Farm Bureau will support such an effort. Congress agreed with the Government Accounting Office that few states had enough scientific data upon which TMDL's could be based. Legislators sought funds to help states develop that data and would delay implementation of the program until the facts were available. It will also undoubtedly multiply the legal actions on both sides of the issue. The USDA released its updated crop forecast on Wednesday this week for the 2000 crop of corn and soybeans.
Estimates call for the second-largest corn crop ever and a record soybean corp.
This is unwelcome news for grain farmers, who continue to struggle with depressed prices in an industry that yearns for price recovery for the third consecutive season. Exports are slow and have not recovered from the jolt caused by the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98. Rainfall in many parts of the country has improved to minimize expectations of significant yield losses, which a few months ago threatened parts of the South and Midwest. Were it not for government LDP payments and AMTA payments, these producers would be in severe difficulty. Higher fuel costs and interest rates only aggravate the situation.