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Showing posts with label Ag Farm Credit Council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ag Farm Credit Council. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

The Farm Credit Council “The Insider”: USDA Faces 5% Cut Due to Sequester; FCA Exempt

The Farm Credit Council “The Insider”: USDA Faces 5% Cut Due to Sequester; FCA Exempt

An article in The Farm Credit Council “The Insider, reports:

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-farm-credit-council-insider-usda.html 


The White House late last week issued its orders for the sequester cuts, which includes a reduction of approximately 5% for USDA for the remainder of fiscal 2013. The cuts are to take place over seven months and amount to about 13% from defense spending and 9% from non-defense programs.

The plan calls for furloughs of meat inspectors for the Federal Safety and Inspection Service. FSIS is expected to reduce its spending by about $53 million out of a $1.05 billion budget. Commodity programs are to be cut by $329 million and disaster spending is to be reduced by about $70 million.

USDA Secretary Vilsack said the budget cuts could disrupt the agricultural economy by as much as $8 billion, affecting as many as 60,000 jobs, and could prevent as much as $35 million in USDA loans being made to as many as 1,500 farmers.

Vilsack added that USDA is prepared to continue distributing direct payments and is committed to giving farmers in the Average Crop Revenue Election program options to stay in or withdraw from ACRE.

“Sequester may impact the amount of payments, but I don't think it will affect whether people get payments,” Vilsack said. He added that he believes it would be difficult for Congress to reduce or modify direct payments this year, either in response to the sequester or as part of a new farm bill.

The Senate last week failed to pass either of two competing bills to address the sequester. The plan favored by Senate Democrats, urged by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) would have included a number of cuts to agriculture spending, including elimination of direct payments. Chairwoman Stabenow said this would spare agriculture from a new round of sequestration cuts in the future.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) said it was disappointing that the Senate failed to pass a replacement, but that he was pleased that the Reid-Stabenow plan was rejected because it would have unfairly targeted agriculture.

“The agriculture portion of their proposal called for a 50 percent cut to a single title in the farm bill that accounts for six percent of overall agriculture spending and less than one percent of overall federal spending,” Chairman Lucas said.

Complicating the picture for a new farm bill is the fact that the current continuing resolution funding government operations is set to expire March 27. Without an extension or a replacement, the federal government will be unable to spend money to keep certain operations running. House Republicans are expected to introduce their plan this week for extending routine government spending through September, the end of the current fiscal year.

In addition, the Congressional Budget Office last week released new estimates substantially downgrading the promised savings from the House and Senate farm bills.

The report says the Senate-passed farm bill would save only $13.1 billion over 10 years, compared with a promised $23.1 billion last July. The House Agriculture Committee plan would save $26.6 billion compared with $35.1 billion estimated last year.

The Farm Credit Administration is exempt from the cuts required by the sequester. Because FCA’s funding comes from assessments paid by Farm Credit System institutions and not from appropriated funds, FCA’s budget will not be reduced.
[20130304 sdosm The FCC Insider USDA faces 5 percent cut]
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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Latest News from the Farm Credit Council

Latest News from the Farm Credit Council

Retrieved August 30, 2011



Latest News from The Farm Credit Council
Follow Farm Credit news on  twitter.
Fact Sheet: Find out the latest update about  Farm Credit's Financial Strength -- The Farm Credit System's financial strength means that U.S. farmers, ranchers, agricultural cooperatives, farm businesses and rural communities continue to have access to a competitive source of credit to meet their needs (updated with first quarter 2011 figures)
Doug Stark, President & CEO of Farm Credit Services of America, testified before the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Operations, Oversight and Credit on April 14 at a hearing to review credit conditions in rural America -- more
Ann Trakimas, Chief Operating Officer of CoBank, testified before the House Agriculture Committee on March 31 at a hearing regarding product classifications under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act -- more
The Farm Credit Council Board of Directors recently elected a new Chairman and Vice Chairman --more
More fact sheets and news releases available in the Media Center.
Phelps-Martin Award for Community Service
PM_2011.JPGFCS Institutions: Download the nomination form for the 2011 Phelps-Martin Awards for Community Service.
The 2011 Awards will be presented at The Farm Credit Council's Annual Meeting, January 23-25, 2012 in Washington, DC.


Agriculture News
crops.JPGTotal agricultural production expenses are forecast to rise sharply in 2011, due to changes in both price paid for inputs and the quantity of inputs used. Prices for all crop-related inputs are expected to rise in 2011, while acres planted to principal crops are forecast to rise to 326 million acres, a 3-percent increase over 2010. Expenses for several crop-related expenses are expected to show some of the sharpest changes this year. After steady increases between 2002 and 2008, fertilizer expenses dropped roughly 10 percent in both 2009 and 2010. In 2011, fertilizer expenses are forecast to resume their climb, going up 14 percent. After stalling in 2010, the upward movement in seed and pesticide expenses is also forecast to resume. Seed expenses are expected to rise over 5 percent in 2011 after dropping by 2 percent in 2010. Pesticide expenses are forecast to rise around 7 percent after falling about 5 percent in 2009-10. This chart is found in the ERS briefing room on Farm Income and Costs, and reflects the February 14, 2011 forecast. (From USDA's Economic Research Service, Charts of Note)


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