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Seed E-News
March 30, 2007
Welcome to ASTA's electronic newsletter for members, allies and stakeholders. Please feel free to forward Seed E-News to others you believe might wish to receive news about the seed industry. ASTA respects your privacy and does not share this mailing list with other parties. If you have received this publication in error, you may unsubscribe at the end of this page. Questions, comments and your industry news are welcome
— contact Lisa Dry at ASTA.
Past issues can be viewed here
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New Reports
• 3/27 USDA/ERS: Wheat Yearbook Report
• 3/29 USDA/FAS; Brazil soybean update
• 3/29 USDA/ERS: Research and analysis on Farm Bill
• 3/29 USDA/ERS: NAFTA at 13, Implementation Near Completion
• 3/30 USDA/ERS: Feed grains backgrounder
• 3/30 USDA/ERS: Cotton Backgrounder
In the News
• 3/23 USDA/PVPO Grants Protection to 21 New Plant Varieties
• 3/26 Des Moines Business Record; LaVigne Quoted in "The Seed Race"
• 3/27 San Diego Transcript, "Biotech Goes to the Garden," reprint from WSJ
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Chart: National Corn Growers Assoc. |
Corn Plantings Soar to 63-Year High;
15% Increase Over 2006
Driven by growing ethanol demand, U.S. farmers intend to plant 15 percent more corn acres in 2007, according to the Prospective Plantings report released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Producers plan to plant 90.5 million acres of corn, the largest area since 1944 and 12.1 million acres more than in 2006.
Other crop highlights include:
Soybean producers intend to plant 67.1 million acres in 2007, down 11 percent from last year. If realized, this will be the lowest planted area since 1996. Acreage decreases are expected in all growing areas, except in New York and the Southeast.
All wheat planted area is estimated at 60.3 million acres, up 5 percent from 2006. The 2007 winter wheat planted area, at 44.5 million acres, is 10 percent above last year and up 1 percent from the previous estimate.
All cotton plantings for 2007 are expected to total 12.1 million acres, 20 percent below last year. Upland acreage is expected to total 11.9 million, down 21 percent from last year and the lowest since 1989. Growers intend to decrease planted area in all States with the largest acreage declines in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas. American-Pima cotton growers intend to decrease their plantings by 10 percent from 2006, to 292,000 acres. California producers expect to plant 250,000 acres, down 9 percent from last year's record high.
Area intended for rice is estimated at 2.64 million acres, down 7 percent from 2006 and down 22 percent from 2005. If realized, this would be the lowest planted acreage since 1987. Expected acreage of long grain rice, which represents 76 percent of total rice acres, is down 8 percent from last year.
NASS's acreage estimates are based on surveys conducted during the first two weeks of March from a sample of more than 86,000 farm operators across the United States. Link directly to the Prospective Plantings report here.
> USDA News Release
>
National Corn Growers Association Comments
State of the States...
California. The California Seed Association 67th Annual Convention was held in San Diego earlier this week. Committee meetings gave the membership the opportunity to discuss the issues facing the industry, such as Round-Up Ready alfalfa bans, cotton blight testing rules, an update on the actions of the California Rice Commission and the regulatory committee, e-coli testing and phytosanitary issues.
Executive Vice President Rich Matteis presented an overview of legislation being monitored by CSA:
- Mandatory Health Insurance. Many comprehensive health care proposals have been presented during this session, including one with a provision that would not allow insurance companies to deny insurance to anyone. Employers with 10 or more employees would be required to provide health care coverage to their employees or pay 4% of their payroll.
- SB 59 by Cogdill offers voters the chance on a $3.95 billion bond issue to build new dams in the Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley.
- Senator Lowenthal has introduced SB 974 that would require the owner of container cargo moving through the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland to collect a user fee. The funds will be used to facilitate the flow and efficiency of container cargo through the ports.
- The omnibus anti-genetic engineering bill introduced by Assemblyman Huffman will be heard by the Agriculture and Judiciary Committees on April 10th. It is expected to be very contentious.
- AB by Parra changes the subvention program to apply only to counties that have seed activity, at the recommendation of the Seed Advisory Board.
- Three different bills addressing e-coli contamination of crops have been introduced. Each of the bills increases the responsibilities of the grower to limit potential contamination.
- Disparagement. AB 698 allows a producer of a perishable product who suffers damages as a result of another person's disparagement to collect damages if the statements are determined to be found untrue.
Jeff Plourd, El Toro Export LLC, was elected CSA president for the coming term. For more information contact Pat Miller.
Registration Opens for ASTA 124th Annual Convention
Online registration is now open for ASTA's 124th Annual Convention to be held June 23 to 27 at the Omni Interlocken Resort & Spa in Broomfield, Colo. To register, visit the Convention registration page. Members will be instructed to enter a username and password to receive the discounted member rate. If you do not have the required information, please contact Nikki Clifford.
Once registered for the conference, you may make a hotel reservation; the discounted group rate ends June 1.
The Omni is located between the Denver and Boulder and approximately 30 minutes from Denver International Airport. It is highly recommended that you rent a car using the discounted ASTA rate available through Enterprise Rent-a-Car. (Securing the optional insurance on your rental car is also suggested as cracked windshields are common for the area due to the rocky terrain.) For questions or assistance, please contact Nikki Clifford either by email nclifford@amseed.org or phone (571) 431-7331.
FuSE to Offer Student Grants for ASTA Convention
FuSE, via the Campus Connections program, will award six undergraduate students grants to attend ASTA's 124th Annual Convention to be held in Broomfield, Colo. this June. This conference is expected to draw more than 600 seed industry professionals representing small, medium and large companies focused on all aspects of the seed industry. During the Convention, ASTA members engage in wide-ranging discussions on topics including biotechnology, organics, breeding advancements, ag policy, and international trade. In addition to exposing students to these industry discussions, the Campus Connections program also provides one-on-one mentoring. For more information or to apply by April 16, click here.
On Capitol Hill...
House Subcommittee Hears Testimony on Mysterious Bee Disappearances
The House Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture met Thursday to hear testimony on the wave of unexplained disappearances that has swept across bee colonies in the United States. Dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), it is the sudden disappearance of most or all bees from a previously healthy hive. CCD has baffled beekeepers, who can see no immediate cause for their dwindling bee populations.
A number of theories have been put forth, blaming everything from parasites, to fungi, to the continuous movement of bee colonies for pollination, to newly marketed pesticides, to genetically modified crops, to a combination of all these factors.
The effects of CCD have been dramatic. "When I started working with bees in the 1970s it was not uncommon for winter losses to be 5% or less . . . This winter beekeepers throughout much of the country are experiencing from 25% to more than 75% colony mortality," said Gene Brandi of the California State Beekeepers Association.
The problems associated with CCD extend well beyond decreased honey production, as bees are one of the primary pollinators of crops. According to one source, bees are responsible for pollinating up to 90 different food and seed crops that make up 1/3 of the human diet. For more information contact Ria Misra.
Company News and People on the Move ...
USA Rice Federation announces Betsy Ward as the organization's new president and CEO effective May 1. Ward was USA Rice VP for domestic and international promotion before joining the Hardwood Federation in May 2005.
Syngenta acquires the Fischer Group, a privately held vegetative flowers company specializing in the breeding and marketing of flower crops. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2007, pending regulatory approvals.
Upcoming Industry Events
AOSCA Sunflower National Variety Review Board
4/10
Fargo, ND
AOSCA Southern Region Meeting
4/12-13
Maryland Department of Agriculture
Annapolis, MD
AOSCA Western Region Meeting
4/16- 4/18
Wingate Inn of Bozeman
Bozeman, MT
BIO International Convention
5/6 - 5/9
Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
Boston, MA
Pacific Seed Association Annual Convention
5/14 - 5/17
Mariott Hotel, City Center
Portland, OR
Seed Trade Association of Arizona15th Annual Meeting
5/17 - 5/18
Westward Look Resort
Tucson, AZ
Click here for a schedule of additional
industry events
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