WASHINGTON -- The USA Rice Federation, along with 13 other agricultural organizations, sent a letter yesterday to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee expressing support for H.R. 311, the Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship (FUELS) Act.  The FUELS Act would bring clarity on the confusing requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule.

The EPA extended the deadline for compliance with the SPCC rule to May 10, 2013, however the extension only applies to farms in operation after August 16, 2002.  The letter explains that "EPA's bifurcation of the rule date - before and after August 16, 2002 -- has brought unneeded confusion to the farming community" as producers try to determine whether their current business model is in SPCC compliance.

According to the letter, the proposed FUELS Act "would provide realistic threshold sizes for fuel tank regulation at the farm level and allow more farms to self-certify thus saving time and money that would otherwise be spent in hiring professional engineers to sign the SPCC plans."

On another regulatory front, USA Rice and the Louisiana rice industry and researchers worked with Rep. Charles Boustany's (R-LA) office to send a letter to EPA in support of AV-1011, a bird repellant, to help with the blackbird situation in rice fields in that state. Joining Rep. Boustany on the letter were Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and House members Rodney Alexander (R-LA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and John Fleming (R-LA), who have pledged their assistance in helping Louisiana rice producers find solutions to the bird control problem.

EPA previously found the blackbird situation in LA to be "non-routine" and granted exceptions to the use of the repellant, however, EPA recently said it may reverse its decision jeopardizing use of the only effective bird repellant available in years.  Any level of blackbird feeding in newly sown rice fields is detrimental and often severe, to the point of 100 percent loss.  Bird-induced losses to rice producers have increased as new federal regulations hamper bird control methods.

Contact: Steven Hensley, (703) 236-1445

Participants take part in the clinic.

CROWLEY, LA -- The LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station conducted a day-long rice farming clinic last week for employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Ducks Unlimited (DU) to learn the basics of growing rice.  More than 40 people attended the class.

Topics covered included control of insects, weeds and diseases, agronomy, variety development and economics, along with details about planting and land preparation.  Steve Linscombe, director of the Rice Research Station, said the session was intended to help NRCS and DU personnel understand what is involved in growing rice.

"Rice is a complex crop to grow because it is grown in water," Linscombe said.  "We gladly provided the instruction because these individuals will be working with farmers, and they need to know what standard practices are used to produce rice."

The USA Rice Federation and DU recently forged a Stewardship Partnership to address programs and policies that are of mutual interest to both organizations. The USA Rice-DU Partnership is believed to be one of the first, if not the first, formal conservation partnership between a commodity organization and a conservation organization.

Contact: Stacy Fitzgerald-Redd, (703) 236-1458

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