Acreage Options Notice Issued

Farm Law Implementation Progressing

Quick Named Acting FFAS Head

Trade Facilitation Deadline Missed

House Again Passes Pesticide Water Permit Bill

Labeling Fight Continues

Water Director Leaving EPA

New Gin Safety Videos Available

Producers Seeing North Carolina, Virginia Operations

Sales Weak, Shipments Steady

USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) issued Notice ARCPLC-7 which provides details of how owners may, on a one-time basis, either retain all of a farm's base acres or reallocate base acres, excluding cotton base acres, using the four-year average planted and considered planted acres for crop years '09-12. The reallocation cannot result in an increase in total base acres.

The Notice also specifies that upland cotton base acres now will be designated as generic base acres and cannot be reallocated. The Notice explains how approved double-cropping will be calculated as well as instances where a covered commodity was subsequently planted after an initial covered commodity when there was not an approved double–cropping practice. Each owner and operator will receive a letter that includes the farm's base acres, counter-cyclical yields and the history of planted and considered planted acres for each of the '08-12 crop years.

The Notice also notes that as indicated in Notice ARCPLC-5, letters will be missing histories where a tract division, combination, new tract or farm transfer occurred between '09 and '14. County offices have been provided instructions to document missing acreage histories. The Notices can be accessed from the NCC's website at www.cotton.org/issues/2014/arc_plc_140730.cfm or FSA's website at www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_Notice/arcplc_7.pdf.

USDA announced continued progress in implementing provisions of the '14 farm law that will strengthen and expand insurance coverage options for farmers and ranchers. The new Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), available through the federal crop insurance program and set to begin with the '15 crop year, is designed to help protect producers from yield and market volatility.

SCO will be available for cotton, corn, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, spring barley, spring wheat and winter wheat in selected counties for the '15 crop year. Producers should contact their crop insurance agents to discuss eligibility in time to sign up for winter wheat coverage. USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) plans to make SCO more widely available by adding more counties and crops. Information on SCO for '15 winter and spring wheat is available on RMA's website at www.rma.usda.gov. Selected counties for other commodities will be released later this summer.

SCO is a county-level policy endorsement that is in addition to an underlying crop insurance policy, and covers a portion of losses not covered by the same crop's underlying policy. Producers who elect to participate in Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC), which is offered by the Farm Service Agency, are not eligible for SCO for the crop and farm participating in ARC.

Producers applying for SCO for the '15 winter wheat crop may, by notifying their agent, withdraw coverage on any farm where they have elected, or where they intend to elect, ARC for winter wheat by the earlier of their acreage reporting date or Dec. 15, without penalty. This allows producers additional time to make an informed decision related to whether to elect to participate in either the ARC or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for their winter wheat. If producers withdraw SCO coverage for a farm by the earlier of their acreage reporting date or Dec. 15, they will not be charged a crop insurance premium.

As details on this and other crop insurance provisions are released, producers are encouraged to discuss with their insurance agent what new provisions best fit their operation.

Bryce Quick, associate administrator and chief operating officer of USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), will serve on an acting basis as Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. The position was previously held by Darci Vetter who has been confirmed to serve as chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the US Trade Representative.

Quick has served in the FAS position since '11. Previously, he served as the associate administrator at USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. Before joining USDA, he worked for former House Speaker Tom Foley (D-WA) and the House Agriculture Committee.

World Trade Organization (WTO) members missed the July 31 deadline to adopt the procedures necessary to initiate the Trade Facilitation Agreement reached during the Bali Ministerial meeting last December.

The failure reportedly was the result of opposition to India's demand that WTO members agree to a permanent "peace clause" prohibiting challenges to India's public distribution programs. India insists it is necessary to operate programs which build reserves of grains and oilseeds for distribution to its citizens when there are shortages. In Bali, members agreed to withhold challenges and to reach a decision on the program by '17. However, India recently has insisted on a permanent peace clause. Many countries, including the United States, have expressed concern about India's programs which offer price supports well above prevailing prices.

Delay in the adoption of the Trade Facilitation Agreement protocol "will have consequences," Director General Roberto Azevêdo warned delegations after the failure. Mr. Azevêdo told India that its demand for a permanent "peace clause" for food security distribution programs would be difficult for members to accept. According to sources, he said it would be tantamount to "re-writing" the Bali agreement.

"We are absolutely sad and disappointed that a very small handful of countries were unwilling to keep their commitments from the December conference in Bali and we agree with the Director General that the failure has put this institution on very uncertain grounds," said Michael Punke, US Ambassador to the WTO.

US Trade Representative Froman issued a formal statement saying, "The United States is fully committed to the multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO. But the WTO system relies on its members to implement the commitments to which they have agreed. Geneva will be quiet for the next several weeks. This is a good time for all of us to reflect on these developments and to consider the implications going forward. We will consult with our trading partners on potential paths forward."

The House again approved legislation that would exempt pesticide spraying activities from Clean Water Act (CWA) permit requirements. H.R. 935, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act, was passed by a 267-161 vote, with 230 Republicans and 37 Democrats voting in favor.

The bill earlier had failed to garner the necessary two-thirds vote for passage under suspension of the rules. The measure failed 253-148 in part because several lawmakers were unavailable for the vote.

H.R. 935 would amend the CWA so that National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits cannot be required by EPA for application of pesticides that are already approved under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. The bill was initiated in response to a '09 ruling from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals which held that certain types of pesticides discharged "into, over or near" waters of the United States require NPDES permits. The ruling vacated a '06 EPA rule that exempted the releases from permit requirements.

The bill is unlikely to see Senate action which proponents are pushing with increasing urgency due to concerns that EPA's plan to clarify the reach of the CWA will expand the permit requirements. Republicans could seek to attach its provisions to pending appropriations legislation or some other must-pass measure as they have in the past.

Shareholders of the supermarket chain Safeway Corp. voted down a resolution at their annual meeting last week that would have required labeling of foods containing genetically engineered (GE) ingredients. Ninety percent of shareholders at the meeting voted against the resolution, which was submitted by Boston-based Green Century Equity Fund.

Agriculture, food manufacturing groups and scientific organizations like the American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science have denounced the labeling movement as scaremongering, pointing to the body of research that finds no link between GE and adverse health effects.

Meanwhile, activists continue to advance state efforts to require labeling. The Oregon Secretary of State's Office has certified 118,780 signatures – well above the 87,213 needed to qualify for the '14 ballot. Initiative 44 would require all food produced with GE ingredients to include the words "Genetically Engineered" on the front or back of their packages. For raw food, like apples or potatoes, that aren't usually packaged, retailers would need to place a clear label nearby. If passed, the labeling law would take effect on Jan. 1, '16.

Similar initiatives have been defeated in California and Washington but at a high price for opponents. The campaign against Washington's Initiative 522 broke state records when it raised $21.4 million in '13. Opponents of the '12 California initiative spent $46 million. Connecticut, Vermont and Maine have passed labeling laws, and several more states will vote on ballot initiatives in November.

Nancy Stoner, EPA's acting water chief, has announced that she is departing the agency next month to work for the Pisces Foundation where she will focus on natural resource challenges and promoting environmental education. Under Stoner's watch, EPA's Office of Water has promulgated rules for cooling water intake and issued proposed rules for defining the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act – both very controversial.

Stoner has served as acting water chief for the past three years because the confirmation of the Administration's nominee, Ken Kopocis, has been held up over GOP opposition to agency policies. Without a Senate-confirmed leader, Administrator Gina McCarthy has said she is planning to rely on the advice of Kopocis for the remainder of the administration.

The National Cotton Ginners' Assoc. and its member associations have developed a series of instructional videos to train employees and to help keep the gin workplace free of injuries.

Volume VI in the video series is now available to address safety considerations with the use of the John Deere Round module system. In addition to safety instruction, the 17-minute video includes chapters on handling, wrap removal and important training on contamination prevention.

Information and instructions on how to order this and other safety videos is at www.cotton.org/ncga/request-ncga-media.cfm.

Ten Southwestern cotton producers will see cotton and other agricultural operations in North Carolina and Virginia on Aug. 3-7 in the NCC's '14 Producer Information Exchange (PIE) program.

Sponsored by Bayer CropScience through a grant to The Cotton Foundation, the PIE exposes US cotton producers to innovative production practices in Cotton Belt regions different than their own. Specifically, the program aims to help the cotton producer participants boost their farming efficiency by: 1) gaining new perspectives in such fundamental practices as land preparation, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation and harvesting and 2) observing firsthand the unique ways in which their innovative peers are using current technology. The NCC's Member Services staff, in conjunction with local producer interest organizations, conducts the program, including participant selection.

The Southwest cotton producer participants are:Kansas – Berry Bortz, Preston; Oklahoma – Collin McKinley, Frederick; and Spencer Smith, Elk City; and Texas – Andy Carthel, Friona; Hayden Davis, Welch; Andy Bill Fillingim, New Home; Duke Goodwin, Midland; Brian Hobratschk, Littlefield; Cecil Kalina, Miles; and Richard Lange, Norton.

The group will begin their activities in Raleigh, NC, with an orientation on Aug. 3 along with a visit the next day to Bayer CropScience's headquarters for a presentation on "Innovating Technologies with Greenhouses" and a tour of the company's Bee Care Center. That afternoon, they will travel to Gaston to see cotton production at Dunlow & Dunlow Farms. On Aug. 5 in Suffolk, VA, the group will hear about the manufacture of peanut harvesting equipment at Amadas Corp. and tour the Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center. While in Virginia that day, they also will see country ham curing at Darden's Country Store in Smithfield and cotton production at Byrum Family Farms and other Windsor area cotton farms.

In North Carolina on Aug. 6, the group will go to the Enviva plant in Northampton to see wood pellet manufacturing for energy consumption, learn about peanut processing at Baker Southern Tradition Peanuts in Roxobel, tour the Josey Lumber Mill and see Bayer's new cotton variety trials at Josey Farms in Scotland Neck before seeing diverse agriculture production at Kent Smith Farms in Rocky Mount. The tour concludes on Aug. 7 in North Carolina with a look at seed production/cleaning for commercial use at JP Davenport in Greenville; pickle processing at Mount Olive Pickle in Mount Olive; and tobacco, cotton, sweet potato and swine production at Warren Brothers Farms in Newton Grove.

In this season's other PIE tours, Mid-South producers saw operations in California's San Joaquin Valley on July 13-17; Far West producers saw Mid-South operations on July 27-31; and Southeast producers will see Texas operations on Aug. 17-22.

Net export sales for the week ending on July 24 were 5,900 bales (480-lb). This brings total '13-14 sales to approximately 11.1 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the '12-13 marketing year were approximately 14.0 million bales. Total new crop ('14-15) sales are 3.7 million bales.

Shipments for the week were 124,200 bales, bringing total exports to date to 10.4 million bales, compared with the 12.9 million bales at the comparable point in the '12-13 marketing year. With one week remaining in the marketing year, weekly shipments must total 116,000 bales to reach the USDA projection of 10.5 million bales.