FEDERAL BUDGET

• Led commodity-coalition opposition letter in response to 2008 farm bill changes proposed in the president's FY 2011 budget. Working with coaliton to keep full market-promotion funding, which the president would cut by 20 percent, in FY 2011 budget. Worked successfully with commodity coalition to keep 2008 farm bill's budget and export-market development and food-aid funding at authorized levels in 2009 and 2010.

FARM BILL

• USA Rice Federation producers have testified at three House Agriculture Committee 2012 farm bill field hearings. USA Rice has distributed to producers USDA's 2010 crop-year payment-eligibility rule, which does not further tighten producers' eligibility criteria. Will continue to pursue farm bill's implementation as Congress intended. In 2009, sent detailed USA Rice comments to USDA to implement farm bill's safety-net and payment-eligibility provisions as Congress intended.

TRADE

• Main rice organization working independently and with commodity and business coalitions to improve U.S.-Cuba travel and trade, including promoting co-sponsorship of House and Senate U.S.-Cuba travel-and-ag-trade bills, H.R. 4645/S. 3112 and S. 1089.
• Working with USDA and USAID to provide U.S. rice to Haiti to assist with earthquake relief.
• Have assisted with successfully marketing U.S. rice to Iraq. Working to improve U.S. rice trade with the EU, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
• The only organization consistently taking the lead to keep Latin American and Mexican markets open to U.S. rice exports when threatened by plant-safety trade barriers and to resolve other unfair Mexican barriers to U.S. exports.

CROP-DISASTER RELIEF

• Actively working with other commodity organizations and on Capitol Hill to have Congress pass as soon as possible 2009 crop-disaster-relief legislation.

CROP INSURANCE

• Crop Insurance Task Force working to develop rice-specific crop-insurance policy proposals.

CLIMATE CHANGE

• Opposed House-passed and Senate Environment & Public Works Committee climate-change bills because neither bill has economic upside for rice industry, but would result in significant production-cost increases. Senate bill unlikely to be considered this year.

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS

• Working with EPA on cooperative-sampling study of rice; with EPA and USDA on SPCC compliance-assistance issues for producers; with EPA on pesticide permitting issues; and EPA and others on engine emissions, New Source Performance, combustible dust, and greenhouse gas clean-air issues.

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updated May 21, 2010