News Update
May 28, 2014
Congress Eases the Burden of the
EPA’s SPCC Rule
Congress passed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) May 22, which will become law with the president’s signature. Importantly for members of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), this bill contains a provision that will ease the burden of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule.
The current EPA SPCC rule for farms requires compliance if an operation has 1,320 gallons or more of aboveground fuel storage and allows self-certification up to 10,000 gallons. This includes fuel storage and requires aboveground feed storage to be included in the total if it meets the broad definition of “oil,” which includes the base of many liquid cattle feeds.
“The SPCC rule is yet another example of the EPA’s regulatory scheme threatening the economic viability of rural America and family farms and ranches,” said Bob McCan, NCBA president and Victoria, Texas, cattleman. “Cattlemen and women have been waiting too long for a permanent fix to the SPCC rule. Thanks to the efforts of Senators Inhofe and Pryor and Representative Crawford, this provision will ease the burden of this rule across the nation for many farmers and ranchers.”
Under the provision in the WRRDA legislation, the aggregate aboveground-fuel-exemption limit is raised to 6,000 gallons for operations with no history of spills and no single tank with a capacity of 10,000 gallons or more from having to develop a plan. The provision will require a self-certified plan for operations that have aggregate aboveground fuel storage above 6,000 and below 20,000 gallons with no history of spills and no single tank capacity of 10,000 gallons or more. Moreover, the legislation exempts fuel tanks with a capacity of 1,000 gallons or less and all tanks that hold animal feed ingredients from the aggregate calculations.
Those operations that do not meet these exemptions will require a Spill Containment Plan, certified by a professional engineer.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Farming Rights Amendment on the Missouri August Ballot
Missouri Farmers Care thanked Governor Jay Nixon May 27 for placing the Farming Rights Amendment on the August ballot.
“Governor Nixon understands the importance of agriculture to the state of Missouri and the urgency of this issue,” Missouri Farmers Care Chairman Don Nikodim said. “The Farming Rights Amendment will protect farmers and ranchers by enshrining their right to produce the food that Missouri’s economy depends on. Missouri agriculture is united in support of the Farming Rights Amendment and we are looking forward to educating voters across the state on the importance of this issue.”
With the August 5 election date just 10 weeks away, Missouri Farmers Care is mobilizing for a summer of campaigning. “We have been working on this issue since the legislature passed this referendum with an overwhelming bipartisan majority during the 2013 session,” Nikodim said. “Missouri agriculture is ready to take our case to the voters and we are confident that Missourians will protect family farmers and ranchers.”
A recent poll commissioned by the Missouri Liberty Project found that 69% of likely voters support Amendment 1.
Cattle Trails Wheat and Stocker Cattle Conference set July 29 in Wichita Falls, Texas
Southern Oklahoma and North Texas continue in the grips of a multi-year drought and no one knows what the environmental conditions hold for the area, but agricultural producers optimistically plant crops and raise cattle, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist said.
Stan Bevers, an AgriLife Extension economist at Vernon, said forecasts for El Niño development offer some hope for this fall’s wheat planting conditions and the potential for fall grazing of stocker cattle.
In an effort to bring new research and technology based on these conditions to producers, the Cattle Trails Wheat and Stocker Cattle Conference will be hosted July 29 in Wichita Falls, jointly hosted by AgriLife Extension and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.
Bevers said the conference offers the most up-to-date information on topics and tools that might help producers reach the conference’s slogan, “driving your cattle to profits,” although he said the last couple of years have made it tough to generate any profit.
The conference, which alternates between Texas and Oklahoma each year, will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Event Center, 1000 5th St., Wichita Falls. Registration is $25 per person and includes educational materials, a noon meal and refreshments.
Producers are encouraged to preregister by contacting their local AgriLife Extension county agent, their Oklahoma Cooperative Extension county educator, or by contacting Allison Ha at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Vernon at 940-552-9941, ext. 225.
The keynote speaker for the event will be Joe Outlaw, co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University and AgriLife Extension economist from College Station.
Outlaw frequently interacted with members of Congress during the recent farm bill debate and during its implementation across the country, Bevers said. His discussion will focus on the farm bill, the policy center’s software decision aid and how the new farm bill impact will influence area wheat producer’s income.
For more information please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
Successful Bennett Trust Land Stewardship Conference Prompts Event Return in 2015
Almost 100 people from across Texas attended the inaugural Bennett Trust Land Stewardship conference hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service recently in Kerrville, Texas.
The conference was funded by the Ruth and Eskel Bennett Endowment, said Larry Redmon, co-chair and the first Bennett Trust AgriLife Extension specialist. Redmon said the Bennett’s loved the Edwards Plateau and were concerned about a legacy of good land stewardship.
The response was so positive, Redmon said, the second Bennett Trust Land Stewardship conference has already been planned. It will be held once again at the Inn of the Hills Resort and Conference Center in Kerrville on April 22-24, 2015. Registration will be open in June.
“Our programs are designed to help landowners in the region hold on to and take care of their own legacy land holdings,” he said.
The keynote speaker was Wyman Meinzer, the official state photographer of Texas.
Roel Lopez, director of Texas A&M’s Institute for Renewable Natural Resources and the Texas Water Resources Institute, presented information on the changes taking place in Texas and specifically in the Edwards Plateau.
Lopez indicated substantial population growth in Texas over the next several years would increase land fragmentation and wildlife habitat loss. Additionally, there was a good discussion regarding the increased need for quantity and quality of water for the growing population, much of which comes out of the Edwards Plateau.
Following the morning’s general session and lunch, attendees were invited to attend two of three different breakout workshops.
“Conference attendees could choose between workshops detailing invader management, land restoration or estate planning,” Redmon said.
The second day was spent on one of three tours. Individuals either visited the historic Hillingdon Ranch north of Comfort; took the wildlife tour with discussions about whitetail deer, turkey, quail, exotics and feral-hog management; or the agritourism tour with stops at a local high-tunnel peach orchard, wild seed farm and Becker Winery.
The final day dealt with fire. Redmon introduced the morning’s program as the good, the bad and the ugly of fire, which started with a description of the devastation of the Bastrop County fire of 2011, a look at the Texas A&M Forest Service Firewise program designed to help landowners protect their dwellings from potential wildfire, and finally a look at how to use prescribed fire in managing the landscape.
For more information, go to http://bennetttrust.tamu.edu or contact Redmon at l-redmon@tamu.edu or Machen at r-machen@tamu.edu.
For more information please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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