On Oct. 31, EPA issued a final NPDES Pesticide General Permit (PGP) for point source discharges from the application of pesticides to US waters under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The PGP and other information are posted at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=410.
This action was in response to a '09 decision by the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (National Cotton Council, et al. v. EPA) in which the court vacated EPA's '06 Final Rule on Aquatic Pesticides (see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=414#decision) that exempted pesticides from CWA permitting. As a result of the court's decision, NPDES permits are generally required for these types of discharges as of Oct. 31, '11.
The final PGP covers operators that apply pesticides that result in discharges from the following use patterns: (1) mosquito and other flying insect pest control; (2) weed and algae control; (3) animal pest control; and (4) forest canopy pest control. The permit requires permittees to minimize pesticide discharges through the use of pest management measures and monitor for and report any adverse incidents. Applicators treating areas greater than determined acreage also are required to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) prior to beginning to discharge and implement integrated pest management-like practices. Record-keeping and reporting requirements will provide information to EPA and the public regarding where, when and how much pesticides are being discharged to US waters. Pesticide application use patterns not covered by EPA's Pesticide General Permit may need to obtain coverage under an individual permit or alternative general permit if they result in point source discharges to US waters. The CWA allows for citizen lawsuits.
This general permit will provide coverage for discharges in the six states where EPA is the NPDES-permitting authority, which, of the cotton-producing states, include New Mexico and Oklahoma. The remaining 44 states are authorized to develop and issue their own NPDES pesticide permits, which are similar to the EPA permit.
While EPA's general permit requirements must be met as of Oct. 31, applicators will be covered automatically under the PGP without submitting an NOI for any discharges before Jan. 12, '12. To continue coverage after Jan. 12, '12, those applicators who are required to submit NOIs will need to do so at least 10 days (or 30 days for discharges to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Listed Resources of Concern) prior to Jan. 12. For the first 120 days that the permit is in effect, EPA will focus on providing compliance assistance and education of the permit requirements, rather than on enforcement actions.
Agricultural groups, including the NCC, believe that pesticide applications already are highly regulated under the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and this permitting is a paperwork exercise that will provide no additional environmental protection. These groups exhausted judicial relief and have been lobbying Congress for a legislative fix.
In March of this year, the House passed a bipartisan bill, H.R. 872, which amends both the CWA and FIFRA to prevent such redundant regulatory burdens. Sens. Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environmental and Public Works Committee, and Cardin (D-MD) put a hold on the bill. Sens. Stabenow (D-MI) and Roberts (R-KS) of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee negotiated for a compromise agreement offering a two-year moratorium on the permits. However, Sen. Boxer insisted on a comprehensive study of pesticide impacts on waters, which has stalled the negotiations.
Under this PGP, approximately 35,000 pesticide applicators will need permits to cover about 500,000 applications per year. EPA estimates the permit will cost states, local entities and pesticide applicators $50 million and require one million hours to implement per year. Under the CWA, unlawful discharges are subject to $37,500 per day in fines.
County Committee Elections Begin
USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Bruce Nelson announced the Nov. 4 beginning of the '11 FSA county committee elections, with USDA mailing ballots to eligible voters. Eligible voters who do not receive ballots in the coming week can obtain ballots from their local USDA Service Center. The deadline to return the ballots to local FSA offices in person is Dec. 5, '11 and mailed ballots postmarked no later than that date.
"The role and input of our county committee members is more vital than ever at a time when our country faces important choices regarding the funding and operation of our government," Nelson said. "New county committee members provide input and make important decisions on the local administration of disaster and conservation programs. With better participation in recent years, we have also seen promising increases in the number of women and minority candidates, helping to better represent the richness of American agriculture."
County committee members are an important component of the operations of FSA and provide a link between the agricultural community and USDA. Farmers and ranchers elected to county committees help deliver FSA programs at the local level, applying their knowledge and judgment to make decisions on commodity price support programs; conservation programs; incentive indemnity and disaster programs for some commodities; emergency programs and eligibility. FSA committees operate within official regulations designed to carry out federal laws.
To be an eligible voter, farmers and ranchers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program. A person who is not of legal voting age, but supervises and conducts the farming operations of an entire farm also may be eligible to vote. Agricultural producers in each county submitted candidate nominations during the nomination period, which ended on Aug. 1. Newly elected committee members and their alternates will take office on Jan. 1, '12.
Close to 7,700 FSA county committee members serve in the 2,244 FSA offices nationwide. Each committee consists of three to 11 members who serve three-year terms. Approximately one-third of county committee seats are up for election each year. More information on county committees, such as the new '11 fact sheet and brochures, can be found on the FSA website atwww.fsa.usda.gov/electionsor at a local USDA Service Center.
Ag Trade Advisory Nominations Sought
USDA is seeking additional nominations for individuals to serve on Agricultural Trade Advisory Committees. USDA's Foreign Agriculture Service published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) requesting nominations for membership on the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC) and the six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees (ATACs) for Trade. (76 Fed. Reg. page 64,892 notice is at http://frwebgate2.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/PDFgate.cgi?WAISdocID=HIy7T1/2/2/0&WAISaction=retrieve. To ensure continuity, the notice indicates appointments will be made periodically to establish staggered terms.
The Secretary of Agriculture and the US Trade Representative in June renewed the charters of the APAC and the six ATACs for four-year terms to expire on June 9, '15. The ATACs cover animals and animal products; fruits and vegetables; grains, feed, oilseeds and planting seeds; processed foods; sweeteners and sweetener products; and tobacco, cotton and peanuts. They provide advice and information regarding trade issues affecting both domestic and foreign production in the commodities of the respective sector.
The APAC provides advice on the operation of various existing US trade agreements and on negotiating objectives for new trade agreements, as well as other trade policy matters.
All nomination materials (available in the FR notice) should be mailed in a single, complete package and sent to: Thomas J. Vilsack, Secretary, USDA, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20250, Attn: APAC/ATACs. Committee members cannot be federally registered lobbyists. Members should have expertise and knowledge of agricultural trade as it relates to policy and commodity specific issues. Additional information on nomination requirements is found in the notice.
China Cotton Leaders See US Operations
Eight Chinese cotton industry leaders visited the US Cotton Belt to learn more about the US cotton industry. The China Cotton Assoc. (CCA) executive delegation's visit follows the successful '06 NCC Leadership Exchange delegation to China, the '07 NCC Quality Team to China delegation and '07 US Cotton Belt Tour by CCA, a '08 NCC leadership team visit to China, a '09 US Cotton Belt Tour by CCA, and a '10 NCC leadership team visit to China.
The Oct. 31-Nov. 5 CCA visit to the US Cotton Belt was the third since the establishment of the US-China Cotton Leadership Exchange Program by the NCC and the CCA. The exchange between the two countries was established by a Memorandum of Understanding signed in '06 that promised cooperation between the countries' cotton industries.
Sponsored by the NCC, Cotton Council International (CCI) and The Cotton Foundation, the tour had stops in Washington, DC, Memphis, TN, and Lubbock, TX, and included briefings by the NCC, CCI and USDA. The delegation participated in a Mid-South cotton industry seminar on cotton production, processing and logistics, toured a Memphis warehouse operation, a W. Tennessee farm and gin operation and the USDA classing office in Bartlett, TN. While in the Lubbock area, the group participated in a Southwest cotton industry seminar on cotton production, processing and logistics. They also toured cotton farms, a gin, a compress and a cottonseed oil mill as well as the USDA Agricultural Research Service Ginning Research Laboratory.
The CCA, which was modelled after the NCC to include all segments of the Chinese cotton industry, is a non-profit organization voluntarily established by cotton farmers; cotton farmer cooperatives; enterprises engaged in cotton production, purchasing, processing and operation; cotton textile enterprises; cotton research institutes; and other institutions. The CCA is supervised by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and reports to the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives.
Beltwide Programming Being Finalized
Topics and speakers are being finalized for the '12 Beltwide Cotton Conferences, set for Jan. 3-6 at the Orlando World Center Marriott – including programming for several timely workshops.
The Cotton Production Conference's general session on Jan. 4 will include reports on Cotton Belt Weather Patterns, 2011 in Review, Managing Cotton with a Changing Arsenal of Tools, Washington Update and Cotton's 2012 Market Outlook.
Among timely workshops to be offered on Jan. 4-5 are Conventional Cotton: Back to the Future, Glyphosate-Resistant Weed Control Systems: Managing Around the Consistent Inconsistencies of Pre-Emergence Herbicides, Understanding and Implementing Site-Specific Applications for Management of Nematodes, Thrips and Nematode Management: Making the Right Decisions on Early-Season Pest Control, Enhanced Efficiency Nitrogen Fertilizers, Irrigation Essentials for Cotton, Tools to Conduct On-Farm Tests, Cotton Options Workshop, Cotton Economic Outlook Symposium, New Developments From Industry, and Social Media in Production Agriculture. Programming details soon will be available on the Beltwide website, www.cotton.org/beltwide.
Bill Robertson, the NCC's manager, Agronomy, Soils and Physiology who coordinates the conferences with the oversight of the conferences' steering committee, said the Cotton Production Conference general session and workshops "should provide beneficial information to help producers with key decision-making and fine tuning of their production practices for the coming season."
The Cotton Consultants Conference, which will be offered for the fifth consecutive year, also is open to producers as well as to others that help producers in their decision-making, such as Extension and county agents, university researchers, dealers/distributors and company technical personnel. That session 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 Steady
Net export sales for the week ending Oct. 27 were 99,500 bales (480-lb). This brings total '11-12 sales to approximately 7.8 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the '10-11 marketing year were approximately 11.7 million bales. Total new crop ('12-13) sales are 319,700 bales.
Shipments for the week were 93,000 bales, bringing total exports to date to 1.2 million bales, compared with the 2.1 million bales at the comparable point in the '10-11 marketing year.
Effective Nov. 4-10, ’11
Adjusted World Price, SLM 11/16
90.07 cents
*
Fine Count Adjustment ('10 Crop)
1.38 cents
Fine Count Adjustment ('11 Crop)
1.43 cents
Coarse Count Adjustment
0.00 cents
Marketing Loan Gain Value
0.00 cents
Import Quotas Open
0
Limited Global 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
110.63 cents
Forward 5 Lowest 3135 CFR Far East
NA
Coarse Count CFR Far East
NA
Current US CFR Far East
114.95 cents
Forward US CFR Far East
NA
'11-12 Weighted Marketing-Year Average Farm Price
Year-to-Date (Aug.-Sept.)
75.82 cents
**
**August-July average price used in determination of counter-cyclical payment
