On Tuesday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted livestock haulers an additional 90-day waiver from a regulation that could have a negative effect on animal well-being. The National Pork Producers Council applauded the move. A Department of Transportation rule first issued in 2015 required all commercial truckers involved in interstate commerce to replace their paper driving logs with Electronic Logging Devices, or ELDs, by December of last year. In September of 2017, NPPC petitioned the agency for a waiver or exemption from the requirement, and the DOT handed down an initial 90-day waiver until March 18 of 2018. A final decision on the NPPC request for a waiver is still pending. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is also pleased with the additional 90-day waiver. NCBA president Kevin Kester says this is obviously good news for cattle haulers and producers. “It will provide the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration more time to educate our livestock haulers on the ELDs while the industry works on solutions to the current Hours of Service rules that simply do not work for those who are hauling live animals,” says Kester. He also thanked Transportation Secretary Elaine Cho and FMCSA Administrator Ray Martinez for listening to their concerns and working with the NCBA to find a permanent workable solution.

(NPPC) A bipartisan bill to exempt farmers from reporting to the U.S. Coast Guard emissions from the natural breakdown of manure on their farms yesterday was introduced in the U.S. House. The National Pork Producers Council strongly supports the legislation, which is similar to a bipartisan bill introduced last month in the Senate. Sponsored by Reps. Billy Long, R-Mo., and Jim Costa, D-Calif., along with 85 cosponsors, the “Agricultural Certainty for Reporting Emissions Act,” H.R. 5275, would fix a problem created last April when a U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a 2008 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that exempted farmers from reporting routine farm emissions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. CERCLA, more commonly known as the “Superfund Law,” is used primarily to clean hazardous waste sites but also includes a mandatory federal reporting component. The appeals court ruling could force more than 100,000 livestock farmers to “guesstimate” and report the emissions from manure on their farms to the Coast Guard’s National Response Center and subject them to citizen lawsuits from activist groups such as the Humane Society of the United States. The appeals court’s April decision originally set a Nov. 15, 2017, deadline for as many as 200,000 farms to report emissions. After petitions from EPA the court twice delayed that deadline, with the most recent postponement until May 1.

Corn farmers and Midwest landowners who want to help honey bees and Monarch butterflies have a unique opportunity to do this in a strategic fashion through The Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund’s SEED A LEGACY Pollinator Habitat Program, which is being supported by the National Corn Growers Association. The updated program, expanded in 2018 to include 11 states, seeks partnerships between landowners and beekeepers to provide cost-effective, high-quality pollinator habitat to ensure honey bee and Monarch butterfly populations thrive. Enrollment is open to public, private and corporate landowners in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. These states were selected based on their critical role to address National Pollinator Partnership Action Plan goals. Applications for each state are being accepted online at BeeAndButterflyFund.org/habitat-programs through March 31, 2018 for spring planting. A second application period will open later in 2018 for projects to be planted in the fall. Native pollinators, honey bees and Monarch butterflies have experienced population declines over the last two decades. The Habitat Fund offers a way for farmers to incorporate the latest innovation and technology into their stewardship efforts and do so in a way that is cost effective, establishes quickly, provides greater pollinator value and addresses weed competition.

Senator John Barrasso introduced a bill Tuesday that incorporates several measures designed to ease the regulatory burden on farmers and ranchers. Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, says the bill “would help defend agricultural industries from punishing federal rules and reporting requirements,” according to Politico. Known as the ACRE Act, the legislation includes eight bills, including the Fair Agricultural Reporting Method, or FARM Act. The FARM Act was introduced by Nebraska Republican Senator Deb Fischer, which seeks an exemption to emission reporting requirements for farmers and ranchers. The bill would also end overlapping environmental permitting for pesticide application requirements, protect the personal information of agricultural producers, and prevent farmers from being hit with penalties for engaging in “normal agricultural operations that could be considered ‘baiting’ of migratory game birds.”

Ex-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ssid the United States will engage TPP-11 members, emphasizing a need for “fairness” in expanding trade relationships with nations involved in the pact. TPP-11, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, or the CPTPP, was signed last week by the 11 remaining nations involved in the agreement. Tillerson made the comments last week after the signing of the agreement that President Donald Trump removed the U.S. from upon taking office. Politico reports that Tillerson did not mention Trump’s recent comments on the deal which indicated Trump was willing to rejoin the agreement, if it was deemed fair for the United States. Tillerson said specifically that the U.S. “looks forward to engaging” the trade deal’s members regarding fair trade. The CPTPP will enter into force 60 days after six of the 11 countries ratify the deal, which is expected early next year.

Investments in the early stages of agricultural technology in 2017 increased 29 percent, compared to 2016. AgFunder, a self-proclaimed online investment marketplace for agricultural technology, reports early stage investment in agriculture tech startups reached $10.1 billion in 2017, up 29 percent. The increase reverses a downward trend seen in 2016, when agriculture tech investing dropped nine percent to $7.8 billion from $8.6 billion in 2015. AgFunder announced the figures through its AgTech Investing Reports. The reports say large funding agreements pushed the total investment volume up, but a number of agreements fell by 17 percent to 949. Meanwhile, AgFunder says the investor base participating in agriculture tech deals continued to diversify with 1,048 unique investors participating during 2017, including Silicon Valley venture firms, state-backed government funds, pension funds, corporate entities, as well as the growing number of agriculture tech specialists.

Ranking House Agriculture Committee Democrat Collin Peterson says the committee plans to mark up the farm bill on March 20th, but a revolt over food stamp provisions could stop the bill from moving forward. The Hagstrom Report says Peterson and Committee Chairman Mike Conaway had “hit an impasse” regarding the nutrition title, and a spokesperson for Conaway could not confirm the March 20th mark up date. Conaway’s office does say that moving the bill forward by the end of the first quarter of 2018 “remains the goal,” adding that the Chairman’s staff is “working closely” with those across the aisle to “try and get there.” Peterson said the Republican proposal regarding nutrition is similar to what killed the current farm bill the first time it came to the House floor in 2013. Meanwhile, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts says the Senate will not make any significant changes to the bill. The Senate is expected to consider it’s version of the bill in committee next month.