Weekly Update for
October 12

On October 3, National Association of Wheat Growers Environmental Policy Advisor, Keira Franz, spoke on a sustainability panel at the Wilbur-Ellis Leadership Program. Keira discussed the latest Farm Bill updates and wheat sustainability practices, specifically focusing on the benefits winter wheat provides to the soil. Franz was joined by Field to Market President Scott Herndon, International Fresh Produce Association’s Mac Teplitski, and Julie Savoie from CropLife America on the panel.

ONE WEEK LEFT to submit your registration to our 2023 Wheat Industry Fall Conference in Cincinnati, OH, November 7-9, 2023. You will find everything you need on our Wheat Industry Fall Conference webpage. The cost for NAWG members is $125, and for nonmembers is $250. NAWG will invoice your association after the event. Registration and the hotel portal will close on October 15, 2023. To access registration, hotel portal, and draft agenda, scroll down to the “Event Information.”

On October 4, the Senate passed a resolution supporting October 1-7 being designated as National 4-H Week. Co-chairs of the Senate 4-H Caucus, U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Boozman (R-AR), introduced the resolution. “As a former 4-H’er myself, I know that 4-H empowers young people to thrive in their communities and grow into future leaders through hands-on health, science, agriculture, and civic engagement projects,” said Chairwoman Stabenow. “In Michigan, it is the largest youth development organization, and its positive impact on young people across the country cannot be understated. I’m glad that my colleagues came together to recognize 4-H Week and the power of young people to change the world.” The Senate and House of Representative 4-H Caucuses provide opportunities for 4-H'ers to learn about the U.S. government and allow for Members of Congress to receive current information on the largest youth development organization in the nation.

Following last week’s successful motion to vacate the Speaker’s office, House Republicans have continued to deliberate and consider successors to fill the Speaker of the House of Representatives role. While the House Republican Conference selected Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA-1) as their nomination for House speaker and “Speaker-designee” on October 11 during a conference meeting, a path forward in considering a formal floor vote remains uncertain. Representative Scalise beat Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-4) 113-99 in the private ballot. With the tight margin, a delay is expected before the vote comes to the floor to determine if Speaker-designate Scalise will have enough support to be elected House Speaker. In his remarks following the nomination, Scalise said, “I want to thank my House Republican colleagues for just designating me as the Speaker. Obviously, we still have work to do. We're going to have to go upstairs on the House Floor and resolve this, and get the House opened again.” Scalise shared his priorities of standing behind Israel, addressing the border crisis, and getting the American economy “moving again” in these remarks.

On October 7, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 253, which will require businesses, “by January 1, 2025, to develop and adopt regulations requiring businesses with total annual revenues over $1 billion and operating in California to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions to an emissions reporting organization.” The bill goes beyond the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission proposal that would only require reporting requirements for public companies, a proposal that NAWG has strongly opposed. California S.B. 253 would require emissions reporting for all companies that do business in the state and have more than $1 billion in annual revenue, including agriculture companies. Agriculture organizations have opposed the bill and pointed to the lack of research on emissions at the producer level. Other concerns include the inclusion of operations that feed into the supply chains of California companies. January 1, 2025, is the deadline for the state to write the regulations to govern the program. In the following two years, January of 2026, and January of 2027, the emissions reporting will be required to begin.

Join the NWF Fall Board Meeting at Fall Conference on Tuesday, November 7 from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati. The panel of guest speakers includes the founder and principal of The Agri-Nutrition Edge, Marianne Smith Edge and Dr. Romulo Lollato from Kansas State University. Speakers will be focusing on wheat nutrition, and prioritizing quality while increasing yields. Please join us to learn more about the National Wheat Foundation and to hear from our excellent speakers.