“Sorghum Checkoff Board To Meet”
The Sorghum Checkoff will hold its fall meeting on Aug. 9-10, 2010, in Omaha, Neb., in conjunction with the Sorghum Improvement Conference of North America. The meeting will be held at the Embassy Suites – Omaha. On Monday, Aug. 9, the individual Sorghum Checkoff committees will meet to discuss issues on finance, market and promotions, and research. The entire board of directors will meet on Aug. 10 to review staff progress reports and activities, discuss proposed budgets and projects for the 2010/2011 fiscal year. The Great Plains and SICNA Research meeting will be held in Mead, Neb., on August 11-12.
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“Parts of Arizona Immigration Law Blocked”
A federal judge in Phoenix, Arizona has blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law from going into effect. Judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction against sections that called for police officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws and that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times. The judge did say however, some aspects of the law can go into effect today as scheduled.
At question is Federal versus State law. Judge Bolton said, – preserving the status quo through a preliminary injunction is less harmful than allowing state laws that are likely pre-empted by federal law to be enforced. She noted – by enforcing this statute, Arizona would impose a ‘distinct, unusual and extraordinary’ burden on legal resident aliens that only the federal government has the authority to impose.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said in a statement, she was disappointed by the Judge’s ruling. But the Governor swears, – this fight is far from over. In fact, it is just the beginning, and at the end of what is certain to be a long legal struggle, Arizona will prevail in its right to protect our citizens.
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“Climate Change Legislation Falters”
Even though climate change legislation appears dead for this Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promises to – continue to work to find bipartisan agreement on a comprehensive bill to help reduce pollution and deal with the very real threat that global warming poses.
Meanwhile, legislation released by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin would extend federal support for ethanol through 2011. However, the volumetric ethanol excise tax credit would be reduced 9 cents to 45 cents per gallon and the bill would lower the small producer credit to 8 cents from 10.
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“Study of Business Tax Credit for Health Care Doesn’t Add up”
Senator Chuck Grassley says – the claim made this week by Families USA about a small business tax credit for health care doesn’t add up. According to the Iowa Senator, – the advocacy group said over 90 percent of small businesses in Iowa would be eligible for the tax credit created by the new health care law. The Senator notes – the analysis of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office doesn’t support that assertion, and CBO is the official scorekeeper for legislation in Congress.
Previously, the National Federation of Independent Business determined that only 30 percent of small businesses in Iowa would qualify for the new law’s tax credit. Grassley points out – the Families USA study did not factor in the requirement that says a small business must pay more than half of its employees’ premium costs in order to qualify for the tax credit. When that’s considered, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 3 million small business employees nationwide would benefit from this tax credit in 2016.
Adding insult to injury, determining eligibility for the tax credit is extremely complicated. Steven Yeater of Wilton, Iowa says – it doesn’t do small business owners or their employees any good to have promotional studies misrepresent reality the way the Families USA report does.
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“USTR Preparing COOL Comments for WTO Panel”
The Obama administration is preparing to defend the controversial country of origin labeling law in a case brought by Canada last October. Ottawa alleges the mandatory COOL provisions violate international trade rules and have resulted in weaker prices for Canadian beef and pork. The U.S. Trade Representative has until August 4 to submit written arguments to a three-judge WTO Dispute Settlement Panel.
Agri-Pulse reports that U.S. trade officials have been soliciting input and guidance from farm and consumer groups that lobbied for passage of COOL in the 2008 Farm Bill. Jess Peterson, executive vice president of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association says – we feel confident in the USTR team that’s working on it and how they’re handling it.
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard told Agri-Pulse; – the information bolsters U.S. arguments that North American livestock trade has been impacted to a far greater degree by factors such as volatile exchange rates, feed prices, higher transportation costs and declines in Canada’s cattle herd than by COOL.
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“SNAP Subject of Subcommittee Hearing”
The House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry, held a hearing Wednesday to review quality control systems in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The Subcommittee heard testimony from government officials and advocacy and industry groups about efforts to reduce the error rate in SNAP and to combat fraud and abuse in the system.
Representative Joe Baca of California is Chairman of the subcommittee. Baca said – it is essential that Congress ensures our federal nutrition programs serve as good stewards of taxpayer dollars. The hearing provided an opportunity to examine ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the SNAP program. With the program currently under great strain, serving a record 40 million Americans a month, Baca said – this review is more critical now than ever before.
Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska said – like all federal programs funded by American taxpayers, we must ensure its sound program eligibility standards and improve efficiencies in its administration. The 2008 Farm Bill made substantial improvements to SNAP by increasing program benefits and clarifying eligibility standards. The Farm Bill also increased the penalty the U.S. Department of Agriculture can levy on fraudulent retailers.
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“Lincoln Keeping Heat on Child Nutrition Programs”
Senate Ag Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln returned to the Senate floor Wednesday to speak on pending child nutrition reauthorization. Child nutrition programs expire on September 30. This time Lincoln addressed childhood obesity, saying – the obesity crisis that America faces comes at a tremendous cost to our health care system-roughly 147-billion dollars per year. Lincoln emphasized, – we should not miss this opportunity to proactively address the obesity crisis and begin to relieve our health care system of the financial burdens that follow obesity-related disease.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act includes the first Congressional-mandated, non-inflationary increase in the reimbursement rate for school meals since 1973. This reimbursement rate is performance-based – schools only get it if they provide healthy meals that meet program guidelines. The provision would invest roughly 3.2-billion dollars in additional money over the next ten years – that’s over 300-million per year in additional revenue for our schools.
Another provision of the bill expands the at-risk after school snack program, also known as the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Senator Lincoln said – the bill permits after school sites in every state to offer children a full, healthy meal so they don’t have to go hungry. Other provisions in the bill expand and improve the use of direct certification for free school meals through the SNAP and Medicaid programs.
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“Military Focusing on Energy”
At a White House Forum on Energy Security, Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman announced a Memorandum of Understanding between the Departments of Energy and Defense to accelerate clean energy innovation and enhance national energy security. Poneman said – working together, we can speed the transition to a clean energy economy, while helping protect our troops.
The memorandum covers efforts in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency, fossil fuels, alternative fuels, efficient transportation technologies and fueling infrastructure, grid security, smart grid, storage, waste-to-energy, basic science research, mobile/deployable power, small modular reactor nuclear energy, and related areas.
The Department of Defense aims to speed innovative energy and conservation technologies from laboratories to military end users, and it uses military installations as a test bed to demonstrate and create a market for innovative energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. The Department of Energy is the lead Federal agency responsible for the development and deployment of advanced energy technologies.
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“EU Moving on Monsanto Corn Technologies”
Monsanto Company is one step closer to being able to sell two of its corn technologies in the European Union. The EU has authorized two corn technologies: Genuity VT Double PRO and YieldGard VT Triple. The decisions cover the import, processing and food and feed use of grain and processed products. The final step in the approval process is publication of the decision by the European Commission.
The EU decision follows the independent scientific advice of the European Food Safety Authority. Monsanto Global Regulatory Lead Jerry Hjelle says – these authorizations will enable shipment of grain and its derivatives from these products for use as feed ingredients by the European livestock industry.
Monsanto says import approvals for both products have already been obtained in all key countries that import corn from the United States.
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“FSA County Committee Nominations Due”
Jonathan Coppess, administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency, reminds farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers that they have until Monday, Aug. 2, 2010, to nominate eligible candidates to serve on local FSA county committees. Coppess asks for your involvement this year and – nominate the candidate of your choice or nominate yourself to serve on your local county committee. Ballots will be mailed this November.
The FSA Administrator encourages the nomination of beginning farmers and ranchers, as well as minorities and women. He says – this is your opportunity to have a say in how federal programs are delivered in your county. FSA county committees help local farmers through their decisions on commodity price support loans, conservation programs and disaster programs, and by working closely with county executive directors.
To be eligible to hold office as a county committee member, individuals must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and live in the local administrative area where they are running. All nomination forms must be postmarked or received in the local USDA Service Center by close of business on Monday. A complete list of eligibility requirements, more information and nomination forms are available at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/elections.
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“Food System Summit Scheduled”
The Center for Food Integrity Food System Summit will be held in Chicago October 5 and 6. Experts will focus discussion on current and emerging issues facing today’s U.S. food system. The fifth annual Summit will offer practical applications for building consumer trust and confidence in the U.S. food system. Summit attendees will be the first to see results of the 2010 Consumer Trust Survey.
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Greg Jaffe of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Richard Rogers of the Gates Foundation, and Mary Lou Quinlan of Just Ask a Woman will participate in the event.
