By Tracy Sayler

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Prairie Grains is the official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat, Inc., and the Minnesota Barley Growers Association.

Leaders of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, and South Dakota Wheat Inc., traveled to Washington, D.C. mid March to meet with federal officials and members of Congress on key agricultural issues affecting wheat producers in the Northern Plains. Key issues discussed:

Market loss assistance
There is a growing realization on Capitol Hill that more assistance will be needed in 1999 to help producers cope with another year of poor commodity prices caused by oversupply and stagnant global trade. The MAWG, NDGGA, and SDWI are urging lawmakers to consider various means to improve farm cash flow, such as market loss payments similar to the package passed last fall, lifting loan caps to provide higher loan rates, adjusting loan deficiency payments, or advancing out-year market transition payments provided under the 1996 Farm Bill.

The groups also urged lawmakers to fix a technicality relating to changes in farm business structure, that is preventing some producers from qualifying for the currently offered crop loss disaster assistance program. This looks to be a tall order, however. Many realize it’s a problem, but officials say fixing it would further stall the already stalled program.

Crop insurance reform
Although the MAWG, NDGGA, and SDWI are encouraging the development of enhanced risk management products that would provide whole farm or gross revenue coverage, the groups favor reforming the current crop insurance program rather than upending it entirely. To that end, the groups are urging a fix to problems with Actual Production History (APH), which has resulted in decreased coverage for many producers in the Northern Plains due to multiple crop disasters outside of producers’ control. Further, the groups are urging more federal funding for better buy-up coverage. Crop insurance funding and reform is being debated in Congress this year.

Grain trade
The MAWG, NDGGA, and SDWI are encouraging the removal of economic sanctions against Iran and other countries. Unilateral sanctions currently preclude U.S. wheat from 11% of the world market. The groups also seek to correct unfair trading practices employed by Canada and the European Union.

Availability of crop protectants
The MAWG, NDGGA, and SDWI are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to approve a Section 18 label for Folicur in 1999, which would grant use of the fungicide to help suppress fusarium head blight or scab in wheat and barley. A Section 18 label is likely, but still not official. Early approval is needed to help producers plan and budget for the input expense, the grain groups say. Cross-border harmonization of pesticide rules and cost is also an issue, which will be discussed in a U.S.-Canadian summit on the subject in Washington, D.C. in May.

Crop research
The MAWG, NDGGA, and SDWI are urging lawmakers to earmark $5.2 million in federal funding for scab research in fiscal year 2000, up from a total of $3.5 million allocated to a U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative this fiscal year. Grain groups are also urging lawmakers to boost funding at the Northern Crop Science Lab (NCSL) in Fargo.