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CapitalPress.com
Friday, May 6, 2022
SEC proposed rule concerns ag
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Farmers and ranchers
are likely to be impacted by
a proposed Securities and
Exchange Commission rule
that would require publicly
traded companies to provide
investors with climate-re-
lated information about their
operations.
In addition disclos-
ing information about cli-
mate-related risks that could
have an impact on their
business or fi nancial con-
dition, companies would
be required to report green-
house gas emissions along
their supply chain — if the
company has set a goal that
includes those emissions.
That would include emis-
sions by the vast majority of
farmers and ranchers, whose
products are eventually han-
dled by a publicly traded
company.
The American Farm
Bureau Federation said farm-
ers and ranchers could be
forced to reveal personal
information and business-re-
lated data, creating onerous
reporting
requirements.
“ T h i s
appears to be
an example
of overreach
by the Secu-
Zippy
rities
and
Duvall
Exchange
Commis-
sion,” said Zippy Duvall,
Farm Bureau president.
“Farmers and ranchers are
already heavily regulated by
multiple agencies at the local,
state and the federal level.
New SEC reporting require-
ments will no doubt make an
already complicated patch-
work of regulations even
more cumbersome,” he said.
“Farmers and ranchers are
focused on growing the food,
fuel and fi ber this country
needs and have never been
subjected to SEC regula-
tions. Unlike the large cor-
porations currently regulated
by the SEC, family farms and
ranches don’t have teams of
compliance offi cers,” he said.
Farm Bureau is one of 120
agricultural
organizations
requesting a 180-day exten-
sion on the comment period,
which closes May 20.
In a letter to SEC Secre-
tary Vanessa Countryman,
the groups pointed out the
proposed rule is 510 pages
with 1,068 technical foot-
notes and almost 750 direct
questions.
The groups said their
members are overwhelm-
ingly not registrants or oth-
erwise subject in any way to
the jurisdiction and oversight
of the SEC.
“The proposed rule
changes this. We must be
granted more time to read,
absorb, analyze and then
draft meaningful com-
ments,” they said in the
letter.
The proposed rule’s
expansive treatment of the
reporting of greenhouse gas
emissions may create new
costs and liabilities, they
said.
“These include almost
certain reporting obliga-
tions, technical challenges,
signifi cant fi nancial and
operational disruption and
the risk of fi nancially crip-
pling legal liabilities,” they
said.
Retailer expects slight
decline in dairy demand
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Infl ation, product avail-
ability and logistical issues
are all weighing on dairy
markets, leaving many in the
industry questioning what’s
ahead for demand.
Sales revenue is up due
to higher prices, but volumes
are down, said Mike Brown,
dairy supply chain direc-
tor for the Kroger Co., the
nation’s second-largest gro-
cery chain.
“The big question for
everybody is prices are high,
there’s some instability in
world markets but there’s also
not a lot of expectation for
increase supply of milk and
what is that going to mean in
the longer term,” he said.
“I think there’s a lot of
concern on price risk and
also, I think, bigger-than-ever
supply risk,” he said.
The shortage of supply
and the cost of goods are both
hurting the availability of
products, he said.
Kroger isn’t off ering all
of its cheese items because it
can’t get the packaging, and
it’s carrying higher inven-
tories across the company
because it’s concerned about
supply reliability, he said.
“So we’re keeping more
inventory so we have more
time to recover,” he said.
Ontime delivery for gro-
cery stores industrywide has
fallen below 50% for national
Stefan Kuhn/Wikipedia
Sales of milk and dairy
products could be slight-
ly lower than last year
because of supply chain
problems in such areas
as obtaining packaging,
a grocery retailer says.
brands. The COVID-19 pan-
demic had a big eff ect this
winter, but a lot of it is pack-
aging availability, he said.
“We’re delaying new
product introduction on
shelves because we can’t get
the box or the carton or the
wrapping to put it in,” he said.
A lot of packaging for
domestic products comes
from China, and China pri-
oritizes what gets to go out
of port — whether it’s impor-
tance or revenue or political
connection, he said.
“The entire grocery busi-
ness is struggling to keep
shelves full,” he said.
It’s diffi cult to speculate
whether the supply chain
constrictions are short-term
or long-term, he said.
As for demand, dairy has
a couple of things in its favor.
Costs of vegetable oils, plant
proteins — everything — are
through the roof, so dairy is
not competitively less advan-
taged. And it’s still the best
buy for quality protein, he
said.
“I think we’re very com-
petitive from the standpoint
of what we can give the con-
sumer for the price, and I
think that will continue to
help us,” he said.
Dairy demand might
decline a little, but it’s going
to be fairly stable, he said.
The U.S. is starting to see
a little drop-off in discretion-
ary spending, at least anecdot-
ally, said Ted Jacoby, CEO of
T.C. Jacoby and Co., which
markets dairy products.
But food expenditures are
not going to be the fi rst thing
consumers cut. Demand
ahead will be a matter of mac-
roeconomics, he said.
“I would start with the
question of how well is our
economy going to hold up
between now and the end of
the year. And I think it’s prob-
ably going to be fi ne, but I
don’t see the kind of demand
we’ve seen the last six months
over the course of the next six
to nine months,” he said.
He expects the trend of
more revenue but less volume
will continue through the rest
of the year. He thinks demand
will struggle a little, but prices
aren’t going to drop drasti-
cally because global milk
supply is restricted, he said.
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