Chairwoman Stabenow, Ranking Member Roberts Highlight Reforms of Farm Bill, Call for Swift Senate Passage 

Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Senator Pat Roberts, the Committee's Ranking Member, on Wednesday urged the Senate to swiftly pass the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 (the Farm Bill), which reforms agriculture policy and saves more than $23 billion in taxpayer money by streamlining and consolidating programs and ending unnecessary farm subsidies. While saving taxpayer dollars, the bill strengthens initiatives that help America's agriculture economy continue creating jobs. The measure was adopted by the Committee on a strong bipartisan vote of 16-5 in April and is now being considered by the full Senate.

"This bill represents commonsense and responsible reforms that will save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars while strengthening key initiatives that will allow our economy to continue growing and creating jobs," Chairwoman Stabenow said. "This bill has garnered widespread praise from hundreds of farm, food and conservation organizations for its common sense reforms, deficit reduction, and investments in our economic future. The 2008 Farm Bill is set to expire at the end of September - we must pass this commonsense bill immediately to give farmers the certainty they need to continue growing the economy. Sixteen million American jobs rely on agriculture. The time for reform is now."

Stabenow and Roberts were joined by new and beginning farmers who expressed their support for the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act, highlighting how key provisions in the bill will help to usher in the next generation of American farmers and continue growing the U.S. economy.  

You can read more about the progress of the farm bill by clicking here. 

Revenue Insurance: Adds a Layer of Middlemen and Is a Self-Lowering Safety Net 

With the debate over the 2012 Farm Bill preparing to move to the floor of the U.S. Senate, Daryll E. Ray of the University of Tennessee's Agricultural Police Analysis Center examines the arguments for revenue insurance in this opinion piece:

"Over the years, crop/revenue insurance has frequently been the focus of this column. With revenue insurance taking on an air of inevitability as the key element of the commodity section of the 2012 Farm Bill, it seems appropriate to look specifically at the arguments for revenue insurance that are currently in play.

"A core argument for revenue insurance is that it is market-based. The idea being that revenue insurance provides a private-sector remedy to agriculture's price and income problems instead of the government-based remedy as has been the case in the past. The problem we have with that statement is that it is not true. The government is just as involved as it ever was only now there is a middleman in the process. And the middleman has to be paid a fee over and above the payments that are made to crop farmers.

"If crop/revenue insurance were truly a private-sector venture, as it is with crop hail insurance, farm liability insurance, farm equipment insurance, and a host of other insurance products, there would be no need for the government to subsidize a significant portion of the premium and provide a profit to the insurance companies to boot."

You'll find Daryll Ray's full column by clicking here. 

'Wolves Are at the Door' of US Ethanol Industry, Dineen Says

Addressing a gathering of thousands of leading ethanol industry pioneers at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW), Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen made clear those "that are quite comfortable with our use of oil and want to see cheap corn" are mounting a full assault on the policies that have helped make ethanol 10 percent of the nation's fuel supply, specifically focusing on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the march toward E15 ethanol blends.

"The RFS is under attack in Washington, DC, today," Dinneen said in an interview with DomesticFuel.com. "I don't see for a moment that it will be unraveled this year. They will continue to next year and they will continue to fight in the courts. I think it's really important for the industry to know that the wolves are at the door."

Dinneen was referring to the reported efforts of Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE) to "reform" the RFS. Speaking to the National Journal on this issue, Sen. Inhofe made his intentions clear stating, "'I've had problems with ethanol for as long as I can remember, and I'm going to be doing what I can to relieve that and do away with the mandate, actually.'" 

Click here for more of Bob Dinneen's comments on efforts to modify the RFS.

Survey Shows Few Sows In Open Housing

Results of a survey issued today at the World Pork Expo, the annual trade show of the National Pork Producers Council, show that the overwhelming majority of the U.S. sow herd spends some time in individual housing, known as gestation stalls. The findings confirm NPPC's concerns about recent pronouncements by food companies that they will use only pork from operations that are gestation-stall free.

The survey, conducted by University of Missouri extension economist Ron Plain, found that currently only 17.3 percent of sows spend a portion of gestation in open pens. Plain surveyed pork operations with 1,000 or more sows. He received responses from 70 operations, which combined own about 3.6 million of the nation's 5.7 million sows.

"Today's survey shows that these food companies obviously haven't thought through the complexities, logistics or implications of their requests," said NPPC President R.C. Hunt, a pork producer from Wilson, N.C. "Simply making an announcement without understanding the entire supply chain's ability to meet these requests or the challenges involved is utterly befuddling. We feel it is important to have this first-hand information available to our customers." 

Read more of R.C. Hunt's comments on the sow housing survey by clicking here.

How Much Longer Will the Water Hold Out: Study Quantifies Aquifer Depletion in the Ogallala 

A new study looking at aquifer overexploitation in the High Plains and California Central Valley suggests that unsustainable withdrawal in key farming regions will significantly impact crop production in the United States.

Between 1950 and 2007, 4% of the land area in the High Plains, concentrated in Kansas and Texas, was responsible for one third of the Ogallala aquifer depletion, according to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last week. The researchers estimate that if consumption patterns from the last decade continue, the aquifer will be unable to support irrigation for nearly 35% of the southern High Plains region within 30 years, due to the low rate of groundwater recharge.

To date, about eight percent of the groundwater in the Ogallala has been depleted, the study says.

The rate of depletion varies greatly from the northern High Plains to the southern. In Nebraska, water levels have fallen less than one meter between 1950 and 2007. In portions of Kansas, Texas and the Oklahoma panhandle, water levels have dropped more than 30 meters.

We have more about this study on our website and a link to the full study itself.  Click here to go there. 

Tight Supplies, Higher Prices Set Summer Trend for Beef Markets

Memorial Day sales of beef were strong and Erica Rosa-Sanko of the Livestock Market Information Center out of Denver, Colorado, says they are a possible indication of where the beef trade is headed into the 4th of July weekend and throughout the summer.

"Retailers look to be featuring a lot of beef products going into the 4th of July holiday. This summer, ribs and loins, very positive outlook coming out of Memorial Day holiday week, but there are still a lot of concerns on the beef market particularly the consumer demand front."

Speaking with Erik Atkinson of the K-State Radio Network, Rosa-Sanko says a lot depends on consumers and the impact of economic news on their pocketbooks.

"We did get some economic news last week that indicated some slow growth sill occurring in our economy.   Gas prices have moderated some, but still they are relatively high. There's just some questions going on. And we still have relatively lower priced pork and poultry going into the summer."

Check out the latest Beef Buzz by clicking here. 

This N That- Larry Mitchell Takes GIPSA Gig and Wheat Harvest Update

It's either a "temp" job that will last for about seven or eight months- or else a position that could stretch out over the next few years- we are talking about the announcement from USDA that Larry Mitchell has taken the seat that was warmed up considerably by J Dudley Butler that last few years- the head of GIPSA- the Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration of the USDA.

Butler got the attention of almost everybody in the livestock industry with his so called "GIPSA Rule" that spun out of the 2008 Farm Law.  Critics said it went far beyond what the lawmakers had authorized- proponents countered that it was right in line with Congressional intent and decades overdue.  The measure generated over 70,000 comments and resulted in Secretary Vilsack backing away from many aspects of the GIPSA rule and issued a rule with limited changes to the industry this past year.   

Mitchell has been around the block several times in Washington- including time at the Clinton era USDA in the Farm Service Agency as well as with several farm groups like NFU, AAM and the American Corn Growers. Click here for more on this Obama Administration appointment within USDA.

Wheat harvest has continued around scattered showers in our northern counties of Oklahoma- and lots getting done in Kansas as well- we will have our next detailed look at how Oklahoma is doing later on this Thursday when we expect updates from both the Oklahoma Wheat Commission as well as from Plains Grains. For the Kansas lowdown- click here for their daily reportthat shows more and more locations now harvesting the 2012 hard red winter wheat crop.