The American Veterinary Medical Association is pleased with the animal health priorities in the House version of the 2018 Farm Bill. Among the highlights, the AVMA is pleased with the new authorizations and funding for a National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, The National Animal Health Laboratory Network, and a livestock vaccine bank with immediate attention to foot-and-mouth disease. Dr. Lauren Stump, Assistant Director of Government Relations for the AVMA, says the House Agriculture Committee’s work on the farm bill is a great step in the right direction to effectively respond to and prevent animal diseases. “We don’t know when the next major outbreak will occur, but it’s of paramount importance that we prepare for when it does,” she says. “We must take a proactive approach to animal health so we can stop animal diseases before they spread.” Stump says they look forward to continuing to work with Congress to help lawmakers pass a farm bill that achieves the goals of protecting animal agriculture and ensuring consumers have access to safe and nutritious protein.

The Environmental Protection Agency has granted Renewable Fuels Standard waivers to dozens of refineries over the last couple of years. The Renewable Fuels Association analyzed the EPA’s own compliance data and found that the exemptions lowered volumetric obligations by at least 1.6 million gallons over that time period. The volume lost over the last two years is ten times greater than the collective losses from 2013-2015. Despite receiving numerous requests for information from ethanol industry stakeholders on the exact number of waivers, the EPA hasn’t disclosed the number of waivers it’s granted and how much blending volume those exemptions effectively erased. An RFA analysis of EPA database information shows, “The EPA data strongly implies that small refiner exemptions have effectively lowered the 2017 required volume of renewable fuels by 1.1 billion gallons, or six percent.” The RFA analysis also says that the data shows small refiner exemptions also effectively reduced the 2016 RFS requirement by 523 million gallons. RFA President and CEO Bob Dineen says, “This analysis, based on EPA’s own data, confirms our concerns and sheds light on the scope and magnitude of Administrator Pruitt’s campaign to undermine the RFS. “

The National Farmers Union Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution opposing the current version of the House Farm Bill that passed out of the Ag Committee last week. The Board called on House members to make significant changes in the legislation before passing it. The Board says in a release that, “The House Farm Bill, as currently written, lacks the improvements needed to help farmers cope with continued low commodity prices. The bill fails to provide farmers with the tools they need to be the best possible stewards of our natural resources, and it reverses progress toward expanding access to local, regional, and specialty markets.” The NFU Board says the House bill also makes “unnecessary cuts” to programs that feed hungry Americans. Among the changes recommended by the NFU Board, they’d like to increase PLC reference prices to improve the farm safety net and offset possible trade retaliation. They’d like to strengthen payment limitations and actively engaged requirements for Title 1 programs. The NFU would also like to see dairy farmers provided enhanced price supports and a mechanism in place that manages our nation’s milk inventories to meet market demand.

The National Ag Statistics Service wants to remind farmers and ranchers that the window is closing on the opportunity to participate in the 2017 Census of Agriculture. NASS has received more than 1.5 million completed questionnaires. However, the national return rate is currently lower than it was at this point in the 2012 Census. NASS is asking U.S. producers who have not returned their completed Census questionnaires to please do so as soon as possible in order to avoid follow-up phone calls or in-person visits. NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer says they’re very grateful for the responses they’ve received, but it’s important that the others who received a Census questionnaire join their neighbors, colleagues, friends, and family in being a part of the Census count. “If you produced and sold $1,000 or more of agricultural products in 2017, or normally would have produced and sold that much, we need to hear from you,” says Hamer. “If you’re a landowner who leases your land to a producer, we need to hear from you as well.” The Census of Agriculture is the only comprehensive source of agriculture data for every state and county in the nation. The data is used by policymakers, trade associations, researchers, agribusinesses, and many others.

American Soybean Association farmer-leaders from across the country are on Capitol Hill this week to talk with lawmakers about the potential impact of Chinese tariffs on U.S. soybeans. ASA President John Heisdorffer says China purchases 61 percent of U.S. soybean exports, as well as 30 percent of the overall U.S. soybean production. “In short, trade with China matters and is vital not only to the hundreds of thousands of U.S. soybeans producers but to rural economies and communities that depend on them,’ Heisdorffer says. “Today, we’re asking lawmakers to support their communities and constituents by joining ASA in encouraging the administration to rethink the Section 301 tariffs, and instead, empower soybeans to continue to be part of the solution.” He says the growers have come to D.C. and left their fields during planting season to educate and convey the importance of trade with China. Heisdorffer says the message is clear: “A 25 percent tariff on U.S. soybeans into China will have a lasting effect on every soybean farmer in America.”