Need Help Getting Workers? Use This Tax Credit.
Some larger employers have been offering hiring bonuses. But can small businesses afford the same? Thanks to a little-known federal tax program, the answer could be yes.
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Featured – Home Small
What Separate Companies from the Pack? Readiness.
Revisit an article published for members in summer 2020 on how the state of readiness is the cornerstone of success in industry. The author is leading a five-part series for the Association on achieving operational excellence.
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More States Cut Unemployment Benefits
At least 19 states have decided to prematurely cut off the federal boost to regular state unemployment benefits in response to lackluster hiring numbers in spite of a need for workers.
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U.S. Forecasts Highest Prices for Crops in Years
The USDA estimates the corn crop will sell for a season-average $5.70 a bushel, soybeans for $13.85, and wheat for $6.50. Those would be the highest farm gate prices since 2013 for corn and soybeans and the highest since 2014 for wheat.
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Farmers Go Higher-Tech Amid Labor Costs
The market for advanced farming tools was estimated to be about $7 billion in 2020, and it’s projected to reach $12.8 billion over the next four years.
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Farm Financial Performance Index Hits Record High
Farmers expect a strong bottom line this year in spite of rising input costs. The data shows a greater willingness to buy equipment and attend in-person events.
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Tips for Entering Trade Markets
Only 5 percent of the world’s consumers live in the United States. Selling to exclusively domestic markets could significantly limit business potential.
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OSHA Reverses Course on COVID Emergency Standards
OSHA has changed its mind and says it now will issue Emergency Temporary Standards that employers will be expected to follow related to COVID-19 in the workplace. Final rules are expected in June.
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Farmers’ First Step in Equipment Shopping: Online
In survey results exploring farmers’ buying behaviors, researchers found that social media ranks low among strategies for shopping. Print catalogs fare as well as YouTube.
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Association Webinar: Navigating COVID-19 Laws
David James will present a 30-minute virtual session April 28 on the legal questions emerging in the workplace around COVID-19. Contact Matt Rice to register.
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Farm Equipment Sales Index Matches 2013 High
In other news, bankers reported that approximately 9.1 percent of farmland sales over the past the six months have gone to nonfarmer investors.
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Soybean-Spiking Scheme Leads to Prison Time
Soybeans, trading near the highest levels since 2014, currently fetch almost four times the price of oats. That motivated a GM of a warehouse in Iowa to add oats to grains sold as wholly containing soybeans.
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Considerations When Using Criminal Background Checks
The EEOC advises employers conducting background checks on candidates to weigh three factors: the nature and gravity of the offense, the time that has passed since conviction, and
the nature of the job sought.
Travel Comeback? Airlines Enjoy Big Month
Airports screened nearly 1.5 million passengers on Friday. That compares to about 621,000 on the same weekday last year and 2.5 million in 2019. The comparison offers a dramatic contrast in one year’s gain but brings into focus how far the industry has to go to be restored.
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Use Your Website to Build Your Workforce
Manufacturers should market job opportunities on their website with the same focus they bring to marketing their products. It is an entry point to the opportunities and the culture.
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States Challenge Biden’s Order on Keystone Pipeline
Multiple reviews by the U.S. Department of State spanning two administrations have found the pipeline would pose little or no environmental harm, including no negative effects on climate.
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Summit Speaker: Ag Exports, China’s Cheating, Remain Trade Priorities
Starling writes that while Biden’s trade policy is different than his predecessor’s in part, “some of the policy signals are indistinguishable from what you might see beneath Trump administration letterhead.”
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Mandating COVID Vaccines: Permissible with Exceptions
The EEOC says employers can mandate vaccines. If an employer chooses to mandate, and an employee refuses a vaccination and does not indicate the refusal is based on a disability or religious conviction, then employers may prohibit returning the employee to on-site work and may consider termination.
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Farmers Remain Committed to Big Purchases
The Farm Capital Investment Index, which assesses farmers’ willingness to make significant investments, is the third-highest it has been since data collection began in 2015. It is 16 points higher than before the pandemic began.
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U.S. Farmers Are Planting More Row Crops Than Ever
Behind the increase lies a sharp rise in soybean prices over the past eight months—67 percent since June 1. Prices have been lifted by surging demand for U.S. soybeans in China.
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Container Woes: ‘Busiest Period in Trade-Ever’
Group says top-dollar rates for declining service levels cannot continue. Container companies blame some bottlenecks on North American infrastructure.
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Study Finds Gains, Losses in $15 Minimum Wage
The pay raise would mean higher wages for 27 million people but also lead to job loss, higher prices, and a widening federal deficit.
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Texas Farmers, Ranchers, Reel from Winter Blast
Early estimates put crop losses at $300 million. Said one expert: “Peach trees that had started budding, those buds are going to be toast at 15 degrees.”
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Food Inflation: Production Prices Rising
After a year of disruption throughout the food supply system, farmers, especially those who are raising cattle, hogs and poultry, are getting squeezed by the highest corn and soybean prices in seven years.
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Rural Mainstreet: Outlook Soars to Highest in Decade
Data from researchers who assess the economy in rural communities reported signs of strength in farm country.
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Summit: Hear from Pros on Life Post-COVID, Farmer Attitudes, Ag Economy
Based on a preliminary conversation with officers of the board, if the Association can host an effective meeting in the context of compliance with COVID-19 restrictions, we will be in Kansas City from April 7 to 9.
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Farmers’ Willingness to Buy Remains Strong
The index that measures farmers’ willingness to buy equipment held strong at its record high of 93. The percentage of farmers expecting to increase their machinery purchases also held at its highest level of the last year.
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OSHA: Cover Cost of Vaccine, Do Not Distinguish Vaccinated
The guidelines also suggest employers consider protections and reasonable accommodations for workers at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19,
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Machine Guarding Checklist
Member companies have password-protected access to a 66-page document created by Sentry that offers guidance on creating a product safety process. Catch a glimpse of what’s in the manual here.
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Tips for Post-COVID Business Travel
As travel returns, which it no doubt will, it will bring with it a whole host of new complexities around keeping costs and risks low. Companies will need to be prepared with a sound strategy and technology to support it in order to stay on top of the competition.
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Human Connection: How Work Gets Done
As we march ahead on plans for Supply Summit 2021 in Kansas City, (Registration is open!) we take a look at related news and advice on this virtual business world.
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Suppliers Struggle, Steel Prices Soar Amid Rebound
“We can sell everything we have,” said Brad Serlin, president of United Scrap Metal Inc. “Steel mills that were out of the market all of a sudden are doing big orders.”
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Trucking Market Expected to Expand Capacity in 2021
Freight volumes have expanded beyond pre-pandemic levels. The trucking workforce, meanwhile, has contracted. Still, companies are investing in more trucks and plan to expand.
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Requiring Vaccines: Employers Can But Likely Won’t
Employers appear not to be mandating vaccines. Some are offering financial incentives to encourage it.
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Futurist: Broadband, Robots to Transform Ag
“Whether it’s Bezos or Musk or Loon, somebody will crack the code and we will have connectivity on the farm to connect everything together, from grain bins to soil moisture probes,” Robert Saik said.
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New Stimulus Package Expands Benefits, Eligibility
A business is eligible for the second round of PPP if they do not have more than 300 employees and can show a more than 25 percent reduction in gross receipts for any quarter in 2020.
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Circumstances Are Uncertain, the Association is Not
We will create opportunities for substantive, productive conversations with industry experts and industry peers. We promise you ideas, connections, and solutions.
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Ag Barometer: Farmers Ready to Buy
Farmers feel good about their financial positions, according to the Ag Economy Barometer. The Farm Capital Investment Index, which measures producers’ willingness to make big purchases, hit a record high in December.
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Orders Underway for Fully Electric, Driverless Tractor
The tractor, which has a starting price of $50,000, can operate with or without a driver. It begins to ship this fall.
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Ag Bets on Carbon as New Cash Crop
Farmers who participate in the carbon credit programs have generally received between $7 and $40 per acre. An Iowa farmer who received a $75,000 check in November discusses the benefits.
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Soaring Metal Prices Signal Recovery, Drive Up Member Costs
Tim Burenga, a member of the Association’s Board of Directors and executive at Worksaver, says the industry is seeing a “perfect storm” in material prices.
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Fed Plan Unveiled Monday Includes More PPP
The first of the two-part proposal includes funds for another round of the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, as well as money for the unemployed, schools, and vaccine distribution.
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Farmers Plant More Wheat Amid Price Rally
U.S. farmers expanded seedings of winter wheat this fall for the first time in eight years.
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Commentary: Stop the Bleeding in Staff Turnover
You can find out what turnover costs your company using a no-cost online calculator. If the amount alarms you, slow the churn by understanding the causes–not the symptoms–of resignations.
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Fraudsters Make Cash Hauls with SBA COVID Programs
One family allegedly created 72 phony companies to collect $7.2 million through an SBA program. A person posing as Donald Trump won a $5,000 grant.
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Shipping Containers for Ag in Short Supply
U.S. retail demand for imports has pushed container freight rates from China to the U.S. West Coast beyond $4,000 per container. Meanwhile, the average price to ship goods by container from Los Angeles to Shanghai has been $518. That’s creating a pinch for farm exports.
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IRS Makes Consequential Change to PPP Rules
The IRS is disallowing tax deductions on PPP expenses if a company “reasonably believes” that a loan may be forgiven.
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Equipment Trend Lags Gender Trend in Ag
More than a third of farmers are women. They use equipment designed for a male frame, which increases the likelihood of in jury and slows their productivity. Businesses are surfacing to meet their unique needs.
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WSJ Commentary: What Biden May Mean for Business
What might a new administration mean to trade, taxes, and COVID-19?
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‘Help Me Help You’ Remember That Line?
We are creating new ways to be of value to the shortline industry and our members, and we are asking you to help define our direction. Please take five minutes to complete a membership survey.
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