6 years, 2 months ago American Farm Bureau Federation
During a Wednesday event, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue released the Department of Agriculture Farm Bill Principles. Perdue announced the principles as part a trip to Pennsylvania, while holding a town hall meeting. Through interacting with producers, USDA says the agency developed the principles to share with Congress as lawmakers craft the next farm bill. A document released by USDA says the agency supports a farm bill that provides a farm safety net to help farmers during down economic times, promotes crop insurance as a risk management tool, increases access to farmland for new and beginning farmers, and supports conservation programs. USDA also says the next farm bill should seek to improve U.S. market competitiveness and help open international trade markets. As for nutrition programs, USDA says the next farm bill should support work as the pathway to self-sufficiency, well-being, and economic mobility for individuals and families receiving supplemental nutrition assistance.
The complete guide is available here: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2018-farm-bill-and-legislative-principles.pdf
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Canada Says No NAFTA Dairy Negotiating Room with TPP 11 Agreement
With an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership in place, Canada says there is now no room to negotiate it’s dairy pricing scheme through the North American Free Trade Agreement. TPP-11, as it’s called, will be signed in March by the 11 remaining member countries. The agreement was reached a day shy of a year after President Trump removed the United States from the original trade pact. Canada agreed to make some changes in TPP to its dairy market, benefiting dairy-exporting countries, such as New Zealand. That means, according to Politico, Canada’s dairy industry has zero concessions left to make in NAFTA. The United States dairy industry wants Canada to change its pricing program, which the U.S. says is leading to an excess of milk protein concentrates on the market. Some say, however, that the TPP agreement should give the U.S. negotiating leverage against Canada, along the lines of: “You just signed away access for dairy market in the TPP; why is that not good enough for NAFTA?” The latest round of NAFTA Negotiations is underway in Montreal, Canada.
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Reports Shows States with Most to Lose in NAFTA
A new report shows which states stand to lose the most when it comes to withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement. Farmers for Free Trade, a self-described bipartisan, grassroots campaign working to rebuild support for trade, says the report outlines the specific threats the states most dependent on NAFTA ag trade with Mexico would face if America withdraws from the pact. The campaign says the states included in the report would suffer from fewer products sold and declining profits, during an already down farm economy. The states included in the report, in order, are Missouri, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, North Dakota and Minnesota. Of those, the report says Missouri exports 51 percent of all agricultural exports to Mexico, while the number ten state, Minnesota, sends 24 percent of all agricultural exports to Mexico. The report, available at www.farmersforfreetrade.com, examines specific commodities to each state and how a NAFTA withdraw would impact those exports.
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Senator Says RFS “Must be Fixed” Following Refiner Bankruptcy
Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said earlier this week that U.S. biofuel policy “must be fixed,” referring to the Renewable Fuel Standard as the primary cause for a Pennsylvania refiner filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a statement, Toomey outlines his conversations regarding the RFS with President Trump and his colleagues, which would include Texas Republican Ted Cruz, in an attempt to change the policy. In announcing its intention to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Philadelphia Energy Solutions LLC blamed the RFS, saying the company has spent more than $800 million on credits to comply with the law. In response, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bon Dinneen told energy industry publication Platts that the bankruptcy had little to do with the biofuel policy. Dinneen says: "Like other refiners, PES could have made investments in blending more renewable fuels. It chose a different course, slavishly pursuing a change in the law that fit its flawed business model."
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Partnership Formed to Improve U.S. Water Quality
A new partnership seeks to assess agricultural practices and strategies to further improve water quality in the United States. The Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, along with the Sand County Foundation, the Noble Research Institute and Farm Foundation, launched the National Agricultural Water Quality Practice Assessment this week. The groups say the assessment seeks to better understand how effective agricultural management practices are at improving water quality. According to a joint statement, the year-long project will define current baseline knowledge about managing agricultural lands to improve conservation outcomes. The report will also identify critical gaps in knowledge, as well as strategies to advance agricultural conservation adoption and effectiveness. A key goal of the assessment is to help agricultural producers identify effective management practices that have the potential to yield environmental results while supporting the economic viability of farms.
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New York Times: How NAFTA Shapes Beer, Bacon and Blue Jeans Trade
The New York Times recently outlined what the North American Free Trade Agreement means for three items notorious for their association with American culture. Combined, what should be considered for a country song title, the article details the cross-border trade of beer, bacon and blue jeans. The article notes that a change in trade policy could change the future of the three American icons. Mexico relies on the U.S. to ship beer making ingredients across the border to brew up a batch, that then returns to the U.S. as Mexico’s biggest agricultural export to the United States. More than half of the barley exported from the United States goes to Mexico, and most of the hops that Mexico imports come from the United States. As for bacon, many feeder pigs are born in Canada, then shipped to the U.S. for farmers to “finish,” and ultimately, lead to bacon. Under World Trade rules, neither the U.S. nor Canada charges a tariff on imported pork. But, U.S. pork would face a tariff of 20 percent when moving into Mexico. Finally, blue jeans made in Mexico use U.S. cotton from 17 states. A no-NAFTA future would mean jeans made in Mexico and bound for the U.S., would also face a steep tariff.
