Checkoff-funded Crop Quality Survey shows less regional variation in protein, oil levels

ST. LOUIS (February 18, 2014) - The average protein and oil levels in the 2013 U.S. soybean crop ticked upward, according to the soy-checkoff-funded Crop Quality Survey. Average oil levels jumped to 19 percent, a 0.5- point increase from 2012 levels, while average protein levels grew by 0.4 percentage points to 34.7 percent.

U.S. soy's biggest customer, the global animal agriculture sector, takes note of the protein content in the soybeans it uses, says Laura Foell, chair of the United Soybean Board's Meal Action Team.

"Our customers buy our soybeans for the components: protein and oil," says Foell, who farms in Schaller, Iowa. "The animal agriculture sector uses protein to feed animals, and the food industry uses the majority of soybean oil for human consumption and the rest for industrial-like biodiesel. The more protein and oil we have in our soybeans, the more product we have for our end-customers. And more demand could lead to a better price for our crop."

The study found less regional variation in protein and oil levels in 2013 than in previous years. These typical regional differences result from climate events and other factors outside of farmers' control.

Foell says farmers should talk with their seed representatives about soybean varieties that will produce higher levels of protein and oil without sacrificing yield.

The U.S. soy industry provides its customers with a total quality experience: high-performing products delivered by a reliable, consistent and sustainable soy supply chain. And the checkoff's international arm, the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), will use the results of this year's crop quality survey to help build and maintain a preference for U.S. soy products in the international market.

The 70 farmer-directors of USB oversee the investments of the soy checkoff to maximize profit opportunities for all U.S. soybean farmers. These volunteers invest and leverage checkoff funds to increase the value of U.S. soy meal and oil, to ensure U.S. soybean farmers and their customers have the freedom and infrastructure to operate, and to meet the needs of U.S. soy's customers. As stipulated in the federal Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soy checkoff.

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Economist Says Trust Fund for Boomers Has Disappeared

 

For many baby boomers, it's comforting to believe that part of the 12.4 percent Social Security payroll tax they (or they and their employer) have been paying is going into a $2.7 trillion Social Security Trust Fund designed specifically to ensure the tidal wave of boomers now retiring will be assured their benefits.

For those already on Social Security, the taxes they pay on a portion of their benefits has also been earmarked for the fund since 1983.

Economist and former professor Allen W. Smith, however, says there is no trust fund - and a number of elected officials, including former President George W. Bush, have acknowledged that.

"To make a long story very short, we are supposed to have $2.7 trillion in Social Security surplus, all earmarked for the baby boomers' retirement, due to money generated by amendments approved in 1983," says Smith, who has researched the topic for 15 years and is author of several books, including "The Looting of Social Security" and "Ronald Reagan and the Great Social Security Heist," (www.thebiglie.net).

"But there's no money in the fund."

Where did it go? Four administrations, from Reagan to George W. Bush, spent it on myriad non-Social Security efforts.

"Obama didn't have a chance to use it - it was gone," Smith says.

The 1983 amendments approved under Reagan generated revenue by accelerating Social Security payroll tax increases, allowing a portion of benefits to be taxed, and delaying cost-of-living adjustments from June to December.

According to the Social Security Administration website:  "The surpluses are invested in (and the trust fund holds) special-issue Treasury bonds."

But what's actually sitting in the Trust Fund is non-marketable government IOUs - worthless, Smith says.

The fact has been publicly acknowledged by a 2009 Social Security trustees report;  Sen. Tom Coburn; and President George W. Bush, who in 2005 said, "There is no trust fund, just IOUs that I saw firsthand ... future generations will pay - pay for either in higher taxes or reduced benefits or cuts to other critical government programs."

Recently, Speaker of the House John Boehner offered a sobering statement on ABC's "This Week," on Oct. 6, 2013: "...Ten thousand baby boomers like me (are) retiring every single day - 70,000 this week; 3.5 million this year. And, it's not like there's money in Social Security or Medicare. The government, over the last 30 years, have spent it all."

Smith examines what needs to happen starting today.

·        Get the secret out. The total cost of paying full benefits in 2010 exceeded Social Security tax revenue by $49 billion, and the gap between revenue and costs will become larger in the coming years. "On Sept. 27, 2000, I appeared on CNN Today to discuss my book, 'The Alleged Budget Surplus, Social Security, and Voodoo Economics;' the host did not take me seriously and asked me if I was 'a voice crying in the wilderness,' " Smith says. "I'd quickly realized that he was right, with the exception of multiple statements by politicians and officials."

·        Get the AARP, NCPSSM and the media involved. The only way the government was able to pay full benefits in 2010 was to borrow billions from China, among other creditors. The public is repeatedly being told by government officials and leaders from the AARP and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare that the trust fund has enough money pay full benefits until 2033. "I have tried engaging the leaders of these organizations with my research, but my attempts have been unsuccessful," Smith says.

·        Get the baby boomers engaged in protesting once again. Boomers are no strangers to taking to the streets to express their outrage. However, "I'm beginning to think that it's going to take missed checks before the public gets raises their voices. Unfortunately, you just don't know what you have until it's gone."

About Allen W. Smith, Ph.D.: Allen W. Smith, (www.thebiglie.net), has devoted much of his adult life to battling economic illiteracy and promoting economic education. He taught economics for 30 years before retiring as professor of economics at Eastern Illinois University in 1998 to become a full-time writer. "Understanding Inflation and Unemployment," Smith's first book, became an alternate selection of Fortune Book Club when it was published in 1976. "Understanding Economics," (Random House; 1986), was used in more than 600 schools in 48 states. In recent years, Smith has focused his research and writing on government finance and Social Security. He has discussed economics and Social Security on national television, and he has been a guest on more than 100 radio talk shows. Smith holds a B.S. in Education degree from Ball State University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Indiana University.

Rev. Robert Jones in the Quad-Cities for Blues in the Schools, Feb. 24-28

For over 25 years Robert Jones has been a champion of American Roots music, with a special emphasis on traditional African American music. He is also a storyteller, a preacher, an artist, and a teacher.  The Mississippi Valley Blues Society presents Robert Jones as its February Blues in the Schools artist-in-residency for the week of February 24-28 for workshops at 10 area schools and two open-to-the-public performances:

• Wednesday, Feb. 26:  Cool Beanz?1325 30^th St., Rock Island IL;  6:30-8:30 p.m.
• Thursday, Feb.27:  River Music Experience?2^nd and Main, Davenport;  7:00-9:00 p.m.

Robert Jones says, "Stories, spirituals, blues, work songs, field hollers, country music, folk songs, gospel and original songs are all a part of fabric of America's culture. This is the music that gave the world blues, jazz, R&B, bluegrass, rock and even Hip Hop. They give insight into the way that we have lived and the ways that we continue to live together.  I feel it is the responsibility of the artist to pass along and to build upon that which has been learned from earlier generations."

Robert Jones  plays guitar, fiddle, harmonica, quills, banjo and mandolin.  He's played with John Hammond, the Holmes Brothers, Hubert Sumlin, Cephas & Wiggins, Keb Mo', Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Howard Armstrong, Nappy Brown, Roy BookBinder, David Bromberg, Chris Smither, Guy Davis, Pinetop Perkins, Saffire, and Willie Dixon.  This faculty member at Wayne State University, Port Townsend Blues Week. and Fur Peace Ranch is the recipient of the international Blues Foundation's  2007 Keeping the Blues Alive award  for Education and was the 2010 Teller-in-Residence?National Storytelling Center, Jonesborough TN.

Robert Jones was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1956. His father was from West Pointe, Mississippi and his mother hailed from Conecuh County, Alabama. Consequently, Robert grew up in Detroit in a very Southern household. Early on Robert Jones fell under the influence of his maternal grandmother's record collection. He grew up listening to and loving a wide variety of music, especially the blues.

By the age of 17 Robert had already amassed a record collection of early blues and begun to teach himself guitar and harmonica. By his mid-twenties Robert was hosting an award-winning radio show on WDET-FM, Detroit called "Blues From the Lowlands."  Concentrating primarily on traditional acoustic blues, Robert started performing at some of Detroit's best music venues including the Soup Kitchen Saloon, The Ark, and Sully's. Those early venues led to a touring career that included the Chicago Blues Festival, King Biscuit Blues Festival, Duluth Blues Festival and tours throughout Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Influenced by legendary bluesman Willie Dixon, Robert developed an educational program called, "Blues For Schools". This program has literally taken him into classrooms all over the country, and for approximately the next 15 years Robert polished his craft as both as a performer and a music educator.

Still, Robert considers his greatest honor to be his call to the gospel of ministry.  Robert began to study under Rev. James Robinson, Sr. at the Sweet Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit. Emphasizing the cultural, historical and educational aspects of blues, Jones began to think of his music as an outreach of his ministry. Essentially, he was a singer who preached. However, the death of his pastor in January of 1999 would change the direction of Jones' life and his music.

In 2002, with his home church in the fourth year of upheaval at the loss of its leader, and with no end to the confusion in sight, Robert was called by his church to become its next pastor. Over a period of a few months Robert started the process of becoming a preacher who sings instead of a singer that preaches. During this period Robert Jones gave up his highly rated radio program and essentially gave up performing. He reshaped is "Blues For Schools" program into "American Roots Music In Education" (ARMIE), a program that could encompass a wider variety of music including spirituals, gospel, and folk music.

2006 marked a decided return to performance. Especially influenced by sacred musicians such as Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Willie Johnson, Rev. Dan Smith, Joshua White, Blind Connie Williams and Rev. Robert Wilkins, Rev. Robert B. Jones now presents "Holy Blues" to new audiences. Whether he is performing alone, with his good friend Matt Watroba or with his wife of twenty years, Sister Bernice Jones, Rev. Jones is now enjoying, more than ever, the thrill of making music and spreading the blues gospel to ever expanding audiences.

New audiences have included the National Storytelling Festival (Jonesborough TN), the Just Stories Festival in Chicago, IL, MerleFest in NC, Wheatland Festival?Remus MI, and Manchester and Stamford, England, and workshop and school residencies in London, ON, Canada;  Fredricton, New Brunswick, Canada;  Summer Acoustic Music Week at Geneva Point, NH;  Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch in Pomeroy, OH; Swannanoa Traditional Song Week at Warren Wilson College inNC, Port Townsend WA Blues Week, and others.

Among Robert's new pursuits is a program that will combine storytelling, vocals, instrumental music and artwork to explore and showcase the earliest known aspects of African American music and culture. In other words, Robert is looking to explore and share the music and stories that came before the blues.  Robert continues to share his love and fascination for the roots and branches of the blues.

Robert Jones's weeklong residency for the MVBS Blues in the Schools program is made possible with generous support by the Riverboat Development Authority.  Other sponsors are The Lodge, the River Music Experience, the Moline Foundation, Alcoa, and KALA radio.

Nova Singers Presents: Music of the Deep North

 

Sweden, Finland, and the Baltics are famous for their wealth of choral and folk music. This unique program features a wide variety of music from this extraordinary part of the world.  Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi's masterpiece, which tells the story of a 1994 maritime disaster, is one of the most powerful and challenging pieces written for choir.  Brahms wrote his Nachtwache I and II at the end of his life and loved them so much that he wanted them sung at his funeral! Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's Nunc dimittis is quietly beautiful.  Northern Lights, written by young Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds, combines a folk song with English poetry, chimes and water-tuned glasses to evoke the experience of viewing the northern lights.  A set of Swedish folk songs, in Swedish and English, rounds out this Scandinavian program.

Artistic Director Laura Lane says, "This is the coolest program we've done since Drum Song!  Every piece is completely different from every other piece, each one offering its own unique beauty and soundscape. I think audience members will love hearing the traditional sounds of Brahms and the simple beauty of the Swedish folk songs. But folks will also hear special vocal techniques including whispering, chanting, humming, sliding and traditional Lithuanian tongue-clicking. This program also features some instruments that I've never heard live before, such as an ocarina and water-tuned glasses. I'm really excited to be doing Esenvalds' Northern Lights:  the chimes and the water-tuned glasses give it a uniquely haunting atmosphere."

Nova Singers, a professional vocal ensemble under the direction of Dr. Laura Lane, hopes to share our musical soul with you.  Nova Singers is known for bringing a wide variety of choral music to its audiences, and for the beauty and charm the singers impart to their music.

Tickets will be available at the door. Admission is $18 for adults and $15 for seniors. Students are admitted free of charge. Nova Singers season tickets will still be available through this performance.  For information about tickets, recordings, or other Nova Singers events, call 309-341-7038, or e-mail nova@knox.edu or like our Facebook page.

Music of the Deep North is sponsored by Blick Art Materials.  Nova Singers' 2013-2014 season is partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.??