A five-minute summary of AAI, regulation, and industry activities for members of the largest state agribusiness association in the nation. | |
Opportunities To Sign ARA Petitions | |
Activity in Washington, D.C., is spurring our national partners to request action from AAI members.
Sign a Petition Urging EPA Withdraw Draft Herbicide Strategy
Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), in cooperation with the American Soybean Association (ASA), encourage commercial pesticide applicators to sign a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the agency withdraw the draft herbicide strategy. Deadline to sign the petition is 10:59 p.m. Central on Friday, Oct. 20. Only a signer's name, city, and state will be included on the letter. Please pass this along to the commercial pesticide applicators in your business.
Click Here for Petition
The proposed rules have raised major concerns for the ag industry as it would impose significant new regulatory burdens and uncertainties on nearly every agricultural herbicide user throughout the nation.
- Concerningly, these restrictions could be very costly or entirely unworkable for many producers. Examples include:
- Requiring herbicide users to attain "points" by adopting certain runoff reduction practices (reduced tillage, cover crops, vegetative filter strips, contour farming, etc.) to use most herbicides (most herbicides could require 6, 9, or more points to use);
- Downwind spray drift buffers as great as 500 feet for aerial application or 200 feet for ground application (these distances could be reduced by using coarser spray droplets or other mitigations);
- Runoff mitigation exemptions can apply for applications more than 1,000 feet from terrestrial or aquatic "habitat" ("habitat" definitions are very broad and few areas are likely to qualify for this exemption) or if you are under a field/site specific runoff conservation plan;
- If you have subsurface drainage, you cannot comply with runoff reduction practice requirements. All subsurface drainage must be channeled into retention ponds or saturation buffer zones.
Let Legislators Know You Support The Nationwide Consumer & Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2023 (Nationwide E15)
When the Clean Air Act volatility limits for gasoline-ethanol blends were set 30 years ago, it was two decades before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the use of E15.
ARA is calling on members like you to take action in support of the Nationwide Consumer & Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2023 (S. 2707) because it would update the statute to reflect today’s fuel marketplace and recognize the benefits of E15.
View Filed Bill (S. 2707)
Click Here to send a message to your elected officials in Congress urging them to support this legislation.
In lieu of state-by-state petitions, federal legislation allowing for the year-round, nationwide sale of E15 would provide certainty to the entire industry — including fuel marketers, retailers, and renewable fuel producers — by preventing a complicated patchwork of unique state or regional fuel requirements.
The bill would allow year-round, nationwide sale of E15, by allowing E15 and E10 to access the same 1.0-psi RVP waiver and use the same blendstock. This legislation eliminates the need for the EPA to consider using its emergency waiver authority to allow E15 to be used each summer.
This bill would also supersede the state petitions filed by Midwest governors as individual state actions would no longer be necessary to facilitate year-round E15. This would alleviate concerns surrounding logistical challenges and inefficiencies in the marketplace.
This bipartisan legislation was introduced by Senators Deb Fischer, R-Neb.; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V.; Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., along with a diverse group of other senators. ARA is a member of the coalition in support of this legislation.
Download the E15 Factsheet
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INREC Hiring Project Coordinator for Batch and Build Projects | |
The Iowa Nutrient Research & Education Council (INREC) is partnering with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Select Farms, and other partners on a “batch and build” project. The Pig Farmer Batch and Build Project targets bioreactor and saturated buffer implementation by pig farmers and landowners who utilize manure as a fertilizer source in targeted watersheds. These conservation practices are very effective at reducing nitrate loss from tile drainage.
INREC is seeking candidates to apply for a project coordinator position, who will serve as the primary contact and organizer for project implementation activities including recruiting farmers and landowners, surveying sites, planning construction, and enrolling participants in financial assistance programs.
Download the position description: INREC Project Coordinator
For more information or to apply, contact Ben Gleason, INREC Executive Director, at bgleason@agribiz.org.
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A big thank you to all of the AAI Golf Outing Sponsors for the 2023 season! You made these outings a great experience for all of our participants. THANK YOU! | |
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American Farmland Trust
In Attendance:
Bill Northey, AAI CEO
Iowa Water Conference
In Attendance:
Ben Gleason, Executive Director, INREC
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DMACC Agribusiness Career Fair - Sept. 26 | |
Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) will be holding a career fair at their Ankeny campus on September 26, 2023 from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Companies wishing to take part in the career fair can register at the following link:
DMACC Career Fair Company Registration
Questions about the event should be directed to Andrea Rouse at adrouse@dmacc.edu
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Anaerobic Digestion on the Farm Conference | |
U.S. EPA Region 7, Iowa State University, and the University of Iowa announced that registration is now open for the upcoming conference titled Anaerobic Digestion on the Farm – Optimizing Environmental and Economic Outcomes for Rural Communities and Beyond.
EPA and the universities will host the conference Nov. 6-8, 2023, at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. A full conference agenda and registration information are available on EPA’s conference webpage.
The conference will feature presentations, exhibits, and discussion panel sessions covering a variety of anaerobic digestion topics. The conference will also include virtual tours of anaerobic digestion facilities and a poster session. EPA, Iowa State University, and the University of Iowa are accepting submissions for the poster session until Sept. 22, 2023. Please see the conference webpage for details.
Anaerobic Digestion on the Farm Registration Site
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Rail shippers are still digesting the Surface Transportation Board’s proposed rule for reciprocal switching, but initial reactions are mixed. Shippers back efforts to make the collection of first- and last-mile data permanent and standardize metrics for sufficient rail service, but some also wish the rule would do more to incentivize rail competition.
“All five board members said yes. That’s huge, right? There were no dissenting votes. So, we as the shipper community and the railroad community need to recognize that this is a bipartisan, if you will, attempt, and it’s really designed to appease both the shippers and the railroads,” Herman Haksteen, president of the Private Railcar Food and Beverage Association, told FreightWaves. “This rulemaking and the way it’s presented is workable today. And I think it addresses a lot of the shippers’ needs. So that’s why I’m positive about it.”
Said Jeff Sloan, senior director of regulatory affairs for the American Chemistry Council: “This is a very different approach that the board has taken here than they did back in their 2016 proposal where the previous proposal was really designed to help shippers get better access to competitive rail service as an overall goal. Competition was the end in and of itself.
“Here, it’s a narrower approach where they’re offering reciprocal switching basically as a remedy when a railroad is failing to provide adequate service. At first blush, we’re a bit disappointed that the board has gone away from using this as a tool to promote competition more generally. However, we’re very hopeful that this proposal will provide meaningful relief to shippers who are not getting quality service from the railroads.”
[...] Read Full Story
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In an era defined by environmental challenges, population growth, and an ever-increasing demand for food production, the role of agriculture is more critical than ever. With our vast expanses of farmland and innovative farming practices, the United States stands as a beacon of agricultural prowess. In order to maintain this position, it is imperative that we take proactive steps to secure our agricultural future. One such step is the inclusion of phosphate and potash on the Critical Minerals list – a compilation of resources deemed vital to our nation’s economy and security – to safeguard and enhance the foundation of American agriculture and strengthen our nation’s food security.
Phosphate and potash are essential macronutrients that play pivotal roles in crop growth, yield, and overall plant health. Phosphate, in the form of phosphorus, is crucial for root development, photosynthesis, and promoting the efficient uptake of nutrients. Potash, primarily in the form of potassium, is responsible for strengthening plant structure, improving water utilization, and enhancing resistance to diseases and stress. Without these two minerals, modern agricultural systems would crumble and the ability to feed a growing population would be severely compromised.
Make no mistake about it, food security is national security. While discussions regarding national security tend to center on military strength, geopolitical influence, and protection of critical infrastructures, recent events have laid bare that food security is equally important in safeguarding a nation’s future. The vast majority of the world’s phosphate and potash resources are concentrated in a few countries, raising the risk of supply chain vulnerabilities and geopolitical instability.
[...] Read Full Story
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Rhonda was a beautiful, vibrant California dairy girl. She was the first friend I made there when I moved across the country from Michigan for my first job. I remember the beauty of her wedding day, but the darkness of her funeral stands out more. Rhonda died by suicide in her 20s. The pain of her death is one of the big reasons I speak about mental wellness in agriculture, and her picture remains in my office today.
September is suicide prevention month. It’s a topic that none of us in agriculture want to talk about, but we need to. In 2022, U.S. deaths by suicide increased by 2.6 percent — and are 2/3 higher in rural areas. Even scarier, rural youth have suicide rates double that of urban youth. While we may not want to discuss suicide, data shows it’s a topic that’s too important to keep ignoring. Every time I speak to an audience about managing stress, people tell me how they know farmers or veterinarians who died by suicide.
I believe one of the keys to preventing suicide is to better manage stress, which has overtaken weight as the top health condition being explored in the U.S. Agriculture is filled with chronic stressors like high input prices, global trade concerns, isolation, profit margins, crop/animal disease, weather, loans — not to mention working with family, fear of losing the farm, being questioned by consumers, protecting our independence, dealing with employees, and the culture of “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.”
The concerns around how this is impacting our business have led to stress and suicide being included in National Farm Safety and Health Week (NFSHW), themed “No one can take your place.” The Agrisafe Network is offering a variety of farm safety and health free webinars, including the “Protecting Your Brain from Stress” I donated. If you register here, you’ll receive a link to the complimentary recording. I’ve also created a special package for Agriculture’s Growth Journal for the month — buy three journals to help you manage stress and you’ll get three free.
[...] Read Full Story
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Source: Progressive Farmer
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Weather records for the month of August show that the volatile meteorological summer of 2023 showed no letup. That includes the occurrence of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) August 2023 U.S. Climate Report noted that "Eight new billion-dollar weather and climate disasters were confirmed this month including: Hurricane Idalia, the Hawaii Firestorm, the mid-July Northeast flooding and North Central Severe Weather, the Minnesota Hailstorms on Aug. 11 and several other severe storm events that occurred in July."
There have been 23 confirmed weather and climate disaster events this year, each with losses exceeding $1 billion. These disasters consisted of 18 severe storm events, two flooding events, one tropical cyclone, one winter storm and one wildfire event. For this year-to-date period, the first eight months of 2023 rank highest for disaster count, ahead of 2020 with 16 disasters.
The total cost of these events exceeds $57.6 billion, and they have resulted in 253 direct and indirect fatalities. This year had the largest number of billion-dollar disasters during a calendar year since records began in 1980. Some additional perspective: That total of 23 such events is 44% more than the previous record in 2020, with a full one-third -- four months -- yet to go in this calendar year.
Since these billion-dollar disaster records began in 1980, the United States has sustained 371 separate weather and climate disasters where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (based on the CPI adjustment to 2023) per event. The total cost of these 371 events exceeds $2.615 trillion.
[...] Read Full Story
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