Grassley Dislikes FSA's Reg

According to Chris Clayton, Sen. Grassley "wants Vilsack to establish a tighter management test for defining "actively engaged" in farming than the details posted Monday by USDA in the Federal Register."

The example in the reg seemed to me to be unrealistic (a portion of the example):

"With this rule, each of the stockholders in this example would be required to establish that their respective contribution of active personal management was made on a regular basis, and was identifiable and documentable as separate and distinct from the other stockholders of the entity. For example, stockholder B
could represent through copies of signed purchase orders that stockholder B was individually responsible for obtaining and purchasing all inputs for the farming operation on behalf of the Corporation. Stockholder C could represent through signed contracts and delivery agreements with grain elevators and a cotton gin that stockholder C was individually responsible for the marketing of all commodities produced by the Corporation’s farming operation. Stockholder D could represent through copies of payroll records that stockholder D was individually responsible for the supervision of all hired labor utilized by the Corporation’s farming operation."

I wouldn't own shares in a corporation where there was more than one manager. Of course, I've no experience in this area so my opinion is worth less than nothing. I might guess, however, one problem is married couples, where you might expect to have some joint management. But writing regulations which distinguish a married couple from a legal entity is difficult (not to mention the reality of unmarried couples, straight and gay).

Pun of the Day

From Harold Meyerson in the Post:

"Thereafter, as one giant institution after another tottered under the weight of dubious deals, the administration tossed ideology out the window and funneled money to the banks.

Laissez faire be damned, the ideologues concluded: When handed a Lehman, make Lehman aid."

Blast from the Past--Coal Furnaces

The NY Times has an article suggesting that coal-fired stoves are gaining in popularity, inasmuch as coal is 1/3 to 1/2 the price of oil. It triggers memories, as our farmhouse had a coal burning stove (provided hot water as well) and a coal furnace (hot air). I note from the pictures and description that modern technology must have improved the stoves--where our anthracite coal was in lumps maybe the size of an egg (extra large), coal now is crunched down into thumbnail size nuggets. And where we had a coal scuttle to feed the stove, now there's some sort of automatic feed. The stove-owner says he has to replenish the coal storage bin and take out ash every couple days. We had to feed the stove several times a day, being sure at night to close down the damper and top it off so the fire would last the night.

Starting a fire in the stove was an exercise, first paper, then small kindling wood, then larger chunks, then a few pieces of coal to catch on. Mom was skilled at this, the rest of us not so much.

The greens, like Treehugger, predictably don't like the idea of expanding use of coal.

Impact of Payment Limitation Change

From the FSA interim final rule on payment limitation changes comes a conservative estimate of the economic impact:

The motivation for this change [in the farm bill] is twofold:
(1) Increase transparency by allocating payments made to farming entities to their members.
(2) Moderate payments by adding another layer of payment limits. For example, the 2008 Farm Bill maintains payment limits on the corporations themselves and adds additional limits on the owners of farming corporations.

USDA will be required to track payments made to entities, such as farming corporations, to the owners of those entities. Such tracking is called direct attribution. Both entities and their owners will now have payment limits. Direct attribution will involve extensive USDA staff resources, and consequently cost, in the implementation phase and has the potential for some reduction in Government outlays. Reductions in outlays will diminish as farmers reorganize their operations in order to capture the highest possible payments. Due to uncertainty about the costs it is difficult to estimate annual impacts.

Seems to me at one point USDA analysts were using a figure of about $125 million as the impact of payment limitations. The statement above is perhaps more realistic, as it explicitly admits that farmers will reorganize their operations.

The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming

That's the title of a fine movie from Cold War days; put it on your Netflix queue. As I've written before, I always anticipated adverse impacts on US field crops from an expansion of agriculture in the former USSR countries. Having predicted this, not in writing, on and off for the last 20 years, maybe I'll be able to claim 20/20 foresight. Via Farm Policy:

"With respect to agricultural trade and grains, Tom Polansek reported in today’s Wall Street Journal that, “The Black Sea region has muscled its way into the exclusive club of the world’s top wheat exporters and is expected to continue stealing business away from its most prominent member, the U.S.

FSA Regulations--

FSA's promised interim final rules were published today in the Federal Register (filed Dec. 23): DCP (and ACRE)and payment limit pdf. I note the latter document includes some examples, as Chris Clayton at the DTN blog wanted.

Most Dumbfounding Sentence Today

From John at Powerline:

"I don't think that anyone actually does believe that the planet is threatened by global warming. I think that was just an excuse--like the global cooling scare of a few decades ago--for centralizing control over the economy in the government."

Waiting for Obama's Beard

Our President-elect seems to be imitating Lincoln, right from his announcement of his candidacy, through the train trip to DC and swearing in using the Bible Lincoln used. All of which leaves one question: when will Obama grow the beard?

(BTW, I didn't realize Lincoln was then the youngest man elected to the Presidency.)

PC [Ownership]

Which has the most PC's per 100 people: Mauritius, Costa Rica, Slovenia, Italy, Mongolia, Russia?


Which has the fewest PC's?

Answers: Slovenia has the most, Russia the fewest. According to Treehugger.

Who Knew?

"Santa Claus lives at 14th and Independence Ave. USDA says the ACRE program will use market prices from 2007 and 2008 for its two year average price computation. That means higher price guarantees in the ACRE program than if 2006 and 2007 prices had been used. ACRE is an option to the FSA direct and counter-cyclical payment programs." From farmgate.