USDA’s Equity Commission is out with a detailed set of recommendations for reforming a wide range of programs, including the way commodity and conservation programs operate. Some of the recommendations are relevant to the ongoing deliberations over a new farm bill.
One proposal calls for redistributing commodity program base acres, an idea that has been debated on Capitol Hill for the year. One veteran farm program analyst tells Agri-Pulse the “base issue is a concern for anyone who hasn’t had base, or who is under-based,” regardless of ethnicity, but it’s also expensive to address.
Read more on the recommendations at Agri-Pulse.com.
Keep in mind: USDA has taken some steps to address discrimination and equity issues while the commission was deliberating. Equity action plans have been released by 15 agencies within the department outlining how they will implement the 66 commission recommendations.
One of those has to do with USDA’s workforce. “A diverse and inclusive organization requires instituting diversity at the leadership level, and just as importantly, creating a pipeline of professionals who can grow into leadership roles in the future,” according to a progress report on equity recommendations released by USDA.
E15 decision leaves 2024 up in air
EPA has finally issued a decision on year-round E15, and it was a positive one for the ethanol industry. Just one problem: It doesn’t go into effect until 2025. “This additional delay feels like a slap in the face to Midwest motorists,” Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw said.
The National Corn Growers Association noted that EPA “has granted waivers over the last few years to allow drivers continued access” to E15, and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says he thinks there’s a good chance that will happen this year.
In its decision, EPA pointed to “concerns over insufficient fuel supply with an earlier effective date.” An agency spokesperson says EPA will continue to monitor the situation and consult with the Department of Energy.
Nutrien: Price decline isn’t dampening fertilizer demand
Officials with fertilizer giant Nutrien say farmers have been buying and applying fertilizer at relatively high rates despite slumping commodity prices.
Nutrien CEO Ken Seitz told analysts on the company’s earnings call Thursday that the “strength of fertilizer demand during the fall season” is carrying through to this year.
Jeff Tarsi, president of global retail for Nutrien, said the lower prices incentivize farmers to maintain fertilizer usage. “They’re not going to put that seed in the ground and not give it the horsepower and nutrient it needs to produce a full yield. Because when you get in a situation like we’re in right now with lower prices … you have to produce yield in order to make it work.”
By the way: Nutrien estimates it will sell 10.6 billion to 11.2 billion tons of nitrogen fertilizer in 2024, up from 10.4 billion tons last year. Potash sales are projected at 13 to 13.8 billion tons this year, compared to 13.2 billion in 2023.
USDA eyes more loan assistance
Robert Bonnie, USDA’s undersecretary for farm production and conservation, says the department is looking into ways that loan programs can be reworked to provide more assistance to beginning farmers and others who need it. The department is debating the issue as it distributes $3.1 billion that was earmarked in the Inflation Reduction Act for distressed USDA borrowers, Bonnie says.
In an interview for Agri-Pulse Newsmakers, Bonnie says there’s a “robust conversation” within USDA about how to “institutionalize some of the things we're thinking about here to provide a better deal for our producers and to invest in American agriculture.” The ideas include offering more attractive loan terms, he says.
Newsmakers will be available today at Agri-Pulse.com.
FDA issues guidance for gene-edited crops
FDA has developed new recommendations for biotech companies and plant breeders who want to bring new gene-edited crop traits to market. FDA’s 22-page guidance lays out two processes, one more streamlined than the other.
For crops that pose no food safety questions, FDA says a voluntary premarket meeting with the agency is enough. For other crops, FDA recommends a premarket consultation process in line with what has long been standard practice for new biotech traits.
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“Participation in these programs is not required by law, but these programs can help developers ensure that they are meeting their legal obligation to market only safe and lawful food,” FDA says in the guidance. “Such consultations or meetings also would provide FDA with an awareness of the genome-edited plant products potentially on the market.”
Reclamation eyes March to finalize Colorado River plans
The Bureau of Reclamation plans to finalize its options next month for near-term operations at Lakes Powell and Mead. This follows a 2023 agreement by Arizona, California and Nevada to conserve at least 3 million acre feet of Colorado River water through the end of 2026.
Wayne Pullan, Reclamation’s regional director for the Upper Colorado Basin Region, told farmers and irrigators Thursday at the Family Farm Alliance Conference in Reno that the finalized supplemental environmental impact statement “will give us the tools that we need should things turn extremely dry in the years between now and the end of 2026.”
Take note: The agency said in a draft version of the document that the Lower Basin states’ agreement to preserve water levels in Lakes Powell and Mead would “more effectively protect both reservoirs through the end of 2026 than the status quo.” Negotiators from all seven Colorado River states will need to iron out a completely new set of guidelines for the years following 2026.
She said it. “I may have inadvertently started a spud war between the great states of Idaho and Washington for the G.O.A.T. — Greatest of All Time Tater. The verdict is a tater toss-up. The clear winner, as with all of agriculture, are the American people who benefit in your bounty.” — Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton addressing Western farmers at the Family Farm Alliance annual conference in Reno.
