Ag Headlines, Wednesday May 25, 2016

White House Threatens to Veto Energy and Water Bill

On Monday, the White House threatened to veto the House’s energy and water spending bill, which will hit the House floor this week. The House will consider the 37.4 billion dollar spending bill for 2017, which is slightly larger than what the Senate passed recently. The Hill reports the bill contains a host of environmental riders likely to turn off Democrats. In a statement issued through the Office of Management and Budget, the administration rejected what it called “highly problematic ideological provisions.” In particular, the administration wants more funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, as well as energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.

TPP Moving Slowly in Japan

The U.S. is not the only country where momentum for getting the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement passed has been slowed by politics. The Japanese government has also slowed its process to approve the deal despite formal debate being started in the legislature. The current session ends on June first, and sources say lawmakers are unlikely to vote on the TPP for a number of reasons. Politico says an April earthquake in the country has diverted legislative efforts to recovery, taking attention off TPP. Election politics are also in play as an election is set for July in the upper house of Japan’s bicameral legislature. Some lawmakers suggest the Prime Minister may want to see parallel movement on TPP in the U.S. and hopes ratification will take place in a similar timeframe to the United States.

El Nino Has Ended

El Nino has ended as the tropical Pacific Ocean has returned to a neutral state, and outlooks are suggesting no chance of returning to an El Nino state. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said that means mid-May marks the end of the event that reduced Indian rainfall, parched farmland in Asia, and reduced cocoa harvest in parts of Africa. Weather watchers are now waiting for La Nina, a cooling of tropical Pacific waters that some view as the opposite of El Nino. The US Climate Prediction Center says there is a 75 percent chance it will develop by years’ end, but some models say it could develop sooner. La Nina can upset agricultural markets as it can change the weather, including more hurricanes in the Atlantic and produce more heavy rains in India and Indonesia. The El Nino that just ended was one of the hottest on record, generating the hottest global temperatures in more than 130 years.

Source;  NAFB News