Featured Story:

The House Agriculture Committee adopted the budget views and estimates letter which outlines the committee's budget recommendations for the agencies and programs under its jurisdiction for fiscal year 2013. The letter will be submitted to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as required by section 301(d) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as well as House Rule X, clause 4(f).

"For the past year, this Committee has worked to identify areas for potential deficit reduction while also seeking ways to stimulate job creation. We will continue that work in 2012, primarily through the reauthorization of the Farm Bill. Ultimately, our goal is to craft fiscally responsible policy that helps farmers and ranchers across the country thrive," said Chairman Frank Lucas.

"We have already demonstrated that we can step up and be fiscally responsible while providing a safety net for America's farmers and America's hungry. This letter makes clear that if the Agriculture Committee is allowed to do its job, we will work together and reduce the deficit in a responsible way while continuing to best represent our constituents," said Ranking Member Collin Peterson.

You can read the Views and Estimates letter by clicking here. 

CRP General Sign-Up Deadline Approaching Fast 

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reminded landowners, farmers and ranchers that the opportunity to enroll in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up 43 is approaching. Producers who want to offer eligible land for CRP's competitive general sign-up can enroll March 12 through April 6, 2012, at their Farm Service Agency (FSA) service center.

CRP is a voluntary program that assists farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers to protect their environmentally sensitive land. Producers enrolling in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers in exchange for rental payments, cost-share and technical assistance.

Producers are encouraged to contact their local FSA service center or visit FSA's website for additional information regarding CRP by clicking here. 

Beef Exports Strong, Record Prices Signal Caution Domestically

Beef exports remain strong while domestic sales remain somewhat sluggish into the new year says Jim Robb, executive director of the Livestock Market Information Center based in Denver, Colorado.

Robb says the demand in exports grew at an 11-percent rate year-over-year according to the last six weeks of data from the USDA.   He says the rate of growth is quite a bit more than had been anticipated, but the market retains some volatility with buyers stepping in and out. Surprisingly, he said, the biggest gains in export demand come from Mexico.

"Incomes are moving up. Their economy seems to be getting a little bit better in parallel with the U.S. and they had sort of switched focus away from beef a little bit in recent years toward more pork product. It appears the Mexican market is coming back a little bit to beef," he says.

More of Jim Robb's analysis and the full Beef Buzz interview are available by clicking here. 

AFR Offers Moderating Tone to Populist Direction of National Farmers Union Delegates

National Farmers Union (NFU) delegates adopted a Special Order of Business at their 110th Annual Convention of the organization on Wednesday that calls for a separation of the Federation of State Beef Councils from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.  

The President of the American Farmers & Ranchers- Terry Detrick- argued against the resolution behind closed doors for the last several days as well as on the floor of the delegate session on Wednesday.  Detrick is a representative of the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion Board for Oklahoma- and he says that while there was a lot of concern from an audit released in 2010- that the problems uncovered have been addressed- and that the process is "squeaky clean." 

It's not just the Beef Checkoff issue that has kept Detrick busy while helping represent Oklahoma as one of the largest Farmers Union states in the organization.  Detrick explains that AFR is much more conservation than the "boys up north" and that AFR policy is often at odds with the NFU positions taken by the delegates and the Executive Committee.

It appears that Detrick will have the chance to be the conservative conscience of the generally liberal farm group- as he has been selected to go onto and serve on the Executive Committee of the NFU this year.  Click here for our special audio report that features our Wednesday evening conversation with this wheat and cattle producer from Ames, Oklahoma.  

We also have the NFU's News release on their special orders that  covered a wide range of issues.  You can read more about them by clicking here.  

Our friend and colleague Chris Clayton of DTN has been in Omaha this week- and he wrote on the debate over the Beef Checkoff- click here to read his article on the Wednesday debate.  

Lawmakers Urge Obama Administration to Support Biodiesel

A bipartisan group of 60 members of Congress from across the country has signed letters to the White House urging the Obama Administration to follow through with the EPA's proposal to increase the biodiesel volume requirement under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) next year.

"The skyrocketing gas prices we're seeing should remind us all why Congress - with overwhelming bipartisan support - started the RFS in the first place, which was to diversify our energy supplies and limit our vulnerability to just these kinds of price spikes," said Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board. "This is strong energy policy and we shouldn't shy away from it now."

At issue is an EPA proposal to increase the biodiesel volume requirement under the RFS to 1.28 billion gallons in 2013. Late last year, the Obama Administration delayed the decision, saying it needs further review, and the EPA could issue a final rule within weeks. Biodiesel has been a highlight of the RFS so far, exceeding its volume requirement last year with record production of 1.1 billion gallons. An Administration decision to rescind the modest increase to 1.28 billion gallons would stunt the industry's growth and likely lead to plant closures and thousands of lost jobs. 

"This really should be an easy decision for the Obama Administration," Steckel said. "We're talking about modest growth for the only EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel that's in commercial-scale production across the country today. It is directly in line with President Obama's call for an 'all of the above' energy approach and his focus on clean, domestic production. And it will create thousands of jobs across the country while improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions." 

You can access the Senate's and the House's letters as well as read more about lawmakers' support for biodiesel by clicking here.

Conservation Compliance v. Conservation Incentives--A False Choice?

"I appreciate Secretary Vilsack's support of conservation incentives, but I believe that he has created a false choice between incentive-driven conservation and conservation compliance," said Jon Scholl, President of American Farmland Trust (AFT). "Conservation compliance is nothing more than an incentive for farmers with highly sensitive lands to follow a few basic conservation practices. When I talk to farmers, they recognize that conservation compliance is crucial for the long-term health of our soil."

Put in place in the 1985 Farm Bill, conservation compliance is a set of minimum conservation standards that farmers with sensitive lands must follow in order to receive federal farm subsidies. Compliance helps reduce erosion and protect our productive soils on the farmland that is most vulnerable to erosion, while also protecting wetlands. No farmer is required to follow conservation compliance, but if a farmer is not in compliance, USDA will temporarily withhold certain benefits-including commodity, disaster, and conservation payments and loans-until the farmer comes back into compliance.

Currently, compliance requirements do not attach to the federal insurance premium support that farmers receive when they purchase crop insurance. Compliance was attached to crop insurance subsidies in 1985, but was later removed in 1996 to help encourage producers to purchase crop insurance. Today, program participation is not an issue, with over 80 percent of commodity farmers signed up. As crop insurance becomes the centerpiece of the farm safety net going forward, and direct payments go away, farmers will have much less of an incentive to follow conservation compliance.

To read more of Jon Scholl's and the AFT's views on conservation compliance, click here.

Ag Day is Today!!!

It's Ag Day 2012- and one way to celebrate is to stop and consider how agriculture touches the lives of every American in a profound way.  You give a tip of the hat to the bounty of American Agriculture  everytime you go out to lunch with friends, put on that cotton shirt and pair of blue jeans- or stop at the gas pump and fill up with an E-10 blend of gas and ethanol.  

Agriculture touches the lives of millions- and one of the things I like to stop and remember is that the fabric of our rural society is based in the work ethic that our kids learn on the farm or ranch- polishing that ethic through 4-H and FFA.   

We have posted the winning video essay from this year's Ag Day celebration- click here and go and take a look at the creativity of this young lady from Ohio- and offer a word of thanks to everyone in the farm and ranch pipeline on this special day!