According to an analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation, proposed regulations that could require public companies to begin reporting greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains would impose significant costs on producers and threaten the confidentiality of agricultural data.

The rule proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in March “could create several substantial costs and liabilities, such as reporting obligations, technical challenges, significant financial and operational disruptions, and the risk of financially crippling legal liabilities.” AFBF says.

Farmers should start tracking and disclosing on-farm data at a time when farm management software platforms are used by only 31% of farms, according to the analysis. Many farmers still rely on pen, paper and non-computerized tools.

The SEC rule would also require companies to disclose when they purchase carbon offsets, including credits generated from agricultural practices such as cover crops or no-till farming.

The deadline to file comments on the proposed rule is May 20.

Senator Chris Coons, D-Del.

Senate Democrats seek $1 billion in conservation funding

A group of Senate Democrats is asking for $1 billion for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, according to a letter sent to Senate agriculture officials.

The group, led by the senses. Michael Bennett, Chris Coons and Debbie Stabenow, emphasized the importance of preserving funding for USDA conservation programs – including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Conservation Management Program, the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and the Regional Conservation Partnership. Program.

The senators said increased funding for the NRCS would allow the USDA to increase its staff and ensure adequate technical assistance to farmers.

Take note: The recently passed FY2022 Omnibus Spending Bill directed $904 million to the NRCS.

On this subject : A new Economic Research Service report on soybean, wheat, oat and cotton acreage found that producers in more than a third of fields with “resource problems” such as water erosion had not received technical assistance. NRCS was the source of technical assistance for two-thirds of fields with resource issues, including soil compaction.

The WOTUS round tables start today

The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers will hold their first virtual regional roundtable today to hear a diversity of perspectives on how to define “United States waters” under the Clean Water Act. The roundtable, organized by the National Parks Conservation Association, can be viewed at 9:30 a.m. Central Time (10:30 a.m. Eastern Time).

However, the agencies have frustrated the agricultural community by not identifying who will be represented at the 10 roundtables, which have been organized by various groups including the Arizona, North Carolina and California agricultural bureaus, the Kansas Livestock Association and the Regenerative Agricultural Foundation.

The EPA did not respond to a request Friday for that information. Part of the reason may be that some groups are still building their queues. The North Carolina Farm Bureau, whose roundtable is scheduled for June 23, says Agri Pulse he’s “still working with the agencies and the lineup hasn’t been finalized,” but expects the EPA to release more information around June 23.

USDA allocates $22.5 million for Chesapeake Bay water quality projects

The Department of Agriculture plans to invest $22.5 million in additional conservation assistance in fiscal year 2022 for water quality projects in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Most of the pollution in the bay historically comes from agriculture. The Environmental Protection Agency, the six Bay States and the District of Columbia have all pledged to clean up the bay in a unique federal-state agreement resulting from a lawsuit filed by the Chesapeake Bay. Foundation.

The USDA plans to allocate $10 million of the funding through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, $10 million through the Agricultural Conservation Easements Program and $2.5 million of the conservation stewardship program.

US dairy export value soars to start 2022

U.S. dairy exports in the first quarter of 2022 posted strong results, slightly outpacing last year’s total shipments, but it’s the value of those exports that really shined.

The United States shipped about 650,000 metric tons of dairy products in the first three months of the year, worth about $2.1 billion, according to the latest USDA trade data. US exporters shipped about 649,000 tonnes in the same period a year ago, but it was worth $1.7 billion.

The success of U.S. dairy exports this year comes despite “numerous challenges such as supply chain issues, numerous barriers to entry into EU and Canadian markets, and the lack of trade agreements that put us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors in many other countries”. regions,” says Jaime Castaneda, executive vice president of the National Dairy Producers Federation and the US Dairy Export Council.

FAS lowers forecast for Malaysian palm oil

According to a new analysis from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

FAS says it now expects Malaysia to produce 18.5 million metric tonnes of palm oil for the 2021-22 marketing year, 646,000 tonnes more than the previous marketing year but lower than the previous forecast by the FAS. USDA. The main problem, according to FAS, is that there is a “continuing shortage of manual labor in the sector”, a situation which the agency says should be resolved by the 2022-23 marketing year. when FAS expects production to increase to 19.5 million tonnes.

“Even though the Malaysian government has approved the recruitment of 32,000 foreign workers, it will take time for the industry to fill the gap,” FAS says in a report from Kuala Lumpur. “The Malaysian and Indonesian governments signed a memorandum of understanding on foreign labor on April 1 which should pave the way for the resumption of harvesting operations with full staff.”

She said it: “This additional $22.5 million to help watershed farmers improve water quality in their local waters and the Chesapeake Bay is encouraging. We thank the USDA for this infusion of resources and our congressional leaders for their tireless advocacy to bring more resources to the watershed.” – Alison Prost, Chesapeake Vice President of Environmental Protection and Restoration Bay Foundation.

Questions, comments, advice? E-mail Steve Davies.