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Former DFA Execs Involved in
Unauthorized Payment
Two
former
leaders of Dairy Farmers of America allegedly were involved in an
improper
transfer of money. Current DFA President and CEO Rick Smith said that
former
CEO Gary Hanman arranged for the unauthorized transfer of $1 million to
former
Board Chairman Herman Brubaker. The transaction, made in 2001, was not
approved
by DFA's board of directors. When the company learned of the
transaction, it
moved quickly to get the money back, plus interest. Hanman and Brubaker
returned the money within the past few weeks, according to Smith. Asked
why it
took seven years to discover this, Smith said the original transaction
was
concealed and in the course of doing due diligence and research into
other
matters, the issue came to light.
Kansasagconnection.com
Activists say no Cameras
Two
animal
rights activist groups have called on congress to resist any proposal
by the
USDA to install cameras in packing houses. (Guess they want the right
all to
themselves?)
Feedstuffs
Chicago City Council Repeals Foie
Gras Ban
The Chicago City Council repealed its ban on foie gras. The Council
voted 37-6
to repeal the two-year-old ban which many said made the city a national
laughingstock. Ald.
Thomas Tunney
(44th), a restaurant owner, forced the vote on the measure that
prohibits
Chicago restaurants from serving the delicacy. Mayor Richard Daley, who
opposed
the original measure, ran the vote.
Chicago Tribune
TN: Planting seeds for a bio
future
Bioworks
hopes to grow new jobs, opportunities
Imagine
a future in which farmers throughout the Mid-South ship crops to
Memphis, where
chemical companies convert them into everything from paint to plastic
bottles. That's
the vision that the Memphis Bioworks Foundation is promoting. The
nonprofit,
which focuses on building up science-based businesses and creating
highly paid
jobs, is planning a big push into industrializing agriculture. They're
calling
the initiative AgBio.
The Memphis Commercial Appeal
Appeals court rules against peanut
farmers
Peanut
farmers in seven states whose crops were devastated by the 2002 drought
are
entitled to only a little more than half the $30 million in insurance
payments
ordered by a lower court, a federal appeals panel ruled Thursday. A
three-judge
panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with federal
officials
who claimed the 2002 Farm Bill, which eliminated the peanut quota
system,
allowed the farmers to collect only 17.75 cents per pound. A judgment
approved
in December 2006 by U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard of Greenville,
N.C.,
awarded them 31 cents per pound.
The Macon Telegraph
U.S. rice farmers sow seeds
of profitability
High
global demand, price are welcome news
The
greater demand and new foreign customers driving the global price hike
have
been a boon to American farmers, who are welcoming the reprieve after
years of
shouldering high fuel and fertilizer costs and weak prices for their
grain. Commodity
traders and economists attribute the global price increases to
everything from
weather — a drought in Australia, floods in Asia — to the declining
value of
the dollar, the jump in fuel costs and increased buying power in
countries like
China and India, said Nathan Childs, an economist and rice expert with
the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
The Tennessean
NC:Skeptics
sound off
over sludge
Biosolids
are used as fertilizer
Some
farmers say it has kept them in business. Others say that there's no
way to
know what's in it and that it should not go on fields. The state
Division of
Water Quality heard from people Tuesday on both sides of the
controversy over
sewage sludge, or "biosolids," applied to farm fields. The division
held a public hearing on a permit renewal the city of Burlington
applied for in
2003 to continue putting solids from its wastewater plants on farm
fields.
The (Raleigh, North Carolina) News and
Observer
VA:Did
farms foul the water? Farmers don't think so
Farmers
and
others familiar with the 217-acre site on which a golf course made from
fly ash
now sits say they doubt that elevated boron readings from well tests
nearby are
linked to agricultural use. Last month, city officials released the
results of
water tests taken at 75 properties near the Battlefield Golf Club at
Centerville. In many cases, the tests found higher levels of boron than
for the
other nine elements in the sampling.
The Virginian-Pilot
Colo. governor signs law to phase
out veal and
gestation crates
Colorado
Gov. Bill Ritter signed legislation that phases out veal crates within
four
years and gestation crates within 10 years. Colorado joins Arizona in
outlawing
veal crates and becomes the fourth state — along with Florida, Arizona
and
Oregon — to ban gestation crates for breeding pigs. The legislation
echoes
steps Colorado's pork producers were already taking to eliminate
gestation
crates.
Meatingplace.com
New report paints bleak picture for
California
agriculture
One
of the
advantages of living a fairly long time is that one remembers what
things used
to be like way back when. Belonging to the leading edge of the
post-World War
II baby boom and growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s is a perfect
case in
point.
Western Farm Press
What Will Be Required Of Livestock
Producers Under The
COOL Rules This September?
Under
the
current rules, “a meat product from beef (including veal), pork, and
lamb must
bear a COOL label or is subject to labeling providing COOL information
if: 1.
It is sold at retail, AND, It is a muscle cut, or
It is a ground
product. The product is EXEMPT from COOL labeling
requirements if: The
meat product is sold at foodservice (e.g., restaurants, institutions,
etc.),
OR, The meat product is an ingredient in a processed product
or, in effect,
is processed.” From this we can assume that home-raised and harvested
beef that
is not sold at retail will not be required to be COOL
labeled. Beef
served on a menu at a restaurant will be exempt, as will beef served in
a
cafeteria or other food service institutions. Any person
engaged in the business of supplying a covered commodity to a
retailer, directly or indirectly, must maintain records to establish
and
identify the immediate previous source and immediate subsequent
recipient of
the product. The record must identify the product unique to that
transaction by
means of a lot number or other unique identifier, for a period of one
(1) year
from the date of the transaction. Since producers indirectly supply
meat to
packers, this means that producers will be responsible to have records
to
substantiate the country of origin of their livestock
Cattlenetwork.com
Large Reductions In Agricultural
Chemical Use Can
Still Result In High Crop Yields And Profits
Researchers
investigated whether yield, weed suppression, and profit
characteristics of
low-external-input farming systems could match or exceed those of
conventional
farming systems. Yields and profits were similar or higher in the LEI
systems
as in the conventional system, and lower herbicide inputs did not lead
to
increased weed problems. The results suggest that large reductions in
agrichemical use can be compatible with high crop yields and profits.
Science Daily
IL:Petition filed to strip Illinois
EPA of CAFO oversight
A petition has been filed by the Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and
Water that
would strip the Illinois EPA's authority to regulate the state's
Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).
Brownfield Network
DC residents get a visit from
lettuce-clad bikini
activists
In
Hartford
on Tuesday morning generated all the attention you would expect of two
women
dressed in lettuce bikinis while handing out Tofurkey sandwiches in
front of
Shell Gas on Capitol Avenue. Why in front of a gas station? The two
full-time
employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals explained
that,
besides being good for your health, veganism is good for the
environment by
reducing the amount of energy needed to operate the meat industry's
farms and
factories. Connecticut was the third stop on their 50-state "Go Green,
Go
Vegan" tour. In exchange for trying the tofu-based fake turkey, takers
received two free gallons of gas. At $4.05 a gallon for regular, it's
hard to
beat a deal like that. And most of the takers we talked to even liked
the
Tofurkey.
Courant.com
AVMA State Update
Kansas
established a first-in-the-nation task force to study the need for a
veterinary
prescription monitoring program. Minnesota
adopted legislation allowing a licensed chiropractor to engage in
animal
chiropractic care. Nebraska created
a
rural vet incentive program and passed legislation prohibiting
intentional
tripping, roping the legs or dragging by the tail of equines or
bovines. Virginia
now regulates commercial breeders.
Oklahoma,
banned computer-assisted remote control hunting of wildlife. Georgia
and Iowa
toughened the penalties for dog fighting.
AVMA
AG says shipping horsemeat through
Texas is illegal
Texas
Attorney General Greg Abbott this week issued an opinion saying the
state's
prohibition on horsemeat for human food would almost certainly apply to
the
transport of horsemeat, too. The opinion was hailed by anti-slaughter
activists
and decried by attorneys for foreign-based slaughterhouses in Mexico,
who until
last year used Texas ports and airports to ship their product to
Europe, where
horsemeat is a delicacy in some countries. Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa,
who
supports horse slaughter, said he requested the Attorney General's
opinion
after being approached last year by an attorney for a slaughterhouse in
Mexico.
Chisum expressed disappointment with the ruling.
Mysanantonio.com
Mo.
Senate Overrules Treasurer on Lawmaker Investments
State
senators in Missouri overruled an effort by the state treasure to stop
businesses that have lawmaker investors from receiving tax incentives
and
loans. Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steel had instituted a ban that
kept
ethanol or biodiesel plants in the state from receiving financial
incentives,
if any investor in the company is related to an elected state official
or
department directors.
Dtn.com
ME: Farmers meeting seeks dairy
solution
State,
local and federal officials sat shoulder to shoulder with dairy farmers
Wednesday, trying to solve what some are calling a crisis in farming.
In the
end, the two-hour forum, called by a local dairy farmer, was as much
about
frustration at current pricing policies as it was looking ahead toward
solutions. The economic realities of dairying in Maine are simple: It
cost
$22.07 to make 100 pounds of milk in March, according to the Maine
Dairy
Industry Association. Farmers were paid $17.89. Compound that dismal
price
differential with exploding costs for fuel, feed and fertilizer and
Levant
dairy farmers Joan Gibson Call and Brian Call are left wondering
whether they
are going under this year. To seek solutions, the couple held a
solutions-based
forum. Farmers were frank in their discussions, talking about many
taboo
subjects including dairy farms that are blackballed by processors, that
milk
tests are manipulated to eliminate small processors, and that most of
the milk
industry in this country is a monopoly. "The same frustrations I’m
hearing
from the farmers here, I’m hearing from state legislators," Kilkelly
said.
Because there is a processor monopoly — one company produces 90 percent
of all
milk in the U.S. — small farmers and small milk-producing states such
as Maine
have no leverage in the marketplace, she said.
Bangor Daily News
PETA's complaint ludicrous
Concerning
animal rights legislation, I'd be more inclined to agree to its
usefulness if
it wasn't for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the radical
organization that put a monastery and 30 monks out of the egg
production
business in South Carolina. It was their means of support. Then there's the fact that
in Virginia PETA
slaughtered 97. 4 percent of the adoptable companion animals under its
"care"in 2006. Despite raising $ 31 million and just spending $ 27
million in 2006, PETA found adoptive homes for just 12 pets.
Northwest Arkansas News
Farm, planting costs are up, so
grocery costs should
climb
The price of fertilizer, fuel and herbicides has taken a leap from a
year ago —
in some cases more than doubling in price. Farmers are glad they have
strong
commodity prices for milk, corn and soybeans to lean on to pay for
higher
planting costs. “As long as the commodity prices stay where they are
we’ll be
OK. If the commodity prices drop, we’ll be in worse shape than we were
before,”
said Dan Stokes, a rural Omro dairy farmer. “It’s nice to see the high
commodity prices, but when the high input costs come along it makes it
hard to
see where we’re going.” Stokes said liquid fertilizer he purchased this
spring
is more than $1,000 a ton compared to $350 a ton last fall. He said
nitrogen,
which is put on corn to help it grow, has doubled in price since last
fall.
Herbicides, which are used to kill weeds, in some cases have also
doubled in
price.
Oshkosh Northwestern, WI
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N.C. governor seeking funds for
poultry
worker protection
North
Carolina
Governor Mike Easly is asking state lawmakers for extra funds, staff
and
authorization to determine the conditions in which poultry plant
employees work
and how those workers are treated when injured on the job. In his budget proposal,
which will be sent to
the state legislature next week, Easly is expected to request: North
Carolina
Poultry Federation Executive Director Bob Ford told the Observer he'd
like to
hear more about the proposals before forming an opinion, but added that
while
the industry "welcomed productive regulation," he didn't want the
industry to be "overburdened with legislation that takes a lot of our
time."
Meatingplace.com
Court says cancer claims against
poultry companies can
go forward
The Arkansas Supreme Court
has overturned a
lower-court's ruling and is allowing a lawsuit to proceed against
several
poultry processors that alleges arsenic in chicken litter caused a
child's
cancer, according to the Associated Press. A judge had previously
dismissed the
suit against George's, Peterson Farms, Simmons Foods and Tyson Foods.
The
Arkansas Supreme Court, however, said that Mary and Michael Green — who
claim
that arsenic in poultry litter might have caused their son's leukemia —
presented sufficient evidence against the processors to warrant a trial.
Meatingplace.com
Young Workers Flee
Midwestern States
Upper
Midwestern states are in danger of losing a precious economic
commodity: young
people. Many are leaving for other parts of the country after finishing
school.
Without young, educated workers, there's little incentive for
businesses to
locate in economically hard-hit states.
National Public Radio’s Day to Day
Efforts Stall to
Attract More Veterinarians
This spring on his ranch in Presho, Cooper Garnos has had to haul
cattle 45
miles to Winner to see a veterinarian for Caesarian sections and other
procedures. "We do have a vet here but he's probably in his
mid to
high 80s, and he's served the community well," Garnos said, but for
complicated or emergency work, he has to leave town.
Rapid City Journal
Rural Personal Income Falls behind
the Cities
The largest drops in personal income in rural counties between 2005 and
'06
were clustered in farming counties in the Great Plains. See DY's lists
of rural
counties with the highest and lowest incomes
Daily Yonder
Young workers flee midwestern states
Upper Midwestern states are in danger of losing a precious economic
commodity:
young people. Many are leaving for other parts of the country after
finishing
school.
National Public Radio
"We're waging a war on fat people."
With
an eye
on soaring health care costs, companies are becoming more proactive
about what
their employees eat. Google,
Yamaha of
America, Caterpillar and others are putting health food in corporate
break
rooms, cafeterias and vending machines, dumping doughnuts in favor of
organic
fresh fruit and slapping "calorie taxes" on fatty foods.
msn.com
Hundreds Are Arrested in U.S. Sweep
of Meat Plant
In
the biggest
workplace immigration raid this year, federal agents swept into a
kosher meat
plant on Monday in Postville, Iowa, and arrested more than 300 workers.
NYTimes.com
Farm workers found living in Calif.
cherry orchard
Farm labor organizers say they have discovered more than 100 migrant
fruit
pickers living in a Central Valley cherry orchard where they have been
sleeping
outdoors and bathing in drainage ditches.
United Farm Workers representatives say they found the men, women and
teenagers
camping in the orchards west of Shafter.
San Francisco Chronicle
Change We Can Stomach
Farming
has
the potential to go through the greatest upheaval since the Green
Revolution,
bringing harvests that are more healthful, sustainable and more
flavorful.
NYTimes.com
Ninety percent of consumers trust
supermarket meat and
poultry: FMI report
Ninety
percent of consumers agree with the statement, "I trust the meat,
poultry
and fish my grocery store sells is safe," according to the Food
Marketing
Institute's U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2008 report. They express less
trust in
the government: 79 percent agree with the statement, "I trust the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to ensure that the food I purchase is safe."
Only 76 percent hold this view about the FDA, the survey says. The
report also
covers consumers' financial pressures and nutritional concerns.
Economic
worries are compelling Americans to cook at home more and eat less
often at
restaurants (71 percent). Consumers also are buying fewer luxury foods
(67
percent) and more store-brand items (60 percent) and eating more
leftovers (58
percent).Meanwhile, 41 percent of shoppers say they are "very
concerned" about the nutritional content of the foods they eat. When
evaluating whether a food is nutritious, shoppers focus most on the fat
content
listed on the Nutrition Facts label, with more than half checking
saturated
fat, trans fat and total fat. More than four in 10 check the calorie
count,
look for whole grains and focus on the salt, sugar and cholesterol
levels, FMI
says.
Meatingplace.com
Energy
by CSG Analyst Michael Smith
On
Wednesday, Congress approved legislation (H.R. 6022) that would suspend
shipments of oil to the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)
until
December 31, 2008. The
federal
government may resume shipments to the SPR in 2008 only if the weighted
average
price of petroleum in the United States is $75 or less per barrel. In spite of the
President’s strong opposition
to the legislation, the White House indicated that the President would
not veto
the bill.
Expansion
of USDA BioPreferred Program
Why
aren’t states following suit?
USDA Agriculture Chief Economist Joseph Glauber announced that
27 new
groupings of biobased products have been designated for procurement
preference
under the BioPreferred Program. This
means that an additional 2,469 biobased products from 562 companies may
now
qualify for procurement preference by federal agencies and their
contractors. Including
products
qualified in the first designation, there are now a total of 2,741
products
from 659 companies that may qualify for preferred procurement under the
BioPreferred Program.Biobased products are commercial or industrial
goods
composed of biological products, forestry materials, or renewable
domestic
agricultural materials, including plant, animal, or marine materials.
Made from
renewable plant and animal sources, biobased products are generally
safer for
the environment than their petroleum-based counterparts. They are
usually
biodegradable or recyclable.
Biopreferred.gov
GA: Off-road diesel tax
suspended to aid struggling farmers
Industry
taking hits in other areas
Local
farmers are feeling the pain of rising fuel prices, and Gov. Sonny
Perdue's
suspension of the tax on off-road diesel fuel only will help a little.
Perdue
announced Monday that the state would suspend the 4 percent tax on
off-road
diesel, which is used to power farm equipment such as tractors. The
cost of
diesel fuel is up about 50 percent from a year ago and last week
reached an
average price of $4.33 per gallon - up more than 18 cents in just one
week,
according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
The Athens Banner-Herald
MN: Legislature approves B20 bill
with escape route
Minnesota's
2 percent biodiesel mandate is going up. First to 5 percent. Then 10
percent.
And eventually, 20 percent of all diesel fuel sold in Minnesota must be
biodiesel. But unlike last time, the new law has "offramps," in case
new problems arise. The mandate eases during Minnesota's coldest
months. Fuel
quality must stay high. And if biodiesel prices get out of whack, the
governor
can change the limits. With those assurances, the Legislature on gave final approval to
raising Minnesota's
tops-in-the-nation biodiesel mandate. Gov. Tim Pawlenty is likely to
soon sign
it into law, said spokesman Brian McClung, thereby "reducing our
dependence on foreign sources of energy." Supporters like Rep. Al
Juhnke,
DFL-Willmar, the food-fuel debate continues but doesn't really pertain
so much
to biodiesel," Juhnke said. "Biodiesel was originally developed
because we needed a use for that (soybean) byproduct called oil. ... As
far as
food goes, it's used for salad oil, deep-fat frying, but mostly, it's
out there
in the industrial markets."
Twincities.com
Ethanol as cause of food crisis
'flat-out wrong'
Agriculture
Secretary Ed Schafer yesterday said U.N. and other international aid
officials
are "flat-out wrong" to call U.S. ethanol production from corn a
major factor in world food shortages and riots.
The Washington Times
Congress examines Renewable
Fuels Standard
Rival
groups, one representing meat packers, one representing corn farmers,
offered
diametrically opposed testimony on the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS)
before
the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
Tuesday.
The American Meat Institute (AMI) testified strongly against government
support
for ethanol, while the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA)
vigorously
defended the RFS, which mandates 15 billion gallons of ethanol use
domestically
by 2015. J. Patrick Boyle, AMI President and CEO, noted high corn
prices have
been particularly hard on the nation's livestock producers. And he
repeated
previous claims that that increased production of corn-based ethanol is
responsible for a recent increase in food price inflation.
Brownfield Network
Food vs. fuel a global myth
Here
are
the facts. In the last five years, despite the nearly threefold growth
of the
corn ethanol industry (or actually because of it), the U.S. corn crop
grew by
35 percent, the production of distillers grain (a high-value animal
feed made
from the protein saved from the corn used for ethanol) quadrupled and
the net
corn food and feed product of the U.S. increased 26 percent.
Chicago Tribune
DuPont, Danisco unit to make
cellulosic ethanol
DuPont
Co
and Genencor, a unit of Denmark's Danisco on Wednesday said they plan
to form
DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, a 50-50 joint venture to develop
and
commercialize low-cost technology for producing cellulosic ethanol.
Reuters
Biofuels backlash could drive up
energy costs
the use of biofuels can help
slow the
acceleration of gasoline prices. So if you did have a backlash that
results in
the biofuels mandates being reversed, that would result in more use of
petroleum-derived fuels and, theoretically, in higher (energy) prices,"
said Eric Wittenauer, an energy analyst at A.G. Edwards
Reuters
CBS: 'America in Disrepair'
CBS' "Early Show" highlights the sorry state of the country's
infrastructure, warning that the U.S. may become a "second-rate
country" if the necessary repairs aren't made
Matr.net
Bottled Water Paradox: Banned, and
Required
At
one end
of town they have banished tap water; 18 miles away, they’ve banned
bottled
water.
NYTimes.com
|
|
COOL Will be Implemented During 2008
By
the end
of this year shoppers will learn where the meat they wish to purchase
comes
from by checking its the Country-of-Origin label. Under Secretary of
Agriculture Bruce Knight, confirms USDA will implement
Country-of-Origin
labeling yet this year. Under the business plan set by the National
Animal
Identification System, each animal‘s 15 digit identification number
begins with
three digits that identify its country or origin. If the first three
numbers
are 840, consumers will know the meat they are purchasing is from the
United
States.
Hoosier Ag Today
USDA latest corn forecasts bad news
for meat industry
USDA
predicted that lower production, strong demand, and lower ending stocks
will
push U.S. corn prices to $5 to $6 a bushel in the September 2008-August
2009
period, up from an estimated average of $4.10 to $4.40 in the current
year. In
its World Supply and Demand report, USDA forecast 2008/2009 U.S.
soybean meal
prices at $280 to $340 per ton, up from an estimated average $315 per
ton in
2007/2008. Globally, USDA predicted increased global coarse grain
production
will be more than offset by falling U.S. corn stocks, pushing world
coarse
grain ending stocks down 6 percent in 2008/2009. All this spells more
pressure
on livestock producers and meatpackers. JPMorgan analyst Pablo Zuanic
in a note
to investors called the report "bearish for packaged food and livestock
companies," noting that USDA's forecasts, coupled with current grain
futures prices, imply a 40 percent increase in corn costs, a 22 percent
increase in wheat costs and a 19 percent increase in soybean costs year
over
year.
USDA
Commodity Hearing:
The
House
Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk
Management held a
hearing on Thursday to review the source of dramatic price movements in
agricultural and energy commodity markets. Representatives from the
Commodity
Futures Trading Commission provided testimony on market trends. Additional testimony was
provided by representatives
of commodity market exchanges, farm organizations, and agricultural and
energy
producers and distributors.
US
rice prices
tumble on increased supply outlook
U.S. rice prices fell more than 3 percent in Asian trading on
Wednesday,
extending an overnight fall on an expected rise in global output this
year.Grain
prices were nearly unchanged and soybean futures were firm after firm
oil
prices, which hit a new record high near $127 a barrel, raised
prospects for
stronger demand for soy-based biodiesel and helped the grain cut its
losses. In
Europe, rapeseed futures were slightly higher following a rally to a
three-week
high on U.S. soybean futures the previous day. Milling wheat and feed
wheat
futures were flat and maize was almost untraded early. At the Chicago
Board of
Trade, U.S. rough rice futures for July delivery fell by the daily
maximum
limit of 75 cents to $21.49 per hundredweight and September contract
also was
limit-down at $18.85.
guardian.co.uk
Subcommittee Reviews
Dramatic Movements in
Commodity Markets
The
House
Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk
Management held a
hearing to review the source of volatile price movements in
agricultural and
energy commodity markets. Congressman
Bob Etheridge of North Carolina is the Chairman of the Subcommittee.
Agriculture.house.gov
Global
agricultural supply and demand: Factors contributing to the recent
increase in
food
commodity prices
World
market prices for major food commodities such as grains and vegetable
oils have
risen sharply to historic highs of more than 60 percent above levels
just 2
years ago. Many factors have contributed to the runup in food commodity
prices.
Some factors reflect trends of slower growth in production and more
rapid
growth in demand, which have contributed to a tightening of world
balances of
grains and oilseeds over the last decade. Recent factors that have
further
tightened world markets include increased global demand for biofuels
feedstocks
and adverse weather conditions in 2006 and 2007 in some major grain and
oilseed
producing areas. Other factors that have added to global food commodity
price
inflation include the declining value of the U.S. dollar, rising energy
prices,
increasing agricultural costs of production, growing foreign exchange
holdings
by major food importing countries, and policies adopted recently by
some
exporting and importing countries to mitigate their own food price
inflation.
USDA
Rail
Transport
Issues Discussed
The
House
Committee On Small Business held a hearing to examine the impact of
rail-transport issues on rural small businesses and farms. According to
the
committee, over the past years, rail transit has increased
considerably, and
various railroad companies have consolidated with shipping rates going
up by as
much as 80%. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, chairwoman, said, “The nation’s rail
system
may be overstretched, but that doesn’t give massive transport companies
license
for unreliable service or price gouging. When Congress passed the
Staggers Act,
it did not intend for rail monopolies to develop. Clearly, it’s time we
revisit
how the law is being enforced by the Surface Transportation Board.”
Cow-calf Weekly
South Korea Backs Out of Beef Deal
The
South
Korean government has announced they won’t be resuming U.S. beef export
trade
on May 15th as previously agreed to. National Cattlemen's Beef
Association
Chief Economist Gregg Doud says the news comes as a huge surprise.
“It’s really
a shock because we were up and running and ready to go. There actually
is a
group of Korean auditors here. Those discussions went well and so this
whole
thing comes as quite a surprise." Public protests in South Korea have
escalated recently due to consumer concern about the safety of U.S.
beef due to
BSE. According to Doud - the delay in implementing the new beef
agreement is
purely political.
Hoosier Ag Today
Congress more understanding of
horse ban's bad
consequences, says LMA
Members
of
Congress showed a growing understanding of the unintended consequences
of the
closing of America's three horse slaughter plants, according to
participants in
Livestock Marketing Association's fourth annual Washington, D.C.,
Fly-In. Since
a series of legislative and judicial actions closed the three plants,
LMA
President Jim Santomaso said the industry is seeing "more and more
reports
of abandoned horses, and of horses turned out and left to starve,
because
owners can't afford their upkeep, or have the means to properly dispose
of
them."Lawmakers, he said, "are ready to listen to the argument that
banning slaughter is creating huge problems. For example, the ban takes
away
individual property rights, when you tell a horse owner what he can and
cannot
do with an animal that may be at the end of its useful life."
CattleNetwork
Farm
Bill
Additional
information on the farm bill conference report may be found
on
the House Agriculture Committee’s webpage: http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/FarmBill.html.
There
is also a summary of the Farm Bill Tax Title
that was prepared by
the Senate Finance Committee. More
than
two thirds of the five year bill are food stamps and other domestic
food
programs.
Farm
Bill goes to President
Congress Clears Farm Bill, By CSG Analyst Michael Smith
In
spite of
a White House veto threat, the Senate joined the House in
voting to
approve the conference report on the Food and Energy Security Act of
2007 (H.R.
2419 – H. Rept. 110-627). The
Senate
approved the five-year, $289 billion farm policy reauthorization by a vote of 81-5,
well above the two-thirds majority
needed to override the President’s expected veto.
The Senate vote followed the House’s approval
of the conference report on Wednesday by a 318-106 vote.
The
final conference report provides about $10.3 billion in new spending
for
nutrition programs, which includes increases for programs to help
states stock
food banks, expands and updates the food stamp program, and expands the
USDA
Snack Program to all fifty states.
The
final report also includes funding increases for USDA conservation
programs,
extends the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program until 2012, allows
for the
interstate shipment of selected state-inspected meat and poultry, and
implements mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), as well as
extensive
provisions related to specialty crops, energy, trade, and crop supports.
Despite
the widespread support the bill received in Congress this week,
Agriculture
Secretary Ed Schafer continued the Administration’s criticisms of the
legislation, remarking in a statement
that the “bloated, earmark
laden bill” is nearly $20 billion over initial costs “and continues to
balance
subsidy payments to the wealthy on the backs of the middle class
taxpayer.” In
declaring the rationale
for the President’s anticipated veto, Schafer described the legislation
as
“reckless spending” that is both “trade distorting and fails to provide
meaningful reform to the adjusted gross income limit, beneficial
interest or
the international food aid program.”
In
response, House and Senate lawmakers cite that the bill would prohibit
all farm
subsidies from going to non-farmers earning more than $500,000 in
adjusted
gross income (AGI) and denies direct payments to farmers earning more
than
$750,000. Supporters
also highlight that
the bill would cap direct and counter-cyclical payments for a single
farmer at
$40,000 and $65,000, respectively.
At a news conference House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin
Peterson (D-MN)
said that if
the President vetoes the bill, Congress will vote to override the veto
before
the Memorial Day recess.
Lawmakers
on both sides of the aisle have indicated that it is unlikely the
President’s
expected veto would be sustained.
Supporters of the legislation point out that over
one hundred House
Republicans voted to approve the bill, which is more than the total
number of
House Republicans that voted against the bill.
Should
the President follow through on his promise to veto the legislation, it
would
represent only the second veto override since the President took office. Prior to 2006, the year in
which Democrats
ascended to a majority in both chambers of Congress, President Bush had
vetoed
only one piece of legislation. Since
that time, the President has vetoed some eight bills,
being overridden only once in 2007 when
Congress rejected the President’s veto of the overwhelmingly popular
$23.2
billion Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) (P.L. 110-114).
SARL quick review
The bill lays the groundwork
for a shift in
policy on ethanol production trimming support of corn-based ethanol and
steering
new benefits to biofuels made by prairie grass, wood chips and farm
waste. Cellulosic ethanol would benefit from a new production tax
credit and some $300
million that would be set aside for research. At the same time, the
existing
tax credit for corn-based ethanol would be trimmed to 45 cents a
gallon, a drop
of 6 cents. The measure eliminates the ability of farmers to collect
triple payments. All government subsidies would be capped for
individuals with nonfarm income of $500,000 or more. And the measure
would
limit so-called direct payments, which are designed to provide income
support,
for farmers with earnings of $750,000 and more. For Midwest grain
farmers, the
program changes include some minor adjustments in loan rates and target
prices,
but the biggest change includes the creation of the Average Crop
Revenue
Election Program, or ACRE, a counter-cyclical, revenue-assurance
program. Under
the ACRE, farmers who sign up would agree to give up 20 percent of
their direct
payments and also take a 30 percent cut in their loan rates for
loan-deficiency
payments. In return, farmers would be eligible for state-based revenue
guarantee on acres planted, up to 90 percent of the state average yield
calculated against a national average price for the crop.
Farm Bill Passes by Veto-Proof
Margin
The
House
passed a final version of a new five-year farm bill by a vote of 318 to
106, while
the senate passed it by a vote of 81-15, a margin large enough to
override
President Bush's promised veto of the nearly $300 billion measure.
Agriculture
Secretary Ed Schafer and Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner held
a press
briefing with reporters to announce that the President would veto the
legislation.
Washington Post
Farm Bill Details Unveiled and USDA
Says Bill Not
Acceptable
Top
farm
bill lawmakers unveiled details of their house-senate deal Thursday but
the
Bush administration quickly rejected it. The 300-billion dollar bill
cuts 3.5
billion in producer safety net programs alone, to help boost feeding,
conservation, energy and specialty crop programs. And it sets a hard
limit of
750-thousand in farm income to receive direct payments, 500-thousand in
non-farm income, plus limits on conservation payments.
Hoosier Ag Today
Farm bill has little aid for
needy kids abroad
A
five-year
farm bill in Congress this week does little to address the growing
global food
crisis. Instead, it diverts money that could be spent feeding poor
children
abroad to give more subsidies for U.S. farmers now enjoying record high
crop
prices and incomes. Food experts, international aid groups and the
White House
all complain that the $300 billion bill crafted by House and Senate
negotiators
focuses on the wrong priorities. The bill has widespread bipartisan
support in
the House and Senate, but President Bush has promised to veto it.
The (Jackson, Mississippi) Clarion-Ledger
Farm bill conferees lambaste
press, administration
On
May 8, the farm
bill still wasn’t finished but was close enough that the main political
players
lined up to backslap and announce the latest provisions. Later,
President Bush
would dampen the mood by promising to veto the bill. But before he did,
the
politicians stood in front of a blue board titled “Farm Bill:
Investments for
the Future” and took turns at the microphone. Smiling but defiant
against
suggestions they’d ignored calls for farm payment reform, the farm bill
conferees were obviously exasperated that their message wasn’t getting
through.
Delta Farm Press |