The Chesapeake Bay watershed, which stretches across portions of six states, is home to more than 17-million people, including farmers. And those farmers face much uncertainty as the Environmental Productions Agency is poised to impose its Total Maximum Daily Load rules. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association believes the problem with the rule is it would limit economic growth and unfairly over-regulate local agriculture producers and economies.

EPA’s Total Maximum Daily Load sets the limit on the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment discharged into the Chesapeake Bay and each of its tributaries by different types of sources. Farm Bureau says the TMDL has far-reaching impacts on all who live, work, and farm in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It has the potential to cost localities millions to comply while adding significant compliance costs for producers already hard-hit in this economy.

Farm Bureau would like to see the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act revitalized. Farm Bureau believes this legislation addresses water quality concerns and provides agriculture producers the tools and certainty they need to implement conservation practices on their land. It gives all sectors the flexibility to meet their regulatory requirements, while ensuring the strength and vitality of local economies.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Acreage intentions will be revealed in USDA’s March 30 Prospective Plantings report, but much of the current discussion centers on prospects for the U.S. average corn yield. University of Illinois agricultural economist Darrel Good says the size of the 2012 crop has substantial price implications. Crop size will be determined by: the timing of planting; the magnitude and potential change in the trend yield; the expected summer weather conditions; and the location and magnitude of acreage changes.

With all other things being equal, it is expected that early warmth will permit farmers to plant their corn crops early. Agronomic research in the Corn Belt reveals a slight yield penalty for extremely early planting, a wide planting window for maximum or near maximum yield potential would be early to mid-April through early May, and a yield penalty for late planting that increases with the lateness of planting. Good says – the majority of the crop is planted in the optimum window in most years.

Opinions about likely summer weather in the Corn Belt center on the El Nino/La Nina Southern Oscillation. The Climate Prediction Center forecasts that the winter La Nina is transitioning to neutral conditions. According to Good, – historically, such a transition has usually been associated with corn yields near trend value, although deviations in both directions have occurred. Yet, others are suggesting a transition to an El Nino and increased chances of an above-trend yield in 2012.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Fourth generation Nevada rancher J.J. Goicoechera has taken the message of the beef industry to a hearing of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public lands. Speaking on behave of the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, for which he serves as president, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council, Goicoechera said – recent actions by federal land management agencies are diminishing water rights and restricting access to forage on federal lands.

Goicoechera said a major challenge for ranchers across the West is dealing with the U.S. Forest Service on the issue of privately held water rights. He said the agency’s continued unwillingness to allow water improvements places the health of the range at risk, threatens ranchers’ ability to retain the water rights and ultimately results in the federal government taking private property.

The crux of the problem, he said, is that the agency is in many areas implementing a new policy of denying permits for privately owned water improvement development and maintenance unless the agency is granted partial ownership of the water right. Goicoechera says the agency’s continued actions – create the prospect of losing our water rights.

Supermarket News confirms that supermarket retailers were ready when mandatory nutrition labeling for ground or chopped meat and poultry products, and popular cuts of meat, went into effect on March 1. Some retailers were ready with on-pack labels for ground and chopped product and with Point of Sale materials for the other USDA-designated cuts of meat.

John Gerlach, meat buyer and supervisor for the three-unit independent Fitzgerald’s Foods, says – we got our scales system set to provide the NutriFacts panels, but we ran into a little trouble with the size, and getting all the required information on it. Gerlach admitted it was a challenge to pull it all together, but it serves customers who want the information.

Before the new rule, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association conducted pilot studies in which labels on fresh beef contained micro-nutrients as well as other nutrients. In each case, significant sales increases were recorded and customers said they appreciated the informative labeling.

Courtesy: NAFB News

National Farmers Union and the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association are in full support of the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service’s proposed amendment to expand beef checkoff contracting authority under the Beef Promotion and Research Order. The proposed amendment will change the current date requirement so that organizations otherwise qualified could be eligible to contract with the Beef Promotion Operating Committee for the implementation and conduct of beef checkoff programs if the organizations have been active and operating for at least two years.

Current language in the Order requires the BPOC to contract with organizations, which qualify as “established, national non-profit, industry-governed organizations that were active and ongoing before Congress passed the Beef Act.”  While the law itself does not define criteria for “national, non-profit, industry-governed organizations” the order states that these organizations must be governed by a board of directors representing the cattle or beef industry on a national basis and that the groups were active and ongoing prior to enactment of the Act by Congress.

USCA President Jon Wooster says his organization will be filing comments supporting the proposed change and he encourages all cattle groups to do so as well. A 60-day public comment period on the proposed amendment closes on May 2, 2012.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The American Farm Bureau Federation is supporting two measures to the pending transportation bill that would make certain farm vehicles exempt from federal motor vehicle regulations that are appropriately aimed at the long-haul trucking industry. The first amendment, introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley and co-sponsored by Senators Patrick Toomey and Roy Blunt, would provide an exemption for farm trucks. Farm Bureau points out regulation – is based solely on weight limits, even a one-ton pickup truck pulling a trailer could be subject to the long-haul regulations.

AFBF President Bob Stallman says, – the amendment is important because some states exempt farm vehicles while others do not. Under the current situation, merely the act of crossing state lines can trigger conflicting requirements for some farmers who are doing nothing more than hauling their own crop, perhaps to market.

The second Farm Bureau-supported amendment would exempt certain farm truck drivers from regulations on maximum driving and on-duty times during harvest and planting seasons. Sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Pat Roberts, the amendment would apply to drivers transporting agricultural commodities within 100 miles of the farm that produced them or those carrying farm supplies for agricultural purposes within 100 miles of the wholesale or retail distribution point.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The U.S. Senate did not pass the Stabenow amendment extending key biofuel tax incentives, such as the Cellulosic Biofuels Producer Tax Credit, the Accelerated Depreciation Allowance for Cellulosic Biofuel Plant Property, and the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit available to blender pumps and other ethanol fueling infrastructure. The final vote was 49-49.

Both the National Biodiesel Board and the Advanced Ethanol Council expressed their disappointment. AEC Executive Director Brooke Coleman says – the Senate missed an opportunity to put to bed the pressing need to extend expiring tax incentives for cellulosic biofuels and other sources of domestically produced clean energy. At the same time Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs for NBB says – it’s also a missed opportunity for Congress to do something about these oil price spikes by diversifying our fuel supplies and reducing our exposure to the global petroleum markets.

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen believes – every member of Congress agrees that America needs to reduce its reliance on imported oil and create jobs here at home. These tax incentives would help accomplish both of those goals. It is widely held that the lack of policy certainty is driving clean energy investment overseas and putting the United States behind the eight ball when it comes to clean energy development.

Courtesy: NAFB News