WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) – The House Budget Committee
Chairman proposed to slash farm spending by $30 billion over 10
years in a package unveiled on Tuesday as part of his
controversial plan to tackle the giant federal budget deficit.

Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan called for a reduction in
the $5 billion-a-year in “direct payments” made to growers each
year regardless of need. The payments are based on past
production of grain, cotton and soybeans.

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – U.S. farmers say they will
plant some of the biggest corn and soybean crops ever this
spring, racing to keep pace with unrelenting global demand
that’s rapidly depleting stockpiles and driving up food costs.

A government survey found corn plantings would be the
second-largest since World War Two and soybeans the third
highest ever. But traders focused on a companion report that
showed unexpectedly small stockpiles, sending corn prices up by
4.5 percent, hitting the 30-cent daily limit for price swings.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Farmers will be hard-pressed to replenish rapidly shrinking U.S. grain stocks this year, despite plans to sow the most land to corn since World War Two and near-record acreage to soybeans, according to the latest data from the U.S. government on Thursday.

Tight supplies would keep crop prices at high levels.

This year’s spring planting season in the world’s biggest crop exporter is being watched more closely than ever by countries fearful that further increases in already record-high food prices could stoke unrest.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. ethanol makers are working on reforms to replace a 45-cent a gallon tax break that expires this year, said the No. 1 maker on Wednesday, which could help the United State reduce its dependence on crude oil imports.

Tax credits for corn-based ethanol and biodiesel cost around $6 billion a year. The excise tax credits, and an accompanying tariff on ethanol imports, are set to die on December 31. The Senate may vote this week on a proposal to kill them immediately.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chairman of the U.S. futures regulator told lawmakers he was sympathetic to their efforts to rein in spending, but warned it would be a mistake to withhold funding from the agency and could put billions of taxpayer dollars at risk.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is writing dozens of regulations to implement the Dodd-Frank law, which was enacted last July and gives the agency oversight of the $600 trillion global swaps market. Most rules have not been finalized.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chairman of the futures regulator told lawmakers he was sympathetic to lawmakers trying to deal with the budget crisis, but warned it would be a mistake to withhold funding from the agency and potentially put billions of taxpayer dollars at risk.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is engaged in the arduous task of writing dozens of regulations to implement the Dodd-Frank law, which was enacted last July and gives the agency oversight of the $600 trillion global swaps market. Most rules have not been finalized.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The steep rise in farmland prices creates the potential for agricultural credit problems if there is a sharp downturn in the sector, a leading financial regulator said on Thursday.

Farmland prices doubled in the past decade, reaching an average value of $2,140 an acre in 2010. Record-high crop prices and low interest rates make farmland an attractive investment, analysts say.

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) – The steep rise in U.S.
farmland prices creates the potential for agricultural credit
problems in the future if there is a sharp downturn in the
sector, a leading U.S. financial regulator said on Thursday.

Farmland prices doubled in the past decade, reaching an
average value of $2,140 an acre in 2010. Record-high crop
prices and low interest rates make farmland an attractive
investment, analysts say.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Reform of U.S. ethanol incentives could save up to $5.7 billion a year, a congressional watchdog said on Tuesday as ethanol critics called on Congress to let the tax breaks expire at the end of this year.

In an examination of federal spending, the Government Accountability Office said the ethanol tax credit and a federal law requiring use of biofuels “can be duplicative … and can result in substantial loss of revenue.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States “can do it all” — turn more corn into ethanol without running short of food, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Thursday, as oil prices soared and the government raised its forecast of food price increases this year.

“There is no reason for us to take the foot off the gas,” said Vilsack, referring to biofuels at a two-day Agriculture Department conference on the outlook for this year’s crops. “We can do it all.”