June 29, 2001

Senate Agriculture Committee Opens Under Harkin.  Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) wielded the gavel for his first full committee hearing as chairman Thursday, hearing testimony on what shape the next farm bill should take. He promised a "busy schedule of hearings" over the next several weeks "to cover in more depth the many issues in the various parts of a comprehensive farm bill." 

Corn Growers Again Voice Spring Rise Opposition. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has again voiced its opposition to a spring rise on the Missouri River. The NCGA was among several farm organizations that signed a letter to Congress to keep Section 106 of H.R. 2311, the fiscal year 2002 energy and water appropriations bill. Section 106 stipulates that changes in the management of the Missouri River cannot be made to allow for alteration in springtime river flows. 

USDA, Burger King to Meet on Slaughter Methods. Burger King Corporation has asked USDA to fully enforce the Humane Slaughter Act. The petition comes on the heels of another demand last week from animal rights and labor groups to the same effect. The American Meat Institute says within hours of the submission, USDA agreed to meet with company officials July 10 to discuss the issue. 

California Denies Canada's Dumping Claims. Claims by Canadian greenhouse growers that U.S. field tomatoes are being dumped at low prices in Canada are not true, according to the California Tomato Commission which represents field tomato growers in California. "The claims by the Canadian Tomato Trade Alliance, representing B.C. Hothouse and several Ontario growers, are a surprise, given the different markets and uses for field and greenhouse tomatoes", said Commission President Ed Beckman. 

Japan Bans German Products. KYODO NEWS SERVICE reports that the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has banned imports of ham, sausage and other pork products from Germany due to an outbreak of hog cholera in northern Germany. The import ban will remain until the safety of the imports is confirmed, the ministry said. In fiscal 2000 that ended March 31, Japan imported 7,748 tons of pork and 326 tons of processed pork products, accounting for 1.2% and 1.7% of total imports in the respective categories. The ministry earlier imposed a ban on imports from Spain for the same reason. 

California Seeks Ethanol Slice.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that California, farmers are working hard to grab a share of the potential profits from ethanol production and use in the state. Long before the Bush administration refused to waive California's requirement to oxygenate its gasoline to cut air pollution, a handful of rice farmers began working on a plan to turn their harvest leftovers into ethanol, the news agency says. If the project is successful, its backers say thousands of the state's farmers, who have been struggling with disastrously low crop prices probably will follow suit. But the Californians will have to race to get into the ethanol business before the well-established Midwestern processors divide up California's market among themselves. "It's a new industry, and if California doesn't get off its butt and get going with it, the Midwest is going to have the market," said Butte County rice farmer Ken Collin, president of the Rice Straw Cooperative. 

Unborn Cloned Calf Sells in Iowa.  REUTERS reports that an unborn calf cloned from a grand champion Holstein cow was sold at auction Thursday for $100,000 to a 40-member syndicate from Iowa. The buyers said they planned to house the cloned calf, due to be delivered in January, with its duplicate, Grand Champion Holstein Deborah, at the Regancrest Farms of Waukon, IA. Over the past nine months, just two other cloned calves have been auctioned off, the first in Wisconsin for $82,000 and the second in Maryland for $49,000. Deborah's owner was approached about cloning after she had difficulty producing calves. The process began in March at Cyagra, a Worchester, MA, biotechnology firm. DNA from the Deborah's cells was implanted in 20 surrogate cows, but so far half the embryos have died. Cyagra said the buyer would be refunded if none of the clones survives. If more than one lives, they will be sold to Regan's farm at $5,000 apiece. 

USDA, Beef Support Proposal. REUTERS reports that USDA and beef industry support a proposal to relax strict confidentiality guidelines that will allow more market data to reach cattle farmers under the mandatory livestock price reporting program. Chuck Lambert, economist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said the proposal, authored by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, would end the controversial "3/60" guideline and replace it with a less restrictive one. The "3/60" rule bars the USDA from reporting price data from markets where there are fewer than three firms or where any one packer handles more than 60% of the meat packing in the area. The proposed new confidentiality guidelines, which still must be approved by Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, "will be applied on a geographic and over time basis rather than by a report by report basis," Lambert said. 

China Pushes GM Cotton on Farmers. Beijing is preparing to urge farmers to sow more genetically modified cotton seeds to combat ravaging bollworms, reduce planting costs and increase yields, a senior Chinese agricultural official said, according to REUTERS. "I see the growing area of the transgenic insect-resistant cotton in China expanding in the next few years," Du Min of the research centre for rural economy at the Ministry of Agriculture told an international cotton conference in Guilin. She did not provide a figure for the acreage increase. China has been active in researching and growing Bt cotton, which contains the bacterium Bacillus thuringienesis proteins and is resistant to corn borers, bollworms and other pests that damage cotton plants. The acreage of transgenic insect-resistant cotton in China increased to about one million hectares in 2000, or 28% of the country's total cotton area, from less than 100,000 hectares in 1998 or 2.2% of the total area. 

Russia Welcomes Europe's Meat Back.  REUTERS reports that Russia has removed its ban on imports of live cattle and meat products from France and Ireland and relaxed restrictions on the Netherlands, the Agriculture Ministry said. "We've completely lifted the bans on France and Ireland and partially lifted the one on the Netherlands as the situation with foot-and-mouth disease is better," a spokeswoman for the ministry said. Russia banned imports of all cattle and meat products from European Union countries in February as foot-and-mouth disease devastated Britain's agricultural industry and infected mainland Europe. Since then it has been gradually easing the bans. The spokeswoman said imports of meat and cattle from Overijssel, Gelderland and Friesland in the Netherlands were still banned. 
 

June 28, 2001

Tyson, IBP Approve Merger. Tyson Foods, Inc.and IBP, Inc. have approved a revised plan to merge their operations. A major feature of the revised merger is that Tyson will acquire all outstanding shares of IBP on the same economic terms provided by the original agreement. 

Cattlemen Support Appropriations. National Cattlemen's Beef Association President Lynn Cornwell has urged Congress to support the fiscal year 2002 agriculture appropriations bill that the cattlemen believe will benefit beef industry programs. The bill includes funding for programs such as food safety and inspection, animal health, agriculture research and extension, conservation and rural development. 

Livestock Interests Back Compromise Trade Bill.  National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Barb Determan believes bipartisan trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation introduced in the Senate is "an important step in breaking the impasse over trade that is strangling the economic life out of American farmers and ranchers." The legislation, introduced by Sens. Bob Graham (D-FL) and Frank Murkowski (R-AK), seeks a compromise on the question of how to ensure that labor and environmental standards can be enforced in future trade agreements. 

Hot Dog Sales Increase. Hot dog sales in food courts increased by nearly 8% last year, while consumer spending in general at food courts declined by 3%, according to a new Carlson Report released last week. The hot dog was one of the few food court vendors that increased sales in 2000. 

Argentina May Benefit from China on Sidelines.  Argentine corn exports to South Korea, Malaysia, Japan and other countries in Asia could increase in the wake of China's decision to temporarily suspend its corn exports, traders and market players said on Wednesday, REUTERS reports. China Tuesday decided to halt corn export offers as a severe drought caused high domestic prices for the grain. The drought could reduce production of corn, soybeans, and wheat. "That decision benefits us because the two principal players left are Argentina and the United States," said Adrian Seltzer, an analyst at Granar consulting firm. "Some market share will be gained," said a trader at a major international grain trading house. "But not as much as Gulf corn. In terms of participation in the market, I'd say we'll increase our share, but the United States will increase their share more." The United States will realize 70% of the benefit of China's move and Argentina 30%, said the trader. 

UK Farmers Urged to Change.  The UK government Wednesday urged farmers to move towards more diverse and flexible farming "in what appeared to be the first shot in its offensive against traditional intensive agriculture," REUTERS reports. Britain, like much of Europe, intends to move from high-subsidy food production and instead pay farmers for being so-called custodians of the countryside and rural entrepreneurs. Alun Michael, rural affairs minister, earlier visited a diversified farm in southern England and praised the farmer, Rob Gray, for pushing forward environmental projects -- including the creation of wetland wildlife habitat and new hedges. "Sheepwash Farm addresses the wider question of 'What do people really want from their countryside?' Of course food production remains important. But people are also expecting this to be combined with an environmentally sustainable approach," he said in a statement. Some farmers have worried about their future role in the countryside after Britain's ruling Labor government scrapped the Agriculture Ministry and created the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). 
 

June 27, 2001

A Day Devoted to Trade. It was a day seemingly devoted to trade Tuesday as a group of senators and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman urged Congress to approve trade promotion authority, the agriculture coalition dedicated to the same goal sent a letter to congressional leaders urging "quick action," and a bill was introduced that attempts to mollify labor and environmental interests that want those issues addressed in any U.S. trade pact. 

Nader's Public Citizen Excoriates NAFTA.  Public Citizen, the consumer advocacy group founded by activist Ralph Nader, has issued a study that claims farm incomes plummeted and bankruptcies escalated in the United States, Canada and Mexico while U.S. food prices increased 20% during the first seven years of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA,). 

Survey Shows Food Safety Ignorance. Ninety-five percent of the subjects surveyed for a Utah State University food handling study were concerned about food safety, but many were unaware of the precautions needed for safe food handling. The results of the August 2000 study were featured on Primetime Live where cameras were placed in the kitchens of 99 subjects to observe consumer food handling and preparation behaviors. The study was funded in part by a grant from the Food and Drug Administration. 

Roberts Predicts Major Conservation Role.  Sen. Pat Roberts predicts conservation programs will take a major role in the shaping of the next farm bill. "Our conservation programs should become more flexible, letting farmers and ranchers implement conservation ideas or plans that not only benefit their operations but benefit the environment without worrying about following rigid and strict rules," Roberts said during a visit to the McPherson (KS) Valley Wetlands complex. 

U.S. Cotton Waits for Developments.  U.S. cotton exports in 2001-02 could reach levels not seen since the mid-1990s, REUTERS reports, but much will depend on stocks in countries besides China, a senior U.S. agricultural official said on Wednesday. "The ability of the U.S. to attain exports of 1.96 million tons next season and to limit its stocks increase to 220,000 tons is, in part, dependent on stock rebuilding in foreign countries outside of China," said Carol Skelly, fibres analyst at USDA. Many non-U.S. cotton-producing countries likely will hold lower stocks than in the previous year due to weather problems, rising domestic consumption and increased exports, Skelly told an international cotton conference in the Chinese city of Guilin. U.S. cotton exports in 2001-02 (August-July) may raech the highest level since 1994-95 due to huge stocks, rising output and falling domestic mill demand, she said. That level was equivalent to nearly a third of world exports, well above the U.S. average share for the 1990s of about 25%, she said. 

Regulations Behind in Biotech Race.  REUTERS reports that the use of genetically modified crops is changing the face of U.S. agriculture rapidly, but regulators still have to catch up and address public distrust, experts said on Tuesday at the world's largest biotechnology industry meeting. In the coming months, officials will consider the safety of crops such as Starlink corn, which have been altered to make them resistant to insects, and outside panels will assess a key area of the complicated regulatory system that governs genetically modified food in the United States. "In order to raise public confidence, there needs to be more information about the risks and benefits of genetically engineered crops," Doug Gurian-Sherman, co-director of the Biotechnology Project Center for Science in the Public Interest said at the Biotechnology Industry Organization meeting held here. Foes of genetically-altered foods had threatened massive protests in downtown San Diego, but after a largely peaceful march of several hundred protesters on Sunday, their numbers had dwindled to just a few dozen by Tuesday. 

Beef Industry, Collins Meet. Beef industry officials met Tuesday with USDA chief economist Keith Collins to discuss reviews on a controversial livestock price reporting system that has been hit with computer glitches and complaints by farmers on its confidentiality guidelines. After a one-hour meeting with Collins, Chandler Keys of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association told REUTERS they discussed progress on their separate reviews and ways to amend a confidentiality guideline. "The main thing we want to do in this whole process is get the price reporting program up and running correctly," Keys said. 

Eritrea Gets PL 480 Authority. Authorizations to purchase $7.5 million of U.S. wheat and $2.5 million of U.S. sorghum under Public Law 480, Title I, were issued to Eritrea. The authorizations were issued under the Title I credit sales agreement of June 6, 2001.Purchase authorization ER-5003 provides for approximately 61,000 metric tons of wheat, grade U.S. No. 2 or better (except that durum must grade U.S. No. 3 or better), in bulk, or in bulk with bags, needles, and twine to accompany. The wheat may be any of the classes or subclasses specified in paragraph 810.2202(a) of The Official United States Standards for Grain. Unclassed wheat and mixed wheat are excluded. Purchase authorization ER-5004 provides for approximately 20,000 metric tons of yellow sorghum, grade U.S. No. 2 or better, in bulk, or in bulk with bags, needles, and twine to accompany, with a maximum moisture content of 14%. The contracting period for both commodities is July 3 through Sept. 30, and the delivery period is July 3 through Dec. 31. Delivery will be to importer, free on board vessel (f.o.b.), U.S. port(s) and/or Canadian transshipment points. F.o.b. vessel shall mean delivery at discharge end of loading spout. For information on purchasing, contact the Embassy of the State of Eritrea, 1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009, telephone (202) 319-1991. Further information on the purchase authorizations may be obtained from the Operations Division, FAS, USDA, Washington, DC 20250-1035, telephone (202) 720-3224. 

House Passes Farm Aid.  The House passed a $5.5 billion farm bailout bill on a voice vote Tuesday, sending the measure to the Senate where easy passage is expected, although attempts may be made in that chamber to increase the amount of money in the bill. It is the fourth consecutive year in which producers have received extra federal assistance. House debate was held to 40 minutes. 

June 26, 2001

Monsanto Shares Soybean Genetic Data.  Monsanto Company will share genetic information with the United Soybean Board in an effort to accelerate the development of a soybean with improved oils and more protein. The company says this will help develop healthier soy products for consumers worldwide and improve the economic value of crops for U.S. soybean farmers. 

Suiza Settles Antitrust Case. Suiza Foods Corporation, a major dairy processor, has settled an antitrust investigation conducted by the attorneys general of the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The investigation, which began in March 2000, developed in connection with a long- term supply agreement between Suiza and The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company and an agreement to sell certain of Stop & Shop's dairy processing assets to Suiza. 

High Court Strikes Down Mushroom Order. The U.S. Supreme Court Monday ruled that the mushroom promotion order is unconstitutional, saying it violates free-speech rights under the First Amendment. However, the decision made a distinction that the mushroom industry mostly is unregulated as opposed to an earlier decision on a similar order for the stone fruit industry that upheld the order, partly because the stone fruit industry is more regulated. 

USDA Funds Pilot ‘Samples' Program.  Twenty-one recipients that will share in $1.2 million in funds made available for the second year of the pilot Quality Samples Program (QSP). USDA said the program is intended to create export sales by promoting awareness of U.S. agricultural goods among foreign buyers. The QSP is used to fund projects that broadly benefit agricultural industries rather than individual exporters. 

Interior Nominee Draws Environmental Fire.  THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that Idaho attorney William G. Myers III, President Bush's nominee to become the Interior Department's top lawyer, has drawn criticism from environmentalists for continuing to represent bank and ranching interests in a legal case that could have wide-reaching implications for western public lands. The newspaper says a New Mexico environmental group, Forest Guardians, sued the U.S. Forest Service to discover financial details about a program that lets banks use cattlemen's public grazing allotments as collateral for ranching loans. The case is a precursor to what Forest Guardians officials say will be their attempt to file more suits challenging the practice by both the Forest Service, which is part of USDA, and eventually the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management. The environmental group says the loans encourage grazing on sensitive wild lands and result in ecological damage. Ranchers say they use good environmental practices. 

House Expected to Act Quickly. REUTERS reports that the House is expected to take about an hour to approve a $5.5 billion farm bailout today, the fourth in four years, to shelter growers from persistently low grain prices. House leaders planned to call the bill under a format that limits debate to 40 minutes with no amendments allowed. A rollcall vote, if requested, would take 15 to 20 minutes to complete. A two-thirds vote is required for passage. Under the bill, grain and cotton growers would see $4.6 billion in payments. Soybean farmers would get $423 million. The remainder would go to fruits, vegetables, tobacco, cottonseed, peanuts, wool and mohair producers. Most payments would be 85% of last year's level. After the House, the bill would go to the Senate for consideration. Negotiators from the House and Senate would resolve any differences before the bill goes to the president for enactment. 

USDA's Livestock Price Changes Expected. USDA likely will recommend improvements this week to the livestock price reporting system that beef industry officials claim cost them lost sales worth millions of dollars, USDA Chief Economist Keith Collins told REUTERS on Monday. "Cattle farmers and lawmakers have eagerly awaited the findings of a six-member task force chaired by Collins and authorized by Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to review the mandatory livestock price reporting system," the news agency said. Collins, speaking in a brief interview, said the recommendations would be issued "very soon" and probably this week. 

Better Drought Information Available. USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service has started a new web site to help farmers better prepare for drought, better understand crop nutrition, choose crops for small-scale farming, and select plants for use in conservation practices. "Defending Against Drought" (http://www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/CCS/drought.html) presents information about drought conditions across the nation, animated maps, and ideas on how to prepare for drought conditions and get the most use from low water supplies. NRCS' PLANTS web site (http://plants.usda.gov) now has three new web pages of particular interest to farmers and ranchers. The "crop nutrient tool" helps farmers estimate how much nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium will be removed from soil when crops are harvested. The "alternative crop module" features information about crops suitable for small-scale farming and for farms with limited resources. A section with guides and fact sheets about conservation activities, plants of cultural interest to American Indians, livestock forage, and landscaping also is available. 

June 24, 2001

USDA Reports Trade-Distorting Payments.  USDA Friday announced its decision to submit to the World Trade Organization (WTO) notification of U.S. domestic support payments for the 1998-99 marketing year, listing $10.4 billion in trade-distoring "amber box" supports. The action so angered House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) that despite his party affiliation with the Bush administration, he withdrew as a cosponsor of the trade promotion authority legislation currently before Congress. 

Ethanol's Future Brighter with Bill.  Reps. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Bobby Rush (D-IL), with support of House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), have introduced legislation to greatly simplify the manufacture and distribution of gasoline and increase the use of ethanol. The Gasoline Stabilization Act of 2001 calls for uniform standards for gasoline and diesel fuel throughout the nation and could boost the use of ethanol by adding as much as 15% of the nation's gasoline supply to the reformulated gasoline (RFG) program. 

RFA Outlines Ethanol's Capacity to Meet Demand. Appearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Vice President Bob Dinneen last week outlined the ethanol industry's ability to meet California's oxygenate demand when the state bans the use of MTBE in 2003. 

BIO Meeting Picketed as Biotech Defended.  As the food biotechnology industry defended genetically engineered products at a weekend meeting in San Diego, activists held aloft a 1,500 square-foot banner reading, "Biotech Perverts -- Get Out of Our Genes". The actions came during the annual conference of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) that drew representatives from agriculture, health and biotechnology industries. 

Harkin Outlines Farm Policy Goals.  The new chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) says the farm law should be revised to increase home-grown fuels and pay farmers for good stewardship, REUTERS reports. The federal safety net for farmers must become "more certain and more counter-cyclical" than under the 1996 "Freedom to Farm" law that deregulated farming, he said. Harkin often has favored higher crop supports, and his main job in the coming year will be writing new legislation to replace the 1996 law that he lampooned as "Freedom to Fail." He refused to set a timeline for completing work on the bill but held open the possibility of drafting it in the fall or winter. Congress is scheduled to adjourn for the year in October. Harkin said he wanted to retain the law's so-called planting flexibility provision that lets farmers shift from crop to crop without jeopardizing eligibility for subsidies. However, the idea of annual guaranteed payments "is a dead end," he said. There was consensus among farm-state lawmakers that the new farm law should contain a formula for "counter-cyclical" payments that automatically would increase in size when prices fell. Harkin said he had not settled on a specific approach. One possibility, he said, was to use loan rates, rather than market prices, in a counter-cyclical plan. "The basic idea," Harkin said, is that when prices reach a specified level, there would be "a counter-cyclical that focuses on farmers who produced crops that year." Under Harkin's outline, the farm bill would include "a new system of conservation" that "will be, I hope, the centerpiece of the farm bill." It would be a system that paid farmers for voluntary adoption of soil, water and wildlife conservation on the nation's 940 million acres of working lands. 

House Aid Debate Slated for Tuesday. REUTERS report that the House will debate a $5.5 billion farm bailout bill on Tuesday under a format that will bar any amendments and require a two-thirds vote for passage. Leaders put the farm aid bill on the so-called suspension calendar, which limits debate to 40 minutes, to speed action. Bills on the suspension calendar usually are noncontroversial or certain to pass. "We've got to move this process forward," said a spokesman for House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest. The Texas Republican will be in charge of debate. 

USDA Blamed for Plant Disease Spread.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that "bureaucratic bungling" by USDA has allowed the spread of a plant disease that could prove as devastating to wheat exports as foot-and-mouth disease has been to livestock, according to farm groups. Wheat growers in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas say the USDA responded too slowly to an outbreak of Karnal bunt at the southernmost edge of the nation's wheat belt just as harvest was getting underway. Karnal bunt is a fungus that is harmless to people but sours the taste and smell of flour made from infected kernels. It also slightly cuts production in infected fields. The disease's main impact is economic: 80 countries ban imports of wheat grown in infected regions. That could be as crippling for American growers, who last year produced nearly $6 billion of wheat, as would be the discovery of foot-and-mouth disease in U.S. livestock, said Brett Myers, executive vice president for the Kansas Wheat Growers Association. 

USDA Assesses Biotech Bollworm Release.  USDA has prepared an environmental assessment for the proposed confined release of a genetically altered pink bollworm. The pink bollworms, pests of cotton, will be placed outdoors in special containers that will allow them to interact with the outside environment without being able to leave the container. These pink bollworms have been altered to fluoresce green under certain lighting conditions. The request for confined release was submitted by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services' Plant Protection Laboratory in Phoenix, AZ. The Plant Protection Laboratory's mission is to support U.S. agriculture through the development of advanced technologies such as the transgenic pink bollworm. "The ultimate end to the transgenic pink bollworm project is to allow for crops to be grown with no pesticide or pesticide residue," said Robert Staten, director of the laboratory. "This would be boon for farmers and the American public." A notice was published in the June 21 Federal Register. Consideration will be given to comments received on or before July 23. Send an original and three copies to Docket No. 01-024-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD. 20737-1238. 

Grassley Will Host Two Trade Events.  Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) will host two trade events this week. The first, with Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, is Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the "Upper Senate Park," just west of the Russell Senate Office Building. A bipartisan, bicameral group of members of Congress; and several agricultural groups to discuss how trade promotion authority would advance the interests of agriculture. To illustrate the value of exports, John Deere will have on hand the largest agricultural tractor Deere makes. It's 33,000 pounds, 24 feet long and 13 feet high. The second event will be Thursday in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building and feature U.S. Trade Representatives Robert Strauss, William Brock, Clayton Yeutter and Carla Hills along with other former senior U.S. trade negotiators, who will release a joint letter to the congressional leadership calling for trade promotion authority to be enacted this year. 
 

June 21, 2001

AMA Lauded for Animal Drug Stance. Health, consumer, and other public interest groups are praising the American Medical Association (AMA) for "recognizing animal agriculture as a serious factor in the growing public health problem of antibiotic resistance." At its annual meeting in Chicago, the AMA endorsed a resolution opposing the unnecessary use of antibiotics to speed the growth of healthy farm animals and urging that all such agricultural use of antibiotics be terminated or phased out. 

Panel Rejects Combest, Goes with White House. The House Agriculture Committee has approved $5.5 billion for farmer assistance this year, $4.6 billion in direct payments and $900,000 for crops other than the so-called "major" program crops. On a 24-23 vote, the committee amended Chairman Larry Combest's (R-TX) attempt to give another $1 billion in assistance. Combest voted against sending the final bill to the House floor. 

Policies Sought to Revitalize Rural Communities.  The Independent Community Bankers of America has urged a House agriculture subcommittee exploring ag credit issues to adopt policies designed to rejuvenate the farm economy and rural America. "In addition to a sizeable economic assistance package for the current crop year, we need a new farm bill that provides farmers and bankers with more predictability, higher income payments when prices fall and that works hand in hand with an aggressive U.S. trade policy," said Dale Leighty, president of the First National Bank of Las Animas, CO, and chairman of ICBA's Agriculture-Rural America Committee. 

Cotton Will Seek `Improvement' to Aid Bill.  The National Cotton Council says it will work "to improve an agriculture relief package that passed the House Agriculture Committee" Wednesday. "U.S. cotton is an industry in crisis," said NCC Chairman James Echols. "Obviously, we are pleased that cottonseed assistance was included (in the aid package), but we will seek opportunities to improve the package as the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate take up the bill." The Memphis merchant noted that NCC had communicated strong support for a supplemental Agriculture Market Transition Act payment "at the 1999 rate" to be distributed as soon as possible as a way to address farmers' needs. NCC economists estimate the House bill will provide a payment to cotton farmers of 6.7 cents prior to Oct. 1. Cottonseed assistance also would be paid before Oct. 1 under the House plan. First handlers of cottonseed would receive a payment equal to 87.4 percent of the payment made just a few weeks ago on the 2000 crop of cottonseed. "We appreciate the House action in finding a mechanism for timely payments in the form of market loss assistance and cottonseed and oilseed assistance," Echols said. 

Combest Will not Support Bill.  House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) will not support the $5.5 billion farm-aid bill written by his committee when it comes up for a vote by the full House, REUTERS reports. Agriculture Committee members chose the $5.5 billion plan on a 24-23 vote on Wednesday over a $6.5 billion package proposed by Combest. He voted against sending the smaller bill to the full House for debate. "He will take it to the floor but it will be without the chairman's support," a spokesman said, because Combest believes the funding is inadequate. The news agency says the stance might weaken the bill's chances for passage since a chairman's views can influence how other lawmakers vote. 

Waste Council Sees `Modest Victory.'  The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) declared a "modest victory for taxpayers" after the 24-23 vote in the House Committee on Agriculture to overrule its chairman and reduce authorization for emergency agriculture assistance from $6.5 billion to $5.5 billion. "Numerous special interests had lobbied for months for additional funding, and CCAGW, along with the Bush Administration, believed the $5.5 billion more than adequate," CCAGW President Tom Schatz said. "According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the addition of $5.5 billion would boost real farm income for 2001 to $1.2 billion higher than last year. That income level would exceed or equal five of the last seven years, the only exceptions being the record-high income years of 1996 and 1997. CCAGW does not believe that it should be the taxpayers' responsibility to assure that real farm income should always exceed the previous year." CCAGW also applauded the committee's decision not to repeal the current one-cent penalty for forfeiting sugar under the price support program. In effect, eliminating the penalty would have been a one-cent per pound price support increase for sugar, the group said. "Repeal would not only reverse one of the few minor reforms to sugar policy from the 1996 farm bill, it would send a signal for more sugar production at a time when the market is oversupplied and the government already owns nearly 800,000 tons of surplus sugar," Schatz said. CCAGW is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest taxpayer advocacy group with more than 1 million members and supporters nationwide. It is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with a goal of eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government. 

Bush Set Back Trade Authority, Say Democrats.  A REUTERS article says President George W. Bush set back efforts in Congress to give him broad new trade negotiating authority with comments this week about labor and environmental concerns, according to key Democrats. "I must confess to increasing pessimism as to whether we can achieve that goal this year," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said at the start of two days of hearings on the administration's request for trade promotion authority, also known as "fast-track" legislation. Baucus said one reason for his pessimism was "a very troubling statement" by Bush Monday in which he referred to attempts to attach labor and environmental provisions to trade pacts as "excuses not to trade." Said Baucus, "We simply won't get where we all want to be trotting out trite, partisan rhetoric." The news agency said Rep. Charles Rangel, a New Yorker who is the top Democrat on the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, also criticized Bush for his remarks, as did Rep. Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat who is his party's leader on the Ways and Means panel's subcommittee on trade. Because of Bush's comments, the administration will have to restart its efforts to craft a bipartisan consensus in Congress for fast-track legislation, Levin told reporters after testifying with Rangel before the Finance panel. 
 

June 20, 2001

Biotech and Europe: Still Oil and Water. Despite a trip to Europe by U.S. corn industry officials and discussions with a wide range of interested parties, any European acceptance of crops produced through biotechnology appears years away. The U.S. delegation describes the European reaction to the visit as cordial and the dialogue pleasant enough, but with a strong consumer backlash lurking with every whiff of a breeze suggesting biotech products in the food supply, the politics of the situation may play a larger role than the scientific. 

Barge Movement Expected to Be Heavy.  USDA, in an update of the grain transportation situation, said Tuesday significant increases in barge movements that began in June could extend into August. Grain traffic at Locks and Dam (L&D) 15 at Rock Island, IL, began in early March and increased almost weekly until navigation restrictions were implemented in April due to flooding conditions. 

Argentina Allows Florida Fruit.  USDA says Argentina's Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentario has signed a work plan allowing the importation of Florida citrus, and expanding access for California citrus. These plans are based on a recent agreement with Argentina that also expanded areas for California stone fruit. USDA estimates that this agreement will be a potential $3 million boost to the citrus industry and a potential $5 million boost to the stone fruit industry. 

Canada's Hog Industry Changing Tactics.  USDA says Canadian hogs continue to flow into the United States and are on pace to exceed last year's record. However, the slaughter/feeder mix has changed. Feeder hogs now account for about 60% of Canada's hog exports to the United States as the U.S. industry restructured and pricing mechanisms supported Canadian feeder hog exports. 

Combest Tops White House Limit. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) has proposed $6.5 billion for farmer assistance, challenging a White House declaration that $5.5 billion was all President Bush would accept. Somewhat ironically, the Democrats' leader on the committee is expected to offer a version of a bailout that holds the spending to $5.5 billion. The committee meets today to draft a farm assistance package. Combest has been quoted as saying the White House is "out of touch with the financial crisis farmers around the country are facing." Last week he said, "What's more, the needs in rural American this year are certainly no less than they were in 2000, when Congress provided $6 billion in economic assistance for row crop producers alone." REUTERS reports that most of the money in Combest's plan, $5.466 billion, would be spent on a round of "market loss" payments to grain and cotton growers patterned on the annual subsidies they get under the 1996 farm law. Soybean farmers would get about $500 million. Another $500 million would be spent on fruit, vegetable, peanut, wool, mohair, sugar and tobacco growers. Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-TX), the Democratic leader of the panel, and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) were expected to offer a rival plan to hold spending to $5.5 billion. Their plan would have $4.2 billion for grain and cotton growers with the remaining $1.3 billion to be split among other commodities. 

Developing Countries Storing Donated Dangerous Chemicals. KYODO NEWS SERVICE reports that United Nations surveys have found at least 500,000 tons of agricultural chemicals, including banned substances such as DDT, donated to and sitting unused in developing countries and threatening the environment. U.N. sources said Tuesday that the farm chemicals were given as aid by developed states and in some cases have been stored in residential areas or have leaked into local water and soil, according to surveys by the U.N. Environment Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The U.N. bodies blamed the problem on a lack of close communication between donors and recipients, the sources said. In particular, the FAO's report criticized Japan for sending excessive amounts of farm chemicals as part of its aid to help developing countries boost food production, they said. Of the 500,000 tons, 200,000 tons were found in Asia and 100,000 tons in Africa. Another 200,000 were discovered in former Soviet republics in central Europe. DDT and other substances prohibited in industrialized countries were among the products discovered, the sources said, adding the amount of farm chemicals left unused in developing states was initially estimated at 100,000 tons. 

Korea Lifts Ban on Some Pork Imports. REUTERS reports that South Korea said on Tuesday it had lifted a temporary ban on pork imports from Denmark and Finland after deciding there was little chance of an outbreak of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease in either country. The Agriculture Ministry said the ban was lifted from Monday. The decision to resume quarantine inspections followed assurances from the governments of the two countries that their livestock was not infected by the disease, the ministry said in a statement. Pork imports from the two countries were stopped March 14 due to concerns that an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that swept through Europe earlier this year could occur in South Korea. The South Korean government had sent letters last May to European Union countries not directly hit by the disease asking them to verify that the pigs within their borders were safe from the epidemic. 
 

June 19, 2001

Bush Talks Trade with Agriculture.  President Bush began a campaign Monday to get Congress to approve trade promotion authority – formerly known as fast-track authority – this year. But before he addressed an East Room gathering of agriculture representatives, a coalition of 78 agriculture groups delivered to him a letter asking the administration and Congress to "restore America's position as the leader in trade liberalization" with TPA approval. Also present were Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. 

Grassley Calls for Multilateral, not Bilateral Trade. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) Monday criticized the view that if federal trade negotiators don't have the authority to complete multilateral trade pacts, it is better to move forward with bilateral trade agreements. To do so would mean trade promotion authority would not have to be approved by Congress this year. 

Ethanol Expansion Underway. Just three days following the announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency that California must abide by federal clean air regulations regarding the use of oxygenates in federal reformulated gasoline, the impact on ethanol plant construction has been felt, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. One new ethanol plant began construction the day of the official announcement. According to ethanol plant builders, dozens of other proposed plants will now move forward, adding hundreds of millions of gallons of capacity to the ethanol industry over the next year and a half, said RFA. 

Utah Plagued by Insects.  A plague of seemingly biblical proportions has descended on Utah farmers, according to THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Millions of crickets and grasshoppers cover fields and roads in "a seething, buzzing black mass, eating everything in sight." This is the time of year when Mormon crickets - actually a type of grasshopper - lay their eggs and other grasshopper varieties take over as the major pests for the rest of the summer, the article says. Earlier this month, Gov. Mike Leavitt declared an agricultural emergency as the grasshoppers threatened to devour crops in 18 Utah counties. Cricket populations are surging after several consecutive warm winters. Leavitt said this year's infestation is the worst in Utah since the 1940s. State agricultural officials predict farmers could lose more than $25 million in damaged crops such as wheat, barley, alfalfa, safflower and rangeland grasses. 

Enzi Sees Lamb Market Potential. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) is telling lamb producers they may have a market through USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service. AMS is inviting lamb producers to submit a bid to help supply product for the National School Lunch Program and other federal food assistance programs. Bid submission began on June 14 and will end on June 26. Bid acceptances will be announced July 6 and product must be shipped between Sept. 9-22. AMS is asking for bids on a total of 396,000 pounds of lamb which will be sent to 10 locations, giving lamb producers the opportunity to submit up to 10 separate bids. The AMS purchases food through competitive bids and negotiated contracts. In addition to helping people in need of assistance, these programs can also help ranchers by serving to maintain stable commodity prices. 

China Retaliates. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that in retaliation against Japan's restrictions on imports of Chinese agricultural products, China has decided to impose special tariffs on imports of Japanese automobiles, mobile phones and air conditioners, the foreign trade ministry said Tuesday. The decision was first reported late Monday by the official Xinhua news agency. A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation confirmed the decision but declined to say what the tariff rates were or when they would take effect. "After several rounds of negotiations...the Japanese side refused to accept the proposal made by the Chinese side to solve the problem and insisted on its wrong decision," Xinhua quoted MOFTEC spokeswoman Gao Yan as saying. In response to pressure from domestic producers, Japan in April placed temporary curbs on imports of leeks, rushes for tatami mats and shiitake mushrooms, much of which had come from China. 

Tobacco Grown on Contract Expands.  REUTERS reports that the amount of U.S. tobacco grown under contract has increased sharply this year "as tobacco companies seek stable supplies and growers abandon tobacco auctions in favor of guaranteed payments on their crop." Across the flue-cured tobacco belt stretching from Virginia to Florida, an estimated 80% of the tobacco will be grown under contract this summer, marking the end of an era in which auction warehouses handled virtually all tobacco sales. The news agency also reports that in the burley tobacco belt, warehouse owners expect contracting to account for at least 60 percent of production this year, threatening the viability of auction houses that form the cornerstone of the federal price-support program for the nation's tobacco farmers. 

Tyson and IBP Meet on Proposed Merge.  IBP inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. management had "a positive and productive meeting" late yesterday and agreed to work to complete a merger of the two companies, Tyson said in a statement. Tyson Foods would acquire IBP at financial terms that would be "identical" to those the two companies had previously agreed, according to the statement. Based on the meeting, Tyson Foods "does not expect to appeal" a Delaware court ruling last Friday that ordered the company to complete the merger. 

Corn, Livestock Producers Go Value-Added.  The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is working with the livestock industry to develop strategic plans for livestock applications for corn and more value-added opportunities for farmers. Tracy Snider, livestock information and programs manager for NCGA, met with representatives of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) in Des Moines recently to look at these and other opportunities for corn checkoff dollars. 
 

June 18, 2001

Grain, Feed Interests Want CRP Lid Held. The National Grain and Feed Association and 17 affiliated state and regional grain and feed associations have joined in urging Congress not to expand the Conservation Reserve Program beyond its current 36.4-million-acre ceiling when writing the next farm bill. Instead, the grain and feed-based organizations urged Congress to focus on enhancing conservation programs that better protect land and water resources from agricultural runoff resulting from crop and animal agriculture production. 

Cotton Gets Export Grant.  The cotton industry's export promotion program has been given a Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Company grant of $75,000. The annual special project grant to The Cotton Foundation will be used to support Cotton Council International's (CCI) COTTON USA Advantage program - an effort designed to help overseas consumers distinguish the unique qualities and services of U.S. cotton and U.S. cotton products. 

USDA Team to Fight Karnal Bunt. USDA has sent a team of 30 experts to North Texas to help contain the wheat fungus Karnal bunt. In cooperation with the Texas Department of Agriculture, USDA has assembled this group to reinforce its safeguarding activities to prevent the spread of this disease. During an on-going testing and monitoring program, USDA recently found wheat fields in Texas, California, and Arizona that tested positive for Karnal bunt. 

USDA Buys $13 Million of Cry9C Corn.  USDA has completed the purchase of more than 322,000 hybrid seed corn units containing the protein Cry9C from 63 small- and medium-size seed companies. USDA is making these purchases, currently estimated at $12.9 million, to ensure a safe supply of corn for human use and so that seed companies are not adversely affected by the presence of Cry9C in their seed corn. 

FDA Says Eat Your Eggs: It's Okay. Contrary to some mistaken recent media reports, the 1999 Food and Drug Administration Food Code does not prohibit restaurants from serving sunny-side-up or over-easy eggs, FDA says. The Food Code, which is FDA guidance on restaurant safety, says that if less thoroughly-cooked egg dishes are served in restaurants, consumers should be provided with an advisory -- on menus, brochures or other written materials -- that there is an increased risk associated with eating undercooked eggs especially for vulnerable consumers. 
House Panel Marks Up This Week. The House Agriculture Committee now is scheduled to mark up a bill to authorize the distribution of the $5.5 billion in farmer emergency assistance earmarked in the budget resolution. The White House has hinted that to spend beyond that amount will invite a veto from President Bush. The funding target is sufficient to match market transition payments, if that's the route the committee chooses to go. But it also would leave out oilseeds and specialty crops producers. The committee can choose to use funds authorized for fiscal year 2002 if additional assistance is determined to be needed, but that reduces the money available next year under a new farm law. The farm lobby has been working to get Congress to authorize and appropriate far more than the $5.5 billion. 
 

Asia Urged to Attack Environmental Problems.  Environmental problems in Asia and the Pacific are pervasive and becoming more so, and policy makers must respond immediately, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday, according to a REUTERS report. Of 41 cities ranked by particulate pollution in the atmosphere, 13 of the worst 15 are in Asia, the ADB said in its Asian Environment Outlook 2001 report. One in three Asians has no access to safe drinking water close to home. In Asian rivers, the levels of human waste are three times the world average and 50 times higher than the World Health Organization's recommended maximum. The Manila-based multilateral lending institution said there was a "worrying nexus" between development and harm to the environment, the news agency said. 

POST Focuses on Pork Practices.  THE WASHINGTON POST describes controversies over sow welfare in a front-page feature story. Keeping sows in crates, a common industry practice, has brought increasing objections from animal-rights activists and some consumers, the story says. The story quotes both producers and veterinarians who defend modern pork production practice and others who say production methods will have to change, especially in light of fast food chains' increasing sensitivity to animal welfare issues. 

FSIS Report Cites Small Plants.  USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service Friday released to Congress a lengthy report of reviews about 44 small and very small federally inspected meat and poultry plants in the New York City and New Jersey Metropolitan area. The report indicates regulatory compliance issues in some plants, although the agency stressed aggressive actions were taken to ensure that no adulterated products were released into commerce. On the basis of the reviews, FSIS said it has developed an action plant to address to problems. The actions range from regulatory enforcement actions to proposed disciplinary actions for FSIS employees. The report has not been posted on the USDA web site. A REUTERS report said the one-week investigation uncovered government violations in all but three plants, ranging from rodent infestation to ignoring government food safety regulations. According to the news agency, USDA said 13 plants had so grossly violated government regulations that a follow-up investigation was necessary. Four meat-packing plants were temporarily suspended for rodent infestation and food contamination. The Office of Inspector General was also investigating the meatpacking plants to see if any criminal charges should be issued against federal inspectors. USDA officials have alleged that some meat inspectors failed to show up to work or were intoxicated on the job. 

U.S. Will Implement Lamb Decision.  REUTERS reports that the United States has agreed to implement a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that U.S. tariffs on New Zealand and Australian lamb imports are illegal, the New Zealand government said on Friday. A spokeswoman for Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton said the U.S. government wrote to the New Zealand ambassador in Geneva on Thursday saying the U.S. would implement the WTO ruling. Under WTO procedures the US had until June 15 to reveal its intentions, after which it had a "reasonable" amount of time to abide by the ruling, imposed on a three-year tariff programme put in place in 1999. The WTO body, whose decisions are final, rejected a U.S. appeal against an earlier WTO ruling that U.S. tariffs on NZ and Australian lamb violated international trade rules. 

Report Claims Danger from Bio Crops.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports a new study claims that farmers, consumers and the environment are in danger of accidentally getting genetically engineered crops that spread from experimental field plots. The assertions come in a report from the California Public Interest Research Group and Genetically Engineered Food Alert. The groups also criticized USDA for lax oversight of testing of genetically engineered crops. "Our environment is being used as a widespread laboratory for experiments on genetically engineered foods," said Julie Miles, the research group's Safe Foods Campaign director, at a press conference where the report was released. The report contends that the USDA's requirements fail to adequately guard against experimental plants spreading beyond test plots and contaminating the food supply and the environment. The fact that the USDA accepts all but 4 percent of the testing applications it receives indicates the agency is rubber-stamping requests, environmentalists said. 
 

June 14, 2001

House Panel Approves USDA Spending. The House Appropriations Committee approved a $74 billion spending bill for agricultural programs Wednesday and in the process, side-stepped a fight over dairy compacts but prolonged another on the pork checkoff. Among the major provisions of the bill was another $150 million for financially strapped apple producers (offered by Rep. Maurice Hinchey), and $3.9 billion for agricultural credit programs, $765 million more than last fiscal year. 

Apple Grower Assistance Begins.  USDA has begun issuing payments totaling almost $95 million to about 7,500 apple growers beginning this week. The Apple Market Loss Assistance Program helps eligible apple growers offset low 1998- and 1999-crop market prices for nearly 5.4 billion pounds of apples. Under the AMLAP, eligible growers can receive a payment of 1.768 cents per pound for the higher of either 1998 or 1999 apple production, and they will be paid on a maximum of 1.6 million pounds for each separate apple operation. 

Beef Campaign Nets 4,500-Plus Members.  More than 4,500 beef producers from across the nation joined the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) during the 2001 "Partners for Generations" membership campaign. The campaign, sponsored by Merial, offered membership certificates for IVOMEC® Brand Products and Merial vaccines to individuals who joined the association between Jan. 1 and March 31. 

More Reaction to EPA's California Waiver Denial.  House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) believes that the EPA announcement holding California to clean-burning gasoline standards elevates ethanol as the clean, renewable, American-grown choice for a comprehensive energy plan. Tuesday morning, EPA announced that it would not approve the State of California's request to ignore the Clean Air Act's federal oxygen content requirement for reformulated gasoline (RFG). Rather than seeking use of another oxygenated additive such as ethanol – produced from corn – state officials sought a waiver from Clean Air rules by dropping the use of all oxygenates, after abandoning MTBE. 

FAS Expects Reduced Beef Exports from Argentina, Uruguay. Recent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Argentina and Uruguay will sharply curtail beef exports from those nations, according to projections in a special report issued by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). FAS expects Argentina's beef exports this year may drop 29% and Uruguay's beef exports may be off nearly one-third, compared with forecasts made in March 2001. 

Drought Hits Asia.   REUTERS reports from Beijing that devastating drought across a swathe of northern Asia, from the pastoral steppes of Mongolia to the farmlands of South Korea, has created a crisis in rich and poor countries. South China braces for the onslaught of the flood season -- with 29 people killed already -- while the worst drought in decades has gripped northern China, Mongolia and the Korean peninsula for three months. The news agency reports it has hit a 1,500-mile arc stretching east from China's Qinghai province on the Tibetan plateau, across Mongolia and the Manchurian farm belt to the mountainous Korean peninsula. Desperate Mongolian nomads are abandoning the only way of life they have ever known for uncertain urban futures. South Korean analysts expect the drought to force aid-dependent North Korea to seek even more food from international donors. 

Czech Cow Has BSE. German laboratory results from the third test on a Czech cow suspected of having mad cow disease proved positive, REUTERS reports. That confirms fears that BSE has spread to eastern Europe. The Czech Agriculture Ministry had asked a laboratory in Germany to carry out the test after two Czech examinations showed a six-year-old cow had BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. "The German laboratory confirmed the tests of our laboratories. I have decided that 139 animals will be slaughtered. All of the slaughtered animals will be tested," Agriculture Minister Jan Fencl told a news conference. He added that three of the 139 animals in the infected herd were offspring of the cow found to have the fatal disease. 

Philippines Authorizes Korean Pork Shipments.  THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that the Philippine Department of Agriculture has authorized two South Korean companies to export pork and its by-products into the Philippines.The authorization was contained in an administrative order signed by Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor on May 15. Korea Cold Storage Co. and Dae Han Integration Co. were given the accreditation after a Philippine inspection team determined that they complied with quarantine procedures and meat inspection systems. Records at the Bureau of Animal Industry showed that since January this year, the Philippines has imported a total of 8.1 million kilograms of South Korean pork and its by-products. 

GMOs Can't Be Avoided.  THE NEW YORK TIMES reports that genetically modified foods are proliferating to such an extent that it has become almost impossible for consumers to avoid them, despite persistent rumors about their safety. More than 100 million acres of the world's most fertile farmland were planted with genetically modified crops last year, about 25 times as much as just four years earlier. Wind-blown pollen, commingled seeds and black-market plantings have further extended these products of biotechnology into the far corners of the global food supply — perhaps irreversibly, according to food experts. "The genie is already out of the bottle," said Neil E. Harl, a professor of agriculture and economics at Iowa State University, speaking of genetically modified organisms. "If the policy tomorrow was that we were going to eradicate G.M.O.'s, this would be a very long process. It would take years if not decades to do that." 

Corn Growers Explain Biotech in Europe. Biotech-engineered foods can be good, but U.S. farmers must allay the fears of European consumers if they want to build exports to the valuable market, a growers' association said Wednesday, according to THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. "U.S. farmers have plenty of confidence in biotech," said Fred Yoder, who farms in Plain City, Oh. "But we have to be sensitive to what the markets tell us to do." Yoder is chairman of the biotechnology working group of the National Corn Growers Association. The association sent a delegation to Europe to meet officials and farm lobbyists - and learn about consumer concerns there. "We're out of the era where farmers can produce what they like and not worry about where it goes," said Richard Tolman, Vice President of the association. A survey cited by the European Union last year found that a majority of Europeans see biotech products as a health hazard despite assurances from producers. 

Panel Postpones Aid Legislation. REUTERS reports that the House Agriculture Committee will postpone until June 20 work on a bill to provide at least $5.5 billion in special aid to farmers hit by low prices, quoting a committee spokesman. Originally, the "mark up" session was set for today. The aide said the additional time would allow committee members to assess the results of work by the House Appropriations Committee on a $74 billion agricultural funding bill for fiscal 2002, which opens Oct. 1. In its annual budget resolution, Congress allowed up to $5.5 billion to be spent on additional aid to growers this year. If lawmakers exceed that, the money would have to come from funds earmarked for future years. Some farm group lobbyists say the bailout bill would approach $7 billion under requests received last week. 

USDA, Union Clash on Slaughter Allegations.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that USDA and its union of meat inspectors clashed Wednesday over allegations that the department is allowing packers to slaughter cattle and hogs while the animals are still conscious. In a petition to USDA, the union said the meat industry ignores the federal humane-slaughter law "with virtual impunity" because of lax enforcement. "We take any violations very seriously, and we take enforcement actions when there are problems," said Linda Swacina, a spokeswoman for the department's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The petition said inspectors should be stationed full-time in areas of the plants where animals are stunned and bled, and plant operations should be stopped any time there are violations of humane handling regulations. 
 

June 13, 2001

No Trans Fats in Peanut Butter.  Recurring rumors that commercial peanut butters contain trans fats--which appear to increase risk of cardiovascular disease--have no basis in fact, according to USDA's Agricultural Research Service. The rumors no doubt started because small amounts of hydrogenated vegetable oils are added to commercial peanut butters--at 1-2% of total weight--to prevent the peanut oil from separating out. 

Senate Finance Hears of Land Use Alternatives. The president of Delta Land & Farm Management Co. told the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday that without adequate funding for farmer conservation incentives, producers will not be able to afford putting land to alternative uses. Elton Kennedy, Mer Rouge, LA, said many such USDA programs are unfunded, and the current tax deduction for qualified agricultural producers does not provide meaningful incentives for landowners to donate an easement. 

Beef Budget Totals $45 Million.  The Beef Promotion Operating Committee has developed a recommended Beef Board budget for fiscal year 2002 of $45 million. If approved, the recommendation would authorize, beginning Oct. 1, $23.75 million for promotion, $4.975 million in research, $5.5 million in consumer information, $1.975 million in industry information, $4.555 million in foreign marketing, $1.5 million in producer communications, $150,000 for evaluation, $120,000 for program development, and $2.475 million for administration and USDA oversight. 

AMI Wants No Deal Made with Europe. USDA says a family with a child born in 2000 can expect to spend about $165,630 ($233,530 when factoring in inflation) for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise that child over the next 17 years. Now in its 40th year, the USDA has issued the report, "Expenditures on Children by Families." Of primary interest to states is the child-rearing cost estimate for middle-income, two-parent families, which in 2000 ranged from $8,740 to $9,860, depending on the age of the child. 

USDA Increases Export Funding.  USDA will allocate $145.7 million under its export financing programs in fiscal 2001, up $22.7 million from January's estimate, REUTERS reports. USDA said eight countries were eligible to receive U.S. commodities valued at $98 million under Public Law 480, Title 1, which provides financing of sales of U.S. crops to developing countries. In addition, USDA will use $10 million for agreements with other private entities in fiscal 2001, as authorized in the 1996 farm bill. USDA said it would allocate $37.7 million to nine countries under Food for Progress programs, which offers support to countries committed to democratic and market reform. The ocean freight differential costs associated with these allocations were estimated at $21.8 million, USDA said. 

New GM Rules Haunt China.  REUTERS reports that China's grains market" is haunted by uncertainties" over new rules on genetically modified (GM) products, which could serve Beijing as a tool to control trade, traders said on Tuesday. Some said the regulations, announced on June 6 and effective immediately, might prove handy for Beijing especially as it was entering the World Trade Organization (WTO). China is obligated to open up its market to some 15 million tons in grain imports if market conditions warrant. "Maybe this is a tool for the government to control the market after WTO," said a trader at an international house based in Shanghai. "They have to open the market for corn and wheat. Corn and wheat from the United States are all (genetically modified organisms." Traders said the situation was particularly sensitive for wheat and corn because of the country's huge stocks in the grains, while international prices for the grains were much lower than Chinese domestic prices. 

Walsh Will Make Dairy Compact Try.  Despite his prediction last month that dairy compacts were dead if Sen. James Jeffords left the Republican Party, Rep. James Walsh (R-NY) will ask the House Appropriations Committee today to approve dairy compacts for the South and extend the life of the Northeast Dairy Compact as well. REUTERS reports that Walsh said he would offer language to expand the six-state Northeast Compact and to authorize a southern compact as an amendment to a $74.2 billion agriculture spending bill for fiscal 2002. Walsh said in a statement on Tuesday that compacts would help assure a thriving network of dairy farms. Some analysts say the Northeast compact has not slowed the trend toward fewer, and larger, herds. One lobbyist said a close vote was expected. Southerners and Easterners hold more seats on the Appropriations Committee than midwesterners, but House leaders might be loath to let a divisive issue be added to one of the first spending bills of the year. In late May, Walsh warned that if Jeffords left the Republicans, which he did to become an Independent, the Northeast Dairy Compact "will have no chance of being extended in the House of Representatives." The Compact expires Sept. 30. "If Senator Jeffords switches parties, he will kill the dairy compact's chances of being extended," said Walsh. "I am certain that the Compact will be killed as Senator Jeffords is too closely aligned with it." 

Nations Asked to Maintain BSE Prevention.  REUTERS reports from Parish that an international conference on mad cow disease will urge all countries to take pre-emptive measures to combat the fatal illness. Andrew Speedy, a senior official with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said the four-day conference probably would ask all countries to gauge their risk of developing the disease. He said veterinarians, food safety experts and health officials at the meeting also would call on governments to adopt systems to detect mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). "Even if countries think they are safe, they should perform a risk assessment and put controls in place," Speedy told the news agency. "Countries should not be complacent of the possible risk of BSE bring present in their territory," he added. 

Commodities Outlook Brighter with Ethanol Decision. A federal. government decision to force California to use ethanol as a fuel additive could increase prices of corn, sugar, and the shares of ethanol producers such as Archer Daniels Midland, analysts and trade sources said on Tuesday, according to REUTERS. Some said the decision also could facilitate funding for an expansion of ethanol production using corn and sugar. Ethanol and MTBE are oxygenates that make gasoline burn more cleanly and reduce pollution. But in California, MTBE is being phased-out because of concern that it pollutes ground water. Several Northeast states have also moved to ban it. Ethanol is subsidized by the U.S. government through an excise tax exemption worth 5.3 cents a gallon at the pump. 

House Must Move First on Fast-Track.  The House will have to act first on fast-track legislation before the Senate Finance Committee will consider the issue, according to finance committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT). Giving fast-track authority to the Bush administration means trade agreements may be negotiated without Congress having the right to amend them, only vote them up or down. The White House has not had fast track negotiating authority since April 1994. REUTERS reports that Baucus told farm lobbyists the Republican-run House of Representatives had to take the first step. He also said a fast-track bill had to assure consideration of trade and environmental issues as part of trade talks and must not weaken U.S. laws that allow action against unfair trade practices. "I want to see what happens in the House," Baucus responded when asked about his timetable for action. Baucus has said the congressional debate over fast track trade legislation could slip into next year. 
 

June 12, 2001

U.S., China Reach Final Agreement. The United States and China have reached consensus on remaining bilateral concerns related to China's World Trade Organization accession, including agricultural issues. The agreement indicates that both countries plan to work together in Geneva to complete China's WTO accession. In addition, both countries will work closely with other WTO members to build on the consensus reached by the United States and China this past week in Shanghai. 

Pork Expo Planned for 2002.  Plans for the 2002 World Pork Expo have been approved by the National Pork Producers Council Board of Directors. The 2002 World Pork Expo is scheduled for June 6-8 in Des Moines, IA. The NPPC board named a task force to evaluate ways to enhance the 15-year-old event. 

Bush Ready to Deny California Waiver. The Bush administration reportedly is ready to deny California's request for a waiver from the clean octane provisions of the Clean Air Act. The action could come this week. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) said the decision "will preserve the positive air quality benefits of oxygenates in gasoline and help keep California gasoline prices from rising higher." 

AMI Wants No Deal Made with Europe. The American Meat Institute has urged the Bush Administration not to strike a deal with the European Union requiring U.S. beef exporters to comply with the EU's ban on imports of beef from hormone-treated animals. AMI says the administration signaled last week it would re-open talks with the EU to resolve the EU's longstanding ban on U.S. beef. 

Administration's Vietnam Pact Sent to Congress. The Bush Administration has sent to the Congress the U.S.-Vietnam bilateral trade agreement (BTA). U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick called it "an important step forward in bringing economic freedom and opportunity to Vietnam, along with providing new trade opportunities for American workers, consumers and businesses." 

China's Fine Line on Farm Subsidies. REUTERS reports that China has fought successfully to pay higher farm subsidies after entry to the World Trade Organization even though it may ultimately find them more than state coffers can bear, but the risk represents the fine line China's Communist rulers must walk in trying to both pacify a 900 million-strong rural population and keep the broad financial reforms moving which are part of the WTO process, analysts say. China's cabinet must still approve the just-finalized deal with the United States week, but that was expected to be a formality as top leaders had already given the green light, diplomats said. Both countries have declined to detail the compromise on subsidies, but foreign and Chinese industry sources said the level was likely to be around seven or eight percent of the value of agricultural production, according to the news agency. 

EU Urges Australia to Lift Ban. The European Union (EU) is urging Australia to lift the ban it placed on animal-based imports earlier this year. The ban was imposed because of fears about foot-and-mouth disease, but now the EU wants exports to resume from countries that have been given the all-clear. Canada, the United States and New Zealand have accepted the arrangement, but Australia wants more information, according to the AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION. David Banks from the Federal Agriculture Department, said, "Based on the experience that we got from our vets who were over there working on the foot-and-mouth outbreak, we're very concerned about the comparatively free movement of livestock within the EU. We want to make absolutely sure that all those countries really did get to the bottom of exactly what they imported, particularly from Britain and other infected countries, and how much surveillance they did, not only the properties that they went to, but the surrounding properties as well. 
 

June 5,2001

Bush Renews NTR for China. President Bush has sent to Congress notice of his intent to extend normal trade relations with China, continuing to give that country the benefits of trade relations that most other countries have with the United States. "This decision advances the economic and security interests of the American people and I urge Congress to support it," Bush said. 

Bill for Animal Compensation Introduced. Two members of the House Agriculture Committee have introduced a bill May 24 designed to prevent the introduction and spread of animal diseases and compensate owners of livestock, product and facilities should the disease ever reach the United States. The bill, introduced by House Livestock and Horticulture Subcommittee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN). 

ITC Trade Probe Supported by Dairy Processors. Janet Nuzum, vice president and general counsel for the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), told the International Trade Commission (ITC) that the commission's investigation of the barriers to international trade in processed foods is supported by IDFA. She said the association is working for trade negotiations that would increase U.S. dairy export opportunities. 

Dairy Farmers Cry Foul on USDA Decision.  The National Milk Producers Federation expressed "deep disappointment" with a decision last week by USDA to "to weaken the federal safety net for U.S. dairy producers by lowering the value of the dairy price support program." USDA announced late Thursday that it is adjusting downward the government purchase price for nonfat dry milk powder, from $1.0032/lb., to $0.90/lb. That price represents the level at which the USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation will purchase surplus nonfat dry milk. The ten cent reduction in the support price for milk powder will have a detrimental impact on dairy farm prices, because the farm level price of milk is directly tied to the value of nonfat dry milk, says NMPF. 

Sign-Up for Wetlands Program Begins. Sign-up is underway for a six-state pilot program to restore up to 500,000 acres of farmable wetlands and associated buffers. The Farmable Wetlands Pilot Program will help producers improve the hydrology and vegetation of eligible land in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, according to USDA. This pilot is part of USDA's ongoing Conservation Reserve Program.

Senate Subcommittee Chairs Told. REUTERS reports that Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) a prairie populist Democrat "who favors higher crop supports," is likely to become chairman of a major farm subcommittee this week. Conrad would take leadership of the Senate agriculture subcommittee on production and price competitiveness as part of a shift in control of the Senate to Democrats. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), author of the "Freedom to Farm" law that deregulated farming in 1996, is now chairman of the subcommittee. It oversees farm subsidies. In the late 1990s, Conrad was among lawmakers who tried but did not succeed in altering Freedom to Farm with increased crop support rates. This year, Conrad said an additional $97 billion should be alloted for agricultural spending over the next decade to assure sufficient funding for farm supports. Congress settled on a $70 billion increase to $193 billion for fiscal 2001-11. Other Democrats expected to chair Senate agriculture subcommittees were Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, subcommittee on forestry, conservation and rural revitalization, succeeding Michael Crapo, Idaho Republican; Max Baucus of Montana, subcommittee on marketing, inspection and product promotion, succeeding Peter Fitzgerald, Illinois Republican. Patrick Leahy, subcommittee on research, nutrition and general legislation, succeeding Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican. Leahy is a strong advocate of public nutrition programs. The news agency also said an aide to Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin, the incoming chairman for the full committee, said Mark Halverson would be the staff leader on the Agriculture Committee. A longtime Harkin staff worker, Halverson has been in charge of the committee's Democratic staff. Membership of the Agriculture Committee and its four subcommittees has been split equally between Republicans and Democrats. As part of taking control, Democrats want a one-vote advantage on the full committee and the subcommittees, achieved by adding one person to the panels. 

Japan, China Talk, Don't Agree. KYODO NEWS SERVICE reports that government officials from Japan and China met in Beijing on Monday over Japanese import curbs on Chinese farm products but broke up with no agreement. According to the people who took part in the one-day session, Chinese officials reiterated Beijing's demand that Japan rescinds the ''unilateral, discriminatory measure'' on import curbs Japan imposed April 23 on the import of stone leeks, shiitake mushrooms and rushes for tatami mats. The Japanese government says the import curb is an emergency measure to alleviate the plight of Japanese farmers that is allowed by World Trade Organization under the so-called ''safeguard'' mechanism. The Japanese trade measure has triggered warnings of retaliation from Beijing, including a reported Chinese decision to curb Japanese car imports. 

Chicken Drugs May Cause Cancer, Group Claims.  About one in five chickens and one in 10 eggs in Britain contain traces of drugs that may cause cancer, birth defects or heart attacks, a leading organic group said on Monday, according to a REUTERS report. The Soil Association, an independent body that campaigns for organic farming, said its report showed the government had misled the public about the high incidence of such drug residues -- an allegation swiftly denied by the Agriculture Ministry. Richard Young, coordinator of the association's campaign against the overuse of antibiotics in intensive farming, said drugs used to control intestinal parasites in poultry and game birds posed the most serious threat. "Despite repeated assertions by regulators that nearly all poultry products are free from detectable residues, figures show clearly that about 20 percent of chicken meat and 10 percent of the eggs tested contain residues of drugs deemed too dangerous for use in human medicine," he said in a statement. "These antimicrobial drugs have never been properly evaluated for safety, but there is evidence that they have the ability to cause cancer, birth defects and heart attacks. Some residue samples are more than 50 times over the legal limit." 
 

June 4, 2001

Another $35 Million Sought for Disease Prevention. President Bush will ask Congress for a supplemental appropriations of $35 million in fiscal year 2001 for USDA activities designed to protect U.S. agriculture from serious animal disease threats such as foot and mouth disease (FMD) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). "Given the various foreign animal disease outbreaks in other parts of the world this year, USDA has been conducting a top-to-bottom review of its core programs to ensure we have the necessary resources to protect American agriculture from devastating animal diseases," said Secretary Ann M. Veneman. "These additional funds will help strengthen these important programs." 

USDA Bans Argentine Beef. USDA is prohibiting the importation of fresh beef from Argentina due to the confirmed presence of foot-and-mouth disease in that country. The department also is prohibiting the importation of all cured or cooked beef from Argentina under the fresh (chilled or frozen) beef regulations. All cured or cooked beef from Argentina intended for importation into the United States must meet the requirements of the regulations regarding cured and cooked meat from regions where FMD exists. 

Cattlemen Take Credit for Death Tax Death. Members of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) claim the were "key"to repeal of the death tax, which will occur when President Bush signs HR 1836, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. Congress passed the measure in late May, and the President is expected to sign it into law. 

Administration Addresses Wheat Gluten Issue.  The Bush Administration has decided that instead of extending the safeguard, which would have triggered the continuation of European Union (EU) tariffs on corn gluten exports to Europe US officials will end the safeguard but provide the wheat gluten industry $40 million over two years to complete its transition to competitiveness. For the past three years, the wheat gluten industry has benefitted from a safeguard quota under Section 201. 

Groups Call for Dorr's Rejection. A coalition of farm groups called the National Farm Action Campaign wants the nomination of Thomas Dorr as under secretary for rural development rejected. The coalition claims memberships in 32 states and includes the American Corn Growers Association and the Nebraska Farmers Union.

Corn into Propanediol Coming. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is sponsoring a $1.7 million project to turn corn into 1,3-propanediol, a polymer that can be used to create a new form of synthetic fiber similar to polyester. National Corn Growers Association Customer & Business Development Action Team Chairman Vic Miller, a farmer from Oelwein, IA, says corn producers definitely will benefit. "Currently, most chemical products are made from petroleum," he said. "Our team's goal is to create a renewable products industry with corn as one of the main products. With 1,3-propanediol and renewable resources, renewable products can start to supplement petroleum supplies." As a result, farmers will benefit because of the greater need for corn "As this idea becomes commercially acceptable, there will be increased demand for corn," Miller said. "When there are different ways to use corn, farmers will get more money per bushel due to smaller annual carry-over." 

Ethanol Vehicles Do All Right. Ethanol-powered vehicles finished strong, winning awards in the environment and acceleration competitions in the 13th Annual Tour de Sol that included more than three-dozen solar, hybrid, battery, fuel cell and ethanol-powered vehicles in a 300-mile test that included stops in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. "The ethanol industry is proud to be a part of the preeminent cleaner vehicle competition," said Ron Miller, chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association, a first-time sponsor of the competition. "The Tour de Sol helps to highlight ethanol's ability to increase performance while providing environmental benefits over fossil fuels. The University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, placed first among the ethanol-powered vehicles. Students entered their 1999 Chevrolet Silverado, designed to operate on 85% ethanol for the 1999 and 2000 Ethanol Vehicle Challenge. The team also won awards in the reduced greenhouse gas emissions and short-acceleration events. The Tour de Sol is the largest and most diversified competition and showcase for advanced, cleaner vehicle technologies. Vehicles compete in eight different categories and are evaluated on performance, consumer acceptability and environmental impact. 

Water Buffalo Latest FMD Victims.  REUTERS reports from Todmorden, England, that a herd of water buffalo at a farm in northern England are the latest victims of Britain's devastating foot-and-mouth outbreak. "There were around 100 water buffalo on a farm where cattle were found to be infected with foot-and-mouth," an agriculture ministry spokesman said by telephone. "They were shot earlier today." The third-generation family farm on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park established its water buffalo herd in 1996 to produce meat, milk, and cheese. The large animals originate in Asia and are rarely farmed in Britain. 

Nicotine-Free Cigarettes Move Forward. REUTERS reports that tobacco company Vector Group Ltd. will produce virtually nicotine-free cigarettes in a new North Carolina plant. Legislation that would ban production in the state was withdrawn. The tobacco company, parent of cigarette maker Liggett Group Inc., also agreed to allow state agriculture officials to confirm its nicotine-free tobacco was not commingled with traditional leaf at the plant, according to a letter to the company from North Carolina Gov. Michael Easley. "The (Agriculture) Department's work will help confirm that the existing regulations and procedures are adequate and that Vector's tobacco product is kept completely separate from the commercial base of traditional tobacco grown and exported in this state," Easley wrote. State Rep. Dewey Hill had proposed the ban on nicotine-free cigarette production in the state to allay concerns the genetically modified tobacco would be commingled with leaf from traditional growers, possibly hurting exports for a crop worth about $800 million a year to North Carolina farmers. Vector plans to build a cigarette plant in Roxboro, NC, and in early 2002 will launch its new Omni Nicotine-Free cigarette. 
 

June 1, 2001

Penn Spells Out Sugar, Dairy, Loan Rate Decisions. J.B. Penn, newly installed under secretary for farm and foreign agricultural programs at USDA, says the department will sell government-owned sugar to ethanol producers and others to improve domestic prices, manage USDA's sugar inventory and help meet U.S. energy needs. He also announced adjustments in the 2001 purchases prices for milk products and said loan rates would remain unchanged for the 2001 crop, but he hoped changes could be made for next year's production. 

Farm Spending a ‘Whipping Boy.' Bob Stallman, president, American Farm Bureau Federation, believes farm program spending "increasingly has become a misunderstood whipping boy." Critics, says Stallman, want to know what makes farm families different from owners of small businesses who don't receive public financial support. 

USDA, Farmland Agree on Complaint. USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) and Farmland National Beef Packing Company, L.P. (Farmland National) have reached an agreement to settle GIPSA's complaint against Farmland National. In July 1999, GIPSA filed a complaint alleging that Farmland National retaliated against Callicrate Feedyard of St. Francis, KS, in violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act (P&S Act). 

Groups Publish Food Allergen Guidelines.  The National Food Processors Association (NFPA) is part of an industry and consumer coalition of organizations of the Food Allergy Issues Alliance that has published a consensus document, Food Allergen Labeling Guidelines. "The Food Allergen Labeling Guidelines represent an important commitment by the food industry to empowering consumers with the information they need on the serious issue of food allergies," said Dr. Rhona Applebaum, NFPA's executive vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs.

Sugar for Furniture, Etc., Down the Tubes. "The idea was to invest government money in agricultural start-ups to turn sugar cane into furniture, sunflower seeds into motor oil and milkweed into comforters - with taxpayers reaping the returns," reports THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. "But some $40 million later, the Agriculture Department's much ballyhooed experiment to create the government equivalent of a venture capital firm has delivered hardly any return," according to documents obtained by the AP. "Congress has given up and shut the doors to new spending." Investment money to 16 companies has been written off as a total loss, and an additional 28 companies have failed to produce any significant returns - "although there's still hope for some of them," according to the AP article. All told, investments totaling $40.3 million have brought just $1.2 million in returns since 1993, the documents show. Those who received money from the program blame government shortsightedness for its failure. 

Import Quota on Wheat Gluten May End. REUTERS reports the Bush administration tentatively has decided to terminate a three-year-old import quota on wheat gluten from the European Union and Australia. A source, who asked not to be identified, said that as of Thursday morning, the administration had decided to replace the import quota with a "market development assistance program" to aid the U.S. wheat gluten industry. Wheat gluten is a key ingredient in bakery goods, pasta, processed meats and pet foods. Corn gluten is used in animal feed. Officials with the U.S. Trade Representative's office were not immediately available for comment on whether an administration decision has been made in the wheat gluten case. REUTERS also reported that the European Commission had urged the United States not to renew the quota, saying such a move could lead to further World Trade Organization (WTO) action. The European Union had won a WTO panel against the quota, which halved the bloc's exports of the bakery goods and pasta ingredient. 

Japan, China Talk Trade Curbs.  KYODO NEWS SERVICE reports that Japan and China will hold working-level talks Monday in Beijing on the safeguard emergency restrictions Japan has imposed on three farm products imported mainly from China. Officials from the farm ministry, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Foreign Ministry will meet with officials from China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. It will be the first time for trade and foreign ministries to participate in the talks, according to the news agency. "The Japanese side will try to gain understanding over the curbs imposed in April on stone leeks, shiitake mushrooms and rushes used in tatami mats," the article says. Under the curb, effective for 200 days from April 23, higher tariffs will be imposed if imports exceed quotas allocated to importers. The Japanese side will explain how the temporary curbs are in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that allow a country to slow imports to protect industries from heightened foreign competition, farm ministry officials said. Japan will not, however, be making any specific proposals, they said, adding the bilateral talks will not cover the import inspections that both countries have stepped up. 

Nicotine-Free Cigarettes Move Forward. REUTERS reports that tobacco company Vector Group Ltd. will produce virtually nicotine-free cigarettes in a new North Carolina plant. Legislation that would ban production in the state was withdrawn. The tobacco company, parent of cigarette maker Liggett Group Inc., also agreed to allow state agriculture officials to confirm its nicotine-free tobacco was not commingled with traditional leaf at the plant, according to a letter to the company from North Carolina Gov. Michael Easley. "The (Agriculture) Department's work will help confirm that the existing regulations and procedures are adequate and that Vector's tobacco product is kept completely separate from the commercial base of traditional tobacco grown and exported in this state," Easley wrote. State Rep. Dewey Hill had proposed the ban on nicotine-free cigarette production in the state to allay concerns the genetically modified tobacco would be commingled with leaf from traditional growers, possibly hurting exports for a crop worth about $800 million a year to North Carolina farmers. Vector plans to build a cigarette plant in Roxboro, NC, and in early 2002 will launch its new Omni Nicotine-Free cigarette. 

Dorr Draws Iowa Fire. Thomas Dorr, the Bush administration's pick to administer rural development programs, has drawn fire in his home state of Iowa for advocating a future of megafarms instead of seeking to preserve the family farms that form the state's backbone, REUTERS reports from Des Moines. Dorr, a corn and soybean farmer, once described himself as the pariah of Marcus, the northwest Iowa community he calls home, the news agency reports. Iowa State University agricultural economist Neil Harl on Thursday said Dorr made a case for large farms two years ago. "Dorr was quoted as saying that he believed farms should be about 225,000 acres in size. If you did that, if that really were to happen, there would be 138 farms in Iowa, down from 90,000," he said in a telephone interview. "It is abundantly clear that the health of rural areas is likely not to be all it can by a decline in the number of rural farms," he said, adding that farmer prosperity was at stake. The article says critics of Dorr also criticized remarks he made at a 1999 seminar at Iowa State University implying that ethnicity and religion might have a bearing on a farmer's success. Nominated as Agriculture Department undersecretary for rural development, Dorr told the seminar that the most economically successful rural counties in Iowa were "not particularly diverse ethnically or religiously" and "maybe there's something there that has enabled them to succeed". 

Farmers Turned Away on Conservation Hopes.  The American Farmland Trust says "thousands of farmers" who voluntarily want to protect their land for farming are being turned away from programs designed to conserve farm land. "Purchase of agricultural conservation easement (PACE) programs" compensate landowners for the development value of their land while permanently protecting the land for agriculture. Annual statistics released by American Farmland Trust show that 18 states have spent $1.2 billion on PACE programs to date. However, the same 18 states have a backlog of 3,251 applications that cannot be processed due to lack of funding. "State and local PACE programs are growing steadily in protected acres and available funding," said Julia Freedgood, American Farmland Trust's director of farmland advisory services. "But even states that have invested heavily in farmland protection are unable to meet the mounting demand for these programs." Pennsylvania, for example, has spent $377 million to protect 1,527 farms on 186,321 acres but still has a waiting list of more than 1,600 applications as of May 1. "Even with the strong support Pennsylvania's program receives from state, county and local governments, we can't do it all," said Ray Pickering, director of the Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Program. "In order for states to meet the heavy demand for funding these programs, we need the federal government to become an active partner."