Ag Looks To Washington, Waits And Worries

By now, virtually everyone who follows the news on a regular basis has heard about the rampant bipartisan gridlock that has kept literally every piece of legislation from making its way through Congress during the past few months. Indeed, the situation has gotten so bad that a recent news organization poll found that the majority of Americans want to “vote out all the incumbents” during the next general election.

For the agriculture market, this “Washington paralysis” has already had one impact – the failure of the Super Committee to reach an agreement means that proposed changes to the 2012 Farm Bill are presently on hold and could lead to deeper cuts than the ones already proposed for commodity programs, direct payments and conservation programs (totaling just over $25 billion at present).

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Besides issues yet to come, there are those regulations that will go into effect come the new year that already have industry associations battling teeth and nail. Most trade groups believe the new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System that goes into effect in January, which requires additional permitting for application work, will bury ag retailers in extra paperwork and red tape. Like other pieces of legislation on Capitol Hill, a potential fix to this problem entitled “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011” (H.R. 872) has also gotten bogged down in the Congressional morass.

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Then there’s the EPA and its enforcement of the Clean Water Act to set water quality standards, which certain environmental groups contend should be based upon a strict numeric limit. However, industry groups say that this might not tell the complete story of a particular water source’s overall health. Therefore, The Fertilizer Institute, the Agricultural Retailers Association and other trade associations have filed suit against EPA over this issue.

The bottom line to all this, of course, is that while the agricultural industry has never been more prosperous than it currently is, the inability of legislators to act in Washington could present a serious threat once the calendar turns to 2012.

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