The White House released its budget request for FY25, providing Congress a potential blueprint for when it begins making federal funding decisions in the coming months.
While the presidential budget request offers an important glimpse of the Biden Administration’s priorities, it is not a binding document. Congress has final say on all budget and appropriations matters.
Legislators on Capitol Hill still are struggling to fully fund the government for the remainder of FY24. While numerous federal departments and agencies, including USDA and the Food and Drug Administration, recently received appropriations that will keep them operating through September 30, funding for other key departments and agencies, including the Department of Defense, has not yet been agreed upon.
The White House’s budget request for FY25, which begins on October 1, calls for $31.6 billion in total discretionary spending for USDA operations, an increase from the $29.3 billion recently enacted for FY24. While the request recommends a spending boost for nearly all USDA programs, it is especially generous to climate-related research and assistance efforts, which would receive over $6 billion in FY25 funding if the blueprint is followed – a 19% increase over FY23 spending levels.
The cotton pest account of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is allocated $15.6 million in the request, a slight increase over the $15.5 million appropriated for FY24.
Concerns About Overtime Rule Conveyed
The NCC joined dozens of other trade associations on a letter at https://bit.ly/3PLaLpR expressing support for legislation being offered by Representative Eric Burlison (R-MO) opposing the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed overtime rule.
The proposed rule, which was announced in September of last year, would raise the overtime pay eligibility ceiling to cover any employee earning less than $55,068 annually, from the current cap of $35,568. Burlison’s bill, which is awaiting further action in the House Education and the Workforce Committee, would prohibit DOL from finalizing this rulemaking in the coming months.
The letter concludes that DOL’s proposed rule, if allowed to be finalized, “will dramatically and negatively impact businesses, nonprofits, colleges and universities, states, cities, towns, and public schools, as well as the workers they employ and the consumers, students, and people they serve.”
U.K. Retailer Hangtags Highlight Global Demand for Sustainable Cotton
As the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol grows, the global impact of the program continues to increase as cotton reaches consumers worldwide. The latest example of this is British multinational retailer Next including hangtags featuring the Trust Protocol on clothing sold in its U.K. stores.
To remain a leading global supplier of cotton with documented and verified sustainable growing practices, producers are reminded to enroll in the Trust Protocol and apply for the Climate Smart Cotton Program ahead of the April 30 deadline.
Growers are encouraged to get started today as already more than 778 farming entities have been approved for the Climate Smart Cotton Program, of the 1,650 spots available. To date, $1.5 million has been paid to growers participating in Level 1 of the program and more payments will be made before March 30.
The Joint Cotton Industry Bale Packaging Committee (JCIBPC), chaired by Chris Berry, a Wellman, TX ginner, had its 2024 Annual Meeting in Memphis last month. During this meeting the committee approved the updated 2024 Bale Packaging Specifications and set a phase-out date for paper PBI hang tags.
During the last three years, staff has been directed to work with the industry’s tagging suppliers to determine the usage of hanging PBI tags. During this period, usage of paper tags has declined from nearly 900,000 tags to 215,000 in 2023. These tags, which are held on the bale with small gauge wire or zip ties, can cause damage to mill machinery and pose potential fire risk if accidently left in a bale. Due to these issues, in 2023 the Specifications for Bale Packaging Materials were amended to say, “Small gauge wires on bale tags are not recommended.”
Following this year’s report on tag usage, the committee determined hanging PBI bale tags that use small gauge wire or zip ties are to be removed as an approved product from the specifications after the 2024 crop year.
Certified ginners, gin managers and superintendents are urged to register for one of the 2024 Ginner Schools.
School locations and dates are: Southwest Ginners School at the South Plains Ginning Laboratory in Lubbock, TX, on April 1-3; Western Ginners School at the Southwest Ginning Research Laboratory Mesilla Park, NM, on May 7-9; and the Mid-South-Southeast Ginners School at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, GA on June 4-6. The Mid-South-Southeast school will return to the Stoneville, MS location in 2025.
Online registration and course descriptions are at www.cotton.org/ncga/ginschool/index.cfm. The schools will continue to offer the Levels I, II and III of course instruction as well as the continuing education courses. Please note that due to limited class size and availability, there will be no onsite registration.
The three schools' programming is coordinated by the National Cotton Ginners Association (NCGA), working in conjunction with the three USDA ginning laboratories.
Sales Weak, Shipments Stay Strong
Net export sales for the week ending March 7, 2024 were 95,500 bales (480-lb.). This brings total ‘23-24 sales to approximately 11.2 million. Total sales at the same point in the ‘22-23 marketing year were approximately 11.3 million bales. Total new crop (‘24-25) sales are 981,900 bales (480-lb.).
Shipments for the week were 308,800 bales, bringing total exports to date to 6.3 million bales, compared with the 6.2 million bales at the comparable point in the ‘22-23 marketing year.
Capital Calendar
March 11
The House and Senate convened.
Next Week
March 19
The House and Senate convene.
March 20
The House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing, “The Danger China Poses to American Agriculture.” More information and a link to view the hearing are at https://bit.ly/48P81yg.
March 21
The House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration will hold a hearing to review President Biden’s FY25 budget request for USDA. More information and a link to review the hearing are at https://bit.ly/4acp9z3.
