The nomination of Bill Northey to a top Department of Agriculture post remains on hold following a White House meeting on the Renewable Fuels Standard.
The meeting, requested by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, offered no major breakthroughs regarding what Cruz wants to change in the RFS. Cruz told Politico he is still holding up the vote to confirm Northey, but touted “progress towards a productive solution” that he says would balance the needs of ethanol and oil refiners.
A source told Politico that Cruz’s staff said they want to reduce the price of biofuel credits but did not offer any “win-win” proposals to do so. Cruz is expected to propose a cap on RIN prices, but that’s an idea that RFS defenders say would go against the law’s intent.
A statement from Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley’s office says: “There was an understanding expressed broadly in the meeting that any outcome can’t undermine the integrity of the RFS.”
(MODoA) The Missouri Department of Agriculture announced today the first wave of civil penalties issued to applicators, all from Dunklin County, as a result of investigations of complaints during the 2016 growing season. Civil penalties, ranging from $1,500 to $62,250, were issued for pesticide misuse: off label use and drift. “It is important for appropriate enforcement action to be issued in order to deter off-label use and protect the integrity of agriculture,” Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn said. “We are in the final stages of our case review of 2016 investigations and continuing our field investigations of 2017 complaints and will release information as cases close.” In 2016, Department staff conducted and completed 121 complainant investigations. Those complainants named approximately 60 applicators, who were investigated as a result of complaints. In addition, the Department investigated nearly 100 non-Dicamba related incidents. All civil penalties collected will be remitted to the school district where the violation occurred.
The White House is hoping to play mediator between the oil and ethanol industries as it brought them together Wednesday for a preliminary discussion on the Renewable Fuels Standard. Refiners say they can’t afford the RFS compliance costs. The biofuels industry insists it has to have the mandates in the RFS to keep expanding and growing biofuels. Senators Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, and Deb Fischer were there to represent corn states. Staffers for Senators Ted Cruz and Pat Toomey were there to make a case for refiners. Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe wouldn’t reveal any details of a plan he’s working on to address some of those issues. He did say it would have to address the ever-increasing cost of buying biofuel credits the Environmental Protection Agency uses to ensure that refiners are blending the required amounts of biofuels into the nation’s fuel supply. Ethanol producers and supporters have been doubtful about the possibility of brokering a deal with the oil industry. Biofuel providers are convinced the oil industry would squeeze them out of the nation’s fuel supply entirely if they got the chance to do so.
House Agriculture Committee Chair Mike Conaway is ready to get rolling on the farm bill in 2018. Politico also mentioned he’s not worried about a push to overhaul welfare potentially making the process more complicated. The Republican from Texas is optimistic about keeping things on track and getting a floor vote scheduled by March. A working draft of the bill is already at the Congressional Budget Office. Conaway’s goal is to have the farm bill wrapped up by the time that welfare reform discussions gain traction on Capitol Hill. “I think we’ll be done and across the floor before the train leaves the station,” he said to Politico. While there aren’t a lot of details on the draft available to the public, Conaway did share a few insights. For example, he said changes need to be made to Title 1 in order to aid the cotton and dairy industries. “I don’t anticipate significant changes to Title 1, but there will be changes in the Agriculture Risk Coverage and the Price Loss Coverage programs,” he said. “We want cotton growers to be eligible for these programs.” He also says plans for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program should line up with Republican goals of tightening up federal spending.
(USW) U.S. Wheat Associates and members of the U.S. Grains Council, U.S. Soybean Export Council, USA Rice, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Sorghum Producers and the National Barley Growers Association welcomed a joint statement issued this week from 17 countries participating in the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Buenos Aires, Argentina, emphasizing the importance of supporting farmer access to the full range of tools and technologies available and opposing regulatory barriers lacking sufficient scientific justification. “Having in mind the importance of transparency and predictability to international trade, we call on all Members to strengthen the implementation of the WTO SPS [Sanitary and Phytosanitary] Agreement by reinforcing the work of relevant international standards organizations and ensuring the scientific basis of SPS measures is sound,” the statement reads. “The development and application of sound SPS measures is needed to support farmers’ choice in tools that can expand agricultural production and facilitate access to food and agricultural products, and also to safeguard human, animal and plant health.” Government officials from Kenya, Uganda, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Canada, Colombia, Argentina, and the United States delivered remarks in favor of the joint statement of understanding on Dec. 12, 2017, during a side event to the main WTO meetings.
The Department of Agriculture has ended a ten percent higher crop insurance coverage option for prevented planting claims. In a memo sent out to insurers and USDA’s Risk Management Agency field offices, USDA eliminated the Prevented Planting +10 Percent Option for the 2018 crop year and future crop years. USDA kept the five percent option for farmers, though analysis shows very few farmers have taken the five percent option, according to DTN. Some suspect that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue wants to expand insurance policies for livestock and dairy producers, so the move may be a way to fund that initiative. The move comes after USDA changed prevented planting coverage factors for some crops last spring, which included lowering the coverage factor for corn from 60 percent to 55 percent.
Farmers need a backup plan if the U.S. exits the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to a top Department of Agriculture official. Ted McKinney, USDA undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, told Agriculture.com that he “would advise anybody to be prepared with contingencies,” despite the administration knowing “very well where the farm and ag industries stand.” The ongoing talks to renegotiate NAFTA aren’t going as well as hoped, and McKinney says abandoning the trade agreement still seems to be a real possibility. While McKinney says he and others within the Agriculture Department are optimistic that the Trump administration will successfully “carry the day” during the negotiations, he says it would be prudent for crop and livestock producers to look at some contingencies in the event the U.S. were to exit the 23-year-old trade agreement.