In this Edition
Capitol Corner- State
- 2024 Important Legislature Dates
- DFLer Erin Murphy Picked as New Senate Majority Leader on Cusp of Session Start
- "No new taxes": Minnesota Senate Tax Chair Vows to Block Increases this Session
- Preparing for the 2024 state legislative session
- MN Clean Water Council
Capitol Corner - Federal
- ARA Update: Federal Court in Arizona Vacates Dicamba Registrations
- EPA Under Pressure to Issue Existing Stocks Order for Dicamba
- Trump is not Immune from Prosecution in his 2020 Election Interference Case, US Appeals Court Says
- Chairwoman says There's Still Time to get a Farm Bill Completed
- Republican Ag Staff Discuss Timeline for Farm Bill
Industry Related News
- Making Sense of the Maturing Micronutrients Market
- TFI: Tightening of Air Standards will Hamper Fertilizer Production, Economic Growth
- Minnesota Already Exceeds new EPA Air Quality Standards, Data Show
- World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE) - February 8, 2024
- The Fertilizer Market is Positively Cautious Ahead of Spring Planting Season
- Ag Tech Spending to Increase in 2024
- Sustainable Aviation Fuels
Partner News / Announcements
- EPA Outlines Implementation Approaches for Endangered Species Act Pesticide Policies
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2024 Important Legislature Dates
Committee Deadlines:
Legislators and the public officially know the timeline for getting bills through the House committee process during the upcoming 2024 session.
Here are the two deadlines for the 2024 session:
- Friday, March 22: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on bills that are not major appropriation or finance bills.
- Friday, April 19: Committees in both bodies must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
Per House Rule 2.03, the deadlines do not apply to the House Capital Investment Division; the House Taxes, Ways and Means, or Rules and Legislative Administration committees; nor the Senate Capital Investment, Finance, Taxes or Rules and Administration committees.
The Legislature must complete its work by May 20.
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DFLer Erin Murphy Picked as New Senate Majority Leader on Cusp of Session Start
Sen. Erin Murphy will lead the Minnesota Senate DFL Caucus during the 2024 legislative session, members of the 34-member group decided Tuesday.
Democrats selected Murphy, of St. Paul, as the top figure in the caucus days after Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic announced that she would step down from the role to battle a recurrence of ovarian cancer.
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"No new taxes": Minnesota Senate Tax Chair Vows to Block Increases this Session
Minnesota Senate Tax Chair Ann Rest says she has "only one word" for colleagues hoping to pass significant new spending or tax hikes this year: No.
Why it matters: Rest's comment underscores the constraints majority Democrats could face this session given tight margins for both votes and money.
The big picture: State economists have warned that Minnesota's surplus — now pegged at a projected $2.4 billion — could flip to a $2.3 billion "structural imbalance" down the road if lawmakers spend the cash and current spending trends hold.
What she's saying: Rest said that scenario won't occur if lawmakers are fiscally responsible. That's prompted her to tell people coming to her with bill ideas, "No new spending, no new taxes."
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Preparing for the 2024 state legislative session
An update from Minnesota Corn Growers Association Senior Public Policy Director Amanda Bilek
The Minnesota Legislature convenes on February 12 for a session in the second year of the biennium. Typically sessions in the even year of the biennium focus on capital investment (infrastructure), policy and a supplemental budget, since the odd year of the biennium is when a new two-year state budget is adopted.
Last session, the DFL controlled legislature adopted a general fund budget of $69.5 billion for FY 24/25 that took effect July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025. For comparison, the state general fund budget for FY 23/24 was $52.4 billion. Going into the 2023 session a $17.5 billion surplus was forecasted. The longer-term budget outlook for the state has changed. To review what was included in the state budget for agriculture, you can refer to our wrap up post from last year.
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MN Clean Water Council
Nitrate Response in SE MN & Bonding Proposals: Clean Water Council Update 1/18/2024
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ARA Update: Federal Court in Arizona Vacates Dicamba Registrations
The National Agricultural Law Center just reported that a federal court in Arizona has vacated the registration of dicamba for over-the-top use on soybeans and cotton. This appears to have a nationwide impact. ARA will be reviewing the 47 page court order to gain more insight into the rational of the court order.
Very bad news for the industry. Hopefully, EPA will immediately appeal and request a stay as the issue continues to be litigation. ARA will provide updates as we get additional information. We have reached out to other members of the Pesticide Policy Coalition (PPC) to see what options are available either by EPA related to this litigation and tools they have available to ensure this product may be used in 2024 despite the court vacatur, similar to the previous court ruling a few years ago.
“The Court finds the EPA violated FIFRA notice and comment mandates for issuing “new use” pesticide registrations for OTT dicamba for DT crops (cotton and soybean). For the reasons explained below, the Court vacates the 2020 registrations for XtendiMax, Enginia, and Tavium” page 1 of the court order.
“IT FURTHER ORDERED that 2020 registrations for XtendiMax, Enginia, and Tavium are VACATED.”
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EPA Under Pressure to Issue Existing Stocks Order for Dicamba
Industry groups say the federal court order poses significant financial threat to U.S. soybean and cotton farmers.
Industry groups are pressing the Environmental Protection Agency for options following the federal court order vacating the registrations for dicamba applications on tolerant soybean and cotton crops.
The court determined EPA violated Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act rules regarding notice and comment periods for issuing the “new use” dicamba registrations in 2020. The ruling implies farmers will not have access to the popular dicamba products XtendiMax (Bayer), Enginia (BASF), and Tavium (Syngenta) for the 2024 growing season.
The Agricultural Retailers Association and the American Soybean Association drafted separate letters to EPA Administrator Michael Regan demanding clarity for U.S. farmers.
“Farmers have already made their decisions about what varieties of cotton and soybean seed they want to plant in 2024, and retailers are already stocking not only the seed but also the herbicides these growers will need for their systems,” ARA writes.
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Trump is not Immune from Prosecution in his 2020 Election Interference Case, US Appeals Court Says
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals panel ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump can face trial on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, sharply rejecting the former president's claims that he is immune from prosecution while setting the stage for additional challenges that could further delay the case.
The ruling is significant not only for its stark repudiation of Trump's novel immunity claims but also because it breathes life back into a landmark prosecution that had been effectively frozen for weeks as the court considered the appeal. Yet the one-month gap between when the court heard arguments and issued its ruling has already created uncertainty about the timing of a trial in a calendar-jammed election year, with the judge overseeing the case last week canceling the initial March 4 date.
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Chairwoman says There's Still Time to get a Farm Bill Completed
The Chairwoman of the Senate Ag Committee says there’s still opportunity to get a farm bill done this year.
But, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan tells Brownfield it’s only doable if people set their partisan hats aside. “Members need to sit down and work together on a bipartisan basis,” she says. “We absolutely can get this done.”
She says putting a farm bill together in this political climate is challenging, but the committees have worked through difficult political climates before. “2014 bill leadership required us to take a $23 billion cut in the farm bill in that year,” she says. And this year, she says Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is committed to finding an additional $5 billion to add to the farm bill budget. “That would go into these programs where we could then adjust reference prices for the commodities that are not getting 10 to 15% increase under current policy,” she says.
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Republican Ag Staff Discuss Timeline for Farm Bill
Source: MGFA Weekly Washington Report
Chief economists for the Republicans on the House and Senate Agriculture committees were on stage this week at the National Crop Insurance Convention, according to The Hagstrom Report.
During a panel discussion on the farm bill and the future of crop insurance moderated by Bart Fischer of Texas A&M, Justin Benavidez, chief economist for House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., said that when the fiscal year 2024 Agriculture appropriations bill is completed — hopefully by March — that would be “a natural time for us to release some kind of mark.”
Thompson is “adamant we mark up a bill in committee this year,” Benavidez said. But he also said that the Chairman won’t “move” a farm bill that doesn’t raise reference prices, which will require additional revenue. Besides raising reference prices and gaining control over the conservation money in the IRA, Thompson’s priorities also include oversight of the Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA’s line of credit at the Treasury, and “making sure Congress can weigh in on” what the money is spent on.
John Newton, chief economist for Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., ranking member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said that Boozman “in the very near future” will release his framework for the farm bill. That framework, Newton said, would be based on the information gathered from the stakeholder events that Boozman has held in at least 19 states.
Noting that the Democrats wrote and passed the IRA without Republican support, Newton said that if some of the $20 billion in budget authority for conservation in the IRA is moved into the farm bill, the way that money will be spent has to be subject to a bipartisan negotiation since the farm bill is expected to be written on a bipartisan basis.
“There is daylight” between the Republican and Democratic views of the next farm bill, Newton said. Boozman though, he said, is motivated by the likelihood that commodity prices will continue to go down while the cost of production remains high.
Related News: Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, released a statement of “principles” for the next farm bill. Read the two-page statement.
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Making Sense of the Maturing Micronutrients Market
If manufacturers are accurate with their assessments, 2024 will be a great year to be in the micronutrient business. It’s not unusual for start of the season optimism, but that enthusiasm is often tempered with a bit of caution and a few “ifs.” Talking with a variety of providers they almost seemed to struggle or at least minimize the significance of potential challenges.
“The micronutrient market in the U.S. continues to have growth opportunities,” Jake Socherman, General Manager, Verdesian Life Sciences. “We’ve seen increased interest from dealers who want to include a micronutrient product that can be applied with their pre-plant fertilizers yet be available during the upcoming growing season.”
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TFI: Tightening of Air Standards will Hamper Fertilizer Production, Economic Growth
The Fertilizer Institute concerned with EPA's lowering of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particulate matter
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) today expressed alarm with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) lowering of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter. According to TFI, this change will lead to permitting gridlock across much of the country, negatively impacting economic growth and fertilizer production.
“At a time when the need to strengthen the domestic fertilizer industry has been made clear by multiple ongoing global crises and echoed by the Biden Administration, now is not the time to hamstring fertilizer production by making new production facilities or the expansion of existing production more difficult or, in some instances, impossible,” said TFI President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch
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Minnesota Already Exceeds new EPA Air Quality Standards, Data Show
The Biden administration is cracking down on air pollution with a new soot standard from the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency estimates it will save thousands of lives and yield tens of billions of dollars in health benefits by the time it’s fully implemented in 2032.
“This final air quality standard will save lives and make all people healthier, especially within America’s most vulnerable and overburdened communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
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Most locales in the United States, including the entirety of Minnesota, are already well below that threshold. For the most recent three years with available data, Minnesota counties have averaged between about 5 and 8 micrograms of annual exposure per year.
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World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE) - February 8, 2024
Office of the Chief Economist, Agricultural Marketing Service Farm Service Agency, Economic Research Service Foreign Agricultural Service WASDE - 645 | Approved by the World Agricultural Outlook Board February 8, 2024
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The Fertilizer Market is Positively Cautious Ahead of Spring Planting Season
Farmers are getting ready for spring planting season and that begins with fertilizer decisions.
Independent Commodity Intelligence Services says the fertilizer market is positively cautious, meaning the fertilizer side is positive but producers are being cautious due to year’s past.
A senior fertilizer editor says there is enough supply for the first part of the spring season but tightness could be a problem later on, especially if shipping struggles continue around the globe.
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Ag Tech Spending to Increase in 2024
Ask anyone in the agricultural community what one topic dominated the later half of 2023 and chances are good they will respond with two words: Ag technology. From the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) systems into the market to overall improvements being made to existing technologies, developments in this sector of the business were the talk of many trade shows and in-person events throughout last year.
And market watchers can expect this trend to continue, into 2024 and beyond. In fact, according to a new survey of more than 800 agribusiness workers, executive decisionmakers, on-farm managers, agronomists, data scientists, IT specialists, and market professionals by The Yield, an AI-powered precision yield management software entity, ag tech spending among these groups is projected to increase 60% over the next five years. Primary purchasing priorities include precision agriculture tools (66%), farm management software (60%), and data consolidation systems (45%).
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Sustainable Aviation Fuels
The U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) empowers energy companies and aviation stakeholders by supporting advances in research, development, and demonstration to overcome barriers for widespread deployment of low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
SAF made from renewable biomass and waste resources have the potential to deliver the performance of petroleum-based jet fuel but with a fraction of its carbon footprint, giving airlines solid footing for decoupling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from flight.
The U.S. Department of Energy is working with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other federal government agencies to develop a comprehensive strategy for scaling up new technologies to produce SAF on a commercial scale.
Resources / Articles:
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Partner News / Announcements
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EPA Outlines Implementation Approaches for Endangered Species Act Pesticide Policies
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the latest steps to incorporate stakeholder feedback and collaboration with federal partners, ensuring the Agency’s work to protect endangered species from pesticides is practical, flexible, and supports the agricultural community. Assistant Administrator Michal Freedhoff described these steps in a speech to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
“Protecting endangered species and ensuring we have a safe and abundant food supply can go hand in hand,” said Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff. “The steps we’re announcing today are designed to meet this dual obligation of providing the agricultural community with the tools and flexibility they need while ensuring pesticides aren’t harming endangered species.”
When registering pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA must also comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to ensure pesticides do not harm endangered species or their critical habitats. For most of EPA’s history, the Agency has almost never met these duties for its FIFRA decisions. This has resulted in considerable litigation against the Agency, creating uncertainty for farmers and other pesticide users, unnecessary expenses and inefficiencies for EPA, and delays in the protection of endangered species.
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