(Missourinet) – A state lawmaker who represents the southeast Missouri region where there have been numerous pesticide complaints will pre-file legislation in December to address the issue.
State Rep. Don Rone (R-Portageville) will introduce a bill in January to increase penalties on those who illegally spray pesticides. The state Department of Agriculture told Rone and other lawmakers on Thursday that MDA is investigating 115 compaints about pesticides in four southeast Missouri counties.
Rone wants to increase the fines on those who illegally spray pesticides from $1,000 to $10,000 per field. He tells Missourinet he’ll ask House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) to fast-track the bill in January.
“Because if we don’t fast-track this, then the growing season down there (southeast Missouri) starts in March and we need to have this already in place, the Governor signed it and make it law before the next planting season which starts in the end of March,” Rone says.
Rone is concerned.
“If we don’t control this type of behavior, then we’re going to lose that chemistry sooner than later,” Rone says. “And pretty soon we’ll have no chemistry that’ll work in a field and then we’ll really have some problems.”
The MDA testified that they’re getting reports of damage to tomatoes, watermelons, peaches and peanuts. There have been seven MDA investigators working in the Bootheel.
Missouri Department of Agriculture Division Director Judy Grundler told lawmakers that the investigations encompass about 40,000 acres and more than 400 fields.
Ethanol producers from Mexico are considering the use of sorghum for production of the biobased fuel. The U.S. Grains Council recently hosted a trade team of Mexican ethanol producers in Kansas and Texas. The trade mission, partnering with the United Sorghum Checkoff Program, gave participants the opportunity to tour facilities and learn more about the benefits of using sorghum as Mexican energy industry reforms continue. In 2015, Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company announced its plan to introduce a pilot program that would blend gasoline with ethanol. The resulting boom in ethanol interest gave the Grains Council the opportunity to lead conversations and generate continued awareness of ethanol with the goal of fostering new competition in the market place. In addition to one-on-one meetings and visits to sorghum and grain facilities, an ethanol plant tour gave producers an inside look at production methods and insight into applicable plant management techniques.
A rapid heating and cooling of milk significantly reduces the amount of harmful bacteria present, extending the shelf life of one of the most common refrigerator staples in the world by several weeks, according to a Purdue University study. The results were published in a scientific journal last week and show that increasing the temperature of milk by 10 degrees for less than a second eliminates more than 99 percent of the bacteria left behind after pasteurization. Study organizer Bruce Applegate says “It’s an add-on to pasteurization, but it can add shelf life of up to five, six or seven weeks to cold milk.” Phillip Myer, an assistant professor of animal science at the University of Tennessee, says the process uses the heat already necessary for pasteurization to rapidly heat milk droplets. Myer said the promise of the technology is that it could reduce waste and allow milk to reach distant locations where transport times using only pasteurization would mean that milk would have a short shelf life upon arrival.
House and Senate lawmakers want the Agriculture Department to extend the enrollment period for the Margin Protection Program. Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Texas Republican Mike Conaway, along with other committee members and Senate counterparts, are calling on USDA to extend the sign-up period because they say the move would encourage additional participation in the program. In a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, the group of lawmakers say an extension of the deadline to December 31st “should be made permanent to give producers additional time to make informed decisions and to improve program participation.” Pro Farmer reports that since MPP was created in the 2014 Farm Bill, milk prices have dropped almost 40 percent and cheese stocks now stand at record-high levels. The current enrollment deadline is September 30th.
The Federal Reserve Bank reports the need for farm lending remained high in the second quarter of 2016, driven by ongoing demand for operating loans. The Federal Reserve’s Agricultural Finance Databook found the total number of non-real estate loans made to farmers in the second quarter increased six percent from a year ago. The report says the prolonged environment of robust lending activity, amid persistently weak profits in the farm sector, has led to slight reductions in the performance of agricultural loans at commercial banks. Although the share of troubled loans has remained low from a historical perspective, the Fed says an increase in loans 30 to 89 days past due could be an early indication that borrowers are struggling to repay loans in amid tight profit margins. Despite the slight declines in loan performance and heightened risk, however, profitability at agricultural banks generally has remained strong, according to the report. The Agricultural Finance Databook is a quarterly compilation of national and regional agricultural finance data by the Federal Reserve Bank.
Navigating the waters of GMO labeling will be a challenge, but if a bill passed recently by Congress receives the President’s signature, new labels could turn into an opportunity. Steve Armstrong is the Senior Food law Counsel at Campbell Soup Company. He spoke as part of a panel discussion on GMO labeling at the 2016 National Association of Farm Broadcasting Agribusiness Luncheon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Armstrong explains the GMO labeling law passed by Congress, speaking on behalf of Campbell Soup Company, he says while not perfect, the company supports the GMO labeling bill. Campbell Soup Company in January announced support for a national GMO labeling standard, which the bill is included in. For Campbell Soup Company, he says the company wants to be transparent to consumers. While speaking, he announced the results of a recent consumer survey by Campbell Soup Company that says that a majority of consumers want more GMO information. The survey polled 2,000 consumers to find out what kind of labeling statement provides clarity and gives consumers the right amount of information. His comments came just after Campbell Soup Company also announced the company would transition to using only antibiotic-free chicken in the near future.
40 senators from states across the country are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to increase biodiesel volumes in the pending Renewable Fuels Standard proposal. The senators feel biodiesel and renewable diesel are leading the way in the renewable fuels industry and they want the EPA to do more to increase the product’s growth. The letter to the EPA states that biodiesel has met the EPA criteria for growth, exceeding goals that Congress set when the Renewable Fuels Standard was created in 2005. Biodiesel is the first EPA-designated biofuel to reach commercial-scale production around the nation and is currently the only one to reach that status. The industry also supports over 47,000 jobs. Organizing the letter was Republican Roy Blunt of Missouri, Democrat Patty Murray of Washington, Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and North Dakota Democrat Heidi Heitkamp. The letter was signed by a bipartisan group of Senators from California to Minnesota to Maine.
Agriculture and Big Oil have been battling over what fuels American automobiles for a long time. A recent Reuters poll seems to show that Americans largely don’t know or care what’s going in their tank. More than half the drivers in the survey said they are unfamiliar with ethanol, and the same number of people surveyed said they don’t pay a lot of attention to whether the gas they were buying contained ethanol. Many consumers are unaware that all gasoline contains a ten percent blend of ethanol. In fact, the only “green” they seem to really care about is the green in their wallets. Price and a convenient location are what consumers primarily look for. 93 percent of respondents said price was the key factor in making their buying decisions. Big Oil manufacturers are equally struggling to get out their message about higher ethanol blends having a negative impact on their vehicles. The poll said 40 percent of respondents had no idea whether or not ethanol was good for a vehicle’s performance.
Dow Chemical and DuPont Company both announced that shareholders in each company had voted in favor of having the two companies merge into an entity which would be called DowDuPont. The Wall Street Journal reports after the initial merger, the companies would then break up into three separate entities. Just under 825 million Dow shareholder votes were in favor of the deal, while 13 million were against and ten million abstained. A DuPont spokesman said 669 million shares voted to approve the merger, with 8.5 million against and 3 million shares abstaining. The deal needs approval from regulators, and if it’s approved the deal should close later this year. The deal will serve as a way to reduce costs for both companies before they break up into three separate units. Each would deal with specific products like agriculture, material sciences, and specialty products in nutrition and electronics. Each of the new companies would be publicly traded.