Next on the agenda, I would like to offer some opening remarks about this conference and discuss some recent activities of the National Cotton Council.
I am pleased to have this opportunity to participate in these conferences, which represent the largest annual gathering of the cotton industry, including its agribusiness partners, scientists, universities and friends in government.
The Beltwide Cotton Conferences are unsurpassed in terms of their diversity of audience and the number of research disciplines represented. All our participants fully understand the importance of this gathering and can appreciate the focus of this year’s theme –“Improving Our Farm, Future and World.”
The Beltwide partnership has had a tremendously successful track record. All of the Conferences’ organizers deserve our thanks and recognition for their hard work and the excellent job they do in coordinating the many events.
In addition, the Beltwide Steering Committee, chaired by Kenneth Hood, deserves special recognition for conducting a thorough review of the conferences and making recommendations for the future as well as planning the general conference program. The Committee’s overall goal is to maximize Beltwide attendance and to enhance technology transfer.
The planning committee has put together an excellent program during the next day and a half. They have identified a number of key innovations and will provide expertise on how these new ideas can be applied profitably. The three-day conference format has made the technical conferences more accessible to a larger audience, which is paying dividends for all attendees.
For a second year, conference planners have included a cotton consultant conference which had a primary focus on agronomics and pest management. This is a very significant addition to Beltwide. Conference Coordinator Bill Robertson, as well as the Beltwide Steering Committee, are to be commended for organizing a special conference for this important group.
I also want to say a special word of thanks to the Conference’s sponsors. In doing so, I would also recognize the outstanding efforts of Monsanto to help bolster Conference participation by making arrangements for approximately 425 growers and 100 consultants to attend this meeting.
Needless to say, there have been many who have stepped forward to make this year’s conference a great one—and they all deserve our thanks.
As with the Beltwide partnership, I am pleased at how our industry’s collective resources have been effectively applied to an array of priority issues this past year through the Council. At this time, I appreciate the opportunity to kick off this conference with a brief review of some of the major developments this past year and a look ahead to some of the challenges we will face this year.
The Council successfully managed the cotton industry’s many priorities in 2008, including the farm bill development and implementation, WTO trade negotiations, and a number of pressing technical issues.
Farm Bill
Before 2007 ended, the House and Senate completed work on their respective versions of the farm bill. However, an extended delay ensued prior to the convening of the conference committee. It was during that time that the Council expressed serious reservations regarding a 2008 farm bill package announced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Peterson and Ranking Member Goodlatte, noting that the proposal reduced cotton loan values by introducing changes to the calculation of CCC loan premiums and discounts but failed to address the associated competitiveness provisions also linked to the loan. In addition, the proposal did not include the much-needed economic assistance for the U.S. textile industry.
The Council joined 41 other agricultural organizations and farm groups on a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate agriculture committees urging them to initiate a farm bill conference and stay within the boundaries of the two bills that passed the individual bodies.
After the farm bill’s passage, the Council praised Congress for its overwhelming approval and its override of the President’s veto. In addition, the Council—supported by cotton interest organizations—conducted 45 farm law information meetings across the Cotton Belt.
Throughout the summer and fall, the Council worked closely with Congress and the Administration to ensure the farm bill’s timely implementation. These actions included:
· Sending a letter to Agriculture Secretary Schafer urging approval of the regulation implementing the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008
· Conducting meetings with members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and USDA Undersecretary Keenum to underscore the Council’s message that no changes in regulations should be initiated where Congress did not alter existing legislation, and
· Supporting a bipartisan group of Cotton Belt Senators and House members who wrote Secretary Schafer urging that no unwarranted change be made to the determination of “actively engaged in farming” and asking USDA to expedite publishing rules and regulations pertaining to new adjusted gross income and payment eligibility reforms.
The Council’s work for the release of the farm bill’s cotton program regulations resulted in their publication before the end of October. This ensured that 2007 crop loans maturing before the end of October could be redeemed in accordance with the new adjustments to competitiveness provisions.
The proposed rules for payment limitations and eligibility as well as the direct and counter-cyclical payment program and Average Crop Revenue Election program were just recently released. The Council has already begun the process of developing extensive comments on these rules.
Trade Issues
The Council has continued to be actively involved in WTO issues, including Doha agricultural negotiations and the Brazil compliance case.
In July, the Council closely monitored WTO ministerial negotiations in Geneva where proposals for additional reductions in U.S. agricultural support and loopholes in market access provisions for several emerging developing countries, including China and India, were being considered. During the daily briefings with U.S. negotiators, the Council and other agricultural groups pressed for increased market access to offset the more stringent disciplines on agriculture’s safety net. The talks collapsed due to the inability to address a number of differences, including the unwillingness by several developing countries to agree to increased market access for agricultural products.
Later in the year as there were discussions of convening another ministerial in December, the Council generated a number of columns that appeared in agricultural publications and on the Council’s website. These articles included summaries of Council analysis which pointed out the flaws in the text being proposed by WTO Director Lamy. Later, Lamy decided not to call a ministerial meeting in December.
When the Doha negotiations resume later this year, it will be very important that the Lamy proposal not be the starting point for the talks. We must press for balance between reductions in domestic support and increased market access. Failure to achieve the necessary balance could result in an agreement that would require U.S. agriculture to forego a large portion of commodity programs with very little –and possibly nothing—in return.
The final conclusion of the Brazil cotton case will be another important issue in 2009. The Council was very disappointed in the WTO Appellate Body ruling in the case which upheld most of the Compliance Panel’s earlier report against the U.S. Export Credit Guarantee programs and certain aspects of the U.S. cotton program. As Brazil’s challenge has moved to the punitive stage where an arbitration panel will determine the appropriate level of damages they may seek, the Council has remained closely involved in these debates as to which level, if any, of damages is appropriate.
Commodity Futures
The Council has been working to address the industry’s concerns with the failure of the commodity futures markets to serve their primary functions of price discovery and risk management. The Council presented the industry’s concerns and recommendations to Congress and the Commodity Futures Trade Commission, and joined other organizations in urging Congress to pass HR 6604, the Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2008.
Technical
While farm program defense and trade issues have been our primary focus during 2008, the Council worked in several regulatory arenas to ensure the U.S. cotton industry was not burdened with rules or denied access to products that would compromise its ability to compete in the world marketplace.
In 2008, these included:
· Working for federal cost share funding for the Boll Weevil and Pink Bollworm eradication programs, and to maintain funding for important federal research programs
· Maintaining efforts with registrants, USDA and EPA to ensure a wide range of conventional crop protection products are available to producers, and
· Continued active participation in a number of agriculture coalitions which work in support of reasonable regulations for conventional and biotechnology products.
In In addition, plans are underway to address many of the U.S. cotton industry's future challenges and opportunities through the efforts of the "Vision 21" project. Vision 21 is a joint project of the NCC, Cotton Council International and Cotton Incorporated. Through an initial Monsanto grant to The Cotton Foundation, this comprehensive effort is focused on gaining important information in three critical areas. The project will: 1) assess cotton textiles' fastest growing consumer markets, 2) conduct life-cycle studies to strengthen U.S. cotton's sustainability message and 3) thoroughly analyze cotton handling/transportation logistics with a focus on improving flow/shipping.
In summary, I believe our industry has excellent prospects for achieving profitable cotton production and processing. There are still many challenges before us. Research, education and technology transfer continue to be critically important. I assure you that the Council will continue its longstanding commitment of its resources for technology development and transfer and bringing resolution to the technology-based priorities.
In concluding, I encourage your full participation in the Conference’s general sessions as well as the special workshops and seminars. These are excellent examples of the efforts underway in a wide array of scientific disciplines to lower costs and apply technology to a host of problems and opportunities.
I also urge your continued support for the Council through your membership and your participation in the Council’s political action committee, the Committee for the Advancement of Cotton.
I hope you enjoy the remainder of the Conferences and I extend best wishes for the year ahead.