Georgia cotton and peanut producers, Matt Coley, Vienna, and Ronnie Lee, Bronwood, presented comments on the effectiveness of the conservation programs administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) at a recent field hearing in Alabama.
The hearing, termed an Agricultural Landscapes Forum, was the last of six regional hearings being conducted by the Farm Foundation on behalf of NRCS and was moderated by former Farm Service Agency Administrator Teresa Lasseter of Georgia. The session was divided into three policy themes—water security, climate variability and landscape integrity.
Lee, who is the American Cotton Producers Georgia co-chairman, served on the climate variability panel and Coley was a member of the landscape integrity panel. Both Lee and Coley relayed their operations’ experiences with conservation programs, pointing out aspects that worked well and some provisions and policies that needed improvement. Both also emphasized the important role of conservation programs to production agriculture and stressed the need for additional technical assistance by NRCS in the county offices.
Coley’s statement pointed out that conservation programs should be flexible in order to adapt to regional priorities and adjust to challenges. As an example, he discussed the need for waivers from conservation tillage requirements in order to combat pigweed resistance. He also stated that conservation programs should not be the delivery mechanism for farm program benefits but should have comparable eligibility requirements in order to be applicable to commercial-size operations.
Input from the regional hearings will be compiled and discussed at a forum by a national panel, which includes Ms. Lasseter, in early April in Washington, DC.
Short Temik®Supply Forces Prompt Action
An already short supply of Temik®, coupled with the Bayer CropScience announcement regarding the termination of production of MIC, the active ingredient in Temik®, caught many producers by surprise.
Producers planning to apply Temik® at planting for nematode management have few alternatives beyond pre-plant fumigant products and seed treatments. Logistics associated with the use of fumigant products such as Telone II®, Vapam®, or K-Pam™ may rule out their use for ’11 unless applications already have been planned well ahead of planting.
Seed treatments for nematodes, such as AERIS™/Trilex™ Seed Treatments or Avicta® Complete Cotton, may be the grower’s best option as planting approaches. Where nematodes are of little or no concern, but early season insect pressures are, insecticide seed treatment options also may be a consideration.
Producers may still have time to either order seed pre-treated or have existing seed stocks treated by their local dealer. Producers are encouraged to contact their seed dealer as soon as possible to arrange for either treatment option, if desired.
A more complete description of alternatives to Temik® application for this current growing season and other strategies for controlling nematodes and early season pests have been summarized by the NCC’s Technical Services staff and are available on the NCC’s website atwww.cotton.org/issues/2011/temiksumm.cfm.
EPA Administrator Visits San Joaquin Valley
In a visit to California, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson met with state and local business and agricultural leaders, including Don Cameron, the general manager of Terranova Ranch in Helm.
Cameron, a NCC and American Cotton Producers director, said Jackson wanted to know what equipment changes he had made that improved air quality in the San Joaquin Valley. He told her about his three-year program that included replacing 40 natural gas engines with electric engines that are used for pumping underground water and his replacement of multiple tractors using “tier three or four” engines instead of “tier zero” engines.
He also discussed various water conservation measures he employs including a groundwater recharge project involving the use of floodwater when available and his use of drip irrigation on the majority of his crops. He told Jackson, who also was interested in what type of organic crops he produced and the relationship between his organic and transgenic crops, that “we have proven that we can grow both compatibly here side-by-side without any real issues.” Also discussed was the Delta smelt/Endangered Species Act issue and how it is affecting water delivery to the San Joaquin Valley.
Overall, Cameron believes Jackson’s visit was educational and that she was pleased with the efforts to address air quality and water use in the San Joaquin Valley. While there, Jackson also met with growers at J and L Vineyards in Fresno and with local environmental justice activists. Her trip also included a stop in Los Angeles where she held a roundtable discussion with Los Angeles business leaders from the energy sector and the African-American community.
For more information on EPA’s work with the agricultural community, visit: www.epa.gov/agriculture/.
NRC to Host Weed Resistance Summit
The National Research Council (NRC), the research arm of the National Academy of Sciences, plans to host a national summit this fall on the increasing problem of weed resistance to glyphosate.
David Ervin, an environmental economist at Portland State U., announced the forthcoming summit at a Farm Foundation-sponsored forum on agricultural biotechnology regulation on March 15 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. He chaired the NRC committee that last year produced a report, "Impact of Biotechnology on Farm Sustainability in the U.S."
In prepared remarks, Ervin said the NRC initially had hoped the summit would take place this summer, but it now is tentatively scheduled for the fall. The meeting will be co-hosted by the Weed Science Society.
The NRC report, which was released last April, stressed that current management of herbicide tolerant crops is likely to lead to environmentally damaging practices, such as greater use of more toxic pesticides and a return to tillage. Ervin told the audience of some three dozen academics, regulators and other stakeholders that evidence of weed resistance is "growing every day" and "could erode the economic and environmental benefits of the technology."
EPA Plans Stricter Rules to Protect Pollinators
EPA is planning to strengthen its certification requirements for pesticide applicators to protect bees and other pollinators -- the latest effort by the agency to limit pollinators' exposure to the chemicals. EPA also is weighing changes to how it assesses the risks that pesticides pose to pollinators but the revised applicator certification requirements action likely will precede that because the changes have broad support and can be implemented quickly.
Tom Moriarty, a team leader in EPA's Pesticide Re-Evaluation Division, recently announced plans for the new certification requirements at the spring meeting of the Assoc. of American Pesticide Control Officials in Arlington, VA. He said EPA is planning to revise its rules governing certification of pesticide applicators to include requirements for better training for spraying in a way that is protective of bees. Along with the new rules, which will need to be adopted by the states after federal approval, EPA also will issue an updated training manual.
EPA is grappling with how to control the exposure of bees to pesticides, which can be harmful to the insects, and in turn prevent them from pollinating crops and other plant life. Environmentalists and some agricultural groups are concerned that some pesticides may be contributing to the collapse of scores of bee colonies, which could threaten entire crops.
The issue came to the forefront late last year when a leaked EPA memo described one controversial systemic pesticide, clothianidin, as possibly being toxic to honeybees. Systemic pesticides are absorbed into the stem and leaves of the plant, unlike conventional pesticides which stay on the surface, making it impossible to prevent exposure to pollinators. In the wake of the memo's release, environmentalists called on EPA to issue a rare stop-use order. EPA officials recently rejected the request and said the agency's data shows that chronic harms posed by the pesticide are not sufficient to justify regulatory limits.
At a March 14 meeting, Moriarty reiterated that the agency has found little evidence that a group of systemic pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, have directly caused population decline among bees. While the populations are shrinking, that process started occurring after the chemicals were released, and "that correlation is not nearly as close as some would believe," he said.
Moriarty also rejected claims from activists that EPA’s studies of bees are invalid because they fail to examine the long term effects of the pesticides, among other things. The agency has trouble doing studies on the pollinators because of the cost of field space and the range of the animals. "It's almost impossible" to have a control environment for a 10-mile radius, which would be needed for a completely controlled study, he said. Moriarty also dismissed calls to throw out all of the information collected in those studies, arguing that much of it is still relevant.
Nevertheless, the agency told environmentalists and beekeepers that in ’12 it will propose a new method for assessing the risks posed by pesticides. The agency's proposal likely is to follow recommendations from a special panel of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, convened at EPA's request, which urged the agency earlier this year to adopt a new "tiered" approach so its risk assessment methods better account for risks that pesticides pose to pollinators. The executive summary of the panel's report is expected to be released later this month.
US Mill Cotton Use Steady
According to the Commerce Dept., February (four-week month) total cotton consumption in domestic mills was 142.8 million pounds for a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.86 million bales (480-lb). Last year’s February annualized rate was 3.45 million bales.
The January (four-week month) estimate of domestic mill cotton use was lowered by 1.1 million pounds to 142.6 million pounds. The revised seasonally adjusted annualized rate of consumption for January is 3.88 million bales. The previous year’s January annualized rate was 3.66 million bales.
Based on Commerce estimates from Aug. 1, ’10-Feb. 26, ’11, projected total pounds consumed during crop year ’10-11 would be 1.8 billion pounds or 3.76 million bales. USDA’s latest estimate of ’10-11 crop year mill use is 3.6 million bales.
Preliminary March domestic mill use of cotton and revised February figures will be released by Commerce on April 28.
Sales, Shipments Strong
Net export sales for the week ending March 17 were 344,000 bales (480-lb). This brings total ’10-11 sales to approximately 15.9 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the ’09-10 marketing year were approximately 10.0 million bales. Total new crop (’11-12) sales are 4.7 million bales.
Shipments for the week were 427,700 bales, bringing total exports to date to 9.0 million bales, compared with the 6.4 million bales at the comparable point in the ’09-10 marketing year.
Effective March 25-31, ’11
Adjusted World Price, SLM 11/16
208.39 cents
*
Fine Count Adjustment ('09 Crop)
0.00 cents
Fine Count Adjustment ('10 Crop)
0.00 cents
Coarse Count Adjustment
0.00 cents
Marketing Loan Gain Value
0.00 cents
Import Quotas Open
0
Special Import Quota (480-lb bales)
0
ELS Payment Rate
0.00 cents
*No Adjustment Made Under Step I
Five-Day Average
Current 5 Lowest 3135 CFR Far East
225.23 cents
Forward 5 Lowest 3135 CFR Far East
147.74 cents
Coarse Count CFR Far East
NA
Current US CFR Far East
224.10 cents
Forward US CFR Far East
147.80 cents
'10-11 Weighted Marketing-Year Average Farm Price
Year-to-Date (Aug.-Jan.)
80.47 cents
**
**August-July average price used in determination of counter-cyclical payment
