“Dairies Hit Hardest When Foreign Labor Leaves”
A Texas AgriLife Research study examining the effects of immigrant labor in the dairy industry reveals out of 5,005 dairy farms surveyed nationally, 57,000 full-time employees, or 41 percent, were foreign workers. Additionally, the study showed that farms using immigrant labor account for about 62 percent of the nation’s milk supply. If that workforce were cut in half, the U.S. economy would suffer an $11 billion loss, said Dr. Parr Rosson, economist and director of the Center for North American Studies at Texas A&M University.
About 66,000 workers would also be lost due to possible closure of some dairy farms and resulting “domino effect” of fewer jobs in related sectors, such as grain production, animal health services, and transportation of milk products. Rosson said the study provides “a clearer picture of how important immigrant labor is to dairy farms across the country.”
The 2009 study was partially supported by the National Milk Producers Federation and examined dairy farms nationwide. “About 98 percent of these workers are from Mexico,” Rosson said. “On average, they’re paid $32,000 a year, with 78 percent of the farms surveyed providing insurance, housing or vacation.”
“Part of the study also included looking at potential losses of immigrant labor,” he said. “We concluded that if we lost half of those 138,000 workers, it would result in an economic loss of $11 billion annually.” In addition, 2,300 dairy farms would go out of business. If that were to occur, Rosson said consumers would see as much as a 30 percent increase in milk prices as producers would respond to by cutting back production and scaling back the number of cows in production.
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“High Level Meetings on Climate Bill Held”
On Tuesday, a bipartisan trio of Senators working on writing a climate bill meet with the heads of trade groups whose industries would be affected profoundly by any new law regulating carbon emissions. Senators John Kerry, Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham met with leaders of the American Petroleum Institute and the Edison Electric Institute, and a representative of the Portland Cement Association, among others.
Later, President Obama called a bipartisan group of 14 Senators to the White House to discuss the issues. Kerry, Lieberman and Graham were included in that meeting. Others are viewed as being crucial swing votes on a Senate climate bill.
Under a – sector by sector – approach, electric utilities and manufacturing would be subject to separate caps, while carbon-based fuels would be subject to a new tax. This approach appears to be winning tentative support from some industry groups.
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“Supreme Court to Consider Biotech Issue”
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether a lower court acted hastily and incorrectly by banning the cultivation of biotech alfalfa despite extensive scientific evidence documenting the safety of the crop. This will be the first time the high court has weighed in on the risks of genetically engineered crops.
Monday, a coalition of agricultural organizations filed a joint friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court in support of the petitioners in “Monsanto Company. vs. Geertson Seed Farms.” The groups urge that the lower courts’ decision to approve an injunction without adequately hearing the key evidence must be reversed – to protect the farmers who choose to grow genetically-engineered crops, as well as the public benefits that agricultural biotechnology brings to producers and consumers around the world.
In the lower court case, environmental groups and individual organic alfalfa farmers sued USDA, claiming that USDA’s decision to grant deregulated status to glyphosate-tolerant alfalfa violated the National Environmental Policy Act. The courts in the Ninth Circuit determined that USDA should have done an environmental impact statement before it decided to deregulate, and the court ultimately enjoined almost all planting and sale of Roundup Ready® alfalfa pending the issuance of the EIS.
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“ASA Supports H.R. 4213”
A successful cloture vote in the Senate Tuesday is expected to provide for the passage of H.R. 4213, the American Workers, State and Business Relief Act. This act includes retroactive extension of the biodiesel tax credit. The American Soybean Association is urging passage and urges the Senate to seek agreement with the House on a final bill that can be passed and signed into law as soon as possible.
The biodiesel tax incentive, which is structured as a federal excise tax credit, amounts to a penny per percentage point of biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel. The incentive makes biodiesel more competitive with petroleum diesel, and lowers the cost of biodiesel to the end consumer.
ASA President Rob Joslin, a soybean producer from Sidney, Ohio, says – expiration of the biodiesel tax incentive has essentially caused the production and use of biodiesel in the United States to cease and has placed thousands of jobs currently supported by the domestic biodiesel industry in immediate jeopardy.
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“Trade Preference Discussed in Hearing”
The Senate Finance Committee Tuesday held another hearing to address the operation and potential reform of trade preference programs. The first meeting was held three years ago. In his opening statement, Ranking Member Chuck Grassley announced that he and committee chairman Max Baucus are working to come up with joint reform legislation. Grassley told the hearing – ideally, I would hope we could introduce and markup a bill by the end of the second quarter this year.
Tuesday’s hearing focused on a broader trade reform effort, which primarily involves the Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP. Grassley said, – we are also examining how GSP operates in relation to the Andean Trade Preference Act, the African Growth Opportunity Act, and the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act.
Concerning preferences, Grassley said – a preference program should have firm graduation provisions, both on a product-specific and a country-specific basis. The point of graduation is two-fold. First, graduation creates opportunities for other beneficiary developing countries to take advantage of the preferences. Second, at a certain point of development, preferences should not be extended to advanced developing economies—instead, we should expect and receive more reciprocity in our trading relationships with advanced developing economies.
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“FAPRI Report on Profitability Issued”
The livestock sector can lead the agricultural economy to higher net farm income, assuming the farm economy benefits from a recovering general U.S. economy. That analysis tops a 2010 baseline report prepared by the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute and delivered to the U.S. Congress. The 10-year baseline shows economic possibilities for livestock, crops and biofuels under certain assumptions.
The report projects net farm income increases for the next two years largely because of stronger livestock prices. However, the program’s co-director Pat Westhoff says 2010 farm income will recover only a third of the ground lost in 2009. Net farm income fell by more than 30-billion dollars in 2009, as sharp declines in cash receipts were not offset by modest drops in production costs.
The FAPRI baseline shows crop prices remain near the 2009 level in 2010 and 2011. Corn producers can see strong returns per acre until the end of the 10-year baseline. Soybean returns must remain well above pre-2007 levels for soybeans to stay competitive with corn. On the livestock side, the all-milk price is expected to increase by more than 4-dollars per hundredweight in 2010. Pork producers are expected to approach breakeven profits. And beef demand should strengthen market possibilities.
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“Crop Insurance Deadline Nears”
A national pilot program advanced by the National Corn Growers Association and adopted in the 2008 Farm Bill increased the federal government’s cost share of premiums for federal crop insurance program policies. NCGA says the change better reflects the additional risk by producers who change from optional unit to enterprise unit policy coverage. March 15 is the sales closing date for the 2010 program.
An enterprise unit includes all shares of a crop in the county, which aggregates sharecropped land with owned and rented land. Overall, the higher enterprise unit subsidies have facilitated a switch from lower levels of coverage on smaller basic and optional units to higher levels of coverage.
The pilot program is designed to give farmers who insure their crops using whole-farm and enterprise-unit structures the same subsidy payments as farmers who insure their crops under basic and optional unit structures.
NCGA suggests growers review the national pilot program with their crop insurance agents to determine if the new enterprise unit coverage incentives are beneficial for their farm operations.
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“NPPC Delegates Set Organizational Direction”
Since October 2007 pork producers have faced unprecedented financial challenges, losing 20 dollars per hog for much of that timeframe. Total equity decline for the industry is estimated at 6-billion dollars. But, since February, the tide for producer profitability has started to turn to a significant degree. And that’s good news to Sam Carney; the National Pork Producers Council’s newly elected president. Carney says – the number one priority is for the pork industry to get back to profitability.
Following the NPPC delegate session held in conjunction with the 2010 National Pork Industry Forum, Carney cited issues related to antibiotics and food safety, animal identification, the environment and trade as those high on NPPC’s agenda. NPPC will continue to push Congress for free-trade agreements. Carney points out – the U.S. pork industry has tremendous potential for additional exports.
During the two-day business meeting, producer delegates from across the United States discussed and voted on resolutions used to guide the organization’s efforts. In part, the NPPC body voted to: Invest additional resources in a strong pork industry image campaign; Support the development and implementation of a comprehensive and integrated swine disease surveillance system; The elimination of PRRS; and Oppose any new legislation or regulations that restrict marketing opportunities or interventions into hog markets.
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“Animal Agriculture Alliance Sets Summit”
The Animal Agriculture Alliance’s Ninth Annual stakeholders Summit will be held April 28-29 in Arlington, Virginia. During the meeting leaders from the food and farm sectors will discuss the impact of activists on the vitality and security of the United States. The Summit’s theme is “Truth, Lies and Videotape: Is Activism Jeopardizing Our Food Security?”
Alliance Executive Vice President Kay Johnson-Smith said – the 2010 Stakeholders Summit represents a unique forum for industry leaders to learn about a wide range of issues facing agriculture today. At the conclusion of the Summit a workshop will be held to explore the effectiveness of state-level agriculture coalitions and present strategic ideas for ensuring consumer confidence.
The Summit will be held at The Westin Arlington Gateway hotel in Arlington,Virginia. Registration is now available at www.animalagalliance.org/register. Early hotel and conference registration are due by April 6.
