Potential interference with GPS signals was too much to overcome to make the proposed LightSquared wireless network feasible in rural areas as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced last Tuesday it would not allow the project to move forward.

Yet, Butler also described his frustration with the way a proposed livestock marketing rule, or “GIPSA rule” was beaten into submission by what Butler called cowardly moves in Congress, and “vicious lies” attacking him personally in the battle over a farm-bill rule on livestock.

“There’s excitement in the air,” he said. “The price of bred females is going up. The market is really good on calf prices and yearling prices, and fed cattle prices, too.

Nearly 300 people crammed into a motel meeting room to attend the first cash rent public auction in the Mason City, IA, area Saturday, Feb. 4. About 25 active bidders raised hands or nodded heads as two-year leases for more than 2,250 tillable corn/soybean acres in 14 tracts went up for grabs.

A Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) lawsuit filed last January could lead to restrictions or the outright banning of many pesticides and other chemicals to protect endangered species. Ongoing settlement negotiations between CBD and agriculture groups could wrap up this spring, assuming a settlement can be reached.

Corporate profits are up 15 percent over last year. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say we were in the middle of a big economic expansion,” said Dotzour. “But investors are not willing to pay for those profits and companies are not willing to hire because no one thinks Con-.

“This is something I have been harping on privately to various groups and publicly,” Lucas said in a phone interview last Wednesday with DTN. “If we don’t come to some sort of a practical consensus, if we can’t march together, if we are fractured up, then we’re lost.

“I want to thank J. Dudley Butler for his outstanding service as administrator of the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement distributed by his office.

Farm Bureau delegates reversed their position last Tuesday from last year’s farm-policy recommendations that had effectively defended keeping much of the commodity title from the 2008 farm bill intact. Instead, Farm Bureau stripped its policies supporting direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, and the Average Crop Revenue Election program.

For much of West Texas, drought conditions are nothing new, but it was hard to find anyone in 2011 who recalled a worse drought. Amarillo, TX, generally averages 20 inches of precipitation annually. Through mid-August, the city registered 2.5 inches. By late December, that had bumped up to 6 inches, reflecting a minor fall reprieve.