Ag Policy Blog

I'm getting ready for a weeklong hiatus. It won't quite be "no shoes, no shirts, no problems" because, well, I'm not going to Mexico for one. Moreover, I'm told the white reflection off my back tends to bother people. I'm an SPF 30 man.

No, my time off will be more like, "I ain't in no hurry" as Zac Brown would say. I plan to "Sit down in a fold-up easy chair, on a quiet shady river bank. Let the world go on without me. Wouldn't have it any other way. Cause I ain't in no hurry today."

I'll largely turn over the reins to Todd Neeley next week.

The Senate will hold its final vote Monday on its latest attempt at the farm bill. We are still uncertain exactly when the House will bring its version of the farm bill to the floor, but it will not be until later this month.

Heritage Foundation is continuing to put heat on conservatives over the farm bill. The group's heritage Action will be scoring the votes in the Senate on Monday and is pushing senators to reject the farm bill. The group continues to highlight the projected costs of nutrition programs and how much they are compared to farm programs. Heritage Action and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., propose decoupling farm programs from nutrition.

"Farm-state lawmakers should no longer assent to the crass legislative tactic of combining farm policy and food stamps; we must take note of the changing political dynamics. Instead of greasing the skids, the rapid growth in the use of food stamps is actually a major factor holding up the five-year reauthorization of agriculture programs."

The group also noted it has been running radio ads targeting House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., as well as three other members of the House Agriculture Committee: Reps. Martha Roby, R-Ala., Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., and Rep. Mike Mike McIntyre, D-N.C. http://dld.bz/…=

The University of Illinois made some comparisons among the current direct and counter-cyclical payment program, the proposed House target price program --- Price Loss Coverage --- and the Senate proposal, the Adverse Market Payments program.

According to its analysis, the likelihood for a commodity payment drops dramatically compared to current programs. Of course, direct payments create a 100% likelihood of a commodity payment and those will be going away.

For corn, the likelihood of a payment would be 28.3% under the House plan and only 7.5% under the Senate plan.

For soybeans, the numbers fall even lower. The PLC would pay about 15.3% of the time and the Senate's AMP would pay about 1% of the time.

http://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/…

COOL apparently makes Canadians heads swivel so much they want to slap a tariff on swivel chairs.

Canadian Ag Minister Gerry Ritz released a possible list of items Canada is considering tagging with retaliatory tariffs over the new country-of-origin labeling rule in the U.S. It's quite the list and ranges from live cattle and corn to pasta and frozen orange juice. Other items on the list include parts for non-electric stoves, "swivel seats with variable height adjustment" and "mattresses of materials other than cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered."

Clearly, the Canucks want to make it clear they aren't going to take meat labeling lying own.

http://www.international.gc.ca/…

I can be found on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN

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