Week of May 7-11, 2007
Archive
7 8 9 10 11
May 11
HOUSE PASSES $3.5 BILLION DISASTER AID BILL---Late Thursday the House passed a bill that includes $3.5 billion in disaster aid for farmers with crop and livestock losses. It also includes $31 million to extend the Milk Income Loss Contract program for one month, which would ensure it is included in the ag budget baseline for the next 10 years.
The Office of Management and Budget issued a statement expressing strong opposition to the bill, which totals $7 billion overall, describing it as “unjustified and not appropriate for an emergency spending bill.” According to the OMB statement, “Due to the excessive non-emergency spending this bill contains, if this legislation were presented to the president, he would veto the bill.”
Specific to the ag disaster aid provisions, according to OMB, much of the proposed spending is uncapped, some of it is not tied to a loss, and none of it is offset from other agriculture spending. Also, according to the statement, “Both crop and livestock receipts are forecast to be record-high in 2007, and their combined total is forecast to be up to $16 billion over last year.”
The House passed the bill on a 302 – 120 vote, indicating strong enough support to override the expected veto by President Bush.
###
FDA WILL BEGIN SAMPLING ANIMAL FEED FROM CHINA---Food and Drug Administration officials announced Thursday that they will start sampling animal feed from China at the U.S. border. Tests will be conducted for the presence of the chemical melamine and related compounds.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), chair of the House Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee, and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) have asked U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab to conduct a review of food safety rules in place for U.S.–China trade agreements and to analyze whether China is complying with them.
The lawmakers asked for the review in response to the many questions being raised regarding China’s lax food safety requirements and poor sanitary conditions under which feed and food ingredients are being manufactured.
###
PETERSON: THE ROAD TO THE FARM BILL IS THROUGH ME---House Agriculture Committee Chair Colin Peterson (D-Minn.) took a firm stance Thursday, telling reporters that members of Congress should not introduce proposals for the 2007 farm bill on the floor, but rather bring them to members of his committee for consideration.
“I’m not going to be very happy if they’re put forward on the floor,” Peterson said. He is expected to introduce his farm bill proposal next week, with markups on some titles expected before Memorial Day.
In related news, four members of the House said on Thursday they plan to introduce a farm bill proposal that would gradually change the current system to one with farmer-held “risk management accounts.” The sponsors of that bill said it would cost nearly $20 billion less over five years and $55 billon less over 10 years compared to extending current farm programs.
###
May 10
IMMIGRATION DEBATE UP FOR ANOTHER ROUND IN SENATE---Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is determined to force the Senate to consider immigration reform legislation over the next couple of weeks. Reid plans to bring a legislative package up for consideration that combines a border security crackdown with a guestworker program. The Senate approved the measure a year ago, but it failed in the House.
Several Senate Republicans are not on board with Reid’s plan and have asked him to hold off on it while new bipartisan talks on immigration are under way.
AFBF supports comprehensive immigration reform that provides a workable program for recruitment of temporary agricultural workers and the opportunity for some current agricultural workers to apply for permanent U.S. residency.
###
YOUNG CATTLE INFECTED WITH BSE DO NOT POSE DANGER---According to the Kyodo News, a panel of Japanese experts has concluded that tests failed to show young cows (21- and 23-months old) infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy pose a health risk to humans.
Researchers with Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry injected 11 mice with brain fluid extracted from two young BSE-infected cows and tracked them for 927 days. None of the rodents developed the disease. The young cattle used in the test were diagnosed with BSE in 2003, which led to Tokyo limiting imports of U.S. beef to cattle less than 21 months of age.
It’s unclear what bearing, if any, the study will have on Japan’s beef import restrictions.
###
PEW REPORT EXAMINES FUNCTIONAL FOODS RESEARCH---Functional foods, which are enhanced to provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition, will face numerous review requirements before they can come on the market, according to a new report from the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. The report provides an overview of scientific advances that might lead to the creation of foods enhanced through biotechnology. It also explores possible regulatory schemes for functional foods.
Oils that do not produce trans fats, higher-protein cassava and foods with increased levels of antioxidants are among the functional foods being researched.
“Functional foods produced through biotechnology hold the promise of new consumer benefits, but they may also pose new challenges for the regulatory system,” said Michael Fernandez, executive director of the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology.
Pew report
###
May 9
WAR SUPPLEMENTAL, AG DISASTER AID SPLIT INTO TWO BILLS---On Friday the House is likely to vote on a $4.5 billion non-war funding bill that includes $3.5 billion for agricultural disaster assistance. The package was part of the $124 billion Iraq war supplemental bill vetoed by President Bush on May 1.
The war supplemental is expected to come up for a vote on Thursday. Ag disaster aid and war funding were reportedly split into two bills in an effort to increase the odds that the war measure will pass. Bush has said he opposes the proposed ag disaster assistance because it does not include a budget offset.
AFBF supports passage of the agricultural disaster assistance package.
###
DEATH TAX BILL TO BE INTRODUCED IN THE HOUSE---Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) will introduce legislation Friday to make death tax repeal permanent. The bill will be identical to H.R. 8, which was introduced during the last session and passed the House 272-162, although the Senate failed to invoke cloture on it.
The bill repeals the sunset clause in the law, so that when the death tax is repealed in 2010 it would be permanent. Under current law, the death tax would be repealed for only one year and would be reinstated in 2011, with a $1 million exemption and 55 percent rate.
Farm Bureau supports permanent repeal of the death tax.
###
MORE CONSUMERS CONCERNED ABOUT FOOD SAFETY---Consumers are becoming more concerned about food safety, according to the Food Marketing Institute’s
“U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends, 2007” report. Consumers’ shopping behaviors and attitudes are changing in response to continued foodborne illness outbreaks, according to the report.
The number of consumers describing themselves as “completely” or “somewhat confident” in the safety of supermarket food declined to 66 percent in 2007 from 82 percent in 2006 — the lowest point since 1989. Spinach (71 percent) was the No. 1 item on a list of items consumers said they recently stopped buying. Eight percent of consumers surveyed indicated they also had stopped buying beef.
The survey was conducted in January 2007, when the illness outbreak linked to spinach was making headlines. FMI report
###
NEW ANIMAL-HANDLING GUIDELINES AVAILABLE---The American Meat Institute has released the 2007 Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide. The guidelines were written by Temple Grandin, an animal welfare specialist at Colorado State University. This version is an update of 2005 guidelines and was revised using feedback from the field.
May 8
APHIS OVERSIGHT WOULD REJUVENATE AG INSPECTIONS---Moving agricultural import inspection functions from the Department of Homeland Security back to the Agriculture Department would more effectively protect U.S. agriculture and the nation’s food supply from intentional and accidental threats, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
A 2006 Government Accountability Office report shows that since USDA transferred responsibility for port inspections to DHS, fewer agricultural inspections have been conducted at key points of entry, AFBF told the full Senate in a letter.
“Inspection rates decreased in Miami by 12.7 percent, in Boston by 17.9 percent and in San Francisco by 21.4 percent,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. In addition, according to the GAO report 60 percent of agricultural inspection specialists believed they were doing either “somewhat” or “many fewer” inspections since functions were transferred to DHS. Farm Bureau is urging support for S. 887, legislation that would move agricultural import inspection functions from the Department of Homeland Security back to the Agriculture Department. AFBF news release
###
FRUITS AND VEGGIES TRYING FOR SLICE OF THE FEDERAL PIE---The nation’s fruit and vegetable groups, or “specialty crops,” have joined together to fight for a share of the 2007 farm bill. Representing almost half the nation’s commercial crops, according to a Washington Post article, such groups as the United Fresh Produce Association, the Western Growers Association and the National Potato Council have banded together to form the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance.
“They definitely have more leverage” than in the past, says Dana Brooks, American Farm Bureau Federation director of congressional relations. The 90-member specialty crop coalition is not seeking direct payments to its producers, but it is lobbying for block grants, additional funding for scientific research and more promotional marketing overseas.
But, warns Brooks, it’s not going to be easy for any one sector wanting a piece of the farm bill pie. “We have less money to go around and more folks who want it. That is going to make things difficult,” says Brooks. Washington Post article
###
RIDERS ON HORSEBACK RALLY AGAINST ANTI-PROCESSING LAW--- A rally organized by agricultural advocate and radio personality Trent Loos is expected to draw more than 200 riders on horseback to Springfield, Ill., today. Loos organized the rally with the support of the Horsemen’s Council of Illinois to protest an anti-horse processing bill up for consideration by Illinois lawmakers.
Cavel International, based in DeKalb, Ill., is the sole operating horse processing facility in the U.S. A federal appeals court recently overruled a lower court order halting federal inspections at the plant, allowing it to continue operation, at least temporarily.
Farm Bureau opposes legislation prohibiting the processing of equines.
###
HOMEGROWN HONEYBEES BEING STUDIED---U.S.-bred honeybees may be able to help rebuild colonies across the country that have died off due to a range of maladies in recent years. New England beekeepers are using research grant money to start a breeding project using exceptional queen bees and superior males.
According to Penn State Research, one out of every three bites of food eaten by Americans was produced with the help of honeybees. The value of annual honeybee production in the U.S. is approximately $14 billion.
May 7
LOW RISK TO HUMANS FROM FOOD CONTAINING MELAMINE---There is a low risk to human health from eating meat from hogs and poultry fed rations containing the chemical melamine and related compounds from pet food scraps, according to a joint risk assessment from scientists at five federal agencies. Under an “extreme risk” assessment scenario, which assumed all the food eaten by a person in an entire day was contaminated with melamine at the levels observed in hogs and chickens fed contaminated rations, the potential exposure was about 2,500 times lower than the dose considered safe, according to officials.
The federal investigation of contaminated wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate from China continues. The Food and Drug Administration and Agriculture Department are working to identify a group of experts to convene a scientific advisory board that would be charged with reviewing the risk assessment. That group would also be asked to contribute to future scientific analysis related to the risk of melamine and its compounds to humans and animals.
Some hogs and poultry on farms that were suspected of receiving contaminated feed have been released for processing after tests failed to detect melamine or similar compounds. Other animals, including approximately 20 million chickens, are being held while government testing continues. To ensure no further contaminated products enter the U.S., the federal government continues to monitor imported wheat and corn gluten as well as rice protein concentrate arriving from all countries destined for human and animal consumption. The inspections are characterized as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of products entering U.S. ports of entry. There is no evidence to suggest products bound for the human food supply are contaminated.
###
---NY TIMES: FDA NEEDS MORE MONEY, AUTHORITY---Congress should provide the Food and Drug Administration with more money and greater legal authority to police foreign food producers, according to an editorial in today’s New York Times. The Chinese government should be pressed to fully open their food manufacturing procedures to FDA evaluation, according to the Times.
The Agriculture Department has “far more power and resources” than FDA, according to the Times. “It inspects and audits the safety systems of other countries, visually inspects all meat and poultry products on arrival and tests a significant sample for contaminants.”
###
---DOJ CLOSES INVESTIGATION OF SMITHFIELD-PREMIUM STANDARD MERGER---The Department of Justice on Friday announced completion of an investigation of the proposed acquisition by Smithfield Foods Inc. of Premium Standard Farms. According to a DOJ news release, “the Antitrust Division determined that the merged firm is not likely to harm competition, consumers or farmers.” The Department of Justice says that Smithfield's competitors - such as Cargill, Hormel, Tyson, Swift & Co., and Seaboard Foods - will still provide "significant competition."
|
CAPWiz On-Line