White House sources say President George W. Bush likely would follow through with his threat to veto the pending farm bill should it continue to include budget offsets via what the Bush administration terms “a tax increase on foreign investment in the United States.”The House farm bill passed by a relative tight margin of 231-191 – not enough to override any presidential veto.

House minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Republicans ultimately would defeat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and others who pushed the tax increase because enough Republicans will vote to sustain any Bush veto. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said he is taking Bush’s veto threat “with a grain of salt” because the administration also threatened to veto the 2002 Farm Bill.

As for the farm bill as a whole, Pelosi said: “More needs to be done, but we have gone in the right direction for change and for reform.” She cited the bill’s emphasis on credits and loan guarantees for new forms of biofuel produced from grasses and biomass. “Future farm bills will never look the same.” Pelosi said, “More needs to be done, but we have gone in the right direction for change and for reform.” She cited the bill’s emphasis on credits and loan guarantees for new forms of biofuel produced from grasses and biomass. “Future farm bills will never look the same.”

Meanwhile, Senate Ag Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) gave the House farm bill lukewarm support – and criticism. “There are a lot of good features in the House bill, and, of course, there are others I believe the Senate will improve upon,” Harkin said. “Most notably, the House bill did serous damage to conservation.” To help fund the House farm bill, Peterson slashed $4.8 billion from one of Harkin’s favorite programs, the Conservation Security Program (CSP), something Harkin said he would correct in the Senate farm bill version. The House farm bill would promote signup in the CSP through 2012. Harkin wants to expand the program in the Senate bill to 80 million acres.

The Census Bureau last week estimated the June soybean crush at 4.05million tonnes, which was in line with expectations based on the NOPA crush of 3.88 million tonnes. The daily crush rate increased for the second consecutive month, going against the tendency for the crush to seasonally decline. Unusually large soybean stocks at crushing plants along with attractive cash crushing margins appear to be preventing the normal seasonal decline in the crush.

Census estimated soybean oil ending stocks for June at a record 1.54 million tonnes, which was up 39,900 tonnes from May stocks that were revised 8,160 tonnes higher. The June stocks estimate was roughly 34,000 tonnes more than the market had anticipated, and suggests that monthly domestic usage of soybean oil was in line with that of the past two years, with non-biodiesel usage being down. Though overall domestic usage is up 4 percent so far in 2006-07, non-biodiesel consumption is down 2 percent for the marketing year due to a year-over-year decline during five of the past six months.

U.S. and Canadian regulators have approved the sale of a new genetically modified (GM) soybean that is resistant to herbicides, according to a report from The Public Ledger. USDA, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have all granted approvals, completing the final step in each country’s regulatory process.

The soybeans, which will be marketed by Monsanto under the name RReady2Yield, are modified to withstand glyphosate herbicide, which better known as Roundup. Monsanto said the soybean will boost yields by between 7 percent and 11 percent (between 3.5 and 5.5 bushels per acre) for an average farmer in Illinois. This translates into an additional $25 to $40 per acre in farm revenue, depending on soybean market prices.

According to the USDA, 91 percent of the 64.1 million acres planted to soybeans this year were Roundup Ready and the company expects RReady2Yield to replace those seeds.

Monsanto said it will launch RReady2Yield on a limited scale in North America in 2009, followed by a broad-scale rollout the following year. Monsanto has not revealed a price for the soybean seeds, but Carl Casale, vice president of North American business at Monsanto, said at a recent earnings call: “Our golden rule is that we price for penetration (and) ensure value with the farmer. In general, we now price for up to one-half of the value created. We believe this… allows us to be rewarded for innovation, but doesn’t dampen the expansion of the use of our technology.”

The new GM soybean will be the basis for stacked seeds that feature several genetic traits. This could include soybeans that produce healthier oils, are fortified with Omega-3 fatty acids, or grow under stress. “As we proceed and interact with food companies and their suppliers, we’ll get an understanding of just how to build these multi-trait products, which will be of great interest and demand,” said Jerry Hjelle, vice president of regulatory issues at Monsanto.

U.S. oilseed, grain and freight shipments on the Mississippi River are unlikely to be disrupted by the collapse of a Minneapolis bridge because most cargo is loaded downstream, traders and a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said last week. A nine-mile stretch of the river was closed to vessels south of Minneapolis after the I-35W bridge, an eight-lane structure, buckled during the evening rush hour on August 1. Bloomberg News reports that the portion of the river that is closed is 4.3 miles (6.9 kilometers) south of the end of the navigable channel in the Mississippi. The closed section isn’t heavily used by freight and grain barges, which mostly enter the river further south in Iowa and Illinois for the trip to major export depots in New Orleans.

The soy complex was higher on August 2 as concern mounts over the lack of moisture and the above-normal temperatures in the Corn Belt as the month of August begins. August bean futures closed up $1.93, finishing at $305.34; September was $2.11 higher, closing at $308.00; and November was up $2.11, ending at $313.97. August meal increased $2.87 closing at $240.19; September was $2.76 higher, finishing at $242.62; and October gained $2.20 to close at $245.48. August oil closed $3.09 higher to finish at $825.18; September was up $1.54, closing at $829.81; and October was unchanged, closing at $835.54.

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