December 17, 2013

       Volume 5, Issue XXIV

ASFMRA Lobbyist, Stephen owns and operates his own consulting and lobbying firm, AgVantage, LLC in Alexandria,VA.

Bill Garber

ASFMRA/AI Lobbyist, Bill is the Director of Government and External Relations at the Appraisal Institute (AI) in Washington, DC.

American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers

950 South Cherry Street, Suite 508 Denver, CO 80246

TEL: (303) 758-3513
FAX: (303) 758-0190

www.asfmra.org   

Budget Chairs Ryan (R-WI) and Murray (D-WA) reached a budget agreement to avoid further government shutdowns and provide some relief from the sequestration of discretionary spending levels.  The House passed the budget agreement last week with a strong bipartisan vote (332 - 94) and the Senate is expected to do the same this week.

The agreement basically adds $63 billion in sequester relief split evenly between defense and non-defense discretionary spending while cutting or raising fees in direct spending programs to generate $85 billion in savings over 10 years for a net $23 billion deficit reduction package.  A couple of key components of the budget deal impact agriculture spending.  First the agreement provides no sequestration relief for mandatory programs and extends the sequestration two additional years so that it applies through 2023.  That means farm and conservation programs currently subject to the across the board cut will continue. Recall CRP and crop insurance are not subject to sequestration.   Continue reading about how the budget agreement impacts agriculture. 

Purdue Economists Chris Hurt, Mike Boehlje, Michael Langemeier and Jim Mintert will lead the webinar and address the following questions. What's the crop and livestock outlook for 2014? What are the expected returns for corn and soybeans in 2014 and what are the implications for cash rental rates and farmland values? Are there key strategies farm and agribusiness managers should focus on in the year ahead?

If you have been asking yourself these kinds of questions, or have others for us to consider, join us on Thursday, December 19, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
Get more info or register for the Webinar. 

Fannie Mae addressed appraisal quality, appraiser selection requirements, data quality issues and new processes to identify and monitor individual appraisers in a Dec. 10 letter to lenders. Additionally, Fannie issued a Uniform Collateral Data Portal change notification with new messaging to support its appraiser monitoring processes.

In the letter, Fannie Mae reported that its weekly review of appraisals submitted through UCDP has identified instances where lenders have delivered loans supported by appraisals that were completed by an appraiser whose license or certification had been suspended or revoked. Read more about Fannie Mae addressing appraisal quality and UCDP Notification. 

From Agri-Pulse

USDA says it will conduct a supplemental environmental impact study on the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) as a means of evaluating probable changes to the program over the next several years.

Five-year farm legislation currently under negotiation by a House-Senate conference committee would drop acres enrolled in the program by up to 25 percent. The Senate plan would drop the current 32-million-acre cap to 25 million acres, while the House bill would cut the cap to 24 million acres. Continue reading about CRP. 

Are there topics that you would like to see covered in the ASFMRA Legislative Action News? Do you have news sources that you think would be interesting to other ASFMRA Members?  Please let us know.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Gruba
American Society of Farm Managers & Rural Appraisers
The Most Trusted Rural Property Professionals

sgruba@asfmra.org  or reply to this email.

303-692-1210