May 31, 2001

Corn Growers Tout Biotech Story.  The National Corn Growers Association's (NCGA) Biotech Working Group has been meeting with private companies and government regulators in an effort to carry out directives issued by the Corn Congress at this year's annual meeting in San Antonio regarding biotechnology. The 125-member NCGA governing body adopted a position supporting the release of biotech corn intended for specific-end use and that has limited regulatory approval only through closed-marketing systems or identity-preserved programs. 

FDA Advises Cantaloupe Danger.  The Food Drug Administration is advising consumers of an outbreak of foodborne illness associated with cantaloupe from two Mexican companies, S.P.R. De R.I. Legumbrera San Luis and S.P.R. De R.I. Los Arroyos, and imported by Shipley Sales Service of Nogales, AZ. The outbreak of Salmonella poona has involved numerous illnesses and two deaths in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington state. 

Humane Society Calls for End to Hog ‘Suffering.'  The Humane Society of the United States wants consumers, communities, government officials and farmers to "band together to end the suffering of millions of hogs raised every year in factory farms across the United States." The HSUS's "Halt Hog Factories" campaign, begun Wednesday, will target these groups with information on the "inhumane treatment" of animals the organization says is inherent in factory hog farming. The campaign's goal is ending the "intensive confinement of these intelligent and social animals." 

Pesticide Waste Disposal Lagging.  Obsolete pesticide waste disposal in the developing world is moving too slowly, the chief of the United Nations world food body said Wednesday. "It is happening too slowly to our liking," Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), told REUTERS in a telephone interview. "It should be a joint effort by governments and the private sector, including industry which produced the pesticides," he added. "What is important is that we bring this issue to the attention of the public and policy-makers." FAO has said more than 500,000 tons of ageing pesticide waste are seriously threatening the health of millions of people and the environment in nearly all developing nations. 

Ethiopia Asked for Pesticide Audit Permission. REUTERS reports that an international pesticides industry group has asked Ethiopia for permission to audit obsolete pesticide dumps in the country to assess its share of the cost of disposing of thousands of tons of toxic waste. The Global Crop Protection Federation (GCPF), which represents about 90% of the industry, has written to Ethiopian Deputy Agriculture Minister Belay Ejigu for permission to help check labels and markings on containers. The U.N. estimates that more than 2,800 tons of obsolete pesticides have accumulated at 949 sites across Ethiopia, threatening the health of thousands of people and contaminating the environment. Belay has called the dumps "a time bomb." 

Texas Cotton Farmers Battle Pests.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that cotton farmers may have made progress against boll weevils, but they aren't leaving anything to chance as they increase efforts to eradicate the pests in anticipation of a "potentially bleak crop." A proposal formulated by several cotton groups would require some cotton equipment as well as raw cotton throughout Texas to be cleaned and treated before being moved to areas that have been successful in wiping out boll weevils, the AP reports. The insects have been a nemesis to cotton farmers across the nation. They burrow into the plant and suck the sap that nourishes cotton fibers. "There's a tremendous investment by cotton producers in boll weevil eradication. That investment has to be protected," Roger Haldenby, vice president of operations for the Plains Cotton Growers, said. "We cannot afford to reinfest this area with such a devastating economic pest." 

APHIS Miami Facility Underway.  USDA's Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) broke ground Wednesday for construction of a new state-of-the-art facility for the Port of Miami. When completed, the facility will combine several offices and units currently set apart at various locations throughout Miami-Dade County. Combining these will not only streamline administrative procedures but provide a "one-stop" shop for APHIS' customers, enabling APHIS' Port of Miami functions to meet an ever-growing demand for its services, according to the agency. At this one site, APHIS will house the port-wide administrative offices of both its Plant Protection and Quarantine and Veterinary Services. The APHIS-1 facility will more than triple the size of the current Miami Inspection Station, originally built in 1965, and integrate air cargo operations unit with MIS. It also will contain 100 stalls for animal inspections and quarantines, as well as a kennel for PPQ's beagle brigade K-9 teams. APHIS' beagles are currently quartered at another USDA facility more than 45 minutes from the airport. The new kennel will allow more inspections and a 5-minute commute to the airport. 

Five States Begin Beef Coalition. THE FARM JOURNAL reports that a group of producers, processors, and vendors from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio are working together to provide a more consistent, palatable beef product for consumers. The participants have formed the Five State Beef Initiative (FSBI) to develop a production system that meets consumers' demands and captures the true value of beef products. The system is designed to provide feedback to the producer from the time that animal leaves the farm until it is slaughtered through the use of electronic identification tags and a comprehensive data management system. This information will provide producers with the tools needed to make management and marketing decisions. The participating states have received a USDA grant to assist the FSBI in implementing these changes over the next three years, explained Lee Meyer, a University of Kentucky (UK) Extension economist. 
 

May 30, 2001

A Sympathetic Congress Seen.  National Cotton Council Chairman James Echols told the NCC's directors that he senses that, unlike 1995, Congress recognizes that more government assistance is needed to re-establish or maintain economic stability for farmers. Echols noted, however, that the spending authority earmarked for agriculture in this year's budget resolutions falls short of what is needed to fund the kind of farm programs called for by the NCC and other commodity organizations. 

Indiana 20th Corn Checkoff State.  Indiana has become the 20th state with a corn checkoff. Gov. Frank O'Bannon signed legislation to establish a 1/2-cent per bushel checkoff that begins Sept. 1. The corn checkoff is designed to help farmers increase profits by investing their pooled funds in research, by cooperating with major commodity organizations on state, national and international market development efforts and by disseminating information. 

Bush Will Sign BSE, FMD Bill.  President Bush said Friday he would sign a law meant to help authorities seal U.S. borders against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and foot-and-mouth disease. The measure, which is titled the Mad Cow and Related Disease Prevention Act of 2001, would create an interagency task force to coordinate government efforts to prevent an outbreak of the two animal diseases in the United States, according to the American Meat Institute. 

Online Biotechnology Magazine Launched. Farmers, agribusiness people, researchers and consumers looking for reliable, easy-to-understand information on developments in biotechnology have a new resource in a monthly online magazine to be called Biotech and You! The magazine is featured on www.whybiotech.com, the Council for Biotechnology Information's Web site, and includes articles on advances in food biotechnology; feature stories written by farmers, researchers and other biotech experts; and a monthly online poll about biotech issues. 

Agricultural Exports Overstated.  Grain export projections used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and agriculture policy-makers have consistently over-estimated actual exports, according to a new study by Dr. C. Phillip Baumel, a professor of economics at Iowa State University. The study, "How U.S. Grain Export Projections from Large Scale Agricultural Sector Models Compare With Reality," was commissioned by the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).

Research Probes Taste, Smell for ‘Interesting' Food. U.S. companies such as Senomyx Inc. are using chemicals to establish how the senses of taste and smell work to make food more interesting, THE WASHINGTON POST reported. Scientists hope the research will allow them to make foods more palatable to children, the paper said. Some companies foresee additives that mimic the taste and feel of rich foods without the fat. They believe the research will allow them to make ordinary products better, the Post said. Some groups that monitor food safety say the discipline will spur greater industrialization of agriculture and food production, the Post reported. They also expressed concern about the safety of genetically modified food. "We want to make healthy food taste better or make good- tasting food healthier," said Paul Grayson, chairman and chief executive of Senomyx. 

New FMD Hot Spot Reported in UK. RETUERS reports from London that farmers have warned of a possible new hot spot in Britain's battle against foot-and-mouth. Two new cases of the disease had been confirmed at the weekend, they said. Rodney Bacon, policy adviser for the National Farmers Union in northwest England, told REUTERS confirmation of the disease at two neighbouring farms in Cheshire was a setback for a region that had been free of new cases for over a month. "These are the first cases to be confirmed in several weeks, we had our last case on April 10," Bacon said. "We were about to lift some restrictions. This is a very serious setback for the county. Farmers are concerned." Bacon said the agriculture ministry was moving quickly to slaughter animals at the two farms. He said around 500 animals had been slaughtered. 

Mississippi Grows Nicotine-Free Tobacco.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that Mississippi, a pioneer in making cigarette makers pay billions of dollars for smoking-related illnesses, is now home to a crop of tobacco that the developer claims is virtually nicotine-free. The "irony of the situation" is not lost on Danny Pearson, whose Mississippi Delta farmland is dotted with the big-leaf plant at a time when the state is collecting on a $4 billion settlement with the cigarette industry, according to the AP article. Pearson, one of six Delta farmers growing the test crop, said his decision to plant the tobacco was simply one of economics. "I'm trying to do this to keep my farm together. I'm trying to survive," said Pearson, who farms cotton and soybeans on his 800 acres in Humphreys County. Vector Tobacco plans to introduce a cigarette made from genetically modified tobacco that it also claims has reduced the amount of cancer-causing nitrosamines. The AP says Vector's decision to grow the product in Mississippi and three other nontraditional tobacco-producing states was based on the soil characteristics and climate found in those areas, said company spokesman Paul Caminiti. "It may be ironic on some grand scale, but in some ways it makes a lot of sense," Caminiti said. In 1994, Mississippi was the first to file a state lawsuit seeking to recoup millions from tobacco companies for smokers' Medicaid bills. 

China Buying U.S. Soybeans. China will U.S. soybeans despite low crushing margins on hopes of gaining price advantages from early moves, traders say, according to REUTERS. USDA said on Tuesday that private exporters reported the sale of 110,000 tons of U.S. soybeans to China for delivery in the 2001/2002 year, starting in September. A trader based in Shanghai said the two Panamax cargoes were done at premiums of 85-90 U.S. cents per bushel over Chicago futures for shipment in October and November. The news agency says they were the first deals for the new U.S. crop as those announced earlier by the USDA were for optional origins, including the United States. "Crushing margins are still poor. They haven't recovered. But those plants that keep on operating covered their positions forward," said the trader in Shanghai. "There's no demand pressure yet. The premiums (for forward months) are low." 

FSIS Holds Meat Inspection Meeting.  USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is sponsoring a public meeting to describe plans to update its port-of-entry reinspection of meat and poultry food products, including revamping its computerized assignment and data collection system. The public meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday, June 8, at the Holiday Inn Capitol, Columbia Room, 550 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20024. Any individual wishing to make a prepared statement should contact Anita Manka no later than noon on Thursday, June 7, at (202) 720-6400. There will be time allowed at the end of the meeting for questions and answers. People requiring a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations should notify Ida Gambrell by June 1 by phone at (202) 690-6523 or by fax at (202) 690-6519. Preregistration for this event is not necessary. Transcripts of the meeting will be available in the FSIS Docket Office, Room 102-Annex, 300 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20250-3700. 

Roberts Calls for Loan Rates. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) has asked USDA to announce county loan rates for 2001 crops. "While an announcement was made that the national average loan rates would remain unchanged for all crops, uncertainty remains at the county level where adjustments, up or down, to the loan rates could take place," Roberts explains. "This delay is frustrating for producers." For the past three years, USDA has announced county loan rates before May 11. With a new wheat marketing year beginning June 1 (Friday), the timing of an announcement is critical for wheat producers, says Roberts. "Winter wheat harvest has already begun in the far southern plains and should begin in some areas of Kansas in approximately three weeks," he adds. "As the largest producers of wheat in the United States, this information is important to wheat farmers in Kansas." 
 

May 25, 2001

Jeffords Switches; Harkin to Take Chair. Sen. James Jeffords' decision to leave the Republican Party and become an independent has one profound implication for agriculture. It almost certainly puts Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) in the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee and may steer the farm bill debate in a different direction than under the chairmanship of Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) who now steps aside. 

'Persistent Organic Pollutants' Signing Noted. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of State have issued a joint statement on the U.S. signing of the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, claiming the treaty will "rid the world of these highly toxic chemicals and pesticides." EPA Administrator Christie Whitman signed the convention on behalf of the United States in Stockholm, Sweden. Ministers from more than 90 countries joined the U.S. in signing the treaty. 

Farm Bureau Urges EPA to Abandon Agreement. The American Farm Bureau has urged the Environmental Protection Agency to abandon an agreement with an environmental group to settle a lawsuit challenging the agency's implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act. Farm Bureau and other interested parties contend that EPA's settlement with the Natural Resources Defense Council was reached during secret back-room negotiations and has "the potential to create major disruptions to U.S. agriculture and other industries that rely on pest management tools." 

Farm Bill's Conservation Title Debated. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has called for the reauthorization of the farm bill's conservation title, supporting "voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs that past farm bills have created." The testimony was presented before the House Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and Research this week. 

Beef Demand Strong as Summer Nears.  Preliminary first quarter 2001 data shows consumer demand for U.S. beef remains strong, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) says. "Preliminary data from first quarter 2001 indicates beef demand may be up roughly 2% when compared to first quarter 2000," said Chuck Schroeder, CEO of the NCBA. "The positive demand trend reinforces consumers' love for beef and the industry's ability to deliver quality products that meet their needs." 

Trade Principles Supported.  National Pork Producers Council President Barb Determan said that trade principles released today by a group of House and Senate Democrats were "very constructive" and would help build bipartisan momentum for passage of trade promotion authority this year. "The only way our farmers and ranchers will succeed is through free trade and that can't happen in a meaningful way without TPA," Determan said. The "New Democrats" are a Senate-House coalition of free-trade oriented Democrats who want to bridge partisan differences over trade to facilitate the passage of trade promotion authority for the President and generally advance U.S. leadership in trade policy. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who has been chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, welcomed the principles. "These principles are a constructive contribution to the critically important goal of rebuilding a bipartisan accord on trade. Democrats as well as Republicans recognize that we have to come together to restore America's leadership in international trade. That leadership has languished for too long." 

Co-ops Reinventing Themselves. REUTERS reports that farmer owned cooperatives, "once formed as a way for the ‘little guys' to improve their marketing power against large corporations," are having to "reinvent themselves to survive in the rabid competition of modern agribusiness." "It's about creating value," said Peter Goldsmith, a University of Illinois economist. "Cooperatives are finding they can be more equal partners in the economy." Whether it's a co-op like Ag Guild of Illinois growing high-isoflavone soybeans for the health food market, a group of Nebraska corn farmers who are building a new ethanol plant, or a Wisconsin food cooperative supplying eggs to McDonalds, new co-ops are looking for survival in special niche markets. The news agency says for new and old co-ops, the push to survive "sometimes even means partnering with the large corporations once kept on the other side of the fence, all in the name of capturing better returns for products as they try to move up the food chain." A perfect example was when Farmland united with Premium Beef to form National Beef Company to provide value-added products like ground beef already browned, said Todd Duvick, food industry analyst with Bank of America. "It's a way to compete with publicly owned meat processors."

No Commitment to End Hunger. REUTERS reports from Rome that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization believes the world lacks the commitment to win the war on hunger and needs to adopt specific high-priority objectives to eliminate poverty. "Both developing and developed countries have failed to demonstrate their commitment to set aside the resources required to achieve the eradication of hunger," the FAO said in a statement. "The great danger is that the debate on poverty reduction strategies will continue, delaying commitment to even the most obvious of actions, while more than 800 million people, many of them children, are deprived of the opportunity to live a full life." The Rome-based FAO, which monitors the world's food situation, released the statement prior to a meeting of its Committee on World Food Security, which will prepare for a major world food summit in Rome from Nov. 5-9. FAO has said that some 800 million people, including 200 million children, go to bed hungry. 

Cattle Carcasses May Have to Be Dug Up. A British scientist says British officials may have to dig up the carcasses of cattle culled to combat foot-and-mouth because they could spread mad cow disease, REUTERS reports. A group of scientists, members of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, is expected to advise the government next month it will need to assess each burial site of cattle over five years old to see whether the carcasses need to be exhumed and burned, one of the scientists said. Asked whether older and so more-at-risk carcasses would need to be dug up to protect the environment, a member of the committee told Reuters: "I think it will probably be by a case-by-case basis...depending on the geology of the area and the method of culling." A spokesman said as many as 500 cases of foot-and-mouth disease had been confirmed before it received advice from SEAC not to bury animals. He said the ministry did not know how many cattle, and of what age, were buried in pits
 

May 24, 2001

FTAA Views Are Pro and Con. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman says a comprehensive free trade agreement among the 34 democracies in the Western Hemisphere will provide U.S. agricultural producers and exporters greater access to 450 million consumers outside the North American Free Trade Agreement with $2 trillion in income. With rapidly increasing disposable incomes, these consumers "represent a strong demand for imported food products." 

Massachusetts Urged to Reject Labeling.  The Grocery Manufacturers of America has urged members of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Commerce and Labor to reject a state proposal requiring mandatory labels for biotech foods. "The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already regulates the introduction of and labeling of biotech foods," said Lisa Katic, director of science and nutrition policy at GMA. "This makes mandatory state labeling for genetically-enhanced food products unnecessary and redundant." 

Grassley Wants Vietnam Trade Agreement by June 1. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Committee on Finance, has asked President Bush to submit the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Agreement to Congress by June 1. Grassley said the submission would allow Congress to carefully review the trade agreement at the same time it considers another key decision on trade with Vietnam. 

Lugar, Grassley React to Tax Relief Approval. The Senate approved a tax relief package Wednesday 62-38 that includes a phasing out of the dreaded estate tax so vigorously opposed by most farm interests. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) called it "the most significant tax reform since a tax reduction bill under President Reagan in 1981. 

Farmers Barred from Blair Meeting.  Farmers angry at Prime Minister Tony Blair for his handling of Britain's foot-and-mouth crisis were prevented from meeting him at an election campaign visit Thursday, REUTERS reports. About 20 farmers with banners printed with such slogans as "Rural Britain. Labour-free zone!" were told to leave the grounds of a college in Swindon where Blair was visiting pupils. "It's about time the prime minister came to the countryside and saw the devastation his government has caused," said Norman Thomas, an arable farmer. "We're trying to make the farming voice heard, but he obviously doesn't want to talk to real voters." Blair, whose Labour party is ahead in opinion polls for elections on June 7, has been criticised for running an election campaign which has kept him largely shielded from non-Labour supporters and the media. The news agency said journalists following Blair on his campaign are mostly penned in behind barriers, far away from the prime minister. 

China to Regain EU Poultry Market.  BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that Chinese poultry breeders will regain access to the European Union market after a five- year ban imposed because of sanitary concerns, the Shanghai Daily reported, quoting officials. China's Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation authorized 14 companies to export to the EU once they have passed procedures set out by the EU, the report said, citing Chen Shuping, office director at Shanghai Daying Poultry Corp., one of the approved exporters. Daying and three other Shanghai-based companies are among the 14 authorized to export to Europe, including two processors under the Shanghai-listed Shanghai Dajiang Group, the report said. China is the world's largest poultry consumer and the second largest producer after the U.S. with some 3.4 billion birds raised annually. 

China Should Be Let into WTO.  THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that the incoming World Trade Organization director-general, Supachai Panitchpakdi, believes China's entry into the World Trade Organization shouldn't be postponed, but multilateral discussions should ensure all loose ends are tied up before accession. China has completed the necessary bilateral agreements to join the global trade rule setting body, but multilateral negotiations on accession have stalled in Geneva, raising doubts that entry can be assured before a key WTO meeting in November. Among the obstacles are China's request to be admitted to the organization as a developing nation so that it can receive a higher ceiling for agricultural subsidies. That high ceiling for subsidies, at 10% of gross domestic product, is opposed by the U.S., which has argued for a compromise level. 

Cuba Loosens Food Rules. Cuba's government has restructured the food industry and is reluctantly bending the rules of communism by allowing a limited free market in food, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports. The results are long rows of tomatoes, lettuce, and other salad fixings now grow in fields outside the capital, where fresh vegetables used to be scarce and farmers' markets with stands piled high with watercress, spinach, parsley and basil, okra, green beans and bell peppers. And a supermarket built for diplomats now attracts more Cubans than foreigners. Shortages remain acute outside Havana, the news agency says, especially in Guantanamo province and other parts of eastern Cuba suffering from drought. The United Nations World Food Program has provided $22 million to help feed children and pregnant and nursing women in eastern Cuba this year. But overall, the food crisis that peaked in 1993-94 after Cuba lost its Soviet support and U.S. trade sanctions were tightened is now easing as President Fidel Castro's government slowly works toward self-sufficiency, according to the AP. 

Corrected Boxed Beef Values Released. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has released corrected choice and select boxed beef cutout and primal cut values for April 3 through May 11 in the national daily boxed beef cutout and boxed beef cuts report. On May 14, AMS discovered a technical error in the computer program for the livestock mandatory price reporting (LMPR) system. The error affected the cutout values for beef carcasses and primals (the major components of carcasses). The cutout and primal values are constructed from the prices of individual meat cuts which have been reported accurately and were not subject to the programming error. Corrected calculations for the daily select cutout values for the period April 3 through May 11 averaged $0.43 or 0.37% higher per hundredweight than the values originally reported, ranging from a one-day low of -$1.10 to a one-day high of $1.94. The choice cutout values averaged $2.92 or 2.32 percent per hundredweight higher, ranging from a one-day low of $0.73 to a one-day high of $7.54. Choice and select boxed beef cutout and primal cut values reported since Wednesday afternoon, May 16, have been correct. An internal review team appointed by Secretary Ann M. Veneman and headed by Keith Collins, USDA's chief economist, has reviewed the process for recalculating the cutout and primal values. The team will continue to monitor this process while conducting an in-depth review of the entire LMPR program to ensure the integrity of the system and the accuracy of future reports. The National Daily Boxed Beef Cutout and Boxed Beef Cuts report containing the recalculated cutout and primal values may be accessed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/lm_xb403.txt. 

Groups Oppose Continuing Sanctions.  Thirteen major trade associations, representing business and agriculture, have called on Congress to oppose reauthorization of the Iran Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA). In a letter sent to all Senators and Representatives, the organizations urged Congress not to tie the Bush administration to a failed policy. "It would be unwise in the extreme for Congress to renew sanctions or to impose new ones before the new U.S. administration has developed its policy," said Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council and Co-Chairman of USA-Engage. "U.S. national security issues should always be of paramount concern. However, this case requires a far more sophisticated and targeted approach than ILSA -- which is nothing more than a blunt instrument that hinders the real work of U.S. diplomacy," he continued. "Reauthorizing ILSA is wrong for so many reasons. Let's not shoot ourselves in the foot again." Despite ILSA's extraterritorial sanctions, both Iran and Libya receive significant capital investment in their oil and gas sectors. Last March, the Congressional Research Service reported that $10.5 billion of foreign investment has taken place in Iran's oil and gas sector since 1997. Iran expects $1.5 billion to be invested in its petrochemical sector this year. These investors include France, Canada, Italy, Japan, the UK, among others -- companies from our closest allies and most important trading partners, which have not been deterred by the threat of ILSA. The American Farm Bureau Federation was one of the groups signing the letter. 

Senate Confirms Five to USDA. J.B. Penn has been confirmed by the Senate take over as under secretary at USDA in charge of farm and foreign agricultural programs. Confirmed with Penn were Eric Bost, a Texas social services official, to be undersecretary for nutrition; William Hawks, a Mississippi farmer, to be undersecretary for marketing and regulatory services; Lou Gallegos, a New Mexico state official, to be assistant secretary for administration, and Mary Waters, an agribusiness executive, to be assistant secretary for congressional relations. 

Japan Forces Country-of-Origin Labels. KYODO NEWS reports that Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will force processing companies of various foods to display on product labels the countries from where their raw materials originate. Ministry officials said the measure is aimed at providing consumers with more detailed information on processed foods, amid growing raw material procurement from China and other countries. The ministry will develop new or revise existing labeling guidelines under the Japan Agricultural Standard Law, revised last month, for the new guidelines to apply as early as fall and through next year, depending on the product, they said. Currently, the guidelines require makers of processed foods only to disclose where products are processed. Processors must specify the country of origin if the dominant ingredient of a product, by weight, is foreign made. They will be required to specify the prefecture or municipality of origin if the ingredient is domestically produced. 
 

May 23, 2001

U.S. Sorghum Snack Soon in Japan. Japanese consumers will soon be eating a U.S. made white sorghum snack, a new food product marketed by the U.S. Grains Council and the U.S. sorghum industry. The new product will be on Japanese grocery store shelves June 5. 

Wide Range of Dairy Issues Aired. If U.S. dairy producers are to be successful, the American Farm Bureau Federation told lawmakers that future dairy policy needs to address issues ranging from the continuation of the dairy price support program and reviewing dairy import/export concerns, to animal health protections and proposed environmental regulations. 

Farm Bureau Says Don't Wait, Negotiate.  While urging the World Trade Organization to tackle numerous, stifling barriers to global agricultural trade, the American Farm Bureau Federation will continue to encourage the U.S. government to aggressively pursue bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements to secure markets for U.S. agricultural exports, the federation president said. 

Conservation Payments Bills Introduced. Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) have introduced a bill in the Senate that is based on a three-tiered payment program available for farmers who implement certain conservation practices. Identical legislation was introduced in the House by Reps. John Thune (R-SD) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH). Under the plan, farmers could receive an annual payment up to $20,000 and access a one-time advance payment of the greater of $1,000 or 20% of the annual payment for implementing a basic set of practices such as nutrient management, soil conservation and wildlife habitat management. The second tier allows a payment up to $35,000 and access to a one-time advance payment of $2,000 or 20% of the annual payment, whichever is greater. Farmers would add to their practices by choosing such additional practices as controlled, rotational grazing, partial field practices such as buffer strips and windbreaks, wetland restoration and wildlife habitat enhancement. Conservation practices on the entire farm would have to be implemented under the third tier and include all aspects of air, land, water and wildlife. Up to $50,000 could be earned with a one-time advance payment of the greater of $3,000 or 20% of the annual payment. 

Farm Bureau Moves Up in Influence. Fortune Magazine's "Power 25" survey of the most influential organizations in Washington has the American Farm Bureau Federation ranked 15th compared with 21st in the previous survey. "Being recognized for doing what we are supposed to do is flattering and serves as an incentive to move further up in the rankings next time around," said AFBF President Bob Stallman. "For the third time in as many surveys, AFBF placed among the elite top 25. Those we work with recognize us as truly representing the interests of our members and for being the most reliable and credible voice of American agriculture." In determining the rankings, the magazine distributed questionnaires to every member of Congress along with senior Capitol Hill staff members, senior White House aides, professional lobbyists and top ranking officers of the largest lobbying groups in Washington. 

Jeffords as a Democrat Still Active Subject.  THE FARM JOURNAL reports on its web site that speculation continues about whether Sen. James Jeffords (R-VT) will switch parties and join the Democrats and how this may affect the reauthorization of the Northeast Dairy Compact. Jeffords angered many in the Republican party when he refused to support President Bush's original budget with its $1.6 trillion tax cut over 10 years. Jeffords instead aligned with a bipartisan group of moderates that favored a smaller tax cut. As a result, a recent report in the New York Times said the Bush administration may derail one of Jeffords' most cherished pieces of legislation—supporting the Northeast Dairy Compact. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) recently told reporters that Jeffords had never indicated any plans for switching party affiliation. 

End of Year Before China Joins WTO.  REUTERS reports that a U.S. official says it could take until the end of the year before China becomes a member of the World Trade Organization. "It does not look good," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "There's a lot of work to be done." The delay increases the chance that China might not be a member by the time the WTO holds its next ministerial meeting in November in Doha, Qatar. Even a sudden breakthrough between the United States and China on stubborn agricultural issues might not speed up the process because of other factors, the official said. On Monday, China's chief WTO negotiator Long Yongtu said the two countries were edging toward an agreement over what limits China would face on domestic farm subsidy spending. "They are going to study our response (to the proposal the United States made in March) and we are going to meet again soon," Long told reporters. "I believe we can find solutions." But, the article notes, once the WTO "working party" in Geneva reaches a final agreement on the terms of China's entry into the WTO, it still will have to be reviewed by all 15 member states of the European Union, the U.S. official said. The Bush administration will also have to certify to Congress that terms of the final multilateral pact are as good as the agreement the United States and China signed in 1999. 

South Dakota Wants New Feed Rules.  South Dakota is implementing livestock feed rules to further segregate cattle byproducts that now are banned from cattle feed because of concerns about mad cow disease. With the seventh-largest cattle herd in the United States, South Dakota is one of the first major livestock states to take such action. South Dakota Agriculture Secretary Larry Gabriel said federal laws designed to keep cattle byproducts out of cattle feed do not go far enough to prevent the accidental mixing of the banned ingredients, particularly at mills that make feed for several species. "I think that the rules the federal government has on banning certain feed byproducts in ruminant animal feed are good ones. But we're all human," Gabriel said at a livestock disease conference in Sioux Falls, SD, last week. 

Armyworms on the March.  Armyworm pests "are munching through wheat, corn and other tall-grass plants and pasture in record numbers this year," REUTERS reports, inflicting serious damage to crops in some parts of southern Midwest. Armyworm caterpillars usually feed on tall-grass crops, eating increasingly large amounts as they grow into moths. The pests are devastating crop lands in Missouri, Indiana and Illinois,USDA said in its latest weekly crop progress report. The Illinois Agricultural Statistics Service said armyworms in Illinois were "marching from one depleted food source to another devouring everything in their path". The article says anecdotal accounts had Illinois motorists saying "roads appeared to be moving" as the worms crossed from one field to another. And an Illinois churchgoer had to sweep a thick pile of the worms off the doorstep before Sunday service. 

Livestock Price Hearing Scheduled.  The House Committee on Agriculture will hold a hearing Thursday to review mandatory livestock price reporting. USDA officials and beef industry representatives are expected to testify about the problems the reporting system encountered that industry representatives say may have cost traders millions. The hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. in 1300 Longworth House office building. 

Spending Hike Hailed in Australia. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that the Cattle Council of Australia has welcomed a massive increase in spending for border quarantine specifically targeted against foot-and-mouth disease announced Tuesday in the government's budget. The government will increase spending on border control and quarantine measures by a total of A$596.4 million over five years. Funding for the government's Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, or AQIS, isn't stated in the budget but comprises most of the A$342 million in general unallocated funds provided to Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Australia, a government department, next fiscal year ending June 30, 2002. Agriculture Minister Warren Truss told parliament Wednesday the extra spending is the biggest ever increase and will "certainly massively upgrade our quarantine capabilities and help to protect our vital clean and green image." 

ACGA Starts Wind Power Program.  Anticipating the economic and environmental benefits of wind power generation for family farm agriculture, the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) will enact a new national program for small and mid-sized farms. This program, called "Wealth From the Wind" will seek ways for production agriculture and rural communities to benefit from wind energy. "Wealth From the Wind, developed by the American Corn Growers Foundation and with an initial grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will educate rural Americans about wind power and look towards the feasibility of using wind to diversify the agricultural economy and making farm land more productive. Through the process of farmers leasing their land to power generators for the placement of wind turbines, formation of farmer-owned wind generating cooperatives and net metering for individual farmers, wind energy holds the potential for increased income potential from wind energy generation," said Larry Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of the ACGA. Working in cooperation with Windustry, a Minnesota organization that works to create an understanding of wind energy opportunities, Wealth From the Wind will gauge farmer interest and acceptance through national surveys, host workshops around the country to promote wind energy, provide educational materials on the benefits of wind power and the feasibility of forming wind cooperatives, work with a wide range of farm and commodity associations to promote this new form of additional farm income, help remove obstacles to greater wind utilization and educate Congress and the Administration on the need for substantial governmental incentives to move wind power generation forward. 

El Nino May Be Threatening Australia.  REUTERS reports that Australia's wheat and sheep belt gradually is turning brown as the grass dries and dies and farmers delay planting winter crops, hoping the drought-inducing El Nino weather event is not again brewing in the Pacific. The giant horseshoe-shaped growing and grazing belt which runs in a broad band around the eastern, southern and western coastline of one of world's great agriculture exporting nations has been drying out for more than a month, the news agency reports. Heavy rainfall has only scored a direct hit on Sydney, to the chagrin of the city slickers, but it's missing everywhere else. The rainfall shortage is part of a classic El Nino pattern, which at full strength, as in 1997, can cause serious drought, crop failure and devastating bush fires in Australia and Southeast Asia, and possibly famine in places like Papua New Guinea. "But the jury is still out on whether El Nino is back," the article notes. "There is still a possibility of El Nino," Grant Beard, spokesman for the National Climate Center at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, said. The chances of an El Nino not developing this year were greater than of one developing, but the possibility of an El Nino in late 2001 could not be discounted, he said. 

May 22, 2001

Animals Not Affected by Biotech Feed. Study results from 23 research experiments conducted at universities throughout in three countries show biotech corn and soybeans used in animal feed have little or no effect on the animals fed the biotech crops. 

Corn Growers See Ethanol Opportunities in Bush Plan. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) sees opportunities for expanding ethanol markets in the energy plan announced last week by President George W. Bush. "The President's plan sets the broad parameters for the debate on the specifics of energy policy and programs that must occur," said Boyd Smith, farmer from York, NE, and vice chairman of the NCGA Customer and Business Development Action Team. "The President called for an enhanced use of renewable energy and increased conservation. We welcome the plan and the debate it will spur because it provides ethanol supporters a forum to promote expanding ethanol production and use. 

Cattlemen Meet with USDA on Price Reporting.  The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) was to meet Monday with USDA officials to address several initial concerns raised as the result of inaccurate price reports on beef cut-out values. USDA Secretary Ann Veneman requested a review of the livestock reporting system, which has been reporting inaccurate price reports since its induction April 2. 

Growing Conditions Seen Good.  ROOSTER.COM reports that favorable growing weather appears likely this summer. The National Weather Service released the updated forecast for the summer last week and it shows a normal to cooler-than-normal temperature outlook and normal to wetter-than-normal rainfall outlook for the Midwest. "This is little changed from previous outlooks and highlights the lack of threatening weather expected in the Corn Belt for the June to August period," says this report. Latest indications are that the La Nina event that has been an influential feature in driving U.S. weather patterns is coming to an end. This leaves a "neutral" signal situation, not seen for some time. In fact the most recent comparative year is 1986 followed by 1968, 1963 and 1951. These summers were characterized by favorable growing weather until August, when some dryness crept into the central and eastern Midwest, as shown below, according to the article. National crop yields for corn, soy beans and spring wheat were trend or higher most of the time in the analog years. With the most favorable weather pattern expected in June and July, a favorable crop outlook could result. The area of the country expected to see prolonged hot and dry weather during the summer period is along the Deep South. 

Blair Urges Continued Vigilance. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair urges his country not to drop its guard against foot-and-mouth disease among farm animals after a new cluster of cases alarmed farmers, REUTERS reports. Blair said earlier this month that the country was winning its war against the disease, clearing the way for him to call a general election for June 7. But a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth in North Yorkshire, which has 15 reported cases of the disease in 10 days, is worrying farmers, the news agency notes. The spread has forced the cull of 50,000 animals in the region. Blair, at his Labour party's daily campaign news conference, said he had never actually declared an end to the disease, which causes flu-like symptoms in cows, sheep and pigs but does not usually affect humans. "What we said was the numbers of cases were coming down very considerably as they obviously have done," Blair said. "There are now just a handful of cases a day." 

EU Has Host of New Proposals.  THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that the European Union Commission has announced a host of new proposals linked to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis, including lowering the minimum testing age for cattle to 24 months, halting the automatic slaughter of entire herds where cases of BSE are discovered, and the introduction of testing for sheep. Addressing EU agriculture ministers during their regular monthly meeting in Brussels, EU Health Commissioner David Byrne said the proposals were necessary transition measures ahead of the adoption July 1 of the new E.U. regulation on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which will seek to enforce stricter controls and further testing in order to prevent the spread of diseases such as BSE and scrapie.Byrne also said he will extend the current ban on the use of meat and bone meal in animal feed, blamed largely for the two major outbreaks of BSE that have swept across the EU, and introduce stricter controls on imports of animal feed from non-E.U. countries where "potential weaknesses" exist. 

China Edges Toward Deal with U.S.  REUTERS reports from Geneva that a senior Chinese official says his country is edging towards a deal with the United States that could clear the way for China's entry this year to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Long Yongtu, Beijing's top trade negotiator, told reporters China had given U.S. officials its detailed reply to proposals submitted by Washington in March to end a current impasse in the 14-year negotiations. "They are going to study our response and we are going to meet again soon, and I believe we can find solutions," he said. The U.S. proposals themselves had been "constructive," he added. Long indicated that he would be holding a key meeting on the issue with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick in Shanghai on the margins of a ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping on June 7-8. "I think they will respond to our ideas in Shanghai," he said, speaking after meeting WTO Director-General Mike Moore, who also will be at the APEC gathering. Although China completed its bilateral negotiations on WTO entry with the United States in late 1999, Washington has since taken the lead in opposing Beijing's demand that it have the right to grant big subsidies to its farmers. 

UK May Have New FMD Hot Spot. UK farmers warned of a new hot spot in Britain's battle against foot-and-mouth in northeastern England on Monday, saying 17 farms had been hit in just 10 days in the previously disease-free area, according to a REUTERS report. Rob Simpson, spokesman for the National Farmers' Union in the region, said the highly infectious livestock disease was spreading across the region in north Yorkshire like wildfire. "This could definitely be a new hot spot. I think the figure is 17 now in the Settle/Skipton area. It is extremely worrying, not least because the disease is not staying in a very small area," he said by telephone from the area. "There is massive concern and there are a lot of farms being taken out already. At the rate the (slaughtermen) are going there's going to be very little left in about a week's time." He said officials were trying to work out where the outbreak had come from. They could not rule out that farmers may have let their guard slip against the disease that can be spread by the wind, on vehicle tyres or on clothing. The news agency notes that more than 1,600 premises have been confirmed with cases of the disease and almost three million animals have been slaughtered to contain it. 

Biotech Meat Coming to Market. Genetically modified meat could be on shop shelves in the next 10 to 15 years, British researchers predicted on Monday, according to REUTERS. Professor Patrick Bateson, of the Royal Society of leading scientists, said it will be feasible to breed chicken resistant to salmonella or cattle genetically altered to produce lean meat. "It should take at least a decade," he told the news agency. But Bateson, chairman of a Royal Society group which produced a new report on GM animals, said the meat and products would be subject to strict regulations and testing before they reached the market. He believes the recent uproar about genetically modified crops that gripped Europe was due to misinformation and that the public will be more likely to accept GM products if people are given good scientific evidence. "There are a lot of misgivings based on misinformation," he said in a telephone interview. The 50-page report called for more funding for research on the use of GM animals, and said research on genetic modification will become increasingly important in the search for the causes and cures of diseases. 

May 21, 2001

Renewables' Future a Ways Off.  Much of the future for renewable fuels depends on oil prices. USDA chief economist Keith Collins says biomass fuels used to produce electricity now total only 1.5%, but an increase is "possible" over time depending on oil prices. Renewable fuels, he notes, cost more to produce than fossil fuels. 

Study Show Little Price Impact from Biodiesel. Truckers and other highway users of diesel fuel could see their energy costs decline if diesel is blended with a soy-based fuel, according to a new report by a University of Minnesota economist. The report claims that blending petroleum diesel fuel with a 2% level of soy-based biodiesel has only a six-tenths-of-a-cent impact on the retail price of diesel fuel. If a proposed federal biodiesel tax incentive were in place, economist Douglas Tiffany's analysis shows retail diesel blended with the soy-based alternative fuel could save highway diesel fuel users money. 

Dispute Over Pork Checkoff Referendum Continues. Activists who worked to end the pork checkoff "continue to try to distort the facts and use empty rhetoric in an attempt to deliberately confuse and mislead pork producers about the checkoff referendum," says Barb Determan, president of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). Her statement came late last week and was an attempt "to set the record straight so that pork producers have the facts and understand exactly how they are being led astray by the activists." 

Survey to Gather Information on Young Farmers, Ranchers.  Determining what young farmers and ranchers believe to be the tools and programs needed to ensure their success in agriculture is the goal of an Internet survey currently under way designed by the Farm Credit System (FCS) Foundation, Inc. It can be accessed at www.surveyhost.net/barriers/barriers_1.htm or through a link on the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) web site at www.fb.org/programs/yfr/. 

AMS Recalculating Cutout Values.  The American Meat Institute says it is keeping in touch with USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service to determine the scope of a problem with boxed beef cutout and primal cut values reported by the agency and ensure miscalculations do not occur in the future. The values reported in the National Daily Boxed Beef Cutout and Boxed Beef Cuts reports for April 3 through May 11 may have been incorrectly calculated due to a technical error in the computer program for USDA's mandatory price reporting system.  Animal Genetics Important Tool.  Genetic engineering of animals will become more important in medical research but will have a limited effect on livestock and food production in the next decade, a U.K. scientific body said in a report. BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that researchers will use more animals created to develop human diseases so that new therapies can be tested, according to the report from the London-based Royal Society, a 340-year-old independent association for scientists. They may also create livestock resistant to diseases such as scrapie in sheep, salmonella in chickens and foot-and-mouth in cattle, the scientists said. "The development of GM animals has been hugely beneficial in many areas, not least into research on the causes and possible treatments of disease," the 50-page report said. "But serious concerns remain about welfare and health and safety issues that need to be addressed if these benefits are to be realized." Many environmentalists oppose genetic modification, saying it may have unknown side effects on human health, animals and their surroundings. Even so, the use of GM animals in research is growing and accounted for about a fifth of the 2.6 million research animals used in the U.K. in 1999. The first GM mouse was produced less than two decades ago. 

Ethanol, Big Oil Fight for California.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that the ethanol industry wants California, but the state has other ideas. And that's causing a political headache at the White House, the news agency says. "For weeks, the Bush administration has been caught between two of the most powerful political lobbies in Washington - farmers and big oil companies - over a gasoline requirement California officials say is not needed and could boost prices as much as a nickel a gallon," this report says. The issue is ethanol, a corn-based gasoline additive that adds oxygen and allows fuel to burn cleaner. The AP report continues that mainly a Midwest market, the ethanol industry has eyed California as a huge addition because the state is banning a competing additive, MTBE, after 2002 because it pollutes the water. But California environmental officials argue they no longer need an additive because refiners can make new blends of gasoline cheaper and cleaner than by using MTBE or ethanol. 

Hong Kong Moves to Poultry Farms after Slaughter.  After slaughtering all the poultry in Hong Kong's markets, food safety workers moved Monday onto farms where more than 1 million birds will be killed in a massive campaign to eradicate an outbreak of avian influenza, according to THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. The bird virus was detected last week and isn't believed to have spread to any of the farms. The news agency says no people have become ill, but with the markets closed for a thorough cleansing, officials decided they had to cull all the mature birds being raised in rural areas of Hong Kong. "Since the retail outlets have been closed and will remain so for three to four weeks, there is a need to destroy local chickens, pigeons and quails which will reach marketable age," said Lessie Wei, director of agriculture, fisheries and conservation. Hong Kong has mounted a full-scale effort to wipe out the flu, with 1.2 million birds to be slaughtered over a two-week period, even though the virus hasn't crossed over to humans like one did in 1997, killing six people. 

Australian Dairy Farmers Get More.  THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that dairy farmers most affected by deregulation of Australia's milk market will get an extra A$140 million from the federal government on top of their $1.7 billion rescue package. Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said Sunday the money is needed to help farmers in the states of New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia who had been worst hit by industry changes as they had formerly been protected by price support arrangements. "The government is providing this additional assistance after a report by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics clearly showed the decline in market milk prices has been greater than many farmers expected, particularly in the former quota sates of NSW, Queensland and Western Australia," Truss said in a statement. He said the report showed farmers in these states facing a 30% cut in income due to industry deregulation. An extra A$100 million will go to those farmers who relied most heavily on subsidized milk quotas, and another A$20 million will go to people who were denied access to some or all of the original package based on an extraordinary circumstances provision. 
 

May 18, 2001

Reaction Mostly Positive to Bush Energy Plan.  Reaction from agricultural interests to President Bush's energy plan has been mostly positive, even though the proposals from Vice President Dick Cheney's task force did not directly make room for increased biomass or corn-based ethanol production. The plan supports the extension of the ethanol tax incentive, a provision not up for renewal until 2007 and makes more than a few recommendations on increasing renewable and alternative energy sources. 

Cattlemen Worry about Faulty Values.  The National Cattlemen's Beef Association has contacted USDA about announced changes in the USDA "choice" and "select" cutout values for Monday and Tuesday. Previous values that were reported for those days were incorrect because of a programming error. Prices for "no-roll" product were apparently being incorporated into both the choice and the select cutout values, said NCBA. 

Concentration Requirements Unfair, Unjustified. Efforts to place unique requirements on the agriculture industry are unfair and unjustified, according to Mark Dopp, senior vice president of regulatory affairs and general counsel for the American Meat Institute. Dopp testified before Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. 

New Ranchers Need Tools to Succeed.  New farmers and ranchers should be provided appropriate financial tools to help them succeed in business, the chairman of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's (NCBA) Tax & Credit Committee told a Senate Committee. Frank Brost, a cattle producer from Rapid City, SD, told the Senate Agriculture Committee that studies show a lack of startup capital is the primary concern for both lenders and young farmers and ranchers and a lack of equity and the current return on investment keeps many successful partnerships from developing. 

Report Scores French Mad Cow Reaction.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports from Paris that a report on how the government handled risk in the outbreak of mad cow disease sharply criticizes France's Agriculture Ministry for a delay in prohibiting meat-based animal feed and keeping quiet about suspicions. The report by a Senate commission, released Thursday, predicts that France will see 300 cases of what is thought to be the human form of the disease in the next 60 years, a length of time that accounts for the decades-long incubation period of variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. Three people have died in France so far. "The risk is now behind us, even if the consequences lie ahead," said the 362-page report, released after a six-month investigation. Interministerial reports from 1994-2000 `"how that the Agriculture Ministry constantly tried to hinder or delay precautionary measures, which later proved to be security measures, under the motive that they had no scientific bases," the report said. Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany denounced the report as "completely false" and said it amounted to a "political maneuver." 

FMD Tantamount to War in South Dakota.  South Dakota Gov. William Janklow says an outbreak of food and mouth disease in South Dakota would have an impact similar to war and require a similar response, REUTERS reports. "This would be no different than biological warfare," Janklow said, "and we would have to treat it like a war from day one." At a conference in Sioux Falls, SD, that included presentations by several high-ranking federal and state veterinarians, the governor outlined the plan his state would use if the highly contagious livestock virus erupted in the United States. Under what Janklow called his "war plan," he would alert the state's National Guard units and highway patrol if foot-and-mouth was confirmed anywhere in North America. Also, because of the danger of transmission by out-of-state animals, South Dakota's livestock sales barns would be shut down. If the virus cropped up within South Dakota, Janklow said the state would impose a total quarantine in infected and adjacent areas, covering all livestock, property and individuals. Soldiers and every police officer in the state would be mobilized to help limit movement until affected herds could be destroyed. 

Cattle Industry May Have Lost Millions.  REUTERS reports from Chicago that six weeks of errors that apparently caused USDA to underreport wholesale beef prices may have cost the cattle industry millions of dollars in lost sales. "I have calculated that cattle feeders and traders may have lost between $20 million and $40 million," said Steve Kay, editor of Cattle Buyers Weekly, a marketing and business newsletter for the North American meat industry. USDA acknowledged on Wednesday that there were errors in beef price reporting stretching back to April 3 and it was working to correct and reissue those prices. When the boxed beef prices resumed late on Wednesday, they were much higher than the industry had expected. The boxed beef value for the benchmark choice 750- to 900-pound carcass was $133.02 per cwt on Wednesday, up $8.44 from Friday and an extraordinarily large increase. Thursday's value was $133.16. Kay said his estimates assumed that USDA's boxed beef prices for the past six weeks were under-reported by $2.50 per hundredweight for choice beef and $1.00 for select beef, according to this report. Boxed beef values, along with other criteria, are used by cattle producers to set cattle prices. If the beef values were erroneously low the past six weeks, as the industry believes, then producers probably priced their cattle too low. 

Eberspacher Moves to ARA from Wheat Growers.  Jack Eberspacher, CEO at the National Association of Wheat Growers, has been named president and CEO at the Agricultural Retailers Association in Washington. He will direct all activities for the ARA including government affairs, member services, communications, marketing and finance. He also will serve as chief lobbyist, working with the ARA staff and federal regulatory agencies. At NAWG, Eberspacher managed the association, the NAWG Foundation and the NAWG WheatPAC. Prior to his duties at NAWG, he was CEO for the National Grain Sorghum Producers Association. 

Co-ops Must Manage, not ‘Cave in' to Members.  The survival of U.S. farmer-owned cooperatives will hinge on their ability to make good business decisions and not cave in to the special interests of their members, a top executive in the industry says, according to REUTERS. "Owned by farmers, co-ops tend to want to be politically correct rather than make good sound business decisions," John Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Cenex Harvest States, or CHS, told REUTERS in an interview. "Those that use sound economic reasoning even if it's not a popular decision will be those that are successful," he said. Cenex is the third largest agricultural cooperative in the United States. The Minnesota-based group, with 6,000 employees working in areas ranging from grain marketing to food processing and oil refining, serves co-op members in 18 states. 

Canada Won't Sign OECD Plan. Canada will not sign a proposed plan by OECD member countries that seeks to scale back government export credit guarantee programs for farm products, a Canadian minister said on Thursday. REUTERS reports that Pierre Pettigrew, Canada's international trade minister, told the news agency, "The simple fact (is that) the proposed understanding does not meet Canada's objectives." The statement came at a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Canada's refusal so far to sign up to the OECD plan has been seen as possibly dooming a six-year effort to reduce state agricultural export credits, which are considered market-distorting subsidies. Pettigrew said the OECD proposal did not put state trading enterprises like the Canadian Wheat Board on a level playing feld with commercial lenders and would place Canadian producers at a competitive disadvantage. In Washington, European Union Farm Minister Franz Fischler said that refusal means the effort will have to be negotiated by the World Trade Organization. Canada was the lone hold out on the issue among the 30 industrialized nations that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group that requires consensus for reforms to be put in place. "It is my view it will be necessary that we go back to the WTO and discuss this issue within the coming (negotiating) round," said Fischler The OECD effort has been going on for six years after the organization was instructed by a global trade agreement to scale back export credit guarantee programs. 
 

May 17, 2001

Farm Loan Delinquency at Historic Low. The Senate Agriculture Committee learned Wednesday that USDA's direct loan delinquency for farmers is the lowest in more than 20 years at 12.3%. Carolyn B. Cooksie, deputy administrator for farm loan programs at the Farm Service Agency, also said delinquent million dollar-plus direct loan accounts had been reduced from 748 at the end of fiscal year 1995 to 180 at the end of fiscal 2000. Delinquency in the guaranteed loan portfolio is at an all-time low of 1.83%, and dollar losses have remained low despite continuing growth of the portfolio, Cooksie added. In fiscal 2000, losses paid were only seven-tenths of 1% of the principal outstanding. 

Grains Still Highly Competitive, Panel Told. The grain marketplace remains highly competitive, despite ongoing consolidations throughout the agricultural industry and other sectors of the U.S. economy, the National Grain and Feed Association told a congressional panel. David S. Reiff, president of Reiff Grain and Feed Inc., Fairfield, IA, said, "Robust competition, particularly between first buyers who purchase grain from producers, and the highly transparent nature of the grain marketplace work together to ensure that competitive markets are the norm for U.S. grain farmers." 

Bankers Give Panel Farm Policy Recommendations.  The nation's bankers gave the Senate Agriculture Committee Wednesday a list of farm policy preferences they'd like to see incorporated into law. The American Bankers Association (ABA) urged Congress to make funding for USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan programs a priority, permanently repeal the 15-year term limit on guaranteed loan eligibility, and to increase the ceiling on low documentation FSA guaranteed loan applications to $150,000. 

FAO Proposes LDC Food Safety Fund.  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has proposed setting up a $98 million fund to help the world's least developed countries (LDCs) improve the safety and quality of their food products. The proposal was made at the third UN Conference on the LDCs in Brussels underway this week. 

U.S. Commits to Finance Trade Enhancements.  The United States will contribute $1 million to the World Trade Organization to help finance technical assistance activities that benefit developing countries, U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick said Wednesday. The voluntary contribution, to help developing countries meet their Uruguay Round commitments and participate more fully in the international trading system, will be provided to the WTO's Global Trust Fund for Technical Assistance. 

Eberspacher Moves to ARA from Wheat Growers.  Jack Eberspacher, CEO at the National Association of Wheat Growers, has been named president and CEO at the Agricultural Retailers Association in Washington. He will direct all activities for the ARA including government affairs, member services, communications, marketing and finance. He also will serve as chief lobbyist, working with the ARA staff and federal regulatory agencies. At NAWG, Eberspacher managed the association, the NAWG Foundation and the NAWG WheatPAC. Prior to his duties at NAWG, he was CEO for the National Grain Sorghum Producers Association. 

Government Rejects Australian Farmers' Criticism.  Federal Agriculture Minister Warren Truss has rejected criticism of a decision to deny "exceptional circumstances assistance" to a group of Western Australian farmers. The Western Australian Government is furious the application for $38 million for drought and frost-affected farmers in the state's southeast wheat belt has been rejected, saying the decision is based on incorrect information, according to the AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION. Truss says Western Australia has itself to blame if any information in the funding application is wrong. He adds that the application covered a similar area to one requested by the former government which was also rejected. "When the harvest data became available they (the former government) recognized that such a large application couldn't be substantiated," he said. "They submitted therefore a smaller application which was ultimately successful. When the new government came in they submitted an even larger application and yet nothing had really changed over that period and so it really had very little chance of being successful." 

Scientist Vows to Run Against UK Farm Minister.  REUTERS reports that a scientist opposed to Britain's animal slaughter to control foot-and-mouth said he had become so angry about the mass cull that he was forced to run against Farm Minister Nick Brown in the UK's upcoming general election. Harash Narang plans to campaign for more freedom of information -- something he says has been lacking since the livestock disease hit Britain in late February. "I'm taking the bull by the horns," Narang said from his home in Newcastle, northeastern England, where Brown will be running for re-election in the Newcastle East constituency. "As agriculture minister, Nick Brown has been killing and slaughtering animals even those just a day old -- lambs and calves. And the bull is very angry." Narang was one of the first scientists to warn government that mad cow disease might be fatal to humans, but he tried to devise a test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) for which the government withdrew funding. The microbiologist, 58, who says he is currently not working, opposed the slaughter program that so far has killed more than 2.5 million animals -- mainly sheep. 
 

May 16, 2001

Tobacco Commission Makes Recommendations.  The President's Commission on Tobacco has called on government to replace tobacco quotas with production permits and compensate quota owners and growers who decide to stop growing tobacco. Compensation would be for the loss in value of quota assets. Those who choose to continue tobacco production would be helped to offset current costs and make a transition to the production permit system. 

Harkin Wants to Ban MTBE.  Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) has introduced legislation to ban the gasoline additive MTBE, tighten air quality standards in the Clean Air Act's reformulated gasoline program, and maintain and enhance opportunities for renewable ethanol and biodiesel. "Ethanol is a proven alternative to MTBE," Harkin said. "Years ago, Big Oil rejected ethanol and put lead in gasoline, then they replaced that with highly polluting toxic compounds. Now we have the MTBE crisis. We have to hold the petroleum companies to standards that clean up our gasoline and air, protect human health, and promote renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel." 

Minnesota Senate Acts on Locks Issue. The Minnesota state Senate has passed a resolution urging Congress to authorize and fund longer locks on the Mississippi River. Much of Minnesota agriculture relies on the upper Mississippi system. Each year barges carry more than 10 million tons of agricultural products from Minnesota. 

Missouri Livestock Law Upheld. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has held that a Missouri law concerning livestock purchases does not violate the Constitution. Last year, a U.S. district court ruled that the challenged provisions were unconstitutional because they impermissibly burdened interstate commerce. 

USDA Works Computer Glitch.  USDA is working to fix a computer glitch that has prevented reporting of key cash market beef prices this week, but livestock analysts roundly criticized the agency, according to a REUTERS report. Since Monday, an apparent computer glitch has prevented the USDA's Market News Service from issuing its boxed beef values, which cash and futures cattle traders watch closely for indicators on packer profitability -- and buying demand. "Currently it is a software issue," said John Van Dyke, chief of the livestock and grain market news branch of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service. "The prices in the report are good; it is only the cutout values that are causing the problems." Twice a day, USDA releases boxed beef cut-out value reports, which include cut-out values and wholesale prices of various beef cuts sold by beef packing companies. The cut-out value is the calculated value of the carcass using the prices of the individual cuts. Van Dyke said USDA officials are working on the problem, and once it is fixed the department will publish the cutout values that were omitted this week. The news agency says livestock analysts who use the prices to monitor supermarket sales and forecast cattle prices reacted angrily, because the problem has occurred during one of the busiest beef sales periods of the year. 

U.S. Chicken May Be Out of East Europe. BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that U.S. chicken exporters may be shut out of the $250 million East European market because of a dispute over hygiene rules. U.S. processors have been banned from the European Union market since April 1997 because of EU laws banning chlorine as a chemical rinse during processing. Now, countries such as Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic that want to join the EU must also abide by those rules. "We're talking about a $250 million market being jeopardized," said Bill Roenigk, senior vice president of the National Chicken Council, a Washington-based lobby group. "I'd like to see our government a little more energized" in resolving this dispute, Roenigk said in an interview. 

USDA Amends Beef Rules.  USDA is amending the beef promotion and research rules and regulations under the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985 to clarify requirements for documenting cattle sales transactions for which no assessments are due. The amendment will specifically require the timely filing of statement of certification of non-producer status forms to obtain exemption from assessments. Under the Act, a $1-per-head assessment is due each time cattle are sold by a producer. However, when cattle are sold within 10 days of purchase by a person who certifies that he or she acquired ownership of the cattle to facilitate the transfer of ownership to a third-party, a completed statement of certification of non-producer status form may be provided to the collecting person in lieu of the $1 assessment. The amendment to the rules and regulations specifies that the statement form must be provided "at the time the collecting person makes payment to the seller of cattle." This amendment is designed to improve enforcement of assessment collection. The changes are in Tuesday's Federal Register. Copies of the final rule and additional information are available from Ralph L. Tapp, Chief, Marketing Programs Branch, AMS Livestock and Seed Program, USDA Stop 0251, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20090-0251; telephone number (202) 720-1115; fax (202) 720-1125; or e-mail ralph.tapp@usda.gov. 

GIPSA Okays Another StarLink Kit.  USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration has evaluated a test kit for the determination of StarLinkTM corn in corn grain. GIPSA performed its evaluation on the Strategic Diagnostics, Inc. GMO TM Bt9 Maize Kit (Part No. 7110030) and concluded that the performance of the kit meets the manufacturer's claims of the identification of one StarLinkTM corn kernel in 10,000 corn kernels. GIPSA's verification of tests is performed on grain only as opposed to processed foods. GIPSA verified the test detects the presence of StarLinkTM; the quantitative claims by the manufacturer were not verified. GIPSA began offering official testing service for StarLinkTM on Nov. 15 after the grain markets expressed the need for government backed testing and to ensure that corn export markets that have specific restrictions on the import of corn containing StarLinkTM are fulfilled. StarLinkTM is a variety of corn developed by Aventis Crop Science that incorporates biotechnical modification to control insect damage. StarLinkTM is approved for animal feed and industrial use only and is no longer available as seed for production. For more information on StarLinkTM testing services, see GIPSA's web site at http://www.usda.gov/gipsa/biotech/starlink/starlink.htm. For information on test kit performance evaluation and laboratory accreditation services, visit http://www.usda.gov/gipsa/biotech/evalaccredit.htm. 

ADM Not Bidding for Purina.  BLOOMBERG NEWS reports from Zurich that Archer Daniels Midland Co. Chief Executive G. Allen Andreas says his company isn't the unnamed bidder for feed-maker Purina Mills Inc. and that ADM has no interest in acquiring retail feed customers. ADM, the largest U.S. grain processor, was named by analysts as a possible suitor after Purina Mills said last week that it received a bid from a company it didn't identify. Other possible buyers include Cargill Inc., the largest agricultural company in the U.S., and Land 'O Lakes, a farmer-owned cooperative. "We would not have an interest in acquiring Purina Mills," Andreas said in an interview while speaking to European investors and analysts in Zurich. "To take on the business requirements of redoing the Purina Mills business in an effective way over time isn't something that is really consistent with our skills set." 

U.S., EU Will Discuss Import Ban. REUTERS reports from Brussels that the European Commission and the Bush administration have agreed to work toward a solution to the long-running trade row over hormone-treated beef. The EU prohibits most U.S. beef on claims it is unsafe because of the use of growth hormones. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler agreed to pursue a solution based on compensation during talks on Tuesday in Strasbourg, France. "They both agreed that compensation is a feasible and acceptable solution and that they would work together to achieve a solution," Gregor Kreuzhuber, Fischler's spokesman, said. Fischler will fly to Washington Thursday for a five-day U.S. visit. He will meet Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to dissuss trade and policy issues. "This visit is designed to build bridges. Contrary to existing prejudices the distance between the U.S. and the EU is not that big," Fischler said in a statement "We are both looking for the most efficient way to support farmers. But we differ on the policy approach." 

EU Will Resist U.S. on Dairy. The European Union is expected to resist U.S. efforts to scrap EU dairy export subsidies in the upcoming world trade talks, REUTERS reports. The EU argues that Washington has failed to liberalize its sector, the Dutch Dairy Association (NZO) said. The United States increased programs that supported its dairy industry despite promises to the contrary following the Uruguay round trade pact finalized in 1992, NZO official Jan Maarten Vrij told REUTERS. "The U.S. aim was to free up (dairy) markets, but what happened in the last few years is just the opposite," said Vrij, who helped write a report on the U.S. dairy sector released this week. 
 

May 15, 2001

Soybeans at $4 Per Bushel or Less.  Record U.S. soybean production combined with strong competition from South America is expected to lead to record ending stocks in the United States in marketing year 2001-02. U.S. soybean production in 2001 is forecast at 81.2 million tons, 3.8 million tons higher than last year and helping to force farm prices to the $4 mark or lower. 

Borlaug Featured at London Conference. A major international biotechnology conference will be held in London May 31-June 1 and will feature Norman E. Borlaug, agronomist and Nobel laureate. Borlaug says he is among the majority of agricultural scientists who believes there are "great potential benefits" coming from biotechnology in coming decades. 

Focus on ‘Dry Grind Ethanol Plants.' The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is continuing its work on "degermination" in an ethanol dry mill with the hopes of improving the profitability of dry grind ethanol plants.\ 

FAO Chief Calls for Universal Biotech Acceptance.  Biotechnology and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can help to increase the supply, diversity and quality of food products and reduce costs of production and environmental degradation, as the world still grapples with the scourge of hunger and malnutrition, Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a speech in Stockholm Monday. 

Enzi Asks EPA for Draft Release.  Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) has asked Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Whitman to release an interim revised draft of the confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) regulations rather than a final draft of the rules to allow "more opportunity for public input in the making of the (final) rule." An extended comment period closes July 30. Enzi believes the proposed current draft would net few environmental gains and would "threaten to shut down almost all of Wyoming's traditional cattle ranching operations. My concern over the current progress of the proposed rule stems from reports that the EPA staff responsible for drafting the proposed regulations does not understand the way Wyoming ranchers manage their cattle, especially during Wyoming's harsh winter months. This lack of understanding has caused the proposed rule to become over-reaching in its impact. Instead of crafting a rule that would effectively regulate livestock feeding where environmental abuses are occurring, namely cattle feed lots, hog operations and chicken factory farms, the EPA could easily force Wyoming's small cattle operations to be managed as if they were full-sized feed lots. This new designation would require almost all of Wyoming's small producers to rebuild and redesign their historic family businesses. All of the cost and effort exerted on such an undertaking would net very little, if any, environmental gains," Enzi said. 

U.S. Criticized for Absence from Agriculture Meeting.  The executive committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers' (IFAP) is meeting in Canberra, Australia, this week for the first time since 1988, in conjunction with the annual conference of Australia's National Farmers Federation (NFF). Absent from the 70 delegates representing 26 countries, are the current farm leaders from the United States. IFAP president Gerard Doornbos says the failure of US farmers to come to Canberra is very disappointing, reports the AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION. "The US needs to acknowledge and needs to realise that they are actually the leading agricultural nation in the world," he said. "And you cannot take that position for yourself and say, 'as long as we get away with it within the US and as long as we can strengthen the position of US Agriculture we don't really care what the rest of the world feels about it'." 

Farmers Sue Over Pork Checkoff. The Camapign for Family Farms says a lawsuit filed against USDA requests an injunction be implemented prohibiting the collection of mandatory pork checkoff funds until a hearing is held, REUTERS reports. The Midwest farm group filed the suit alleging the Bush administration had no authority to continue a $50 million annual pork checkoff program since a majority of hog producers voted to end it. The pork checkoff program requires farmers to pay 45 cents for every $100 of hog sales into a fund administrated by the National Pork Board. An estimated $50 million is raised each year for promotion and research for pork products. The activist group said Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman went beyond her authority when she agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. pork industry and allow the pork checkoff program to continue until at least June 2003. In January, the National Pork Producers Council filed a lawsuit in federal court citing voter irregularities in a referendum authorized by then-Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. The referendum resulted in a small majority of hog producers voting to end the industry checkoff program. 

It's National Biotechnology Week.  The Alliance for Better Foods congratulated the U.S. Senate for passing a bipartisan resolution recognizing the growing importance of biotechnology in American agriculture and environmental protection by declaring this week National Biotechnology Week. "We salute the Senate for focusing national attention on biotechnology's achievements and promise," said C. Manly Molpus, president and CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA), a founding member of the Alliance for Better Foods (ABF). "America's global leadership in biotechnology is producing healthier foods for consumers, earth-friendly farming methods, and a new source of hope for the world's hungry. The Alliance for Better Foods was formed to encourage a fact-based discussion of the role of food biotechnology," Molpus added. "Through this declaration, the Senate has moved in a bipartisan way to help raise public awareness about this exciting new technology." ABF comprises more than 30 member organizations representing diverse agriculture and food-related groups, including farmers, food processors, distributors and retailers; scientists and food technologists; and professionals in other fields dedicated to improving nutrition, protecting the environment and fighting world hunger. Sen. Tim Hutchinson, founder and co-chairman of the Senate Biotechnology Caucus, said, "There have been phenomenal advancements in science over the last few years that are allowing us to improve health care, increase crop yields, reduce the use of pesticides, and replace costly industrial processes involving harsh chemicals with cheaper, safer, biological processes." 

Possible New FMD Outbreak in Brazil.  REUTERS reports that Brazil's southernmost state investigated two new possible outbreaks of foot-and-mouth on Sunday as ranchers prepared to slaughter almost 40 cattle already infected with the disease. The resurgence of the highly contagious disease a week ago in Rio Grande do Sul state caused at least five countries to partially or completely halt fresh beef imports from Brazil and fueled a massive vaccination campaign. On Sunday, officials said they were investigating possible new outbreaks at two ranches involving five animals near Alegrete, the site of the second confirmed outbreak. Rio Grande do Sul borders on Argentina and Uruguay which are suffering much bigger outbreaks. In the meantime, ranchers and state officials debated how to slaughter at least 30 cattle in Santana do Livramento, a town on the border of Uruguay where the first outbreak was reported, and at least seven in Alegrete, home to the second outbreak. 

Fischler Calls for Flat-Rate Farm Subsidy. European Union Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler wants to introduce a flat-rate subsidy of $2,250 a year to farmers in return for more care of the countryside, a German magazine reported on Saturday, according to REUTERS. DER SPIEGEL weekly said farmers would be eligible for the payment only if they did not apply for land or cattle subsidies and committed themselves to protecting the countryside, although they would continue to get price support for their products. The magazine said Fischler's proposal was highly confidential and would be voted on by the middle of next year by the European Commission and EU farm ministers. Fischler already has announced plans to encourage less intensive farming. Der Spiegel said his flat-rate subsidy plan would mainly benefit smaller farmers and cut bureaucracy. About two-thirds of EU farms already receive payments with a total value of up to about $2,250 but through numerous, bureaucratic applications, Der Spiegel said. Large industrial farmers would continue to get classic price subsidies under the plan, but these should be limited and linked to ecological and countryside care standards, Der Spiegel said. The six-year Agenda 2000 package of reforms of the EU's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) is due for a mid-term review in 2002. Fischler has said he is in favor of promoting more environmentally sustainable methods of farming, particularly in the wake of crises over mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth. 
 

May 14, 2001

USDA Enjoined on Roadless Map.  The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho enjoined "preliminarily" USDA from implementing on Saturday the roadless area conservation rule. However, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the decision does not preclude USDA from moving forward with efforts announced last week for "a responsible process that addresses reasonable concerns raised about the rule." 

Range Management Suffering.  The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) say the result of a merger of the range management program within the U.S. Forest Service with the Forest Service's forest management plan is "a complete dispersal of livestock grazing and range management priorities within USFS budget and natural resource management programs." The comment came in a letter from the organizations to Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burns (R-MT) and House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Joe Skeen (R-NM) on Interior Department fiscal 2002 appropriations priorities. 

Educators Reminded of Beef's Benefits.   Through a combined state and national effort, grade school and high school teachers across the United States are being reminded of the many beef industry educational materials available to them. Checkoff-funded aids that address such topics as nutrition, the environment, consumer sciences and others are featured in a new flyer being distributed by state beef councils and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). 

Corn Growers Call for Ethanol Role. In a letter sent to Vice President Dick Cheney, National Corn Growers Association President Lee Klein called on the Bush administration to include ethanol in its comprehensive energy strategy. "We believe that with a concerted effort on the part of the administration, Congress and the private sector, renewable transportation fuels like ethanol can increase supply from about 1-3% of transportation fuels and displace more than 500,000 barrels of crude oil on an energy-content basis by 2011." 

Danes Wants U.S. to Lift Pork Ban.  Denmark wants the United States to lift its ban on imports of Danish pork and livestock immediately, REUTERS reports. There are "no reasoned arguments" for doing otherwise. "The U.S. authorities said they were satisfied with the documentation we earlier gave them and we therefore ask that the authorities today decide to lift the ban," Danish Pigmeat Producers and Slaughterhouses director Anne Birgitte Lundholt told the news agency. On March 13, USDA announced an import ban on livestock and fresh meat from all 15 European Union countries due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Europe. Last year Denmark's pigmeat exports to the United States were valued at around 1.6 billion Danish crowns ($187.5 million). Lundholt was concerned about the consequences of the ban on Denmark's market share, notably in sparerib products. 

Eco-Terrorists May Be to Blame for FMD. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that eco-terrorists may be behind the rash of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks across the globe, according to two prominent agriculture leaders. The heads of both the U.S. and British farming groups said opponents to intensive forms of agriculture could not be ruled out as the source of disease outbreaks. Ben Gill, president of the United Kingdom's National Farmers' Union, in Canberra for a farmers' conference, said Australia should maintain its tough quarantine measures because of the threat of eco-terrorists. "There's no doubt foot-and-mouth spread to the U.K. illegally and, unfortunately, we cannot rule out eco-terrorism," he said. "The last thing you would want to do is ease your quarantine rules in Australia. If you can find a way to further tighten them, then do it." The head of the U.S. Farm Bureau, Bob Stallman, confirmed last week that his organization had begun talks with the Federal Bureau of Investigation into possible eco-terrorist activity. Stallman said there were activists encouraging the introduction of foot-and-mouth into the United States to protest against intensive agriculture. 

FMD Briefing Scheduled.  The American Meat Institute Foundation (AMIF) will host a one-day briefing to provide up-to-date information about foot and mouth disease on June 14 at the Washington Hilton & Towers in Washington, DC. The Foundation is holding the briefing in response to questions about government and industry efforts to keep FMD from spreading to the United States. "Many questions still surround foot and mouth disease and U.S. efforts to prevent it from arriving on our shores and what would happen if a confirmed case was diagnosed in the U.S.," AMIF President James H. Hodges said. "We hope to provide useful information from key industry and government officials who are on the frontlines of disease prevention, surveillance, diagnosis and emergency preparedness." The one-day briefing is designed to help those in the livestock marketing chain understand what the impact of the disease might be on their operations and how to lessen any adverse effects should the disease be diagnosed in herds. 

French Farmers Call for EU Oilseeds Action.  REUTERS report from Paris that French farmers have denounced the differences between European Union and U.S. subsidy policies for oilseeds and again called on Europe to do something to help its declining oilseeds sector. French oilseed growers' group FOP said French oilseed areas had been reduced by 18% from 1999 to 2001 and by 24% in the entire15-member EU. During 2000-2001, 5.4 million hectares of oilseeds have been sown in the EU, including 3.1 million hectares of rapeseed, 340,000 hectares of soybean and 2 million hectares of sunseed. By contrast with the EU, U.S data show a major increase in oilseeds surfaces in the last year. 

Experts Say UK FMD Free. A team of international scientists confirmed Friday the foot-and-mouth epidemic that devastated Britain's tourism and farming industries and caused the government to postpone an election was under control, according to a REUTERS report. The highly contagious viral disease spread to more than 1,500 livestock farms since it was first reported on Feb. 20. More than 2,653,000 animals have been slaughtered since then to try to contain the epidemic. "We conclude that it has now been brought under control, but it will be important to contain rapidly any new outbreaks in previously unaffected areas," experts from Britain, the United States and Canada said in a report in the science journal Nature. 

North Korea Again Drought Stricken.  North Korea, which has seen an estimated one million people die of hunger and related illness since 1995, has warned of another bad year because of an unprecedented drought, REUTERS reports. "An unprecedentedly long spell of drought persists in the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea)," according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "Agriculture has been badly affected." The U.S. State Department, in a human rights report released earlier this year, said a million North Koreans had died of starvation and related diseases since 1995. That report said six years of drought and floods had devastated an already mismanaged agricultural system. The United Nations also has warned that North Korea, one of the world's few remaining communist states, faces a year of severe food shortages in 2001 because of drought and would need large amounts of food aid. The Korea Central News Agency said in its commentary issued Thursday night that most potato and maize seeds had not sprouted, while heads of wheat and barley had sprouted prematurely. 
 

May 11, 2001

Zoellick Wants Fast Track; U.S. Lagging.  U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick, testifying before the Subcommittee on Trade, House Committee on Ways & Means earlier this week said the United States is falling behind in finalizing trade agreements. Of the 130 free trade agreements that now exist, the United States is a party to just two – the North American Free Trade Agreement and one with Israel. 

Washington State Bans MTBE. Much to the pleasure of ethanol enthusiasts, the state of Washington has joined a growing number of states and banned the fuel additive MTBE. Not surprisingly, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) applauded the action. The ban on MTBE was prompted by numerous reports the additive had contaminated water in the state even though it was never used as an oxygenate in Washington. Ethanol is the oxygenate of choice used during the state's winter oxygenated fuels program. 

Wheat Prices Expected to Improve. USDA released the 2001-02 outlook for major crops and livestock Thursday and concluded that a smaller wheat crop, reduced use and declining stocks will lead to higher prices. Total production is expected to decline 12% to 1.96 million bushels. Winter wheat production is 14% less than last year because of lower area and yields. 

New Agriculture Counselor Named at EPA. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman has announced the creation of the position of counselor to the administrator on agriculture policy that will be filled by Jean-Mari Peltier of California. Peltier, of Newcastle, most recently represented the California Citrus Quality Council, serving as its president since May of 1999. Peltier served on numerous industry and government advisory committees including the U.S. delegation to the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Pesticide Residues, the EPA Committee to Advise on Reassessment and Transition, the North American Plant Protection Organization and the USDA Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee on trade. The new advisor also will serve as the central contact for EPA cooperation with the USDA. This will include working on joint policy, cooperative efforts between agency staff, and other interagency issues. The new advisor will also maintain an awareness of Congressional activities related to agricultural issues. Prior to joining the California Citrus Quality Council, Peltier was chief deputy director in the Department of Pesticide Regulation for the California Environmental Protection Agency. In that capacity, Peltier oversaw day-to-day operation of the pesticide regulatory program. Peltier developed and expanded a program of grants and alliances to develop economically feasible and environmentally friendly solutions to agricultural and urban pest management problems. In addition, Peltier represented California on the implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act through the Tolerance Reassessment Advisory Committee and represented the state at the pesticide harmonization negotiations under the North America Free Trade Agreement. Peltier's experience also includes time as the executive director of the California Pear Advisory Board and the president of the California Pear Growers. The last time an official position at the EPA was geared towards advising the Administrator on agriculture issues was under the previous Bush Administration. This re-establishes that position, Whitman said. 

U.S. Gets Australia's Cream.  REUTERS reports that the United States has approved the import of Australian cream for the first time. Australian's Agriculture Minister Warren Truss made the announcement today. This was great news for Australian dairy producers, with almost 300 million consumers in the U.S. market, he said. New Zealand currently held more than four-fifths of the U.S. dairy quota, at almost six million litres, he said. The U.S. had granted the new import licence to Fast Freeze Australia, a joint venture with Norco, a 103-year old dairy co-operative with 242 member farmers. Fast Freeze Australia had developed an exclusive technology for freezing cream, so that when defrosted it tasted and looked like fresh cream, he said. Australia's license is from the "any country" category, which is limited to a market of about one million litres. That quota for cream is granted on a first-come-first-served basis. 

Budget Good For Agriculture, Says Grassley. The budget agreement passed by Congress this week "perfectly blends tax relief with spending on key priorities such as agriculture, Medicare and children with disabilities, says Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance. An increase for agriculture spending. From 2003 until 2007, which are generally thought to be the years that will be affected by the next farm bill, the budget outline includes a reserve fund with an estimated $40.75 billion in additional dollars over the current agriculture baseline. This is approximately a 65% increase in future agriculture spending, "a real win for family farmers," says Grassley. 

GM Crops Not Hunger's Answer.  REUTERS, in a report from Paris, says the head of the United Nations food body claims genetically modified crops are not the answer to world hunger now but may be as the population soars. In an interview with French daily Le Monde, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said the world's population was set to rise to nine billion from six billion over the next 30 years. "To feed the 800 million people in the world who are hungry today, there is no need for GMOs. But to feed nine billion, what must be done?" Diouf was quoted as saying. The FAO chief described gene-altered crops as a "double-edged sword" that could be used to feed those most in need but could also be subject to manipulation. "I repeat that we do not need GMOs for the moment. But they are a possible option so long as precautions exist regarding their impact on public health and the environment," he said. Diouf said fertilizers and pesticides were already being overused, leading to pollution but that the amount of arable land was also shrinking as cities, roads and airports chewed up greater amounts of rural space. 
 

May 10, 2001

Lugar Likes What He Reads. An article in Wednesday's New York Times pleases Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN). The article said the Bush administration will "encourage the widespread use of agricultural, animal and human waste to produce energy as part of an effort to expand environmentally friendly energy supplies along with fossil fuels." The article indicated that the administration will increase biofuels research spending which was established by Lugar a year ago. 

FCS Reports Income Increase for Quarter. The Farm Credit System reports combined net income of $390 million for the quarter ended March 31 compared with combined net income of $312 million for the same period last year. "The System achieved very favorable earnings of $390 million for the quarter ended March 31, highlighted by an increase in net interest income," said James A. Brickley, president and CEO of the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation. 

Pesticide Waste Threaten Many Countries.  Huge stocks of toxic pesticide waste are a serious problem in almost all developing countries and in many countries in transition, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization.. More than 500,000 tons of old and unused pesticides that have been banned or have expired threaten the environment and the health of millions of people in these countries, FAO warns in a new report. The figures are dramatically higher than previous estimates of around 100,000 tons. 

Milk Producers Support Import Restriction Bill. The National Milk Producers Federation announced its "vigorous support" Wednesday for Senate legislation that would restrict the currently unabated flow of imported milk proteins that are disrupting the U.S. dairy sector, according to NMPF. 

Group Will Help Pesticide Removals. REUTERS reports from Rome that the Global Crop Protection Federation (GCPF) has pledged to help developing countries get rid of pesticide waste that threatens the environment and the health of millions. "In Rome, GCPF reaffirmed its commitment to help developing countries dispose of stocks of obsolete pesticides originally supplied by its member companies," the organization said in a statement sent to the news agency. GCPF is an umbrella organisation for leading pesticide producers including Aventis, BASF , Bayer, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto, Sumitomo and Syngenta. 

Apple Growers Seek Federal Aid.  BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that U.S. apple growers want $500 million in federal assistance to battle foreign competition and declining prices for the fruit, the Washington Post said on its web site, without citing sources. The growers, supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, have pressed Congress for aid after the Internet eased access for foreign competitors to the U.S. market and the average price of apples declined from more than $8 a bushel in 1996 to less than $6, according to USDA, the Post said. The squeeze on apple growers means temporary problems such as damage caused by hailstorms in 1997 and 1998 could lead to financial ruin, the Post reported. Congress gave $100 million in aid to apple growers last fall to help compensate for market losses. 

Penn's ‘Remarkable' Paper.  Economist J.B. Penn, nominated to become the under secretary for farm programs, authored a paper that the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee calls "remarkable." Penn's report suggested different subsidies for small, medium and large farms. Chairman Richard Lugar at a hearing on Penn's confirmation, also said, "We will need to pick up the pace of things. Give us some idea at least of where the administration is headed so we are not surprised and you are not surprised (by Congress' decisions)," according to a REUTERS report. During the hearing, Penn said the Bush administration would draft a book of farm policy recommendations, rather than submit a full-blown bill or proposed legislative language. 

Shipping Delays Cost Farmers, Barge Firms. The ROOSTER NEWS NETWORK reports that farmers, barge companies and railroads are losing money from the continued delay of the shipping season on the Mississippi River. "In mid-April we thought the shipping season would start by May 1," says Jerry Fruin, transportation and marketing specialist with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. "But the second cresting of the Mississippi is causing more delays, and it's going to be at least mid-May before we see barge traffic." Normally, the shipping season starts April 1 and goes until the end of November. "We're going to be closed down for a total of six to eight weeks, and that means we could lose up to 25% of the shipping season," says Fruin. Barge traffic is the most efficient way to transport Minnesota grain to out-of-state markets, he says. All told, about 28% of the grain leaving the state is barged down the Mississippi River -- primarily for export from gulf ports. Some grain sales probably will be lost to international competitors, but Fruin says additional costs of transportation and storage are even more damaging. Farmers are forced to sell grain at lower prices, barge companies are losing money and some railroads have been flooded and forced to reroute traffic at added costs, the article says. 

House Approves Final Budget Plan.  BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that the House Wednesday approved a final budget plan that sets up a $1.35 trillion tax cut while delaying decisions on spending for education, defense and other programs until later this year. The news agency says the 221-207 vote adopts non-binding fiscal blueprint that "echoes the priorities of President George W. Bush." The Senate is scheduled to vote today on the bill, which doesn't need Bush's signature. "This budget is a fraud," said House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO). "There will be greater tax cuts than are called for in this budget, at a greater cost than called for in this budget, and there will be greater spending, certainly for things like defense." The budget bill, withdrawn from a midnight House vote last week, was revised Tuesday after talks between White House officials and a few Senate Democrats who said they might support it. The bill was redrawn to requi