June 8, 2023

A five-minute summary of AAI, regulation, and industry activities for members of the largest state agribusiness association in the nation.

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June 19

AAI Drone Workshop

10:00 AM | Agriculture Renewable Energy Center, Iowa Falls

June 21

AAI Animal Industry Committee Meeting

11:00 AM | AAI Main Office Board Room

June 27

Nurse Tank Testing Workshop

8:00 AM | CNH Ag Industry Information Center

Nevada, Iowa

June 29

AAI Board of Directors Meeting

10:00 AM | AAI Main Office Board Room

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July 13

Emerald Hills Golf Club

Noon Shotgun Start | Okoboji, Iowa

August 24

Amana Colonies Golf Club

9:00 AM Shotgun Start | Amana, Iowa

September 14

Coldwater Golf Links

10:00 AM Shotgun Start | Ames, Iowa

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the United States has formally called for dispute settlement consultations with Mexico over that nation’s GMO corn restrictions. Under the terms of the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement, both nations will present their cases before a dispute settlement board. That board will then issue a ruling in the long-running trade dispute between the two nations.

The announcement comes after years of back and forth over Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s 2020 decree banning genetically modified corn imports. Despite changes to the rule earlier this year, American officials contend Mexico is still not living up to its agreements under the terms of the USMCA.

In a statement explaining the decision, Tai says United States officials have repeatedly conveyed to Mexico that its biotechnology policies are not based on science and threaten to disrupt U.S. exports and exacerbate food security challenges.

“Mexico’s biotechnology policies also stifle agricultural innovation that helps American farmers respond to pressing climate challenges, increase farm productivity, and improve farmers’ livelihoods,” Tai says. “We will continue to work with the Mexican government through these consultations to resolve our concerns and help ensure consumers can continue to access safe and affordable food and agricultural products.”

The National Corn Growers Association, along with many other agriculture leaders and trade organizations, have been calling for a dispute resolution settlement since last fall. NCGA President Tom Haag praises the Biden administration for taking this step, noting that Mexico’s rule would adversely affect people in both countries.



[...] Read Full Story

May import numbers are in and yet again, the trend is closely aligned with pre-COVID levels in 2018-2019. But there are two big differences between now and then.

Port labor disruptions are now impacting Asian cargo flows to the West Coast and low water levels in the Panama Canal are affecting Asian cargo flows to the East and Gulf coasts. If these issues persist and there is a “normal” peak season volume upswing in the months ahead, importers could face higher-than-normal complications.

U.S. ports handled 2,097,313 twenty-foot equivalent units of imports in May, according to Descartes. That’s down 20% year on year, but 2022 numbers were heavily skewed by a one-off event — the pandemic-induced shipping boom.

May’s imports were up 3.8% from April and 0.5% from May 2019, pre-pandemic.

“As with the first four months of 2023, the growth in import volume in May continued to track 2019 volumes,” said Chris Jones, executive vice president of industry and services at Descartes Systems Group.

The problem with taking cargo to the East Coast and Gulf Coast gateways is that Panama is experiencing its worst drought since 1950, restricting ships drafts in the canal. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) warned Monday that water levels could continue to fall and “unfortunately, current estimates indicate that the economic impact is unavoidable.”

The maximum draft for the larger Neopanamax locks has been reduced to 44.5 feet, with expectations for a reduction to 43 feet by August. “A limited number of ships have had to lower their drafts to comply,” said the ACP.

[...] Read Full Story

A bipartisan group of US Representatives is asking the Biden administration to address Brazil’s unfair trading policies impacting American ethanol.  

Ed Hubbard, general counsel and vice president for government affairs with the Renewable Fuels Association, says Brazil imposed tariffs in February and that’s reduced demand. “We’ve still been able to get some volume in there, albeit a lot less than we normally would have, but most of that has been impacted by the lack of competitiveness due to the tariff that’s been placed on US ethanol.”

Twenty-one members of the US House sent a letter to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Wednesday asking her to prioritize export competitiveness in the Brazilian market.

Hubbard tells Brownfield the US doesn’t levy a tariff against Brazil and California imports most of the ethanol for its low carbon fuel standard. “Our concern is that we’re just not getting reciprocal treatment. I mean, if we’re inviting those volumes in and they are putting a tariff on our volumes to Brazil that are needed from time to time, it’s just an unfair relationship.”

The letter was signed by Darin LaHood (R-IL), Mark Alford (R-MO), Don Bacon (R-NE), James Baird (R-IN), Mike Bost (R-IL), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), Angie Craig (D-MN), Michelle Fischbach R-MN), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Mike Flood (R-NE), Bill Foster (D-IL), Sam Graves (R-MO), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Zach Nunn (R-IA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Adrian Smith (R-NE), and Victoria Spartz (R-IN).

[...] Read Full Story

Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday that it saw no prospects for extending the Black Sea grain export deal, which is set to expire in mid-July, Russian news agencies reported.

TASS news agency quoted the ministry as saying that it was continuing consultations with the United Nations, and that ship inspections had resumed. RIA news agency said a new round of Russia-U.N. talks would take place in Geneva on June 9.

The deal was originally brokered by Turkey and the United Nations last July to allow Ukraine to resume exports from its southern ports, which had been blockaded by Russia since the start of its invasion.

To help convince Russia to back the deal, a three-year pact was also struck last July in which the U.N. agreed to help Moscow carry out its food and fertilizer shipments.

Russia has repeatedly threatened to quit the deal, complaining that obstacles still remain to its own exports of food and fertilizer. It also demands the reopening of a pipeline carrying ammonia from Russia to the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Pivdennyi - known in Russian as Yuzhny - for export to global markets, and the reconnection of its agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT international payment network.

[...] Read Full Story

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