In this issue:

•  Rice Producers Seek more TIme for Producers to Study and Comment on USDA Farm Program Rules
• NCS Cotton & Rice Conference to be Held Next Week
• New Secretary of Agriculture Names Key Officials at USDA
• USRPA Continues Pushing for Improvements in U.S. Ag Trade Policy with Cuba
• Bush Implements Free Trade Agreement with Peru Before Leaving Office
• NASS Nationwide Survey to Focus on Irrigation
• 5th Annual Western Rice Belt Conference Draws a Crowd
• General Market Update

TRA 01.23.09

[The Rice Advocate, 01-23-09]

608 Kb

With the completion of the presidential inaugural ceremony this week in Washington, the U.S. rice industry is expecting President Obama to liberalize the Bush Administration’s restrictive policy limiting the ability of U.S. citizens to travel freely to Cuba. A letter signed by the US Rice Producers Association and 20 other agricultural organizations was delivered to the new president this week calling for a new approach to our trade policy and relations with Cuba. (The text of the letter can be viewed by downloading the PDF below.)

Change in the U.S. trade policy with Cuba would bring substantial new opportunities for U.S. rice producers. Cuba needs to import about 600,000 to 700,000 tons of rice each year to help feed the Cuban people. Congress has repeatedly supported this trade, which could be worth more than $200 million per year to U.S. rice producers, hundreds of millions of dollars more to producers of other U.S. farm and food goods, and thousands of related farm, food industry and shipping jobs. 

This is an opportunity that the USRPA has played a strategic role in going back to 1999 and 2000 in pushing for improved access to the Cuban market.     USRPA organized a small leadership group with representatives of USRPA, wheat growers, farm cooperatives, and exporters and successfully lobbied members of Congress to open the trade of U.S. agricultural products to Cuba.  The USRPA worked closely with our friends in both the House and the Senate to draft amendatory language to open farm trade, and even participated in negotiations with the House Republican leadership and staff to finalize legislative language. 

USRPA conceived, drafted, built support for and negotiated the final statutory language to carry out authorization of agriculture trade for Cuba while working with the members in both the House and Senate. In addition, at a critical time in the 2000 negotiations, USRPA led a lonely, controversial effort to oppose an inadequate compromise proposed by the House Republican leadership. This effort was successful in reversing this flawed proposal and eventually enacting language that facilitated agricultural exports to Cuba even while other groups had prematurely endorsed this inadequate proposal. (See USRPA press release dated July 5, 2000.)

We have continued to fight for liberalized trade in US farm goods with Cuba since 2000. Several times we have succeeded in urging the House and Senate to approve, by large margins, measures to remove restrictions on the sale of US agricultural goods to Cuba. We are hopeful that all of this work, and the momentum that it has built, will pay further dividends now that we have a President in the White House who has professed to be more open to engagement between the united States and Cuba.  Trade with Cuba will be a subject of top priority when the USRPA makes their annual trip to Washington D.C. February 8-12, 2009 to meet with the new administration and key members of the House and Senate on Capitol Hill.

Cuba Trade Letter to Obama	[Cuba Trade Letter to Obama]	16 Kb
USRPA Press Release - 07-05-2000	[USRPA Press Release July 5, 2000]	70 Kb

The US Rice Producers Association joined with several other farm and commodity groups this week in writing new Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to request that USDA extend the comment period on the interim final rule governing regulations for the farm commodity programs.  These regulations are final for the 2009 crops and thus will be implemented as indicated in the rule. 

But for the 2010 crops the rules could be further amended, based on USDA’s review of comments received during the pending comment period.  The rules were originally published with a 30 day comment period, which is scheduled to close next week on January 30. 

USRPA believes that it is critically important that USDA finalize details of the program for the 2009 crop year, and make those details available to producers and Farm Service Agency County offices.  In meetings in Washington last week attended by USRPA Washington Counsel Fred Clark, USDA made clear that it would not be changing the administration of the commodity programs beyond what was provided for in the Interim Final Rule (including with respect to the new Adjusted Gross Income and Payment Limit rules).  USDA officials provided a power point presentation that explains some of these issues in more detail.  A copy of the presentation is attached below. Please download to view the entire presentation.

While USDA has clarified some issues, others for the 2009 crop need to be addressed in the context of guidance to be provided to FSA County Offices through the FSA Handbook process.  We understand that the new Handbooks will be provided soon, with a target date of the end of the month of January.  

farmbill-extension09 0122.pdf	[farmbill extension 01-22-09]	20 Kb
Payment Limit Presentation	[Payment Limit Presentation]	63 Kb