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Ag News Roundup – October 3, 2011

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Here’s what we’re reading and what they’re reading at the National Farmers Union:

Obama may be sending trade deals to Capitol Hill this week

Politico

President Barack Obama may send the long-delayed trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to Congress this week, according to new reports.

The three trade pacts could potentially boost U.S. exports by $13 billion annually, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. With the deals headed to Congress for consideration this week — sources told the paper Obama could forward the legislation as early as Monday — the three agreements could pass in mid-October after years of debate.

The White House and Republican leaders are looking to approve the three pacts, along with a Trade Adjustment Assistance compromise bill, which would offer extended unemployment benefits to workers who become unemployed due to the impact of international trade.

Passage of the South Korea pact before President Lee Myung-bak’s Oct. 13 state visit is a major goal, and a congressional source told the paper it would be “tough, but close.”

Committee hearings could begin as early as Wednesday, and Congress has 90 days to approve the deals.

The three deals are expected to widely impact U.S. agriculture, auto makers, financial services, legal and healthcare companies, and there would be added exports and foreign services available in the U.S. as well, the Wall Street Journal noted.

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Ag provides a harvest of budget cuts

Kansas City Star

In the summer debt ceiling deal, Congress set up a “supercommittee” to find $1.2 trillion in additional budget cuts over the next decade. The panel began work — and so did the lobbyists. Among the most energetic are those defending farm subsidies.

The wholesale elimination of the nation’s agricultural programs won’t happen. Yet it should be possible to push through two important reforms: Terminate annual cash payments and create an effective income cap to curtail subsidies for wealthy farmers. As a bonus, one might even hope for an end to ethanol subsidies.

Cash payments are outlays based on acreage and historic yield, and they are paid whether farmers grow anything or not. Cost to taxpayers: nearly $5 billion a year.

Blake Hurst, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, says the program should continue, partly because many farmers still depend on those checks. Hurst says he understands that agriculture will face cuts this year, but he would prefer that all programs continue, even at lower amounts.

That, however, would make it easier for lawmakers to add money to those budget items later. Eliminating a program entirely ensures that the savings continue.

The Obama administration agrees that cash payments should cease. Even some farmers no longer support them. Craig Lang, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau, told The New York Times that with the economy so weak, he could not justify taking the money.

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Dairy legislation, crop insurance and an uncommunicative ‘super committee’

Penton Business Media

On Friday afternoon, the Dairy Security Act of 2011 was introduced in the House. Sponsored by Minnesota Rep. Collin Petersonand Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson, the act has come following a string of turbulent years in the dairy industry alongside numerous congressional hearings and attempted regulatory fixes.

According to National Milk Producers Federation, which is pleased with the proposed legislation, the act would:

Make voluntary the Dairy Market Stabilization Program, which will help reduce milk output during times of low margins. If producers enroll in the USDA’s subsidized margin insurance program, they will automatically be enrolled in the Dairy Market Stabilization Program. This will provide alerts when additional production may affect overall margins.

Extend the “basic” level of margin insurance coverage to 80 percent of a producer’s production history, from 75 percent as initially proposed. The “supplemental” margin coverage option is also improved, as it will allow producers to purchase insurance for growth in their milk production history.

Include a refined provision in the Dairy Market Stabilization Program to ensure that it does not activate during times when signals for farmers to reduce production may impinge on the ability of the U.S. to export dairy products.

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Crop insurance cutbacks

News Channel 10

In an effort to cut into America’s deficit, President Obama plans to take $8 billion from the crop insurance program.

Crop insurance helps farmers sustain themselves when they lose large portions of crops, but this assistance could be in jeopardy.

Crop insurance is farmer, Dale Artho’s best tool to manage risk. His risk is the weather, something he faces each year when he plants his livelihood.

Artho explains, “We provide a safe, affordable food supply. Without crop insurance, it’s going to be very difficult to do that.”

That is because the White House’s plan calls for changes that will affect both insurance companies and producers.

Dede Jones with AgriLife Extension says, “If they’re going to change how they pay on these policies, these guys really need to get some insurance payments this year. The dry land crop was completely destroyed and we are seeing about a 20-50% reduction in irrigated crop yields.”

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Kasich at Farm Science Review: Ag is base for economic growth

Farm & Dairy

LONDON, Ohio — Ohio Gov. John Kasich wants a strong agriculture industry in the state. Because that means a strong economy in general.

Speaking Sept. 20 at the Farm Science Review in London, Ohio, Kasich said the Buckeye State is underpinned by an agricultural economy, an ag economy that is a $102 billion industry.

It’s a base of economic growth, and job creation, Kasich added.

“When farmers do well, Ohio does well; when farmers don’t do well, Ohio suffers.”

And it’s an industry that can grow, the governor added, citing examples of food processing, bioproducts and “flying cows to Istanbul,” which is happening now.

“Folks, agriculture is so important,” Kasich said.

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State targets Lake Erie Algae

Columbus Dispatch

Ohio spent millions of tax dollars this summer fighting toxic, blue-green algae in Grand Lake St. Marys with chemicals, dredging equipment and nets.

But what about Lake Erie, which has algae problems, too?

In fact, Erie saw a record toxic-algae bloom spread across its western basin this year, adding to the “dead zone” where fish can’t live and threatening the lake’s $10 billion annual tourism industry.

The state plans to form two study groups to look for solutions.

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Ag News Update – August 31, 2011

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Just a few things the NFU has taken notice and a couple of things from me …

State centralization of Ohio’s municipal taxes has few fans

The Columbus Dispatch

Opposition is growing to a Kasich administration proposal that hasn’t yet seen the light of day.

Centralizing municipal income-tax collections is an idea Gov. John Kasich has kicked around for months, and it continues to percolate within the Department of Taxation.

But as Tax Commissioner Joseph Testa approaches some municipal leaders about the possibility, he has been met with tough questions from some and opposition from others.

“Conceptually, we don’t agree with the statewide collection of local taxes,” said Brian Hoyt, a spokesman for Gahanna Mayor Becky Stinchcomb.

Testa recently spoke with Stinchcomb about statewide local tax collections, a notion that is opposed by the Ohio Municipal League.

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Ohio Farm Bureau takes stand for anti-union law

Youngstown Business Journal

Meanwhile, the Ohio Farm Federation, which represents more than 200,000 members in all 88 Ohio counties, announced its support Tuesday for the “reasonable reforms” of Issue 2, which if approved by voters would keep in place Senate Bill 5. Passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. John Kasich earlier this year, the legislation curtails collective bargaining rights for state and local public workers in Ohio.

The farm bureau said it determined that Ohio taxpayers would be best served by Issue 2’s passage, according to John C. Fisher, its executive vice president.

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Ohio’s Farm Science Review will include financial advice for farmers

The 2011 Farm Science Review, Sept. 20-22 will include a series of presentations to provide financial strategies, tools and resources to help farmers achieve stability and success in the agricultural industry.

One presenter, Ohio State University agricultural economist Luther Tweeten, says continued demand for agricultural products has kept agriculture more financially stable than other sectors of the U.S. economy. “Farmers will play a key role in getting the country back on track,” he said.

But, while he’s optimistic, Tweeten’s presentation, “Income and Employment,” is geared toward helping larger farming operations make cautious decisions in light of recent financial volatility. It will take place Sept. 20 at 11:30 a.m. on the stage in the OSU Area on Friday Avenue.

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U.S. farm income tops $100 billion for first time

Reuters

U.S. farm income will soar past $100 billion for the first time in 2011 following rising cash receipts for everything from corn, wheat and cotton to soybeans, the Agriculture Department said on Tuesday.

U.S. farm income is forecast at $103.6 billion for 2011, up $24.5 billion, or 31 percent from 2010. Much of the increase is the result of higher crop values, which are expected to rise by $33.6 billion.

“Many different crop and livestock categories are expected to achieve record high sales,” said USDA. It forecast crop receipts to be 19 percent higher than in 2010 and livestock receipts to rise by nearly 16 percent.

Volatile energy prices will make their way to the bottom-line of U.S. farmers with total expenses forecast to increase by $32.5 billion in 2011, exceeding $300 billion for the first time, USDA said. Overall, electricity and petroleum and oil inputs will increase by $3.3 billion to $21.1 billion.

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Drought, high demand makes hay hard to find

Associated Press

A scorching drought in the southern Plains has caused hay prices to soar, benefiting farmers to the north but forcing many ranchers to make a difficult choice between paying high prices or selling their cattle.

Ranchers in much of Texas, Oklahoma and even Kansas are having to pay inflated prices for hay and then shell out even more to have it trucked hundreds of miles from Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska or South Dakota. Their only other options are to reduce the size of their herds or move cattle to rented pastures in another state.

“It’s pretty ugly,” said Don Davis, who raises grass-fed beef on his ranch about 75 miles northwest of San Antonio.

Davis said he used to think last year’s dry weather couldn’t get worse, but this year’s record-setting drought has put even more pressure on ranchers.

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Irene leaves behind hard times for East Coast farmers

Associated Press

Far from the beach towns that took Hurricane Irene’s first hit, the storm inflicted some of its worst damage on inland farms as crops were pummeled by wind, scalded by salt spray and submerged by floodwaters. Some farmers are reporting total losses.

“My tobacco crop is completely wiped out. I can’t harvest any of it,” said Keith Beavers, whose Mount Olive farm lies about 70 miles from the ocean. “It’s either blown off the stalk or off the limb, and what’s left is raggedy.”

It could take days or weeks for federal agriculture officials to estimate overall losses, but the toll is already clear for many individual farms after a growing season that was too hot in the South and too wet in the Northeast. Especially hard-hit were tobacco growers preparing to harvest in North Carolina and Virginia — two top tobacco states — and blueberry growers in New Jersey whose damaged bushes could spell trouble for future harvests.

After surveying farms in North Carolina on Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urged farmers to file crop damage claims with their insurers and said federal assistance may cover additional losses and damage to rural infrastructure.

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 Dairy orgs disagree on proposed dairy policy impacts

Dairy Herd Network

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) takes strong exception to assertions made by the National Milk Producers Federation regarding the impact of proposed dairy policy reform on exports. NMPF claims that eliminating the Dairy Product Price Support Program will provide more incentive for exports. However, economic models show that the Dairy Market Stabilization Program (DMSP), included in draft legislation offered for discussion by Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), would have significantly lowered U.S. dairy exports and hurt industry growth at a cost of thousands of U.S. jobs if it had been in effect in 2009, according to respected economists.

The March 2011 study by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) of the University of Missouri, The Economic Impact of the Dairy Market Stabilization Program on 2009 Dairy Markets, directly calculates that U.S. dairy exports would have dropped significantly if the DMSP had triggered limits to farm milk production during the dates reviewed. Study results from the appendix table show that during three months – March, April and May of 2009 – U.S. exports of nonfat dry milk would have fallen by 38 percent, butter exports by 16.4 percent and American cheese exports by 8 percent.

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Dave Juday: The ethanol era is over

Daily Caller

For more than two decades, ethanol has been the third rail of Iowa presidential politics. John McCain famously skipped the Iowa caucus in 2000 because of his anti-ethanol position.

Times have changed. These days, support for ethanol is not the touchstone in Iowa politics it once was. In this summer’s Ames straw poll, a remarkable 84 percent of voters backed candidates who are either questioning or openly critical of current ethanol policy.

Indeed, the winner of the straw poll was ethanol critic Michele Bachmann. Bachmann opposed the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, which established the federal ethanol mandates, citing ethanol’s “mixed results in efficiency and costs.” Moreover, she voted against the 2008 agricultural authorization bill, saying it was “loaded with unbelievably outrageous pork for agricultural business and ethanol growers.”

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Ag News Roundup – August 29, 2011

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Here are a few items of note collected by me and the National Farmers Union:

Ohio River basin part of pilot water quality trading market

Farm & Dairy

WASHINGTON — American Farmland Trust has received a $1 million Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) from the USDA to develop the first U.S. interstate water quality trading market for agriculture.

In this second phase of the project, the collaborators will launch pilot water quality trades between farmers and public utilities in the Ohio River Basin.

Utilities or manufacturers that face high pollution control costs can buy nutrient reduction credits from farms with lower costs. Farms will be able to sell nitrogen and phosphorus, potentially generating greenhouse gas reduction credits from on-farm conservation practices that result in new income for their operations.

The Ohio River Basin is an area that spans 14 states, with phase-two of this project focusing on Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Illinois. The overall goal of the collaborators is to improve water quality in the Ohio River Basin and reduce hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Friend and Foe: Nitrogen fertilizer and pollution

American Chemical Society – press release

DENVER, Aug. 28, 2011 — Billions of people owe their lives to nitrogen fertilizers — a pillar of the fabled Green Revolution in agriculture that averted global famine in the 20th century — but few are aware that nitrogen pollution from fertilizers and other sources has become a major environmental problem that threatens human health and welfare in multiple ways, a scientist said here today.

“It’s been said that nitrogen pollution is the biggest environmental disaster that nobody has heard of,” Alan Townsend, Ph.D., observed at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held here this week. Townsend, an authority on how human activity has changed the natural cycling of nitrogen to create a friend-turned-foe dilemma, called for greater public awareness of nitrogen pollution and concerted global action to control it. He spoke at a symposium on the topic, which included almost a dozen reports (abstracts of each presentation appear below) by other experts.

“Awareness has grown, but nitrogen pollution remains such a little-recognized environmental problem because it lacks the visibility of other kinds of pollution,” Townsend explained. “People can see an oil slick on the ocean, but hundreds of tons of nitrogen spill invisibly into the soil, water and air every day from farms, smokestacks and automobile tailpipes. But the impact is there — unhealthy air, unsafe drinking water, dead zones in the ocean, degraded ecosystems and implications for climate change. But people don’t see the nitrogen spilling out, so it is difficult to connect the problems to their source.”

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Good times return for ethanol, but for how long?

Des Moines Register

With ethanol, something always happens to ruin the party.

Ethanol demand is up as much as 6 percent this year over 2010, largely due to exports to Brazil and Europe that are expected to top 1 billion gallons.

Most ethanol plants are operating in the black despite corn prices that reached above $7.40 per bushel last week. High gasoline prices this year have made it economical for refiners, pipelines and other wholesalers to blend cheaper ethanol with gasoline.

“The whole commodity complex has gone up in sync during the last year, and as long as there is a favorable spread between ethanol and unleaded gasoline, we will be able to make our margins,” said Jim Gillingham, senior vice president for alternative energy of Texas-based Valero Energy as he toured Valero’s 110-million-gallon ethanol plant at Albert City.

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Needed: Dairy legislation – not rhetoric

AgWeek

As the National Milk Producers Federation held the last of its information meetings on dairy reform proposals Aug. 22 in Nashville, House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., was making plans to introduce his bill with the co-sponsorship of Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.

Peterson has said Congress should take up the bill as soon as possible, but House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., has said he will not move a dairy bill separate from the farm bill unless all sectors of the industry including processors are in agreement. Such agreement is elusive.

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 U.S. House Republicans gear up for regulatory revamping

Washington Post

House Republicans are planning votes for almost every week this fall in an effort to repeal environmental and labor requirements on business that they say have hampered job growth.

With everyone from President Obama to his Republican challengers in the 2012 campaign focusing on ways to spur economic growth, House Republicans will roll out plans Monday to fight regulations from the National Labor Relations Board, pollution rules handed down by the Environmental Protection Agency and regulations that affect health plans for small businesses. In addition, the lawmakers plan to urge a 20 percent tax deduction for small businesses.

“It is essential that the House continue our focus on the jobs crisis,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) wrote in a memo to be sent to GOP lawmakers Monday.

The push for a jobs agenda comes as Obama, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and others plan to present their own jobs agendas just after Labor Day.

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FDA on a dangerous diet

The Daily Cougar

An unfunded law for practical purposes is an unenforceable law, so it defies logic that the federal government is calling its recent package of food safety laws an enhancement to its regulatory power. Rather than expanding the Food and Drug Administration’s already meager budget, Congress has implemented severe austerity measures and is considering additional budget cuts in wake of the recent deficit debate. As a result, the agency that is charged with overseeing the quality of much of the nation’s food supply will be rendered a little more than a toothless watchdog, unable to meet its previous obligations let alone these new mandates.

In addition, even if funded, these new laws do nothing to address the fractured nature of the country’s system of food inspection. Ultimately, consumers will pay for the FDA’s impotency by encountering more frequent and larger scale occurrences of contaminated food along with the associated healthcare costs.

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Ag News Roundup – August 24, 2011

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A few things we’re reading at the Ohio Farmers Union:

Drought has Texans looking to Ohio for hay

Ohio Cattlemen’s Association has been contacted by cattlemen in Texas and other drought-stricken states who are looking to purchase hay.

OCA is working with the Ohio Department of Agriculture to assist these cattle producers by identifying Ohioans who have hay available.

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South Dakota’s Thune says next farm bill will focus on crop insurance

Argus Leader

Sen. John Thune and an assembly of agriculture advocates at a roundtable discussion Tuesday in Sioux Falls were in agreement that the next federal farm bill will be focused on crop insurance.

Farmers told Thune access to reasonably priced crop insurance is their safety net and is necessary to safeguard their futures.

Thune said it is the federal farm support most easy to defend when Congress and the president are looking for trillions of dollars of spending cuts.

“It makes sense to make this the centerpiece of ag policy,” Thune said. “Insurance is more defensible than subsidies.”

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Vilsack says economics will have USDA conservation programs under pressure

US Ag Net

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said at the Iowa State Fair Friday that he hopes the next farm bill will preserve conservation programs that have been a part of federal farm legislation since the 1930s.

But the former two-term Iowa governor said economics makes continuation of conservation efforts uncertain.

“There was less interest by farmers in the last round of CRP signups,” Vilsack said, referring to the voluntary Conservation Reserve Program where farmers idle land in return for government payments. “In an era of high commodity prices and high costs, farmers are under more pressure.”

According to the Des Moines Register, the next farm bill, Vilsack said, will be a different animal than its predecessors.

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Possible solution to Grand Lake St. Mary’s problem gets $1 million

ST. MARYS – The first of what could be a series of methane digesters here to turn animal waste into energy will receive a $1 million award from a U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service grant, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said Monday.

Grand Lake St. Marys would be the beneficiary as animal waste that now flows into the lake from feeder streams, firing up toxic cyanobacteria blooms that have at times shut down the lake, is converted into methane gas.

“Not only will this help clean up the Lake, it will also help create jobs in the clean energy industry. This project will serve as a national model for an innovative solution to clean up toxic algae blooms creating jobs and provide consumers with a source of clean, domestic energy,” Brown said. “Grand Lake St. Marys has been an economic anchor of Mercer and Auglaize counties and I remain committed to pursuing all possible solutions to restore it.”

Mel Kurtz, president of Ohio company Quasar Energy Group, said the project will also show how to solve such problems elsewhere.

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Dairy Industry seeks some relief

Idaho Statesman

With a gallon of milk costing as much as or more than a gallon of gasoline this summer, a consumer scanning the supermarket shelves might think milk is a cash cow for dairy farmers.

In reality, it isn’t. Though the price of a gallon hovers around $4, dairy farmers in Idaho and around the country are still struggling with the aftermath of what’s dubbed the Great Dairy Recession.

“For a young guy starting out in dairy farming, it’s tough,” said Jim Heckman, a farmer in Walker Township, Pa., who sold his dairy herd in May. “I wish them the best of luck, but I don’t think they’ll make it.”

Some in Congress, including Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, want to replace longstanding safety nets for dairy farmers with new ones that better reflect the challenges they face.

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$103M to expand broadband Internet in rural areas

Coshocton Tribune

Telecommunications companies in 16 states will share more than $103 million in federal funding to help expand broadband Internet access to those areas of rural America that haven’t been reached by the high-speed service or are underserved, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

Policymakers, public interest groups and telecom companies are seeking to bridge the digital divide by reaching even the most remote pockets of the U.S. with broadband internet, hoping to improve economic and educational opportunities there.

“There’s a big gap that remains between rural and urban areas because it’s just hard to make a business case in rural areas,” said Jonathan Adelstein, the agriculture department’s rural utilities service administrator, in a conference call with reporters. “Rural areas’ future depends upon access to broadband and we’re not where we need to be today.”

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Ag News Roundup – August 19, 2011

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Here are a few things I found and some of the stories they’re reading at the National Farmers Union from this week:

Cincy meat company recalls ground beef

Fox 19

Two local residents were sent to the hospital after eating tainted beef.

The incident sparked a voluntary recall of 72,800 pounds of beef from the Cincinnati-based distributor J.B. Meats.

According to Mark Wordeman, owner of J. B. Meats, the product was sold to restaurants in the Cincinnati area. He said the 10 to 12 restaurants he supplies have been notified and are no longer using the meat. He also tells FOX19 the E. coli did not come from his business and most likely came from a slaughter house.

Wordeman asked all restaurants who have purchased ground beef and ground beef patties from them between August 18, 2010 and August 18, 2011 to stop serving the meat. The Ohio Department of Agriculture says some of the beef is possibly infected with E. coli. Each clear plastic bag and label have the establishment number “est. 1188” within the Department of Agriculture’s mark of inspection.

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Brown announces new resource for clean energy

WDTN

Two Darke County businesses are among 900 agricultural producers and rural small businesses across the country that have been awarded resources to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in their operations. U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that 4-E, Inc. and DBA M&M Petrol & Pantry were awarded $13,850 in new federal resources to develop a flexible fuel pump in Darke County. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Rural Energy for America Program helps to increase the production and use of renewable energy sources in the United States to reduce America’s dependence on foreign energy sources.

“Agriculture and energy innovation are critical to Ohio’s long-term economic development,” Brown said. “Growing Ohio’s clean energy economy in small towns and rural areas like Ansonia help to create jobs while reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Developing clean energy will put Ohio communities at the forefront of the innovation and energy independence that America needs to out-compete the rest of the world.”

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Food & Ag News Roundup – August 11, 2011

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Dept. of Energy panel seeks stronger rules on drilling of gas wells, fracking

New York Times

A federal Department of Energy panel issued recommendations on Thursday for improving the safety and environmental impact of drilling in shale formations for natural gas.

In a report on the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that is used currently in most oil and gas wells, the seven-member Natural Gas Subcommittee called for better tracking and more careful disposal of the waste that comes up from wells, stricter standards on air pollution and greenhouse gases associated with drilling, and the creation of a federal database so the public can better monitor drilling operations.

The report also called for companies to eliminate diesel fuel from their fracking fluid because it includes carcinogenic chemicals, and for companies and regulators to disclose the full list of ingredients used in fracking.

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Farmers Markets on the Rise

USA Today

The newly released 2011 National Farmers Market Directory shows a total of 7,175 farmers markets in the U.S. this summer, up from last year’s 6,132.

These markets allow farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers and often bring fresh fruits and vegetables into neighborhoods that lacked them.

There could be even more than the 7,000-plus on USDA’s list, says agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. The USDA’s list is compiled as part of a voluntary, self-reporting system by the Agricultural Marketing Service. It used information from farmers market managers collected April 18 through June 24, 2011.

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USDA has new scheme to trace animal disease

Food Safety News

For most of the past decade, the U.S. Department of Agriculture tried to get farmers and ranchers to accept the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) without success. NAIS was to be a high tech solution, with top down coverage of nearly every critter on the land. But, as everybody in rural America knows, NAIS is dead. Still U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has every reason to worry about tuberculosis, brucellosis, scabies, pseudorabies, hog cholera and like animal diseases. So to improve the traceability of U.S. livestock moving through interstate commerce when animal diseases do strike, Vilsack Tuesday rolled out a new, decidedly low tech tracking system.

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Renewable Fuels Standard emerges as ethanol’s Sacred Cow

National Journal

You wouldn’t know it from the political cloud over ethanol, but the federal government will keep propping up the industry even if Washington eliminates its three-decade-old tax subsidies.

A newer law quietly ensures ethanol’s sustained growth. And that mandate isn’t going anywhere.

By year’s end, the congressional “super committee” charged with reducing the federal deficit likely will topple the $6 billion in annual ethanol industry tax credits and a corresponding government tariff on imported ethanol. But another prong of ethanol’s government support – the “renewable fuels standard” – will remain. And it may ultimately be more important to corn farmers and the ethanol industry.

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U.S. DOT: No changes to road rules

agriculture.com

If you haul grain as part of a crop share agreement with your landlord, you’re not going to have to get a commercial driver’s license (CDL).

That’s what the Department of Transportation says in an official guidance issued today, hoping to calm members of Congress and farm groups who feared a new set of burdensome regulations.

Instead, the Department is not changing any federal rules that apply to requirements for CDLs for farmers.

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http://www.agriculture.com/news/policy/dot-no-chges-to-road-rules_4-ar18218

Ag News Roundup – August 1

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Here are a few news stories from around the country that the National Farmers Union is following plus a couple from the Ohio media OFU is following:

Ohio manufacturers to gain from ‘biopreferred’ labels

July 28, 2011 – Dayton Business Journal

Many Ohio manufacturers should benefit as 14 bio-based product categories are now eligible for federal procurement preference. The move expands business opportunities for Ohio-manufactured products made with agricultural products.

Biobased products are composed wholly or significantly of biological ingredients — renewable plant, animal, marine or forestry materials. A BioPreferred designated item is one that meets or exceeds USDA established minimum biobased content requirements.

Already, more than 70 Ohio companies manufacturing biobased products are eligible for preferred federal procurement under the USDA’s biopreferred program.

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Potential of shale gas boom hard to nail down

July 31, 2011 – Columbus Dispatch

Right now, beneath your feet, Ohio has oil and gas deposits so vast that they could transform the economy.

But there are many reasons for skepticism. These shale-based resources are difficult to reach and expensive to extract, and they come with a host of concerns about air and water pollution.

Ohio leaders are in the early stages of figuring out how to navigate this complicated situation. Meanwhile, oil and gas producers are making bets that the obstacles can be overcome.

Last week, some big numbers became part of the discussion: $15 billion to $20 billion. That’s the range of income that Chesapeake Energy said it expects to generate from drilling in the Utica shale in eastern Ohio.

For some perspective, Ohio had $665 million worth of oil and gas production in 2009, the most-recent data available. Chesapeake’s potential income, even if spread over several decades, would be a huge increase in the state’s production.

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Farm Bill Needs Major Overhaul to Aid Hungry

July 29, 2011 – Pressconnects.com

by Mark A. Dunlea

The Federal Farm Bill is up for renewal next year. It needs a major overhaul so it will help family farms and promote healthier diets.

Family farms continue to disappear at an alarming rate. Most support goes to wealthy investors owning corporate farms. The average payment for 80 percent of farmers is $579.

Processing facilities need to be funded so medium-sized farmers aren’t forced to raise their crops and livestock solely based on the dictates of a few large corporations. The Farm Bill must do a better job of supporting rural development; farmers can’t survive when neighboring communities disappear.

More funding is needed to preserve farmlands, especially near urban areas where development pressures are great but wheremuch of our food is grown.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) accounts for two-thirds of Farm Bill funding. The House Republicans recently voted to gut food stamps because with the economy in such bad shape, spending has increased to help more households feed their families. The food stamp program, however, is supposed to be a safety net when families are out of work and/or unable to pay their bills.

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Farmers face losses from record-breaking drought season

July 31, 2011 – Associated Press

Thousands of farmers are counting their losses amid record heat and drought this year.

The drought has spread over much of the southern U.S., leaving Oklahoma the driest it has been since the 1930s and setting records from Louisiana to New Mexico. But the situation is especially severe in Kansas and Texas, which trails only California in agricultural productivity.

Ranchers in parts of Kansas are hauling their spring cattle to auction barns because a drought and the brutal heat have made it difficult to provide the water and hay needed to keep the animals healthy, according to a state agency.

Some auction markets are seeing more than triple the number of cattle at weekly sales than they typically have at this time of year, the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service said. For example, 14,500 head of cattle were taken to sale rings at Pratt, Salina and Dodge City last week. Last year, those auction markets sold just 4,300 head.

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 NYC’s solar windfall a sign of clean energy future?

July 28, 2011 – Huffington Post

by John Farrell

A recently released solar map of New York City found enough room on building rooftops for solar panels to power half the city during hours of peak electricity use. Taking advantage of this solar windfall could allow New Yorkers to save millions on electricity costs and create tens of thousands of jobs.

New York City is not alone in its solar power potential.

Almost 60 million Americans live in areas where solar prices are competitive with retail electricity costs, but this opportunity is often kept out of reach by utilities and the antiquated rules of the U.S. electricity system.

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Legislative riders target environmental protections

July 28, 2011 – Washington Post

by Darryl Fears & Juliet Eilperin

For environmentalists, it was something to shout about. In a rare show of defiance, 37 House Republicans broke party ranks two days ago and voted with Democrats to strike an amendment from an appropriations bill that forbade the Fish and Wildlife Service from listing any new plant or animal as endangered.

In telephone calls and e-mails, environmentalists at groups such as the National Wildlife Federation and Defenders of Wildlife called the vote “historic” and “awesome” in surprised reactions.

But a long list of other amendments aimed at weakening environmental protections at the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency brought them back to Earth.

Nearly 40 amendments would stop the enforcement of water quality standards, abolish rules that protect streams from surface mining, gut a budget to acquire and protect pristine forestland, and slice a portion of money used to operate national parks.

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