Editor’s Note: The third section of the March 10, 2010, FarmPolicy.com Report entitled “Disaster Payments, SURE, and Crop Insurance Issues” includes a quotation from an outside report that contains an inaccurate statement. The relevant quotation reads, in part, as follows:
“A major reason, according to USDA and academic studies, is that the private crop insurance companies set southern premiums relatively high…”
It is commonly known by individuals who are familiar with Federal crop insurance that crop insurance companies do not set premiums for any of the program’s policies. USDA determines all Federal crop insurance program premiums. This important program characteristic is a plain, simple and historical fact. However, for program clarification purposes, it would be helpful to report this fact.
Trade: Agriculture and Cuba- House Ag Committee Hearing
Derek Wallbank reported yesterday at the MinnPost.com that, “The latest effort to bridge the 90-mile gap from Key West to Cuba is being led here by a pair of Minnesota lawmakers who contend that easing restrictions on the island nation could mean millions for Minnesota’s agriculture industry.
“‘America’s current policies have failed to achieve their stated goal and instead they have hand-delivered an export market in our own backyard to the Brazilians, the Europeans and our other competitors around the world,’ said Rep. Collin Peterson. ‘It’s time we ask ourselves why we have in place policies that simply do not work and that only harm U.S. interests.’
“Peterson’s remarks came at the start of a House Agriculture Committee hearing he called to discuss his own legislation to lift the travel ban to Cuba and ease rules on agricultural exports to the island nation. Earlier today, Sen. Amy Klobuchar introduced a companion measure in the Senate. Both the House and Senate bills have Republican co-sponsors.
“‘The bill we have introduced would eliminate the requirement that our farmers have to go through a third country bank to do business in Cuba and would place agricultural exports to Cuba on the same terms for cash payment as other countries, requiring payment when the shipment changes hands,’ Peterson said. ‘It would also make it easier for U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba, allowing American agricultural producers to more easily conduct business with Cuba and boosting demand for U.S. products in Cuba.’”
At yesterday’s hearing, Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), a co-sponsor of the bill, provided an interesting historic and analytical background with respect to the issue of U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba. To listen to a portion of his comments from yesterday’s hearing, just click here (MP3-7:42).
(more…)
Jobs Bill- Biodiesel, Ag Disaster Payments
Ben Pershing reported in today’s Washington Post that, “The Senate approved a $140 billion package of tax breaks and aid to the unemployed Wednesday, the most substantial effort by the chamber to boost the nation’s economy since it passed the stimulus bill last year.
“Six Republicans joined 56 Democrats to pass the measure, 62 to 36. The package faces an uncertain future in the House, where Democrats have taken a markedly different approach to the ‘jobs agenda,’ as current efforts to pass jobs legislation are known, than have their Senate colleagues.”
(more…)
FAPRI Baseline Update
A University of Missouri news release from yesterday stated that, “The livestock sector can lead the agricultural economy to higher net farm income, assuming the farm economy benefits from a recovering general U.S. economy.
“That analysis tops a 2010 baseline report prepared by the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). The 66-page report will be delivered to the U.S. Congress, Tuesday (Mar. 9). The 10-year baseline shows economic possibilities for livestock, crop and biofuels under certain assumptions.
“‘If jobs–and consumers–return, the agricultural sector will benefit,’ said Pat Westhoff, co-director of MU FAPRI. ‘Higher incomes increase the demand for food, feed, fiber and fuel, supporting farm commodity prices.’”
(more…)
Climate Change- Administrator Jackson’s Perspective
Reuters writer Timothy Gardner reported yesterday that, “The Environmental Protection Agency chief fought back on Monday against Senate attempts to challenge the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, saying delaying action would be bad for the economy.
“President Barack Obama has long said the EPA would take steps to regulate greenhouse gases if Congress failed to pass climate legislation. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate amid opposition from fossil fuel-rich states.
“Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from oil-producing Alaska, has introduced legislation to stop EPA from taking steps under the Clean Air Act on climate pollution from tailpipes and smokestacks.”
(more…)
Sec. Vilsack- USDA Perceptions
DTN editor-in-chief Urban C. Lehner noted on Friday that, “Our agriculture secretary has been taking verbal abuse from all directions. When he defended transgenic seeds before a crowd of local-food activists last October, they booed him. When he included organic and local-food speakers at USDA’s annual Outlook meeting in late February, the traditional production-ag types acted as if USDA had been taken over by aliens.”
“Unlike his critics in the alternative-ag community, he understands that feeding a growing world population will require increases in agricultural productivity that going local and going organic won’t provide. Unlike his traditional-ag critics, he realizes that agriculture has a role to play in preserving the environment, and to play it well will require adopting the best ideas from a variety of agricultural approaches, including the local and organic movements.
“‘I have two sons, and I love them both,’ Vilsack has said of the competing schools of how agriculture should be practiced.”
(more…)
Follow us on twitter
Site Feed
Podcast
Email Updates
