Weekly Update for
January 18

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) seeks a dynamic, self-starter to manage the association’s communications and media relations and work to strengthen and enhance our industry partnerships. Additionally, this position will serve as NAWG’s lead staff person for our fall, winter, and annual conferences. The Director of Communications and Partnerships’ main role is to oversee all media requests, publish the weekly newsletter and monthly podcast, communicate conference responsibilities, and help cultivate industry partnerships. The Director of Communications and Partnerships will work independently and in a team to fulfill organizational goals and initiatives.

We are looking forward to hosting you in Washington, D.C. next week! Find details and the most up-to-date agenda on our website.

Earlier this afternoon, the Senate and then the House of Representatives passed a short-term appropriations bill, which averts a partial government shutdown that could have occurred later this week and impacted USDA operations. The short-term appropriation bill (H.R. 2872) would extend funding for USDA through March 1, 2024, and most federal agencies through March 8, 2024. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 77 to 18 and the House by a vote of 314 to 108. The bill now heads to President Biden's desk to be signed into law. While a tentative appropriations deal was reached between Speaker Johnson and Leader Schumer, there remain a lot of issues to work through before the legislation can be brought to the floor for consideration. The federal government has been operating under a series of short-term continuing resolutions since September 30, 2023.

On January 17, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) sent a letter to colleagues that outlines her vision and goals for the 2024 Farm Bill. Stabenow highlights her priorities of providing farmers choice and flexibility in the farm safety net, timely assistance, expanding the reach of programs, and addressing the emerging risks farmers face. She points to crop insurance as a tool that helps progress each of these goals and noted her interest in increasing premium subsidies for area-based crop insurance policies, which were included in the 2018 Farm Bill in the form of the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) for cotton growers. The letter noted, “The next Farm Bill should give a similar option to all commodities.” Stabenow also recognizes the “effective reference price” that the 2018 bill created for Price Loss Coverage (PLC), and wrote, “I am open to proposals that would make sure every covered commodity receives an increase under an “effective reference price.” Stabenow concluded her letter, by writing, “This may be my last Farm Bill, but it’s not my first. If we’re going to get a Farm Bill done this spring to keep farmers farming, it’s time to get serious. I look forward to continuing our bipartisan work to get it done.” NAWG continues to advocate for changes to the Farm Bill and will have members in town next week visiting with Members of Congress discussing the need for a Farm Bill and regular appropriations process.

The first World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report of 2024 was released on January 12, showing decreases in U.S. ending and beginning stocks, but increases in global wheat outlook and consumption. The projected U.S. wheat ending stocks were lowered 11 million bushels, and seed use was reduced 1 million bushels. U.S. all wheat feed and residual use for 2023/24 did not see any overall change. The global wheat outlook sees larger supplies, consumption, trade, and ending stocks. Increases in production for Russia, Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia more than offset a production decrease for China. Higher feed and residual use for India and the EU led global consumption to be raised 1.8 million tons. EU consumption increased due to higher projected imports from Ukraine, which partially offset the EU reduction in feed grain use. Higher exports from Ukraine, Russia, Australia and Canada caused world trade to be raised 2.4 million tons.

On January 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its 17th Future Leaders in Agriculture cohort. 20 undergraduate and graduate students from land-grant universities and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSI) will travel to Washington, D.C. to attend the USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum in February. “The Future Leaders Program is at the heart of our efforts to cultivate an agricultural workforce as diverse as America itself,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “These students represent the exciting future of agriculture, and USDA is committed to fostering their development which is essential to ensuring a robust and sustainable food system.”

On January 17, the USDA announced 15 newly appointed members, who will serve a two-year term, on the Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers. The members come from backgrounds of socially disadvantaged farmers, nonprofit organizations, civil rights organizations and institutions of higher education. Congress established the Advisory Committee for Minority Farmers in 2008, as part of the Food Conservation and Energy Act. The committee makes recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture on increasing minority participation in USDA programs and the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Competitive Grant Program.

The USDA announced the names individuals who will now hold senior staff positions on January 16. Kumar Chandran was designated Acting Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS), and coming from his experience as Senior Advisor for Nutrition Policy in the Office of the Secretary for the Biden-Harris administration. Justo Robles is returning to the USDA from his position of Director of Intergovernmental Relations at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since 2022. Robles will be serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Secretary. Russelie Bongolan will serve in the position of Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres Small. Finally, Alberto A. Gonzalez Jr. was designated as the Chief Policy Advisor for the Food and Nutrition Service.

Last week, the American Farmland Trust released a guidebook about navigating carbon markets for farmers and agricultural advisors. This guidebook covers basics such as what ag carbon markets are, why farmers are being asked to join, how the government is involved, and how to know if you are eligible to participate. The authors also cover how to navigate the risk, cost, and benefits that these carbon market programs entail. Access the guidebook below, or for a more concise read, read the highlights flyer which summarizes the guidebook.

On January 25, 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. Eastern time, the National Wheat Foundation will hold their Winter Board Meeting. The meeting will be both in person (at the NAWG office) and on Zoom. With multiple of the NWF Board members in Washington, D.C. for the Bayer Leadership Program, NAWG, and U.S. Wheat meetings, it was decided to hold a brief meeting, although it will not be at typical time a NWF board meeting is held. The agenda will mainly consist of financial items such as the FY23 Audit, Draft FY25 budget, and changes to the FY24 Budget. We will also discuss project requests and fundraising. Please let Anne Osborne (aosborne@wheatworld.org) know if you would like to attend.

Wheat 101 is an annual educational event and reception put on by the National Wheat Foundation in Washington D.C. during the week of the NAWG/ US Wheat Winter board meetings. The event is meant to inform Members of Congress and their staff about each component of the wheat value chain and their importance to the economy. Wheat 101 will be taking place on January 25, 2024, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the Hart 902 room of the Senate Office Building. Please register below to attend.

Yesterday, the Quality Award Winners from the National Wheat Yield Contest were announced over a virtual educational meeting. The meeting hosted over 50 attendees, and winners from eight different states were recognized. The quality tests took place at the Northern Crops Institute in Fargo, North Dakota for the hard red varieties, and at the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, Oregon for soft white. Anne Osborne, National Wheat Foundation Project Manager said, "In all, eight wheat experts evaluated the entries, and it was really clear that there was consensus about which were the winners. It's important to have those functional qualities that a miller and baker are demanding because that's what our customers, both international and domestic, are expecting." Learn who the winners were by reading the article below, from DTN, the official media outlet of the National Wheat Yield Contest.