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Conveyor Currents                                 March 14, 2014
Upcoming Dates
2014
 
April 23-26, 2014  CGFA Annual Convention ~ The Sheraton Resort, Maui, HI 
*** Information Click Here ***

May 14-15, 2014 California Animal Nutrition Conference,  Radisson Hotel in Fresno, CA

 
2015
 
April 22-25, 2015   CGFA Annual Convention - The Monterey Plaza Hotel on Cannery Row.

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California
 Grain & Feed Assn.
      www.cgfa.org
 
California Dept. of Food & Ag 
   www.cdfa.ca.gov
 
U.S. Dept. of Food & Ag
    www.usda.gov
      
In This Issue
Multiple Bills Impacting Egg Sales Introduced
Senate Ag Committee to Hold Hearing on Future of Ag Education
Feed, Grain Groups Ask FDA for Time to Respond to FSMA Feed/Pet Food Proposals
Highway Fund May be Broke by July, says DOT; Highway Reauthorization Moving Slowly
Summer Will Bring End to "Perfect Storm" of Rail Backlog: BNSF
House Ag Committee Again Approves Bill to End Redundant NPDES Permit Issue
Animal Drug Companies Commit to No Feed Antibiotic Growth Promotion Label Claim
House Committee Begins TSCA Overhaul
House Introduces Bill to Protect Farmer/Rancher Privacy
Stabenow, Hagan Ask USDA for Small Pork Producer Disaster Assistance
NGFA Tells CFTC Spec Position Limit Proposal Could Hike Limits for Ag Futures
DOT Proposes Hours-Tracking Device in Trucks Crossing State Lines
Agribusiness Intel
New Farm Program Made Easy
Reminder Notice:  CGFA Feed Manufacturing Study Group Next Meeting

Reminder - Please let us know if you will be able to attend the committee meeting on Tuesday - thank you. 

 

Chairman John Austel and CGFA staff have scheduled the next meeting of the CGFA Feed Manufacturing Study Group for Tuesday, March 18, 2014 from 9:30 am until approximately 12:00 noon.   The meeting will take place at the DoubleTree Hotel in the Sonoma Room- 1150 Ninth Street, Modesto, CA 95354 (209) 526-6000.

 

The committee will be discussing the updates in regards to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Please RSVP if you will be able to attend this meeting by Friday, March 14th.

 

 

Senate Ag Committee to Hold Hearing on Future of Ag Education

With the Governor proposing to eliminate the $5 million ag incentive grant from his budget and having already cut funding to all statewide programs, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Senator Cathleen Galgiani, scheduled a hearing on the future of agricultural education in California.  Witnesses at the hearing include experts from the Department of Education, the Legislative Analyst's Office and the California Agricultural Teachers Association.  The Hearing will be held next Tuesday, March 18th at 9:30 in room 113 of the state capitol. 

 
Feed, Grain Groups Ask FDA for Time to Respond to FSMA Feed/Pet Food Proposals

 

Four national organizations representing feed/ingredient and pet food manufacturing, as well as raw grain storage and handling, have formally requested that the FDA extend the comment periods on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) animal food performance standards proposed rule, as well as other FSMA proposed regulations affecting the feed and grain industries. The request was filed this week by the American Feed Industry Assn. (AFIA), the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA), the National Renderers Assn. (NRA) and the Pet Food Institute (PFI).

 

The four groups say the complexity of rules governing animal food performance standards in risk identification/mitigation, FDA's "high-risk" foods tracing proposal and a proposed regulation on intentional food/feed adulteration require at least another 90 days to prepare and file comprehensive comments. AFIA says the performance standards rule is over 400 pages long and grossly underestimates the cost impact on the industry.

 
Highway Fund May be Broke by July, says DOT; Highway Reauthorization Moving Slowly

 

The federal Highway Trust Fund, funded by federal gasoline taxes and used to reimburse states for highway, bridge and infrastructure repairs, could be seriously short of cash by July, said the Department of Transportation (DOT) this week. The chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee also said this week lawmakers have contingency plans to handle the fund shortfall if a federal highway reauthorization package isn't signed by the President by the first part of July.  Current federal highway authority expires September 30.

 

Appearing before the House committee's subcommittee on highways and transit subcommittee this week, DOT's Deputy Secretary for Policy Peter Rogoff said summer is the season of major state infrastructure project work.  DOT will cut back on bridge and road reimbursements when the highway fund balance falls below $4 billion, and will cut off reimbursement for public transit projects when the fund balance is less $1 billion, he said. First to be cut off are state projects, Rogoff said.

 

Chair Rep. Bill Shuster (R, PA) told a private audience this week he and his colleagues on the transportation panel have cobbled together the basic framework of a policy/financing package Congress could pass to carry highway and infrastructure projects "into 2015."  However, Shuster said he hopes to markup a full highway program reauthorization package by "this spring," including new fund financing language. Some in the House want to see an increase in the federal gasoline tax, revenues that have fallen because Americans are driving more fuel efficient cars and trucks, as well as driving fewer miles.  Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D, CA) reiterated she may be ready to mark up the Senate highway bill next month, but her bill will not address the funding challenge. That responsibility, she said, falls to the Senate Finance Committee.

 
Summer Will Bring End to "Perfect Storm" of Rail Backlog: BNSF

With grain elevators and ag shippers in North Dakota and neighboring states experiencing up to three-week delays in getting rail service, competing against near-record oil and freight traffic and Mother Nature, the CEO of the BNSF Railroad this week said all will be back to normal before summer.

 

BNSF CEO Carl Ice met with Sens. John Hoeven (R, ND) and Heidi Heitkamp (D, ND) this week in the latest in a series of meetings to discuss backlogged ag shipments and rail safety.  Along with Rep. Kevin Cramer (R, ND), the delegation has been pushing the BNSF for months to improve service, clear the grain and ag products shipping backlog, with strong support from efforts of the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA), the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), and sugar beet cooperatives.

 

As a result of the meetings with the North Dakota lawmakers and industry, Ice said BSNF will spend $5 billion in 2015 on rail infrastructure, including $600 million in North Dakota and $400 million in the railroad's northern tier.  

 

Some reports indicate the BSNF backlog has been as long as 40 days; Ice said the delay is now about 19 days, the overall average for the BNSF system.  April and May should bring a drastic reduction in past-due cars and the carrier will be current in June, he pledged.  In a joint press statement released by Hoeven's office this week, Ice said, "We recognize the severe impact our reduced network velocity is having on our customers and their businesses...BSNF is committed to restoring service levels in North Dakota as quickly as possible."  

 

Ice said the delays are due in large part to an unusually severe winter; Heitkamp said until someone tells her she's wrong, she believes competition between oil and ag for tankers and railcars is the main reason for the delays.  She told the Associated Press this week BNSF has to keep up with agriculture and "there is no question they need to increase capacity."

 
House Ag Committee Again Approves Bill to End Redundant NPDES Permit Issue

 

The full House Agriculture Committee this week approved legislation - again - that would end the redundant EPA requirement that farmers who spray pesticides on or near water get a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, even though the pesticide is already approved under FIFRA.  Similar legislation was approved in the last Congress, but died in the Senate.  House conferees on the 2014 Farm Bill tried to retain similar language in the final bill, but were unsuccessful.

 
Animal Drug Companies Commit to No Feed Antibiotic Growth Promotion Label Claim

 

In the evolving cooperative program between agriculture and FDA over the judicious feed and water use of antibiotics, pioneer and generic animal drug companies this week said they will file supplemental new animal drug applications and will surrender label claims for growth promotion and feed efficiency uses of the drugs.

 

The Animal Health Institute (AHI), which represents pioneer animal drug companies, and the Generic Animal Drug Alliance (GADA) both confirmed the label changes have been accepted, which effectively changes the drugs' from over-the-counter status to requiring veterinary oversight through the use of a Veterinary Feed Direction (VFD). VFD was authorized in 2006 but has been sparsely used until FDA announced its judicious antibiotics plans.  The new VFD system, developed in cooperation between FDA and industry, will be streamlined and much more user friendly.  FDA has not published its final VFD rule.

 

AHI said many companies and producers accepted the FDA recommendations shortly after they were published in the Federal Register in December, 2013, pointing out most antibiotics are used for prevention and treatment of disease, not feed efficiency or growth promotion. 

 

House Committee Begins TSCA Overhaul

Debate over draft legislation designed to reauthorize the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) began in the House Energy & Commerce Committee this week, immediately drawing fire over GOP language on risk/cost/benefit of chemical control and federal preemption of state regulations.  A revised draft is expected before the next hearing.

 

The revamped TSCA draft bill - the update of the 40-year-old chemical safety law - approaches chemical safety by categorizing chemical risk as "unreasonable risk" under intended uses, effectively allowing the agency to classify chemicals as high or low risk for safety concerns that trigger regulation. It would remove existing language requiring EPA to take the "least burdensome" regulatory approach to chemical safety.  In its place would be risk-based requirements based on a chemical's likelihood to cause human harm.  Opponents of the draft said this approach forces EPA to conduct extensive analyses and would "paralyze" EPA.

 

Also controversial is language similar to its Senate counterpart that would give EPA authority to preempt certain state and local regulations when EPA safety analyses show a specific chemical poses "unreasonable risk to human health."  Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA), chair of the Environment & Public Works Committee, said she'll oppose any bill with the state preemption provision; Rep. Henry Waxman (D,CA), ranking member of the Energy & Commerce Committee, opposes the language as "going well beyond even the Senate bill."

 
House Introduces Bill to Protect Farmer/Rancher Privacy

 

Following an error in process by the EPA in 2013 when it turned over private personal/financial farmer information to three activist environmental groups, four House members introduced the Farm Identity Protection Act of 2014 to protect producers' privacy.

 

Following two 2013 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from the three environmental groups, EPA - without notifying affected farmers and ranchers - turned over names, addresses, geographic coordinates of farms and ranches, and in some cases, personal phone numbers and email addresses for more than 80,000 producers in 29 states.  The agency says it lacks legal authority to prevent another such release in the future.

 

The National Cattlemen's Beef Assn. (NCBA) praised the House bill.  NCBA President Bob McCan said in a release: "There is no justification for the blatant disregard of our privacy (by EPA).  To turn this type of information over to anyone who has a computer is not just reckless, but it poses serious agroterrorism threats."

 

The House bill is the product of Reps. Jim Costa (D, CA), Rick Crawford (R, AR), Lee Terry (R, NE) and Mike McIntyre (D, NC).  A similar bill was introduced in the Senate last July by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R, IA) and Joe Donnelly (D, IN).

 
Stabenow, Hagan Ask USDA for Small Pork Producer Disaster Assistance over PEDv

 

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D, MI), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, teamed with Sen. Kay Hagan (D, NC) this week in urging Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to immediately approve livestock disaster assistance to small pork producers hit by the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDv).

 

The two Senators also strongly encouraged USDA to increase and focus research efforts in collaboration with the pork industry and industry stakeholders to find a vaccine and "other interventions to address PEDv."  

 

Stabenow said PEDv has killed four million pigs across the country since April, 2013, and while the need for help is most immediate for small producers, the spread of PEDv and continued losses has implications for the broader agriculture economy.  She pointed to the permanent livestock disaster assistance programs included in the 2014 Farm Bill as key to immediate assistance to producers in the 27 states affected by PEDv.  The first case was found in Arizona this week.

 

In a letter to Vilsack sent March 13, Stabenow and Hagan wrote, "Pork producers impacted by PEDv face economic devastation. These producers are finally experiencing periods of higher margins after prolonged periods of razor-thin profits. If this disease persists, pork herds will continue to diminish and producers risk going out of business." 

 
NGFA Tells CFTC Spec Position Limit Proposal Could Hike Limits for Ag Futures

 

A long-awaited Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) proposed rule to set speculative position limits on futures and swaps for various commodities would potentially increase speculative position limits on agriculture futures markets users, the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA) told the commission this week.

 

"We fear that a number of common hedging transactions used for business risk management in the grain, feed and processing sector, but not enumerated in the proposal, could be put at risk," NGFA said in a statement filed with the CFTC.  NGFA went on to say its members need a "consistent and predictable" system, and that its use of futures to manage risk is not structured as "investment or speculative tools."  

 

Further, to change the definition of a "bona fide hedge" could create uncertainty and invalidate several commonly used  hedging transactions, including locking in futures spreads, hedging basis contracts and delayed-price commitments.

 
DOT Proposes Hours-Tracking Device in Trucks Crossing State Lines

A recording device, intended to make it more difficult for drivers to alter paper logbooks or keep two sets of driving records showing how many hours they've driven, would be mandatory in all commercial trucks and buses crossing state lines under a Department of Transportation proposed rule published this week.

 

Installing the devices would save 20 lives and prevent 434 injuries a year attributable to drivers who exceed their allowable driving time, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). It will also cut down on paperwork by operating companies, the agency said.

 

While most big trucking companies already use the devices - they're mandatory in Europe - most small companies which own their trucks have opposed the mandatory device installation supported by highway safety groups. The American Trucking Assn. (ATA) welcomed the proposed rule.  The Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Assn. (OOIDA) said it's reviewing the proposal, but has said such devices are used to "coerce" drivers into continuing to drive regardless of conditions, traffic or the driver's condition.

 
Agribusiness Intel

Welcome to InterWest Insurance Services - Agribusiness Newsletter. This monthly publication is designed to share industry updates, InterWest news and current & upcoming events. 
Sent to you courtesy of:

Mike Taylor
925-977-4104
[email protected]
CA License Number 0B01094
InterWest Insurance Services, Inc.
 


New Farm Program Made Easy

Hoping to avoid another federal government website embarrassment, USDA has rolled out a clean new web site that provides some excellent resources for understanding the way the new farm bill programs and options work.

 

Most farmers and farm groups are expressing support for the new farm law, but the legislation is tasking farmers to become familiar with new options and insurance programs rapidly and to make decisions this year about which programs are best for them in the coming years. This year will be a transitional year into the new changes while next year all the various programs and options provided for in the new farm program will, hopefully, be running smoothly on all cylinders.