Pub. 4 2015 Issue 3

l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s 12 W ELCOMING OVER 250 BANKERS TO the K-State Alumni Center on March 11- 12, the KBA- Kansas Ag Bankers (KAB) Division recorded the highest attendance to date. In the spirit of embracing new challenges and in recognition of the newly constructed headquarters for the Kansas Department of Agriculture, the KAB division incorporated a charity food drive. Conference attendees contributed over 200 lbs. of food and donations from the KAB Division bankers and KBA staff totaled $1,000.00 for the Neighbor to Neighbor Food Drive, hosted by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Dr. David Kohl was welcomed by KBA-KAB Division President Troy Soukup. Dr. Kohl focused on the big picture in agriculture and his outlook is cautiously optimistic. The “grow, grow, grow cycle” is over and operations must diversify and use moderation going forward, he explained. The strengthening dollar will decrease imports and the “Big Mac index” will be evident with global economies experiencing deflation and debt issues. Dr. Kohl outlined strategies necessary to be resilient in this changing world market. Mark Gardiner, Gardiner Angus Ranch, educated attendees on the carcass improvements made using artificial insemination from high value carcass Angus bulls on typical southern-origin beef cows. Enhanced technology in molecular breeding has produced seed-stock that is adding value to the beef industry. The data driven process has produced superior Angus genetics. The Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey addressed the conference group outlining the top priorities of her office in the coming year. Following her presentation the conference transitioned to the new Department of Agriculture headquarters on the Kansas State University campus where facility tours were given. John Jenkinson gave the Sunrise Ag News Report to kick off day two of the conference. His presentation was followed by Randy Blach, Cattle Fax. He explained that cattle slaughter has seen the largest decrease since 2004 when the Canadian border was closed. There is an active focus on rebuilding herds and the coming year production numbers will remain low. Peak profits for standing beef will be seen in 2015. He expects an expansion in beef slaughter in 2016 and 2017 and projects similar activity in poultry and pork markets. Randy noted that there will be greater profit in the cow-calf operations due to continued high calf prices. Andrew Gottschalk, HedgersEdge.com LLC, gave a presentation that addressed a long term look at commodity price cycles. The first thing he noted was that the world is producing more grain than we can consume. Production has caught up with the elevated demand created by federal ethanol policy. Also noting that worldwide poultry production is up due to affordability, but pork is flat and beef is down, similar to what we see in the United States. “We don’t live in a vacuum and the U.S. percentage of world production is decreasing,” Gottschalk stated. He continued “As world competition has intensified, U.S. producers must become more efficient.” There has been a sharp increase in grain production in South America, Africa and Asia. Soybean and bean meal is still holding strong due to demand from China. Darrell Holaday, Advanced Market Concepts/Country Futures, closed the conference with a dynamic presentation titled, “Top Ten Things Kansas Ag Lenders Should Consider in 2015”. Darrell detailed that the biggest concern worldwide currently is deflation. Quantitative Easing (QE) was introduced by the Federal Reserve in the United States, but has now been adopted as world policy. Darrel believes that there are signs that China is pulling back and demand may be down because of lagging stimulus. Holaday continued that he believes the soybean market is giving false signals and an increase in production worldwide will result in a drop in prices. KAB President Troy Soukup, Citizens State Bank & Trust, Ellsworth, presented the 2015 Pioneer Award to Jim Birkbeck, Denison State Bank, Holton. The Kansas Ag Bankers’ Pioneer Award exemplifies the best in agricultural lending by continually bringing credit to the agricultural banking community. Jim has contributed time, energy and expertise to the ag banking profession through involvement in state and local voluntary organizations that have benefited from his wisdom and commitment to service. BREAKING RECORDS AND STARTING NEW TRENDS AT THE 2015 KBA AG BANKERS CONFERENCE Mike Palen, Western State Bank, Garden City, Timothy Binns, Bankers Bank of Kansas, Leonard Herman, Western State Bank, Garden City, Mike Pritchett, First National Bank, Hutchinson.