Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick reported today that, “President Donald Trump tapped former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be his agriculture secretary six weeks ago, but the administration still hasn’t formally provided the Senate with the paperwork for the nomination.

“The delay is frustrating farm-state senators, who represent many of the core voters who helped elect Trump.

“‘I don’t know yet,’ Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said Wednesday when asked about Perdue’s paperwork, which Roberts needs before he can schedule a confirmation hearing. ‘I wish to hell I did. We need a champion for agriculture, we need him on board.'”

The AP article noted that, “The White House said the paperwork, including ethics forms and an FBI background check, is coming soon. The only other nomination that hasn’t been sent to Capitol Hill is that of Alexander Acosta, who was nominated to be labor secretary on Feb. 16 after the withdrawal of the original nominee, Andrew Puzder.

“Senators say they haven’t been given an explanation for the delay involving Perdue.”

Today’s article added that, “The delay comes as some farm-state lawmakers question whether Trump is paying enough attention to rural areas, which overwhelmingly voted for him.”

Capital Press writer Eric Mortenson reported earlier this month that, “At this point, maybe organic producers and processors should just declare victory. They’ve won, haven’t they? Sales of organic products show double- digit growth year after year. Consumers increasingly associate organics with safer food and better nutrition, health, soil and plants, not to mention more humane treatment of livestock and better conditions for farmworkers.

“That little green USDA Organic symbol on a package says this costs more because it’s special. And it’s all delivered by a chemical-free small farm worked by a smiling couple and their beautiful brood of happy children.”

However, the article pointed out that, “But within the organic community, some worry the movement – and that’s how many see it, as a movement – will lose its soul as ‘Big Ag’ takes over organic production and snaps up small organic processors.
“If we continue to mainstream, is there anything left of what was organic, or do we just become product manufacturers?” asked Oregon organic pioneer David Lively.

“As the Costcos, Wal-Marts and Krogers of the world continue to enter the organic market, ‘Are they really concerned with what we’re doing, or is it a marketing opportunity?’ Lively said.”

Mr. Mortenson indicated that, “And although organic product sales grew 11 percent to reach $43.3 billion in 2015, and have undoubtedly topped that in the interim, the number of organic farmers has actually dropped. Organic products now make up nearly 5 percent of U.S. food sales, but organic acreage is less than 1 percent of U.S. cropland, according to the Organic Trade Association.

“It appears millennials, the 18 to 34 age group, account for more than half of organic purchases. That means a lot of people still aren’t convinced they should pay more for something that often looks and tastes the same as conventional vegetables, fruit, grains and meat.”

The Capital Press article added that, “The Cornucopia Institute, based in Wisconsin, has served as a watchdog on organic issues, battling the USDA, the Organic Trade Association and corporations such as Wal-Mart when it believes the spirit or letter of organic guidelines are violated. But Mark Kastel, co-director and senior farm policy analyst, said Cornucopia’s message is more nuanced than ‘big is bad.’

“‘The issues are not corporate scale, they are about corporate ethics,” he said. ‘This is a values-based industry. It’s grown to $43 billion (in sales) because consumers wanted an alternative to standard practices in growing agricultural commodities and in processing, too.'”

A news release last week from Iowa State University Extension stated that, “According to the newly released Iowa Learning Farms 2016 Field Day Evaluation Report, the number of Iowa cover crop acres grew by approximately 32 percent to 623,700 acres. While the positive growth with shrinking profit margins is encouraging, the rate of growth is 3 percent slower than the growth measured the year before, and still well below the goal of 12.5 million acres called for in Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy.”

The release explained that, “Growth in cover crop acres came from both first time and experienced users. The majority of respondents (69 percent) started seeding cover crops at least three years ago and have an average of five years of experience with cover crops. Examining the percentage of their row crop acres seeded to cover crops, there was a steady increase corresponding to years of cover crop experience.

“As experience with cover crops increased, concerns about yield impacts and implementation knowledge decreased. This is consistent with findings from the longest running on-farm cover crop research and demonstration project in the state of Iowa. After eight years, a properly managed cereal rye cover crop had little-to-no negative effect on corn and soybean yield and actually increased soybean yield in seven site-years and corn yield in two site-years.

“Cost was identified as the biggest barrier to cover crop adoption for the third straight year.”

Joshua O’Rear, the Honey Statistician for USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), indicated in a recent update the USDA blog that, “Every day, [NASS] statisticians work hard to produce timely, accurate and useful statistics to U.S agriculture. In addition to producing hundreds of reports each year on crops, livestock and economic indicators for the agriculture industry, NASS collects and reports annual data for honey bee colonies. Historically, we’ve only surveyed operations or farms with five or more colonies, but in 2015 we expanded the survey to cover operations of all sizes. As a statistician who is also a beekeeper, I am pleased to provide valuable information about honey as a public service and decision-making tool.

“The annual honey report publishes the maximum number of honey producing colonies, honey yield, value of honey production, and honey price by color class and marketing channel. In addition to bee and honey surveys, the Census of Agriculture, which is collected every five years, publishes number of operations, number of colonies, pounds of honey produced and value produced. NASS has data on honey production dating back to 1986. Current honey and honey bee data is available on the NASS website.”

Honey Bees in northern Champaign County.

The USDA update noted that, “North Dakota is currently the single largest producer of honey in the U.S. In 2015, U.S. honey production from producers with five or more colonies totaled 157 million pounds harvested from 2.7 million colonies. The average yield per colony averaged 59 pounds of honey. That same year, smaller producers with less than five colonies produced a total of 720,000 pounds of honey harvested from 23,000 colonies. Their average yield per colony was 31 pounds.”

Des Moines Register writers William Petroski and Brianne Pfannenstiel reported last week that, “Bills aimed at limiting lawsuit damages in cases filed against Iowa livestock producers were advanced Thursday in the Iowa Senate and House.

“A Senate subcommittee voted 3-0 to advance Senate Study Bill 1144, which allows for an affirmative defense to be raised when an animal feeding operation is alleged to be a public or private nuisance or otherwise interfere with a person’s enjoyment of life or property. The legislation suggests the public interest is served by preserving and encouraging responsible animal agricultural production.

“The affirmative defense limits compensatory damages, as opposed to punitive damages, and specifies three categories of awards. In addition, a party that files suit and fails to prove that an animal feeding operation is a public or private nuisance is liable to pay the defendant for all costs and expenses, including attorney fees.”

The Register article added that, “A matching bill, House Study Bill 134, passed through the House Agriculture committee 17-6.”

“Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone, said the legislation intended to offer an incentive [for] good behavior by providing ‘limited’ protections from lawsuits,” the article noted.

A Purdue University news release last week stated that, “After two months of unusually warm conditions throughout Indiana, state climatologists based at Purdue University believe temperatures will slowly return to seasonal norms over the next month, which is good news for fruit growers and home gardeners concerned that their plants might be emerging too quickly.

“‘There is a lot more weather to come before we know what the fruit crop outlook will be, but as of right now things are in good shape and, in fact, a bit more chilling is needed for some fruit crops,’ said Bruce Bordelon, professor of horticulture and Purdue Extension viticulture and small fruit specialist.

“Bordelon advised growers to be patient, giving trees, bushes and vines more time to get their winter rest.”

The release noted that, “Fruit production is an increasingly important part of Indiana’s agriculture industry. The state ranks 10th nationally in blueberry production at 3.6 million pounds annually and produces 26 million pounds of apples per year, ranking 20th in the country. Together, Indiana apple and blueberry crops have a combined value of more than $13 million.

“In addition, Indiana produces about 3 million pounds of peaches each year and is home to a thriving wine grape industry with more than 85 wineries and vineyards statewide.”

And the release added that, “Peter Hirst, professor of horticulture and Purdue Extension commercial fruit tree specialist, says so far temperatures have not been warm long enough to threaten the state’s fruit crop.

“‘We really haven’t had that much warm weather,’ Hirst said. ‘If we were to have another week with temperatures in the 70s, that would be cause for concern. Another saving grace is that the cool down we are expecting will be moderate and gradual. And we really haven’t had any extended periods of extreme cold this winter so fruit buds are in good condition.'”

In an update yesterday from Texas Extension, Kay Ledbetter noted that, “Ongoing water legal battles around the state and nation could set precedents that affect all landowners, so they bear watching, according to Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agricultural law specialist in Amarillo.

“Dowell Lashmet, speaking at the recent High Plains Irrigation Conference, outlined several legal actions concerning the Clean Water Act and corresponding definitions of Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS.”

Yesterday’s update explained that, “A new rule passed by EPA and the Corps of Engineers attempted to clarify the definition of WOTUS, but numerous lawsuits were filed alleging the new definition actually broadened, rather than clarified, the term.

“Currently, there is a nationwide stay on the rule pending litigation, Dowell Lashmet said. Now, the case will be going before the U.S. Supreme Court for a jurisdictional challenge to decide which court will hear arguments, and then the legal battle likely will proceed to federal court at some level.

“However, she said, something that could render all of the court proceedings unnecessary is what is going on in Washington – the Trump administration has indicated it will work to eliminate the new WOTUS rule.”

Yesterday’s extension update added that: “‘But we still have to worry about the Clean Water Act and the interpretation of ‘waters of the United States,’ Powell Lashmet said.”

The Associated Press reported yesterday that, “A Minnesota judge will let some farmers seek punitive damages against the Syngenta seed company for selling genetically modified corn seeds before China approved imports of crops grown from them.

“In an order unsealed Tuesday, Hennepin County District Judge Thomas Sipkins wrote that there’s evidence Syngenta knew the risks of commercializing Viptera and Duracade corn containing a trait that China had not approved for imports, and intentionally disregarded the high probability of losing the Chinese market for U.S. corn farmers.

“Sipkins ruled in a test case involving six of around 60,000 plaintiffs whose cases have been consolidated in Minnesota. It’s scheduled for trial in April. It’s separate from similar proceedings against Syngenta in Kansas and Illinois.”