Legislation to Extend Biodiesel Tax Incentive Introduced, Included in Senate Energy Bill ASA applauded the introduction of legislation in both the United State House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate that would extend the biodiesel tax incentive to 2010. Unless Congress passes an extension, the current biodiesel tax incentive, which took effect on January 1, 2005, will expire on December 31, 2006. The biodiesel tax credit is the single most important incentive for the fuel. As it expires at the end of 2006, its extension is the top legislative priority of the ASA. The extension of the biodiesel tax incentive ultimately was included in the Senate’s version of the energy bill. Efforts now turn to ensuring that the biodiesel tax incentive is retained in the House-Senate Conference Committee on the energy bill.  

Senate Amendment Calls for 8 Billion Gallon Renewable Fuels Standard On May 25, an ASA-supported amendment was approved by the United States Senate Energy Committee that would create, as part of the Energy Bill, an eight billion gallon national Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to be phased in by 2012, starting with four billion gallons in 2006. The production and use of 8 billion gallons of ethanol, biodiesel and other renewable fuels by 2012 will displace over 2 billion barrels of crude oil and reduce the outflow of dollars largely to foreign oil producers by $64.1 billion between 2005 and 2012. As a result of the RFS, America’s dependence on imported oil will be reduced from an estimated 68 percent to 62 percent. One month earlier, the United States House of Representatives had passed energy legislation that includes a RFS that would grow to 5 billion gallons by 2012.  

River Transportation Funds Included in Water Resources Development Act In early April, ASA-championed Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate to provide $2.475 billion for construction of seven new locks and other improvements on the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. This legislation authorizes construction of seven new 1,200-foot navigation locks, small-scale navigation improvements, and ecosystem restoration on the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. The legislation allocates funds for construction of new 1,200-foot locks at Locks 20, 21, 22, 24 and 25 on the Upper Mississippi and at LaGrange and Peoria Locks on the Illinois. These improvements are critical to U.S. soybean producers because 75 percent of U.S. soybean exports are shipped down the Mississippi River to shipping terminals in South Louisiana. Making the necessary upgrades to improve the Mississippi and Illinois waterways would also protect jobs. Navigation on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers supports over 400,000 jobs, including 90,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs.  

Senate Approves CAFTA-DR Agreement After intense lobbying by ASA and other agricultural groups, on July 1 the U.S. Senate approved an historic trade agreement between the United States, the Dominican Republic, and the Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The deal would benefit U.S. agriculture in general and soybean producers in particular. Economists estimate the deal could boost U.S. agricultural exports by $1.5 billion when fully implemented. Senate passage of CAFTA-DR is great news for U.S. soybean farmers because it would solidify their position as the preferred supplier of soybeans and products by giving U.S. soy a tariff preference. The six CAFTA-DR countries represent a growing region of 45 million people that imported $264 million in U.S. soy product during 2004. The battle for ratification of the CAFTA-DR Agreement now moves to the House of Representatives.

USDA Implements Coordinated Framework for Soybean Rust Monitoring After strong encouragement from ASA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided additional funding for soybean rust surveillance and monitoring. The framework allows for reporting where soybean rust has been confirmed, as well as predicting where it is likely to spread during the 2005-growing season. The cooperating USDA agencies include the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Cooperative State Research Extension and Education Service (CSREES). Authorization of a federal, state and industry-coordinated framework has been one of ASA’s top priorities since the plan was first announced at a USDA-APHIS-sponsored stakeholders meeting on February 4th in Indianapolis.

ASA and Doane Launch SoyRAP to Help Growers Combat Soybean Rust ASA has teamed-up with Doane Agricultural Services Company (Doane) to launch the Soybean Rust Advisory Program (SoyRAP), a new online resource designed to be the foremost web site for advice about the prevention and treatment of soybean rust. While there are many web sites that will tell you where soybean rust has been confirmed, SoyRAP tells you how this might impact the crop in your area, what you should do to protect your soybeans and how this might impact the soybean market. This unique resource utilizes a nationwide network of crop consultants who will monitor the progression of confirmed soybean rust outbreaks in the U.S. and provide growers with fungicide application recommendations based on regional analysis. Plus, Doane’s chief economist will provide information about the impact on soybean markets. SoyRAP is the perfect complement to the efforts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Farmer Leaders Recognize Planting of One-Billionth Biotech Acre Farmer leaders from the American Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association and the National Cotton Council met in Chicago on May 9, for an ASA-organized international news conference that recognized the planting of the one-billionth acre of biotech-enhanced crops. Representatives from Truth About Trade and Technology were also on hand to talk about an acreage counter that is being used to track the planting of biotech acres around the world. ASA managed the news conference and worldwide distribution of press materials that were distributed in Arabic, simple and traditional Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Hebrew. Globally, six percent of canola, 11 percent of cotton, 23 percent of corn and 60 percent of soybeans are grown from biotech-enhanced seedstock.