Farm Groups Dissatisfied with WOTUS Explanations

Cindy Zimmerman

Despite increased efforts by Environmental Protection Agency officials to explain and defend the proposed Waters of the United States rule, farm groups continue to have concerns.

american-farm-bureau-logoThe American Farm Bureau Federation this week sent Congress a comprehensive document that responds to inaccurate and misleading comments made about the rule by EPA acting assistant administrator for water Nancy Stoner in a recent agency blog post.

“AFBF and several state Farm Bureaus have met with the EPA repeatedly, and each time agency officials have declined to grapple with the serious, real world implications of the rule,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said. “EPA is now engaged in an intensive public relations campaign, and we believe its statements are directly contrary to the reality of the proposed rule.

EPA has even started a campaign called “Ditch the Myths” to counter Farm Bureau’s “Ditch the Rule” effort.

Meanwhile, the National Farmers Union (NFU) has sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy asking for more information about which bodies of water would be deemed jurisdictional under the proposed rule. The letter was a follow-up to a conference call between McCarthy and members of the NFU board of directors.

“During our call, a number of questions were raised by NFU board members,” NFU President Roger Johnson wrote. “The board asked for clarity surrounding some of the definitions in the proposed rule. The general sense was that the proposed rule has created less clarity, not more as intended.”

NFU wants EPA to provide a map with estimates of which bodies of water will be considered jurisdictional to EPA’s regulation. Questions were also posed about wetlands in the Prairie Pothole region, coordination with state agencies and the treatment of unconnected bodies of water that are seasonal. NFU is currently preparing formal comments about the proposed rule and hopes to have answers from EPA soon to ensure its comments are as informed as possible.

AFBF, Ag Groups

Ag Leader at InfoAg Conference

Melissa Sandfort

Insights Weekly

July 29-31, growers, crop consultants and other industry representatives will be able to find Ag Leader experts at the InfoAg Conference at Union Station in St. Louis, Mo. This show is a premier conference for attendees to hear about a wide range of topics on technology applications and data management and interpretation.

Luke James, Ag Leader Software Sales Manager, gives a preview of what Ag Leader will be displaying during the conference and why it’s a benefit to stop by and chat with the Ag Leader team.

Listen to James explain

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

WOTUS Means More Regulation

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How would the EPA water rule impact you?”

This is one of the hottest topics in the ag sector these days with a lot of uncertainty about what the future holds, especially when you see states starting to fine people for “wasteful use of water.” On the federal level the EPA says that under the proposed rules defining Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) “all normal farming practices are exempt – period” but those in the agriculture community are questioning if that will hold true. Hopefully you’ve looked at how this will impact your farm or customers?

here are the poll results:

  • Just more govt. regulation – 38.9%
  • Permits for routine activities – 16.67%
  • Will regulate more of my property – 18.67%
  • Not sure but worried about it – 11.1%
  • Not worried about it – 11.1%
  • Don’t know or don’t care – 5.56%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, What are your thoughts on cellulosic ethanol? We just saw the first commercial production of cellulosic ethanol in Iowa from team work between Syngenta’s Enogen and the Quad County Corn Processors. Let us know what you think.

ZimmPoll

Find the Iowa Corn Farmer at RAGBRAI

Chuck Zimmerman

Iowa Corn Find a FarmerIf I wasn’t getting on the agriblogging highway next week I’d like to be on RAGBRAI. Not going to happen this year. But we can enjoy the social media content that I’m sure will be coming.

Iowa Corn has a unique promotion going on that’s tied in with the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa called Find the Farmer.

This year, the theme for RAGBRAI features an ear of corn for the more than 10,000 bicyclists who will be riding across the state next week.

To join in the fun, Iowa Corn has added a scavenger hunt for RAGBRAI riders with “Find the Farmer” 8-foot cutouts along the 418-mile bike route. Six Iowa farmers are featured on 8-foot signs with facts about the corn industry. They are along the route near Milford, Emmetsburg, Waverly, Independence, Mason City and Forest City.
“We encourage riders to find the local farmer and get to know more about the Iowa corn industry,” said Janet Wilwerding, Communications Manager for the Iowa Corn Growers Association. “Being able to connect riders with our Iowa farmers will be important as they make their trip across Iowa.”

For more information about the farmers, watch their videos and enter to win an exclusive “ears and gears” t-shirt, visit iowacorn.org/RAGBRAI.

This cutout image is of Casey Schleusner and his family. He’s a farmer in North Central Iowa and has been farming with his Dad and older brother for five years. His favorite part is being close to family and taking on the challenges together.


Ag Groups, Corn, Video

Morning Guest

Melissa Sandfort

20140708_084821Throughout my life, I’ve lived in Brock, Neb., Omaha, Neb., Kansas City, Mo., Denver, Colo., and now Cambridge, Neb. When my mother came to visit the other day, she asked me: “If you could choose living in the city, or living where you are now, which would you honestly pick?” My answer? Right where I am. Hands down.

Here’s a short list of reasons why:
– I can teach my children about agriculture every day on the way to town.
– People know my name.
– Friends are proud of the fact I work in the ag industry, and so am I.
– I feel safe.
– My kids have wonderful opportunities each and every day, many of which you could never find in the city.
– There are cows in the pasture less than a quarter mile from our house.
– We stop on the road into town to let a momma turkey and her 8 babies cross the road.
– The kids feel like they strike gold when they find deer tracks in the front yard.
– I don’t have to worry about bike helmets because there’s no passing traffic.

And this – my feathered friend – who wandered about 20 feet from the front door the other morning.

So HONESTLY…where would I want to live? Right here.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

New Peterson Brothers Video Parody

Chuck Zimmerman

The Peterson Brothers (Greg, Nathan and Kendal) are at it again with a new parody music video of the song, “All I Do is Win,” by DJ Khaled done by the Peterson Farm Bros (Greg, Nathan, and Kendal)! It’s a great look at farming life that touches on important issues like conservation and family. Please enjoy and they say to share it out.


Farming, Video

Animal Health Companies Pursuing IPOs

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 446According to the folks at Husch Blackwell we’re seeing a growing phenomenon of animal health companies pursuing IPOs. I visited with Jim Ash and Stan Baker last week about this largely unnoticed trend. Husch Blackwell is a national legal firm with a Food & Agribusiness team. They even have a D.V.M. on the staff – Stan Baker!

Husch BlackwellAccording to these guys, animal health IPOs didn’t even exist 18 months ago. However, since when Pfizer spun off Zoetis first of last year there have been several more and there are more in the works. Apparently the type of public information provided by a deal like the Zoetis one has helped provide the industry with valuable data to help potential investors gauge the potential value of an investment.

Here are a few reasons they say have caused this increased activity:

  • Animal health companies’ valuations have increased
  • Increased news coverage of animal health issues
  • A belief among investors that the regulatory process for bringing animal health products to market is easier, which is actually incorrect in many instances
  • Additional funding needs not met by “angel” investors
  • Improving market has led to more companies being willing to step into the space

Husch Blackwell has been involved with two animal health IPOs to date, serving as licensing counsel in one and as regulatory counsel in both. So Stan and Jim have experience to speak about the differences in the filing process that have emerged, including regulatory schemes and the adjustments between human and animal medicine. They say these differences are subtle but extremely important.

Listen to this week’s program here: Animal Health IPOs

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

Agribusiness, ZimmCast

Soy Checkoff Request for Referendum Results

Chuck Zimmerman

United Soybean BoardUSDA just announced the results of the request for referendum on the Soybean Research and Promotion Program. There were 355 request-for-referendum forms received, of which only 324 were valid, from Farm Service Agency offices. The 355 forms represent 0.06 percent of all eligible U.S. soybean farmers. That result falls short of the 10 percent needed to prompt a referendum.

“These results show that U.S. soybean farmers overwhelmingly see the value in our soy checkoff,” says Jim Call, soybean farmer from Madison, Minnesota, and United Soybean Board (USB) chairman. “It’s more important than ever that the volunteer farmer-leaders of USB continue to invest soy checkoff funds to maximize the profit potential for all U.S. soybean farmers.”

If 10 percent of the 569,998 U.S. soybean farmers had requested a referendum, with no more than one-fifth of the 10 percent coming from one state, USDA would have conducted the referendum on the soy checkoff within 12 months. USDA conducts the request-for-referendum vote every five years, as required by the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act. The most recent period took place from May 5 through May 30.
Farmers certifying that they or the entity they represent paid into the checkoff at any time between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2013, were eligible to participate in the petition for referendum. Eligible farmers who did not want a referendum did not need to take any action.

USDA requested and approved a notification by USB to inform U.S. soybean farmers about the request–for-referendum period. USB placed paid notifications on the request for referendum in national, regional and state agricultural publications and also distributed the notification to all Qualified State Soybean Boards and the news media. In addition, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and Farm Service Agency distributed the information about the request-for-referendum period.

Ag Groups, Soybean, USB

American Ethanol Winning Races

Chuck Zimmerman

Ryan Hunter ReayEver since I met Ryan Hunter Reay as the driver for the Indy Team Ethanol Car I’ve been following him as his racing gets better and better. He showed it this weekend when he roared to a dramatic finish and won the Iowa Corn Indy 300, presented by Dekalb. He’s pictured here with board members of Iowa Corn.

With the Indy cars running on the same fuel that we can put in our flex fuel vehicles – E85 – this renewable fuel was on the big stage again. In addition to the Indy race last weekend NASCAR held the American Ethanol 200 presented by Enogen, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, on Saturday. Our Joanna Schroeder was there courtesy of Syngenta and will have some stories to share from that event over on Domestic Fuel. You can see her first post that describes how Syngenta and Quad County Corn Processors have teamed up to begin commercial production of cellulosic ethanol here.

Ag Groups, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol

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Talia Goes

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