Week of July 30-Aug. 3 Archive
3 2 Aug 1 31
August 3
TIMELY RESOLUTION TO LATEST S. KOREAN BEEF FLAP EXPECTED---Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Thursday he expects a timely resolution to the latest contentious issue that has cropped up with South Korea over U.S. beef. Johanns offered to send a delegation to South Korea if doing so would help resolve the trade block.
“This is a situation that we should be able to handle very expeditiously,” Johanns told Dow Jones Newswires. South Korea halted import inspections of U.S. beef earlier this week after prohibited vertebral column was discovered in a shipment.
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---HOUSE BOOSTS PERKINS ACT FUNDING---The House recently passed the Perkins Act with a $25 million increase in funding, despite the Bush administration’s recommendation that it be eliminated. The act provides grants to fund programs including vocational agriculture programs such as FFA and agriculture education. The act also covers social studies, English and science programs.
The act has not yet reached the Senate floor, but Pat Wolff, American Farm Bureau tax specialist, says the outlook for the bill is good.
“Perkins funding is part of what we call must-pass legislation. The question is how much money will go to the Perkins programs,” Wolff said.
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2006 FARM EXPENDITURES UP 5.4 PERCENT---The Agriculture Department’s National Agricultural Statistics Service on Thursday released its 2006 summary of farm production expenditures. According to the report, U.S. farm production expenditures totaled $235 billion in 2006, up 5.4 percent from the revised 2005 total of $223 billion.
According to NASS, in 2006, the average U.S. total farm expenditure was $112,788 compared with $106,423 for 2005. On average, U.S. farm operations spent: $14,974 on farm services, $14,638 on feed, $12,094 on livestock and poultry purchases, $11,902 on labor and $8,783 on rent. Average total expenditures for large farms ($1 million and over in sales) were $2.60 million, 3.7 times larger than the next largest economic class.
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---FARMERS RISING IN PRESTIGE---Farmers are now ranked 9th out of 23 professions in terms of “prestige.” Just over 40 percent of adult respondents to a recent survey said farmers had “very great prestige,” up 5 percentage points compared to the prior year. Firefighters, scientists and teachers ranked highest in terms of prestige; bankers, actors and real estate agents occupied the bottom three slots.
Poll
August 2
ANOTHER U.S. SHIPMENT FAILS SOUTH KOREAN BEEF INSPECTION---South Korean officials have found another case of bone-in beef in a recent shipment of U.S. product bound for Seoul. Inspectors said a box of beef contained a vertebral column, a specified risk material prohibited according to a U.S.-South Korean agreement on beef trade.
South Korean officials have again stopped inspecting U.S. beef, effectively halting shipments. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns acknowledged the vertebral column should not have been in the shipment, but noted to reporters that out of approximately 600,000 boxes of U.S. beef shipped to South Korea since April, only six have contained unauthorized material.
Johanns told reporters that the real solution to the situation is for South Korea to move to World Health Organization (OIE) beef standards. He also said he hopes beef talks between the U.S. and Asian countries will take place soon.
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---WTO RULING COULD FAVOR U.S., CANADA IN BEEF CASE---The World Trade Organization has issued a preliminary ruling in favor of the U.S. and Canada in a dispute with the European Union over beef raised using growth promotants. According to news reports, the final WTO ruling will include a determination on whether or not the EU can successfully force the United States and Canada to rescind nearly $130 million in combined punitive duties.
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---BAUCUS: TAX PROVISION WILL BE STRIPPED FROM SENATE FARM BILL---Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said yesterday that a controversial tax provision included in the farm bill approved by the House will not be part of the Senate bill. Baucus reportedly told Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) the tax provision, which would have benefited foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries, does not belong in the bill.
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---FDA TO INCREASE FOOD SAFETY INSPECTORS---In an effort to ensure food imported into the U.S. meets food safety regulations, Food and Drug Administration officials said they will likely increase the number of food safety inspectors, possibly placing some in foreign nations. The additional inspectors will assure the quality of the products imported to the United States from China, following the recent tainted food imported from that country, FDA authorities said.
August 1
AG APPROPRIATIONS BILL STALLS ON HOUSE FLOOR---Little progress was made by House lawmakers during several hours of debate regarding the fiscal year 2008 agricultural appropriations bill on Tuesday. House Democrats are blaming Republicans for bogging down the bill by offering more than 300 amendments and employing a series of parliamentary maneuvers.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) closed debate on the bill, stating the agreed on time limit had been breached. Hoyer plans to bring the bill back to the House floor for consideration next week under limited debate rules.
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---PETERSON COUNTERS USA TODAY EDITORIAL CRITICAL OF FARM BILL---A USA Today editorial published Tuesday on the House-passed farm bill was titled “Down On the Farm, Business As Usual.” The editorial opens with: “If now isn’t the time to overhaul the nation’s Depression-era system of farm subsidies, it’s hard to imagine a better one.”
The editorial characterizes House members as bowing to heavy pressure from farm organizations and being fearful for the survival of Democratic freshmen elected from rural areas. The editorial goes on to say the Democratic majority in the House “botched its opportunity to wean farmers from government handouts.”
In an “opposing view” editorial, House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) described the bill as a “good deal for Americans.” He also noted the bill makes significant reforms and retains the safety net for farmers. Peterson noted in the editorial that as he has traveled around the country, the comment he hears most from farmers is that “big-city editorial writers have no clue about what is going on with agriculture.” He pointed out some of the reforms included in the House-passed bill, including income limits for program payments and payment caps.
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---YF&R CHAIR CHALLENGES NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL---Young Farmer and Rancher Chair Chris Chinn is challenging claims made in “A Factory Farm Near You,” an editorial published Tuesday in the New York Times. In a letter to the NYT, Chinn points out the editorial failed to mention livestock facilities are regulated not only by the Environmental Protection Agency, but also by state regulatory agencies. She also noted the information on the Web site referenced in the editorial is false and worded to mislead viewers.
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---JAPAN AG MINISTER RESIGNS---Japanese Agriculture Minister Norihiko Akagihas has resigned following the election of Shinzo Abe, the country’s new prime minister. According to Japanese news sources, Abe ordered Akagihas to resign.
Some U.S. officials have voiced concern over whether the departure will affect U.S. and Japan beef trade talks. However, according to news reports, the U.S. beef trade team is en route to Japan for discussions on the issue.
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---MAINE IS LAST STATE TO APPROVE Bt CORN---A ruling by the Board of Pesticides Control in Maine will allow farmers there to grow biotech corn for the first time. Maine is the last state in the nation to approve the use of biotech corn as a source of livestock feed.
The board voted in favor of adopting the use of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn in an effort to allow Maine farmers to stay competitive. The board is requiring seed companies who do business in the state to provide sales data for tracking purposes.
July 31
HOUSE BEGINS AG APPROPRIATIONS DEBATE---House debate of H.R. 3161, the fiscal year 2008 agricultural spending bill, begins today. The bill provides $90.7 billion in total funding, with about $17 billion for Agriculture Department programs. Several amendments to the bill are expected.
Amendments likely to be introduced would: strike Section 738, a provision that limits USDA authority for equine health inspections and restricts the movement of all horses; prohibit funding for Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspections in facilities that process non-ambulatory or “downer,” livestock; and eliminate FSIS inspection funding for equine processing.
Farm Bureau supports the amendment striking Section 738 and opposes the amendments on FSIS inspections and equine processing.
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MANURE LIGHTS UP HOMES---Some U.S. farmers have found a new purpose for manure by using it to provide electricity. The number of anaerobic digesters generating power from methane gas extracted from manure on farms has more than doubled in the past two years. Electricity to power about 20,000 U.S. homes is currently generated by methane.
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