Wednesday June 14 Ag News

 Governor Pillen Joins Governors in Urging Congress to Protect Ag Industry

Today, Governor Jim Pillen joined with Republican governors in urging congressional leaders to support the reintroduction of the Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression Act, a bill that would uphold the Commerce Clause of the Constitution by preventing states from impeding interstate agricultural trade. Governor Pillen and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds are leading the coalition of states, representing 54% of the country's pork production, in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of California's Proposition 12, which dictates how pork is raised across state lines.

The letter states in part: "Despite California's reliance on its fellow States for food, Proposition 12 threatens to disrupt the very system Californians depend on for their pork supply. Its strict, activist-drafted requirements for pig farming sharply depart from the practices which are lawful in our States."

Governor Pillen hailed the stance taken by the coalition of states as a step toward protecting U.S. agriculture.

"I am proud to partner with Governor Reynolds in leading this initiative, alongside this group of governors," said Governor Pillen. "Congress needs to act to protect our nation's agricultural interests from state's that are working to put onerous and unfounded regulations on livestock producers that will ultimately increase food costs and hurt farming operations."

Governor Reynolds added that California's Proposition 12 will hurt consumers and increase food insecurity if Congress does not act.

“California’s onerous requirements will pass the buck to American consumers – worsening the inflationary crisis gripping our economy,” said Governor Reynolds. “Iowa’s pork producers use science-based techniques to help feed America and the world, and California’s activist-drafted requirements will have a dramatic negative impact on those facing food insecurity. It’s time for Congress to use their power and allow pork producers around the country to do what they do best.”



Fischer Statement on President Biden’s Veto of Legislation Blocking Aggressive EPA Emissions Rule

U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, released the following statement after President Biden vetoed her legislation to overturn an aggressive EPA regulation on heavy-duty vehicle emissions. The rule is expected to devastate the trucking industry, raise costs for consumers, and incentivize older, less efficient trucks to stay on the road.

“Today, President Biden chose to prioritize his extreme environmental agenda over bipartisan pushback from Congress. This veto is more than just a slap in the face to truckers, who transport nearly every consumer good. Pushing this excessive regulation forward will also raise prices for families already grappling with inflation. I’ll continue to work with my colleagues on ways to push back against these devastating government mandates,” said Senator Fischer.

The legislation previously passed both Houses of Congress with bipartisan support, by a vote of 50-49 in the Senate and 221-203 in the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Representative Troy Nehls (R-Texas-22) led the legislation in the House.

Background:
The EPA finalized its rule on new emissions standards for heavy duty vehicles on December 20, 2022. The rule’s new standards cover nitrogen oxides (NOx) and other air pollutants including particulate matter (PM), hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide (CO). The rule would also change requirements regarding emission control systems and emission-related warranties.

The EPA estimated that the technology required to meet the new rule’s standards will cost between $2,568 and $8,304 per vehicle. The American Truck Dealers Association estimates it is more likely a $42,000 increase per truck. In total, the EPA projects the associated costs of this new regulation on the country could reach $55 billion over the lifetime of the program.

The EPA’s regulation would be challenging to implement and make new, compliant trucks cost-prohibitive. By increasing the cost of a new truck, the regulation actually incentivizes keeping older, higher-emitting trucks in service longer. It would also likely force many "mom & pop" commercial trucking operations out of business while encouraging larger trucking operations to pass these higher costs onto consumers.

Adding new financial burdens on the trucking industry would increase the cost of any product transported by trucks, including food, clothing, and other commodities.



PLANNING FOR LOW HAY STOCKS
– Shannon Sand, NE Extension

With the lowest level of hay stocks since 1974 and continued drought in many parts of Nebraska. Many producers have been planning for a potential continuation of low hay stocks and high prices.

According to USDA’s Ag Marketing Service (AMS) for Nebraska, when comparing the last week of January 2023 to 2022 there has been a decrease in the tons of hay stored by approximately 30% and when comparing the last week of February 2023 to February 2022 there is a 77% decrease. With these low hay store numbers in mind, now is a good time to take inventory of your feed and hay resources and plan for next year’s needs.

This inventory and planning is important as the greatest expense producers face each year are feed costs. With that in mind, here are a few tips when planning for feed.

1) Determine on average how much hay you need per head.

2)Determine whether you are paying on a per ton or per bale basis.

3) Know the hay quality you are purchasing to spend your feeding dollars more effectively.

4) Plan an optimal ration in terms of cost.  Tools like the UNL feed cost cow-q-lator can help in determining this.

Checking prices and availability and creating a plan can a go a long way in reducing anxiety of what we will feed our cows this fall and winter.

 

GRAZING THROUGH THE SHIFT
– Ben Beckman, NE Extension  

As we move through the month of June, grazers will notice big changes occurring in their pastures.  How these shifts impact our grazing management as we continue through the summer depend largely on the forage species present.  Are you prepared for the summer forage shift?

Cool season species like bluegrass, brome, and wheatgrasses are great at taking advantage of cooler and hopefully wetter conditions earlier in the spring, but struggle to keep up in the heat.  Right now, they are fully mature and declining in quality. Pastures with predominantly cool season grasses may present a challenge nutritionally moving forward and if grazed short, will not produce much more forage unless there is significant rainfall or they are irrigated.  This doesn’t mean we can’t use them, but animal condition may need to be monitored closely.

On the other hand, warm season species like many of our native grasses (bluestems, switchgrass, sandreed), do well with high temperatures and limited moisture.  Their growth is just beginning and offers a great complement to maturing cool season pastures, providing higher quality new growth from vegetative plants. However, forage yield may be a bit limited until growth really kicks off.

While warm season species are a great resource right now, we need to be careful in how we take advantage of the opportunity.  Grazing warm season species as they begin growth year after year puts stress on the plant.  After a while, plant vigor decreases and we can lose productive species from our pasture mix.  To prevent this a grazing plan that rotates the timing of grazing from year to year can spread out stress and allow for recovery of pastures previously grazed.

Grazing during the shift from spring to summer can be tricky, but understanding the response plants have to the changing weather can help guide management.  Maturing cool season pastures may be lacking in quality, while new growth from warm season plants can be limited in quantity.  To prevent harming warm season plants, rotate grazing at this critical time between pastures to spread out grazing stress and provide ample recovery.



 USDA Accepts More Than 1 Million Acres in Offers Through Conservation Reserve Program General Signup 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting more than 1 million acres in this year’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General signup. This is one of several signups that USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is holding for the program. The results for CRP General signup reflect the continued importance of CRP as a tool to help producers invest in the long-term health, sustainability, and profitability of their land and resources.

The signup resulted in the acceptance of 24,609 CRP acres in Nebraska.

“This year’s General CRP signup demonstrates the value and continued strength of this voluntary conservation program, which plays an important role in helping mitigate climate change and conserving our natural resources,” said Tim Divis, FSA Acting State Executive Director in Nebraska. “Today’s announcement is one of many enrollment and partnership opportunities within CRP, including opportunities through our working lands Grassland CRP, Continuous CRP, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). USDA will continue working to ensure producers and landowners have the information they need to take advantage of the options that work best for their operations.”  

Offers for new land in this General CRP signup totaled about 295,000 acres nationwide. Producers submitted re-enrollment offers for 891,000 expiring acres, reflecting the successes of participating in CRP longer term. The total number of CRP acres will continue to climb in the coming weeks once FSA accepts acres from the Grassland CRP signup, which closed May 26. Additionally, so far this year, FSA has received 761,000 offered acres for the Continuous CRP signup, for which FSA accepts applications year-round.

The number of accepted acres that are enrolled in General CRP will be confirmed later this year. Participating producers and landowners should also remember that submitting and accepting a CRP offer is the first step, and producers still need to develop a conservation plan before contracts become effective on October 1, 2023. Each year, during the window between offer acceptance and land enrollment, some producers ultimately decide not to enroll some accepted acres, without penalty.   



New report explores benefits of co-location of solar, ag land

As demand for clean energy increases, many state and local governments are prudently discussing the impact future solar development will have on agricultural lands.

Because large-scale solar requires considerable land use, a new report from the Center for Rural Affairs (produced for NCAT’s AgriSolar Clearinghouse) aims to provide decision-makers and others an overview of policy approaches they can take to combine solar with agriculture—a practice known as agrisolar or agrivoltaics.

Heidi Kolbeck-Urlacher, policy manager for the Center and author of the report “Policy Approaches for Dual-Use and Agrisolar Practices,” said clean energy and agriculture do not require an either/or approach.

“Combining agriculture and solar energy systems on the same land creates both economic and environmental benefits,” she said. “This includes offering new income streams to local farmers, improving soil health, and increasing beneficial pollinators. It can also expand siting opportunities for solar deployment.”

Agrivoltaics practices can include solar co-located with crops, grazing, beekeeping, pollinator habitat, aquaculture, and farm or dairy processing.

The report also examines the amount of land expected to be impacted by the rapid increase in solar development, and the opportunities available to encourage or facilitate keeping this land in agricultural dual-use through policy mechanisms at the federal, state, and local levels.

“Through thoughtful planning, decision-makers can craft policies that allow communities to take advantage of the economic benefits of solar development, such as increased tax revenue, while at the same time preserving the agricultural values of the local community,” Kolbeck-Urlacher said.

To learn more, view and download the “Policy Approaches for Dual-Use and Agrisolar Practices,” report at cfra.org/publications or through NCAT’s AgriSolar Clearinghouse, agrisolarclearinghouse.org.



Iowa Pork Welcomes New Producer Education Director

The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) named Zoey Dinkla as its producer education director. Dinkla will be responsible for developing informational material for Iowa pig farmers, administering pork quality improvement programs, and working with key stakeholder groups such as Iowa Farm Animal Care and the Iowa Pork Industry Center.

“I’m excited to welcome Zoey to our team,” said IPPA President Trish Cook of Winthrop. “She brings a strong background in agriculture, an interest in science, and a passion for the pork industry to this important role. Our producers will benefit greatly from Zoey’s work.”

Dinkla comes to IPPA from after working for three years for The Maschhoffs, one of North America’s largest family-owned hog production networks. Dinkla grew up on a family farm near Casey, Iowa and graduated from Iowa State University in 2020 with a degree in Agricultural Studies and minors in Animal Science and Public Relations. While at Iowa State, she interned with Iowa Select Farms and Smithfield Foods. In conjunction with her work at IPPA, Dinkla will continue her education at Iowa State University, pursuing a master’s degree in Agricultural Education.

“I am eager to use my voice to serve the swine industry and bring value to all pork producers in the state of Iowa,” said Dinkla. “I look forward to meeting all of you and working alongside key stakeholders to meet the needs of the industry.”

As Iowa pig farmers continue to deal with numerous challenges, the addition of Zoey Dinkla strengthens IPPA’s commitment to serve as a leading voice for a sustainable, socially responsible, and competitive pork industry.



Iowa Corn is a Proud Supporter of Corn-fed Dairy

Iowa Corn is proud to celebrate its support of the Iowa dairy industry during June Dairy Month. In 2022, dairy alone accounted for 20 million bushels of Iowa corn consumption, proving it a great market for Iowa’s corn farmers.

“Global demand for U.S. meat and dairy is on the rise, and that benefits both livestock producers and corn farmers alike,” said Stu Swanson, a farmer from Wright County and Animal Agriculture and the Environment Committee Chair at Iowa Corn.

Within Iowa, corn-fed dairy accounts for 5% of the corn fed to livestock and nationwide that number increases to 5.9% or 891 million bushels of corn. “When it comes to corn-fed products, we often don’t think about the milk, cheese and yogurt sitting right in our refrigerator, but dairy cattle are important consumers of corn here in Iowa and across the country.”



RFA Welcomes Legislation to Better Define Sustainable Aviation Fuel

The Renewable Fuels Association thanked a bipartisan group of senators who introduced legislation late yesterday that would clarify the definition of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and specify additional lifecycle GHG methodologies for the sake of federal SAF regulation.

Importantly, the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act of 2023, introduced by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), specifies that the Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET model is an allowable methodology for determining SAF lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. RFA has long argued that the Argonne GREET model is scientifically superior to other lifecycle GHG methodologies, including the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) model. RFA remains concerned that the ICAO model relies on outdated and inaccurate information that could result in severely constraining the supply of qualifying feedstocks for SAF.

“We thank Sen. Duckworth and her colleagues for working together on this important legislation that will better facilitate growth in SAF production and use,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “By including the most robust and accurate lifecycle GHG model, this legislation would ensure America’s farmers and renewable fuel producers have the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the goal of producing 3 billion gallons of SAF by 2030.”

In a 2021 letter to congressional leadership, RFA and allies pointed out that the GREET model has been the state-of-the-art model used globally to measure life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, and that Congress should be using a U.S.-based lifecycle emissions model when determining U.S.-based tax incentives.



Growth Energy: SAF Accuracy Act Would Advance U.S. Production

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor issued the following statement today upon the introduction of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), along with Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The bill would identify the standards required to meet the definition of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“The Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory have invested decades into building the world’s most accurate and sophisticated tool for modeling transportation emissions, and we should be making full use of that data to decarbonize aviation. We’re grateful to Senator Duckworth and her colleagues for elevating the importance of sound science when it comes to advancing U.S. production of SAF. The Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act will ensure that American biofuel producers and our farm partners are not bogged down with outdated or inaccurate models as we work to meet the aviation sector’s clean fuel needs.”

Specifically, the bill would require the Federal Government to use the most up-to-date lifecycle emissions models—including the U.S. Department of Energy commissioned, Argonne National Lab’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies Model or GREET model—that accurately considers crops, land uses, and carbon reduction practices in its definition of SAF.



USMEF Statement on Announcement of Tentative Agreement on West Coast Port Labor Contract

On Wednesday night the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) announced a tentative agreement on a six-year contract. The agreement, which covers all of the West Coast ports, must still be ratified by both sides.

A joint statement by PMA and ILWU notes the agreement was reached with assistance from Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su.

U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom issued this statement:

This is tremendous news for U.S. red meat exporters and their overseas customers. While the ratification process will take some time, the tentative agreement will restore stability and confidence in the performance of the West Coast ports, and this is absolutely essential for our industry. USMEF thanks the parties for their flexibililty and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su for making this matter a top priority.



Walmart Announces New Case-Ready Beef Facility in Olathe, Kansas

Walmart is committed to providing quality beef options to meet the growing demands of our customers. Today, we’re excited to share how Walmart is furthering that commitment by announcing plans for our first owned and operated case-ready beef facility, opening in 2025.

The new facility is set to break ground later this year in Olathe, Kansas, and is an important milestone for Walmart as we continue to build a more resilient supply chain and identify ways to increase access to high-quality Angus beef for our customers. The new facility will offer greater visibility into our supply chain, bolstering our capacity to fulfill demand for quality beef while creating more than 600 Walmart jobs in the Olathe community.

We first announced our ambitions to create an end-to-end supply chain for Angus beef in 2019, with the goal of providing more options for customers seeking higher-quality meat. Since then, we’ve implemented strategies to ensure our customers can purchase excellent beef that delivers tremendous value with last year’s equity investment in Sustainable Beef LLC. Once opened, our new facility in Kansas will package and distribute a selection of Angus cuts from Sustainable Beef LLC in North Platte, Nebraska, to serve our stores across the Midwest.

The way our customers shop for food has evolved over the past few years, with more seeking greater transparency in the supply chain. We’ll continue to work hand in hand with our suppliers to ensure we're delivering high-quality products, increasing transparency, resiliency and capacity through the supply process and meeting increased demand for our customers.



NCBA Praises House Appropriations Committee for Advancing Agricultural Bill

Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) thanked members of the House Appropriations Committee for advancing the Fiscal Year 2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration appropriations bill, which will provide funding for essential programs that support cattle producers while defending against overreaching regulations.

“We are pleased the House Appropriations Committee showed such strong support for a number of cattle industry priorities, including protecting producers’ ability to capture premiums by nullifying USDA’s overreaching Packers and Stockyards rules and lowering cattle producers’ cost burden in implementing animal disease traceability,” said NCBA Senior Director of Government Affairs Tanner Beymer. “NCBA thanks Chairwoman Granger and Chairman Harris for their leadership and urge swift adoption of this bill on the House floor.”

The bill is a win for cattle producers and would defund the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s harmful Packers and Stockyards rules. These rules would open cattle producers to frivolous complaints and lawsuits and, if implemented, would harm cattle producers’ ability to capture premiums from their high-quality cattle.

Additionally, the bill would provide $10 million for the purchase of electronic identification (EID) tags and related infrastructure to support the implementation of animal disease traceability. Several other industry priorities are included in the legislation such as reports on cell-cultured meat, the Cattle Contracts Library Pilot Program, and the Asian Longhorned Tick, and funding for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, feral swine eradication, and healthy dog importation screenings.

The bill now goes to the full House of Representatives for consideration. NCBA urges both the House and the Senate to support these key agricultural provisions.



USDA Launches Effort to Strengthen Substantiation of Animal-Raising Claims

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that it is implementing a multi-step effort aimed at strengthening the substantiation of animal-raising claims. This action builds on the significant work USDA has already undertaken to protect consumers from false and misleading labels and to implement President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American economy.

“Consumers should be able to trust that the label claims they see on products bearing the USDA mark of inspection are truthful and accurate,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “USDA is taking action today to ensure the integrity of animal-raising claims and level the playing field for producers who are truthfully using these claims, which we know consumers value and rely on to guide their meat and poultry purchasing decisions.”

Animal-raising claims, such as “grass-fed” and “free-range,” are voluntary marketing claims that highlight certain aspects of how the source animals for meat and poultry products are raised. These claims must be approved by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) before they can be included on the labels of meat and poultry products sold to consumers. FSIS most recently updated its guideline on these claims in 2019.

FSIS has received several petitions, comments, and letters from a wide range of stakeholders asking the agency to reevaluate its oversight of animal-raising claims, specifically, how they are substantiated. In addition, the veracity of “negative” antibiotics claims (e.g., “raised without antibiotics” or “no antibiotics ever”) has come into question.

FSIS, in partnership with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), will be conducting a sampling project to assess antibiotic residues in cattle destined for the “raised without antibiotics” market. The results of this project will help inform whether FSIS should require that laboratory testing results be submitted for the “raised without antibiotics” claim or start a new verification sampling program.

FSIS will also be issuing a revised industry guideline to recommend that companies strengthen the documentation they submit to the agency to substantiate animal-raising claims. The agency plans to strongly encourage use of third-party certification to verify these claims.

Together these actions will be used to guide potential rulemaking on animal-raising claims. USDA looks forward to continued engagement with stakeholders as it works to ensure these claims meet consumer expectations.



Anhydrous Leads Retail Fertilizer Prices Lower, Drops to $787 Per Ton

A new month but an old trend continues. Retail fertilizer sellers tracked by DTN for the first full week of June 2023 show the vast majority of prices are still lower compared to a month ago. Seven of the eight major fertilizers were less expensive than last month. Only three fertilizers were noticeably cheaper. DTN designates a significant move as anything 5% or more.

Anhydrous was 14% lower compared to the prior month, and the nitrogen fertilizer had an average price was $787/ton. UAN32 was 8% less expensive than last month with an average price of $478/ton, while urea was 6% lower with an average price of $622/ton. Four other fertilizers were slightly lower compared to last month. DAP had an average price of $822/ton, potash $618/ton, 10-34-0 $739/ton and UAN28 $411/ton.

Just one fertilizer was slightly more expensive compared to a month ago. MAP had an average price of $832/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.68/lb.N, anhydrous $0.48/lb.N, UAN28 $0.73/lb.N and UAN32 $0.75/lb.N.

All fertilizers are now lower by double digits compared to one year ago. 10-34-0 is 18% less expensive, DAP is 22% lower, MAP is 23% less expensive, potash is 30% lower, both UAN28 and UAN32 are 35% less expensive, urea is 36% lower and anhydrous is 48% lower compared to a year prior.



Weekly Ethanol Production for 6/9/2023

According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association for the week ending June 9, ethanol production eased 1.7% to 1.018 million b/d, equivalent to 42.76 million gallons daily. Output was 4.0% less than the same week last year but 0.4% above the five-year average for the week. The four-week average ethanol production rate increased 0.8% to 1.010 million b/d, equivalent to an annualized rate of 15.48 billion gallons (bg).

Ethanol stocks shrank 3.1% to 22.2 million barrels. Stocks were 4.2% less than a year ago yet 2.5% above the five-year average. Inventories thinned across all regions except the Gulf Coast (PADD 3) and Rocky Mountains (PADD 4).

The volume of gasoline supplied to the U.S. market, a measure of implied demand, edged 0.3% lower to 9.19 million b/d (140.93 bg annualized). Yet, demand was 1.1% more than a year ago and 0.9% above the five-year average.

Refiner/blender net inputs of ethanol hiked up 2.9% to 913,000 b/d, equivalent to 14.00 bg annualized. Net inputs were 1.3% more than the same week last year and 2.0% above the five-year average.

Ethanol exports slowed to an estimated 76,000 b/d (22.3 million gallons for the week). There were zero imports recorded for the 27th consecutive week.



New Book Shows Methane Emissions Have No Climate Impact

A new scientific study shows that methane's and nitrous oxide's potential for global warming and climate change are completely neutralized by earth's ever-present atmospheric water vapor. This determination is characterized in a new BriefBook: Oooppps! Climate Change Misconceptions, written by experienced energy analyst Edward Rouse Pryor and published by Hanway Hopcott House.

It is true that methane and nitrous oxide are both emitted by cattle—methane mostly from the cow's legendary three stomachs, and nitrous oxide, to a lesser extent, mostly from bovine waste products. And both methane and nitrous oxide are powerful greenhouse gases—but only when studied in laboratories where they are isolated from other shielding gases and vapors such as water vapor. The author, Edward Rouse Pryor states that, "Based on the elemental science, water vapor overlaps and cancels both methane's and nitrous oxide's ability to absorb outgoing heat from the earth—thus nullifying their global warming effect. Accordingly, when looked at 'in isolation' methane and nitrous oxide appear to have considerable potential for global warming, but actually these trace gases have virtually no global warming or climate change effect at all—at least on the planet we call earth—which has huge quantities of water vapor in its atmosphere. If one looks at the correct charts, the relevant heat absorption cancelling effect by water vapor in earth's atmosphere becomes obvious."

The book then presents a clear and understandable scientifically peer-reviewed graph showing just how water vapor cancels the methane and nitrous oxide potential for global warming. It goes on to state that unfortunately, many in the peripheral scientific community, and most of the decision-making public as well as the journalistic pundits, economists, and key industrialists, erroneously think increasing atmospheric methane and nitrous oxide can be huge contributors to global warming and climate change when actually they have almost no effect at all.

Because of this widespread fallacious presumption (even among some climate scientists) that methane and nitrous oxide have a significant impact on global temperature, laws and regulations are being proposed (and perhaps recently enacted) to penalize producers and "leakers" of methane and nitrous oxide. This is completely unwarranted and actions to curtail methane and nitrous oxide emissions not only will add unnecessary costs to the world's energy price structure, but will substantially disrupt the livelihood of dairy farmers and cattle ranchers without having any long-or-short-range impact on global temperature or climate change.

A bright-side of this revelation is that you can now enjoy a hamburger or strip-steak, a glass of milk, or a slice of cheese, stemming from methane-and-nitrous-oxide-emitting cattle without having any impact on climate.

Or if you are in the fossil fuel business, you can leak a small amount of methane from a well, or pipeline, or coal mine, with a climate-clear conscience because the greenhouse effect by trace amounts of methane and nitrous oxide is overridden by the huge quantity of universally prevalent water vapor in the earth's atmosphere. And thus, there is no influence on global temperature from adding small quantities of these trace greenhouse gases to the earth's atmosphere.

The analysis described here is more fully characterized in the just-released (2023) BriefBook, Oooppps! Climate Change Misconceptions, written by Edward Rouse Pryor, an experienced engineering and scientific energy analyst, and author of the acclaimed full-length book The Climate Change Illusion, published in 2020.