[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 51107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21027]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 188 / Friday, September 27, 2019 / 
Notices  

[[Page 51107]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[Doc. No. AMS-LP-19-0069]


Results of Soybean Request for Referendum

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The results of the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) 
Request for Referendum indicate that too few soybean producers wanted a 
referendum on the Soybean Promotion and Research Order (Order) for one 
to be conducted. The Request for Referendum was conducted from May 6, 
2019, through May 31, 2019, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 
(USDA) Farm Service Agency county offices. To trigger a referendum, 
51,501 soybean producers, 10 percent of the total nationwide soybean 
producers, needed to complete a valid Request for Referendum. The total 
number of soybean producers participating in the referendum was 794. 
The number of valid petitions received was 708.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Aswegan, Research and Promotion 
Division, Livestock and Poultry Program, AMS, USDA, Room 2610-S, STOP 
0251, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-0251; Telephone 
(515) 201-5190; Fax (202) 720-1125; or email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Soybean Promotion, Research, 
and Consumer Information Act (Act) (7 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), every 5 
years the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) gives soybean producers 
the opportunity to request a referendum on the Order. If the Secretary 
determines that at least 10 percent of U.S. producers engaged in 
growing soybeans (not in excess of one-fifth of which may be producers 
in any one State) support the conduct of a referendum, the Secretary 
must conduct a referendum within 1 year of that determination. If these 
requirements are not met, a referendum is not conducted.
    A notice of opportunity to Request a Soybean Referendum was 
published in the Federal Register(84 FR 9743) on March 18, 2019. To be 
eligible to participate in the Request for Referendum, producers or the 
producer entity that they are authorized to represent must provide 
supporting documentation showing that they or the producer entity they 
represent paid an assessment sometime during the representative period 
between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018. Based on USDA data, 
there are 515,008 soybean producers in the United States.
    A total of 794 producers participated in the Request for 
Referendum. Only 708 valid requests for a referendum were completed by 
eligible soybean producers. This number does not meet the requisite 
number of 51,501. Therefore, based on the results, a referendum will 
not be conducted. In accordance with the provisions of the Act, soybean 
producers will be provided another opportunity to request a referendum 
in 5 years.
    The following are the State-by-State results of the Request for 
Referendum:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          State                            Valid ballots
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Alabama.................................................               1
Alaska..................................................               0
Arizona.................................................               0
Arkansas................................................               7
California..............................................               0
Colorado................................................               1
Connecticut.............................................               0
Delaware................................................               3
Florida.................................................               0
Georgia.................................................               1
Hawaii..................................................               0
Idaho...................................................               0
Illinois................................................             177
Indiana.................................................              97
Iowa....................................................              94
Kansas..................................................              39
Kentucky................................................               5
Louisiana...............................................               0
Maine...................................................               0
Maryland................................................              10
Massachusetts...........................................               0
Michigan................................................               5
Minnesota...............................................              38
Mississippi.............................................               5
Missouri................................................              31
Montana.................................................               0
Nebraska................................................              17
Nevada..................................................               0
New Hampshire...........................................               0
New Jersey..............................................               0
New Mexico..............................................               0
New York................................................               1
North Carolina..........................................               3
North Dakota............................................              15
Ohio....................................................             117
Oklahoma................................................               0
Oregon..................................................               0
Pennsylvania............................................               8
Rhode Island............................................               0
South Carolina..........................................               0
South Dakota............................................              18
Tennessee...............................................               2
Texas...................................................               0
Utah....................................................               0
Vermont.................................................               0
Virginia................................................               2
Washington..............................................               0
West Virginia...........................................               1
Wisconsin...............................................              10
Wyoming.................................................               0
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 6301-6311.

    Dated: September 20, 2019.
Bruce Summers,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019-21027 Filed 9-26-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-02-P