March fell to lowest intraday price since Oct. 9. The National Cotton Council joined other agricultural organizations in expressing concerns about EPA actions.
U.S. cotton futures settled slightly lower Tuesday, led by a decline to a new intraday low for the move in spot March amid a continued widening of the March-May spread.
- March closed down 19 points to a six-session low finish at 61.41 cents, trading from up 15 points at 61.75 to down 64 points at 60.96 cents. It finished in the upper half of the 79-point range after falling through the 61.15-cent low of Jan. 11 to its lowest intraday print since Oct. 9.
- May settled down nine points to 62.01 cents, July finished off eight points at 62.40 cents and December closed off nine points at 61.88 cents.
- An inability to build on an anemic early bounce as U.S. equities and oil prices rebounded, talk of increased U.S. cotton plantings amid weak prices for acreage-competing crops and the threat of the release of Chinese reserve stocks weighed on sentiment.
- Volume quickened to an estimated 36,598 lots from 29,495 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 15,217 lots or 52% and EFP 137 lots. Options volume totaled 2,250 calls and 3,208 puts.
The National Cotton Council and 37 other agricultural organizations have highlighted concerns about actions implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency in a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Tex., and Ranking Member Collin Peterson, D-Minn.
The groups sent the letter prior to an oversight hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday but was canceled because of the massive winter storm that hit the Washington, D.C., area.
The letter pointed to over-arching concerns about EPA’s general conduct, citing an outdated rulemaking process itself and agency policies where process infringements have affected agriculture.
Issues needing review, the groups say, include those pertaining to the waters of the U.S. rule, worker protection standards, permits for pesticide applications, water quality regulations, loss of important crop protection tools, spill prevention rules for farms and the Clean Air Act.
The agriculture community has become more and more concerned over the past year about trends within EPA that may make it increasingly difficult for farmers to obtain vital crop protection tools.
Separately, the Cotton Council has sent comments to EPA opposing most of an extensive set of proposed changes for the certification of pesticide applicators published last August. The comment period was extended at the request of many agricultural groups and expired Friday.
The EPA noted that the certification regulation hasnΆt been updated in almost 40 years and states have adopted procedures that vary widely.
Proposed changes include expanding training, standardizing continuing education requirements, making recertification intervals and standards uniform, increasing categories and application methods and expanding competency verification, to name a few.
The NCC said the EPA provided no justification nor demonstrated any deficiencies in the current process. The proposed changes, the council added, would add tremendous cost and burden on state budgets because state regulatory agencies would be tasked with the training and enforcement.
Futures open interest increased 877 lots Monday to 192,868, with MarchΆs down 1,829 lots to 114,772 and MayΆs up 1,411 lots to 37,825. Cert stocks declined to 57,396 on the decertification of 1,231 bales.
