Industry Issues Discussed at Annual Wheat Fall Conference

November 10, 2014

From biotechnology and domestic trade policy to research and industry communication, many from various aspects of the wheat industry met in New Mexico Oct. 29 – Nov. 1 for the the wheat industry’s annual fall conference. The conference is a joint meeting of the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), which also includes a mix of wheat growers, state wheat commissions and technology providers.

Committees from the two organizations conducted business and prepared agendas for the upcoming year to tackle industry concerns and progression. The USW and NAWG will meet again in January at the annual winter conference held in Washington, D.C. which will also include visits to Capitol Hill in addition to taking further action in each committee. A synopsis of business conducted in each committee during the fall conference is referenced below:

Joint International Trade Policy Committee

The Joint International Trade Policy Committee, made up of representatives from both NAWG and USW, tackled a busy agenda that included a discussion on the ongoing trade agreements with the Asian-Pacific region (TPP) and the European Union (T-TIP), in addition to reiterating the need for Congress and the administration to pass Trade Promotion Authority, to ease the passage of the agreements.

The Committee also dove into the upcoming Federal Grain Inspection Services (FGIS) reauthorization, and discussed how the wheat industry could use the legislation as tool to avoid another situation similar to the one at the Port of Vancouver, WA last summer, when state and federal inspectors would not inspect grain, causing a stoppage in shipments.

Joint Biotech Committee

The NAWG and USW Joint Biotech Committee met to discuss a wide range of biotechnology facing the wheat industry today. Included on the agenda was a brief discussion of the APHIS report on the investigation into GMO wheat in Oregon two summers ago, as well as updates from several tech providers, and staff updates on GMO labeling initiatives and the Wheat Innovation Alliance (WIA). Much of the discussion focused around currently ongoing efforts from the agriculture industry to gain a Low Level Presence (LLP) for GMO traits in shipments of grain, both domestically and internationally, and how the wheat industry can be involved going forward.

The discussion lead to a motion by the committee to “authorize the Chairman and staff to collaborate with other grain groups to recommend a threshold level at the January meeting.” The guest speaker for the meeting was Vic Knauf, Chief Scientific Officer from Arcadia Biosciences.

Environmental and Renewable Resources Committee

The Environment and Renewable Resources Committee met to discuss regulatory issues affecting wheat growers and farm bill implementation. The committee heard from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and NAWG general counsel regarding the EPA’s Waters of the U.S. proposed regulation. The committee discussed action on written comments, which will be submitted prior to the November 14 deadline, requesting that EPA withdraw the
proposed regulation.

The committee also agreed to send a letter to Secretary Vilsack regarding National Resource Conservation Service contribution agreements, an issue raised by the North Dakota Grain Growers Association. A copy of the letter can be found here. With the Administration’s lack of action on the 2014 Renewable Fuels Renewable Volumetric Obligations, the committee recommended joining with several other agriculture commodity organizations in sending a letter to President Obama. A copy of the RFS RVO letter can be found here. The committee also discussed the expected timeline for farm bill conservation program regulation and a strategy for preparing NAWG comments.

Research & Technology Committee

Following the opening introductions and approval of the agenda and previous meeting minutes, Matt Erickson of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) gave an overview of current agricultural group discussions led by AFBF about farmer data. He stressed that the guiding principles of technology providers are consistency and transparency in their policies concerning agricultural data generated on farms.

Committee member and former chair Robert Blair then gave an update on current FAA rules regarding unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and discussed the challenges those rules pose to farmers who wish to use the technology and manage data collected using them. He emphasized the need for farmer representation on the FAA advisory committee. The Committee also heard that the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) has invited NAWG to participate in their congressional briefing session on March 9, 2015. The focus of the briefings will be on the capabilities and applications of unmanned aerial systems in agriculture.

The Committee passed a resolution in support of grower representation on the Federal Aviation Administration small commercial Unmanned Air Systems rulemaking committee. Additionally, they passed a motion to provide a letter from NAWG supporting the Triticeae Cooperative Action Program (T-CAP) and urging the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to issue a Request for Proposals that would allow TCAP to apply for future funding.

Domestic Trade and Policy Committee

The Domestic Trade and Policy Committee started with general discussion and staff updates and then moved right into presentations given by their invited speakers. The first presentation was given by Kevin Koffman and Loch Edwards from TTMS Group. The discussion focused on issues that the northern plains are facing, specifically the challenge of railroads not being able to move grain due to capacity issues.

Next, Tara Smith, from Michael Torrey and Associates, spoke on behalf of the Crop Insurance Reinsurance Bureau about the future of crop insurance. Smith pointed out that crop insurance was one of the farm bill items that all of agriculture stood together on and one of the only items that received increased funding. However, crop insurance is a target of many organizations from both the far left and the far right and agriculture needs to ban together in the coming years to defend crop insurance and keep it working for our growers.

The last part of the meeting focused on the decision tools made available on the USDA website. Dr. Joe Outlaw from Texas A&M University and Dr. Gary Schnitkey from the University of Illinois, the two leading universities that developed the decision tools, were both on hand to walk through their decision aides. Both professors went step-by-step through their tools and allowed for questions from all present. At this point in the farm bill implementation process, farmer education is of the upmost importance growers will have to make a five-year long decision on which programs to sign up for early next year.