CURRENT ISSUE ARTICLES

FY13 Agriculture Appropriations Delayed

Congress Approves Transportation Conference Report

USDA Sees 12.64 Million US Acres in '12

New Particulate Standards Proposed

AMA Opposes Labeling

Greenhouse Gases Regulation Rules Upheld

Sales Slacken, Shipments Steady

---

---

FY13 Agriculture Appropriations Delayed

The FY13 House Agriculture Appropriations bill was delayed and has not been rescheduled.

Meanwhile, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lucas (R-OK) announced that committee's markup of the farm bill will be on July 11.

According to a news story in AgriPulse, Chairman Lucas said he made it very clear to leadership that he preferred not to have the agriculture appropriations bill at the same time. "As of this moment, I don't anticipate having ag appropriations in the House at same time as the farm bill markup in the committee," he said.

In the meantime, Lucas is focused on marking up the farm bill on July 11, and noted "we need several days to get our work done and if necessary we'll delegate people among ourselves to the floor." He said he has not yet pressed House leadership on floor time for the farm bill, because he "doesn't have a bill to press," but when the committee completes markup in the days after July 11, "that becomes the next biggest issue for me."

When the time comes to reconcile differences between the House version and the Senate bill, or the "Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012," S. 3240, Chairman Lucas said he's confident the two chambers will be able to reach an agreement, using the "Super" Committee process as an example. "Just as we achieved consensus back in September in the hurry-up, we'll achieve consensus this time," he said. "We're just not at that point of hashing out the details."

Lucas noted that regarding differences between each chamber's legislation, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Stabenow (D-MI), "understands I have to do my work with the committee. When we get to conference certainly the bills will have to be melded together, but we've not talked about particulars. I understand the importance of crop revenue to her; she understands the importance of letting a safety net to southern farmers and people in southern plains to me."

Congress Approves Transportation Conference Report

The House and Senate both passed the Conference Report on the Surface Transportation Extension Act. The bill is a 27-month extension and reauthorization of surface transportation programs and will serve as an extension to allow lawmakers more time to continue to debate how best to fund the nations’ infrastructure system.

The Conference Report keeps most current Highway Trust Fund taxes, including the 18.4 cents-per-gallon levy on gasoline and the 24.4 cents-per-gallon surcharge on diesel purchases.

Several agricultural exemptions were in the Report including those for farm vehicles that would otherwise limit Hours of Service (HOS) and the traditional requirements for commercial licenses. The exemption applies to farm vehicles that weigh less than 26,000 pounds and are being operated by the producer or their employee. Some heavier vehicles also are exempt as long as they are operating within 150 miles of the farm.

The NCC has been supportive of the bill’s language, which serves to resolve any questions regarding the applicability of the agricultural HOS exemption for agriculture.

The Report also includes a one-year extension of the current 3.4% interest rate for new federally subsidized undergraduate student loans, slated to expire June 30, and a five-year extension of the flood insurance program, slated to expire on July 31.

USDA Sees 12.64 Million US Acres in '12

In its June acreage report, USDA estimated '12-13 US cotton plantings at 12.64 million acres, 14.3% less than '11. Upland planted area is estimated to have dropped 14.1% to 12.40 million acres. Extra-long staple (ELS) producers planted 235,000 acres, 23.6% less than '11. In addition, USDA's June projection is down 520,000 acres from their initial '12 estimate released in March.

On a regional basis, upland area in the Southeast is 2.67 million acres, or 21.6% below '11. All states in the region saw a decline with the largest percentage decline taking place in North Carolina, (-31.7%), followed closely by Virginia (-26.7%) and Georgia (-21.9%). Georgia leads all the region's states in acres planted with an estimated 1.25 million acres.

Planted acres are expected to fall to 2.15 million acres in the Mid-South in '12, 13.3% less than last season. The region's only state not expected to see a planted acreage decline is Missouri where acres are estimated at 375,000, unchanged from the previous year. With an estimated 380,000 acres, the largest percentage decline is expected to take place in Tennessee (-23.2%), followed closely by Louisiana (-22.0%). Arkansas and Mississippi lead the region in estimated acres planted to cotton, each at 580,000.

In the Southwest, estimated upland area is down 10.7% to 7.19 million acres. USDA estimates that the largest decline in actual cotton acres will occur in Texas, down 750,000 acres (-9.9%) from the previous year. Kansas will see the largest percentage decline in the region with an estimated 55,000 acres, down 31.3% from the previous year. Oklahoma is expected to fall 85,000 acres to 330,000 (-20.5%).

Estimated upland area in the West is down 20.3% to 400,000 acres. Producers in New Mexico are estimated to decrease plantings 28.6% to 50,000 acres while Arizona is expected to fall to 200,000 acres (-20.0%). Plantings in California are down an estimated 17.6% to 150,000 acres.

USDA projects ELS plantings of 235,000 acres, 23.6% less than '11. ELS acres are seen lower in all states with the largest percentage decline in Arizona (-60.0%).

2012 U.S. COTTON PLANTINGS
	2011 Actual (Thou.) 1/	2012 Estimated (Thou.) 1/	Percent Change
SOUTHEAST	3,406	2,670	-21.6%
Alabama	460	390	-15.2%
Florida	122	115	-5.7%
Georgia	1,600	1,250	-21.9%
N. Carolina	805	550	-31.7%
S. Carolina	303	280	-7.6%
Virginia	116	85	-26.7%
MID-SOUTH	2,475	2,145	-13.3%
Arkansas	680	580	-14.7%
Louisiana	295	230	-22.0%
Mississippi	630	580	-7.9%
Missouri	375	375	0.0%
Tennessee	495	380	-23.2%
SOUTHWEST	8,045	7,185	-10.7%
Kansas	80	55	-31.3%
Oklahoma	415	330	-20.5%
Texas	7,550	6,800	-9.9%
WEST	502	400	-20.3%
Arizona	250	200	-20.0%
California	182	150	-17.6%
New Mexico	70	50	-28.6%
TOTAL UPLAND	14,428	12,400	-14.1%
TOTAL ELS	307	235	-23.6%
Arizona	10	4	-60.0%
California	274	215	-21.5%
New Mexico	3	3	-11.8%
Texas	20	13	-35.0%
ALL COTTON	14,735	12,635	-14.3%
1/ USDA-NASS

New Particulate Standards Proposed

EPA issued a proposed rule on June 15 that would retain the existing 24‐hour standard for coarse particulate matter (dust). This standard, with a level of 150 μg/m3, has been in place since '87.

Responding to an outcry from agriculture and Congress, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson had stated earlier this year that the agency would not lower the dust standard, which would have put most western counties in a noncompliance state.

In the same proposed announcement, EPA proposed to lower the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particulate matter or PM2.5. Fine particles come from a variety of sources, including vehicles, smokestacks and fires. They also form when gases emitted by power plants, industrial processes and gasoline/diesel engines react in the atmosphere. Sources of coarse particles include road dust that is kicked up by traffic, some agricultural operations, construction and demolition operations, industrial processes, and biomass burning.

The NCC is examining the proposal but does not believe that it will affect cotton production. EPA will take comments on the proposed rules for nine weeks and hold public hearings in Philadelphia and Sacramento. The agency will issue final standards by Dec. 14, '12.

AMA Opposes Labeling

The American Medical Assoc. (AMA) adopted a formal statement on June 19 in opposition to the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. The formal statement read in part: "Our AMA believes that as of June 2012, there is no scientific justification for special labeling of bioengineered foods, as a class, and that voluntary labeling is without value unless it is accompanied by focused consumer education."

AMA has long-held that nothing about the process of recombinant DNA makes genetically engineered crop plants inherently more dangerous to the environment or to human health than the traditional crop plants that have been deliberately bred for human purposes for centuries. It is a view shared by the National Academy of Sciences, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the European Commission, and other national science academies and non-governmental organizations.

The AMA announcement is timely, considering the California initiative on its ballot in November to require labeling ("The Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act"). AMA's position should help the food industry, which opposes labeling. The food and biotech industries will spend an estimated $60-100 million on an advertising blitz to convince Californians that labeling is unnecessary, will hurt farmers, increase their food prices and even contribute to world hunger.

Greenhouse Gases Regulation Rules Upheld

The Obama Administration’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases were vindicated when the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld EPA’s endangerment findings that carbon dioxide emissions threaten human health. The court rejected arguments that the rules were based on an arbitrary interpretation of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and undermined claims by EPA critics that the agency is overstepping its legal authority by regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

The decision appears to leave little room for a Supreme Court review and it probably means opponents of the EPA rules will have to turn to Congress.

Sen. Inhofe (R-OK), the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee and a skeptic of man-made climate change, said the decision serves as a warning about what will happen if Congress doesn’t legislate on greenhouse gases.

Sales Slacken, Shipments Steady

Net export sales for the week ending June 21 were -617,300 bales (480-lb). This brings total '11-12 sales to approximately 12.9 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the '10-11 marketing year were approximately 15.3 million bales. Total new crop ('12-13) sales are 2.5 million bales.

Shipments for the week were 203,500 bales, bringing total exports to date to 10.5 million bales, compared with the 13.5 million bales at the comparable point in the '10-11 marketing year. With less than two months
remaining in the marketing year, weekly shipments must average roughly 225,000 bales to reach the USDA projection of 11.6 million bales.

Return to Top