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the university have substantially increased. According
to KING 5 television out of Seattle, the WSU Foundation
has seen a huge bump since the hiring. “It’s been a great
windfall for the foundation for immediate gifts,” WSU
Vice President for University Development Gil Picciotto
told KING 5. He claimed the WSU Foundation took in
more than $300,000 in less than a week after Leach’s hire
was announced. The school also sold more than $200,000
in season tickets within days, meaning Leach’s hiring
prompted more than a half million dollars in revenue in
the first week of his hire.
Ag committee leaders talk
timelines for 2012 Farm Bill
From NAWG
Agriculture leaders in Congress began opening up
about their plans for the 2012 Farm Bill process.
The leaders—and the ag community at large—have
been examining options for renewing the law since attempts
to attach a farm policy proposal to a debt reduction
bill failed with the debt-deficit
super committee last month.
Senate Agriculture Committee
Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow
(D-Mich.) said Congress must
complete the farm bill rewrite
before the current bill expires.
Speaking at the Farm Journal
Forum in Washington, she said her
Committee will resume hearings
on farm bill issues this month,
with the goal of having an “initial
product” by spring.
She also said 12 public hearings
held in 2011 and the lessons
learned from the super committee-related attempt “have
helped us identify ways to streamline
and strengthen programs
to reduce the deficit and create
agriculture jobs” and will be the
framework for coming efforts.
House Agriculture Chairman
Frank Lucas (R-Okla.)
Senate Agriculture Committee
Chairwoman Debbie
Stabenow (D-Mich.)
In an interview with Oklahoma
farm broadcaster Ron Hays, House
Agriculture Chairman Frank
Lucas (R-Okla.) noted Stabenow’s
plans to hold hearings, but did not
commit to do the same.
He was generally positive about
the package he and Stabenow negotiated prior to the super
committee’s collapse—which has yet to be released publicly—and
indicated the House’s schedule could mean an
extension of current policy is needed.
NAWG supports biotech
regulatory certainty
From NAWG
NAWG and coalition partners recently submitted comments
supporting full deregulation of biotech sugar beets
and urging continued evolution of the regulatory process
to address the court challenges that crop has faced.
In individual and group comments, NAWG told USDA’s
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) that
full deregulation of Roundup Ready sugar beets, which
have been determined to be safe by a number of government
reviews, would be the appropriate regulatory
decision.
Roundup Ready sugar beets were deregulated in 2005
by USDA, but in 2010, a U.S. District Court judge ruled
the Department should conduct a more extensive review,
known as an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Since
the court challenge was based on process and not safety,
the widely-adopted crop was partially deregulated in
early 2011, in time to allow farmers to plant it this growing
season.
In the Association’s individual statement, NAWG Chief
Executive Officer Dana Peterson told regulators NAWG
strongly believes growers should have the choice to plant
new and safe agricultural technologies, and they should
have access to a reliable regulatory process.
“Farmers, processors and consumers should be able to
count on biotech crop approvals issued by the experts in
federal agencies,” she wrote.
Policy on endangered species
eligibility proposed
From Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife News Bulletin
A new proposed federal policy is intended to clarify
which species or populations of species are eligible for
protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Public comments will be accepted for 60 days on the
policy proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service,
the two federal agencies responsible for administering the
14 WHEAT LIFE JANUARY 2012