114th Congress Agricultural Issues

January 15, 2015Tim CanslerFood Safety, Govt News, Industry News114th Congress, agricultural, biofuel, Congress, Cuba, Food Safety, Issues, Lobbying, Lobbyist, Washington, Washington DC

Here are a few items that are likely to be at the top of the 114th Congress’s Agricultural To Do List.

Renewable Fuel – The EPA’s delayed mandates for 2014 biofuel commercial use until 2015 giving opponents another chance to modify or repeal the law that created the Renewable Fuel Standard. This impacts corn growers since the RFS guarantees a market for producers of conventional ethanol, largely corn-based fuel.
Cuba -Relaxing trade restrictions around Cuba could be a big win for Rice, soybeans and poultry producers, getting the attention of pro-trade agribusiness and farm groups.
Immigration – President Obama’s announcement regarding immigration this winter left agriculture companies and employers pondering how this will impact their workforce since 70% of farm workers in the United State are here illegally. If there is no need for them to stay in farming, since they can qualify for other jobs now, farm employers wonder who is going to work the farms. This can only lead to higher prices for consumers for fruits & vegetables.

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EPA Seeks Stakeholder Input

December 6, 2013Tim CanslerEnergy, Govt Newsalternative energy, biofuel, biotech, Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA

EPA Seeks Stakeholder Input on Authorities Under RFS and Biofuel Marketing

On December 5 officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) heard from about 140 witnesses consisting of individual consumers, oil companies, convenience store operators, livestock and crop producers during a hearing on their proposal to reduce the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).…

Distribution May Be A Key to Alternative Energy

July 19, 2011Tim CanslerIndustry Newsalternative energy, biofuel, Lobbying, Lobbyist, Policy Changes, Washington, Washington DC

Wal-Mart is one of the largest, most profitable companies in the world enjoying reasonable margins on everyday commodity and household items. How? Efficient Distribution!

Wal-Mart maintains one of the best distribution systems in the world which in turn makes their products more affordable to consumers globally. Can alternative energy learn a lesson from the retail giant?

To date, little emphasis has been placed on transportation and logistics issues moving advanced biofuel feedstocks to biorefineries for fuel production. These issues were raised in a report by the US Department of Energy and the US Department of Agriculture (May 2010) and both agencies highlighted the lack of a logistics system capable of handling and delivering sufficiently high volumes of biofuel products as a significant barrier to the expansion of a sustainable domestic biofuels industry. Some solutions raised in their report included:…