Merry Christmas from FarmWeek! The newspaper will not be published next week. The next issue will be dated Jan. 5.
Lower crop prices don’t necessarily mean a return to the days of prices near loan rate levels. page 5
Specialty growers will discuss continuing 100-year-old orchard traditions at their conference. page 7
Monday, December 22, 2014
Two sections Volume 42, No. 50
Federal spending bill includes benefits for agriculture BY DEANA STROISCH FarmWeek
Periodicals: Time Valued
President Barack Obama last week signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that avoided a government shutdown, reduced federal spending and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw a controversial “interpretive rule” associated with its “waters of the U.S” proposal. The 1,603-page bill, which funds most of the government until Sept. 30, was
backed by the majority of Illinois’ Congressional delegation. Reps. Danny Davis, D-Chicago; Bill Enyart, D-Belleville; Luis Gutierrez, D-Chicago; Robin Kelly, D-Matteson; Bobby Rush, D-Chicago; and Jan Schakowsky, D-Evanston, voted against the measure. Adam Nielsen, Illinois Farm Bureau’s director of national legislation, noted the bill includes several nonspending related items that benefit agriculture. “End of the year omnibus
spending bills often provide opportunities to pass key priorities,” he said. “And this one was no exception.” The bill does the following: • Kills EPA’s “interpretive rule” related to the “waters the U.S.” proposed rule. EPA has said the interpretive rule was intended to spell out which farming practices were exempt from Section 404 “dredge and fill permits.” But IFB and others say the rule would require voluntary conservation practice stan-
dards to become mandatory. Many believed the “interpretive rule” would ultimately be changed, if not withdrawn. “Still, a nice win,” Nielsen said. “Because it maintains our forward movement toward the ultimate goal of ditching the rule and helping develop a reasonable alternative that farmers, businesses and local governments can live with.” • Prevents USDA from implementing a new beef checkoff program. IFB supports this move.
“Our board was very concerned about the initiation of a second beef checkoff side-byside with one that currently exists,” Nielsen said. • Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to recommend changes to the Country of Origin Law (COOL) by May 1 or within 15 days of the WTO’s decision on the U.S. appeal in the case versus Canada and Mexico, whichever comes first.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (IEPA) water bureau, highlighted strategy applications to agriMarcia Willhite culture and some for wastewater treatment and industry last week. Her speech to the AGMasters Conference
in Champaign marked her first public presentation on the strategy since its release in late November. Illinois developed a statewide strategy with a menu of actions to reduce excess nitrogen and phosphorous in rivers, lakes and streams. The public may comment on the strategy until Jan. 24. “The bottom line for agriculture is widespread implementation,” Willhite said.
“We’re looking at every acre to see what might be done. “You’ll notice what is not on the (strategy) list — regulatory requirements or ‘you must do it this way,’” she continued. Willhite shared the state’s overall goal to reduce all nitrogen and phosphorous moving into water by 45 percent compared to baseline levels of 1980-90.
Nutrient strategy a big challenge for agriculture BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek
Illinois agriculture faces a big job — albeit a voluntary one. Agriculture contributes most of the nitrogen and roughly half of the phosphorous moving into rivers, lakes and streams, according to scientific data behind the proposed state Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. Marcia Willhite, chief of
See Spending, page 2
See Nutrient, page 3
www.facebook.com/illfarmbureau