July 1, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

• Colorado Nearly Completely Out of the Drought, but Nationwide 70 Percent of Corn Crops are in Drought
• Market Development Action Team Investment Questionnaire
• Ask EPA to Reconsider Its Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards
• EPA Sets Final Renewable Fuel Volumes for 2023-2025
• Best Management Practices for Colorado Farms - Colorado Corn edition now available
• Prevented Planting Request for Information and Stakeholder Listening Sessions
• Pesticide Applicator Continuing Education

Colorado Nearly Completely Out of the Drought, but Nationwide 70 Percent of Corn Crops are in Drought

Although nearly the entire state of Colorado is out of the drought, many corn farmers in the midwest are struggling with severe drought. This is expected to greatly impact corn yields for this year. Approximately 70 percent of the nation's corn crop is currently in an area experiencing drought.

Market Development Action Team Investment Questionnaire

Your Market Development Action Team is looking for your ideas to promote and market Colorado corn. What things would you like to see the MDAT focus on or invest in? Some ideas that have been put forward include: more E15 gas pumps in northern Colorado, promote corn-based plastics, exports of corn in all forms, inform the public about uses of corn and to inform consumers about the steps farmers are taking to preserve our clean waters and our land. What ideas do you have?

Ask EPA to Reconsider Its Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed an extreme emission standards rule for future light-duty and medium-duty vehicles, the types of vehicles most drivers use every day.

NCGA has been looking into the impact that this rule would have on the corn industry and has found it would result in hundreds of millions of bushels in reduced demand for corn and corn-based ethanol. If you would like to learn more about this issue follow these links (link 1, link 2) for more information. 

So far thousands of messages have been sent by farmers across the country and if you would like to add your voice on the EPA Emissions Standards Rule you can by following this link: Add Your Voice Here

EPA Sets Final Renewable Fuel Volumes for 2023-2025

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released final volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2023, 2024 and 2025, providing for annual growth in total renewable fuel volumes, although with lower conventional biofuel volumes than EPA had proposed.

For 2023, EPA set an implied 15.25-billion-gallon requirement for conventional ethanol, which includes a supplemental 250 million gallons a prior court decision required EPA to restore to the RFS. For 2024 and 2025, EPA holds the implied conventional volume level at 15 billion gallons, despite proposing 15.25 billion gallons for those two years.

“Today’s final RFS volumes came in below levels EPA proposed for conventional biofuels for 2024 and 2025, holding ethanol volumes steady at 15 billion gallons,” said NCGA President Tom Haag. “A multi-year RFS volume rule offers stability and certainty for renewable fuels. However, when it comes to addressing pressing energy, environmental and economic challenges, EPA’s final rule falls short of the emission reductions and cost-saving benefits the higher proposed ethanol volumes would have provided.”

Read more...

Best Management Practices for Colorado Farms - Colorado Corn edition now available

The updated Best Management Practices for Colorado Corn is now available. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ryan Taylor rtaylor@coloradocorn.com.

Prevented Planting Request for Information and Stakeholder Listening Sessions

RMA is gathering feedback on possible changes to prevented planting crop insurance coverage through a request for information (published May 23, 2023) as well as virtual and in-person listening sessions. These feedback opportunities will enable RMA to provide better crop insurance options.

Request for Information

The request for information on prevented planting requests input on prevented planting topics to include:

• Harvest Price Option – Feedback on whether to allow the prevented planting payment calculations to be based on the higher of projected price or harvest price under the revenue protection plan of insurance.
• “1 in 4” Rule – Input on the challenges or experiences since the rule (to be eligible for a prevented planting coverage acreage must have been planted to a crop, insured, and harvested in at least 1 out of the previous 4 crop years) was implemented nationwide.
• 10 percent additional coverage option – Input on if RMA should reinstate the option to buy-up prevented planting coverage by 10 percent.
• Contract price – Whether prevented planting costs are higher for contracted crops and how prevented planting payments should be calculated for contract crops.
• General – Willingness to pay additional premium for expanded prevented planting benefits, recommendations on other prevented planting limitations, etc.



Comments are due September 1, 2023, and they should be submitted through regulations.gov. The request for information, which includes details for submitting feedback, is available in this Federal Register notice.

Colorado will have an in-person listening session on Wednesday, August 2, 2023 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.

• Colorado State University Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center (ARDEC) Conference Center
• 4616 NE Frontage Road Fort Collins, Colorado 80524

Pesticide Applicator Continuing Education

Mountain West PEST provides live in-person workshops and live online recertification credit training via Zoom Webinars.  Live online webinars and in-person workshops have been developed and approved for core and category credits. If your category is not listed as an "upcoming" webinar/workshop, please contact MWPEST (sandra@mountainwestpest.com).

View upcoming workshops

UPCOMING DEADLINES

• Margin Protection Insurance Plan – Sept. 30, 2023

UPCOMING EVENTS

• July 4 - CCPC Office Closed for the Holiday
• August 2 - RMA Listening Session