The American Farm Bureau Federation has a right to join in a lawsuit over the scope of the EPA’s authority to regulate poultry and livestock farms under the Clean Water Act. That’s the ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. The suit comes from a West Virginia poultry grower who is challenging an EPA order demanding that she obtain a CWA discharge permit for stormwater runoff from her farmyard. Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman says the court clearly recognizes the importance of this case for thousands of other farmers threatened by EPA’s unlawful restriction of the agricultural stormwater exemption. He says the court rejected EPA’s argument that other farmers facing similar EPA demands should be forced to file their own lawsuits.

 

R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard says the U.S. failed to raise the most obvious and compelling defense to the U.S. Country of Origin Labeling Act – its possible food safety benefits. Bullard bases that opinion on the statement of the international WTO panel that ruled against U.S. COOL in June. Now – Bullard says the importation of millions of pounds of adulterated meat from Canada provides U.S. citizens with a clear and convincing example of how they can rely on COOL to protect themselves from tainted imported products. He says the food safety agencies in both Canada and the U.S. failed miserably to protect citizens from these imports. Bullard says COOL empower U.S. citizens to achieve food safety for themselves by giving them the tool needed to immediately identify the origin of their food purchases and to simply avoid products from countries where adulterated food is produced. He calls COOL the most effective and efficient means for U.S. citizens to protect themselves from tainted imported products. To help demonstrate U.S. citizen support for COOL – R-CALF USA is circulating a petition through the end of the month. The petition directs the President, U.S. Trade Representative and USDA to enforce COOL and disregard ruling of the WTO finding that COOL is a technical barrier to trade. Bullard says R-CALF has nearly a thousand signatures already and hopes to get thousands more.

The comment period on the request to waive the Renewable Fuel Standard is now closed. Groups on both sides of the issue submitted comments Thursday – the final day of the comment period. Citing economic data suggesting a full waiver would reduce the price of corn by more than two-dollars per bushel – the National Chicken Council submitted comments in support of a full, one-year waiver of the RFS. In addition – NCC hand delivered almost 10-thousand individual comments – almost three-quarters of which came from chicken farmers. According to NCC President Mike Brown – the comments submitted prove in detail that the RFS is causing severe economic harm to the U.S. economy and that the 2013 requirement must be waived in full. The National Pork Producers Council submitted similar comments – stating that the waiver should be granted because the federal requirement for the production of corn ethanol – coupled with a summer drought that has reduced yields and pushed up prices of feed grains – is causing severe economic harm to pork producers. According to NPPC’s comments – with the RFS – a weather-driven supply shock no longer simply results in higher prices for feed grains – but causes explosively higher prices, crippling credit and liquidity shortfalls and the frightening prospect that some producers can’t assure stable access to corn to feed their animals.

The data cited by NCC comes from an August 2012 report prepared for the Farm Foundation by three Purdue University economists. They found reducing the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline in 2013 would reduce corn prices by nearly 25-percent – or two-dollars a bushel. NCC says the decrease in corn production would result in a decrease of approximately 2.4-percent in retail food prices. They further state that the lower price of corn would result in feed costs that are $32.14 to $47.86 lower per ton. NCC says the chicken industry has had to endure more than 30-billion dollars collectively in increased input costs since the RFS went into effect in October of 2006. Further – NCC states that a historically resilient industry has seen the greatest decrease in growth in more than 40 years during the implementation of the RFS. The group said that because of the importance of corn in so many aspects of food production – the entire food industry – and ultimately the consumer – are suffering because of the RFS.

NPPC pointed to three analyses on the effects of the RFS – from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri, Iowa State University and Purdue University – that concluded a waiver of the federal mandate would have a marginal effect on ethanol production but alleviate the severe economic harm being experienced in various states and regions by pork, poultry and livestock producers.

The EPA is expected to make a decision on the waiver request by November 11th.

Here’s the October Production Forecast from the USDA.

COLUMBIA, MO – September rains and cooler temperatures helped the soybean crop improve statewide. The rains came too late for corn which was already over 80 percent mature  by the start of September. At the beginning of October corn was nearly 90 percent harvested  while less than 10 percent of soybeans across the state were harvested.

Missouri corn yield forecast remains at 75 bushels per acre, the lowest since 51 bushels per  acre in 1983. Corn planted and harvested for grain acres are estimated at 3.6 and 3.35 million  acres respectively, unchanged from the September 1 estimate. The resulting production forecast is 251 million bushels. If realized, this production would be the lowest since 1999 when 247 million bushels were harvested off of 2.65 million planted acres.

 

Soybean yield in Missouri is estimated at 30 bushels per acre, an increase of two bushels from  last month and the lowest since 29.5 bushels per acre in 2003. Planted and harvested acres were both increased 100,000 acres from the September 1 forecast to 5.4 and 5.25 million acres respectively. The will be the most soybeans planted in Missouri since 1999 when there were also 5.4 million acres planted. Production is now forecast at 157.5 million bushels, an increase of 13.3 million bushels from last month but the smallest since 146.0 million bushels in 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alfalfa hay production in Missouri is forecast at 1.90 tons per acre, down 0.1 ton from the August 1 forecast and the lowest since 1955. Harvested acres are forecast at 250,000 acres. This  would result in a production of 475,000 tons, the least amount of alfalfa produced in Missouri  since 1938.

Other hay yield in Missouri is forecast at 1.20 tons per acre, down 0.2 ton from  August. Harvested acres are expected to total 3.4 million acres giving a production of 4.08 million tons, the smallest production since 1988. The resulting total hay production for the state  is estimated to be 4.6 million tons, the least since 1980.

U.S. Highlights:

Corn production is forecast at 10.7 billion bushels, down slightly from the  September forecast and down 13 percent from 2011. This represents the lowest production in  the United States since 2006. Based on conditions as of October 1, yields are expected to average 122.0 bushels per acre, down 0.8 bushel from the September forecast and 25.2 bushels

Missouri Soybean Yield and Production

Production (mln bu) Yield (bu/ac)below the 2011 average. If realized, this will be the lowest average yield since 1995. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 87.7 million acres, up less than 1 percent from the September  forecast and up 4 percent from 2011. Acreage updates were made in several States based on  administrative data.  Soybean production is forecast at 2.86 billion bushels, up 9 percent from September but down  8 percent from last year. Based on October 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 37.8  bushels per acre, up 2.5 bushels from last month but down 4.1 bushels from last year. Compared with last month, yield forecasts are higher or unchanged across all States. Area for harvest in the United States is forecast at 75.7 million acres, up 1 percent from September and up  3 percent from last year. Acreage updates were made in several States based on administrative data