A FEDERAL AGENCY says the ethanol industry has “matured” and no longer needs the 45-cent-per-gallon federal tax credit. .............................................4
A NEW STUDY SUGGESTS soy producers and shippers have been significantly “overcharged” by major rail carriers. Reforms are being sought. ...................................5
A N A M E R I C A N FA R M B U R E AU Fe d e r a t i o n s u r ve y found retail food prices have declined about 10 percent compared to a year ago. ...................10
Monday, October 12, 2009
Two sections Volume 37, No. 41
Cap and trade export killer?
Ag picture even bleaker under Senate plan BY MARTIN ROSS FarmWeek
Economists now are painting an even bleaker picture for U.S. producers under revised “cap-and-trade” projections. The picture for Midwest farmers — and consumers — would grow even darker under current U.S. Senate provisions for determining winners and
losers in the future “carbon market,” American Farm Bureau Federation analyst Bob Young warned. Soybean, poultry, and pork exports could plummet under climate measures likely to reward a shift from ag production to widespread forestation, Young told FarmWeek Friday. Where House legislation
authorizes USDA to determine ag practices that would qualify producers to receive marketable emissions “offsets,” a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee plan would leave offset decisions to the White House. Corn grower groups have taken a wait-and-see stance toward House proposals, but
IT’S PUMPKIN TIME
Jim Rogers rearranged some of the pumpkins at his Rogers Pumpkin Farm near Lomax in Henderson county. Rogers and his wife, Kathi, grow 60-70 varieties of gourds, pumpkins, and squash on 15 acres. Rogers said harvest is a week behind, and some varieties produced no crop because of wet growing conditions. Both yields and sizes are down this year, he said. Illinois historically has led the nation in pumpkin production. (Photo by Ken Kashian)
Illinois Corn Growers Association President Rob Elliott maintained the Senate plan “doesn’t appear very agfriendly.” “It doesn’t appear that it even goes close to where the House tried to get,” Elliott said. “That would say the thing’s probably not going to work for agriculture. It needs a huge (ag) ramp-up before we would give it a go-ahead.” Under the Senate proposal, the president would identify eligible “offset types,” with no requirement to consider ag practices. The bill does not include House-approved proposals that would forestall U.S. Environmental Protection Agency consideration of indirect land use change as a measure of ag biofuels’ greenhouse impact and, in turn, federal support. In an RFD Radio interview, Senate Ag Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) argued her committee would play “a big role” in trying to shape a Senate bill that is more “fair and productive for agriculture” and low-income consumers. “There is still a lot of work (to be done),” she said. Young said further analysis of data collected by EPA indi-
cates House proposals by 2050 would spur removal of “significant” farm acreages for tree production. Tree production is seen as the key strategy for “sequestering” carbon dioxide (CO2) in the soil and capturing carbon “credits” for sale to potential greenhouse polluters. Even optimal row-crop sequestration practices (such as no-till) are unlikely to generate major CO2 revenue for most farmers, Young said. CO2 prices at $20 per ton could encourage diversion of 12 million to 15 million acres for forests, he suggested. Under best-case assumptions, EPA predicts carbon prices would rise by at least $5-perton per annually, and with a potential $60-$100 long-term carbon price tag, Young sees the possibility of 60 million acres of land coming out of production by 2050. If anticipated new nuclear plants and renewable power sources failed to materialize, offset demand could jumpstart CO2 prices to an initial $50 per ton and 70 million acres could shift to forest by midcentury, Young said. See Senate, page 2
Periodicals: Time Valued
EPA announces new atrazine health study BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week the start of a new year-long study of potential health risks related to atrazine. Syngenta, the herbicide’s manufacturer, anticipated a review and looks “forward to a safety review based on sound science,” Sherry Ford, a Syngenta spokesman, told FarmWeek. At the end of the review, EPA will determine if it needs to revise its position on
atrazine or if current use restrictions are sufficient. Atrazine is one of the most widely used and extensively studied agricultural herbicides in the U.S. EPA will use a scientific advisory panel that was established under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to conduct the review. However, EPA is not conducting a new study, Dale Kemery, an EPA spokesman, told FarmWeek. The advisory panel will review scientific literature available before EPA’s
FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com
2003 decision to reregister atrazine as well as new studies issued between 2003 and 20l0. Syngenta believes “an ongoing transparent review is part of the ongoing process,” Ford said. However, she added the review EPA has planned is broader than the company had anticipated. In addition to reviewing scientific literature, the advisory panel also will consider water monitoring data that has been collected since 2003. As part of a 2003 decision, EPA required Syngenta in certain watersheds to conduct
weekly monitoring during the atrazine-use season and biweekly monitoring the rest of the year. The advisory panel also will consider what changes, if any, are needed for sampling frequency and watershed monitoring. “In large measure, this review is ensuring that any new science since the 2003 decision is considered to see what, if any, changes may need to be made to the agency’s regulatory framework for atrazine,” Kemery said. EPA outlined a timeline for See Atrazine, page 3
Illinois Farm Bureau®on the web: www.ilfb.org