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National News |
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Updated Friday, May 5
FARM BILL ANNOUNCED The Farm Bill was announced on Thursday. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin stood with other committee members to discuss the bill’s details. The bi-partisan bill provides for investments in nutrition, conservation, the school lunch program, organic farming, and rural development. Harking says the bill protects the interests of farmers and consumers alike, “the bill provides a strong safety net, so its good for our farmers and ranchers. Consumers will like it because it increases farmers markets and insures a safe and dependable supply of high quality food. For low income Americans it insures that nutrition needs are met and for school children it increases their access to fresh fruits and vegetables.” The new bill also makes several changes to how farmers are compensated, “the final farm bill conference report significantly reforms traditional farm support programs. We impose caps on the level of farm income with an adjusted gross income test for those participating in commodity programs. It improves transparency and accountability by rebalancing target prices and loan rates for adjusting commodities and making farm program payments directly attributed to individuals. And the three entity rule is eliminated. The conference report includes a new option for farmers beginning with next year’s crop year; to choose to participate in a state-level revenue protection system.” Ranking member Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss says the new bill will be more market oriented than past bills, “what we did in 2002 has been continued in this farm bill and that is we developed a very market oriented process so our farmers and ranchers can achieve their income stream from the marketplace versus it coming from Washington. That’s what they want and that’s what we want. I’m very proud of the Commodity Title. It’s been eluded to that we changed payment limits, which as most know, is very important to my part of the country. We did make real reforms in all of the Commodity Title, but no more significant reforms than in the payment limit provisions.” The new Farm Bill is expected to be brought to the floor of the House and Senate next Wednesday.
VETO THREAT OF FARM BILL RENEWED The White House has directly renewed its threat to veto the farm bill, claiming it costs too much. The White House itself, and not USDA, has told top GOP farm bill negotiators Saxby Chambliss and Bob Goodlatte the bill is still not acceptable, but on cost, not just policy. Senate Budget Chair and Ag Democrat Kent Conrad says the line in the sand seems to have shifted once again, “they’re now saying that the real issue is the total cost of the bill; whether $10-billion is really $10-billion.” The White House earlier charged the bill was $18-billion over budget, based largely on program timing shifts. But Conrad argues the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation are not counting program timing as added costs, “we are committed to an official, scored bill that is $10-billion above baseline. Not $11-billion. Not $15-billion. Not $18-billion. And we are following the rules. Now if they want to start making up their own rules, we will never reach conclusion; and that’s what we’re hearing from them.” Conrad claims the top negotiators tried to be sensitive to White House concerns in their latest payment and income limits and other proposals that they were shopping around to lawmakers late Tuesday. Top GOP Ag Senator Saxby Chambliss had this on the latest limits, “if they’re reasonable, it’s probably going to change from the way we were.” But the farm bill negotiators must still resolve a few issues including controversial sugar provisions, get final bill cost estimates and make any needed spending changes before sending a bill back to the House and Senate late this week or next.
TEXAS GOVERNOR SEEKS PARTIAL WAIVER ON RFS The American Farm Bureau Federation is disappointed with suggestions that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency partially waive the national Renewable Fuel Standard. President Bob Stallman says this action will neither reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil nor noticeably reduce domestic corn prices. His comments were made in response to requests by Texas Governor Rick Perry for a partial waiver. The RFS mandates that by 2015, the United States produce 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol. Last year, before the upswing in corn prices, the United States was producing seven-billion gallons of ethanol in its goal toward the RFS mandate. Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen sees no erosion of political support for corn-based ethanol even though two states, Texas and Connecticut, are trying to opt out of the federal mandate that requires greater use of ethanol and other biofuels. According to Dineen, public policy-makers understand biofuels aren't the only factor, “they also understand that we have got to do something to reduce our dependence on oil and the move towards biofuels is important. They also understand that if we take our legs out from underneath this important industry today, the ability to move forward and build the ethanol business will be greatly undermined.” Dinneen cited studies indicating only four-percent of the increase in food prices can be attributed to record-high corn prices and added that a recent analysis done by Merrill Lynch suggests that if ethanol and other renewables were removed from the fuel mix - gas prices would be 15-percent higher.
EARLIER SOYBEAN PLANTING MAY IMPROVE YIELDS Research has shown that the optimum time to plant soybeans can vary from year to year and from region to region. But in the Midwest, research at a variety of universities shows a similar trend. According to University of Wisconsin Extension Soybean Specialist Shawn Conley, that trend is earlier planting; the last week in April through the first week to 10 days in Ma; and results in higher yields for Midwestern growers, “generally what we’ve seen is higher pod counts per acre, driven by more nodes per plant. It’s really boosting our soybean yields. When growers look at optimizing their planting date what they really need to look at, for example, is weather. This year the weather is obviously slowing down the soybean planting. Growers need to also make sure they factor in the crop insurance need that you have.” With an earlier planting date, Conley says data supports using a late maturity group soybean, “the reason for this is an earlier planting date basically lengthens our seed fill period. By planting a later maturing soybean, we’re able to capture that longer seed fill period in terms of weather conditions. For example, data from 2007 clearly shows that we need a late maturing soybean to capture yield potential’ mainly driven by our rainfalls in ’07.” According to Conley, the early planted soybeans had completed much of the grain fill period prior to the mid-August rains across the Midwest while the late maturity group soybeans were still at the growth stage, and therefore were able to capture the rainfall and improve yields. Of course, as Conley notes, there are different yield components when it comes to soybeans. He says one component, the number of seeds per pod, doesn’t shift across planting dates or cultivars. But the other components, number of pods per acre and seed size, do, “in our early planting dates, yield is driven by the number of pods per acre. However as we start delaying and getting later and later plantings such as into the end of May and the early part of June, seed size comes in to help compensate for a reduction in pods. So we kind of see a shift in importance from early planting to late planting and how that soybean plant can compensate for these different environments.” As growers prepare to plant this year, Conley says they not only need to wait for the fields to dry out; but they need to know the germination test along with waiting for the fields to dry out. Conley says growers need to know the germination test and adjust planting rates based on that information, “we are so used to having 90-92-percent germ and having very good seed quality, that growers have been cutting their seeding rates. However in a year like this; given the environment and given the seed quality; growers really need to check that tag, up our seeding rates and also just be cautious that if they’re planting in a poor soil environment that they could have some issues with emergence due to the lag in seed quality that is being seen this year.” The bottom line to ensure good stands and maximize yield, according to Conley, is that growers should not cut seeding rates as low as they have become used to.
CSP SIGN-UP CONTINUES Conservation Security Program signup is underway through May 16. Conservation Security Program Manager Kim Weiber says, “this is a program that rewards producers for applying stewardship and conservation practices to their farms; and its historical conservation that they put on in the past and are maintaining. This program rewards those producers with financial incentives to maintain those practices and add new conservation to their ag operations.” The conservation program is signup is open to agriculture producers in the Boardman Charlevoix River Watershed, according to Weiber, “it includes Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmett, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Lenawee and parts of Otsego counties.” Weiber says the program offers annual payments to farmers to support conservation and environmental management practices on working farm land. CSP is open to all types of agricultural producers including orchard operators, livestock farmers and corn and soybean growers. Interested farmers are encouraged to contact their local Natural Resources Conservation Service office as soon as possible to begin the application process. Farmers can also learn more about CSP online at www.nrcs.usda.gov.
SENATORS URGE EPA TO HALT EXPANSION OF ETHANOL PRODUCTION Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain of Arizona and 23 other U.S. Senators, all Republicans, have urged the Environmental Protection Agency to halt the expansion of ethanol production. Their goal is to provide relief to higher food prices around the world. But, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, says the request would cut short the promise of biofuels for our nation’s energy security and is without merit. In fact, Senator Harkin says EPA should not only uphold the ethanol standards contained in the energy bill, but expand the RFS to 36 billion gallons by 2022.
USDA & CFIA MODIFY GUIDELINES ON POTATO TRADE USDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have modified guidelines to allow for the continued trade of potatoes should there be future detections of potato cyst nematodes in either the United States or Canada. As part of the revised export certification requirements, all fields used to produce seed potatoes for trade between Canada and the United States must be soil sampled using a full field grid pattern. As a result, the previous sampling technique; the perimeter sampling approach; no longer meets the agreed-upon requirements. All potato shipments between the two countries also must include a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration confirming that the seed potatoes originated from fields tested and found free of potato cyst nematodes.
ARS SURVEY SHOWS LOSSES TO BEE COLONIES OVER WINTER A survey conducted by the Agricultural Research Service and the Apiary Inspectors of America shows how well-managed colonies made it through the winter. Beekeepers reported a total loss of about 36.1-percent of their honey bee colonies. That’s up about 13.5-percent from the previous winter. Losses attributed to Colony Collapse Disorder appear to be about the same, with 36-percent of the operations reporting some lost colonies in which all adult bees disappeared. The combined survey checked on nearly 19-percent of the country's 2.44 million colonies.
EASING RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARDS COULD PUSH FOOD PRICES HIGHER National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman testified before the House Energy Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality Tuesday. He noted that easing the Renewable Fuels Standard; as two dozen Republican Senators are requesting; would actually send fuel prices higher, resulting in even higher food prices. Despite the finger-pointing and disinformation campaign against ethanol, Tolman said the RFS approved by Congress in December has been critical to growth and economic development in rural America. He said the energy bill was sound policy that encouraged a diversification of renewable resources, further reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign sources of oil.
HIGHER FEED PRICES TO COST PORK PRODUCERS PROFITS Purdue Agricultural economist Chris Hurt says our nation’s pork producers will lose as much as $3.8 billion this year, due mainly to higher feed costs. He says the pork industry is a financial disaster in progress. As pork producers cut back production, the flood of more pork to the marketplace will add more pressure to the prices they receive. But, soon, prices should begin to rise to levels that will provide producers with more of a chance to earn a profit.
SENATOR ASKS FOR TEMPORARY HALT OF OIL DEPOSITS INTO SPR Senator Chuck Grassley has sent a letter to the President encouraging Mr. Bush to temporarily halt deposits of crude oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. By doing so, Grassley says - we can make an immediate, positive impact on the price families are paying to fill their gas tanks. The Reserve is important to our economic and national security but as Mr. Grassley puts it, with the large amount already in place, a temporary halt should help give Americans some breathing room.
COMPANY RECALLS 143-TONS OF MEAT & POULTRY In what is being called one of the biggest meat recalls in history, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service reports that Gourmet Boutique has recalled about 143 tons of fresh and frozen meat and poultry. Regulators say the recalled meats are chicken, turkey, beef and pork. It is possibly contaminated with fatal listeria germs. No illnesses have been reported.
ALL EYES FOCUSED ON U.S. CORN PRODUCERS Eyes from around the world are focused on United States corn farmers. They are watching to see how well spring planting goes here. If planting gets bogged down then prices are likely to sky-rocket as a bad planting season indicates the possibility of a poor harvest season and fewer crops to harvest. But if all the intended acreage gets planted to corn on time, then an ample supply of corn will be available for feeding livestock and producing energy. USDA, this week, reported about 27-percent of the U.S. corn crop was seeded. Planting progress still remains 32-percent behind the five year average.
NFU HOSTS FARM BILL STAKEHOLDER MEETING National Farmers Union President Tom Buis hosted a meeting of farm bill stakeholders on Tuesday; the purpose of which, according to Buis, was to show support for the compromise bill that’s being finalized by the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, “absent the decision on the final eight or nine provisions, I think most people are comfortable in their support. I think we have to counter that negative image that is out there. When the President of the United States calls it bloated, when in fact it is entirely paid for by cuts in existing programs and $10-billion new money.” Buis disputed President Bush’s contention that the bill would help farmers who don’t need help. Despite White House statements to the contrary, Buis claims there is significant reform in this farm bill, “it eliminates the triple entity provision. It requires direct attribution so you can absolutely count how much is going to an individual. It reforms the adjusted gross income, which under current law is $2.5-million. We don’t know the final number there, but it’s probably going to be in the neighborhood of $500,000 to $750,000; which is an improvement.” Enough improvement, according to Buis, that he expects a strong bi-partisan vote for the farm bill when it reaches the House and Senate floors.
AG SECRETARY THINKS FARM BILL WILL BE VETOED On Wednesday, President Bush and Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer met to discuss the farm bill. Ed Schafer said the bill as it stood, from what he knew, would not get the President's signature. President Bush has numerous problems with the deal conferees have been hashing out for the last month on the bill. Conferees have been negotiating behind closed doors on tweaks designed to address some administration objections including a new Adjusted Gross Income limit that is reportedly now under a million dollars. As of Wednesday, the conferees were awaiting a final budget “score” for their plan from the Congressional Budget Office.
LMA REQUESTS MEETING WITH HUMANE SOCIETY OFFICIALS The Humane Society of the United States is back in the news, this time with another video reportedly shot in four separate states showing downer cattle. The Humane Society of the United States says during April and May, HSUS investigators found two downed cows left in the parking lot for four hours at the Livestock Exchange in Hereford, Texas. At the Westminster Auction in Maryland, investigators documented a downed cow abandoned outside of the auction barn, left to suffer through the night. At the Clovis Livestock Auction in New Mexico, two downed cows were filmed over a period of five hours. And HSUS investigators documented a calf only days old that was unable to stand and left to die at the Greencastle Livestock Auction in Pennsylvania. HSUS admitted, in their letter to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, that those filming the reported mishandling observed and did nothing about animals in distress, sometimes for several hours. The Livestock Marketing Association saysthis calls into question their genuine concern for animal welfare. LMA has requested a meeting with HSUS officials. U.S. Ag Secretary Ed Schafer says the treatment of animals shown in the latest video released by the Humane Society of the United States is not acceptable, but does not present a food safety issue. In this case, the USDA is reaching out to states and industry groups to address the issue. Schafer says it is his sincere desire to work with HSUS to resolve these atrocities. He says it's essential they work together in good faith to address the issue and ensure animals are treated with care and dignity.
COMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING ON FUEL AND FOOD DEBATE On Tuesday the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs held a hearing on fuel subsidies and the impact on food prices. In opening remarks, Senator Joe Lieberman said the good intentions of last December's energy bill calling for five-fold increase in ethanol production may have caused a bad consequence of rising food prices. Bruce Babcock, director of Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, testified that the best approach to current ethanol subsidies, the blenders credit, the renewable fuels standard, and the ethanol import tariff, would be to eliminate all three. Corn prices could drop by almost 13-percent, to just below $5.00 per bushel.
ICG SAYS WAIVING RFS WOULD HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES The Illinois Corn Growers Association says discussions in Washington, DC related to waiving the nation's Renewable Fuels Standard would have serious unintended consequences that would result in higher fuel and food prices. Art Bunting, ICGA president, says the $120 price for a barrel for oil is the main cause of higher food prices. Bunting says ethanol is the only competitor in the marketplace, and the RFS is giving us the foothold needed to expand this domestic industry. A group of 22 senators sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency asking them to consider waiving the RFS in light of escalating food prices.
RUSSIA TO ACCEPT IMPORTS OF U.S. LIVESTOCK
NEW LEGISLATION TAKES AIM AT ENERGY LOOPHOLE U.S. Senator Russ Feingold says new legislation providing oversight of energy markets will be included in the final Farm Bill. The Wisconsin Democrat says the initiative closes a loophole that has allowed oil and gas traders to make electronic energy trades without federal oversight, which has led to market manipulation and speculation. Feingold adds - if this energy loophole is not fixed we will not be able to determine if American consumers are paying a fair price for energy.
COALITION URGES COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER THEIR SUGGESTIONS ON FEDERAL CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION A coalition of 13 ag organizations joined together to urge the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to consider their suggestions concerning federal climate change legislation. Those suggestions include providing the USDA implementation authority over the agriculture offset allowance program, eliminating the artificial cap on use of domestic offset allowances, and allowing stackable credits from participating in more than one environmental program. The complete list can be found at the National Farmers Union website.
AFBF SAYS THERE IS NO SHORT-TERM FIX TO WORLD FOOD SITUATION The American Farm Bureau Federation said Friday there is no short-term fix for the complex global food situation. In a statement on global food prices submitted to Congress, AFBF said there are many factors causing an increase in food prices, including escalating energy prices, demand and weather. The organization also said the overall food price issue is much larger than the U.S. and requires global solutions. Domestically, said AFBF, the spiraling cost of natural gas and crude oil are having a major impact on production costs for farmers, ranchers and the entire food production chain. Because of the renewable fuels standard (RFS), gas prices have already been lowered by as much as 15 percent according to AFBF and other studies, saving the consumer roughly 50-cents per gallon.
NGCA PLEASED WITH NEWEST VERSION OF FARM BILL The National Corn Growers Association is pleased the latest version of the farm bill, as agreed to early Friday, includes an optional market-based revenue countercyclical program. For the first time, producers will have the option to participate in a state-level crop revenue protection program to better manage their risk. In addition, the Energy Title increases incentives to speed up commercialization of advanced biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. Members of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee continue to work on a number of tax provisions for the bill. The new Conservation Title also assists producers by providing incentives for improving and maintaining sound conservation practices. The Congressional Budget Office still has to score the latest farm bill package before it goes to the president’s desk.
GLOBAL WARMING CREATING NEW CHALLENGES IN RACE TO FEED THE WORLD’S POPULATION In the race to feed the world, scientists say, global warming is going to present a whole new world of challenges. But for some locations it may be a trade-off. Lisa Ainsworth, a molecular biologist with USDA, points to Northeastern China where she says low temperatures, a short growing season and lack of water limit production, so rising temperatures in the future may have beneficial impacts there. However, in the southern parts of the country, higher temperatures will likely cause yield losses.
BEEF PROCESSORS VIOLATE HUMANE HANDLING OF LIVESTOCK PROCEDURES Two of the nation's largest beef processors were slapped with humane handling violations, stemming from government inspections of slaughterhouses. One processor’s violations were rescinded after the company appealed. Both companies provide meat for the National School Lunch Program. Audits of 18 slaughterhouses found that some cattle were not being stunned properly on the first try, others were subject to overcrowding conditions, and others had to be electrically prodded to get them to move. The Ag Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service conducted the audits after humane handling violations at a processor in Chino, Calif., led to the largest beef recall in the nation's history. That plant, which was a major supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program, was shut down after the violations were captured on video by an undercover investigator of the Humane Society of the United States.
USDA TO PURCHASE PORK FOR NATION’S FOOD PROGRAMS The USDA has announced a purchase that will address the needs of both the pork industry and the nation's feeding programs. The purchase of $50-million worth of pork products for the child nutrition and other domestic feeding programs is meant to help the pork industry that is suffering from doubling feed prices. The nation's pork producers spoke with Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer about the struggle the industry is facing due to high feed costs. This purchase is the first response.
USDA & DHS WORK TO PROTECT NATIION FROM FOREIGN PLANT & ANIMAL PESTS The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and USDA held a meeting in Washington last week to update agricultural stakeholders on the agencies' partnership in protecting agriculture from foreign plant and animal pests and diseases. USDA undersecretary Bruce Knight says the group was updated on the work that has taken place since some of the USDA inspection roles were transferred to DHS. He says that while there were some growing pains, the efforts have become more successful over time. Participants also were updated on the efforts of the Joint Agency Task Force and the newly established Federal-State Agricultural Quarantine Inspection Partnership Council. The task force was formed last year to address concerns about the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection program and strengthen the partnership of the two agencies.
SENATORS VOICE OPPOSITION TO RFS WAIVER Several Midwest senators sent a letter recently to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson voicing strong opposition to any request to partially or completely waive the Renewable Fuels Standard as requested by Texas and Connecticut. Led by Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Tim Johnson of South Dakota, the group of 18 senators said "waiving the RFS would not cause an immediate or near term reduction in food prices. If you take away ethanol, you're going to drive up the cost of energy and food even more," Grassley said. "If we're serious about lowering the cost of groceries and gas for Americans, we need to produce more energy of all types, including traditional sources. If high energy costs are the problem, less energy is surely not the solution," He added, "With the cost of oil exceeding $120 a barrel, it's time to start looking at the real culprit."
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