By Jess McCluer, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Affairs The Trump administration recently issued an executive order and related guidance that sets forth best practices and recommendations for agencies to ensure fairness in administrative enforcement and adjudication. The White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) issued an Aug. 31 memorandum implementing the “Executive Order on Regulatory Relief to Support Economic Recovery.” The memorandum contains 10 recommendations, including the following: “The ... Read More
News
FDA, OSHA, CDC provide COVID-19 update for food operation stakeholders
By David Fairfield, Senior Vice President, Feed The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted a webinar on Sept. 1 to highlight key aspects of the FDA/OSHA Employee Health and Food Safety Checklist for Human Food Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic and provide an update on FDA inspections. During the webinar, agency officials emphasized that the checklist previously released on Aug. 18 is not a standard or regulation, and creates no new legal obligations for employers ... Read More
U.S. to consider erecting barriers to imports of Mexican produce
By Max Fisher, Vice President of Economics and Government Relations The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office (USTR), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S. Department of Commerce jointly announced on Sept. 1 their plan to address imports of seasonal and perishable fruits and vegetables. The main pillar of the plan is for the U.S. International Trade Commission to initiate a Section 201 global safeguard investigation to determine the extent to which increased imports of blueberries have caused serious injury to domestic blueberry growers. A Section 201 investigation for ... Read More
COVID-19 payments increase farm income forecast
Although farm receipts from sales of commodities have declined, U.S. farm income is projected to increase this year because of the influx of federal government payments authorized by coronavirus emergency legislation, according to the latest Farm Income Forecast published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS). USDA Chief Economist Rob Johansson said 41 percent of farm income in 2020 will be from government payments. There is an estimated $37 billion in government farm payments this year, including $16 billion from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program ... Read More
What will Congress address in the rest of 2020?
By Bobby Frederick, Vice President of Legislative Affairs and Public Policy With 60 days until the November 2020 presidential election, Congress has about four weeks to consider unfinished legislative business before the home stretch of campaigning that will decide who leads the House, Senate and White House in 2021. Here are some of the legislative questions NGFA members may be asking: Will There Be Another Round of COVID-19 Economic Stimulus? Congress worked at lighting speed to authorize more than $3.5 trillion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April. Since then, ... Read More
EPA proposed rule provides exemptions for certain biotech plants
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Sept. 1 released a 142-page proposed rule for easing the regulatory process for plants that are engineered to kill pests, also known as plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs). Specifically, EPA would exempt from regulation biotech crops engineered to contain pesticidal substances if they: “pose no greater risk than PIPs that meet EPA safety requirements”; and “could have otherwise been created through conventional breeding.” EPA’s proposed rule would require a developer to submit a self-determination letter or a request for EPA ... Read More
Nationwide truck inspection blitz scheduled for Sept. 9-11
By Max Fisher, Vice President of Economics and Government Relations The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will be conducting its annual three-day truck inspection blitz from Sept. 9-11. CVSA is comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials and trucking industry representatives. Trucking industry officials indicate some truck drivers choose to take a vacation during the annual three-day event as approximately 9,000 inspectors throughout North America will be conducting commercial motor vehicle and driver inspections at ... Read More
Thanks for joining NGFA for Harvest Safety Week! Check out our newest safety resources
NGFA is grateful for the participation of its member companies and state/regional affiliates during the second annual Harvest Safety Week from Aug. 31-Sept. 4! Each day this week, NGFA delivered a new safety resource addressing harvesttime hazards to every NGFA contact and shared training materials on social media. The Association shared some examples of the great engagement generated with #HarvestSafetyWeek in its update sent earlier on Sept. 4. New Resources! During the week, NGFA unveiled several new safety training resources, including a new video funded by the National Grain and ... Read More
NGFA’s NextGen presents: Unlocking Your Employer Benefits
Register for NGFA’s upcoming NextGen Webinar: Unlocking Your Employer Benefits on Sept. 16. The latest in a series of NGFA webinars specifically designed for early-to-mid-career employees will feature two NGFA-member experts who will discuss a sometimes-neglected element of personal financial planning. Brian McKibbon, principal at CliftonLarsonAllen, and Craig McCormick, associate wealth advisor at CliftonLarsonAllen, will look at the various parts of employer-sponsored compensation and how they fit into a comprehensive personal plan. Topics also will include budgeting, managing cash ... Read More
‘Grain Risks and Opportunities Post-COVID’ recording available
If you missed the insightful presentation on “Grain Risks and Opportunities Post-COVID” by Ken Zuckerberg, lead analyst and senior economist in CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange division, view the 46-minute recording here. Zuckerberg’s presentation on Aug. 26 served as the debut for NGFA’s new quarterly webinar series on economic and financial topics. Zuckerberg covered the “mega-issues” currently facing the grain, feed and processing industry, followed by an interactive question-and-answer session with webinar participants. Zuckerberg’s remarks included economic impacts past, ... Read More
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