Thursday October 29 Ag News

This Week's Drought Summary
droughtmonitor.unl.edu

A blast of frigid Arctic air invaded the North Central States, producing weekly temperatures averaging 15 to 25 degrees F below normal in Montana, the Dakotas, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. The chill was accompanied by a slow-moving storm system that produced light snow across most of the Rockies, Plains, and upper Midwest. Although outdoor conditions were harsh, the storm and cold were welcome as it brought a halt to the abnormal warmth and dryness that had expanded and deepened the drought in the region. In the southern Plains, mixed precipitation (snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain) glazed portions of New Mexico, western Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, while beneficial moderate to heavy rains fell from southwestern Oklahoma northeastward into the eastern Great Lakes region. Heavy rains also were measured in the western Great Lakes region and south Florida. Scattered, light precipitation was measured across most of the Pacific Northwest, Southeast, Midwest, and western portions of the Northeast. Much of the Southwest and Intermountain West was dry, with wild fires still burning across California. In addition, little or no precipitation fell on the southern Plains, parts of the Southeast, and eastern sections of the Northeast. Above normal temperatures enveloped the Southwest, southern Plains, and eastern third of the Nation. At the end of the period, all eyes were on Hurricane Zeta in the Gulf of Mexico as it tracked toward yet another Louisiana landfall.

Midwest
In addition to the heavy rains in southern Missouri (see South summary), the Rockies storm and a stalled cold front produced moderate to heavy rains (1-3 inches, locally to 5) in the middle Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, and in the western Great Lakes region (eastern Iowa into Wisconsin and Michigan). Light precipitation, some of it in the form of snow in northern locales, fell across the remainder of the Midwest. With the widespread precipitation and low temperatures, there was no deterioration in the region; instead, status-quo or improvements. The 1-category improvements included: southern Missouri; southern, central, and northeastern Illinois; southern and central Indiana; western Ohio; southern and central lower Michigan; east-central Wisconsin; southeastern Minnesota; and the eastern half of Iowa. The lower temperatures, lack of evapotranspiration, and widespread precipitation were ideal for soil moisture recharge where the soils were not frozen. However, there were still some large 6-month deficits (e.g. 8-12 inches in western Iowa) that required plentiful precipitation, and this week’s totals were not impressive (0.25-1 inch), thus D2 and D3 persisted there.

High Plains
A winter storm and frigid air dropped southeastward out of Canada and into the northern and central Rockies early in the period, bringing welcome snows to the mountains, and even at lower elevations of the northern and central Plains. Decent early mountain snows blanketed western and southern Montana, northwestern Wyoming, and parts of southeastern Wyoming, central Colorado, and northern New Mexico. Light to moderate precipitation (mostly snow) also fell on South Dakota and into Minnesota, and parts of western Nebraska. For the most part, the precipitation finally halted the downward deterioration (except for North Dakota) in the region, and actually provided some improvements to western and southern Montana, northwestern and northeastern Wyoming, western South Dakota, southeastern Kansas, and some small D3 to D2 areas in central Colorado where the snows were unusually heavy. In North Dakota, however, precipitation was very light (0-0.25 inches). With indices at 2-3 months and longer (6-months) at D2 or drier, plus field reports of shallow water holes dry, low levels in rivers and larger bodies of water, no regrowth of forages, and poor pastures, an expansion of D1 in the northeast and D2 in central sections was justified.

Looking Ahead
During the next 5 days (October 29-November 2), WPC’s QPF precipitation focuses on Hurricane Zeta and the southern Rockies upper-air low as they both track northeastward. Heavy rains and strong winds are expected at Zeta’s landfall in eastern Louisiana, then as it weakens, moisture from Zeta will become entrained into the upper-air low, with a band of heavy precipitation (1-4 inches) expected from the south-central Plains northeastward into the mid-Atlantic, and in the southern and central Appalachians. Little or no precipitation is forecast elsewhere across the contiguous U.S., except for some lighter amounts in western Washington, the western Great Lakes region, and Florida. Temperatures will average near to below-normal in the eastern half of the Nation, but above-normal in the West, especially in the Great Basin.

The Climate Prediction Center’s 6-10 day outlook (November 3-7) favors below-normal precipitation across the eastern half of the U.S. and along the southern coast of Alaska, with odds for above-normal precipitation in the Northwest and northern Alaska. Temperatures are anticipated to be above-normal in the West, Plains, upper Midwest, and western Alaska, near-normal in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic, and subnormal in New England and southern and eastern Alaska.



USDA Designates Four South Dakota Counties as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated four South Dakota counties as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in Clay, Lincoln, Minnehaha and Turner counties who suffered losses caused by recent drought, may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.

This natural disaster designation allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation or the refinance of certain debts.

Producers in the contiguous counties listed below are also eligible to apply for emergency loans:
    South Dakota: Hutchinson, Lake, McCook, Moody, Union and Yankton
    Iowa: Lyon and Sioux
    Minnesota: Pipestone and Rock
    Nebraska: Cedar and Dixon

The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is June 16, 2021.

FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.

FSA has a variety of additional programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include: Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; and the Tree Assistance Program.

Farmers may contact their local USDA service center for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at farmers.gov/recover.



FDA Must Enforce Fake-Dairy Rules, NMPF Tells Agency Ombudsman in New Advocacy Phase

With FDA giving little indication of promised action on proper labeling of imitation dairy products, the National Milk Producers Federation today asked the agency’s ombudsman to ensure that rules are properly enforced.

“Allowing unlawfully labeled ‘plant-based’ imitation dairy foods to proliferate poses an immediate and growing risk to public health; it is a clear dereliction of the FDA’s duty to enforce federal law and agency regulations,” wrote NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern in the letter, sent to Dr. Laurie Lenkel, ombudsman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “The FDA’s Office of the Ombudsman must intervene to break the bureaucratic logjam that is adversely affecting consumers. Doing so would fit squarely within the Office’s own mission to ensure even-handed application of FDA policy and procedures.”

The FDA ombudsman, based in the agency commissioner’s office, “serves as a neutral and independent resource for members of FDA-regulated industries when they experience problems with the regulatory process,” according to the agency. NMPF is urging the ombudsman’s office to take appropriate action to remedy the FDA’s lax approach to enforcing its own rules on the use of dairy terms on products containing no dairy ingredients, which have proven impacts on public health – a new phase of advocacy brought about by the agency’s regrettable inaction. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations have offered evidence of nutritional deficiencies caused by confusion over the contents of plant-based versus dairy beverages.

NMPF last year released its own road map offering solutions to how public health, product integrity and free speech could be protected through updated regulations. NMPF also supports the DAIRY PRIDE Act, a potential legislative prod for FDA action, and has asked FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn to follow up on the pledge he made nearly one year ago to make fake-dairy labeling a high-priority issue at FDA.



U.S., Vietnam Sign $500 Million Deal to Form Pork Consortium

The Vietnam Trade Alliance, a grouping of buyers and producers, signed a pact on Wednesday to buy up to $500 million worth of American pork over three years, the U.S. embassy in Hanoi said on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, a memorandum of understanding called a "U.S.-Vietnam Pork Consortium" was signed with Smithfield Foods and other U.S. pork producers on the sideline of a virtual Indo-Pacific Business Forum on Wednesday.

Pork accounts for three-quarters of total meat consumption in Vietnam, a country of 96 million people where most of its farm-raised pigs are consumed domestically.

The Southeast Asian country is rebuilding its hog herd after an outbreak of African swine fever first detected in February last year forced it to cull millions of pigs, or 20% of the herd. In May it said it would buy 20,000 breeding pigs from Thailand.

Vietnam Trade Alliance will buy U.S. chilled and frozen pork and pork products for further processing and distribution into the Vietnam market, the statement said.

Vietnam's pork imports from the United States rose to $35 million in the first eight months of this year from $4 million in 2015, Reuters reported.

"This export activity will also help increase overall U.S. agricultural exports to Vietnam, help address the U.S.-Vietnam trade imbalance, and directly support U.S. farmers and ranchers and processing companies.," the statement said.

Vietnam has been seeking to import more U.S. goods, including liquefied natural gas, coal and crude oil, to help narrow the trade gap following last year's threats by President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on its products.



EPA Finalizes Improvements to Pesticide Application Exclusion Zone Requirements

Today, at Overman Farms in Goldsboro, N.C., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler will announce that the agency has finalized important improvements to requirements for the pesticide application exclusion zone (AEZ)—the area surrounding pesticide application equipment that exists only during outdoor production pesticide applications. EPA’s targeted changes improve the enforceability and workability of the AEZ requirements, decrease regulatory burdens for farmers, and maintain critical worker protections. Today’s revisions are consistent with the 2018 Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA). The AEZ requirements are part of EPA’s agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) regulations.

“Since day one, the Trump Administration has been committed to protecting the health of all our citizens," said EPA Administrator Wheeler. "The changes to the AEZ requirements make it easier to ensure people near our nation’s farms are protected, while simultaneously enhancing the workability of these provisions for farm owners and protecting the environment."

This final action balances the input EPA received from a wide range of stakeholders during the proposed action’s 90-day comment period. EPA has clarified and simplified the AEZ requirements based in part on input from state pesticide regulatory agencies and agricultural stakeholders after the adoption of the 2015 WPS rule. Consistent with PRIA, EPA is only implementing changes related to the AEZ requirements in the WPS. These targeted changes include:
-    AEZ requirements only apply within the boundaries of the agricultural establishment, removing off-farm responsibilities that were difficult for state regulators to enforce.
-    Immediate family members of farm owners are now exempted from all aspects of the AEZ requirements. Farm owners and their immediate family are now able to shelter in place inside closed buildings, giving farm owners and immediate family members flexibility to decide whether to stay on-site during pesticide applications, rather than compelling them to leave even when they feel safe remaining.
-    New clarifying language has been added so that pesticide applications that are suspended due to individuals entering an AEZ may be resumed after those individuals have left the AEZ.
-    Simplified criteria to determine whether pesticide applications are subject to the 25- or 100-foot AEZ.

No changes were made to the “Do Not Contact” provision that prohibits a handler/applicator and the handler’s employer from applying a pesticide in such a way that it contacts workers or other persons directly or through drift.

To read the rule in full, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/worker-protection-standard-application-exclusion-zone

Background
The original WPS regulation was enacted in 1992 under EPA’s Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorities to protect farm workers from pesticide exposures in production agriculture. The WPS requires owners and employers on agricultural establishments and commercial pesticide-handling establishments to protect employees on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses from occupational exposure to agricultural pesticides.

In 2015, EPA finalized various significant revisions to the 1992 WPS. Among the 2015 revisions was a new provision requiring agricultural employers to keep workers and all other individuals out of an area called the “application exclusion zone” (AEZ) during outdoor pesticide applications. The AEZ is the area surrounding pesticide application equipment that exists only during outdoor production pesticide applications. The AEZ will be 25 feet in all directions for ground pesticide applications when sprayed from a height greater than 12 inches, and 100 feet in all directions for outdoor aerial, air blast, air-propelled, fumigant, smoke, mist and fog pesticide applications.

The initial intent of the AEZ was to supplement existing WPS provisions for farm workers to better protect them and other on-farm persons that could be contacted by pesticides. However, state regulators expressed concerns with enforcing the complex AEZ requirements and farm owners expressed concerns with applying and complying with pesticide regulations.



Livestock Producers Hail Finalized USFWS Rule Delisting Gray Wolf

Today, leaders from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC) joined Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwith in Minnesota to mark the historic announcement that gray wolves in the contiguous 48 United States have fully recovered and will be returned to state management after having received various levels of protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for nearly 40 years.

Administration officials and stakeholder groups celebrated the announcement as an ESA success story, highlighting the robust populations of wolves that have continued to grow over time and the strong partnerships that made recovery possible.
 
NCBA Vice President Don Schiefelbein was able to celebrate the announcement in his home state of Minnesota, which has been the stage for a number of the legal and procedural challenges that have plagued previous delisting efforts.  

"The recovery and delisting of the gray wolf is an outstanding victory under the Endangered Species Act and should be celebrated accordingly. Today’s announcement is the culmination of decades of work done by cattle producers and landowners nationwide to protect habitat ensuring wolf recovery efforts were successful, even when impacts to their livelihoods were significant," said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Vice President and Minnesota rancher Don Schiefelbein. "The road to recovery and delisting has been fraught with purely political lawsuits that promoted emotion over fact, and the facts are clear: the gray wolf population is recovered and states are well-equipped to manage this population. Thank you to President Trump, Secretary Bernhardt, Director Skipwith and their team for allowing the science to stand for itself."

PLC President Niels Hansen also attended the event, lending support to ranching communities who have continued to be affected by significant depredation events as a result of dense wolf populations. Hansen is a rancher in Wyoming, a state whose wolf population was delisted in 2017 after a years-long recovery effort.

"Today’s announcement is welcome news for public lands ranchers who have spent decades defending their livestock from wolves while also defending previous delisting rules in court," said Public Lands Council (PLC) President Niels Hansen. "By returning gray wolves to state management, we are giving long-overdue recognition to a conservation victory under the Endangered Species Act and returning to a state wildlife management model that has demonstrated success for thousands of other species. I look forward to the next chapter in management of this species that allows ranchers, biologists, and government officials to continue to work together for the benefit of our communities, our economies, and our wildlife because the best decisions always come from those closest to the subject.”



Gray Wolf Removed from Endangered Species List

The Department of the Interior announced it has removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list, signaling a successful recovery under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The gray wolf spent more than four decades on the endangered species list. The population is now thriving in the lower 48 states.

State and tribal wildlife management agencies will now be responsible for the management and protection of the gray wolf.

“This is an Endangered Species Act success story,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall. “The gray wolf joins more than 50 other animals, including the bald eagle, as an example of how careful management and partnerships between federal and state agencies can result in the successful recovery of a once-threatened species. The gray wolf population is now thriving so it is appropriate to turn management over to the states, which can oversee the species in a way that is most appropriate for each region.”

Over 1,600 species remain on the federal threatened and endangered list. Delisting the gray wolf allows the Department of the Interior to focus resources on other species in need of recovery.



Zero-interest, extended-terms offer gives farmers confidence to make seed purchases now, flexibility to pay in December 2021

As farmers seek greater flexibility to best manage financial resources during a challenging farm economy, the Golden AdvantageSM program provides an extended-terms offer with 0% interest on purchases of Golden Harvest® brand seed products. Under the Golden Advantage program, payment for Golden Harvest seed and seed treatment purchases for the 2021 planting season is not due until Dec. 3, 2021.

Golden Advantage is designed to help farmers make the best use of all their open lines of credit and prioritize their farm input purchases. The extended-terms offer is in addition to any applicable discounts provided by Golden Harvest and applies to eligible purchases submitted by May 15, 2021, for use next season.

"Across the country, farmers are dealing with significant financial pressures in the wake of the continuing global pandemic, Midwest derecho and local agronomic challenges," said Dave Young, Golden Harvest head of marketing. "The Golden Advantage program is another important tool we can provide farmers to offer more flexibility in how they manage their whole-farm profitability over the next 15-18 months."

To participate in the program, farmers should first contact their local Golden Harvest Seed Advisor, and then review the detailed Golden Advantage program terms and conditions and apply online at GoldenHarvestSeeds.com/GoldenAdvantage, where farmers can also monitor spending limits and pay for extended-term purchases. Enogen® products sold through an authorized Golden Harvest Seed Advisor are also eligible.

"During these difficult times, we recognize helping farmers maximize yield potential is only one aspect of the service Golden Harvest provides," Young said. "With programs like Golden Advantage, we're focused on doing whatever it takes to put farmers first and help them succeed."