The Senate has had under consideration all week a mini-omnibus appropriations measure (the "minibus" H.R. 2112) that includes the FY12 agriculture appropriations measure. The package was subject to numerous amendments but was moving ahead until the Senate recessed without completing work on the bill.
The Senate has agreed to take up a limited number of amendments when they return on Nov. 1 from a week-long work period. The minibus contains the annual spending bills for Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.
Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) said the decision to combine the bills into a minibus was made with the support of Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY). However, he also said that House Speaker Boehner (R-OH) encouraged the strategy to jump-start the appropriations process. The federal government continues to operate under a Continuing Resolution, which expires on Nov. 18.
Senate leaders agreed to allow numerous amendments from members of both parties as long as the proposals were generally germane to the appropriations measures. An amendment by Sen. Coburn (R-OK), which prohibits direct payments to growers who have adjusted gross incomes of more than $1 million, passed 85-14.
Under the agreement reached, on Nov. 1 the Senate will resume consideration of HR 2112 and will conduct Roll Call Votes on seven amendments -- none of which would affect farm programs. Once all amendments are disposed of, the Senate will proceed to a Roll Call Vote on passage of HR 2112, as amended.
The NCC joined with agriculture groups in a letter, on the NCC's website atwww.cotton.org/issues/2011/upload/11appropsoct19.pdf, urging the Senate to reject amendments to the FY12 agriculture appropriations bill under consideration as part of the minibus. The groups were alarmed by the number of amendments that, if enacted, would make significant changes to current farm law. The amendments included new adjusted gross income (AGI) tests, new enforcement measures for existing AGI tests, elimination of DPs and others.
The groups pointed out that the respective agriculture committees, which have jurisdiction over farm programs, recently communicated a commitment to contribute $23 billion to deficit reduction and will now develop legislation to achieve those savings. The agriculture appropriations bill includes funding for discretionary programs and was written by the appropriations committee to comply with spending limits adopted by Congress. The letter urges Senators to recognize that the legislation under consideration is not the appropriate vehicle to make major changes in farm policy particularly in the last year of current farm law and before the committees can develop proposals to reform and reduce outlays as part of the deficit reduction process.
Separately, the NCC also expressed concern that an amendment filed by Sen. McCain (R-AZ) would, if enacted, result in the United States violating terms of the US-Brazil Framework Agreement and trigger retaliation against US exports (letter to Sen. McCain is on NCC's website atwww.cotton.org/issues/2011/upload/11mccainfinalletter.pdf). As of late Oct. 20, Sen. McCain had not offered his amendment for a vote.
SPCC Compliance Date for Farms Extended 18 Months
The EPA announced its plans to extend the date by which owners or operators of a farm must prepare or amend and implement an Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Plan (SPCC) from Nov. 10, '11 to May 10, '13. This rule will be final on Nov. 4, '11 unless EPA receives adverse comments by Nov. 2 '11.
Many challenging situations led to this 18 month deadline extension. The sheer number of farms through the United States made it difficult for EPA to reach owners and operators of farms that may be subject to the SPCC Plan regulations despite their 10-month targeted outreach program. A large portion of the continental United States was affected by flood events this spring and summer. Other areas were affected by fires and drought. The lack of available qualified professional engineers in some areas also was a hardship.
The compliance date extension does not remove regulatory requirements for farm owners and operators. Farms in operation on or before Aug. 16, '02, must maintain or amend their existing plan by May 10, '13. Farms in operation after Aug. 16, '02 but before May 10, '13 must prepare and use a Plan on or before May 10, '13. Farms that start operations after May 10, '13 will be required to have a plan in place before they begin operations.
Gins were excluded from this compliance date extension. Currently, gins in operation on or before Aug. 16, '02, must maintain or amend their existing plan by Nov. 10, '11. Gins in operation after Aug. 16, '02 but before Nov. 10, '11 must prepare and use a Plan on or before Nov. 10, '11. Gins that start operations after Nov. 10, '11 must have a plan in place before they begin operations.
Owners or operators of facilities excluded from the compliance date extension may still require additional time to amend or prepare their SPCC Plans as a result of either non-availability of qualified professional engineers or delays in construction or equipment delivery beyond the control and without fault of the owner or operator. If so, the owner or operator of the facility may submit a written request for additional time to amend or prepare a SPCC Plan to the regional administrator.
Producers are encouraged to take advantage of the off-season to prepare their SPCC Plan. This compliance date extension does not relieve farms from liability of any oil spill that may occur. More information is on the NCC's website at www.cotton.org/tech/safety/oilsp.cfm.
EPA to Retain Current PM10 NAAQS
In a letter dated Oct. 14 to Sen. Klobuchar (D-MN), EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson proposed retention of the current PM10 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The letter, which is on the NCC's website at www.cotton.org/issues/2011/upload/11EPAPM.pdf, was in response to a phone call from Sen. Klobuchar to Jackson regarding the status of EPA's statutory mandated review of the NAAQS for particulate matter, which includes fine particles (PM2.5) and coarse particles (PM10).
After mentioning that steady progress has been made in reducing both fine and coarse PM emissions, Administrator Jackson stated that, "Based on my consideration of the scientific record, analysis provided by EPA scientists, and advice from the Clean Air Science Advisory Council, I am prepared to propose the retention – with no revision – of the current PM10 standard and form when it is sent to OMB for interagency review."
OMB is the Office of Management and Budget, which reviews all Administration agencies' regulatory proposals prior to being published in the Federal Register.
Rural and farm states, particularly those located in the West, Midwest, South and Southwest regions of the country have been particularly concerned with EPA's PM NAAQS review as most of the PM measured in those areas are coarse PM. Depending on the options under EPA review, numerous counties in these states could have found themselves in non-attainment status, and thus subject to additional control measures beyond those required if they remained in attainment status. Given this concern, several pieces of legislation have been introduced in both the Senate and House that would require EPA to either retain current standards or refrain from additional regulation of coarse and fugitive dust in states that currently have their own coarse and fugitive dust regulations.
EU CAP Reform Proposed
The European Commission has proposed a controversial reform of the European Union (EU) Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). The plan calls for stringent environmental criteria including a requirement to put 7% of a farm's land into conservation crops in order to receive direct payments. There is also a proposal to modify the rules governing distribution of assistance so that Eastern European countries get more of the CAP payments.
One of the controversial provisions would require farmers who receive direct payments to "increase crop diversification, fallow land and preserve ecological reserves and landscapes." The proposed criteria would apply to 30% of farmers' current direct payments. The proposals also call for phasing-in limitations to establish a ceiling on direct payments. The adjustments will redirect subsidies based on the farm's number of employees. This is designed to reduce the benefits gap between Western Europe, many of whose farms are relatively large and highly mechanized, and Eastern and Central Europe where farms are smaller.
The controversial proposals, which must be approved by the EU member states in the Council of Ministers and by the European Parliament, also triggered immediate criticism from the leading agriculture lobby group called COPA-COGECA. It argued that the proposals do not move EU agriculture toward producing enough food to feed the world's growing population at affordable levels saying, "It does not make sense to require every single farm to stop producing on a certain percentage of their land (ecological set-aside) when world food demand is set to rise by 70 percent by 2050 and production is threatened by more extremes of drought, flooding and storms."
Environmental groups were not happy with the proposal saying the plan fails to live up to previous promises to "green" the EU CAP.
The EU CAP, which accounts for more than 60% of the EU's $120 billion annual budget, has been the subject of criticism because it is said to be "outdated, receives a disproportionate share of EU funding and distorts world agriculture markets."
MCEP Participants See Mid-South Operations
Nine producers from seven states saw agricultural operations in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas as part of the '11 Multi-Commodity Education Program (MCEP).
The MCEP, initiated in '06, is an exchange between commodity producers in the Sunbelt and the Midwest/Western regions designed to provide current and emerging producer leaders with: 1) a better understanding of production issues/concerns faced by their peers in another geographic region and 2) an opportunity to observe agronomic practices, technology utilization, cropping patterns, marketing plans and operational structure. The Cotton Foundation special project is funded by grants from Monsanto and Deere & Company.
The participants, representing Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Texas, raise a variety of crops, includingcorn, soybeans, wheat, barley and sunflowers.
Theybegan their trip with a briefing at NCC headquarters and a visit to Cargill Cotton in Cordova, TN, before getting a look at rice and cotton harvesting in Tunica, Mississippi.The next two days were also spent in Mississippi with the group touring North Delta Compress in Clarksdale, Mill Creek Gin in Lyon and the Monsanto Learning Center in Scott. The next day in Leland, the Delta Council gave the producers an overview of that association and the Mississippi Delta before they toured the Delta Branch Experiment Station and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service Ginning Laboratory. They concluded the day with a visit to Simmons Farm Raised Catfish in Yazoo City.
The last day was spent in Arkansas with stops at Planters Cotton Oil in Pine Bluff, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service office in Dumas and Riceland Foods in Stuttgart.
Beltwide Offering Insight for Efficient Production
Cotton producers can gain valuable insight on practices ranging from pre-emergence weed control systems to precision agriculture at the '12 Beltwide Cotton Conferences – information that can help them improve their bottom lines.
The NCC-coordinated forum is set for Jan. 3-6 at the Orlando World Center Marriott. Conference information, including instructions for housing and registration, is available at www.cotton.org/beltwide.
Bill Robertson, the NCC's manager of Agronomy, Soils and Physiology who coordinates the conferences with the oversight of the conferences' steering committee, said the Cotton Production Conference general session will focus on: 1) what went right and wrong in the '11 growing season, including what was learned from the extreme weather events across the Cotton Belt, 2) proven marketing strategies, 3) new farm policy development, and 4) producing cotton with a changing arsenal of plant protection products.
"These program topics were chosen to help producers deal with the unique challenges they will face in the 2012 growing season," said Kenneth Hood, a Mississippi producer/ginner who chairs the steering committee. "One of those challenges, for example, will be achieving efficiency and profitability with a declining number of plant protection products. Today's producers are trying to manage cotton with fewer plant protection products coupled with more restrictions on the products that are available."
The Production Conference's workshops will foster interaction between speakers and attendees on the challenges associated with such agronomic practices as: 1) herbicide resistance prevention/management, 2) producing cotton without Temik, 3) insect/weed management strategies when planting conventional varieties and 4) irrigation, with a focus on scheduling.
Among other workshops will be one with entomologists and agronomists discussing their use of social media, such as Facebook and blogging, to disseminate timely information and to gather feedback with the goal of helping improve producers' in-season decision-making. As in the past, a workshop also will have allied industry representatives talking about new and emerging technology and products such as plant varieties, chemistries, equipment and software.
"The workshops are especially good for posing questions to other cotton producers, researchers, Extension, agribusiness representatives and consultants," says NCC Chairman Charles Parker, a Missouri producer/ginner. "Overall, I believe the Beltwide gives producers a great opportunity to not only hear what their peers are doing in other parts of the Cotton Belt but also talk to them face-to-face about proven farming practices."
The Cotton Consultants Conference will be offered for the fifth consecutive year. It will offer insight gained from the '11 growing season and a discussion on dealing with weed resistance management, particularly ways to enhance pigweed control, in '12. The Beltwide Cotton Conferences also include the Cotton Foundation Technical Exhibits and 13 cotton technical conferences.
Sales, Shipments Remain Steady
Net export sales for the week ending Oct. 13 were 61,900 bales (480-lb). This brings total '11-12 sales to approximately 7.3 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the '10-11 marketing year were approximately 10.9 million bales. Total new crop ('12-13) sales are 238,400 bales.
Shipments for the week were 76,100 bales, bringing total exports to date to 1.1 million bales, compared with the 1.8 million bales at the comparable point in the '10-11 marketing year.
