House Speaker John Boehner said last week that the House is just too divided on the farm bill to approve the five-year farm bill approved by the House Agriculture Committee. He says the Democrats are concerned with food stamp reductions while Republicans don’t feel the cuts go far enough. As a result – Boehner hasn’t seen the 218 votes to pass a farm bill. Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy has said it’s simply difficult to move any large bills in this Congress. But the Republican leadership in the House is hopeful constituents will put the pressure on lawmakers – demanding they do their job – and the goal is still to get a farm bill approved before the current measure expires on September 30th. McCarthy believes that will happen – stating the leadership will find a way to move the farm bill into conference when legislators return from the August recess.

The Sorghum Checkoff has announced the first class of its new program that seeks to develop the next generation of leaders for the sorghum industry. Fifteen sorghum farmers from eight different states have been selected for Leadership Sorghum. Sorghum Checkoff Chairman Bill Kubecka says the first class of the program is made up of a diverse group of farmers representing a wide variety of sorghum producing environments. He notes leadership is vital to the success of any industry – and has confidence the individuals chosen for Leadership Sorghum will gain the necessary resources to help lead the industry in the future.

The 15-month Leadership Sorghum Class I (one) will begin with sessions focused on the sorghum seed industry and research in the Texas Panhandle. Participants will be exposed to various aspects of the sorghum industry from basic research to international marketing throughout the program. Through hands-on and classroom style education – the participants will gain an understanding of how sorghum moves through the value chain, how checkoffs and interest organizations interact on behalf of the industry and what the future holds for the crop. Professional development training and networking opportunities will also be provided.

National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation are part of a coalition of agriculture, renewable energy and national security organizations urging the U.S. Senate Subcommittee for Defense Appropriations to support Department of Defense funding for accelerated production of domestically produced, advanced, drop-in biofuels for military use. A letter to Subcommittee Chair Daniel Inouye (in-oh-way) of Hawaii and Ranking Member Thad Cochran of Mississippi points to the Memorandum of Understanding entered by the Department of Defense with USDA and the Department of Energy last year. The MOU pledged a federal investment of more than 500-million dollars in partnership with the private sector – 170-million dollars from each participating agency. According to the coalition’s letter – the purpose of the MOU is consistent with history. They state the U.S. military has worked with Congress to develop and deploy innovative technologies that have improved national security and strengthened American military superiority at sea, in the skies and on the battlefield.

The letter goes on to note that adopting advanced, drop-in biofuels will help the Defense Department and the nation achieve broader national security objectives – as continued reliance on foreign oil puts U.S. troops at risk of supply disruptions during military or humanitarian missions.

The Department of the Interior and Department of Defense are teaming up to strengthen the nation’s energy security and reduce military utility costs. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding sets out the guiding concepts for the Renewable Energy Partnership Plan. A major goal is to harness the proven solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energy resources on or near Department of Defense installations across the country. Salazar says the nation’s military land holds great renewable energy potential. This partnership will help ensure these resources are tapped with a smart and focused approach to power the military, reduce energy costs and grow the nation’s energy independence. According to Panetta – developing renewable energy is the right thing to do for national security as well as for the environment and our economy. He says renewable energy projects built on these lands will provide reliable, local sources of power for military installations, allow for a continued energy supply if the commercial power grid gets disrupted, and will help lower utility costs. With these goals in mind – each of the Military Services has committed to deploy one-gigawatt of renewable energy on or near its installations by the year 2025.

According to a White House news release – Defense Department installations encompass roughly 28-million acres in the United States. About 13-million acres are located in the west and are high in wind, solar and geothermal resources. Offshore wind also is an abundant renewable energy resource available to many installations on the Atlantic coast, Pacific coast, Gulf of Mexico and in Hawaii. Offshore Atlantic winds alone could produce an estimated one-thousand-gigawatts of energy.

Among other things – the MOU establishes a framework for an offshore wind partnership within which Interior and Defense will continue to work together to identity areas most appropriate for offshore wind development. It also provides a blueprint for cooperation between the two departments to identify lands for mission-compatible development of onshore renewable energy projects on Department of Defense installations. The Department of Defense will also explore ways in which renewable energy could be provided directly to a single installation or may be transmitted across a network of installations.

The Senate Finance Committee has approved a bipartisan tax package that includes an extension of the now-expired biodiesel tax incentive. Anne Steckel – Vice President of Federal Affairs for the National Biodiesel Board – says the biodiesel tax incentive is a proven job creator. She notes growth in the biodiesel industry has been stagnant since the incentive expired on December 31st. Reinstating it – she says – will get biodiesel producers across the country back to expanding their businesses and hiring new employees. The measure also includes the Producer Tax Credit for cellulosic biofuels and accelerated depreciation for cellulosic biorefineries – incentives due to expire at the end of the year. Advanced Ethanol Council Executive Director Brooke Coleman says the strong, bipartisan vote sends a strong signal to the marketplace that Congress understands the urgent need to address these expiring credits and maintain stability in the marketplace for emerging industries.

The AEC would like to see the incentives extended as soon as possible. NBB would as well. They are calling on the full Senate to quickly pass the package – and for the House to follow suit so biodiesel producers can get the certainty they need to begin hiring again.

The biodiesel tax incentive was allowed to expire at the end of 2010 as well. Once it was reinstated in 2011 – NBB says the biodiesel industry grew rapidly and set a new production record of nearly 1.1-billion gallons – supporting more than 39-thosand jobs across the country.

When House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas took to the floor in support of the Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance bill Thursday – he admitted he didn’t like the way the bill was paid for. Still – he said a drought of epic proportions is gripping a large majority of the nation and endangering vast areas of productive agriculture land. Given that the 2008 Farm Bill did not provide a final year of disaster assistance – Lucas told House members they were there to fix a problem – and had a chance to do so with a bill that paid for itself and gave more than 250-million dollars to deficit reduction.

Along with rumblings about the bill’s offsets – Lucas addressed complaints that the farm bill wasn’t coming before the full House. Lucas reiterated that his priority is to get a five-year farm bill on the books. But he argued the most pressing business before Congress is to provide disaster assistance to the producers impacted by the drought conditions who are currently exposed. When Congress returns in September – Lucas said he will work toward the goal of giving certainty to our farmers.

House Ag Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson had decided to vote in favor of H.R. 6233 – but when speaking on the floor focused heavily on the fact the House leadership decided not to bring the farm bill to a vote before the August recess. He said the disaster bill would provide some assistance to a few livestock producers affected by drought conditions across much of the country – but explained it was not comprehensive. Pointing out that the farm bill approved by the Agriculture Committee includes the livestock provisions considered as part of the disaster aid package – Peterson argued a five-year farm bill would do a better job of providing certainty for American agriculture and assistance during this period of drought. He said weathering a natural disaster without the certainty of a five-year farm bill could jeopardize one of the nation’s economic bright spots.

Representatives Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Leonard Boswell of Iowa and Randy Neugebauer of Texas urged votes for the disaster bill – but also said the House should take up the five-year farm bill. California’s Jim Costa said he opposed the disaster aid bill because another vehicle exists – the farm bill – to accomplish the same goal.