Nebraska Department of Agriculture
Ag Update – November 22, 2011
National News
‘Supercommittee upends farm bill’
(Agriculture.com)
After the "Supercommittee" on Capitol Hill failed this week to reach
a deal to trim the federal deficit, lawmakers are now taking stock
of how federal programs will now end up. That includes Senator Chuck
Grassley (R-IA) and the farm bill.
The Supercommittee --
created last summer in Congress as an effort to take specific
measures to trim the nation's deficit -- could have "put us on a
path to good fiscal discipline and show Washington is serious about
getting our fiscal house in order," Grassley said Tuesday morning.
But now, without a deal, there will be a lot of changes to federal
appropriations moving forward, including the farm bill.
The new farm bill,
Grassley said Tuesday, will now be reached through the process of
"sequestration," one in which the amount of money equal to the
difference between the previous cap set in budget resolution and the
amount actually appropriated is held aside. In other words, it means
the farm program, with the exception of food stamps and crop
insurance, will get the same haircut as other federal
appropriations.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://www.agriculture.com/news/policy/supercommittee-upends-farm-bill_4-ar20808
‘WTO
rules in favor of Canada in complaint over U.S. Country-of-Origin
Labeling Law’
(American Meat
Institute) The World Trade Organization (WTO) today ruled in favor
of Canada and Mexico in a complaint against the U.S. mandatory
country of origin labeling (COOL) law, which took effect in 2008.
Following the law’s implementation, U.S. imports of Canadian cattle
and hogs and Mexican cattle declined substantially.
The complainants had
argued that the COOL law is inconsistent with the United States'
obligations under several articles of the WTO agreement.
In its findings, the
panel noted that the U.S. law violated WTO rules on several fronts
and wrote specifically that “The COOL measure, particularly in
regard to the muscle cut meat labels, violates Article 2.1 because
it affords imported livestock treatment less favorable than that
accorded to like domestic livestock.”
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://www.meatami.com/ht/display/ArticleDetails/i/73951
‘House, Senate pass 2012 agriculture spending bill’
(American Meat
Institute) The House and Senate passed a 2012 federal spending
‘minibus’ bill that included the Agriculture, Rural Development,
Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies appropriations
bill, which funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The
House approved the bill in a 298-121 vote while the Senate voted
70-30 in favor of the bill. The spending measure included the
following items:
• Language to prohibit
USDA from continuing or finalizing work on certain provisions of the
proposed rule on livestock and poultry marketing and procurement
that was proposed by the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards
Administration (GIPSA) in June 2010.
• $1.004 billion for the
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which does not include
new user fees for meat, poultry and egg inspection.
• $2.497 billion for the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
• Full funding for both
the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD)
at $200 million and $34.5 million, respectfully
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://www.meatami.com/ht/display/ArticleDetails/i/73939
‘U.S.-South Korea Free-Trade Agreement wins approval of Assembly in
Seoul’
(Bloomberg) A free-trade
agreement between the U.S. and South Korea reached more than four
years ago will take effect as early as Jan. 1 after lawmakers in
Seoul approved the deal over objections from opposition legislators.
The ruling Grand
National Party used its majority in the assembly to ratify the deal
today in Seoul, according to the parliament’s website. YTN
Television broadcast images of opposition lawmakers shouting and
said one shot tear gas in the room where the voting took place.
President Barack Obama signed bills for the deal into law in the
U.S. last month after Congress passed them.
“This is a win-win
agreement that will provide significant economic and strategic
benefits to both countries,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said
today in a statement. “We look forward to working closely with the
government of Korea to bring the agreement into force as soon as
possible.”
For
more on the story, please visit:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-22/south-korean-parliament-passes-u-s-trade-agreement-as-opposition-objects.html#
‘Lamy calls for trade opening’
(Farm Progress) In his
annual report, World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy
told members that in a context of greater economic uncertainty and
rising global risks, it is all the more important that the process
of global trade opening continues. In the light of a worsening of
the global economy in recent months, with the forecast for world
export growth revised downwards to 5.8% in 2011, Lamy warned that
unilateral action to shield domestic industries will not solve
global problems but might make things worse by triggering a spiral
of tit-for-tat reactions in which every country will lose.
In other news from the
World Trade Organization, agriculture negotiators have elected New
Zealand Ambassador John Adank as their new chairperson. Ambassador
Adank is the eighth chairperson of the agriculture negotiations
since trade talks began in March 2000 and the fifth since the talks
were brought into the Doha Round in 2001.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://farmprogress.com/nebraska-farmer-story-lamy-calls-trade-opening-8-55028
‘USMEF: Russia WTO membership a relief for U.S. pork, beef exports’
(Cattle Network) After
18 years of negotiations, Russia appears to have cleared the final
hurdles in its effort to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Russia is the world’s largest economy not to have membership in the
WTO, so its accession represents the most significant addition to
the WTO since China joined about a decade ago.
As U.S. Meat Export
Federation (USMEF) Senior Vice President Thad Lively explains in
this audio report, Russia is expected to be officially invited to
join the WTO in mid-December. But the accession process will
actually stretch well into 2012, as Russia’s government addresses
the legislative changes necessary for finalizing its WTO membership.
Lively adds that U.S.
pork and beef exports will still face significant obstacles in the
Russian market, including a quota system that regulates imports
through the imposition of steep tariffs beyond a designated volume.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-news/USMEF-Russia-WTO-membership-a-relief-for-US-pork-beef-exports-134324913.html
‘U.S.-China wrap up Commerce and Trade Conference’
(Farm Progress) The 22nd
session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade
ended in Chengdu, China on Monday. U.S. officials are reporting
meaningful progress on key elements of the U.S.-China trade
relationship but also underscore that much more work remains to be
done to open China's market to U.S. exports and investment. U.S.
Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk, who co-chaired the JCCT, says they have
reached agreement on a number of important outcomes, though they had
hoped to accomplish even more.
"Both sides worked hard
to produce some meaningful progress that will help provide a needed
boost to U.S. exports and jobs," Secretary of Commerce John Bryson
said. "This is a step in the right direction. But we must continue
to actively engage our Chinese counterparts to open additional
opportunities for U.S. businesses."
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://farmprogress.com/nebraska-farmer-story-china-wrap-commerce-trade-conference-8-55027
‘President proclaims National Farm-City Week’
(KNEB) It is official,
President Obama has proclaimed November 18 through November 24,
2011, as National Farm-City Week. In his official proclamation Mr.
Obama called - upon all Americans to reflect on the vital
contributions of those who dedicate their lives to promoting our
Nation's agricultural abundance and environmental stewardship.
The President continued;
this week, we honor the individuals, families, and communities who
provide us the staple foods that sustain our Nation. As we gather
with family and friends this Thanksgiving, let us pay tribute to the
men and women whose hard work brought the bounty we find before us
from farm to fork.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://kneb.com/news/agricultural/index.php?more=a2xp5nn2
‘Feds want to make farming safer for kids’
(NPR) The Labor
Department has proposed changes that would outlaw farm kids under
the age of 16 from driving tractors, branding cattle and handling
pesticides. Family farmers are angry about the proposal and accuse
the government of encroaching on a sacred part of country life. But
statics show kids who work on farms are six times more likely to be
killed than children working in other industries.
To
read and listen to more on this story, please visit:
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/17/142437688/labor-department-wants-to-make-farming-safer-for-kids
‘Keeping sugar program outrages coalition’
(KNEB) Larry Graham,
Chairman of the Coalition for Sugar Reform and President of the
National Confectioners Association, says the coalition is – outraged
by reports that the Agriculture Committees have recommended to the
Joint Select Committee, extension of the current U.S. sugar policy
in what Graham calls a – secret - Farm Bill proposal. Graham says
this decision will - harm American consumers and businesses for
generations to come.
Graham says - the
Agriculture Committees' proposal extends a costly
government-controlled subsidy program that serves to benefit Big
Sugar and other agribusiness interests. Graham believes that - as
other agriculture commodities are being rethought and modified, the
sugar program should be thoroughly reformed to lower consumer costs
and provide relief for American small businesses who are being
crushed by the current, overly intrusive government program.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://kneb.com/news/agricultural/index.php?more=3gcmyfjw
‘Smithfield won’t open records to the HSUS’
(Brownfield) Smithfield
Foods has refused to hand over records to the Humane Society of the
United States (HSUS) on its plans to phase out gestation crates. The
HSUS, a Smithfield shareholder, said it was exercising its rights in
its formal request last week to view those records.
In a statement,
Smithfield responded by saying “there is no legal basis for this
demand made by HSUS to Smithfield.”
In 2007, Smithfield
publicly announced its intentions of changing gestation housing of
sows to group pen housing by 2017. In 2009, Smithfield delayed
implementation during the recession, citing a number of negative
factors causing huge losses. Smithfield announced in 2010 it had not
given up on the plan, and claims it was the “first major producer”
in the industry to commit to the conversion to group pens.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://brownfieldagnews.com/2011/11/21/smithfield-wont-open-records-to-the-hsus/
‘Facilities sought for restoring horse slaughter’
(Brownfield) Now that
legislation has been signed lifting the federal ban on horse
slaughter– the focus among horse groups is finding suitable plants
for processing.
Sue Wallis, co-leader of
United Horsemen and the International Equine Business Association,
tells Brownfield they have a great network across the country
looking for facilities in places where meat processing is common
practice. They are considering, Wallis says, “Those facilities that
are existing, that are already processing large mammals and that
could be relatively, quickly, retrofitted for the unique
characteristics of horses.”
Wallis says the horse
processing facilities that were shuttered in 2007 when amendments
passed banning the USDA from inspecting horse meat – will not be
reopened because those states where they are located have passed
laws banning horse slaughter (Texas, Illinois, California and
Florida).
Once plants are in
place, Wallis says, it’ll take years to recreate the market and
reverse the damage done to the welfare of horses that have been left
behind.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://brownfieldagnews.com/2011/11/21/focus-on-facilities-for-restoring-horse-slaughter/
State
News
‘Nebraska agriculture a U.S. leader’
(Kearney Hub) In case
there’s any question what Nebraska’s most important industry is,
statistics tell us a lot. During a presentation earlier this week in
Kearney from the director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture,
Greg Ibach of Sumner, we learned that our state’s economic
foundation remains closely tied to farms and ranches.
At nearly $17 billion,
Nebraska ranks around fourth nationally in cash receipts from all
farm commodities. Among all jobs in our state, about one-third are
directly or indirectly tied to farming and ranching.
Other states out-rank
Nebraska in certain categories, such as the number of farms, the
amount of cash derived from farm and ranch operations, and the
number of livestock. However, few states other than Nebraska lean so
strongly upon farming and ranching for the overall health of their
economy.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://www.kearneyhub.com/opinion/article_e8ebf62a-127e-11e1-8211-001cc4c002e0.html
‘Baenziger: Ag challenges to feed world unprecedented’
(Farm Progress) Take it
from a guy who helps feed the world: There's nothing quite like
surveying a field comprising a healthy new crop variety your
research team helped create and recalling, years earlier, "when you
held all the seed of it in the palm of your hand."
P. Stephen Baenziger,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln small grains breeder, brought his
passion about his work in a recent address titled "Setting the
Stage: Why Agriculture?" Baenziger was the second speaker UNL's
Heuermann Lecture series, which focuses on meeting the world's
growing food and renewable energy needs while sustaining natural
resources and the rural communities in which food grows.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://farmprogress.com/nebraska-farmer-story-baenziger-ag-challenges-feed-world-unprecedented-9-54920
‘A-FAN working on farm-consumer connection’
(Lincoln Journal-Star)
A-FAN, the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska, is
only 6 years old, but it's the old kid on the block in a new family
of organizations working to cultivate farmers' public image.
At the national level,
the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance rolled out of the delivery
room last year. In Nebraska, We Support Agriculture formed in
September.
A-FAN, which attracted
about 100 people to its annual meeting in Lincoln on Monday, already
has been around enough to undergo a transformation.
Off the table is the
practice of joining farmers at contentious county zoning meetings,
helping them navigate government channels in order to establish or
expand livestock operations.
Hosting a road rally to
bring dietitians, chefs and consumers to the farm is very much in
vogue, said Willow Holoubek, A-FAN's executive director.
"We're strictly an
awareness organization trying to connect consumers and Nebraska
farmers and ranchers," Holoubek said.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://journalstar.com/news/local/a-fan-working-on-farm-consumer-connection/article_6c997931-c651-5ca2-ae7f-2dc51c368086.html#ixzz1eRxbCHff
‘USDA Nebraska Farm Service Agency issues conservation program
payments’
(KCSR-Chadrad
Communications) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently
issued more than $64 million in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
payments to eligible producers in Nebraska.
Kelli Miller, Executive
Director for the USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Dawes-Northern Sioux
County, says “The Conservation Reserve Program works cooperatively
with farmers and ranchers to conserve and preserve environmentally
sensitive land that can be improved by controlling soil erosion,
enhancing habitats for waterfowl and wildlife or by improving water
quality. These payments compensate dedicated farmer and rancher
conservationists who want to improve conservation on sensitive
lands,” she said.
These annual rental
payments are earned on the one million acres enrolled in CRP,
including the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Programs and
Continuous Sign-Up Programs. Statewide there are 28,285 producer
contracts on 15,899 farms that received an average of $4,050 per
farm or $60.85 per acre. The number of contracts is higher than the
number of farms because producers may have multiple contracts on a
single farm.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://www.chadrad.com/newsstory.cfm?story=23047
‘Nebraska Corn Board member elected vice chairman of USMEF’
(Grand Island
Independent) Nebraska Corn Board member Mark Jagels, a farmer from
Davenport, was elected vice-chairman of the U.S. Meat Export
Federation (USMEF) at the organization's recent annual conference in
Tucson, Ariz. Jagels served as USMEF secretary/treasurer the
previous year.
"I had a great
experience over this past year as an officer for USMEF and am
looking forward to continuing to serve," said Jagels, a
fourth-generation farmer who lives on his family's farm that was
originally homesteaded in 1885.
"USMEF strives to open
markets around the world and increase sales of U.S. pork and beef in
those markets," Jagels said. "Its work is important to the success
of Nebraska beef and pork producers, as every pound of meat exported
adds value to cattle and hogs. That, in turn, helps ensure good
demand for Nebraska corn and distillers grains to be fed to those
livestock."
According to USMEF
estimates, so far this year the export value of beef equates to more
than $200 per head of each steer and heifer processed. For pork, the
export value is $55 for each hog processed.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://theindependent.com/articles/2011/11/22/news/ag/14175836.txt
‘Nebraska cattle on feed up 2 percent from a year ago’
(My Central Nebraska)
Nebraska feedlots, with capacities of 1,000 or more head, contained
2.47 million cattle on feed on November 1, according to USDA’s
National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office.
This inventory was up 2 percent from last year and is the largest
November 1 inventory since the data series began in 1994.
Placements during
October totaled 665,000 head, up 15 percent from 2010. Fed cattle
marketings for the month of October totaled 390,000 head, up 5
percent from last year. This is the largest number of marketings for
October since the data series began in 1994.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://www.mycentralnebraska.com/pages/8308213.php
‘Annual UNL Horsin' Around Conference Jan. 14-15’
(Nebraska Ag Connection)
Robin Frid of Pilot Point, Texas, will be the 2012 featured
presenter during the 20th annual Horsin' Around conference Jan.
14-15 at the RB Warren Arena in the Animal Science Complex on the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus.
Frid's niche is
all-around horses and during the two-day Horsin' Around conference
he will show his methods in a variety of areas including
showmanship, trail, horsemanship and English equitation, said Kathy
Anderson, extension horse specialist at UNL.
Frid, who opened his
winning training facility in 2006, works well with youth and
amateurs, Anderson said.
"He is a 20 year veteran
of the competitive circuit and he has produced some of the most
talented and awarded horsewomen and men in the last decade," she
said.
For
more on this story, please visit:
http://www.nebraskaagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=896&yr=2011
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Nebraska Department of Agriculture Ag Update
The
Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s “Ag Update” features stories on
a variety of agriculture-related topics, as reported by media from
around the world, and selected by Nebraska Department of Agriculture
(NDA) staff. Readers wishing to view the full article should see the
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-----------------------
Nebraska Department of Agriculture
PO Box 94947
Lincoln, NE 68509
