USDOT has draft plan to end Mexican trucking dispute

Northwest Report January 10, 2011 The U.S. Department of Transportation has unveiled an initial concept of a long-haul cross border Mexican trucking program which it says meets the United States’ obligations under NAFTA. The trucking dispute with Mexico has meant retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports to there including fruits, frozen potatoes and pork.

U.S. agricultural groups welcomed the proposal as progress and hope Mexico sees fit to suspend its punishing tariffs while the plan is finalized.

Washington’s Ag Director Dan Newhouse, says he is encouraged the U.S. proposal could lead to an end of the harmful tariffs against Washington’s apple, pear, potato and other food exports to Mexico.

U.S. farm income and exports hit record high levels in 2010 but USDA chief economist Joe Glauber is hesitant to predict another record year for 2011. Glauber also notes that costs are going up for producers too.

Glauber: “Higher grain prices, higher oilseed prices mean higher feed costs and we are already seeing weakening in margins for hog and dairy producers. So that is a source of concern. Another thing is input costs. We‘ve seen higher energy prices but also higher fertilizer prices. Probably a 45% increase in ammonia prices and DAP prices and so that will obviously have some input here.”

Still Glauber doesn’t expect any big swings for farm income up or down in 2011.

Now here is Stacey Gray with Food for Thought.

The debate over what events can and can’t be done in the course of conducting business on vineyard land but not other types of farmland in Oregon state is coming to a head in the state Legislature. Like a pressure cooker turned on high this dispute is likely to blow up sooner rather than later. Everybody from state and county government officials to wine industry leaders are working at solving the problem. Last February lawmakers passed a bill clarifying wineries rights to sell non-wine items in exclusive farm use zones, limiting the revenues wineries can generate from such sales to 25 percent of on site wine sales. That bill will sunset in 2013. At the heart of the matter is figuring out how wineries can balance the business of promoting and selling wines while maintaining the integrity of farmland, and who is going to regulate such activities, local or state government. Wineries however aren’t the only ag industry that host events, traditional farms often operate produce stands, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, weddings, and more. The agriculture industry is quickly diversifying and evolving, legislation needs to keep up.

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Thanks Stacey.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.

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