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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 175 (Wednesday, September 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53684-53685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21509]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[Doc. No. AMS-LPS-13-0066]

Results of Soybean Request for Referendum

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The results of the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) 
Request for Referendum indicate that too few soybean producers wanted a 
referendum on the Soybean Promotion and Research Order (Order) for one 
to be conducted. The Request for Referendum was conducted from May 5, 
2014, through May 30, 2014, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 
(USDA) Farm Service Agency county offices. To trigger a referendum, 
56,999 soybean producers needed to complete a valid Request for 
Referendum. The total number of soybean producers participating in the 
referendum was 355. The number of valid petitions received was 324.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James R. Brow, Research and Promotion 
Division, Livestock, Poultry, and Seed Program, AMS, USDA, Room 2610-S, 
STOP 0251, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-0251; 
Telephone 202/720-0633; Fax 202/720-1125; or email to 
James.Brow@ams.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Soybean Promotion, Research, 
and Consumer Information Act (Act) (7 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), every 5 
years the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) gives soybean producers 
the opportunity to request a referendum on the Order. If the Secretary 
determines

[[Page 53685]]

that at least 10 percent of U.S. producers engaged in growing soybeans 
(not in excess of one-fifth of which may be producers in any one State) 
support the conduct of a referendum, the Secretary must conduct a 
referendum within 1 year of that determination. If these requirements 
are not met, a referendum is not conducted.
    A notice of opportunity to Request a Soybean Referendum was 
published in the Federal Register (79 FR 12037) on March 4, 2014. To be 
eligible to participate in the Request for Referendum, producers or the 
producer entity that they are authorized to represent must provide 
supporting documentation showing that they or the producer entity they 
represent paid an assessment sometime during the representative period 
between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2013. Based on USDA data, 
there are 569,998 soybean producers in the United States.
    A total of 355 producers participated in the Request for 
Referendum. Only 324 valid requests for a referendum were completed by 
eligible soybean producers. This number does not meet the requisite 
number of 56,999. Therefore, based on the results, a referendum will 
not be conducted. In accordance with the provisions of the Act, soybean 
producers will be provided another opportunity to request a referendum 
in 5 years.
    The following are the State-by-State results of the Request for 
Referendum:

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                          State                            Valid ballots
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Alabama.................................................               0
Alaska..................................................               0
Arizona.................................................               0
Arkansas................................................               0
California..............................................               0
Colorado................................................               0
Connecticut.............................................               0
Delaware................................................               3
Florida.................................................               0
Georgia.................................................               0
Hawaii..................................................               0
Idaho...................................................               0
Illinois................................................              43
Indiana.................................................              48
Iowa....................................................              56
Kansas..................................................               6
Kentucky................................................               2
Louisiana...............................................               0
Maine...................................................               0
Maryland................................................               1
Massachusetts...........................................               0
Michigan................................................              10
Minnesota...............................................              25
Mississippi.............................................               0
Missouri................................................               9
Montana.................................................               0
Nebraska................................................               2
Nevada..................................................               0
New Hampshire...........................................               0
New Jersey..............................................               0
New Mexico..............................................               0
New York................................................               1
North Carolina..........................................               5
North Dakota............................................               3
Ohio....................................................              73
Oklahoma................................................               2
Oregon..................................................               0
Pennsylvania............................................               2
Rhode Island............................................               0
South Carolina..........................................               0
South Dakota............................................              17
Tennessee...............................................               0
Texas...................................................               2
Utah....................................................               0
Vermont.................................................               0
Virginia................................................               1
Washington..............................................               0
West Virginia...........................................               7
Wisconsin...............................................               6
Wyoming.................................................               0
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    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6301-6311.

    Dated: September 4, 2014.
Rex A. Barnes,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014-21509 Filed 9-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
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