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House Passes Food Safety Bill With Grain Farm Exemption
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The House approved food safety legislation this week that
will dramatically expand Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
authority over all aspects of the food system, but largely
exempts grain operations from overly broad records access
and traceability standards.
H.R. 2749 passed by a 283 to 142 vote on Thursday after
failing to pass under suspension of the rules - which
requires a two-thirds majority - just one day before.
The bill grants the FDA authority to oversee everything from
food production and processing, to distribution and retail,
and to ensure that imported food meets U.S. safety
standards.
NAWG and coalition partners have been advocating for changes
to the bill to ease the potential burden on grain farm
operations, which pose extremely low risk to the health of
the food system. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin
Peterson (D-Minn.) was instrumental in pressing his
Democratic colleagues, specifically House Energy and
Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), to
include language appropriate to individual agricultural
production sectors, including grains.
NAWG and other representatives of commodity producers wrote
Peterson Thursday thanking him for his efforts, saying,
"Though we recognize that there may be some outstanding
issues remaining as the legislative process continues, we
wish to recognize that your work, and that of your staff,
was instrumental in easing our concerns and removing our
objections to passage..." |
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Senate
Begins Debate on Ag Approps; Vote Set for Monday
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The Senate began debate Thursday evening on the FY2010
agriculture appropriations bill, and votes on the bill will
begin Monday.
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed
a cloture motion to end debate on a substitute amendment to
the bill, which would replace the House-passed version with
a Senate version. A vote on that motion and a vote to end
debate on the bill itself are scheduled for Monday evening.
The bill would provide $23.7 billion in discretionary
funding to USDA, the Food and Drug Administration and other
related agencies, an increase of $2.3 billion or 11 percent
above 2009 levels and $100 million more than the amount
requested by the Obama Administration. More than 80 percent
of the bill's funding will go to food stamps and other
mandatory programs.
Notable funding increases in the bill include a 25 percent
increase for the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), which
funds farm programs, and a significant funding boost for
international food aid programs. PL 480, Title II, also
known as Food for Peace, and the McGovern-Dole program would
see an increase of 43 percent from 2009, totaling $1.9
billion.
Other increases include a 12 percent increase over 2009
levels for school breakfast and lunch programs, totaling
$16.8 billion, and a 15 percent increase for FDA.
The Senate bill also includes $3.5 million to speed efforts
to develop Ug99-resistant wheat varieties and $1 million for
wheat genetic research at
Kansas
State University.
For more on this process, please visit the Senate
Appropriation' agriculture subcommittee online at
http://appropriations.senate.gov/agriculture.cfm |
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House
Leaders Release Derivatives Concept Paper
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House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson
(D-Minn.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman
Barney Frank (D-Mass.) released a concept paper on
derivatives regulation Thursday as the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) continued a series of hearings on
position limits.
Both Peterson and Frank, who head the two Committees
responsible for financial market regulation, and the CFTC,
which oversees $5 trillion in daily trading futures, are
reviewing ways to effectively regulate so-called
over-the-counter markets and are exploring the wisdom of
position limits for commodities to curb possible excessive
speculation.
Peterson said in a press release about the concept paper
that he was pleased he and Frank "were able to come to
agreement on so many principles with regard to OTC
derivatives reform."
"I think we have come up with a responsible approach that
bridges the differences between those members who want to
completely eliminate the over-the-counter market and those
who think that just greater transparency is all that is
needed," he said. "Neither of those approaches is a real
solution; what we are putting forth is."
Separately, at a hearing Wednesday, CFTC Chairman Gary
Gensler said the question of if position limits should be
set is no longer up for debate, and that his agency must
request new authority from Congress to set position limits
for all commodities.
NAWG continues to follow discussions about commodity futures
regulation across
Washington
and to work with U.S. Wheat Associates, which represents the
industry on a CFTC committee examining speculation. Both
organizations believe the futures markets need to work
effectively and fairly for all participants in the market.
The concept paper released this week is available online at
http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/Legislation/111/otc_principles_final_7-30.pdf |
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House
Subcommittee Approves Rail Antitrust Legislation
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The Courts and Competition Policies Subcommittee of the
House Judiciary Committee approved the Railroad Antitrust
Enforcement Act of 2009 (H.R. 233) by voice vote on
Thursday.
The bill would effectively remove a current antitrust
exemption that enables railroads to gain clearance for
mergers from the Surface Transportation Board rather than
seeking the approval of the Department of Justice. Before
approval, the Subcommittee adopted an amendment that would
ensure the bill's provisions would not be applied
retroactively to previously-approved transactions.
The bill is the House counterpart to a Senate version, S.
146, authored by Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wis.). Kohl and Senate
Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) agreed
in June to work toward comprehensive rail reform
legislation, including the antitrust provisions.
Also, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing Wednesday
to consider a number of nominations, including that of
Daniel Elliott III as chairman of the STB. During the
hearing, Elliott, an associate general counsel of the United
Transportation Union since 1993, noted the relative
financial strength of rail companies compared to past
decades, and, upon pressing by Rockefeller, alluded that the
1980 Staggers Act is outdated. He also indicated that he
would be "proactive" in addressing shipper concerns. Elliott
is expected to receive full Senate confirmation as early as
next week before the Senate adjourns for August recess. |
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Senate
Takes Step Toward Mexican Trucking Resolution
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Language in the FY2010 Transportation/Housing and Urban
Development appropriations bill, marked-up by the Senate
Appropriations Committee this week, should help to ease a
controversy over Mexican trucks on U.S. roads - and $2.4
billion dollars of tariffs imposed on American products by
the Mexican government.
Mexico
announced the tariffs on almost 90 American products after
language in the FY2009 omnibus spending bill, approved
earlier this year, ended a pilot program allowing Mexican
trucks on U.S. roads.
The bill approved in Committee this week would allocate
funds to ensure the safety of cross-border long haul
shipments on Mexican trucks and direct the Obama
Administration to address outstanding safety concerns. The
Committee also urged the Administration to work with Mexican
officials to come up with a proposal for full implementation
of the cross-border trucking program - work that has been
ongoing since the dispute began this spring.
NAWG and others in the agricultural industry have joined
with the manufacturing and trucking industries to urge the
Obama Administration and Congress to resolve the problem
quickly, though, so far, wheat has not been an affected
product.
NAWG supports allowing Mexican trucks to operate in the
United States as long as they meet
U.S.
safety standards. |
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Groups Write USDA Research Head with Welcome, Support
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NAWG and 14 other agricultural organizations wrote USDA
Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Rajiv
Shah this week welcoming him to his new post and committing
to work with him as he works to further research agency
reorganization efforts.
The groups said, in part:
"Your arrival heralds a new focus on national research
priorities when our nation and the world need agriculture to
solve immense challenges...The required innovation to grow
more and healthier food and fiber will come through better
research, including improved management and increased
funding. Competitive research has proven to achieve the
best results for each investment. It is also the area USDA
must improve the most."
The letter noted that National Institutes of Health will
spend $170 this year for every $1 spent by the USDA on
competitive, fundamental research, and that since 1990,
annual yield growth rates for corn, wheat, rice and soy have
fallen compared to the prior three decades.
The groups also offered "full support" as Shah and USDA work
toward establishing the National Institute of Food and
Agriculture and the Agriculture and Food Research
Initiative, created under the 2008 Farm Bill.
Signatories of the letter other than NAWG included American
Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union and
commodity organizations representing producers of barley,
soybeans, corn, rice, canola, cotton, chicken and pork.
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Monsanto
Buys Company to Reenter Wheat Breeding
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Monsanto has announced that it has acquired WestBred, a
Bozeman, Mont.-based company with extensive wheat germplasm
assets, and will restart the process of eventually bringing
biotech capabilities to the wheat market.
The acquisition will allow conventional and marker-assisted
breeding in wheat to begin immediately, setting the stage
for the development of biotech traits. Monsanto said it
plans to initially focus biotechnology work on drought
tolerance, nitrogen use and higher yield gains, with
expected release in eight to 10 years, consistent with the
company's development cycle. The company said it will
explore herbicide-tolerant and disease-resistant biotech
traits, but does not plan to include its Roundup Ready trait
in wheat.
WestBred, owned indirectly by Barkley Seed, Inc., is a
private company with germplasm assets in all classes of
wheat. Monsanto acquired the company for $45 million.
The company cited continued work of NAWG, U.S. Wheat
Associates and others in the wheat industry to demonstrate
support for biotechnology as one reason for its movement.
The two organizations, which work together on biotechnology
policy through a joint committee, welcomed the announcement
in a statement, saying:
"The research challenges facing wheat are well known, as is
the importance of this crop to world food supplies. This
announcement comes at a time when basic research into
agronomic improvements to wheat is critically needed.
"Over the past months and years, we have repeatedly voiced
our support for biotechnology and outlined appropriate
conditions for commercialization. We have also pressed trait
providers to examine this issue carefully.
"The industry is pleased that Monsanto and other private
technology providers, as well as publicly-funded
institutions such as the Kansas Innovation Center for
Advanced Plant Design and CSIRO in Australia, have recently
announced new wheat research investments, and we urge other
organizations to follow suit."
Improving research with the ultimate goal of increasing
yields 20 percent by 2018 is one of NAWG's four strategic
initiatives, and NAWG staff and grower-leaders have worked
through a variety of venues to consolidate support for
biotechnology in wheat and demonstrate that support to both
private and public technology providers.
"We have led the charge to increase wheat research dollars
and make biotechnology's benefits available to wheat
producers," said Karl Scronce, NAWG president and a producer
in Klamath Falls, Ore. "We are extremely pleased with this
week's announcement and look forward to working with
Monsanto and others who might invest in this vital area." |
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