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USA Rice Daily
Up-to-the-Minute News on Issues and Activities
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
WOTUS Revisited
Adjacent? You tell us.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Late yesterday, USA Rice staff were invited to a meeting with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and others to discuss the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule (now titled the Clean Water Rule).  EPA disclosed that they intended to release a pre-Federal Register notice of the rule today.   Implementation of the rule will begin 60 days after it is officially published in the Federal Register, which is expected within the next month. 

 

The agency staff stated that significant changes were made to the final version based on the more than one million public comments the agency received. EPA indicated that among the changes are the issues of upland ditches, the definition of tributaries, the extent of floodplains, and the confusion over how farms would be treated in "adjacent waters," among other things.  Agency staff specifically cited USA Rice comments in helping to better define an exemption for rice fields that was in the proposal but had some problematic language.

 

USA Rice is encouraged by the agency's efforts to substantively change the document, but will be carefully reviewing and analyzing the final rule to provide guidance to the rice industry.  The pre-Federal Register version of the  final Clean Water Rule and various supporting documentation can be found here.

Contact: Steve Hensley (703) 236-1445
CCC Announces Prevailing World Market Prices 
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation today announced the following prevailing world market prices of milled and rough rice, adjusted for U.S. milling yields and location, and the resulting marketing loan gain (MLG) and loan deficiency payment (LDP) rates applicable to the 2014 crop, which will become effective today at 7:00 a.m., Eastern Time (ET). Prices are unchanged from the previous announcement.

 
World Price
MLG/LDP Rate
 
Milled Value ($/cwt)
Rough ($/cwt)
Rough ($/cwt)
Long-Grain
14.93
9.67 
0.00
Medium-/Short-Grain
14.55
9.80 
0.00
Brokens
  9.01
----
----

This week's prevailing world market prices and MLG/LDP rates are based on the following U.S. milling yields and the corresponding loan rates:

 
U.S. Milling Yields
Whole/Broken
(lbs/cwt)
Loan Rate
($/cwt)
Long-Grain
57.21/12.55
6.64
Medium-/Short-Grain
61.89/8.83
6.51
 
The next program announcement is scheduled for June 3, 2015.    
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice Futures   
CME Group (Prelim):  Closing Rough Rice Futures for May 27

Month
Price
Net Change
July 2015$9.430
 + $0.010
September 2015$9.710
+ $0.015
November 2015$9.970
+ $0.020
January 2016$10.225
+ $0.015
March 2016$10.390
+ $0.115
May 2016
$10.390
+ $0.115
July 2016
$10.390
+ $0.115

In the News 

Tariffs and Trade

Don't Blame Trade for Slow Growth Wall Street Journal

Opponents of TPP charge that it is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on steroids; proponents counter that it is not modeled on NAFTA, but rather has been crafted with the cautionary lessons of the 1993 treaty consistently in view.

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