Week of Oct. 1 - 5 Archive
12 11 4 3 2 1
October 12
USDA FORECASTS EVEN BIGGER CORN CROP---This year’s U.S. corn crop is projected to break records to a larger extent than thought just a few weeks ago. The much-anticipated September Crop Production report released today by the Agriculture Department’s National Agricultural Statistics Service shows a 2-percent increase, to 13.3-billion bushels, in this year’s corn harvest, compared to a forecast of 13.1-billion bushels a month earlier.
###
---CBS EVENING NEWS EXAMINES AG LABOR SHORTAGE---The New York Farm Bureau recently worked hard to aid CBS News as it assembled a segment focusing on the labor shortages facing agriculture. The segment, reported by Seth Doane, aired on “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric” on Wednesday and was repeated at least once on Thursday.
Two NYFB members—onion grower Jim Zappala and apple grower Mike Biltonen—were featured prominently in the segment, as they shared the challenges they encounter attracting and keeping good workers. Zappala and Biltonen also relayed their concerns about crops going unharvested because of the lack of workers. In addition, Doane cited AFBF economic analysis related to the agricultural labor shortage in his report.
###
---AFBF BACKS HILL-TERRY FUEL-ECONOMY STANDARDS BILL---The American Farm Bureau Federation supports H.R. 2927, a bill that would increase fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks in a sensible manner. The bill, introduced by Reps. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) and Lee Terry (R-Neb.), does not increase fuel-economy standards to the levels included in the Senate energy bill. But Hill and other backers say their approach is a balanced one that protects jobs while still reducing fuel usage.
The Senate bill would require 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The Hill-Terry bill would require cars and trucks to meet an average 32 to 35 miles per gallon by 2022.
AFBF’s Austin Perez, director of congressional relations, emphasized the necessity of powerful, full-size pickup trucks to farmers and ranchers at a Capitol Hill roll-out of the bill on Thursday.
###
---PRESSURE BUILDING ON ETHANOL INDUSTRY---A coalition of environmental groups that includes the Rainforest Action Network and the Global Justice Ecology Project this week urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to keep any language that would expand the federal ethanol mandate out of the energy bill conference report. The coalition of groups that sent the letter said expanding the renewable-fuels mandate would ultimately harm the environment and do little help farmers and rural communities.
Meanwhile, according to an article by Lauren Etter in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, the “stalling ethanol industry wants Congress to mandate greater use of the biofuel. But many of the industry’s former friends have turned against it amid soaring prices for corn and other grains.” Etter also writes, “Opposition to the ethanol industry’s goals has grown significantly stiffer” over time, while “other groups that were originally sympathetic to ethanol are drifting away.” Etter also quotes an official with the American Meat Institute, who says rejection of the Senate’s proposed increase in the renewable-fuels mandate is AMI’s “single biggest priority” for this Congress.
###
FORMER AG SECRETARIES SUPPORT PERU DEAL---Four former secretaries of the Agriculture Department are urging members of Congress to support the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement. In a joint letter sent to members of Congress on Thursday, Bob Bergland, John Block, Dan Glickman and Clayton Yeutter expressed their “strong support” for the proposed trade deal with Peru, noting it “will achieve a more balanced bilateral relationship in the agricultural sector.”
AFBF strongly supports congressional approval of the U.S.-Peru agreement.
###
---USDA APPROVES TWO ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION DEVICES---The Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on Thursday announced the approval of two new animal identification devices: a visual tag with radio frequency identification (RFID) from Australia’s Leader Products and the first approved, injectable transponder from Digital Angel of St. Paul, Minn.
The devices carry an official animal identification number, which is used to identify individual animals as part of USDA’s National Animal Identification System (NAIS). USDA is technology neutral and supports a range of NAIS-compliant identification methods.
###
FRIDAY’S FARM FACT---
In 1935, the number of farms in the United States peaked at 6.8 million. Today there are 2.10 million farms dotting the rural landscape.
October 11
NO-MATCH’ LETTER PLAN RUNS AFOUL OF FEDERAL JUDGE---A federal judge on Wednesday barred the Bush administration from launching a planned crackdown on U.S. employers that hire illegal immigrants. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer warned of the initiative’s potentially “staggering” effects on law-abiding workers and companies if the administration’s plan to issue “no-match” letters regarding Social Security data went ahead as intended.
Breyer granted a preliminary injunction against the plan in response to a lawsuit filed by what some have described as “an unusual coalition” that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. Breyer said the plaintiffs raised serious questions about the accuracy of Social Security Administration data and the legality of the administration’s plan to mail “no-match” letters to 140,000 U.S. employers beginning this fall.
Michael Chertoff, head of the Department of Homeland Security, said the administration is disappointed in the ruling and called on Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation. He said the administration may appeal the ruling.
###
FOOD HEALTH BENEFITS INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT, SURVEY SAYS---Research by the International Food Information Council suggests many consumers have heart health, better bones and cholesterol counts on their minds as they shop for food. A recent national survey commissioned by IFIC shows that not only do consumers believe that foods can provide benefits beyond basic nutrition, but familiarity with these foods is at an all-time high with 92 percent of consumers able to name a food and its health benefit, such as calcium for bone health.
According to the Web-based survey of 1,000 adults, the top 10 “functional foods” or foods with health benefits beyond basic nutrition named top-of-mind by consumers were: (1) fruits and vegetables; (2) fish, fish oil and seafood; (3) milk and other dairy products; (4) whole grains, including oats, oat bran and oatmeal; (5) fiber; (6) green tea; (7) meat; (8) water; (9) certain herbs and spices; and (10) nuts.
October 4
SENATE FARM BILL CONSIDERATION POSTPONED---Senate consideration of the farm bill is off, again. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) postponed his committee's markup of the farm bill a day after he indicated he would schedule consideration of the measure to begin today. The committee's top Republican, Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, told reporters the markup of the farm bill won't happen now until senators return to Washington after next week's recess.
Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee, led by Max Baucus (D-Mont.), is expected to proceed later today with its markup of legislation containing agriculture-friendly tax provisions. The package would tighten rules on tax shelters to pay for biofuel incentives, conservation measures and a new disaster-relief program. An article in today's edition of The Des Moines Register notes the tax-shelter measure could run into opposition from business interests and the Bush administration, which has opposed similar proposals in the past.
"We insisted that the Finance Committee go first, we'll see what they do on Thursday and that will give us an idea of exactly how much money we're gonna have to fund the farm bill," Chambliss said.
In related news, specialty crop producers have built political alliances, doubled their campaign contributions and even sent nine watermelon queens to Capitol Hill to make their case for a piece of the farm bill pie, according to a detailed article in today's edition of The New York Times.
###
STALLMAN TESTIFIES ON AGRICULTURE LABOR SHORTAGE---American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman will testify today to members of Congress that agriculture is on the front lines of the immigration debate in America, and farmers, ranchers and growers desperately need a solution to the labor challenges they face.
"Sustaining our current level of productivity is contingent on a stable, reliable and legal workforce. Nowhere is the problem more acute than in agriculture," Stallman said when he appeared at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on the labor needs of American agriculture. "The labor situation on America's farms and ranches is closely linked with the issue of immigration reform."
To illustrate the severity of the problem, Stallman cited Labor Department surveys indicating that in 2001 and 2005, 53 percent of the hired crop labor force was not authorized to work in the U.S. Using National Agricultural Statistics Service figures that peg the number of non-family farm workers at 1 million, Farm Bureau estimates at least 500,000 agricultural workers in the U.S. lack proper authorization.
Further, according to the Labor Department, in 2005, hired farm workers earned an average of $11 to $12 per hour, compared to workers earning $6.65 per hour for food preparation, $11 per hour for janitorial jobs and $14.65 for construction labor. In fact, there are currently 10 million workers-more than 7 percent of the total U.S. workforce-who work for lower wages than they could earn in agriculture.
- · AFBF news release
###
AFBF RECOGNIZED AS TOP TRADE ORGANIZATION---AFBF was recognized as the 2007 Trade Organization of the Year by America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest food bank network.
AFBF received the honor because of its many contributions through the organization's "Harvest for All" program, a partnership between Farm Bureau and America's Second Harvest spearheaded by the AFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee. Since it was launched on Hunger Awareness Day in June 2003, the program has contributed the equivalent of more than 10 million meals to the nation's hungry, including 4.5 million pounds of donated food, $489,000 dollars raised and over 20,000 combined volunteer hours.
###
October 3
SENATE FARM BILL: IT’S ON, IT’S OFF, IT’S ON?---The Senate Agriculture Committee may markup its version of the farm bill as soon as Thursday. Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) told reporters Tuesday that his committee may move forward because the Senate Finance Committee appears poised to consider a tax package to increase farm bill funding by about $9 billion.
However, more than half of that total appears to be spoken for already. Harkin said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) plans to earmark between $4 billion and $5 billion for a permanent ag disaster aid program. That, Harkin said, would leave $3 billion to $4 billion “for other purposes.”
But an additional $3 billion to $4 billion dollars above the farm bill budget baseline would appear to be insufficient to meet Harkin’s previously stated farm bill agenda, which included increased funding for conservation, specialty crops, rural development and biofuels.
Meanwhile, Baucus has scheduled the committee markup of his agriculture-friendly tax incentives for Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
- · Brownfield Network article
- · Senate Finance Committee schedule
###
---‘AMERICA’S HEARTLAND’ LAUNCHES THIRD SEASON---“America’s Heartland,” the weekly public television series that celebrates the contributions of America’s farmers and ranchers, has launched its third season.
Twenty-two new half-hour segments will be featured in the magazine-style program this year. By the middle of the third season, “America’s Heartland” will have profiled unforgettable people, places and products of U.S. agriculture in all 50 states.
The program is made possible with funding from the series’ two flagship supporters – the American Farm Bureau Federation and Monsanto Company.
AFBF President Bob Stallman said the program is building a better bridge to agricultural awareness and understanding. “’America’s Heartland’” is living up to all its promises by helping us tell the story of America’s farm and ranch families, and by sharing the miracle of American agriculture,” he said. “It provides an opportunity for consumers and opinion leaders to learn about the challenges and opportunities we face today on our farms and ranches.”
The program is available on many PBS stations across the U.S. and on RFD-TV, and each story is streamed to the program’s Web site: www.americasheartland.org.
###
---GEORGIA RESEARCHERS SEEK SWITCHGRASS SAMPLES---Researchers at the University of Georgia want to learn more about the potential of switchgrass as a biofuel. But to do so, they need additional, wild samples of the perennial grass so they may study its genetics.
Charlie Brummer, a forage and biomass crop researcher with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, would like to collect 100 different cultivars. He’ll get about 35 of them from the Plant Genetic Resource Unit on the UGA Griffin campus. He hopes to find the rest growing wild around the Southeast this fall.
“We want switchgrass that was unlikely planted,” he said, “patches found around places that have never been tilled, like along wooded edges, in state parks or even cemeteries.”
Anyone who spends much time in nature is likely to see the switchgrass Brummer and his colleagues want, he said. By fall, the plant can be found in large clumps with flowers, stems and leaves as tall as 6 feet. It will have tiny, shiny teardrop seeds, and the foliage turns a pale yellow. Individuals who want to help Brummer may call (706) 542-8847 or e-mail brummer@uga.edu.
###
---GRANT WILL ESTABLISH SWINE SCHOOLS---The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence at Iowa State University received a $460,000, three-year grant to develop swine schools. The grant, from the Agriculture Department’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, will allow the Pork Center to establish swine schools in response to a decline in the number of swine science programs at universities.
The swine schools will develop courses in different areas of pork production, test the courses and evaluate the results. College students involved in the swine schools project will have the opportunity to take an intensive swine science course followed by a summer internship at a production facility.
###
---4-FOOT-TALL PUMPKIN WINS VIRGINIA STATE FAIR CONTEST---A 4-foot-tall pumpkin weighing 1,138 pounds was declared the winner at a Virginia State Fair competition. Grower William Layton of Nelson County, Va., grew the mammoth prize-winner, which he dubbed Last Chance. Layton also took home second prize in the contest with a pumpkin he named Baby Huey, a relative lightweight at 824 pounds.
###
---QUOTE OF THE DAY---
“There is also a running discussion in the media, and of course a lot of other public forums, about whether our expanding production of ethanol is to blame for higher-than-normal food price inflation, which we have seen this year. Ladies and gentlemen, clearly ethanol demand is having some impact. I don’t think that’s something we can deny at this point. But the data that has been presented to me shows that it has been assigned far more than its fair share of blame for what is happening in our grocery store aisles.”
-- Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner, in comments Tuesday during a speech to the Renewable Fuels Association.
October 2
FARM BILL DELAYS CONTINUE IN SENATE---The Senate Agriculture Committee appears unlikely to markup its version of the farm bill this week after all, according to Hill watchers. Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) indicated last month he would schedule the markup for this week. There remains a chance the Senate Finance Committee, led by Max Baucus (D-Mont.), may markup legislation containing agriculture-friendly tax incentives on Thursday, Oct. 4.
As a result, the timing of farm bill debate by the full Senate remains even murkier. Senators appear likely to consider the appropriations bill pertaining to labor, health and human services, and education the week of Oct. 15, and Harkin is expected to manage that bill when it comes to the floor.
###
---USDA AWARDS NEARLY $1 MILLION TO FARMERS’ MARKETS---Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner on Monday announced 23 grants totaling $900,000 under the Farmers Market Promotion Program. The awards will aid local governments, non-profit and economic development corporations and agricultural cooperatives in 16 states and the District of Columbia. Funds will support projects that establish, expand and promote farmers’ markets and other producer-to-consumer market opportunities.
###
---HORSE SLAUGHTER BAN MEANS GRUESOME DEATHS IN MEXICO---About 30,000 American horses, a 370-percent increase from this time last year, will be shipped to slaughterhouses in Mexico. The increase in the number of U.S. horses being shipped to these plants appears to be a direct result of the closure of the last processing plants in Texas and Illinois.
Horses sent to a plant in Ciudad Juarez are stabbed in the back with a small knife multiple times, leaving them bloodied and paralyzed for several minutes before they are hoisted into the air so their throats may be slit, allowing them to bleed to death. While the Juarez plant has captive bolt guns, they are often inoperable. When they do work, they are used by individuals with poor training.
Even some of those who want Congress to approve a federal ban on horse slaughter now acknowledge the irony of the situation: their efforts to shut down the U.S. plants means horses die in primitive conditions far away.
###
---DISEASE THREATENS FLA. CITRUS---Florida citrus growers are fighting a serious plant disease known as citrus greening. By last month, the disease, first detected two years ago, had spread to 27 of the state’s 32 citrus-producing counties, according to the state agriculture department.
Citrus greening is incurable, and it is spread by an aphid-like insect, the Asian citrus psyllid. It attacks the plant’s vascular system and causes mottling on leaves and lop-sided fruit that remains half-green. Healthy-looking trees harbor the disease, which may be uncontrollable within a few years.
###
October 1
CONNER ADDRESSES CRP, HIGHER MEAT PRICES---New Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner on Friday said his department will not offer penalty-free early releases from Conservation Reserve Program contracts “at this time.”
Noting more than 2 million CRP acres expired under existing contracts on Sept. 30, Conner said, “Wheat, soybean and corn markets are providing very strong incentives to plant more acreage this fall and next spring. Throughout this year, the market focused on attracting corn acres, and to a lesser extent, wheat acres. The potential exists for increased double-cropping and the planting of fallow ground. Overall, I expect that market signals will continue to provide adequate acres, recognizing that strong competition among crops is likely.” Conner did not rule out making acreage adjustments in the future.
Also on Friday, Conner said consumers will pay more for meat because of the bioenergy-fueled boom in crop prices, though rising oil costs also contribute to higher food costs. He said food prices are likely to increase 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent this year and 3 percent to 4 percent next year. Addressing the National Grain and Feed Association, Conner said rising feed costs “will reduce the supply of meat and eventually put some upward pressure” on the retail price of meat.
• Conner’s CRP statement
• The Des Moines Register article
###
---ETHANOL ANXIETY?---The ethanol boom may be fading, according to some industry observers, as problems relating to overexpansion, transportation and distribution unfold. The average national ethanol price on the spot market has declined 30 percent since May, with the decline sharpening in recent weeks. High corn prices and soft ethanol prices have combined to squeeze the profitability of ethanol producers, and no respite is in sight, some analysts say.
Some companies already have shelved plans for expansion or canceled new plant construction projects. If prices continue downward, some market analysts predict industry consolidation, with some smaller companies possibly going out of business.
Still, government support of ethanol is expected to continue, and candidates for president may be put on the spot to pledge additional support for the industry, particularly when campaigning in Iowa.
“There are a number of challenges to integrating the recent increase in ethanol production into the existing gasoline distribution system,” Terry Francl, AFBF senior economist said. “AFBF continues to work to incorporate the higher Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) passed in the Senate energy bill into the final conference bill that will be presented to the president for his signature. This would raise the RFS to 8.5 billion gallons of ethanol in 2008 from the current 4.7 billion gallons and increase the RFS to 15 billion gallons for corn-based ethanol by 2015. This, along with other measures, should bring the ethanol industry back into a profitable position.”
• The New York Times article
• Reuters article
###
MONDAY’S MISCONCEPTION ABOUT AGRICULTURE---
It’s a misconception that the world can support more vegetarians than meat eaters. Worldwide, for every acre able to grow crops there are almost four acres that can graze animals. If grazing animals are taken out of the food system, there will be less food, not more.
Order your copy of “Addressing Misconceptions About Agriculture” at www.ageducate.org.
###
| 
CAPWiz On-Line