6 years, 2 months ago AFBF
House Agriculture Committee Chair Mike Conaway this week expressed his desire to see mark up and a vote on the farm bill by the end of March in the House of Representatives. Conaway says that timetable would leave plenty of time to work out differences with the Senate version of the bill and ensure new legislation is finalized before the farm bill expires at the end of September. Conaway does not expect the Senate to have a version of the bill ready next month. The Congressional Budget Office is scoring the House version of the bill, and Conaway has previously said the bill would be released once all titles receive a score. Meanwhile, Conaway told the crop insurance industry the House version of the bill leaving his committee will include a strong crop insurance component, and he will work to fight off attempts to weaken crop insurance.
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Cruz Hold on Northey Continues
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley this week attempted to move forward the nomination of Bill Northey to a top Department of Agriculture post, but was again blocked by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Grassley sought unanimous consent from his Senate colleagues on the chamber floor Wednesday. However, Cruz objected, further delaying Northey’s confirmation. Cruz has blocked the vote to confirm Northey as the USDA undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services since October of last year, wanting to reach a deal on biofuel credit prices under the Renewable Fuel Standard. On the Senate floor, Grassley stated: “Taking a nominee hostage to try and force an ill-conceived policy change is only going to cause more problems for this body in the future.” Ranking Senate Agriculture Committee Democrat Debbie Stabenow also called for the nomination to move forward. Stabenow said: “It’s important to note that Mr. Northey's leadership is needed now on a number of issues, including disaster recovery for our farmers in the aftermath of hurricanes, wildfire and drought.”
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Net Farm Income Forecast Shows 2018 Decline
The Department of Agriculture predicts net farm income will decline 8.3 percent in 2018, dropping $5.4 billion to $59.5 billion. Meanwhile, USDA's Economic Research Service suggests that net cash farm income is forecast to decline $6.7 billion, or 6.8 percent, to an inflation-adjusted figure of $91.9 billion. USDA says the forecast declines are the result of changes in cash receipts and production expenses. If realized, 2018 net farm income would be the lowest since 2002 and net cash farm income would be at its lowest level since 2009. Both profitability measures remain below their 2000-2016 averages, which included substantial increases in crop and animal/, and animal product cash receipts from 2010 to 2013. Net cash farm income includes cash receipts from farming as well as farm-related income, including government payments, minus cash expenses. Net farm income is a more comprehensive measure of profits that incorporates noncash items, including changes in inventories, economic depreciation and gross imputed rental income.
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USDA February WASDE Report
The latest monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates report from the Department of Agriculture shows lower estimated soybean exports for the 2017-18 crop year. USDA lowered soybean exports by 60 million bushels to 2.1 billion bushels. The U.S. season-average soybean price range for 2017/18 is projected at $8.90 to $9.70 per bushel, unchanged from the previous report. USDA increased its forecast for corn exports, while reducing stocks. Exports increased 125 million bushels on price competitiveness with other nations. The season-average corn price received by producers is projected at $3.30 per bushel, up five cents from the previous report. Projected wheat ending stocks were raised by 20 million bushels, with exports increasing. USDA left season-average farm price for wheat unchanged at $4.60 per bushel.
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Crop Insurance Sets Acreage Record in 2017
2017 was a historic year for crop insurance, with 311 million acres enrolled in the system. During the industry's annual meeting this week, National Crop Insurance Services chairman Mike Day told the group that insurers backed more than $106 billion worth of crops in 2017, up $6 billion since 2016. And, farmers paid $3.7 billion out of their own pockets for insurance protection, a more than $250 million increase from the year before. Day says crop insurance protects around 90 percent of the insurable land and more than 130 different kinds of crops. Despite its popularity, according to the industry, some farm policy opponents are angling to cut crop insurance funding in the upcoming farm bill debate. Day says that would be a mistake, pointing out Congress' efforts to make crop insurance affordable and available for farmers and economically viable enough to encourage efficient private-sector delivery.
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Research Paving Path to Combatting Citrus Greening
Research by a group of scientists and a University of Florida professor has traced the evolutionary history of Florida's signature crop up to eight million years ago in the Himalayas of Southeast Asia. Through analyses of 60 types of citrus whose genomes they sequenced, scientists identified ten natural citrus species, according to a new study. By sequencing genomes, scientists can find out all the genes controlling inheritable traits of an organism. The group says their work now allows scientists to work with more citrus genomic information and can search for a gene to target to reach citrus greening resistance. One researcher says scientist can now “search through the many genomes of tolerant types and compare with sensitive types,” and better select the most likely genetic targets to be effective against citrus greening.
