The American Farm Bureau Federation is urging congressional members to “bite the dust” and pass H.R. 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act. The bill faces a House vote this week. In a letter to House members, AFBF said the legislation would limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate naturally occurring dust, or “nuisance dust.” Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman says – naturally occurring dust is a fact of life in rural areas. The amount of dust in the air depends on wind and rainfall, two conditions that EPA cannot regulate. 

AFBF went further to say that EPA has admitted that it cannot conclusively establish a link between “nuisance dust” and adverse human health effects. Stallman says – EPA admits there are limitations to the studies it cites, which casts doubt on its validity to support additional regulation. However, should such a link be established, the bill would allow EPA to regulate.

EPA has said it does not intend to propose stricter regulations on dust. However, AFBF says that still does not provide much needed assurance for farmers and ranchers, especially when final rules often differ from proposed rules and lawsuits are a dime a dozen. According to Stallman, – legislation is the best way to provide certainty to farmers, ranchers and rural America that their activities will not be unduly regulated by conditions beyond their control.

Even though the trafficking rate for USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been driven down significantly over the last two decades, USDA in announcing a new range of aggressive tactics to further improve program integrity. The tactics address the issue of using SNAP benefits for anything other than the purchase of food from authorized retailers, including the sale or exchange of benefits in SNAP.

USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon says SNAP has never been more important as hardworking families turn to the program for assistance while they get back on their feet. From 1993 to the 2006-08 period, the trafficking rate has gone down from 4 cents to about 1 cent on the dollar. Thru this renewed effort, USDA will work with state agencies and state-of-the-art technologies, including the development of the next generation of its fraud detection system.

Through this effort, USDA will clarify that the “intent to sell” SNAP benefits is a program violation and expand and clarify the definition of trafficking. Also, new guidance to States will underscore their responsibility to use the results of FNS retailer actions to investigate and penalize recipients that may have been involved in trafficking with that retailer. USDA will also enhance its retailer surveillance system.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says USDA is investing more than 8.5-million dollars to help six organizations develop improved food aid products under the Micronutrient-Fortified Food Aid Products Pilot Program. This program is funded by the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, and recipients will focus their efforts over the next three years in Cambodia, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Under this pilot program, participants develop and field test food aid products for children, women and infants. The products are nutritionally enhanced with vitamins or minerals to address the micronutrient deficiencies of a specific population or group. The products are developed in the United States using domestically grown commodities. Secretary Vilsack says – our efforts to support global food security are important to the many people around the world who do not have access to nutritious and safe food.

The McGovern-Dole Program is named in honor of Ambassador and former Senator George McGovern and former Senator Robert Dole for their tireless efforts to encourage a global commitment to school feeding and child nutrition. In October 2009, both men were recognized by the World Food Prize for their leadership in forging the link between the productivity of American farmers and the needs of hungry children around the world.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Celeres reports that the area sown with transgenic varieties in the 2011/12 harvest will be 20.9 percent greater than in the last harvest. According to the forecast in the specialized consultation on agricultural economics, crops with transgenic soybeans, corn and cotton should add up to 31.8-million hectares during this cycle – a new record for the adoption of biotechnology in Brazilian agriculture. Earlier Celeres forecast that only 30.5-million hectares of transgenic varieties would be grown.

The survey credits the increase to the recent favorable outlook during the period between deciding what to plant and the start of planting. Anderson Galvao, managing partner of Celeres and coordinator of the study, says – soybeans account for the greater portion of this area with 21.4-million hectares cultivated, an increase of 16.7 percent over the previous harvest.

Presently, 67.3 percent of the total area planted with corn in Brazil is occupied by GM hybrids. That would be a total of 9.9-million hectares – an increase of 32 percent over the 2010/11 period. The area with GM cotton will also be greater, and should come to 469-thousand hectares, an increase of 32.2 percent over the previous harvest.

Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow says Congress must complete a Farm Bill next year before the current Farm Bill expires in order to provide certainty for farmers and small businesses. The ag Committee Chair promised – we will resume holding hearings when Congress returns in January. The goal is to complete an initial product in the spring to provide plenty of time for Congress to complete its work. She believes 12 public meetings and the bipartisan framework developed by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees this year will serve as a strong foundation moving forward.

Stabenow said she will continue focusing on principles, not programs, as the Committee continues its work with Members on both sides of the aisle to develop a sound Farm Bill proposal. She said her focus is continuing to meet and discuss with farmers and other agriculture stakeholders what’s working and what isn’t to develop policies that strengthens American agriculture and ensures an abundant and safe food supply while continuing to offer proposals to increase accountability and reduce the deficit.

Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow says Congress must complete a Farm Bill next year before the current Farm Bill expires in order to provide certainty for farmers and small businesses. The ag Committee Chair promised – we will resume holding hearings when Congress returns in January. The goal is to complete an initial product in the spring to provide plenty of time for Congress to complete its work. She believes 12 public meetings and the bipartisan framework developed by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees this year will serve as a strong foundation moving forward.

Stabenow said she will continue focusing on principles, not programs, as the Committee continues its work with Members on both sides of the aisle to develop a sound Farm Bill proposal. She said her focus is continuing to meet and discuss with farmers and other agriculture stakeholders what’s working and what isn’t to develop policies that strengthens American agriculture and ensures an abundant and safe food supply while continuing to offer proposals to increase accountability and reduce the deficit.

Republican Senators are questioning a top regulator’s decision to recuse himself from an investigation into the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd. Commodity Futures Trading commission Chairman Gary Gensler argues that by recusing himself, he is keeping his ties to former MF Global Chairman Jon Corzine from becoming a distraction from the agency’s investigation. But Republican Senators believe the decision appears to reflect an attempt to avoid congressional accountability for his agency having missed apparent rule violations at the company.

Senator Mike Johanns says he didn’t believe Gensler’s argument. Gensler worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. while Mr. Corzine was running the investment bank in the 1990s. Johanns said – to me, it looks like you’re ducking the responsibilities of your job. When this got uncomfortable, because money isn’t there that should be there, and for whatever reason you folks didn’t discover that until it looks like it’s too late, you don’t want to come up here and answer questions.

Mr. Corzine, a former U.S. Senator and Governor of New Jersey, is expected to testify before the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday. The CFTC is leading the regulatory probe into the missing money. Senator Charles Grassley urged the CFTC head to recuse himself from the agency’s investigation last month, saying it was difficult to believe he could be – completely objective. But Senator Bob Corker charges that his recusal – was more about a career-enhancing situation to avoid accountability.

Responding to proposed child labor regulations, the American Farm Bureau Federation has filed comments on behalf of more than 70 agricultural organizations in response to a proposal by the Labor Department that would limit youth employment opportunities on farms and ranches. AFBF also filed separate comments on its own behalf supplementing its views on the DOL proposal. Farm Bureau noted that the proposed regulation seems to go well beyond DOL’s authority.

Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman says – we have no desire at all to have young teenagers working in jobs that are inappropriate or entail too much risk. Farmers and ranchers are more interested than anyone else in assuring the safety of farming operations and their right to operate their farms with family members is specifically permitted by Congress. We don’t want to see those rights infringed.

NPPC, the American Sheep Industry Association and the National Turkey Federation, were part of the coalition. The group said – many youth use livestock as a part of 4-H, FFA and other leadership programs, but youth under 18 would be prohibited from being near certain animals without adult supervision under the regulations.

Another concern with the proposal cited by the coalition is a potential prohibition on youth harvesting fruits and vegetables, which would prevent high school and college students from working what are considered traditional summer jobs in rural areas.

Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, confirmed that former MF Global Chief Executive Officer Jon Corzine – has not agreed to appear before her committee. So, the Chairwoman is calling for a subpoena to compel Corzine and other MF Global executives to appear before the Ag Committee hearing on December 13th.

A vote of the full committee is required to make the current inquiry a formal committee investigation in order to give the committee subpoena power.  Senator Stabenow announced she would convene a meeting of the Agriculture Committee to vote on the matter on Tuesday.

Last week the U.S. House passed H.R. 527 and H.R. 3010, two bills to help restore balance to the federal regulatory system. Both pieces of legislation are intended to help produce more effective regulations at a smaller cost to the economy. If enacted, the bills would increase transparency throughout the regulatory process by inviting more public participation, and they would limit the burden on business owners by requiring cost-benefit analysis of all new rules.

Blanche Lincoln, Chairwoman of Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations, says – Congress’ approvals are an important first step toward returning balance to the federal rulemaking process. Both bills enjoy the strong support of the hardworking men and women who feel the pressure of government regulation the most – small business owners.

Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations and the National Federation of Independent Businesses have sent a letter to President Obama proposing five commonsense principles to help reform the regulatory system. They include: giving small businesses a greater voice in the regulatory process; providing assistance to small businesses before assessing penalties; requiring major regulation to undergo rigorous cost-benefit analysis; basing decisions only on objective, validated science; and requiring more transparency and accountability.