A five-minute summary of AAI, regulation, and industry activities for members of the largest state agribusiness association in the nation. | |
Grain Indemnity Fund, Overweight Permits Provide Discussion Points For AAI Board | |
With so many years passing since the last assessments for the Grain Indemnity Fund, the topic induced lengthy discussion during the Agribusiness Association of Iowa Board of Directors meeting on December 15. The board meeting at the AAI Main Office in Des Moines also included discussion of the upcoming legislative session, reports from committees, updates on trucking concerns, and plans for 2023.
While the Grain Indemnity Fund assessments won't start until after July 1, 2023, the Iowa legislature will need to take some action to instigate the assessments. This is likely to raise other questions about the structure, size, and mechanics of the fund. The board has referred the topic to the Legislative Committee. It was noted that Grain Warehouse Bureau Chief Jim Kennedy will be at the Showcase in February for a session dedicated to a discussion of the Grain Indemnity Fund.
The AAI committees have been active over the past few months and provided reports recapping the topics and concerns each committee is following. In particular, the transportation committee has been focused on the new Overweight Permitting law and the Highway 5/65 bypass. The Transportation Committee will continue to engage with the Iowa Department of Transportation and other entities on these topics.
The next board meeting will take place on January 26 following the AAI Legislative Breakfast. Any AAI members interested in interacting with legislators and helping provide a strong presence by taking part in the breakfast at the capitol are encouraged to join their fellow members that morning. More information will be provided in January.
Get Involved!
The direction and impact of the association is a direct result of committee activities. Committees provide input and direction for the Board of Directors actions. You or someone within your company can serve on a committee by emailing aai@agribiz.org, calling the AAI office, or filling out a form online at https://www.agribiz.org/benefits-of-membership/join-a-committee/.
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Harvest Proclamation Extended to January 20 | |
Governor Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation relating to the weight limits and transportation of grain, fertilizer and manure.
The proclamation is effective immediately and continues through January 20, 2023. The proclamation allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage, stover, fertilizer (dry, liquid, and gas), and manure (dry and liquid) to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight) without a permit for the duration of this proclamation.
The proclamation applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight, do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code § 321.463 (6) (b), by more than 12.5 percent, do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds, and comply with posted limits on roads and bridges.
Full Harvest Weight Proclamation
Iowa DOT Informational Memos
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Federal Updates - Congress Reauthorizes WRDA | |
Congress passed the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2022, a key piece of legislation related to our nation’s water infrastructure.
Of particular importance, this year’s WRDA reauthorization makes permanent a cost-share structure for inland waterways projects where 65% of funding comes from the general treasury with the remaining 35% coming from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. The cost share is expected to create more certainty around the maintenance and modernization of the inland waterway system.
Read More:
Water Resources Bill Reauthorized with a Component that Will Impact Producers
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The following list of members have recently completed their membership investment for 2023.
Thank you for your membership!
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NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO REGISTER | |
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Attending the Agribusiness Showcase & Conference is a great way to jumpstart your year. Make connections with exhibitors, government officials, regulators, and other ag professionals, plus you'll get the most up to date information directly from industry experts.
Reward yourself and register now!
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Exhibitor Rates Increase Dec. 24 | There's still time to avoid late fees - Register Now! | |
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December 29
Showcase Committee Meeting
10:00 AM | AAI Main Office Board Room
January 6
AAI Legislative Committee Meeting
10:00 AM | AAI Main Office Board Room
January 26
AAI Legislative Breakfast
8:00 AM | Iowa State Capitol Building
February 14 & 15
Agribusiness Showcase & Conference
Knapp Varied Industries Building
Iowa State Fairgrounds | Des Moines, Iowa
Click Here to Register Online
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WATCH THE AGRIBUSINESS REPORT | |
Legislative Forecast Webinar - January 10 | |
The Business Record will hold a webinar looking at key issues business leaders are focused on and would like the legislature to address.
Panel representatives from Iowa Business Council, Iowa Association of Business and Industry, Iowa League of Cities, Technology Association of Iowa, Greater Des Moines Partnership
January 10, 2023 | Noon - 1:00 PM
Free Registration:
Business Record Legislative Forecast
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Union Pacific’s chief executive has told federal regulators the railroad will pause its use of embargoes in order to give the congestion-alleviation practice a “hard look.”
UP had gotten flak from shippers, labor officials and the Surface Transportation Board for a dramatic increase in the number of embargoes it has issued this year and last year. The scrutiny came to a head last week when the board held a hearing last Tuesday and Wednesday on why the number of UP’s embargoes has grown from 27 in 2017 to 662 in 2021 and 886 as of October 2022.
“I appreciate the feedback we received from our customers and the Board. I assure you, we are taking a hard look at our use of congestion-related embargoes,” UP President and CEO Lance Fritz said in a Friday letter addressed to the board. “To facilitate that hard look, we are immediately pausing any additional embargoes under the pipeline inventory management program we began in November. The Board and our customers can expect to hear more from us on this subject in the coming days.”
Last week, some shippers suggested UP has not fulfilled its common carrier obligation because of the magnitude of the embargoes that it has employed in recent years. The common carrier obligation binds freight railroads by law to carry freight, provided that the tendered agreement has reasonable terms and conditions.
If railroads are failing to meet their common carrier obligations, that could open them up to lawsuits from shippers, according to last week’s hearing.
[...] Read Full Story
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Proposed farmworker labor reforms from Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) are part of the omnibus spending package, but farm groups are continuing to push for immigration reform. While the labor shortage is a universal problem for all businesses, it is an especially big challenge for dairy operations, which need year-round workers. That’s why the industry is renewing its push for the new Congress to pass Immigration reform. The cost and availability of workers is a hot-button issue for dairy producers.
“Labor, its labor, labor, labor. We’ve been talking about labor for a long time, and I’m not very hopeful that we’re going to get anything done there,” says Marv Post, South Dakota Dairy Producers Association president.
However, one Washington insider is more optimistic about movement on immigration policy in 2023.
Jim Wiesemeyer, Farm Journal Washington correspondent, says: "I'm one of the few who thinks we have a six-month window in early 2023 with a new Congress to get a mini-immigration reform through both the House and the Senate, but that begins with border security. The Republicans are insisting they won’t move one iota unless they have border security. Once they get that they can give the Democrats some of the things they want."
The dairy industry is calling for compromise and for Congress to adopt the Farm Worker Modernization Act, which has passed twice in the House.
[...] Read Full Story
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Source: Des Moines Register
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With her face a few inches from the ground, Ruth McCabe smiles as she takes a photo of a large green clump of cereal rye, a winter cover crop peeking out amid acres of corn stalks, husks and other crop stubble remaining after the fall harvest.
The central Iowa farmers who joined her on the late November day teased her about taking a selfie with the overwintering crop that builds soil health and helps prevent erosion.
"Ruth McCabe, the cover crop whisperer," jokes Mark Oehlerking, in whose field McCabe was digging.
Two years ago, McCabe became a conservation agronomist at Heartland Cooperative, becoming among the first nationally to be embedded in a grain elevator, a business traditionally more focused on selling seed and chemicals to farmers than helping them plant cover crops, prairies and grass waterways.
Since then, McCabe and West Des Moines-based Heartland have forged unlikely alliances to help farmers not only grow cover crops, but also experiment with a variety that could create a new cash crop and with sowing the soil-saving plants differently. And they join an aggressive central Iowa initiative to build bioreactors and saturated buffers on their fields to filter out nitrogen and phosphorus — nutrients critical to growing healthy corn and soybeans, but pollutants when they enter the state's rivers, streams and lakes.
[...] Read Full Story
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After months of delay, the Senate voted to confirm Alexis Taylor as Undersecretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. She will now help craft the agency’s trade policy and work to promote market access and opportunities for American agricultural interests.
As news of her confirmation began to spread, representatives from various segments of agriculture issued statements applauding the move.
“Getting Alexis’s confirmation through the Senate has been one of our top priorities, as she is someone with a deep understanding of agricultural issues and is widely respected by policymakers on both sides of the aisle,” leaders from the National Corn Growers Association said. “Approval of this nomination comes at a pivotal time for us as we work to address a pending decree that would block biotech corn imports into Mexico.”
Taylor has served as the director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture since Dec. 2016. In that role she led a team of 500 employees who were responsible for 38 state-level programs.
Prior to that, she spent 12 years in Washington, D.C. leading USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Services. During that time, she worked to bring U.S. agriculture products into new markets and improve their competitive position across the international marketplace.
Taylor has also worked on staff for congressmen in Montana and Iowa.
[...] Read Full Story
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Source & Photo Credit: Iowa State University News Service
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Jason Henderson has been appointed vice president of Iowa State University’s Extension and Outreach programs.
Henderson, who currently serves as director of extension and senior associate dean for faculty development in the Purdue University College of Agriculture, as well as assistant vice provost for engagement, will join Iowa State on April 3, 2023. He succeeds John Lawrence, who announced his plans to retire in spring 2023.
“Jason Henderson brings a wealth of experience to Iowa State University, both as an agricultural economist and an academic leader,” said President Wendy Wintersteen. “He was raised on a family dairy farm in northeast Iowa. He understands the needs of Iowa’s rural communities and the critical role extension and outreach plays in their vitality and success.”
Henderson holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Central College in Pella and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from Purdue University. He served in several positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, including vice president and Omaha branch executive, before joining Purdue in 2013 as extension director, associate dean, and assistant vice provost of engagement.
A nationally recognized expert in agricultural and rural issues, Henderson has published more than 80 research articles in academic and Federal Reserve publications on topics such as land values, entrepreneurship, e-commerce in agricultural industries, changing demographics in rural America, and value-added food manufacturing.
[...] Read Full Story
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THE AGRIBUSINESS REPORT
Follow host David Geiger on Twitter:
@geigerreports
Watch daily broadcast live:
KCRG-TV Cedar Rapids
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Watch online any time:
https://agribiz.org/report
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