsey advantage.com. >> in our drought watch coverage the rate of decline in united states soybean slowed in parts of the corn belt as rains allowed some relief. still the soybeans routed good oro excellent dropped for an 8th week. new 20% fit that category. while some have had insurance to help cover losses drought. livestock producers do not. they are also feeling the effects of much higher feed costs. tine looks at some of the losses where the crops more and the water is short. >> at the farm in polk missouri the crops have stopped growing, the feeding bill for the herd is mounding higher now the water levels are dropping lower. >> you can see it's dry and the other three that we rely

on. they got a little bit of water but like i said, it's so dirty the cows don't like it. >> the governor signed an order authorizing a program that will provide two million dollars of state money to make sure farmers have the water wells they need. the state will pay 90% to help farmers drill new or dig deeper their current wells. >> if you don't have water you are selling. so we have got to get water in these areas where it's needed. >> he is an agriculture economist. he said until harvest occurs it's difficult to pinpoint how devastating drought will be for livestock but there are plenty of warning signs. >> we look across time we will have people who will exit the business as a result of this that will drive fed cattle prices, hog price; chicken prices, all higher, trying to recoup some of the higher production costs. >> brown said feed expenses in

2013 could be three times higher than the yearly feed cost average from 1990 to 2007 and 70% higher than the past four years. to help producers they announced it was further expanding use for grazing haying since ranchers can't rely on current grazing conditions. the report showed just 2% is excellent and 15% is good. the other 80% is fair to very poor. >> corn is three, four foot tall, probably a bumper crop, it may be bumper height. > they have received some rain in the past two weeks, helping improve the state's crop condition but not much. >> we got a nice shot of rain three weeks ago, couple inches, then about a couple inches here in the last week. so, things are starting to look better, but it's probably a little bitl late for the corn. >> statewide just 9% of the corn crop is considered good to

excellent. there was a four point improvement in the state soybean, 16% is now good to excellent. >> beans, they can still pull through and be an average crop i think. . >> with world demand for united states grains still high, average may not cut it. this is tine morgan. >> thank you. the united states house passes a disaster relief bill on friday with restoring some livestock programs that expired a year ago. tractor tales and the country church salute are next.

al pell now joins us in the studio. where are we off . al in the studio where we are off to for track for tales. >> back to northwest washington state john. this 1953 john deere 60 started as a work horse for its owner. now it's the sound keeping it

around. >> i bought it in 1977, it had a loader on it, a country bucket and i needed a track for for around the place. had to run a few cattle and horses, i didn't use it much. when i restored it it's in fairly good shape. one of the features, i slow race with it. it's a very good track for for that because of the large wheel. i can get down to real low rpm's. i was at a farm sale by the canada border and they come up and i was low bidder on it. it had what they call an a01 hitch. it's fairly new at the time. you could use it on three point equipmentt. can run my mower and brush hogs and different things. i use it for my road trips because it's -- good breaks on

it and headlights and some of the trips we go on we have to have, lights to get back late at night. when i first got back i had to -- hogging the fields, loading up around the barn and so it was a working track for until about 15 years ago. i had to replace the intake and exhaust, tractor still runs but big pieces missing. i like this type of tractor. iteml unique, they don't make them anymore. so, it's nice to have one, i have several of them. i like the sound of them. >> don't forget you can find track tractor tales online. the segments can be down loaded as pod casts i-tunes. today a country church saw absolute goes to the green river united methodist church. the town was settled around the railroad station and services started about 20 years later.

though there was a break from 1938 until 1944, the ladies aid society maintained the building and have been the back bone of the church since. the ongoing minute ministry is making bear for children in the hospital. as always we want to learn about your home church as well. salutes can be sent to the address on the screen. stay with us. the mailbag is next.

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the mailbag. dave noticed my handsome hat in last week's report and asked where he could get one. we will have a link for that but first timely fashion advice on that very topic. >> i would like to address the burning question of mainly head wear. i know the cap has carried us through a lot but folks with the kind of summers we have been having this thing just isn't getting the job done. doctors say it doesn't shade the back of the neck and to many of us have pieces cut off our nose because we don't get the prodefense exhibit we-- protection we need. here is what they found to be useful. i got this at a chemical company field day in august and trust me i was really glad that he handed them out. i know there is a big concern about wearing a hat with more character than you have but i think -- in this case it's about a draw. it's working out all right. now there are problems with

hats like this. when it's windy obviously you have a problem. you can do -- pull this trick but trust me -- this a little to roy rogers for me. i can't handle that but you can do what you want. the main thing is we have a hat now that responds to the climate conditions we are dealing with. the only side effects that i have notice from wearing it is i tend to say things like good day mate and have a beer. i don't know where that's coming from but it's something that you may find yourself falling in to as well. besides as weird as it may seem it's still cooler than the old pit helmet and i have to admit i'm even toying having the corks down on the strings sing. as always we want to hear from you. send comments to mail back at united states farm report or leave us a voicemail.

for all of us, thank you for watching united states farm report. be sure to join us again next week. it's almost hair cut time.how to get this