Seed Shorts
    

header


May 24, 2013    
Inside This Issue.....
California Legislative Update
Seed Exports to Yemen Can Resume
Senate Slogs through Farm Bill Amendments
House Farm Bill Heads to Floor Week of June 17
Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Immigration Package
Senate TSCA Reform Deal Struck
House to Begin CFTC Reauthorization
USDA and EPA Release New Report on Honey Bee Health
Upcoming Meetings
_____________  
Like us on Facebook                          
 
California Legislative Update
 

by: Dennis Albiani, Legislative Advocate 

 

Republican Vidak Picks Up Key Central Valley Senate Seat

Republican farmer Andy Vidak defeated democratic opponent Leticia Perez 51.9% to 41.7% in the heavily democratic San Joaquin Valley district. It was a low turnout election in former Senator Michael Rubio's district. Vidak's victory shaves the democrats' margin in the Senate which will now be 28-12 with Vidak's victory.  Because this was a special election, this Senate seat will be up for vote in the new boundaries in 2014 and is expected to be a rematch between Vidak and Perez.  The new district has almost a 4% more narrow gap between Democrats and Republicans.  To further impact the Senate's supermajority,  Senator Curren Price is due to resign to take a seat on the L.A. City Council meaning the margin would go to 27-12 with another special election to be held to decide Price's seat once he officially resigns.   Below is a link to the official results from the Secretary of State's office.   

 

Special Election Fills AD 80

The election to decide Senator Ben Hueso's former Assembly seat was a no contest with Democrat community organizer Lorena Gonzales capturing 72.3% of the vote compared to fellow Democrat Steve Castaneda's 27.7%.  

 

Appropriations Deadline Looms

Today, Friday May 24, is the deadline for fiscal committees to meet and pass bills.  Both the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees held their "Suspense" hearing on Thursday, May 23.  Next Friday, May 31, is the deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin.  The association is watching and reporting on key ag labor bills, CEQA bills, air quality control issues and general ag legislation.  In yesterday's Senate Appropriations Committee, most of the bills aimed at creating new taxes on Californians were held by the Senate Appropriations Committee, making it extremely unlikely that taxes on cigarettes, soda, strip clubs, plastic bags or oil extraction will become law this year.   The committee, which reviews all bills with a cost implication for the state, considered 257 bills today as it went through the so-called "suspense file." Members allowed 185 of those to advance to the Senate Floor.

   

 

Seed Exports to Yemen Can Resume

 

USDA FAS has just reported that following a meeting held on May 18 to discuss the new seed law, exports of vegetable seed can resume into Yemen under the pre-2013 Import Permit requirements. The report from FAS follows;

 

Amer Al-Aghbary, our Ag Specialist at FAS Sanaa, reported that the meeting was held on May 18.  The meeting included a  long discussion (9:00am to 3:00pm) among seed importers and other stakeholders with many comments raised.  Amer said the meeting was helpful for all in gathering differences in views and understanding each section of the new law.   The letter translated and signed by Deputy Minister  Abdulmalik was indeed distributed at the meeting.  The seed importers were appreciative of U.S. efforts to assist them in maintaining access for U.S. seed.  Amer says circulation of the letter has clarified stakeholders understanding that implementation of the new law will not occur until it is approved by the government institutions including Parliament etc which may take a year or more.

 

Thank you to USDA FAS and  ASTA for their efforts in bringing resolution to this issue. Thank you to the CSA members for bringing the issue to the attention of CSA and ASTA and who also provided the information necessary to provide to USDA FAS so they could present it  to the Ministry of Ag in Yemen.    This effort exemplifies the value of speaking as a unified voice, in this case the vegetable seed industry.  As issues arise in the future remember to bring them to the attention of CSA and/or ASTA so that they can be dealt with in a timely manner.

 

For questions contact the CSA office at 916-441-2251 or Betsy at [email protected].

 

Senate Slogs through Farm Bill Amendments; June 3 Set for Final Vote

 

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D, MI), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, repeated history this week as she began shepherding her panel's second five-year Farm Bill in 12 months through Senate floor action. The White House publicly endorsed the bill, legislation that carries a 10-year $955-billion price tag, and is estimated to save about $18 billion over the same period.

As of late May 22, 194 amendments had been filed for possible consideration - many having nothing to do with the Farm Bill or USDA - and as of late May 23, only about a dozen had been resolved. While Stabenow had hoped to finish the bill this week, the Senate will resume consideration of the bill on Monday, June 3, when it returns from Memorial Day recess.  Stabenow and her ranking member Sen. Thad Cochran (R, MS) - who was relatively quiet through the floor battles - both expressed optimism the Farm Bill will be completed early the week of June 3 and the full Senate will approve the final package.

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) told the full Senate he expected Stabenow and committee ranking member Sen. Thad Cochran (R, MS) to create a "finite list of amendments" leading to final passage of the bill.  This references standard floor procedure where noncontroversial and minor amendments are accepted by both sides for inclusion in the final "substitute" bill to be approved, while a short list of amendments for debate and votes are allowed, most requiring 60 votes for passage.  Reid indicated the final vote on the Senate's Farm Bill will also be the week of June 3.    

 

Several amendments seeking to modify the federal crop insurance program were offered, ranging from capping insurance premium subsidies at $50,000 per producer to requiring USDA to "drill down" on industry data to better detect and eliminate system fraud, waste and abuse. Stabenow hopes most will be resolved without debate or votes as part of a package of accepted crop insurance changes.  Stabenow vigorously opposed an amendment accepted on the 2012 bill and offered again this year by Sens. Dick Durbin (D, IL) and Tom Coburn (R, OK) to cut federal premium subsidies by 15% on policies held by farmer's with incomes of $750,000 or more, but she was unsuccessful and the amendment was approved.  Stabenow warned the chamber that to approve the amendment would raise insurance premiums on affected farmers by 40%, reduce the acreage required to comply with conservation programs, and place in jeopardy a finely balanced agreement among producer groups, conservation groups and environmentalists to tie crop insurance to conservation compliance.  Durbin prevailed by invoking deficit reduction and spending cuts, echoed by Coburn. Neither the premium provision nor the compliance agreement is in the House bill.

 

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D, NY) unsuccessfully sought to reinstate about $4 billion in committee cuts to the food stamp program, while others, including Sen. Pat Roberts (R, KS) were unsuccessful in "modifying" the food stamp part of the bill to further cut federal spending. The House bill cuts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $20 billion and reconciling the two approaches will be at the heart of the Farm Bill conference committee.

 

An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I, VT) to give states authority to set up labeling schemes for foods containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients failed 27-71.  A nearly identical amendment failed on the Senate's consideration of its 2012 Farm Bill by a similar margin.  Sen. Jeff Merkely (D, OR) tried to bring up an amendment to block what he called "the Monsanto Protection Act," language enacted as part of the 2013 appropriations continuing resolution in March allowing farmers to plant USDA-approved seed even if a court had ruled the seed in question was improperly approved.  He was blocked by Sen. Roy Blunt (R, MO), who said the provision does not protect seed companies, but "protects farm families who have planted a crop legal to plant." If a subsequent federal court order interferes, the existing law provides a way for USDA to make the crop legal to sell.

 

Among amendments not yet considered is a package of technical corrections to the crop insurance program, a proposal by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA) to require USDA and FDA to study GM labeling laws overseas and provide to Congress a report on how such a labeling scheme would affect U.S. industry; a Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) amendment to attach the United Egg Producers (UEP)-Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) "enriched environment" for egg laying hens, and an amendment by Sen. Ted Cruz (R, TX) to make all federally authorized check-off programs voluntary.

 
House Farm Bill Heads to Floor Week of June 17
 

While House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R, OK) would not confirm the timing, sources close to development of the House's five-year Farm Bill report House leadership has told Lucas his bill will be on the floor the week of June 17.  Lucas has confirmed his goal is to have the bill completed and passed by the House before the July 4 recess.

 

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its formal analysis of the House bill this week, estimating direct spending will total $940 billion over the next decade and the bill will save just over $40 billion during that period. That 10-year total reflects the bill's authorization of expiring programs through 2018 and an extension of those authorizations through 2023, CBO said.

 
Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Immigration Package; House says it's DOA
 
After three weeks and 301 amendments offered during Senate Judiciary Committee markup, the panel this week approved the bipartisan immigration reform bill on a 13-5 vote.  The panel action drew the endorsement of the Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC), the United Farm Workers (UFW), the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and Western Growers.

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) told the full Senate May 23, he will meet with Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Patrick Leahy (D, VT) to determine when the full Senate will take up the bill, but indicated it will likely be next up after the Senate finishes the Farm Bill. The Associated Press said the bill faces an "epic showdown" on the Senate floor.  In 2007, the last time the Senate tried to pass an immigration reform bill, debate raged for days, only for the bill to fail when supporting groups defected.  

 

Critical to moving the bill were agreements with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R, UT), ranking committee member, to approve a Hatch amendment to increase the number of visas for high tech workers sought by U.S. employers.  The committee also accepted a version of a failed Hatch amendment to create a biometric exit system at the nation's 30 largest airports to track visa holders.  However, while he voted to move the bill to the floor, Hatch said he's not yet decided if he'll vote to approve the final package during floor debate.  Several amendments were defeated or withdrawn from Senate committee consideration including one by Leahy to recognize same sex couples for immigration protection - Leahy withdrew the amendment "with a heavy heart" after committee members convinced him including it would scuttle the entire package - and another by Sen. Ted Cruz (R, TX) who sought to strip the bill's path to citizenship language. Cruz lost 5-13.   

 

Prospects for House acceptance of the Senate bill disappeared this week when House Speaker John Boehner (R, OH) said House will not simply take up the Senate bill, but will fashion its own legislation, adding "there are a number of ways in which the House will approach the issue differently." Boehner refused to give a timeline on House action.

 

For agriculture guest workers, the Senate bill reflects an agreement between the AWC and the UFW on how many workers will be allowed into the U.S., along with pay rates for those workers.  It creates a "Blue Card" program for legal status and eventual citizenship for about half of the estimated 10-12 million undocumented workers in the U.S., and creates two new visa programs allowing ag employers needing both seasonal and full-time employees a stable workforce when U.S. workers can't or won't take jobs.   

 

A bipartisan House group said this week its efforts remain on track, announcing a tentative agreement on how the House will approach immigration reform from a health care perspective. Nearly derailed over criticism over whether illegal immigrants waiting to be citizens will qualify for federal health care benefits, the group announced undocumented workers will not qualify for Medicare or taxpayer subsidies to join health insurance exchanges, but will have to pay their own medical bills through personal insurance or face deportation. Both Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) approved the agreement.  

 

Meanwhile, Boehner asked separate House committees to work on portions of overall immigration reform.  The Judiciary Committee held hearings and is preparing to vote on a bill to reform the ag guest worker program, and a separate bill on enhancing the E-Verify electronic employment verification system; last week, the House Homeland Security Committee approved a bill to enhance border security.

Senate TSCA Reform Deal Struck

 

A bipartisan agreement among 16 Senators on how to reform and reauthorize the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was announced this week by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D, NJ) and ranking member on the Environment & Public Works Committee Sen. David Vitter (R, LA).  TSCA is the law used by EPA to prohibit toxic substances in commerce and to bar unsafe chemicals from the marketplace.  

 

The agreement was hailed by the American Chemistry Council, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Sierra Club, but other environmentalists, including the Environmental Working Group (EWG), fear EPA's authority in some critical areas of chemical safety evaluation is weakened.  "Deeply disappointed" is how the Environmental Alliance and the Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform described their reaction to the agreement.  

 

Calling their agreement "groundbreaking," the two Senators said their pact requires safety assessments on all 84,000 active chemicals, prioritized based on the risk a chemical poses to human health and the environment.  Currently, the agency can only order a safety test after evidence is presented showing the chemical is dangerous, and only about 200 have undergone agency-ordered safety testing.  Under the agreement, EPA would have several options if a chemical is unsafe, from requiring warning labels to phasing out or banning the chemical altogether.  

 

Lautenberg and Vitter tried to cut a deal last year, but failed. The New Jersey Senator then introduced his own TSCA reform bill without Republican support, and while it passed committee, the full Senate never took it up.  

 

Vitter, representing his state's major chemical industry presence, is critical to the success of any TSCA reform effort, and it's hoped his alliance with Lautenberg will push committee chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA) to prioritize action on the bill once it's introduced.  Vitter is a long-time critic of EPA over-regulation, but says his deal with Lautenberg "strikes the right balance" between consumer safety and industry innovation, and will provide greater transparency to the process. 

 
House to Begin CFTC Reauthorization; NGFA Tells Senate Ag Customer Protection Key
 

With ongoing criticism by committee leadership of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) handling of Dodd-Frank rulemaking, the House Agriculture Committee is set to begin CFTC reauthorization. In a related development, the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA) told the Senate Agriculture Committee in a letter this week a key job in the reauthorization process must be increased customer protection.  

 

During a House committee hearing this week to consider swaps and CFTC action to regulate, committee Chair Frank Lucas (R, OK) said the commission's rulemaking overall lacks "sequencing and coordination," and the reauthorization process will allow the full committee an opportunity to review CFTC operations and assess how its rulemakings affect end-users and the broad ag community.  

 

Ranking member Rep. Collin Peterson (D, MN) was less critical, but nonetheless concerned, acknowledging the commission listened to some end-user complaints about Dodd-Frank rule writing, but also pointed out how vigorous opposition has been to commission regulation development. "It's unreal how much money has been poured into stopping these regulations," Peterson said. Peterson also warned the committee during the swaps hearing not to take its eye off the main panel goal - the 2013 Farm Bill.  "It's going to take us most of June and July...to get a Farm Bill done...I hope we're not distracted by CFTC reauthorization."   

 

In its letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee, NGFA reported many former customers of MF Global, the eighth largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, have not received full reimbursement of funds lost.  "We believe the primary focus of the reauthorization process must continue to be enhancing customer protections with the twin goals of preventing similar occurrences in the future and providing protection to customers in the event of another futures commission merchant (FCM) insolvency." NGFA said part of this enhanced protection could be the creation of insurance coverage, and a pilot program to test introducing an optional, segregated FCM account structure for customers.

 

USDA and EPA Release New Report on Honey Bee Health

 

May 2, 2013

 

To view the report, which represents the consensus of the scientific community studying honey bees, please visit:

 

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released a comprehensive scientific report on honey bee health. The report states that there are multiple factors playing a role in honey bee colony declines, including parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure.

 

"There is an important link between the health of American agriculture and the health of our honeybees for our country's long term agricultural productivity," said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. "The forces impacting honeybee health are complex and USDA, our research partners, and key stakeholders will be engaged in addressing this challenge."

 

"The decline in honey bee health is a complex problem caused by a combination of stressors, and at EPA we are committed to continuing our work with USDA, researchers, beekeepers, growers and the public to address this challenge," said Acting EPA Administrator Bob Perciasepe. "The report we've released today is the product of unprecedented collaboration, and our work in concert must continue. As the report makes clear, we've made significant progress, but there is still much work to be done to protect the honey bee population."

 

In October 2012, a National Stakeholders Conference on Honey Bee Health, led by federal researchers and managers, along with Pennsylvania State University, was convened to synthesize the current state of knowledge regarding the primary factors that scientists believe have the greatest impact on managed bee health.   

 

Key findings include:


Parasites and Disease Present Risks to Honey Bees
  • The parasitic Varroa mite is recognized as the major factor underlying colony loss in the U.S. and other countries. There is widespread resistance to the chemicals beekeepers use to control mites within the hive. New virus species have been found in the U.S. and several of these have been associated with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Increased Genetic Diversity is Needed:
  •  U.S. honeybee colonies need increased genetic diversity. Genetic variation improves bees thermoregulation (the ability to keep body temperature steady even if the surrounding environment is different), disease resistance and worker productivity.
  • Honey bee breeding should emphasize traits such as hygienic behavior that confer improved resistance to Varroa mites and diseases (such as American foulbrood).
Poor Nutrition Among Honey Bee Colonies:
  • Nutrition has a major impact on individual bee and colony longevity. A nutrition-poor diet can make bees more susceptible to harm from disease and parasites. Bees need better forage and a variety of plants to support colony health.
  • Federal and state partners should consider actions affecting land management to maximize available nutritional forage to promote and enhance good bee health and to protect bees by keeping them away from pesticide-treated fields.
There is a Need for Improved Collaboration and Information Sharing:
  • Best Management Practices associated with bees and pesticide use, exist, but are not widely or systematically followed by members of the crop-producing industry. There is a need for informed and coordinated communication between growers and beekeepers and effective collaboration between stakeholders on practices to protect bees from pesticides.
  • Beekeepers emphasized the need for accurate and timely bee kill incident reporting, monitoring, and enforcement.

Additional Research is Needed to Determine Risks Presented by Pesticides:

  • The most pressing pesticide research questions relate to determining actual pesticide exposures and effects of pesticides to bees in the field and the potential for impacts on bee health and productivity of whole honey bee colonies.

Those involved in developing the report include USDA's Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Agricultural Research Services (ARS), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), National Resource Conversation Service (NRCS) as well as the EPA and Pennsylvania State University. The report will provide important input to the Colony Collapse Disorder Steering Committee, led by the USDA, EPA and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

 

An estimated one-third of all food and beverages are made possible by pollination, mainly by honey bees. In the United States, pollination contributes to crop production worth $20-30 billion in agricultural production annually. A decline in managed bee colonies puts great pressure on the sectors of agriculture reliant on commercial pollination services. This is evident from reports of shortages of bees available for the pollination of many crops.

 

The Colony Collapse Steering Committee was formed in response to a sudden and widespread disappearance of adult honey bees from beehives, which first occurred in 2006. The Committee will consider the report's recommendations and update the CCD Action Plan which will outline major priorities to be addressed in the next 5-10 years and serve as a reference document for policy makers, legislators and the public and will help coordinate the federal strategy in response to honey bee losses.

 

To view the report, which represents the consensus of the scientific community studying honey bees, please visit: http://www.usda.gov/documents/ReportHoneyBeeHealth.pdf

 

Upcoming Meetings

     

 

    
  • September 24-25, 2013 - CSA Mid Year Meeting at the InterContinental Hotel in Monterey, CA  
     
  • March 9-12, 2014 - CSA Annual Convention at the DoubleTree Resort in Santa Barbara, CA  www.fpdtr.com