Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman is vowing to keep working with fellow panel members to get more financial aid to struggling farmers. Boozman acknowledged at a hearing Tuesday on finding new ag markets, “If you're putting something in the ground, you're probably losing money,” Boozman said in opening remarks at a hearing Tuesday on domestic ag markets.
Boozman said his state of Arkansas "now holds the unfortunate distinction of leading the nation in chapter 12 farm bankruptcies."
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., tells Agri-Pulse lawmakers are still looking at around $15 billion in additional aid, on top of $12 billion announced by the Trump administration in December. Hoeven and Boozman have suggested the figure could still change, especially as conflict in the Middle East threatens to worsen financial conditions for farmers.
By the way: Hoeven wants to pair an aid measure with a provision to allow year-round sales of higher blends of the biofuel, known as E15.
Soaring oil prices due to the war with Iran make it a “great moment” to move forward with E15, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the panel’s top-ranking Democrat. She cited a University of Minnesota study showing that E15 saves drivers about 25 cents a gallon.
For more on the aid package, and the possibility of including it in a supplemental spending bill, check out our weekly newsletter today.
Democrats mount global tariff challenge
A group of Senate Democrats will challenge President Donald Trump’s 10% global tariff in legislation to be introduced today.
The bill, led by Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, would repeal the tariff and prevent any future president from levying tariffs for balance-of-payments reasons, according to a copy seen by Agri-Pulse.
The legislation has the backing of eight Democratic cosponsors, including Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and one independent.
The bill is the second legal effort to scale back U.S. tariffs this week. On Monday, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced legislation to exempt small businesses from the tariffs.
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Take note: Unlike the resolutions challenging Trump’s emergency tariffs, which could be fast-tracked to the floor, these bills would need to clear committee votes. They are therefore highly unlikely to come to the floor.
US in better position than most on fertilizer, analyst says
U.S. producers are still grappling with high fertilizer costs and availability challenges, but competitors in international markets could be reeling even more.
The United States has “the most sophisticated nitrogen market in the world,” Bloomberg Intelligence’s Alexis Maxwell said in a webinar Tuesday. Domestic producers are capable of meeting between 75% and 90% of its urea, ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate needs.
Brazilian producers, meanwhile, could struggle to compete for fertilizers in the global market because of limited access to affordable credit. And the European Union is likely more dependent on imports – particularly from places like Egypt where natural gas supplies are under threat, Maxwell said.
U.S. UAN producers on the Gulf Coast can also pivot to urea production if high prices persist, Maxwell said, which would help bolster domestic supplies.
But, but, but: That doesn’t help farmers immediately, and in the short term, things look bleaker by the day. With vessels taking up to 45 days to move fertilizer from the Middle East to the U.S. Corn Belt, anything not on the water already won’t be available for the spring season. The U.S. is still short 2 million metric tons of fertilizer that would typically land by June, Maxwell said.
Even if the war ended tomorrow, “it would still take two to three days to restart the nitrogen plants that are down. You'd have to add in load time, compete for space to move through the Strait [of Hormuz] against oil, and that urea cargo just likely is not going to arrive in the U.S. in time for our March-April application season,” Maxwell said.
USDA announces $26.8M in awards through local food marketing program
USDA is awarding more than $26.8 million for direct-to-consumer marketing and value-added projects through the Local Agriculture Market Program. The agency will provide $11.1 million to 43 projects through the Farmers Market Promotion Program, a LAMP sub-program focused on producer-to-consumer markets like farmers markets, roadside stands, and agritourism activities, according to a press release.
Another $11.1 million is being awarded to 37 projects in the Local Food Promotion Program, which centers around food processing, distribution, storage, and developing value-added products.
Around $4.7 million will also be awarded to seven partnerships through the Regional Food System Partnerships program, a program focused on establishing relationships between local and regional food businesses and institutions like schools, hospitals and governments.
Antiseptic spray approved for screwworm in cattle
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorization, or EUA, for a spray to prevent and treat New World screwworm infestations.
F10 Antiseptic Wound Spray with Insecticide “may be effective in the prevention and treatment of NWS myiasis in cattle, horses and minor species of hoof stock,” such as sheep, goats and deer, an FDA news release says.
FDA has already granted conditional approval or issued EUAs for drugs to prevent and/or treat NWS in cattle, dogs, and cats. “F10 Antiseptic Wound Spray with Insecticide is the first product authorized by the FDA for NWS indications in additional species,” the agency says.
Cattle, goats, and sheep must not be slaughtered for human consumption within 30 days of treatment, FDA says.
Final word
“So, really what producers are doing right now is trying to figure out what crop they can grow to lose the least amount of money.” – Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer, suggesting that farmers may plant more wheat this year because the input costs are lower than for crops such as corn.
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