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USA Rice Daily
Up-to-the-Minute News on Issues and Activities
Tuesday, February 3, 2015

EPA and Corps Withdraw WOTUS Interpretive Rule

 
Not open to interpretation 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Yielding to heavy criticism from farm groups, as well as government personnel trying to operate under the rule, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers have withdrawn The Interpretive Rule, a controversial list of agricultural conservation practices that would be exempted from the proposed Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.  Both agencies signed a memorandum of understanding on January 29 that immediately withdrew the rule. 

The Interpretive Rule was released as a final rule in March 2014 along with the proposed WOTUS rule.  Publicized as non-controversial, The Interpretive Rule listed 56 conservation practices that, if completed to Natural Resources Conservation Service standards, would be exempt from Clean Water Act permitting requirements.

 

"Unfortunately the list left out many practices, including several used by rice producers, and ostensibly added what many farmers consider to be normal farming practices, such as fencing and brush clearing, to the list," said Ben Mosely, vice president of government affairs for the USA Rice Federation, which had also been critical of the rule.  "While the withdrawal of The Interpretive Rule is a step in the right direction, we now turn our attention to the proposed WOTUS rule itself that seeks to clarify and expand the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act."

 

WOTUS is expected to be published as a final rule in March or April of 2015, and Mosely said USA Rice has significant concerns, particularly with regard to the rule's proposed regulation of irrigation ditches and canals, as well as making any water in a flood plain jurisdictional water requiring permits to work in.

 

Contact:  Steve Hensley (703) 236-1445

Crop Insurance Programs Targeted in New Obama Budget Proposal 

 
Read it and reap 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Yesterday President Obama released his proposed fiscal year 2016 budget, which was slated as a means to provide tax breaks for the middle class and increase spending on government programs, with spending cuts and tax increases just sufficient to control the nation's deficit.  Among the areas targeted for cuts in the agricultural community was the new crop insurance program. 

 

The President's budget cuts nearly $16 billion from crop insurance over the next ten years, mostly through premium subsidy reductions for revenue policies including harvest price options.  Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack supports the President's recommendation and attributes the need to cut crop insurance to falling commodity prices and the realization that the 2014 Farm Bill will likely be more expensive than originally thought.

 

"I'm taking a look at the next 12 to 18 months and what we see is clearly the possibility that payouts could be $1 [billion] to $1.5 billion higher than anticipated," Vilsack said.

 

With commodity prices low throughout the United States, Representative Mike Conaway (R-TX), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, called the Obama budget an "ill-timed proposal" that would "jeopardize the ability of producers to insure their crops in a climate of collapsing crop prices."

 

USA Rice Federation Rice Producers' Group Chairman John Owen echoed Conaway's sentiment, saying "Looking for budget savings through additional cuts to crop insurance programs not only jeopardizes the individual farmer's economic viability, it impacts the food security of our country."

 

Contact:  Evan Spencer (703) 236-1476

Japan Announces 7th SBS Tender in FY 2014 

Announcement:    3 February 2015

Tender:                  17 February 2015

Quantity:                     

            Total                                                    30,000 MT

            Whole-kernel (brown or milled)         27,000 MT

            Broken (milled)                                     3,000 MT

Shipping period:    15 August 2015 

CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures   
CME Group (Preliminary):  Closing Rough Rice Futures for February 3

Month
Price
Net Change
March 2015$10.385
+ $0.080
May 2015$10.645
+ $0.090
July 2015$10.900
+ $0.110
September 2015$10.750
+ $0.160
November 2015$10.920
+ $0.160
January 2016$11.010
+ $0.160
March 2016$11.010
+ $0.160

In the News

Around Washington

3 Ag Takeaways from the 2016 White House Budget Farm Futures

Another look at Obama's new budget proposal.

 

Obama Proposes to Combine Food Agencies, Slash Crop Insurance Agri-Pulse

President Obama is calling for the first time to create a single food-safety agency while also proposing to cut some conservation spending and reviving a failed attempt to slash crop insurance premium subsidies.

 

 

Around the Country

California Duck Days Return to Davis on Feb. 20-21 Davis Enterprise

The wetlands and wildlife festival is celebrating its 20th year. The fun will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Department of Fish and Wildlife's Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Headquarters in South Davis.

 

Dry Start to Year ... Again Appeal Democrat

One of the driest Januarys in recorded history has squashed much of the hope that the 2015 winter wet season will put an end to a drought that now appears to be stretching into the fourth consecutive year.

 

Fields of Gold: GMO-Free Crops Prove Lucrative for Farmers Wall Street Journal

Many Midwestern farmers who have made the switch say their motives are economic and not an embrace of the anti-GMO movement that has intensified in the U.S. in the past few years.

 

 

Trade and Tariffs

U.S. Lawmakers Preparing Cuba Telecomms, Agriculture Bills: Aids New York Times

One piece of legislation being drafted would allow U.S. telecommunications companies to do business in Cuba and another would specifically target the market for agricultural products. A third bill would be a broader effort to lift the embargo.

 

US Trade Chief Mike Froman Sees Prize Within Reach Financial Times

Some 40 per cent of global output will be covered by the TPP, including two of the top three economies in the world (the US and Japan). It will significantly lower tariffs and other trade barriers around the Pacific Rim on everything from rice and steaks to cars and chemicals.

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