June 3, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

• CCPC Praises Move by the U.S. Trade Representative to Initiate Dispute Settlement with Mexico over Corn Decree
• Supreme Court WOTUS Decision Announced
• Best Management Practices for Colorado Farms - Colorado Corn edition now available
• Last Chance - Take the CCPC Annual Survey
• Prevented Planting Request for Information and Stakeholder Listening Sessions
• As Summer Driving Season Begins, Consumers Continue to Save with Ethanol
• Pesticide Applicator Continuing Education

CCPC Praises Move by the U.S. Trade Representative to Initiate Dispute Settlement with Mexico over Corn Decree

The U.S. Trade Representative announced today that it is filing a dispute settlement under the U.S.- Mexico-Canada Agreement in response to the steps Mexico has taken to ban biotech corn for human consumption.

“Mexico’s decree, which is not based on science and risk-based policies, threatens not only the economic prosperity of our corn farmers, but food security for Mexican citizens,” said CCPC President Rod Hahn. “This is a step to ensure free and open trade with one of our largest trading partners and ensure that Colorado corn farmers can continue to utilize innovative technologies to meet the sustainable food, feed, and fuel needs across the globe.”

Under USMCA, once a dispute settlement is filed, a group of objective experts will be empaneled to hear the case and make final determinations based on the commitments both parties signed as part of the free trade agreement.

The dispute stems from a 2020 decree by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that sought to ban imports of biotech corn beginning in January 2024. Mexico issued a revised decree in February of this year that banned biotech corn for human consumption effective immediately and left the door open for a future ban on biotech corn for feed. 

Mexico is a top market for corn, the number one agricultural export from the U.S., which has led to strong concerns over how the ban would impact U.S. farmers, rural economies and food security for the people of Mexico.

Supreme Court WOTUS Decision Announced

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court handed a huge win to landowners, including farmers, in a case involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s jurisdiction over Waters of the United States, often referred to as WOTUS. 

In the decision, the court narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction by clearly rejecting the vague "significant nexus test," upending the Biden administration’s overreaching WOTUS rule.

A 5-4 majority on the court issued an opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, that significantly narrowed the definition of adjacent wetlands, saying that to be adjacent and therefore a WOTUS, the wetland must have a continuous surface connection to a relatively permanent body of water connected to a traditional navigable water. The four-justice minority disagreed in an opinion, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, saying that a continuous surface connection test is too narrow, and overturns decades of precedent followed by both Republican and Democratic administrations.

EPA is now expected to issue a revised WOTUS rule, since its current rule relies heavily on the significant nexus test. 

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.

Last Chance - Take the CCPC Annual Survey

The CCPC is conducting our annual survey. It is very important to the Board of Directors and the staff that we are serving the corn producers of the state in the best way that we can - and that means we need your feedback! Please fill out the short survey, and let us know how we are doing. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete.

The survey will close at midnight on June 15, 2023.

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 a virtual listening session on July 20, 2023. Details will be released soon. There will be a virtual session on June 8, 2023. The details are:

• June 8, 2023 from 12-2pm MDT
• Meeting URL: Click here to join the meeting
• Meeting ID: 217 891 067 621
• Passcode: 43YLNt
• For audio only (call in): 314-530-5560
• Passcode: 746 772 69#

As Summer Driving Season Begins, Consumers Continue to Save with Ethanol

As the summer driving season picks up, consumers will benefit from uninterrupted access to higher ethanol blends at the pump thanks to recent action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Consumers would have lost the choice of lower-cost, higher blends of ethanol, referred to as E15 and often marketed as Unleaded 88, beginning today; however, EPA is using its authority to maintain consumer access.

Drivers looking for retailers offering E15 and other higher ethanol blends can use the Get Biofuel or E15/E85 Prices online tools to find stations near them or along their summer travel route. E15 is approved for all 2001 and newer vehicles, nearly all vehicles on the road today.

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

• June 6 - Research Action Team Meeting
• June 21 - CCPC Board of Directors Quarterly Meeting