Disaster Assistance May Be Offered Administratively
Senate Ag Committee Chairman Lincoln (D-AR) agreed to allow her ’09 crop disaster assistance provision dropped from a pending Small Business bill after the Administration agreed to use existing funds and administrative authority to provide assistance to eligible farmers.
In a statement Chairman Lincoln said, “In exchange for pulling ag disaster from the small business bill, I have secured an agreement from both Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) and White House Chief of Staff Emanuel and have their commitment to deliver critical agriculture disaster assistance administratively in the next two weeks."
It is still unclear where funds will be found and how the assistance will be delivered. Senator Lincoln said she would work with the Administration to identify a source of funds and a delivery mechanism. If the funding and delivery are based on legislation championed by Chairman Lincoln, the disaster assistance would provide producers who suffered crop losses in counties USDA declared ‘primary’ disaster areas (who also can certify a 5% loss on at least one crop of economic significance) a payment equivalent to 90% of their ’09 crop Direct Payment, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates at approximately $1.1 billion.
In addition, it would provide $300 million to specialty crop producers, $50 million to livestock producers and $42 million to cottonseed handlers.
USDA Announces CRP General Sign-up
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack announced that a general sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will begin on Aug. 2 and continue through Aug. 27. During the sign-up period, farmers and ranchers may offer eligible land for CRP's competitive general sign-up at their county Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. The ’08 farm bill authorized USDA to maintain CRP enrollment up to 32 million acres.
To help ensure that interested farmers and ranchers are aware of the sign-up period, USDA has signed partnership agreements with several conservation and wildlife organizations, which will play an active role in USDA’s ’10 CRP outreach efforts. Additionally, Secretary Vilsack has recorded two public service announcements, which are available to the press and public at www.fsa.usda.gov/psa.
CRP is a voluntary program that assists farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers to use their environmentally sensitive land for conservation benefits. Producers enrolling in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers in exchange for rental payments, cost-share, and technical assistance. CRP protects millions of acres of America's topsoil from erosion and is designed to improve the nation's natural resources base. Participants voluntarily remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production by entering into long-term contracts for 10-15 years. In exchange, participants receive annual rental payments and a payment of up to 50% of the cost of establishing conservation practices.
By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, CRP also protects groundwater and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to wildlife population increases in many parts of the country. As a result, CRP has provided significant opportunities for hunting and fishing on private lands.
Land currently not enrolled in CRP may be offered in this sign-up provided all eligibility requirements are met. Additionally, current CRP participants with contracts expiring this fall covering about 4.5 million acres may make new contract offers. Contracts awarded under this sign-up are scheduled to become effective Oct. 1, ’10.
FSA will evaluate and rank eligible CRP offers using an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) for environmental benefits to be gained from enrolling the land in CRP. The EBI consists of five environmental factors (wildlife, water, soil, air and enduring benefits) and cost. Decisions on the EBI cutoff will be made after the sign-up ends and after analyzing the EBI data of all the offers.
Those who would have met previous sign-up EBI thresholds are not guaranteed a contract under this sign-up. In addition to the general sign-up, CRP's continuous sign-up program will be ongoing. Continuous acres represent the most environmentally desirable and sensitive land. For more information, visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/crp.
FSACounty Committee Nominations Needed
Jonathan Coppess, administrator of USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA), reminds farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers that they have until Aug. 2 to nominate eligible candidates to serve on local FSA county committees.
FSA county committees help local farmers through their decisions on commodity price support loans, conservation programs and disaster programs, and by working closely with county executive directors.
To be eligible to hold office as a county committee member, individuals must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and live in the local administrative area where they are running. A complete list of eligibility requirements, more information and nomination forms are available at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/elections.
All nominees must sign the nomination form FSA-669A. All nomination forms for the ’10 election must be postmarked or received in the local USDAServiceCenter by close of business on Aug. 2. After that, ballots will be mailed to eligible voters by Nov. 5 and are due back to the local USDA Service Centers on Dec. 6. The newly elected county committee members will take office Jan. 1, ’11.
Senate Democrats Introduce Rolled Back Energy Bill
Any possibility of climate legislation passing this year died when Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) revealed a long-awaited energy bill that focuses almost exclusively on responding to BP's Gulf oil spill.
The measure omits any mention of ethanol, biodiesel, a Renewable Electricity Standard, other renewable energy options or greenhouse gas reduction.
Sen. Reid concluded that any greenhouse gas reduction provisions had no chance of securing the 60-vote minimum needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. He promised instead “to continue to work to find bipartisan agreement on a comprehensive bill to help reduce pollution and deal with the very real threat that global warming poses.”
The bill's main provisions include the removal of liability caps to make the oil companies involved in the Gulf Coast oil spill fully accountable for the costs of the damages; raising the per barrel fee that oil companies are required to pay into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund; providing funds for a home energy efficiency program; and promoting the manufacturing and deployment of vehicles that use natural gas and electricity.
The lack of a market-based cap-and-trade system in the legislation is not enough to dissuade Sen. Johanns (R-NE), who says he worries the controversial provision will surface in a final version negotiated in conference. Sen. Johanns introduced legislation that would require 67 Senators to vote to allow-cap-trade to become law without having debated it in the Senate.
Republicans were quick to offer their own energy bill, the “Oil Spill Response Improvement Act of 2010.”
A spokesman for the minority of the Senate Energy Committee said the Reid bill includes unlimited liability for oil spills and this effort would simply force independents out of business in the offshore market by making it impossible for them to obtain sufficient insurance.
The Republican approach instead “would give the President the authority to set strict liability caps on each facility individually based on risk factors, which allows independents to continue to operate offshore and does not raise gas prices.”
Suit Seeks EPA Ban on Chlorpyrifos
Two environmental groups filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an attempt to force action on their ’07 petition seeking a ban on the insecticide chlorpyrifos (marketed as Lorsban among other trade names). In their suit, the groups allege that chlorpyrifos poses “serious threats to human health,” including nerve damage and brain defects.
The current court challenge by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Pesticide Action Network North America alleges that EPA has "unreasonably delayed" work on their earlier petition, which was opened for public comment soon after its filing but never subject to a final ruling.
Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate insecticide, is commonly used on corn, cotton and other crops. EPA cancelled most residential uses of the pesticide ten years ago.
US Producers Join Latin America Delegation
Eight US cotton producers were part of a COTTON USA delegation that traveled to Mexico, Honduras and Peru from July 18-23 to meet with representatives from the local textile and apparel industries. The trip’s purpose was to reinforce the US cotton industry’s commitment to supplying this region with cotton fiber and value added products.
US cotton fiber and textile trade with Mexico, the CBI Region and the Andean Region totaled about 4.7 millions bales in ’08/09. The itinerary included briefings from Cotton Council International (CCI) and Cotton Incorporated; overviews of the Mexican, CBI, Honduran, Andean, Peruvian textile and apparel industries; and tours of COTTON USA licensed mills as well as a knitting and sewing plant.
Producer participants were: Harris Armour, Frank Bezner Jr., David Burns, David Cochran, Charles Meyer, Brady Mimms, Sherry Proctor and Bill Weaver. Phil Bogel, representing the American Cotton Shippers Assoc.; Rick King, NCC Member Services; Jaime Flores, Cotton Incorporated, and CCI staff also joined the delegation.
Meetings with the Mexican textile industry in Mexico City covered the cotton textile environment in Mexico and NAFTA, textile trade policy issues within the Western Hemisphere, as well as information sharing between US and Mexican cotton growers. For the trade policy discussions, the delegation was joined by the immediate past chairman of the National Council of Textile Organizations, Wallace Darneille, who also serves as CCI president, and NCTO president, Cass Johnson. The group also toured a textile mill outside of Mexico City to learn more about how US cotton is processed and to identify ways that US cotton can remain a competitive supplier.
In Honduras, the delegation met with leaders of that country’s textile and apparel industry. Delegation members learned how the regional free trade agreement has helped the Central American industry grow as a textile and apparel sourcing origin, and as a market for US cotton via yarn and textiles. They heard about CCI and Cotton Incorporated’s work within the region to facilitate supplies of quality cotton yarn and fabric from the US and downstream sales of finished product from the region. The delegation toured Gildan’s knitting and sewing plant near San Pedro Sula, where delegation members witnessed socks being knitted, processed and packaged with the COTTON USA trademark for distribution in the US market.
The delegation’s final stop was Lima, Peru, which gave members an opportunity to see the impact of various Andean Region trade agreements on the business complex and assess the future outlook for US cotton and products in the region. Expert presenters briefed the group on Andean Region politics, its economy and textile industry. The Peruvian Cotton Institute presented the current Peruvian cotton crop situation, research developments and outlook. To round out the visit, the delegation visited Topy Top S.A. and Compañía Industrial Nuevo Mundo S.A., two of the largest mills in the Andean Region.
Southwest Producers Visit California
Southwest cotton producers saw cotton and other agricultural operations in California’s San JoaquinValley as part of the NCC’s Producer Information Exchange (PIE) program.
Sponsored by Bayer CropScience through a grant to The Cotton Foundation, the PIE program is now in its 22nd year of helping US cotton producer participants 1) gain new perspectives in such fundamental practices as land preparation, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation and harvesting; and 2) observe firsthand the unique ways in which their peers are using new and existing technology.
The Southwest cotton producers began their tour in Fresno with a meeting at the California Ginners/Growers Assoc. and then toured the Morning Star Tomato Processing facility and Delta Farms in Los Banos. On the second day, the group visited the Stone Land Co. in Stratford that included a look at a solar project and also toured the Huron Ginning roller plant and the Terra Nova Ranch before going on individual farm tours. The tour concluded with a visit to Kingsfresh Produce in Dinuba, a look at table grape production/harvest at Kirschenmann Farms in Shafter, and a tour of the Buttonwillow Land & Cattle Co. in Buttonwillow.
The Southwest producer participants included: from Texas –Mike Alexander,Colorado City; Rhett Bodle, Oak Leaf; Rodrick Bredemeyer, Winters; Tommy Cmerek, Miles; Rodney Gully, Garden City; Destan Hodges, White Deer; Shane May, Victoria; and Kevin Schniers, Wall; from Kansas – Kent Goyen, Pratt; and from Oklahoma – Doug Watson, Frederick.
In the two remaining ’10 tours, Mid-South producers will travel to North Carolina and Virginia on Aug. 8-13; and Far Western producers will tour Texas on Aug. 22-27.
Upon completion of this year’s four tours, the PIE program will have exposed nearly 900 US cotton producers to innovative production practices in regions different than their own.
Sales Slump, Shipments Strong
Approaching the end of the marketing year, ’09-10 net export sales for the week ending July 22 were just 700 bales (480-lb). This brings total ’09-10 sales to approximately 13.9 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the ’08-09 marketing year were approximately 14.3 million bales. Total new crop (’10-11) sales are 3.5 million bales.
Shipments for the week were 313,300 bales, bringing total exports to date to 11.7 million bales, compared with the 12.9 million bales at the comparable point in the ’08-09 marketing year. Total exports are approximately 542,000 bales below the USDA projection of 12.3 million bales.
Effective July 30-Aug. 5, ’10
Adjusted World Price, SLM 11/16
66.43 cents
*
Fine Count Adjustment ('09 Crop)
0.29 cents
Fine Count Adjustment ('10 Crop)
0.39 cents
Coarse Count Adjustment
0.00 cents
Marketing Loan Gain Value
0.00 cents
Import Quotas Open
3
Special Import Quota (480-lb bales)
201,233
ELS Payment Rate
0.00 cents
*No Adjustment Made Under Step I
Five-Day Average
Current 5 Lowest 3135 CFR Far East
NA
Forward 5 Lowest 3135 CFR Far East
83.47 cents
Coarse Count CFR Far East
NA
Current US CFR Far East
NA
Forward US CFR Far East
86.00 cents
'09-10 Weighted Marketing-Year Average Farm Price
Year-to-Date (August-June)
62.10 cents
**
**August-July average price used in determination of counter-cyclical payment
