Weekly Update for
August 1

On July 29, NAWG hosted Washington D.C. interns who are interested in a career in agriculture for lunch. During this lunch NAWG staff gave an overview of what NAWG does as an organization. Staff also shared their personal career journeys and answered questions.

On July 25, NAWG submitted comments to USDA on the Request for Information on Climate Smart Biofuel feedstocks. The comments focused on the environmental benefits of winter wheat and the need to recognize crop rotations and winter crops that function as cover crops in the climate smart biofuel feedstock production systems. As USDA, the Department of Treasury and other government agencies look to biofuel production and sustainable aviation fuel, they must look at entire cropping systems and consider food crops such as wheat in diverse crop rotations across the U.S. NAWG also worked with other commodities on a joint letter focusing specifically on the addition of crop rotations in the list of climate smart practices for biofuel cropping systems. You can read the full letter below.

On July 31, NAWG joined over 20 agriculture groups in sending a letter to Robert Primus, Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative calling attention to rail service capacity issues in Mexico that are hindering U.S. agricultural trade with this critical partner. This letter calls on USDA, STB, and USTR to work with their colleagues in Mexico to encourage increased investment in the country’s rail network and to ensure U.S. agricultural products do not disproportionately bear the burden of rail service constraints. Read the full letter below.

On July 25, the United States Environmental Protection Agency released its draft Insecticide Strategy for public comment. The draft strategy identifies protections that EPA will consider when it registers a new insecticide or reevaluates an existing one. In developing this draft strategy, EPA identified protections to address potential impacts for more than 850 species listed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS). “Ensuring the safe use of insecticides is a critical part of EPA’s mission to protect endangered species and the environment,” said Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticide Programs for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Jake Li. “This draft strategy is another major step in the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to protect endangered species, support farmers and other insecticide users, and provide critical environmental protections for communities across the country.” The draft Insecticide Strategy is open for public comment for 60 days.

On August 1, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $400 million with at least 18 irrigation districts to help farmers continue commodity production while also conserving water across the West. This funding – which will support irrigation districts and producers in using innovative water savings technologies and farming practices while producing water-saving commodities in the face of continued drought – is expected to conserve up to 50,000 acre-feet in water use across 250,000 acres of irrigated land in production, while expanding and creating new, sustainable market opportunities. "Agricultural producers are the backbone of rural communities across the West and many of them are struggling under prolonged drought conditions,” Vilsack said. “USDA is taking an ‘all hands’ approach to help address this challenge, including these new partnerships with irrigation districts to support producers. We want to scale up the tools available to keep farmers farming, while also voluntarily conserving water and expanding markets for water-saving commodities.”

On July 31, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)  announced it has issued $2 billion of financial assistance to more than 43,000 eligible applicants under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP), which aims to provide financial assistance to farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination prior to January 2021. “Farmers and ranchers work around the clock to put food on our tables and steward our Nation’s land. But for too long, many farmers and ranchers experienced discrimination in farm loan programs and have not had the same access to federal resources and support,” said President Joe Biden in a statement. “I promised to address this inequity when I became President. Today that promise has become a reality. My Inflation Reduction Act took a bold step to address the effects of discrimination in farming and ranching, and today’s action will enable more farmers and ranchers to support themselves and their families, help grow the economy, and pursue their dreams.”

On July 29, the Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman and Ranking Member each released statements regarding cryptocurrency legislation. Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said, “I am very proud of the bill we’ve drafted to bring clear rules of the road to the crypto market. It is a balanced bill that prioritizes necessary customer protections, and the industry agrees would not stifle innovation. I have worked closely with Senator Brown and the Banking Committee on this effort. There is still time to pass a bill this year, but I need a Republican senator to step up in order to accomplish that goal. I sincerely hope that politics does not get in the way of good policy.” Ranking member John Boozman (R-AR) said in his statement, “As ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I have consistently said I believe the Commodity Futures Trading Commission performs an important role protecting consumers in the crypto marketplace and I have worked in good faith with Chairwoman Stabenow to give the agency the tools it needs to meet that responsibility. The Chairwoman’s efforts to address our concerns in the legislative text she drafted are appreciated. Outstanding concerns remain, but it has moved in the right direction… I remain committed to a bill that we can all proudly support. One that protects consumers in the digital commodities space, fosters innovation and provides the regulatory certainty businesses need to maintain their operations in the United States.” Read their full statements below.

On July 31, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the names of individuals who hold senior staff positions in Washington, D.C. Carlton Bridgeforth has been promoted to White House Liaison in the Office of the Secretary, Hunter Henderson has been promoted to Chief of Staff of the Farm Service Agency, Alyssa Charney has been promoted to Senior Advisor for Farm Production and Conservation, Victoria Maloch has been promoted to Chief of Staff for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, and Will Clement has been appointed Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications in the Office of Communications.

All entrants in the NWYC are asked to save a 10lb sample of their wheat at harvest. The National winners of the contest will be asked to ship their samples in to either the Wheat Marketing Center (soft wheat) or Northern Crops Institute (hard wheat) for analysis. This will occur in November and December.  A panel of experts will evaluate the results and the top 3 in each wheat class will be awarded a Top-Quality cash award.  If there are not 3 in each class that are deemed top quality or industry-desired quality, we will not give the top-quality awards. Winners of the Top-Quality awards will be announced in January at the Winter Meeting in Washington DC.  The contest encourages everyone to strive for both high yield and high quality.  Thank you to US Wheat Associates for partnering to help pay for the quality analysis and provide guidance and analysis of the results. Thank you to our panel of experts and our NWF Director, Brian Walker for all their work on the quality component.

Wheat leaders of today and tomorrow are invited to further develop their leadership and advocacy skills. Thanks to Bayer, our Bayer Leadership Program has been helping develop leaders for many years. Thanks to Syngenta, the Leadership at Its Best program helps leaders develop and learn how to be better ambassadors for the wheat industry.  If you are interested in either program, there are limited spots available. Please contact Anne Osborne (aosborne@wheatworld.org) for more information.