[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79885-79886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22453]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[Doc. No. AMS-LP-23-0027]


Soybean Promotion, Research, and Information Program: 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 6, 
2024, through May 31, 2024, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 
(USDA) Farm Service Agency County offices. To trigger a referendum, 
41,336 soybean producers, which represents 10 percent of the total 
nationwide soybean producers, needed to complete a valid Request for 
Referendum. The total number of soybean producers participating in the 
referendum was 229. The number of valid petitions received was 207.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason Julian, Research and Promotion 
Division, Livestock and Poultry Program, AMS, USDA, Room 2092-S, STOP 
0249, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-0249; 
Telephone: (202) 731-2149; or Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f8b2998b9796d6b28d94919996b88d8b9c99d69f978e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e8a2899b8786c6a29d84818986a89d9b8c89c68f879e">[email protected]</span></a>.

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 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 one 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 (89 FR 7353) on February 2, 2024. 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, 2022, and December 31, 2023. Based on data from 
USDA's Farm Service Agency, there are 413,358 soybean producers in the 
United States.
    A total of 229 producers participated in the Request for 
Referendum. Only 207 valid requests for a referendum were completed by 
eligible soybean producers. This number does not meet the requisite 
number of 41,336. 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................................................               0
Florida.................................................               0
Georgia.................................................               0
Hawaii..................................................               0
Idaho...................................................               0
Illinois................................................              35
Indiana.................................................              33
Iowa....................................................              46
Kansas..................................................               2
Kentucky................................................               7
Louisiana...............................................               0
Maine...................................................               0
Maryland................................................               4
Massachusetts...........................................               0
Michigan................................................               1
Minnesota...............................................              27
Mississippi.............................................               0
Missouri................................................              12
Montana.................................................               0

[[Page 79886]]

 
Nebraska................................................               4
Nevada..................................................               0
New Hampshire...........................................               0
New Jersey..............................................               0
New Mexico..............................................               0
New York................................................               0
North Carolina..........................................               0
North Dakota............................................               2
Ohio....................................................              14
Oklahoma................................................               0
Oregon..................................................               0
Pennsylvania............................................               2
Rhode Island............................................               0
South Carolina..........................................               0
South Dakota............................................              12
Tennessee...............................................               0
Texas...................................................               1
Utah....................................................               0
Vermont.................................................               0
Virginia................................................               0
Washington..............................................               0
West Virginia...........................................               0
Wisconsin...............................................               5
Wyoming.................................................               0
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    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6301-6311.

Melissa Bailey,
Associate Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-22453 Filed 9-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P


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