In This Issue:

• NBGA Summer Meeting Info
• House and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairs Outline Their Farm Bill Proposals
• Senator Hoeven Introduces Crop Insurances Bill, NBGA Among Ag Groups Supporting
• EPA Issues Herbicide Strategy Update
• NBGA Joins Other Commodity Groups Opposing Duties on 2, 4-D
• Congressional Letter Supporting Barley Research References "No Barley, No Beer"
• U.S. Grains Council Touts Efforts with Craft Brewers in Mexico and China

NBGA Summer Meeting Info

June 18-June 20, 2024

Country Inn & Suites

2221 Killebrew Drive

Bloomington, MN 55425

Reservations available until May 18th: https://choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/MK64M4

The next NBGA Board of Directors meeting will begin on Tuesday, June 18th at 1pm in Minneapolis, MN. We'll conclude business items in time for a 6pm dinner. The following day on Wednesday, June 19th, we'll reconvene the Board at 8:30am and around 11:30 will board busses to head to Rahr Malting and Dual Citizen Brewing. On Thursday, June 20th, we'll meet from 8am-12pm to discuss final business items.

Please reach out to Blair Elias (belias@gordley.com) with any questions!

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House and Senate Agriculture Chairs Outline Their Farm Bill Proposals

Last week House Ag Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA) and Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) each released summaries of their Farm Bill proposals. 

Chairman Thompson has scheduled a House Ag Committee mark-up of his proposal on May 23^rd. Stabenow indicated she has no plans for a committee mark-up anytime soon and instead will use her proposal as the basis for negotiations with Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) before going forward. Under House rules, Thompson needs to hold a committee mark-up before June in order to retain the ability to use the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Baseline “score” from May 2023 rather than the updated Baseline that CBO will issue in June 2024. The May 2023 Baseline will be more favorable than the June update. Thompson does not have firm plans or timeline for House floor consideration.

NBGA staff met recently with the House & Senate Committee staff to discuss the outlined proposals and while there are certainly differences, the tone of the meetings indicated that the two sides are not that far apart and there is the potential to get a bill enacted this year.

Key provisions of Senate Chairwoman Stabenow’s proposal:

Price Loss Coverage (PLC)

·        Changes the definition of “effective reference price” by updating the formula for the 2025 through 2029 crop years to incorporate recent high price years.

·        Increases by 5% the statutory reference price for commodities such as seed cotton, rice, and peanuts that have not or are not expected to benefit from the existing escalator.

·        Establishes a payment band on PLC based on 20% of the effective reference price, similar to the payment band on ARC based on 10% of the revenue guarantee.

Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) - Increases the ARC guarantee to 88% of the benchmark revenue (it is currently 86%)

Marketing Assistance Loans - Establishes a cost-of-production escalator on marketing assistance loans.

Crop Insurance

·        Increasing the premium subsidy on SCO to 80% (same as proposed by Sen. Hoeven)

·        Increasing SCO coverage level from 86% to 88% (Hoeven proposal increases it to 90%)

·        Allowing producers who purchase SCO to continue to be able to participate in PLC

Research – Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative

Increases the authorization of appropriations to $20 million for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 for the Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative

Trade - Maintains Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) mandatory funding at current level of $2.5 billion over 10 years

The written summary of House Chairman Thompson’s proposal was less detailed and includes:

Commodities

·        Increases support for the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) programs to account for persistent inflation and rising costs of production.

·        Provides authority to expand base acres to include producers who currently cannot participate in ARC/PLC

Crop Insurance - Expands premium assistance for beginning and veteran farmers

Trade - Substantially increases funding for MAP/FMD.

Senator Hoeven Introduces Crop Insurance Bill, NBGA Among Ag Groups Supporting

On April 9^th, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, introduced the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act, legislation to strengthen crop insurance and make higher levels of coverage more affordable for producers. Cosponsors of the bill include Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.). Specifically, Hoeven’s legislation, which he is working to include in the farm bill, would:

·        Increase premium support for higher levels of crop insurance coverage, which will enhance affordability and reduce the need for ad-hoc disaster assistance.

·        Improve the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) by increasing premium support and expanding the coverage level, providing producers with an additional level of protection.

·        Direct the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to conduct a study to improve the effectiveness of SCO in large counties.

·        Not require producers to choose between purchasing enhanced crop insurance coverage or participating in Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, giving them flexibility to make decisions that work best for their operations.

The bill is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, American Sugarbeet Growers Association, Crop Insurance Professionals Association, Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau, Midwest Council on Agriculture, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Cotton Council, National Corn Growers Association, National Sunflower Association, Southwest Council of Agribusiness, U.S. Beet Sugar Association, U.S. Canola Association, U.S. Durum Growers Association, Western Peanut Growers Association, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, North Dakota Corn Growers Association, North Dakota Farmers Union, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, North Dakota Soybean Growers Association and the Northarvest Bean Growers Association.

EPA Issues Herbicide Strategy Update

In late April the EPA issued an update to the draft Herbicide Strategy for Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance and implementation. The draft Herbicide Strategy was initially released in July 2023 and NBGA submitted comments in October 2023. EPA has attempted to respond to many of the concerns expressed by ag groups and the update seems to be a significant improvement from the draft Herbicide Strategy. EPA intends to publish the final version of the Herbicide Strategy by the court negotiated deadline of August 30, 2024. As noted in the summary, EPA will continue to work with USDA on the strategy and plans to hold a workshop in May along with USDA and ag stakeholders to identify other potential improvements. 

NBGA Joins Other Commodity Groups Opposing Duties on 2, 4-D

NBGA was among the six commodity groups on a letter to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)encouraging it to vote against a petition by Corteva Agribusiness to place antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of the herbicide 2,4-D shipped from India and China. The letter, signed by leaders from the American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Sorghum Producers and the U.S. Durum Growers Association, expressed concerns that the petition could hinder imports and cause herbicide shortages. Duties on 2,4-D imports from the two countries would intensify what is already a difficult period for many growers as key input costs continue to increase. The ITC is scheduled to vote on its preliminary determination in this case on May 17, 2024.

Corteva filed the petition with the ITC, which is an independent federal agency that handles intellectual property and trade disputes. The ITC Investigates and makes determinations in proceedings involving imports claimed to injure a domestic industry or violate U.S. intellectual property rights. 

Congressional Letter Supporting Barley Research

References "No Barley, No Beer"

Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-WA) recently circulated a letter to other Members of the House of Representatives urging their support for the priority research funding requests of the barley industry and used the No Barley, No Beer slogan as part of her pitch. Rep. Strickland wrote, “The brewing industry relies on barley crops for their craft. No barley, no beer! In order to support this industry, please join me in requesting funding for two key research initiatives for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the Resilient Barley Initiative (RBI) and the Barley Pest Initiative (BPI) at $8,000,000 and $5,300,000, respectively. This level of funding is vital to strengthening the capacity of the national public sector barley research infrastructure to address major abiotic and insect, viral, bacterial, and fungal threats to the production of high-quality barley.”

U.S. Grains Council Touts Efforts with Craft Brewers in Mexico and China

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) highlighted their efforts to promote U.S. barley including facilitating a meeting between a delegation of Mexican craft brewers and U.S. malt producers during the brewers expo in Las Vegas. The event offered the opportunity to discuss the potential for the first malt shipment with six malt producers. Additionally, the Council’s full delegation met with seven different malting companies while on-site, further developing relationships for the buying group. “After several missions, years of education and solving price and logistics constraints, we have gotten one step closer to closing on the first barley malt shipment for Mexico’s craft brewers this week,” said Javier Chavez, USGC senior marketing specialist.

Also in April USGC’s Beijing office participated in the Beijing International Craft Brewing Exhibition, known as Beijing Brew. This year's exhibition featured 160 exhibitors from the craft brewing sector. “The Council’s Beijing office seized the opportunity to operate a booth, showcasing samples of U.S. malt alongside beers crafted using the U.S. commodity. The response from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing interest in U.S. malt,” said Wennie Liu, USGC program manager in China.