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February 19, 2010
 


PhytoGen® is the Right Choice

“It didn’t rain throughout June, and we still had good yields. A good fiber package is also very important, and the PHY 375 [WRF] has graded great so far.”

— Aaron Wade, Jonesville, Louisiana

For more information about PhytoGen brand varieties, visit www.PhytoGenYields.com or call 1-800-258-3033.

photogen-widestrike-online

®PhytoGen and the PhytoGen Logo are trademarks of PhytoGen Seed Company, LLC. ®The WideStrike Logo is a trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC. PhytoGen Seed Company is a joint venture between Mycogen Corporation, an affiliate of Dow AgroSciences LLC, and the J.G. Boswell Company.

 


PhytoGen® Brand Varieties Pay Off

In the field, on the scale and at the gin, PhytoGen® brand varieties pay off. And for 2010, PhytoGen offers three Acala varieties.

• PhytoGen brand PHY 755 WRF has WideStrike® Insect Protection (two-gene Bt cotton) and Genuity Roundup Ready® Flex. Plus, check out that staple length of 40! The parentage is PHY 72.

• PhytoGen brand PHY 725 RF is the most widely planted Acala in California, offering Genuity Roundup Ready Flex, high yield potential and long staple length.

• PhytoGen brand PHY 72 is a high-yielding conventional Acala with wide adaptability and long staple length.

For more information, see your cottonseed dealer or call 1-888-395-7378.

p-w-genuity-online

®PhytoGen and the PhytoGen Logo are trademarks of PhytoGen Seed Company, LLC. ®WideStrike and the WideStrike Logo are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences LLC. ®™Genuity, the Genuity logo and design and Roundup Ready are trademarks of Monsanto Company. PhytoGen Seed Company is a joint venture between Mycogen Corporation, an affiliate of Dow AgroSciences LLC, and the J.G. Boswell Company.

 


 
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Deficit Commission Panelists Named

Erskine Bowles, a former chief of staff in the Clinton White House, and Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming, have been named to lead a bipartisan commission to tackle the deficit.

Bowles has served as president of the U. of North Carolina since Jan. 1, ’06. He ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in ’02 and ’04. He served in the Clinton White House from ’94-98, spending the last two years as chief of staff to President Clinton. Simpson served in the Senate from ’79-97 and was the Republican whip from ’85-95. Since leaving Congress, he has served as commissioner on the American Battle Monuments Commission and as co-chair of the Continuity in Government Commission.

President Obama made the announcement and signed an Executive Order on Feb. 18. The commission will have 18 members, with 14 members needed to bring recommendations forward. The House and Senate will each name six members, split evenly by party, and the White House will name six, of which no more than four can be of the same party. It remained unclear whether Congressional Republicans intended to name appointees to their slots on the panel.

Some observers speculated that Simpson's agreement to serve may help sway wary Republicans to participate. Congressional Republican leaders have expressed concern that the commission will provide political cover for tax increases to narrow the gap between revenues and spending. Simpson is known for refusing to simply agree with others to get to a compromise.

A spokesman for House Republican Leader Boehner (R-OH) said, “Blue-ribbon commissions are fine and dandy, but we're still waiting for a response from the President on our proposal to start cutting spending right now.”

The panel is scheduled to submit its recommendations, if any, after the ’10 midterm elections. House and Senate leaders have promised votes on any proposals before the next Congress begins in Jan. ’11.

 
USDA Letter Explains GSM-102 Restriction

In a letter to commodity organizations that focus on exporting agricultural commodities, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services James Miller stated that decisions by USDA to restrict tenor under the export credit guarantee program (GSM-102) to 30 months (down from 36 months) was not taken because of the WTO Brazil case against the program but were a "method of mitigating risk under the GSM-102 program."

The Under Secretary asserted that the global economic downturn necessarily increased risk for US taxpayers of default under the program and noted that the program experienced its first defaults since ’04. Tenor limits, as well as linking each country's maximum tenor to that country's risk rating, were necessary for the program to meet statutory break-even requirements.

The letter was in response to concerns voiced by the organizations that the 30-month limit on tenor under the GSM-102 program imposed by USDA last fall would inhibit US agricultural exports and unnecessarily harm the effectiveness of the GSM-102 program. The groups also voiced concern that USDA's risk assessment methodology was flawed and not reflective of actual risk in the market. They had urged the Administration to increase tenor to 36 months, to promptly announce the remainder of GSM-102 allocations for ’10, and to reform its risk assessment methodology by better involving industry and making the process transparent.

The Under Secretary also indicated that the USDA was reviewing its risk assessment methodology through comments received in response to an Advanced Notice of Proposed rulemaking and other venues and would determine if changes to its methodology were needed. The letter strongly hinted that limits on tenor and other program changes implemented in the fall of ’09 would be maintained throughout the current fiscal year, stating that the Department would be "analyzing the impact of program changes on utilization and exports throughout FY 2010."

 
EPA Endangerment Finding Challenged in Court

On Feb. 12,  a dozen House Republicans and 17 associations/companies filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals for DC challenging EPA’s finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The lawsuit was filed by the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) on behalf of the Congressional members and the organizations, most of which are based in Georgia. The plaintiffs also are filing a supplemental petition that, according to the foundation, includes disclosures of scientific errors and fraud in the finding.

Shannon Goessling, SLF chief legal counsel, said in a statement, “The scientific basis for the EPA endangerment finding is flawed, based on questionable and potentially fraudulent data, and certainly does not rise to the level of certainty necessary to upend the American economy, toss millions out of work, and which promises little or no climate change benefit over the next half-century.”

Texas and several national industry groups also filed separate petitions in federal court challenging the government's authority to regulate US greenhouse gas emissions. Texas, which leads US states in carbon dioxide emissions due to its heavy concentration of oil refining and other industries, will see a major impact if US mandatory emissions reductions take effect.

The endangerment finding allows EPA to move forward with proposed regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks. The agency is planning to take final action in March. Under the CAA, regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks opens the door to regulation of emissions from new and modified stationary sources under the prevention-of-significant-deterioration (PSD) program. EPA has proposed a rule to limit application of PSD to sources that emit more than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year.

Meanwhile, Congressional passage of cap-and-trade legislation remains crucial to Obama administration efforts to cut US greenhouse gas emissions and to steer the economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources, the White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a Feb. 11 report.

The House passed a cap-and-trade bill in June but the Senate is not expected to take any further action this year.

 
Feinstein Steps Into Farmers’ Water Battle

Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) has targeted the Senate jobs bill in an attempt to guarantee more water for struggling farmers in California's San Joaquin Valley, regardless of restrictions imposed by the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Her office announced plans to attach a rider to the JOBS bill, calling it the "Emergency Temporary Water Supply" amendment. It would seek to ensure that farmers and water districts get between 38-40% of their normal allocations.

Allocations have dropped to as low as 10% recently because of a three-year drought and restrictions on pumping water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta system that are intended to protect Chinook salmon and Delta smelt, both of which are federally protected species under ESA.

The rider approach comes as the fight over Northern California's water continues to simmer in federal court. Last week, Judge Oliver Wanger of the US District Court for the Eastern District of California issued several rulings related to the pumping restrictions, resulting in his denial of a restraining order attempt by the farmers that would have suspended a biological opinion on the smelt to open water pumps on the south end of the delta to maximum capacity.

Environmental groups were critical of Feinstein's proposal, saying it would be a disaster for fishing communities that depend on a healthy delta ecosystem for their catch. Commercial fishing for salmon has been canceled for two years running and may be restricted again this spring. Also pending is an ongoing National Academy of Sciences review of the science behind both the salmon and smelt biological opinions. Results of that study are expected this spring.

 
Environmentalists Continue Pesticide Litigation

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed notice of intent to sue the EPA for failing to adequately evaluate and regulate nearly 400 pesticides for their impact on hundreds of endangered species throughout the nation.

CBD claims the EPA has violated Section 2 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) which requires that federal agencies "seek to conserve endangered species and threatened species," and Section 7 which requires it to engage in consultation with the federal wildlife agencies Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to ensure that pesticide registrations are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or result in the adverse modification of designated critical habitat.

CBD further claims violation of ESA Section 9 through registration of pesticide uses that have resulted in the illegal "take" of listed species and violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by registering pesticide uses that cause take of migratory birds.

The notice letter references 887 endangered and threatened species that may be hurt by pesticides. A series of lawsuits by CBD and other conservation groups have forced consultations with the Fish and Wildlife Service on the impacts of scores of pesticides on some endangered species, primarily in California, and interim restrictions on use of these pesticides in and adjacent to endangered species habitats.

In ’06, the EPA agreed to interim restrictions on applying 66 pesticides throughout California and began analyzing their effects on the California red-legged frog. In ’10, the agency proposed a settlement agreement to formally evaluate the harmful effects of 75 pesticides that may affect 11 imperiled San Francisco Bay Area species.

Continued litigation under ESA could have significant impacts on US cotton production and agriculture in general. The current suit is much broader than earlier suits, basically including the whole of the United States and encompassing almost 900 species and 400 pesticides.  Favorable rulings for the plaintiffs could result in restrictive buffers around critical habitats or the banning of certain pesticides in specific areas.

The NCC has been working in conjunction with other agricultural organizations and registrants to improve the ESA consultation process.

 
New EPA Deputy Administrator Named

Nancy Stoner joined the EPA on Feb. 1 as the No. 2 official in the Office of Water. Her appointment could prove important to agriculture as her office continues to develop permits for certain pesticide applications under the Sixth Circuit ruling.

Since ’99, Stoner had been an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), most recently serving as co-director of NRDC's Water Program.

 
’10 Beltwide Presentations Available Online

The ’10 Beltwide Cotton Conferences’ recorded presentations are now available online. A conference badge ID and last name are necessary to login at: http://ncc.confex.com/ncc/2010/webprogram/start.html.

To view the recordings, a high-speed Internet connection and either speakers or headphones attached to the computer are necessary. The slides in the recordings will appear at their original dimensions, so the screen resolution must be set to 1024x768 or greater.

If there are recordings for a session, a folder icon will appear. Click the session title, then click on a presentation title to view the recorded presentation or listen to the audio presentation. In most cases where the presentation has been captured, there will be both an audio only file (.mp3) and a multimedia file which captured the slides as well as the audio (.wrf). If a .pdf has been uploaded for a poster, there will be a link on the page that says PDF File.

Conferees also can use the search engine offered there to quickly find presentations of interest anywhere in the meeting. Just include the words "recorded presentation" in the search terms. Please note that when you first click on a hyperlink to a recorded presentation or poster, you will be asked for your last name and Subscription ID.

 
Sales Strong, Shipments Steady

Net export sales for the week ending Feb. 11 were 384,600 bales (480-lb). This brings total ’09-10 sales to approximately 9.2 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the ’08-09 marketing year were approximately 9.6 million bales. Total new crop (’10-11) sales are 339,900 bales.

Shipments for the week were 225,300 bales, bringing total exports to date to 4.9 million bales, compared with the 6.2 million bales at the comparable point in the ’08-09 marketing year.