Food Price Spikes Increase Fear

The world is consuming grains faster than farmers are growing them, draining reserves and pushing prices to the levels that fueled food riots in poor countries three years ago. A big U.S. crop will be needed to meet the demand, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“The stage is set for very serious disruptions, should weather disasters happen,” said Keith Collins, the former chief economist of the Agriculture Department. “It seems clear to me that the chance of a more widespread global food crisis has increased.”

The rise in prices also has economists urging caution among policy makers.

Economists with the World Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute are urging President Barack Obama not to overreact to recent spikes in food prices by imposing export bans on U.S. agricultural products.

“We should expect fluctuations, but we shouldn’t exacerbate these fluctuations by imposing obstructions to the market that could make things worse,” said Manuel Hernandez, a postdoctoral fellow at IFPRI. “The situation is not the same as in 2007 and 2008. So there is no major concern that we should worry about another food crisis.”

 

EPA GHG Regulations Could Put U.S. Refineries Out of Business

EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by U.S. oil refineries could drive many of the refineries out of business by placing them at a significant disadvantage to foreign gasoline, according to Charles Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association.

“Our nation’s petroleum refineries remain one of the last internationally competitive segments of the American manufacturing base,” Drevna wrote in a letter to Gina McCarthy, EPA’s assistant administrator for air and radiation, which NPRA submitted to accompany its oral testimony at EPA’s listening session on implementing GHG regulations under the Clean Air Act.

According to NPRA, U.S. refineries process 95 percent of the gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, heating oil and lubricants that are used domestically.

“There is no guarantee that the U.S. domestic refining manufacturing base will continue to be in existence two or three decades from now,” Drevna said. “Our members’ plants could well go the way of many domestic auto plants, virtually all of our domestic textile mills and many domestic steel plants.”

AFBF Urges House Members to Co-Sponsor NPDES Permit Bill

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman wrote to members of the House today urging them to support passage of H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011, and sign on as co-sponsors.

“In addition to agricultural producers, a significant number of stakeholders will be impacted by a new federal requirement under which the Environmental Protection Agency and delegated states must issue Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permits for certain pesticide applications,” Stallman told lawmakers in his letter. “This unprecedented action is the result of a 2009 decision of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.”

Stallman called on Congress to take action before the permit requirement becomes final.

“We are concerned that due to unrealistic deadlines for state-delegated implementation and compliance many states will not meet the court ordered deadline of April 9, 2011,” Stallman wrote. “Adding to the uncertainty, EPA has yet to release a final permit. This leaves pesticide users without time to fully understand or come into compliance with the permit and further increases their potential liability.”

All it takes is a Lawsuit

Shawn Martini is Communications Director for Colorado Farm Bureau.

While inhaling carbon dioxide is essential to plant life, and exhaling it is essential to human life, this same carbon dioxide is now considered a threat to public health, if it comes from a factory or power plant. This according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who’s made it their mission to protect citizens from the dangerous gas.

On January 2nd of this year, carbon dioxide emissions became “subject to regulation” under the Clean Air Act and the EPA is working furiously with states to further regulate American industry.  The coming system of regulatory cap and trade is based on EPA’s endangerment finding: the regulatory tool required by the Clean Air Act to regulate a particular pollutant. In this case the “pollutant” is the same gas we exhale with every breath. The implications of the coming regulations are dire.

By July large emitters of carbon, such as power plants and other industrial facilities will be forced to obtain emissions permits and limit their output of the gas. EPA estimates that “only” 1600 sources nationwide will fall under this “tailoring” rule which only regulates the largest emitters (those that emit over 25,000 tons of CO2). Smaller emitters will be excluded from the regulation.

So why would Farm Bureau and other industries spend so much time opposing a rule that the EPA has exempted them from?

Because all it takes is a lawsuit.

Governor Hickenlooper Launches Colorado’s Bottom-Up Economic Development

Join the conversation!

The Governor’s Office and the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade has partnered with Colorado State University’s Office of Engagement and Extension to engage Coloradoans in a statewide conversation about Economic Development.

Governor Hickenlooper is asking for residents across the State, county by county, to share their stories, challenges, and strengths by developing a strategic economic development plan for their county. These county plans will then be rolled up into 14 regional economic development plans, which collectively will be rolled up into a statewide economic development plan.

You are invited to actively participate in your county’s economic development planning processes. Provide input and ideas and ask friends, family, neighbors and others to participate as well. Attend planning meetings, take the online survey at www.advancecolorado.com or send an email at input@state.co.us

Also, please take advantage of an online economic development survey to help communicate your ideas about how to revitalize your local economy.  http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/462074/County-Economic-Development-Self-Assessment-Survey

The results from the state’s on-line survey will be compiled by county and provided to each county. In support of the bottom-up approach, each county will determine its use and the relevance of such information.

 

 

The Weekly Links

Is U.S. Manufacturing Dead?
Wall Street Journal
Is American manufacturing dead? You might think so reading most of the nation’s editorial pages, yet the empirical evidence tells a different story.

McDonald’s backing Iowa research on hen housing
DesMoines Register
Laying hen housing systems are about to become the subject of a study backed by the food and restaurant industries.

Western governors fume over Obama/Salazar land plan
Anchorage Daily News
In the West, governors are riled about the possibility that more federal land could be designated as wilderness

 

State Legislative update

Bills moving forward….. as we are getting to the half way point of the Colorado 2011 Legislative Session. To date there has been 273 House Bills and 185 Senate Bills plus a handful of Resolutions introduced. That is about 80 or so bills less than there was at this time last session. Many would credit this to a Republican House and Democrat Senate, the split makes it more difficult for controversial measure to move forward.

House Ag Committee Hearings

Today I received the follow notice for hearing to be held by the House Agriculutre Committee.

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture announced the following committee schedule.

EPA Announces SPCC Workshops

The past couple weeks I have received calls from CFB members about EPA’s SPCC program.  This program is aimed at reducing oil spills and controlling them if they do happen.  Depending on how much oil and oil products you store on your farm, this regulations may affect you directly.

The EPA, NPDES pemits, pesticides and you

This winter as you have talked with your friends I am sure that the EPA somehow entered the conversation. Be it spray nozzle regulations, attempts to regulate dust, making sure that water is safe from spilled milk or generally just being a pain and hassle, the EPA seems to be everywhere. 

AFBF Backs Bill to Preempt EPA GHG Regulations

Congressman Fred Upton, (R- Mich.) Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has said that he plans on hearing testimony from EPA administrator Lisa Jackson so frequently, that he will assign her a parking space at the Capitol.

AFBF supports the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 that House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) plans to introduce today. Upton’s bill would preempt regulation of greenhouse gases by the Environmental Protection Agency based on climate change considerations.

“The regulation of GHG does not fit within the current framework of the Clean Air Act. Unlike other regulated pollutants, where Clean Air Act thresholds are sufficient to regulate the largest emitters, GHG regulation at statutorily required thresholds holds the prospect of costly and burdensome permit requirements on farms, ranches, schools, hospitals and some large residences,” AFBF President Bob Stallman wrote in a letter sent to Upton today, announcing Farm Bureau’s backing of the bill.

The bill has bipartisan support. House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) plans to be a cosponsor. “The EPA needs to be reined in,” said Peterson.

Across the Capitol, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) plans to introduce a companion bill in the Senate today. Stallman also wrote to Inhofe, pledging Farm Bureau’s support of his bill.

 

New Market for Seed Potato Producers

Colorado is one of 10 new states that can now ship seed potatoes to Thailand, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Tuesday.

The newly eligible states are Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. In 2009, Thailand announced it would accept seed potatoes from California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

“This is a promising development for U.S. seed potato producers who will now be able to compete in Thailand, the largest potato growing country in Southeast Asia,” Vilsack said. “Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing markets for U.S. agricultural products, and exports there are expected to grow by more than 25 percent this year. This action by the government of Thailand will provide buyers with additional supplies of high-quality seed potatoes.”

 

GAO Report Shows Billions Spent on Duplicative Programs

The General Accounting Office released a report Tuesday detailing billions of dollars in duplicative federal programs. According to the 345-page report, there are dozens of overlapping government programs in defense, transportation, education and other areas that could be consolidated to save taxpayers money.

The report points out that there are 18 different federal food and nutrition programs that do essentially the same thing. And the report said not enough is known about the effectiveness of the programs.

The report also said reform of U.S. ethanol incentives could save the government $5.7 billion per year. In addition, GAO says reducing some farm program payments could result in substantial savings. The report shows tax dollars could be saved with strengthened oversight of farm program payments.

 

Honeybee Colonies Rise 7.4 Percent in 2010

The number of honey-producing bee colonies in the U.S. rose 7.4 percent last year and honey production was up 20 percent, according to a report released Friday by the Agriculture Department.

About 2.684 million colonies were reported by beekeepers with five or more hives in 2010, USDA reports. Honey production rose to 65.5 pounds per colony, up 12 percent from 2009, with overall output at 176 million pounds.

In response to Colony Collapse Disorder, beekeepers are keeping more bees on hand during the year to withstand higher losses in the winter dormancy season, which is helping the honeybee population recover.

 

Sagehorn Profiled in Holyoke Enterprise

CFB member and former CFB communications intern Elisa Sagehorn was recently profiled in the Holyoke Enterprise over her involvement with ag education and promotion. Elisa is a National Collegiate Ag ambassador and member of the Colorado Young Farmers Education Association. As part of both organizations Sagehorn educates the public in Colorado about agriculture and the rural lifestyle.

Sagehorn said as a presenter, spokesperson and ambassador for agriculture, she absolutely loves working with individuals across the state of Colorado and beyond.

“It’s given me the key to switch over my career,” said the 2008 HHS grad, noting she is now an ag education major at CSU.

With Sagehorn’s new role as an Ag Ambassador, she is excited to take on this “challenge” of agricultural literacy. She mentioned the road is going to be a long one, but programs like USDA’s Agriculture in the Classroom and National FFA’s Food for America are great starting points.

Read the entire piece at the Holyoke Enterprise online.

Latest on Possible Government Shutdown

Last week I wrote a piece on The Pulse about a possible government shutdown, this Friday will see the end of the current continuing resolution (CR) that the federal government is currently working under.  If Congress is unable to come to terms on another CR by 11:59pm on Friday the government will shut down for lack of funding.  That being said, the latest news from Washington, DC says that a short, 2 week CR is in the works to prevent a government shutdown.

Battle Over Beets Continues

Environmental groups failed to show that seed plants for Roundup Ready Sugar Beets would cause irreparable harm, a federal appeals court said Friday. The 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a  previous injunction that called for the destruction of the plants.

“We conclude the district court abused its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction requiring destruction of the steckling plants,” the court wrote. “Plaintiffs have not demonstrated that the … plants present a possibility, much less a likelihood, of genetic contamination or other irreparable harm. The undisputed evidence indicates that the stecklings pose a negligible risk of genetic contamination, as the juvenile plants are biologically incapable of flowering or cross-pollinating before February 28, 2011, when the permits expire.”

State Legislative Update

Referred to the Voters!!! Victory for SCR – 001 (Ballot Measure Initiative Reform) successfully passed the full Senate and House this week with greater than 2/3rds support from both chambers in order to become a referred measure on the 2012 Ballot. Troy Bredenkamp, Exec. VP for CFB, testified as the voice for agriculture and rural Colorado on this measure in the House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday. Farm Bureau would like to thank all those legislators that supported this measure which will help to strengthen the voice for rural Colorado in the initiative process.

Also successfully passing the House chambers this past week and being referred to the Senate were the following measures:

HB 1004 – Rep. Baumgardner’s Farm Truck Registration bill

HB 1083 – Rep. Swerdferger’s Hydroelectricity and Pumped Hyrdo bill

HB 1084 – Rep. Baumgardner’s Modify Late Vehicle Registration Fee bill 

HB 1093 – Rep. Bradford’s Special Mobile Machinery Ownership bill

HB 1111 – Rep. Sonnenberg’s CDA Livestock Confidential Data bill

HB 1192 – Rep. Coram’s bill to give CDOT authority to authorize state highways for travel with longer vehicle combinations

DEFEATED:   HB 1165 (Align County Treasurer Water Dist. Fees) was successfully killed this week (2/23) in the House Local Government Committee. CFB was working in opposition to this bill which would have allowed the county treasurer’s office to dramatically increase fees for their services to collect irrigation and drainage district assessments. There was testimony for willingness of a more appropriate increase in this fee; however, this bill would have caused an unreasonable fee increase for some of our irrigation districts across that state that would have seen their fees go from $100 to greater than $12,000.

The Weekly Links

Panel rules against homeowner who said fracking fouled well
The Denver Post
The controversial oil-industry technique known as fracking went on trial at the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Tuesday — and fracking won.

Colorado Humane Lobby Day 2011
HumaneWatch.org
Does the First Baptist Church of Denver know it hosted a lobbying event for HSUS?

National FFA gets boost from Monsanto
Brownfield
A $1 million dollar investment by St. Louis based Monsanto Company will be used to help support 14 National FFA Programs in 2011.

Experts Bullish on Ag Industry at Governor’s Forum

In an upbeat and optimistic Governor’s Forum on Colorado Agriculture, speakers weighed in on what Colorado agriculture producers can expect from their industry in the future. This year’s theme was “Today’s Vision for Tomorrow’s Food System.”

In his remarks to the gathering, Gov. Hickenlooper said that he has learned much about the importance of agriculture and rural Colorado over the course of his campaign.

“I realized that rural areas are what gives Colorado its identity,” he said. “It’s the rural areas that make Denver, Denver.”

Microbes Help Farm Kids Have Lower Asthma Rates

New research reveals that farm kids have lower asthma rates than city kids because they are exposed to a wide range of microbes. School-aged children in the studies who lived on farms were about 30 percent to 50 percent less likely to have asthma than non-farm children who lived nearby.

Farm kids were also exposed to more bacteria and fungi than the other children, according to the study appearing in the Feb. 24 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The research shows that exposure to bacteria and fungi from environmental sources like dirt and animal hair early in life protects against asthma and allergies by helping the immune system develop normally.

Farm Program Cuts Not Part of Continuing Resolution

Congressmen walk down the steps of the Capitol on Saturday morning, capping an all-night session.

In an early Saturday morning vote, the House approved H.R.1, the continuing resolution to fund the federal government for the rest of this fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, that includes $60 billion in spending cuts and a number of amendments designed to impede President Barack Obama from carrying out his policies

Final passage came on a 235-189 vote just before dawn, after an all night-session and a week of debate where almost 500 amendments were considered. Amendments to put caps on farm program payments were defeated on direction from House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), who said discussion on farm subsidy cuts should wait until the 2012 farm bill debate.

Committee to Hold Oversight Hearing on Interior Department

Today I received the following notice, located below, from the House Natural Resources Committee. This issue is one of great inportance to CFB members because this order basically decalres Congress null and void when determining what is wilderness.

Notes From the House Ag Committee Hearing

HB 1150 - Rep. Becker’s Concerning additional revenues for water storage projects bill was PI’d (LOST) in Committee on Monday. Rep. Becker had worked out an agreement with DNR and been in communication with Rep. Sonnenberg to see this deal through, that if Rep. Becker pulled the bill DNR would require that DOW designate funds in their five year master plan to be specifically for water projects. They are to designate ~$6 Million over the next five years. With much heated opposition on this measure, this was believed to be the best option. Farm Bureau is proud of the work Rep. Becker has done to work to make water storage projects a priority.

The Federal Budget, the CR, and You

Potential Government Shutdown Could Affect Producers

It is strongly advised that if you need to do business with an FSA office, BLM office or any other federal government office, do it before March 4.

As you no doubt have heard the House of Representatives spent the majority of last week debating what is known as a Continuing Resolution.  Continuing Resolutions, or CR’s as they are known in Washington, DC speak, are short term budget measures used to fund the federal government while Congress debates a budget.  Shortly before the end to the 111^th Congress passed CR until March 4^th.

If by 11:59pm on March 4^th Congress has not passed and the president has not signed either a budget or a CR then the federal government will shut down.  While no one wants this to happen, but it looks like there is a real possibility of it happening.  The last government shutdown occurred in 1995.

Some of you will be saying that a shutdown of the government is not such a bad thing.  But,  if the government shuts down, that will mean the FSA offices, BLM offices and any other federal office will not be able to do business.

Hopefully we will not see a government shutdown, but the best advice I can give is to plan as if it is going to happen.

State Legislative Update

Here is a highlight of some of the major happenings from the Colorado State House and Senate this week:

The Weekly Links

Rural Post Offices Put on Notice
USA Today
The U.S. Postal Service plans to close 2,000 post offices.

Food Chain: Do Spiking Food Prices Warn of Generalized Inflation?
Schwab.com
Recently, it’s the shocking spike in food and, to a lesser degree, energy prices that has elevated the worries again that “core” (excluding food and energy) inflation will follow.

Interior to give oil shale a ‘fresh look’
Salt Lake Tribune
The Interior Department announced it will review and revise regulations for commercial-scale development of oil shale resources in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.

Bill to create Neb. horse inspection agency advances
Journal Star
A controversial bill that would establish a state meat inspection program as a first step to opening horse slaughter and processing plants in Nebraska advanced from the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

Mont. governor: State will ignore U.S. protections and kill gray wolves
USA Today
Montana’s Democratic governor told the Obama administration today that his state would now ignore federal protections for the gray wolf and begin removing whole packs that prey on cattle and elk.

Amendment Debate on H.R. 1 Continues in House

After three days of debate on H.R. 1, the continuing resolution to fund the government for the remainder of this fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, the House has considered more than 80 of 583 amendments, either by voting on them, declaring them out of order or having them withdrawn.

A unanimous consent agreement has been reached that limits the number of amendments that are in order. Voting on the amendments continues today. Farm Bureau has a position on three of the amendments that are still being considered.

Washington Recap

The House of Representatives:

House Floor:

The House spent the majority of the week considering amendments to H.R. 1, the Continuing Resolutions Act of 2011.  This measure would fund the United States government until later in 2011 when the FY2012 federal budget is considered.  At the time of writing this, a final vote had not been taken.  The amendment process saw over 500 amendments for the House to work through.  I hope to have the status of amendments of interest to Colorado Farm Bureau members sorted out and if they passed or failed soon.

Proposed Rule Would Let Forest Service ‘Go Local’

The Obama Administration last week proposed a new rule that would give local national forest directors more control over their natural resources. The proposed rule overturns a decades-old policy that leaves forest management decisions to officials in Washington.

The planning rule would allow forest managers additional control over the development of Forest Service land management plans. The proposed change is made with an eye to increasing forest and watershed restoration and resilience, habitat protection, sustainable recreation, and management for multiple uses of the National Forest System, including timber.

“The proposed rule will provide the tools to the Forest Service to make our forests more resilient to many threats, including pests, catastrophic fire and climate change. Healthy forests and economically strong rural communities form a solid foundation as we work to win the future for the next generation,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.