Time is running out

ARLINGTON, VA -- The various March 31^st deadlines for Farm Bill decisions may not be extended again according to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, but that may leave some growers out in the cold.

"About 90 percent of crop farmers and landowners have now made decisions about reassigning their base acreage and updating their yields," Vilsack said last week.

He added that the pace of farmers making choices between the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs has picked up, and that while he would continue to monitor the pace of signups, he would not make any decision about an extension beyond March 31 at this time.

But how do things look in rice country?

"With one week to go Arkansas was around 85 percent complete on base acre reallocation, and 75 percent on ARC/PLC decision," said USA Rice Federation Chairman and Arkansas rice farmer Dow Brantley.  "It's going to be a busy week to say the least."

Brantley completed his paperwork last month, and hopes his fellow growers will get in under the deadline.

According to Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices in Louisiana, growers there are neck and neck with their neighbors to the north.  Base acre reallocation is close to 85 and ARC/PLC is 90.

"USDA has already given one extension on these deadlines, it would be foolhardy to assume we'll get another one -- even if it is completely necessary," said Ben Mosely, USA Rice's vice president of government affairs.  "This is not something farmers should play chicken with.  Go into your FSA office, get on their list, and make your elections."

Contact:  Michael Klein (703) 236-1458

Too COOL for the WTO

WASHINGTON, DC -- This morning, the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing on meat labeling requirements, in which the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) rule took center stage.  The World Trade Organization (WTO) will soon issue a ruling on whether the current version of the COOL regulation is consistent with WTO rules. 

Canada and Mexico brought this and previous complaints and are seeking to retaliate against imports from the United States because of COOL, which they claim unfairly discriminates against muscle cuts of meat in the U.S. market from their respective countries. Canada has proposed retaliating by introducing a 100 percent tariff on a long list of agricultural and manufactured products from the United States, including rice. Mexico has not gone public with its plans for retaliation, though it is considered likely to be similar to Canada's.  These retaliations could occur as soon as late 2015.

Subcommittee Chairman David Rouzer opened the hearing by noting that it "gives [Congress] an opportunity to establish a record [on COOL]... I would encourage the witnesses to suggest how we might go forward with legislation."

Testifying in the hearing were John P. Weber, National Pork Producers Council; Christopher Wenk, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Roger Johnson, National Farmers Union; Linda Dempsey, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM); Tom LaFaille, Wine Institute; Alison Bodor, National Confectioners Association; and Michael T. Smith, Harris Ranch Company in California.

Many of the questions from subcommittee members focused on what retaliations could mean for American consumers.  The increased tariffs may prompt producers of goods in the U.S. to pass along the costs to the consumer, as some witnesses testified.  Wenk, of the Chamber of Commerce, also suggested a loss of jobs due to the retaliations.

USA Rice has submitted written testimony to the subcommittee, which will go on record for the hearing.  USA Rice is a member of the COOL Reform Coalition, co-chaired by the NAM and the Chamber, which endorses repealing the portions of COOL that violate our international trade obligation.

Links to opening statements and witness testimony from today's hearing can be found here.

Contact:  Kristen Dayton (703) 236-1464

Around Washington

Lawmakers, Stakeholders Clash on Proposed WOTUS Rule Changes Agri-Pulse

In a recent address to the National Farmers Union, EPA's McCarthy said a revised WOTUS rule would be finalized this spring or summer. She also acknowledged that the administration had bungled the rollout of the rule and should have called it the "Clean Water rule" rather than WOTUS.

USDA Proposes New Definition of Farming Salt Lake Tribune

The proposed rule still would allow people to claim "active personal management" but defines that as the 500 hours of work or 25 percent of time. To receive payments, managers would have to document that they were directly involved in farm finances, labor management, planting, marketing or other activities directly contributing to the success of the operation.

Around the Country

The Small But Mighty Rice Farm KBIA, Missouri Public Radio

Missouri rice farmers Chuck Ernst and Paul Combs talk trade, saying "free trade agreements across the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean could open up new markets and raise prices. That would be a boon for Missouri's rice farmers who are directly competing with the top rice producing states Arkansas and California."

Health and Nutrition

Arsenic Concerns THV11

Arsenic is a word that can jump off the page when seen in a headline, but Brandy Carroll of the Arkansas Farm Bureau says it's also found in some of the state's top commodities.

Sustainability Language Supported at Dietary Guidelines Public Hearing Agri-Pulse

All told, those calling for the inclusion of sustainability language and maintaining the report's current recommendations on lean meat outnumbered those calling for the opposite by a slim margin.

Tariffs and Trade

U.S. Delays on Fast Track Trade Bill Cloud Pacific Pact Sources Reuters

In conversations with Reuters, officials from six countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership said the lack of clarity over the conditions Congress would impose on U.S. negotiators was a stumbling block for the talks, frustrating some of the U.S.'s major trading partners.