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(NAFB) - "President Dedicating Cap-and-Trade Dollars"

Democratic aides say President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget will project hundreds of billions of dollars in new federal revenue from a proposed comprehensive cap-and-trade climate law. White House projections indicate that cap-and-trade could raise 646-billion dollars in federal revenue over a decade. Still, prospects remain dim for enacting such legislation this year. The President reiterated his insistence that Congress address global warming in his State of the Union address.

Under the plan, emissions would be capped and polluters would need to hold government-issued allowances to release carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming. The allowances could be bought and sold in the marketplace.

But North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan, chairman of the Senate Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee, says any proposal to spend cap-and-trade revenue is probably dead on arrival. The Senator says - we’re not likely to do a cap-and-trade bill this year.


(NAFB) - "Farm Bureau Pushing Trade Agreements"

The President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Bob Stallman, has urged members of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee to take the lead in achieving President Obama’s goal outlined in the State of the Union address of doubling U.S. exports over the next five years. In a letter to the leadership of both committees, Stallman urged them to help the U.S. achieve the President’s goal by passing the pending Colombia, Panama and Korea free trade agreements.

Stallman said passage of these agreements is critical at this time because many other countries are negotiating bilateral and regional trade agreements that are reducing U.S. agriculture’s competitiveness and market share around the world. Stallman wrote, - by 2010, there will be more than 600 bilateral and regional trade agreements worldwide with the U.S engaged in fewer than 25.

In the letter, Stallman noted that the drop in U.S. agricultural exports from 2008 to 2009 is estimated to have cost roughly 160-thousand American jobs in the production, processing and transportation sectors. According to Farm Bureau estimates, the combined Colombia, Panama and Korea free trade agreements represent almost 3-billion dollars in additional U.S. agricultural exports. 


(NAFB) - "Senators Join Chorus for Trade Agreements"

Senate Ag Committee chairman Blanche Lincoln and 17 other U.S. Senator have written a letter to the President, supporting his pledge to double American exports and pass pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. The President announced this goal during his State of the Union address. Lincoln says - opening more markets for agricultural producers will help farmers and rural communities who have felt the devastating effects of the current economic climate.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley also signed the letter to the President.  He also wants to see funding for a retraining program to help workers displaced by trade and he is also - looking for action.

Grassley said he wants to see funding for the Community College and Career Training Grant Program. These grants are meant to help community colleges tailor programs to retrain workers displaced by trade to better meet the specific needs of employers in their communities.  The program was authorized at 40-million dollars per year, but the Democratic-led Congress has yet to fund it. 


(NAFB) - "NFU Questions Trade Agreements"

In a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative the National Farmers Union said many of the most serious problems of the previous trade agreement model are replicated in the three free trade agreements with Colombia, Korea and Panama, and must be addressed if the TPP is to represent a more balanced way to expand trade. NFU said the failure to remove these problematic provisions means a trade pact would not even pass the most conservative "does no further harm” test.

NFU President Roger Johnson says - NFU is eager to support future trade agreements that benefit a majority of U.S. farmers, ranchers, small businesses and consumers. He says - we all want American trade and globalization policies that promote the larger societal goals of healthy communities, feeding the poor, economic justice, human rights and a sound environment.


(NAFB) - "NPPC Working on Chinese Trade Issues"

Nick Giordano, Vice President and Counsel for International Affairs for the National Pork Producers Council, was in China last week for meetings with U.S. and Chinese government officials and private-sector representatives on a host of trade-related issues. Topics discussed included China’s continued ban on U.S. pork imports because of the H1N1 flu and its refusal to take pork from pigs given ractopamine, a feed additive widely used in U.S. pork production to promote leaner meat.

In December China announced it would lift its H1N1-related ban on U.S. pork, but it has not yet begun accepting imports. On the ractopamine issue, the U.N. food-safety body this summer is expected to set a maximum residue level for the product, which was approved in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration and is accepted by 25 other countries.


(NAFB) - "Ethanol  Production Gets Stronger"

According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. ethanol production reached an all time high in November 2009 at 761-thousand barrels per day. That is an increase of 93-thousand barrels per day from November 2008.

Ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, also reached an all time high in November at 781-thousand barrels per day, up from 683-thousand a year ago. Ethanol demand is averaging 702-thousand barrels per day through November.

EIA also reports fuel ethanol imports of 12-million gallons in September. 


(NAFB) - "New Wind Energy Sets New Mark"

The American Wind Energy Association says the U.S. wind industry broke all previous records in 2009 by installing nearly 10-thousand megawatts of new generating capacity. That's enough to serve more than 2.4 million homes.  Still the association says in its 4th quarter report this level still lags in manufacturing and investment. The new projects place wind power neck and neck with natural gas as the leading source of new electricity generation for the country.

Together, wind power and natural gas account for about 80 percent of the new capacity added in the U.S. last year. But AWEA officials say the ongoing lack of a long-term policy and market signal resulted in a drop in investment in the manufacturing sector, compared to 2008, with one-third fewer wind power manufacturing facilities online, announced and expanded in 2009.

Industry officials say production tax credit incentives provided in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act earlier this year must be supplemented with a national Renewable Electricity Standard.  


(NAFB) - "USDA Purchasing Products for Nutrition Programs"

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says USDA intends to purchase 29.1-million dollars worth of blueberry, pear, potato, peach and mixed fruit products for federal food nutrition assistance programs.  The breakdown includes 9-million dollars of fresh potatoes, 8.2-million of peach and mixed fruit products, 7-million for frozen blueberries, and 4.9-million dollars for fresh pears and canned pears packed in light or extra light syrup.

According to the department, a number of economic factors have led to surpluses, so these purchases will help alleviate the stress caused by higher inventories and low prices that farmers are receiving for their commodities. In addition, these funds will help support the rural economy by putting revenue into the hands of growers, which can stimulate economic activity at the local level.

These healthy food purchases will go to support the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and The Emergency Food Assistance Program.  


(NAFB) - “Peanut Butter a Life Saver”

The U.S. peanut industry has responded to the devastation in Haiti with donations. The National Peanut Board has contributed thousands of dollars to an effort to donate four trailer loads of peanut butter to Haiti – and another shipment is planned for next week. But that’s not the only way the peanut industry has helped. It turns out peanut butter actually helped a girl survive after the earthquake. According to the girl’s aunt – she was trapped in a supermarket - in the aisle where the peanut butter and jelly was. The girl lived on peanut butter and jelly for six days.


(NAFB) - "Fewer Disorders in Poultry Confirmed"

A report commissioned by the Joint Industry Safety and Health Council indicates that musculoskeletal disorders in the poultry industry have declined 75 percent during the last 25 years. Brian Rodgers of Butterball LLC, who serves as council chairman. says - we can be proud of the industry's progress and it can serve as a model for other industries that are facing the same challenges.

The study describes the industry's efforts in the prevention and early treatment of MSDs. It also discusses how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has focused attention on the poultry industry and the positive results from OSHA and the industry working together.

The Joint Industry Safety and Health Council is made up of members from the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation. 


(NAFB) - "Need for Labeling Mechanically Tenderized Meat"

Food safety attorney Bill Marler is calling for USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service to add special labeling to meats that have undergone mechanical tenderization because the products have been linked to outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7. Marler is arguing that tenderized meat should not be considered "intact" by FSIS for purposes of E. coli regulation.

Marler says - the assumption is that the E. coli pathogen, if present, would only be on the outside of the cut, and would be killed by minimal cooking.  But, if needles or blades drive those bacteria into the center of the meat, only thorough cooking of the meat would make it safe, something few people do.

The American Meat Institute says no special labeling is needed, noting that all steaks in retail stores, whether blade-tenderized or not, must bear safe handling labels instructing consumers how to cook and handle them to ensure they are safe when served.


(NAFB) - "Researchers Studying Rusts in Sugarcane"

In 2007, orange rust was identified in a sugarcane-growing area in Florida - the first such find in the Western Hemisphere.  Orange rust is different from the standard "brown rust" - common in U.S. sugarcane production - and it's difficult to indentify.  So researchers at the ARS Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland are working to learn the DNA of samples from around the world.

Fields infected with orange rust require a minimum of three fungicide applications to achieve acceptable yields. These applications cost growers an estimated 40-million dollars annually in Florida, the only U.S. cane-producing state that has this rust so far. The majority of the problem is found in the Americas, Asia, Australia, and, to a lesser extent, Africa.

The results of the scientific team's genetic sequences have been added to GenBank, the National Institutes of Health's genetic sequence database, for use by plant pathologists and plant breeders around the world.


(NAFB) - "Outlook Dinner Speaker Announced"

The 2010 Agricultural Outlook Forum will be held February 18th at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. USDA's Office of the Chief Economist says Roger Beachy, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and USDA chief scientist, will be the dinner speaker. Beachy's speech, "The New Consensus: Science, Sustainability and Society" will address how research and advanced technologies look to solve issues of sustainable agriculture in relation to environmental, economic and trade competitiveness.

As Director of NIFA, Beachy oversees awarding extramural funds for research, extension and education for USDA; as chief scientist, he is responsible for coordinating science activities across the department.

The theme of this year's Outlook Forum is "Sustainable Agriculture: The Key to Health & Prosperity." Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver the Forum's keynote address. 
 

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Monday, February 01, 2010 07:55:12