Leader Page 07/29/2010

MANDATORY PRICE REPORTING - House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) introduced legislation Monday to reauthorize the Mandatory Price Reporting (MPR) law. The current law, which requires the Agriculture Department to publish data on livestock and meat purchasing transactions, is scheduled to expire on Sept. 30. The Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010 (H.R. 5852) would extend the program for another five years and include additional reporting requirements for pork wholesale cuts and exports.

EPA REJECTS CLIMATE CLAIMS - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today denied 10 petitions challenging its 2009 determination that climate change is real, is occurring due to emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities, and threatens human health and the environment.

WHEAT WOES - U.S. wheat prices have surged nearly 49% from a nine-month low in June to Thursday's session high as a severe drought has hit the grain belts of the former Soviet Union.