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Agriculture News

Texas Supreme Court Issues Ruling in Denbury Green

Texas Agriculture Law Blog | Posted on January 12, 2017

Although the Texas Supreme Court decision in Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC v. Texas Rice Land Partners, Ltd. has put an end to the litigation, there are a number of unanswered questions and potential issues that remain in the opinion’s aftermath. This case will continue to have serious impacts on landowners and pipeline companies dealing with the use of eminent domain in Texas.  When the Denbury Green Pipeline project planned to build a C02 pipeline from Missisippi to Brazoria and Galveston Counties in Texas, the company declared themselves a “common carrier” on a Railroad Commission form in March 2008, which granted them the power of eminent domain.  Under Texas law at that time, Denbury was not required to provide any other additional information to prove its common carrier status to the Railroad Commission. Denbury’s planned pipeline route crossed two tracts of land owner by Texas Rice Partners.   When Denbury contacted the landowner to conduct a survey over the Texas Rice Partners property, they were denied entry.  Denbury then sued for an injunction to get access to the property for surveying.


Texas Ag Commissioner Announces Texas - Isreal Trade Initiative

Texas Insider | Posted on January 12, 2017

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced earlier today that he has been invited to Israel to meet with regional and national officials, including Uri Ariel, the Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, to discuss vital agricultural issues, including trade and jobs. The trip will take place in March and the itinerary is still being finalized.  I am going to deliver the message to our trade partners in Israel that Texas is open for business and that we are looking forward to strengthening the bond between Texas and Israel,” Miller said. “Whether working on agricultural technology such as livestock genetics, finding solutions to our future water needs, increasing Texas exports or creating new jobs for both Texas and Israel, we have only scratched the surface of the ways we can work together,” Miller said.


Texas grain producers reject indemnity fund assessment

My San Antonio | Posted on January 12, 2017

The Texas Department of Agriculture on Friday announced Texas grain producers have voted against the establishment of a producer assessment to self-insure against financial risks associated with selling or storing grain. TDA certified all the ballots, and the final results were 148 in favor of establishing the fund and 665 against. The referendum provided grain producers the opportunity to decide, through an impartial, electoral process, whether the risk of financial loss from placing grain on storage deposit with a grain warehouse warranted the establishment of an indemnity fund. In 2011, the Texas Legislature passed legislation to create the Texas Grain Producer Indemnity Board (TGPIB). TGPIB established policies surrounding the implementation of the program, and TDA was tasked by the Legislature to conduct the referendum.


Weekly Outlook: Prospects for Corn Consumption from Ethanol Production in 2017

Farm Doc Daily | Posted on January 12, 2017

The U.S. ethanol industry ended 2016 on a high note. Ethanol production for the week ending December 30 set a new ethanol production record with an average of 1.043 million barrels per day. The March futures price for corn moved higher last week to close at $3.58 in large part due to strength in the ethanol sector. Ethanol production and exports returned strong numbers over the first quarter of the marketing year. Currently, the WASDE forecast for corn consumption for ethanol production is 5.3 billion bushels. When taking into account an increase in projected gasoline consumption in 2017 and robust ethanol export levels, the ability to surpass this projection is a strong possibility. Domestic ethanol consumption in 2017 will be influenced by domestic gasoline consumption, due to the ethanol blending requirement, and the biofuels volume requirement associated with the Renewable Fuels Standard. The EPA final rulemaking for the Renewable Fuels Standard for 2017 was released on November 23 and is discussed in greater detail in this November 30, 2016 farmdoc daily article. In brief, the renewable fuels volume requirement is set at 19.28 billion gallons for 2017 which is up from the 18.11 billion gallons required in 2016. The conventional ethanol requirement is set at 15 billion gallons for 2017, 500 million gallons larger than 2016 and equal to the statutory requirement level. If the gasoline consumption forecast used by the EPA is correct, the E-10 blend wall will be 14.36 billion gallons in 2017. The EPA believes an ethanol supply of 14.56 billion gallons is reasonably attainable in 2017. Within the 14.56 billion gallons, E15 and E85 blends are expected to be 107 and 204 million gallons respectively. The ability to attain the E15 and E85 blend levels remains to be seen but the increase in ethanol requirements provides support for greater corn usage in 2017.


Southern Legislative Conference Groundwater Disputes Webinar

Southern Legislative Conference | Posted on January 12, 2017

More than 30 interstate compacts govern the use of water from shared lakes and rivers in the United States. However, there is not a single legal agreement in place between states to guide the apportionment of groundwater that crosses state lines. In 2013, Nevada and Utah appeared poised to be the first two states to reach such an agreement, but ultimately they failed. Now, with a longstanding groundwater dispute between Mississippi and Tennessee headed for the U.S. Supreme Court, a legal precedent governing the apportionment of interstate groundwater is imminent. This webinar will address the possible outcomes of Mississippi v. Tennessee, implications for interstate groundwater policy and the role of interstate compacts in resolving water disputes between states.


Genetic Engineering and Crops: The CRISPR Conundrum

Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News | Posted on January 10, 2017

In the U.S., gene-editing technologies have already allowed more than 30 types of engineered crops to entirely bypass regulation by the USDA. One such crop is the CRISPR/Cas9-edited white button mushroom. 

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs as they are commonly known, have been a controversial topic since their inception, and pose unique challenges for governments to regulate effectively. Recently, both the U.S. and EU have evolved their thinking regarding GMOs, including whether or not modifications made with new breeding technologies (NBTs), specifically gene-editing technologies, should fall into the same category as that of organisms modified via previously known transgenic techniques. However, we observe that while regulation over these technologies is evolving, the debate may not be fully informed and/or is centered on only some of the relevant issues. Agricultural crops are some of the GMOs most visible to the general public, and will serve as the emphasis for this article. The first GMO crops were created via transgenesis—a process by which a plant genome is permanently altered by inserting foreign gene sequences from a different, non-sexually compatible plant or other organism, e.g., sequences that could not appear in the genome through non-genetic breeding techniques [see EMBO Rep. 7(8): 750–753 (2006)]. In contrast, gene-editing technologies allow for the modification of a plant genome to alter single or a few nucleotides, or targeting the insertion of genes to a specific location. They also allow for both intragenesis (the modification of portions of one or more genes) and cisgenesis (the insertion of one or more genes in the correct orientation and including natural expression signals). These technologies are capable of providing astounding improvements to crops, such as improving disease resistance or increasing metabolic efficiency; and this has led to a flurry of activity as many researchers and companies seek to expand and further develop gene-editing technologies in plants.


NOAA plans to open federal waters in Pacific to fish farming

Associated Press | Posted on January 10, 2017

As traditional commercial fishing is threatening fish populations worldwide, U.S. officials are working on a plan to expand fish farming into federal waters around the Pacific Ocean. The government sees the move toward aquaculture as a promising solution to feeding a hungry planet. But some environmentalists say the industrial-scale farms could do more harm than good to overall fish stocks and ocean health. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is creating a plan to manage commercial fish farms in federal waters, the area of ocean from three to 200 miles offshore, around Hawaii and other Pacific islands. The program is similar to one recently implemented by NOAA in the Gulf of Mexico. The farms in the Gulf and the Pacific would join the few aquaculture operations in U.S. federal waters, though there are smaller operations in state waters close to shore.


Benefits of state renewable energy policies far outweigh costs

Midwest Energy News | Posted on January 10, 2017

A new report from the national laboratories examined states’ renewable energy goals and found that, while renewables add costs, they more than make up for it in avoiding pollution and saving water.  For the first time, researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory took a look at state renewable energy portfolios and projected their costs and benefits decades into the future, as far as 2050.  Today, 29 states and Washington, D.C., have a renewable portfolio standard. They have been an important engine for the spread of renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind farms. More than half of all renewable energy installations since 2000 have been created to satisfy an RPS, according to the paper. The study analyzed two scenarios: one where RPSs remain unchanged from where they stand today, and another where they expand to every state and have higher targets.


Dallas Fed Ag Credit Survey, “Concern” Noted

Illinois Farm Policy News | Posted on January 10, 2017

Bankers responding to the fourth quarter survey continue to report concern for producers financial positions and profitability due to low commodity prices. More specifically, the Fed report stated that, “Loan renewals and extensions continued to increase, albeit at a slower pace, as loan repayment rates declined for the second year in a row. Overall, the volume of non-real-estate farm loans was lower than a year ago. Operating loan volume increased year over year, while all other loan categories’ volumes fell


Washington dairies and Lummi tribe sign accord

Capital Press | Posted on January 10, 2017

Seven northwest Washington dairies have pledged to step up efforts to keep manure from spoiling Lummi Nation shellfish beds, while the tribe has agreed to pull back on plans to sue.  Dairies also will compensate the tribe with nearly $1.2 million for beds closed by bacteria since 2014 in Portage Bay in Whatcom County. Over the next several months, the tribe and dairies will try to out work water-quality improvement plans for the farms. The agreement gives the seven dairies a reprieve from costly litigation and a forum to improve long-term relations with the tribe, said Ferndale dairyman Rich Appel, who helped negotiate the accord.


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