By Sarah Gonzalez, Director of Communications and Digital Media The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, is expected to be introduced in the U.S. Congress during the first or second quarter of 2019. Under the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) law, which requires Congress to approve or reject a trade accord without amendment, President Donald Trump may sign the USMCA after 60 days, or on Nov. 29. Following this, 60 days are provided for legal review and 105 days for the completion of an economic impact study by the U.S. ... Read More
News
USDA says soybean damage eligible for crop insurance quality adjustments
By Max Fisher, Director of Economics and Government Relations In response to reports of weather-induced damage to portions of this year’s U.S. soybean crop, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has issued a new Fact Sheet to help affected producers more fully understand the process for filing quality adjustment claims for soybean damage under the federal crop insurance program. To be eligible for quality adjustment payments, soybeans must grade sample grade or worse. Kernel damage exceeding 8 percent damage is one of the factors that causes soybeans to be ... Read More
Senate approves water infrastructure bill
The Senate on Oct. 1 voted 99-1 to approve the “America's Water Infrastructure Act,” which includes the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2018 that authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ water resources projects. In a victory for the NGFA and other organizations whose members are commercial users of the inland waterway users, the bill does not include any authorization language that would allow for lockage fees or tolls on the inland waterways system. Among other things, WRDA 2018 includes funding for the deepening of Savannah Harbor in Georgia and replacement for the ... Read More
NGFA, NAEGA commend Trump administration and counterparts for achieving trilateral trade agreement with Mexico, Canada
By Randy Gordon, President The NGFA and North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) commended the Trump administration and its counterparts in Mexico and Canada for reaching a trilateral trade agreement, which the nations announced late Sept. 30. Read more (member log-in required). ... Read More
CEC guest panelist Indigo Ag launches digital marketplace
Indigo Ag Inc. an agricultural startup specializing in microbial and digital technologies, officially announced in September its launch of Indigo Marketplace™, a digital platform for buying and selling grain. Indigo, which first launched in 2014 to help farmers improve crop health, made its online grain marketplace available to its network of farmers in June. Since then, growers have entered more than $6 billion in grain inventory and buyers have entered more than 4,000 bids representing over $2 billion in demand, the company said in a September press release. “Directly connecting ... Read More
NGFA joins Coalition for Workplace Safety to outline concerns about OSHA’s injury and illness reporting rules
By Jess McCluer, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Affairs; and Sarah Gonzalez, Director of Communications and Digital Media The Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS), a group of companies and trade associations including the NGFA that focuses on improving workplace safety, issued comments Sept. 28 to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on the agency’s proposal to revise the injury and illness reporting regulation known as Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses. In its proposal, OSHA eliminated the final rule’s requirement for establishments with 250 or ... Read More
FDA releases annual pesticide residue monitoring report
By David Fairfield, Senior Vice President of Feed Services The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Oct. 1 released the results of its FY 2016 Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program that indicate whether the levels of pesticide chemical residues measured by agency in the U.S. food supply are generally in compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pesticide tolerances. For human food, the latest report indicates that for the pesticides tested in fiscal year (FY) 2016 (Oct. 1, 2015 through Sept. 30, 2016) more than 99 percent of the 2,670 domestic and 90 percent of the ... Read More
USDA extends comment deadline on soybean, corn and canola standards to Dec. 3
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Oct. 2 issued a Federal Register notice officially extending the comment deadline to Dec. 3 on its request for comments on potential changes to the official U.S. grain standards for soybeans, corn and canola. The NGFA and North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) had requested that USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) extend the comment period on the three standards by at least an additional 60 days to provide additional time to develop industry comments. USDA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service, which is spearheading the review, became a ... Read More
NGFA commends lawmakers for letter urging FDA to reclassify pulse crops as grain under FSMA
The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) is commending members of Congress for urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reclassify specific pulse crops as grains to qualify for the exemption from certain requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that applies to raw agricultural commodities other than fruits and vegetables. The NGFA has been urging FDA to reclassify pulses as a “grain” to avoid imposing unnecessary, inappropriate and costly regulatory requirements on grain elevators that store pulses. Under FSMA, FDA is authorized to grant a science- and ... Read More
NGFA asks IRS to clarify deduction for agribusinesses in proposed rule implementing Section 199A
In a letter submitted on Oct. 1 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the NGFA recommended the agency should clarify a recently proposed rule to ensure agribusiness firms like grain elevators, feed manufacturers and grain processors qualify for the pass-through deduction under Section 199A of the tax code. Read story (requires member log-in) ... Read More
National Grain and Feed Association
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