California
Poultry Federation Headline News
Edited by Mark Looker
A news service of the California Poultry Federation,
4640 Spyres Way,
Suite 4,
Modesto, CA 95356 (209) 576-6355
www.cpif.org.
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Monday, Dec. 29, 2008
Althada Engle service set for Tuesday in Fresno - - Althada Engle's funeral service will be held at The Chapel of the Light, 1620 W. Belmont Ave., Fresno, CA 93728 at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 30. A reception to celebrate her life will follow at a private residence. Althada, wife of CPF board member Jack Engle, died suddenly Tuesday at her home. California Poultry Federation President Bill Mattos says that Jack thanks everyone for their thoughts and prayers. His information is below if you would like to contact him. Jack Engle, 8321 E. Sanders Court, Fresno, CA 93727 jack.engle@sp.intervet.com. To read a tribute to her in the Fresno Bee, please click here. Dec. 28, 2008 Fresno Bee
March 9-10, 2009 Winter Board Meeting, Hyatt Regency, Sacramento
July 13-14, 2009 Summer Meeting, The Cliff’s Resort, Shell Beach.
Sept. 17-18, 2009 Annual Conference, Resort at Squaw Creek, Lake Tahoe.
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Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008
New Tool Fertilizes Fields and Reduces Runoff
Nutrients - - A new field tool developed by Agricultural Research
Service (ARS) scientists applies
poultry litter
to fields in shallow bands, reducing runoff of excess nutrients like
phosphorus and nitrogen. Poultry litter--a combination of poultry manure and
bedding material, such as
pine shavings or peanut or rice
hulls--is a natural fertilizer. The conventional method of applying it to
fields utilizes a broadcast spreader, which scatters the litter across the
soil surface. Because it rests on top of the soil, the litter is vulnerable
to runoff in heavy rains.
A new tool developed by ARS
agricultural engineer Thomas R. Way and his colleagues at the
agency's National Soil Dynamics Laboratory in Auburn, Ala., offers a
solution. The tool digs shallow trenches about two to three inches deep in
the soil. It then places the poultry litter in the trenches and covers it
with soil. Burying the litter significantly reduces the risk of runoff.
Designed to attach to a tractor, the litter applicator can dig four trenches
as it is pulled through the field.
<more> Dec. 23, 2008 ARS Press Release
Animal Rights Activists Target New Congress - - The animal rights movement has already targeted Congress for increased pressure to get support for their anti-agriculture agenda. With the announcement of a new Secretary of Agriculture only days old, radical animal rights groups are already putting on the pressure for changes in animal agriculture policy. Tom Vilsack will not take office for at least another month, but the radical group Farm Sanctuary is already putting him under attack. "Vilsack has an uneven track record when it comes to farm animals and fighting factory farming," said Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary. "He has supported some animal protection measures and has at times stood up to Big Ag, yet he has also taken actions that are not in the best interest of farm animals and rural communities," Baur added, noting that during Vilsack’s tenure as governor of Iowa the state saw a proliferation of massive hog farms. <more> Dec. 23, 2008 Beef Magazine
Headline News
will be on holiday from Dec. 24, 2008 to Jan. 5, 2009. We wish you all a
joyous holiday season and Happy New Year!
Monday, Dec. 22, 2008
Poultry Industry and USDA Urge Registration of
Farms - - The National Turkey Federation (NTF), National Chicken
Council (NCC) and United Egg Producers (UEP) are urging farmers to register
their premises with the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) to help
protect their flocks in the event of an outbreak of disease. Working with
the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS), the trade associations for poultry and egg have developed
and are distributing a brochure, “First Steps: Register Your Premises,”
which encourages growers to register their farms . The brochure is being
distributed to the membership of all three associations. While registration
is voluntary in most states, NTF, NCC and UEP encourage poultry growers and
egg producers to register their premises to assist state governments and
first responders in reacting to a disease problem. “NTF members recognize
the importance of registering turkey production premises and encourage all
growers to register their production sites with their respective state
premises registration systems,” said NTF President Joel Brandenberger. “The
turkey industry's structure allows for advanced disease control and
eradication and registering farms through the premises identification
systems will only complement the systems that the industry already relies
upon.” “We urge all broiler growers to register their premises with the
National Animal Identification System (NAIS),” said NCC President George
Watts. “Getting registered means chicken producers will be informed
promptly if there is a serious animal disease outbreak in the vicinity.
This will help protect the flock and the grower’s livelihood.” The UEP
Board of Directors supports premises registration for egg production
facilities. UEP encourages producers to register their premises under NAIS
through state agencies and poultry associations working with USDA. UEP
President and CEO Gene Gregory said, “Egg producers have worked hard to
prevent an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the nation’s
layer flock. At the same time, they have spent vast resources in preparing
for such an outbreak anywhere in the United States. The ability to assess
vulnerability to egg layer sites or other poultry farms and contain quickly
any outbreak depends on readily available and accurate premises
information.” Poultry growers and egg layers can obtain a copy of the
brochure by contacting NTF, NCC, or UEP. Dec. 22, 2008 NTF, NCC, UEP
Press Release
7 poultry trade issues for the Obama
administration - - What do U.S. poultry and egg exporters want from the
Obama administration? Jim Sumner, president of the USA Poultry & Egg Export
Council (USAPEEC), outlined seven recommendations for the new administration
at the council’s winter meeting in Washington, D.C. 1. Base trade with China
on sound science. China is on its way to becoming the top market for U.S.
poultry, but trouble is brewing over the DeLauro amendment to the U.S.
Agriculture Appropriations Bill. It withholds funding for USDA to proceed
with implementing a rule allowing China to export cooked chicken to the U.S.
USAPEEC’s position is that the DeLauro amendment is political and not based
on science and should be repealed. Sumner predicted that the U.S. will
continue to experience trade issues with China until the DeLauro amendment
is repealed. “We have identified this as our number one issue to present to
the Obama administration,” he said.
<more> Dec. 22, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Valley farmworkers have likely ally in Obama's
pick for labor secretary -- Central Valley farmworkers gain a
well-placed ally with the selection of Los Angeles-area congresswoman Hilda
Solis as the next secretary of labor. Solis stands to become be the
department's first Hispanic chief, overseeing the most important laws
regulating farm labor. She could soften or even reverse some controversial
Bush administration policies, as she revealed when she denounced last-minute
revisions to a foreign guest-worker program. "There is no question that the
guest-worker program needs significant overhaul, but slashing wages and
reducing basic rights for the most vulnerable workers in our country,
especially hardworking Latino farm workers, is not the answer," Solis said
recently.
<more> Dec. 21, 2008 Fresno Bee
Fresno Bee Editorial: Vilsack and the Valley. New
ag secretary will have a major impact on region's No. 1 industry. - -
The nomination of Tom Vilsack to be President-elect Barack Obama's secretary
of agriculture has drawn praise, for the most part, from farm interests and
environmentalists alike. But there are some specific concerns for California
and the Valley. Vilsack, the former two-term governor of Iowa, is
well-versed in the highly subsidized commodity agriculture of the Midwest,
but has little experience in the complex issues of California's agriculture,
with its specialty crops and its controversial water problems. But Vilsack
won't be able -- and shouldn't be permitted -- to overlook California, the
largest agricultural producer in the nation at roughly $37 billion each
year.
<more> Dec. 21, 2008 Fresno Bee
Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008
Obama settles
on Rep. Hilda Solis as labor chief - - President-elect Barack Obama's
choice to be labor secretary, Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis of California, is
expected to advocate greater union influence in the workplace and more
"green" jobs. Solis, the 51-year-old daughter of a Mexican union shop
steward and a Nicaraguan assembly line worker, is in line to be the third
Hispanic nominee in Obama's Cabinet. Obama planned to announce her
nomination on Friday, said a labor official who spoke on condition of
anonymity because an announcement had not been made yet. The lone member of
Congress of Central American descent, Solis would replace Elaine Chao, the
only original member of President George W. Bush's Cabinet still in office.
<more> Dec. 18, 2008 AP
U.S. will fail
to meet biofuels mandate- - The United States will fall well short of
biofuels mandates on the uncertain development of next-generation fuels made
from grasses and wood chips, the government's top energy forecasting agency
said on Wednesday. "The key risk factor is rate of development of
cellulosic biofuels technology," Howard Gruenspecht, the Energy Information
Administration's acting head, said at press conference in Washington
introducing the agency's annual energy forecast. "Near term growth of
cellulosic ... is certainly a question mark." The U.S., the world's top
producer of the main biofuel ethanol, will only blend about 30 billion
gallons of fuels like corn-based ethanol and the advanced fuels into
gasoline by 2022. That is about 17 percent short of the U.S. mandate of 36
billion gallons by that year, the EIA said in the forecast.
<more> Dec. 18, 2008 Reuters
Europe
keeps US poultry off the Xmas menu over chlorine use - - European Union
farm ministers rejected Thursday attempts to lift a ban on US poultry which
is washed in chlorine, ensuring that American turkeys will not grace
Europe's Christmas dinner tables. European Union farm ministers rejected
Thursday attempts to lift a ban on US poultry which is washed in chlorine,
ensuring that American turkeys will not grace Europe's Christmas dinner
tables. An EU official said that 26 agriculture ministers, meeting in
Brussels, voted against the attempted move by the European Commission, while
Britain had abstained over a matter under discussion since spring. In May,
EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen proposed lifting the 10-year ban
on US poultry under certain conditions, including special labels identifying
the process and guarantees the meat would be rinsed. But veterinarians, EU
governments and the European Parliament could not be convinced.
<more> Dec. 18, 2008 AFP
Salazar, Vilsack nominations give voice to rural
America - - Every stream tells a story on the half-day drive from Denver
to the Salazar family ranch, every culvert a tale of water and politics. Ken
Salazar knows them all, a font of knowledge tapped by President-elect Barack
Obama on Wednesday when he introduced the Democratic senator from Colorado,
whose ancestors farmed and ranched the American Southwest for more than 400
years, as his choice to lead the Interior Department. Some environmentalists
call Salazar too centrist and too friendly to drilling and mining interests
to run the department: "His overall record is decidedly mixed, and is
especially weak in the arenas most important to the next secretary of the
Interior: protecting scientific integrity, combating global warming,
reforming energy development and protecting endangered species," said the
Center for Biological Diversity in Arizona. A letter opposing his nomination
was signed by about 50 wildlife biologists and members of environmental
groups. But in Salazar and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack -- a longtime chief
executive of a major farm state, nominated Wednesday for Agriculture
secretary -- Obama is adding two rural-tuned voices to the Cabinet of the
most urban president in at least 100 years. Salazar's adds a background, and
perhaps a preference for farm and ranching interests, to the
often-contentious politics of western water scarcity.
<more> Dec. 18, 2008 LA Times
Ag pick Vilsack faces big learning curve - -
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will inherit a lumbering bureaucracy and have
lots to learn about fruits and vegetables as the nation's agriculture
secretary. A conventional choice who still caught Capitol Hill by surprise,
Vilsack is well-rooted in Midwestern commodities but not in the specialty
crops of California and Florida. Consequently, specialty crop growers will
keep lobbying for attention from the new farm chief. President-elect Barack
Obama played up Vilsack's expertise Wednesday in announcing him as his
choice to run the Agriculture Department. "Obviously, if you don't know
agriculture, you're not going to become governor of Iowa," Obama said at a
news conference, adding that Vilsack has "also been forward-looking" in his
policies.
<more> Dec. 18, 2008 Modesto Bee
Salazar at Interior: For Greens, Not a Dream Choice - -
Environmentalists have so far been ecstatic over President-elect Barack
Obama's Cabinet picks, with some even calling it the green dream team. And
when Obama introduced Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar as his new Secretary of
the Interior at a news conference in Chicago Wednesday morning, he was
likely hoping for the same worshipful reaction. "It's time for a new kind of
leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a
responsible way to benefit all our families," said Obama. "That is the kind
of leadership embodied by Ken Salazar." But not all greens are so sure about
the Colorado senator-and Salazar's nomination could represent Obama's first
conflict with the environmental community. Although mainstream green groups
like Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Natural Resources Defense
Council were quick to praise Salazar — Dan Grossman, head of EDF's Rocky
Mountain office, calls Salazar a "rare talent" — other environmentalists
were far less impressed. "His environmental record is pretty mixed," says
Kieran Suckling, the executive director of the Tucson-based Center for
Biological Diversity. "He's far from the most anti-environmental guy out
there, but he's no environmental hero."
<more> Dec. 18, 2008 Time
Expert: Ag often to blame for bad press. Farmers need to be responsive, address public’s concerns, Dolan says - - Sometimes, farmers and ranchers have only themselves to blame for their negative media and public images. So asserts Marilyn Dolan, the executive director of an organization whose aim is to help producers put the best face on industry controversies and crises on their land. Dolan, who leads the Watsonville-based Alliance for Food and Farmers, acknowledges farmers are sometimes "cast as villains" when news of a pesticide spill or food safety scare breaks. But "the messages that come from the agricultural community are not helpful," she told attendees of the California Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting on Dec. 8. "We're still not communicating in the right way," Dolan said. "What we think sounds good often sounds really bad to the public." In a presentation titled, "Dateline Is Calling! Now What Do I Do?," Dolan cited recent stories about perchlorate in lettuce, foodborne illnesses and pesticide use as examples of when some ag representatives could have communicated better. <more> Dec. 18, 2008 Capital Press
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008
Pilgrim's Pride Corporation Names Don Jackson as
President and Chief Executive Officer -- Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (PGPDQ.PK)
today announced that its board of directors has named Don Jackson as its
president and chief executive officer subject to approval of the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. The board also
appointed Lonnie Ken Pilgrim, its current chairman, as interim president
until such time as Dr. Jackson's employment is approved by the bankruptcy
court. Dr. Jackson will join the company immediately on an interim basis.
Prior to accepting his position with Pilgrim's Pride, he served as president
of Foster Farms' poultry division, a leading poultry producer on the West
Coast. He will assume the combined duties of Clint Rivers, the former
president and chief executive officer, and Robert A. Wright, the former
chief operating officer, both of whom resigned from the company today as
part of its reorganization process under Chapter 11. Dr. Jackson has been
president of Foster Farms' poultry division, based in Livingston,
California, since 2000. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president
for foodservice of the former ConAgra Poultry Company in Duluth, Georgia.
Before that he worked for 22 years for Seaboard Farms of Athens, Georgia,
including four years as president and CEO of their poultry division. He
received his bachelor of science degree from Arizona State University and
his master's and Ph.D. degrees from Colorado State University.
<more> Dec. 17, 2008 Pilgrim’s Pride Press Release
New Pilgrim’s Pride President Don Jackson has
ties to Georgia- - Pilgrim's Pride Corp. has announced that its board of
directors has named Don Jackson as its president and chief executive
officer, subject to approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern
District of Texas. The company filed voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy
petitions on Dec. 1. Pilgrim's Pride operates a poultry processing plant in
Gainesville and seven other Georgia cities. Prior to accepting his position
with Pilgrim's Pride, he served as president of Foster Farms' poultry
division, a leading poultry producer on the West coast. He will assume the
combined duties of Clint Rivers, the former president and chief executive
officer, and Robert A. Wright, the former chief operating officer, both of
whom resigned from the company today as part of its reorganization process
under Chapter 11. Jackson has been president of Foster Farms' poultry
division, based in Livingston, Calif., since 2000. Prior to that, he served
as executive vice president for food service of the former ConAgra Poultry
Co. in Duluth. Before that he worked for 22 years for Seaboard Farms of
Athens, including four years as president and CEO of their poultry division.
He received his bachelor of science degree from Arizona State University and
his master's and Ph.D. degrees from Colorado State University
<more> Dec. 17, 2008 Gainesville (Georgia) Times
Former Iowa Gov. Vilsack sees Ag Sec nod as
recognition of 'teamwork' - - Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack arrived early
this morning in Chicago, where he is expected to be introduced later by
President-elect Barack Obama as his designee to be U.S. secretary of
agriculture. "I'm humbled and honored," Vilsack said in a Des Moines
Register interview before boarding a 6 a.m. flight from Des Moines to
Chicago. "I hope all the people who have spent blood and tears in my time in
public life see this as I do, as an acknowledgment of teamwork," Vilsack
said. "I've worked hard in my life and I want an opportunity to contribute
to my nation." The former two-term Democrat governor, who left office last
year, had been considered a top contender for the USDA job, and had the
backing of U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, who is an Iowa Democrat and chairman of the
Senate Agriculture Committee. Vilsack also was supported by key
agricultural, conservation and labor groups.
<more> Dec. 17, 2008 Des Moines Register
National Turkey Federation Likes Vilsack as
Secretary of Agriculture - - National Turkey Federation (NTF) President
Joel Brandenberger said its members congratulate former Iowa Governor Tom
Vilsack on being appointed as the Secretary of Agriculture. Governor
Vilsack led one of the most important agricultural states in the nation, and
a state that has significant turkey production and processing. His
background should give him a solid understanding of the dynamics of the
turkey industry, which will be significant given the challenges facing our
industry and all of animal agriculture. NTF and the entire turkey industry
looks forward to working with him as Agriculture Secretary to continue to
build a fair and invaluable relationship that will benefit all of U.S.
agriculture. Dec. 17, 2008 NTF Pres Release
House Ag Committee Chair praises Vilsack
nomination - - Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson today
released the following statement on President-elect Barack Obama's
nomination of Tom Vilsack for Secretary of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture: "I congratulate former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack on his
nomination for Secretary of Agriculture. Governor Vilsack is a strong
advocate who understands the changing landscape of our nation's rural
economy. I look forward to working with him and President-elect Obama in
advancing food, conservation and energy policies that are in the best
interest of American agriculture and the American people." Dec., 17, 208
House Ag Committee Press Release
USDA Secretary Schafer commends Vilsack pick - - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer Statement: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer today commended President-Elect Barack Obama's nomination of former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack to be the 30th Secretary of Agriculture, citing the former governor's experience in agricultural issues and expressing confidence in Vilsack's ability to effectively continue USDA's success in expanding America's agricultural economy. "USDA plays an integral role in supporting our agricultural economy and working on behalf of America's farmers and ranchers. I am confident that Tom Vilsack's background and experience will help him continue the progress we have made here. With his opportunity to build on the accomplishments of USDA during the Bush Administration, Tom Vilsack would lead a department that has made great strides in strengthening our agricultural economy, expanding conservation, leading biofuels development, securing our food supply, improving nutrition, and increasing markets for American agriculture worldwide. "I wish Governor Vilsack well and believe that he will succeed in continuing to move American agriculture forward." Dec. 17, 2008 USDA Press Release
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008
Sources: Obama selects Vilsack for ag post - -
President-elect Barack Obama has selected former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as
agriculture secretary, according to Democratic sources familiar with the
selection process said. Obama will announce the appointment of Vilsack on
Wednesday, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to discuss the selection before the
announcement. Vilsack will be the fourth former opponent of Obama in the 2008
Democratic primaries to join his new administration. Others include Vice
President-elect Joe Biden, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been tapped
for secretary of state, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, selected to head
the Commerce Department.
<more> Dec.16, 2008 AP
Six arrested in Madera County chicken heist - -
When roughly 200 clucking chickens vanished this weekend from a Chowchilla
farm, Madera County sheriff's deputies immediately suspected "fowl" play. A
tipster alerted deputies that a suspicious van was parked near the farm on
Road 26 early Saturday morning, sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart said. By
the time deputies arrived shortly after 2 a.m., the van was gone -- and so
were 200 chickens. "This is the third time this farm has been hit for
chickens" in the last two weeks, Stuart said.
<more> Dec. 16, 2008 Fresno Bee
Bird flu found in chickens in eastern China - -
Authorities in eastern China have killed more than 300,000 fowl after bird flu
was discovered in chickens, the Agriculture Ministry said Tuesday. Veterinary
officials in Hai'an county and the city of Dongtai, both in Jiangsu province,
said chickens in the two areas tested positive for the H5N1 virus, according
to a ministry statement faxed to The Associated Press. It did not say when the
birds got sick, whether they had died from the virus or how many were
infected. The areas are about 20 miles (30 kilometers) apart. In order to
prevent an outbreak, authorities in Hai'an and Dongtai killed 377,000 chickens
and other domestic fowl in surrounding areas, the ministry said. They have
also disinfected and quarantined affected zones and banned the transport of
fowl and related products from Hai'an and Dongtai, it said.
<more> Dec. 16, 2008 AP
State ag groups meet to talk about Ag Vision Wednesday - - Representatives from the California Cattlemen's Association, Western Growers and Agricultural Council of California will meet on Dec. 17 with the state board of Food and Agriculture to discuss the recently released Agricultural Vision framework. Members of charitable foundations will join Matt Byrne of California Cattlemen's Association, Dave Puglia of Western Growers and Emily Robidart of Agricultural Council of California. With the state board, they will focus on crafting part of the plan for the state's food production future. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. <more> Dec. 16, 2008 Capital Press
Monday, Dec. 15, 2008
Air board passes historic truck emissions rules
- - The California Air Resources Board on Friday passed a landmark set
of pollution rules that target diesel trucks. The board passed its emissions
proposal on an 8-0 vote. Over the course of a two-day hearing, the board
heard testimony from nearly 300 stakeholders. Owners of small trucking
operations delivered emotional pleas to the board, saying the rule would
squeeze them out of business. Supporters gave equally emotional comments,
asking for relief from air pollution that is seen as the reason for high
rates of asthma and other disorders. "There's no bigger (health) risk factor
than when someone loses their job," said board member John Telles, a
physician. "I don't think the state of California wants to put people out of
business. I personally don't want to do that just from a health
perspective." When the hearing started Thursday afternoon, truck drivers
held signs on the sidewalk outside, showing opposition to the board's
proposal. "For a lot of us, it's ag," said Nathan Crum of Valley Pacific
Petroleum. "That's really most of our business. Every dairyman, the only way
they're gong to get their fuel is from us."
<more> Dec. 13, 2008 Capital Press
Air board approves diesel truck rules over
objections -- California regulators Friday approved landmark rules for
heavy-duty trucks and buses aimed at curbing air pollution and gases that
contribute to global warming. The Air Resources Board acted despite
objections by truckers in the Central Valley and elsewhere who say they
can't afford to buy the smog controls or new rigs during a recession. The
diesel rules will speed up the replacement of thousands of polluting trucks
and buses that stay on the road for decades and are not as clean as newer
models that have tougher, federally mandated emissions standards. Nearly a
million vehicles will have to be replaced or retrofitted with smog traps,
filters or cleaner-burning technology beginning in 2011. By 2014, all trucks
must have soot filters, and by the time the rule is fully implemented in
2023, no truck or bus in California could be older than 13 years unless it
had equipment to cut nitrogen oxide emissions.
<more> Dec. 14, 2008 Modesto Bee
Foster Farms’ consumer survey shows shoppers
going back to basics -- Following the official announcement by the
National Bureau of Economic Research that the U.S. is in a recession, West
Coast poultry producer Foster Farms today released new survey findings
examining how the economy is impacting consumer lives, from grocery shopping
and meal preparation to holiday giving plans. The survey findings indicate
that West Coast consumers have been heavily impacted by the recession and
that they have already adapted their shopping and cooking habits to increase
savings. At the same time, these households see a silver lining in their
ability to control grocery shopping and food preparation costs more than
other areas of daily life (such as commuting, housing, etc.). The findings
also suggest that consumers are moving away from viewing food as
entertainment and are eating healthier by going back to basics. Highlights
include:
<more> Dec. 15, 2008 Foster Farms Press Release
U.S.-Russian poultry negotiations at critical
stage - - As a U.S. trade delegation headed to Moscow this weekend, it
has its work cut out in addressing access issues for U.S. poultry in the
all-important Russian market. One issue the U.S. and Russian negotiators
seem ready to agree on is the U.S. poultry quota for 2009 will be cut. An
announcement to that effect is expected this week. But other serious trade
issues loom, including a new Russian rule banning the use of chlorine in
processing and a limit on moisture in poultry. Either issue, if not
resolved, could stop U.S. poultry exports to Russia.
<more> Dec. 15, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Official: Obama to pick Colorado senator Salazar
for Interior - - A transition official for President-elect Barack Obama
says Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar will be named Interior Secretary later this
week. The appointment will round out Obama's environment and energy team. He
unveiled most of the team on Monday. The official spoke on the condition of
anonymity to avoid pre-empting Obama's upcoming announcement. Salazar is a
first-term Colorado Senator who has established a name for himself on public
lands and energy resources issues. He headed the Colorado Natural Resources
Department from 1990 through 1994. The Interior Department has broad
oversight over the nation's energy resources and environment. It oversees
oil and gas drilling on public lands and manages the nation's parks and
wildlife refuges.
<more> Dec. 15, 2008 AP
Panel to offer a vision for Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta - - By New Year's Eve, a panel of state Cabinet
secretaries called the Delta Vision Committee will send the governor and
Legislature a plan to replumb and restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,
the hub of California's freshwater delivery system. It will be one of the
most ambitious infrastructure and habitat restoration projects ever proposed
in America. The delta provides drinking water to 25 million Californians and
irrigates 3 million acres of farmland via diversion pumps near Tracy. But
these diversions have contributed to a broad ecosystem collapse in the
delta, including nine fish species in steep decline. As a result, water
deliveries to the Bay Area and Southern California have been curtailed.
<more> Dec. 14, 2008 Fresno Bee
The Delta debate: Resurrecting the canal - -
California as we know it today was built largely on this fantasy: That arid
cities in the south could indefinitely satisfy the thirst of a growing
population by importing water from the north. The fantasy endured for a
while, buoyed by water diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The
largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, it drains 40 percent of
California, transporting vital snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada across the
state. Recent events have revealed the truth: California is reaching the
limit of its water supplies, and the economy and the environment are
suffering for it. The future offers even harsher realities: Global warming
is drying up the snowpack and natural disasters could shatter the Delta.
Now, the state's water planners are proposing the most sweeping landscape
change in America, resurrecting an audacious notion for re-plumbing this
state ¨C a controversial idea that many thought died long ago.
<more> Dec. 14, 2008 Sacramento Bee To view an interactive
map, join in a forum on the Delta and see other features from this Bee
series on the Delta,
please click here.
Employers look to Obama to deliver on immigration
promise - - In the green folds of the Capay Valley, the scene at Full
Belly Farm isn't that different from countless other California businesses
with immigrant workers on their payrolls. Everybody is hunkered down,
thankful to have work – in this case, growing organic vegetables – and
praying the economy improves with the coming Barack Obama administration's
stimulus plans. Once a promised middle class recovery is under way, Full
Belly co-owner Judith Redmond said, business owners hope Obama will turn to
immigration overhaul, as he also promised. It's a lightning rod issue, but
they contend the problem needs to be confronted if the California and the
U.S. economies are to have enough legal workers to meet long-term needs.
"It's about recognizing that we need this work force. We're not going to
make this all go away," Redmond said.
<more> Dec. 15, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Creating a Sustainable Food Future – California Agricultural Vision Framework Released - - The California State Board of Food and Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) are releasing the California Agricultural Vision framework for public comment. This “Ag Vision” will help craft long term policy priorities for California’s food system that will bring together various stakeholders with the common goal of advancing innovation and the sustainability of California’s agricultural future. This includes perspectives from farmers, ranchers and processors as well as nutrition, conservation, environmental and rural development groups. The Ag Vision’s framework is centered on three policy priorities for a sustainable agri-food system: • Better Health and Well-being: Meeting the nutritional needs of California’s diverse population. • A Healthier Planet: Agricultural stewardship of the natural resources upon which California food production depends. • Thriving Communities: Food production is a driver of sustainable California economic growth. <more> Dec. 15, 2008 CDFA Press Release
Friday, Dec. 12, 2008
Poultry Groups Welcome EPA Final Rule On Air Release Reporting -- The
National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation, and U.S. Poultry & Egg
Association issued a joint statement welcoming today’s announcement from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granting an exemption for poultry farms
from having to report naturally occurring air releases of ammonia and
hydrogen sulfide as an "emergency release" under the CERCLA and EPCRA
emergency reporting framework. The exemption affects a majority of the
family farmers engaged in poultry live production that operate in the United
States. “We have always felt that reporting requirements under the CERCLA
and EPCRA programs were never meant to address the release of naturally
occurring substances that originate from the breakdown of animal waste,” the
poultry groups said. “We believe EPA heard our concerns and has come to a
reasonable compromise that addresses the needs and requirements of the
regulated community, emergency responders, and the public at large. We
particularly appreciate the efforts of EPA to minimize the reporting burdens
on thousands of family farms related to the CERCLA and EPCRA programs.”
<more> Dec. 12, 2008 NCC,
NTF, USPEA Press Release
FSIS
will begin melamine testing on retail products - - The Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a notice (97-08) this week announcing it
will begin testing certain meat and poultry products at the retail level for
the presence of melamine. FSIS said it was taking this action in light of
recent disclosures of melamine in certain imported food products and that
the agency believed it is prudent to conduct a small amount of sampling in
meat and poultry Page 6 December 12, 2008 products. FSIS said it is focusing
on meat and poultry products that contain milk-derived ingredients, such as
nonfat dried milk, casein, whey, evaporated milk, and milk powder. FSIS said
it plans to test 45 samples per week over a 12-week period. The following
products will be tested: Baby food (containing a significant amount of meat
or poultry products); Cooked sausages (including hot dogs or frankfurters
with and without cheese products); Breaded chicken (bite-sized morsels or
nuggets with and without cheese products); Meatballs; and Meat and poultry
wrapped in dough and pizza (including calzones). Dec. 12, 2008 NCC
Newsletter
New Obama pick versed on Valley water, air issues
- - President-elect Barack Obama's choice as a top environmental adviser
knows the Central Valley's air and water problems better than most. As
incoming Council on Environmental Quality chair, Nancy Sutley will try to
coordinate federal environmental policy. She will referee fights between
competing agencies, such as the agency delivering California irrigation
water and the one protecting the state's endangered species.The California
conflicts are politically and technically difficult, for which Sutley's
background seems uniquely suited. "She's used to action; she's used to being
in the thick of things," Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of
California Water Agencies, said Thursday. "She's a very strong
environmentalist ... but she's able to work for agencies that have to
deliver a product." Currently the deputy mayor of Los Angeles, Sutley is
also a board member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California.
<more> Dec. 12, 2008 Sacramento Bee
USDA
reduces corn for ethanol usage for 2008-09 - - USDA expects that 3.700
billion bushels of corn will be used during 2008-09 to manufacture ethanol,
300 million bushels less than last month’s forecast, but 22.3 percent higher
than the estimated 3.026 billion bushels during 2007-08, according to USDA’s
“World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates” report issued by the World
Agricultural Outlook Board. Ending 2008-09 corn stocks were increased to
1.474 billion bushels, 350 million bushels more than the November forecast
and 150 million bushels less than the estimated 1.624 billion bushels for
2007-08. Corn prices at the farm level during 2008-09 should average between
$3.65-$4.35 per bushel, down measurably from last month’s forecasted range
of $4.00-$4.80 per bushel. The 2007-08 farm corn price was estimated to have
averaged $4.20 per bushel and $3.04 per bushel for 2006-07. Analysts
explained that prospects had declined for blending ethanol above federally
mandated levels. Financial problems for ethanol producers are reducing
capacity utilization for existing plants and delaying plant opening for
facilities under construction, the report noted. For soybeans, ending
2008-09 stocks were held steady at 205 million bushels, the same level as
last month and for the previous year (2007-08). Despite the relatively tight
carryover forecast, USDA lowered the 2008-09 average farm price for soybeans
to $8.25 to $9.75 per bushel, compared with last month’s forecast of $9.10
to $10.60 per bushel and an estimated $10.10 per bushel for 2007-08. Soybean
oil usage for methyl ester (biodiesel) for 2008-09 remained unchanged from
last months’ forecast of 3.100 billion pounds but 4.0 percent above the
2.987 billion pounds estimated for 2007-08. Analysts expect the soybean meal
price (Decatur, Illinois, 48-percent protein) for 2008-09 to average between
$240 to $300 per ton, down $15 per ton from last month’s forecast and also
significantly below the $335.94 per ton estimated for 2007-08. Dec. 12,
208 NCC Newsletter
California adopts the most sweeping curbs on
greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. - - California regulators adopted the
nation's first comprehensive plan to slash greenhouse gases Thursday and
characterized it as a model for President-elect Barack Obama, who has
pledged an aggressive national and international effort to combat global
warming. The ambitious blueprint by the world's eighth-largest economy would
cut the state's emissions by 15% from today's level over the next 12 years,
bringing them down to 1990 levels. Approved by the state's Air Resources
Board in a unanimous vote, the 134-page plan lays out targets for virtually
every sector of the economy, including automobiles, refineries, buildings
and landfills. It would require a third of California's electricity to come
from solar energy, wind farms and other renewable sources -- far more than
any state currently requires. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been a
vigorous advocate of the plan, vowed that it would "unleash the full force
of California's innovation and technology for a healthier planet."
Businesses, however, are sharply divided.
<more> Dec. 12, 2008 LA Times
State
bill to voluntarily label carbon footprint of consumer products - -
Legislation has been introduced in the Assembly that would require the
California Air Resources Board to develop a voluntary program for labeling
the carbon footprint of products sold in California.
AB 19 was introduced by
Assemblyman Ira Ruskin (D-Los Altos) who is the former chair of the
Assembly Environment Committee and currently Chair of the Assembly Budget
Sub-Committee on Natural Resources. As chair he will oversee the
implementation of AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006. The bill’s principal sponsor is
Carbon Label
California. The bill was first introduced in
March 2008. The bill will be taken up when the Assembly reconvenes Jan.
5, 2009.
Dec. 12, 2008
American Farm Bureau has new program for animal rights battle - -
Educating the public about agriculture - while worthy - no longer is
adequate, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation executive. Mace
Thornton, deputy director of public relations for the AFBF, on Tuesday, Dec.
9 told participants at the 76th Annual Oregon Farm Bureau Convention, the
Bureau has started a program encouraging producers to interact with the
public - particularly on the topic of animal agriculture. AFBF started the
program, called Conversations on Care, in response to rising consumer
concerns over animal agriculture. Passage of Proposition 2 in California -
which phases out the use of veal stalls, pork gestation pens and egg
production crates by 2015 in California - provided further evidence the
industry needs to adopt a new strategy to show it cares about its animals,
Thornton said. As part of the program, Thornton said the Bureau is
encouraging producers to highlight the emphasis they place on animal
welfare.
<more> Dec. 12, 2008 Capital Press
OSHA
issues final personal protection equipment rule - - The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today issued a final rule amending
its personal protection equipment (PPE) standard. The amendment adds
language to clarify that the PPE and training requirements impose a
compliance duty to each and every employer covered by the standards and that
noncompliance may expose an employer to liability on a per-employee basis.
The amendments, however, do not add any new compliance obligations and do
not require employers to provide any new type of personal protection
equipment or training to employees not already covered by the existing
requirements. A copy of the final rule, which becomes effective January 12,
is available on-line from the Government Printing Office’s Web site at
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/ 2008/pdf/E8-29122.pdf Dec. 12,
2008 NCC Newsletter
Pressure mounting on smelt study. Feinstein wants to ease economic impact on
state - - Political pressure is bearing down on a major study due Monday
that could permanently restrict water exports from the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta to protect imperiled fish. The study, called a biological
opinion, is being prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under a
federal court order to protect the threatened delta smelt. The translucent,
finger-length fish has long symbolized environmental conflict in the delta,
a source of drinking water for two-thirds of all Californians. The
forthcoming study sets new operating rules for state and federal pumping
systems in the delta.
<more> Dec. 12, 2008 Fresno Bee
Betancourt Off Water Board - - Paul Betancourt was not reappointed to serve a second term on the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board by the governor’s office, according to a report in Watershed Coalition News, published by Coalition for Urban/Rural Environmental Stewardship. According to several reports, Betancourt, an almond and cotton grower from Kerman, was not reappointed due to an eligibility rule restricting income to less than 10% from an entity regulated by the Regional Water Board. Betancourt apparently violated the rule because his almond processor holds a construction permit with the Regional Water Board. Several candidates for the agriculture representative position are being encouraged by several watershed coalitions to apply for the position set to be vacant by December 1. Dec. 12, 2008 Watershed Coalition News
Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008
Call
for more U.S.-Mexico trade heard at USAPEEC meeting - - Sergio Chavez of
Mexico’s leading poultry trade organization and Eugenio Salinas of COMECARNE,
a Mexican trade promotion group, addressed the USA Poultry & Egg Export
Council’s Market Development Committee yesterday, calling for increased
two-way trade between the U.S. and Mexico in the future. The Mexican poultry
groups and USAPEEC have shown increasing cooperation in recent years, and
the two speakers said cooperation should increase in the future. Thierry
Murad of AJC International and Mike Little of Mountaire Farms moderated the
session on U.S. promotional efforts in key markets, including Central
America and Mexico, Russia and Korea.
<more> Dec. 11, 2008 WattPoultry.com
USDA
raises corn, soybean and wheat ending stocks - - According to the United
States Department of Agriculture, 2008/09 U.S. corn, soybean and wheat
ending stocks were larger than analysts had expected. Generally, stocks were
up on decreasing demand from a number of sectors. Corn came out at 1.474
billion bushels, above all estimates and 350 million more than in November's
report. Pre-report expectations ranged from 1.124 billion to 1.400 billion
bushels, for an average of 1.232 billion bushels. There weren't any changes
to the supply side of the balance sheet, but there were plenty of demand
adjustments. The USDA now pegs feed and residual use at 5.350 billion
bushels, up 50 million from last month, while cutting the food, seed and
industrial use by 300 million to 5.035 billion bushels; that includes
ethanol use, which was lowered 300 million bushels to 3.700 billion.
<more> Dec. 11, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Denham
announces bid for lieutenant governor - - State Sen. Jeff Denham,
R-Merced, announced this afternoon his candidacy for lieutenant governor of
California. "California stands at a crossroads," he said in a statement.
"The unprecedented fiscal crisis we face is perhaps the greatest challenge
in our state's history. But it also creates a historic opportunity to reform
Sacramento, restructure state government and revitalize California’s
economy. "The status quo has failed. In order for California to be
economically competitive in the 21st Century, and for our state government
to operate efficiently and effectively, change is not an option, it is a
requirement."
<more> Dec. 11, 2008 Modesto Bee
State
approves ambitious greenhouse-gas plan - - With a promise to look more
closely at the economic impacts of fighting climate change, the California
Air Resources Board Thursday unanimously approved an ambitious new
greenhouse-gas game plan for the state. "This scoping plan puts California
on a path to a low-carbon, sustainable, green economy," said CARB Chairman
Mary Nichols. The cuts to greenhouse gases are required under Assembly Bill
32, a state law passed in 2006 that committed California to the nation’s
most aggressive anti-global-warming target - reducing emissions to 1990
levels by 2020. The air board’s moves are being watched closely around the
country. The plan approved this afternoon is an outline of the state’s
climate strategy. The biggest emissions reductions will come from a tripling
of the renewable power generation capacity by 2020, major improvements in
the energy efficiency of homes and businesses, a sharp increase in vehicle
fuel economy and a reduction in the carbon content of motor fuels. The plan
also demands major cuts through a new market for buying and selling the
right to produce greenhouse gases - a so-called cap and trade system.
<more> Dec. 11, 2008
Dan
Walters: Greenhouse gas plan has big shortcomings - - Arnold
Schwarzenegger is a proponent of the all-gain-and-no-pain school of public
policy, especially when he peddles the notion that California can radically
reduce its greenhouse gases while reaping immense economic benefits.
Schwarzenegger's Air Resources Board, or CARB, is poised this week to
implement his vision by adopting far-reaching policies aimed at reducing the
state's emissions of carbon dioxide. It amounts to a huge wager, involving
countless billions of public and private dollars, on an outcome that will
only become apparent many years after Schwarzenegger has left the Capitol.
And it's coming amid what may be the worst economic recession since the
Great Depression. Simply put, Schwarzenegger wants to bet that by embracing
greenhouse gas reduction, California will be ensuring its economic future.
But if he's wrong, he could be saddling the state's residents and businesses
with enormous costs that would make it an economic wasteland, incapable of
attracting investment capital.
<more> Dec. 11, 2008 Sacramento Bee
State
air board votes on diesel truck rules Friday - - Friday, a decades-long
struggle between California regulators and the national trucking industry
will come to a head in Sacramento when the Air Resources Board votes on
whether to require owners to fit about 230,000 heavy-duty trucks with diesel
exhaust traps and replace about 350,000 older, dirty engines over the next
15 years. The crackdown is unprecedented: No other state requires existing
trucks to be retrofitted or retired. And it raises thorny interstate
commerce issues: Any big rig that travels through California, no matter
where it is registered, would be affected. At a cost of $5.5 billion, the
diesel rule, which covers trucks and buses, would be the most expensive air
pollution regulation ever adopted in California. Diesel traps cost up to
$15,000, a stiff burden for small operators, many of whom are struggling to
meet payments on trucks worth up to $130,000 each. And big rigs can be
driven for as long as 25 years, so replacing them early would be expensive.
"This rule will likely put me out of business and over 60 people out of
work," Ron Silva, chief executive of Westar Transport in Fresno County, told
the Air Resources Board. "This rule can cripple the California economy as we
know it. . . . Farmers will not be able to afford to have the crops hauled
out of the field."
<more> Dec. 1, 2008 LA Times
State
budget meeting with Governor blows up - - Senate Republican Leader Dave
Cogdill declared legislative negotiations with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
essentially dead after an apparently hostile meeting Thursday in the
governor's office. The Republican governor and legislative leaders publicly
blamed one another this week for their failure to resolve a $14.8 billion
gap in the current $100 billion state general fund budget. Cogdill, of
Modesto, said leaks from "Big 5" meetings between four legislative leaders
and the governor have undermined future talks. Cogdill said he would attend
future meetings with Schwarzenegger "out of respect for him and out of
respect for his office." But he said he believes any deal will now be
brokered among the legislative leaders and without Schwarzenegger. "I
believe that the Big 5 process has been irreparably compromised as a result
of comments in the press over the last couple of days, and it's pretty
difficult to negotiate in good faith in that situation," Cogdill said. "My
personal belief is that any resolution to this that is going to be
negotiated will result from efforts with the Big 4 similar to what we were
able to accomplish with the budget last year, because, again, I just don't
see this process as being productive or helpful."
<more> Dec. 11, 2008 Sacramento Bee
FBI probes Central Valley firm for racketeering - - American consumers paid inflated prices for tomato-based products such as sauces, soups and salsas, and in some cases they ate food that didn't match the quality advertised on labels, because of corruption at a major Central Valley tomato processor, federal authorities said Wednesday. Investigators called SK Foods of Lemoore (Kings County) a "racketeering enterprise," saying it had conspired to fix prices and mislabel food. "People weren't getting what they paid for," said Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento. "They paid a higher price for a higher-quality food, and they didn't get that." Prosecutors have not filed charges against SK Foods or any of its officials, and a lawyer for the firm said it had done nothing wrong. <more> Dec. 11, 2008 SF Chronicle
Wednesday, Dec., 10, 2008
Report: Poultry farms are big ammonia emitters
- - A report from an environmental group says poultry farms in Delaware
and Maryland release far more ammonia into the air than factories. The study
by the Environmental Integrity Project says Delaware farms released more
than 17 million pounds of ammonia in 2007, about 94 times the amount
released by the state's power plants and factories. Maryland poultry farms
emitted about 20 million pounds of ammonia, more than 50 times the amount
emitted by industry. A pending Environmental Protection Agency proposal
would exempt the largest poultry farms from having to report their air
emissions annually. Environmental groups want the administration to delay
action on the proposal. The Environmental Integrity Project is a nonprofit
group formed in 2002 by former EPA attorneys. Dec. 10, 2008 AP
NCC Comment on Proposed Exemption From Reporting
Requirements for Poultry Farmers - - The rule proposed by EPA in 2007
would give poultry farmers a narrowly tailored exemption from rules that
would otherwise require them to make emergency reports of “emissions” that
are actually nothing more than the normal consequences of livestock and
poultry operations. The fact is that chickens and turkeys, like cattle,
regularly produce ammonia in small concentrations as their wastes
biologically degrade. Subjecting these types of emissions to CERCLA/EPCRA
emergency reporting requirements would needlessly burden the 40,000 family
farmers who would need to make emission calculations and consider whether to
file reports. Further burden would be placed on local fire and rescue
services, the Coast Guard, and the state agencies that would receive and
process such reports – and then do nothing about them. There is no need to
send fire trucks and other emergency equipment and personnel to respond to
“emissions” that consist of the natural and normal breakdown of animal
excretion. The proposed rule was limited to a very specific segment of the
animal agriculture industry, one that has low-level, dispersed ammonia
emissions, and which is operated primarily by small scale family farmers.
They would be heavily burdened by the imposition of regulatory requirements
that are difficult or impossible to fulfill and that serve no purpose of
public health or welfare. Indeed, as a report from the University of
Georgia demonstrated, ammonia concentrations near the poultry houses studied
were extremely low and pose no risk to human health. EPA was on the right
track with its proposed rule, and we hope the final rule will be published
very soon. Dec. 10, 2008 NCC Press Release
Okla.: Poultry waste in river still health danger
-- Dangers to human health are "still very real" in the Illinois River
watershed because 13 Arkansas-based poultry companies continue to dispose of
the bird waste in the river valley, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson
said. But a poultry industry spokeswoman says bacteria levels in the 1
million-acre watershed are no greater than they are in the state's other
rivers and streams where poultry waste isn't applied. "You should understand
there is a chance you're going to get sick, and the sickness you'll get will
be very similar to food poisoning," Edmondson warned would-be visitors next
year to the watershed in an interview with The Associated Press. "That's
what the EPA tells us and that's what our research tells us.
<more> Dec. 10, 2008 AP
Officials: Obama chooses energy, enviro posts.
Nichols does not make cut -- President-elect Barack Obama intends to
round out his environmental and natural resources team with a Nobel
Prize-winning physicist and three former Environmental Protection Agency
officials from the Clinton administration. The president-elect has selected
Steven Chu for energy secretary, Lisa Jackson for EPA administrator, Carol
Browner as his energy "czar," and Nancy Sutley to lead the White House
Council on Environmental Quality, Democratic officials with knowledge of the
decisions said Wednesday. Obama plans to name the four to the posts in the
coming weeks, barring unforeseen developments. Still unclear is whom Obama
will tap for interior secretary.
<more> Dec. 10, 2008 Sacramento Bee
FDA calls off ban on animal antibiotics - -
The Food and Drug Administration said it would continue allowing the
widespread use of a class of powerful antibiotics in food-producing animals,
making a last-minute reversal after calling the practice a public-health
risk in July. The agency's bid this summer to ban many uses of cephalosporin
drugs in cows, swine, chickens and other animals came under fire from the
industry. Agriculture groups and animal-drug makers, including Pfizer Inc.,
said the antibiotics are needed to prevent many infectious diseases in
animals.
<more> Dec. 10, 2008 Wall Street Journal
Feds probing manipulation of food prices - -
Federal prosecutors in Sacramento announced today a major breakthrough in a
probe of food industry corruption with the agreement of a key figure to
cooperate and plead guilty to conspiracies involving racketeering, money
laundering and antitrust violations. The investigation has raised concerns
within the government that collusion among farmers, processors and retailers
may be driving food prices higher. A three-count felony information was
filed today against Randall Lee Rahal, owner and president of Intramark USA,
Inc., a New Jersey-based wholesaler of food ingredients. The information
says Rahal was a sales broker for SK Foods, L.P., a grower and processor of
tomato and other food products headquartered in Monterey and with plants in
Williams, Ripon and Lemoore.
<more> Dec. 10, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Bakersfield Assemblywoman named to GOP leadership team- - Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, has been appointed to the Assembly’s GOP leadership team, it was announced Tuesday. Fuller was named one of three chief Republican whips, which devise floor strategy, get out the vote on key legislation and guide the whips in advancing the caucus’ priorities. “I am ready to fight for an agenda that will turn our economy around and bring jobs back to the Central Valley,” Fuller said in a statement. <more> Dec. 10, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Monday, Dec. 8, 2008
Pummeled by
Wall Street crisis, ethanol producers turn to Washington for help - -
Their stocks battered, ethanol makers are lobbying Congress and the
administration to lift a cap that limits the amount of the corn-based fuel
that can be blended with gasoline. “If our country is serious about energy
independence, we need to give domestic energy access to the market,” said
Jeff Broin, CEO of Poet, a large ethanol producer. Poet is one of several
ethanol makers lobbying Congress and the administration to provide immediate
relief from the cap in part to help the industry get through what Broin
describes as “difficult economic times.” Ethanol blends are now limited to
10 percent of the total fuel. Higher blends require a waiver from the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One waiver was granted for a blend of
fuel that is 85 percent ethanol — the so-called E-85 — but its use is not
widespread and is limited to special “flex-fuel” vehicles specially designed
to handle higher ethanol contents. Ethanol is more corrosive than gasoline.
<more> Dec. 5, 2008 The Hill
Two
Californians named to NCC committees - - National Chicken Council
Chairman Mike Roberts has announced the names of NCC representatives who
will serve on the joint National Chicken Council-National Turkey Federation-U.S.
Poultry & Egg Association’s 2009 Environmental Committee and on NCC’s 2009
Marketing Committee. Californians named were: 2009 Marketing Committee: Bob
Wangerien, Foster Farms; 2009 Environmental Committee: Jim Marnatti, Foster
Farms. Dec. 5, 2008 NCC Newsletter
U.S. poultry exporters to tackle trade policy‚
demand - - The Obama administration’s new trade agenda and how it will
affect the U.S. poultry and egg industries is just one of the issues to be
tackled at the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) annual winter
meeting, which begins Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The world economic crisis
and its impact on poultry trade, and developments in important country
markets like Russia, Mexico and China, are also on the agenda of the
meeting, which takes place from December 9-11 at the Four Seasons Hotel.
<more> Dec. 8, 2008 WattPoultry.com
EPA’s Statement on “taxing” livestock GHG emissions - -
The US EPA has issued the following statement regarding media reports about
a proposal to tx emissions of methane from livestock: “It is unfortunate
that recent media articles have incorrectly reported that the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to tax emissions of methane, a potent
greenhouse gas, from livestock. EPA welcomes public comments from all
interested parties on this important issue. EPA's greenhouse gas advance
notice of proposed rulemaking (GHG ANPR) does not recommend the use of any
particular Clean Air Act (CAA) authority, make judgments about a preferred
pathway, regulate any emissions or commit to specific next steps to address
GHGs. The GHG ANPR represents EPA’s next step in responding to the Supreme
Court case finding that GHGs are air pollutants.” Dec. 5, 2008 EPA Press
Release
PUC explores deregulation of state's electricity
market - - With memories of California's millennial energy meltdown
fading, a top utility regulator and some businesses are maneuvering to
resurrect a key element of the state's infamous electricity deregulation
law. That effort -- and fears about fiddling with the state's delicate power
grid -- are sure to amp up political tensions between the constitutionally
independent California Public Utilities Commission and the
Democrat-controlled state Legislature. Led by its president, Michael Peevey,
the commission is exploring ways to lift a freeze on a program that allows
residential and large power users, including big-box stores, cement plants
and universities, to shop around to get the best price for electricity.
<more> Dec. 8, 2008 LA Times
Chicken growing in popularity‚ finds study -
- Consumers have increasingly been opting for more chicken dinners in 2008,
says a new study released by Packaged Facts, a division of Market Research
Group. According to the information, chicken sales increased 6.7% in 2008,
three times the overall growth rate for retail and foodservice meat. The
study, The Fresh Meat Market in the U.S.: Beef, Chicken, Pork, Turkey and
Lamb in Retail and Foodservice, said that consumption of beef is still
higher than other proteins, but it found that consumption of chicken
exhibited a 6.3% growth in the retail sector; while beef and specialty meats
experienced decreased. Premium red meats, especially, have been experiencing
a decline in sales as shoppers have cut back on their overall spending.
<more> Dec. 8, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Winegrape leader Ross seen as possible USDA
deputy secretary candidate - - Californians have become viable
candidates for top Obama administration positions governing farms, natural
resources and the environment. One California congressman, Rep. Mike
Thompson, D-St. Helena, is being mentioned frequently as a potential
interior secretary. The longtime head of the California Association of
Winegrape Growers, Karen Ross, is being widely championed by the state's
farmers as a potential deputy agriculture secretary. Ross has become a
consensus candidate among California farm groups who want to see one of
their own in the top ranks of the Agriculture Department. "I do have an
interest," Ross said. "It would be a high honor to serve in the (Agriculture
Department's) leadership team." A Nebraska native who has run the
Sacramento-based California Association of Winegrape Growers since 1996,
Ross said California agricultural organizations first approached her about
putting her name forward. The farm groups wanted to rally around one
candidate who could understand the unique needs of the state's 350 crops.
<more> Dec. 7, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Federal report cites need for biofuel feedstocks - - The interagency
Biomass Research and Development Board today released a report on the
economic feasibility of developing both farm- and forest-derived biofuel
feedstocks to meet national targets for biofuels to reduce gasoline
consumption. Among the report's overall conclusions is that new technologies
resulting from research and development are the linchpin to developing a
sustainable biofuel industry that meets national targets. Last year's energy
bill set out a Renewable Fuels Standard that calls for production of 36
billion gallons of biofuels annually by 2022.
<more> Dec. 5, 2008 USDA Press Release
Chickens as pets: city living with a farm feel - - Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne started keeping chickens in their Echo Park backyard a little more than a year ago. The two are co-authors of "The Urban Homestead," a handbook for city dwellers who want to live off the land as much as possible, and the couple were interested in taking their urban farming experiments a step beyond harvesting artichokes, blueberries and zucchinis. So last summer they purchased four chicks, and now they are obsessed. "I used to think it would be so great to bring the laptop outside and just watch the chickens and work," Knutzen said. "But I can't get anything done when I'm out here because I can't take my eyes off the chickens. They are hypnotic." <more> Dec. 7, 2008 Los Angeles Times
Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008
Fresno
State Give a Gobbler drive provides turkeys for the hungry - -
California State University, Fresno’s top faculty, staff and student leaders
have launched the Fresno State Give a Gobbler drive designed to donate a
student-produced turkey to help people who are hungry this holiday season.
The drive was launched Tuesday at the Rue and Gwen Gibson Farm Market on
campus. The drive has a goal of 100 turkeys that will be distributed to
Poverello House or the Community Food Bank. The university first began its
turkey donation program last November with 50 frozen turkeys that Poverello
used at its annual Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless that year. Last year
was the first year that Fresno State turkeys were packaged as part of its
poultry program. In 2004, the Animal Science Department began offering a
poultry management course taught by Professor Michelle Ganci and entered
into a partnership with Zacky Farms that places 12-24 qualified students in
a summer intern program at the downtown Fresno processing plant and various
other facilities. The partnership is intended to promote a better
understanding of the poultry industry, Ganci said, as well as provide a
well-rounded academic and practical experience for Fresno State ag students.
Students raise the turkeys on the campus farm under the guidance of faculty
members and with financial and technical support from Zacky Farms. Students
were involved in all aspects of the project from everyday poultry
maintenance, such as checking data on water treatments and diet, to research
assistance. The birds are processed at Zacky Farms and sold through the
university’s poultry enterprise in the Gibson Farm Market. This year, the
frozen turkeys sell for $1.19 a pound. As with all student farm products,
proceeds help strengthen Fresno State’s teaching and research programs in
agriculture. To watch a report on this event by the local Fresno CBS
affiliate,
please click here. Dec. 4, 2008 CSFU Press Release
USDA drafts avian flu risk assessment for poultry
and egg products - - The USDA yesterday released a draft of its risk
assessment for contracting highly pathogenic avian influenza from eating
poultry products, shell eggs, and egg products, a tool that could be used to
reduce human illness from the virus and help target messages to consumers.
In releasing the risk-assessment draft, the USDA's Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) said it was seeking public comments, which are due
by Jan 31. The 186-page report and information on how to submit comments are
available on the FSIS Web site
www.fsis.usda.gov. The draft risk assessment, which addresses
highly pathogenic H5 and H7 subtypes, was developed by representatives from
the FSIS, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and
the Food and Drug Administration, according to a press release yesterday
from the USDA. The document went through an external peer review, along with
reviews by other government agencies, the USDA said. So far there has been
no compelling evidence that links eating cooked poultry, eggs, or egg
products to avian influenza infections in humans, the draft report said.
Though the viruses aren't considered foodborne pathogens, researchers have
isolated them from poultry muscle and egg interiors.
<more> Dec. 4, 2008 CIDRAP
The
fall of Pilgrim’s Pride: Special news feature - - The largest chicken
producing company in the world, Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (PPC), filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy after the last of three credit waivers expired at high
noon on the first of December. The company is now a trustee to its creditors
and subject to the oversight and jurisdiction of the court. The shareholders
no longer own the company but rather are creditors last in line behind all
other creditors. Everyone is now a creditor – plaintiffs, employees, banks,
growers and shareholders. Creditors are entitled to be heard by the court,
which is responsible for determining whether or not the plan of
reorganization complies with the bankruptcy law and provides fair treatment
of all parties. There is an automatic stay which requires all creditors to
cease collection attempts. There is every expectation that PPC as a company
will survive the process. However, what will happen to the company during
reorganization is now a matter of speculation. It is possible that some
plants may close. Even before Chapter 11, PPC had been closing some plants
and consolidating operations. That process may now accelerate. It is also
possible that some plants could be sold. In Chapter 11, the court requires a
reorganization plan within 120 days.
<more> Dec. 4, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Sanderson Farms posts 4Q loss - - Poultry producer Sanderson Farms Inc.
said Thursday that it recorded a fourth-quarter loss because of lower
chicken prices triggered by reduced restaurant dining and reductions of
inventory values. For the three months ending Oct. 31, Sanderson Farms lost
$51.9 million, or $2.56, on revenue of $460.2 million. In the year-ago
fourth quarter, the company earned $24.1 million, or $1.18 per share, on
revenue of $426.9 million. Excluding the inventory adjustment and
hurricane-related costs, Sanderson Farms said it lost $21.5 million, or
$1.06 per share for the latest quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson
Financial had forecast a per-share loss of 69 cents on revenue of $449.9
million. Those forecasts typically do not include one-time items.
<more> Dec. 4, 2008 Sun Herald
Farm
Bureau: Ag Secretary announcement could come soon - - An announcement on
the next Secretary of Agriculture, as well as EPA Director, could come as
early as Friday (December 5). That according to Mary Kay Thatcher, director
of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, D.C.
“Most people really want to know who’s going to be the Secretary of
Agriculture. I think maybe that’s the least important of our worries,” says
Thatcher. “We really ought to think about who’s going to be at the
Environmental Protection Agency, what’s going to happen with OMB and how
strict they’re going to be with USDA. And then the Department of Interior
could be a very important nomination for us, too.”
<more> Dec. 4, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Possible USDA
Secretary contenders profiled - - The Washington Post today offered a
look at possible contenders for the job of USDA Secretary. The Post profiled
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, former Ag Committee member Charles
Stenholm, and Pennsylvania Ag Secretary Dennis Wolff. To view the complete
story,
please click here.
Dec. 4, 2008 Washington Post
Colorado Rep. Salazar 'may be' considered for USDA post- - Colorado
Democratic Rep. John Salazar, one of the few farmers serving in Congress,
says he may be under consideration for U.S. agriculture secretary. Salazar
issued a statement Wednesday saying, "I am humbled that I may be under
consideration as a possible nominee." He gave no details. Salazar told The
Denver Post he has spoken with President-elect Barack Obama's transition
team but hasn't been interviewed by them. Salazar hasn't been considered a
top contender for the post. The names most often mentioned are Tom Buis,
president of National Farmers Union; former Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas;
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D.; former Rep. Jill Long Thompson, D-Ind.;
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff; and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius,
D-Kan. Salazar, the brother of Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., won election to a
third term last month. Dec. 4, 2008 AP
At
USDA, Taking on Ambitious Goals and Intractable Problems - - On the
campaign trail, President-elect Barack Obama said his administration would
help small family farms, end childhood hunger and upgrade roads and bridges
in rural areas. His commitment to the rural and impoverished parts of
America helped secure critical victories for him in Midwestern Corn Belt
states, such as Iowa and Minnesota, and has heightened expectations for the
U.S. Department of Agriculture as Obama prepares to appoint an agriculture
secretary to oversee wide-ranging efforts. In cash-strapped times, the
challenges of mounting new initiatives are daunting. And the USDA is still
battling long-running problems: subsidy programs that give huge sums to
ineligible, millionaire farmers; a food inspection system that puts
Americans at risk for food-borne illnesses; and nutrition programs that fail
to identify more than 30 percent of Americans who live in poverty and are at
risk of hunger every month.
<more> Dec. 4, 2008 Washington Post
National Chicken Council Showcases McDonald’s Menu Innovations - - The
National Chicken Council (NCC) spotlights McDonald’s innovative use of
chicken for its second quarterly “Showcase of Chicken”. Through this section
of its consumer Web site, eatchicken.com, NCC gives special recognition to
foodservice providers committed to adding innovative chicken recipes to
their menus. “We are proud to have McDonald’s as our second Showcase of
Chicken partner,” said George Watts, president of the National Chicken
Council. “McDonald’s has expanded its menu from three chicken items before
2004 to 10 items today. McDonald’s has developed great new ways to feature
chicken and satisfy consumer demand for high-quality, flavorful, and
convenient offerings.” McDonald’s chicken innovations actually date back to
1983, with the introduction of the Chicken McNugget. The Showcase pays
homage to McNuggets and its 25th anniversary by featuring Nuggnuts.com – an
online fan community devoted to celebrating Chicken McNuggets enthusiasts..
Over the years, McDonald’s has introduced a wide range of chicken menu
options, including Chicken Selects®, Premium Chicken Sandwiches, Premium
Salads and the Snack Wrap. Earlier this year, the company launched what is
perhaps its boldest chicken recipe yet, offering chicken for breakfast for
the first time. Dec. 4, 2008 NCC Press Release
Government Recommends Kansas for Biodefense Lab - - The federal government has recommended a site in Kansas for a new $450 million laboratory to study biological threats like anthrax and foot-and-mouth disease, officials said. The Homeland Security Department's choice of Manhattan, Kan., beat out intense competition from other sites in Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas. Agency officials revealed their decision to several lawmakers late Tuesday, according to lawmakers and staff familiar with the briefings. The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement won't be made until later this week. The choice won't become final until sometime after a 30-day window period for comments on the decision, which could face legal challenges from losing states. <more> Dec. 4, 2008 AP
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008
Food Prices Expected to Keep Going Up - - For
more than a year, food manufacturers have been shaving package sizes and
raising prices, declaring that they had little choice because of
unprecedented increases in the cost of raw ingredients like corn, soybeans
and wheat. Now, with the price of grains and other commodities plunging, it
may seem logical that grocery prices will follow. But while prices for some
items like milk and fresh produce are dropping, those of most packaged items
and meat are holding firm or even increasing. Experts warn that consumers
should not expect lower prices anytime soon on most items at the grocery
store or in restaurants. Government and industry economists project that the
overall cost of food will continue to climb in 2009, led by increases for
meat and poultry. A big reason, they say, is that food companies still have
not caught up with the prolonged run-up in commodity prices, which remain
above historical averages despite coming down from their highs early this
year.
<more> Dec. 1, 2008 NY Times
FSIS seeks comments on risk assessment of AI in
poultry products - - The USDA’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection
Service (FSIS) is seeking public comments on a draft quantitative food
safety risk assessment for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus
from consumption of poultry products, shell eggs and egg products. The risk
assessment was done in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human
Services’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and USDA’s Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The risk assessment was designed to
evaluate the relative effectiveness of strategies to reduce or prevent
exposure to HPAI virus from consumption of poultry meat, shell eggs and egg
products. It may also be used to target risk communication messages,
identify and prioritize research needs, and provide a framework for
coordinating efforts with stakeholders.
<more> Dec. 2, 2008 FSIS Press Release
Núñez joins board of workers' comp insurer -
- Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez has taken a lucrative seat on the
board of directors for a workers' compensation insurer after helping broker
a 2004 deal that benefited the industry. The Los Angeles Democrat was termed
out of the Assembly on Sunday, and on Monday, Zenith National Insurance
Corp. appointed him to its board. Company filings say that directors are
paid $90,000 per year, with an additional $40,000 paid for every committee
on which they serve. Núñez said he did not know if his post was paid. "You
have to ask Zenith," he said. Zenith did not return calls for comment.
<more> Dec. 2, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Kevin McCarthy tapped for top GOP post - -
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who is less than three years removed from serving as
Assembly Republican leader in California, has been tapped as chief deputy
whip for House Republicans in Washington D.C. McCarthy's appointment by Rep.
Eric Cantor, the number two Republican in Congress, cements the Bakersfield
Republican's meteoric rise to power in the nation's capital. Roll Call, the
D.C. insider publication, calls McCarthy's appointment "a changing of the
guard" within the Republican conference.
<more> Dec. 2, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Passing: UCD veterinary professor Walker -
- A missing University of California, Davis, professor has been found dead
in Sonoma County, an apparent suicide victim, police say. The body of
Richard L. Walker Jr., a veterinary professor, was recovered late Monday
after it washed on shore at the Salmon Creek State Beach in Bodega Bay,
Davis police Sgt. Scott Smith said in a news release. Personal property and
items recovered from Walker's vehicle at the beach area indicate he
committed suicide, Smith said. The Sonoma County Coroner's Office is
investigating Walker's death. Walker was an expert in bacteriology and
veterinary pathogens key to animal agriculture, his faculty profile on UC
Davis' Web site states. His research work included infectious disease,
clinical veterinary bacteriology and mycology, and using molecular
diagnostic techniques in clinical bacteriology.
<more> Dec. 2, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Group wants chemical-filled farmland retired -
- The giant state and federal pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
that funnel water to 25 million Californians should be shut down until
certain Central Valley farmers retire hundreds of thousands of acres of
chemical-laden farmland, according to a lawsuit filed today by a state water
watchdog. Irrigating agricultural land in the western San Joaquin Valley
tainted with selenium, mercury, boron and other toxic substances constitutes
an unreasonable use of a public resource protected by state laws and has
contributed to the sharp decline of endangered fish species, said the
California Water Impact Network. "We think there is a simple solution to
California's water problems - to retire all of the drainage-impaired lands
in the Central Valley. A second is water conservation - agriculture uses 80
percent of the developed surface water," said Carolee Krieger, president and
founder C-WIN.
<more> Dec. 2, 2008 SF Chronicle
Survey demonstrates efficiency in farm water deliveries - - A new survey of farm water districts debunks criticism that water is flowing unmeasured to California farms. Improved measurement systems are used on more than 87 percent of the irrigated acreage from surveyed districts, resulting in very efficient management and delivery of farm water. The survey was conducted by the Agricultural Water Management Council, a non-profit organization that works toward increasing agricultural water management efficiency in California. The survey results represent more than 3 million irrigated acres, or more than one-third of all irrigated acreage in the state. “These numbers prove that farm water districts have embraced new technology in order to best manage their water supplies and deliveries,” said AWMC Executive Director Mike Wade. “Efficient Water Management---irrigation district achievements” is a 62-page report available on the Council’s website at www.agwatercouncil.org and being distributed this week in Long Beach at the Association of California Water Agencies’ fall conference. “Before automation, many districts were opening and closing delivery gates by hand,” explained Wade. “As a result, more water might have been delivered than ordered by the farmer. It could also result in operational spill or water that could be lost from the system operated by the district. Automation has enabled district personnel to remotely monitor and control the settings of gates, valves or pumps from a central location. Now, operational spills are practically non-existent and farmers are getting the amount of water ordered.” Dec. 2, 2008 AWMC Press Release
Monday, Dec. 1, 2008
Pilgrim's Pride files for bankruptcy protection -
- Pilgrim's Pride Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on
Monday, hurt like other meat producers by volatile feed prices and slumping
demand but also hobbled by an unmanageable debt load. The Pittsburg,
Texas-based company, the nation's largest chicken producer, sought
protection in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern
District of Texas, saying that as of Sept. 27 it had $3.75 billion in assets
and $2.72 billion in debts. Pilgrim's Pride, which controls about 23 percent
of the U.S. chicken market, will continue operating during the
reorganization and will not liquidate its assets, spokesman Ray Atkinson
said. "We really believe this will help us come out a lot stronger and we
expect it to be business as usual," Atkinson said.
<more> Dec. 1, 2008 AP
Gold'n Plump debuts chickens with farm-of-origin
label - - Ever wonder where your chicken came from? Gold’n Plump Poultry
is now selling chickens that provide answers. The St. Cloud, Minn.-based
poultry-products company recently rolled out its new Just BARE Chicken in
select supermarkets. By entering the three-digit code on justbarechicken.com,
consumers can learn the location of the farm where their Just BARE chicken
was raised. The chickens are being marketed as fresh and all-natural, and
are being packaged in a recyclable, transparent tray. Just BARE is being
mostly sold in SuperTarget stores across America, along with Hy-Vee and
other regional grocery chains. Gold’n Plump employs about 1,500 people and
partners with about 300 family farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Dec.
1, 2008 Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
Humane Society chief seeks animal-rights focus in
D.C. - - Few political groups have been as successful in recent years at
shaping state policies as the Humane Society of the United States under
Wayne Pacelle. Now that the nation's largest animal rights group has
effectively banned the caging of egg-laying hens in California, it is
turning its focus to Washington. A week after voters here overwhelmingly
approved Proposition 2, Pacelle called on the Humane Society's 10
million-plus members "to build on the momentum of that landmark outcome." In
e-mails, the group's executive director urged "friends" to send a message to
President-elect Barack Obama urging him to "consider animal protection a
priority when appointing his secretary of agriculture." Past secretaries, he
said, have been "too closely aligned with industry, and now it is time to
appoint a secretary who balances economic concerns with animal welfare,
consumer safety, and environmental protection."
<more> Nov. 28,2008 Sacramento Bee
In Maryland, Focus on Poultry Industry Pollution
- - Standing before a two-story-tall pile of chicken manure, Lee Richardson
pondered how times had changed. “When I left school and started working the
land, this stuff was seen as farmer’s gold,” said Mr. Richardson, 38, a
fifth-generation chicken grower, explaining that the waste was an ideal
fertilizer for the region’s sandy soil. “Now, it’s too much of a good
thing.” How to handle the 650 million pounds of chicken manure produced in
the state each year has sparked a fierce debate between environmentalists
and the state’s powerful poultry industry. State officials hope to bring
Maryland in line with most other states next month by enacting new rules for
where, how and how long chicken farmers can spread the manure on their
fields or store it in outdoor piles.
<more> Nov. 29, 2008 NY Times
New Legislature sworn in - - A new
Legislature was sworn in today braced to face old problems, principally a
yawning budget deficit that has proven politically unsolvable. The state
Senate swore in a new leader, Sacramento Democratic Sen. Darrell Steinberg,
who promised to improve the Legislature's flagging public image.
Californians, Steinberg said in his acceptance speech, have "lost faith in
our ability to effectively tackle California's major problems." He said
lawmakers should enact universal children's heath care, pass bills to
implement already approved bond measures, approve a water bond for the 2010
ballot and negotiate a comprehensive policy on renewable energy - all within
his first 120 days. He urged lawmakers to reach quick agreement on mid-year
budget solutions to help close an estimated $11.2 billion budget gap in the
current fiscal year. And he said the Legislature should plan to approve a
budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year by May 15 - a full month before a
constitutional deadline lawmakers have routine missed.
<more> Dec. 1, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Law backs California fresh farm produce. Chefs now have legal access to fare sold at farmers markets, and farmers can sell products created from their produce - - If life gives you lemons, you can't make lemonade and actually sell it from your front yard in California. Unless you upgrade your lemonade stand into a commercial kitchen -- including something called a mop sink -- and undergo regular health and safety inspections and apply for all the necessary permits. Technically. The state's food and agriculture laws, once designed to safeguard California's role as farmer to the world, have just undergone updating for a 21st-century consumer attitude that dictates locally grown is better. "I don't think there's anyone out there who doesn't think that chefs shouldn't be able to buy from a farmers market," said Noelle Cremers, director of natural resources and commodities for the California Farm Bureau. <more> Dec. 1, 2008 Fresno Bee
Wednesday, Nov . 26, 2008
NTF Chairman Presents President Bush with the
National Thanksgiving Turkey - - President George W. Bush today
“pardoned” the National Thanksgiving Turkey in a White House Ceremony,
as
he and National Turkey Federation (NTF) Chairman Paul Hill celebrated the
61st anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation. Hill
presented President Bush with “Pumpkin,” a 20-week old, 45-pound tom. The
turkey’s name was chosen by visitors to the White House Web site, who voted
on their favorite names for the National Thanksgiving Turkey and its
alternate, “Pecan.” NTF President Joel Brandenberger joined President Bush
and Hill at the White House Rose Garden for the annual Thanksgiving
presentation. The annual presentation of the National Thanksgiving Turkey to
the president has become a tradition in the nation’s capital, signaling the
unofficial beginning of the holiday season and providing the president an
opportunity to reflect publicly on the meaning of the Thanksgiving season.
President Bush “pardoned” the National Thanksgiving Turkey and its
alternate. Both birds were raised in Ellsworth, Iowa, under the supervision
of Hill, chairman of West Liberty Foods, headquartered in West Liberty,
Iowa. Hill’s son, Nathan, handled the turkey during the ceremony. The night
before the presentation, “Pumpkin” and “Pecan” stayed in a suite at the
Willard Hotel. After the pardoning, the National Thanksgiving Turkey and
the alternate were flown first class on United Airlines to the Disneyland in
California, where the National Thanksgiving Turkey will be the grand marshal
of “Disney’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.” After the parade, guests will be able
to visit the turkeys at Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland at Disneyland. To
watch a video of the event,
please click here Nov. 26, 2008 NTF Press Release
National Chicken Council Criticizes Study Based
on Tailgating Chicken Trucks - - The National Chicken Council has
criticized a study of bacteria allegedly flying off chicken trucks as
unfocused, unrealistic, and rather unsafe. The study, conducted by Ellen K.
Silbergeld and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University and published in a new
scientific journal based in Saudi Arabia, claims that chickens being
transported to processing on trucks were releasing bacteria into the
environment. NCC Director of Science and Technology Steve Pretanik made
several points on the study: “The study collected samples of Enterococcus
bacteria. However, Enterococcus is a large genus of species, and only two
particular species are of any significant concern to human health: E.
faecalis and E. faecium. The Silbergeld study did not attempt to identity
the particular species collected, so it is unknown if the bacteria in the
study are actually a hazard to human health, especially at the low levels
found. Furthermore, Enterococcus is notorious for its high level of endemic
antibiotic resistance. That is, no matter where you find Enterococcus,
there is a good chance that it will be resistant to antibiotics. The level
of resistance found by Silbergeld may very well be typical of these bacteria
regardless of the setting. Dr. Silbergeld’s chicken truck study is
unrealistic in that few people would choose to tailgate a load of live
chickens for 17 miles with the windows rolled down. Most people would have
the sense to stay out of the truck’s slipstream, thereby avoiding the
hazards she claims to have found. We are concerned about the safety aspects
of the study. The chase vehicle closely followed (the study says “two or
three car lengths”) several tractor-trailers on a four-lane highway,
presumably moving at 55 miles per hour. The recommended safe following
distance is at least five seconds. The close range described in the study
is quite dangerous. If the truck had been required to hit the brakes, the
chase vehicle could have slammed into the truck. Tailgating a
tractor-trailer is much more dangerous than being around live chickens.”
Nov. 25, 2008 NCC Press Release
California team wins national 4-H Avian Bowl -
- The California team won the Avian Bowl contest at the 2008 National 4-H
Poultry and Egg Conference. Each team member was awarded a plaque, gold and
$200 savings bond. The winning team members were Elise Rodriguez, Gina Lee,
and Rebekah Jones. They were coached by Dr. Linda Teagle. The 2008 National
4-H Poultry and Egg Conference was held Nov. 19-20 at the Kentucky Fair and
Exposition Center in Louisville. This annual conference allows 4-Hers from
all over the country to compete in educational events that help them learn
to make and defend decisions, speak publicly, and gain poultry-related
skills. Nov. 26, 2008 4-H Press release
CSU Stanislaus Ag Ambassadors aid United Samaritan, Turlock this Thanksgiving - - For the past few weeks the Agriculture Ambassadors at Stanislaus State solicited local farmers and agricultural companies for donations of food products to give to families in need this holiday season. The students collected enough food to provide 25 families with a complete Thanksgiving dinner. The donated food was put together in gift baskets and dispersed by the United Samaritan Foundation in Turlock. Troy Webb, Ag Ambassador Vice President stated "It all started with a large donation of 25 turkeys from California Poultry Federation and Foster Farms. After we secured that donation thanks to Bill Mattos of CPF, students started bringing in more and more food from local companies. Thanks to the support of the local ag companies, this Thanksgiving will be extra special for 25 families!" Piranha Produce has also been a huge supporter of the Agriculture Studies program at Stanislaus, being a vital donor for this activity as well as the Tastes of the Valley Wine & Cheese fundraiser. Webb also noted that the CSUS Ag Ambassadors are planning another community service project for this Christmas. If you would like to be involved in any way, please contact Wendy Olmstead at 209-664-6648. Special thanks to all of our donors:
* 25 whole turkeys -- California Poultry Federation and Foster Farms
* 25 quarts of peas -- Del Monte
* 25 bags of salad mix and dressing -- Piranha Produce
* 120 lbs of sweet potatoes -- Yagi Brothers
* 25 pumpkin pies -- Dr. Mark Bender and Safeway
* 25 cans of green beans -- Dr. Mark Bender
* 25 cans of corn -- Student donation
* 100 lbs of potatoes -- Student donation
* 25 loaves of bread -- Student donation
* 25 cans of cranberry sauce -- Student donation
* 25 boxes of stuffing -- Student donation
Washington Fryer Commission on verge of
disbanding - - The Washington Fryer Commission last month voted to
extend its suspension of assessments through the June 30 end of the fiscal
year, putting in doubt the future of the 51-year-old commission. The vote by
the commission's board of directors extended a suspension in place since
July 1. It previously was due to expire Dec. 31. The maximum time a
commission can suspend an assessment is one year, meaning the commission
will need to disband or reinstate the assessment by July 1 of next year. The
commission currently is using reserves to fund a bare-bones operation.
Commissioners plan in January to decide whether to approach growers with a
vote to disband or continue operating. Under Washington law, commodity
commissions can only disband under a grower referendum.
<more> Nov. 25, 2008 Capital Press
Vilsack Out of Running for Agriculture Secretary
- - Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, who had been widely favored for
the position of Agriculture secretary in the Obama cabinet, said he was
never interviewed for the job and is not in the running. “I will not be
secretary of Agriculture and I was not asked by any member of the transition
team to submit any information for that position or any position in the new
administration,” Vilsack said Monday in an e-mail. “The president-elect has
a wealth of talent to draw from and many interests that must be satisfied,
so it did not strike me as unusual not to be contacted.” With Vilsack out of
the picture, speculation has shifted to the leader of a family farmer
organization, another Midwestern governor; a couple of farm-state government
officials and a reluctant member of Congress. Obama’s transition team has
not indicated who has been interviewed for the job. But farm lobbyists,
congressional aides and people close to the transition say logical
contenders are Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union; Kansas
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius , an early Obama supporter; North Dakota Agriculture
Commissioner Roger Johnson and House Agriculture Chairman Collin C. Peterson
, D-Minn.
<more> Nov. 25, 2008 Congressional Quarterly
Fran Florez concedes Assembly race - -
Democrat Fran Florez has conceded in the hard-fought and close 30th Assembly
District race. The Shafter city councilwoman fell 1,317 votes short of
Hanford Republican Danny Gilmore after Kern County completed counting its
ballots Wednesday morning. But Florez said she could be back in two years —
just as Gilmore was after his narrow 2006 loss to Nicole Parra. “And I wish
Danny Gilmore the best on turning around California's finances and ask him
to work with my supporters, who made up nearly half of the voters of this
great district and who strongly believed in my agenda for change and
renewal,” Florez said in a written statement.
<more> Nov. 25, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Huber projected winner in AD 10 - - Democrat
Alyson Huber pulled ahead of Republican Jack Sieglock in the race for the
10th Assembly District late Tuesday, giving Huber a likely victory in the
hotly contested Assembly race. The final vote is expected to be certified as
early as tomorrow, said sources close to both campaigns, both of which
conceded Huber was likely to win the race. After trailing Sieglock in the
count for three weeks, Huber held a 507 vote lead at the end of counting
Tuesday. There are a handful of provisional ballots left to count in
Sacramento, where Huber outpolled Sieglock, and about 200 ballots left in El
Dorado County, a Sieglock stronghold. But there were not believed to be
enough remaining ballots to change the final result.
<more> Nov. 26, 2008 Capitol Weekly
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
Tuesday, Nov . 25, 2008
National Chicken Council Criticizes Study Based
on Tailgating Chicken Trucks - - The National Chicken Council has
criticized a study of bacteria allegedly flying off chicken trucks as
unfocused, unrealistic, and rather unsafe. The study, conducted by Ellen K.
Silbergeld and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University and published in a new
scientific journal based in Saudi Arabia, claims that chickens being
transported to processing on trucks were releasing bacteria into the
environment. NCC Director of Science and Technology Steve Pretanik made
several points on the study: “The study collected samples of Enterococcus
bacteria. However, Enterococcus is a large genus of species, and only two
particular species are of any significant concern to human health: E.
faecalis and E. faecium. The Silbergeld study did not attempt to identity
the particular species collected, so it is unknown if the bacteria in the
study are actually a hazard to human health, especially at the low levels
found. Furthermore, Enterococcus is notorious for its high level of endemic
antibiotic resistance. That is, no matter where you find Enterococcus,
there is a good chance that it will be resistant to antibiotics. The level
of resistance found by Silbergeld may very well be typical of these bacteria
regardless of the setting. Dr. Silbergeld’s chicken truck study is
unrealistic in that few people would choose to tailgate a load of live
chickens for 17 miles with the windows rolled down. Most people would have
the sense to stay out of the truck’s slipstream, thereby avoiding the
hazards she claims to have found. We are concerned about the safety aspects
of the study. The chase vehicle closely followed (the study says “two or
three car lengths”) several tractor-trailers on a four-lane highway,
presumably moving at 55 miles per hour. The recommended safe following
distance is at least five seconds. The close range described in the study
is quite dangerous. If the truck had been required to hit the brakes, the
chase vehicle could have slammed into the truck. Tailgating a
tractor-trailer is much more dangerous than being around live chickens.”
Nov. 25, 2008 NCC Press Release
Washington Fryer Commission on verge of
disbanding - - The Washington Fryer Commission last month voted to
extend its suspension of assessments through the June 30 end of the fiscal
year, putting in doubt the future of the 51-year-old commission. The vote by
the commission's board of directors extended a suspension in place since
July 1. It previously was due to expire Dec. 31. The maximum time a
commission can suspend an assessment is one year, meaning the commission
will need to disband or reinstate the assessment by July 1 of next year. The
commission currently is using reserves to fund a bare-bones operation.
Commissioners plan in January to decide whether to approach growers with a
vote to disband or continue operating. Under Washington law, commodity
commissions can only disband under a grower referendum. <more> Nov. 25,
2008 Capital Press
Vilsack Out of Running for Agriculture Secretary
- - Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, who had been widely favored for
the position of Agriculture secretary in the Obama cabinet, said he was
never interviewed for the job and is not in the running. “I will not be
secretary of Agriculture and I was not asked by any member of the transition
team to submit any information for that position or any position in the new
administration,” Vilsack said Monday in an e-mail. “The president-elect has
a wealth of talent to draw from and many interests that must be satisfied,
so it did not strike me as unusual not to be contacted.” With Vilsack out of
the picture, speculation has shifted to the leader of a family farmer
organization, another Midwestern governor; a couple of farm-state government
officials and a reluctant member of Congress. Obama’s transition team has
not indicated who has been interviewed for the job. But farm lobbyists,
congressional aides and people close to the transition say logical
contenders are Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union; Kansas
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius , an early Obama supporter; North Dakota Agriculture
Commissioner Roger Johnson and House Agriculture Chairman Collin C. Peterson
, D-Minn.
<more> Nov. 25, 2008 Congressional Quarterly
Fran Florez concedes Assembly race - -
Democrat Fran Florez has conceded in the hard-fought and close 30th Assembly
District race. The Shafter city councilwoman fell 1,317 votes short of
Hanford Republican Danny Gilmore after Kern County completed counting its
ballots Wednesday morning. But Florez said she could be back in two years —
just as Gilmore was after his narrow 2006 loss to Nicole Parra. “And I wish
Danny Gilmore the best on turning around California's finances and ask him
to work with my supporters, who made up nearly half of the voters of this
great district and who strongly believed in my agenda for change and
renewal,” Florez said in a written statement.
<more> Nov. 25, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
March 9-10, 2009 Winter Board Meeting, Hyatt Regency, Sacramento
July 13-14, 2009 Summer Meeting, The Cliff’s Resort, Shell Beach.
Sept. 17-18, 2009 Annual Conference, Resort at Squaw Creek, Lake Tahoe.
Subscribe Have a friend who would like Poultry Industry Headline News delivered each day directly to their email in-box? Email Mark Looker at mllooker@ainet.com and request their email address be added to the mailing list.
Monday, Nov. 24, 2008
Speaking out Against Proposition 2 - - Ryan
Armstrong is a third-generation egg farmer in Valley Center but fears he could
be the last in his family. “It will put us out of business,” said Armstrong, a
leading voice in the campaign against a Nov. 4 ballot measure that would force
farmers to invest heavily to provide more space for caged, egg-laying hens as
well as veal calves and pregnant pigs. But Sacramento-area farmer Nigel Walker
said passage of Proposition 2 would send a message to the egg industry and
retailers that consumers are willing to pay a small premium on a dozen eggs in
return for treating hens more humanely. “Nobody is trying to destroy the egg
industry. We're trying to take it into the 21st century,” Walker said. He
allows hens for his Eatwell Farms specialty business in Dixon to roam
pastures. Eatwell delivers weekly packages of eggs and produce to households.
Farmers are not the only ones divided. California veterinarians are split,
with those who mostly specialize in farm-animal care opposing the initiative.
“I look at the science. I do this every day. It would be a bad idea,” said
Nancy Reimers, a veterinarian specializing in poultry in Gustine, in the
Central Valley.
<more> Nov. 24, 2008 BeefMagazine.com
These days, chicken feed isn't cheap - - As Frank
Perdue used to say in TV commercials, "It takes a tough man to make a tender
chicken." For Delaware's poultry industry these days, the chicken is still
tender, but it's the times that have gotten tough. Charles "Chick" Allen III
doesn't mince words in describing the difficulties the industry faces.
"Horrible," said Allen, the president of Allen Family Foods, a poultry
processor based in Seaford. "The worst I've seen in almost 40 years." A deadly
combination of rising feed costs, slowing demand and overproduction is
buffeting poultry processors and growers nationally, and also in Delaware,
where the industry employs almost 8,400 people, according to the Delaware
Economic Development Office.
<more> Nov. 24, 2008 Delaware Online
Farmers work to preserve ancient turkey breeds - -
At Ayrshire Farm (Virginia) , hundreds of Midget White and Bourbon Red turkeys
move in a feathered, gobbling mass on a wind-swept pasture overlooking
Virginia's horse country. These birds have longer legs and narrower breasts
than the beachball-shaped turkey that will end up on many Thanksgiving Day
tables. What they lack in heft, however, these heritage birds make up for in
flavor, proponents say. They also make it up in price: a 20-pound certified
organic turkey from Ayrshire Farm costs $180. Heritage turkeys are at the
forefront of a movement to preserve threatened breeds - some dating to the
nation's founding by Europeans and earlier - to ensure the continuation of
ancient genetic strains and, yes, to get them listed on a chic restaurant menu
or in a display case of a boutique butcher shop.
<more> Nov. 24, 2008 AP
Vilsack says he won't be named ag secretary - -
Former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack says that he won’t be the next agriculture
secretary. Vilsack tells the Des Moines Register he has never been contacted
by aides to President-elect Obama about that position or any other. Vilsack
has been mentioned frequently in news reports. The Washington Post recently
called him a “near shoo-in” for the job. Obama’s staff has never confirmed
that he was being considered. Other names that have been prominently mentioned
include Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union and Minnesota
Representative Collin Peterson, chair of the House Ag Committee. Peterson told
DTN recently that he wouldn’t get the job. Nov. 24, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Chickens find a place in some US cities - -
It's been the cluck heard 'round the nation. It may be close to turkey time,
but lately it seems that everyone wants to talk chicken. And "everyone"
doesn't just mean Longmont, a city divided over whether to allow residents to
keep backyard chickens. It also means Madison, Wis., which began allowing hens
in town in 2004. It means Albuquerque, N.M., where city ordinances allow a
household to keep up to 15 hens and one rooster. It even means the Big Apple
itself, New York City, where at least 30 community gardens raise poultry, in
addition to those raised by home hobbyists. It's a debate that continually
fascinates KT LaBadie of Albuquerque, who co-founded the Web site
urbanchickens.org with her husband in March. Her interest began in graduate
school when she gave a presentation on chicken-keeping in urban settings that
mentioned it was legal in Albuquerque - and found curious students and
professors approaching her afterward.
<more> Nov. 24, 2008 AP
Are pill-popping turkeys a danger? - - Turkeys,
like any other animal, get sick. And while few would dispute that they should
be treated when that happens, many scientists, medical professionals and
animal experts are concerned that too much medicine is being given to too many
turkeys -- and to too many food animals in general. "The use and misuse are
rampant," says Bill Niman, founder of Niman Ranch in Northern California and a
member of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. Those
concerned fear that the practice will have serious consequences for human
health care -- and that some of those consequences are already starting to
show up. Antibiotics are approved in turkeys both for therapeutic use
(meaning, to treat sick turkeys) and for disease prevention -- which usually
means the rest of the flock will also be treated to keep the disease from
spreading.
<more> Nov. 24, 2008 LA Times
Transporting broiler chickens could spread
antibiotic-resistant organisms - - Researchers at the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health have found evidence of a novel pathway for
potential human exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from intensively
raised poultry—driving behind the trucks transporting broiler chickens from
farm to slaughterhouse. A study by the Hopkins researchers found increased
levels of pathogenic bacteria, both susceptible and drug-resistant, on
surfaces and in the air inside cars traveling behind trucks that carry broiler
chickens. The study is the first to look at exposure to antibiotic-resistant
bacteria from the transportation of poultry. The findings are published in the
first issue of the Journal of Infection and Public Health. Typically, broiler
chickens are transported in open crates on the back of flatbed trucks with no
effective barrier to prevent release of pathogens into the environment.
Previous studies have reported that these crates become contaminated with
feces and bacteria.
<more>
Nov. 24, 2008 John Hopkins Press Release
Dean Florez named Senate majority leader - -
Dean Florez has been tapped the next state Senate majority leader, overseeing
policy and procedure in California’s top house, keeping swing districts in
Democratic hands and serving as an ambassador to the Assembly. A formal
announcement by the incoming Senate leader, President Pro Tempore-elect
Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, is scheduled for Monday. Steinberg selected
Florez; the two are longtime friends and colleagues. “He’s an outstanding
leader,” Steinberg said in an exclusive interview. “He understands the
intricacies of solving different problems and making deals happen on the
legislative floor. He is smart and I really look forward to working with him.”
<more> Nov. 24, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Government veterans head Obama USDA transition team
- - The Obama-Biden transition team has named two agency review team leads
at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Bart Chilton, presently a commissioner
of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is one of USDA’s review
team. Formerly, he was chief of staff and vice president for government
relations of the National Farmers Union, and was a President Bush political
appointee to the Farm Credit Administration, where he was executive assistant
to the board. Prior to that, he was senior advisor to former Sen. Tom Daschle
(D-S.D.). He was a lobbyist in 2006 and 2007 on behalf of the Farmers
Educational Cooperative Union. The second lead on the agriculture review team
is Carole Jett. Most recently, she worked on agricultural issues for the Obama
campaign in Indiana. Prior to that, she worked in government for 33 years,
most recently as Farm Bill coordinator for USDA’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service. In that capacity, Jett recently started a conservation
policy consulting group, Blackwood’s Group LLC.
<more> Nov. 24, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
Friday, Nov. 21, 2008
Utah
turkey plant goes idle; nearly 400 laid off - - A Sanpete County (Utah)
turkey processing plant is shutting down and nearly 400 employees are being
laid off. Officials at the Moroni Feed Co. say the plant will go idle at the
end of the day Thursday. The 60-member turkey cooperative is hoping to
reopen March 16. Brandon Olson, the company's chief financial officer, says
the rising cost of corn - driven by government subsidies for ethanol - has
driven up feed prices for raising turkeys. The company says fresh turkeys
will still be available for Thanksgiving. Moroni Feed Co. processes about 5
million turkeys a year. The turkeys are sold under the Norbest brand.
Nov. 21, 2008 AP
Regional judging is underway in National Chicken Cooking Contest - -
Regional judging in the 48th National Chicken Cooking Contest is in full
swing, with food writers working at events hosted by chicken companies to
winnow 51 state-level winners down to nine contestants in the National
Cook-off scheduled May 2 in San Antonio, Texas, with a grand prize of
$50,000. Two events have been held, at Sanderson Farms in Jackson,
Mississippi, on November 6 and at Perdue Farms in Salisbury, Maryland, this
week. Further regional events will be held at Tyson Foods in Springdale,
Arkansas, on December 2 and at Foster Farms in Livingston, California, on
January 13. At each event, company chefs prepare the dishes selected from
each state in two or three regions, working exactly according to the
contestant’s recipe. Three invited food journalists taste the dishes and
select a winner from each region, scoring the dishes according to criteria
that reward taste, appearance, simplicity, and overall appeal. The regional
winners will be announced in January. The regional level of judging is a
first for the National Chicken Cooking Contest, which previously had winners
from all 50 states and the District of Columbia competing in person at the
National Cook-Off. “We have been very pleased with the regional approach to
judging,” said Contest Director Nancy Tringali Piho. “The judges have the
time to consider each dish very carefully and judge it very consistently
against the other dishes from that region.” She said the regional level has
been successful because of the hard work of the corporate staff who have
handled preparation of the dishes. “I can’t say enough about the wonderful
work of the marketing and research and development people at Sanderson Farms
and Perdue Farms, and I am looking forward to going to Tyson Foods and
Foster Farms also,” she said. The winners of the 50 states and DC were
selected previously and are posted to the Web site
www.eatchicken.com/cooking_contest/finalists.cfm . Nov. 21, 2008 NCC
Newsletter
Palin
pardons turkey in front of active slaughterhouse - - Gov. Sarah Palin
has granted the traditional Thanksgiving pardon to one lucky turkey, but the
video that shocked some viewers captured what was happening in the
background. As she answered questions Thursday, Nov. 20, at Triple D Farm &
Hatchery outside Wasilla, cameras from the Anchorage Daily News and others
showed the bloody work of an employee slaughtering birds behind the former
Republican vice presidential candidate. On the video, Palin didn't comment
about the slaughter as she answered questions, saying she's thankful that
her son's Stryker brigade is relatively safe in Iraq and the rest of her
family is healthy and happy. She said she's glad to be back in Alaska.
<more> Nov. 21, 2008 AP
US gas prices dip
below $2 as oil prices waver - - The national average price for
gasoline tumbled below $2 a gallon Friday, Nov. 21, its lowest point in more
than three years, yet the global economic contrast between then and now
could not be more stark. On March 9, 2005, the last time gasoline cost less
than $2, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 10,805.63. The Dow on
Wednesday slumped 445 points to 7,552.29, its lowest finish since March
2003. "At this point, all we can say with any degree of confidence is that
crude oil ... will not trade below zero," wrote trader and analyst Stephen
Schork in a tongue-in-cheek analysis of the market's swoon. Crude has been
in free-fall, shedding two-third of its value since July and gasoline prices
have followed.
<more> Nov. 21, 2008 AP
Fields
of Grain and Losses - - The farmers said it would not last, and they
were right. When the price of wheat, corn, soybeans and just about every
other food grown in the ground began leaping skyward two years ago, farmers
were pleased, of course. But generally they refused to believe that the good
times would be permanent. They had seen too many booms that were inevitably
followed by busts. Now, with the suddenness of a hailstorm flattening a
field, hard times are back on the American farmstead. The price paid for
crops is dropping much faster than the cost of growing them. The government
reported this week that the cost of goods and services nationwide fell by a
record amount in October as frantic businesses tried to lure customers.
While lower prices are good for consumers in the short run, a prolonged
stretch of deflation would wreak havoc as companies struggled to stay
afloat.
<more> Nov. 21, 2008 NY Times
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008
California turkey producers featured in Discovery
Channel Thanksgiving show Thursday - - The Discovery Channel will be airing a
special episode prior to the Thanksgiving holiday called TURKEY. The
60-minute episode will air on the How Stuff Works
television program at
8
p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Thursday Nov. 20. The special will cover the
complex journey turkeys travel to get to the dinner table from conception to
processing. Special footage from California features Mary Pitman and family
and Willie Bird Turkeys. The California Poultry Federation and
University of California Davis were also
consulted for information. A second showing will be
on Nov. 21 at 12 a.m. Nov. 11, 2008 Discovery
Channel Notice
Heritage turkeys lay gold. Old-fashioned birds can fetch five times more
than typical centerpiece - - In spite of all the clucking about the down
economy, the popularity and price of heritage turkeys are on the rise. "Our
phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting to buy heritage
turkeys from us," said Mary Pitman of Mary's Turkeys in Fresno, the largest
producer in California. "There is a huge demand for our birds. This is the
second year in a row we have sold out before Thanksgiving." The Central
Valley operation includes six ranches and a processing plant. The rising
cost of corn and fuel is a big problem for the family farm. In fact, this
year is the first time in the farm's 54-year history that Pitman had to
raise the price 10 cents a pound after customers placed their orders. No one
cared about the increase, she said. They just wanted a bird. The cost of a
"new, old" turkey is considerable: The price of free-range turkeys is
between $1.89 and $3.49 a pound; organic from $3.19 to $4.99 a pound and a
heritage bird from $4.29 to $7.99 a pound. Prices for a supermarket frozen
turkey average about $1.59 per pound. "I would say the typical buyer for our
organic, heritage birds are chefs and people who love to cook and,
surprisingly, most of the calls are from men," Pitman said. "The birds have
the original turkey flavor before cross breeding. I also think people are
cooking at home more these days."
<more> Nov. 20, 2008 Capital Press
Lean
Cuisine chicken entrees recalled - - Nestle Prepared Foods Co. is
recalling three varieties of Lean Cuisine entrees. A recorded message from
the company Tuesday said, "Lean Cuisine is taking this action after several
consumers recalled finding small pieces of blue plastic material." Nestle
received one report of injury, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The
Lean Cuisine meals in question are the Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta, the
Chicken Mediterranean and the Chicken Tuscan. Consumers can find out whether
their meals are affected by looking at the bar code or UPC label on the
boxes and calling Lean Cuisine at (800) 993-8625. No other varieties of Lean
Cuisine products are affected by this recall, according to the message.
Media calls were referred to a representative, and a message left there was
not immediately returned. Nov. 20, 2008 LA Times
Georgia poultry plant fined $178,000 for safety code violations - -
State regulators have cited a North Carolina chicken processing company for
49 serious safety code violations, many involving hazardous chemicals. The
Charlotte Observer reported the $178,000 fine levied against House of
Raeford Farms is significant for the state's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration. The penalties come five years after a chlorine gas leak
killed employee Bruce Glover and sickened several others at the company's
plant in Teachey. In 2004, a major ammonia leak forced an evacuation of the
plant and 17 workers went to the hospital with respiratory problems. The
company was cited after each leak, but regulators agreed to lessen proposed
penalties. Two of the recent inspections were prompted by complaints, and
the third resulted from a referral by a government official. Nov. 20,
2008 AP
Supporters of delta smelt lose legal bid to cancel water deals - - A
federal judge on Wednesday rejected a request by environmentalists that
could have slowed the flow of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to
agricultural interests to the south. The 92-page ruling by U.S. District
Judge Oliver Wanger is the latest in a case involving the tiny delta smelt,
which environmentalists say is facing extinction largely because of reduced
water coming into the delta, and from increased pumping. The
environmentalists wanted Wanger to cancel long-term contracts for more than
a dozen west-side water districts that get water from the delta. But
Wanger's ruling said that it would be pointless to renegotiate the contracts
to help the smelt, because the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation already has the
ability to stop water deliveries to the affected districts to satisfy
requirements of the Endangered Species Act.
<more> Nov. 20, 2008 Fresno Bee
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008
California turkey producers featured in Discovery
Channel Thanksgiving show Thursday - - The Discovery Channel will be airing a
special episode prior to the Thanksgiving holiday called TURKEY. The
60-minute episode will air on the How Stuff Works
television program at
8
p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Thursday Nov. 20. The special will cover the
complex journey turkeys travel to get to the dinner table from conception to
processing. Special footage from California features Mary Pitman and family
and Willie Bird Turkeys. The California Poultry Federation and
University of California Davis were also
consulted for information. A second showing will be
on Nov. 21 at 12 a.m. Nov. 11, 2008 Discovery
Channel Notice
PETA alleges cruelty to
turkeys at Aviagen West Virginia facility - - A video released by an
animal rights group on Tuesday claims to show horrific abuse of turkeys at
West Virginia farms operated by major global poultry grower Aviagen Inc.
People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals said the video, which includes workers stomping on
turkeys' heads and twisting their necks to kill them, was shot by an
undercover investigator who worked on the companies' farms for more than two
months.
The undercover worker, who
was not identified, described stifling, dusty barns where the animals were
kept and caught video of several workers killing turkeys, slamming them into
metal cages and bragging about previous abuse of the animals.
A company official told
The New York Times that they "condemn the abuse of any of the animals in our
care and will take swift action to address these issues." They said they
would investigate the allegations, which could lead to firing employees who
were involved.
<more> Nov. 19, 2008 AP
Pilgrim's Pride to cut 335 jobs by end of month
amid debt worries -- Pilgrim's Pride Corp. plans to cut about 335 jobs
by the end of the month, as the nation's largest chicken producer looks to
reduce costs amid a slumping operating environment. The company said the
cuts represent less than 1 percent of its total work force. It said the cuts
are for salaried positions and have been divided among nearly all of the
company's three dozen locations. The nation's meat makers, especially
Pilgrim's Pride, are hurting as their profits shrink in the wake of high
commodity prices for key inputs like corn and oil. Those prices are now
moderating after reaching record highs this summer, but they're still high
for producers. Further hurting the industry is weak pricing due to a drop in
demand in foodservice and an oversupply of meat on the market.
<more> Nov. 19, 2008 AP
Poultry Politics. Backyard chicken movement
sweeps nation - - A year ago, the Chicago City Council contemplated
banning backyard chicken coops. “For that small, but apparently growing
segment of Chicago homeowners who raise chickens in the back yard, the news
Tuesday decidedly was not good: your goose is just about cooked,” the
Tribune reported at the time. “The City Council’s Health Committee advanced
a proposal to outlaw the keeping of hens and roosters in residential areas,
and the measure is expected to become law at next month’s council meeting.
“Ald. Lona Lane (18th), lead sponsor of the proposed prohibition, said she
knows of three recent cases of chicken-keeping in her Southwest Side ward,
none of them pleasant. “People ‘are leaving them in their back yards and
feeding them in the backyards,’ Lane said. ‘The stench and the smell from
their feathers and their bodies - and they are not clean . . . Their debris
and their waste are creating more rodents than there already are in
neighborhoods’.” Little did Lane know - though she was forced to back down -
that she was on the wrong side of history. “Although there are no firm
statistics on the number of city chickens, they're becoming so popular that
Backyard Poultry magazine was relaunched a couple of years ago after halting
publication in the 1980s," AP reported then. And that was before the economy
came crashing down. Now, a year later, raising your own chickens in your
backyard is the trend du jour.
<more> Nov. 19, 2008 Chicago Tribune
Preserving a Poultry Project - - If you have
heard about heritage turkeys, the old-fashioned birds with names like Bronze
and Bourbon Red, then you know about the work at the Good Shepherd Turkey
Ranch in Lindsborg, Kan. The owner of the ranch, Frank Reese, is one of only
a handful of people dedicated to preserving the genetic lines of poultry
that meet the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection.
Together with Brian Anselmo, a young man from Kansas City, Mo., Mr. Reese
developed plans for the Standard-Bred Poultry Institute, which would provide
training to farmers who want to preserve the genetic pool of heritage breeds
of turkeys, chickens and other birds. Mr. Anselmo died in his sleep in
September at the age of 28. The cause was complications related to asthma,
Mr. Reese said. In addition to raising poultry with Mr. Reese, Mr. Anselmo
was an auditor for the Animal Welfare Institute, certifying that small farms
adhere to standards of animal care and breeding.
<more> Nov. 19, 2008 NY Times
The New Coop de Ville. The craze for urban
poultry farming - - For Brooklyn real-estate agent Maria Mackin,
the obsession started five years ago, on a trip to Pennsylvania Amish
country. She, her husband and three children—now 17, 13 and 11—sat down for
brunch at a local bed-and-breakfast, and suddenly the chef realized she'd
run out of eggs. "She said, 'Oh goodness! I'll have to go out to the garden
and get some more'," Mackin recalls. "She cooked them up and they were
delicious." Mackin and her husband, Declan Walsh, looked at each other, and
it didn't take long for the idea to register: Could we have chickens too?
They finished their brunch and convinced the bed-and-breakfast owner, a
Mennonite celery farmer, to sell them four chickens. They packed them in a
little nest in the back of their Plymouth Voyager minivan and headed back to
Brooklyn. The family has been raising chickens ever since, in the backyard
of their brick townhouse in an urban waterfront neighborhood called Red
Hook. Every Easter, Mackin orders a new round of chicks, now from a catalog
that ships the newborns in a ventilated box while they are still feeding
from their yolks.
<more>
Nov. 19, 2008 Newsweek
More ethanol bankruptcies predicted - - An
Omaha investment banker predicts as many as 40 ethanol plants could be in
bankruptcy by early next year. That according to a report in the Des Moines
Register. Mark Lakers of Agribusiness and Food Associates says that 40
figure includes the 16 plants owned by VeraSun Energy, which is currently
operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Lakers expects the ethanol industry
to go through a consolidation similar to what has happened the last two
decades with the poultry and pork industries. “We believe that the number of
ethanol producers will reduce from 150 to something closer to 50 producers
in the next three to five years,” says Lakers.
<more> Nov. 19, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Californian wins early vote to head House energy
panel -- In a major win for environmentalists, a committee of House
Democratic leaders on Wednesday voted to put Rep. Henry Waxman in charge of
a key panel that will have oversight over global warming issues in the new
Congress. The House Steering committee voted 25-22 to put the California
Democrat in charge of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, replacing
Michigan Democratic Rep. John Dingell, the most senior member in the House.
The House Democratic caucus will vote on Thursday. The Waxman-Dingell battle
has been closely watched on Capitol Hill. Waxman is regarded as an ally of
environmentalists while Dingell has ties to the auto industry. He has
resisted higher fuel standards and tighter limits on greenhouse gases. If
Waxman wins Thursday's vote, it means that two Californians will take
leading roles in the debate over global warming. Democratic Sen. Barbara
Boxer is the head of the Senate's environmental committee, which has
jurisdiction over the issue. Nov. 19, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008
Egg industry leader Gemperle dies - - Ernie
Gemperle emigrated from Switzerland in 1949 with little to his name but a
degree in poultry raising. He started an egg business in Turlock, nurtured it
into one of California's largest, and became one of the leading
philanthropists in Stanislaus County. Mr. Gemperle, who died Saturday at
Emanuel Medical Center at the age of 79, was remembered Monday as a man with a
sharp mind and a warm heart. "If a project was worthy, if it helped others, if
it helped the community, you could count on Ernie Gemperle," former Turlock
Mayor Curt Andre said. Gemperle Enterprises, founded in 1950, has grown to
more than 1 million hens on several farms. It has been a leader as the
industry moved from small, scattered henhouses to the concentrated, automated
operations of today. "In California, he was one of the best poultry people we
have ever seen," said Gary West, chairman of United Egg Producers, a national
group, and president of J.S. West & Cos. of Modesto.
<more>
Nov. 18, 2008 Modesto Bee
Senate decides to delay river bill. Plan to
restore San Joaquin put off until new Congress convenes in January. -- The
Senate will postpone until early next year action on a big public lands bill
that includes efforts to restore the San Joaquin River, lawmakers decided
Monday. While not entirely unexpected, the delay disappoints those who had
hoped to resolve the long-simmering river restoration issue sooner rather than
later. It also gives supporters and opponents more time to maneuver. "It's
unfortunate that the Senate could not move on this bill," said Rep. Jim Costa,
D-Fresno, adding that "it is my hope that the House will move quickly" in
January.
<more> Nov. 18, 208 Fresno Bee
Schwarzenegger orders faster push for renewable
energy - - California utilities, already struggling to meet a law
requiring more renewable energy, saw the bar raised even higher Monday. Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order calling on utilities to
provide one-third of their power from renewable resources by 2020. "This will
be the most aggressive target in the nation," he said. Increased reliance on
renewable energy conceivably could hike future rates, however, because of
higher production costs and the need to upgrade transmission facilities.
Schwarzenegger's order came on the eve of today's international summit on
global climate change in Los Angeles. California law currently requires
utilities to produce 20 percent of their power from renewable resources by
2010.
<more> Nov. 18, 2008 Sacramento Bee
County Bank takes $54 million hit. Merced-based
parent company suffers big third-quarter loss - - The parent company of
Merced-based County Bank, battered by the real-estate downturn, announced
Monday that it lost more than $54 million in the third quarter of 2008,
threatening the bank's survival. "It is uncertain if we will be able to
continue," Capital Corp of the West chief executive Richard Cupp wrote in the
earnings statement filed Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. In a conference call Monday, Cupp called the statement a
"precautionary legal disclosure," but acknowledged the bank needs to raise
millions of dollars -- from investors or the federal bank bailout fund -- if
it is to survive.
<more> Nov. 18, 2008 Fresno Bee
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
Passing: Ernie Gemperle, founder of Turlock-based
egg company, dies at 79 - - Ernie Gemperle of Turlock, a leader in the
egg industry and in many community causes, died Saturday at 79. Mr.
Gemperle, a native of Switzerland, founded Gemperle Enterprises in 1953 and
built it into one of the state's top egg producers. He gave time and money
to a host of causes — Boy Scouts, Emanuel Medical Center, the Roman Catholic
Church and California State University, Stanislaus, among others. "I really
believe in giving back some things to the community for the good things that
have come my way," Mr. Gemperle said upon receiving one of his many awards
in 1993. "This country has been very good to me and I believe in being a
good steward in return." Gemperle was born in 1929 in Switzerland
where he graduated from the International Poultry School in Bern. In 1949
he immigrated to the U.S. and served two years in the U.S. Army. Gemperle
married and had seven children, three daughters and four sons. He has owned
and operated a poultry business and egg packing operation for 55 years and
is proud to say that all four of his sons are working in the family poultry
business. In addition to operating his successful poultry business, Gemperle
took an active role in his industry. He served as chairman of Nulaid Foods
and was a board member of Nu-West Feed Company, Nu-Cal Egg Company and
National Foods Corporation. Gemperle also served as a board member of the
American Egg Board for eight years and as a commissioner for the California
Egg Commission.
Services will
be held in Turlock. Viewing will be from 12 – 7
p.m. on Friday Nov 21,
followed by The Rosary at
7 p.m. at Turlock
Memorial Park. Funeral service will be at Sacred
Heart Church in Turlock
on
Saturday Nov 22, at 9 a.m. Flowers can be sent to Turlock Memorial
Park. Memorial gifts can be made to the United Samaritan Foundation (www.unitedsamaritans.org)
or any worthy charity of your choice. To read his complete obituary,
please click here. Nov.
17, 2008
Modesto-area food banks fretting about supplying
Thanksgiving dinners - - With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, the
need for food is great and donations are few. Charitable organizations from
Manteca to Turlock said many people could go without a traditional
Thanksgiving dinner unless more donations are received at area food banks.
"The hard part is that some of the donors last year are the recipients this
year," said Mike Mallory, chief executive officer of Second Harvest Food
Bank in Manteca. "It is going to be a tough Thanksgiving for people whom I
think deserve a good Thanksgiving dinner." Second Harvest is a food
distribution center for about 220 nonprofits that feed the hungry in San
Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. As of Friday, the center had requests for
1,400 turkeys from more than 90 groups in Stanislaus County and had no
turkeys to give, Mallory said.
<more> Nov. 17, 2008 Modesto Bee
Water supplies may drop for Calif. cities, farms
- - California fish and wildlife managers on Friday approved new rules
that could severely restrict pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
to protect a native fish, triggering protests from farmers and cities
reeling already from water shortages. The Fish and Game Commission voted 3-0
to enact emergency regulations that may scale back water pumping from
December through February to safeguard the longfin smelt, considered a
bellwether species for the estuary. "Clearly as a society we haven't erred
on the side of the fish in the past; we've erred on the side of the water
supply," said Commissioner Michael Sutton. "We have to come down on the side
of the fish. If we don't take care of these ecosystems, they're not going to
yield us the services for much longer." Pumping restrictions would only kick
in if scientists find a certain number of dead or living longfin smelt in
various sampling locations throughout the delta, including near the massive
pumps that send water to more than 25 million Southern Californians. Water
officials say they expect some reductions will happen.
<more> Nov. 17, 2008 AP
New Immigration Regulation Eased After Firms
Complain Homeland Security Measure Requires Checks of New Hires - - In a
concession to business groups, the Homeland Security Department will
significantly scale back its planned crackdown this winter on federal
contractors that hire illegal immigrants. Under a rule published yesterday,
the agency said only contractors that do more than $100,000 in federal work
will be required to use an electronic government system to check the work
documents of new hires. Originally, officials had proposed that companies
doing $3,000 in federal work must comply. The agency also said it would
require federal contractors to check only laborers used on specific
contracts, instead of their entire workforce. The revisions significantly
reduce the number of companies that will be subject to the program, which
will apply to federal contracts and solicitations issued after Jan. 15. The
Bush administration had hoped to make the work eligibility system, called
E-Verify, mandatory for nearly 200,000 government contractors, covering
about 4 million U.S. workers over 10 years.
<more> Nov. 17, 2008 Washington Post
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
Friday, Nov. 14, 2008
Thanksgiving little blessing for turkey industry - - Thanksgiving is bringing turkey producers little to celebrate this year, while diners anticipating the most poultry-centric of holidays may be grateful that they won't see much difference in the cost of their bird. Meat producers have been struggling this year with higher costs for key ingredients like corn, soybeans and oil, part of why the cost of beef and chicken has risen so much. Turkey producers are facing all the same pressures, but don't have the same economies of scale and have to plan a year in advance for the one day a year they count on most. Some 46 million turkeys will be eaten on Thanksgiving Day, about the same as in previous years, said Sherrie Rosenblatt, spokeswoman for the National Turkey Federation. "That's basically most Americans having turkey at the center of their plate," she said. <more> Nov. 14, 2008 AP
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008
Prop.
2 aftermath uncertain. New rules for egg producers still to be determined
- - California's egg industry has one question on its collective mind
right now: What do we do now that Proposition 2 has passed? Most
conventional producers also operate cage-free henhouses, but the market for
cage-free, organic and pastured eggs is only between 5-10 percent of
California's overall egg market currently, according to several studies of
the industry. Can conventional henhouses be converted to meet the new
regulations? What, exactly, will those regulations be? And who will
determine them? The Legislature? The state? No one knows yet and the
initiative itself is vaguely written. One thing that is certain, however, is
that the California Department of Food and Agriculture will not implement
the proposition, which was written to affect the Health & Safety code. That
means the state Department of Public Health will have jurisdiction over
rules governing egg farming, not CDFA.
<more> Nov. 13, 2008 Capital Press
Farmers discouraged
by Prop. 2 passage - - Backers of Proposition 2 scoffed at reports from
farmers and university experts that the ballot initiative would force most
California egg farmers to close. But now that the measure has passed,
California egg farmers say there is a huge cloud of uncertainty hovering
over the future of their operations and livelihood. Several said they plan
to close their farms. "The problem is the language in the ballot measure is
so ambiguous that nobody knows what it means," said Arnold Riebli, an egg
producer in Sonoma County. "It doesn't tell you what you can do. I don't
know what kind of equipment I can or cannot use. So I think we're going to
have to sit down and wait for the regulators to interpret whatever it is
going to be."
<more> Nov. 13, 2008 Ag Alert
A
nationalized ethanol industry in the U.S.? - - A nationalized ethanol
industry in the U.S. may result due to the amount of government-subsidized
financing in the industry and its continuing economic woes, says a prominent
feed grain analyst. The possibility of a nationalized ethanol industry
increased this summer when corn prices reached $8 a bushel and some ethanol
producers closed their plants, Rob Fisher, a feed grain analyst with
International Agribusiness Group LLC, told listeners at the Grain Forecast
and Economic Outlook Conference in Atlanta. Fisher said that a nationalized
ethanol industry might operate to convert corn into ethanol when corn prices
are low but curtail operations when corn prices reach high levels. In the
future, he sees the ethanol industry providing a floor price for corn but
exiting the corn market when prices reach high levels. Brazil uses its
ethanol industry in a similar way to keep sugar prices up.
<more> Nov. 13, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Classic Thanksgiving Dinner Still Affordable - - Menu items for a
classic Thanksgiving dinner including turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin
pie and all the basic trimmings will cost just a bit more this year, but
remain affordable, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. AFBF’s
23rd annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving
Day dinner table indicates the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is
$44.61, a $2.35 price increase from last year’s average of $42.26. The cost
of a 16-pound turkey, at $19.09 or roughly $1.19 per pound, reflects an
increase of 9 cents per pound, or a total of $1.46 per turkey compared to
2007. This is the largest contributor to the overall increase in the cost of
the 2008 Thanksgiving dinner. The American Farm Bureau’s cost of a
Thanksgiving meal does not take into consideration the numerous retailers
that offer the whole turkey as a special promotion or as a purchasing deal
for Thanksgiving, noted National Turkey Federation spokesperson Sherrie
Rosenblatt. “Because of today’s economic climate, many consumers will look
for advertised specials and coupons before purchasing components for their
Thanksgiving meals.” Additionally, she noted that “the price of turkey feed
has significantly increased turkey production costs. At one point this
year, feed costs nearly doubled. Nearly 70 percent of the costs associated
with raising turkeys are from feed.” Corn prices have increased because of
the federal government’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), which mandates the
amount of renewable fuels refiners have to blend into gasoline. This
mandate gives corn-based ethanol producers an edge when the market is
rationing a corn supply.
<more> Nov. 13, 2008 American Farm Bureau Press Release
Moody's downgrades Tyson Foods - - Moody's Investors Service on
Thursday, Nov. 13, downgraded Tyson Foods Inc. on concerns that the
company's chicken segment will lose more money and that its acquisition
strategy will limit its available cash. Moody's cut Tyson's rating on
Thursday to Ba3 from Ba1 and said its outlook for the Springdale, Ark.,
company is negative. Moody's cited Tyson's losses in its chicken business -
$91 million in the fourth quarter - and Tyson's statement that it expects a
significant loss in chicken in its 2009 first quarter and, possibly, an
overall loss for the quarter. Tyson announced during an earnings conference
call Monday that it would continue with its international expansion program
despite the difficulties with its chicken segment.
<more> Nov. 13, 2008 AP
Former Iowa Gov. Vilsack Frontrunner for
Agriculture Post - - Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has emerged as the
frontrunner for the post of Agriculture secretary in the Obama
administration, according to people close to the presidential transition
team. Vilsack, a Democrat, has a powerful booster in fellow Iowan Tom
Harkin, chairman of the Senate committee that will hold confirmation
hearings for the next secretary. Harkin has been a political backer of the
two-term former governor since his election in 1998 and supported Vilsack’s
short-lived presidential campaign. “Senator Harkin believes that Governor
Vilsack would be a great secretary of Agriculture,” said Harkin spokeswoman
Kate Cyrul. Vilsack also got a thumbs-up from Iowa’s senior senator,
Republican Charles E. Grassley. “In administrations that I’ve known, it’s
always been beneficial for our state to have another Iowan closer to the
seat of power,” Grassley said in a statement.
<more>
Nov. 13, 2008 CQPolitics.com
California official reportedly a candidate for top EPA post - - Mary
Nichols, the savvy negotiator who is leading California's complex effort to
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, is reportedly a candidate to head
President-elect Barack Obama's Environmental Protection Agency. Nichols, 63,
is chairwoman of the state's powerful Air Resources Board. She was a
high-level EPA official under President Clinton, serving as the agency's
assistant administrator for air and radiation. Appointed to head the state
air board by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year, the Los Angeles Democrat
and former environmental attorney has energetically mediated between
business and environmental advocates in designing the nation’s first
regulatory program to control global warming pollution.
<more> Nov. 13, 2008 LA Times
Assembly candidate
Gilmore sees lead cut in half with Kern absentee ballots - - Kern County
elections staff plowed through 30,000 or so absentee ballots Wednesday,
bringing close elections closer to a resolution but not changing any
results. Hanford Republican Danny Gilmore’s lead in the 30th Assembly
District race shrank to 1,429 votes district-wide. Kern County is the
strongest area for his opponent, Shafter Democrat Fran Florez. Florez got
63 percent of the 4,800 votes counted in the race Wednesday. Florez’s
campaign manager, Bob Sanders, remained optimistic. “His lead has been
chopped virtually in half,” he said. Gilmore had led by 2,419 votes after
the election-night count. The district also includes Kings County and parts
of Tulare and Fresno counties.
<more> Nov. 13, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Study
says Valley's dirty air costs $6.3b, causes more than 800 deaths - -
There's a new annual price tag for breathing dirty air in the San Joaquin
Valley: $6.3 billion, mostly because more than 800 people die years earlier
than they should. That's more deaths due to bad air than car accidents, said
nationally known economist Jane V. Hall, who Wednesday released her latest
analysis of poor air quality in this region. The dollar and death figures
are nearly twice as high as Hall found in her first study two years ago,
partly because stricter federal standards are in force. The new standards
assume more people are harmed by bad air. But she also said new research
indicates microscopic specks of soot and chemicals are more dangerous than
previously thought.
<more> Nov. 13, 2008 Fresno Bee
Don’t Miss the 2009 International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo -- The world’s largest poultry and feed industry event will take place Jan. 28 to 30 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The 2009 International Poultry and Feed Expo is sponsored by U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the American Feed Industry Association. Industry leaders from throughout the United States and more than 100 nations around the world will gather to shop and network. The main event is the giant exhibit floor which will feature the latest innovations in equipment, services, and supplies used in the production and processing of poultry, eggs, and feed products. The show is traditionally the most popular way to introduce new products. It is the global marketplace for the poultry and feed industries. <more> Nov. 13, 20087 AgCareers.com
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008
With Home Cooked Meals on the Rise in Today's
Economy, Time-Crunched Home Chefs Look for Inspiration, Easy Meal Planning --
U.S. consumers are short on time and money these days, making every dollar
and minute count. According to recent studies, nearly half of Americans are
eating out less to save money and 91 percent of consumers believe that
eating at home represents a healthier choice. Today, Foster Farms, the West
Coast's leading poultry producer, re-introduces one of its most popular
product lines, Savory Servings. The pre-marinated line of fresh chicken and
turkey has been revamped to satisfy the schedule, budget and appetite of
consumers. Foster Farms reformulated its Savory Servings pre-marinated fresh
chicken and turkey line to represent the highest quality protein experience
possible, for about the same price per pound as the company's premium,
all-natural, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Now with only all-natural
marinade ingredients, 25 percent less sodium on average, and new versatile
flavors, Savory Servings provides the inspiration for countless 15-minute
creations. All protein prep work has been completed at the time of purchase,
saving valuable time in the kitchen. Consumers need only cook the chicken or
turkey, pair with sides and serve. Savory Servings chicken and turkey
products are also low in fat (less than two grams of fat per serving) and
high in protein (an average of 23g per serving).
<more> Nov. 12, 2008 Foster Farms Press Release
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
LA Times Op-Ed: Terrorism in the name of animal rights - - Words convey more than concepts; they stir up our feelings and direct our thoughts. Racial and religious epithets have started riots, and calling the police officer who pulls your speeding car over "Sir" is a smart way for you to start the conversation. Animal rights activists know how important words can be. The Northern California-based organization In Defense of Animals and its founder, Elliot Katz, advocate substituting "companion animal" for "pet" and "animal guardian" for "pet owner" in local ordinances and everyday parlance. The idea is "to elicit responsible treatment of companion animals and end abuse, neglect and abandonment of pets." Well, OK, it's never right to abuse or neglect animals, but U.S. law already contains vigorously enforced animal welfare statutes that require animals to be fed, sheltered and treated as more than just property. It is legal to toss an old coat in a dumpster, but it is not legal to toss an old dog into one. So if we already distinguish animals from property, why do we need word changes in public ordinances? Probably because many animal rights activists want more. They want to persuade us that animals deserve nearly equal rights with people. "Rights-holders," of course, couldn't be "enslaved" as pets, nor could they be used in scientific research. <more> Nov. 12, 2008 LA Times
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008
California turkey producers featured in Discovery
Channel Thanksgiving show- - The Discovery Channel will be airing a
special episode prior to the Thanksgiving holiday called TURKEY. The
60-minute episode will air on the How Stuff Works
television program at
8
p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Nov. 20. The special will cover the
complex journey turkeys travel to get to the dinner table from conception to
processing. Special footage from California features Mary Pitman and family
and Willie Bird Turkeys. The California Poultry Federation and
University of California Davis were also
consulted for information. A second showing will be
on Nov. 21 at 12 a.m. Nov. 11, 2008 Discovery
Channel Notice
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
Pacific Ethanol reports $54.9 million loss due to
spike in corn prices- - Sacramento's troubled Pacific Ethanol Inc.,
which has a plant in Madera County, reported a $54.9 million third-quarter
loss Monday. About half the loss was a noncash write-down of its investment
in a plant in the Imperial Valley on which Pacific Ethanol suspended
construction in December 2007. But the company also experienced significant
cash losses due to the spike in the price of its raw material -- corn. The
company sold more ethanol at higher prices than it had a year earlier. But
the revenue increase was overwhelmed by a spike in corn prices, Chief
Financial Officer Joseph Hansen said.
<more> Nov. 11, 2008 Fresno Bee
Tyson Food's shares continue to plunge - -
Shares of Tyson Foods Inc. continued to plunge Tuesday morning as analysts
cut their estimates and said its debt levels may mean it has to negotiate a
credit agreement in a tight credit environment. Shares set a new 52-week low
earlier in the session of $5.25 and were down more than 25 percent, or
$1.72, to $4.97. Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Corp. also set a new 52-week low
on Tuesday of 38 cents. The company's stock was down 25 cents, or 37
percent, to 43 cents, continuing its fall as concerns about its own credit
continue. Shares of Sanderson Farms Inc., another chicken producer, tumbled
$1.65, or 6.7 percent, to $22.84, while shares of Smithfield Foods Inc., the
nation's leading pork producer, tumbled $1.33, or 14.5 percent, to $7.85.
The nation's meat makers are seeing their profits shrink as commodity prices
for key ingredients like corn and oil reached record highs this summer.
Although prices have moderated, they're still high for producers, and some
have lost money on bad hedges. Further hurting the industry is weak pricing,
due to a drop in demand in foodservice and an oversupply of meat on the
market, which keeps prices down.
<more> Nov. 11, 2008 AP
Southern Oregon farmers create poultry co-op
- - The chicken coops at Willow-Witt Ranch have gone co-op. Last year a
flock of farmers formed the Southern Oregon Poultry Group, LLC, to buy
equipment to process their chickens. Suzanne Willow and Lanita Witt, owners
of the ranch, helped initiate the cooperative purchase of a chicken-plucking
machine and a scalding machine, which travel on a trailer to farms from the
Applegate Valley to Ashland. "We all wanted to be raising healthy meat for
ourselves and others and there was nowhere to process it," said Willow, the
group's chairwoman. "The equipment is well over $2,000, so no one wanted to
spend that much."
<more> Nov. 11, 2008 Mail Tribune
Names floated for top Obama jobs - -
President-elect Obama is weighing an array of Washington insiders and
outsiders, including some Republicans, for top administration posts,
according to Democratic officials. Possible nominees for Agriculture
secretary include former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack; Tom Buis, president of
National Farmers Union; and former Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas. Obama has
signaled that he will make no Cabinet-level appointments immediately, and
his deliberations are tightly held by his closest aides. But that hasn't
stopped Democrats and interest groups from circulating lists and offering
recommendations to the Obama transition team.
<more> Nov. 11, 2008 AP
Monday, Nov. 10, 2008
California livestock vote raises fear in Iowa -
- Sponsors of a California ballot initiative that sets new welfare
standards for livestock are pledging to push those changes nationwide.
That's just what livestock interests in Iowa and nationally were worried
about. They contributed millions to a campaign to defeat the measure, which
would effectively ban the use of sow stalls and hen cages. Farming interests
in Iowa contributed about $300,000 to the campaign against the measure. The
measure won't take effect until 2015, and it's not clear how quickly and
widely those standards could be adopted nationwide, industry officials say.
"It's too soon to say what's going to happen," said Kevin Vinchattle,
executive director of the Iowa Egg Council, the trade organization for
Iowa's egg industry, which is the nation's largest.
<more> Nov. 10, 2008 Des Moines Register
What California voters hatched with chicken-cage
ban is unclear - - To a huge majority of California voters, it seems,
the chicken does come before the egg. How Proposition 2 changes hens' lives,
though, will depend on whether the rest of the country feels the same way.
The measure makes California the first state to require that its chickens be
freed from their cages and allowed to stretch their wings. But Proposition 2
doesn't stop supermarkets from stocking cheaper eggs laid by caged hens in
other states. So if cages were outlawed tomorrow, economists predict, egg
imports would flood in. Most of California's egg industry would go out of
business – and the number of caged chickens nationally would stay about the
same. However, Proposition 2 doesn't take effect until 2015 – and a lot can
change in six years.
<more> Nov.8, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Can they survive? Farmers worry about impact of
Proposition 2 - - Central Valley farmers and ranchers are scrambling to
assess the impact of Proposition 2, which mandates egg-laying hens, calves
raised for veal and pregnant pigs have enough room to stand up, lie down,
turn around freely and fully extend their limbs. Some farmers wonder if they
can stay in business after Tuesday’s vote, which, as of Friday’s tally,
showed the measure passed with 66.6 percent of the vote, and 33.4 percent
against. It will go into effect Jan. 1, 2015. Farmer John Eggs, which
employs about 100 people in Bakersfield, warned of layoffs at the least, or
maybe shutting down entirely. “I’m lucky, in a way,” president John Lewis
said. “We haven’t made huge investments to modernize our infrastructure,
yet. I can just close down, if I need to. But other people have invested
tons of money in operations just to have this happen. I don’t know what
they’re going to do.”
<more> Nov. 10, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Tyson's poultry troubles diminish earnings -
- Tyson Foods Inc. said Monday that gains in its beef and pork units helped
fiscal fourth-quarter profit rise 50 percent, but the world’s largest meat
company said high grain costs hurt its chicken business, the quarterly
results were below expectations and the company’s stock lost ground. The
Springdale, Ark.-based company earned $48 million, or 13 cents per share, in
the quarter, up from $32 million, or 9 cents per share, a year ago. Sales
rose to $7.20 billion from $6.66 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson
Reuters expected, on average, a profit of 18 cents per share on revenue of
$6.98 billion. Tyson reported gains in its beef and pork businesses but
continued to struggle with its poultry and prepared food units. Grain costs
that climbed $230 million in the quarter accounted for a loss of $91 million
in its chicken unit, the company said.
<more> Nov. 10, 2008 AP
USDA projects lower corn, soybean harvests -
- The Agriculture Department on Monday lowered its forecasts for this year's
U.S. corn and soybean harvests, pushing up the prices of both commodities.
The USDA said corn production is expected to be 12.02 billion bushels, down
from last month's revised estimate of 12.03 billion and below analysts'
estimates of 12.08 billion. Corn yield per acre is expected to come in at
153.8 bushels, down from last month's estimate of 153.9. Analysts expected
the yield to be 154.4. The lower yield and production "caught the market
off-guard," said Joe Victor, vice president for marketing at Allendale Inc.,
a commodities broker based in McHenry, Ill. Corn and soybean futures prices
initially rose in response to the report. Corn for December delivery traded
at $3.77 a bushel by late morning, up 1.5 cents, after reaching $3.85
immediately after the report, according to the Chicago Board of Trade.
Soybeans for January jumped 19 cents in early trading to $9.40 per bushel.
<more> Nov. 10, 2008 AP
Get ready to cook that perfect holiday bird! - -
The California Poultry Federation has published a webpage geared at
being a one-stop-shop for holiday cooking ideas. Consumers
will
be able to find information on buying local birds, along with food safety
tips and cooking recipes. CPF members who offer turkeys for the upcoming
holiday season include:
Diestel
Family Turkey Ranch
Foster Farms
Mary's Free Range
Turkeys
Willie Bird Turkeys
Zacky Farms
Other holiday turkey websites are also listed as well as phone numbers for
culinary professionals. To view the webpage,
please click here! Email
codypenfold@gmail.com to share more helpful resources.
What Proposition 2 Really Means for Agriculture
- - Proposition 2 was one of a number of law changes that the California
electorate had to decide on at the same time as they were choosing their new
president. The Proposition broadly lays down regulations for housing animals
ensuring they have enough space to move. It requires that calves raised for
veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs should be confined only in ways that
allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn
around freely. Exceptions have been made for transportation, rodeos, fairs,
4-H programs, lawful slaughter, research and veterinary purposes. However,
any breaches of the regulations would incur misdemeanor penalties, including
a fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 180 days. The
legislation has been introduced because of rising concerns in California
among the public over the way teat the state's 40 million farm animals were
being treated.
<more> Nov. 10, 2008 BeefMagazine.com
Waxman seeks top energy panel post --- In the first big post-election clash on Capitol Hill, two House heavyweights are battling to lead an influential committee that will have jurisdiction over global warming in the new Congress. The fight pits California Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, a key ally of environmentalists, against Democratic Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, who has ties to the auto industry. Waxman is trying to oust Dingell as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. While Waxman supporters say they think they've got enough votes to prevail, Dingell is fighting hard to keep the position. If Waxman is successful in his attempted coup, it means that two Californians would take leading roles in the contentious debate over global warming. Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer is the head of the Senate's environmental committee, which has jurisdiction over the issue. <more> Nov. 10, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Friday, Nov. 7, 2008
Interactive map shows breadth of Yes on Prop. 2 vote - - For an
interactive, county by county map of Prop. 2 results, please visit the
California Secretary of State's website at
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/Returns/props/map190000000002.htm Nov. 7, 2008
Dealing with the animal rights movement - - The recent passage of
Proposition 2 in California has left many in the livestock industry
scratching their heads over how to deal with the snowballing animal welfare
movement. University of Florida researcher Dr. Wes Jamison has been studying
the movement for nearly 20 years. He says producers need to understand the
correct lessons of Proposition 2. “The wrong lessons are that you need to
spend more money or that you need to somehow tell your story better. The
correct lesson is that you need to learn to communicate in the language of
your consumer,” Dr. Jamison says. So what should that message be? “What you
want to tell people is that you do the right things in the right ways for
the right reasons—and that meat is a good thing,” he says. “It’s basically
that simple. It’s the idea that you don’t run from your moral
responsibility, that you actually take it seriously—and then actually get
out in front of it and advertise it.”
<more> Nov. 7, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
House, Senate, ag committees could see changes - - U.S. Senate:
At press time, all members of the Senate Ag Committee were re-elected or
leading. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) was leading by 237 votes over
challenegr Al Franken, which
becomes an automatic recount in Minnesota. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA),
ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee, was leading and close to securing
50%. Under Georgia law, if he fails to receive 50%, Chambliss will face a
run-off election. House: Seven members of the House Ag Committee were
defeated: Nancy Boyda (D-KS), Robin Hayes (R-NC), John Kuhl (R-NY), Nick
Lampson (D-TX), Tim Mahoney (D-FL), Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), and Tim Walberg
(R-MI). Hayes served as ranking member of the House Ag Livestock
Subcommittee and was a good friend of the meat and livestock industries.
Nov. 7, 2008 Beef Magazine.com
Election Of Obama May Not Be Most Pertinent Result - - While it’s human
nature to focus on returns of the presidential and congressional elections,
the factor that might be the most concerning following the Nov. 4 balloting
was California ballot initiative Proposition 2. The proposition, which won’t
become law until 2015, requires that all farm animals, "for all or the
majority of any day," not be confined or tethered in a manner that prevents
an animal from lying down, standing up, turning around or extending its
limbs without touching another animal or an enclosure such as a cage or
stall. This proposition passed by a 2 to 1 margin, and effectively will
eliminate egg production in the state of California – affecting 95% of the
state's egg production. What is significant is that agriculture spent a lot
of money, and 30 of the state’s largest newspapers came out in opposition to
Proposition 2. Yet it passed overwhelmingly.
<more> Nov. 7, 2008 Beef Magazine.com
James Link
Assumes Post of Administrator of USDA’s Ag Marketing Service
- - James E. Link assumed the position of
administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) this week,
according to AMS’s Web site. He was named to the post late last week by
Agriculture Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bruce
Knight. Link will direct USDA’s programs that facilitate the marketing of
U.S. agricultural products and will also be responsible for programs that
procure commodities, including chicken and chicken products, for the
national school lunch and other federal food and nutrition programs. Prior
to this appointment, Link served, since 2005, as administrator of USDA’s
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. Nov. 7, 2008 NCC
Newsletter
Sustainable ag talk set for CSU Stanislaus Nov. 20 - - "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Sustainable Agriculture" is the subject of a talk set for Nov. 20 at CSU Stanislaus. The presentation by Dr. Cliff Ohmart, the Research/IPM Director for the Lodi Winegrape Commission and architect of the Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing, California’s first third party-certified sustainable winegrowing program. The talk is part of the university’s Agricultural Studies Department’s Agricultural Studies Speaker Series. Sponsored by Yosemite Farm Credit, ACA, the event is in the Faculty Development Center, Room 118 from 6-9 p.m. Nov. 7, 2008 CSU Press Release
Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008
Egg producers seek clarification on hen cage
rules - - California egg producers lost Tuesday's battle over
Proposition 2, which bans small cages for laying hens, but they are not done
yet. The measure's language is unclear about just what enclosures will be
allowed as of 2015, when it takes effect, said Jill Benson, vice president
of J.S. West & Cos. of Modesto. She said the industry will seek
clarification of the wording, possibly by a judge or state regulators,
before deciding how to react. The options include complying with the
measure, if it is interpreted favorably, or moving the small-cage operations
to other states or countries, she said. "We as a company and as an industry
still have a lot of questions," said Benson, whose business produces about
1.2 million eggs a day. "It's a very vaguely worded and poorly conceived
initiative."
<more> Nov. 6, 2008 Modesto Bee
Modesto Bee Editorial: Proposition 2 results a disappointment - - Two
things trouble us about the overwhelming approval of Proposition 2, an
initiative that will dramatically affect -- and could kill -- commercial egg
production in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. First, many Californians
simply bought into proponents' claim that the caging hens amounts to animal
cruelty. In fact, it is an animal husbandry practice that has been refined
over many decades to protect both the birds and their eggs.
<more> Nov. 6, 2008 Modesto Bee
American Vet Assn says vets must be involved in
Prop. 2 implementation - - A proposal that would ban modern housing
systems for egg-laying hens, veal calves and gestating sows by 2015 was
approved Tuesday by California voters. In approving the initiative, voters
rejected the arguments of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the agriculture
industry and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). In response
to passage, AVMA CEO Ron DeHaven, DVM, said, “Now that the ballot initiative
has passed, veterinarians and animal welfare scientists must be involved in
its implementation to make sure that resulting changes in animal housing
actually improve conditions for the animals they are intended to help. If
we're not careful, animal health and welfare problems could be precipitated
that are as significant as the concerns Proposition 2 aspires to address.”
<more> Nov. 6, 2008 BeefMagazine.com
Finding a way to connect with consumers - - The passage of California’s
Proposition 2 this week is another reminder to livestock producers, but
Charlie Arnot, CEO of the Center for Food Integrity (CFI), says at the same
time livestock producers are very much aware of the issues and challenges
associated with modern livestock production, and that includes taking care
of their animals. “And recognizing that today’s systems have never been
safer, they’ve never been more productive and they continue to provide an
safe, abundant, affordable food supply to Americans,” Arnot said. What
continues to evade livestock producers though, is finding the right message
when it comes to communicating with consumers, but even that is something
Charlie Arnot sees as an opportunity.
<more> Nov. 6, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
California bans cages for chickens - - In a
move that will dramatically transform the industry in the fifth largest
egg-producing state, California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 2
on Election Day to become the first state in the nation to outlaw cages for
egg-laying hens and other livestock. With 91% of precincts reporting early
on Nov. 5, passage was leading by a 63.1% to 36.8% margin. Voters in Los
Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area voted for the measure by a large
margin, while most of the Central Valley, the state’s leading agricultural
region, and north state opposing it. Gene Gregory, president of the United
Egg Producers, called the results disappointing. “From the very beginning,
we knew we were fighting an uphill battle. Animal rights groups succeeded in
convincing voters in California into thinking Prop. 2 was about animal
cruelty by using images of pets in their ads, when in fact, Prop. 2 simply
was a means to try to end animal farming in that state.” Gregory says that
because the wording of Prop. 2 is so vague, the state will have to determine
how this new law actually will be implemented and enforced. Under the
wording of the ballot measure, laying hens will need to be able to stand up,
stretch their wings, dust bathe and do other things that free-range chickens
can do.
<more> Nov. 5, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Voters
put Calif. egg industry in peril. Some producers consider going to other
states, Mexico - - California voters passed Proposition 2 Tuesday, Nov.
4, essentially banning conventional egg production in the state. Proposition
2 captured nearly two-thirds of the vote. Voters in the Bay Area and Los
Angeles overwhelmingly voted for the measure, while most of the Central
Valley and northeast California opposed it. The egg industry expects to see
the measure spread to other states, which is one reason why egg producers
from all over the country chipped in to help fight the ballot measure. It is
unclear whether any legal challenge to Proposition 2 is imminent, but
rumblings from all corners - ranging from the egg industry to the
animal-rights movement - have been surfacing in recent months. Egg producers
will be banned from using conventional cages under the new law. Laying hens
will need to be able to stand up, stretch their wings, dust bathe and do
other things that free-range chickens can do. Growers will have until 2015
to comply with the rules.
<more> Nov. 6, 2008 Capital Press
Californians could be in the mix as search begins for
new USDA chief - - By Mark Looker, CPF Communications Manager - -
Californians should figure prominently as the new Administration begins its
search for officials to fill key posts.
California Senators
Barbara Boxer and
Dianne Feinstein
carry considerable clout with the incoming Obama Administration, as does
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and Valley Congressmen
Dennis
Cardoza (D-Merced) and
Rep. Jim Costa.
Sources close to the new Administration who requested anonymity have
indicated that former CDFA Secretary Bill Lyons, Jr. will play a key role in
providing advice about issues affecting California agriculture, as well as
providing advice on filling various agriculture and other
natural resource
posts. Lyons, a Democrat who served as CDFA secretary in Gov.
Gray Davis’
administration from 1999-2002, helps run the family
cattle ranch
located west of
Modesto. In the CDFA post, Lyons earned a reputation as a skilled administrator who
knew how to reach across the aisle while dealing with many contentious
issues affecting
California ’s diverse farm
industry. “He is seen as a centrist, reasonable voice for agriculture who
commands a lot of respect on both sides of the aisle,” said the source. “He
is viewed as the go-to guy for California farming.” The source would neither
confirm nor deny whether Lyons was among those being considered for a top
USDA post. Nov. 6, 2008
EPA Eyes
11th-Hour Narrowing Of Controversial CAFO Reporting Waiver - - EPA
appears to be reconsidering the scope of a controversial rule that would
exempt concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) from reporting harmful
emissions under Superfund law, prompting concerns from livestock groups that
the rule will not be finalized, and effective, before the Bush
administration leaves office, according to a published report from
InsideEPA.com. At an Oct. 28 meeting with EPA and the White House Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), supporters of the rule reiterated a proposal
first floated by the pork industry to craft a standardized, five-year
reporting requirement. One informed source says another option to limit the
scope of the proposal would be to exempt smaller facilities from reporting
-- an idea that has also been backed by state regulators in the past. There
are discussions between EPA and industry about whether the rule should be
"an exemption from all reporting or some reporting," the informed source
says. A second informed source says the agency is struggling with the idea
of a full exemption, apparently due to political concerns. Rep. John Dingell
(D-MI), chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee, and other critics of
the exemption are urging EPA to delay issuing the rule after a Government
Accountability Office (GAO) study unveiled at a Sept. 24 hearing found that
the agency does not have enough information to adequately regulate large
livestock and poultry farms. An EPA spokesman did not respond to a request
for comment, but in the past the agency has said the waiver is warranted
because an emergency response to emissions from animal waste are unnecessary
and impractical. The rule would exempt CAFOs from reporting ammonia and
hydrogen sulfide releases under the Superfund law, known as the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA),
and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). The
proposal came in response to a petition from the poultry industry to exempt
the sector's ammonia emissions under Superfund as the industry is concerned
about potential cleanup liability. However, in the proposal, EPA broadened
the waiver to all animal agriculture sectors, including the pork and dairy
industry, and included an exemption for hydrogen sulfide in addition to
ammonia. Nov. 6, 2008 InsideEPA.com
Obama to Back Ailing Ethanol Makers, Follow Failed Bush Policy -- President-elect Barack Obama plans to support unprofitable U.S. ethanol producers and pursue the same policies that failed George W. Bush. Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, the second- biggest corn-growing state, will maintain Bush's goal requiring fuel producers use at least 36 billion gallons of biofuels in 2022, said Heather Zichal, the campaign's senior energy adviser. The ethanol industry, which loses about 66 cents a gallon at current prices, will receive at least as much support as from the current administration, including tax credits to spur consumption, she said. ``Obama recognizes how important the renewable and biofuels industry is to creating jobs and meeting our goal of reducing dependence on foreign oil,'' Zichal said in a Nov. 3 interview. ``He's fully committed to it and sees tremendous value in the renewable fuels standard and continuing down this path.'' <more> Nov. 6, 2008 Bloomberg News
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008
Proposition 2 passes by large margin -- California voters passed Proposition 2 Tuesday night, essentially
banning conventional egg production in the state. As of 10:30 p.m., Prop. 2
was winning with nearly two-thirds of the vote. Voters in the Bay Area and
Los Angeles overwhelmingly voted for the measure, while most of the Central
Valley and North State opposed it. Gene Baur, president of Farm Sanctuary -
one of the chief proponents of Prop. 2 - said the victory is a landmark.
"The passage of Prop 2 in the country's largest agricultural state marks a
monumental victory for farm animals," Baur said. "Today marks a significant
change in the way we view and treat farm animals and falls closer in line
with public sentiments and values of compassion. We look forward to seeing
these confinement systems phased out nationwide." The egg industry expects
to see the measure spread to other states, which is one reason why egg
producers from all over the country chipped in to help fight the ballot
measure. It is unclear whether any legal challenge to Prop. 2 is imminent,
but rumblings from all corners - ranging from the egg industry to the
animal-rights movement - have been surfacing in recent months.
<more> Nov. 5, 2008 Nov. 4, 2008, Capital Press
No on Prop. 2 campaign issues statement after
loss - – Californians for SAFE Food, issued the following statement
after Prop. 2 was passed by a 63.2% -
36.8% margin: Californians for SAFE
Food, the statewide coalition endorsing a No vote on Proposition 2, extends
sincere gratitude to the California family farmers, food safety and public
health experts, veterinary, consumer, business, agricultural, labor and
community groups who lent their energy, expertise and support to the No on
Prop. 2 campaign. The Yes on 2 campaign, backed by one of the nation's
richest Washington DC-based special interest and lobbying groups, led an
emotionally manipulative, dishonest, and often deceptive campaign. Despite
this, Californians for SAFE Food put together an unprecedented effort and
was successful on several key fronts: We worked to persuade California's
Attorney General and Secretary of State to bring more reasonable, balanced
and truthful wording to the ballot title. We brought together a broad,
diverse group of interests – from agricultural and business groups to labor
and community organizations – to oppose Prop. 2. We raised and spent
significant resources to educate Californians about the risky, dangerous and
costly consequences of this initiative. We convinced more than 30 leading
newspapers from every reach and region of the state to urge Californians to
vote 'no' on Prop. 2. The special interest group that pushed Prop 2 will now
go back to Washington, and leave it to California's farmers, veterinarians,
regulators and lawyers to interpret what this poorly-conceived and
vaguely-worded initiative actually means for the real people it affects.
Nov. 5, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
California Democrats pick up 2 Assembly seats,
one Senate seat. Other races too close to call - - California Democrats
appear posed to pick up two seats in the Assembly and one seat in the
Senate, bringing the party closer to a coveted two-thirds majority of the
Legislature. That is if current vote totals hold. The margins on some of the
races are so razor thin they remain too close to call. Democratic Senate
candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson clings to a 108-vote lead in Senate District
19, with 100 percent of precincts reporting. For a complete rundown of all
the results in all the key legislative districts,
please click here. Nov. 5, 2008 Capitol Alert
Gilmore leads Florez for Assembly - -
Republican Danny Gilmore enjoyed an early lead over Democrat Fran Florez in
a hotly contested South Valley state Assembly race Tuesday evening. But
thousands of votes were still not counted, including many from a Democratic
portion of the district. Gilmore, a retired highway patrolman from Hanford,
was up 58% to 43% over Florez, a Shafter City Council member and mother of
state Sen. Dean Florez. "I'm excited with the results so far, but we've
still got a ways to go," said Gilmore, who gathered with supporters at the
Kings County fairgrounds in Hanford. Florez was counting on a big turnout in
the Bakersfield area to bring her back. Only about a third of the total
expected vote in Kern County had been counted as of 10:30 p.m.
<more> Nov. 5, 2008 Fresno Bee
Gilmore leading in 30th Assembly District race
- - Republican Danny Gilmore held a lead in one of California's tightest
races early Wednesday morning, but thousands of ballots remained uncounted
in Kern County, the home turf of Democrat Fran Florez. The two battled to
claim the 30th Assembly District seat being vacated by Nicole Parra,
D-Hanford. Gilmore's lead was 55 percent to 45 percent at 2 a.m.
districtwide, but Florez was winning Kern County 63 percent to 37 percent,
with almost a third of precincts still to report. But Kings County,
Gilmore's home, also had many uncounted ballots.
<more> Nov. 5, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Assembly Ag Chair Galgiani easily re-elected
- - Incumbent Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani held a nearly 2-to-1 lead late
Tuesday in her bid to retain the 17th Assembly District seat over Republican
challenger Jack Mobley, a Merced businessman and retired U.S. Air Force
officer. With 263 of 275 precincts reporting Tuesday night, Democrat
Galgiani held a 65.9 percent to 34.1 percent lead. "I'm grateful that it
looks like at this point I will have an opportunity to continue the work
that I've started," she said. "And I pledge to my voters I will continue to
work as hard as I can every day to continue to deserve their support." In
seeking re-election, the Stockton native promised that she would seek to
advance a proposal to bring high-speed rail though the Central Valley. She
also said she would use her position as the recently elected chairwoman of
the Assembly Agriculture Committee to advance and protect farming.
<more> Nov. 5, 2008 Stockton Record
Bill Berryhill edging Eisenhut in 26th; Brother
Tom, Galgiani win re-election - - San Joaquin County was giving
Republican Assembly candidate Bill Berryhill an edge in his contest against
Democratic opponent John Eisenhut in their race to represent voters in the
26th Assembly District. Their campaign grew increasingly heated over the
past month when the Democratic Party poured more than $500,000 into the
race. It was one of five seats held by termed-out Republicans that Democrats
eyed to increase their majority in the Legislature. With all precincts in
the district reporting early this morning, Berryhill had 55,940 votes, or 52
percent, and Eisenhut had 52,308 votes, or 48 percent. In Stanislaus County,
Eisenhut had 20,884 votes against 20,701 for Berryhill. "We feel good that
we got our message out, and I'm looking forward to being able to serve the
people of the 26th," Berryhill said from an election night party. If the
race holds, Berryhill will serve in the Legislature with his older brother,
Tom, who was cruising to an easy re-election in the Modesto-based 25th
Assembly District.
<more> Nov. 5, 2008 Modesto Bee
Rep. McNerney likely winner vs. Andal in 11th
Congressional district race- - Rep. Jerry McNerney was poised to win
re-election Tuesday, holding off Stockton Republican Dean Andal in the
state's most-watched House race. The Pleasanton Democrat, who upset Tracy
Republican Richard Pombo in 2006, was leading Andal 53.5 percent to 46.5
percent with 423 of 649 precincts reporting. "Things look really good,"
McNerney said from a campaign party in Dublin. In San Joaquin County,
McNerney, a 57-year-old wind energy expert, was leading Andal 51 percent to
49 percent, with 121 of 391 precincts reporting. His margin was far greater
in Alameda, Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties.
<more> Nov. 5, 2008 Stockton Record
Lodi area Assembly race too close to call - -
The race for the state Assembly's 10th District - considered one of the most
competitive in the state - was too close to call late Tuesday, according to
early election returns. With 472 of 491 precincts reporting, Lodi Republican
Jack Sieglock held a slim lead of 47.4 percent of the vote over Democrat
Alyson Huber of El Dorado Hills, who had 45.8 percent. "Obviously we're very
pleased with the votes up to this point. We're cautiously optimistic,"
Sieglock, 51, a former Lodi mayor and county supervisor who is now a
consultant, said earlier in the evening. Huber, 36, a business litigation
attorney who has never run for office, held out hope for later election
returns. "We're still watching Sacramento County," she said, referencing the
one area of the district where she led late Tuesday.
<more> Nov. 5, 2008 Stockton Record
Wolk defeats Aghazarian for Senate seat - -
Assemblywoman Lois Wolk of Davis defeated Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian of
Stockton in what is considered a swing district. With more than
three-fourths of the vote counted in the 5th Senate district, Democrat Wolk
had 63 percent of the vote to Republican Aghazarian's 37 percent.Democratic
Sen. Mike Machado's departure due to term limits opened up this Senate seat,
which has traditionally been one of the few electoral battlegrounds in
California. It includes Yolo County, a swath of San Joaquin County and
stretches west across Solano County. Both candidates reached out to
independent voters. Nov. 5, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Election results - - California election results
are available on the Secretary of
State's website at
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008
Foster Farms to Rescue Cooks From Turkey Day
Mishaps This Holiday Season With Annual Turkey Helpline -- How do you
stuff and roast the perfect turkey, drum up delicious gravy, or even grill
your bird this Thanksgiving holiday? Foster Farms answers these questions
and many more with its free, around-the-clock Turkey Helpline
(1-800-255-7227) and expanded informational Web site
http://www.fosterfarms.com In
addition to serving up fool-proof turkey tips, this year's helpline offers
hints to help consumers savor the season with expert holiday entertaining
advice and delicious traditional recipes for everything from the centerpiece
turkey to pumpkin pie, as well as many low fat and low-carb dishes to please
health-conscious guests.
<more> Nov. 4, 2008 Foster Farms Press Release
Butterball sells Longmont turkey brand to Sigma
Alimentos - - Butterball LLC has sold its Longmont turkey brand to
Sigma Alimentos, Mexico's largest producer and distributor of refrigerated
and frozen food. According to the companies, the Longmont, Colo., facility
will partner with Sigma Alimentos to produce products under the Longmont
brand. No jobs at the facility are expected to be lost as a result of the
sale. According to Sigma Alimento's General Director Mario Paez, the
acquisition is part of a strategy to grow the company's processed meat
market in Mexico and the Hispanic market in the U.S. The sale of the
Longmont brand to Sigma Alimentos fits into the company’s overall business
strategy, said Butterball. No financial details of the sale were disclosed.
Nov. 4, 2008 WattPoultry.com
U.S. pledges additional $320 million in global AI
fight - - The United States government has pledged an additional $320
million to assist global efforts to fight avian influenza and prepare people
everywhere for a possible pandemic in the future. The U.S. made the pledge
at the International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza
at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. With this contribution, the United States has
given $949 million since January 2006 to support international efforts in
more than 100 nations to improve pandemic preparedness and communication,
disease surveillance and detection, and outbreak response and containment.
"Let me assure you that the United States continues its focus on the threat
we all face," U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs
Paula Dobriansky told attendees at the Sharm el-Sheikh conference.
<more> Nov. 4, 2008 Voice of America
Forecasters uncertain about California water
- - Forecasters are flipping a coin when asked whether California will
endure a third dry year in a row. Maybe yes, maybe no. Meteorologists can't
bet one way or the other this year because there is no warm-water El Niño or
cold-water La Niña in the Pacific Ocean. El Niño can mean more rain; La Niña
can mean less. This year, the ocean is La Nada -- the unofficial term that
means the ocean's water temperature is normal, offering no clues for
forecasters and little encouragement for farmers or reservoir operators. "I
have yet to see a long-range forecast that I would put money on," said
meteorologist and consultant Jan Null of Golden Gate Weather Services, based
in Saratoga. Uncertainty is the last thing San Joaquin Valley farmers and
reservoir operators want to hear. Reservoirs already are down to about 60
percent of average for this time of year. The reserve in storage is
dwindling with each dry year.
<more> Nov. 4, 2008 Merced Sun-Star
Election results - - California election results will be available after 8
p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, on the Secretary of
State's website at
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/
Monday, Nov. 3, 2008
TELL YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS – VOTE NO
ON PROP 2 TOMORROW! - - Tuesday, Nov. 4, California voters will decide
the fate of Proposition 2 and the choice couldn’t be clearer. A “No” vote on
Proposition 2 will protect food safety and keep our eggs fresh, safe and
affordable. A “Yes” vote will force the egg industry out of California,
jeopardize food safety, raise consumer prices, and result in the loss of
thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity and
several million dollars annually in state and local tax revenues. Please urge
your members, constituents, friends, family and neighbors to vote “NO” on
Proposition 2!
CPF posts informational video on the web - - CPF
has uploaded an informational video to the World Wide Web in hopes to shed
light on its functions as well as enlighten viewers on the vast poultry
industry in California. The short film highlights CPF activities, the
California Poultry Health Board, and the poultry industry’s economic
contribution to the state. The video made its debut on YouTube, Google and
other online video hosts last week. You can view the video on CPF’s about us
section of the website
by clicking here.
Stay tuned for more videos to come in the future! Nov.
3, 2008
Free the chickens initiative another round of
political insanity -- By Harry Cline - - California’s lawmaking by
ballot initiative has created more than a few ludicrous and onerous
regulations. According to the pollsters, Californians are about to once again
move to regulatory insanity. Prop. 2, according to the polls, will likely
pass. Prop. 2 is one in a string of ballot initiatives on the Nov. 4 ballot
that cover such mundane issues as abortion, drugs, and same-sex marriage.
Prop. 2 is called the chicken bill of rights proposition. It wants to make it
a law that people who raise chickens, calves for veal, or pork allow these
animals to “lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around
freely” as if they don’t now. Confinement of animals for food must be humane
now or they would not produce food . I have not seen any organized advertising
campaign to defeat Prop. 2. Newspapers and television reporters cover Prop. 2
opponents, but I have seen no paid advertisement that matches the pro-Prop. 2
campaign. Agriculture went to sleep on this one, or it figured it was a no-win
battle from the beginning and did not want to spend millions to counter the
proponents of the “free the chicken movement” with little chance of success.
Regardless, the free range chicken proposition, along with the others on the
Nov. 4 ballot, again makes California the poster child for political insanity
and more proof that state government is totally dysfunctional — in need of
sweeping reform. One way to achieve that is to do away with term limits.
<more> Nov. 3, 2008 Western Farm Press
EPA releases final rule on CAFOs - - The
Environmental Protection Agency Friday released its final “CAFO rule” to
control manure and wastewater from large animal feeding operations. Broiler
operations and CAFOs in general, regardless of size, do not have to apply for
a permit if they do not discharge or propose to discharge, reports the
National Chicken Council. The final rule is consistent with the Second
Circuit's decision on this point. “EPA’s new regulation of animal feedlots
sets a strong national standard for pollution prevention and environmental
protection, while maintaining our country’s economic and agricultural
competitiveness,” said Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles.
“This clean water rule strengthens environmental safeguards by embracing a
zero discharge standard and requiring site-specific management plans to
prevent runoff of excess nutrients into our nation’s waters.” This is the
first time EPA has required a nutrient management plan for manure to be
submitted as part of a CAFO’s Clean Water Act permit application, the agency
said. The change resulted from a court ruling in 2005 that upheld parts of
EPA’s previous rule and required further work on other parts. “Previous rules
required a CAFO operator to use an NMP for controlling manure, but the
regulation builds on that by requiring the NMP to be submitted with the permit
application,” the agency said. “The plan will be reviewed by the permitting
authority and conditions based on it will be incorporated as enforceable terms
of the permit. The proposed NMP and permit will be available for public review
and comment before going final.” Smaller broiler farms do not have to file a
Clean Water Act permit application but have to have a nutrient management plan
in order to qualify for a stormwater discharge exemption. Broiler farms of all
sizes are already encouraged by the industry’s environmental policy to have a
nutrient plan. EPA’s news release, fact sheet, and final rule are posted to
its Web site http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/
afo/cafofinalrule.cfm. Nov. 3, 2008 NCC Newsletter
Don Tyson says meat company seeks global growth
- - - - Investors are waiting for Don Tyson's second act. Sitting in a quiet
office in a long row of executive suites at the headquarters of the world's
biggest meat company, Tyson promises he has one. The plan is fittingly
ambitious for a man who pioneered a new industrial model for meat production
and helped turn a small chicken company into a $27 billion a year enterprise.
In short, Tyson plans to duplicate his company's domination of the U.S.
livestock industry, but on a global scale. "Our company, as I would view it
today, is in kind of a consolidation stage, getting ready for our growth
overseas," Tyson said in a rare and extensive interview with The Associated
Press.
<more> Nov. 3, 2008 AP
Why We
Vote - – By Mark Looker, CPF Communications Manager - - It is
traditional as Election Day draws near for newspapers and other pundits to
issue a call for all good citizens to
do
their duty and exercise their right to vote. I think often times in the midst
of all the campaign back-and-forth we can become disillusioned and can throw
our hands up and say “Why bother?” I’d like to offer one good reason to vote
and I’m confident it is not a Democratic, Republican or Independent reason to
vote: We vote to honor the countless individuals who have either sacrificed
their lives or served in the Armed Forces and risked their lives to uphold one
of our most basic rights: The right to vote. My father, Warren Looker, was
like many other Americans who served his country in a time of great need. He
was no hero. He was a skinny, red-headed kid who graduated from Lima (Ohio)
High School in 1942 and joined the Naval Air Corp. He served as an ordnance
man on a Liberator bomber crew and saw action in both the Pacific and European
theaters. He was training crews in Kansas for the coming invasion of the
Japanese homeland when the atomic bombs were dropped twice on Japan, ending
World War II. Many years later, he repeatedly and without hesitation told his
seven children: “Greatest President ever? Harry Truman. Otherwise, you all
wouldn’t be here!” Public policy and politics was a staple at our dinner
table. He loved talking about government policies and party politics and urged
us all to chime in. Above all, he urged us to get involved, to vote and care
about our community and country. He passed away in 2001 but his legacy is
reflective of what Tom Brokaw came to call “The Greatest Generation” in his
book on those who came of age in World War II. On Tuesday, Nov. 4, we vote
because of people who went to war not because they wanted to go to war but
because they had a duty to their country, to their fellow citizens and because
they cared about what the future would hold for their children. On Tuesday,
honor those who fought for that right and those who fight still. Nov. 3,
2008 Mark Looker can be reached at
marklooker@yahoo.com
Election results - - California election results will be available after 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, on the Secretary of State's website at http://vote.sos.ca.gov/
Friday, Oct. 31, 2008
EPA
finalizes CAFO manure, wastewater rules - - The U.S. EPA has finalized a
rule requiring concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to safely
manage manure. EPA estimates CAFO regulations will prevent 56 million
pounds of phosphorus, 110 million pounds of nitrogen, and 2 billion pounds
of sediment from entering streams, lakes, and other waters annually. This is
the first time EPA has required a nutrient management plan (NMP) for manure
to be submitted as part of a CAFO’s Clean Water Act permit application.
Manure contains the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, which, when not
managed properly on agricultural land, can pollute nearby streams, lakes,
and other waters. Previous rules required a CAFO operator to use an NMP for
controlling manure, but the regulation builds on that by requiring the NMP
to be submitted with the permit application. The plan will be reviewed by
the permitting authority and conditions based on it will be incorporated as
enforceable terms of the permit. The proposed NMP and permit will be
available for public review and comment before going final.
<more> Oct. 31, 2008 EPA Press Release
Prop 2
favored in early voting, says Field Poll- - The California Field Poll
this week released its final survey of voters before Election Day.
The latest Field Poll found Proposition 2 leading by a commanding 33-point
margin, 60 percent to 27 percent,
with 13 percent undecided. Of those who had already cast ballots, Prop. 2
was favored by 55%. Oct. 31, 2008 CA
Field Poll
Record
17.3 million Californians registered to vote - - A record 17.3 million
voters are registered in California, Secretary of State
Debra
Bowen reported today. Bowen had predicted a record number, but today's
announcement marked the official pre-election tally from her office. A late
surge of registrations - one million between Sept. 5 and the Oct. 20
deadline - pushed the number past the previous high of 16.6 million in
February 2005. More than 1.7 million people registered since January, Bowen
said. The percentages of Democrats and independent voters have grown since
the 2004 presidential election, while the percentage of Republicans in
California has dropped to 31.4 percent. GOP registrants made up 34.7 percent
of the voter rolls in 2004. Democrats moved to 44.4 percent from 43 percent
in 2004. The percentage of those who decline to state a party preference
increased to 19.9 percent from 17.7 percent. Oct. 31, 2008 Sacramento Bee
California State Water Project initial allocation only 15 percent - -
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced an initial
allocation of 15 percent for water delivery to the State Water Project (SWP)
contractors in 2009, the second lowest initial allocation in history. “This
further dramatizes the urgent need for additional investments in water
storage and conveyance infrastructure to assure an adequate and reliable
water supply,” said DWR Director Lester Snow. “The uncertainly of
precipitation patterns due to global warming and deteriorating conditions in
the Delta, California’s main water hub, demand immediate action to enhance
our ecosystem and keep our economy productive in the 21st century. The
governor has sounded the wakeup call, and the clock is ticking.” It reflects
the low carryover storage levels in the state’s major reservoirs, ongoing
drought conditions and court ordered restrictions on water deliveries from
the Delta.
<more> Oct. 31, 2008 Western Farm Press
Remember
to set your clocks back one hour Saturday night!
Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008
Late
campaign money in Prop. 2 election - - In the money chase surrounding
Proposition 2, the "yes" side is swamping the farming and ranching community
as Election Day nears. Bankrolled by the Humane Society of the United
States, Prop. 2 would essentially ban conventional egg production in
California. The HSUS is largely funding the effort, backed by Hollywood
stars and old-money philanthropists. The "yes" campaign had spent nearly $8
million as of Oct. 18, according to state records - more than a half-million
dollars more than the "no" side. The egg industry is the chief funder of the
"no" campaign, although pork producers have also chipped in, as have state
Farm Bureaus as well as some beef and dairy companies. "We'll be outspent,"
said "no" spokeswoman Julie Buckner, "but we'll have enough money to
compete."
<more> Oct. 30, 2008 Capital Press
Prop.
2 backers wield lawsuits as weapon. Humane Society says egg board illegally
used check-off dollars - - The campaign in favor of Proposition 2 is
turning heads among veterans of California's ballot initiative process
because it has been unusually litigious. The "yes" campaign has filed at
least five separate lawsuits against its opponents this year. "I've seen
lawsuits before, but not this many," said Barbara O'Connor, a professor of
political communications at Sacramento State University. "It's unusual for a
proposition." Julie Buckner, spokeswoman for the "no" campaign, said
litigation is a specialty of the Humane Society of the United States, which
is bankrolling the "yes" campaign. "I do not think it's unusual for the
Humane Society," Buckner said. "It's one of their primary tools."
<more> Oct. 30, 2008 Capital Press
California’s major daily newspapers agree: Prop. 2 is a bad egg - - In
the past two weeks, ten additional California daily newspapers have come out
in opposition to Prop. 2, ‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals. Initiative.
Statute.’ bringing the total to 30 leading daily newspapers who have urged
their readers to reject this costly and dangerous initiative on the ballot
November 4. Major newspapers who have already taken stands against Prop. 2
include the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Orange County
Register, Sacramento Bee, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Fresno Bee, Modesto
Bee, Riverside Press Enterprise, The Bakersfield Californian, Stockton
Record, Redding Record Searchlight, Merced Sun-Star, Marin Independent
Journal, among many others. “We applaud the state’s leading daily newspapers
for opposing Prop. 2 and urging their readers to vote NO on Prop. 2 on
November 4th,” said Julie Buckner, campaign spokeswoman. “Prop. 2
essentially bans modern egg production in California and banning these
systems, which were developed with leading animal scientists to ensure the
systems are safe, clean and humane, endangers food safety and threatens
public health in California.” Prop. 2 is a risky, dangerous and costly
measure banning almost all modern egg production in California. Prop. 2
jeopardizes food safety and public health; wipes out Californians’ access to
locally grown, fresh eggs; harms consumers by driving up prices at grocery
stores and restaurants; and creates a dependency on eggs shipped from other
states and foreign countries that do not have the same high food safety
standards as California. “With nearly every major California daily newspaper
opposing Prop. 2, we have every faith California voters will similarly see
through the proponents’ deceptive and misleading ad campaign and vote NO on
Prop. 2,” noted Buckner. Oct. 30, 2008 Non on Prop. 2 Press Release
China
investigates tainted eggs in new food scare - - Three more Chinese
brands of eggs containing melamine have been identified and a local
government has acknowledged that officials knew about the contamination for
a month before it was publicly disclosed. Authorities in the eastern Chinese
city of Hangzhou on Wednesday recalled a brand produced by a company based
in the northern province of Shanxi. In Hong Kong, government said tests on
two other brands found excessive amounts of melamine. No one has been
sickened and it was not immediately clear how many eggs have been recalled.
The widening problem has exposed the inability of Chinese authorities to
keep the food production process clean of toxins despite official vows to
raise food safety standards.
<more> Oct. 30, 2008 AP
New
no-match rules released - - The Department of Homeland Security's new
no-match rule filed last week is nearly identical to the rule a district
court judge blocked last year, according to several sources. As such, most
believe the new rule is subject to the same court-ordered injunction.
According to a DHS press release, the department issued its Supplemental
Final Rule to provide background and analysis for the department's no-match
rule. The new rule, according to the Oct. 23 release, "clarifies what steps
responsible employers can take to resolve discrepancies identified in
no-match letters issued by the Social Security Administration." The release
goes on to say the rule "provides guidance to help businesses comply with
legal requirements intended to reduce the illegal employment of unauthorized
workers."
<more> Oct. 30, 2008 Capital Press
Schwarzenegger announces commission to overhaul tax structure - - Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger established a new state commission Thursday to
overhaul the state's tax structure after facing significant volatility tied
to stock market losses that already have hamstrung this year's budget. The
Republican governor, joined in Los Angeles by Democratic Assembly Speaker
Karen Bass, blamed the state's latest budget problem on a tax system that
relies on the top 1 percent of earners to pay a significant share of
revenues. He said changes are necessary to even out the state's revenues
over time to stabilize funding for state programs. Schwarzenegger did not
specify exactly what types of different taxes he would seek, though
Democrats in the past have suggested expanding taxes beyond retail and
assessing services, such as lawn mowing or auto repair.
<more> Oct. 30, 2008 Sacramento Bee
California cuts water deliveries to cities, farms - - The state said
Thursday it would cut water deliveries to their second lowest level ever,
prompting warnings of water rationing for cities and less planting by
farmers. The Department of Water Resources announced it will deliver just 15
percent of the amount that local water agencies throughout California
request every year. That marks the second lowest projection since the first
State Water Project deliveries were made in 1962. It could force farmers in
the Central Valley to fallow fields and cities from the San Francisco Bay
area to San Diego to impose mandatory water rationing. The state's
reservoirs are low after two years of dry weather and court-ordered
restrictions on water pumping out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This
year, water agencies received just 35 percent of the water they requested.
<more> Oct. 30, 2008 AP
Sustainable ag talk set for CSU Stanislaus Nov. 20 - - "Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sustainable Agriculture" is the subject of a talk set for Nov. 20 at CSU Stanislaus. The presentation by Dr. Cliff Ohmart, the Research/IPM Director for the Lodi Winegrape Commission and architect of the Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing, California’s first third party-certified sustainable winegrowing program. The talk is part of the university’s Agricultural Studies Department’s Agricultural Studies Speaker Series. Sponsored by Yosemite Farm Credit, ACA, the event is in the Faculty Development Center, Room 118 from 6-9 p.m. Oct. 30, 2008 CSU Stanislaus Notice
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008
Governor opposes Prop 2. - - Today Governor
Schwarzenegger announced his positions on statewide ballot measures
including his call to vote NO on Prop. 2, ‘Standards for Confining Farm
Animals. Initiative. Statute.’ on the California ballot Nov. 4.. With his
announcement, Governor Schwarzenegger joins nearly every major daily
newspaper in California – 28 total – including the Los Angeles Times, San
Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, Orange County Register, Fresno Bee,
Modesto Bee, Bakersfield Californian, Long Beach Press-Telegram and
Riverside Press Enterprise in opposing Prop. 2. “We applaud Governor
Schwarzenegger for opposing Prop. 2 and are pleased that he’s joined 28 of
the state’s leading daily newspapers in urging California voters to oppose
the measure on the November 4th ballot,” said Julie Buckner, campaign
spokeswoman. “Prop. 2 essentially bans modern egg production in California
and banning these systems, which were developed with leading animal
scientists to ensure the systems are safe, clean and humane, endangers food
safety and threatens public health in California.” To see his stand on the other measures,
please click here. Oct. 29, 2008 Capitol Alert
Reps. Cardoza and Costa supporting new dry
tare rule - - Two leading Central Valley Congressman have written to
USDA Secretary Ed Schafer in support of the USDA’s recently announced
regulatory on meat and poultry tare. “This regulatory change is long overdue
and will level the playing field so that all state and local weights and
measures office must now enforce the law on tare in a manner that does not
conflict with federal requirements,” wrote Congressman Dennis Cardoza
(D-Merced) and Jim Costa (D-Fresno.) The pair noted that the change is of
particular importance to California, which has used the “wet tare” test
which requires excess naturally-retained moisture to be excluded from the
net weight of the product sold. With the exception of California, every
state that ahs experimented with “wet tare” has stopped using it. Still, a
handful of California counties continue to use thus test and. In doing so,
“have put both California agriculture and California consumers at a
competitive disadvantage,” they wrote. California poultry producers adhere
to strict processing standards and do not modify fresh poultry products with
injections of 15 to 20 percent saltwater solutions. The “wet tare” test
could exclude the 1 to 2 percent naturally retained moisture from the net
weight of most California poultry products while at the same time including
up to 10 times that amount in saltwater solution in the final price for
retail sale. “This is an unacceptable and unfair practice,” write the
congressman, “and one that is properly addressed by the recent proposed
changes.” Oct. 29, 2008
Hops extract may reduce clostridium in chickens
- - Hops contain substances that control pathogenic bacteria in the
intestines of chickens, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and
cooperators have reported. Certain bacteria in the intestines of chickens
not only can cause contamination of meat during processing, but also may
pose major production losses by causing disease in the broiler chicken.
Currently, poultry producers use sub-therapeutic amounts of antibiotics in
poultry feed as growth promoters and to control bacterial pathogens or
parasites. However, bacteria can become resistant to the antibiotics, so ARS
scientists are looking for alternatives.
<more> Oct. 29, 2008 ARS Press Release
Migratory Ducks Carry Bird Flu From Asia to
Alaska - - Wild migratory birds appear to be important carriers of avian
influenza viruses from continent to continent, according to new research
that scientists say has important implications for highly pathogenic avian
influenza virus surveillance in North America. Migratory bird species,
including many waterfowl and shorebirds, that frequently carry low
pathogenic avian influenza and migrate between continents may carry Asian
strains of the virus along their migratory pathways to North America.
Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska and the University of Tokyo, have found
genetic evidence that northern pintail ducks carried Asian forms of avian
influenza to Alaska. "Although some previous research has led to speculation
that intercontinental transfer of avian influenza viruses from Asia to North
America via wild birds is rare, this study challenges that," said Chris
Franson, a research wildlife biologist with the USGS National Wildlife
Health Center and co-author of the study.
<more> Oct. 29, 2008 ENS
Californians for Safe Food rolls out new ‘No on Prop. 2' TV ad - - Californians for SAFE Food, a coalition of public health and food safety experts, labor unions, consumers, family farmers and veterinarians, unveiled a new television ad urging Californians to vote “NO” on Proposition 2, the ‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals Initiative.’ The ad is airing frequently in major markets across the state. The ad directly takes on the Yes on Prop. 2 campaign spokespeople and claims. To view the ad, please click here. Oct. 28, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
Californians for Safe Food rolls out new ‘No on
Prop. 2' TV ad - - Californians for SAFE Food, a coalition of public
health and food safety experts, labor unions, consumers, family farmers and
veterinarians, unveiled a new television ad urging Californians to vote “NO”
on Proposition 2, the ‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals Initiative.’ The
ad is airing frequently in major markets across the state. The ad directly
takes on the Yes on Prop. 2 campaign spokespeople and claims. To view the ad,
please click
here. Oct. 28, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
The thighs have it. This versatile alternative to
the chicken breast is also an economical choice - - To this home cook, the
least inspiring option in any butcher's meat case is the boneless, skinless
chicken breast. It's also one of the costliest, at least as far as poultry
goes. At my local market, boneless, skinless breasts were fetching almost $8 a
pound recently (even more for organic). It's ludicrous to pay that much for
chicken when there is much better, and better-priced, eating elsewhere on the
bird. Chicken thighs deliver more meat for your dollar - worth noting in these
financially insecure times. And they're a lot harder to overcook. They perform
well in the slow-cooked braises that are appealing in brisk weather. And
unlike chicken breasts, which turn to dust when reheated, chicken thighs don't
suffer if rewarmed, so you can prepare them for a dinner party hours ahead. Of
course, the most economical chicken is the whole bird. But if you are
reluctant to cut one up or don't know how, thighs are a frugal alternative.<more>
Oct. 28,2008 SF Chronicle
Poultry production for September up 9% on the year
- - The United States Department of Agriculture reports that the amount of
poultry certified wholesome at a ready to cook weight in September 2008 was
3.721 billion pounds, up 2% from August's 3.646 billion and 9% more than
September 2007's 3.402 billion. For January to September 2008, the total is
33.188 billion pounds, 5% larger than January to September 2007's 31.695
billion. The bulk of the total was chicken at 3.195 billion pounds. That's an
increase of 2% from the 3.129 billion a month ago and 9% above the year ago
total of 2.931 billion. So far this year, chicken production is 28.422 billion
pounds, up 4% from the 27.213 billion this time last year. Turkeys accounted
for 515.562 million pounds, 2% higher than August and 12% larger than
September 2007. For the year to date, turkey production is 7% ahead of a year
ago at 4.678 billion pounds. Ducks made up 9.897 million pounds of the total,
an increase of 9% on the month and 7% on the year. During the first nine
months of 2008, duck production is 87.008 million pounds, 11% less than the
same period a year ago.
<more> Oct. 28, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Humane groceries: Can you trust labels like 'cage
free'? - - If you regularly buy "cage free" eggs instead of the
conventional kind, you're off to a good start in supporting the welfare of
farm animals, according to the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
The same goes for buying "free range" poultry and "grass fed" dairy and
meat, although those products may be harder to find, a recent survey by the
WSPA concludes. Even scarcer: meat, dairy, and eggs verified by an
independent third party as humanely raised. Marketers have caught on to the
demand for humanely raised foods, using labels such as "cage free," "no
antibiotics used," and "no hormones administered." The trouble with these
labels is that, even if the claims are substantiated, they only cover one
aspect of production. In some cases, labels are redundant: "No hormones
administered" is not necessary on poultry, for example, since hormones are
prohibited in poultry production.
<more> Oct. 28, 2008 Christian Science Monitor
Governor will call special legislative session on
budget - - With the economy reeling, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced
Monday that he will call lawmakers back into session next month to grapple
with a shortfall that is "much bigger" than the $3 billion projected just
three weeks ago. "I think everything is happening very quickly,"
Schwarzenegger said, pointing to a nose-diving stock market that has had
"tremendous impact on our capital gains and the revenues coming in."
Schwarzenegger declined to pinpoint the size of the state's budget gap, saying
more should be known within days. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata put the
figure at $10 billion. "We have to deal with it quickly," Schwarzenegger said.
<more> Oct. 28, 2008 Sacramento Bee
New endangered species rules clear hurdle - -- The Bush administration on Monday said that the changes it wants to make to endangered species rules before President Bush leaves office will have no significant environmental consequences. That's the conclusion of a draft assessment released by the Interior Department that represents one of the last remaining hurdles for the regulations to become final before Jan. 20. The administration in August proposed letting federal agencies approve power plants, dams and other projects without consulting government wildlife experts in some cases. Current regulations require government biologists to be consulted in all cases - even when a project is unlikely to harm threatened wildlife or the places they live. <more> Oct. 28, 2008 AP
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008
Voters to decide whether animals need more space
-- In a clash between a major state industry and the growing humane
farming movement, California voters will decide next month whether the
state's farms must afford more living space to veal calves, egg-laying hens
and pregnant sows. Under ballot measure Proposition 2, farmers would be
prohibited from confining these animals in a way that does not let them turn
around freely, lie down, stand up or fully extend their limbs. Cages and
crates now commonly used to house them would be banned. Proponents say the
regulations would improve food safety, protect the environment and end what
they call the cruel and inhumane treatment animals suffer when confined in
areas barely larger than their bodies. But opponents say the measure would
cost California -- the nation's fifth-largest egg producer -- thousands of
jobs, sharply increase production costs and ultimately destroy competition
with out-of-state producers. Both sides agree: If approved, California's
measure would set a national precedent. Veal and sow gestation crates have
been banned in other states, but California would be the first state to
prohibit the small cages used in egg production.
<more> Oct. 26, 2008 Washington Post
AdWatchers: 'Yes' On Prop 2 Ad Examined - -
On Nov. 4, voters will go to the polls and decide on a Proposition 2, an
initiative that may change conditions for farm animals in California. This
time, the KCRA 3 AdWatchers examined an ad that wants Californians to vote
"yes" on Proposition 2. The Adwatchers are Barbara O'Connor, a public
communications professor at Sacramento State University; Steve Swatt, a
political analyst and former political reporter; and Kimberly Nalder, a
government professor. The ad features a UC Davis veterinarian who compares
farm animals to family pets. "We wouldn't force our pets to live in cages
for their whole lives. And farm animals should not suffer this misery
either," the ad says. But the comparison between animals that share our home
and animals we eat bothers some of the AdWatchers. "It's a leap to say that
the two should be treated equivalently," Nalder said.
<more> Oct. 27, 2008 KCRA-TV
NY Times magazine does Proposition 2 - - The
New York Times magazine profiled Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane
Society of the United States, and Proposition 2, the measure which would be
a de facto elimination of cages for egg-laying hens, on Sunday. The long
story certainly played up the significance of the ballot measure. Peter
Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University and a leading
figure in the animal rights movement, compares Proposition 2 to Barack
Obama's presidential campaign, calling Proposition 2 the "other historic
ballot this November." If it passes, it would affect more animals -- almost
20 million -- than any ballot measure has in U.S. history. Because
California is the largest agriculture state in the country, and often a
trend-setter on social issues, the ballot is a bellwether for
farm-animal-welfare reform nationwide. Many experts predict that if
Proposition 2 becomes law it will create a ripple effect, putting pressure
on other states to pass similar reforms and pushing major food corporations
to go crate-free and cage-free. To read the full magazine article,
please click here .
Oct. 27, 2008 Capitol Alert
Lenders extend Pilgrim's Pride credit facilities
- - Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the nation's largest chicken producer, said
Monday it has reached another agreement to temporarily extend its credit
facilities through the end of November. The company's previous credit waiver
extension was set to expire on Tuesday. It had been given an extension in
late September, after it said it wouldn't meet debt obligations for its
current loans. The newest extension for the Pittsburg, Texas-based company
runs through Nov. 26. The company, like many food makers, has been hampered
by high costs for key ingredients like corn and oil. It hedged some of its
purchases but as prices moderated, it lost money on those hedges. The
company said in late September it would post a "significant loss" in the
fourth quarter, largely on those bad hedges.
<more> Oct. 27, 2008 AP
Corn, soybean prices jump on early stock rally
- - Corn and soybean prices shot up Monday after an early rally on Wall
Street lured investors back into the commodities complex. Wheat also rose.
Corn for December delivery jumped 12.5 cents to settle at $3.8525 a bushel
on the Chicago Board of Trade, while January soybeans added 30.5 cents to
settle at $8.975 a bushel. December wheat added 13.25 cents to settle at
$5.295 a bushel. The rallies in grains came after Wall Street traded higher
earlier in the day, encouraging investors to put some of their money back
into commodities markets. The Dow later ended the day down more than 200
points after a late-session drop. However, Vic Lespinasse of
Grainanalyst.com noted that trading volume in agriculture pits was light,
"making it easier to move the market."
<more> Oct. 27, 2008 AP
Ethanol's Use Outstrips Plans to Deal With Its Risks - - The national push to wean the country from imported fuel by adding American-brewed ethanol to gasoline has come at a cost: The flammable liquid is being transported through residential neighborhoods, catching off guard many communities that are unprepared to fight potential fires. Some are having to piece together emergency plans after the shipments have begun passing through their cities and towns, officials say. In Alexandria, for example, officials are seeking to shut down or restrict an ethanol transfer operation in a rail yard surrounded by townhouses, a Metro station and an elementary school, arguing that pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel daily from trains to tankers is potentially dangerous and a slap at city residents. <more> Oct. 27, 2008 Washington Post
Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
A
California Ballot Measure Offers Rights for Farm Animals - - In the end,
it all comes down to eggs. On Nov. 4, California voters will be asked to
decide on Proposition 2, an animal rights ballot measure that would grant
the farm animals in California the opportunity to spread their hooves and
claws, rather than being confined to restrictive cages, as many chickens,
sows and veal cattle now are. But because veal and pork are not major
industries in California, the battle over Proposition 2 is focused almost
exclusively on the state’s henhouses, which opponents say will be hard hit
by higher production costs if the measure passes. “This is a well-intended
initiative for animals with some very negative unintended consequences for
people,” said Julie Buckner, a spokeswoman for Californians for Safe Food,
the leading anti-Proposition 2 group. “It’s going to wipe out the California
egg farmers, and it’s going to raise the food costs for consumers. And this
is at a time when our economy is hurting.” Supporters of the proposition,
the first of its kind in the nation, reject those arguments, casting the
ballot measure as an act of kindness for animals whose bodies and byproducts
usually end up on dining room tables.
<more> Oct. 24, 2008 NY Times
U.S.
to renew push for crackdown on illegal workers - - In a final drive to
toughen immigration enforcement, the Bush administration will again try to
institute a system that would force employers to fire workers who have
discrepancies in their Social Security data. Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff said Thursday that he would ask a federal judge to lift an
injunction imposed against the "no-match" rule after foes including the
American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued to stop
it last year. The move could affect millions of workers -- citizens and
immigrants alike -- and continues to draw fierce opposition from business as
well as civil liberties and immigrant advocate groups. In an annual address
on border enforcement and illegal immigration, Chertoff said that he
expected continued resistance to the rule but that his agency had addressed
concerns raised in the lawsuit.<more>
Oct. 24, 2008 LA Times
Poultry Producers Take Calculated Risks on Commodity Prices - - In the
game of chicken production, the major players employ risk-management tools
like commodity hedging -- which can produce some winning hands and cause
others to fold. It all depends on how well the players bet. Poultry giants
like Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. and Texas-based Pilgrim's Pride Corp.
said they routinely manage commodity price risks through the use of futures
contracts, which allow the companies to lock in grain prices -- as well as
chicken prices to their customers. All the bets have been placed, and in the
next couple of weeks these poultry players will show their hands. When grain
prices are heading upward, as they did for the first half of this year,
hedging those expenditures with grain futures can provide the companies some
protection. But when prices decrease rapidly, those holding longer contracts
can incur steep losses, said Gene Martin, commodity analyst with the
Arkansas Farm Bureau.
<more> Oct. 24, 2008 the Morning News
Commentary: Delta Vision report points to need for comprehensive water
solution - - By Chris Scheuring, managing counsel of the California
Farm Bureau Federation Natural Resources and Environmental Division - -
It could be the most complicated, difficult policy decision facing
California today: Figure out what to do in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Recommendations on how to attack the delta's environmental problems will
have everything to do with the water supplies for thousands of family
farmers and ranchers and for millions of California residents. So it's no
wonder that the recommendations of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force
made such a splash when they were released last Friday. The task force
worked for nearly two years and wrote a detailed, comprehensive plan that
can be boiled down to its essence in a few words: There's no "silver
bullet" that will solve all the delta's problems; we have to consider
anything and everything.
<more> Oct. 24, 2008 Ag Alert
‘We blew it' on global food, says Bill Clinton - - Former President Clinton told a U.N. gathering Thursday that the global food crisis shows "we all blew it, including me," by treating food crops "like color TVs" instead of as a vital commodity for the world's poor. Addressing a high-level event marking Oct. 16's World Food Day, Clinton also saluted President Bush - "one thing he got right" - for pushing to change U.S. food aid policy. He scolded the bipartisan coalition in Congress that killed the idea of making some aid donations in cash rather than in food. Clinton criticized decades of policymaking by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others, encouraged by the U.S., that pressured Africans in particular into dropping government subsidies for fertilizer, improved seed and other farm inputs as a requirement to get aid. Africa's food self-sufficiency declined and food imports rose. <more> Oct. 24, 2008 AP
Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008
Ag
Secretary’s idea for ethanol bailout draws protests - - Saying that the
U.S. ethanol industry is already over-protected and over-built, animal
agriculture groups today protested the Agriculture Secretary’s suggestion
that ethanol plants in financial difficulty because of the high price of
corn could apply for loan guarantees from the U.S. government for “operating
capital.” Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, in Des Moines last week,
commented on plans for USDA to extend rural development loans to ethanol
plants that bought corn at the higher prices that prevailed earlier this
year. According to news reports, Secretary Schafer said the ethanol industry
is too important to be allowed “to fall into more financial difficulty” and
must be supported by the U.S. government. Such a program would be a
startling new development that discriminates in favor of one segment of
American agriculture, said animal agriculture groups that joined in a letter
to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer. Groups representing producers and
processors of meat, cattle, chickens, milk, pork, turkeys and eggs said that
many of their members have also paid high prices for corn and that singling
out ethanol plants for assistance is unjustified.
<more> Oct. 23, 2008 WattPoultry.com
USDA
adds ‘insult to injury’ with ethanol bailout suggestion, says NTF - -NTF
President Joel Brandenberger issued the following statement regarding USDA
Secretary Schafer’s suggestion that ethanol plants in financial difficulty
because of the high price of corn could apply for loan guarantees from the
U.S. government for “operating capital. “While many industries have been hit
hard by record corn prices, only the ethanol industry is receiving help for
making the wrong hedge on commodity prices. In the last few years, the cost
of producing turkeys has increased by tens of billions of dollars. But while
the ethanol industry has government subsidies and mandates to fall back on,
turkey growers in rural communities are walking a tightrope with no net. For
the USDA to add insult to injury by bailing out ethanol companies at a time
when literally thousands of jobs have been lost in the turkey industry this
year alone is nothing short of a slap in the face,” said Joel Brandenberger
of the National Turkey Federation. Oct. 23, 2008 NTF Press Release
Corn,
soybeans looking good, but prices aren't - - A farming season that once
appeared to be doomed by the weather has turned out pretty good for Midwest
soybean and corn crops. But, to the surprise of farmers harvesting soybeans
and starting on corn, it's the fall of once record-high prices that now
threatens to take a lot of the shine off of 2008. "Our potential was there,"
said Rolland Vandeveer, who has more than 5,000 acres of corn and soybeans
near Salem, Ill., about 80 miles east of St. Louis. "This probably was going
to be our best year for the last 20 years." Farmers in Illinois and Iowa,
the country's top corn and soybean producers, endured wet, cool springs that
slowed planting and growth. Then they watched heavy, soaking rains and
rising rivers swamp their fields, forcing many to plant their crops two or
even three times.
<more> Oct. 23, 2008 AP
Petaluma Poultry plans to cut emissions by 20% - - Petaluma Poultry,
one of the largest U.S. organic and free-range broiler producers, takes
sustainability seriously. “Our target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
20% over the next five years,” says vice president Dave Martinelli. This
spring, Petaluma Poultry, headquartered about an hour north of San
Francisco, began the process of setting a baseline for greenhouse gas
emissions and joined the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders
Program. The company is embarking on several efforts to cut emissions. One,
Martenelli says, is to increase insulation in broiler houses that could
reduce the use of natural gas and propane by 15%. Another environmental
measure is to replace incinerating dead birds with composting. “This is very
promising,” Martinelli says. Due to regulatory reasons, the company may have
to use the compost product on the farm, but the company is investigating
whether it can develop a product for sale.
<more> Oct. 23, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Prop. 2 examined on newly launched Videoag.com site-
- The merits of Prop. 2 are examined in a video posted to the recently
launched Videoag.com website. Produced by Roberto Chiesa and Kevin Aguirre of
Modesto-based production company Alexandria Perrin, the video features
interviews with Jim West of JS West Company, Wayne Pacelle of the Humane
Society of the U.S. and California Poultry Federation President Bill Mattos.
The video can be viewed by
clicking here. Oct. 22, 2008
New No on Prop. 2 Ad Features California Pediatrician and Food Safety Expert - – Californians for SAFE Food, a coalition of public health and food safety experts, labor unions, consumers, family farmers and veterinarians, today unveiled its second television ad urging Californians to vote “NO” on Proposition 2, the ‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals Initiative.’ The ad begins airing today in major markets. The advertisement features health and food safety experts, Dr. Kara Hutton, Bay Area Pediatrician, and Dr. Bruce Charlton, University of California Food Safety Lab System (title and affiliation for identification purposes only), as well as strong images describing the negative consequences of Prop. 2 for Californians, namely: Proposition 2 will compromise our high food safety standards, risking increased exposure to Salmonella poisoning, drive up food costs and grocery bills and put California family egg farmers out of business. The ad can be viewed by clicking here. Oct. 21, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008
Merced Sun-Star Editorial: Voters should reject
Prop 2 - - Proposition 2 is a well-intentioned effort to end a practice --
the caging of farm animals -- that many regard as inhumane. But, like so many
propositions that California's voters have faced in recent years, it is flawed
in ways that could render it not simply ineffective, but counterproductive.
The Sun-Star recommends a "no" vote on Proposition 2. It's hard to quarrel
with an initiative -- it's sponsored by The Humane Society of the United
States -- that seeks to make the lives of animals better. But like so many of
the propositions that land on the state ballot each year, Proposition 2 is
chock-full of ambiguities and unintended consequences. We urge voters to
reject it.
<more> Oct. 22, 2008 Merced Sun-Star
Prop. 2 examined on newly launched Videoag.com site-
- The merits of Prop. 2 are examined in a video posted to the recently
launched Videoag.com website. Produced by Roberto Chiesa and Kevin Aguirre of
Modesto-based production company Alexandria Perrin, the video features
interviews with Jim West of JS West Company, Wayne Pacelle of the Humane
Society of the U.S. and California Poultry Federation President Bill Mattos.
The video can be viewed by
clicking here. Oct. 22, 2008
New No on Prop. 2 Ad Features California
Pediatrician and Food Safety Expert - – Californians for SAFE Food, a
coalition of public health and food safety experts, labor unions, consumers,
family farmers and veterinarians, today unveiled its second television ad
urging Californians to vote “NO” on Proposition 2, the ‘Standards for
Confining Farm Animals Initiative.’ The ad begins airing today in major
markets. The advertisement features health and food safety experts, Dr. Kara
Hutton, Bay Area Pediatrician, and Dr. Bruce Charlton, University of
California Food Safety Lab System (title and affiliation for identification
purposes only), as well as strong images describing the negative
consequences of Prop. 2 for Californians, namely: Proposition 2 will
compromise our high food safety standards, risking increased exposure to
Salmonella poisoning, drive up food costs and grocery bills and put
California family egg farmers out of business. The ad can be viewed
by clicking here. Oct. 21, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
World ill-prepared for next flu pandemic: UN --
Despite widespread awareness of the risks of the next flu pandemic, the world
needs to drastically improve cooperation in preparing for what would be a
major global crisis, a UN report said Tuesday. The report by the United
Nations and the World Bank said that while most countries are planning for a
flu pandemic, the worry was that "many plans have not been tested and may well
fail once the next influenza pandemic starts."
<more> Oct. 22, 2008 AFP
Wayne Farms To Close Poultry Plant - - High
grain costs and low chicken prices were cited Monday by Wayne Farms LLC, the
nation's fifth-largest chicken company, which said it will close a Georgia
processing plant by March. The closing will eliminate 600 jobs in an effort to
increase efficiency. The company said changing market conditions required it
to take a hard look at the business. Industry analysts estimate chicken
processors have lost an average of 5 cents per pound this year amid volatile
grain costs and excess meat supplies that have kept prices low. Wayne Farms,
which has more than 9,200 workers, cut its weekly chicken slaughter rate by 8
percent to 5 million this year to cope with the surging costs of corn feed.
<more> Oct. 22, 2008 The Morning News
Judge declines to reduce pumping of delta water for
salmon - - A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by environmental
groups to reduce delta pumping and take other measures at two major California
reservoirs to help the state's endangered salmon population. In an 11-page
ruling, U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger didn't outright reject the
requests, but said a hearing would be necessary if environmental groups wanted
to pursue the proposals. Environmentalists aren't sure whether they will seek
a hearing because an updated opinion on how to manage the salmon is due in
March, said Michael Sherwood, an attorney for the environmental group
Earthjustice. They will discuss the matter today.
<more> Oct. 22, 2008 Fresno Bee
Schwarzenegger to call special legislative session
to deal with fiscal crisis - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision
Tuesday to call state lawmakers back for a special session next month comes
with several strategic advantages. The governor is planning to summon sitting
lawmakers -- not the new class that will be elected in two weeks -- for the
emergency session. They already are well-versed in the intricacies of the
current state spending plan. They will no longer be waging reelection
campaigns. And some will be leaving the Legislature when their terms expire
Nov. 30. Analysts say that if Schwarzenegger again proposes a tax increase to
deal with the state's fiscal problems, the current crop of lawmakers is still
his best hope of getting it passed -- even though Republican members beat back
his efforts to temporarily raise the sales tax during the summer.
Administration officials say they are drafting a plan to submit to lawmakers.
<more> Oct. 22, 2008 LA Times
Presidential candidates differ on approach to estate tax - - The presidential candidates differ on their approach to the estate tax. According to CNN Money, the McCain plan would put a 15% tax on anything above a $5 million individual or $10 million married couple exemption. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a co-chair of McCain’s rural policy team, says McCain’s plan is much more “family farm friendly.” Grassley says, “In other words, Obama takes the position that you oughtta pay for the farm twice in order to pass it on from one generation to the other.” Senator Obama’s plan would exempt $3.5 million for individuals, $7 million for married couples with a 45% tax rate above that. House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson says the Obama plan is realistic, “That would take care of most farmers in the United States. There would be very few that would be affected beyond that.” <more> Oct. 22, 2,008 Brownfield Ag News
Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008
Proposition 2 causes a flap over costs, benefits
- - On a warm evening last summer, a few hundred people crammed into the
backyard of the Beverly Hills home belonging to Tracy Torme, son of crooner
Mel. As guests struggled to navigate past each other and the hors d'oeuvres,
speakers took to a makeshift stage. The event was a fundraiser for
Proposition 2, the state ballot initiative that would outlaw confining hens,
pigs and calves in cages so small that the animals can barely extend their
limbs. "I know it's crowded here," shouted Jane Velez-Mitchell, a TV
commentator and one of the organizers of the event. "But at least you can
turn around!" The crowd cheered. The treatment of farm animals has been on
the radar of national animal welfare organizations for more than two
decades. But no initiative or legislation has raised the profile of the
issue like Proposition 2 has. The measure, aimed at protecting creatures
that many urban Californians may never have seen up close, has captivated
animal welfare advocates and galvanized their opponents well beyond state
lines.
<more> Oct. 21, 2008 LA Times
New No on Prop. 2 Ad Features California
Pediatrician and Food Safety Expert - – Californians for SAFE Food, a
coalition of public health and food safety experts, labor unions, consumers,
family farmers and veterinarians, today unveiled its second television ad
urging Californians to vote “NO” on Proposition 2, the ‘Standards for
Confining Farm Animals Initiative.’ The ad begins airing today in major
markets. The advertisement features health and food safety experts, Dr. Kara
Hutton, Bay Area Pediatrician, and Dr. Bruce Charlton, University of
California Food Safety Lab System (title and affiliation for identification
purposes only), as well as strong images describing the negative
consequences of Prop. 2 for Californians, namely: Proposition 2 will
compromise our high food safety standards, risking increased exposure to
Salmonella poisoning, drive up food costs and grocery bills and put
California family egg farmers out of business. The ad can be viewed
by clicking here. Oct. 21, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
Corn, soybeans jump as oil, stocks move higher
- - Corn and soybean prices rose sharply Monday as a rebounding oil
market prompted investors to shift money back into commodities. Wheat prices
fell. Corn for December delivery rose 15.5 cents to settle at $4.185 a
bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, while soybeans for November delivery
added 34 cents to settle at $9.4075 a bushel. December wheat fell 2.75 cents
to settle at $5.635 a bushel on the CBOT. After surging to record levels
this summer, agriculture futures have fallen steeply as the global economic
downturn undermines demand for commodities. Vic Lespinasse, a market watcher
at Grainanalyst.com, said a rebounding crude oil market and a big rally on
Wall Street were a "bullish combination for the grains."
<more> Oct. 21, 2008 AP
Americans for Medical Progress feature animal research benefit videos -- As part of Americans for Medical Progress’s mandate to inform audiences of the necessity and humane nature of animal research, AMVA has just created its own YouTube channel to spotlight clips from our Speaking for Research DVDs and other special materials. The channel is called "RaisingVoices," reflecting AMVA’s overall education initiative "Raising Voices, Saving Lives." Go to www.YouTube.com and enter raisingvoices (one word) into the search box to view the menu of available materials. If you are a registered YouTube user, you may rate the videos and leave comments. Also, clips from AMP's "Veterinarians Speaking for Research" DVD have been selected to air on the newly-launched 24 hour web channel AVMA-TV, a special project of the American Veterinary Medical Association, designed to advance public information and interest in animal welfare and the veterinary profession. Go to www.avmatv.org. The AMP clips are found by clicking on the 'community' tab and then scrolling down to 'research'. Oct. 21, 2008 Americans for Medical Progress Newsletter
Monday, Oct. 20, 2008
Prop. 2: flying the coop? - - California
voters will decide next month how they want their eggs -- from free-roaming
hens, even if they cost more, or from caged hens that may be less prone to
disease. Proposition 2 on the Nov. 4 ballot would require farmers to free
their egg-laying chickens from their cages, and would limit restrictions on
pregnant sows or calves raised for veal. Animal-rights activists argue Prop.
2 would create a more humane way to raise veal, pork and egg-laying
chickens. But Valley agricultural interests fear Prop. 2 could lead to more
efforts to limit how dairy farmers and cattle ranchers handle their animals
-- and could drive some operators, especially in the egg industry, out of
the state.
<more> Oct. 20, 2008 Fresno Bee
Proposition 2: Good for chickens, bad for chicken
farmers - - By George Skelton, LA Times columnist - - The odd
duck on the Nov. 4 California ballot is the measure calling for chicken
rights. The right for egg-laying hens "to lie down, stand up, fully extend
their limbs and turn around freely" in their little cages, to quote from
Proposition 2. The initiative, sponsored by the Humane Society of the United
States, also applies to pregnant pigs and caged calves being raised for
veal. But the largest pork producer in California already has said it will
stop using small crates. And there are few veal operations in the state. So
Proposition 2 really is about California's 19 million egg-laying hens.
Calves and pigs were added, I suspect, because strategists concluded that
voters relate more to mammals than to squawking birds. I'm for chicken
compassion. But I feel more compassionate about the chicken farmer in this
bankrupting economy. The issue of hen confinement should be worked out
between farmers, animal rights activists and consumers through the
marketplace. I'm going to ask my wife to buy only eggs from cage-free
chickens. Then I'll probably vote against Proposition 2.
<more> Oct. 20,
2008 LA Times
FSIS ponders move to outside certifiers for meat
and poultry claims - - The National Chicken Council reports that USDA’s
Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) is considering whether to move away
from its internal, “pre-market” approval process for label claims such as
“produced without antibiotics” and adopt a process relying more on outside
certifying bodies. The agency acknowledged at a public meeting this week
that its traditional approach has led to considerable confusion about label
claims. “The use of animal raising claims in the label of meat and poultry
products presents issues that can be difficult for FSIS to address through
its pre-market approval process,” said Mary Poretta, a program analyst at
FSIS. “Because FSIS does not regulate food animal production, the agency may
not always have all the relevant information necessary to properly evaluate
the animal raising practices described in a producer’s animal production
protocol.” The agency acknowledged that its reversal of approval of a label
claim on chickens raised without antibiotics contributed to the decision to
consider overhauling its process. Traditionally, the agency said, it
approved or denied label claims on a case-by-case basis after reviewing
information submitted by the producers. Some of these also carry the
approval of outside certifying bodies. However, producers and certifying
entities may not agree on specific practices; the certifying bodies may not
agree with each other; and consumers may understand the claims differently
than intended, Poretta said. By way of example, she said, FSIS believes that
“free range” poultry should have “continuous, free access to the outside for
over 51 percent of their lives.” Yet some producers have different
standards, Poretta said. And some of the people attending the meeting noted
that they had never before heard of a 51-percent standard. To cut through
the confusion, Poretta said, the agency may move to a certification approach
using outside entities whose standards would be reviewed and approved by
FSIS. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has already developed standards
in some areas and its process could serve as a model for private entities,
she suggested. Oct. 20, 2008 NCC Newsletter
Pilgrim’s Pride seeks options short of bankruptcy
- - As Pilgrim’s Pride struggles to stay afloat financially, and works
on a business plan to present to its creditors by the end of this month, the
company indicated last week that it does not plan to file for bankruptcy
protection. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal quoted Pilgrim’s Pride Vice
President Gary Rhodes as saying, “We don’t believe that a bankruptcy filing
would be in anyone’s best interest, certainly not for our lenders, nor for
our company or investors.” Nonetheless, negative concerns about whether the
company can remain solvent sent Pilgrim’s Pride shares down 23 percent on
Friday to close at $2.47. The company has until October 28 to negotiate a
deal with lenders. Also coming due next month is a $25.7 million bond
payment.
<more> Oct. 20, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Poultry supplier to U.S. bases in Italy fails
latest health inspection - - The poultry plant that supplies fresh
chicken to commissaries in Italy failed its most recent health inspection
last week. Commissary officials said they were advised by medical personnel
that they did not have to remove Arena Chicken products from the shelf
following the failed inspection. "Existing fresh chicken products were not
pulled from the counters," said Defense Commissary Agency spokeswoman Gerri
Young. "However, chicken has a short shelf life and all on-hand stocks have
been sold out for several days. No more orders have been placed." By press
time, officials from the Army’s veterinary command had not provided specific
information on what caused the Arena Chicken plant — the sole provider of
fresh poultry to U.S. military commissaries in Italy — to fail the Oct. 7
inspection.
<more> Oct. 20, 2008 Stars and Stripes
Gasoline prices tumble despite likely OPEC cuts
- - Consumers got another break at the gas pump Monday, as prices
dropped further below $3 a gallon and approached year-ago levels even as the
near-certainty of an OPEC production cut pushed oil prices marginally
higher. Gasoline has fallen more than a dime a gallon since Friday, hitting
a national average of $2.92 on Monday, according to auto club AAA, the Oil
Price Information Service and Wright Express. Pump prices have fallen 29
percent from their July record high of $4.114 a gallon and are only 10 cents
higher than a year ago. That difference could be bridged this week if
gasoline keeps falling at the current rate. The pullback at the pump comes
amid a dramatic turnaround in crude oil prices.
<more> Oct. 20, 2008AP
California faces deeper drought in 2009 - - After a summer in which drought conditions and court rulings combined to cause fallowing of fields and abandonment of crops, San Joaquin Valley water managers say there's little reason for optimism in the new water year. The new state water year began Oct. 1, but officials have warned it will take several good water years to replenish California's shriveled supply. The federal Central Valley Project is carrying over about 3.9 million acre-feet of water, 35 percent of system capacity, into 2009. The 15-year carry-over average, however, is 6.7 million acre-feet. Carry-over storage in CVP facilities represents the combined amount of water remaining at the end of the water year in Shasta, Trinity, Folsom and New Melones reservoirs and the federal share of the joint federal/state San Luis Reservoir. <more> Oct. 20, 2008 Central Valley Business Times
Friday, Oct. 17, 2008
UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Dean clarifies faculty member’s
appearance in Yes on Prop. 2 ad- - The dean of the School of Veterinary
Medicine at UC Davis, Dr. Bennie I. Osburn has issued a statement regarding
the appearance of a faculty member, Dr. Kate Hurley, who is appearing in a
TV
advertisement urging a Yes vote on Prop. 2. Her appearance has raised
questions about the University’s stance on Prop. 2. Dr. Osburn issued the
following statement: “The University of California, School of Veterinary
Medicine is dedicated to generating and disseminating science-based
information on all issues related to animal welfare, animal health, food
safety, and the role of animals in society. The School does not take a
position on ballot measures, in this case Proposition 2, as the nature of
our work is to serve all animals, animal owners and animal producers. We
work to create new knowledge through research, to train the next generation
of veterinarians, to provide diagnostic testing, and to develop new health
and welfare strategies. University policy does allow individual faculty to
express their support or opposition to ballot measures and permits employees
to accurately state their affiliation with the University (i.e. faculty
title). While we would prefer that faculty not use the university’s name at
all, it is the responsibility of the individual to provide an appropriate
disclaimer concerning the University’s involvement in the matter. A recent
advertisement in support of Proposition 2 featured a UC faculty member and
showed disturbing images of livestock and poultry handling. Her
participation and views expressed in the ad has created an impression that
she represented the School and the University. This is absolutely
incorrect; she represents her personal views only and not those of the
University. Although I regret that a clearer disclaimer was not provided by
the campaign, she did comply with University policy by including a
disclaimer statement in the advertisement. The use of these images is not
representative of California’s livestock and poultry operations. Faculty
within the School are dedicated to working with animal producers in their
effort to humanely care for and raise their animals in a safe environment
conducive to good food safety practices. “ Oct. 17, 2008
First No on Prop. 2 TV ad airs - - Californians
for SAFE Food, a coalition of public health and food safety experts, labor
unions, consumers, family farmers and veterinarians, today unveiled its
first television ad urging Californian’s to vote “NO” on Proposition 2, the
‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals Initiative.’ The ad begins airing
statewide today. The advertisement features strong images and language
describing the negative consequences of Prop. 2 for Californians, namely:
Proposition 2 will put California family egg farmers out of business, drive
up food costs and grocery bills and compromise our food safety, risking
increased exposure to Salmonella poisoning. The advertisement was produced
by Laurel Canyon Media Group and can be viewed
by
clicking here. Oct. 15, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
New CDFA Undersecretary named - - Gov.
Schwarzenegger has announced the appointment of Will Brown as undersecretary
of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Brown, 58, of San
Mateo, has a broad background in both business and government, and a long
history of working with agricultural and consumer food distribution and
retail interests, as well as on a wide range of federal and state public
policy issues. Since 2003, he has operated his own government relations and
public affairs consulting practice, Will Brown Government & Public Affairs,
with offices in Sacramento and Austin, TX. Immediately prior, from 2001 to
2003, Brown served as a government relations consultant for Lang, Hanson,
O’Malley and Miller in Sacramento, and previously, from 1989 to 2001,
managed offices in Sacramento and Austin as director of the western region
for Albers & Company, a Washington D.C. based, multi-state, government
affairs consulting and public policy research firm. From 1986 to 1989 he
served as the principal consultant to the California State Assembly’s
Committee on Finance and Insurance. He came to the Legislature after serving
as a corporate finance officer and operations manager for Bank of America’s
World Banking Division from 1979 to 1986. He has previous experience as a
financial analyst for mergers and acquisitions with Marshall and Stevens,
and as a legislative aide staffing a member of Congress on the House
Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. Brown has an MBA in finance and
management from Washington University in St. Louis, and a BA in political
science and economics from San Francisco State University. “It is my
pleasure to welcome Will Brown to our agency,” said CDFA Secretary A.G.
Kawamura. “He brings valuable experience and will work alongside me as we
continue to promote and protect the environment and the vital contributions
of California’s farmers and ranchers.” Oct. 17, 2008 CDFA Press Release
State Energy Commission adopts greenhouse gas
emissions reduction strategies - -The California Energy Commission and
the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) adopted the final opinion
on strategies to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and meet AB 32
goals. "The Final Opinion on Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Strategies", proposed
jointly by Chairman Jackalyne Pfannenstiel and Commissioner Jeffrey Byron
(California Energy Commission's AB 32 Implementation Committee) and
President Michael R. Peevey (CPUC) provides recommendations and outlines a
variety of options for the Air Resources Board (ARB) to consider in deciding
how to design a program to achieve the greenhouse gas emission targets in
the electricity sector. In addition to a strategy of mandatory emission
reduction measures based on energy efficiency and renewable energy, the
Final Opinion offers recommendations for structuring a market-based cap-and
trade program to meet the goals set out in the ARB's Climate Change Scoping
Plan. The ARB's Scoping Plan expects that the electricity industry will
contribute at least 40 percent of the total greenhouse gas reductions from
direct mandatory approaches and measures. With the addition of a potential
cap-and-trade program, the electricity sector may be called upon to reduce
its emissions even more.
<more> Oct. 17, 2008 CEC Press Release
Wayne Farms chicken plant in Georgia to close - - Wayne Farms LLC said Friday it would close early next year a College Park poultry processing plant that employs 600 workers. Wayne Farms, based in Oakwood about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, operates 13 poultry plants in the Southeast. The College Park plant will be phased out by the end of the first quarter of 2009 and production moved to other plants, Wayne Farms said in a release. College Park workers will be offered positions at other plants where possible, the company said. “Our long-term business strategy includes the most efficient allocation of assets and resources,” Wayne Farms President and CEO Elton Maddox said in a press statement. “The College Park operation has been a part of our success, but changing market conditions required us to take a hard look at our business from the standpoint of customer needs and long-term asset management.” Rising costs for chicken feed and a slowing economy have squeezed poultry producers. Wayne Farms announced earlier this year it was cutting production because of higher feed costs. Oct. 17, 2008 Atlanta Constitution
Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008
Prop. 2 lures out-of-state
donors - - A California ballot measure giving farm animals more living
space is attracting out-of-state donors in serious numbers. Opponents and
supporters alike are pouring millions of dollars into the fight over
Proposition 2, which essentially would loosen animal cages. One way or
another, farmers and animal-rights advocates seem to agree, California has
become a national battleground. The Washington-based Humane Society of the
United States has contributed more than $3.6 million to the Proposition 2
effort since September 2007. This is the big muscle behind a campaign that
has raised more than $5.7 million since January, California secretary of
state records show. More than $4.7 million, or at least two-thirds, of the
anti-Proposition 2 money raised so far has come from outside California, a
McClatchy Newspapers review of California secretary of state records shows.
These include some of the largest contributions, such as a $517,265 donation
made last month by the Indiana-based egg producer Rose Acre Farms. Farm
bureaus from Florida to Texas have likewise pumped in money. So have
national organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, which
contributed $50,000 last week, and the Georgia-based United Egg Producers,
which has contributed $185,000.
<more> Oct. 16, 2008 Sacramento Bee
First No on Prop. 2 TV ad airs - - Californians
for SAFE Food, a coalition of public health and food safety experts, labor
unions, consumers, family farmers and veterinarians, today unveiled its
first television ad urging Californian’s to vote “NO” on Proposition 2, the
‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals Initiative.’ The ad begins airing
statewide today. The advertisement features strong images and language
describing the negative consequences of Prop. 2 for Californians, namely:
Proposition 2 will put California family egg farmers out of business, drive
up food costs and grocery bills and compromise our food safety, risking
increased exposure to Salmonella poisoning. The advertisement was produced
by Laurel Canyon Media Group and can be viewed
by
clicking here. Oct. 15, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
New rule may mean less meat for your money -
- Paying for a one-pound package of chicken at the grocery store will no
longer guarantee you a whole pound of meat. A recent rule change by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture now allows meat and poultry packers to count the
weight of liquid that collects at the bottom of a container in the price of
the product. The change eliminated a California rule that prevented packers
from charging customers for the liquid extras. Poultry is the main product
affected by the weighing standard since it goes through a water bath before
packaging. California Poultry Federation President Bill Mattos said the
state’s previous standard was also unfair because processed chicken packaged
with marinades and broth could charge for those liquids while fresh chicken
producers had to exclude their water content. “It was a huge disadvantage
for chicken producers because they had to compete with the enhanced
product,” Mattos said.
<more> Oct. 16, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
State presents bold plan to clean up air - -
California regulators, following the lead of Bay Area air quality managers,
would impose fees on the state's worst air polluters as part of a bold
proposal to slash emissions to 1990 levels. The fees, along with green
technology job training and a cap-and-trade system outlined Wednesday by the
California Air Resources Board, would vault the state ahead of federal
efforts to curb climate-changing greenhouse gases. The plan is "recognition
of the severity of the problem and realizing that many of the leadership
opportunities to act exist on the state level," board Chairwoman Mary
Nichols told a conference of business leaders in Silicon Valley on
Wednesday. "There was no excuse for us to stay on the sidelines. We had to
work."
<more> Oct. 16, 2008 SF Chronicle
Parra still center stage in Assembly race - -
She's termed out and is leaving politics (for now). But Nicole Parra,
D-Hanford, continues to be the focus of attention in the race to succeed her
in the state Assembly. As promised, Parra recently cut a TV ad in support of
Republican candidate Danny Gilmore. Democrats are trying to turn Gilmore's
positive (a popular Democrat crossing party lines to endorse him) into a
negative. Their candidate, Fran Florez -- mother of state Sen. Dean Florez,
a longtime Parra rival -- cut a response ad pointing out that Gilmore and
Parra weren't exactly holding hands and singing songs when they ran against
each other two years ago. To view the competing TV ads,
click here. Oct. 16, 2008 Fresno Bee
Most ag groups back McCain. Despite opposition to
farm bill, GOP candidate nets farm support, cash - - On a sunny day in
May, Republican presidential candidate John McCain walked into one of the
nation's leading agricultural counties and attacked the federal farm bill.
McCain blasted the legislation during a Stockton, Calif., rally, saying:
"This bill deserves your condemnation. The president's vetoing it and to its
everlasting shame, the Congress of the United States - Republican and
Democrat - will override the president's veto." McCain said afterwards at a
news conference that he would not shrink from his opposition. "I'll do what
I believe is best for this country and say what I think is best for this
country and take those positions," McCain said. "I believe that people will
respect me for it and eventually support my candidacy." With less than a
month before the Nov. 4 election, farming and ranching groups around the
West are lining up behind the Arizona senator - despite his opposition to
key elements of the Farm Bill - to support his candidacy over that of
Democrat Barack Obama, the senator representing the traditional farm state
of Illinois.
<more> Oct. 16, 2008 Capital Press
Democrats‚ non-voters eat more chicken? Domino’s
Pizza Tracker Poll - - The Domino’s Pizza Tracker Poll launched earlier
this month on www.dominos.com shows Republicans and Democrats are different
with their pizza ordering preferences, with Democrats and non-voters adding
more chicken and side items to their orders. By matching pizza and sandwich
orders with customers’ self-identification with a political party, Domino’s
found intriguing trends in order method, size and variety. In the first
week, more than 61,000 customers participated in the poll. “The first thing
that jumped out at us is that Republicans are not as conservative with their
spending as we would have thought,” said Chris McGlothlin, Domino’s chief
information officer. “Republicans spend more per order, and pay more by
credit card. And, Republicans pick up their orders more often than Democrats
do. Democrats love delivery service, have more diverse orders and are more
likely to pay with cash. Undecided voters – well, they fall in the middle of
almost every category we studied, which shouldn't be surprising.”
<more> Oct. 16, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Retooled Approach May Make Bio-based Butanol More
Competitive with Ethanol - - A modified method of producing biobutanol
could make the fuel more competitive with ethanol as a clean-burning
alternative to gasoline. According to Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
chemical engineer Nasib Qureshi, biobutanol offers several advantages. It
can be transported in existing pipelines, it's less corrosive, it can be
mixed with gasoline or used alone in internal combustion engines, and it
packs more energy per gallon than ethanol. Until the mid-20th century,
biobutanol was produced from fermented sugars such as corn glucose. But low
yields, high recovery costs and petroleum's increased availability after
World War II sidelined fermentation-based systems for biobutanol production.
<more>. Oct. 16, 2008 ARS Press Release
Assembly Speaker tours rice fields. Karen Bass hopes to gain understanding for future water bond debate - - Assembly Speaker Karen Bass was a fish out of water sitting behind the wheel of a giant rice harvester near the Sacramento Valley town of Richvale. But that was the point. Bass, D- Los Angeles, traveled up from her offices in Sacramento at the invitation of termed-out Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale. La Malfa wanted to give Bass, a Los Angeles native, a first-hand look at how life looks in his part of California. Bass and her counterpart, Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, have each said they hope to find consensus on a new state water-supply bond in 2009. In preparation, Bass is doing something her predecessor did not: She's seeing for herself what drives the parts of rural California that are so desperate to get a new reservoir built. Bass met with Fresno-area farmers and local officials earlier this year and last week toured the Oroville dam as well as LaMalfa's rice fields. She even harvested some rice with LaMalfa. Bass said the tour was enlightening. <more> Oct. 17, 2008 Capital Press
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008
Oprah spotlights Calif. animal welfare bill,
animal handling - - "I believe how we treat the least of being among us
determines our own humanity," Oprah Winfrey said, by way of opening "The
Oprah Winfrey Show" on Tuesday, which was dedicated to issues of livestock
treatment. In a program more even-handed than many in the meat industry
might expect, Winfrey discussed whether cages for egg layers, gestation
stalls for sows and individual crates for veal calves "cross the line" into
animal cruelty. Her guests were evenly divided between representatives both
for and against California's Proposition 2, including farmers and
processors, and non-profit groups (including Wayne Pacelle of the Humane
Society of the United States, which is sponsoring the legislation). She also
had Lisa Ling visit various farms, both "free-range" and not, as part of
several video segments on the program. And Winfrey welcomed the New York
Times' Nicholas Kristof to talk about his life growing up on a farm and
raising livestock. The pro-Prop 2 participants largely hewed to the idea
that an animal that can't turn around in its living space is an unhappy and
poorly treated animal living in an unhealthy environment, and that human
beings have an obligation to do better. The anti-Prop 2 participants mostly
discussed the cost of changing the housing structures in the way that the
proposed legislation would require, and indicated that they felt the animals
were quite content, and arguably healthier, when they are more closely
confined. The discussion also touched on the question of consumer demand for
the more expensive goods produced on "free-range," sometimes also organic,
farms. Pro-Prop 2 adherents believed that more consumer demand would prompt
more farmers and processors to make the switch, increasing supply and lower
prices. Anti-Prop 2 participants felt that prices would simply rise from
their already relatively high position. "I'm not here to tell you what to
think, but just to bring you the information," Winfrey said. Oct. 15,
2008 Meatingplace.com
Grain prices fall sharply on Wall Street decline
- - Grain prices fell sharply Tuesday after Wall Street's failure to
extend the previous day's massive rally prompted investors to pull money out
of commodities. Stocks ended trading moderately lower as investors cashed in
profits following the Dow Jones industrials' stunning 936-point advance on
Monday. Soybeans for November delivery fell 32 cents to settle at $8.96 a
bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, while wheat for December delivery lost
15.5 cents to settle at $5.73 a bushel. December corn lost 0.25 cent to
settle at $4.1125 a bushel. In a note to clients, Vic Lespinasse of
Grainanalyst.com said the "steep break in equity markets" shortly before
agriculture markets closed "was partly behind the big sell off in grains at
the end of the session."
<more> Oct. 15, 2008 AP
First No on Prop. 2 TV ad airs - - Californians for SAFE Food, a coalition of public health and food safety experts, labor unions, consumers, family farmers and veterinarians, today unveiled its first television ad urging Californian’s to vote “NO” on Proposition 2, the ‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals Initiative.’ The ad begins airing statewide today. The advertisement features strong images and language describing the negative consequences of Prop. 2 for Californians, namely: Proposition 2 will put California family egg farmers out of business, drive up food costs and grocery bills and compromise our food safety, risking increased exposure to Salmonella poisoning. The advertisement was produced by Laurel Canyon Media Group and can be viewed by clicking here. Oct. 15, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008
Opponents ramp up campaign to defeat Prop. 2 - - With less than three
weeks before the Nov. 4 election, those who oppose a ballot initiative that
would ban modern housing systems for egg-laying hens are ramping up their
efforts to defeat Proposition 2. California egg farmers have been
"extremely busy" getting their message out about how the measure would
negatively affect consumers, producers and food safety, said Debbie Murdock,
associate director of the Pacific Egg and Poultry Association. They've been
doing interviews on television and radio, speaking to their local boards of
supervisors, chambers of commerce and groups such as the Rotary Club, as
well as debating the issue in forums with proponents of the measure.
<more> Oct. 14, 2008 Ag Alert
Undercover video of bloodied and battered hens
aids Prop. 2 - - Exactly three weeks before California voters will
decide the fate of initiative for the de facto elimination of cages for
egg-laying hens, an animal rights groups has released an undercover video
showing hens bloodied, beaten and dying at a California ranch. The video,
which was shot by Mercy for Animals, a group which advocates veganism, was
released today. The campaign for Proposition 2, the egg-laying hen
initiative, is distributing the footage. It shows hens, according to the
video's producers, at Norco ranch in Riverside County. The Yes on
Proposition 2 campaign reports that Norco is owned by MoArk, the top
contributor the No on 2 campaign, having given more than $785,000. The
graphic footage shows hens killed by spinning them to break their necks and
left to die in piles. The narrator speaks of seeing dead hens laying among
those laying eggs on a "daily basis." Some eggs are covering in blood.
<more> Oct. 14, 2008 Sacramento Bee
STATEMENT BY CALIFORNIANS FOR SAFE FOOD REGARDING
SO-CALLED “UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION” FROM PROP. 2 PROPONENTS - - Los
Angeles, CA – Julie Buckner , spokeswoman for Californians for SAFE Food,
made the following statement today regarding so-called video footage of an
egg farm: "Our campaign has been contacted by news sources seeking comment
on a new video of a so-called, “undercover investigation” being widely
distributed today by supporters of Prop. 2 ‘Standards for Confining Farm
Animals. Initiative Statute.’ The video apparently depicts farm practices
at a southern California Egg ranch. We have every expectation that
supporters of Prop. 2, including the Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS), a wealthy, Washington DC-based lobbying group and the primary
financial backers of Prop. 2, will undertake a major effort to use the video
to promote Prop. 2. This is a dubious, cynical, politically-motivated effort
on their part. It is our understanding that the ranch where the video was
supposedly filmed, fully complies with veterinarian-approved, industry
standards for egg farming. The ranch follows the United Egg Producers’
strict animal welfare guidelines formulated by independent animal welfare
experts. They are regularly audited for compliance with guidelines for
humane animal care and handling and have never been found in violation of
them. The ranch maintains thorough veterinary records and was recently
inspected by the County of Riverside during the same time period in which
the video was apparently shot. The inspection report notes that the ranch’s
proper handling of hens was appropriate, conforms to industry-accepted
standards and found the ranch to be in “excellent” standing. All farm
employees are trained in humane animal handling procedures. As a condition
of their employment, all farm employees sign a written code of conduct which
requires compliance with humane animal care and handling procedures. The
code of conduct requires all employees to report any irregularities with
respect to animal handling. Clearly politically motivated and timed to
influence the November election, this video is irresponsible and misleading
– and its context and its motives are highly questionable. The timing of
the release of this video is straight out of the political playbook of the
Washington DC-based special interest group, and its allies, supporting Prop.
2. Food safety experts and leading veterinarians agree: Prop. 2 will not
improve, in any way, the treatment or welfare of these farm animals, it only
addresses housing requirements for egg-laying hens. Let us be clear, Prop.
2 is well intended for farm animals, but has unintended negative
consequences for people in California: it puts family farmers out of
business, drives up our food costs and compromises our food safety
increasing our exposure to Salmonella in eggs and other food from out of
state and Mexico. In these stressful, uncertain economic times, California
doesn’t need any more problems. Now is the wrong time for Prop. 2. "
Oct. 14, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Campaign Statement
Footage of mistreated hens released in support of
Prop. 2 - - In the run-up to a ballot initiative that would regulate the
treatment of farm animals, an animal rights group has released footage
showing egg-laying hens crammed into filthy cages, while, nearby, discarded
birds are left to die in piles of corpses. The footage, the latest by animal
rights activists working undercover at factory farms, is intended to boost
support for Proposition 2. The November ballot initiative would require that
confined cattle, pigs and chickens have enough space to lie down, stand up,
turn around freely and extend their limbs. Because there are few veal
producers in the state and the largest pork producer here has already said
it would eliminate small crates, the initiative would apply to the 19
million laying hens in California. Opponents said the measure, if passed,
would serve only to push egg producers and jobs outside of California. They
also insist that California eggs are among the safest and healthiest in the
country, saying that the "indoor housing system" typically in use here
results in fewer contaminated eggs than with uncaged and free-range
chickens. The animal rights organization Mercy for Animals said the footage
was taken at Norco Ranch in Riverside County.
<more> Oct. 14, 2008 LA Times
FDA to review genetically engineered farm animals
- - Super Chicken strutted a step closer to the dinner table Thursday.
The government said it will start considering proposals to sell genetically
engineered animals as food, a move that could lead to faster growing fish,
cattle that can resist mad cow disease, or perhaps heart-healthier eggs laid
by a new breed of chicken. The Food and Drug Administration issued a
proposed legal framework for how it would resolve such questions as whether
the altered animals are safe for human consumption and pose no serious
environmental risks. FDA officials said they are focusing on animals that
will be used as food, or to produce medications that would then be consumed
by people or other animals. The agency is not interested in reviewing
genetically engineered mice already widely used in lab experiments.
<more> Oct. 14, 2008 Ag Weekly
Chicken-truck crash cleared from Highway 101 in Burlingame -- All lanes on southbound Highway 101 in Burlingame have been reopened after crews cleared away a jacknifed big rig that was loaded with 12,000 pounds of frozen chicken. The accident happened at Broadway just after 2 p.m. today when the poultry truck jacknknifed and landed on top of a pickup truck, said Officer Kevin Kroncke of the California Highway Patrol. No one was injured, but all four lanes of southbound traffic were blocked for almost an hour before a single lane was reopened. All lanes were cleared by 4 p.m. Oct. 14, 2008 SF Chronicle
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
Proposition 2: Arguing cruelly confined or
contentedly caged hens - - By late morning, the day's work was done for
most of the 150,000 or so residents of a henhouse south of Livingston. The
eggs laid by the hens passed by their small cages on conveyor belts, bound
for the packing plant next door. The birds rested, six to a cage, sometimes
bumping each other when they moved about. To most people in the egg
industry, this is a picture of contentment. They say these cages -- roughly
2 feet long by a foot tall -- keep the hens comfortable and productive.
"Yes, they are content," said Jill Benson, vice president of J.S. West &
Cos. of Modesto, which owns these hens. "You can hear them clucking and
singing." To critics of the industry, it's more like a cry for help. They
are behind a Nov. 4 ballot measure that would outlaw the cages in California
as of 2015.
<more> Oct. 12, 2008 Modesto Bee
Gary West named poultry industry Good Egg - -
The state's poultry industry Thursday presented its Good Egg Award to Gary
West, president of J.S. West & Cos. in Modesto. The 46th annual
award
recognized West's service to the 99-year-old company, which produces eggs
and other products, and to the egg industry overall. West has worked for the
company since 1965. He is serving a two-year term as chairman of United Egg
Producers, a national organization, and has been a leader with statewide
industry groups. "We're very proud of my brother," said Jim West, another
executive with the company and host of the Good Egg Breakfast. "He's done a
lot of great things." Gary West spoke briefly upon receiving the surprise
honor, mentioning a Nov. 4 ballot measure against the hen cages used by most
California egg producers. "I just want you to please vote no on Proposition
2," he said. "That will help our industry." The breakfast drew about 250
people to the DoubleTree Hotel. It raised scholarship money for Modesto
Junior College agriculture students. It is sponsored by the California
Poultry Federation, Pacific Egg and Poultry Association, Modesto Chamber of
Commerce and Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. Featured speaker was California
Farm Bureau Federation Administrator Rich Matteis, the former leader of the
Pacific Egg and Poultry Association. Oct. 13, 2008 Modesto Bee
GOOD EGG. Gary West, right, is presented with the Good Egg award by
Rich Matteis, California Farm Bureua Administrator and speaker at last
week's Good Egg breakfast in Modesto (Photo courtesy of Stanislaus County
Farm News)
Chicken legs may control high blood pressure:
study - - Scientists in Japan have identified four proteins in chicken
legs which appear to be effective in controlling high blood pressure, a
study has said. In a paper published in the Journal of Agricultural
Chemistry and Food, the researchers said they had extracted collagen from
chicken legs and then fed it to hypertensive rats. Collagen is the protein
of connective tissue in animals. The rats which were fed collagen had
distinctly lower blood pressure levels eight hours afterwards, compared with
another group of rats which were fed a saline solution, they wrote.
<more> Oct. 13, 2008 AP
Pilgrim's Pride shares rise on takeover
speculation - - Shares of chicken producer Pilgrim's Pride Corp (PPC.N:
Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rose more than 50 percent at one point
on Thursday on apparent speculation that smaller rival Sanderson Farms Inc
might be looking to buy the company -- speculation that Sanderson denied.
Also, analysts said, a USDA report on Wednesday showing that the chicken
industry is cutting production may have given Pilgrim's shares a lift.
Barclays Capital food analyst Christopher Bledsoe said in a note to clients
that Sanderson's balance sheet makes it a strong candidate to buy a
competitor and that Pilgrim's Pride's depressed assets make it "ripe for
further consolidation."
<more> Oct. 13, 12008 Reuters
Feud enlivens bitter Central Valley Assembly race
- - For political junkies, the race for a Central Valley Assembly seat has
it all – a long-standing feud, campaign cash pouring in and an unpredictable
finish. Set aside the sizzle, and there are broader implications. The 30th
District between Fresno and Bakersfield is a longtime legislative
battleground, one of the few districts in the state where neither party
dominates. The Republican candidate has fallen just short in the past three
elections. But with the Democratic incumbent termed out, Republicans say
they have their best shot in years to flip the seat in their favor. The race
pits Republican Danny Gilmore, 58, a retired highway patrolman from Hanford
who is making his second run at the seat, against Democrat Fran Florez, 65,
a Shafter City Council member and former bank branch manager. Two familiar
names not on the ballot are playing a big role: termed-out Democratic
incumbent Nicole Parra, who has made political waves by supporting the GOP's
Gilmore, and state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, Fran's son and a Parra
rival. The Parra-Florez feud is legendary in the Valley, and the Assembly
race is shaping up to be a proxy battle between the two politicians.
<more> Oct. 13, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Wiretapping and conspiracy charges against Humane
Society of U.S. urged - - The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
engaged in activities that are believed to warrant California and Maryland
wiretapping and conspiracy charges, according to documents filed Oct. 7 by a
national cooperative of egg farmers. United Egg Producers (UEP) filed
requests with the attorneys general in California and Maryland and the
District Attorneys in Sacramento County, and Montgomery, MD, alleging that a
HSUS employee impersonated an egg industry ally and illegally tape-recorded
phone calls and that HSUS conspired with a California political campaign
committee led by a former employee of HSUS. The HSUS employee at the heart
of the scheme is Frank Loftus, director of the so-called "Investigations
Unit" of HSUS. In an affidavit filed in a separate legal proceeding, Loftus
admitted under oath that he masqueraded as someone else and made three phone
calls to UEP offices on Aug. 28, 2008. The affidavit contained detailed
transcripts of each of the calls, apparently prepared from a surreptitious
tape recording of the calls. UEP's phone records indicate that the calls
were placed from a Maryland phone number, and Loftus' affidavit was sworn in
Gaithersburg, MD.
<more> Oct. 13, 2008 PR Newswire
CSU Stanislaus Ag Studies Chair Mark Bender to
receive national FFA award - - Dr. Mark Bender, Agricultural Studies
Department Chair at California State University, Stanislaus, will receive
the Honorary American FFA Degree at the national organization’s 81st
National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, scheduled for October 22-25.
he was previously awarded the California State FFA Association Degree during
the 2008 State Conference in Fresno. Bender has more than 36 years of
service in agricultural education, including seven years at CSU Stanislaus
as Founding Chair of the Agricultural Studies Department in the College of
Humanities and Social Sciences. A former Modesto Junior College (MJC) Dean
of Agriculture, Environmental Sciences, and Technical Education, he has
developed a bachelor’s degree program at CSU Stanislaus that emphasizes
partnerships with the state’s community colleges and other universities.
Oct. 11, 2008 CSU Stanislaus press release
Prop. 2 discussion set for Oprah Winfrey show- - Oprah Winfrey has taped a show discussing the merits of Prop. 2. The show is likely to be broadcast Tuesday, Oct. 14. Check your local TV listings for time and channel. Participants include Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the US, San Diego egg rancher Ryan Armstrong, Julie Buckner from Californians for Safe Food, as well as in-the-field reports from an organic and conventional egg farm in Pennsylvania. Oct. 10, 2008
Friday, Oct. 10, 2008
J.S. West president named poultry industry Good
Egg - - The state's poultry industry Thursday presented its Good Egg
Award to Gary West, president of J.S. West & Cos. in Modesto. The 46th
annual award recognized West's service to the 99-year-old company, which
produces eggs and other products, and to the egg industry overall. West has
worked for the company since 1965. He is serving a two-year term as chairman
of United Egg Producers, a national organization, and has been a leader with
statewide industry groups.
<more> Oct. 10, 2008 Modesto Bee
Sacramento Bee opposes Prop. 2 - - Summary:
Sponsored by the Humane Society, this proposition would outlaw caging
practices that prevent farm animals from lying down, standing up, turning
around or extending their limbs. Why we oppose it: California doesn't have
much of a pork or veal industry, so this measure would mainly affect caging
of egg-laying hens. Supporters make persuasive arguments that current
practices in the egg industry are inhumane. Unfortunately, the vagueness of
the Prop. 2 ballot language has led some cage-free egg producers to oppose
the measure, fearing their current practices would be outlawed. While the
Humane Society campaign has helped highlight conditions for farm animals,
this proposition could prompt many egg producers to relocate to outside
states and Mexico, and ship eggs back to California. Such an outcome would
do little to help the condition of animals and could do real harm to a small
but important segment of the state's farm sector. Vote "no" Oct. 10, 2008
Sacramento Bee
Prop. 2 discussion set for Oprah Winfrey show-
- Oprah Winfrey has taped a show discussing the merits of Prop. 2. The show
is likely to be broadcast Tuesday of next week. Check your local TV listings
for time and channel. Participants include Wayne Pacelle of the Humane
Society of the US, San Diego egg rancher Ryan Armstrong, Julie Buckner from
Californians for Safe
Food, as well as in-the-field reports from an organic and
conventional egg farms in Pennsylvania. Oct. 10, 2008
Calif. measure would require more space for hens
- - At the J.S. West and Cos. poultry farm, half a million chickens are
squeezed six at a time into wire cages where they must share 2 square feet
of space. Beneath them, conveyor belts whisk away excrement while 1.2
million eggs travel from hen to carton each day without touching a human
hand. California voters will decide next month whether this kind of
operation is an example of factory farming at its most efficient _ or the
cruel farming practices of producers concerned only about the bottom line.
If approved in the Nov. 4 election, a ballot measure called Proposition 2
would prohibit ranchers from keeping chickens, veal calves and breeding pigs
in pens or cages that are too small for the animal to move. It is the
farthest-reaching measure dealing with farm animal treatment ever put before
voters in any state.
<more> Oct. 10, 2008 AP
USDA raises corn, soybean forecast - - The
U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday, Oct. 10, increased its monthly
forecast for this year's corn and soybean harvest due to wetter weather,
potentially lowering commodity prices. The department said this year's corn
production is now estimated to be 12.2 billion bushels, up from September's
estimate of 12.1 billion. Soybean production is projected to be 2.98 billion
bushels, higher than last month's forecast of 2.93 billion bushels. The corn
crop benefited from September rains that "brought much needed moisture" to
many corn-growing regions, the department said. The USDA also raised its
projections for wheat production to 2.5 billion bushels from 2.46 billion.
<more> Oct. 10, 2008 AP
White House signs off on CAFO voluntary discharge
rule - - The White House approved a U.S. EPA rule yesterday that would
allow certain livestock operations to bypass Clean Water Act permit
requirements if they voluntarily certify that they do not discharge animal
waste into waterways, according to a published report in Inside EPA. The
rule also would ensure that information within livestock producers' nutrient
management plans is available for public comment, reviewed by the permit
authority and incorporated into their permits. EPA spokesman Dave Ryan told
Inside EPA that the agency is working to quickly finalize the rule but noted
that the agency cannot discuss the decision until it is signed by
Administrator Stephen Johnson in the last step in the rulemaking process.
The text of the rule will not be available until then. "We will work with
the state agencies to implement the final rule," Ryan said. EPA drafted the
rule in response to a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in 2005,
Waterkeeper Alliance v. EPA , that vacated the agency's 2003 Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations rule. Both farm groups and environmentalists sued
the agency over the 2003 rule, which expanded the number of operations
covered by CAFO regulations and included requirements to address the land
application of manure from CAFOs. The agency has estimated that the court
decision could save CAFOs $15.4 million in administrative burdens, though
permitting authorities will see a net $0.5 million annual increase in
administrative burden. Oct. 10, 2008 Inside EPA
Animal Agriculture Environmental Sustainability
Summit set for IPE/IFE - - The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, along
with a coalition of stakeholders, will sponsor an Animal Agriculture
Environmental Sustainability Summit January 27-28, at the Georgia World
Congress Center in Atlanta. The summit will be held in conjunction with the
2009 International Poultry Expo and International Feed Expo. USPOULTRY is
partnering with the American Feed Industry Association, Animal Agriculture
Alliance, National Chicken Council, National Pork Producers Council,
National Renderers Association, National Turkey Federation and United Egg
Producers in developing the summit. The program will feature experts from
agriculture and top-level executives from U. S. retail and foodservice
companies. They will identify and examine the challenges posed by
sustainability and protecting the environment, along with feasible
strategies for meeting those challenges.
<more> Oct. 10, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Time to stand up for water rights and the right to farm - - By Aaron Kiess, Executive Director, California Alfalfa and Forage Association - - If you’ve never written or called your state legislators, it’s time to let them know you oppose the Pacific Institute’s “More With Less” report. CAFA and other organizations have been on the offensive since the report was released on Sept. 9. “More With Less” stands for more regulations, an erosion of water rights, less water, and less freedom to make crop selections. The report claims growers can grow more with less water and should shift to “high value” tree and vegetable crops. The Institute wants courts and regulators to “apply California’s water-rights laws more rationally to ensure water is being used reasonably and beneficially.” Another recommendation: “Redesigning misguided federal and state subsidies that encourage wasteful use of water.” The report (available at www.pacinst.org) is a blueprint for the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, but it should concern all regions in California. If implemented, it would set a dangerous precedent. CAFA’s letter below, sent to the California Department of Food & Agriculture, provides key points to use when writing or e-mailing state legislators. <more> Oct. 10, 2008 Western Farm Press
Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008
Big bucks flow into Prop. 2 campaigns - - The
buck-raking in the campaign over Proposition 2 has topped the $13 million
mark, making it one of the most expensive animal-welfare campaigns in U.S.
history. Both the "yes" and "no" campaigns reported their finances to the
state this week and a Capital Press analysis of the figures shows that both
sides are nearly equally matched, money-wise. Proposition 2 would
effectively ban conventional egg production in California. Proponents say
cage-free operations would still be allowed, but the industry says the
initiative is so vaguely written even that is in question. The measure would
not forbid importing conventionally grown eggs from other states; California
already gets about one-third of its shell eggs from other states. According
to records filed with the state, Californians for Humane Farms, the "yes"
side, has raised - and spent - more than $6.4 million. Californians for SAFE
Food, the "no" side, has raised more than $6.75 million.
<more> Oct. 9, 2008 Capital Press
Egg industry faces price-fixing allegations in
midst of Prop. 2 war - - The egg industry faces a potentially larger
threat than the passage of Proposition 2 in California - a federal
investigation and several class-action lawsuits over an alleged industry
price-fixing scheme where producers and processors limited supply of eggs to
drive up costs. Neither that investigation, which is apparently focused on
processors, nor the broader class-action suits are likely to affect voter
opinion on Proposition 2, both sides in the campaign say. Nor is recent news
of a lawsuit by the egg industry over alleged illegal wiretapping by the
Humane Society of the United States, the chief sponsor of Proposition 2.
<more> Oct. 9, 2008 Capital Press
Meat eaters to pay for water added to beef,
poultry - - In the land of fruits and nuts, your meat is just a bit too
meaty for Uncle Sam. Beef and poultry lovers in California will get less
fresh meat, pound for pound, under a federal rule change that requires the
state to use the same weighing method as the rest of the country. The
change, which starts today, will mean about 1.4 percent less beef for the
money, and about 2.35 percent less chicken — about a dollar per week for
meat-happy families, according the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
For years, the state has forced meat and chicken sellers to exclude the heft
of liquid in the packaging when it weighs and prices beef and chicken. That
"wet tare" method — separating the water weight — led meat processors to
overpack their beef and chicken products to account for moisture loss.
Consumers got that much more to chew on for the price, said Steve Lyle, a
spokesman for the state agency.
<more> Oct. 9, 2008 Contra Costa Times
New metal theft laws could cure epidemic - -
Supporters are hoping that a package of new laws cracking down on metal
theft will ease the epidemic of thefts that has plagued farmers and
ranchers. Law enforcement officers and farmers agree the bills signed into
law late last month by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should help police and
scrap-metal dealers alike by ending piecemeal county ordinances. Bill
Yoshimoto, project director for the Agricultural Crime Technology
Information and Operations Network, said the laws would make it easier to
prosecute those charged with metal theft. Theft of metal from farms and
urban areas has increased over the past several years as the price of scrap
metal has risen dramatically. Copper wire, brass sprinklers and even bronze
funeral urns have been targets in rural areas. In cities, there have been
reports of manhole covers and streetlight-wiring theft.
<more> Oct. 9, 2008 Capital Press
Poultry Profits Absent Despite Cheaper Feed
-- Chicken companies continue to bleed losses despite a 47 percent reduction
in corn prices and a 42 percent price-drop in soybeans -- the two major feed
ingredients that reached record price levels this summer. Much of the
poultry industry groaned about excessive grain expenditures that were fueled
by strong demand from a burgeoning ethanol industry and Wall Street's index
commodity fund speculators, said Gene Martin, commodity analyst with the
Arkansas Farm Bureau. Martin said the pullback from investors is largely
responsible for the rapid decline in grain prices in recent weeks. He
expects grain prices to recede further amid active talk of a global
recession and lower oil prices. Lower grain costs are welcome news for
poultry processors, but recession fears bring forth a new set of challenges
that they will face, said Paul Aho, an economist with Poultry Perspective.
<more> Oct. 9, 2008 The Morning News
Labor Department probes for violations of child labor laws at chicken plant - - Federal prosecutors said Thursday they are awaiting review by government labor regulators to determine if any action should be taken after authorities say the raid of a Greenville poultry plant earlier this week seized six underage workers accused of being in the country illegally. "No decision has been made at this point what, if anything, will be done," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald, who passed information to the federal and state labor departments about six juveniles rounded up during a massive Tuesday immigration raid at the Columbia Farms processing plant. "We'll let those respective agencies assess the situation and apprise us." The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday that it is investigating possible violations in child labor laws at the plant. <more> Oct. 9, 2008 Greenville Online.com
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008
USDA rule change on weighing meat and poultry to
take effect Thursday - - An upcoming USDA rule change will modify the
method used to weigh fresh meat and poultry in California. The change will
bring the state into the same weighing system as every other state in the
country and will likely result in a small difference in the amount of
product purchased. The current method is called “wet tare,” meaning that
moisture contained inside the packaging is separated from the product before
it is weighed. Starting October 9, “dry tare,” will be used, meaning that
the moisture is included in the product weight. For a number of years,
California has been the only state in the nation using the wet tare
technique. Notably, dry tare is already used in California for
“value-added” meat and poultry products, including ribs packaged with
barbecue sauce and chicken and turkey with brine solution.
<more> Oct. 8, 2008 CDFA Press Release
300 suspected illegal immigrants caught in SC
chicken processing plant raid - - Federal agents swept through a
chicken processing plant Tuesday, detaining more than 300 suspected illegal
immigrants, sending panicked workers running and screaming through the
hallways. Worried relatives collected outside, fearful their loved ones
would be deported. Police and agents during a shift change ordered all
workers at the House of Raeford's Columbia Farms to show identification,
according to officials and witnesses. The business had been under scrutiny
for months and the raid comes on the heels of even larger roundups at plants
across the country.
<more> Oct. 8, 2008 AP
Good Egg breakfast Thursday in Modesto - - The
annual Good Egg breakfast, sponsored in part by the California Poultry
Federation, will be held Thursday Oct. 9 in Modesto at the Doubletree Hotel. The
event begins at 7 a.m. and will feature California Farm Bureau Federation
Administrator Rich Matteis, the former leader of the Pacific Egg and Poultry
Association. Tickets are $20 and are available by contacting the CPF at
209-576-6355. Other sponsors include the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, PEPA
and the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. Sept. 26, 2008
Leave the pumping up for the gym; I want my meat
unenhanced - - By Don Mauer - - Over the past few years, when
you've shopped for fresh meat or poultry, you may have noticed labels with
the word "enhanced" on them. And, if you shop at Wal-Mart, nearly everything
in the meat section has been enhanced. So what does "enhanced" mean? Here's
Wal-Mart definition, circa 2006: "Our case-ready meat selections offer an
extraordinarily flavorful and tender eating experience because they can
contain an added solution that helps make the cooked product tastier and
juicier. The solution is used at a level of up to 12 percent and is made
from pure, wholesome ingredients, such as water, salt, sodium phosphate,
natural flavorings and herbs, such as rosemary." If plumping-up pork chops,
chicken breasts and beef steaks with "wholesome" ingredients makes them more
tender and taste better, that should be great. Right? Not in my kitchen.
Here's why.
<more>
Oct. 8, 2008 Chicago Daily Herald
Animal raising claims on meat and poultry label up for discussion Oct. 14 - - The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will hold a public meeting Oct. 14 to initiate a public process to review its policies on the use of animal raising claims in the labeling of meat and poultry products. The meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 14, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, D.C. 20024. FSIS and the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will host the meeting to discuss the issue and solicit public comments. The agenda and other related will be available prior to the meeting on FSIS' Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Meetings_&_Events/index.asp. FSIS approves animal raising claims in the labeling of meat and poultry products if the animal production information submitted with the label application supports the claims being made and the claim is truthful and not misleading. Recent events concerning labeling claims related to the use of antibiotics in the raising of poultry illustrate the complex issues associated with such claims and led FSIS to review its policies on related claims to ensure that they are truthful and not misleading. Individuals are encouraged to pre-register to attend, and should visit www.fsis.usda.gov or contact Sheila Johnson at (202) 690-6498 or by e-mail at Sheila.Johnson@fsis.usda.gov . Oct. 8, 2008 USDA Press Release
Ethanol producer gets $76 million to expand
cellulosic capacity - - Poet LLC will receive $76.3 million in federal
funding to begin producing fuel from corn cobs and fiber, the nation's top
ethanol producer said Tuesday. Privately held Poet said it will expand
capacity from 50 million to 125 million gallons per year at its corn ethanol
plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa, with about 25 million gallons made from plant
waste typically left behind in farmers' fields. With the added cellulosic
production, a bushel of corn will produce 11 percent more ethanol per bushel
of corn, and 27 percent more per acre of corn, Poet said.
<more> Oct. 8, 2008 AP
Corn, soybeans experience their own “meltdown”
- - The “meltdown” affecting world financial markets has done a number
on the corn and soybean markets as well. That is good news for livestock
producers, but bad news for corn and soybean growers. “As long as these
credit and financial markets are under pressure, the commodity markets will
remain under pressure,” says Marty Foreman, senior economist with Doane
Advisory Services in St. Louis. Perhaps if the crop-production estimates
from USDA come out a little short this Friday, it might help stabilize corn
and soybean prices. But until the financial markets stabilize, “I don’t have
a high degree of confidence that we will go up very much,” Foreman adds.
Corn for December delivery settled at $4.17 on the Chicago Board of Trade
Tuesday. That is $3.70 off the contract high of $7.87 set on June 27.
<more> Oct. 8, 2008 Dairy Herd Management
Fed, central banks cut rates to aid world economy
- - In a rare coordinated move, the Federal Reserve and other major
central banks from around the world slashed interest rates Wednesday to
prevent a mushrooming financial crisis from becoming a global economic
meltdown. Overseas markets tumbled on worries that the move wouldn't
immediately help ease the pain from the financial crisis. U.S. share prices
seesawed, with some investors buying a few beaten down shares, but most
still gloomy about the economy's prospects. The Fed reduced its key rate
from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. In Europe, which also has been hard hit by
the financial crisis, the Bank of England cut its rate by half a point to
4.5 percent and the European Central Bank sliced its rate by half a point to
3.75 percent.
<more> Oct. 8, 2008 AP
New UC Davis sustainable ag classes begin, with new major on the way - - A growing student interest in sustainable food and farming systems that are good for people and the environment has led to new classes and development of a new major at UC Davis. Sustainable food and agricultural systems that integrate environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic fairness are becoming universally recognized as the direction society must go, according to UC Davis researchers implementing the new major. Starting this year, new freshman-level courses in food systems and sustainable agriculture and an upper-division course in agroecology, the study of the ecology of the entire food system, will be offered. <more> Oct. 8, 2008 Western Farm Press
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008
Modesto Bee Editorial: Prop. 2 would destroy our egg
industry- - Voters in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties should
pay special attention to Proposition 2 because, if passed, it would kill a
segment of our agriculture industry, resulting in the loss of hundreds of
jobs. As with many initiatives, Proposition 2, which proponents call the
Prevention of Farm Cruelty Act, sounds appealing. Who, for heaven's sake,
would advocate cruelty to animals? But the title that the state put on the
proposal is more accurate -- standards for confining animals. This
proposition addresses the housing of three kinds of animals -- pregnant
pigs, calves raised for veal and egg-laying chickens (as compared with
poultry raised for meat). California's hog and veal industries are small,
and both are moving toward the husbandry practices advocated in the
initiative. So Proposition 2 is really about the egg industry.
<more> Oct. 5,
2008 Modesto Bee
Leaders from the top four U.S. broiler companies
take a look forward - - A panel of broiler executives shared their
thoughts on what the next five to 10 years could look like for the U.S.
poultry industry with an audience at the National Chicken Council’s annual
meeting in Washington D.C. and a worldwide audience who participated in a
webinar produced by WATT. Panelist were assigned topics and asked to look at
what impact their subject area might have on the industry in the next five
to 10 years. Richard Bond, president and CEO, Tyson Foods, led off the
panel, and he discussed the prospects for U.S. beef and pork producers going
forward. He said that beef processors have shown remarkable restraint over
the last few months, because, even though processor earnings were at near
record levels per head this summer, kill has not been bumped up. Bond said
that he expects the U.S. cattle herd to continue to contract for the next
five years.
<more> Oct. 7, 2008 Wattpoultry.com
U.S. city dwellers flock to raising chickens
- - In the backyard of a suburban home in Denver, Colorado, 22 chickens are
hiding out from the law. They arrived when a member of BackyardChickens, an
online forum, ordered the birds in the mail this past May. "I actually get
my chicks in today hopefully, and I am worried that animal control will be
at the post office waiting for me with hand-cuffs," the new poultry farmer
wrote. An underground "urban chicken" movement has swept across the United
States in recent years. Cities such as Boston, Massachusetts, and Madison,
Wisconsin, are known to have had chickens residing illegally behind city
fences. But grassroots campaigns, often inspired by the expanding movement
to buy locally produced food, are leading municipalities to allow limited
numbers of hens within city limits.
<more>
Oct. 7, 2008 Worldwatch Institute
Groups take sides on changing the living
conditions of farm animals - - The chickens are coming home to roost,
say backers of a state proposition aimed at changing living conditions for
egg-laying hens and other farm animals. If passed Nov. 4, Proposition 2
would require farmers, by 2015, to provide larger quarters for egg-producing
poultry, breeding pigs and calves raised for veal. "The proposition is
incredibly modest and is targeted to the very worst abuses on animal farms,"
said Jennifer Fearing, Prop. 2 campaign manager. It would require enough
space for the animals and birds to fully extend their wings, stand up, turn
around and lie down. The Solano Farm Bureau has not taken a position on
Prop. 2, but the California Farm Bureau is strongly opposed.
<more> Oct. 7, 2008 Vacaville Times Herald
Good Egg breakfast Thursday in Modesto - - The
annual Good Egg breakfast, sponsored in part by the California Poultry
Federation, will be held Thursday Oct. 9 in Modesto at the Doubletree Hotel. The
event begins at 7 a.m. and will feature California Farm Bureau Federation
Administrator Rich Matteis, the former leader of the Pacific Egg and Poultry
Association. Tickets are $20 and are available by contacting the CPF at
209-576-6355. Other sponsors include the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, PEPA
and the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. Sept. 26, 2008
Late corn and soybean development continues to
lag - - The United States Department of Agriculture reports that as of
Sunday, October 5, 73% of the U.S. corn crop has reached maturity. That's up
21% from the previous week, but down 22% from last year and 16% behind the
five year average. Across the Cornbelt, states range from 51% in Wisconsin
to 100% in North Carolina. This year's corn crop continues to show the
effects of the late start to planting and widespread weather issues during
the rest of the growing year. 14% of corn has been harvested, compared to 9%
a week ago, 39% a year ago and the five year average of 30%. Aside from
Colorado and Ohio, all states are behind average, ranging from only 2%
(Pennsylvania at 28%) to as much as 43% behind (Missouri at 30%). The crop
is rated 61% good to excellent, steady with last week and down 2% from last
year.
<more> Oct. 7, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
UC
Davis AI workshop Nov. 14 - - UC Davis will host an informal workshop on
the spread and control of avian influenza Nov. 14. The workshop “Highly
Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Disease Dynamics: The Impact of Farm
Heterogeneity on Disease Spread and Effectiveness of Control Strategies”
will be held in ARC Meeting Room 1, UC Davis. This one day workshop,
sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s Collaborative Learning at the
Interface of Biology and Mathematics (CLIMB) program at UC Davis, will focus
on the efficacy of control strategies through theoretical modeling of
disease dynamics. A goal is to bring together researchers, from theoretical
and applied backgrounds, and individuals who work directly with poultry in
hopes that insight into the dynamics of this potentially devastating disease
can be gained through collaboration. This workshop will include a
presentation by the CLIMB trainees of their research results and
presentations by scientists, industry representatives, and public officials
interested in disease prevention within the poultry industry. For additional
information visit
http://climb.ucdavis.edu/cohorts/ai.html or contact Carole Hom at
clhom@ucdavis.edu. Oct. 3, 2008 UC Davis Notice
Ag lending thrives amid financial turmoil - - As of August, just two of Yosemite Farm Credit's roughly 3,200 borrowers were delinquent on their payments. You read that right. In this time of financial disarray, caused mainly by residential mortgages gone bad, the farm lending business is looking good. Yosemite Farm Credit, based in Turlock, and other ag lenders are benefiting from the high prices for many farm products these days. The growers can make the payments on the loans they took out for land, equipment and other needs. "The fundamental economics of agriculture overall are positive," said Roger Sturdevant, an executive vice president with Bank of the West and manager of its farm lending division, based in Fresno. <more> Oct. 5, 2008 Modesto Bee
Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008
NCC
installs new officers; Californians named to board and executive committee -
- The National Chicken Council held its annual conference this week in
Washington DC, electing a new slate of officers and a board of directors.
Michael Roberts, president of the Food Products Business of Perdue Farms,
Inc., Salisbury, Maryland, was installed as Chairman of the National Chicken
Council, the trade association for the chicken production and processing
industry. Thomas Hensley, Jr., president of Fieldale Farms, Baldwin,
Georgia, took office as Vice Chairman, and Bernard Leonard, group vice
president/Food Service, Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, Arkansas, became
Secretary-Treasurer. The new officers were installed during the NCC Annual
Conference held in Washington, D.C., and attended by members of the industry
from across the country. Officers serve one-year terms. Elected to a
one-year term on the Executive Committee was Don Jackson, Foster Farms.
Elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors was Ron Foster,
Foster Farms. Oct. 3, 2008 NCC Press Release
Prop.
2: Caging of farm animals under debate - - Happy chickens equal happy
consumers, say proponents of Proposition 2, a November ballot measure that
calls for the humane treatment of farm animals. The initiative, proposed by
the Humane Society of the United States, would ban farmers from raising
egg-producing poultry, veal calves and pregnant pigs in small cages and
crates by 2015. "The ballot measure is very simple," said Wayne Pacelle,
president and chief operating officer of the national organization. "All
we're asking is that animals are able to stand up, turn around, lie down and
extend their wings. It's the difference between an existence and a life."
The measure comes at a time when animal rights issues have grabbed the
national spotlight, and the consumer demand for cage-free eggs has captured
the attention of national chain stores and fast-food restaurants.
<more> Oct. 3, 2008 SF Chronicle
Lack
of funding forces closure of food supply safety program -- Despite
extensive efforts by America's veterinarians to convince the US Congress,
the US Department of Agriculture, and the Food and Drug Administration to
provide long-term funding, a critical food safety resource is permanently
shutting down, leaving in the lurch information essential to protecting
America's food supply. The Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (FARAD) --
used by veterinarians, livestock producers, and state and federal regulatory
and extension specialists to ensure that drug, environmental and pesticide
contaminants do not end up in meat, milk, and eggs -- began shutting down
yesterday. The program needed an immediate cash infusion to stay open, and,
ultimately, long-term funding of $2.5 million per year. The American
Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has been leading efforts to fund
FARAD, which is administered by the USDA's Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service and operates out of North Carolina State
University, the University of Florida and the University of
California-Davis.
<more> Oct. 3, 2008 AVMA Press Release
UC
Davis AI workshop Nov. 14 - - UC Davis will host an informal workshop on
the spread and control of avian influenza Nov. 14. The workshop “Highly
Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Disease Dynamics: The Impact of Farm
Heterogeneity on Disease Spread and Effectiveness of Control Strategies”
will be held in ARC Meeting Room 1, UC Davis. This one day workshop,
sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s Collaborative Learning at the
Interface of Biology and Mathematics (CLIMB) program at UC Davis, will focus
on the efficacy of control strategies through theoretical modeling of
disease dynamics. A goal is to bring together researchers, from theoretical
and applied backgrounds, and individuals who work directly with poultry in
hopes that insight into the dynamics of this potentially devastating disease
can be gained through collaboration. This workshop will include a
presentation by the CLIMB trainees of their research results and
presentations by scientists, industry representatives, and public officials
interested in disease prevention within the poultry industry. For additional
information visit
http://climb.ucdavis.edu/cohorts/ai.html or contact Carole Hom at
clhom@ucdavis.edu. Oct. 3, 2008 UC Davis Notice
Humane
Society Report: Egg industry could survive Prop. 2 - - California's egg
industry would be smaller - but could survive as a national purveyor of
specialty eggs - if Proposition 2 passes on Election Day, according to an
economic report conducted on behalf of the Humane Society of the United
States. The Humane Society of the United States has not widely distributed
the report, but released it to the Capital Press on request. It does not shy
away from the potential pain passage of Proposition 2 could bring to
conventional egg producers, who would be barred from using standard battery
cages if the initiative passes Nov. 4. The analysis also suggests that
California's egg industry, the nation's sixth largest, could rise from the
ashes as the nation's prime producer of cage-free eggs, for which there is a
national shortage, the report notes.
<more> Oct. 2, 2008 Capital Press
USDA
issues more guidance on mCOOL requirements - - USDA’ s Agricultural
Marketing Service (AMS) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
has issued further guidance for mandatory country-of-original (mCool) in
light of the fact that the mCool interim final regulation became effective
Sept. 30. FSIS notice 67-08 instructs inspection program personnel to not
conduct verification activity for mCool label statements with respect to
being truthful and not misleading. FSIS inspectors are not to take any
action to enforce the FSIS interim final rule until further notice. FSIS
explained that until April 1, 2009, the AMS mCool program would be one of
education and outreach to better ensure that there will be compliance with
the rules after the six months grace period expires. FSIS said it is working
closely with AMS on Mcool issues and expects to post additional information
on its Web site. In AMS updated “Frequently Asked Questions” of Sept. 26, it
was restated that mCool includes beef and veal, lamb, pork, chicken, goat,
fish and shellfish, fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, ginseng, and
macadamia nuts. Food service and processed foods are exempt from mCool. An
AMS official told the National Chicken Council that it is too early to
assess how well chicken companies are meeting the mCool rules. The official
did note that including a letter with each master Page 5 Oct. 3, 2008
shipping container of chicken stating that the chicken was a product of the
United States is not sufficient to meet mCool unless the information in the
letter can be directly traced to each package in the shipping container.
Copies of FSIS’s Sept. 30 notice and AMS’s Sept. 26 “Frequently Asked
Questions” have been emailed to the NCC membership. Copies are also
available to NCC members on the “Information Central Page” of the Member
Services Section at
www.nationalchickencouncil.com . Contact Wade Parker at wparker@chickenusa.org
if you need a password to log on to the Members Only section. Oct. 3,
2008 NCC Newsletter
Good Egg breakfast Oct. 9 in Modesto - - The
annual Good Egg breakfast, sponsored in part by the California Poultry
Federation, will be held Oct. 9 in Modesto at the Doubletree Hotel. The
event begins at 7 a.m. and will feature California Farm Bureau Federation
Administrator Rich Matteis, the former leader of the Pacific Egg and Poultry
Association. Tickets are $20 and are available by contacting the CPF at
209-576-6355. Other sponsors include the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, PEPA
and the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. Sept. 26, 2008
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008
Governor vetoes card check bill - - Gov.
Schwarzenegger Tuesday vetoed the proposed card check legislation, citing
concern that AB 2386 would “weaken workers’ existing privacy rights and
protections” under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA.) The veto is
considered an important victory for a broad coalition of ag groups that waged a hard fight encouraging the Governor to
veto the bill. Here is Schwarzenegger’s entire veto message: “I am returning
Assembly Bill 2386 without my signature. In 1975, the historical Agricultural
Labor Relations Act (ALRA) was passed by the California Legislature in order
“to ensure peace in the agricultural fields by guaranteeing justice for all
agricultural workers and stability in labor relations.” The ALRA allowed for a
secret ballot election and provided protections so that an agricultural worker
could decide privately without fear of retaliation or intimidation whether or
not to be represented by a union. AB 2386 creates a new and unique process for
how agricultural workers choose or decline union representation. I am
concerned that aspects of AB 2386’s novel process weaken workers’ existing
privacy rights and protections under the ALRA. Specifically, I am concerned
that authorizing the union seeking to represent workers to receive and
distribute election ballots from the Agricultural Labor Relations Board
(Board), complete information on the ballot envelopes, and return the workers’
ballots to the Board unnecessarily compromises the workers’ right to privacy
protected by the existing secret ballot process. However, as I indicated last
year in my veto of SB 180, I remain committed to ensuring that agricultural
workers receive all the workplace protections that our labor laws afford. To
that end, I am calling for the creation of a dedicated funding source to
facilitate enhanced oversight and education in the agricultural industry. I am
directing my Labor and Workforce Development Agency to work with the
proponents of this bill and all stakeholders to develop a proposal which will
create such a program in a fiscally responsible way, for the ultimate benefit
of both agricultural employees and employers.” Oct. 1, 2008
Good Egg breakfast Oct. 9 in Modesto - - The
annual Good Egg breakfast, sponsored in part by the California Poultry
federation, will be held Oct. 9 in Modesto at the Doubletree hotel. The
event begins at 7 a.m. and will feature California Farm Bureau federation
Administrator Rich Matteis, the former leader of the Pacific Egg and Poultry
Association. Tickets are $20 and are available by contacting the CPF at
209-576-6355. Other sponsors include the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, PEPS
and the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. Sept. 26, 2008
Thursday
wine and cheese tasting benefits CSU ag program - - A Thursday Oct. 2 wine and
cheese tasting will benefit the CSU Stanislaus Agricultural Studies program.
“Tastes of the Valley” will be held Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Assyrian
American Civic Club in Turlock from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $35. Silent
auction items are also being sought. Additional information is available
from Mark Bender or Wendy Olmstead at (209) 664-6648. Sept, 5, 2008 CSU
Notice
Governor kills port smog-fighting bill, signs into
law sprawl and water supply measures - - California embarked Tuesday on a
sweeping effort to curb suburban sprawl by rewarding communities that build
homes and workplaces closer together to reduce pollution that contributes to
global warming. However, a multibillion-dollar proposal to curb air pollution
near the state's ports was rejected by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who
concluded that the related cargo fees would harm an already suffering economy.
The state's water crisis also attracted his attention Tuesday as he approved
$842 million to boost the water supply and bolster endangered levees. The
three environment-related measures were in the spotlight as Schwarzenegger
finished work on this year's legislation before a midnight deadline. In 2008,
Schwarzenegger has signed 771 bills and vetoed 415.
<more> Oct. 1, 2008 LA Times
FDA approves test for human and bird flu -- The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new test that can rapidly diagnose and identify human influenza infections and human bird flu, the agency announced. The test, developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be available to CDC-qualified laboratories this year, the FDA said in a statement Tuesday. It uses molecular analysis of viral genetic material taken from secretions in a patient's nose and throat to detect and identify commonly circulating human influenza viruses as well as H5N1 viruses and other strains. <more> Oct. 1, 2008 AFP
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008
GOP opposes Prop. 2- - The California
Republican Party has taken an official stand in opposition to Prop. 2
Standards for confining farm animals Click
here to view GOP’s stance on all of the ballot measures. Sept. 30, 2008
Sacramento Bee
Long Beach Press-Telegram Editorial: Prop. 2 leaves
too much room for doubt about its likely outcomes - - Even most carnivores
have tender feelings about abuse of animals. But neither feelings nor logic
help much in deciding what to do about Proposition 2. This measure purports to
protect chickens, calves raised for veal and pigs by ending the practice of
keeping them in small cages. Since there isn't much pig farming or veal
slaughtering in California, the greatest impact would be on chicken ranchers,
who say they will be put out of business because they would no longer be able
to compete. California voters have a tested technique in dealing with ballot
propositions that are of uncertain benefit. We recommend it. When in doubt,
vote no.
<more> Sept. 30, 2008 Long Beach Press-Telegram
Good Egg breakfast Oct. 9 in Modesto - - The
annual Good Egg breakfast, sponsored in part by the California Poultry
federation, will be held Oct. 9 in Modesto at the Doubletree hotel. The
event begins at 7 a.m. and will feature California Farm Bureau federation
Administrator Rich Matteis, the former leader of the Pacific Egg and Poultry
Association. Tickets are $20 and are available by contacting the CPF at
209-576-6355. Other sponsors include the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, PEPS
and the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. Sept. 26, 2008
Thursday
wine and cheese tasting benefits CSU ag program - - A Thursday Oct. 2 wine and
cheese tasting will benefit the CSU Stanislaus Agricultural Studies program.
“Tastes of the Valley” will be held Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Assyrian
American Civic Club in Turlock from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $35. Silent
auction items are also being sought. Additional information is available
from Mark Bender or Wendy Olmstead at (209) 664-6648. Sept, 5, 2008 CSU
Notice
Federal judge denies Oklahoma’s request to halt
poultry litter spreading - - A federal judge on Monday
denied the state of Oklahoma's request to halt poultry producers from
spreading chicken litter in eastern Oklahoma watersheds. The ruling by
U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell denied Oklahoma Attorney General Drew
Edmondson's request for an injunction to stop the practice, but does not end a
federal lawsuit filed by the state. Edmondson is suing poultry producers on
behalf of the state alleging excess chicken litter spread as fertilizer is
polluting eastern Oklahoma watersheds. He sought the injunction pending the
outcome of the case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District.
<more> Sept. 30, 2008 Tulsa World
Schwarzenegger requires menu postings - -
Battling the bulge, California became the first state Tuesday to require chain
restaurants to post calorie content of menu items. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed legislation that will affect about 17,000 facilities once it is fully
implemented in 2011. The measure, Senate Bill 1420, is designed to spark
diners to ponder their girth before choosing between a Jumbo Jack and a
Burrito Supreme. "When people go to the grocery store now...they can already
read the labels and make informed decisions about what they eat,"
Schwarzenegger said. "But now they will also have that pleasure when they go
to the restaurant." Schwarzenegger's signing of the menu-labeling bill came
two months after he approved legislation to ban restaurants from using trans
fats by January 2010. <more>
Sept. 30, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Live video monitoring of cage-free egg facility launched -- American Humane Certified(TM) announced today that GBC Foods LLC, a family owned, cage-free egg production company in Nashville, N.C., has been Certified with the program, and is also the first of American Humane Certified's many existing food producers in the U.S. to operate under American Humane Certified's new, three-tiered auditing system. The system allows American Humane to monitor animal welfare at the facility remotely through real-time video monitoring in addition to performing annual on-site audits and observing the company's production data on an ongoing basis through a proprietary online reporting system. <more> Sept. 30, 2008 American Humane Press Release
Monday, Sept. 29, 2008
Ballot
Watch: Proposition 2: Standards for confining farm animals - - Animal
rights groups are asking voters to require California farmers to provide
egg-laying hens, veal calves and pregnant pigs with housing that gives them
enough room to move around beginning Jan. 1, 2015. WHAT IT DOES The law
would principally apply to the state's 18 million egg-laying hens because
there's little veal production in the state, and farmers here have
voluntarily phased out confining sows in breeding crates. Farmers would be
required to house egg-laying hens in a way that allows them to lie down,
stand up, extend their limbs and turn around. HISTORY Agriculture groups
have defeated efforts in the Legislature to ban the confinement of farm
animals in crowded cages. Laws banning crates for breeding pigs have been
enacted in a few other states, but Proposition 2 is the first of its kind
and would be a major gain for the animal rights movement.
<more> Sept. 27, 2008 Sacramento Bee
California egg production up in August over 2007-
- California’s egg production during August totaled 443 million, an increase
of 6 million from July’s production and 31 million above August 2007. The
average number of layers during the month totaled 19.8 million, increased 3
percent from last month and fractionally above July 2007. Eggs per 100
layers during the month were 2,237 compared to 2,210 a month earlier and
2,152 in July 2007. California mid-month
market egg price for August 2008 was 85 cents per dozen, 21 cents above the
July mid-month price and up 8 cents from August 2007. Nationally, the August
market egg price, at 81.5 cents per dozen, increased 14.7 cents from July
and is 9.3 cents above August 2007. The August broiler price, at 47 cents
per pound, is down 3 cents from July but 1 cent above a year ago. The
August turkey price, at 63 cents per pound, is up 1.9 cents from the
previous month and up 5.8 cents from a year earlier. Sept. 29, 2008 USDA
NASS Report
Poultry slaughter in August down 3% from last
year - - The United States Department of Agriculture reports that the
amount of poultry certified wholesome at a ready to cook weight was 3.646
billion pounds, down 5% from July's 3.834 billion and 3% below the August
2007 total of 3.763 billion. For the year to date, production is 29.467
billion pounds, 4% ahead of the January to August 2007 total of 28.293
billion pounds. August 2008 had 21 weekdays and 5 Saturdays, compared to
August 2007's 23 weekdays and 4 Saturdays. Most of the total was chicken at
3.129 billion pounds, followed by turkeys at 507.901 million, ducks at 9.060
million and "other" at 129,000 pounds.
<more> Sept. 29 ,2008 Brownfield Ag News
Leading African American groups oppose Prop. 2
- - The California State Conference of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Black American Political
Association of California (BAPAC) and the Sacramento Urban League have all
joined Californians For SAFE Food in the fight to stop the dangerous and
costly Prop. 2 ballot initiative, ‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals.
Initiative Statute.’ In addition to the California State Conference of the
NAACP, the Sacramento, Stockton and Oakland branches, as well as the Youth
and College Division of the NAACP have also come out in opposition to Prop.
2 citing the many negative consequences Prop. 2 poses for California
consumers and working families. “Proposition 2 will negatively impact many
California consumers who are already struggling to make ends meet in these
tough economic times. Several studies have clearly shown that Prop. 2 will
force California egg farms out of business, eliminating thousands of jobs,
depriving state and local governments of valuable tax revenues and driving
up the costs of California-produced eggs,” said Alice A. Huffman, President
of the California State Conference of the NAACP. “The economic impacts of
Prop. 2 are unacceptable to the NAACP. Kitchen table issues are what matter
most to many of our members. Californians need jobs to put food on the
table and they need to be able to feed their families without breaking their
budgets.” Sept. 29, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Campaign Press Release
GAO report faults air emission study; USDA blasts
GAO’s methods - - The air emissions monitoring study currently being
conducted by the poultry and livestock industries in cooperation with the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be inadequate to the task of
estimating emissions from many different types of production operations,
according to the Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress. “The
study may not provide EPA with the data it needs,” GAO said in a report
released at a hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. In a
report that was generally critical of EPA’s efforts to regulate so-called
“confined animal feeding operations,” or “CAFOs,” GAO said the air emission
study was set up to cover only 12 of the 16 combinations of animal types and
geographical settings recommended by an expert panel; may not have enough
monitoring sites; and does not include data on air emissions from feedlots
or manure applied to fields. The report cited expert opinion that “feedlots
and manure on fields, as well as other excluded sources account for
approximately half of the total ammonia emissions emitted by animal feeding
operations,” it said. The GAO report was also critical of the rule proposed
by EPA to exempt animal production farms from having to report emission of
ammonia from the degradation of animal waste when the emission exceeds 100
pounds per day, saying it would be a departure from past practice. In its
own testimony at the hearing, the USDA struck back at GAO, saying the draft
version of the report “contain(ed) many factual errors.” “GAO’s draft report
suffers from many inaccuracies, including erroneous assumptions, faulty
information, and uncited references,” said Mark Rey, USDA under secretary
for natural resources and the environment. “Moreover, we believe that GAO
missed an important opportunity to correctly present CAFO producers as
environmentally responsible citizens--a fact demonstrated by the evidence to
date,” Rey said. Many of the errors cited by USDA were removed from the
report released at the hearing. While GAO final reports normally include the
comments made by other agencies, no reference was made to USDA’s criticism.
Sept. 29, 2008 NCC Newsletter
Poultry Waste Management Symposium Oct. 21-23 in
Iowa - - The 2008 Poultry Waste Management Symposium will be held
October 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa. The symposium was initiated in 1988 and
is held on a biennial basis to communicate the latest technology and
research related to by-products from the production and processing of
poultry. Topics that will be addressed include logistics of mass
depopulation, alternative uses for poultry litter, alternative litter
management practices, and air emissions and odor abatement. Additional
information on the symposium, including an agenda and registration, may be
obtained from Wanda Linker, Alabama Poultry and Egg Association via
telephone at (334) 265-2732 or via e-mail to
wanda@alabamapoultry.org.
A copy of the symposium announcement, which includes the meeting agenda and
registration information, is also available from NCC via e-mail request to
spretanik@chickenusa.org .
Sept. 29, 2008 NCC Newsletter
How California lawmakers voted on the bailout -
- With the Dow closing down a record 777 points on Monday after Congress
thumbed down a $700 billion bailout package for the financial industry, take
a look at how the California delegation -- the nation's largest -- voted.
Overall, the delegation cast 29 aye votes and 24 no votes. A majority of
both Republican (10 to 9) and Democratic lawmakers (19 to 15) from the state
supported the bailout package. The plan failed the full House of
Representatives 228 to 205, with 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats in
opposition. A total of 140 Democrats and 65 Republicans backed the plan.
<more> Sept. 29, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Valley
legislators describe bailout vote drama
- - Rep. George
Radanovich, R-Mariposa, voted against the $700 billion bailout bill before he
voted for it. Radanovich's mid-stream switch was not enough to change the
outcome of the closely watched vote, which more than one House member called
"historic" today. Radanovich's flip, though, did suggest the kind of roiling
political cross-currents that left the San Joaquin Valley congressional
delegation sharply divided. "This is a bill that no one wanted to vote for,"
Radanovich said afterward. "I would have loved to vote against it, but in the
end we couldn't afford not to do something." In ultimately supporting the
failed bailout package, Radanovich joined Democratic Reps. Dennis Cardoza of
Merced and Jim Costa of Fresno. Opposing the bill from the start was Rep.
Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, who said he rejected multiple entreaties from the
White House.
<more> Sept. 29, 2008 Modesto Bee
Oct. 2
wine and cheese tasting benefits CSU ag program - - An Oct. 2 wine and
cheese tasting will benefit the CSU Stanislaus Agricultural Studies program.
“Tastes of the Valley” will be held Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Assyrian
American Civic Club in Turlock from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $35. Silent
auction items are also being sought. Additional information is available
from Mark Bender or Wendy Olmstead at (209) 664-6648. Sept, 5, 2008 CSU
Notice
Friday, Sept. 26, 2008
LA Times Editorial: No on Prop. 2 - - Though
admirable, Proposition 2's ban on tight cages for hens could drive the egg
business out of state. The egg industry is rife with cruelty to animals.
Millions of hens in California are kept in cages so small that every natural
instinct is thwarted: They cannot perch, walk or spread their wings. On some
farms, cages are stacked and hens on the bottom live in waste. All
creatures, even those bred to provide food, deserve to be treated humanely.
That's the appeal of Proposition 2. It would require farmers to give
chickens, pigs and veal calves room to turn around, walk or, in the case of
chickens, stretch their wings. Over six years it phases out gestation crates
for pigs -- contraptions that do not allow sows to stand -- and crates for
veal calves. But California's pork industry is fairly small and the veal
industry even smaller, so in practical terms, this ballot measure is really
about the state's $337-million chicken business.
<more> Sept. 26, 2008 LA Times
Bakersfield Californian Editorial: Vote NO on
Proposition 2 - - Few can argue that animals, including farm animals
raised to be eaten or to produce our food, should be treated humanely. Some
companies, such as Ben and Jerry's, have said they will use only cage-free
eggs. Proposition 2 would prohibit egg-laying hens from being held in small
cages. But Proposition 2 on the Nov. 4 ballot threatens to decimate an
entire industry and substantially add to consumers' sticker shock at the
grocery checkout counter.
<more> Sept. 23, 2008 The Bakersfield Californian
Modesto, Turlock Chamber of commerce, Workforce
Alliance Oppose Prop. 2 - - The Modesto Chamber of Commerce, The Turlock
Chamber of Commerce and The Stanislaus Economic Development and Workforce
Alliance have announced their opposition to Proposition 2 – the “UN-SAFE”
food initiative. Proposition 2, which bans almost all modern egg production
in California, would have dangerous and expensive consequences for
California and to the $2.4 billion industry in Stanislaus County.
Proposition 2 jeopardizes the viability of egg producers. Cleverly, but
dangerously worded, the initiative would ultimately force farmers to abandon
sound, safe, scientific methods of egg production increasing the risk of
disease. Farmers would be required to provide new expensive and unproven
methods of production that would significantly increase the price to
consumers. Farmers would be unable to fairly compete in the marketplace,
forcing many out of business. The measure wipes out Californians’ access to
locally grown eggs, creates a dependency on eggs shipped from other states
and Mexico and will eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars of annual
economic activity in California. Sept. 26, 2008 Chamber of Commerce
Press Release
Good Egg breakfast Oct. 9 in Modesto - - The
annual Good Egg breakfast, sponsored in part by the California Poultry
federation, will be held Oct. 9 in Modesto at the Doubletree hotel. The
event begins at 7 a.m. and will feature California Farm Bureau federation
Administrator Rich Matteis, the former leader of the Pacific Egg and Poultry
Association. Tickets are $20 and are available by contacting the CPF at
209-576-6355. Other sponsors include the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, PEPS
and the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. Sept. 26, 2008
Valley air labeled healthy for dust, soot - - The San
Joaquin Valley's air is now classified as healthy under the federal standard
for dust and soot, the dangerous, tiny specks that can trigger lung
problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made the landmark
announcement Thursday following two years of protests from environmentalists
who say officials have simply ignored many violations. Environmentalists
sued the EPA in March after the agency waived several violations because of
high-wind conditions in the Valley. Arguments are supposed to be heard in
the 9th U.S. Circuit Court in February. Local air officials say the Valley
-- 25,000 square miles from Stockton to Bakersfield -- has not violated the
so-called PM-10 standard since 2003. It is the first completed cleanup of a
major pollutant here since the 1990s.
<more> Sept. 26, 2008 Fresno Bee
New USDA food safety undersecretary named - - USDA Secretary Ed Schafer says he welcomes the President's intention to designate Elizabeth (Beth) Johnson as Acting Under Secretary of Food Safety. The designation is pending the October 1 retirement from federal service of Dr. Richard A. Raymond, MD, who has been responsible for overseeing the policies and programs of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), since July 2005. "Beth Johnson steps up to the challenge, highly regarded for her commitment and my confidence in her ability to marshal the resources of dedicated people and considerable scientific research for inspection and food safety," said Schafer. Johnson has most recently served as Chief Assistant to Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner and Deputy Chief of Staff since May 2005. A registered dietitian, Beth Johnson joined USDA in 2002, having served more than a decade advising government and the private sector on the subjects of nutrition, farm credit and livestock. Her previous government experience includes positions at the Food and Drug Administration as a nutritionist for the food labeling division and as a research dietitian at the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Sept. 26, 2008 USDA Press Release
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008
Judge bars board
from spending egg money. ‘Educational’ funds can’t be spent on Prop 2
campaign - - A federal judge has ordered the American Egg Board not to
spend any of the $3 million in industry check-off funds it had set aside for
a "buy local" educational campaign in California and elsewhere, a move that
indirectly dents the "no" on Proposition 2 campaign's effort. U.S. District
Judge Marilyn Hall Patel issued an injunction against the board and the USDA
Monday, Sept. 22, barring them from using the funds, which the Egg Board and
the USDA said were for "educational" purposes. The board can spend as much
as it wants after the Nov. 4 election, Patel said.
<more> Sept. 25, 2008 Capital Press
Capital Press
editorial: Humane Society 'swiftboats' UC - - When the science isn't on
your side, sue - this may as well be the motto of the Humane Society of the
United States. In one of the more inexplicable moves in Proposition 2's
already litigious and expensive campaign over how farmers can confine their
laying hens, the organization is suing the University of California because
it doesn't like the results of a study conducted by the university's
Agricultural Issues Center. That study shows that passage of Proposition 2
would likely result in catastrophic losses for the California egg industry.
That's the economics, pure and simple. But the Humane Society doesn't like
that, so it has filed a lawsuit against the university charging that this
report is somehow politically motivated and that university officials are
stonewalling them in their request for documents surrounding the study; the
Humane Society claims it was paid for by the egg industry. University
officials say the research was paid for by the university, not an outside
source, but the Humane Society disagrees.
<more> Sept. 25, 2008 Capital Press
HSUS’s
Pacelle to appear on DeGeneres show Friday- - Humane Society of the US
President Wayne Pacelle is scheduled to be a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres
Show this Friday, Sept 26. He is expected to discuss California Prop. 2.
Check your local listings for show times and channels. Sept. 25, 2008
Pilgrim's Pride to report 4Q loss on cost pressure - - Chicken producer
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. said Thursday, Sept. 25, it expects to report a
"significant loss" in its fiscal fourth quarter and will not be in
compliance with one of its debt covenants. The announcement comes after
shares dropped 38 percent Wednesday in heavy trading. Trading was halted
pending Thursday morning's announcement. The company said the big quarterly
loss stems from high costs for animal feed, which is made with corn and
soybeans. The price of both grains have jumped to record levels in the past
year. Although most companies try to recoup costs through higher retail
prices, Pilgrim's Pride has not been able to do so due to weak demand for
breast meat and an oversupply of meat on the market.
<more> Sept. 25, 2008 AP
Report: Arkansas chicken manure may threaten human health - - A
government report says chicken manure from poultry raised in two counties on
the Oklahoma-Arkansas border may be threatening human health. The report by
the U.S. Government Accountability Office says nearly 14.3 million chickens
in the two northwest Arkansas counties produce 471,000 tons of manure per
year. The document does not name the two counties. It does say the manure
may threaten human health and the environment and that water in northwest
Arkansas and northeastern Oklahoma may be impaired. The issue of
chicken-farm pollution is the subject of a 2005 lawsuit filed by state
Attorney General Drew Edmondson against several poultry companies. Sept.
25, 2008 AP
NTF
testifies on advances in turkey health and wellbeing - – A National
Turkey Federation official today told a House subcommittee that advances in
turkey production techniques have allowed the industry to produce a larger
supply of safe wholesome products at a lower cost to consumers. “Maintaining
the health and well being of the turkey flocks is paramount,” Dr. Michael
Rybolt, NTF director of scientific and regulatory affairs, said in testimony
before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry.
“The industry accomplishes this through a variety of means, including
raising the birds in environmentally controlled houses, increased
biosecurity on farms, various animal health monitoring programs, the use of
vaccination programs, and using approved animal drugs.” Rybolt told the
subcommittee members that advances in turkey production in the last 30 years
has been driven by science and have resulted in clear improvements in
efficiency. In 2007, more than 260 million turkeys were raised with an
average liveweight per bird of 28 pounds with nearly 6 billion pounds of
turkey processed. By contrast, in 1970, only 105 million birds were raised
with an average liveweight of 17 pounds and 1.5 billion pounds processed.
Rybolt explained that one of the most significant advances in the turkey
industry has been the use of environmentally controlled houses. Research
has shown that raising turkeys indoors also creates a less stressful
environment for the birds leading to better production. He also told the
agriculture committee that biosecurity practices, such as limiting access to
only authorized personnel and ensuring proper sanitation, have helped to
diminish the exposure of flocks to potential disease. Sept. 25, 2008 NTF
Press Release
USDA
to host Oct. 14 public meeting on animal-raising claims - - FSIS and
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will host a public meeting on
October 14 to discuss and review its policies on the use of animal-raising
claims in the labeling of meat and poultry products. FSIS evaluates
animal-raising claims by considering information on animal production
practices submitted by companies as part of their label approval requests.
However, recent events concerning labeling claims related to the use of
antibiotics in the raising of poultry have led the agency to question its
ability to verify that labels of meat and poultry products that contain
animal raising claims are truthful and not misleading.
<more> Sept. 25, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Schwarzenegger outlaws text-messaging while driving - - California
drivers chafing at the ban on holding cell phones can soon forget about
texting, too: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has banned motorists from sending,
writing or reading messages on electronic devices starting Jan. 1.
Schwarzenegger signed legislation Wednesday that imposes a $20 fine for a
first offense of texting while driving and a $50 fine for any subsequent
violation. Schwarzenegger said in a statement that he was "happy to sign"
the prohibition against text-messaging, which surveys show is widespread
among drivers.
<more> Sept. 25, 2008 LA Times
USPOULTRY launches new Poultry & Egg Institute website - - The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association’s Poultry & Egg Institute has launched its new website, www.poultryegginstitute.org.The website will be used to promote and house a growing collection of training and education programs, said the association. Accessing the site will provide a schedule and registration information on seminars, along with current and past issues of People Matters, the institute’s electronic newsletter covering human resources, safety and risk management concerns in the poultry and egg industry. “Our new website, specifically dedicated to the Poultry & Egg Institute, is one more effort to better serve our members and the industry,” explained Paul Pressley, vice president of the institute. “It will make access to our education and training programs fast and easy,” he said. Sept. 25, 208 WattPoultry.com
Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008
SF Chronicle Editorial: Why Proposition 2 is a
bad idea - - For those of us who don't make a living in agriculture,
there is something emotionally appealing about Proposition 2's attempt to
instill more humane farm practices in California. The measure, promoted by
the national Humane Society, would prohibit the confinement of a farm animal
for a majority of the day in a way that prevented it from "lying down,
standing up and fully extending his or her limbs" and "turning around
freely." There is no question about the main target of the measure. It is
the poultry industry and its practice of stacking egg-laying hens in cramped
cages. The measure also would apply to pigs and cows, but livestock
practices that would violate Proposition 2 are far less common in the
state. Supporters of Proposition 2 would like to cast it as a battle between
the good guys battling farm cruelty and the bad guys defending agribusiness
profit. The reality, however, is significantly more complicated.
<more> Sept. 24, 2008 SF Chronicle
Orange County Register Editorial: Prop. 2 A well-intentioned pig in a poke - - California
voters will be asked Nov. 4 to vote on an emotionally charged initiative
that promises to relieve suffering in the state's factory farms by mandating
that veal calves, breeding pigs and egg-laying hens be confined in cages
that are large enough so that they can stretch their paws and move around a
bit. It's hard not to sympathize with the intent here, given most people's
concern about animal cruelty, but Proposition 2 would have a number of
unforeseen consequences. And there is a better approach to promoting better
conditions for farm animals.
<more> Sept. 24, 2008 Orange County Register
California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce opposes
Prop. 2 - - The California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (CHCC) has
announced its opposition to Prop. 2 and has joined Californians for SAFE
Food in the fight to stop the dangerous and costly Prop. 2 ballot
initiative, ‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals. Initiative Statute.’ CHCC
joins a growing list of leading Latino organizations opposed to Prop. 2, the
UN-SAFE Food Initiative, including the Mexican American Political
Association and the National Latino Congreso who have also come out in
opposition to Prop. 2 citing the many negative consequences Prop. 2 poses
for California consumers and working families. “California's economy is
suffering from housing foreclosures, financial uncertainty and job losses in
core industries. Latino businesses and their workers have always prospered
when our community has access to capital and thrives when there are ample
available employment opportunities. Proponents of Proposition 2 have failed
to meet the test of what is in the best interest of the Latino business and
working community,” said Joel Ayala, President & CEO of the California
Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.
<more>
Sept. 24, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
Food-to-fuel policies have little impact on gasoline prices - - National
Turkey Federation’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications Sherrie
Rosenblatt has provided additional information in response to a question
posed at last week’s annual CPF conference. Because ethanol displaces a
small fraction of the US gasoline supply and a tiny fraction of global crude
supplies, changes to food-to-fuel mandates and subsidies would have little
or no impact on gasoline prices. Overall, ethanol production in 2007
displaced less than 4 percent of the nation's gasoline supplies in 2007,
when relative energy values are considered. In fact, one study found that
the ethanol tax credit and the ethanol mandate will increase gasoline
consumption by more than 600 million gallons by 2015. Sept. 24, 2008
Report: More factory farming but oversight lags
- - Some huge livestock farms produce more raw waste than cities as
large as Philadelphia or Houston. But federal regulators are failing to
control pollution from the gigantic operations or assess health risks from
the enormous quantities of manure they produce, according to congressional
investigators. The Government Accountability Office report was being
released Wednesday to a House committee hearing on federal oversight of
factory farms. The conclusions fueled concerns about a proposed
Environmental Protection Agency rule change that would eliminate one of the
few federal oversight mechanisms over air and water pollution from big
farms.
<more> Sept. 24, 2008 AP
Nobel Prize winner speaks of biofuels' potential
- - The director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory says
ethanol is a transition step in the development of biofuels. Nobel Prize
winner Steve Chu told officials of state agriculture departments Tuesday
that researchers are seeking to use waste materials or grasses to make their
own gasoline or diesel-type fuel, rather than to make ethanol. "I think you
have to go to this generation of biofuels so that it is not seen as a direct
competition with food," Chu said. "Its energy inputs are far less than
growing corn, which is a very heavy energy-intensive crop due to the
fertilizer, all the tillage, everything else."
<more> Sept. 24, 2008 AP
Feds investigate bribes, price-fixing in California - - Federal investigators say food broker Randall Rahal liked to use a simple little test to see whether he could bribe purchasing agents at the country's biggest food companies to buy from the tomato processor he represented. Rahal would drop a $100 bill and then pick it up and ask the potential bribe recipient: "Is it yours?" If the agent said yes, Rahal knew they were open to a "business offer," he would boast, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit filed last month in Sacramento federal court as part of a bribery and fraud inquiry that also involves Rahal's client, tomato processor SK Foods of Lemoore, Calif. That investigation was launched in August 2005 and has since expanded into a price-fixing probe of tomatoes, 95 percent of which are processed in California. <more> Sept. 24, 2008 AP
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008
Bakersfield Californian Editorial: Vote NO on
Proposition 2 - - Few can argue that animals, including farm animals
raised to be eaten or to produce our food, should be treated humanely. But
Proposition 2 on the Nov. 4 ballot threatens to decimate an entire industry
and substantially add to consumers' sticker shock at the grocery checkout
counter. If voters pass Prop. 2, it will no longer be practical to house
laying hens in cages. Egg production will be either cage-free or free-range.
<more> Sept. 23, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
No on Prop. 2 strategist tells CPF conference
election “is up for grabs’ - - The chief strategist for the No on Prop.
2 campaign told the California Poultry Federation annual conference Thursday
that the latest polls have shown a considerable tightening of the race, with
proponents holding a 55% to 45% lead, a considerable shrinking of what was a
40 point lead in July. Mitch Head said the campaign is “absolutely up for
grabs. A lot of people have not made up their minds and once they study this
issue, they’ll come out on our side.” The No campaign has done a good job of
getting across its message that Prop. 2 is “a- very radical, unnecessary
and unsafe proposition that takes away thousands of jobs, could raise
California produced egg prices by 200 to 300% and make eggs more unsafe than
they have ever been.”
Click
here to listen to the full interview with Mitch Head. Sept. 22, 2008
Annual conference photos can be viewed by
clicking here
Farm Groups Worried About Meat Labeling Law -
- Farm groups are protesting the Agriculture Department's use of a new food
labeling law, saying it has loopholes that could confuse consumers about
where their meat comes from. National Farmers Union President Tom Buis and
other farm groups said last week the department has written the law _ which
passed with widespread support in the federal farm bill earlier this year _
in a way that will allow meatpackers to avoid labeling packages of meat as
exclusively U.S. products. The law is scheduled to take effect at the end of
the month. At issue are the new country of origin labels on fresh meats, an
issue long debated by Congress. The labels are favored by High Plains
ranchers who own small operations and compete with Canadian beef. The
leading opponents have been grocery stores and large meatpacking companies _
many of whom mix U.S. and Mexican beef _ and other businesses involved in
getting products to supermarkets.
<more> Sept. 23, 2008 AP
Schwarzenegger signs record-late state budget -
- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a $103.4 billion general-fund spending
plan Tuesday in his office with little fanfare, officially ending the
state's longest-ever budget delay at 85 days. The Republican governor vetoed
$510 million in line-item expenditures. Schwarzenegger's signature ensures
the state will begin paying nursing homes, community colleges and state
vendors for services. It remains unclear when the state will begin rehiring
the 10,000 temporary and part-time workers Schwarzenegger terminated July
31. "While California is certain to face a difficult budget situation again
next year, this budget does not take money out of people's paychecks or
borrow from voter-approved local government or transportation funds, and it
includes real budget reform with teeth," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
<more> Sept. 23, 2008 Sacramento Bee
State water system and delta on tap at state ag
board meeting Wednesday - - The California State Board of Food and
Agriculture – as part of its statewide listening sessions in developing its
“Ag Vision 2030” report – will hear from two major water experts at its
Wednesday, Sept. 24 meeting in Sacramento. Ag Vision 2030 will lay out
significant resource management goals for the next 20 years. The board will
host Phil Isenberg, Chair of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, along
with the authors of the Pacific Institute's study More with Less:
Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California . The meeting
will be held from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, 1220 N Street, Sacramento. "California's water future depends
on policy action," said Al Montna, President of the California State Board
of Food and Agriculture. "As stewards of California ’s food supply, we have
the knowledge and experience to help guide that policy into action."
<more> Sept. 23, 2008 CDFA Press Release
FDA Proposes Rule for Refused Imports - - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a proposed rule to reduce the practice called "port shopping," or trying to gain entry at different ports when a potential import has already been rejected. The FDA. requires such foods must be exported or destroyed.The proposed rule would require shipping containers of food barred from entry and accompanying documents to be labeled as refused to make it easier to detect food previous refused, reports MeatPoultry.com. <more> Sept. 23, 2008 USagnet.com
Monday, Sept. 22, 2008
CPF honors outstanding industry members at annual conference - - The California Poultry Federation honored outstanding members of the state’s poultry industry last week at its annual conference held at The Resort at Squaw Creek.
The CPF’s top honor went to Richard and Kathy
Zacky, who received the Golden Rooster Award for their many years
of service and advocacy. Richard served as chairman of the CPF in 2002 and
2003,
and he will begin a new term as chairman in 2010. “During his long tenure on
the CPF board of directors, Richard has raised the level of awareness of
poultry and poultry products among legislators, consumers and business
associates,” said CPF Chairman Bob Shipley. “Supporting him, and working
right along side at various events, fund-raisers and activities has been his
bright and energetic wife, Kathy. Together they have worked tirelessly to
serve the many facets of the poultry industry, while giving back to their
community, state and country.”
CPF President Bill Mattos praised the Zackys for hosting the CPF’s annual summer meeting at their Avila Beach home. “The Zackys are a primary reason for the growth and interest in this activity year after year,” said Mattos. “Together they have also spent countless hours in both Sacramento and Washington, DC promoting California’s diverse poultry industry and working to level the playing field for business here in California so that we remain competitive with the rest of the nation.”
GOLDEN ROOSTER AWARD is presented to Richard
and Kathy Zacky by CPF Chairman Bob Shipley (Photo by Cody Penfold)
The Allied Award was presented to Evans
Keller, a sales and marketing specialist to the food industry for
poultry. Keller has served California’s poultry and egg industry as an
allied member since 2002
after
spending almost 30 years working in the poultry industry throughout the
United States. Today, as a consultant for an animal health company, Keller works as a sales and marketing specialist to the food industry for
poultry, covering the nine western states along with researching and
formulating start-up agendas for companies in the Organic, Antibiotic Free
and Natural Foods arena.
CPF Chairman Shipley said, “Evans has assisted in raising the image and the stature of the poultry industry in both allied and industry circles, and he has also attended every lobby day event for members in Sacramento and Washington, DC effectively promoting the industry and working for a better future for poultry and eggs.” Keller served as Chairman of the CPF in 1993 and has been a member of the board of directors since 1991.
ALLIED AWARD was presented to Evans Keller by CPF Chairman Bob Shipley (Photo by Cody Penfold)
The Pioneer Award was presented to the Diestel
Family, owners of Diestel Family Turkey Ranch in Sonora. Their turkey was
recently named the best tasting range fed turkey by the San Francisco
Chronicle. “This family has always been known for its locally grown, fresh
and natural and range fed birds that sell throughout the west,” noted
Mattos. In the early
1920s
Ernest Bottini, great uncle of Tim Diestel (today’s owner) started what has
become the family tradition of raising premium quality range grown turkeys
on his 400 acre ranch in the Sierra foothills. Ernest took special care
growing each turkey and built a successful trade with many of the famous
landmark San Francisco restaurants, to whom he delivered old fashioned New
York dressed turkeys on his own truck. “They believe that their family
secrets of range growing with extra time, individual care, and a wholesome
diet and environment consistently produce a better, tender and juicy turkey
that has real old fashioned turkey flavor,” explained Shipley.
PIONEER AWARD was presented by CPF Chairman Bob Shipley to Diestel family members Joan, Jason and Tim. (Photo by Cody Penfold)
No on Prop. 2 strategist tells CPF conference
election “is up for grabs’ - - The chief strategist for the No on Prop.
2 campaign told the California Poultry Federation annual conference Thursday
that the latest polls have shown a considerable tightening of the race, with
proponents holding a 55% to 45% lead, a considerable shrinking of what was a
40 point lead in July. Mitch Head said the campaign is “absolutely up for
grabs. A lot of people have not made up their minds and once they study this
issue, they’ll come out on our side.” The No campaign has done a good job of
getting across its message that Prop. 2 is “a- very radical, unnecessary
and unsafe proposition that takes away thousands of jobs, could raise
California produced egg prices by 200 to 300% and make eggs more unsafe than
they have ever been.”
Click
here to listen to the full interview with Mitch Head. Sept. 22, 2008
Annual conference photos can be viewed by
clicking here
American Veterinarian Assn weighs in on
California livestock housing referendum - - An upcoming California
referendum on mandatory changes to livestock confinement practices has the
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) concerned the proposal could
compromise animal welfare by requiring producers to adopt systems that don't
account for all aspects of humane treatment. Although reluctant to involve
the AVMA in state politics, preferring instead to address veterinary and
animal-related issues at the national level, Association leaders believe the
referendum, sponsored by national organizations such as the Humane Society
of the United States, warranted a response because it is part of a larger,
state-by-state campaign targeting food animal production. The referendum,
known as the Standards for Confining Farm Animals, or Proposition 2, has
roiled the nation's largest state veterinary association. The California
VMA's support for Proposition 2 caused small numbers of CVMA
members—including the chair of the CVMA agriculture committee—and
unaffiliated large animal veterinarians to form an organization opposed to
the proposal. This new group, the Association of California Veterinarians,
intends on speaking for veterinarians on matters pertaining to California's
animal agriculture industry.
<more> Sept. 20, 2008 AMVA News
Prop. 2 debated at Bakersfield Californian
editorial board meeting - - Should egg-producers be required to
give hens enough room to stand up, spread their wings and turn around? Those
on either side of the issue appeared before The Californian editorial board
Tuesday to argue their positions. Proposition 2, backed by the Humane
Society of the United States and other leading animal welfare groups, would
require that certain caged farm animals be given enough room to stand up,
lie down, extend their limbs and turn around. The measure specifically
applies to veal calves, pregnant pigs and egg-laying hens, though in
California it mainly affects egg production since there are virtually no
veal or pig farms here. “These are cruel confinement systems that cause
significant animal suffering and we can do better,” said Jennifer Fearing, a
chief economist for the Humane Society. Fearing said that egg-laying hens
are housed in cages where each bird has space no larger than an 8 1/2 x
11-inch sheet of paper. With so little room, the animals can’t engage in
natural activities. “Mobility is a basic need of animals and they suffer if
they don't get that,” said Jennifer McDougle, a veterinarian for
Bakersfield’s Southwest Veterinary Hospital, who supports Prop 2.
<more> Sept. 17, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Proposition 2 anti-agriculture, would be harmful
to California - - On Nov. 4, California voters will consider Proposition
2, “Standards for Confining Farm Animals.” Specifically the proposal
requires that certain farm animals be allowed (for the majority of every
day) to fully extend their limbs and wings, lie down, stand up, and turn
around. Voter approval of this ballot initiative could lead to the rapid
demise of California’s egg industry. According to the 2007 California
Agricultural Resource Directory, 10 million layers produced 4.9 billion eggs
which added $212 million to California’s economy. Results from a University
of California-funded study conducted by the University of California
Agricultural Issues Center explored the potential economic effects on
California egg farmers and consumers if Proposition 2 passes. The study
found that the state’s egg industry would be severely hobbled. Costs of
production would rise and more eggs shipped in from other states, which
would not be required to meet the regulations set for California production.
<more> Sept. 21, 2008 Western Farm Press
FDA issues draft guidance on regulating
genetically engineered animals - - The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, as
released for public comment draft guidance on the regulation of genetically
engineered (GE) animals. The guidance document is intended to clarify the
FDA's regulatory authority in this field, as well as the requirements and
recommendations for producers of GE animals and products derived from GE
animals. The comment period for the draft guidance, titled "The Regulation
of Genetically Engineered Animals Containing Heritable rDNA Constructs,"
runs for 60 days and closes Nov. 18, 2008. The 25-page document is available
online at
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/GEAnimals.htm
<more> Sept. 20, 2008 FDA Press Release
Fresno Chick-fil-A opens. Eager fans camp out at
the former Krispy Kreme building - - Chick-fil-A restaurant has a
die-hard following in many parts of the country, but in Fresno, many are
still learning to pronounce the name. The restaurant -- pronounced "Chick-fillay"
-- opened early this morning at the corner of Blackstone and Nees avenues in
Fresno. Despite the 1,402 franchises in 37 states and Washington, D.C., and
a Chick-fil-A inside the University Student Union at California State
University, Fresno, that opened last year, it's a relative unknown in the
central San Joaquin Valley. The Atlanta-based company is known for its
boneless chicken breast sandwich, a closed-on-Sunday policy, an openly
Christian founder and ads involving cows encouraging people to "Eat Mor
Chikin."
<more> Sept. 20, 2008 Fresno Bee
Tyson announces expansion in Brazil - - Tyson Foods Inc. says it's bought two poultry companies and has acquired majority ownership in a third in southern Brazil, home to many major producers of corn and soybeans. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Springdale, Ark.-based meat producer announced Thursday, Sept. 18, its agreements with the companies. Tyson says it will buy Macedo Agroindustrial and Avicola Itaiopolis, both in the state of Santa Catarina. Tyson says it has acquired a 70 percent ownership of Frangobras, located in the state of Parana. Tyson's international president, Rick Greubel, says the company is expanding into Brazil because the country is the world's leading chicken exporter and third largest chicken producer behind the United States and China. <more> Sept. 20,2008 AP
Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008
Chicken initiative debate draws 200. Humane
Society, poultry group face off over cage issue - - Humane Society of
the United States president Wayne Pacelle and his colleague, the Rev.
Michael Bruner, knew what they were getting into, walking into a debate on
Proposition 2 situated in the heart of California's chicken country. "We are
the proverbial Daniels in the lion's den," Bruner said. The crowd of more
than 200 who jammed the fellowship hall at the United Methodist Church may
not have been swayed by Pacelle and Bruner, but neither did they eat them
alive. Proposition 2 would ban California egg ranchers from using the system
of battery cages employed by most of the nation's egg producers; it is
uncertain whether they would even be allowed to use the more-expensive
European aviary system. That leaves cage-free egg production, which is only
about 10 percent of the state's egg market. A University of California-Davis
study this year suggested that the state's egg industry would collapse if
Proposition 2 passes - as appears likely, according to the most recent
polling. Pacelle and Bruner said battery cages, which house a half-dozen
chickens each, are inherently cruel and said if an industry that supports
that cruelty suffers what he called a "correction," so be it. "There are no
guarantees in the future on anything," Pacelle said. "I simply think that
animal welfare as a concern is not going to diminish." The forum, sponsored
by the church, lasted about two hours, and arguments on either side ranged
from the emotional to the economic.
<more> Sept. 16, 2008 Capital Press
'Magic' blue-footed chicken makes the grade. Bob
Shipley expands production of poultry sought after by chefs - - The
first thing you notice about the chickens is that they look a little small
for your typical leghorn. Then you see the feet: They're a steely blue, the
color of an Air Force uniform or the Pacific Ocean in winter. These are
poulet bleu, the blue-footed chickens of Stanislaus County, and they're the
next best thing to the gold standard of chickendom, the famed poulet de
Bresse of France. Without Modesto's Bob Shipley, they wouldn't exist.
Shipley didn't breed these chickens - Canadian poultryman Pete Thiessen did.
It took him 15 years. Avian flu wiped out Thiessen's flock in 2004, leaving
Shipley with the last remaining 600 birds. Shipley is the head of the Squab
Producers of California, a cooperative that is the largest processor of
squab in the world. The co-op has a top-flight processing facility in
Modesto, and ships squab all over the country to white-linen restaurants and
the Asian market. But raising pigeons is a laborious and time-consuming
business and increasing production takes time. That means their expensive
processing plant was underused. The co-op solved that problem by processing
other birds for the gourmet market: quail, chukars, unusual varieties of
chickens, French baby poussin-style chickens - even pheasants.
<more> Sept. 16, 2008 Capital Press
Schwarzenegger says he will veto Calif. Budget
- - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday rejected the budget passed
hours earlier by the Legislature, pledging to veto it for failing to meet
his reform demands and solve California's persistent fiscal problems. If
Schwarzenegger follows through on his threat, it would mark the first time
in modern history that a California governor would veto a state spending
plan. It set in motion a historic showdown with the Democratically
controlled Legislature, which has said it is prepared to override the
pending veto. Schwarzenegger's announcement, with a veto coming as soon as
Wednesday, came after a record-long stalemate that forced the state to delay
billions of dollars in payments to schools, medical clinics, daycare centers
and state vendors. Lawmakers finally cobbled together a patchwork spending
plan on the 78th day after the start of the fiscal year, passing a $143
billion budget shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday. He called the budget
irresponsible and said the reforms it contained were phony.<more>
Sept. 16, 2008 Fresno Bee
Tighter regulations on chicken manure heat up
Maryland power plant debate - - Tighter regulations and mounting
pressure to meet state environmental deadlines could convince Maryland's
poultry industry to re-consider alternative uses for chicken manure, heating
up the debate over building a poultry litter to fuel plant on the Eastern
Shore. Such a plant would be beneficial for energy production, but might
have a negative impact on Eastern Shore crop farmers who depend on chicken
manure as fertilizer. Last week, the Maryland Department of the Environment
tightened regulations on the open storage of chicken manure in an effort to
reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. Environmentalists have long been
concerned about the hazardous effects run-off from manure has on the bay.
Farmers argue they have been unfairly blamed for pollution in the bay and
believe increased development has had a larger impact. Fertilizer from
chicken manure is essential to their survival, they argue.
<more> Sept. 16, 2008 Maryland Daily Record
Wide range of speakers to address CPF convention - - A full lineup of speakers is on tap for the CPF's annual conference which kicks off Thursday Sept. 18 at Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe. Speakers include:
Veteran political journalist Greg Lucas will offer his insights and
perspective on the California political scene when he speaks Thursday, Sept.
18 at the CPF’s annual conference at
Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe.
He has been a California political writer and satirist for more than 20
years. He’s leveled his bipartisan wit and humor at Republicans and
Democrats – and, not infrequently, himself. Now a freelance writer, he is
also the force behind www.californiascapitol.com, a often humorous, occasionally
insightful blog on California politics. During 19 years covering the state
Capitol for the San Francisco Chronicle, Greg wrote nearly 3,000 articles on
everything from presidential politics to the introduction of prune burgers
in school cafeterias. Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein said of Lucas upon
his departure last summer, ”Over the better part of the next two decades his
name was one of the most respected and feared in Sacramento, because Greg
made it his business to be the best-sourced reporter in the business.”
Mitch Head, Senior Campaign Advisor for the Californians for SAFE Food-
No on Prop. 2 campaign. He is
managing director of the international public relations firm of GolinHarris
where he helps clients worldwide manage activism issues. Mitch has 30 years
of experience on issues management at the local, state and federal levels.
He has worked on environmental, animal welfare, international trade, and
agricultural issues. He has a broad background with extensive experience in
issues management, public affairs, international public relations, crisis
communications, trade association management and public relations agency
management. He has worked for clients such as Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, Dow,
U.S. peanut farmers, Australian sheep farmers, National Cattlemen.
Marilyn Dompe, Dompe
& Associates, will discuss the latest food trends. She has
extensive experience in consumer and business-to-business marketing, public
relations, event planning and
issues management. As an
independent contractor since 1989, she has handled consumer and
foodservice PR efforts for a number of commodity boards and association
including the Mushroom Council, California Tree Fruit Agreement,
Sweet Potato Council,
California Sheep Commission, California Grown Campaign, California
Poultry Federation, as well as brands such as DiMare Company, Mann Packing,
Maple Leaf Farms,
Gold River Farms and R.
Torre/Torani, Inc.
George Watts, president of the
National Chicken Council, who will discuss national politics and regulatory
issues
National Turkey Federation Vice President Sherrie Rosenblatt, who
will update members on the Food to Fuel Coalition.
Entertainer Jay Alexander will perform at the Thursday evening banquet. A master magician and comic, Jay Alexander is one of the top corporate and society entertainers in the country. He has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, MTV, and is a favorite on many local morning shows. Star of the award winning CD “Learn the Art of Magic,” Jay Alexander creates customized shows for Fortune 500 companies and is a consultant and co-author of many magic books, including The Coin Magic Book by Klutz Press. Jay Alexander’ magic show is a high-energy, comedy magic show that is regularly requested at society and corporate functions across the nation. Jay creates magic with the audience, including the revelation of the words, names, and dates merely thought of by the audience. As “the Human Lie Detector,” Jay Alexander offers $1,000 to any audience member who can lie to him without getting caught.
The CPF's
annual conference is set for Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; International Paper; SnackMasters Jerky ,
*Gold Club*: Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.; Alltech Inc.; Baker Commodities Inc.; Billington Welding & Mfg. Inc; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation; Cumberland; Darling International; Evonik Degussa; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Pactiv Corporation; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Archer Daniels Midland (ADM); Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; BJK Flexible Packaging; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Haley Farms Inc.; Hired Hand; Hubbard , LLC; J.S. West; Jones-Hamilton Co. PLT/PWT/SAS; Label Technology, Inc.; Lehar Sales Co.; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; Preserve International; Stork Food Systems; Temple-Inland; Tipper Tie Inc.; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Volk Enterprises; Walco International; Woodland Farms.
To learn more about the CPF conference,
please click here
Headline News on hiatus- - CPF's Headline News will take a brief break for the next few days as CPF staff travel to Lake Tahoe for the annual conference. Publication will resume Monday, Sept. 22.
Monday, Sept. 15, 2008
Food labels hide as much as they show - -
by CPF President Bill Mattos, and Amanda Louden, nutritional educator,
National Association of Nutrition Professionals - - We are told never
to judge a book by its cover. Unfortunately, when it comes to shopping for
affordable and healthy food – often with little time to spare – that is
virtually all we are left with. It is a trend that many food producers have
tapped into. Take a stroll down any supermarket aisle and you are
immediately bombarded with nutrition information – not merely on the
standardized "Nutrition Facts" panel on the back of most packaging, but also
in bold graphics that leap off the shelves and grab the attention of even
the most passive shoppers. There is no question that this marketing tactic
has helped empower consumers make more informed decisions about the food
they purchase. But in a time of increasing food prices and a strengthened
focus on healthy diets, we are afraid that some food producers could be
engaging in a "race to the bottom" by stretching the truth about food
ingredients and misleading consumers.
<more> Sept. 15, 2008 Sacramento Bee Op-Ed
California State Fire Fighters Association opposes Prop.
2 - - The California State Firefighters’ Association (CSFA) has
announced its opposition to Prop. 2, ‘Standards for Confining Farm
Animals. Initiative Statute’ because of the many negative public health
implications inherent in the measure, and has joined Californians for SAFE
Food in the fight to stop the dangerous and costly Prop. 2 ballot
initiative. “Proposition 2 will jeopardize food safety and public health by
increasing the public’s exposure to dangerous Salmonella contamination and
deadly Bird Flu, which is unacceptable to the California State Firefighters’
Association,” said Kevin Nida, President, California State Firefighters’
Association. “The CSFA represents the state’s first responders and strongly
opposes any measure that puts the public at risk – Prop. 2 clearly falls
into that category.”
<more>
Sept. 13, 2008 Non on Prop. 2 campaign
Ag groups renew call for CRP flexibility as USDA
reports significant harvest shortfall - - USDA’s World Agriculture
Supply and Demand Estimates report released recently confirms what the
Alliance for Agricultural Growth and Competitiveness (AAGC) has been saying
for months—this fall’s harvest will have a significant shortfall. The
2008/2009 corn and soybean harvest will fall below “normal” crop
expectations and fail to meet market needs, said the report. Specifically,
the USDA report indicates that supply of corn and soybeans is even more
precarious than originally thought. “U.S. farmers in the coming year will
need to bring at least five million more acres into production in order to
meet growing demand for grains and oilseeds,” said Bill Roenigk, National
Chicken Council senior vice president and AAGC chairman.
<more> Sept. 15, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Documentary plays chicken with the poultry
industry - - “You're drinking it.” That's the provocative movie poster
tagline superimposed over the back-end of a chicken for "Shall We Gather at
the River," a film documentary directed by Don McCorkell, a former state
legislator from Tulsa. Screenings of his film are set for 6 and 8:15 p.m.
Thursday at the Circle Cinema, with McCorkell introducing the documentary
and state Attorney General Drew Edmondson speaking at 7:30 p.m. between
showings.
<more> Sept. 15, 2008 Tulsa World
Legislative leaders strike compromise budget deal - -
Legislative leaders said Sunday they have a compromise deal on an
11-week-late state budget that calls for no tax increases, no borrowing from
local governments or other state special funds – and which makes no one
happy. Emerging from a weekend meeting in the office of Senate GOP leader
Dave Cogdill of Modesto, the quartet declined to give specific details of
their compromise plan, saying they wanted to talk to their respective
caucuses first. But they did say the plan closes part of the $15.2 billion
gap in the $103.4 billion budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 with
$9 billion in spending cuts. The rest of the gap will be patched through
closing tax loopholes and "accelerated revenue collections," an accounting
term for collecting some one-time revenue in this fiscal year rather than
the next.
<more> Sept. 15, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Plan offered for policing Maryland farm waste - - Maryland moved a step closer yesterday to policing pollution from the Eastern Shore's poultry industry, proposing to subject about 200 of the state's largest chicken farmers to scrutiny - and potential fines - for how they store and use the mountains of manure their birds produce. State officials say the rules, if given final approval, would govern handling of about 50 percent of the manure produced by Maryland chicken farms. Manure is a major source of Chesapeake Bay pollution, washing off fields where it is spread as fertilizer for crops. More than 270 million chickens are raised annually on about 800 farms, generating an estimated 1 billion pounds of manure. <more> Sept. 13, 2008 Baltimore Sun
Friday, Sept. 12, 2008
USDA
cuts estimates for corn, soybean harvests - - The Agriculture Department
on Friday reduced its forecast for this year's corn and soybean harvests due
to dryer weather in Ohio and other key states, potentially leading to higher
commodity prices. U.S. corn production will be 12.1 billion bushels, down
from its 12.3 billion estimate last month, the USDA said. The soybean crop
is projected to be slightly lower, at 2.93 billion bushels, down from its
earlier estimate of 2.97 billion. While the predicted corn crop will be 8
percent below last year's, it would still be the second largest on record.
The soybean crop would be 13 percent higher than last year's and the fourth
largest ever. That represents a major turnaround from earlier this summer,
when some analysts feared the Midwestern floods in June had devastated the
crops and would make already-expensive agricultural commodities even
pricier.
<more> Sept. 12, 2008 AP
FSIS net
weight rule eliminates wet tare - - The Food Safety and Inspection
Service (FSIS) this week published a final rule that expressly eliminates
wet tare as a suitable compliance method for determining the net weight of
meat and poultry products. This action has essentially ended decades of
inconsistent procedures for net weight compliance verification among local
and state jurisdictions. Although the final rule amends FSIS’s net weight
regulations to reference the most recent version of the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) Handbook 113 that contains standards for
determining the reasonable variations allowed for the declared net weight of
meat and poultry product and the procedures to be used to determine net
weight compliance, the rule does not incorporate by reference those sections
relating to wet tare. FSIS specifically notes in the rule’s preamble that it
considers free-flowing liquid in the immediate package of meat and poultry
products to be part of the product. FSIS also notes that, although state and
county officials have concurrent authority to enforce net weight
requirements for meat and poultry products, “they must do so in a manner
that does not conflict with federal requirements.” FSIS further states that
“to be consistent with this final rule, state and local officials must
determine net weight compliance for meat and poultry products, including
single-ingredient, raw poultry, in a manner that includes the free and
flowing liquids as part of the product and not part of the tare.” The final
rule, which goes into effect October 9, can be found at
by clicking here. Sept. 12, 2008 NCC Newsletter
USDA
to hold public meeting on animal raising claims on labels - - USDA’s
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS) are jointly hosting a public meeting to discuss and review its
policies on the use of animal raising claims in the labeling of meat and
poultry products. The meeting will be held in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 14.
In the meeting announcement, FSIS said that recent events concerning
labeling claims relating to the use of antibiotics in the raising of poultry
has led the agency to question its ability to verify that labels of meat and
poultry products that contain animal raising claims are truthful and not
misleading. Hence, FSIS and AMS are soliciting public input and are
reviewing their policies on claims regarding the use of antibiotics in
poultry and on animal raising claims in general. The meeting is scheduled
from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 L’Enfant Plaza,
SW, in Washington, D.C. An agenda will be available for review on the FSIS
Web site at
www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Meetings_&_Events . Sept. 12, 2008
NCC Newsletter
Prop.
2 discussion set for Saturday radio show - - Saturday, Sept. 13, at 9
a.m. Pacific time, the Food Chain with Michael Olson hosts Paul Shapiro from
Yes on California Proposition 2 and Matt Sampson from No on 2 for a
conversation about caging food animals. Listen on your radio, computer or
IPOD anytime at www.metrofarm.com .
Topics include how animal husbandry has evolved into an industry that
produces a large amount of food from a small amount of space; why some
believe this model ethical, while others think it cruel; and what might
happen to the industrial model if a law is passed to enlarge the cages. To
view a forum hosted by MetroFarm on the Prop. 2 measure,
please click here Sept. 12, 2008 Food Chain press release
Assembly ag chair Galgiani first to back gov's budget - - With the state
budget stalemate 73 days old, Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton,
has become the first lawmaker -- Democratic or Republican -- to officially
endorse the budget compromise put forth by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The
moderate Central Valley Democrat said, "I have decided to break ranks with
both my Democratic and Republican colleagues. I am rejecting both sides'
budget proposals and will vote for the taxpayers." "It's time for someone to
step across the partisan divide and on to responsible common ground. I am
doing so, and I invite Democrats and Republicans to join me," she added.
<more> Sept. 12, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Maryland Gets Tough on Chicken Farmers. Quest to Help Bay Would Stringently
Control Manure - - Maryland regulators today will announce the
tightest-ever controls on what Eastern Shore poultry farmers do with their
birds' waste, officials said yesterday, adopting a tougher stance toward
state agricultural interests in a bid to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake
Bay. The rules, proposed by the Maryland Department of the Environment,
would create unprecedented scrutiny of the state's powerful poultry
industry, currently not subject to several regulations that apply to dairy
and hog farms. Environmentalists say poultry waste washes downstream,
eventually helping trigger low-oxygen "dead zones" in the Chesapeake.
Today's proposal would limit where, how and for how long chicken farmers may
store excess manure in outdoor piles, open to the rain. And for the first
time, it would allow state officials to inspect poultry farms unannounced.
<more> Sept. 12, 2008 Washington Post
Dan Walters: GOP's inland empire may be vanishing - - If you were to examine a 1958 political map of California, it would look much different from today's version. You'd find, for example, that Republicans were doing pretty well in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1950s. Caspar Weinberger, later Ronald Reagan's secretary of defense, was then a state assemblyman from San Francisco. Today scarcely a Republican is holding office in the region. The flip side was that Democrats dominated California's rural counties. Every congressional seat and all but a few legislative seats in the 500-mile-long Central Valley, for instance, were held by Democrats. This was also largely true in inland Southern California. As the state's coastal areas evolved into Democratic strongholds during the 1970s and 1980s, the opposite occurred in the Central Valley and Southern California's Inland Empire. Today, the GOP holds six of the Central Valley's 10 congressional seats and four of five in the Inland Empire. And the same pattern is evident in state legislative districts. A curious thing has been happening, however – the GOP's hold on inland politics has been slipping. Statewide Republican registration has dropped three percentage points in the past four years, from 35.6 percent to 32.5 percent. Slippage appears to be the strongest in inland areas, including four-point losses in Fresno, Merced and Riverside counties.<more> Sept. 12, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008
Oregon
Fryer Commission may dissolve - - The Oregon Fryer Commission may have
run its course. About half the state's 30 growers in a meeting Wednesday,
Sept. 10, set in motion steps to absolve the commission and suspended
assessments for six months beginning Oct. 1. The growers formed a
five-member committee to discuss the future of the commission and instructed
their lobbyist to craft a legislative bill to absolve it. "Times are hard,
propane is high and growers need money," said Julie Schiele, administrator
of the commission. "And they feel the only way to get money is cut the
assessment because the processors aren't giving them any more." Growers at
the regular September commission meeting said increased costs to heat their
chicken houses and low returns on fryers were killing them.
<more> Sept. 11, 2008 Capital Press
Mexican imports of U.S. poultry to increase—but at slower rate - -
Mexico’s poultry industry is forecast to continue growing through MY 2008
and 2009 (Jan-Dec), though not at the same rate that the industry has
experienced over the past several years, according to USDA’s Foreign
Agricultural Service (FAS). Higher costs of production, which translate into
higher consumer prices, and competition from foreign imports, will have a
dampening effect on the industry, said FAS. Imports of U.S. poultry and
poultry products are forecast to increase in response to growing demand, but
also at a slower rate. An important factor for the slow down in imports is
the quarantine that Mexico imposed on the state of Arkansas for poultry
products and live bird imports, except for mechanically deboned meat (MDM).
Sept, 11, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Food
companies shy away from "natural" label - - Food manufacturers are
shying away from using the term “natural” on their labels. A new study from
Packaged Facts says the definition has become fuzzy because the Food & Drug
Administration has not specified what defines “natural”. Manufacturers say
the use of “natural” just raises skepticism about a product. The report
states industry leaders agree, “That natural products are minimally
processed foods without any artificial ingredients, preservatives, colors or
flavors.” Unfortunately, they add, there does not seem to be any move by the
government to establish such standards. Food Navigator.com says
manufacturers would like to see something from FDA similar to the standards
for organic established by the USDA. Sept. 11, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Tyson
Foods Finalizes China Venture -- Tyson Foods Inc. finalized its third
poultry joint venture in China -- a chicken and pork market that represented
about $342 million in sales last year, the company said Wednesday. The
agreement with the Shandong Xinchang Group, includes a fully integrated
poultry operation in eastern China with estimated sales of $345 million in
2009. The Xinchang deal is one of two in China that Tyson has been
negotiating since last November. Tyson Foods said once the Chinese
government approves the deal, the company will own 60 percent of Xinchang's
existing assets and include the acquisition of a new poultry processing
complex on the east coast of the Shandong Province.
<more> Sept. 11, 2008 The Morning News
Money,
health at center of fight over diesel rules - - They have been
overshadowed by the state budget free-fall and California’s greenhouse gas
emissions law, but looming regulations to curb diesel soot from a million
trucks and school buses are certain to have enormous public health and
financial impacts here while serving as a national model. The financial
impact alone could be far greater than the planned multibillion-dollar
market structure of the better-known greenhouse gas law. The Air Resources
Board, which enforces air-quality standards in California, is expected to
approve the new on-road diesel rules on Dec. 11-12—two months later than
originally scheduled, in part because analysts need to cull through
voluminous data and review material from the diesel industry, fleet owners,
environmentalists and others.
<more> Sept. 11 ,2008 Capitol Weekly
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008
Prop. 2. HSUS spin machine breaks down in Modesto
church/farm country - - By Tina M. Perriguey - - The minister and
congregation of a church in Stanislaus County are devoting several weeks to
a Faith & Politics Series, exploring current legislative issues which require
moral and thoughtful consideration. Next thing you know, rich lobbyists from
Washington D.C. are flying into farm country. The deceptively named Humane
Society of the United States (HSUS) came to town Sept. 3. Patti Strand,
National Director of the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) asked me to
attend and report back. Here you have it. (More detailed quotes from all
panel members will come in a later report.)
A "Faith & Politics" theme leads to
the logical question. What would Jesus do? Well, it's hard to know for sure,
but if memory serves, Jesus isn't a big fan of hypocrisy and abuse of power.
It takes an awful lot of hubris to sit in front of a large crowd in a church
of God and lie to the audience. This might explain the chilly reception that
Wayne Pacelle, HSUS President, received in the United Methodist Church in
Modesto, California last night, as he tried to convince residents of this
rural community that Proposition 2 is a good idea. (Prop 2 is the Standards
For Confining Farm Animals initiative Californians will vote on in November.)
<more> Sept. 10, 2008 National Animal Interest Alliance blog
Monsanto
CEO: Water Debate Will 'Dwarf' Food Vs Fuel - - The top executive at
Monsanto Co. (MON) said the contest for scarce global water resources will
soon overshadow the current food-versus-fuel debate. "I think that the
conversation around food scarcity will be dwarfed by water utilization," said
Hugh Grant, chairman and chief executive of the U.S. agribusiness group at a
conference in Kansas City, Mo. Grant also said United Nations estimates for
global food needs over the next 50 years underestimated the impact of water
shortages. A fierce debate has emerged in the U.S. and other large
agricultural producing nations over the competing use of crops - notably corn
- for human and animal feed or renewable fuels such as ethanol. Grant has
argued in the past that food and fuel needs were not exclusive as
technological advances would help boost yields to meet surging demand. "I
think there's going to be a thirstier 50 years to come," said Grant, referring
to a UN forecast that the world would need to produce as much food in the next
five decades as in the past 10,000 years. "There's no new water." Sept. 10,
2008 Dow Jones Newswires
Obama tells U.S. farmers he backs ethanol mandate
- - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama told farmers on Tuesday that
he backs the federal requirement to use ethanol as a way to reduce reliance on
oil imports. The alternative fuel, distilled mostly from corn (maize), is
popular in farm country, particularly the U.S. Midwest. But sky-high grain
prices and rising food prices have led to suggestions to relax the so-called
renewable fuels standard. Federal law calls for use of 9 billion gallons of
ethanol as motor fuel this year. A week ago, the Republican National
Convention called for an end to ethanol mandates, in line with the views of
its nominee, John McCain.
<more> Sept. 10 ,2008 Reuters
Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008
Another "hint" the Russians may reduce poultry
imports - - Russia’s Agriculture Minister says his country should reduce
poultry imports 17% next year. Minister Alexei Gordeyev says they should cut
the import quotas by 200,000 metric tons. The import quota this year is 1.2
million tons of which 870,000 are from the U.S. Moscow says domestic
production is increasing, reducing the need for imports. Russia banned
poultry imports from 19 U.S. processing plants as of September 1 charging
they were not up to sanitary standards. Another 29 plants have been told to
make some changes or suffer the same fate. Some think the ban and threatened
quota reduction is in response to U.S. objections to Russia’s invasion of
Georgia. Sept. 9, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Indonesia confirms 112th human bird flu death
-- A man in Indonesia has died of bird flu, bringing the country's death
toll from the disease to 112, the Health Ministry said Tuesday. According to
the ministry, the 38-year-old cargo truck driver from Tangerang in Banten
Province, near Jakarta, developed bird flu symptoms such as fever, coughing
and respiratory problems on July 4 but was not hospitalized until four days
later. He died July 10. The ministry said chickens and ducks around the
man's house are being tested. Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari has said
the number of bird flu cases surfacing in Indonesia is on the decline,
according to the Indo Pos newspaper, based in the East Java provincial
capital of Surabaya.
<more> Sept. 9 BBC News
SJV growers face Jan. 1 deadline for new rules on
internal combustion engines - - San Joaquin Valley almond growers
have until Jan. 1, 2009, to meet new emissions requirements for gas-powered
irrigation pump engines. A new rule by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution
Control District establishes new thresholds for spark-ignited internal
combustion engines in agricultural operations as part of its effort to
reduce agricultural emissions of NOx, CO and VOCs in the Central Valley.
Under District Rule 4702, growers with irrigation pumps or other engines
powered by gasoline, natural gas, propane/LPG, biogas or other fossil fuels
must retrofit engines that do not meet those thresholds with an emission
control device, such as an exhaust catalyst, or replace them with a more
efficient lean-burn, electric or diesel engine that meets the limit. Rich
burn engines, which comprise about 99 percent of most agricultural
spark-ignited engines in the Valley, must meet NOx emissions requirements of
less than 90 ppm, CO emissions below 2000 ppm and VOC emissions below 250
ppm. Growers must also install and maintain a monthly time meter and use
logs on new or modified engines as part of the rule requirements.
<more> Sept. 9, 2008 Western Farm Press
Assembly Democrats reject GOP spending plan - -
For the second time in two days, Democratic lawmakers rejected the Republican
state budget proposal amid sharp barbs and visible frustration as the
record-breaking standoff continues. The plan received only 27 votes in the
lower house, half the two-thirds margin necessary in the 80-member Assembly.
On Monday, the plan failed in the Senate. One after another, Assembly GOP
lawmakers rose to laud the plan, which is balanced through deeper cuts and a
reliance on $1.9 billion in borrowing against future lottery earnings.
Assemblyman Roger Niello, a Fair Oaks Republican and vice chair of the
Assembly Budget Committee, called the measure a "very reasonable compromise."
<more>
Sept. 9, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Monday, Sept. 8, 2008
Correctional officers to launch Schwarzenegger recall - -
Four years and eleven months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was swept into
office in a dramatic recall, the powerful and well-heeled correctional officers'
union today will target Schwarzenegger for a recall. The California Correctional
Peace Officers Association will begin the process to recall the Republican
governor, a spokesman said today, calling the 2003 recall "a mistake." "In the
history of bad governors, this is the worst governor we've ever had," said Lance
Corcoran, a spokesman for the union. The union is collecting the 65 necessary
valid signatures to serve Schwarzenegger a notice-of-intent-to-recall. "This is
a man who is a poser. That's what he did, that's how he made his living,
posing." Asked if the union was prepared to dedicate the more than $1 million
likely necessary to gather the 1,041,530 signatures to qualify a recall for the
ballot, Corcoran said, "We are 100 percent committed and we've never been shy
about investing in our commitments."
<more>
Sept. 8, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Study: Calif. farmers can profit by saving water
-- California farmers can grow more food more profitably if they switch
to water-saving crops and change their irrigation practices in response to
the state's ongoing drought, according to a study released Monday. A report
issued by the Oakland-based Pacific Institute says farmers in the Central
Valley could save enough water to fill up to 20 new reservoirs by making
several changes to curb wasted water. About a quarter of the state's
water-intensive crops like rice, cotton, corn, wheat and alfalfa should give
way to fruit and nut trees and row crops like tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers
and melons that can be more selectively irrigated, according to the report.
Farmers should use drip or sprinkler irrigation systems instead of flooding
grain fields, and crops should only be watered when they need it, a practice
requiring more intensive soil and plant monitoring. Farmers are trending
toward many of the practices already, said Pacific Institute president Peter
Gleick. But Gleick said the nonpartisan research organization's report is
the first comprehensive look at how much water farmers could save.
<more> Sept. 8, 2008 AP
Dan Walters: Study says conservation can replace
reservoirs - - Oakland-based Pacific Institute has weighed into
California's perennial water debate with a new study contending that
diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta could be reduced by as much
as 3.4 million acre-feet of water per year in farmers adopted more
aggressive conservation techniques. The study report is being issued as Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, legislators and myriad water stakeholders debate
whether to build new storage reservoirs and/or a "peripheral canal" to carry
Sacramento River water around the Delta, the state's chief source of
agricultural and municipal water supplies. And it counteracts, at least
conceptually, a recent pro-peripheral canal report issued by the Public
Policy Institute of California. The PPIC report pleased pro-water
development factions while the Pacific Institute study bolsters
environmentalists' contentions that California can resolve its water
problems without major new storage and conveyance facilities.
<more> Sept. 8, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Friday, Sept. 5, 2008
Assembly Ag Committee Chair Galgiani opposes Prop. 2 - - Assemblywoman
Cathleen Galgiani, (D-Stockton), newly named chair of the Assembly
Agriculture Committee, is urging her colleagues to oppose Prop. 2,
‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals’ because of the harm it will cause to
one of the hardest economically hit areas in California. “Assemblywoman
Galgiani is opposed to Prop. 2 because like many other Californians, she
knows it’s bad for California workers, consumers and families,” said Julie
Buckner, campaign spokeswoman. “As she points out, Prop. 2 weakens
California’s economy with more than $600 million in lost economic activity,
harming state and local communities many of which are already among the
hardest hit areas in the state economically. Additionally, Prop. 2 raises
very real food safety and public health risks, both of which would further
damage the state’s economy.”
<more> Sept. 5, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
Vets split on
cage initiative. Groups take opposing sides on Prop. 2 - - Will the
ballot initiative banning battery cages for laying hens help or hurt the
chickens? Most farmers - and voters - would ask a veterinarian for the
unbiased answer. The problem is that different vets' groups are taking
different positions on the controversial measure. Earlier this summer, after
much internal debate, the California Veterinary Medical Association voted to
support Proposition 2, as it will be known on November's ballot. "This has
been discussed for more than a year," said Dr. William Grant, an Anaheim vet
who leads the association. "This is something we've done a lot of research
on." The intramural ruckus was so fierce that a group of mostly large-animal
veterinarians broke off from the California Veterinary Medical Association
and formed their own group called the Association of California
Veterinarians. The group called the main vets' organization's decision
"politically motivated and irresponsible." "The decision (to support
Proposition 2) was not based on science or on the recommendations from the
people within CVMA who specialize in food animal and poultry medicine," said
Mike Karle, who is leading the breakaway group.
<more> Sept. 5, 2008 Capital Press
Mexico
suspends beef, poultry shipments to US - - The government of Mexico has
voluntarily suspended shipments to the United States of meat and processed
poultry after U.S. officials reported misgivings about the quality of
Mexican food processing and inspections, an Agriculture Department official
said Thursday, Sept. 4. The department's Food Safety and Inspection Service
identified systemic problems with sanitation controls and record keeping
during an annual audit that took place in Mexico between June 24 and July
31. The voluntary suspension began Aug. 29, said Amanda Eamich, a
spokeswoman for the service. About 2 percent of beef and poultry in the
United States comes from Mexican producers. "Safety concerns in multiple
establishments were not identified by Mexican in-plant inspection personnel,
demonstrating that Mexico's system to verify its plants were producing safe
food in a clean facility was insufficient," Eamich said.
<more> Sept. 5, 2008 AP
Ethanol: Energy's golden child dodges more darts - - Ethanol's wild ride
has brought it quickly from political golden child to scapegoat for
everything from soaring food prices and world hunger to pork-barrel
spending. This week, the Republican Party in its national platform called
for an end to ethanol mandates in just the latest shot at a fuel alternative
that, in some circles, has grown more targeted than treasured. High ranking
politicians, including presidential candidate John McCain - have publicly
opposed ethanol subsidies before, but the platform approved during the
Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., marks the first time a major U.S.
party has taken an official stance against publicly funded ethanol
incentives. It was just four years earlier that the Republican platform
called for "efforts to expand the use of biodiesel and ethanol, which can
reduce America's dependence on foreign oil while increasing revenues to
farmers."
<more> Sept. 5, 2008 AP
Inspection Advisory Committee addresses international equivalence - -
The National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection recommended
to FSIS that all elements of the agency’s current import inspection program
be retained during a meeting held in Washington, D.C., last week. The
committee met to discuss FSIS’s import inspection program, including the
granting of equivalence, country establishment audits, and re-inspection of
product at U.S. ports of entry. FSIS asked the committee to provide specific
recommendations on how the overall import inspection program could be
improved. The committee provided only general recommendations in response to
FSIS questions, including modifying the program to include risk evaluation
in determining equivalency. The committee said that risk and historical
country compliance should be considered in conducting audits and
re-inspection. The committee also recommended that an exporting country’s
on-going ability and willingness to share data and the quality of the data
should be factors in determining frequency of audits and degree of
re-inspection. In addition, FSIS updated the committee on the agency’s
efforts to improve processing and slaughter inspection, as well as
discussing progress on the agency’s Public Health Information System. FSIS
said it is still in the process of refining its focused inspection
methodology and would revisit the issue with the committee this fall. FSIS
also reported that the agency’s public health risk ranking algorithm, which
will be used to determine inspection depth, will be sent to the National
Academy of Science for their review. The Public Health Information System,
which will form the heart of the agency’s inspection improvement efforts,
will be fully implemented in late 2009, FSIS said. Sept. 5, 2008 NCC
Newsletter
Oct. 2
wine and cheese tasting benefits CSU ag program - - An Oct. 2 wine and
cheese tasting will benefit the CSU Stanislaus Agricultural Studies program.
“Tastes of the Valley” will be held Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Assyrian
American Civic Club in Turlock from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $35. Silent
auction items are also being sought. Additional information is available
from Mark Bender or Wendy Olmstead at (209) 664-6648. Sept, 5, 2008 CSU
Notice
Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008
Panel
argues humaneness of egg production - - About 250 people gathered in a
church hall Wednesday evening to ponder what Jesus would do if he were in
the egg business. First United Methodist Church in Modesto held a forum on a
Nov. 4 ballot measure that would ban the small cages used for most egg
production in California. Proponents said the cages, with as little as 67
square inches of floor space per hen, do not allow the birds to stand, turn
around or flap their wings. "Are we that miserly, are we that uncharitable,
that we do not allow these living, feeling, suffering creatures to move in
the most basic ways?" said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive
officer of The Humane Society of the United States. Opponents, including
leaders in the egg industry, said the cages provide comfort for the hens and
the alternatives would increase egg prices. "The birds stand up, sit down,
lay down, flap their wings and clearly show they are content," said Jill
Benson, vice president of J.S. West & Co., a Modesto-based producer.
"Stressed-out birds do not lay eggs."
<more> Sept. 4, 2008 Modesto Bee
Idaho bird farm quarantined after bird virus found - - A southwestern Idaho bird farm has been quarantined after a bird there was found to have a low-pathogenic bird flu, but Idaho Department of Agriculture officials say it is not the same bird flu virus that has spread through birds in Asia, Europe and Africa. According to a statement from the Agriculture Department, the type of virus found in the Idaho game bird is commonly found in wild birds and normally causes only minor illness in the animals. The statement said the virus poses little or no risk to human health and it's not believed that any people have gotten sick in connection with the ill bird. The Agriculture Department quarantined the farm and will test the flock, investigate the source of the illness and notify neighboring gamebird and poultry farms. Sept. 4, 2008 AP
Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008
Commentary: Effects of Proposition 2--The UN-SAFE
Food Initiative - - By Jill Benson - - This November, Californians
will be voting on Proposition 2--"Standards for Confining Farm Animals.
Initiative. Statute." As a fourth-generation family farmer, I oppose Prop.
2--a risky, dangerous and costly measure--because it threatens our food safety
and public health by putting us at increased risk for Salmonella contamination
and avian influenza (bird flu). In addition, Prop 2. hurts California
agriculture, the state's No. 1 economic industry, and will drive nearly all
California egg farmers, including cage-free farmers, out of business in the
state. Prop. 2 is not about the treatment of animals; instead it is about
imposing new housing standards for egg-laying hens. California's current
standards, banned under Prop. 2, are the most stringent in the nation,
protecting humans from disease and death by keeping our food safe while also
ensuring hen welfare.
<more> Sept. 3, 2008 Ag Alert
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Thursday in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008
Clones' offspring may be in food supply: FDA - - Food
and milk from the offspring of cloned animals may already have entered the
U.S. food supply, the Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday, but it
would be impossible to know because there is no difference between cloned
and conventional products. The FDA said in January meat and milk from cloned
cattle, swine and goats and their offspring were as safe to eat as products
obtained from traditional animals. Before then, farmers and ranchers had
followed a voluntary moratorium that prevented the sale of clones and their
offspring. "It is theoretically possible" offspring from clones are in the
food supply, said Siobhan DeLancey, an FDA spokeswoman. Proponents,
including the Biotechnology Industry Organization, say cloned animals are
safe and a way to create animals that produce more milk and better meat and
are more disease-resistant. There are currently an estimated 600 cloned
animals in the United States.
<more> Sept. 2, 2008 Reuters
Russia
bans poultry imports from 19 U.S. suppliers - - Russia, the biggest
market for U.S. poultry exporters, will ban imports from 19 producers in the
United States and warned on Friday that another 29 suppliers face a possible
ban on health and safety grounds. The ban will take effect from September 1
and includes two plants belonging to U.S. meat giant Tyson Foods Inc,
Russia's animal and plant health watchdog said, a day after Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin first spoke of the measures. "Joint Russian-U.S. inspections
of U.S. poultry processing plants at the end of July and the beginning of
August showed a number of inspected plants do not fully observe the agreed
standards," the watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said in a statement. "The
inspection showed that many plants have not taken steps to eliminate faults
discovered by previous inspections."
<more> Aug. 29, 2008 Reuters
Farmer: Germ-free food not always good for you - - A
farmer from Virginia dropped by Turlock on Monday to sing the praises of
chickens that eat bugs. Joel Salatin, who produces eggs and meat with few
synthetic inputs, said his birds get protein and improve the soil as they
peck their way through his pastures. His talk was part of Slow Food Nation,
a four-day event held mainly in San Francisco and devoted to the idea that
food should be raised with care and consumed with pleasure. Salatin spoke to
nearly 300 people at California State University, Stanislaus, including a
busload from the Bay Area who toured the Burroughs family's organic dairy
farm east of Denair. He said much of mainstream agriculture excludes
wildlife and the general public in the belief that they could compromise
food safety. But microbes are essential to soil fertility, and they are
everywhere, including the human gut, he said. "We are sterile nuts in our
culture today," he said. "We don't understand that we live in a bacterial
bath."
<more> Sept. 2, 2008 Modesto Bee
Leading animal welfare advocate to participate in Sept. 3 Prop. 2 forum
- - Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the U.S., has
been confirmed as a participant in the Sept. 3 forum on the Standards for
Confining Farm Animals Initiative Prop. 2 forum set for Modesto Wednesday,
Sept. 3.
HSUS is a main
sponsor of the ballot initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Announcement of Pacelle’s
participation came from First United Methodist Church, which is sponsoring
the forum as part of its “Faith and Politics” sermon series. Also
representing HSUS will be Rev. Michael Bruner, a Presbyterian minister who
is an adjunct professor of Religion at Azusa Pacific University and a
consultant to HSUS. Representing the No on Prop. 2 campaign are Bill Mattos,
president of the California Poultry Federation; Jill Benson with
Modesto-based egg producer J.S. West & Co., and Dr. Nancy Reimers, DVM. The
panel will be moderated by Mark Looker, agricultural communications
consultant. The proposition would add a chapter to Division 20 of
California's Health and Safety Code to prohibit the confinement of certain
farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie
down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. The measure includes veal
crates, battery cages, and sow gestation crates. If approved by the voters,
the statute would become operative on Jan. 1, 2015. The Prop. 2 discussion
is open to the public and will be held at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of
First United Methodist Church, 850 16th Street, Modesto. Panelists will
offer opening statements and rebuttal statements. Written questions will be
accepted from the audience. Aug. 28, 2008 FUMC Press Release
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Friday, Aug. 29, 2008
Russia
bans poultry imports from 19 U.S. suppliers - - Russia, the biggest
market for U.S. poultry exporters, will ban imports from 19 producers in the
United States and warned on Friday that another 29 suppliers face a possible
ban on health and safety grounds. The ban will take effect from September 1
and includes two plants belonging to U.S. meat giant Tyson Foods Inc,
Russia's animal and plant health watchdog said, a day after Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin first spoke of the measures. "Joint Russian-U.S. inspections
of U.S. poultry processing plants at the end of July and the beginning of
August showed a number of inspected plants do not fully observe the agreed
standards," the watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said in a statement. "The
inspection showed that many plants have not taken steps to eliminate faults
discovered by previous inspections."
<more> Aug. 29, 2008 Reuters
Modesto Bee Op-Ed: Bill would give UFW power to bully workers - - As a
Mexican-American woman who has been both a farmworker and farmer, Labor Day
holds special meaning for me. It is a time to appreciate the fruits of my
labor and, as an American citizen, to count my blessings, especially my
freedom. Yet this year in California, one of our country's most cherished
freedoms is under assault: the right to cast votes in secret. Assemblyman
Fabian Núñez and the United Farm Workers are aggressively pushing Assembly
Bill 2386, legislation that would strip farm employees of the right to vote
in private when deciding whether or not to unionize. The late UFW founder,
César Chávez, must be spinning in his grave, because the secret ballot is a
fundamental right he championed for farmworkers and maintained must be
protected.
<more> Aug. 29, 2008 Modesto Bee
Leading animal welfare advocate to participate in Sept. 3 Prop. 2 forum
- - Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the U.S., has
been confirmed as a participant in the Sept. 3 forum on the Standards for
Confining Farm Animals Initiative Prop. 2 forum set for Modesto Wednesday,
Sept. 3.
HSUS is a main
sponsor of the ballot initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Announcement of Pacelle’s
participation came from First United Methodist Church, which is sponsoring
the forum as part of its “Faith and Politics” sermon series. Also
representing HSUS will be Rev. Michael Bruner, a Presbyterian minister who
is an adjunct professor of Religion at Azusa Pacific University and a
consultant to HSUS. Representing the No on Prop. 2 campaign are Bill Mattos,
president of the California Poultry Federation; Jill Benson with
Modesto-based egg producer J.S. West & Co., and Dr. Nancy Reimers, DVM. The
panel will be moderated by Mark Looker, agricultural communications
consultant. The proposition would add a chapter to Division 20 of
California's Health and Safety Code to prohibit the confinement of certain
farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie
down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. The measure includes veal
crates, battery cages, and sow gestation crates. If approved by the voters,
the statute would become operative on Jan. 1, 2015. The Prop. 2 discussion
is open to the public and will be held at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of
First United Methodist Church, 850 16th Street, Modesto. Panelists will
offer opening statements and rebuttal statements. Written questions will be
accepted from the audience. Aug. 28, 2008 FUMC Press Release
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
No on
Prop. 2 merchandise available - - The No on Prop. 2 campaign has set up
an online store for those who would like to purchase No on Prop. 2
merchandise. You can view the products including yard signs, bumper
stickers, t-shirts, buttons, stickers, totes and hats by following the link
www.cafepress.com/noonprop2
. Aug. 29, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Notice
Assembly Democrats prevail on water bill - - In a heated debate
Thursday, Assembly Republicans and Democrats agreed that California needs
more reliable water supplies. But Republicans voted against spending $820
million from voter-approved water bonds because, they said, Democrats had
not consulted them and too much of the money was dedicated to studies
instead of construction. "I'm studied out," said Assemblyman Joel Anderson
(R-San Diego). "What my constituents want is brick and mortar." But the
dominant Democrats overrode Republicans' objections and passed a bill to
spend $820 million from four water bonds.
<more> Aug. 29, 2008 LA Times
Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008
Legislature approves union "card-check' bill. Governor has not taken a
position on legislation yet - - Legislation that would make it easier
for unions to organize farmworkers is headed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
desk for a second straight year. Both the state Senate and the Assembly
passed the bill but whether the governor will sign this year's version
remains to be seen. Sponsored by former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, whose
father came from Mexico as a bracero in the 1950s, the measure would
drastically alter the way unions form on the farm. The bill would allow
unions - primarily the United Farm Workers, the Teamsters and the United
Food and Commercial Workers - to organize local chapters automatically if a
majority of workers at a farm or dairy check off "yes" to joining a union on
a postcard. The card is then sealed in an envelope and sent to a state
mediator for counting. This is a different from last year's attempt, in
which workers would check off their preferences on a postcard that they
would then hand to a union organizer. Schwarzenegger vetoed that bill as a
violation of the right to a secret ballot. Nunez says he's trying to address
Schwarzenegger's concerns, but the entire agricultural community remains
opposed.
<more> Aug. 28, 2008 Capital Press
Leading animal welfare advocate to participate in Sept. 3 Prop. 2 forum
- - Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the U.S., has
been confirmed as a participant in the Sept. 3 forum on the Standards for
Confining Farm Animals Initiative Prop. 2 forum set for Modesto Wednesday,
Sept. 3.
HSUS is a main
sponsor of the ballot initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Announcement of Pacelle’s
participation came from First United Methodist Church, which is sponsoring
the forum as part of its “Faith and Politics” sermon series. Also
representing HSUS will be Rev. Michael Bruner, a Presbyterian minister who
is an adjunct professor of Religion at Azusa Pacific University and a
consultant to HSUS. Representing the No on Prop. 2 campaign are Bill Mattos,
president of the California Poultry Federation; Jill Benson with
Modesto-based egg producer J.S. West & Co., and Dr. Nancy Reimers, DVM. The
panel will be moderated by Mark Looker, agricultural communications
consultant. The proposition would add a chapter to Division 20 of
California's Health and Safety Code to prohibit the confinement of certain
farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie
down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. The measure includes veal
crates, battery cages, and sow gestation crates. If approved by the voters,
the statute would become operative on Jan. 1, 2015. The Prop. 2 discussion
is open to the public and will be held at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of
First United Methodist Church, 850 16th Street, Modesto. Panelists will
offer opening statements and rebuttal statements. Written questions will be
accepted from the audience. Aug. 28, 2008 FUMC Press Release
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
California egg production in July shows increase
- - The USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service reports California’s egg
production during July totaled 437 million, an increase of 10 million from
June’s production and 30 million above July 2007. The average number of
layers during the month totaled 19.8 million, 1 percent below last month,
but 5 percent above June 2007. Eggs per 100 layers
during the month were 2,210 compared to 2,131 a month earlier and 2,157 in
July 2007. Aug. 28, 2008 USDA NASS Report
July poultry slaughter up 6% on the year - - According to the United
States Department of Agriculture, the amount of poultry certified wholesome
at a ready to cook weight during July was 3.834 billion pounds, up 5% from
June's 3.660 billion and 6% higher than July 2007's 3.614 billion. So far
this year, the cumulative total is 25.821 billion pounds, an increase of 5%
from the 24.530 billion pounds certified from January to July 2007. The bulk
of the total was chicken at 3.276 billion pounds, 5% more than last month
and 6% above last year. Turkeys were up 5% on the month and 9% higher on the
year at 547.939 million pounds. Ducks were 9% above a month ago but 11%
lower than a year ago at 9.779 million pounds. The preliminary live weight
of all poultry was reported at 5.133 billion pounds, compared to 4.902
billion for June and 4.866 billion in July 2007. The year to date total of
34.665 billion is 5% ahead of the 2007 pace.
<more> Aug. 28, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Sanderson reports loss on higher costs‚ market conditions - - Sanderson
Farms, Inc., reported a net loss of $3.6 million, or $0.18per diluted share,
compared with net income of $30.7 million, or $1.51 per diluted share, for
the third quarter of fiscal 2007. The net results for the third quarter of
fiscal 2008 include $1.7 million, or $0.09 per share, paid for the
settlement of the company's donning and doffing litigation. Net sales for
the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were $466.9 million compared with
$394.8million for the same period a year ago. <more>
Aug. 28, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Russia may lessen U.S. poultry imports -- Russia
could cut poultry and pork import quotas by hundreds of thousands of tons, the
country's agriculture minister said Wednesday. The move could hit American
producers hard and comes amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington
over the war in ex-Soviet Georgia. "It is time to change the quota regime and
reduce imports, which have unfortunately built up in recent years," Alexei
Gordeyev told reporters, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. He said
domestic producers could make up the shortfall if imports were reduced. Any
substantial cuts would likely have a significant impact on U.S. poultry
producers, for whom Russia is the biggest market. Russians sometimes refer to
U.S. poultry imports as "Bush's legs," a reference to the frozen chicken shipped
to Russia amid economic troubles following the 1991 Soviet collapse, when the
current U.S. president's father was in office.
<more> Aug. 27, 2008 AP
Court ruling favors employers in lawsuit over meal
breaks - - California employers are breathing a little easier at lunch time
after a California Court of Appeals recently ruled in their favor over employee
meal breaks. The state's rules over meal and rest breaks had become one of the
most contested and costly issues in the workplace. Numerous lawsuits were filed
by employees alleging that their bosses broke the law by not giving them a meal
break for every five hours worked. At the center of the litigation storm is San
Diego-based Brinker International, owners of Chili's Grill & Bar, Romano's
Macaroni Grill and Maggiano's Little Italy. The chain was sued by five workers
for meal break violations, including improperly requiring employees to take
early meal breaks, failing to make sure they took timely meal breaks and
altering employee time cards. Although a lower court certified the case as a
class-action lawsuit with the potential for thousands of plaintiffs and millions
of dollars in damages, the appeals court said the case did not meet that
threshold. The appeals court also ruled that employers are obligated to provide
a meal break, not make sure it is taken. And the court ruled that employers are
not required to provide a meal period for every five hours of consecutive work.
<more> Aug. 27, 2008 Fresno Bee
Merced Farm Labor Contractor closes after death -
- The farm labor contractor that hired the 17-year-old pregnant girl who died in
a Lodi vineyard earlier this year has shut down. Merced Farm Labor Contractor
surrendered its business license for three years voluntarily Wednesday,
according to the state Department of Industrial Relations. The company looked
likely to lose its license, and had a hearing scheduled on the matter later this
week. Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet wanted the company shut down because
it had lied on its 2007 renewal application when company officials stated they
had no outstanding safety citations when, in fact, the company had been cited
for heat illness violations in 2006. The company also failed to comply with the
requirement to maintain a safe working environment for farm employees. "We're
sending a message that employers or labor contractors who fail to comply with
California's heat regulations will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law, fined in accordance with the law - and face the reality of being shut
down," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a statement.
<more> Aug. 27, 2008 Capital Press
Legislators debate water bond that could include dam
- - Legislators debated, but didn't agree on, a water bond Tuesday that
could build a new dam at Temperance Flat on the San Joaquin River and help clean
up contaminated groundwater in Tulare County and elsewhere. The Special
Committee on Water focused primarily on a $9.8 billion bond co-authored by
Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, a proposal that represented a new
formal effort by Assembly Democrats. "It's a work in progress," Caballero said,
"but we've moved closer to a consensus product than has ever been achieved."
<more> Aug. 27, 2008 Visalia Times Delta
Utility fees
sought for
global warming research center
- - With this year's
legislative session in its final days, lawmakers Monday unveiled a bill
mandating new fees from electricity ratepayers to fund a University of
California-run global warming research center.
The surcharge, amounting to
$37 million a year for up to a decade, would be paid by customers of regulated
utilities such as Southern California Edison Co. and publicly owned ones,
including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The fees would
partially fund an $87-million-a-year Climate Change Research and Workforce
Development Institute, whose location has yet to be decided.
If it becomes law, the bill
would add an average of 10 cents a month to electricity bills statewide, backers
said.
<more> Aug. 27, 2008 LA Times
Veteran political journalist Greg Lucas to address CPF convention - -
Veteran political journalist Greg Lucas will offer his insights and
perspective on the California political scene
when he speaks Thursday, Sept.
18 at the CPF’s annual conference
at
Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe.
He has been a California political writer and satirist for more than 20
years. He’s leveled his bipartisan wit and humor at Republicans and
Democrats – and, not infrequently, himself. Now a freelance writer, he is
also the force behind
www.californiascapitol.com, a often humorous, occasionally
insightful blog on California politics. During 19 years covering the state
Capitol for the San Francisco Chronicle, Greg wrote nearly 3,000 articles on
everything from presidential politics to the introduction of prune burgers
in school cafeterias. Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein said of Lucas upon
his departure last summer, ”Over the better part of the next two decades his
name was one of the most respected and feared in Sacramento, because Greg
made it his business to be the best-sourced reporter in the business.”
Greg Lucas
Other
speakers on Thursday include:
Mitch Head, Senior Campaign Advisor for the Californians for SAFE Food-
No on Prop. 2 campaign. He is
managing director of the international public relations firm of GolinHarris
where he helps clients worldwide manage activism issues. Mitch has 30 years
of experience on issues management at the local, state and federal levels.
He has worked on environmental, animal welfare, international trade, and
agricultural issues. He has a broad background with extensive experience in
issues management, public affairs, international public relations, crisis
communications, trade association management and public relations agency
management. He has worked for clients such as Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, Dow,
U.S. peanut farmers, Australian sheep farmers, National Cattlemen.
George Watts, president of the
National Chicken Council, who will discuss national politics and regulatory
issues
National Turkey Federation Vice President Sherrie Rosenblatt, who
will update members on the Food to Fuel Coalition.
The CPF's
annual conference is set for Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; International Paper; SnackMasters Jerky ,
*Gold Club*: Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.; Alltech Inc.; Baker Commodities Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation; Cumberland; Darling International; Evonik Degussa; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Pactiv Corporation; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Haley Farms Inc.; Hubbard , LLC; J.S. West; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; Preserve International; Tipper Tie Inc.; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Volk Enterprises; Walco International; Woodland Farms.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008
AVMA says Prop 2 is not 'in animals' best
interests' - - The American Veterinary Medical Assn. (AVMA) issued a
statement this morning cautioning that the California ballot initiative on
farm animal housing, Proposition 2, or Prop 2, has an "admirable goal" but
also establishes requirements that could, in fact, harm the animals covered
in the initiative. AVMA said these requirements "ignore critical aspects of
animal welfare" and fall short in improving animal welfare because they do
not "adequately consider other factors." AVMA executive board chair Dr.
David McCrystle noted that animal welfare "is a complex issue" in which
animal welfare decisions need "to be based on science, tempered with
compassion and take into account all aspects of welfare." Prop 2 would
change housing standards without considering how this could affect other
aspects of animal welfare, such as protecting animals from disease and
injury, which "would not be in the animals' or society's best interests," he
said.
<more> Aug. 26, 2008 Feedstuffs
Prop 2 supporters petition to correct errors in
guide. HSUS head and other supporters forced to take Catholic church and
CVMA off voter guide. - - A number of persons supporting the California
ballot initiative on farm animal housing had to petition the Superior Court
of California for an order to change and correct language they had put in a
voter guide on the initiative. The petition was the only way to make the
change at this late date, according to sources who described the petition as
"suing themselves" to correct their wrongs. The initiative, which will be
Proposition 2, or "Prop 2," was brought to the ballot by a coalition of
activist groups and individuals led by Farm Sanctuary and the Humane Society
of the United States (HSUS), and both opponents and supporters of such
initiatives are required to provide arguments to the secretary of state
explaining their positions for a pamphlet to guide voters in deciding how to
vote. The petitioners, who included HSUS chief executive officer and
president Wayne Pacelle, Center for Science in the Public Interest executive
director Dr. Michael Jacobson and California organic egg producer Nigel
Walker, asked the court to require two corrections, both "in an effort to
avoid any possibility of confusion on the part of the voters."
<more> Aug. 26, 2008 Feedstuffs
Veteran political journalist Greg Lucas to address CPF convention - -
Veteran political journalist Greg Lucas will offer his insights and
perspective on the California political scene
when he speaks Thursday, Sept.
18 at the CPF’s annual conference
at
Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe.
He has been a California political writer and satirist for more than 20
years. He’s leveled his bipartisan wit and humor at Republicans and
Democrats – and, not infrequently, himself. Now a freelance writer, he is
also the force behind
www.californiascapitol.com, a often humorous, occasionally
insightful blog on California politics. During 19 years covering the state
Capitol for the San Francisco Chronicle, Greg wrote nearly 3,000 articles on
everything from presidential politics to the introduction of prune burgers
in school cafeterias. Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein said of Lucas upon
his departure last summer, ”Over the better part of the next two decades his
name was one of the most respected and feared in Sacramento, because Greg
made it his business to be the best-sourced reporter in the business.”
Greg Lucas
Other
speakers on Thursday include:
Mitch Head, Senior Campaign Advisor for the Californians for SAFE Food-
No on Prop. 2 campaign. He is
managing director of the international public relations firm of GolinHarris
where he helps clients worldwide manage activism issues. Mitch has 30 years
of experience on issues management at the local, state and federal levels.
He has worked on environmental, animal welfare, international trade, and
agricultural issues. He has a broad background with extensive experience in
issues management, public affairs, international public relations, crisis
communications, trade association management and public relations agency
management. He has worked for clients such as Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, Dow,
U.S. peanut farmers, Australian sheep farmers, National Cattlemen.
George Watts, president of the
National Chicken Council, who will discuss national politics and regulatory
issues
National Turkey Federation Vice President Sherrie Rosenblatt, who
will update members on the Food to Fuel Coalition.
The CPF's
annual conference is set for Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; International Paper; SnackMasters Jerky ,
*Gold Club*: Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.; Alltech Inc.; Baker Commodities Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation; Cumberland; Darling International; Evonik Degussa; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Pactiv Corporation; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Haley Farms Inc.; Hubbard , LLC; J.S. West; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; Preserve International; Tipper Tie Inc.; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Volk Enterprises; Walco International; Woodland Farms.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Monday, Aug. 25, 2008
Veteran political journalist Greg Lucas to address CPF convention - -
Veteran political journalist Greg Lucas will offer his insights and
perspective on the California political scene
when he speaks Thursday, Sept.
18 at the CPF’s annual conference
at
Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe.
He has been a California political writer and satirist for more than 20
years. He’s leveled his bipartisan wit and humor at Republicans and
Democrats – and, not infrequently, himself. Now a freelance writer, he is
also the force behind
www.californiascapitol.com, a often humorous, occasionally
insightful blog on California politics. During 19 years covering the state
Capitol for the San Francisco Chronicle, Greg wrote nearly 3,000 articles on
everything from presidential politics to the introduction of prune burgers
in school cafeterias. Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein said of Lucas upon
his departure last summer, ”Over the better part of the next two decades his
name was one of the most respected and feared in Sacramento, because Greg
made it his business to be the best-sourced reporter in the business.”
Greg Lucas
Other
speakers on Thursday include:
Mitch Head, Senior Campaign Advisor for the Californians for SAFE Food-
No on Prop. 2 campaign. He is
managing director of the international public relations firm of GolinHarris
where he helps clients worldwide manage activism issues. Mitch has 30 years
of experience on issues management at the local, state and federal levels.
He has worked on environmental, animal welfare, international trade, and
agricultural issues. He has a broad background with extensive experience in
issues management, public affairs, international public relations, crisis
communications, trade association management and public relations agency
management. He has worked for clients such as Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, Dow,
U.S. peanut farmers, Australian sheep farmers, National Cattlemen.
George Watts, president of the
National Chicken Council, who will discuss national politics and regulatory
issues
National Turkey Federation Vice President Sherrie Rosenblatt, who
will update members on the Food to Fuel Coalition.
The CPF's
annual conference is set for Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; International Paper; SnackMasters Jerky ,
*Gold Club*: Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.; Alltech Inc.; Baker Commodities Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation; Cumberland; Darling International; Evonik Degussa; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Pactiv Corporation; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Haley Farms Inc.; Hubbard , LLC; J.S. West; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; Preserve International; Tipper Tie Inc.; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Volk Enterprises; Walco International; Woodland Farms.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
USPOULTRY gives $250,000 in battle over
California initiative - —The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association recently
presented a check in the amount of $250,000 to the United Egg Producers. The
funds will help educate California consumers about modern egg production
systems prior to a November ballot initiative that bans most modern layer
housing and egg production systems in the state. The California initiative,
officially known as the Treatment of Farm Animals Act, would effectively ban
both commercial cage and cage-free production. The initiative is backed by
the Humane Society of the United States. “This financial grant is indicative
of USPOULTRY’s continuing support of all phases of the poultry and egg
industry,” explained Jim Brock, Crystal Farms, Chestnut Mountain, Ga., and a
member of the board of directors of U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.
<more> Aug. 25, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Farmworkers union chief wants change in voting
- - United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez has worked for more
than three decades in the labor union co-founded by Cesar Chavez in the
1960s. Rodriguez was at the Capitol last week to lobby for Assembly Bill
2386, which would make it easier for the union to organize by allowing
farmworkers to sign cards in lieu of secret-ballot voting. Why alter the
system of ballot-booth voting for union representation? We know that when
farmworkers have representation, they feel security. … (Under the current
system) there's just too much intimidation and coercion that takes place –
abuse of the system (by growers seeking to discourage participation).
<more> Aug. 25, 2008 Sacramento Bee
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Friday, Aug. 22, 2008
USDA
says it will hold onto No on Prop. 2 funds for now -- Federal officials
have agreed to wait at least a month before spending any of the money they
collect from egg producers on advertising against a California ballot
measure that would ban the cramped caging of hens and other farm animals. In
papers filed Wednesday in San Francisco, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
denied accusations in a lawsuit that it planned illegal political spending.
But the agency said it would not spend any of the disputed funds in
California until a hearing Sept. 22. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel
will then decide whether to issue an injunction that would prohibit any
spending of government-controlled money on the ballot measure campaign. The
suit was filed Aug. 13 by sponsors of Proposition 2.
<more> Aug. 22, 2008 AP
State
Senate passes bill aimed at thieves of metal fixtures - - Twice in the
past four years, San Joaquin County farmer Richard Rodriguez has been
victimized by metal thieves making off with nearly $25,000 in sprinkler
pipes. "As long as there's a market and the people who buy this stuff don't
ask questions, this is going to be a problem," said Rodriguez, who works 500
acres. Republican Assemblyman Tom Berryhill of Modesto and Democratic Sen.
Ron Calderon of Montebello have crafted legislation designed to put the
screws on metal thieves and shady recyclers. Berryhill's Assembly Bill 844,
which the Senate passed Wednesday, would require people selling metals to
recycling yards to provide their thumbprint and photo identification and
wait three days before they are paid by check. Recyclers who fail to collect
and maintain these records would be fined $1,000 for the first offense,
$2,000 for the second offense and $4,000 for the third and subsequent
offenses.
<more> Aug. 22, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Commentary: Ag Science Center seeks your help to tell our story- - By
Michele Laverty - - Agriculture is an amazing field filled with science and
technology. Those who work daily in California agriculture are acutely aware
of this, but for the rest of the population who doesn't live and work with
plants, water, soil and animals, where food comes from remains a mystery.
The Ag Science Center, the nation's first science and technology center
focused on agriculture, will allow visitors of all ages to learn for
themselves where food really comes from and introduce them to the many
career opportunities in this growing sector. This 65,000-square-foot
interactive science center will be constructed on the Modesto Junior College
campus on Highway 99 in Modesto.
<more> Aug. 22, 23008 Ag Alert
Golden image of
corn-based ethanol shows some erosion - - From his office window at the
Al-Corn Clean Fuel ethanol plant, manager Randy Doyal watches a steady
stream of trucks roll in, weighed down with grain. A decade ago, many of the
delivery trucks were beat-up, all-purpose workhorses. Today, a growing
number are gleaming semis, reflecting the improved fortunes of this
farmer-owned facility as well as the nearby countryside. "All the folks that
invested in the first place took a gamble. It's been big for them," says
Doyal. The firms' huge fermenters, grain elevators and cooling towers loom
over the flat cornfields, physically underscoring the economic reality that
ethanol is the most important thing around. Market changes and a growing
chorus of concerns about ethanol make Doyal and other ethanol supporters
question how long the good times will last. Corn prices, though down lately,
remain high at $5.98 a bushel, making it harder for ethanol producers to
profit. Livestock producers blame the ethanol industry for driving up feed
prices and fueling food inflation for consumers.
<more> Aug. 22, 2008 USA Today
Regulators expected to allow radiation for spinach, lettuce - - Federal regulators are expected today to let processors for the first time use radiation to kill bacteria in spinach and iceberg lettuce. The step will protect consumers and growers, who have been battered by E. coli outbreaks in recent years. But are shoppers ready for irradiated vegetables? Experts point out that meat and some other foods have been treated with radiation for years, with little or no resistance from shoppers. But that may be simply because few are aware of the practice. <more> Aug. 22, 2008 Fresno Bee
Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008
Dan
Walters: Workers' comp battle heats up again -- The Capitol's perennial
conflict over workers' compensation benefits and burdens may be heating up
again with the independent Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB)
recommending a sharp hike in insurance premiums paid by employers and the
Schwarzenegger administration proposing new rules for disability benefits.
The WCIRB is proposing an overall 16 percent increase in work comp premiums
beginning in January, citing "a significant increase in medical payments per
claim" for job-related illnesses and injuries. While the report notes that
work comp insurance costs would still be 60 percent lower than they were
before a series of reforms enacted by the Legislature in 2003 and 2004, if
the proposal is approved by the state insurance commissioner, it would mark
the first work comp insurance boost since 2004. Last year, Insurance
Commissioner Steve Poizner rejected a WCIRB's recommendation for a 5.2
percent premium increase and left rates unchanged.
<more> Aug. 21, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Industry leaders warn of continued wholesale price increases - - Food
inflation is just beginning and will continue for many months unless ethanol
policies are changed, warned poultry and meat industry leaders in statements
issued today. The National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and
the American Meat Institute cited as evidence the recently-released Producer
Price Index (PPI), which showed the highest year-over-year increase in 27
years. The PPI rose 1.2 percent in July, after increasing 1.8 percent in
June. The increase was more than twice the 0.5 percent gain that economists
expected. Beef prices jumped by 7.4 percent, the biggest increase in nearly
four years. Milk prices rose by 5 percent, the largest gain in a year, while
soft drink prices rose by 2.4 percent, the largest increase in four years.
Corn prices were over 80 percent higher than last year, contributing to a
41.8 percent increase in prepared animal feeds.
<more> Aug. 21, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Modesto Bee
Editorial: Feinstein on right track. We need more dams
- - Sen. Dianne Feinstein got a little grumpy the other day with the slow
pace of work on a state water bond she and Gov. Schwarzenegger have
proposed. She singled out members of her own Democratic party for their
intransigence when it comes to new surface water storage projects. Good for
her. Ideological conflicts threaten to throttle any action on California's
water crisis. We run the risk in California of remaining philosophically
pure and politically correct while we dry up and blow away. We must increase
our water supply. Demand grows with our growing population, and
simultaneously our existing supplies are threatened by the pace of global
climate change. When winter snowfall diminishes in the Sierra Nevada, as it
has for two years now, the slowly melting supplies we once counted on are no
longer available. More precipitation falls as rain, and we haven't
sufficient capacity to collect it for use in cities, industries and
agriculture.
<more> Aug. 21, 2008 Modesto Bee
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008
Some weary of Fresno rendering plant - - A
group of southwest Fresno residents urged the Fresno City Council on Tuesday
to relocate the Darling International rendering plant from their
neighborhood, saying they are tired of the odor and presence of the
company. "Ask yourself," said Mary Curry, a neighborhood advocate, "would
you like this in your community?" Curry said that while she understands that
the plant plays an important role in the farming industry by rendering
poultry and cattle, it has no place in southwest Fresno anymore. "We can't
develop and make this a safe place to live with it here," Curry said. "It
needs to relocate." The neighborhood challenge comes when the Texas-based
company is caught in a difficult situation.
<more> Aug. 20 ,2008 Fresno Bee
Congress of California Seniors Opposes Prop. 2-
- The Congress of California Seniors (CCS) has announced its opposition
to Prop. 2, “Standards for Confining Farm Animals. Initiative Statute” and
have joined Californians for SAFE Food in the fight to stop the dangerous
and costly Prop. 2 ballot initiative. CCS represents more than 500,000
members statewide and is the latest organization to join Californians for
SAFE Food, a growing coalition of public health and food safety experts,
labor unions, consumers, family farmers, and veterinarians urging a NO vote
on Prop. 2 to all of its members statewide. “Prop. 2, which would eliminate
egg production in the state and result in higher egg prices and very real
food safety issues, is simply a bad deal for California seniors,” said Hank
Lacayo, State President, California Congress of Seniors. “Seniors, who often
rely on a fixed income can ill afford to pay significantly more for their
eggs; and more importantly, are the group whose health is most susceptible
to dangerous food safety risks like Salmonella.”
<more>
Aug, 20, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
Parra wins praise for political gumption. Ag
interests give lawmaker kudos on her water stand. - - A day after she
was booted from her Capitol office, Assembly Member Nicole Parra on Tuesday
showed no signs of backing off her demand that lawmakers approve a water
bond before she votes on the state budget, now 51 days late. The showdown
with Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has made Parra, D-Hanford, a bit of a hero
with the water-thirsty farmers in the Valley. But some rank-and-file
Democrats say she has gone too far. "I think the budget at this point is
more important than the water," said Candi Easter, a state Democratic Party
official in Bakersfield. "I think that Nicole should stay with her party.
I'm just really saddened by her behavior." On Fresno's conservative talk
station KMJ, AM 580, however, there was nothing but joy. Parra took calls on
Ray Appleton's afternoon show, including this from Fresno County Supervisor
Bob Waterston: "Nicole, you're a rock star. I love you. And just keep it
up."
<more> Aug. 20, 2008 Fresno Bee
In Farm Country's Boom, Hints of a Bubble --
The trucks rumble down the main drag of this farm town all day long, the
ones heading east brimming with grains of No. 2 Yellow Corn, the ones going
west filled with Sweet Bran, a cattle feed that looks like breakfast cereal
and smells like warm beer. That eighteen-wheeled evidence of prosperity
shows why the Plains states are a bright spot in the otherwise gloomy
national economic picture. Here, the housing market is holding up just fine,
the banks are making plenty of loans, and employers keep adding jobs. The
good times in farm country show the difficulty facing policymakers grappling
with the nation's economic distress, underscored yesterday by data
indicating the steepest rise in monthly wholesale prices in 27 years and a
17 year low for new housing construction.
<more> Aug. 20, 2008 Washington Post
Quebec cottage poultry slaughter cancelled after
PETA protests - - A controversial chicken slaughter betting game in
Quebec has been cancelled, after an animal rights group contacted police.The
"Thetford Chicken Massacre" organizer, Dr. Gaston Dorval, announced he won't
hold the event this year, after PETA publicly criticized the annual
tradition. The Labour Day weekend event involves a game in which people bet
on squares in a white grid drawn on the lawn. Chickens and turkeys are
beheaded and set free on the grid. The square they die on wins the bet. The
chickens are then barbecued. Between two and three chickens are killed over
the course of the weekend. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
called the game barbaric, and contacted provincial police to request an
investigation.
<more> Aug. 20, 2008 CBC News
Water shortages threaten farms' future - -For
Lex Iyer, the shock came in early June, when he learned that water
deliveries to his orchard would be cut from 45 percent of contract amount
down to 40 percent. For Shawn Coburn, the challenge is to prepare to keep
his trees alive--and his employees in their jobs--if allocations drop as low
as 10 percent next year. Iyer and Coburn are among the farmers who
described their efforts to cope with water shortages in a survey conducted
by the California Farm Bureau. Both grow almonds, a crop that has been among
the state's agricultural success stories in recent years. And both say they
worry that water shortages will make that success difficult to sustain. For
the past 12 years, Iyer has farmed almonds near Gustine in western Merced
County. He realized that 2008 would not exactly be his year, however, after
the federal government announced water cutbacks were necessary due to the
drought.
<more> Aug. 20, 2008 Ag Alert
Sweet Potato
Out-Yields Corn in Ethanol Production Study - - In experiments,
sweet potatoes grown in Maryland and
Alabama yielded two to three times as much carbohydrate for fuel ethanol
production as field corn grown in those states, Agricultural Research
Service (ARS) scientists report. The same was true of tropical cassava in
Alabama. The sweet potato carbohydrate yields approached the lower limits of
those produced by sugarcane, the highest-yielding ethanol crop. Another
advantage for sweet potatoes and cassava is that they require much less
fertilizer and pesticide than corn. The research is unique in comparing the
root crops to corn, and in growing all three crops simultaneously in two
different regions of the country.
<more> Aug. 20, 2008 ARS Press Release
Grass Farmer to make "Slow Food" presentation
Sept. 1 at CSU Stanislaus - - Joel Salatin, an acclaimed author and
alternative farmer, will speak at California State University Stanislaus on
Monday, September 1 as part of the Slow Food Nation celebration of America’s
food traditions being held in San Francisco and Northern California over the
Labor Day weekend. Tickets for Salatin’s 2 p.m. talk in the Bernell and
Flora Snider Music Recital Hall at CSU Stanislaus must be purchased in
advance. Priced at $20 general admission and $10 for students, tickets are
available by calling (209) 874-1309 or (559) 706-9552, or on the Web at
brownpapertickets.com or
slowfoodnation.org. His talk is titled “All Flesh is Grass” and is
sponsored by the University’s Department of Biological Sciences.
<more> Aug. 20, 2008 CSU Stanislaus Press Release
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
CPF conference Sept. 18-19 at Lake Tahoe - - The CPF's
annual conference is set for Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; International Paper; SnackMasters Jerky ,
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Baker Commodities Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation; Darling International; Evonik Degussa; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Pactiv Corporation; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Haley Farms Inc.; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; Preserve International; Tipper Tie Inc.; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Volk Enterprises; Walco International; Woodland Farms.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008
Assembly Member Parra a pariah in struggle over
state budget -- Hanford Democrat Nicole Parra was booted from her Assembly
office Monday, a punishment for bucking her party on Sunday night's budget
vote. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass sent Parra packing not to smaller Capitol
digs -- the usual reprimand for rebellious members -- but out of the building
entirely. Parra landed across the street in a legislative office building
where no other lawmakers are quartered.
Parra has vowed to not vote for the state budget unless lawmakers also agree
to put a water bond on the November ballot -- a priority of the farmers in her
district who have long pushed for new dams. On Sunday she kept her pledge and
was the only Democrat present who abstained on a Democratic budget proposal
that was never expected to pass. The budget bill requires a super majority and
failed because no Republicans voted yes.
<more> Aug. 19, 2008 Fresno Bee
California could change farm worker union votes
- - Democratic senators cited a series of heat-related deaths in the
fields as they approved a bill Monday, Aug. 18, that could make it easier
for unions to organize California farm workers. The bill would let farm
workers choose union representation without the traditional ballot-booth
elections. The measure by former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los
Angeles, passed on a party-line, 23-15 vote. It faces a possible veto by
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento,
said helping farm workers organize is the best way to improve working
conditions and avoid more field deaths. California could hire dozens more
inspectors to enforce regulations designed to prevent heat deaths and not
have as much effect, Steinberg said.
<more> Aug. 19, 2008 AP
California Senate considers bill to protect
animal researchers - - The recent attacks on animal researchers in Santa
Cruz have refocused attention on a bill aimed at protecting academic
freedom. Assembly Bill 2296 would make it easier for police to cite
individuals for trespassing and makes it a crime to post personal
information of a researcher with the intent to incite violence. The Aug. 2
attacks included firebombings of a car and a researcher's home in Santa
Cruz. In the latter case, the family was forced to flee the house through a
second-story window. "The most recent attacks brought to everybody's
attention that there are real concerns about the safety of academic
researchers," said Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco. Mullin
wrote the bill with input from the University of California and other
universities in the state.
<more> Aug. 19 ,2008 Sacramento Bee
LA Times Op: Ed: Animal rights terrorism.
Activists have used increasingly dangerous tactics on researchers whose goal
is to save lives - - By Frankie Trull - - The firebombings of the
car and home of two UC Santa Cruz researchers earlier this month reveal an
unwelcome reality: Animal rights extremism is getting worse. Over the last
several years, militants have shifted their focus from breaking into
research labs and institutions to targeting researchers and their families
at home. In the past, they protested against scientists who work with higher
species, such as nonhuman primates and dogs; now, they are even targeting
researchers who use fruit flies. These attacks, considered domestic
terrorism and attempted homicide, should be a wake-up call to law
enforcement. Congress recognized the danger that animal rights militants
pose when it passed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act in 2006. This law
gave the FBI additional tools to pursue animal rights extremism and
increased penalties for crimes related to it. The FBI has not apprehended
anyone since the law was passed. It needs to make these crimes a higher
priority.
<more> Aug. 19, 2008 LA Times
Farmers link up with Facebook- - Farmers and
Facebook? The information sharing site offers a platform for farmers to
trade information, advice and whatever crosses their minds. The concept
comes from Jim Eadie, co-founder of
www.Farmershowcase.com, who saw it as a
strategic marketing initiative. "We can target and get direct feedback from
farmers in specific sectors," he said in a statement. "I strongly feel like
we are just scratching the surface with the ability to reach farmers direct
via the internet." Farmershowcase.com is an agricultural product showcasing
Web site and created the Facebook group to connect "young and progressive
farming leaders throughout the world," officials said.
Follow this link to join the group. Aug. 19, 2008 Fresno Bee
Monday, Aug. 18, 2008
Poultry Industry Reacts to Government's Corn
Estimates - - The recent U.S. government forecast that farmers will
harvest 12.3 billion bushels of corn, bringing prices down to roughly $5 per
bushel is a "cheerful and overly optimistic" expectation, according the
National Chicken Council. Paul Aho, international poultry economist with
Poultry Perspective, agreed. "There are a lot of leaves and stock in the
fields, but not that much grain as the corn crop is two weeks behind, making
the government forecast a little premature," Aho said. "The government is
wagering the Midwest won't see an early frost." Richard Lobb, spokesman for
the chicken council, said the government's recent forecast offers more
evidence of a policy built on hope, instead of sound economics.
<more> Aug. 18, 2008 Arkansas Morning News
Cockfighting illegal in all 50 states - -
Cockfighting is illegal in every state in the nation as Louisiana last week
became the last state to outlaw the practice. The ban, signed into law last
year, extended coverage to chickens under animal cruelty laws. It has been
illegal since last year to gamble on cockfights in Louisiana when a separate
law was passed. Congress also passed legislation last year to increase
penalties for animal fighting and to criminalize commerce in cockfighting
weapons. The penalty for transporting roosters and other animals across state
lines for the purpose of fighting was increased from a misdemeanor to a
felony. Cockfighting remains legal on American soil in Puerto Rico, American
Samoa, and Guam. Aug. 18, 2008 NCC Newsletter
U.S. Senate ag committee hears call for change on
ethanol policy - - Today, a diverse group of people affected by current
ethanol policies spoke out against food-to-fuel mandates and subsidies
following a hearing by the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and
Forestry. Bill Bevans, a Nebraska turkey grower, Michael Kelsey, a Nebraska
cattleman, and Bill Lapp, an agricultural economist from Omaha were among the
dozens who traveled to the Strauss Center at the University of Nebraska, Omaha
to let their voices be heard. “Senator Nelson held this hearing to show his
support for farmers, but we’re farmers too,” said Bill Bevans, a turkey farmer
from Waverly. “We are being hurt by the policies he is promoting. I’ve been in
this industry for a long time, and current ethanol policies are as detrimental
to our livelihoods as anything I’ve ever seen.” Livestock and poultry farmers
argue that the rise in corn and other commodity prices is due in large part to
the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) – which mandates blending ethanol into the
national fuel supply – as well as tax credits and tariffs on imported ethanol.
Corn prices have more than doubled in the last year, causing widespread
economic hardship for producers who rely on corn and other grains for feed.
“Commodities by their nature are volatile, but until recently, the main driver
of volatility has been weather and spikes in grain prices were short-lived and
rarely passed on to consumers,” said Bill Lapp, principal of Advanced Economic
Solutions in Omaha. “What we have seen in the past year has been an
artificial market force, ethanol policies, driving a sustained increase in the
price of grains. These price increases are now being absorbed by consumers as
demonstrated by the steady upward trend of food price inflation.” Aug. 18,
2008
Modesto forum on animal welfare initiative Prop. 2
set for Sept. 3 - - First United Methodist Church, Modesto will host a
forum Wednesday, Sept. 3 on Prop. 2, the Standards for Confining Farm Animals
Initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot. Panel members include Bill Mattos, president
of the California Poultry Federation; Jim West, owner of J.S. West Company,
Modesto; Modesto dairyman George A. te Velde, and a representative from the sponsor of the initiative. The panel will be
moderated by Mark Looker, agricultural communications consultant. The
proposition would add a chapter to Division 20 of California's Health and
Safety Code to prohibit the confinement of certain farm animals in a manner
that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully
extend their limbs. The measure includes veal crates, battery cages, and sow
gestation crates. If approved by the voters, the statute would become
operative on Jan. 1, 2015. The Prop. 2 discussion is open to the public and
will be held at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of First United Methodist
Church, 850 16th Street, Modesto. The forum is part of a faith and
politics sermon series sponsored by the church in the run-up to the November
election. Aug. 12, 2008 FUMC Press Release
Online Meat and Poultry trading website launched -
- Global E-Trading NV (GET) today launched the new “Trading” pages as part of
its improved service for the global fresh industry. The Meat and Poultry
portal is a section of the www.eFresh.com
trading site. eFresh.com is a successful online B2B portal initiative where
members of the perishable industry find breaking industry news as well as
trading opportunities from around the world. eFresh.com currently serves more
than 50,000 users each month, and continues to grow through acquisition of
product specific portals, as well as the launch of new portals. According to
Mark van Dongen, Portal Manager for Meat and Poultry, the improved portal
offers members the chance to directly connect with their international trading
partners. Various daily offers are placed online by sellers. Buyers can
directly establish contact with sellers of their choice to discuss details of
potential deals. Online offers are also brought to the attention of interested
buyers with a mailing to all the potential international buyers around the
world. Aug. 18, 2008 EFresh.com Press Release
UCSC firebombings are reminder of how hard it is to
catch extremists - - It's been more than two weeks since a pair of
firebombs rattled the university community in Santa Cruz. The attacks against
two University of California researchers are believed to be the work of
radical animal-rights activists opposed to vivisection. But despite an Aug. 7
raid on a Santa Cruz home on Riverside Avenue, nobody has been arrested. The
case is a stark reminder of how hard it is to catch animal-rights and
environmental extremists, who are suspected of committing more than 1,200
criminal acts nationwide since 1990. Because of the activists' strict code of
discipline that prohibits "snitching" or cooperating with investigators, many
cases remain unsolved.
<more> Aug. 18, 2008 San Jose Mercury News
Six months later, did the Chino beef recall produce
benefits? - - The cows were caked in manure and mud. Sick or hurt, they
couldn't stand long enough to be slaughtered. So they were beaten, kicked,
jabbed in their eyes and shocked. They were dragged with chains, rammed with a
forklift and blasted with a powerful hose in a manner later described in
congressional hearings as akin to water-boarding. The mistreatment and illegal
slaughter of "downer" cows at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino,
captured on video by an undercover investigator posing as a plant employee,
sparked the largest U.S. beef recall in history. Six months later, the recall
is over, but its impact is clear and far-reaching.
<more> Aug. 18, 2008 Riverside Press Enterprise
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
CPF conference Sept. 18-19 at Lake Tahoe - - The CPF's
annual conference is set for Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; SnackMasters Jerky , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Baker Commodities Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation; Darling International; Evonik Degussa; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Pactiv Corporation; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Haley Farms Inc.; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; Preserve International; Tipper Tie Inc.; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Volk Enterprises; Walco International; Woodland Farms.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Friday, Aug. 15, 2008
Feathers fly over hens in cages - -The fate of the state's 19 million
egg-laying hens is coming to a polling place near you. Same-sex marriage,
parental notification of abortion – California's November ballot is studded
with weighty issues, but none is ruffling feathers like Proposition 2, which
would effectively ban farms from raising hens in cages. The United Egg
Producers predicts the measure would triple the cost of eggs, drive the
industry out of the state and deprive consumers of fresh, safe California
eggs. "Californians are already reeling from skyrocketing gas and food
prices," said Julie Buckner, a spokeswoman for the No on Proposition 2
campaign. "The last thing they need is to go to the supermarket and pay
higher prices for a dozen eggs."
<more> Aug. 15, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Experts Closing In On Avian Flu Breakthrough - - Groundbreaking research
to enable rapid diagnosis of bird flu - including the deadly H5N1 strain
which can be fatal if passed on to humans - is being developed with the help
of Nottingham Trent University. Experts from the university's School of
Science and Technology are playing a key role in a European project to
create portable machines capable of identifying the disease instantly,
potentially saving the lives of countless humans and animals. The
Portfastflu project, being made possible with €3million of EU funding, would
cut the current diagnosis time from up to a week to just two hours. A swab
containing saliva (humans) or tissue sample (animals) would be passed
through the machine which would perform the molecular recognition of the
virus strains, thus identifying the presence of influenza and even the type
or subtype of strain, eliminating the need for samples to be sent to a
testing laboratory.
<more> Aug. 15, 2008 Medical News Today
Editorial: Prop 2 needs legislative treatment - - Proposition 2 backers
such as the Humane Society of the United States and Farm Sanctuary have
poured $4.2 million into the measure. Proposition 2 opponents, including
several out-of-state egg producers, have raised $1.7 million. Instead of
deciding issues based on the facts, voters will weigh sound bites, fuzzy
videos and other factors aimed at evoking emotional responses. The
legislature is the appropriate place to debate the merits of Proposition 2 -
and every initiative. There the legislation will go through public hearings,
all sides will be invited to voice their opinions and provide facts, and
legislators will be able to ask questions. Then the proposition will be
modified to address the issues that arise in those committees. In this
country, that is how laws should be written, not as part of a media circus.
<more> Aug. 15, 2008 Capital Press
Poultry Farmers Look At Alternative Heating Methods For Chicken Houses - - Fayetteville, Arkansas poultry farmers are trying to cope with the rise in fuel prices by turning to alternative energy sources. It's easy to forget that before a chicken is ready for the store shelves, it's raised in a chicken house. And during the winter months, those houses need to be heated. Most are fueled with propane, which has been rising in price, just like many other fuels. And it's costing poultry farmers thousands of dollars per year. "It's the number one operating expense and has been for many years," said Jim Wimberly, president of BioEnergy Systems LLC in Fayetteville. <more> Aug. 15, 2008
CPF
conference Sept. 18-19 at Lake Tahoe - - The CPF's
annual conference is set for Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; SnackMasters Jerky , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Baker Commodities Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation; Darling International; Evonik Degussa; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Pactiv Corporation; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Haley Farms Inc.; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; Preserve International; Tipper Tie Inc.; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Volk Enterprises; Walco International; Woodland Farms.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008
American Egg Board, USDA sued over Prop. 2 - - The sponsors of a farm
animal rights initiative (Prop. 2) on the November ballot are suing the USDA
for allegedly devoting millions of dollars to defeat the measure. The
lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American
Egg Board on Tuesday claims the USDA improperly allowed the Egg Board to set
aside $3 million for opposing Proposition 2. The plaintiff, Californians for
Humane Farms, says the board is banned from using government money for
political campaigns. Proposition 2 is meant to set strict standards for how
farm animals can be confined. If approved, it would ban cramped metal cages
for egg-laying hens, metal gestation crates for pregnant sows and veal
crates for lambs. The president of the American Egg Board could not
immediately be reached for comment. Aug. 14, 2008 AP
Ag
coalition calls on Schwarzenegger to oppose Prop. 2 - - A coalition of
22 California agriculture organizations is calling on Gov. Schwarzenegger to
join with them in opposing Prop. 2, the animal welfare initiative on the
November ballot. In a letter signed by the California Poultry Federation and
21 other organizations, the group says, “Proposition 2 is not about the
treatment of animals- it’s about mandating new housing standards for
egg-laying hens. Proposition 2 would ban modern housing systems, threatening
food safety and public health.” The coalition cites a recent UC Davis
economic study that said the California egg industry would be wiped out if
Prop. 2 is approved. The state would lose thousands of jobs and more than
$600 million in economic activity. In addition, prices for locally produced
eggs would “rise significantly- - even double – at a time when California
consumers are already reeling from high gas, grocery and living expenses.”
CPF President Bill Mattos said, “If approved, this measure will open the
door to similar initiatives by animal welfare activists. It should be clear
to everyone in agriculture that activists are going to push forward their
emotion-based campaigns. Now is the time for agriculture to get involved in
defeating this misleading and costly measure. We hope the Governor will
stand with us in opposing this misleading measure.” Gov. Schwarzenegger has
not taken a public stand on Prop. 2 which, according to the latest
California Field Poll, is winning by a margin of 63%-24%. Aug. 14, 2008
Who
supports, opposes livestock welfare measure - - Supporters of
Proposition 2, a livestock welfare initiative on the November ballot, are
out-fundraising opponents 2-1 and have the edge in celebrity support,
according to financial reports and endorsements. Proposition 2 would require
farmers of egg-laying hens, as well as those raising veal calves and
pregnant pigs, to give the animals more room to extend their wings or limbs
and to lie down. The standards would take effect in six years. Supporters of
Prop. 2 have raised more money, $4.3 million, versus $2.16 million for
opponents, according to the California Secretary of State. Opponents of
Prop. 2 have stronger backing from agricultural groups and in-state donors.
<more> Aug. 14, 2008 North County Times
Bigger
corn crop cheers U.S. chicken sector - - Shares of U.S. chicken
companies rose on Tuesday after the U.S. Agriculture Department forecast
that U.S. farmers will harvest the second largest U.S. corn crop ever, which
should mean lower feed prices and ample supplies throughout much of 2009.
Shares of Pilgrim's Pride, the No. 1 chicken producer, jumped 6 percent,
while Tyson Foods', the No. 2 producer, stock rose nearly 4 percent, and
shares of No. 4 producer Sanderson increased 3 percent. Tyson also produces
beef and pork. Privately held Perdue Farms is the country's third largest
chicken producer. "It is certainly possible we have seen the highest grain
prices and we may have already seen the worst losses in the chicken
industry," said Paul Aho, an economist with the consulting firm Poultry
Perspective. "I think we can look forward to a good 2009. It doesn't look as
dark as it did a month ago," he said.
<more> Aug. 14, 2008 Reuters
Poultry inspection equivalence on national poultry advisory meeting agenda
- - The National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection will
discuss international inspection equivalence August 27-28. International
meat and poultry inspection equivalence relating to audits associated with
equivalence criteria, determinations of a country’s status and the
reinspection system for imported product will be addressed at a meeting of
the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection on August 27
and 28. On the agenda are reports on the findings of the Import Safety
Working Group; industry perspectives from Michael Robach, vice president of
food safety programs, Cargill, and Dr. Jill Hollingsworth, vice president of
food safety programs, Food Marketing Institute; and comments by officials
from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service and foreign governments,
including New Zealand, European Union and Australia. The committee will meet
August 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and August 28 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in
the conference room at the south end of the USDA South Building cafeteria,
1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. To pre-register, visit
www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Reg_082708_Meeting/index.asp.
Aug. 14, 2008 Watt Poultry.com
National Chicken Council spent $30K lobbying in 2Q -- The National
Chicken Council, the trade group for the nation's chicken producers and
processors, spent $30,000 in the second quarter to lobby the federal
government on poultry imports, animal welfare and other issues, according to
a recent disclosure report. The group, whose members include Pilgrim's Pride
Corp. and Tyson Foods Inc., lobbied on regulatory matters including biofuels,
country of origin labeling, water and air quality, and more in the
April-June period. Besides Congress, the group lobbied the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the
report filed July 21 with the House clerk's office. Aug. 14, 2008 AP
CPF
conference Sept. 18-19 at Lake Tahoe - - The CPF's
annual conference is set for Squaw Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; SnackMasters Jerky , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation; Evonik Degussa; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; Preserve International; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Walco International; Woodland Farms.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008
Wednesday deadline to reserve hotel room for CPF
conference - -
Wednesday, Aug. 13, is the deadline to reserve a hotel room for the CPF's
annual conference, set for Squaw Creek Resort
in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Reservations must be made through the CPF office at
(209) 576-6355.
CPF will make
hotel reservations based on information provided in the registration form.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The hotel
will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; SnackMasters Jerky , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Walco International; Woodland Farms.
To learn more about the CPF conference,
please click here
Major Latino organizations oppose Prop. 2 - -
The general assembly of the National Latino Congreso last week unanimously
approved an amended resolution opposing Prop. 2, the UN-SAFE Food Initiative,
because of the many negative consequences Prop. 2 poses for Latinos in
California. Their opposition comes on the heels of the Mexican American
Political Association’s recent opposition to Prop. 2 and both groups have now
joined Californians for SAFE Food, a growing coalition of public health and
food safety experts, labor unions, consumers, family farmers and
veterinarians. The National Latino Congreso was convened by the nation’s major
Latino political and advocacy organizations to address the primary concerns of
the Latino community and encourage a large voter registration mobilization
effort focused on issues most affecting poor and working families. The Mexican
American Political Association is dedicated to the constitutional and
democratic principle of political freedom and representation for the Mexican
and Hispanic people of the United States of America.
<more>
Aug. 12, 2008 Non on Prop. 2 Press Release
Modesto Bee Letter to the editor - - The
perspective from inside: I have worked for the largest fresh egg marketing
company on the West Coast for over 25 years. Our company and its producers
have very strict animal welfare and biosecurity guidelines that provide you a
fresh and safe product. Our animal welfare guidelines are important to us, for
if we do not care for our hens, we have no business. Yes, cages are necessary,
but we do produce some cage-free product.
<more> Aug., 13, 2008 Modesto Bee
Modesto's Mervin Amerine loved flying, turkeys, GOP
- - Mervin Amerine reached unusual heights in a career that involved a lot of
flying. He flew Ronald Reagan around the state during his successful campaign
for governor in 1966. Using the same DC-3, he delivered tens of thousands of
baby turkeys at a time from Amerine Turkey Breeding Farms of Oakdale. And
during World War II, he flew B-29 Superfortress bombers, helping to seal the
defeat of Japan. Mr. Amerine, who died Aug. 3 at 85 after a long illness, was
remembered as a visionary in the turkey business and a man who loved to fly.
"He was outstanding in promoting California turkeys and California turkey
products," said Bob Thomas, co-owner of Sunshine Turkey Farms in Snelling.
<more>
Aug. 13, 2008 Modesto Bee
Cut in corn-ethanol production not solution for
poultry industry, officials say -- Two members of Arkansas' congressional
delegation stopped short of saying Tuesday that federally mandated
corn-ethanol production levels should be reduced to hold down the cost of
chicken feed. The energy industry's demand for corn has inflated input costs
for poultry operations, forcing some to shutter facilities and cut jobs,
including Pilgrim's Pride, which announced Monday it would idle a plant in
Clinton and lay off 360 employees. In June, the company announced it would lay
off 600 in El Dorado. Pilgrim's Pride and the National Chicken Council put at
least part of the blame on an energy bill passed in December that requires 9
billion gallons of ethanol to be blended into gasoline this year and about 11
billion gallons next year. The Environmental Protection Agency now administers
the initiative, the Renewable Fuels Standard.
<more> Aug. 13, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau
Feinstein criticizes legislators for inaction on
state water plan - - Warning that California faces catastrophic water
shortages from a worsening drought, Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday upbraided
state lawmakers for failing to rally behind a proposed $9.3 billion water bond
for the November ballot. Feinstein has joined Republican Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger in calling for major improvements to state water storage and
delivery systems. But their water bond plan has run aground in the
Legislature. Lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have been loath to support the
program, which would include $3 billion for water storage and $1.9 billion to
repair levees and restore the ecosystem of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Legislative efforts to place the measure on the November ballot have also
stumbled amid the state's bitter budget standoff.
<more>
Aug. 13, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Farm expenses hit record high: USDA - - The rising cost of fuel and other products drove U.S. farm production expenditures to a record $260 billion in 2007, according to USDA’s Farm Production Expenditures 2007 summary released by the department’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Total U.S. farm production expenditures rose 9.3 percent from 2006 and nearly 30 percent from five years ago. Increasing petroleum costs meant farmers not only paid more for fuel, but also for fertilizer products, chemicals and transportation services. Indirectly, fuel prices and the growth in ethanol production also led to higher crop prices, resulting in increased cost for livestock feed. <more> Aug. 13, 2008 Western Farm Press
Tuesday, Aug.12, 2008
USDA raises corn estimates on 'ideal' weather -
- Farmers are on pace to produce the second largest corn crop and fourth
largest soybean crop in history, which may lead to lower prices for the key
grains, the government said Tuesday. In its first estimates this year based on
actual field visits and farmer surveys, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
raised its estimate of corn production and said "nearly ideal" weather has
helped Midwestern farmers recover from June's devastating floods. That
recovery is expected to lead to lower prices for corn, soybeans and wheat.
That may provide some relief to meat producers who use corn and soybeans for
feed, for makers of corn-based ethanol and maybe even for shoppers at
supermarkets.
<more> Aug. 12, 2008 AP
High price of corn thwarts Pacific Ethanol - -
Pacific Ethanol Inc. reported Monday that it lost $8.3 million in the second
quarter of 2008, as rising corn and energy prices undercut margins on record
sales of the ethanol the Sacramento-based company makes and markets. The
second-quarter loss of 23 cents per diluted share was a sharp swing from
profits of $2.2 million, or 3 cents per diluted share, in the same quarter of
2007, and nearly double analysts' forecasts. Analysts had expected the company
to lose 13 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. The loss was driven
primarily by rising natural gas and corn prices during the quarter, as well as
additional costs associated with the opening of the company's third wholly
owned plant in Burley, Idaho, Neil Koehler, chief executive, said in a Monday
conference call with industry analysts.
<more> Aug. 12, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Texas Is Fed Up With Corn Ethanol By Rick
Perry, Governor, Texas - - At what price will corn be so expensive that
the federal government will decide that it is time to stop driving up the
price of food? Three years ago, Congress imposed a Renewable Fuel Standard
(RFS) mandate that has forced the gasoline industry to mix massive amounts of
corn-based ethanol into the nation's fuel supply. In 2007, Congress nearly
doubled that mandate to require nine billion gallons of ethanol be blended
into gas in 2008 and even more in 2009. But, as a safety valve, Congress gave
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the power to waive the new mandates
if they turn out to have unforeseen, negative consequences.
<more> Aug. 12, 2008 Wall Street Journal Op-Ed
Website gives consumers glimpse into modern egg
farming - - United Egg Producers, a leading trade association representing
the majority of U.S. egg farmers, has unveiled
UEPCertified.com, a
site that gives consumers the chance to become educated shoppers and learn
more about modern egg farming. In its new user-friendly format,
UEPCertified.com serves as an informative and educational resource for
consumers and those who make egg purchasing decisions. The site also enables
visitors to search expanded sections that offer in-depth, behind-the-scenes
information about egg farming, its history and safety guidelines. "Shoppers
have many options when it comes to buying eggs and they are looking for the
most current information that will help them make an informed decision," said
Gene Gregory, president of United Egg Producers.
<more> Aug. 12, 2008 USAgnet.com
Modesto forum on animal welfare initiative Prop. 2
set for Sept. 3 - - First United Methodist Church, Modesto will host a
forum Wednesday, Sept. 3 on Prop. 2, the Standards for Confining Farm Animals
Initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot. Panel members include Bill Mattos, president
of the California Poultry Federation; Jim West, owner of J.S. West Company,
Modesto; Modesto dairyman George A. te Velde, and a representative from the
West Coast Regional Office of Humane Society of the U.S., the sponsor of the initiative. The panel will be
moderated by Mark Looker, agricultural communications consultant. The
proposition would add a chapter to Division 20 of California's Health and
Safety Code to prohibit the confinement of certain farm animals in a manner
that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully
extend their limbs. The measure includes veal crates, battery cages, and sow
gestation crates. If approved by the voters, the statute would become
operative on Jan. 1, 2015. The Prop. 2 discussion is open to the public and
will be held at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of First United Methodist
Church, 850 16th Street, Modesto. The forum is part of a faith and
politics sermon series sponsored by the church in the run-up to the November
election. Aug. 12, 2008 FUMC Press Release
Louisiana is last state to ban cockfighting --
Gory and bucolic all at once, cockfights have drawn crowds to small-time pits
and full-blown arenas in towns around Louisiana for generations. By next week,
they'll be against the law. Everywhere. On Friday, Louisiana will become the
last state to outlaw the rooster fights, a move that cockfighting enthusiasts
say marks the end of a rich rural tradition. "The culture, the custom of the
Cajun people, it's gone," said Chris Daughdrill, who breeds fighting roosters
in Loranger (lor-AHN-zher), a community about 50 miles north of New Orleans.
"It's another one of the rights that big government has taken away from the
people."
<more> Aug. 12, 2008 AP
Wednesday deadline to reserve hotel room for CPF
conference - -
Wednesday, Aug. 13, is the deadline to reserve a hotel room for the CPF's
annual conference, set for Squaw Creek Resort
in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Reservations must be made through the CPF office at
(209) 576-6355.
CPF will make
hotel reservations based on information provided in the registration form.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The hotel
will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; SnackMasters Jerky , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Walco International, Aviagen Inc.
To learn more about the CPF conference,
please click here
Slaughterhouse case fuels kosher justice movement
- - Very little goes unexamined in the kosher world. From meat and
poultry to the coating on vegetables and the ingredients in mouthwash, rabbis
who determine whether a product meets Jewish dietary laws scrutinize the most
minute details about all things consumed. For religiously observant Jews, that
concern has rarely extended beyond the product itself. But now, allegations of
worker abuse at America's biggest kosher slaughterhouse have some Jews
demanding that food companies be judged not just by the purity of their
products but by the way their treat their employees.
<more> Aug. 12, 2008 AP
Passing: Mervin Amerine, 85 - - Mervin Amerine
died in Turlock, Sunday, Aug. 3, after a long illness. He served as manager of
the California Turkey Industry Board from 1983 to 1991. The California Poultry
Federation was formed in 1992 to replace the Turkey Industry Board. CPF
President Bill Mattos remembers Amerine as “a true leader in the California
poultry industry. He was a very enthusiastic promoter of the turkey industry
and began the tradition of delivering a turkey to then Gov. Reagan at
Thanksgiving. He was very active in Republican party politics and became known
for flying Reagan all over the state when he first campaigned for office in
1966. His leadership helped make the California poultry industry what it is
today. Our sympathies go out to Nancy and their children upon his passing.” Merv
also helped pioneer the breeding, raising and mass–delivery of turkeys in
North America. He flew up to forty-eight thousand live baby turkeys at a time
all over the country. He is survived by wife Nancy Amerine, and children
Barbara Kollmeyer, and Cavan Amerine. A Memorial Service will be held Friday,
August 15 at 1 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Turlock
<more>
Aug. 12, 2008 Modesto Bee
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer: CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more information, please click here. To download a Registration Form, please click here. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Monday, Aug. 11, 2008
Wednesday deadline to reserve hotel room for CPF
conference - -
Wednesday, Aug. 13, is the deadline to reserve a hotel room for the CPF's
annual conference, set for Squaw Creek Resort
in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Reservations must be made through the CPF office at
(209) 576-6355.
CPF will make
hotel reservations based on information provided in the registration form.
Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here.
The hotel
will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; Snackmasters , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Cobb-Vantress; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Merial Select, Inc.; Novus International; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Veterinary Service Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Aviagen Inc.; Bayer; Big Dutchman; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; DuPont; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Lohmann Animal Health; Lubing Systems, U.S.A.; Motomco Ltd.; Petaluma Poultry Processors; United States Cold Storage, Inc.; Walco International, Aviagen Inc.
To learn more about the CPF conference,
please click here
Passing: Mervin Amerine, 85 - - Mervin Amerine
died in Turlock, Sunday, Aug. 3, after a long illness. He served as manager of
the California Turkey Industry Board from 1983 to 1991. The California Poultry
Federation was formed in 1992 to replace the Turkey Industry Board. CPF
President Bill Mattos remembers Amerine as “a true leader in the California
poultry industry. He was a very enthusiastic promoter of the turkey industry
and began the tradition of delivering a turkey to then Gov. Reagan at
Thanksgiving. He was very active in Republican party politics and became known
for flying Reagan all over the state when he first campaigned for office in
1966. His leadership helped make the California poultry industry what it is
today. Our sympathies go out to Nancy and their children upon his passing.” Merv
also helped pioneer the breeding, raising and mass–delivery of turkeys in
North America. He flew up to forty-eight thousand live baby turkeys at a time
all over the country. He is survived by wife Nancy Amerine, and children
Barbara Kollmeyer, and Cavan Amerine. A Memorial Service will be held Friday,
August 15 at 1 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Turlock
<more>
Aug. 12, 2008 Modesto Bee
Animal health and food safety experts testify
against Prop. 2 - - Leading animal health and food safety experts
testified Friday against the animal welfare initiative Prop. 2 at an
informational meeting held by the joint Assembly and Senate committees on
agriculture. Ryan Armstrong, vice president of operations at Armstrong
Family Egg Farms, and other speakers provided expert testimony on
behalf of Californians for SAFE Food in opposition to Prop. 2. “Modern housing
systems off the floor have evolved over time to improve birds’ welfare by
decreasing disease in birds,” said Bruce R. Charlton, DVM, PhD, Branch Chief,
UC Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System (titles and affiliations are
used for identification purposes only). “The food that you and I eat is safer
today because chickens are separated from their manure. The number of bacteria
on eggs laid by hens on the floor is 15 times greater than eggs produced by
hens in modern housing systems.” Dr. Carol Cardona, DVM, told the panel,
“Modern poultry housing protects poultry flocks from deadly infections like
Avian Influenza. In decades past, farmers in the upper Midwest raised turkeys
outdoors for Thanksgiving and found that every year there were many influenza
infections. But they discovered that when they brought the birds inside, they
could virtually eliminate the infections. Highly pathogenic Avian Influenza
viruses like H5N1 are a tragedy for poultry and we have to do our best to
protect the birds and ourselves.”
<more> Aug. 11, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press
Release
Debate: How big the chicken coop? - - Debate
flared Friday between some of the nation’s top animal welfare activists and
agricultural experts as the state Legislature held a hearing in San Luis
Obispo to discuss a ballot initiative that will decide the future of egg
production in California. State Sen. Abel Maldonado, RSanta Maria, who heads
the Senate Agricultural Committee, said he decided to hold the state
Legislature’s sole joint hearing on the ballot measure in San Luis Obispo
rather than Sacramento to promote public participation. If approved, the
measure would increase the amount of confinement space for some farm animals,
an issue Maldonado said “is very, very emotional.”
<more> Aug. 11, 2008 San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune
Broiler production cuts needed to head off
unsustainable losses, says poultry analyst - - Current cost, supply and
demand indicators point to unsustainable losses for U.S. broiler producers,
and fundamental changes are needed to restore normal margins, according to Sue
Trudell, vice president of Express Markets, Inc. Analytics. “Seven dollar corn
and $450 soybean meal just don’t work with chicken breast meat at $1.30 a
pound or lower,” Trudell told listeners at the Chicken Marketing Seminar. With
extremely high feed costs expected to persist for years and rising costs for
fuel, labor and capital, substantial production cuts are needed, she said.
<more> Aug. 11, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Bush to relax U.S. protected species laws - -
Parts of the Endangered Species Act, which has protected nature in the United
States for 3 1/2 decades, soon may be extinct. The Bush administration wants
federal agencies to decide for themselves whether construction projects such
as highways, dams or mines might harm endangered animals and plants. The new
regulations, which do not require Congress' approval, would reduce the numbers
of mandatory, independent reviews government scientists have been performing
for 35 years, according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press. The draft
rules also would bar federal agencies from assessing emissions from projects
that contribute to global warming and its effect on species and habitats. If
approved, the changes would represent the biggest overhaul of the Endangered
Species Act since 1988.
<more> Aug. 11, 2008 AP
Firebomb attacks anger, worry UC scientists who use
animals in research- - Two firebomb attacks last week on UC Santa Cruz
scientists who conduct animal research have angered and worried academics
throughout the UC system, who said their work has broad public support and
that they will not be intimidated by bombers who crossed the line by targeting
families. "It is outrageous when people's families are targeted," said UCLA
Chancellor Gene Block. "This is incredibly serious because it could have led
to loss of life. It's chilling." But Block, a biologist who uses mice in his
research on circadian rhythms, said he expects the violent attacks to deter
few scientists from working with animals.
<more> Aug. 11, 2008 LA Times
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer: CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more information, please click here. To download a Registration Form, please click here. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Friday, Aug. 8, 2008
Egg
producers rally in hopes of defeating California ballot initiative - -
Dominating discussions at the United Egg Producers (UEP) annual legislative
meeting was one topic: the ballot initiative on cages that will happen in
California this November. Animal rights activists have managed to obtain the
required number of signatures to place a referendum on the November ballot
that would essentially end the use of cages for layers in that state within
a few years. Speakers discussed throughout the UEP meetings that passage of
this referendum would be a major blow to the U.S. egg industry. UEP and the
industry have enlisted the services of the UEP public relations firm, Golin
Harris, to help address the issue. It is estimated up to $50 million will be
needed to successfully fight this issue.
<more>Aug. 8, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Pacific Ethanol stock jumps as bid to ease ethanol mandate is rejected -
- Shares of Sacramento's Pacific Ethanol Inc. jumped 12 percent Thursday
after the Bush administration denied a request from the governor of Texas to
suspend a federal mandate on the use of ethanol because of its impact on
corn prices. Stephen Johnson, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, said the ethanol requirement has nudged up the cost of corn, but not
enough to justify a policy change. Neil Koehler, Pacific Ethanol's president
and chief executive, said the alternative-fuel industry would have suffered
a major setback if the EPA had ruled the other way. "It would have sent a
very bad signal," said Koehler, who has emerged as one of the nation's most
visible defenders of ethanol.
<more> Aug. 8, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Air
district reminds farmers about engine rules compliance - - Stationary
and transportable spark-ignited internal combustion engines used in
agricultural operations are subject to regulation, the San Joaquin Valley
Air Pollution Control District is reminding Valley farmers. The engines fall
under District Rule 4702. Affected engines include irrigation pumps, dairy
digester gas-fired engines and other engines used in ag operations that are
fired on natural gas, propane/LPG, biogas and/or gasoline. Full compliance
with Rule 4702 is required by Jan. 1, 2009. Owner/operators of these engines
are required to submit either an Authority to Construct (ACT) permit
application or a Permit-Exempt Equipment Registration (PEER.) The
application should identify the chosen compliance method. ACT applications
were due July 1, 2008, while PEER applications are due Oct. 1, 2008. Further
information about complying with Rule 4702 is available by contacting one of
the Valley Air District offices at: Modesto (209) 557-6446; Fresno (559)
230-5888 or Bakersfield (661) 326-6969. To download the Compliance
Assistance Bulletin,
click here. Aug. 8, 2008 Valley Air District Notice
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
CPF annual conference registration underway - -
Registration is underway for the CPF’s annual conference, set for Squaw Creek Resort
in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here. The deadline to reserve a room is
Aug. 13 and the hotel
will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; Snackmasters , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Central Coast Fryer Farms; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Novus International; Phibro Animal Health; Valley Fresh Foods Inc.; Wells Fargo
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Motomco Ltd.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008
EPA
rejects request to reduce renewable fuels mandate - - Following
extensive analysis, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator
Stephen L. Johnson today announced his decision to deny a request submitted
by the State of Texas to reduce the nationwide Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).
As a result, the required total volume of renewable fuels, such as ethanol
and biodiesel, mandated by law to be blended into the fuel supply will
remain at 9 billion gallons in 2008 and 11.1 billion gallons in 2009. “After
reviewing the facts, it was clear this request did not meet the criteria in
the law,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “The RFS remains an
important tool in our ongoing efforts to reduce America ’s greenhouse gas
emissions and lessen our dependence on foreign oil, in aggressive yet
practical ways.” Current law authorizes EPA to waive the national RFS if the
agency determines that the mandated biofuel volumes would cause “severe
harm” to the economy or the environment. The agency recognizes that high
commodity prices are having economic impacts, but EPA’s extensive analysis
of Texas ’ request found no compelling evidence that the RFS mandate is
causing severe economic harm during the time period specified by Texas.
<more> Aug. 7, 2008 EPA Press Release
Chicken Industry “Deeply Disappointed” by EPA Inaction On Ethanol Waiver,
Urges Congress To Reform Program - - The chicken industry is “deeply
disappointed” by the Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to grant a
waiver of the ethanol mandate that is diverting billions of bushels of corn
from livestock and poultry feed into motor fuel, according to the National
Chicken Council. “We are deeply disappointed that EPA has failed to heed the
very clear signs that the food-to-fuel policy is causing severe harm to the
economy,” said George Watts, president of the National Chicken Council, the
trade association for the nation’s chicken production, processing and
marketing companies. “When food prices are rising and chicken companies are
losing money because of high feed costs, it is outrageous that the federal
government continues to require and even to subsidize the diversion of corn
from the food supply into the fuel supply,” Watts said. Federal law allows
EPA to grant a waiver of the ethanol mandate if needed. Watts said Congress
needs to step in to reform the ethanol program, which consists of a mandate
that fuel blender must add a fixed amount of alternative fuel to motor
gasoline every year; on a tax credit to blenders for each gallon of
alternative fuel added; and on a tariff to limit the amount of cheaper
foreign ethanol imported into the country. “Congress created this mess and
Congress ought to fix it,” he said. NCC estimates that higher feedgrain
prices due largely to the ethanol program have cost companies in the broiler
chicken industry more than $6 billion since October 2006. Aug. 7, 2008
NCC Press Release
Perry
calls EPA ethanol waiver decision ‘bad public policy’ - - The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has denied a request from Texas to
temporarily reduce ethanol requirements for gasoline in hopes of bringing
down corn prices. Gov. Rick Perry called the decision "a mistake" and "bad
public policy." Perry asked the EPA in April to drop the Renewable Fuels
Standard requirement to 4.5 billion gallons (17 billion liters), saying
demand for ethanol is raising corn prices for livestock producers and
driving up food prices. "I am greatly disappointed with the EPA's inability
to look past the good intentions of this policy to see the significant harm
it is doing to farmers, ranchers and American households," Perry said. "For
the EPA to assert that this federal mandate is not affecting food prices not
only goes against commonsense, but every American's grocery bill."
<more> Aug. 7, 2008 AP
San
Diego egg farm family says Prop. 2 will end their way of life - - In an
interview with San Diego TV station Channel 6, San Diego County egg farmer
Ryan Armstrong of Armstrong Egg Farms talks about how passage of Prop. 2
would have a devastating economic impact on his family’s ranch, which has been in existence
for more than 60 years.
Click here
to view the interview. Aug. 7, 2008 San Diego Channel 6
California Teamsters oppose Prop. 2
- - The California Teamsters Public
Affairs Council has voted to oppose Prop. 2, ‘Standards for Confining Farm
Animals. Initiative Statute.’ Joining Californians for SAFE Food, a growing
coalition of public health and food safety experts, labor unions, consumers,
family farmers, and veterinarians, the California Teamsters Public Affairs
Council is urging a no vote on Prop. 2 to all of its members statewide. “The
ballot language of Proposition 2 fails to provide protections for any
workers involved in hen egg production, processing or distribution, which is
unacceptable to the California Teamsters,” said Barry Broad, Executive
Director, California Teamsters Public Affairs Council. “The proponents of
proposition 2 have written a ballot initiative that is too vague in terms of
who is subject to law enforcement proceedings which allows local agencies to
interpret the law as they see fit. It is in the best interest of our workers
and their families to vote No on Prop. 2 and send a strong message of unity
to defeat this anti-worker ballot initiative.”
<more>
Aug. 7, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
Tyson
Foods recalls 51,000 pounds of chicken - - Tyson Foods is recalling more
than 51,000 pounds of frozen raw chicken breast tenderloin over concerns it
may contain soy. Soy is a known allergen and Tyson said Thursday, Aug. 7,
that is was not declared on the product's label. Tyson says the meat came
from a plant in Vicksburg, Miss., between July 23 and Aug. 1, and was
shipped to Tyson food service distributors nationwide. The U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service says it has received no
reports about people being sickened by the chicken. Aug. 7, 2008 AP
Modesto Bee Op-Ed: Veterinarians favoring Prop. 2 know little about
agriculture - - By Robert B. Cherenson, Turlock veterinarian - - As a
food animal veterinarian and a proponent of the amazing science and art of
modern agriculture, I must respond to Dr. Jeff Smith's rebuttal ("Vets group
takes ethical stance on ballot measure," July 31, Page B-7) to Judy Sly's
perspective on Proposition 2 ("Prop. 2: City slickers try to tell farmers
how to run their farms," July 20, Page B-6). Dr. Smith rattles on about the
support by the majority of veterinarians for this proposition. First, he
does not mention that this majority is a small group of vocal small- animal
practitioners -- all of whom who are far removed from animal agriculture.
There is a major schism within the profession from the perspective of
whether to get in bed with the Humane Society or not. Originally, the Humane
Society was only deeply concerned with improving the well-being and
burgeoning overpopulation of homeless small animals. Over time, this
organization has evolved into a full-blown animal rights organization that
has several agendas that include preventing the use of farm animals and
their products for human consumption. It could be argued that the Humane
Society is evolving into an animal liberation organization.
<more>
Aug. 7, 2008 Modesto Bee
New
veterinarian group formed to oppose Prop. 2 - - The Association of
California Veterinarians (ACV), an organization of veterinarians and
veterinary students supporting food animal and poultry medicine, is urging a
No vote on Prop. 2. The organization, comprised of current, former, and
non-members of the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), was
formed after CVMA made a politically-motivated and irresponsible decision to
support Prop. 2, says Mike Karle, DVM, President. After the CVMA’s
Agriculture Committee voted unanimously to oppose Prop. 2, and the House of
Delegates voted twice to stay neutral, the Board of Governors caved in to
political pressure from the initiative’s proponents and narrowly voted to
support it. The decision was not based on science or on the recommendations
from the people within CVMA who specialize in food animal and poultry
medicine. The experts who specialize in the veterinary care of egg-laying
hens -- avian scientists, poultry veterinarians and other food animal
veterinarians -- overwhelmingly oppose Prop. 2. In addition, the state’s top
food safety and public health experts oppose Prop. 2. This measure is
harmful for hen and human health alike.
<more>
Aug. 7, 2008 Non on Prop. 2 Press Release
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. To download a Registration Form, please
click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com
July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
CPF annual conference registration underway - -
Registration is underway for the CPF’s annual conference, set for Squaw Creek Resort
in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Registration forms
were
mailed to CPF members and supporters and can also be downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here. The deadline to reserve a room is
Aug. 13 and the hotel
will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; Snackmasters , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Novus International; Phibro Animal Health
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Fort Dodge Animal Health; Motomco Ltd.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008
Ground turkey distribution grows, says
marketplace survey - - Turkey cuts and products are proving to have a
year-round presence with increased visibility in the retail and foodservice
categories, as shown in the National Turkey Federation’s (NTF) 2008
Marketplace Survey. Ground turkey saw the most significant growth with more
than 403 million pounds sold in 2007, up from almost 365 million pounds,
resulting in a 10 percent increase from 2005, the last time the survey was
conducted. AgriStats, Inc., a statistical research and analysis firm,
conducts the survey for NTF every two years revealing turkey product
distribution information. The survey represents more than 4 billion pounds
of product. “Ground turkey growth in the marketplace is a reflection of its
versatility and excellent nutritional profile, which makes it easy to use in
an array of dishes, such as burgers, chili and meatloaf, ” said Sherrie
Rosenblatt, NTF’s vice president of marketing and communications. The survey
reveals that the top three turkey products produced are whole birds (24.5%),
cooked white meat, or deli meat, (13.8%) and ground turkey (10.1%). Nearly
43 percent of the turkey volume sold goes to the retail sector. Whole birds
make up 50 percent of the volume distributed to supermarkets, followed by
ground turkey (15.6%) and bone-in breast (7.3%). The foodservice sector
receives about 18 percent of the turkey volume. The top three products
distributed in the foodservice sector are cooked white meat (37.1%), sliced
deli meat (12.8%) and other raw turkey meat, such as breast cutlets and
mignons (11.4%). Aug. 6, 2008 NTF Press Release
EPA announcement on ethanol mandate to come
Thursday - - The Environmental Protection Agency says it will make an
announcement about Texas' request for a waiver on the congressionally
mandated ethanol requirement Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific
time. The EPA will either put the decision on hold or roll back the
requirement, with Dow Jones Newswires saying their analysts expect the EPA
deny the request. Earlier this year, Texas Governor Rick Perry petitioned
the EPA to cut the 9 billion gallon a year mandate in half, as the decline
in corn supply would hurt livestock producers in his state. Aug. 6, 2008
Brownfield Ag News
Archer Daniels Midland profit drops 61 percent -
- Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit plunged
61 percent, coming in below expectations, even though revenues soared. The
results disappointed analysts who worry ADM's future might only get tougher
as grain prices fall from historically high levels. The Decatur-Ill.-based
food processor and ethanol producer said profit for the quarter ended June
30 fell to $372 million, or 58 cents per share. That's down from $955
million, or $1.47 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter, which included
after-tax gains on asset sales of $616 million, or 95 cents per share.
<more> Aug. 6, 2008 AP
Farmland still in demand, holding its own during
real estate slump - - They aren't making land anymore. That fact has
helped keep land prices in Merced County stable, even while suburban and
urban housing prices are going down the tubes. Land used for agricultural
purposes is not only holding its own in a bust economy -- its prices are
actually going up. "There is definitely a demand for ag property," said
Terry Priest, a real estate agent for Flanagan Realty in Merced. The reason
for that demand is linked to the prices growers are getting for commodities,
Priest said.
<more> Aug. 6, 2008 Merced Sun-Star
Legislature to scrutinize ARB greenhouse gas plan - - The run-up to
implementing California's landmark 2006 law to curb climate-changing gases
is at the 11th hour, as regulators ponder pollution-fighting tools that
include a surcharge on gas-guzzling vehicles and a market system that allows
polluters to buy and sell credits. Much depends on whether the next
president will give - as expected -- California permission to enforce an
earlier law to cut greenhouse gases from vehicles. The Air Resources
Board's draft study on how California's greenhouse gas law should be put
into practice will be reviewed before a joint legislative committee
Wednesday in what is likely to be a rigorous hearing.
<more> Aug. 6, 2008 Capitol Weekly
CPF annual conference registration underway -
- Registration is underway for the CPF’s annual conference, set for Squaw
Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Registration forms
have
been mailed to CPF members and supporters. Registration forms can also be
downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here. The deadline to reserve a room is Aug. 13 and
the hotel will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored.
The CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session,
followed by a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek
Resort Golf Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; Snackmasters , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Phibro Animal Health
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Diestel Family Turkey Ranch; Motomco Ltd.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008
Cardoza, Radanovich call on colleagues to oppose
Prop. 2 - - Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced) and Rep. George Radanovich
(R-Mariposa) have written a bi-partisan “dear colleague” letter to clarify
misinformation surrounding Prop. 2, the UN-SAFE Food Initiative. The letter
urged their California congressional colleagues to join them in voting NO on
Prop. 2, ‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals. Initiative Statute,’ on the
November ballot noting that it would “essentially ban almost all modern egg
production in California.” Julie Buckner, campaign spokeswoman said,
“Representatives Cardoza and Radanovich, from opposite sides of the aisle,
came together to write this ‘dear colleague’ letter, because they realize
the importance of defeating Prop. 2 in November. As they accurately point
out, Prop. 2 would essentially ban modern egg production in the state. And
banning these systems – which were developed with leading animal scientists
to ensure the systems are safe, clean and humane – endangers food safety and
threatens public health in California.”
<more> Aug. 5, 2008 No on Prop. 2 Press Release
Modesto Bee Op-Ed: Egg-laying hens are better off
inside cages, comfortable barns- - By Marcia Boer - - Having been
raised on an egg-producing ranch, I feel the need to address the issues
brought forth by the supporters of Proposition 2, which is on the Nov. 4
ballot. In my experience, laying hens in the caged environment were
oblivious to the fact that they did not have room to expand their wings or
dig in the dirt. They were content to have all their requirements -- food,
water, light and temperature -- met. They would happily produce eggs that
rolled away from them onto conveyer belts. Most breeds of the laying hens
are not "sitting" chickens, since they do not have the desire to sit on a
nest to incubate their eggs. Eggs left in contact with their "parent," are
considered food and therefore are often broken and eaten by the chickens.
Chickens, by nature, are actually carnivorous -- meaning that they will
attack and eat a sick or weak member of the flock. They are also by nature
scroungers, meaning they will eat everything and anything they find.
Chickens love grubs, slugs and snails. Free-ranging chickens will eat their
own manure and also love to peck and scratch through any other excrement
that they run across.
<more> Aug. 5, 2008 Modesto Bee
Meat Companies Find Pigs Do Fly, But Chicken
Sales Flap --Back in the days when U.S. airlines still served meals, no
coach-class journey was complete without the tough choice of whether to opt
for the "chicken or the beef." Now, with both airlines and meat producers
hammered by rising energy costs, parallels between the two sectors are as
close as the taste of the entrees. High energy prices, domestic
overcapacity and a greater focus on international markets are all shared by
the carriers and meat industry leaders such as Tyson Corp. (TSN), Pilgrim's
Pride Corp. (PPC) and Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD). The U.S. meat industry
also shares the need to make better use of its high fixed costs such as
processing plants, just as the airlines have to fill planes. It may not be
staring at the $10 billion loss faced this year by U.S. carriers, but it is
an industry in trouble.
<more> Aug. 5, 2008 Dow Jones
Animal-rights activists suspected in attacks on
UC Santa Cruz researchers - - Firebombs that struck the home and car of
two UC Santa Cruz scientists this weekend were part of an increasingly
aggressive campaign by animal rights activists against animal researchers at
University of California campuses, officials said Monday. Santa Cruz police
officials said the blasts, which occurred three minutes apart, caused one of
the scientists, his wife and two young children to flee their home through a
second-story window. "Acts of violence and intimidation such as these are
unacceptable, and they continue a troubling pattern seen at UCLA and other
UC campuses that should be repugnant to us all," UC President Mark G. Yudof
said Monday. "These acts threaten not only our academic researchers and
their families, but the safety and security of neighbors in our communities
as well." City officials joined in harshly condemning the bombings and urged
members of the public who might have evidence in the case to contact
authorities. They announced a $30,000 reward, including $2,500 donated by
the Humane Society of the United States.
<more> Aug. 5, 2008 LA Times
Governor proposes one-cent sales tax increase --
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a temporary, one-cent increase in
the state sales tax along with long-term budget reforms in an effort to
break the stalemate in budget negotiations that have been stalled for more
than a month, legislative sources close to the talks said Monday.
Schwarzenegger's plan to help erase the state's $17.2 billion budget deficit
would raise the sales tax for three years, after which the rate would dip
below the current level, the sources said. In San Francisco, for example,
sales taxes would increase from 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent. The tax increase
would require a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature, along
with the governor's signature, before it could take effect.
<more> Aug. 5, 2008 SF Chronicle
Nicole Parra links budget vote to water bond
-- Assembly Member Nicole Parra could once again be in some trouble with
fellow Democrats -- this time over a suggestion that she won't vote for the
state budget unless lawmakers approve a water bond. In a recent letter to
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Parra issues what appears to be a stark
ultimatum: "I simply cannot support a budget without a solution to the
Central Valley's water supply," the Hanford lawmaker said in a July 29
letter obtained by The Bee. "A vote on a budget that adequately reflects our
state's priorities is only half honest, unless we are simultaneously
addressing the issue of water supply." She "respectfully" asks in the letter
that the Assembly "place a water bond on the November ballot."
<more> Aug. 5, 2008 Fresno Bee
National Turkey Federation Sponsors America’s
Test Kitchen’s TV OnDemand Web Feature - - Culinary aficionados can
learn about cooking with turkey by visiting America’s Test Kitchen’s (ATK)
Web site at
www.AmericasTestKitchen.com . NTF is part of a new online video
series called TV OnDemand. Visitors to the ATK Web site can see a 15-second
video showcasing NTF’s vast library of food photography, which airs prior to
the OnDemand segments, along with a banner ad that appears to the right of
the video throughout the segments, including a call to action to visit
www.EatTurkey.com . Through this partnership, NTF is reaching out to a
very loyal audience of cooking enthusiasts through an interactive medium.
Sherrie Rosenblatt, NTF’s vice president of marketing and communications,
said, “America’s Test Kitchen is a respected program amongst its viewers and
by aligning with this well-known presence in the cooking world, NTF is able
to link using a variety of turkey products with a plethora of recipe ideas.”
For the past seven years, ATK has been the number-one cooking show on public
television. ATK and its Web site, AmericasTestKitchen.com, are well known
amongst the home cooking community. They exhaustively test every part of
recipe preparation, from ingredients to kitchen equipment. Home cooks trust
ATK to develop reliable recipes that they can prepare for family and
friends. “ATK aims to transform the way America cooks at home, just like
EatTurkey.com’s goal is to transform the way America thinks about turkey
at-home and away-from-home. The partnership is a natural one,” said
Rosenblatt. NTF’s 15-second spot launched in June, continues throughout the
summer months of July and August, and resumes in November for the start of
the holiday season. Aug. 5, 2008 NTF Press Release
CPF annual conference registration underway -
- Registration is underway for the CPF’s annual conference, set for Squaw
Creek Resort in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Registration forms
have
been mailed to CPF members and supporters. Registration forms can also be
downloaded from the CPF website
by clicking here. The deadline to reserve a room is Aug. 13 and
the hotel will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored.
The CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session,
followed by a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek
Resort Golf Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; Snackmasters , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Foster Farms; Huvepharma; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Phibro Animal Health
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit; Motomco Ltd.
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Monday, Aug. 4, 2008
Grower says Prop. 2 would drive her family out of
business - - Grower Julie Benson is a fourth-generation farmer in
Modesto. Her company, J.S.West is a diversified agribusiness that includes
egg and poultry production, feed grain, propane production and lumber. J.S.
West provides multiple services to other poultry growers as well as its own
production. Benson provided some perspective from growers by providing the
following answers to our submitted questions: What will be the effects on
agriculture if Proposition 2 passes? If Prop. 2 passes, it will hurt
California agriculture, the state's No. 1 economic industry. Prop. 2 will
drive me and my family out of business, right along with nearly all
California egg farmers, including cage-free farmers. It'll ban conventional
modern housing systems used by 95 percent of California producers that were
designed to protect the health and safety of our hens. Egg production costs
would increase by 76 percent, making it impossible for us to compete with
producers from out-of-state and Mexico. Additionally, we'll see a loss of
more than $6 million in economic revenue, 4,000 jobs and $23 million in tax
revenue annually.
<more> Aug. 4, 2008 Visalia Times Delta Op-Ed
‘The most important election...you've never heard
of' - - The most emotional campaign of the November election will almost
assuredly be the fight over banning gay marriage (Proposition 8). The
measure to require pregnant teens to notify a parent or guardian before
obtaining an abortion (Proposition 4) will likely come in close behind -
even if it is on the ballot for the third time in four years. But
Proposition 2, which would be a de facto elimination of cages for egg-laying
hens in California, could be a close third.
<more> Aug. 4, 2008 Capitol Alert
Harrison Poultry wins donning‚ doffing case
- - Claims by plaintiff employees for compensation from Harrison Poultry for
time spent putting on safety glasses, ear protection and hairnets have been
denied in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia,
Gainesville Division. In granting summary judgment in favor of Harrison
Poultry, the court not only denied the plaintiffs’ motion to continue the
action as a collective one but also granted the employer’s motion to strike
the numerous consents to join the lawsuit. “The case gives a lot of
encouragement to various industry defenses in donning and doffing
litigation,” said Harrison’s attorneys, Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider
& Stine, P.C. This includes the de minimis defense, which asserted in a Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) says that a few seconds or minutes of work beyond
the scheduled working hours are trifling and may be disregarded.
<more> Aug. 4, 2008 Watt Poultry.com
Bombed UCSC animal researcher fears for family's
safety - - A University of California-Santa Cruz biologist whose home
was firebombed this weekend feared for his family's future on Sunday while a
spokesman for a radical animal rights group said the attacks were the
consequences for performing research on animals. The volatile rhetoric left
UC-Santa Cruz on edge Sunday, a day after a pair of firebombings on two
university biomedical researchers had authorities looking for clues and
tightening security around scientists named in a pamphlet left at a
coffeehouse last week. Just before 6 a.m. Saturday, molecular biologist
David Feldheim's home was firebombed, forcing him, his wife and their two
young children to flee down a fire escape. About the same time, a car
belonging to a different, unidentified researcher was destroyed by another
firebomb. Santa Cruz police described the explosives as a "Molotov cocktail
on steroids," and said the attack on the Feldheims' house was being
investigated as an attempted homicide because the family was at home.
<more> Aug. 4, 2008 San Jose Mercury News
California Veterinarians Association condemns
fire bombings - - Dr. Mike Karle, President of the Association of
California Veterinarians, issued the following statement regarding the fire
bombings at UC Santa Cruz this weekend: The Association of California
Veterinarians strongly condemns the fire bombings of homes and property
belonging to two UC Santa Cruz biomedical researchers who conduct
experiments on animals. As widely reported in local and national news,
these actions, carried out over the weekend in Northern California, are
among the most serious, dangerous, and violent of alleged actions by animal
extremists, and are being investigated by the FBI as acts of domestic terror
and attempted homicide. Sadly, these acts are only the latest in a string
of incidents targeting UCSC researchers who work with animals. We join UC
Chancellor George Blumenthal in denouncing these acts as "unconscionable,"
and we share the University of California's commitment to the highest
standards of animal care, safety and health. We believe their research is
conducted in the interest of medical treatments and cures that benefit
animals and humans alike. These scientists must be allowed to conduct their
research and experiments freely, safely and openly, without themselves,
their families, or their property becoming the targets of domestic terror.
We call upon the Humane Society of the United States, the California
Veterinary Medical Association, and other leading animal rights
organizations to join us in condemning the fire bombings and other acts of
domestic terror in the name of animal welfare. And we urge the Humane
Society and CVMA to support AB2296 and Assembly member Gene Mullin, who has
introduced legislation to increase civil and criminal penalties in cases
where academic researchers are attacked because of their work. We support
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives, as well as local law enforcement and public safety
officials, in their investigation of these attempted homicide and domestic
terror crimes in Santa Cruz. Domestic terror – even those acts committed in
the name of animal protection – is a crime. These criminals should be
prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Aug. 4, 2008 California
Veterinarians Assn. Statement
New Agribusiness Alliance Makes Case for Food AND
Energy - - 25x'25 endorsing partners Deere & Company, Monsanto and the
Renewable Fuels Association, along with DuPont and Archer Daniels Midland
Co., have joined together to launch a new "Alliance for Abundant Food and
Energy" to promote the creation and retention of polices that encourage and
enhance sustainable and responsible agricultural production that will both
improve diets and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Mark Kornblau,
executive director, says the new alliance aims to use credible,
science-based education, information and advocacy to advance support for
solutions that will fulfill agriculture’s promise to improve diets and
provide better fuels. The alliance will urge Congress to fund more research
and technological investment in agriculture. <more>
Aug. 4, 2008 25x25 Press Release
Friday, Aug, 1, 2008
Revised ballot label released for animal welfare initiative - -
California Secretary of State Deborah Bowen has released the revised, ballot
label for Prop. 2. Drafted by Attorney General Jerry Brown, the new ballot
label for Prop. 2 is “Standards for Confining Farm Animals.” The full ballot
statement reads: “Requires that certain farm animals be allowed, for the
majority of every day, to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand
up and turn around. Limited exceptions apply. Fiscal Impact: Potential
unknown decrease in state and local tax revenues from farm businesses,
possibly in the range of several million dollars annually. Potential minor
local and state enforcement and prosecution costs, partly offset by
increased fine revenue.” “We believe it’s important for voters to know that
Prop. 2, ‘Standards for Confining Farm Animals. Initiative Statute,’ is
really not about the treatment of animals, but rather about standards for
housing egg-laying hens,” said Julie Buckner, campaign spokeswoman for
Californians for SAFE Food. “California’s current, modern hen-housing
systems were developed with leading animal scientists to ensure the systems
are safe, clean and humane. Banning these systems endangers food safety and
threatens public health – that’s why we call Prop. 2, the UN-SAFE Food
Initiative.”
<more>
Aug. 1, 2008 Californians for Safe Food Press Release
Prop.
2 backers raise $4.2 million; opponents raise $1.7 million - - Backers
of Prop. 2, the animal welfare initiative, have poured $4.2 million into the
measure, according to according to campaign finance statements filed with
the California secretary of state Thursday. Of that, $3.3 million has come
from the Humane Society of the United States, which is based in Washington,
D.C. Farm Sanctuary, an animal rights group in New York, has given $200,000.
Opponents, including several out-of-state egg producers, have raised $1.7
million.
<more> Aug. 1, 2008 LA Times
Chicken feed costs to increase 57% in next year says economist - -
Chicken should be able to grow its market share of total meat production,
according to Dr. Tom Elam, President of FarmEcon, despite the fact that
broiler feed costs will increase to 47 cents per pound of chicken,
ready-to-cook weight basis, during 2008-09, 57 percent more than the 30
cents per pound in 2007 and 114 percent above the 22 cents per pound in
2006. Elam, while addressing attendees at the National Chicken Council’s
Marketing Seminar held last week in Hilton Head, explained that chicken
producers can eventually pay more for corn than ethanol producers because
the industry can shrink and prices will rise to cover higher costs. The
prices that ethanol producers can command, on the other hand, are limited by
oil prices, which may eventually come down, he said. Elam characterized
corn-based ethanol’s impact on the poultry industry and other animal
agriculture as “scary.” He sees U.S. and global grain stocks at the end of
the next crop year as precarious with little or no room for another
shortfall in major crop production again in 2009. Continued high prices for
grains and oilseeds will ration these crops for feed, biofuels, and exports,
Elam explained, and all three markets will have to make significant
adjustments. He believes the real battle between food and fuel is just
beginning. Aug. 1, 2008 NCC Newsletter
Food
prices rise 16 percent during 2008 - - Rising costs for fuel, feed and
fertilizer propelled grain prices to all-time highs in June, raising the
overall price of crops and livestock by 16 percent this year compared to
last year. Corn and soybeans hit record prices. Wheat slipped from historic
highs in March but is still up steeply from last year, according to a U.S.
Department of Agriculture report released Thursday. Grain prices gained 42
percent for the year overall. Prices for farm products rose 1.9 percent in
June alone, according to the report. Grain staples including wheat and
soybeans rose 1.6 percent during June. The price of livestock rose less than
1 percent.
<more> Aug. 1, 2008 AP
Garamendi first Democrat to formally announce run for governor in 2010 -
- Lt. Gov. John Garamendi became the first candidate to announce he is
running for California governor in 2010 by blasting the incumbent Thursday
over the state's budget stalemate and declaring that he would raise taxes if
elected. The veteran Democratic politician announced his gubernatorial bid
on the west steps of the Capitol, moments before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed an order to cut thousands of temporary state jobs and freeze pay of
200,000 workers at $6.55 an hour to help the state pay its bills. The timing
of Garamendi's announcement was no coincidence as he used the state's budget
standoff to tout his own credentials as a leader who can direct the
California out of a fiscal morass.
<more> Aug. 1, 208 Sacramento Bee
CPF annual conference registration underway - -
Registration is underway for the CPF’s annual conference, set for Squaw Creek Resort
in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Registration forms
are being mailed out this week to
CPF members and supporters. Registration forms can also be downloaded from the
CPF website
by clicking here. The deadline to reserve a room is Aug. 13 and the hotel
will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* :Alpharma; ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; Snackmasters , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Phibro Animal Health
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Ultimate winner in ‘food vs. fuel’ may be a surprise - - Who will
ultimately come out on top in the food-versus-fuel battle over corn? Maybe
not who you think. With ethanol producers receiving a tax credit of $0.51
for every gallon they blend, the conventional wisdom says ethanol producers
have the upper hand over producers of poultry and other foods. But a
prominent industry economist recently challenged this assumption, saying
that poultry producers can eventually pay more for corn than ethanol
producers. “The real food-versus-fuel battle is just starting,” Dr. Thomas
Elam, president of FarmEcon, LLC, told listeners at the Chicken Marketing
Seminar, in Hilton Head, S.C. Chicken producers, he said, can eventually pay
more for corn than ethanol producers because the industry can shrink and
prices will rise to cover higher costs. The prices that ethanol producers
can command, on the other hand, are limited by oil prices, which may
eventually come down.
<more> July 31, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Ag
groups support Feinstein’s Imported Ethanol Parity Act - - Several
poultry, livestock and dairy groups sent a letter this week in support of
the Imported Ethanol Parity Act (S 3080), introduced by Senator Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA). The legislation, if passed, would reduce a trade barrier
on clean and climate-friendly ethanol imports that could save American
consumers money on a product that is mandated and at a time of record high
gas prices. "By reducing or eliminating the tax on imported ethanol, this
legislation could ease the economic strain that is heavily impacting the
agriculture, food and beverage industries," the letter notes. "At a time
when animal agriculture is facing pressures on many fronts, this slight
modification could produce positive relief on record high corn prices."
<more> July 31, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Study
finds 11% drop in illegal immigrants - - A report Wednesday indicating
a marked decline in the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. fueled a
widening national debate over the Bush administration's policy of
immigration enforcement through aggressive workplace raids. The largest such
enforcement action was in May in Postville, Iowa, where federal immigration
agents descended on a meatpacking plant and arrested nearly 400 workers
later detained in a building used to house cattle. The administration began
aggressively enforcing workplace laws after Congress last year failed to
pass an immigration overhaul. In the months since, thousands of workers have
been arrested in scores of raids.
<more> July 31, 2008 LA Times
Modesto Bee Op-Ed: State veterinarians group supports Prop. 2 - - By
Jeff Smith, veterinarian at the Middletown Animal Hospital in Middletown,
who served as CVMA president in 2007-2008. As a California veterinarian,
my clients expect the best possible care and advice for their pets and
horses. However, my clients also ask me about other animal welfare issues,
and the public expects the state's premier veterinary organization, the
California Veterinary Medical Association, to weigh in on important policy
matters related to the welfare of animals. Proposition 2 is one such matter.
The statewide ballot initiative, proposed by The Humane Society of the
United States, seeks to give animals raised for food more space to live in.
Specifically, it would allow veal calves, breeding pigs and laying hens the
opportunity "to turn around, lie down, and extend their limbs." The
practical effect of the measure would be to phase out the use of veal
crates, gestation crates and battery cages -- confinement systems on
large-scale industrialized farms that essentially keep the animals immobile.
Proposition 2 gives farmers until 2015 to shift to more humane animal
production systems. As a voter and as a veterinarian, I support Proposition
2. This summer, the CVMA also voted to approve Proposition 2, along with the
Consumer Federation of America, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the
Center for Science in the Public Interest and many other organizations.
<more> July 31, 2008 Modesto Bee
Yes on
Prop. 2 campaign uses Internet as prime campaign tool - - The Internet,
as a political tool, has been used with mixed results. But as a political
organizing tool, some say the Internet may soon change the face of
initiative politics in California. For the prototype of some of those
changes, they point to the campaign for Proposition 2, which would require
most farm animals to be able to fully extend their limbs or wings, and
fundamentally alter many commercial farming processes. The Yes on 2 campaign
has been aggressive in its online strategy, both in fundraising and as a way
to rally activists. They have hired Dean's online guru Joe Trippi
specifically to focus on Web strategy, and are using sites like Facebook and
Twitter to help with everything from gathering the signatures that got the
measure on the November ballot, to fundraising, to helping volunteers create
their own Yes on Proposition 2 campaign commercials.
<more> July 31, 2008 Capitol Weekly
NY
Times Columnist Kristof reflects on Prop. 2 - - In a world in which
animal rights are gaining ground, barbecue season should make me feel
guilty. My hunch is that in a century or two, our descendants will look back
on our factory farms with uncomprehending revulsion. But in the meantime, I
love a good burger. This comes up because the most important election this
November that you’ve never heard of is a referendum on animal rights in
California, the vanguard state for social movements. Proposition 2 would ban
factory farms from raising chickens, calves or hogs in small pens or cages.
Defining what is cruel is, of course, extraordinarily difficult. But penning
pigs or veal calves so tightly that they cannot turn around seems to cross
that line. More broadly, the tide of history is moving toward the protection
of animal rights, and the brutal conditions in which they are sometimes now
raised will eventually be banned. Someday, vegetarianism may even be the
norm.
<more> July 31, 2008 NY Times
More
than $10 Million in Bioenergy Plant Feedstock Research announced --
Agriculture Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Gale
Buchanan and Energy Department (DOE) Under Secretary for Science Raymond
Orbach and today announced plans to award 10 grants totaling more than $10
million to accelerate fundamental research in the development of cellulosic
biofuels. The grants will be awarded under a joint DOE-USDA program begun in
2006 which aims to accelerate fundamental research in biomass genomics to
further the use of cellulosic plant material for bioenergy and biofuels.
DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research will provide $8.8
million while USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension
Service will provide $2 million to the following institutions over a three
year period:
<more> July 31, 2008 USDA Press Release
China’s Shift on Food Was Key to Trade Impasse - - Some blamed soybeans.
Others blamed cotton. And many pointed a finger at America’s election-year
politics. But the collapse of negotiations to open world markets gave way
Wednesday to resignation that a shift in the global economic hierarchy had
darkened the prospect any time soon of a new accord to further open markets.
“This is simply too complex,” the director general of the World Trade
Organization, Pascal Lamy, said of the multidimensional game of chess that
finally ended in stalemate. The negotiations foundered on the right of India
and other developing countries to protect critical agricultural products
from competition in exchange for cutting tariffs on imported industrial
goods. China and India have seldom shared the same views on free trade in
recent years, but they were on the same side when the talks collapsed here
on Tuesday because China made an abrupt about-face, signaling it may have
leavened its interest in free trade with concerns about food security.
<more> July 31, 2008 NY Times
Modesto Bee community columnist celebrates the area’s rich ag bounty - -
By Marian Kannon - - Two aunties from England with a fondness for tea no
matter the time or temperature, a 20-month-old daughter with a short fuse
(especially in the car), bad air and sky-high fuel prices. What better
reasons for a staycation? For those of you still racking up frequent flier
miles to more exotic locales, staycations have been making headlines lately
as more folks stay home to save money and fuel. My reasons had more to do
with my passengers than the cost of travel, but the end result was
surprisingly glorious. Thanks to my husband's two aunts who visited from
England recently, I stayed put and traveled around Stanislaus County as a
tour guide. From lavender fields to honeybees and pretty much everything in
between, we explored the valley's rich agricultural community and came away
with a deeper appreciation of the region's family-owned farms and ranches.
<more> July 31, 2008 Modesto Bee
CPF annual conference registration underway - -
Registration is underway for the CPF’s annual conference, set for Squaw Creek Resort
in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Registration forms
are being mailed out this week to
CPF members and supporters. Registration forms can also be downloaded from the
CPF website
by clicking here. The deadline to reserve a room is Aug. 13 and the hotel
will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* : ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; Snackmasters , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Alltech Inc.; Intervet/Schering-Plough; Phibro Animal Health
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit
To learn more about the CPF conference, please click here
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
CPF launches social networking pages to reach
online audiences - - The California Poultry Federation has launched pages
on popular social networking sites MySpace and FaceBook as part of a new
effort to reach out to consumer audiences and educate them about the
California poultry industry. “Young people are increasingly getting their
information from social networking sites, information that is not always
accurate,” pointed out CPF Communications Director Mark Looker. “Establishing
our own page on these sites allows us the chance to tell the story of the
California poultry industry to this important audience who will be the future
consumers of California poultry products.” The pages were designed by CPF
intern Matt Theis who turned his passion for the Web into useful tools
designed to introduce poultry to “a new generation of people who will be a
major component to the continued success of the industry,” he explained. “We
want to let them know the industry treats animals humanely and provides safe,
quality products. The more we educate the public, the more willing the public
is to support the industry and provide it an opportunity to grow.”
To view either page, you must sign up for an account. All that is required is
a valid email address.
To register for a FaceBook account, go to
www.facebook.com and click on the
sign-up section. It will only take a few minutes to set up a FaceBook account.
You can then visit the CPF FaceBook page at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16678773524 and sign up to become a
member.
To register for a MySpace account, go to
www.myspace.com and follow the instructions for creating an account. Then
visit the CPF site at
http://www.myspace.com/cpif and add CPF as a friend. CPF’s MySpace page
has fun features like an animated talking turkey and two slideshows - - one
showing what kind of poultry is represented by CPF members and the second
slideshow displaying cooked products. There is also a link to the Truth in
Labeling Coalition. July 30, 2008
Trade talks failure deals blow to global economy -
- After coming tantalizingly close to a historic trade deal, World Trade
Organization talks collapsed Tuesday in a dismaying blow to seven years of
efforts to open up the global economy. Once promised as a recipe for lifting
millions of people out of poverty, the end to nine days of high-level talks
left no new trade openings for farmers and manufacturers, no global economic
boost and no grand deal for Third World development. It was by all accounts a
disaster. It was all the more disappointing because the talks made greater
progress than they had in years on issues such as farm subsidies and
manufacturing tariffs - which were responsible for scuttling previous
high-level trade efforts. The talks hit a snag over an obscure "safeguard" for
protecting agricultural producers in the developing world from a sudden surge
in imports or drop in commodity prices.
<more> July 30, 2008 AP
Humane Society chief has transformed organization
- - Animal welfare activists don't usually invoke the National Rifle
Association as a role model. After all, hunting animals for sport and
protecting animals from sport hunters are mutually exclusive endeavors. But
Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States,
finds something to admire about the gun rights group: its brute strength. "Our
movement needs an NRA-type organization to get the job done," Pacelle said.
"There are lots of gun rights groups, but the one that you hear about and the
one that is feared is the NRA." No, he doesn't want to run an organization
that is only feared. "I'd rather be loved -- and feared."
<more> July 29, 2008 LA Times
USDA Issues Mandatory COOL Interim Final Rule -
- USDA has issued an interim final rule for the mandatory country of origin
labeling (COOL) program that will become effective on Sept. 30. It will be
formally published in the Federal Register on August 1. The plan published by
USDA includes changes that were contained in the 2008 Farm Bill, such as the
addition of chicken, goat, macadamia nuts, pecans, and ginseng as covered
commodities, the addition of provisions for labeling products of multiple
origin, as well as a number of other changes. The interim final rule also
contains definitions, the requirements for consumer notification and product
marking, and the recordkeeping responsibilities of both retailers and
suppliers for covered commodities.
<more> July 30, 2008 AgWeb.com
Subcommittee Reviews Produce Traceability Issues as
Salmonella Outbreak Investigation Continues - - The House Agriculture
Committee’s Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture today held a
hearing to review issues related to the traceability of fresh produce,
particularly in cases related to foodborne illnesses. Subcommittee Chairman
Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) called the hearing in the wake the recent outbreak of
Salmonella Saintpaul illnesses first thought to be associated with tomatoes
and later linked to jalapeño and serrano peppers from Mexico. “Frankly, we
want to know what in the heck went wrong with this outbreak investigation.
Just last year, we had nearly the same conversation about spinach,”
Congressman Cardoza said. <more>
July 30, 2008 House Ag Committee Press Release
CPF annual conference registration underway - -
Registration is underway for the CPF’s annual conference, set for Squaw Creek Resort
in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Registration forms
are being mailed out this week to
CPF members and supporters. Registration forms can also be downloaded from the
CPF website
by clicking here. The deadline to reserve a room is Aug. 13 and the hotel
will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* : ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; Snackmasters , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Intervet/Schering-Plough; Phibro Animal Health
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit
To learn more about the CPF conference,
please click here
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer: CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more information, please click here. To download a Registration Form, please click here. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
CPF annual conference registration underway - -
Registration is underway for the CPF’s annual conference, set for Squaw Creek Resort
in Lake Tahoe Sept.18-19. Registration forms
are being mailed out this week to
CPF members and supporters. Registration forms can also be downloaded from the
CPF website
by clicking here. The deadline to reserve a room is Aug. 13 and the hotel
will not accept cancellations after Aug. 18.
The conference opens Thursday Sept. 18 with an afternoon lineup of speakers,
followed by an evening banquet at which industry leaders will be honored. The
CPF board of directors meets Friday morning for a business session, followed by
a special Callaway Golf Tournament at 1 p.m. at the Squaw Creek Resort Golf
Course. To download a golf tourney flyer,
please click here.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more
by clicking here to download a Sponsorship Form.
Sponsors to date include:
*Diamond Club* : ASC Agrecom, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health; Snackmasters , Weyerhaeuser
*Gold Club*: Intervet/Schering-Plough; Phibro Animal Health
*Silver Club*: American AgCredit
To learn more about the CPF conference,
please click here
No on Prop. 2 group announces list of supporters
- - The No on Prop. 2 campaign has announced a list of organizations which are
opposed to Prop. 2, the animal welfare initiative on the Nov., ballot.
Californians for SAFE Food said some of the organizations that are opposing
Proposition 2 include Association of California Veterinarians; Mexican American
Political Association; California Grocers Association; General Teamsters Local
Union 386; Merced County Board of Supervisors; American College of Poultry
Veterinarians; Kern County Taxpayers Association; California Agricultural
Teachers’ Association. For a complete list of opponents, please visit
www.safecaliforniafood.org.
July 29, 2008 Californians for SAFE Food Press Release
Stanislaus Sup. DeMartini call for No vote on Prop.
2- - In keeping with the agriculture theme at today’s Stanislaus County
Board of Supervisors’ meeting, Supervisor Jim DeMartini urged the board to
oppose Proposition 2, an initiative on the November ballot calling for more
humane treatment of farm animals. Proposition 2 would require poultry and
livestock growers to provide enough room for animals to spread their wings in a
cage or turn around in a pen. "This has a potential to be very detrimental to
the ag industry," DeMartini said. "It has a potential to drive the egg industry
out of California. It's not founded on any good sense," DeMartini said. "It
accomplishes nothing." County CEO Rick Robinson said Proposition 2 will be
brought up at a future board meeting.
<more> July 29, 2008 Modesto Bee
Schafer: No penalty-free CRP release for now - -
U.S. Ag Secretary Ed Schafer announced Tuesday he had decided not to allow the
penalty-free early release of land from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
this year. In a teleconference, Schafer told reporters several factors
influenced his decision, including the fact that the U.S. corn and soybean crops
had bounced back from floods in June better than most had thought they would And
Schafer noted the market had responded to the steady improvement in crop
conditions. "Cash prices for corn are down 25% and for soybeans 14% from their
record highs just last month," Schafer said. Schafer also pointed out Congress
had reduced the amount of land allowed in CRP at any one time from more than
39.2 million acres to 32 million acres as part of the 2008 farm bill. Since
there are currently 34.7 million acres in CRP, the amount of land in the program
"will have to shrink."
<more> July 29, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
June poultry production up 2% from last year - -
The United States Department of Agriculture reports that the total amount of
poultry certified wholesome during June 2008 was 3.663 billion pounds of ready
to cook weight, down 2% from May's 3.740 billion pounds and up 2% from the June
2007 total of 3.592 billion pounds. The year to date figure is 21.989 billion
pounds, 5% more than the January to June 2007 total of 20.916 billion pounds.
The bulk of the total was made up by chicken at 3.130 billion pounds, 3% below
last month but 2% above last year. Most of that were young chickens at 3.081
billion pounds. Turkeys accounted for 523.826 million pounds, 1% more than May
and up 3% from June 2007. Ducks were pegged at 8.961 million pounds, down 2%
from a month ago and 15% less than a year ago.
<more> July 29, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
California egg production in June up over 2007 -
- California’s egg production during June totaled 427 million, a decrease of 5
million from May’s production, but 29 million above June 2007. The average
number of layers during the month totaled 20 million, fractionally below last
month, but 6 percent above June 2007. Eggs per 100 layers during the month were
2,131 compared to 2,148 a month earlier and 2,101 in June 2007. July 29, 2008
USDA NASS Report
State egg prices up; national broiler, turkey
prices climb - - California mid-month market egg price for June 2008 was
96 cents per dozen, 23 cents above the May mid-month price and up 46 cents
from June 2007. Nationally, the June market egg price, at 92.7 cents per
dozen, increased 22.9 cents from May and is 42.8 cents above June 2007. The
June broiler price, at 48 cents per pound, is unchanged from May, but 1 cent
above a year ago. The June turkey price, at 59.9 cents per pound, is up 1.9
cents from the previous month and up 7.9 cents from a year earlier. July
29, 2008 USDA NASS Report
Death by a thousand cuts — when is enough enough? - - California agriculture is the most regulated agriculture in the nation, if not the world, yet it continues to produce food and fiber without equal. This raises the question: Does this regulatory morass inhibit California agriculture? No question it raises the cost of farming. Do some of the regulations like pesticide use reporting really make farming safer for people and the environment? I think most farmers would say yes. For certain, California producers can verify every ounce of crop protection chemistry applied to every acre. No other state can do that. However, the ever-present question is: When is enough regulation enough? When do regulations become so onerous, numerous and burdensome that they threaten the most productive agriculture in the world? Richard Quandt, president of the Grower-Shipper Association in Guadalupe, Calif., raises some interesting points about regulations in California agriculture in this editorial piece entitled “Death by a Thousand Cuts.” <more> July 29, 2008 Western Farm Press
Monday, July 28, 2008
Rising Feed Costs Sock Poultry Giants --
Soaring corn and soybean feed costs are squeezing some of the big poultry
companies that employ thousands of farmers and workers in Virginia and on the
Delmarva Peninsula. Harvest shortfalls, global demand, the recent Midwest
floods and the government's mandate for ethanol production have more than
doubled the price of corn and soybeans over the past two years. This has
created a boon for the farmers of those crops but is hitting the bottom lines
of the livestock, poultry and fish industries, which depend on the feed to
fatten their animals. Some poultry operations in Virginia and Delmarva and in
other parts of the United States have cut production, a move that could push
food prices higher. The cuts are also hurting contract farmers who depend on
these companies for their livelihoods.
<more> July 28, 2008 Washington Post
Tyson Profit Slumps 92% on Higher Grain-Feed Costs
- - Tyson Foods Inc., the second-largest U.S. chicken producer, said fiscal
third-quarter profit fell 92 percent as surging corn and soybean prices
boosted the cost of feeding poultry. Net income in the three months through
June declined to $9 million, or 3 cents a share, from $111 million, or 31
cents, a year earlier, Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson said today in a
statement. Tyson had a profit of 1 cent a share, excluding certain items. The
average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for a profit of 12
cents.
<more> July 28, 2008 Bloomberg News
CPF summer meeting photos online - - Photos
from the CPF’s recent summer meeting in Shell Beach, which featured a golf
outing at the Avila Bay Resort and dinner at the home of Richard and Kathy
Zacky, can be viewed at the CPF website
by clicking here.
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer: CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more information, please click here. To download a Registration Form, please click here. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Friday, July 25, 2008
Measure could send egg industry packing, study says - - Proposition 2, a
ballot initiative that aims to provide egg-laying hens in California room to
move, more likely would force the state's $300 million egg industry to move
out of the state or out of business entirely if approved, a University of
California, Davis, study suggests. Proponents, however, argue that the
measure on the November ballot will lead instead to widespread reform of
egg-production practices. Proposition 2 would establish a state law
requiring that certain confined farm animals be allowed enough space to
extend their limbs or wings fully, lie down, stand up and turn around.
Laying hens would have to have space to spread their wings without touching
the sides of the cage or other hens. That would practically eliminate the
current practice of confining laying hens to small cages, raising the cost
of production 20 percent or more, and require the industry to invest about
$500million in new housing for the chickens, said Daniel Sumner, co-author
of the study released Tuesday and director of the Agricultural Issues Center
at UC Davis.
<more> July 25, 2008 Stockton Record
Farm
animal rescuers back Calif. room-to-roam measure - - Kim Sturla began
bringing goats, pigs, chickens and cows once slated for slaughter to the
Animal Place sanctuary 20 years ago, before supermarkets offered eggs from
cage-free hens and beef was advertised on menus as being hormone free. Two
decades later, the treatment of farm animals is a national issue being
debated in state Legislatures and put before voters who want to have a say
in how their food is raised. Footage circulated on the Internet of sick farm
animals being kicked and beaten has intensified calls for reform. "People
want conditions to change," said Sturla, who co-founded the Animal Place
sanctuary for abused and discarded farm animals, in 1989. "On this issue,
you don't have to give propaganda. In fact, you have to downplay the
conditions or people will shut down. They'll think you're embellishing."
<more> July 25, 2008 AP
San
Diego Union Editorial: Fix ethanol mess - - All it takes is a trip to
the supermarket or a drive by any gas station to see that something has gone
terribly wrong with America's fuel policy. The decision by President Bush
and Congress to force oil companies to mix steadily increasing amounts of
corn-derived ethanol into their gasoline has created a multifront nightmare.
The policy has resulted in the diversion of a staggering one-third of this
year's corn crop into fuel, with the heavy demand triggering a doubling of
corn's price. Since corn is practically the only food fed to livestock and
is central to so many processed foods, the giant increase in its cost has
led to the worst food inflation in decades. This wretched unexpected
consequence of our corn ethanol policy has unfolded even as the main
rationales for that policy have fallen apart. The evidence that its use can
reduce global warming looks shakier by the day. And increasing our reliance
on ethanol has obviously not helped curb demand for oil and kept its price
stable.
<more> July 25, 2008 San Diego Union
USA
Today editorial: Ethanol production soars, but its allure plummets - -
For the past quarter-century, U.S. energy policy has been generally
non-existent. To the extent there has been one, it has been to keep gasoline
cheap. But one element stands out as a dramatic exception to this minimalist
approach. Through a series of generous tax subsidies and production
mandates, the use of corn-based ethanol has soared. Already, some 23% of the
American corn crop goes into ethanol. In acreage, that's equivalent to the
combined farm land of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and
Delaware. In 14 years, under current federal mandates, about 40% of
America's corn crop would be heading for its gas tanks. The more and more
ethanol that's produced, however, the less and less it looks like a
solution.
<more> July 25, 2008 USA Today
Food
industry bitten by its lobbying success - - One of the worst outbreaks
of foodborne illness in the U.S. is teaching the food industry the truth of
the adage, "Be careful what you wish for because you might get it." The
industry pressured the Bush administration years ago to limit the paperwork
companies would have to keep to help U.S. health investigators quickly trace
produce that sickens consumers, according to interviews and government
reports reviewed by The Associated Press. The White House also killed a plan
to require the industry to maintain electronic tracking records that could
be reviewed easily during a crisis to search for an outbreak's source.
Companies complained the proposals were too burdensome and costly, and
warned they could disrupt the availability of consumers' favorite foods. The
apparent but unintended consequences of the lobbying success: a paper
record-keeping system that has slowed investigators, with estimated business
losses of $250 million. So far, nearly 1,300 people in 43 states, the
District of Columbia and Canada have been sickened by salmonella since
April.
<more> July 25, 2008 AP
CPF summer meeting photos online - - Photos
from the CPF’s recent summer meeting in Shell Beach, which featured a golf
outing at the Avila Bay Resort and dinner at the home of Richard and Kathy
Zacky, can be viewed at the CPF website
by clicking here.
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer: CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more information, please click here. To download a Registration Form, please click here. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Burying eggs: Ballot measure cooks state's egg industry. Animal rights
advocates will overturn years of scientific research - - By Don Curlee-
- Consumers frustrated because they can't lower food prices will have an
opportunity to push them higher when they vote in November. A primary source
of increased cost for eggs, veal and pork will appear as a ballot
proposition dealing with the way laying hens, calves and pregnant pigs are
housed on California farms. It is called the Treatment of Farm Animals Act,
placed on the ballot by animal rights advocates including the Humane Society
of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. If the
initiative passes, the state will have to import a significantly larger
share of the eggs it consumes because the initiative is projected to
basically kill the egg industry in California.
<more> July 24, 2008 Capital Press
Chicken ready to play winning hand - - Speaking today at the Chicken
Marketing Seminar, Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic, Inc.,
told listeners that while the chicken industry faces tough challenges, it is
well positioned with respect to customer demands and will gain market share.
Goldin named 14 big trends facing chicken marketers and outlined their
implications. Chicken has a “winning hand” to play, he said, and the
industry should widen its lead over competing proteins through innovation,
creative marketing and cost effectiveness.
<more> July 24, 2008 WattPoultry.com
NTF
Recognizes Turkey Researcher Dr. Sally Noll - - Dr. Sally Noll, poultry
extension and researcher at the University of Minnesota, is the 2008
recipient of the National Turkey Federation (NTF) Research Award for her
excellence in providing the turkey industry with science-based, practical
solutions for turkey production. The award was presented to Noll at the
2008 Poultry Science Association’s (PSA) Annual Meeting in Niagara Falls,
Ontario, Canada. In selecting Noll for the award, NTF members cited her
research in the area of turkey amino acid and the use of alternative
ingredients in turkey diets to maximize breast meat yield and economic
return. This research has had direct applications on turkey production
throughout North America. Her work with Distillers Dried Grain and Solubles
(DDGS), a byproduct of ethanol production, has also been a cornerstone for
the education of the poultry industry regarding DDGS effectiveness in turkey
rations. Her other recent research projects look at beak trimming and feed
shape and size to determine the effect on liveweight performance and avian
pneumovirus vaccination programs. July 24, 2008 NTF Press Release
CPF summer meeting photos online - - Photos
from the CPF’s recent summer meeting in Shell Beach, which featured a golf
outing at the Avila Bay Resort and dinner at the home of Richard and Kathy
Zacky, can be viewed at the CPF website
by clicking here.
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer: CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more information, please click here. To download a Registration Form, please click here. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
UC Davis study: Prop.2 will eliminate state egg
industry in five years – - An economic impact study released today by UC
Davis shows Prop. 2 will eliminate almost all of the state’s egg industry in
five years and further harm the state’s economy due to resulting job and
revenue losses. Californians for SAFE Food, a coalition of public health and
food safety experts, labor unions, consumers, family farmers, and
veterinarians said the study shows how Prop. 2 significantly hinders
consumers’ access to locally-grown, fresh and safe eggs and erodes investor
confidence in the state’s #1 industry – agriculture. “Today’s study
validates findings of earlier independent research regarding the
significantly negative economic impact of Proposition 2, the un-SAFE Food
Initiative,” said Julie Buckner, campaign spokeswoman. “The UC Davis study
confirms that Proposition 2 will wipe out egg farming in California and
drive up our reliance on out-of-state and foreign eggs.”
<more>
July 23, 2008 Californians for SAFE Food press release
Consumers Turn To Chicken To Stretch Family Food
Budget, Survey Shows -- American consumers are turning to chicken to
help stretch their family food budgets, according to new survey findings.
Some 53 percent of consumers said they are “extremely likely” or very
likely” to serve chicken instead of other meats, buy more economical cuts of
chicken such as legs, use more leftover chicken, and otherwise use chicken
as a budget stretcher, according to the survey taken for the National
Chicken Council (NCC) and released at a marketing seminar here. “In these
difficult economic times, when inflationary pressures are hitting food
products hard, consumer see chicken as a way to get more for their money
without sacrificing taste and quality,” said Bill Roenigk, senior vice
president and chief economist for NCC, the trade association for the
nation’s chicken companies. The survey of consumers nationwide also showed
that the public is even more highly satisfied with chicken than in previous
years. Some 81 percent of consumers are “extremely satisfied” or “very
satisfied” with the taste of chicken; 77 percent with freshness; and 77
percent with tenderness, all up significantly from a similar survey in which
those attributes were explored in 1999. The most dramatic improvement was in
consumer perception of food safety. The percentage of respondents saying
they were “extremely satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the food safety of
chicken leaped from only 43 percent in 1999 to 75 percent today. July 23,
2008 NCC Press Release
Uprising Against the Ethanol Mandate - - The
ethanol industry, until recently a golden child that got favorable treatment
from Washington, is facing a critical decision on its future. Gov. Rick
Perry of Texas is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily
waive regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing
amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the next few
weeks. Mr. Perry says the billions of bushels of corn being used to produce
all that mandated ethanol would be better suited as livestock feed than as
fuel. Feed prices have soared in the last two years as fuel has begun
competing with food for cropland. “When you find yourself in a hole, you
have to quit digging,” Mr. Perry said in an interview. “And we are in a
hole.” His request for an emergency waiver cutting the ethanol mandate to
4.5 billion gallons, from the 9 billion gallons required this year and the
10.5 billion required in 2009, is backed by a coalition of food, livestock
and environmental groups.
<more> July 23, 2008 NY Times
EPA: RFS Waiver Decision Delayed Until 'Early
August' - - A decision on whether or not to grant the Texas request for
a 50% waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) will now not take place
until early August, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
administrator Stephen Johnson. EPA has released the following statement:
<more> July 23, 2008 AgWeb.com
California green energy proposal has thin support
- - Awareness is low, but 63 percent of those who had a view on it favor
a California ballot measure that would require half the state's electricity
to come from renewable sources by 2025, a Field poll issued on Tuesday
shows. Voter awareness of Proposition 7 on the November ballot is extremely
low -- 82 percent of those interviewed said they did not know of the
measure. Phone interviews of 672 likely voters were conducted last week,
Field Research said. Voters were asked opinions on several issues on the
statewide ballot this November. On the renewable energy measure, 24 percent
said they were likely to vote against it and 13 percent said they were
undecided.
<more> July 23, 2008 Reuters
Utilities push back big against Prop. 7 - - A
November ballot measure to expand renewable energy produced in California
faces a long, expensive fight, as two of the state's biggest utility
companies have poured $22.5 million this week into beating the initiative.
"This is a declaration of war," said Jim Gonzalez, a former San Francisco
supervisor and sponsor of the measure. The recent donations -- $12.25
million from PG&E and $10.25 million from Southern California Edison -- come
on top of the $1.2 million energy-providers have already contributed.
<more> July 23, 2007 Sacramento Bee
CPF summer meeting photos online - - Photos from the CPF’s recent summer meeting in Shell Beach, which featured a golf outing at the Avila Bay Resort and dinner at the home of Richard and Kathy Zacky, can be viewed at the CPF website by clicking here.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Prop. 2 favored by large margin in Field Poll - -
California Field Poll results released today show that voters favor Prop. 2, the
animal welfare initiative, by a resounding margin of 63 percent to 24 percent,
with 13 percent undecided. California voters appear receptive to mandate the use
of more renewable energy, to fund a high-speed train in the state, and to
improve treatment of farm animals. As the Nov. 4 election draws closer, voters'
opinions may change greatly - especially on those measures that will be the
subject of opposition advertising campaigns. At this point, most voters are not
even aware of the five ballot propositions, the poll found; fewer than one in
four voters had heard of four of the five measures included in the poll. Nearly
two of three voters said they would back propositions to curb inhumane treatment
of farm animals (Proposition 2) and to require utilities to generate more
electricity from renewable sources, starting in 2010 (Proposition 7).
<more>
July 22, 2008 San Jose Mercury News
Corn sinks to 7-month low on robust Midwest crops - -
Corn prices sank to a seven-week low Monday as crops continued their rebound
from last month's flooding, promising some relief at the grocery store for
consumers who had faced higher prices for meat, dairy and other foods. Corn has
plunged about 20 percent in the last month, driven lower by ideal growing
weather in the U.S. Corn Belt and a big drop in oil prices last week. The grain
soared to record-highs near $8 a bushel in June as the worst flooding in 15
years ravaged the Midwest. The return to warm, dry weather in recent weeks has
reinvigorated crops, wiping out all the previous rally's gains. "It's as if the
June flooding didn't even happen," said Vic Lespinasse of Grainanalyst.com. "The
entire rally in corn has been taken off."
<more> July 22, 2008 AP
KFC partners with Chicken Council in new, on-line
showcase of chicken - - The National Chicken Council’s (NCC) allied member
KFC has become the first company to partner with NCC in the newly-launched
Showcase of Chicken. The showcase will recognize, on a quarterly-basis,
outstanding foodservice companies by featuring these partners on
www.eatchicken.com , NCC’s
consumer-oriented Web site. Highlighted on a special section on
www.eatchicken.com are KFC
recipes, KFC’s newest menu items and insights into how company chefs dream up
new ideas to meet consumer demand. Visitors to the site can e-mail questions
directly to KFC corporate chef Bob Das. If a visitor’s question is selected to
be posted on-line, they will receive a coupon for a KFC family dinner.
www.eatchicken.com will profile
KFC throughout July, August, and September--National Chicken Month. “The
National Chicken Council is pleased to have KFC as its first partner in the
Showcase. KFC has developed great and very innovative products for its menu,”
George Watts said. “It is most appropriate that KFC, with its long and close
history with the chicken industry, is helping to launch the new Showcase,” he
added. July 22, 2008 NCC Newsletter
Maple Leaf Farms to sell land, facilities at
Wisconsin auction - - More than 800 acres formerly used by Maple Leaf Farms
in Yorkville, Wisconsin to raise and slaughter ducks will go to auction Aug. 13.
The sale of the 802 acres, in three separate locations, stems from the closing
of Maple Leaf Farms operations here. The company and a predecessor firm, C&D
Farms, had been long-time duck producers in Racine county. The Milford,
Ind.-based company announced in March that it was closing the operation. The
company, the world’s largest producer of duck meat, blamed ethanol production
and rising feed costs for the decision. The move eliminated about 175 of the
company’s 210 jobs in this area.
<more> July 22, 2008 The Journal Times
House bill would extend and expand E-Verify - -
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) introduced H.R. 6454, “The E-Verify Extension and
Expansion Act of 2008.” The legislation would extend for five years the E-Verify
program and would be used for new hires only, as under the current program.
Participation would be voluntary unless an employer is found liable and ordered
to participate, the same as under the current program. The legislation would
authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create “Secure Electronic
Verification System” allowing employers to use biometric identifiers, such as
fingerprints, to establish authenticity of the person presenting the documents.
It also reduces the number of acceptable documents from 29 to seven, requires
the Social Security Administration and DHS to ascertain if an applicant’s social
security number is being reported by multiple employers simultaneously, and
requires DHS to provide “real time” updating of the status of work authorization
documents. The bill would provide initial approval or disapproval within three
days and gives employers three days to notify employees. Non-confirmed employees
would have five days to contest the non-confirmation, and employers could not
terminate contesting employees until they receive a final non-confirmation from
DHS. Appeals are provided to employees whose status could not be confirmed. The
bill gives employers who comply with E-Verify and are later found to have hired
an unauthorized worker “a rebuttable presumption,” and would not be civil or
criminally liable under federal, state or local law. The bill would preempt
state and local governments from prohibiting employer participation in the
E-Verify program and would prohibit a state or local government from imposing
civil or criminal sanctions upon employers for hiring unauthorized workers.
July 22, 2008 NCC Newsletter
A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but No Muss - - Eating locally raised food is a growing trend. But who has time to get to the farmer’s market, let alone plant a garden? That is where Trevor Paque comes in. For a fee, Mr. Paque, who lives in San Francisco, will build an organic garden in your backyard, weed it weekly and even harvest the bounty, gently placing a box of vegetables on the back porch when he leaves. Call them the lazy locavores — city dwellers who insist on eating food grown close to home but have no inclination to get their hands dirty. Mr. Paque is typical of a new breed of business owner serving their needs. <more> July 22, 2008 NY Times
Monday, July 21, 2008
Prop. 2 would give police powers to activists, says
analysis - - Animal rights and vegetarian activists could have the authority
to enter and search California farm buildings and arrest producers for suspected
violations of animal welfare laws if California voters approve a ballot
initiative this fall, Feedstuffs has learned. This is the conclusion of
attorneys who are analyzing the legal consequences of the initiative for
agricultural and food interests in California, whose "Californians for SAFE
Food" coalition is organized to educate Californians on the initiative and urge
them to vote no on the measure. The determination makes it exceedingly important
for producers and production companies, trade associations and allied industry
across the U.S. to become involved in the "SAFE Food" coalition, its supporters
said. The initiative -- which has been designated "Proposition 2," or "Prop 2"
-- is directed at the treatment of farm animals and, if passed, would require
that farm animals not be confined or tethered in a manner that prevents an
animal from lying down, standing up, turning around and fully extending its
limbs.
<more> July 21, 2008 Feedstuffs.com
Modesto Bee Opinion: Prop. 2. City slickers try
to tell farmers how to run their farms - - The November ballot is filled
with hot-button proposals -- a proposed ban on gay marriage, a parental
notification requirement for a girl to have an abortion, and an effort by
city-dwelling animal lovers to tell farmers how to run their businesses. OK,
I put a negative spin on that last one, but it's the way that many people in
agriculture see Proposition 2, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.
The initiative affects three kinds of animals: egg-laying chickens, calves
raised for veal and pregnant pigs. The act is vague, simply requiring "that
an enclosure or tether confining specified farm animals allow the animals
for the majority of every day to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie
down, stand up and turn around." It would impose a fine of as much as $1,000
or six months in jail for violations. The biggest impact would be on
chickens. Proponents, led by the Humane Society of the United States, want
to eliminate the small cages in which laying hens are kept. They argue that
in the space allowed -- 67 to 86 square inches per hen -- chickens are
prevented from spreading their wings, nesting, perching and doing other
things that birds naturally want to do.
<more> July 20, 2008 Modesto Bee Opinion
Idahoans Sue Tyson Over Antibiotics in Chicken -
- Two Idaho residents have asked a federal judge to certify a class-action
lawsuit against Tyson Foods, claiming that the poultry powerhouse falsely
advertised its chicken as antibiotic-free despite the use of antibiotics. In the
lawsuit, Richard and June Johnson of Weiser contend that Tyson Foods ran a
deceptive marketing scheme when it labeled its chicken as being antibiotic-free
despite injecting eggs with antibiotics just days before they hatched. Last
year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tyson, based in Springdale, Ark.,
could label its foods as "raised without antibiotics." The USDA later said it
had overlooked an ingredient used in the chicken feed — ionophores, which are
widely considered to be an antibiotic, though they are not used to treat
illnesses in humans — and reversed its decision after Tyson had spent money on
advertising and packaging. Tyson was later allowed to say its products are
"raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans."
<more> July 21, 2008 AP
Dry times revive an old debate. In the delta that is the
state's water well, ecology vs. usage rises to the fore. - - Here is where
the straws tap into the common pool of California water, where consequence
begins. Here, on the backside of the Diablo Mountains, amid a landscape of
bleached-out pastures, wind farms and transmission lines, the two-lane Byron
Highway crosses the concrete headwaters of two canals. The first is the
California Aqueduct, main artery of the State Water Project, which propels delta
water on a 444-mile beeline to Southern California. Two miles down the road the
Delta-Mendota Canal also has its fountainhead, feeding the federal Central
Valley Project -- an audacious rewrite of nature designed, as the boosters sang,
to "make a desert bloom." They're easy to miss from the road, announced only by
minimal signage, tangles of barbed wire and posted warnings, in English and
Spanish, "Stay Out: You May Drown" and "Danger: Swift Current." Yet these are
critical pieces of connective tissue, binding together the watery north with an
arid south. Not that everyone's sanguine about the arrangement. Grumblings about
plugging Sierra rivers to fill Los Angeles swimming pools and supplying farmers
subsidized water to grow subsidized cotton have been staples of the state's
political rhetoric for decades.
<more> July 21, 2008 LA Times
Delta diversion threat to salmon, judge rules - - A
federal judge in Fresno affirmed Friday that water diversions in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have jeopardized the existence of
California's beleaguered salmon. It was the latest in a string of rulings
ordering state and federal regulators to fix a water system that supplies
millions of Californians with water but is all but dysfunctional when it comes
to protecting fisheries and the environment. U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger
told the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water
Resources to come up with ways to protect salmon and steelhead trout, but
declined to order any immediate remedies. Wanger's 118-page ruling was issued as
a result of a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and several
other environmental organizations accusing the government of endangering salmon
and steelhead. The plaintiffs had asked the judge to immediately curtail water
diversions.
<more> July 21, 2008 SF Chronicle
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer: CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more information, please click here. If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Californians
For Safe Food launches campaign opposing Prop. 2: “The un-Safe Food
Initiative” -- Californians for SAFE Food, a coalition of public health
and food safety experts, labor unions, consumers, family farmers and
veterinarians, today officially launched its campaign to oppose Proposition
2, the November ballot initiative that bans almost all modern egg production
in California. Dubbing Prop. 2 the “un-SAFE food initiative,” Californians
for SAFE Food also introduced its Web site,
www.safecaliforniafood.org
and released an updated list of organizations and individuals who have
joined the opposition campaign. “Proposition 2, quite simply, is an un-SAFE
food initiative. It undermines California’s current high food safety
standards, putting us at greater risk with exposure to illness and disease
like Salmonella and Bird Flu,” said Julie Buckner, spokeswoman for the “NO
on Prop. 2” campaign. “While the proponents claim the measure is ‘moderate,’
it is really a wide-sweeping, risky, and dangerous measure that will have
costly, negative consequences for California.”
<more>
Californians for Safe Food Press Release
Court allows
haying, grazing of CRP acres - - Judge John Coughenour of the Western
District of Washington Federal Court in Seattle on Thursday declined to make
permanent a temporary injunction he issued on July 8th that had blocked the
penalty-free release of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for haying
and grazing. Instead, Coughenour ordered the plaintiffs in the case, the
National Wildlife Federation and six of its state affiliate groups, to
compromise with USDA in reaching a solution that allowed limited haying and
grazing of CRP acres but doesn't harm wildlife. Senate Ag Committee Chairman
Tom Harkin has long championed conservation programs generally and the CRP
specifically. But Harkin has also acknowledged the negative impact high feed
prices have had on livestock producers, especially in his home state of
Iowa, which also suffered devastating floods that will hamper this year's
grain production. And Harkin praised the Coughenour ruling within that
context.
<more> July 17, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Report
says canal would fix California water woes - - California must
drastically change the way it funnels drinking water to two-thirds of state
residents by building a canal around the delta, according to a report
released Tuesday. The study by the Public Policy Institute of California
recommends that cities in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay area
stop drawing water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The institute says
the delta is an increasingly unstable source. "Building a peripheral canal
is not without controversy, but it appears to be the best way to maintain a
reliable water supply," said Ellen Hanak, the institute's associate
director.
<more> July 17, 2008 AP
Tracking
Produce Proves Complex - - The salmonella outbreak of 2008 may go down
in history as the case of the missing tomatoes. More than six weeks ago, the
Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about a salmonella outbreak in
New Mexico and Texas connected to raw tomatoes. Since then, the agency has
expanded the warning nationwide and added jalapeño and serrano peppers. More
than 1,100 people have fallen ill since April, but not a single contaminated
tomato or pepper has been found. Investigators said the complexity of the
produce distribution system has been their biggest impediment, and some
produce industry leaders agree that tracing fruits and vegetables could be
easier. Though the technology to do so already exists in the form of bar
codes that appear on nearly everything we buy, it could take as long as five
years before the entire food industry applies it to food safety.
<more> July 17, 2008 Washington Post
Congressman Dennis Cardoza: understanding agriculture - - Dennis Cardoza recalls being a 9-year-old farm boy from Atwater sitting in front of his family's television set watching the 1968 Democratic and Republican national conventions. He was fascinated by what he saw and credits those tumultuous moments in history with inspiring him to pursue a career in politics. Now, 40 years later and serving his third term in Congress, the 49-year-old who spent much of his early youth on his grandparents' farm in Atwater, has established a reputation as an effective, fiscally responsible legislator who is proud to advocate for California farmers and ranchers. Representing the 18th District that includes parts of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced and Madera counties, he has a number of accomplishments under his belt, most recently key inclusions in the 2008 Farm Bill known as the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008. <more> July 17, 2008 Ag Alert
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Poultry groups say latest consumer prices show
failure of food-to-fuel policies - - The nation’s leading poultry
organizations today issued statements saying that the latest Consumer Price
Index shows that food inflation is rising at more than twice the rate of
core inflation and called on Congress to “control the ethanol policies
responsible for driving up the cost of food.” Joel Brandenberger, President,
National Turkey Federation, said, “The consumer price data released today
again confirm what we have been seeing for months – higher prices for
American families thanks to our misguided food-to-fuel policies. The
dramatic diversion of corn to our nation’s gas tanks has led to
exponentially higher feed costs for America’s turkey growers and processors,
putting businesses at risk and ultimately harming consumers. The outlook
may get even worse as we learn more about the full impact of last month’s
floods in the Midwest. Turkey growers can only absorb these higher costs
for so long, and we fully expect numbers like today’s to continue and
perhaps worsen until Congress rethinks food-to-fuel policies.” Richard Lobb,
Communications Director, National Chicken Council, said, “At a time of
economic stress, it is incredible that the U.S. government should be
contributing to food price inflation, but that is exactly what it is doing
through the misguided food-to-fuel ethanol program. Today’s CPI report
clearly shows inflation in the food products tied to corn. It is high time
that Congress reformed this wasteful and inflationary program.” July 16,
2008 NTF and NCC Press Releases
Consumer prices jump 1.1 percent in June - -
Consumer prices shot up in June at the second fastest pace in 26 years with
two-thirds of the surge blamed on soaring energy prices. The Labor
Department reported that consumer prices jumped 1.1 percent last month, much
worse than had been expected. Energy prices rocketed upward by 6.6 percent,
reflecting big gains for gasoline, home heating oil and natural gas. The big
rise in prices cut deeply into consumers' earning power with average weekly
wages, after adjusting for inflation, falling by 0.9 percent. It was the
biggest monthly decline since a 1.1 percent drop in weekly wages in
September 2005.
<more> July 16, 2008 AP
Costly biofuel support offers few benefits: OECD
- - Public support for biofuels is costly and has little impact in
cutting greenhouse gas emissions so governments would do better promoting
lower energy consumption to fight climate change, the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Wednesday. Governments
should also boost the so-called second generation biofuels that do not use
food crops, the OECD said in a report. The study comes as the latest blow to
biofuels, made from grains, oilseeds and sugar, which were once hailed for
providing a clean alternative to fossil fuels but are now blamed for a surge
in food prices.
<more>
July 16, 2008 Reuters
Guest column: Unite, farmers: Ease up on ethanol
accelerator - - By Paul Hill, chairman of the board of West Liberty
Foods, West Liberty. He is also chairman of the National Turkey Federation.
- - The tragic flooding in Iowa has reminded us of what is best in our
community. We have seen people rally together to support one another. We
have seen strangers reaching out to one another as kin. We have seen
courage, empathy and love. I am writing to call on the farmers of our state,
who have been so hard hit in the flooding, to use this moment of unity to
come together on an issue that has divided us for too long: ethanol. I am
keenly aware of both sides of this hotly debated issue. Not only am I a
turkey grower, but I also raise 1,500 acres of corn. There's no question
that government support for ethanol has provided great comfort to corn
farmers by creating guaranteed demand back when corn was barely selling for
$2 per bushel and its growers were struggling.
<more> July 16, 2008 Des Moines Register
Zacky settles discrimination claim for $235,000 -
- Fresno-based Zacky Farms -- one of the largest turkey producers in the
state -- has agreed to pay $235,000 to hundreds of female job applicants who
were denied employment. The settlement agreement stems from a 2005
investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor that found Zacky's hiring
process disproportionately rejected female applicants for production-worker
positions. Under the terms of the agreement, Zacky Farms agreed to pay 678
former applicants equal shares of $235,000 -- about $347 each. Zacky also
has agreed to hire 135 of those female applicants as production workers.
Zacky officials said they agreed to the settlement to avoid the burden and
expense of litigation and believe they have treated everyone fairly. "Zacky
Farms does not discriminate," Lillian Zacky, co-owner of the company, said
in an e-mail. "We've always been committed to equal employment opportunity.”
Zacky also said that the settlement between the company and the government
does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing.
<more> July 16, 2008 Fresno Bee
Assembly goes on vacation amid California budget deadlock - - With the state budget far from resolved, the Assembly resumed its summer vacation Tuesday. Members of the lower house contemplated two dozen bills before joining their Senate counterparts on holiday. Barring a budget breakthrough, both houses are scheduled to be dark until Aug. 4. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, ramped up his rhetoric over the lack of progress on the state's $101 billion general fund spending plan, which contains a $15.2 billion deficit. The governor admonished the Legislature for not meeting its June 15 constitutional deadline and noted that he has always turned in his spending proposal on time. <more> July 16, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Pilgrim's Pride cuts 600 jobs at Arkansas plant -
- Pilgrim's Pride Corp. is cutting 600 jobs from its El Dorado poultry
operation, but the company will keep its facilities open and continue to
provide chicken to the firm's processed foods plants elsewhere. Pilgrim's
Pride will consolidate its tray-pack chicken business from its El Dorado
processing plant into six other facilities. The move will cut 600 jobs by
Sept. 19, half of those who work at the El Dorado plant. Pilgrim's Pride
employs about another 400 people at its feed mill, hatchery and among its area
contract growers. Local officials said they had worked with Pilgrim's Pride
for months to try to avert the layoffs but that they could not do enough.
Mayor Mike Dumas said the plant employs workers from a multi-county area,
including some north Louisiana parishes.
<more> July 15, 2008 AP
Soybean and corn futures close sharply lower on Fed
Chairman comments - -Soybean and corn futures closed sharply lower
Tuesday, as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sent crude oil
more than $9 lower at points, in turn pressuring beans and corn. Bernanke
spoke in front of the Senate Banking Committee, giving a pretty dire economic
outlook and citing a number of factors for the woes including slumping housing
prices, low consumer confidence, rising commodity and consumer good prices,
and the steep decline in the dollar. The dollar moved to a new all time low
against the Euro Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average settled under
11,000 points for the first time in two years and crude oil saw its biggest
loss in dollars since January 1991.
<more> July 15, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Immigrant Workers Vital, Va. Firms Say. Poultry
Industry Seeks Better U.S. Screening to Cull Illegal Applicants, Avert Fines
-- Every morning, 26,000 white tom turkeys arrive at the Virginia Poultry
Growers Cooperative plant in the Shenandoah Valley, where they are killed,
gutted, cleaned, chilled, cut up and prepared for shipment by the end of the
day. The work is hard and cold and messy, and few local residents are willing
to do it. So the cooperative relies heavily on immigrant workers. Its owners
say that they do their best to weed out applicants who are in the country
illegally but that their industry is increasingly squeezed by federal pressure
on employers who hire illegal immigrants and criminal networks that sell false
or stolen identity documents.Now,
poultry processors in Virginia and across the country are taking their case to
Congress. Last week, several hundred industry leaders met in Washington to
lobby for immigration changes and an improved document-checking system as well
as relief from environmental rules that have doubled the price of the feed
corn they buy for their birds.
"We depend on immigrants. If
they all went away today, people like us couldn't operate," said Jim Mason,
president of the cooperative, who visited a half-dozen congressional offices.
"People think we hire Hispanics because we can get them cheaper, but it is
absolutely false. We do everything the government asks and more to make sure
our workers are legal, and we turn a lot of people away. But if an ID is
stolen, there is nothing we can do."
<more> July 15, 2008 Washington Post
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or
codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
USDA announces additional $202.5 million for conservation programs - - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced an additional $200 million will be made available through the 2008 Farm Bill to help farmers and ranchers nationwide to solve natural resource problems through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). An additional $2.5 million will be available for Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) in 16 states. "These additional funds will assist farmers and ranchers in solving critical natural resource problems," Schafer said. "Voluntary incentive-based programs like EQIP and AMA are the key to helping producers meet their conservation goals and provide the public with important benefits such as cleaner water, improved air quality, healthy soils, and abundant wildlife." <more> July 15, 2008 USDA Press Release
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Man Who Dared to Question Ethanol - - It
wasn’t too long ago that a loose coalition of anti-ethanol forces was
bemoaning the futility of its fight. After failing to block huge new ethanol
mandates in the Senate last December, Jay Truitt, until recently the chief
lobbyist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, complained about the
“fervor” and “spirituality” that surrounded ethanol on Capitol Hill. “You
can’t get anyone to consider that there is a consequence to these actions,” he
said, adding, “We think there will be a day when people ask, ‘Why in the world
did we do this?’ ” That day has arrived sooner than Mr. Truitt, or most anyone
else, anticipated. Of course, much of the turnabout is attributable to
relentless price increases at the grocery store that have caused many people
to argue that the land used to grow corn for ethanol should be used for food
instead. But the changing perceptions about ethanol have been helped along by
the most unlikely of characters, a bearded and mild-mannered economist with a
dry sense of humor and an encyclopedic knowledge of the arcana of American
farm policy. Until January, Keith Collins was the longtime and widely
respected chief economist for the Department of Agriculture. In that position,
he was a frequent booster of government policies that encouraged biofuel
production. In the months after his departure, he was hired by Kraft Foods
Global to analyze the impact of biofuels on food prices. He delivered a
stunning, and unexpected, roundhouse to his former employers.
<more> July 14, 2008 NY Times
Corn prices fall to 1-month low on Midwest weather
- - Corn prices fell to a one-month low Monday as more favorable weather
in the Midwest boosted confidence that crops will bounce back from devastating
flooding last month. Corn for December delivery fell 17.25 cents to $6.92 a
bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade after earlier falling to $6.805, the
lowest since June 9. Soybeans also dropped. Weather forecasts show rainfall
this week for western Corn Belt states of Minnesota, the Dakotas, central
Nebraska and northern Iowa, offering relief to dry crops as the enter the
critical pollination period. In eastern Corn Belt states, warm, dry weather is
expected to continue this week, boosting crops that were battered by massive
June flooding. "Since the floods, the weather's been nearly ideal for crop
development," said Jason Ward, analyst with Northstar Commodity in
Minneapolis. "We've had a good mix of moisture and heat." Corn prices have
fallen since the grain closed at an all-time high of $7.805 a bushel on July
2. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to report later Monday a 1
percent to 2 percent increase in the amount of corn and soybean crops in good
to excellent condition - an improvement that would boost optimism for good
yields later this year and possibly drive record food prices lower.
<more> July 14, 2008 AP
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer: CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more information, please click here. If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355 or codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Friday, July 11, 2008
USDA
will list retail stores receiving recalled meat and poultry products - -
Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer today announced that beginning next
month, USDA will begin listing retail stores receiving meat and poultry
products involved in Class I recalls - those of the most serious concern to
public health. For some recalls, specific product information useful to
consumers is not available to help identify recalled products that may still
be in their home. Today's announcement provides a 30-day notice after the
rule is published in the Federal Register before the process of listing
retail stores takes effect. "The identity of retail stores with recalled
meat and poultry from their suppliers has always been a missing piece of
information for the public during a recall," said Schafer. "People want to
know if they need to be on the lookout for recalled meat and poultry from
their local store and by providing lists of retail outlets during recalls,
USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service will improve public health protection
by better informing consumers."
<more> July 11, 2008 USDA Press Release
Soybeans rally on concerns of falling stockpiles - - Soybeans surged for a
second day Thursday on expectations that already tight U.S. stockpiles will
sink further after devastating Midwest flooding that wiped out farmland last
month. Corn fell to a one-month low. Soybeans for September delivery rose 22
cents, or 1.41 percent, to $15.79 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade,
after earlier rising as high as $15.83. Wheat for September delivery fell
2.75 cents to $8.23 a bushel. Meanwhile, corn prices headed lower for a
fifth straight session as warm, dry weather in the Midwest raised
expectations that crops will recover from last month's floods. Worries that
high corn prices are cutting into demand for animal feed and ethanol also
pressured prices. Corn for December delivery fell 4.5 cents to $7.0825 a
bushel on the CBOT, after earlier dropping to $7.01, the lowest since June
10.
<more>
July 11, 2008 AP
Chicken Turnaround Expected - - Production cutbacks among chicken
companies likely mean poultry prices are headed higher in the next few
months, according to Farha Aslam, analyst with Stephens Inc. This is welcome
news for Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. and George's Inc. along with
Simmons Foods of Siloam Springs. These companies will benefit from higher
poultry prices and finally shake off the losses that have mounted over the
last few months from rising grain costs, analysts said Thursday. Price
recovery starts with the egg, and recent government data indicates egg sets
have declined for the past 15 consecutive weeks bringing chicken supplies to
their lowest level since November 2007. Egg sets are three-month indicators
of future chicken supplies. Fewer supplies will eventually mean higher
prices.
<more> July 11, 2008 The Morning News
Huge
bond plan to revamp state water system - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
and Sen. Dianne Feinstein unveiled a sweeping $9.3 billion bond proposal on
Thursday to overhaul California's ailing water infrastructure by expanding
water storage, protecting the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and
promoting conservation projects across the state. The proposal, which is
planned to be on the November ballot, was put together after Democrats in
the state Legislature balked last year at the governor's proposal for a $9
billon overhaul of the state water system that focused primarily on building
three dams. But administration officials say Schwarzenegger believes the new
proposal contains enough significant changes to garner the two-thirds
majority in both houses of the Democrat-controlled Legislature necessary to
send it to voters. The new plan includes money for water storage, but the
amount is $3 billion rather than the $5.1 billion the governor had in his
earlier plan. And the money wouldn't necessarily be used for dam projects -
it could be spent for other projects, including groundwater storage.
<more>
July 11, 2008 SF Chronicle
Expert
warns Hong Kong's avian flu vaccine is waning - - A poultry vaccine
designed to protect chickens in Hong Kong from H5 avian influenza has lost
effectiveness over the past 7 years of use, an expert told the Chinese media
recently. Yuen Kwok-yung, who heads the microbiology department at the
University of Hong Kong, told the South China Morning Post newspaper that
the virus is shifting away from the Fujian strain that it was developed for,
according to a Jul 8 Deutsche Presse-Argentur (DPA) report. He told city
officials that they must ban all live chickens from markets before the
vaccine becomes completely ineffective, the DPA report said. Tests on birds
in 2005 suggested that the vaccine generated only a quarter of the antibody
response it did in 2001. "It takes time for the manufacturers to produce new
vaccines. Hong Kong is taking its own risk if it still has live chickens in
the market," Yuen said.
<more> July 11, 2008 CIDRAP News
Funds available to retrofit diesel transportation
truck - - Applications are now available for funds to replace or
retrofit Class 8 diesel trucks and engines used for goods movement. The
deadline for applications is 1 p.m. on Sept. 5. There are several categories
of funding available provided via Proposition 1B:
• $50,000 to replace a 2003 or older truck with a new truck that meets 2007
emissions standards (tiered truck replacements and retrofits are also
available);
• $20,000 to repower a 2003 or older engine with a new engine that meets
2007 standards; or
• $5,000 to retrofit a 2006 or older truck with an ARB-verified level 3
diesel particulate filter.
To be eligible, applicants must operate a Class 8 on-road diesel truck
greater than 33,0000 GVWR, used to transport goods, have a valid California
registration for the last two years (base plate or IRP), and, travel at
least 50 percent in the state’s major trade corridors over the last two
years (Central Valley, Bay Area, Los Angeles/Inland Empire or San
Diego/border). For more information on the incentive program, program
applications and program guidelines, visit the “Grants and Incentives”
section at www.valleyair.org or
e-mail weberip@valleyair.org
or contact the Emission Reduction Incentive Program at (800) 766-4463.
July 11, 2008 Valley Air District Notice
Thirsty orchards' plight in Central Valley - - Standing on a ridge
between a sluggish water canal and a swath of spindly, gray almond trees,
farmer Jim Jasper has a good view of California's water crisis. Drought
forced one of Jasper's friends to abandon these trees. The adjacent canal's
flow has been reduced by more than one-third to protect an endangered fish.
To offset the loss, Jasper has leased the land beneath the dying trees to
use its water on his own 2,500 acres of almond trees, some of them "babies."
Being a farmer in drought-prone California always has been a struggle. But
2008 is turning into one for the history books. This year, natural and
man-made water shortages will cost the agriculture industry more than $160
million, not to mention the reduced plantings for next year and the ripple
effect through banks, farming equipment businesses and consumers who could
pay even higher prices for food.
<more> July 11, 2008 SF Chronicle
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting
- - The
California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting
Monday nad Tuesday, July
14-15, in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To
learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355.
Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
DuPont Animal Health
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Pitman Farms
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Veterinary
Service, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Boxer
calls for Congressional review of ethanol incentives - - Sen. Barbara
Boxer today testified today that she was concerned about increasing corn and
soybean prices and said Congress needs to” review our policies regarding
grain ethanol incentives, including the domestic ethanol subsidy and the
tariffs on foreign ethanol.” Her remarks came at a Senate hearing today by
Boxer’s Environment and Public Works Committee. “I believe we must create
stronger incentives for moving more quickly towards cellulosic and advanced
biofuels, and that we must move away from reliance on corn-based ethanol. “
To read her full remarks,
please click here. July 10, 2008
Energy
official frowns on cutting back ethanol - - The Energy Department
frowned on relaxing federal requirements to boost the use of ethanol in
gasoline. Any reduction in the renewable fuel standard would sap investment
in biofuel technology and undermine efforts to wean the nation off oil and
reduce greenhouse gases, Deputy Assistant Energy Secretary Steven Chalk said
Thursday. "Keeping that in place is very important to us," Chalk told the
Senate Environment clean air subcommittee. Chalk made the comments as the
Bush administration is considering a request by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to
halve the ethanol requirement this year, from nine billion gallons to 4.5
billion gallons, because of high corn prices. The renewable fuel standard
was expanded in last year's energy bill to require 36 billion gallons of
biofuels to be blended into gasoline by 2022.
<more> July 10, 2008 AP
EDITORIAL: The long war against flu - - That the H5N1 strain of bird flu
has not yet caused a pandemic is no cause for complacency. Preparations for
the inevitable must be redoubled to mitigate the potential devastation. Five
years after the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus exploded into a global
epidemic in birds, it has infected more than 300 people. Happily, it has not
yet evolved into a strain that can transmit easily between humans — an event
that would trigger a pandemic that could kill tens of millions. But as long
as H5N1 continues to be present in animals, that risk persists. And with so
many other flu strains out in the world, all constantly evolving, a flu
pandemic is inevitable.
<more> July 10, 2008 Nature
Investors flocking into Pilgrim's Pride, Sanderson -- After getting
plucked during a steep month long sell-off, shares of chicken producers
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. and Sanderson Farms Inc. surged Thursday on fresh
signs the industry is taking steps to deal with the oversupply that has
crimped poultry prices. Shares of Pilgrim's Pride spiked 13%, while
Sanderson Farms jumped 8%. Tyson Foods Inc. rose more than 2%. Credit Suisse
issued a short-term trading alert advising clients to "go long" on Pilgrim's
Pride while BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sanderson Farms to an outperform
rating, the equivalent of a buy recommendation, with a long-term target
price target of $50 a share.
<more> July 10, 2008 MarketWatch
Passing: Dr. Bryan Mayeda, 86 - - Dr. Bryan Mayeda (MSU ’49), 86,
Sacramento, died July 6, 2008. He retired in 1985 after 36 years of
distinguished service in the Veterinary Laboratory Services of the
California Department of Food and Agriculture. Dr. Mayeda was also a guest
lecturer on poultry medicine at the UC Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine.
During his professional career he mentored many high school and
undergraduate students. Giving up vacation time, he hosted those students on
extensive field trips to various avian facilities. He followed his students
throughout their careers, ever generous with his support and knowledge.
Though he and his family were interned at the Tule Lake Relocation Camp
during World War II, Dr. Mayeda served as a 2nd Lt. in the US Army Reserves
immediately following graduation from veterinary school. In 1992, at the age
of 70, he became the oldest diplomate to pass the examination of the
American College of Poultry Veterinarians. He was awarded Life Membership in
the American Association of Avian Pathologists. Memorials in his name may be
made to Parkview Presbyterian Church, 727 T St., Sacramento, CA 95811; or
the AAAP, 953 College Station Rd., Athens, GA 30602. July 10, 2008 AAAP
Notice
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting
- - The
California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July
14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To
learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355.
Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
DuPont Animal Health
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Pitman Farms
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Corn slumps for 4th day on demand concerns - -
Corn futures fell for a fourth day Wednesday on expectations that record-high
prices for the grain will cut into demand for animal feed and ethanol.
Soybeans rose sharply. Corn prices rose to a record near $8 a bushel last
month as severe flooding swallowed huge swaths of farmland in the Midwest. A
dose of warm, dry weather has helped dry out waterlogged crops in recent days,
sending prices sharply lower. Still, traders are betting corn's rally will
lead to a drop in demand from livestock owners, who rely on the grain as the
chief ingredient in animal feed. Ethanol producers are also planning to scale
back production because of the high price of corn, the main feedstock for the
alternative fuel produce in the U.S.
<more> July 9, 2008 AP
Modesto Bee Commentary: A cage ban? It could do
more harm than good. Larger barns would mean bigger carbon footprint - -
If we're going to eat eggs, I think the chickens that lay them should be able
to stretch their wings, stand up and turn around and not be caged. So I buy
cage-free eggs, and I'm not alone. Demand for these eggs is outpacing supply.
Now the Humane Society of the United States wants to make this choice the law
in California. It has led a successful effort to put an initiative on the
November ballot. If passed, the Prevention of Farm Cruelty Act would ban some
livestock confinement systems. Sounds like a no-brainer. But I'm not certain
I'll vote "yes." Arizona and Florida have passed similar measures, but the
California vote is seen as the beginning of a national push to phase out
battery cages. But a California ban might carry unintended costs for the
environment. That's why some environmental organizations have shied from
endorsing the measure.
<more> July 9, 2008 Modesto Bee
Lawmakers hear Valley's plea on water - - Four
hundred farmers and farmworkers from the Valley's west side will travel in a
bus caravan to Sacramento from Five Points on Friday to drive home the message
that a crisis has been spawned by lack of irrigation water. That promise --
along with talk of a need for a comprehensive solution to water needs -- was
among testimony given Tuesday at Mendota High School before four members of
the California Assembly. The central San Joaquin Valley's water shortage has
caused many growers to abandon their crops and hundreds of farmworkers to lose
their jobs. The hearing, which drew about 100 people including officials from
several cities outside the Westlands Water District, was led by Assembly
Member Juan Arambula, D-Fresno.
<more> July 9, 2008 Fresno Bee
Dooley to head American Chemistry Council - -
Cal Dooley, a former Democratic congressman from California, has been tapped
to take over the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the group announced on
Wednesday. The ACC, which represents companies like DuPont, Dow Chemical and
Exxon Mobil, is currently run by Jack Gerard, who has accepted an offer to
head the American Petroleum Institute, beginning on Sept. 1. Dooley will start
at ACC on Sept. 8, according to the announcement. Since retiring from Congress
in 2005, Dooley has led the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), where he
helped manage the group’s merger with the Food Products Association. <more>
July 9, 2008 The Hill.com
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or
codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
EPA and various state air boards sign joint
agreement to reduce pollution, greenhouse gas emissions - - At the
California Emerging Clean Air Technology Forum today in Merced, federal, state
and local agencies formally joined forces to develop and implement
technologies needed for California to meet federal health-based air quality
standards, to reduce public exposure to air toxics and to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with the
California Air Resources Board, the South Coast and San Joaquin Valley Air
Districts and the California Environmental Protection Agency, signed a
memorandum of agreement to commit to developing and testing new sustainable
technologies to accelerate progress in meeting current and future national air
quality standards. "Each agency's contribution to this effort is essential as
we struggle to address still tighter particulate matter and ozone standards,"
said Wayne Nastri, the U.S. EPA’s administrator for the Pacific Southwest
region. "Through collaboration and a shared vision, we can reach our goal of
cleaner air for all Californians, and clean air technologies that can be
deployed anywhere."
<more> July 9, 2008 EPA Press Release
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting
- - The
California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July
14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To
learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355.
Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
DuPont Animal Health
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Pitman Farms
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
CPF Quality Assurance seminar set for Sept. 4 in
Modesto - - The California Poultry Federation’s Fall Quality Assurance
Seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. To maintain certification in the California Meat Poultry
Quality Assurance Program, companies must be represented by employees at the
seminar. Speakers will include Dr. Nancy Reimers: Self-Auditing your
Biosecurity Plan; Dr. Nancy Hinkle: Vector Control; Dr. Richard Breitmeyer:
CDFA Update; Robert Holmes: Composting Regulations for Emergency Carcass
Disposal, and Dr. Dennis Wilson: Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise. For more
information,
please click here. If you have any questions, please contact Cody Penfold
at (209) 576-6355 or
codypenfold@gmail.com July 8, 2008 CPF Notice
Sacramento area farm producing turkeys and a side
of solar - - The Nilsen farm in Wilton, which typically produces a
half-million turkeys a year, will soon also generate one million watts. The
Nilsens won't own the electricity. The power being generated is owned by a
renewable energy company that is leasing Nilsen land next to the turkey
houses. On Monday, the company, enXco, was in the finishing stages of
installing 17,000 electricity-generating solar panels on the seven acres of
Nilsen land along Apple Road. When the work is done, the Sacramento Municipal
Utility District will buy the power from enXco and sell it to customers. Then,
SMUD customers will be able to go green without having to spend thousands of
dollars for rooftop solar.
<more>
July 8, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Energy alert today - - Don't touch that
(thermostat) dial -- there's an energy conservation effort in effect.
Residents throughout California are asked to conserve energy, especially
during
peak hours of 3 to 6 p.m. State energy officials issued a Flex Alert today
because of anticipated high electricity demand. The California Independent
System Operator issued the alert in light of the heat wave and fires burning
across the state, which pose a potential threat to the state's power grid,
according to the Flex Your Power energy campaign's Web site. ISO officials
expect to see the highest electricity demand of the summer this week. While
they don't anticipate shortages, peak demand could reach the record set July
24, 2006.
<more>
July 8, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Animal rights protesters torment scientists - -
In the hills above the University of California's Berkeley campus, nine
protesters gathered in front of the home of a toxicology professor, their
faces covered with scarves and hoods despite the warm spring weather. One
scrawled "killer" in chalk on the scientist's doorstep, while another hurled
insults through a bullhorn and announced, "Your neighbor kills animals!"
Someone shattered a window. Borrowing the kind of tactics used by
anti-abortion demonstrators, animal rights activists are increasingly taking
their rage straight to scientists' front doors. Over the past couple of years,
more and more researchers who experiment on animals have been harassed and
terrorized in their own homes, with weapons that include firebombs, flooding
and acid.
<more> July 8, 2008 AP
FDA prohibits antimicrobial drug in poultry - -
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a final rule that
prohibits the extra label use of cephalosporin antimicrobial drugs in
food-producing animals, including chickens, turkeys, cattle and swine.
According to the FDA, this rule will help protect consumers against
antimicrobial-resistant strains of zoonotic food borne bacterial pathogens. By
law, the FDA may issue a prohibition order if evidence shows that extra label
use of a drug in food-producing animals has caused, or is likely to cause, a
public health risk. In this case, the FDA has gathered evidence showing that
the extra label use of cephalosporins in food-producing animals is likely to
contribute to the emergence of resistance and compromise human therapies.
<more> July 8, 2008 WorldPoultry.net
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting
- - The
California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July
14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To
learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355.
Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
DuPont Animal Health
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Pitman Farms
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Monday, July 7, 2008
Corn, soybeans plunge on warm Midwest weather - - Corn
and soybean prices tumbled Monday, falling the maximum allowed limit on
expectations that warm, dry weather in the Midwest will help crops recover from
last month's floods and ease supply concerns. Corn for December delivery fell
the 30-cent daily limit to trade at $7.46 a bushel on the Chicago Board of
Trade. The contract is more than 50 cents off its all-time trading high of
$7.9925, reached June 26. Soybeans for November delivery fell the 70-cent limit
to $15.61 a bushel on the CBOT. On Thursday, the last trading day before the
July 4 holiday, soybeans surged to an all-time high of $16.3675 a bushel.
<more> July 7, 2008 AP
USDA Releases CRP Land in Flood Regions for Grazing Only -
- USDA Secretary Ed Schafer announced today that he is releasing Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP) acres for livestock grazing in counties recently
designated as Presidential Disaster Areas because of flooding. The release
permits grazing only in counties designated as primary and contiguous disaster
areas and only because of flooding. "We have a crisis situation in the Midwest
and other parts of the country that calls for drastic action," said Schafer.
"Major flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries came at one of
the worst times for agriculture. Flood waters inundated thousands of acres that
cannot be salvaged for production this growing season, and it happened at a time
of record crop, food and fuel prices. Our CRP land is vital to the balance we
promote at USDA between production and preservation. I commit this resource
knowing that we must redouble our conservation effort at every future
opportunity," said Schafer.
<more> July 7, 2008 USDA Press Release
Galgiani named Assembly Ag Committee Chair - -
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has named Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani,
(D-Stockton), as the next chair of the Agriculture Committee. She will replace
termed-out Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, assuring that the ag committee
remains in moderate hands. Galgiani and Parra are among the most
business-friendly Democrats in the Assembly. Both hail from the Central Valley.
Galgiani is a current member of the agriculture committee. July 7, 2008
Sacramento Bee
New Mexico: A ban on cockfighting, but the tradition
lives on - - After two weeks of preparation, 150 officers, backed up by a
helicopter, slipped into this sleepy desert town. Their focus was not illegal
immigration or drug smuggling, but a less pressing crime: cockfighting. But when
they raided what was billed as the Christmas Cockfighting Derby in December
expecting to find 300 cockfighters, they found fewer than a dozen people. The
cockfighters had been tipped off, the police said, and the officers issued
tickets for four misdemeanors before seizing 12 shrieking roosters. Last year,
New Mexico became the 49th state to make cockfighting illegal. (Louisiana will
become the last state when a ban there takes effect in August.) The state has
devoted vast resources to ending the sport, but with only one misdemeanor
conviction thus far, it continues unabated in hidden venues, cockfighters and
law enforcement officials say.
<more> July 7, 2008 NY Times
Plant-based fuels push food costs higher
--Biofuels have pushed global food prices up by 75 percent -- far more than
recent U.S. government estimates -- according to a confidential World Bank
report published Friday in a British newspaper. The assessment is based on a
detailed analysis by Don Mitchell, an economist at the Washington-based
financial body, the London Guardian reported. The U.S. government has
estimated that plant-derived fuels have contributed less than 3 percent to
food-price increases, the newspaper said. The Guardian reported that senior
development sources believed the April report had not been published to avoid
embarrassing
President Bush. "It would put the
World Bank in
a political hot-spot with the White House," one source said. Bush has
attributed rising food prices to growing demand in India and China, but the
World Bank study said: "Rapid income growth in developing countries has not
led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor
responsible for the large price increases." The report is expected to add to
pressure on Washington and European governments, which have turned to biofuels
to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce their dependence on
imported oil. July 7, 2008 London Guardian
Dan Walters: Dems want to roll back
Schwarzenegger's changes in workers' comp - - A new report on
California's highly contentious system of compensating workers for
job-related illnesses and injuries proves that the systemic overhaul pushed
through the Legislature by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 continues to
save employers many billions of dollars each year. The latest annual report
by the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau says that in 2007,
California employers paid $13.2 billion in premiums for workers' comp
insurance, $10 billion less than they were paying three years earlier. And
that doesn't count the lower costs of large employers who self-insure for
workers' comp, about another $5 billion less. The $15 billion a year in
savings pleases employers immensely and explains in large measure why
business continues to support Schwarzenegger politically, even if cultural
conservatives are turned off by his relatively liberal attitudes on
lifestyle issues.
<more> July 7, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting
- - The
California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July
14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To
learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355.
Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
DuPont Animal Health
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Pitman Farms
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Thursday, July 3, 2008
BioBased Systems Newest CPF member - -
BioBased Systems is the newest member of the California Poultry Federation.
Based in Rogers, Arkansas, BioBased is an award-winning manufacturer and
marketer of soybean oil-based urethane insulation products. It manufactures
spray foam sealant for the poultry industry. Josh Hutchinson, agricultural
foam division manager, can be reached at 479-636-8585 or
jhutchinson@biobased.net July 2, 2008
LA Times editorial: Stop requiring ethanol production -
- You may be justifiably fuming about gasoline prices, but have you checked
your grocery bills lately? Last week, corn briefly hit a record high -- and
given its importance as a livestock feed, sweetener and packaged-food
ingredient, that's putting upward pressure on prices for a wide range of
comestibles. As a result, Congress is rethinking one of its more
shortsighted energy policies. Successive energy bills have imposed
ever-increasing mandates for blending ethanol (which in the United States is
made mostly from corn) with motor fuels. Apparently, no one explained to
Congress the basic economic reality that when you dramatically increase the
demand for an agricultural product whose supply is limited by the amount of
acreage available for farming, prices will rise. Ethanol mandates are far
from the only cause of the run-up in corn prices, but there's little
question that they play a role.
<more>
Soybeans hit record for 2nd day on yield worries - -
Soybeans surged to a record for a second straight day Wednesday on concerns
that flood-battered Midwest crops may produce lower yields and strain
supplies at a time of booming world demand. U.S. farmers plan to harvest
96.8 percent of this year's 74.5 million acre soybean crop, down from an
estimate of 98.7 percent that was calculated before severe floods struck the
Midwest last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its annual
acreage survey released Monday. Nationwide, farmers said only 70 percent of
the intended soybean crop had been planted at the time of the U.S.D.A.
survey interview, the lowest level in 12 years. "Soybean yield prospects are
just as uncertain as corn's. The crops are seeing really late development"
after the flooding, said Elaine Kub, analyst with DTN in Omaha.
<more>
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting
- - The
California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July
14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To
learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355.
Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
DuPont Animal Health
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Pitman Farms
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Animal welfare initiative will be Prop. 2 on
November ballot - -The Secretary of State’s office assigned proposition
numbers for the November election and the Farm Animal Initiative of 2008 was
formally designated as Proposition 2. Californians for SAFE Food said
passing Prop.2 would place “new extreme mandates on how egg-laying hens are
housed, banning almost all modern egg production in California.”
Californians for Safe Food has launched a website
www.safecaliforniafood.org to provide resource materials for those
opposed to the measure. “Proposition 2 is an unnecessary measure that has
dangerous and costly consequences for California. This initiative would
jeopardize food safety and public health, effectively eliminate local,
California-grown eggs, lead to consumer reliance on eggs shipped from other
states and Mexico, and drive up grocery and restaurant prices,” says the
group. July 2, 2008 Californians For SAFE Food Newsletter
BioBased Systems Newest CPF member - -
BioBased Systems is the newest member of the California Poultry Federation.
Based in Rogers, Arkansas, BioBased is an award-winning manufacturer and
marketer of soybean oil-based urethane insulation products. It manufactures
spray foam sealant for the poultry industry. Josh Hutchinson, agricultural
foam division manager, can be reached at 479-636-8585 or
jhutchinson@biobased.net July 2, 2008
Wholesale egg prices take surprising jump - -
After falling more than a third from March's record highs, wholesale egg
prices have shot up 27 percent since mid-May. That's an unusual jump for
this time of year, when egg prices tend to slump. Economists tie the
increase to ever-higher corn prices, which have made egg farmers hesitant to
expand their flocks. In addition, a sizable export shipment of eggs last
month, sent to Japan and Iraq, apparently tightened domestic supplies,
driving prices up, according to Don Bell, an expert in egg and poultry
economics at the University of California, Riverside.
<more> July 2, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Coalition Letter Urges President To Suspend
Immediately the Import Tariff on Ethanol - - Agricultural and food
industry companies and organizations concerned about the skyrocketing price
of corn sent a letter to President Bush today urging him to exercise
emergency authority and immediately suspend the duties and quotas on
imported ethanol used as a motor fuel additive. The signatories,
representing 35 groups, pointed out that the combination of the federal
mandate requiring the use of ethanol in motor gasoline and a steep tariff
designed to keep out foreign ethanol has sharply increased the pressure on
domestic corn stocks and has greatly contributed to the tripling of corn
prices and food price increases in the U.S. “The suspension of the 54-cent
per gallon duty on ethanol will benefit Americans by introducing market
competition for a product that is mandated and foster downward pressure for
domestic ethanol and its feedstock,” primarily corn, the letter said.
“Domestic dairy, livestock and poultry farmers, food and beverage
manufacturers, employees in these industries and American food consumers
will benefit from this action,” the letter notes. Suspension of the tariff
will help producers, processors and consumers who are being directly and
immediately impacted by rising feed and food prices due to the government
mandate to convert nearly 30 percent of the domestic corn crop into fuel,
the letter said. The President can immediately suspend the tariff using the
authorities provided by the Constitution, the National Emergencies Act,
Tariff Act of 1930, Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act, the letter added. Signing the letter were
American Meat Institute, American Bakers Association, American Beverage
Association, Butterball, LLC, Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., Capitol Land &
Livestock, Citizens Against Government Waste, The Coca-Cola Company, Darden
Restaurants, Inc., Dean Foods Company, Georgia Poultry Federation, Grocery
Manufacturers Association, Indiana State Poultry Association, International
Food Distributors Association, Iowa Turkey Federation, Minnesota Turkey
Growers Association, Mountaire Corporation, National Cattlemen’s Beef
Association, National Chicken Council, National Council of Chain
Restaurants, National Milk Producers Federation, National Pork Producers
Council, National Restaurant Association, National Taxpayers Union, National
Turkey Federation, North Carolina Poultry Federation, PepsiCo, Inc.,
Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, Smithfield Foods, Inc., The Snack Food
Association, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Tyson Foods, United Egg Producers,
United Egg Association and Virginia Poultry Federation. July 2, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Foster Farms decides not to pursue Colorado expansion
- - In a press release issued today, family-owned Foster Farms announced that
the company would not pursue expansion in northeastern Colorado. The decision
follows several months of extensive in-market evaluation. The company cited the
volatile state of the commodities market and a higher-than-anticipated cost
structure in
Colorado as
significant challenges for the foreseeable future. "I had the privilege of
personally meeting with community officials, business leaders and farmers
throughout Weld, Logan and Morgan counties," said Foster Farms President Don
Jackson. "I can tell you that we were all hopeful to see this initiative
succeed. I am especially grateful to the following organizations and individuals
for contributing their time and involvement: Logan County Economic Development
Corporation, Executive Director Rich O'Connell; Morgan County Economic
Development, Executive Director Kari Linker; Colorado Office of Economic
Development and International Trade, Development Representative Darlene Scott
and Director Don Elliman; Upstate Colorado Economic Development, President, CEO
Larry Burkhardt." Jackson further stated, "In these difficult conditions
with costs escalating primarily due to grain and fuel prices and chicken prices
lagging it does not make economic sense to go forward with expansion at this
time. We found Northeastern Colorado to be an attractive environment for a
chicken production unit. Farmers were very interested in diversifying their
operations with contract chicken production. Logan and Morgan Counties were keen
on continued economic growth and these are strong family oriented communities
consistent with our own company values. People want natural, fresh, locally
grown chicken and with ready access to the market along the front range we would
have been perfectly situated to provide it." July 1, 2008 Foster Farms Press
Release
Corn extends decline; soybeans hit another record
- - Corn prices fell for the second straight session Tuesday on relief over
news that farmers planted more corn this year than traders expected.
Soybeans, however, reached another record high. Monday's crop report from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that while corn acreage was higher
than anticipated, the number of acres planted with soybeans was smaller.
Corn for December delivery fell 7.75 cents to $7.4925 a bushel on the
Chicago Board of Trade. On Monday, the contract fell sharply after reaching
a record in Friday's trading of $7.96 a bushel.
Soybeans for November
delivery rose 20 cents to $15.94 a bushel, after hitting a new record of $16
a bushel in earlier trading. Wheat prices also climbed on the CBOT. The
September wheat contract rose 9.25 cents to $8.68 a bushel.
<more> July 1, 2008 AP
Weather Risks Cloud Promise of Biofuel - - The record
storms and floods that swept through the Midwest last month struck at the heart
of America’s corn region, drowning fields and dashing hopes of a bumper crop.
They also brought into sharp relief a new economic hazard. As America grows more
reliant on corn for its fuel supply, it is becoming vulnerable to the many
hazards that can damage crops, ranging from droughts to plagues to storms. The
floods have helped send the price of ethanol up 19 percent in a month. They
appear to have had little effect on the price of gasoline at the pump, as
ethanol represents only about 6 percent of the nation’s transport fuel today.
But that share is expected to rise to at least 20 percent in coming decades.
Experts fear that a future crop failure could take so much fuel out of the
market that it would send prices soaring at the pump. Eventually, the cost of
filling Americans’ gas tanks could be influenced as much by hail in Iowa as by
the bombing of an oil pipeline in Nigeria.
<more> July 1, 2008 NY Times
Biodiesel company pulls out of Sanger - - A
startup company has pulled out of plans to build a $1.5 million biodiesel
plant in Sanger. Valley Biodiesel Inc. won't build its biofuel test plant in
Sanger because of delays in getting permits and increasing construction
costs, Walt Bacharowski, company president, said Monday. Bacharowski
intended to open a 1.2 million gallon-per-year test plant that would convert
used restaurant grease and other vegetable and animal fats into biodiesel.
July 1, 2008 Fresno Bee
Who can afford corn? Almost no one, economist
says - - Inexpensive and abundant corn helped move the ethanol industry
onto the alternative fuels fast lane. With corn prices now at record highs,
demand outpacing supply and crop losses inevitable with the Midwest floods,
ethanol production could soon be stalled, a Purdue University Extension
agricultural economist said. As corn prices continue climbing, fewer ethanol
producers can afford the feedstock, said Chris Hurt. In turn, domestic
livestock producers and foreign buyers are finding it more difficult either
to pay the high prices or obtain the grain they need, he said. "The ethanol
industry is struggling to pay for corn that has reached the $7/bu. level,"
Hurt said.
<more> July 1, 2008 cornandsoybeandigest.com
Hong Kong places curbs on market poultry - -
Government officials in Hong Kong, in an effort to stem to spread of the
H5N1 avian influenza virus, recently followed through with their proposal to
ban live poultry from overnight stays in market stalls and retail outlets.
The revised food commerce law stipulates that live poultry sellers must cull
any live birds that remain in stalls or shops by 8 pm every day and that
live poultry are banned from the premises until 5 am the next day, according
to a government press release. The ban goes into effect Jul 2. "By banning
live poultry stocking at retail outlets overnight, the chickens will be
culled to avoid virus accumulation in the retail outlet environment, better
protecting public health," the government said in the press release.
<more> June 30, 2008 CIDRAP News
Hang up and drive. No more holding a cell phone
to your ear while on the road -- You've probably seen the warning on
electronic freeway signs: IT'S THE LAW. Starting today, drivers in
California no longer may use one hand to converse on a cell phone while
steering with the other. But it's a lot more complicated than that. Here's
what you need to know:
<more> July 1, 2008 Fresno Bee
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting
- - The
California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July
14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To
learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355.
Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
DuPont Animal Health
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Pitman Farms
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Monday, June 30, 2008
USDA reports flooding cuts corn acres - -
Farmers will harvest nearly 9 percent fewer acres of corn this year than last
year, in part because of Midwest flooding which has damaged a portion of the
crop, the government reported Monday. The result likely will be continued high
corn prices, which likely will drive up some food prices. The USDA said
farmers expect to harvest 78.9 million acres of corn, down 8.7 percent from
the 86.5 million harvested last year. The report indicates farmers planted
nearly 7 percent fewer acres of corn than last year. Farmers planted 87.3
million acres of corn this year, down from last year's 93.6 million acres.
<more> June 30, 2008 AP
May poultry production unchanged from last year -
- The USDA states that the amount of poultry certified wholesome at a ready to
cook rate during May was 3.740 billion pounds, compared to April's 3.772 billion
and the May 2007 total of 3.740 billion pounds. May's production brings the year
to date total to 18.326 billion pounds, 6% more than January to May 2007.
Chickens accounted for the bulk of the total at 3.210 billion pounds, followed
by turkeys at 520.745 million and ducks at 9.153 million pounds. The total live
weight for all poultry was placed at 5.011 billion pounds, compared to 5.060
billion in April and the May 2007 figure of 5.055 billion pounds. For January to
May 2008, the total is 24.630 billion pounds, 5% larger than the same period of
time last year. Chickens made up most of the total at 4.346 billion pounds, with
turkeys accounting for 652.255 million and ducks making up 12.667 million
pounds.
<more> June 30, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Tyson Foods buys majority ownership of poultry
processing business in India - - Meat producer Tyson Foods Inc. said
Monday it bought majority ownership of a poultry processing business in India.
Tyson said it acquired 51 percent ownership of Godrej Foods Ltd., based on
Mumbai. Godrej Foods is a subsidiary of agribusiness company Godrej Agrovet
Ltd. and makes products under the "Real Good Chicken" brand name. The company
also has a line of frozen vegetables under the Yummiez brand. The financial
terms of the deal were not disclosed.
<more> June 30, 2008 AP
Mexico Ag Ministry Bans Poultry Imports From
Arkansas - - Mexico will block poultry imports from Arkansas until
further notice, following an outbreak of avian influenza there earlier this
month, the Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday. "This precautionary measure is
being put into effect to avoid the risk of introduction of the agent into
national territory," the ministry said in an “urgent" letter to Mexico's
federal meat inspection agency. The strain, which U.S. officials have said is
"very low risk" and poses little threat to humans or livestock, was detected
at the beginning of June in a flock of 15,000 chickens owned by Tyson Foods
Inc.
<more> June 30, 2008 Dow Jones
International Poultry Council gains recognition
from OIE - - The International Poultry Council (IPC) has been recognized
by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as the official organization
representing the world’s poultry meat producers. In a ceremony during the
OIE’s recent 76th General Session in Paris, IPC First Vice President Tage
Lysgaard of Denmark and OIE Director General Bernard Vallat signed a
Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation that, in effect, recognizes the
IPC as a legitimate international organization in the eyes of the OIE. Under
the memorandum, the OIE will look to the IPC for input when developing on
global animal health issues.
<more> June 30, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting
- - The
California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July
14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To
learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355.
Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
DuPont Animal Health
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Pitman Farms
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Friday, June 27, 2008
Groups Urge USDA to Act Promptly to Permit Early Releases from
CRP - - With tight crop supplies and increasing demand for
grains and oilseeds, the Alliance for Agricultural Growth and
Competitiveness (AAGC) urged USDA Secretary Edward T. Schafer to act quickly
to grant penalty-free early releases from the Conservation Reserve Program
(CRP) for non-environmentally sensitive crop land. The request follows
reports of crop loss and decreased yields due to flooding in the Midwest.
The devastating floods have eroded the outlook for grain and oilseed stocks
and prices in this crop year and beyond. Failing to permit
penalty-free early release will place even greater economic pressure on
major sectors of U.S. agriculture that are heavily and traditionally
dependent upon competitive supplies of grains and oilseeds, especially
livestock, poultry, and dairy producers. The case for penalty-free early
release is made even stronger given the ever-greater demand for grains and
oilseeds from world export markets and renewable fuel production. Those were
among the core messages conveyed in a letter delivered to the Secretary on
June 25 and signed by over 130 organizations. AAGC is an organization of
national and state organizations representing a broad cross-section of meat,
livestock and poultry production; agricultural input; and grain marketing,
handling, processing and exporting interests.
<more>
Sanderson Farms Announces Donning and Doffing Settlement
-- Sanderson Farms, announced today that the Federal District Court for the
Eastern District of Louisiana has approved a settlement agreement reached
between certain hourly employees of the Company's three operating
subsidiaries, as plaintiffs, and the subsidiaries, as defendants, in
so-called donning and doffing litigation. The litigation was brought in
various federal district courts in Louisiana and Mississippi by various
current and former employees of the Company's subsidiary corporations. These
employees, who spent uncompensated time walking to and from their
workstations and donning and doffing protective gear, had brought litigation
on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated. The plaintiffs
claimed in this litigation, styled Annie Collins v. Sanderson Farms, Inc.
(Production Division) and Sanderson Farms, Inc. (Processing Division), that
they were entitled to compensation for this time. The Company will pay
approximately $2.6 million to settle the claims of 8,337 current and former
employees, and will obtain dismissal of all pending litigation.
<more>
Butterball cuts jobs in Longmont - - Butterball LLC, a
Raleigh, N.C.-based turkey producer, is laying off 210 employees at its
Longmont processing facility and grow-out operations - contractors and
farmers who raise the turkeys - due to the increased cost of feed.
Company officials did not immediately provide a breakdown of the number of
jobs cuts for the facility in Longmont and grow-out operations. The company
had 920 employees in Longmont, according to the most recent data researched
by the Boulder County Business Report.
<more>
Dan Walters: State risks its economy on global warming fight
- - On Thursday, the administration unveiled a "scoping plan" that
outlines how the state would cut greenhouse gases 10 percent from current
levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. It will be followed by more detailed
and more contentious rules. Are Californians ready to become the point
of the global-warming spear, shouldering the financial costs and potential
inconveniences that will be involved and, in effect, exchanging the
expansive California lifestyle for something different?
House Passes Legislation Requiring CFTC to Curb Oil Market
Speculation - - The House of Representatives has passed a bill
requiring the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to utilize all its
authority, including emergency powers, to take steps to curb excessive
speculation in the energy futures markets. H.R. 6377, the Energy
Markets Emergency Act passed the House overwhelmingly by a bipartisan vote
of 402-19. "A growing number of people believe a flood of speculative money
into energy futures is driving the record prices in crude oil," said House
Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota during floor
debate on the bill. "CFTC must take immediate steps to ensure that index and
hedge fund money is not the cause for price manipulation and should take any
necessary action to curb excessive speculation in the markets. These
steps will help restore consumer confidence and reassure the American
taxpayer that the futures markets are functioning properly."
Urban Farming: Back to the land in your tiny backyard -
- Each morning when Colin Phipps' two young sons get up, they run outside to
the chicken coop to gather eggs for breakfast. Next year, the family is
planning on expanding their farm by adding a little pig or a hutch of
rabbits. Just another day in rural California? Not exactly. Phipps lives in
a row house in Bernal Heights — one of the city's many high-density,
single-family neighborhoods. The houses here tend to be more like cottages,
the backyards downright postage stamp-sized. Yet Phipps is not alone. With
the rising influence of foodie culture and back-to-the-land enthusiasm,
urban agriculture has a growing contingent of supporters not only in the
more spacious 'burbs of the Bay Area but in the city proper.
<more>
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting - - The
California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July
14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To
learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355.
Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
DuPont Animal Health
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Corn, soybeans hit records on more Midwest rain - - Corn
and soybean prices soared Thursday, climbing to new all-time highs after
more thunderstorms drenched Midwestern states and left recently replanted
crops underwater again. A big rally in crude oil also pushed corn and
soybeans higher. OPEC's president said oil could surpass $150 a barrel later
this year, sending prices up nearly $4. Crude's rise boosted other
commodities, with gold, silver and copper trading sharply higher. Corn for
December delivery shot up to an all-time high of $7.95 a bushel on the
Chicago Board of Trade before pulling back slightly to $7.90, up 25 cents.
It was corn's ninth trading record in the last three weeks. Soybeans for
November delivery surged to a new record of $15.69 a bushel on the CBOT
before easing back to $15.625, up 37.5 cents. Wheat prices also jumped, with
the September contract gaining 36.75 cents to $9.57 a bushel on the CBOT.
<more>
Pacific Ethanol stock hits all-time low with
flooding - - Sacramento-based Pacific Ethanol Inc. has seen its
stock driven to record lows this week, as flooding in the Midwest has pushed
up already-high prices for the corn the company turns into fuel. Shares of
Pacific Ethanol closed at $1.95 Wednesday on the Nasdaq exchange, down 95%
from their mid-2006 high of $42. Shares had dropped to $1.85 on Tuesday, the
first time the stock has dropped below $2 since the company went public in
2005. With floods in Iowa likely to cut the state's corn crop this fall by
up to 10%, according to government estimates, prices for corn for delivery
next spring reached record highs of more than $8 per bushel on the Chicago
Board of Trade last week.
<more>
New state rules to curb emissions call for a 30 percent cut by
2020 - - California's next great experiment starts today. The state
Air Resources Board will outline this morning a plan to slash greenhouse gas
emissions 30 percent by 2020 and prepare the state for much deeper cuts in
the years beyond. The bottom line for consumers, according to the agency's
analysis: Electricity and fuel prices will rise. But improvements in
efficiency should, on average, result in a net savings on household fuel and
energy bills will drop. "It's a plan that we believe will make our state
more efficient in ways that will also help us grow," said Mary Nichols,
chairman of the Air Resources Board.
Cost of grain forces Wayne Farms to trim poultry production
- - Wayne Farms LLC, a Hall County-based poultry producer, said it
will cut poultry production by another 6 percent because of the rising cost
of grain. Wayne Farms cut production 2 percent in April. It's the
fifth-largest U.S. poultry producer that raises, processes and sells
chicken. Higher grain prices have affected poultry producers because grain
is used to make chicken feed, a major expense for raising chickens. "Soaring
feed ingredient costs aggravated by the government's food-for-fuel mandate
has created the need for us to rationalize our business," said Wayne Farms
President and CEO Elton Maddox in a press statement. "These mandates
continue to add billions of dollars of cost to our industry as well as
increasing food costs to consumers around the world."
<more>
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting - - The California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July 14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355. Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cryovac/Sealed Air Corporation
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Lohmann Animal Health
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Petaluma Poultry Processors
Preserve International
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Walco International
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tyson Foods settles a suit over drugs in
chickens. Maryland's Perdue, others sued over ads - - Tyson Foods Inc.
has settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by two competitors,
including Maryland's Perdue Farms, alleging that the Arkansas company used
deceptive marketing to lie about its antibiotics use in poultry. But now the
company faces lawsuits from consumers. Four cases claiming to represent
thousands of people have been filed this month in federal courts across the
country, including two in Baltimore since Friday. Each seeks class action
status, and each alleges that Tyson violated state consumer protection acts.
They accuse the company of falsely claiming that its chickens are free of
certain antibiotics. Drugging the animals that people eat has become a
hot-button issue for health professionals concerned that it may lead to the
development of medication-resistant bacteria.
<more> June 25, 2008 Baltimore Sun
Corn, soybean prices decline on improved crops
- - Corn and soybean prices fell sharply Tuesday as investors cashed in
profits from recent rallies and the government said crops were beginning to
bounce back after devastating Midwest flooding. Excess moisture has slowed
corn development in the Midwest, but a return to warm, dry weather in the
region has helped crops in some states, the Department of Agriculture said
Tuesday. About 59 percent of the corn crop is in good to excellent
condition, up from 57 percent last week, the USDA said. About 57 percent of
soybean crops are in good to excellent condition, up slightly from last
week. "The corn crop is taller, it has better color and the weather has
been ideal, so you're not seeing new buyers in the market," said Jason Ward,
analyst with Northstar Commodity in Minneapolis. Corn for December delivery
fell 11.25 cents to $7.48 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after
earlier dipping as low as $7.44. The contract hit an all-time trading high
of $7.915 a bushel on June 16.
<more> June 25, 2008 AP
Bill Moyers’ Journal will examine poultry
workplace safety Friday - - Bill Moyers’ Journal on PBS Friday will
examine the subject of workplace safety at poultry plants, according to a
press release issued by PBS. The release states: “Injury rates reported at
America's poultry plants have dropped dramatically in recent years, and so
have workplace safety inspections. Are regulators rewarding companies for
inaccurate reporting of injuries? Bill Moyers Journal and Expose America's
Investigative Reports go inside America's poultry industry, which employs
almost a quarter of a million workers nationwide, to show the reality of
working conditions and to investigate how official statistics showing a drop
in workplace injuries may have been the result of deceptive reporting. “PBS
Airtime: Friday, June 27, 2008, at 9:00 p.m. EDT on PBS (check local
listings at
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html. June 25,
2008 PBS Press Release
AVMA testifies on antimicrobial resistance before
Senate Committee -- The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)
testified today before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions, addressing the preventative use of antimicrobials in food
animals and reiterating the necessity of antibiotic use in livestock for
ensuring food safety. Dr. Lyle P. Vogel, AVMA's assistant executive vice
president, testified at the hearing, which focused on the emergence of
antimicrobial-resistant "superbugs" in humans. Mollifying concerns that use
of antimicrobials – such as penicillin and tetracycline -- in food animals
leads to human resistance of the drugs, Vogel made clear that protecting
human health is paramount to America's veterinarians.
<more> June 24, 2008 AVMA Press Release
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tyson battling ad-claim lawsuits - - Tyson Foods
Inc. faces mounting legal challenges to its “raised without antibiotics” chicken
campaign, which it suspended earlier this month under pressure from regulators
and competitors. Several consumer suits have been filed against Tyson since
Richard Bennett, a federal judge in Baltimore, ordered the Springdale company to
remove no-antibiotics claims from advertisements in April. Mary Wilson, a
resident of Ward in Lonoke County, sued Tyson on Wednesday in the U. S. District
Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division, in Little Rock.
Mary Wilson, a resident of Ward in Lonoke County, sued Tyson on Wednesday in the
U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division, in
Little Rock. “Purchasers of such falsely advertised chicken products deserve
their money back,” Wilson’s complaint reads. In a separate action, consumers
from Illinois, Missouri, Texas and California joined to sue Tyson on Friday in
the U. S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore. Another suit
was filed against Tyson the same day in New Jersey, court records show. In June
2007, Tyson said it would produce all of its fresh chicken from birds “raised
without antibiotics.” The product launch roughly coincided with a nationwide, $
70 million advertising campaign. Bennett, who has said he was “satisfied that
the consumer public is being misled” by the campaign, was assigned the consumer
suit filed in Baltimore. Judge Brian Miller will hear the case in Little Rock.
All of the consumer suits seek class status, possibly to represent “hundreds of
thousands” of consumers across the nation, according to the Baltimore suit. None
has been granted that status. In general, the plaintiffs say, Tyson fraudulently
advertised and labeled its fresh chicken, and was unjustly enriched at the
expense of consumers. Chicken labeled as “raised without antibiotics” was sold
for a premium at market. Tyson Foods declined to comment Monday on the suits,
but management has said the company acted responsibly in labeling its chicken
products as “raised without antibiotics.” June 24, 2008 Arkansas Democrat
Gazette
Food Producers, Environmentalists and Consumer
Advocates Echo Perry’s call to Revisit U.S. Biofuel Mandates -- Today,
leaders from several food industry associations shared a stage with Governor
Rick Perry (R-TX) to call on the Environmental Protection Agency to approve his
Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) waiver request. Governor Perry addressed an
audience of food producers, environmentalists and consumer advocates at the
National Press Club who joined together to express their support for revisions
to current policies that promote the conversion of food into fuel. Gov. Perry
used the occasion to reiterate his appeal to the EPA to reduce this year’s RFS
in light of skyrocketing corn prices which have proved damaging to Texas’s
enormous livestock and poultry industry. Bill Roenigk, senior vice president and
chief economist of the National Chicken Council, which represents chicken
production and processing companies, participated in the governor’s press
conference. "The Renewable Fuel Standard has distorted the market and has
imposed severe economic harm on companies in our industry through dramatically
higher input costs and is imposing harm on the general public in the form of
higher prices for food products," said Roenigk. "We urge the EPA to grant the
waiver requested by Governor Perry." With corn prices skyrocketing to their
highest levels yet, recently hitting $8 per bushel, the increase in livestock
and poultry feed is putting an immense amount of financial pressure on both
producers and consumers. Ranchers, poultry growers, restaurateurs and bakers are
among those in the food industry who have spoken out strongly in support of the
waiver. "The turkey industry is committed to providing wholesome, high quality
and nutritious turkey products at an affordable price to the consuming public,”
added Joel Brandenberger, president of the National Turkey Federation. “However,
with the current ethanol mandate diverting one-third of U.S. corn to gas tanks,
feed prices have shot higher and higher, making it difficult for the industry to
keep high-quality foods reasonably priced. The National Turkey Federation
appreciates Texas Governor Perry's leadership on this issue and urges the EPA to
approve his petition and waive the mandate. With recent flooding in the
Midwest, we need to do whatever we can to bring down feed and food prices that
are within our control.” June 24, 2008 NTF and NCC Press Releases
Obama Camp Closely Linked With Ethanol - -
When VeraSun Energy inaugurated a new ethanol processing plant last summer
in Charles City, Iowa, some of that industry’s most prominent boosters
showed up. Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association and the
Renewable Fuels Association, for instance, came to help cut the ribbon — and
so did Senator Barack Obama. Then running far behind Senator Hillary Rodham
Clinton in name recognition and in the polls, Mr. Obama was in the midst of
a campaign swing through the state where he would eventually register his
first caucus victory. And as befits a senator from Illinois, the country’s
second largest corn-producing state, he delivered a ringing endorsement of
ethanol as an alternative fuel. Mr. Obama is running as a reformer who is
seeking to reduce the influence of special interests. But like any other
politician, he has powerful constituencies that help shape his views. And
when it comes to domestic ethanol, almost all of which is made from corn, he
also has advisers and prominent supporters with close ties to the industry
at a time when energy policy is a point of sharp contrast between the
parties and their presidential candidates.
<more> June 24, 2008 NY Times
EU upset at Russian ban on 70 European meat exporters
- - Russia, which recently lifted a ban on Polish meat, is now barring
chicken and pork imports from 70 European companies, EU officials said Tuesday,
ahead of an EU-Russia summit. The problems emerged in April, according to
European Commission officials, when Moscow began refusing certain imports
because they contained traces of antibiotics. Now 70 companies, from seven EU
nations -- Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain -- have
been placed on the Russia embargo list, representing restrictions on produce
worth "certainly more" than 100 million euros (156 million dollars) one official
explained.
<more>
June 24, 2008 Today Online.com
Monday, June 23, 2008
Experts: Bird flu may worsen global food crisis
- - The worst of the bird flu threat is over but the fight to eliminate
the disease from poultry is weak — a situation that could worsen the global
food crisis, health experts warned on Friday. "The peak is over, but we
still are dealing with many outbreaks, small outbreaks," Juan Lubroth, a
senior official with the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization,
said at an international medical conference. "It's like a boiling pot, and
we need to keep the lid on that before it gets worse," Lubroth said at the
13th International Congress on Infectious Diseases, held in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. Bird flu is still active in 10 countries, down from 60 that have
been affected since 2003. Hot spots include China, Egypt, Indonesia,
Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam.
<more> June 22, 2008 AP
Economists Argue Ethanol Mandates Costly to the
U.S. Economy - - Two studies released today show that federal ethanol
mandates have placed significant pressure on food prices, while any effect
on gasoline prices has been “almost too small to measure.” Dr. Thomas Elam
of FarmEcon LLC, and Keith Collins, former chief economist of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, submitted their new analyses to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). Today is the end of EPA’s public comment period on
a request from Texas Gov. Rick Perry to partially suspend the Renewable
Fuels Standard (RFS) in light of serious economic harm caused by the current
policy. “The 2008/2009 increase in fuel production made possible by the RFS
is almost too small to measure against the global energy market, but the
effects on food prices and security are huge,” Elam notes. “The U.S.
government should re-examine and reduce the RFS in light of the damage it
can do to our food production capacity and the overall welfare of the
country.” Elam’s study concludes that ethanol actually has had little
effect on gas prices – only about 4 cents per gallon
<more>
. June 23, 2008 NTF Press Release
Turkey Industry Experiencing Real Economic Damage
from Ethanol Mandate - - The National Turkey Federation (NTF) today called
on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant the Texas Gov. Rick
Perry’s petition for a reduction in the federal ethanol mandate and further
called on EPA to consider taking stronger action than that requested by
Perry. “For an industry that operates on extremely tight margins and
production costs so closely related to feed costs, even the slightest
increase in feed cost can have a huge impact,” NTF President Joel
Brandenberger wrote in comments submitted to EPA in support of the Texas
petition, “A sustained increase in these costs ultimately will result in
consumers paying even higher prices for all poultry and meat products.”
Perry’s petition seeks a 50-percent reduction in the Renewable Fuels
Standard (RFS), which mandates the amount of corn-based ethanol that must be
blended into gasoline. NTF said cutting the RFS in half is critical because
the standard is increasing food production costs and, ultimately, consumer
food prices. Feed accounts for nearly 70 percent of the cost of raising live
turkeys. The typical turkey ration is a combination of corn and soybean
meal. Corn alone accounts for almost 70 percent of the turkey ration. The
increase in price for both corn and soybeans has cost the turkey industry
almost $1 billion since November 2006. Corn prices have more than doubled
since 2006 to a 10-year high of more than $7 per bushel, significantly
increasing turkey production costs, NTF stated in the EPA comments. In
April 2006, the turkey industry was paying $2.75 per bushel of corn. Within
24 months, the industry was contracting for corn at more than $6 per
bushel. Since December 2007, the turkey industry’s monthly costs in feed
expenses have increased by more than $40 million. June 23, 2008 NTF Press
Release
Friday, June 20, 2008
Tyson sues USDA over antibiotic-free labeling
- - In a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Washington
D.C., Tyson called itself a "victim" of a flawed regulatory process that
misinterprets the meaning of the word "raised" and haphazardly applies its
standard among different companies. Tyson, the second-largest U.S. chicken
producer, earlier this month said it was voluntarily withdrawing its labels
for chicken raised without antibiotics due to what it called at the time
"uncertainty and controversy over product labeling regulations."
<more> June 16, 2008 Reuters
S.C. poultry plant investigation: 5 supervisors arrested
- - Federal agents on Wednesday arrested a fifth supervisor at a House of
Raeford Farms poultry plant in Greenville as part of an ongoing
investigation into alleged immigration violations. On Tuesday, immigration
officials arrested four other supervisors after finding what appeared to be
false information on employment records kept at the company’s Greenville
chicken processing plant, according to Kevin McDonald, first assistant U.S.
attorney for South Carolina. House of Raeford owns the Columbia Farms plant
in West Columbia. “It’s an ongoing investigation — one that (Immigration and
Customs Enforcement) and our office have been working on for a number of
months,” McDonald said.
<more> June 20, 2008 McClatchy Newspapers
Corn futures fall for 2nd day on improved weather
- - Corn prices fell for a second day Friday as more dry weather in the
Midwest raised hopes that cornfields might recover from massive flooding and
produce a sizable U.S. crop. Warm, dry weather persisted in much of the
Midwest for a second day Friday, giving farmers a much-needed respite from
weeks of excess rainfall that sparked the worst flooding in the region since
1993.
Congress again overrides Bush’s veto of farm bill - - In
an unusual case of farm bill déjà vu, Congress voted yesterday to override
President Bush’s second veto of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act. The
U.S. House of Representatives voted to override the veto by 317-109.
“Today's vote will ensure that all parts of the Food, Conservation and
Energy Act are enacted into law,” Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin
Peterson said. “Particularly considering the serious concerns about rising
food prices and severe flooding affecting crops in the Midwest, this farm
bill provides a critical safety net for families and farmers.” The Senate
voted 80 to 14 to override the president’s veto. Senator Tom Harkin,
chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry,
said the veto override, “completes action on the new farm bill, enacting the
full bill, including provisions on foreign food assistance and agricultural
trade.
<more>
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting - - The California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July 14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355. Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Hubbard, LLC
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Friday, June 13, 2008
NCC Sees “Severe Harm” From Ethanol Mandate, Supports Nationwide
Waiver Requested by Texas -- The federal government’s program
of requiring – and subsidizing – the use of corn for ethanol to be added to
gasoline is imposing “severe harm” on the broiler chicken industry and
should be scaled back, the National Chicken Council said in comments filed
today with the Environmental Protection Agency. “The Renewable Fuel
Standard (RFS) has distorted the market and has imposed severe economic harm
on companies in our industry through dramatically higher input costs and is
imposing harm on the general public in the form of higher prices, present or
impending, for food products,” wrote NCC President George Watts. He said
that NCC supports a petition filed by Texas Governor Rick Perry requesting a
nationwide waiver of 50 percent of the 2008 RFS of nine billion gallons of
ethanol that fuel companies are required to add to motor gasoline.
Fuel companies are allowed to claim a tax credit of 45 cents per gallon of
ethanol added. Virtually all the ethanol produced in the country today
is distilled from corn. A tariff of 54 cents per gallon is used to
discourage imports of ethanol made from sugar in Brazil. <more>
June 13, 2008 NCC Pres Release
Governor: Valley in water crisis. Schwarzenegger's
emergency covers 9 Central valley counties. -- In an effort to help
drought-stricken farmers, Gov. Schwarzenegger on Thursday proclaimed a water
emergency in nine Central Valley counties. The proclamation includes Fresno,
Tulare, Madera, Kings and Merced counties, where water shortages have led
some growers to lay off workers and abandon crops. The governor called for
several actions -- including pumping ground water into the California
Aqueduct, which could begin within days. The governor also called for
operational changes at state water facilities to move more water into the
San Joaquin Valley. Public water agencies also will get state help to
improve or drill wells. And financially distressed farmers might get access
to federally backed low-interest loans, although the federal government must
still approve the program.<more>
Pacific Ethanol's stock sinks amid grim news on corn harvest
- - The news is going from bad to worse for Pacific Ethanol Inc.
and other ethanol makers, whose stock prices took another tumble Thursday as
corn prices set records. Ethanol stocks have been falling for months as
profit margins have been squeezed by the rising price of corn. Thursday was
no different. Shares of Sacramento-based Pacific Ethanol fell nearly 15
percent to close at $2.37, down 41 cents, on the Nasdaq market. Other
ethanol stocks fell, too. VeraSun Energy Corp. was down 12 percent and
BioFuel Energy Corp. dropped 24 percent. Traders were responding to the
latest news from the Corn Belt: Prices went to all-time highs after the U.S.
Department of Agriculture predicted that lousy Midwest weather would put a
dent in this year's crop. Traders were also influenced by Republican
presidential candidate John McCain's pledge Wednesday to end ethanol's 51
cents-a-gallon federal subsidy.
<more>
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting - - The California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July 14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355. Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Central Coast Fryer Farms
Cobb-Vantress
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Darling International
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Merial Select, Inc
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Corn hits record over $7 a bushel on yield worries -
- Corn futures shot above $7 a bushel for the first time Wednesday, hitting
a record for a fifth day after heavy Midwest rains prompted the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to lower its 2008 output estimate. Other
commodities traded broadly higher on the back of a rally in crude oil, which
jumped more than $6 a barrel. Gold, silver, copper and most agriculture
futures also traded higher. U.S. corn production is expected to reach 11.7
billion bushels this year, a 10 percent drop from last year's crop, the USDA
said in a report Tuesday. It also reduced its yield forecast to 148.9
bushels per acre, down from 153.9 bushels per acre forecast in May. The
lower forecast follows pounding Midwestern rains that have flooded acres of
corn fields and delayed spring planting.
<more>
New Bird Flu Vaccine Shows Promise -- Scientists have
succeeded in developing a whole-virus bird flu vaccine that appears to be
safe, more effective than the one currently approved for human use and also
able to be manufactured much more quickly than conventional vaccines.
Three-quarters of volunteers produced antibodies against the virus after
receiving a second dose of the vaccine, CELVAPAN, made by Baxter, compared
with only 45 percent in the currently approved vaccine. Importantly, the
study confirms the feasibility of using new, cell culture-derived vaccine.<more>
McDonald's USA Gives Moms Unprecedented Access to Learn How
Chicken McNuggets Are Made - - Recently, the Moms' Quality
Correspondents became the first customers to tour a McDonald's U.S. poultry
facility for Chicken McNuggets and other premium chicken menu items. The
tour took place at Keystone Foods, Atlanta, which has been a McDonald's
supplier partner since 1969 and helped develop the first Chicken McNugget in
the early 1980's. The Moms were granted unprecedented access to learn how
their families' favorite chicken menu items are made, including Chicken
McNuggets and the new Southern Style Chicken Biscuit and Sandwich.
<more>
Chicken among foods ordered most at quick service restaurants
- - Four of the top 15 foods most likely to be ordered at
quick service restaurants are chicken products, according to the “What
America Thinks ‘08” consumer survey conducted for QSR magazine. Of the 689
survey respondents, 11 percent indicated they were most likely to order a
grilled chicken sandwich, the second most popular choice. Breaded chicken
sandwiches with four percent ranked eleventh, fried-roasted bone-in chicken
with three percent ranked thirteenth and chicken strips-nuggets with three
percent was fourteenth.<more>
Time draws near for California drivers to drop those cell phones
- - Beginning July 1, adult drivers in California can be pulled
over and ticketed if they are spotted talking on a hand-held phone. And
things will get even tougher for teenagers. Drivers under 18 using any cell
phone – including hands-free devices that will still be allowed for adults –
risk getting a ticket. Violations for both adults and juveniles will carry
fines and penalties totaling $76 for a first offense and $190 for a second
offense. California officials are hoping to save as many as 300 lives a year
by cutting down on distracted driving accidents that are increasingly blamed
on people using cell phones. The law doesn't prevent anyone from making
emergency calls from the car or keying in phone numbers by hand – though
motorists are urged not to dial while driving.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
KFC Canada and PETA reach agreement - - PETA
has announced a major victory for the organization - following five years of
pressure, fast-food chain KFC in Canada is to "give in to their demands".
Consequently, PETA will end its Kentucky Fried Cruelty boycott. "Following
months of closed-door negotiations between PETA and KFC Canada, we are
thrilled to announce that KFC Canada has agreed to a historic new animal
welfare plan that will dramatically improve the lives and deaths of millions
of chickens killed for KFC Canada," said the organization. KFC Canada
President Steve Langford: "It will be nice to put this behind us… Our
preference is to have nothing negative attached to our brand… Once I got
involved and we actually met face to face, we found out that we had no
differences of opinion about how animals should be treated."
<more> June 11, 2008 World Poultry
Federal ethanol policies cost Virginia’s economy
$863 million says study - - A study commissioned by Virginia Poultry
Federation (VPF) shows that federal mandates and subsidies for corn-based
ethanol are having a harmful impact on Virginia’s economy. The study, by
noted agricultural economist Dr. Thomas Elam, estimates that a federal tax
credit of $0.51 per gallon and a nationwide mandate to add nine billion
gallons of ethanol to motor gasoline during 2008 will cause a net loss to
Virginia’s economy of $863 million this year. The study attributes the
economic losses to increased production costs for livestock and poultry
producers and higher food costs for consumers. The study estimates that the
federal policies will add more than $200 million to the cost of feeding
chickens and turkeys in Virginia during 2008. Include other livestock, and
the price tag totals $421 million. While corn and soybean producers benefit
from the policies, the net loss to Virginia agriculture is $271 million.
Applying a standard multiplier effect to the agricultural losses reveals a
net adverse economic impact to the Commonwealth of $514 million. The
estimates are based on a normal crop production season. A shortfall in the
corn crop, caused by drought or other factors, would make the impact far
worse. It appears that this is now coming to pass.
<more> June 11, 2008 Virginia Poultry Federation Press Release
Hong Kong slaughters all market poultry - -
Health officials ordered the slaughter of all live poultry in Hong Kong's
street markets on Wednesday after detecting one of the largest outbreaks of
the bird flu virus in years. The action comes after tests showed four
markets had poultry infected with the H5N1 virus. It was unclear how many
birds would be killed or how many were infected, but around 3,500 chickens
were for sale by nearly 470 retail vendors citywide as of Tuesday night. "We
cannot be complacent and that is why we are taking this decisive measure to
close all retail outlets and to cull all remaining live poultry," Cheung
Siu-hing, director for agriculture, fisheries and conservation, said at a
news conference. "We have not found any dead chickens with the virus — not
yet," she added.
<more> June 11, 2008 AP
Food safety not key to farm bills. Responsibility
is spread among 15 federal agencies. -- Tainted tomatoes highlight how
Congress forfeited some food-safety opportunities in the new farm bill. A
nationwide salmonella outbreak attributed to tomatoes comes just as Congress
and President Bush are finishing their farm bill tug-of-war. The bill about
to become law omits some of the highest-profile food-safety proposals that
lawmakers once offered. "Food safety is never a key issue for any farm
bill," Chris Waldrop, the food policy director for the Consumer Federation
of America, said Tuesday.
<more> June 11, 2008 Fresno Bee
Energy Dept. says oil, gas prices to stay high
- - Motorists can expect gasoline prices around $4 gallon through next
year, the Energy Department said Wednesday, with oil prices staying well
above $100 a barrel. Crude oil prices are likely to average $126 a barrel in
2009, $4 higher than this year, as oil supplies and demand are expected to
remain tight, Guy Caruso, head of the department's Energy Information
Administration, told a House hearing. Gasoline prices are likely to peak at
$4.15 a gallon in August and won't go down much after that, the agency
projected in a report. Gasoline was forecast to average $3.92 a gallon
through 2009.
<more> June 11, 2008 Fresno Bee
Clean air technology forum in Merced July 9 -
- The California Emerging Clean Air Technology Forum will be held at UC
Merced on July 9. The California Emerging Clean Air Technology Forum is a
collaborative effort by the U.S. EPA, California Air Resources Board, and
the South Coast and San Joaquin Valley air districts to accelerate the
development and implementation of advanced technology that could help
achieve our shared air quality goals. The Technology Forum’s planned areas
of focus include the following technology research areas: hydraulic hybrid
trucks, plug-in hybrids, fuel cells for stationary and light-duty vehicles,
air emission monitoring, architectural coatings, digesters, and diesel
mobile sources. For more information, visit
www.valleyair.org or call Trina
Martynowicz at (415) 972-3474. June 11, 2008 ARB Notice
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
National Chicken Council Helps Launch Food Before
Fuel Coalition - - The Food Before Fuel Campaign – a partnership of more
than 20 environmental, retail, hunger, Hispanic and food industry groups – has
launched a cooperative effort urging Congress to revisit the nation’s
food-to-fuel policies, a key factor in the growing global food crisis.
Congressional policies mandate the conversion of more than one-third of all U.S.
corn to ethanol, with additional subsidies and tariffs further promoting the
diversion of food to fuel. Food policy experts broadly agree that these policies
have contributed to record food price inflation, and the International Monetary
Fund reports that U.S. food-to-fuel policy is responsible for more than 30
percent of food price inflation globally. “More than one-third of this year’s
corn crop will be turned into ethanol for motor fuel that is heavily subsidized
by the federal government,” said George Watts, president of the National Chicken
Council. “As a result, the price of corn that our companies use to feed
chickens has skyrocketed, costing billions of dollars. The impact on industry
has been severe. Congress should eliminate tax credits so that animal
agriculture can compete on a more level playing field with corn-based ethanol
producers.’’
<more> June 10, 2008 NCC Press Release
Worries Mount as Farmers Push for Big Harvest -
- In a year when global harvests need to be excellent to ease the threat of
pervasive food shortages, evidence is mounting that they will be average at
best. Some farmers are starting to fear disaster. American corn and soybean
farmers are suffering from too much rain, while Australian wheat farmers have
been plagued by drought. “The planting has gotten off to a poor start,” said
Bill Nelson, a Wachovia grains analyst. “The anxiety level is increasing.” At
a moment when the country’s corn should be flourishing, one plant in 10 has
not even emerged from the ground, the Agriculture Department said Monday.
Because corn planted late is more sensitive to heat damage in high summer,
every day’s delay practically guarantees a lower yield at harvest.
<more> June 10, 2008 NY Times
Government may step in to curb commodity prices
- - The government could step in if commodity prices keep shooting higher. And
some see some sort of government intervention in the marketplace as a virtual
certainty. But for the leader of one agricultural group, that kind of
discussion brings to mind the ag trade policy missteps of the late 1970s.
Imagine $200 a barrel oil, $9 a bushel corn and $20 a bushel soybeans. Then
consider the prospect of less available wheat than now thought as the cattle
industry begins feeding much more of that commodity. That's the near future as
envisioned by two separate commodity analysts and brokers, especially in light
of Tuesday’s USDA Crop Production report and World Agricultural Supply and
Demand Estimates, which lowered this year’s U.S. corn production by 360
million bushels to 11.7 billion and projected increased global demand for
soybean meal and vegetable oil. And if that future does come to pass, both of
the analysts foresee U.S. government intervention as likely. Doug McClellan is
President of Plains Commodities in Omaha. He told Brownfield he’s heard talk
of a complete elimination of government support for corn-based ethanol and a
potential effort to drive excessive speculation from ag commodity futures
markets.
<more> June 10, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Governor asked to declare drought state of
emergency for San Joaquin Valley - - San Joaquin Valley representatives
have written to Gov. Schwarzenegger asking him to declare a state of emergency
for the San Joaquin Valley following the Governor’s recent proclamation of
statewide drought. Representatives Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced), Jim Costa
(D-Fresno), Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Rep. George Radanovich
(R-Mariposa) sent a June 5 letter to the Governor requesting the action. The
Valley’s $20 billion agriculture industry is “facing a crisis of epic
proportions,” said the Congressmen, and urged state agencies to “move quickly
in advance of this crisis to expedite strategies which will provide California
farmers relief options and support.” Specifically, the letter asked the
Administration to work with federal agencies to:
* Maximize Delta pumping
* Approve water transfers
* Be flexible in implementation of water quality standards
* Seek temporary supplemental sources of water
The letter also urged looking into such long-term solutions as improved
conveyance systems and new storage facilities to increase the state’s water
supplies and enable better management of the state’s water system for improved
water quality, flood control and environmental enhancement. June 10, 2008
Tomatoes pulled after FDA safety warning - -
Popular varieties of fresh tomatoes have been pulled from restaurant menus and
produce aisles across Northern California as a nationwide salmonella outbreak
now linked to 145 illnesses in 16 states continues to spread. In Sacramento,
supermarkets pulled field-grown red round, red Roma and red plum varieties
from store shelves over the weekend. Chain restaurants from McDonald's to
Noah's Bagels stopped serving tomatoes altogether. Uncertainty about the
source of tomatoes linked to the illnesses prompted the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration on Saturday to issue a nationwide food safety warning, urging
people not to eat the three types of tomatoes.
<more>
June 10,2008 Sacramento Bee
Commission freezes lawmakers' pay - - Salaries
of California legislators and top elected officials will be frozen for the
next year, the state's independent salary commission decided Tuesday. The
commission approved the freeze on a 4-1 vote, rejecting a proposal by Chairman
Charles Murray to cut elected officials' salaries by 10 percent. "As far as
I'm concerned, we didn't send a strong enough message," Murray said after the
vote. The commission's action Tuesday came amid a state budget deficit
projected at $15.2 billion and an order by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that
state agencies cut their spending by 10 percent.
<more>
June 10, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Sponsors lending support to CPF Summer Meeting - - The California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting July 14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. To learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact the CPF at (209) 576-6355. Sponsors to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Cobb-Vantress
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Elanco Animal Health
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Merial Select, Inc.
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
RAH Consulting Services, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Friday, June 6, 2008
California Poultry Federation commends Sen. Feinstein on bill lowering tariff on imported ethanol - - California Poultry Federation President Bill Mattos today commended California Sen. Dianne Feinstein for her introduction of legislation that would reduce the tariff on imported ethanol. “The California poultry industry is being impacted by the rising cost of feed as over one-quarter of the U.S. corn crop is diverted from feed and food to the production of ethanol,” explained Mattos. “This diversion of corn from feed is raising the cost of production for California chicken producers and those cost increases will be felt by consumers. This legislation is an important first step in getting Congress to revisit food-to-fuel mandates and subsidies." The Imported Ethanol Parity Act would require the President to lower the 54-cent per gallon tariff on imported ethanol to a level at or below the per gallon subsidy for blending ethanol into gasoline. “The subsidy is 51-cents per gallon currently, but the recently-passed Farm Bill reduces the subsidy to 45-cents per gallon – a good first step,” said Mattos. “The legislation reduces the real trade barrier on clean and climate-friendly ethanol imports that currently gives gasoline imports a competitive advantage against ethanol imports.” <more> June 6, 2008 CPF Press Release
Corn hits record as wet U.S. weather stalls planting -
- Corn prices soared to a new record Thursday as heavy rain in the U.S. corn
belt threatened to flood crops and put farmers further behind in their
planting schedule. Corn futures for July delivery jumped 28.75 cents to
reach a new settlement record of $6.4325 on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Heavy rains this week have inundated the corn-growing states of Indiana,
Illinois and Ohio, dumping as much as 6 inches of rain on recently planted
crops. Forecasts show the bad weather moving toward the western corn belt
states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska over the next five days.
"They're starting to really worry about the rainfall and the saturated
soil," said Jason Ward, analyst with Northstar Commodity in Minneapolis.
"The biggest risk is when the wet soil hardens from the sun, which will make
it very difficult for the corn to grow."
<more>
Chicken prices to go up 10 percent, Perdue says - -
First electricity rates jumped, now gasoline prices are galloping up, and
the next sticker shock could be chicken prices, which are likely to go up at
least 10 percent by the summer. That’s what James Perdue, chairman of the
East Coast’s largest poultry company, told members of the Maryland Economic
Development Association on Tuesday morning. The culprit is the rising price
of corn, which is the main source of chicken feed. More than a third of all
corn is going to produce ethanol, a fuel added to or used instead of
gasoline.“We’ve got to feed those chickens,” Perdue said. He noted that
Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest poultry firm, announced in April a
second-quarter loss. Because Perdue Farms is privately held, the company
doesn’t report its finances, he said. “It’s very difficult to make money” in
this environment. “You’ve got to raise prices.”
<more>
Clarification on North Valley Poultry Task Force meeting - - Earlier this week, an article posted on Headline News announced the North Valley Task Force meeting. This meeting is for our producer companies, government agencies, and cooperative extension only. If you plan on attending, please contact the poultry office at (209) 576-6355. The meeting is still set for Wednesday June 11 at 1 p.m. at the Stanislaus Agriculture Center, H/I Conference Room in the Stanislaus Building. June 6, 2008
Healthy Intestinal Bacteria Found Within Chicken Eggs -
- The conventional wisdom among scientists has long been that birds acquire
the intestinal bacteria that are necessary for good health from their
environment, but a new University of Georgia study finds that chickens are
actually born with those bacteria. Lead author Adriana Pedroso said the
finding, presented this week at the American Society for Microbiology
General Meeting in Boston, could have important implications for the poultry
industry and for food safety. "Understanding the microbial ecology of the
developing chicken is the first step toward producing healthy birds without
antibiotics," said Pedroso, a post-doctoral researcher in the UGA College of
Veterinary Medicine.
<more>
Can chickens help in the fight against cancer? - - “Eat more chicken” may become the way to fight cancer. Researchers at Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center are working with an extract from cotton seed oil called “gossypol” that has been shown to slow cancer growth. The challenge is getting the gossypol into people slowly and safely. Dr. Young C. Lin suggests putting the gossypol (GOS-e-pol) into chicken feed turning the chickens and their eggs into cancer fighting foods. Researchers stress the work with gossypol has only been conducted in the lab to date but add they can’t help but see the possibilities. No word yet as to if or when they will start human trials. June 6, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Feinstein introduces bill to reduce tariff on
imported ethanol - – California Senator Dianne Feinstein and Judd
Gregg (R-N.H.), today introduced a measure to reduce the tariff on imported
ethanol. If passed, the legislation would allow U.S. refiners to purchase
cheaper and more climate-friendly ethanol from foreign sources, which could
then help lower gas prices at the pump. “The price of oil has hit $130 per
barrel and prices are going higher every day. This means that the need for
inexpensive and cleaner-burning fuels continues to grow. And yet U.S.
refiners are forced to pay a 54-cent tariff on ethanol imported from Brazil
and other foreign sources. This makes no sense, given the record oil prices
and the limited supplies of domestic ethanol,” Senator Feinstein said. “This
bill would essentially level the playing field – and ensure that U.S.
refiners are able to purchase cheaper and more climate-friendly ethanol, no
matter where it comes from.”
<more>
NTF applauds Feinstein on ethanol tariff bill - -
National Turkey Federation President Joel Brandenberger called Sen. Dianne
Feinstein’s legislation to reduce the tariff on imported ethanol “an
important step in the process if revisiting our nation’s renewable fuels
policy.” The NTF’s full statement: “The National Turkey Federation (NTF) and
its membership applaud Senator Dianne Feinstein, D.Calif., for her
leadership role in encouraging Congress to reconsider food-to-fuel taxes and
subsidies. Her bill would reduce the tariff on imported ethanol from 54
cents per gallon to one that matches the tax credit to blenders, which
recently was reduced to 45 cents per gallon in the new Farm Bill.
Our current policies have forced over one-quarter of the U.S. corn crop to
be diverted from feed and food to the production of ethanol, resulting in
skyrocketing feed prices for turkey producers. Consumers have not yet felt
the full brunt of these rising costs; Congress must act swiftly to wholly
revisit food-to-fuel mandates and subsidies before total impact is felt all
along the food chain. Frankly, deeper cuts in both the blender’s
credit and the import tariff are necessary, but Senator Feinstein’s
legislation is an important step in the process of revisiting our nation’s
renewable fuels policy.” June 5, 2008 NTF Press Release
Tyson bird-flu find curbs
exports to Japan, Russia -- Japan has temporarily stopped importing
chicken from Arkansas, while the United States has suspended poultry exports
to Russia from Arkansas for 90 days, a Tyson Foods Inc. executive said
Wednesday. The measures come after a routine test revealed that 15,000
chickens in Arkansas showed signs of low-pathogenic avian influenza, said
Noel White, senior vice president for Tyson Fresh Meats, at an investment
conference in New York, which was Web cast. The strain, low-pathogenic H7N3,
poses no danger to humans, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
<more> June 5, 2008 MarketWatch
Schwarzenegger hopes drought decree is wake-up call - -
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared Wednesday that California is in a
drought, a move that included no immediate conservation orders but may lead
to more aggressive water-saving efforts in many parts of the state. Water
experts said the declaration could wake up water consumers who have been
complacent and lead to significant conservation. "What you will see up and
down the state is water agencies pushing much harder on their customers to
cut down on water use," said Laura King-Moon, assistant general manager of
the State Water Contractors. "The era of polite requests for 10 percent
water cuts is over." On Wednesday critics quickly hit the declaration as
appearing more symbolic than substantive. An accompanying executive order
contains directives to the Department of Water Resources that mostly give
new thrust to existing programs.
<more>
Expect higher food costs with drought - - The drought,
marked Wednesday with an official declaration by Gov. Schwarzenegger, is
expected to deliver a tremendous blow to the San Joaquin Valley's
multibillion-dollar agriculture industry. Shock waves also could spread
throughout the local economy, experts say. Food prices will climb. More
farmland will be fallowed. Farm jobs will be trimmed. Many growers on the
Valley's west side will be shopping for extra water. Many will be pumping
water from the ground and lowering the underground water table.
<more>
Proposition 98 advocates vow to continue fight against eminent
domain - - A pitched battle between two ballot measure promising
eminent domain reform - one of them backed by the California Farm Bureau -
came to an end out Tuesday, with California voters choosing Proposition 99
as the favored approach to deal with government land seizures. Proposition
99, backed by the League of California Cities and a broad coalition of
homeowners groups, won with 62 percent of the vote, while Proposition 98,
backed by Farm Bureau and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the
California Alliance to Protect Property Rights, was voted down by a 61
percent vote.
<more>
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tyson finds chickens with mild bird flu strain
- - Tyson Foods Inc, the second largest U.S. chicken producer, said on
Tuesday it will destroy about 15,000 chickens in Arkansas exposed to a mild
strain of bird flu, and while there was no risk to human health the news
sent its shares lower. The affected chickens, which will not enter the food
supply, had antibodies of a mild or low pathogenic strain of bird flu called
H7N3. It is the deadly high pathogenic H5N1 strain, which has never been
found in the United States, that worries scientists because it has spread to
and killed people around the world. Because of the Arkansas findings the
U.S. Agriculture Department already has suspended shipments of chicken from
that state to Russia, the top overseas market for U.S. chicken. One concern
is Russia may implement a broader ban.
<more> June 3, 2008 Reuters
USDA:
Tyson used two different antibiotics on chicken
- - Inspectors from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture routinely found Tyson Foods Inc. gave
chickens advertised as "raised without antibiotics" an antibiotic that can
be used in humans, on top of another the company said it gave, the agency
said Tuesday. A statement from Richard Raymond, an undersecretary for food
safety at the USDA, said the world's largest meat producer had used
gentamicin on its poultry. Gentamicin has been used for more than 30 years
in the United States to treat a variety of infections in humans. The federal
government also stores the antibiotic as a treatment for plague and other
biological agents. Springdale-based Tyson, in responding to a federal
lawsuit over it labeling its poultry as "raised without antibiotics,"
already said it used ionophores in its chicken feed. Though widely
considered as an antibiotic, ionophores are not used to treat illnesses in
humans and thus are not believed to raise human health concerns.
<more> June 4, 2008 AP
Assembly approves
mandatory sick-leave bill - - Supporters are pleased and business groups
are worried now that legislation requiring paid sick leave for 6 million
California workers has cleared the Assembly. Assembly Bill 2716, authored by
Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, was approved by the Assembly last week on a 43-25
vote and now moves to the Senate. There, it likely faces a tougher challenge
as it moves through several committees, starting in late June.
If the bill is approved, California would become the first state in the
nation to ensure paid sick days for workers.
"We are hopeful that it
will squeak through," said Jeremy Smith, legislative advocate for the
California Labor Federation. "But the Senate is a little more moderate, and
it will be a bit more difficult."
The bill faces tough
opposition from the National Federation of Independent Business/California
and the California Chamber of Commerce, which has placed the legislation on
its "job killer" list.
<more> June 4, 2008 Fresno Bee
Schwarzenegger proclaims that California is in a
drought - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this morning proclaimed a
statewide drought, warning that California's water supply is falling
dangerously low because of below-average rainfall and court-ordered water
restrictions aimed at protecting fish. "We must recognize the severity of
this crisis we face," Schwarzenegger said at a Capitol news conference. He
said this spring had been the driest on record in Northern California, which
supplies most of the water to the state. Along with the proclamation, the
governor issued an executive order intended to speed transfers of water to
areas experiencing the most severe shortages, help local water districts
boost conservation efforts, identify risks to the state's water supply, and
assist farmers.
<more> June 4, 2008 LA Times
NTF Reaches
Younger Audience “talking turkey” on Facebook
- -
To mark June as Turkey Lovers’
Month®, the National Turkey Federation is giving Facebook users a chance to
“talk turkey.”
The federation chose to
focus the concept on Facebook, to reach a younger audience that is talking
with their peers through this social networking community. Campaign
participants will add a “turkey voki” – a small, talking cartoon turkey – to
their profile areas and share it with their friends across Facebook.
The
talking turkey voki has the right elements to spread the National Turkey
Federation’s message virally. The talking turkey delivers a humorous,
customizable message. It wears a t-shirt that says “Shake Your Tail Feather”
and includes the
www.eatturkey.com
URL. The voki also says,
“Do I make you hungry? Happy Turkey Month!” Users can customize the talking
turkey’s clothes and choose to load up their own voice to the turkey voki
with their phone or computer. The voki platform allows users to send the
talking turkey to friends, or post it on a social network profile area or a
blog.
The campaign aims to raise
awareness among younger consumers that June is Turkey Lovers’ Month®. The
talking turkey character will also inform them about www.eatturkey.com, a
Web site where they can learn more about the benefits of eating turkey and
turkey products.
“Our
goal is to get Facebook and voki users thinking and talking turkey, by
placing the talking turkey on their profile page,” said Sherrie Rosenblatt,
NTF’s vice president of marketing and communications, “We believe this
culturally relevant message will resonate with the target audience and
inspire them to pass the ‘turkey voki’ along to their friends.”
The tested message, “Shake
Your Tail Feather,” was an almost-unanimous choice among the younger
audience. Participants said they chose the phrase because it made them want
to get up and dance.
Facebook users can find
the talking turkey in the Voki Voice Avatars application. The turkey voki is
also available at www.voki.com and
on www.eatturkey.com f or download.
June 4, 2008 NTF Press Release
Vote yes on cruelty initiative - - I was
appalled to read that an egg factory farm illegally buried thousands of dead
animals. Besides disposing of dead birds in environmentally irresponsible
ways and risking public health, many egg factory farmers abuse their birds
by cramming them into inhumane battery cages where they can barely move an
inch or even spread their wings for their entire lives. The California egg
industry has a notorious track record when it comes to its animal welfare
practices. These birds suffer enough on factory farms.
<more> June 4, 2008 Modesto Bee Letter to Editor
Voters stick with Denham, reject recall attempt -
- Voters pummeled the recall against state Sen. Jeff Denham on Tuesday,
leaving the Atwater Republican to serve out the rest of his second term.
About 70 percent of the voters in District 12 said they want Denham to
remain in office, according to the secretary of state's preliminary election
results. In Stanislaus County, almost 78 percent of eligible voters opposed
the recall. In Merced County, the margin was larger -- 84 percent. Denham's
district also sprawls over Pacheco Pass to as far west as Salinas and
includes parts of six counties.
<more> June 4, 2008 Modesto Bee
Migden
loses re-election bid - Leno wins - - San Francisco Assemblyman Mark
Leno used an overwhelming showing in his home city Tuesday to beat former
San Rafael Assemblyman Joe Nation and incumbent state Sen. Carole Migden in
the Democratic primary for her three-county state Senate seat. With 81
percent of the precincts reporting, Leno had 43 percent of the vote, Nation
29 percent and Migden 28 percent. Leno beat Nation by about 25,000 votes in
San Francisco and held Nation's margin of victory in his home base of Marin
County to fewer than 3,000 votes. Although Leno still has to face Republican
Sashi McEntee of Mill Valley in November, in a district where Democrats
outnumber Republicans 55 to 16 percent, the Democratic primary is the only
election that counts.
<more> June 4, 2008 SF Chronicle
McClintock triumphs over Ose in Republican House
race - - Tom McClintock, emerging victorious Tuesday from a bruising
Republican primary, will face Democrat Charlie Brown in a November match-up
to replace retiring Rep. John Doolittle in Congress. With all precincts
reporting, McClintock held a decisive lead over former Sacramento-area Rep.
Doug Ose, 54 percent to 39 percent. "It looks like we're headed toward a
monumental victory," McClintock, a state senator representing a district 400
miles away, told cheering supporters in Placer County.
<more>
June 4, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Feds reduce water to Valley farms. Westlands
Water District growers in crisis, to decide which crops to abandon --
Federal officials told hundreds of farmers in the Westlands Water District
on Monday that they will get even less irrigation water -- just days after
the district announced a rationing plan. Farmers in the nation's largest
federal water district will be hit hard -- many said they expect to abandon
crops or even go out of business for lack of water. Two members of Congress
and district officials urged Gov. Schwarzenegger to declare a state of
emergency. The crisis was blamed on a court ruling and a dry spring. The
ruling -- capping a series of decisions that farmers opposed -- came in
April. U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger in Fresno ordered reduced
deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which is the source
for Westlands water, to protect threatened fish.
<more> June 3, 2008 Fresno Bee
Water crisis grows while Californians dither. Our inability to overcome ideology may dry up state.- - Hundreds of farmers in the Westlands Water District will get even less water than they expected. That's the bad news delivered by federal officials on Monday. A Westlands spokesman said many would be forced out of business. That would cause reverberations throughout the Valley's economy. We have long advocated a combination of measures to address the problem: New surface storage (dams), underground water banking and vastly increased efforts to conserve the water we have. But environmentalists and Democrats in the Legislature won't support any plan that includes dams, and Republicans and their allies in business and agriculture won't back any effort that leaves them out. <more> June 4, 2008 Fresno Bee Editorial
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
North Valley Poultry Task Force meeting June 11 in
Modesto - - The North Valley Poultry Task Force Meeting will be held at
1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 11 at the Stanislaus County Agriculture Center,
Modesto. The meeting will be held in the H/I conference room of the Stanislaus
building. Please RSVP to the California Poultry Federation at (209) 247-6167.
Scheduled is an update on AI activities by CDFA State Veterinarian Dr. Richard
Breitmeyer and a worldwide AI update by Dr. Carol Cardona, UC Davis. The
tentative agenda is available for download by clicking here. Please contact Cody
Penfold with any agenda item amendments at
codypenfold@gmail.com
FSIS chief issues statement on Tyson’s withdrawal of
antibiotic label claim - -
USDA
Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr.
Richard Raymond
issued the following statement regarding
the
withdrawal by Tyson Foods,
Inc. of its
“raised without
antibiotics”
label claim: "On June 2, FSIS
issued a letter to Tyson Foods, Inc. rescinding the "Raised Without Antibiotics
That Impact Human Antibiotic Resistance" label. "FSIS is required to ensure
labels are not false and misleading. In December 2007, FSIS approved the
qualified raised without antibiotics label based on information provided by
Tyson Foods, Inc. The label is being rescinded based on additional information
provided to FSIS only after the qualified claim had been approved. Specifically,
FSIS found that they routinely used the antibiotic Gentamicin to prevent illness
and death in chicks.
”
<more> June 3, 2008 FSIS Press Release
Sponsors lending support to CPF summer meeting -
- The California Poultry Federation will hold its annual mummer board meeting
July 14-15 in Shell Beach. Sponsorship opportunities are available for those
companies interested in helping underwrite this always popular event. Sponsors
to date include:
Alpharma
ASC AGRECOM, INC
Aviagen
Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.
Cobb-Vantress
Cumberland
CVP Systems
Evonik Degussa
Foster Farms
Haley Farms
Huvepharma
Intervet/Schering-Plough
Jones-Hamilton Company
Merrill Lynch
Motomco Ltd.
Novus International, Inc.
Tipper Tie, Inc.
Volk Enterprises
Weyerhaeuser
William C. Loughlin Co./Pennfield Animal Health
Zacky Farms
Passing: Mark Gray, 52 - - Mark Gray, 52,
operations manager at Zacky Farms, passed away May 7 in Fresno. Gray was a
member of the California Poultry Federation’s board of directors. Funeral
services were held in his native Missouri. He is survived by Edward R. Moss, his
children, Jenna (John) Gray-Shomler, Nick Gray, and Aaron (Harmony) Gray; his
parents, Ed Gray and Betty Murphy; siblings, Bob Thompson, Buddy Thompson, Curt
Gray, Mike Gray, and Sheela Simone. The family welcomes memories and messages in
their guest book online at
www.cookfuneralservices.com
USDA Analysis Understates Impact of Ethanol Boom On
Food Prices, Economist Says - - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer is
leaning on a weak reed in claiming that the ethanol boom is responsible for only
a tiny fraction of the dramatic increase in world food prices, according to an
independent agricultural economist. “Most objective observers feel that the
demand from the biofuels sector accounts for anywhere from one-third to
two-thirds of the explosion in food prices, not the two or three percent
suggested by Secretary Schafer,” said Dr. Thomas Elam, president of FarmEcon
LLC. “Crops that used to be grown for food production are now being priced at
their value as a fuel supplement, with unpredictable and very negative
consequences for the food economy. The costs of those crops to the U.S. food
production system are also being significantly increased by federal biofuels
policy.”
<more> June 3, 2008 NCC Press Release
Always time to talk turkey. Chefs create sandwiches
and salads with this Thanksgiving staple during all four seasons - - While
the word “turkey” undoubtedly conjures up instant mental images of Thanksgiving
for many people, restaurants around the country serve this all-American poultry
every day of the year—and every meal of the day. “Turkey generally is a very
popular sandwich,” says Scott Zellmer, general manager of The Coffee Grounds, in
Eau Claire, Wis., “because people always perceive it as being healthier than
beef.” Coffee Grounds chef Bradley Parent creates eight new sandwiches for The
Coffee Grounds every month, including one turkey offering. He especially likes
turkey paired with fruit and semi-soft cheese, such as feta, goat cheese or
Brie. <more>
June 3, 2008 Restaurant News
Vets from 26 EU nations oppose lifting US chicken ban
- - Veterinary experts from 26 of the 27 EU member states are opposed to
poultry washed in chlorine and support an import ban on US chicken, European
officials said Tuesday. At a meeting of the experts in Brussels on Monday and
Tuesday, only Britain abstained while all other member states opposed plans by
the European Commission to lift the ban on poultry washed in chlorine. A
spokesman for the commission said the EU's executive arm would "analyze" the
experts' opinion before an upcoming meeting of EU farm ministers at which the
proposal was expected to be debated.
<more> June 3, 2008 AFP
UN chief: Food production must rise 50 percent by 2030 -- World food production must rise by 50 percent by 2030 to meet increasing demand, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon told world leaders Tuesday at a summit grappling with hunger and civil unrest caused by food price hikes. The secretary-general told the Rome summit that nations must minimize export restrictions and import tariffs during the food price crisis and quickly resolve world trade talks. "The world needs to produce more food," Ban said. The Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is hosting the three-day summit to try to solve the short-term emergency of increased hunger caused by soaring prices and to help poor countries grow enough food to feed their own. <more> June 3, 2008 AP
Friday, May 30, 2008
Food Report Criticizes Biofuel Policies - -
Agriculture Secretary Edward T. Schafer is preparing to walk into a buzzsaw
of criticism over American biofuels policy when he meets with world leaders
to discuss the global food crisis next week. Mr. Schafer took the offensive
at a press conference on Thursday that discussed the food summit, planned
for Rome. He said an analysis by the Agriculture Department had determined
that biofuel production was responsible for only 2 to 3 percent of the
increase in global food prices, while biofuels had reduced consumption of
crude oil by a million barrels a day. “We think that policy-wise in the
United States of America — and certainly in the rest of the world — as we
see the price of oil and petroleum escalate dramatically beyond anyone’s
imagination, that one of the ways to deal with that is to produce biofuels
which are renewables, better for the environment and help lower that cost,”
he said.
<more> May 30, 2008 NY Times
'Dirty' US chicken washed with chlorine heading
for British shops as E.C. seeks to improve relations with America
-
- Consumer groups have condemned plans to lift a ban on imports of 'dirty'
U.S. poultry meat. They are worried the move could put shoppers' health at
risk. American chicken producers
routinely treat the carcasses of their birds with a chlorine wash in an
effort to kill off food poisoning bugs such as salmonella and campylobacter.
Consumer groups and MEPs are concerned that the process is not
effective - yet encourages farmers to operate with low hygiene standards in
the mistaken belief that the chlorine wash will protect consumers. Some
critics are also worried about the health effects of consuming chlorine
deposits left on the meat. But the European Commission has recommended moves
to lift its 11-year- old ban in an effort to improve strained relations with
the U.S. government.
<more> May 30, 2008 The Daily Mail
U.S. Poultry industry ‘disappointed’ about EU
action on poultry trade - - The U.S. poultry industry is “very
disappointed” that the European Commission this week proposed unnecessary
and unacceptable conditions for allowing U.S. poultry to again become
eligible for the EU market. In a
joint statement issued today by the National Chicken Council, the National
Turkey Federation, and the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, the groups
characterized the overly-strict conditions as essentially the same
requirements that were discussed by the United States and the European Union
more than four years ago. The
lack of progress on the issue clearly demonstrates that the European Union
continues to prefer protecting its poultry producers and disregarding
science that supports the conclusion that U.S. poultry is safe and
wholesome, the statement noted. The U.S.-EU poultry issue was one of the
priority agenda items at last week’s Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC)
meeting. Daniel Price, Deputy
National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs and Co-chair of
the TEC said resolution of the issue will demonstrate that the TEC can
function as an effective mechanism to find solutions to problems between the
two largest global trading blocks.
Price added the latest EU proposal reneges on a European Commission
commitment made earlier this month to remove the 11-year-old import ban on
U.S. poultry. Twenty-one of the 27 EU member countries are opposed to
changing the EU rules to permit U.S. poultry.
Sweden which usually doesn’t register interest in agricultural import
issues indicated, according to news reports, that it is one of the 21 member
states that will vote against the proposal.
The Commission’s proposal is scheduled for a June 2 vote by the
Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health on the Toxicology of the
Food Chain. May 30, 2008 NCC Newsletter
Listening sessions welcome input to create vision
for ag - - By CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura - - Many challenges face
agriculture in the 21st century, including invasive pests and diseases,
water shortages, urban encroachment and trade issues. But no challenge is
greater than renewing the commitment to agriculture and its fundamental role
in society. We have witnessed intense debates over renewal of the federal
farm bill and deliberations in California over the Delta and its future.
Food shortages in other countries have resulted in starvation, social unrest
and hoarding. Yet, for many
Californians, walking into a grocery store or a local farmers' market and
selecting seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, meat and dairy
products is taken as a birthright. Through outreach and education, consumers
and policymakers alike need to understand and support agricultural policies
that will ensure this continuing abundance of food, fiber and fuel that
benefits everyone.
<more>
May 30, 2008 Capital Press
Farmers, others give board earful on Calif. agriculture needs - - Localized agriculture, government regulations, land values and public education were the most prominent subjects raised at a California Board of Food and Agriculture listening session in Sacramento on Thursday. The event was the second in a scheduled six-session series, part of an effort by the state Department of Food and Agriculture to create a strategic plan that will guide state policy through 2030. The agency describes the effort as unprecedented in California. About 40 members of the public spoke. They represented industry associations, local governments and family farms. Many spoke of the importance of locally grown food, citing its value in boosting local commerce and educating the public about the costs and challenges of producing food. <more> May 30, 2008 Capital Press
Thursday, May 29, 2008
California turkey production up 4% in 2007
- - California turkey production totaled 445 million pounds (live
weight) in 2007, up 4 percent from the 428 million pounds raised in 2006.
Value of production, at $196 million was down 1 percent from the $197
million realized in 2006. The annual average price per pound in 2007
was 44.0 cents, compared with 46.0 cents in 2006. Nationally, the value of
turkeys produced during 2007 was $3.71 billion, up 4 percent from the $3.57
billion the previous year. Turkey production in 2007 totaled 7.87
billion pounds, up 5 percent from the 7.46 billion pounds produced in 2006.
The average price received by producers during 2007 was 47.2 cents per
pound, compared with 47.9 cents in 2006. May 29, 2008 USDA NASS
California egg production dips slightly in 2007
- - Egg producers in California produced 4.94 billion eggs in 2007,
slightly below the 4.96 billion produced in 2006. The value of eggs
produced totaled $324 million, an increase of 52 percent from the previous
year’s revised production of $213 million. Nationally, the value of all egg
production in 2007 was $6.68 billion, up 51 percent from the $4.43 billion
in 2006. Egg production totaled 90.6 billion eggs, down 1 percent from
the 91.3 billion eggs produced in 2006. In 2007, all eggs averaged 88.5
cents per dozen, compared with 58.2 cents in 2006. May 29, 2008
USDA/NASS
E.U. agency recommends chlorine-treated chicken
- - European Union nations should allow the sale of poultry meat
that has been treated with chemicals to clean it of bacteria, recommended
the European Commission on May 28. The change of rules - - proposed
primarily to accommodate the import of U.S. chicken treated with chlorine,
which has been banned since 1997 - - must still receive unanimous support by
food security experts from the E.U.'s 27 member states. Such approval,
however, is not certain. France remains opposed to chemical treatment of
chicken meat and several other countries have voiced doubts about the need
to change the rules. Poultry is cleaned in the E.U. without using chemicals.
<more> May 29, 2008 MeatNews
Some avian flu H7 viruses growing more human-like
- – Scientists have found evidence that North American avian
influenza viruses of the H7 subtype are becoming more like human flu viruses
in their ability to attach to host cells, which suggests they may be
improving their capacity to infect humans. The investigators determined that
several recent North American H7 viruses have an increased ability to bind
to a type of receptor molecule that is abundant on human tracheal cells and
is less common in birds. Their results were published this week by the
Proceedings of the National Academies of Science. The finding—which comes as
the deadly Eurasian H5N1 virus continues to be seen as the likeliest
candidate to spark a pandemic—"underscores the necessity for continued
surveillance and study of these [North American H7] viruses as they continue
to resemble viruses with pandemic potential," says the report. The study was
done by scientists from the US Centers for disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), Emory University in Atlanta, and the Scripps Research Institute in La
Jolla, Calif.
<more> May 29, 2008 Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy
Be prepared for activist infiltration -
- How many strangers have been to your farm lately? What do you do if
someone - even an employee you've had for a few months - begins to act
suspiciously? Steve Kopperud, from Policy Directions, a Washington, D.C.
advocacy group that specializes in animal production issues, provided good
advice for farmers and ranchers as well as agribusinesses that might be the
target of activist infiltrators. It almost comes down to the point of "trust
no one."
<more> May 29, 2008 Capital Press
Food prices to rise 9 percent a year: analyst
- - U.S. food prices will rise a stiff 9 percent a year through
2012, the largest increase since 1979 and the result of record-high crop
prices, the head of an economic consulting company said on Thursday. The
projections by Bill Lapp of Advanced Economic Solutions are higher than the
latest U.S. Agriculture Department forecast of 5 percent for this year. USDA
and Lapp have increased their estimates by 1.5 percentage points since
February. During a telephone news conference, Lapp said he was completing a
new analysis of food and commodity prices. He foresaw average corn prices of
$5.25 a bushel through 2012, with wheat around $6.50 and soybeans near $11.
"When I do that analysis and look at the relationship between that and food
prices, I get a 2008-12 average annual rate of increase in the consumer
price index for food of 9.0 percent," he said.
<more> May 29, 2008 Reuters
Ag invited to weigh in on
priorities. CDFA hosts listening sessions open to public in May, July
- - Everyone in California that produces, ships, markets, processes, eats or
drinks California agriculture products is invited to share their visions for
the state's largest industry at a series of listening sessions. The
sessions, hosted by the State Board of Food and Agriculture and the
California Department of Food and Agriculture, will be in May and July.
Agriculture industry and public input shared at the sessions will guide the
board in forming a public policy and investment priorities at the state and
national level for the next 20 years.
<more> May 29, 2008 Capital Press
White House issues climate report 4 years late - - Under a court order and four years late, the White House Thursday produced what it called a science-based "one-stop shop" of specific threats to the United States from man-made global warming. While the report has no new science in it, it pulls together different U.S. studies and localizes international reports into one comprehensive document required by law. The 271-page report is notable because it is something the Bush administration has fought in the past. White House associate science director Sharon Hays, in a teleconference with reporters, declined to characterize the findings as bad, but said it is an issue the administration takes seriously. She said the report was comprehensive and "communicates what the scientists are telling us." <more> May 29, 2008 AP
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Poultry slaughter up 11% on the year - - The
United States Department of Agriculture reports that the amount of poultry
certified wholesome during April 2008 was 3.758 billion ready to cook pounds,
up 7% from March's 3.511 billion and 11% larger than April 2007's 3.697
billion. The bulk of the total was young chickens at 3.179 billion pounds,
followed by turkeys at 520.292 million and mature chickens at 48.032 million
pounds. That brings the year to date total to 14.572 billion pounds, that's an
increase of 7% from January to April 2007's 15.584 billion. The preliminary
live weight totaled 5.042 billion pounds, compared to 4.735 billion a month
ago and 4.593 billion a year ago. Most of that were young chickens at 4.374
billion pounds, with turkeys at 653.814 million and mature chickens at 76.741
million. The year to date total live weight is 19.601 billion pounds, compared
to 18.345 billion during the same period last year.
<more> May 28, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Chicken fight pits burger titan vs. poultry's 2nd
banana - - In the fast-food business, imitation isn't just a form of
flattery — it's a proven way to increase sales. The Taco Bell value menu, for
instance, gave rise to the Wendy's Super Value Menu, the McDonald's Dollar
Menu and the Burger King Value Menu. The Angus beef burger from Back Yard
Burgers begat similar burgers at McDonald's, Burger King and Hardee's. In the
latest appropriation of a popular product, McDonald's has just introduced a
Southern Style Chicken Sandwich — one that looked suspiciously like the
signature sandwich of the Chick-fil-A chain. "We knew this was coming," said
Don Perry, a Chick-fil-A spokesman.
<more> May 28, 2008 NY Times
EU proposes lifting ban on US chicken - - The
European Commission proposed on Wednesday to accept poultry washed in
chlorine, which would in effect lift a ban on US chicken despite stiff
opposition from EU nations, consumers and farmers. Under the proposal, poultry
disinfected with chlorine and three other chemicals would only be allowed in
the 27-nation European Union under extremely strict conditions. The practice
of disinfecting chicken meat with the solutions, which would have to be
clearly labelled on packaging, would also be allowed only for an initial two
years while more scientific checks are carried out. "The commission is
convinced that based on this decision we can now authorize the use of these
substances in question," spokesman Johannes Laitenberger told journalists.
<more> May 28, 2008 AFP
Agricultural research and extension symposium set for June 18-19- - At a symposium June 18-19 in Sacramento, agriculture professionals and policymakers will get a first look at new research that shows the rate of growth of public funding for agricultural research and extension has declined and the rate of growth in agricultural productivity is also slowing. A soon-to-be-released study by agricultural economists Julian Alston of UC Davis, Philip Pardey of the University of Minnesota and Jennifer James of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, shows that from 1949 to 2002, in inflation-adjusted terms, total U.S. public spending on agricultural research grew by 1.85 percent per year, but from 1991 to 2002, spending growth slowed to only 0.43 percent per year. Research and development spending in California's state agricultural experiment station also slowed dramatically in the 1990s. <more> May 28, 2008 UC Press Release
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Study finds California initiative would
be disastrous - - A proposed ballot initiative that will be put to
California voters in November would, if passed, close down most egg producers
in the state, including cage-free and organic producers, and it would force
California consumers to buy eggs from out-of-state producers - eggs that would
be shipped from states thousands of miles away, if not from other countries,
according to a study released last week by the Pacific Egg & Poultry Assn. (PEPA)
and the United Egg Producers (UEP). It would also cost the state almost 3,400
jobs and $615 million in economic activity, the study concluded. The
initiative, if passed, "would create many unnecessary and wide-sweeping
changes (in) almost every aspect of the California egg farming sector and
would have an equally negative and widespread effect on consumers, local
economies and the state tax base," said Tom Earley, an economist with Promar
International and chief author of the study.
Click here to download study
(PDF file)
May 27,
2008
Battling Bird Flu By The Numbers - - A pair of
Los Alamos National Laboratory theorists have developed a mathematical tool
that could help health experts and crisis managers determine in real time
whether an emerging infectious disease such as avian influenza H5N1 is poised
to spread globally. In a paper published recently in the Public Library of
Science, researchers Luís Bettencourt and Ruy Ribeiro of Los Alamos’
Theoretical Division describe a novel approach to reading subtle changes in
epidemiological data to gain insight into whether something like the H5N1
strain of avian influenza—commonly known these days as the “Bird Flu”—has
gained the ability to touch off a deadly global pandemic. “What we wanted to
create was a mathematically rigorous way to account for changes in
transmissibility,” said Bettencourt. “We now have a tool that will tell us in
the very short term what is happening based on anomaly detection. What this
method won’t tell you is what’s going to happen five years from now.”
<more> May 27, 2008 ScienceDaily
Pullet
production workshops in Modesto, Riverside May 28-29 - -
Two
pullet production workshops sponsored by Alltech will be held Wednesday May 28 in Modesto
and Thursday May 29 in Riverside. The workshop topics include:
“The
Economic Justification for Raising More Replacement Pullets” by Don Bell
“The
Importance of Gut Health from Day One” by Dr. Tim Cummings
“New
Tools to Help Combat Gut Health Challenges” by Dr. Colm Moran
“Optimizing Growth to Achieve Target Body Weights” by Dr. Nancy Reimers
“Feeding
Pullets to Obtain Optimum Production” by Dr. Sheila Scheideler.
The
Modesto meeting will be held Wednesday May 28 at the DoubleTree Hotel from 9:30
a.m. to 2 p.m. The Riverside meeting will be held Thursday May 29 at the Cask n’
Cleaver Restaurant, 1333 University Avenue from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. RSVP to
Nick Adams at (559) 226-0405 or
nadams@alltech.com
Growing opposition to allowing
imports of US 'chlorinated' chicken - - The French Agriculture Minister
has added his voice to increasing concerns over a controversial proposal to
lift a ban on US poultry imports. The decision to ban poultry imports from
the USA into the EU was put in place 10 years ago due to health concerns
about antimicrobial agents used by American processors. France has been
vocal in its absolute opposition to lifting the ban and has shown no signs
of altering its view. Speaking to Reuters, French Agriculture Minister
Michel Barnier said: "The position has not changed. The Americans can do
what they like but we will do what we want. There's no aim to export the
American model to Europe."
<more> May 27, 2008 Farmers Weekly Interactive
Campaigns haul in ag dollars. Valley congressmen
benefit from agribusiness. - - San Joaquin Valley congressmen know how
to harvest serious cash from the region's agribusiness leaders. It comes
with the territory, so to speak. While none of the Valley's House members
faces a serious challenge, all have been diligently stockpiling their
campaign war chests. For all four Valley incumbents, agribusiness remains
the leading and most reliable source of funds. Roughly one out of every four
dollars raised by the Valley's House members can be attributed to
agribusiness, records compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive
Politics show. For instance, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, raised $534,564 from
the beginning of 2007 through March 31. Of this, agribusiness accounts for
$157,122. In a similar vein, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, raised $588,813
through March 31. Agribusiness accounts for $182,790. Rep. Devin Nunes,
R-Visalia, raised $755,236 through March 31. Of this, agribusiness accounted
for $263,082.
<more> May 27, 2008 Fresno Bee
Animal testing is no cause for threats - -
Biomedical researchers in California and across the country face increasing
threats of violence, harassment and intimidation from activists opposed to
research with animals. The University of California, Davis, has taken
significant steps to increase security and ensure that researchers can
continue their work in safety. A bill passed by the state Assembly and
currently before the Senate, Assembly Bill 2296, takes some additional steps
toward protecting scientists who carry out lawful, well-regulated research
from attacks on their homes and families. Recent months have seen incidents at
UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz including attempted fire-bombings,
vandalism, harassment and intimidation. In Santa Cruz, six masked intruders
tried to break into a biology professor's house during a child's birthday
party. We cherish free speech and free inquiry. Individuals have the right to
express their views, including in protest. But violence, threats and
intimidation cross the line and are unacceptable.
<more>
May 27, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Red Cross warns of food riots over soaring prices - - The Red Cross warned Tuesday of a possible surge in "food-related violence" because of soaring prices that are increasing hunger around the world. Most of the debate surrounding the global food crisis has focused on boosting aid to poorer countries, but there is also concern about the potential for violence as people become desperate for food, said Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Kellenberger, whose agency serves as the guardian of the Geneva Conventions on the rules of war, said fallout from rising prices has already sparked violence, alluding to food riots that erupted in Haiti, Egypt and Somalia. <more> May 27, 2008 AP
Friday, May 23, 2008
Egg producer buried thousands of hens
illegally, Stanislaus officials say. Officials say composting operation
lacked permit - - Dead hens, possibly
numbering in the thousands, were illegally buried in a trench by a
Ceres-area egg producer, Stanislaus County officials said Thursday. The
carcasses were dumped at Niemeyer Farms on Crows Landing Road before the
practice was halted about three weeks ago, said Sonya Harrigfeld, director
of environmental resources for the county. "We issued a cease-and-desist
order to them," she said. "My staff witnessed dead carcasses on the ground."
Owner Jack Niemeyer said the burial was part of a legal composting operation
for hens past their egg-laying prime. "We're converting it to fertilizer to
market," he said. Harrigfeld said composting livestock is illegal without a
permit from the California Integrated Waste Management Board. Niemeyer Farms
is not on the state agency's online list of permitted composting sites.
Plan to reduce soot in valley air OK'd with extra
requirements -- State air officials Thursday approved a disputed
valley cleanup plan for deadly soot, adding some requirements that,
nevertheless, did not satisfy worried activists. The California Air
Resources Board told valley air officials to find any possible further
restrictions for boilers, food dehydrators, glass furnaces and farm diesel
engines. The cleanup plan for soot, known as PM-2.5, will be sent to the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is expected to approve it. The
plan calls for San Joaquin Valley air to meet the federal-PM 2.5 standard by
2014. The valley ranks alongside the South Coast Air Basin with the worst
PM-2.5 problems in the state.
<more> May 23, 2008 Modesto Bee
$4 per gallon and no relief in sight
- - Just days before the Memorial Day weekend, the average price of
a gallon of regular gasoline in California has pushed past the $4 mark - and
prices are expected to climb even higher in the next few weeks. The average
price in Alaska, New York, Connecticut and Illinois also recently reached
$4, and with the national average at $3.83, analysts believe $4 gas could
spread nationwide this summer. Nationally, the price of gasoline is 61 cents
higher than it was this time last year. The pain is likely to continue, if
history is any indicator. Typically, gas prices climb in the days before
Memorial Day as demand picks up and refineries switch to a cleaner and more
expensive fuel blend for summer. Prices usually continue to rise through
July 4, hold steady for a time and then drop around Labor Day.
<more>
Pullet
production workshops in Modesto, Riverside May 28-29 - -
Two
pullet production workshops sponsored by Alltech will be held May 28 in Modesto
and May 29 in Riverside. The workshop topics include:
“The
Economic Justification for Raising More Replacement Pullets” by Don Bell
“The
Importance of Gut Health from Day One” by Dr. Tim Cummings
“New
Tools to Help Combat Gut Health Challenges” by Dr. Colm Moran
“Optimizing Growth to Achieve Target Body Weights” by Dr. Nancy Reimers
“Feeding
Pullets to Obtain Optimum Production” by Dr. Sheila Scheideler.
The
Modesto meeting will be held Wednesday May 28 at the
DoubleTree Hotel from 9:30
a.m. to 2 p.m. The Riverside meeting will be held Thursday May 29 at the Cask n’
Cleaver Restaurant, 1333 University Avenue from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. RSVP to
Nick Adams at (559) 226-0405 or
nadams@alltech.com
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Environmental, consumer and industry groups urge Congress to
focus on food-to-fuel impacts - - A group of major environmental,
retail, consumer and food industry organizations joined leading economists
today to stress the wide-ranging and real effects of US food-to-fuel policy
on the nation’s economy, consumers and environment. In a call with reporters
this morning, seven national organizations and two agriculture experts
stressed that current US food-to-fuel policies have driven up prices for
corn and affected consumer prices, land use and prospects for future price
inflation. They called on Congress to revisit current US biofuels
policy. “Thanks largely to ethanol policies, feed costs for poultry have
increased more than 85% in the last two years, resulting in a more than half
billion dollar impact on the poultry industry,” said Joel Brandenberger,
President of the National Turkey Federation. “The proof is in the
figures. You can go to a supermarket in some areas and find that a
turkey breast product that a year ago cost $5.50 now costs $7. This is
having a real impact on working families who are trying to make a food
budget.” Richard Lobb, communications director for the National Chicken
Counsel, agreed. "The cost of making feed for chickens has gone up an
incredible 75 percent since the fall of 2006," said Lobb. "The overall
cost of raising a chicken has gone up 45 percent. This is almost
entirely because of the ethanol-driven increase in the cost of corn and
other grains. If anything, the situation will get worse because the
full impact of rapidly rising grain prices is still being factored into the
production cost of chickens."
Congress Overrides Presidential Farm Bill
Veto, 14 of 15 Farm Bill Titles Enacted Into Law - - House
Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Ranking
Member Bob Goodlatte of Virginia issued the following statement today:
"Following veto override votes of 316-108 in the House and 82-13 in the
Senate, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 has been enacted into
law, with the exception of the bill's trade title. The trade title was
included in the conference report passed by Congress but was inadvertently
left out of the official copy of the farm bill that the President vetoed.
Today, the House also took action to correct the clerical error that
resulted in the unintentional omission of the trade title from the enrolled
farm bill and ensure that the entire farm bill is enacted into law swiftly.
Most of the farm bill is now law and the Administration can begin
implementing the new programs and policies immediately.”
Democrats planning a farm bill redo Thursday - - Democrats are picking up the pieces after an embarrassing technical gaffe that delayed a triumphant rejection of President Bush's veto of a massive farm bill. Members from both parties hoped to bring the $290 billion bill - which includes election-year subsidies for farmers and food stamps for the poor - back to their districts over Memorial Day. But that is looking less likely now that the legislation will have to be passed all over again due to a printing error. The House on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly, 316-108, to override Bush's veto of the legislation earlier in the day. The Senate had been expected to follow suit quickly, but action stalled after the discovery that a 34-page section of the legislation had been omitted from the printed bill sent to the White House. That means Bush vetoed a different bill from the one Congress passed, raising questions that the eventual law would be unconstitutional. <more> May 22, 2008 AP
FSIS Posts Compliance Guideline for Controlling
Salmonella and Campylobacter in Poultry - - The compliance guide
includes the following changes:
* Addition of guidance for the control of Campylobacter
both at pre-harvest and during slaughter processing;
* Updated information regarding progress on
implementation of the Salmonella verification program;
* Information for controlling Salmonella Enteritidis at
pre-harvest provided in Appendix A;
* Information on current research by FSIS and the
Agricultural Research Service; and
* Examples of case studies as additional ways of
validating a plant's food system.
To view the Compliance Guideline for Controlling
Salmonella and Campylobacter in Poultry on FSIS' Web site, go to
www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Compliance_Guideline_Controlling_Salmonella_Poultry.pdf
May 22, 2008 American Meat Institute Release
Scientific American Magazine: U.S. Should End
Corn-to-Ethanol Subsidies
Common Foodborne Pathogen In Poultry Finds
Resistance To Antibiotic Used By Humans
- - Recent studies have shown a connection between people who became
infected with Campylobacter jejuni, a pathogen found in poultry, and their
contact with certain chicken products that contained the pathogen. It also
turned out that the Campylobacter jejuni from those products was becoming
resistant to ciprofloxacin, a synthetic antibiotic used by humans to fight
bacterial infections. The prevalence of Campylobacter – which is a major
cause of foodborne illness – is common on raw poultry. Of these bacteria
only Campylobacter jejuni is predominantly pathogenic to humans. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture recommends thorough cooking of poultry as a
safeguard against pathogenic contamination.
<more>
Electricity Forecast Points to Adequate Summer
Supply - - Californians are expected to have adequate power this
summer, even if the state experiences warmer than normal temperatures,
according to a California Energy Commission analysis. In its electricity
demand forecast, Summer 2008 Electricity Supply and Demand Outlook, the
Commission concluded that ample resources should be available to meet
statewide peak loads and that operating reserves will be sufficient even
with a very warm summer. "While California is in a good position this
summer, even with lower hydro electricity available, we urge consumers to
continue conserving electricity on hot afternoons," commented Melissa Jones,
California Energy Commission's Executive Director. "Energy efficiency
measures will help consumers reduce their electricity use during peak hours
and save money."
<more> May 22, 2008 CA Energy Commission Press Release
Sales tax rise favored over lottery plan
- - California residents overwhelmingly oppose Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
idea to tap the state lottery to close a $15 billion state budget deficit
and believe the state is heading in the wrong direction, according to a new
poll. The survey conducted recently by the Public Policy Institute of
California contains grim news for the governor and legislators, whose
approval ratings are declining along with the state's fiscal fortunes.
"People are worried," said institute president Mark Baldassare, "and they
want something to be done."
<more>
May 22, 2008 San Jose Mercury News
Bid to curb legislative raises dies - -
State legislators killed a plan Wednesday to ban legislative pay raises in
lean fiscal years. The Senate Rules Committee decision came hours after Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger called the proposal a "good idea." The proposed ballot
measure by Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, would have prohibited raises
for legislators and constitutional officers when the state faces an
operating deficit. Maldonado portrayed Senate Constitutional Amendment 23 as
a symbolic move as lawmakers consider cuts to social services and other
state programs.
<more>
May 22, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
House overrides Bush veto on farm bill - -
The House has overridden President Bush's veto of a $290 billion farm bill
and senators soon may follow suit. It was only hours before the House's
316-108 vote Wednesday that Bush had vetoed the five-year measure. He said
it was too expensive and gave too much money to wealthy farmers when farm
incomes are high. The legislation includes election-year subsidies for
farmers and food stamps for the poor - spending that lawmakers could promote
when they are back in their districts over the Memorial Day weekend.
<more> May 21, 2008 AP
Bush vetoes
farm bill
- - President Bush
vetoed the $300 billion farm bill on Wednesday, calling it a tax increase on
regular Americans at a time of high food prices in the face of a
near-certain override by Congress.
It was the 10th veto of
Bush's presidency. But since it passed both houses of Congress with
veto-proof majorities, his action will likely be overridden.
The president believes the
legislation is fiscally irresponsible and gives away too much money to
wealthy farmers, yet his criticism rang hollow with lawmakers from both
parties who voted for increased crop subsidies, food stamps for the poor and
other goodies to help their districts in an election year.
White House spokeswoman
Dana Perino said lawmakers should think twice before they override Bush's
veto. "Members are going to have to think about how they will explain these
votes back in their districts at a time when prices are on the rise," she
said. "People are not going to want to see their taxes increase."
<more> May 21, 2008 AP
Poultry Producers Hope Chicken Prices Take Wing
- - It has been a tough year in the poultry business, with supply
outpacing demand and feed-grain prices going through the roof. But producers
are hoping all that changes when the barbecues come out of hibernation. The
seasonal upswing in chicken consumption, along with the anticipated jump in
spot-market poultry prices, could bring some relief to producers whose
profit margins have been gobbled up by surging corn and soybean-meal costs.
Rising feed-grain prices, accelerated by the diversion of corn to make
ethanol, have pushed up the cost of producing a live chicken by as much as
65% over the past two years, according to Clint Rivers, CEO of Pilgrim's
Pride Corp., the No. 1 U.S. chicken producer by volume. But food-industry
analysts are starting to show cautious optimism in the market after a long
winter of poor returns, betting that the business is finally ready to
rebound. Some analysts forecast price increases in the spot market can
outpace rising commodity costs in the short term, and maybe in the long
term.
<more> May 21, 2008 CattleNetwork.com
Taking a stand on foie gras - - I don't have
a problem with foie gras, just as I don't have a problem eating meat.
However, I try to know where my product comes from and only eat meat from
animals that are humanely treated. I know that's still difficult to do, but
I try my best. I'm an animal lover, so I respect and appreciate the work of
the activist groups that bring these problems to light and make us all more
sensitive to abuse and cruelty. I'm not a vegetarian, but I've thought about
it a lot. To me, the solution is to become an advocate for how animals are
raised, and be willing to pay the extra price.
<more> May 21, 2008 SF Chronicle
Pullet
production workshops in Modesto, Riverside May 28-29 - -
Two
pullet production workshops sponsored by Alltech will be held May 28 in Modesto
and May 29 in Riverside. The workshop topics include:
“The
Economic Justification for Raising More Replacement Pullets” by Don Bell
“The
Importance of Gut Health from Day One” by Dr. Tim Cummings
“New
Tools to Help Combat Gut Health Challenges” by Dr. Colm Moran
“Optimizing Growth to Achieve Target Body Weights” by Dr. Nancy Reimers
“Feeding
Pullets to Obtain Optimum Production” by Dr. Sheila Scheideler.
The
Modesto meeting will be held Wednesday May 28 at the DoubleTree Hotel from 9:30
a.m. to 2 p.m. The Riverside meeting will be held Thursday May 29 at the Cask n’
Cleaver Restaurant, 1333 University Avenue from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. RSVP to
Nick Adams at (559) 226-0405 or
nadams@alltech.com
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
NTF praises legislation on freezing of corn-based
ethanol mandate - - The National Turkey Federation today released the
following statement by NTF President Joel Brandenberger on Texas Sen. Kay
Bailey Hutchison’s legislation regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard: “The
National Turkey Federation (NTF) and its members commend Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchison, R-Texas, for introducing legislation to freeze the corn-based
ethanol mandate at 9 billion gallons for 2008. If passed, Sen. Hutchison’s
action would allow for badly needed adjustments in the Renewable Fuel Standard
(RFS). While even stronger measurers ultimately will be needed, this
legislation represents an important first step in making needed adjustments to
our nation’s renewable fuels policy. NTF supports all legislative and
regulatory action that will help relieve the escalating feed costs, which have
affected the cost of poultry and livestock production, and ultimately affected
food costs. Senator Hutchison’s actions, along with requests from the
governors of Texas and Connecticut for RFS adjustments, are significant
developments in the effort to restore balance and common sense to the nation’s
renewable energy policy.” May 20, 2008 NTF Press Release
Congress Sends Farm Bill to White House - -
Congress sent H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 to
President Bush today. The bill passed the House of Representatives with a vote
of 318-106 and passed the Senate with a vote of 81-15 last week. "I hope that
President Bush will seriously consider the many positive steps this bill takes
to improve nutrition programs that are important to so many Americans,
particularly during these difficult economic times; to expand and improve
conservation programs that help farmers protect the environment; to continue
and improve the safety net for farmers; to support fruit and vegetable
producers and to encourage renewable energy production from cellulosic
sources," Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson said. "We made every
effort to work with Administration officials throughout the Farm Bill process,
even when they showed no interest in coming to compromise on these important
issues," Chairman Peterson said. "While the President has pledged to veto the
bill, I hope that the strong, bipartisan votes in the House and Senate will
demonstrate its importance to the American people and lead him to sign it into
law." The current extension of the 2002 Farm Bill expires on Friday, May 23,
2008. May 20, 2008 House Ag Committee Press Release
Most EU states opposed to ending ban on US poultry:
official - - The vast majority of EU states are opposed to lifting an
import ban on US poultry, an official said Monday, less than a week after
the European Commission said it would propose scrapping the measure. Their
opposition flies in the face of a drive by EU Industry Commissioner Guenter
Verheugen to introduce a proposal to lift the ban, in place since 1997 over
health fears about a chlorine washing process common in the United States.
The issue has been a source of contention in EU-US trade relations and the
German commissioner has led efforts to get it lifted, stirring tensions
within member states and the European Commission.
<more> May 20, 2008 AFP
CSU’s Bender honored with teaching award- - Dr.
Mark Bender, CSU Stanislaus’ Agriculture Studies Chair, was presented with a
Teaching Award of Merit from the North American Colleges and Teachers of
Agriculture (NACTA). Dr. Eric Houk presented the award at the Agriculture
Studies’ Student Appreciation Dinner Wednesday, May 14. The award recognizes
exemplary teaching and is the highest level of recognition a faculty member
can receive from the institution. Houk nominated Bender for the award. This
marks the second major award Bender has received this year, the first being
the Honorary State FFA Degree presented to him at the 2008 State FFA
Conference. May 20, 2008 CSU Release
This week in 1944: The chicken cannon - - It is
one of industry's enduring urban myths: UK engineers firing dead chickens at
the windscreen of a new high-speed train were tersely advised to 'defrost
the chicken' when their tests saw the feathered projectile crash through the
window, smash up the driver's seat and become embedded in the wall of the
cabin. Whatever the provenance of this particular tale, this piece from The
Engineer's archive demonstrates that protecting windscreens from
bird-strikes has exercised the industry's finest minds for longer than
readers might expect.
<more> May 20, 2008 The Engineer
Pullet
production workshops in Modesto, Riverside May 28-29 - -
Two
pullet production workshops sponsored by Alltech will be held May 28 in Modesto
and May 29 in Riverside. The workshop topics include:
“The
Economic Justification for Raising More Replacement Pullets” by Don Bell
“The
Importance of Gut Health from Day One” by Dr. Tim Cummings
“New
Tools to Help Combat Gut Health Challenges” by Dr. Colm Moran
“Optimizing Growth to Achieve Target Body Weights” by Dr. Nancy Reimers
“Feeding
Pullets to Obtain Optimum Production” by Dr. Sheila Scheideler.
The
Modesto meeting will be held Wednesday May 28 at the DoubleTree Hotel from 9:30
a.m. to 2 p.m. The Riverside meeting will be held Thursday May 29 at the Cask n’
Cleaver Restaurant, 1333 University Avenue from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. RSVP to
Nick Adams at (559) 226-0405 or
nadams@alltech.com
Monday, May 19, 2008
Chicken industry may face $8 corn: Pilgrim CEO
- - The U.S. chicken industry, which has been cutting production in
reaction to higher feed costs, may have to contend with even higher feed
prices this year, Pilgrim's Pride Corp Chief Executive Clint Rivers said
during a webcast presentation on Thursday. "I think today the industry is
thinking in terms of placing (chickens) for $6 corn when I think we should
realize the potential for $8 corn is certainly there and I think we should
be in a position to deal with that," Rivers told analysts at the BMO Capital
Markets agriculture and protein conference in New York City. Pilgrim's Pride
(PPC.N) is the largest U.S. chicken producer and recently announced it was
cutting production about 5 percent, largely in reaction to higher feed
costs.
<more> May 19, 2008 Reuters
USDA says ethanol not to blame for high food
prices - - U.S. Ag Secretary Ed Schafer and Chief USDA Economist Joe
Glauber held a press conference with reporters Monday in Washington D.C. in
an effort to counter the false idea that biofuels are the primary cause of
food price inflation. The move comes amid a continued tidal wave of
mainstream media reports suggesting corn-based ethanol is responsible for
everything from food riots in Haiti to higher movie ticket prices here at
home. Schafer attempted first to put into perspective the role of corn in
the overall U.S. food system. He noted that the President's Council of
Economic Advisers had determined higher corn prices were responsible for
just 3% of the total food price cost increase seen globally this year. And
Schafer added that corn, by itself, plays a relatively minor direct role in
American food production. "While corn is the feedstock for over 90% of the
biofuels that we produce, it is actually an ingredient in less than
one-third of the everyday food items that we track," Schafer said.
<more> May 19, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
70 roosters dead after Stanislaus County
cockfight bust - - Deputies busted up a cockfight Sunday in an orchard
east of Denair, citing five men and finding about 70 roosters, more than
half of them dead, authorities reported. "It was like a regular party," said
Sgt. Larry Seymour of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. "There
were drugs left behind, steroids for the roosters. And little campsites with
beer and sodas. There was a vendor out there making carnitas and selling
fruit." About 45 birds were dead when officers arrived. Animal Control
officers euthanized the 25 that were found alive in the orchard, several
miles off East Keyes and Bledsoe roads, Seymour said. The Sheriff's
Department learned about the fights Sunday when the rancher who owns the
property was told by an employee about the gathering. The Sheriff's
Department has had multiple calls about rooster fights in the same area
during the past few weeks, Seymour said.
<more> May 19, 2008 Modesto Bee
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Congress Passes Protections for Chicken Growers in
Farm Bill - - The House voted Wednesday to give small chicken
farmers more power in their dealings with large poultry companies. The
provision was tucked into the $290 billion farm bill. The poultry measures,
which have attracted far less notice in the farm bill debate, would affect
the contracts small chicken growers sign with big poultry companies like
Tyson and Purdue. The provision that passed Wednesday would ban mandatory
binding arbitration, allowing poultry growers to retain their option of
going to court to settle disagreements.
<more> May 15, 2008 Media General News Service
Tough budget decision shifted to voters.
Expand lottery or face sales tax hike? - - Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger once again wants voters to bail out the state. The Republican
governor in 2004 relied on Californians to authorize bonds to pay off the
state deficit. In 2005, he unsuccessfully asked them to institute spending
control measures in a special election. Now he wants voters to expand the
California Lottery and borrow against future profits to help plug a $15.2
billion hole in the state budget. He proposed Wednesday giving them a choice
that critics considered more of a veiled threat: approve his lottery plan in
November or face a one-cent sales tax increase.
<more>
May 15, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Consumer prices up slightly – but food's a costly
exception - - Consumer prices rose only 0.2 percent in April, but
the tame number masked an ugly reality for poorer Americans: Food prices
rose almost 1 percent for the month, the highest monthly jump since 1990,
and were up 5 percent from a year ago. Wednesday's inflation report from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics was sure to prompt debate for another reason: It
showed gasoline prices falling 2 percent in April, something most motorists
would sharply dispute.
<more> May 15, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Farmers' markets offer carbon credit - -
They're a consumer choice for freshness and slimming down food bills. Now,
farmers' markets are attracting business from people who want to trim their
carbon footprint and buy local. At the farmers' market in downtown
Sacramento Wednesday, vendors were busy selling cherries, specialty cheeses,
nuts, flowers and other farm goods to customers at Cesar Chavez Park.
Kate Martin, who rode her bike to the market, said buying direct from
farmers has become more important. "It is just having that connection with
the people who have grown the food that I am eating. I think another huge
factor is wanting to reduce the impact that my consumption has on the
environment," Martin said as she sampled specialty cheeses. "I think eating
locally reduces the amount of oil that is need to ship food long distances.
It is just a more sustainable way of eating."
<more>
May 15, 2008 Capital Press
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Santa Rosa chef’s ‘Screaming’ Gobble’ sushi roll
wins NTF trendsetter award - - The National Turkey Federation (NTF) has
revealed the second “Turkey Trendsetter,” Sushi Chef Omar Martinez of Tex
Wasabi’s Rock-N-Roll Sushi BBQ, Santa Rosa, featuring his exotic Screamin’
Gobbler sushi roll recipe. Housed on
www.EatTurkey.com , the “Trendsetter” area celebrates the creativity of
culinary professionals from across the country and the innovative ways they’ve
incorporated turkey into their menus. Chef Martinez describes Tex Wasabi’s as
a place where “East and West come together to throw a non-stop party and enjoy
a variety of unique flavors. We blend California style sushi and Southern BBQ
for a one of a kind food, with a funky and hip atmosphere.” Martinez’s entire
interview and Screamin’ Gobbler recipe will be available at
www.EatTurkey.com beginning in
June. To access current “Turkey Trendsetter” information, go to the
“Foodservice” area of www.EatTurkey.com
and click on the “Turkey Trendsetter” tab. May 14, 2008 NTF Press Release
Chicago City Council reverses foie gras ban - - With Mayor Richard Daley running the vote, the Chicago City Council on Wednesday repealed its controversial ban on foie gras. Over the shouted objections of Ald. Joe Moore (49th), the ban's sponsor, the council used a parliamentary manuever to put the ordinance on the floor for a vote. The council voted 37-6 to repeal the two-year-old ban, which critics argued had made Chicago--and the City Council--a national laughingstock. Ald. Thomas Tunney (44th), a restaurant owner, forced the vote on the measure that prohibits restaurants in the city from serving the delicacy made from the engorged livers of ducks or geese. <more> May 14, 2008 Chicago Tribune
How new U.S. biofuel legislation will subsidize oil
consumption - - New U.S. energy legislation mandates the use of renewable
fuel but calls for continuing current biofuel subsidies that will cost
taxpayers billions of dollars. The subsidies -- tax credits -- by themselves
encourage ethanol production as a replacement for oil-based gasoline
consumption. Instead, the tax credits will play a major role in
unintentionally subsidizing gasoline consumption. This contradicts the new
energy bill's stated objectives of reducing dependency on oil, improving the
environment and enhancing rural prosperity.
<more>
May 14, 2008 Environmental News Network
Conservation award nominations sought - -
Nominations are being sought for the 2008 Leopold Conservation Award. The
award recognizes California farmers and ranchers who demonstrate outstanding
stewardship and sustainable management of natural resources, and includes
$10,000 from the Sand County Foundation in partnership with Sustainable
Conservation and the California Farm Bureau Federation. The Leopold
Conservation Award is presented in honor of famed conservationist and author
Aldo Leopold, who called for an ethical relationship between people and the
land they own and manage. Nominations are considered in two categories:
Crops and Livestock. The judges will recognize a finalist in each category,
and the 2008 Leopold Conservation Award winner will be announced on December
8, 2008 at the California Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting in
Burlingame, Calif. The deadline for nominations is July 9, 2008. For more
information, visit
www.leopoldconservationaward.org , email
suscon@suscon.org or call (415)
977-0380. May 14, 2008 Sustainable Conservation Press Release
SF Animal Welfare Commission Wants to Outlaw
Cruel Art - - Still fuming over the San Francisco Art Institute's recent
exhibition of videos showing six different animals being bludgeoned to
death, the city's Animal Welfare Commission is proposing a law that would
treat art that abuses animals like child pornography: If an animal is harmed
for the purpose of making art, it would be a criminal offense to display or
possibly even keep in San Francisco. Even if the animal cruelty happens
outside San Francisco, artists could still face criminal charges in the city
under the proposal. "It doesn't have to be an issue of art or free speech;
this is based on what's already illegal," said Commissioner Christine
Garcia, who proposed the measure, at the commission's meeting last week. "If
there's something out there that's so horrendous, we shouldn't encourage an
industry to glamorize it, to publicize it, to profit off of it."
<more> May 14, 2008 SF Weekly
Tyson Plans To Lay Off 190 At Virginia Plant - - Tyson Foods will lay off 190 workers at its Hanover County poultry processing plant next month, as the company adds new equipment to streamline production. The company will make the permanent layoffs on June 13. They will impact about one-fourth of the plant's staff, and target workers who debone and package chicken. Spokesman Gary Mickelson says the Arkansas-based company is adding equipment and eliminating deboning jobs. Tyson's Hanover facility employs nearly 800 people, and includes a processing plant, feed mill and hatchery. Workers will be paid for 60 days from Tuesday. They will be encouraged to apply for open jobs at other Tyson plants. May 14, 2008 AP
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Turlock egg company: Activist coerced workers
-- Gemperle Farms accused an animal rights group of staging an undercover
video that shows employees abusing hens, claiming that the footage was
manipulated and workers were coerced. "We have reviewed the video images
claiming to represent our practices, and find the accusations to be a
staged, vicious attack on our reputable company," Gemperle Farms said in a
statement released Monday. "We are continuing to investigate and now know
our employees were coerced by the activist to engage in behavior that is
against our high standards for hen welfare for the sole purpose of filming a
sensational video," it said. Gemperle family members were not available for
comment Monday. The video was released last week by Mercy for Animals, a
Chicago-based activist group. Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy for
Animals, defended the video Monday as "100 percent" authentic. He said that
if Gemperle Farms did not retract its statement, the group would sue for
libel.
<more> May 13, 2008 Modesto Bee
To read the complete
Gemperle Farms statement,
please
click here.
Trader Joe's stops carrying California farm's eggs
after alleged chicken abuse shown on video -- Trader Joe's announced
Thursday that it will stop carrying eggs from a central California farm
where an animal rights group shot undercover video showing chickens being
mistreated by workers. Footage released earlier this week by the
Chicago-based nonprofit Mercy for Animals showed hens at Gemperle
Enterprises' farms confined in crowded metal cages with rotting bird
corpses. The Monrovia-based chain decided against carrying Gemperle eggs
because "it is of utmost importance that all of our vendors abide by
industry established animal care practices," Trader Joe's spokeswoman Alison
Mochizuki said.
<more> May 12, 2008 AP
Iowa meatpacking plant raided in ID theft
investigation - - At least 300 people were arrested Monday on immigration
and identity theft charges at Agriprocessors, one of the USA's largest packing
plants for kosher meats. Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
entered the Agriprocessors complex in this northeast Iowa community of 2,500
during morning work hours, executing warrants for fraudulent use of others'
Social Security numbers in connection with their employment at the plant. The
packing plant has attracted workers from Mexico, Russia, Ukraine and
elsewhere.
<more> May 13, 2008 The Des Moines Register
No beef with chicken sales. Burger giant McDonald's
is betting that chicken will be a hit at breakfast too - - McDonald's
Corp. wants you to believe that chicken is the next great American breakfast
meat. Sound far-fetched? Remember, this is the company that revolutionized the
chicken world with the McNugget, and two years ago slapped some poultry in a
tortilla, called it a Snack Wrap and created one of the hottest concepts in
fast food. McDonald's just launched a marketing blitz for a new fried-chicken
breakfast biscuit and fried chicken sandwich, each dubbed Southern-style. It's
one of the company's biggest product launches in the past two years and marks
the debut of chicken on McDonald's breakfast menu.
<more> May 13, 2008 Chicago Tribune
EU executive commission to back lifting 11-year ban
on US poultry imports -- The European Union's executive commission will
recommend that member countries lift an 11-year ban on U.S. poultry imports
that has cost American producers an estimated $180 million a year in lost
sales.EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said Tuesday a new scientific
report did not support the ban. "After having received the scientific opinion,
which does not provide the basis for a continuation of the import ban, the
(European Commission) will make the necessary proposal in order to lift the
ban," Verheugen said. Europeans have not been eating American chickens for 11
years due to a ban imposed after health concerns. The EU had objected to the
American practice of washing chickens in a chlorine solution, saying it
threatens public health and the environment.
<more> May 13, 2008 AP
What Does The Label On Your Chicken Really Mean?
- - Buying chicken these days is not like it used to be. With labels like
“100 percent natural,” “organic,” “grain-fed,” and “free range,” many
consumers don’t really know what they’re buying. According to the USDA —“100
percent natural” means the poultry doesn’t contain artificial ingredients like
preservatives. But experts warn—there are no guarantees. “100 percent
natural—remember—no inspections are done. So we don’t know if those claims are
really true,” says Shannon Wallace, R.D., registered dietitian with Baylor
University Medical Center at Dallas. Chicken labeled as “organic” must meet
much stricter standards. Inspections are conducted and organic chicken cannot
contain artificial ingredients, hormones or antibiotics. But are those really
harmful to consumers?
<more> May 12, 2008 Science Daily
Bass becomes speaker, makes history - -
Democrat Karen Bass was sworn in Tuesday as state Assembly speaker, becoming
the first African American woman in the nation's history to lead a legislative
house. Minutes afterward, she laughed when asked how long she expected the
honeymoon to last. She glanced at her watch. "I think it's probably about
over," Bass said, laughing. "I may have another two hours."
<more>
May 13, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Torrico is new majority leader - - Assemblyman
Alberto Torrico, who campaigned hard for the speakership, has landed a pretty
good consolation prize: majority leader. That is the number two post in the
Assembly. The Newark Democrat told his local paper, the San Jose Mercury News,
"I'm very humbled by the appointment; I'm honored by it, and I'm looking
forward to working with Speaker Bass confronting California's growing
problems.”
<more> May 13, 2008 Sacramento Bee
President Bush renews farm bill veto threat - -
After the House and Senate Agriculture Committees released the final Farm Bill
Conference Report Tuesday, President Bush issued a statement in which he
repeated his vow to veto the measure if Congress approved it and urged
Congress to pass a one year extension of the 2002 farm law. The President's
statement follows in its entirety: STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT " In January
2007, I was hopeful that leaders in Washington could come together on a good
farm bill. At that time, my Administration had completed more than fifty
listening sessions across the country and developed a reform-minded farm bill
based on the thousands of comments received. Our proposal would make wise use
of the people's money by reforming farm programs, funding emerging priorities
and providing a safety-net that better targets benefits for farmers. I am
deeply disappointed in the conference report filed today as it falls far short
of the proposal my Administration put forward. If this bill makes it to my
desk, I will veto it."
<more> May 13, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
State air board takes aim at diesel pollution -
- State air pollution regulators Monday proposed rules that would require the
owners of some 300,000 trucks to install soot filters or replace dirty
engines. The rules would cost the trucking industry billions of dollars but
save thousands of lives, the California Air Resources Board says.
"Trucks are one of the biggest, if not the biggest,
sources of diesel pollution in the state," said Tony Brasil, an air board
section manager who oversaw the rule development. The proposed rules
would target pre-2007 model trucks, requiring owners to install soot filters
-- estimated to cost $10,000 apiece -- by the end of 2010.By 2015, just about
all trucks would have to operate as cleanly as those manufactured in 2010,
Brasil said. Truckers would need to retrofit older models or, in some cases,
purchase new engines in order to comply, he said.
<more> May 13, 2008 Riverside Press-Enterprise
CDFA invites public comment on vision for state agriculture - - The California State Board of Food and Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) today launched a series of listening sessions that will provide a forum for the agriculture industry and public to provide input into California’s strategic agricultural vision planning. This vision will be used to guide public policy and investment priorities at the state and national level for the next 20 years. This important planning will affect everyone who produces, ships, processes, markets, eats, drinks or uses California agricultural products. “California has always been the land of innovation and opportunity – now is the time to be innovative and bring many different voices and views together to create a mutual understanding of food, fiber and fuel policy and how it can be beneficial to all,” said A.G. Kawamura, Secretary, CDFA. <more> May 13, 2008 CDFA Pres Release
Friday, May 9, 2008
Farm bill offers cornucopia of items -- The five-year farm bill completed Thursday is a multibillion-dollar grab bag. If it survives a threatened presidential veto, the bill is estimated to cost $286 billion over five years and roughly $600 billion over 10 years. Over the next decade, 73% of the funds will go for food stamp and nutrition programs. The bill will easily exceed 1,000 pages when it is finally published Monday prior to next week's House and Senate votes, and undoubtedly some surprises are yet to be discovered. Many of the most crucial items, though, have already been spelled out. These include: <more> May 9, 2008 Fresno Bee
Denham says he'll keep campaigning - -
State Sen. Jeff Denham said Thursday he intends to campaign through Election
Day despite Senate leader Don Perata's decision to drop his bid to recall
the Merced lawmaker. On the day after Perata made his surprise announcement
in what he said was an effort to jump-start state budget talks with
Republicans, the campaign was still running television ads. Campaign
spokesman Paul Hefner said television stations were notified Wednesday night
"to pull the ads immediately." But he said it was taking time to get the
word out because Denham's sprawling 12th Senate District has three
television markets: Sacramento, Fresno and Salinas-Monterey.
<more>
May 9, 2008 Sacramento Bee
California Grown cookbook highlighted on San Diego
TV show - - A recipe from the California Grown online cookbook was
promoted Wednesday on the NBC morning news show in San Diego.
The recipe promoted in the segment was one created by San Diego chef
Stephan Voitzwinkler of Mister A’s Restaurant that featured turkey,
asparagus, avocados, and oranges. Wine and cut flowers were also included in
the segment. The video can be viewed
by clicking here. This is the first media opportunity for the Experience
California online cookbook. The California Grown outreach will continue
through the end of June in the Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and
Fresno markets promoting the other recipes and products included in the
online cook book. May 9, 2008 California Grown Notice
Food price rise could last another two year -- You may have to get used to paying more for your groceries for another two years or more. Experts say an increase in global food consumption combined with increasing use of crops such as corn and soybeans for alternative fuel production are partly to blame. Agricultural economists who've studied food price fluctuations cite historical trends that show run-ups in farm commodity prices typically happen in five-year cycles. Prices flare up in the first two to three years of the cycle and then start to moderate by the fourth or fifth year, said Chris Hurt, agricultural economist at Purdue University. <more> May 9, 2008 CNNMoney.com
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Schwarzenegger asked to
support waiver of renewable fuel standards - - The California
Poultry Federation, the Pacific Egg and Poultry Association and other
California livestock groups have called on Gov. Schwarzenegger to support
Texas Governor Rick Perry’s request to the federal government for a 50%
waiver from the federal renewable fuel standard (RFS) mandate for ethanol
produced from grain in an attempt to get relief from high food costs. “The
mandates created under the RFS are significantly damaging our nation’s
ability to produce safe and nutritious animal protein and dairy products,”
said the livestock groups in a letter sent to the governor. “Immediate
action must be taken to waive 50 percent of the RFS, as allowed under the
Energy and Security Act of 2007. This will help to avoid future cost
increases for corn and allow the market to naturally dictate the price of
corn without the artificial demand set by the RFS.”
California’s livestock industry relies heavily on an abundant supply
of corn to produce nutritional feed for livestock.
California livestock producers import nearly 100 percent of corn used
to produce feed rations because California’s corn production is unable to
meet the 301 million-bushel supply needed annually by livestock producers to
produce beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, swine and poultry.
With the considerable rise of the cost of corn, livestock producers
have been forced to decrease production and are declaring negative profits.
Corn ethanol byproducts, such as Distillers grain, serve as a poor
feed substitute for corn because they are deficient in nutrients and for
every three pounds of corn put into the distiller only one pound of
Distillers grain is produced.
The letter said waiving 50 percent of the RFS will also help
alleviate widespread increases in the cost of food for U.S. consumers as
well as help alleviate the international humanitarian crisis that has been
created due to a dramatic increase in the production of corn for ethanol in
place of other crops traditionally grown for human consumption.
Tulare May Get Kosher Chicken Plant - -
An L.A. based start-up firm is planning a kosher chicken production plant in
Tulare. The facility is a new 50,000-square-foot “Leed certified” building
on Walnut just south of Bardsley in the Tulare Business Park. The plant
would process up to 100,000 birds a day in what would be the first West
Coast kosher poultry plant. The new company will be called House of David
Poultry. The project is headed by former Israeli chicken businessman Hillel
Shamam, an orthodox Jew who will bring the kosher style of raising and
slaughtering chickens for the U.S. market to Tulare.
<more> May 8, 2008
Valley Voice Newspaper
Chicken producers rise on analyst’s rating
- - Shares of chicken producers climbed higher on Tuesday after a
Stephens Inc. analyst boosted her rating on shares of both Pilgrim's Pride
Corp. and Sanderson Farms Inc., saying recent production cuts should help
boost profits. Analyst Farha Aslam raised her rating to "Overweight" from
"Equal Weight" on both companies' shares and said lower production
throughout the chicken industry will likely help chicken prices rise enough
to boost earnings and help companies pay for more expensive animal feed.
<more> May 8, 2008 AP
Lawmakers finish farm bill as White House repeats
opposition - - Congressional negotiators announced a final
agreement on a $300 billion farm bill Thursday, as the White House and key
conservatives continued to signal opposition to the legislation. Married
farmers with joint incomes of up to $1.5 million a year could still qualify
for crop subsidies under a $300 billion House-Senate compromise that would
boost the Department of Agriculture's food and farm programs. President Bush
has vowed to veto it as too expensive and too generous to wealthy farmers.
Jim Nussle, director of the White House budget office, stopped short of
saying Bush will veto the bill Thursday but said the legislation still
spends too much, relies on budget gimmicks and "doesn't have hardly enough
reform." "For those reasons, it would still be something that the
administration would oppose," Nussle said.
<more> May 8, 2008 AP
North Carolina Gov. Easley to seek poultry worker
changes - - North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley will ask lawmakers next
week for additional money, staff and authority to determine how often North
Carolina's poultry workers are hurt on the job and whether companies are
treating them humanely. Easley's proposals, outlined by top staffers in an
interview Wednesday, come in response to a series of Observer stories
highlighting working conditions in the poultry industry, where workers say
those hurt on the job are routinely ignored, threatened or fired.
<more> May 8, 2008 Charlotte Observer
U.S. pressure on Europe to lift poultry ban
threatens to backfire - -
American pressure for a quick end to a decade-long Europe-wide ban on U.S.
poultry imports threatened to backfire Thursday after European officials
contradicted claims that the dispute was almost resolved.
C. Boyden Gray, the U.S. special envoy on European
affairs, said Thursday that the United States considered that a "fix will be
in progress" as the two sides hold a low-level meeting next week to discuss
trans-Atlantic trade issues, citing assurances that he said were provided as
long ago as last June by the European Union's industry commissioner, Günther
Verheugen. "I have no reason to doubt what they say," said Gray.
<more> May 8, 2008 International Herald Tribune
Denham recall backers give
up; question will remain on the ballot - -
Backers of the push to oust Republican state Sen. Jeff Denham of
Atwater on Wednesday abandoned their recall campaign, although their effort
still will appear on the June 3 ballot. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata,
an Alameda Democrat, announced that he would end the recall campaign to help
lawmakers focus on the state's budget deficit and other pressing issues.
"This is my call -- and my best judgment about how to
stop the long, slow slide into another long stalemate," Perata said in the
statement, adding that his decision was not part of any agreement with state
Republicans.
<more> May 8, 2008 Modesto Bee
Local backers say they won't let go of Denham recall effort - - Local organizers of the recall effort against State Sen. Jeff Denham say they're not abandoning the cause, even after state officials have said they are doing so. Gary Robbins, a local Democratic Party activist who signed the petition that began the recall process of signature gathering, said volunteers across all the counties in Denham's 12th district plan to carry on. "Nothing's going to slow down on this," said Robbins, who lives in Modesto. "The people here want to have a vote." Robbins said there are several hundred campaign volunteers working for the recall, and there are still plans for such events as phone banks and precinct walks. <more> May 8, 2008 Modesto Bee
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Farm bill negotiators say they have reached
agreement - - Negotiators on a five-year, $300 billion farm bill say
they have reached a tentative agreement on the legislation and it will be
considered by the House and Senate next week. But the Bush administration
has objected to the bill, and the White House says it seems unlikely that
Congress will pass farm legislation the president can sign. President Bush
has said the bill is "bloated" with farmer subsidies in a time of record
crop prices and is too expensive. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom
Harkin, D-Iowa, said after meetings Wednesday that the negotiating is
finished, but he acknowledged that some minor issues remain unresolved.
<more> May 7, 2008 AP
'Chickens Are Treated Well,' Farmer Responds.
Farms Accused Of Animal Cruelty, Abuse - - A farmer said "that's how you
dispose of chickens" in response Tuesday to allegations animal cruelty was
conducted at his Central Valley egg farm. Ernie Gemperle, the patriarch of
his family egg business in Hilmar, is upset after a video was released by
the animal rights group Mercy for Life showing, among other things, gassing
of chickens and a worker kicking a bird with his shoe. To view video report,
click here. "I believe our chickens are treated very well," Gemperle
said. "I'm in the business for 57 years, we have improved conditions for
birds every year."
<more> May 7, 2008 KCRA-TV Sacramento
Group alleges chicken abuse. Gemperle Farms chief
questions video - - An animal rights group claimed Tuesday that it has
undercover video evidence of hens being abused at Gemperle Farms, a major
egg producer. The grainy footage shows close-ups of hens with festering
sores and birds being roughly pushed and pulled in and out of cages. At one
point, a worker stomps on a hen and then kicks it into what the video
describes as a manure pit. Company president Steve Gemperle questioned
whether the video actually was shot at one of its farms. "It's trying to
discredit us," he told The Sacramento Bee. "My company doesn't tolerate the
abuse of animals. Abused animals don't produce eggs." The video was released
by Mercy for Animals, based in Chicago. An investigator for the group got a
job fixing cages and machines at Gemperle's egg-laying sites in Delhi and
Hilmar, the group said. The video was shot with a hidden camera in January
and February, it said.
<more> May 7, 2008 Modesto Bee
Corn futures approach record on oil's rise,
weather concerns - - Corn futures surged near a record high Tuesday
after crude oil spiked above $122 a barrel and forecasts for more rain in
the U.S. corn belt threatened to put farmers further behind in their
planting schedule. Oil's rally helped lift other commodities, with gold,
silver, wheat and rice futures all trading higher. As crude oil climbs
further into record territory, gas and alternative energy markets have also
risen, boosting profits for U.S. ethanol makers who use corn as their basic
feedstock.
<more> May 7, 2008 AP
With food costs rising, ethanol benefits now
questioned - - Just months ago, ethanol was the Holy Grail to energy
independence and a "green fuel" that would help nudge the country away from
climate-changing fossil energy. Democrats and Republicans cheered its
benefits as Congress directed a fivefold increase in ethanol use as a motor
fuel. President Bush called it key to his strategy to cut gasoline use by 20
percent by 2010. But now with skyrocketing food costs - even U.S. senators
are complaining about seeing shocking prices at the supermarket - and hunger
spreading across the globe, some lawmakers are wondering if they made a
mistake. "Our enthusiasm for corn ethanol deserves a second look. That's all
I'm saying, a second look," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., at a House
hearing Tuesday where the impact of ethanol on soaring food costs was given
a wide airing.
<more> May 7, 2008 AP
Long-Awaited Pew Report Critical of Animal
Agriculture - - The Pew Charitable Trust in association with the
Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University released the
report of The Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (CIFAP) late
last month that took animal agriculture to task on a variety of issues. The
report examined environmental, public health and welfare aspects of
production, all hot button issues among activist opponents to modern methods
of supplying meat, milk and eggs.
<more> May 7, 2008 WattPoultry.com
Farm Bill has funding for Valley air quality
projects - - Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced) and other California
lawmakers have secured in the proposed Farm Bill $150 million specifically
for air quality projects funded through the existing Environmental Quality
Incentive Program. The money targets farmers in rural counties that have not
met federal air quality standards. This includes the San Joaquin Valley,
ranked among the nation's smoggiest regions. Valley farmers could get grants
for efforts to cut pollution. This might include replacing diesel irrigation
pumps, controlling road dust and chipping orchard cuttings instead of
burning them, among other activities. "The citizens deserve to breathe
cleaner air," Cardoza said.
<more>
May 7, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Cardoza can make a difference on Farm Bill - - Swirling around the 2007 farm bill are some of the most important issues Congress will face this year -- money to feed starving children around the world, diverting food to create biofuel, subsidies for rich commodity farmers in a time of record profits, improved conservation practices, better nutrition in schools, critical research into crops and more. Rep. Dennis Cardoza, who represents parts of Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties and all of Merced County, is square in the middle of negotiations concerning these weighty issues. Cardoza reports that without his "major objections," many of the issues most important to California farmers might have been "written out of the bill." Being in position to voice those objections, and act upon them, is why his appointment as a "conferee" in the final negotiations of the bill was of such great value to San Joaquin Valley farmers. <more> May 7, 2008 Modesto Bee Editorial
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Animal rights group targets California egg
industry with undercover video - - The animal-rights group Mercy For
Animals plans to release a video today shot by an undercover worker at a
Merced County egg barn that shows hens crammed into cages, suffering from
open sores and being handled roughly and stepped on by workers. The video is
an early attempt to build voter support for a November ballot measure that
would make California the first state to ban the sort of cages that house
most laying hens. Steve Gemperle, one of the owners of Gemperle Enterprises,
whose barns are shown in the video, called the footage a politically
motivated attack on the egg industry. "It's trying to discredit us," he said
Monday. "My company doesn't tolerate the abuse of animals. Abused animals
don't produce eggs."
<more>
May 6, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Pork, chicken prices may rise in next wave of
food inflation - - Americans may be getting another helping of food
inflation, and it seems likely to come from higher prices for chicken and
pork. Overall food inflation could double this year, lifted by the rising
costs of fuel, corn and soybeans, some analysts predict. Food inflation hit
4 percent last year, up from 2.4 percent in 2006. While beef prices were
already high, chicken and pork prices didn't reflect record costs for feed
and fuel. That's poised to change as chicken and pig producers who have been
losing money slaughter more animals to decrease the supply and raise the
prices they can charge.
<more> May 6, 2008 AP
Congress examines Renewable Fuels Standard -
- Rival groups, one representing meat packers, one representing corn
farmers, offered diametrically opposed testimony on the Renewable Fuels
Standard (RFS) before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy
and Air Quality Tuesday. The American Meat Institute (AMI) testified
strongly against government support for ethanol, while the National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) vigorously defended the RFS, which mandates 15
billion gallons of ethanol use domestically by 2015. J. Patrick Boyle, AMI
President and CEO, noted high corn prices have been particularly hard on the
nation's livestock producers. And he repeated previous claims that increased production of corn-based ethanol is responsible for a recent
increase in food price inflation. "Valuing food for its energy content
instead of nutrition is adding unnecessary inflationary pressure on the U.S.
economy," Boyle said in remarks prepared for the Committee. "Congressional
and Administration leaders should develop and implement a plan to decouple
the increasing price correlation of food from fuel."
<more> May 6, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Ethanol waiver seen spiking gasoline $1/gallon
- - A proposal by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to waive half of the renewable
fuel standard for ethanol has raised the ire of some ethanol proponents, who
say it could add more than a dollar per gallon to the cost of gasoline
across the country. "The impact on gasoline prices, if you take 4.5 billion
gallons of ethanol off the market today, if (Texas) Governor Perry gets his
way, is significant," said Bob Dineen, president of the Renewable Fuels
Association, an ethanol industry group. U.S. Congress passed a 2007 law
requiring a production increase to 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol by
2015 and 36 billion gallons by 2022. Perry and others, citing rising food
prices, have said those rules should be relaxed in order to inject more corn
into the food supply for livestock and to encourage farmers to plant other
crops.
<more> May 6, 2008 Reuters
WhatCameFirst.com Gives Consumers Say in Chicken
vs. Egg Debate - - As part of the launch of its first
chicken-for-breakfast offering, McDonald’s is inviting consumers nationwide
to take part in the great chicken vs. egg debate by logging on to
www.WhatCameFirst.com (en
español at Quienfueprimero.com). The new, interactive, bilingual Web site is
built around a game application where visitors can customize egg or chicken
characters and choreograph moves for a dance off, pitting them against
friends to decide the ultimate champion: the chicken or the egg. Web site
visitors can forward animations to friends and family, and view
"man-on-the-street" video interviews from people across the country weighing
in on the question of "what came first?" May 6, 2008 McDonald’s Press
Release
Cogdill says no time for taxes - - Sen. Dave Cogdill outlined his determined stance that this is “no time to raise taxes” to balance the budget, citing the state’s sagging economy and ongoing mortgage crisis in a wide-ranging interview with Sacramento Bee reporters. Cogdill, the new Senate Republican leader, suggested California’s 2008-09 budget could be patched together through a mixture of cuts and borrowing from unspent money the state currently controls, including in voter-approved accounts for transportation, mental health and pre-kindergarten services. “This economy is struggling,” said Cogdill, whose district includes Modesto. “To put tax increases on people at this time makes absolutely no sense to us.” <more> May 6, 2008 Modesto Bee
Monday, May 5, 2008
Court Orders Tyson to Suspend Ads For
Antibiotic-Free Chicken - - Poultry giant Tyson Foods has 14 days to
dismantle a national multimillion dollar ad campaign centered on the claim
that its chickens are raised without antibiotics, a federal appeals court in
Richmond ruled yesterday. Tyson, based in Springdale, Ark., will have to
remove posters and brochures from 8,500 grocery stores nationwide. "We're
disappointed the motion for a stay has been denied and are evaluating our
legal options," said Gary Mickelson, a spokesman for Tyson Foods. "We
continue to believe we have acted responsibly in the way we have labeled and
marketed our products and intend to stand our ground." The ruling is a
setback for Tyson in its ongoing battle with two of its competitors
Sanderson Farms, based in Laurel, Miss., and Perdue Farms, based in
Salisbury, Md. The two companies jointly sought an injunction to stop
Tyson's ad campaign, arguing the "raised without antibiotics" claim misleads
consumers by making it appear Tyson's chicken is safer or more healthful.
<more> May 5, 2008 Washington Post
Pilgrim's Pride posts loss, blames rising feed
costs - - Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the nation's largest chicken producer,
said Monday its second-quarter loss widened from a year ago as it paid more
for feed and took a restructuring charge. Pilgrim's Pride also said its U.S.
business would probably lose money in the current quarter, and it might be
summer 2009 before the company returns to normal operating profit margins.
Poultry producers are trying to raise prices to offset higher feed costs,
but without much success. The company said the average price it received
last quarter for boneless skinless breast meat was 4 percent lower than a
year ago, although it has recently begun to rise. The company has said it
will cut production by 5 percent this year, and several other producers plan
cutbacks, which are designed to force chicken prices higher.
<more> May
5, 2008AP
Senators ask EPA to reconsider ethanol output
mandate - - Senate Republicans on Monday asked environmental regulators
to use their power to halt the country's ethanol output expansion plans amid
rising food prices. Twenty-four Republican senators, including presidential
candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona, sent a letter to the Environmental
Protection Agency suggesting it waive, or restructure, rules that require a
five-fold increase in ethanol production over the next 15 years. Congress
passed a law last year mandating a ramp-up to 15 billion gallons of corn
ethanol by 2015 and 36 billion by 2022. But McCain and other Republicans
said those rules should be waived to put more corn back into the food supply
for livestock, and to encourage farmers to plant other crops.
<more> May 5, 2008 AP
Ethanol defended by President Bush - -
President Bush on Friday defended his emphasis on ethanol to help the nation
meet its energy needs even though increased production of the corn-based
biofuel has been blamed for contributing to sharp increases in food prices.
"As you know, I'm a ethanol person," he said, explaining his belief that it
can help reduce U.S. dependence on oil. "It makes sense for America to be
growing energy." The president made his comments during a 20-minute speech
and a rare, lengthy question-and-answer session with employees of a
high-tech manufacturer.
<more> May 3, 2008 LA Times
Candidates sought for CDFA egg shell advisory
committee -- CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura is announcing four vacancies
on the Shell Egg Advisory Committee. The committee makes recommendations to
the secretary on all matters pertaining to the Egg Quality Control Program,
including quality standards for shell eggs, uniformity of inspection,
administrative fees and the annual budget. The four vacancies are for
industry members. Those wishing to apply must be a registered egg handler
or be a representative of a registered egg handler. The term of office for a
committee member is three years. Committee members receive no compensation,
but are entitled to payment of necessary traveling expenses in accordance
with the rules of the Department of Personnel Administration. Individuals
interested in being considered for an appointment to the committee should
send a brief resume by May 23, 2008 to the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, Egg Quality Control Program, 1220 ‘N’ Street, Sacramento, CA
95814, Attention: Anthony Herrera. For questions concerning these vacancies
or additional information on the Egg Quality Control Program, please contact
Anthony Herrera, Program Supervisor, Egg Quality Control Program at (916)
445-4243; e-mail: therrera@cdfa.ca.gov
May 5, 2008 CDFA Press Release
Sen. Denham. targeted in recall, draws wide support -- Donald Benart runs a business in Rialto, hundreds of miles from the Central California district of state Sen. Jeff Denham, and has never met the Republican lawmaker who represents this farming area. But Benart recently wrote a $100 check to help save Denham's political career. So did Russell Alston of West Covina and Jeffrey Skinner of Northridge and Jay Garacochea of Santa Monica, none of whom lives within 200 miles of Denham's district. The decision by state Democratic leaders to bankroll a recall campaign against Denham, after he refused a request to vote for the state budget to break a prolonged stalemate last summer, has galvanized Republican activists throughout California. State Republican leaders are organizing buses so activists from Southern California can walk precincts for Denham in Merced, Turlock, Salinas and other areas of the 12th Senate District. <more> May 5, 2008 LA Times
Friday, May 2, 2008
Court agrees Tyson chicken antibiotic claims must
stop - - A federal appeals court refused to block an order barring Tyson
Foods Inc. from advertising that its poultry products don't contain
antibiotics thought to lead to drug resistance in humans. The 4th Circuit
Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., denied on Wednesday a motion by Tyson to
stay the order pending appeal. The Springdale, Ark., food giant had asked the
court to stay a ruling by a Baltimore judge, who issued a preliminary
injunction last week barring the advertisements while the case is pending.
Charles Hansen of the Truthful Labeling Coalition, whose members are Perdue,
Sanderson and Livingston, Calif.,-based Foster Farms, said his group had asked
the USDA to rescind approval for labeling with the statement "Raised without
antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans."
<more> May 2, 2008 AP
2008 farm bill all but wrapped-up - - Congress
finally made a lot of progress on the next farm bill after a six-hour
meeting Thursday night that stretched into Friday morning. There are now
just nine farm bill policy issues that are unresolved and congressional
staffers are expected to work those out over the weekend. Highlights of the
bill include a big increase in nutrition and food aid spending. More than
two-thirds of the roughly $290 billion the farm bill will spend over the
next five years will go to feed America's school children and the needy. The
new farm bill does have some new safety net provisions for ag producers,
including a $3.7 billion permanent ag disaster aid program, an optional
revenue-based counter-cyclical pilot program beginning in 2010 and an
increase in target rates and loan rates for various commodities.
<more> May 2, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Greenhouse gas emissions standards for long-haul
trailers under development - - The California Air Resources Board is
currently developing a measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
heavy-duty long-haul tractors and trailers. The proposed measure
specifically applies to tractors over 33,000 pounds gross vehicle weight that
pull 53-foot box-type trailers and 53-foot box-type trailers used in long-haul
transportation. This measure, which is based on the voluntary SmartWay(SM)
Program developed by The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA),
aims to improve transportation efficiency by requiring technologies that
reduce aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance. In addition to requirements
applicable to truck operators, this measure will also require logistics
companies to ensure that operators they contract use only compliant tractors
and trailers within California. To find more information about this proposed
measure, please visit
http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/smartway/smartway.htm To receive updates
about this proposed measure, please join the email list at
http://www.arb.ca.gov/listserv/smartway.htm May 2, 2008 ARB
Notice
Modesto, Merced breathe a bit easier. Cities move
down list of places with worst smog in U.S. - - Modesto and Merced still
are among the 25 cities in the United States with the most smog. But the brown
stuff wasn't as thick from 2004-06, which moved the two cities down the
national list. Modesto went from 13th to 21st on the list, according to the
American Lung Association's State of the Air 2008 report, released today.
Merced dropped from sixth to 17th. The Los Angeles area was the smoggiest,
followed by Bakersfield, Visalia and Houston. Fresno and Sacramento were fifth
and sixth, respectively. The nation's oldest voluntary health organization
issues the report card every year to call attention to the health hazards of
breathing dirty air and to let people know which places in the United States
have the least pollution.
<more> May 2, 2008 Modesto Bee
Foes of Hanford ethanol plant sue - - The
dispute over a controversial ethanol plant in Hanford is headed to court,
after opponents of the project filed suit. For months, residents and
environmentalists strongly opposed the request by Great Valley Ethanol LLC to
build the facility that would produce 60 million gallons of ethanol per year.
In March, the Hanford City Council gave the Bakersfield-based energy company a
big boost when members approved the group's environmental impact report and
conditional use permit for the project at Iona and 10th avenues. Construction
was to begin this summer, but that plan could be delayed after The Association
of Irritated Residents, or AIR, a group of people throughout the Central
Valley, filed suit last month in Kings County Superior Court.
<more> May 2, 2008 Fresno Bee
All salmon fishing banned on West Coast - - Salmon fishing was banned along the West Coast for the first time in 160 years Thursday, a decision that is expected to have a devastating economic impact on fishermen, dozens of businesses, tourism and boating. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez immediately declared a commercial fishery disaster, opening the door for Congress to appropriate money for anyone who will be economically harmed. The closure of commercial and recreational fishing for chinook salmon in the ocean off California and most of Oregon was announced by the National Marine Fishery Service. <more> May 2, 2008 SF Chronicle
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Court rules Tyson chicken antibiotic claims must
stop - - A federal appeals court has refused to block an order barring
Tyson Foods from advertising that its poultry products don't contain
antibiotics thought to lead to drug resistance in humans. The Fourth Circuit
Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, denied Tyson's appeal Thursday. The
Springdale, Arkansas, food giant had asked the court to stay a ruling by a
federal judge in Baltimore, who issued a preliminary injunction last week. The
lower court ruling was a victory for rivals Perdue Farms and Sanderson Farms,
who are suing to stop the advertisements. The two companies say the
advertisements are misleading because none of the companies uses those types
of drugs and shoppers could be led to think other companies use the drugs.
May 1, 2008 AP
New clean-air rules for trucks set off battle
between enviros, industry - - As the nation focuses on greenhouse gas
regulations set into motion by landmark legislation in 2006, state regulators
are set to pass a less-publicized, wide-reaching rule on emissions from diesel
busses and trucks that business groups say could cost billions of dollars to
implement. Environmentalists hailed the state Air Resources Board after its
staff released a draft of the new regulations earlier this year-the first such
rules in the nation. But following a public hearing last Friday, the
regulations were modified in the wake of howls of protest from business
groups-a move that immediately kindled environmentalists' suspicions. A
critical piece of the draft regulation required some truckers' engines to be
replaced twice in nine years in order to comply with the rule, but that
language has been eliminated from the draft regulation, the ARB said.
<more> May 1, 2008 Capitol Weekly
Air board OKs new PM 2.5 plan. Activists say
strategy to clean up soot, debris will take too long, may not work.- - The
regional air board Wednesday adopted a new cleanup plan for soot and chemical
debris that cause early death for more than 1,000 Valley residents each year
-- but activists say it will take too long and might not work at all. The fine
particles would drop to safe levels by 2014, officials said. The plan tightens
rules on fireplace burning, glass-melting furnaces and even commercial
charbroilers. But the cleanup relies on pollution reductions expected from a
proposed diesel truck rule that state officials have not even passed yet. The
Valley has one of the state's worst problems with fine particle pollution,
called PM-2.5, which is at its highest levels in fall and winter. Some of the
specks come from fires and vehicles, but much of the Valley's PM-2.5 problem
occurs when chemicals combine in the air.
<more> May 1, 2008 Fresno Bee
Cargill Meat cited for violations. Fresno
slaughterhouse one of 2 lunch-plan providers charged. - - Charges of
humane handling violations have been brought against Cargill Meat Solutions, a
Fresno slaughterhouse, as well as another large beef processor that provides
meat for the National School Lunch Program. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a "letter of concern"
to the Fresno plant because of alleged flaws in a chute meant to guide cattle.
Regulators said it caused some animals to balk, requiring handlers to prod
them along. "The issue was the design of the chute area that led up to the
knock-box where the animals are rendered unconscious, shackled and then bled
out," said FSIS spokeswoman Amanda Eamich.
<more> May 1, 2008 Fresno Bee
Delta canal measure put on hold - - An Assembly committee on Tuesday shelved legislation to build a canal around the suffering Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, telling the bill's author to try again next year. Two years in the making, Senate Bill 27 tackled a subject so politically charged that author Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, carefully avoided using the "P" word – Peripheral Canal – as he presented the bill as a way to shore up state water supplies without harming the environment. But with environmentalists, farmers and Delta-area interests all opposed for different reasons, the legislation went the way of so many other water bills – to the shelf to wait for more studies. "We don't know what will fix this yet … so to leap to the conclusion that it is a conveyance facility and to focus attention on that I think truly is premature," said Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, chairwoman of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. <more> April 30, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Siphoning Off Corn to Fuel Our Cars - - Erwin
Johnson picks up a clump of the dark, rich soil that he has farmed for 35
years, like his father and grandfather before him. In a few months, this
flat expanse of northern Iowa will be crowded with corn ready to be trucked
to market. A year ago, that market got a little closer -- and a lot better.
Instead of sending his corn to a barge company to be shipped down the
Mississippi River for export, Johnson now loads it into an open truck and
sends it two miles up the gravel road to a hulking new ethanol distillery
that he can see from his field. The plant is paying him $5.50 or more a
bushel, more than twice as much as Johnson could get just a couple of years
ago. "This is a fantastic time to be farming," Johnson says. "I'm 65, but I
can't quit now." Across the country, ethanol plants are swallowing more and
more of the nation's corn crop. This year, about a quarter of U.S. corn will
go to feeding ethanol plants instead of poultry or livestock. That has
helped farmers like Johnson, but it has boosted demand -- and prices -- for
corn at the same time global grain demand is growing.
<more> April 30 ,2008 Washington Post
Farm bill conferees crafting veto-proof bill -
- A new farm bill really is taking shape and not everyone’s going to like
it. Yet it may have to have enough support to overcome a Presidential veto
and it probably won’t be on the President’s desk much before May 16th.
That’s just some of what National Association of Farm Broadcasting members
attending their annual Washington Watch meeting in the nation’s capitol
heard Wednesday morning from the so-called “Four Principals” who are
negotiating the new farm bill, House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson,
ranking House Ag Committee Republican Bob Goodlatte, Senate Ag Committee
Chairman Tom Harkin and ranking Senate Ag Committee Republican Saxby
Chambliss.
<more> April 30, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Innovative water ideas floated at Fresno event
- - The companies involved with the Fresno-based Claude Laval Water and
Energy Technology Incubator have developed some innovative ways to save
water and energy, from complex irrigation management software and
solar-powered pumps to simple ideas like a lower-flow shower head. This
week, those companies showcase new developments in a field that organizers
hope will continue to create jobs and prosperity in the central San Joaquin
Valley.
<more> April 30, 2008 Fresno Bee
CSU Stanislaus Ag Chair Mark Bender receives top
state FFA honor - - Dr. Mark Bender, Agricultural Studies Department
Chair at California State University, Stanislaus, was recently awarded the
Honorary California State Future Farmers of America (FFA) Degree at the 2008
California FFA Conference in Fresno. As the recipient of the highest award
bestowed by the California State FFA Association on April 19, Bender was
recognized for his lifelong work with high school agriculture students and
the FFA, as well as his statewide efforts for agricultural education at both
the secondary and post-secondary levels. He has more than 36 years of
service in agricultural education, including seven years at CSU Stanislaus
as Founding Chair of the Agricultural Studies Department in the College of
Humanities and Social Sciences, and was one of only three selected for the
statewide honor this year. April 30, 2008 CSU Stanislaus Press Release
Emptying the Breadbasket. For decades, wheat was
king on the Great Plains and prices were low everywhere. Those days are over.
- - At Stephen Fleishman's busy Bethesda shop, the era of the 95-cent bagel
is coming to an end. Breaking the dollar barrier "scares me," said the
Bronx-born owner of Bethesda Bagels. But with 100-pound bags of North Dakota
flour now above $50 -- more than double what they were a few months ago --
he sees no alternative to a hefty increase in the price of his signature
product, a bagel made by hand in the back of the store."I've never seen
anything like this in 20 years," he said. "It's a nightmare." Fleishman and
his customers are hardly alone. Across America, turmoil in the world wheat
markets has sent prices of bread, pasta, noodles, pizza, pastry and bagels
skittering upward, bringing protests from consumers.
<more>
April 30, 2008 Washington Post
Agriculture a potential terrorist target - - The whole premise of the International Symposium on Agroterrorism last week, sponsored by the FBI, was that agriculture could be the target of a terrorist attack. * Food and fiber contributed $1.25 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2006. About 24 million Americans are employed in some aspect of agriculture, points out John Clifford, deputy administrator of the USDA’s Veterinary Services/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. * An agroterrorist attack would cause major economic disruption and put fear into the minds of consumers, Clifford said. * Proposed funding for the Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative will increase by $81 million in the next fiscal year to $264 million. “We believe this is the highest-priority mission we are carrying out on behalf of the American people,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer. April 30, 2008 Dairy Herd Management
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Value of U.S. poultry production up 24% on the
year - - The United States Department of Agriculture reports that the
total value of broiler, egg, turkey, and non-broiler chicken production in
the U.S. during 2007 was $31,899,987,000, compared to the 2006 total of
$25,798,423,000, an increase of 24%. For 2007, broilers accounted for the
bulk of the total at $21.460 billion, roughly 67% of the total, eggs made up
$4.432 billion, or around 21%, turkeys accounted for 12% or $3.711 billion,
non-broiler chickens made up the remaining 1% at $50.783 million. By
category, the biggest increase was in egg production, with the value up 51%
from 2006. Broiler production gained 21% on the year and turkey production
for 2007 was 4% above 2006. Non-broiler chickens were down 6%. The price per
pound average for broilers came out at 43.6 cents per pound, compared to
36.3 a year ago, the egg value was 88.5 cents per dozen, compared to 58.2
the previous year, turkey's were pegged at 47.2 cents per pound, compared to
2006's average of 47.9. Non-broiler chickens were down two tenths of a cent
on the year at 5.6 cents per pound. April 29, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Pew Commission panel questions factory-like farms - - American agriculture must move away from its focus on large, industrial farms to reverse environmental and human health problems, a private commission reported Tuesday. The report examined the impact of what it called the widespread use of industry-like facilities, where large numbers of cattle, pigs and chickens are concentrated, often in very close quarters, for rapid growth and preparation for slaughter. "There is increasing urgency to chart a new course," concluded the report by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, which spent more than two years examining the industrial farm systems. The facilities, the report concluded, "often pose unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the animals themselves" while shifting rural America's economic power from farmers to livestock processors. <more> April 29, 2008 AP
To download a copy of the Pew Commission report,
please click here
FDA's new animal feed rules will hurt
livestock-related industries - - Tighter federal restrictions on animal
feed are expected to put added financial pressure on the livestock
production, slaughter and rendering industries. The Food and Drug
Administration's final rule banning certain materials from use in all animal
feed, which took effect April 25, will cost livestock-related industries up
to $81 million a year, according to the agency's economic analysis. Under
the new rule, the brains and spinal cords of cattle over 30 months of age -
closely linked to the transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy -
cannot be rendered for use in any animal food.
<more> April 29, 2008 Capital Press
Bush bashes farm bill, defends ethanol - -
President Bush held a Rose Garden press conference Tuesday to address the
challenges facing America’s economy, including higher food and gasoline
prices. And he took the opportunity to blast the new farm bill Congress
continues to negotiate. "Americans are concerned about rising food prices,"
said Mr. Bush. "Unfortunately, Congress is considering a massive, bloated
farm bill that would do little to solve the problem. According to President
Bush, with the agricultural economy strong and farmland are enjoying
record-high values. Thus, he said, Congress is missing an opportunity to
dramatically re-shape U.S. farm policy. "Congress can reform our farm
program and should, by passing a fiscally responsible bill that treats our
farmers fairly and does not impose new burdens on American taxpayers," the
President added.<more>
April 29, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Food scientists say stop biofuels to fight world
hunger - - Some top international food scientists Tuesday recommended
halting the use of food-based biofuels, such as ethanol, saying it would cut
corn prices by 20 percent during a world food crisis. But even as the
scientists were calling for a moratorium, President Bush urged the opposite.
He declared the United States should increase ethanol use because of
national energy security and high gas prices. The conflicting messages
Tuesday highlighted the ongoing debate over food and fuel needs. The three
senior scientists with an international research consortium pushing a
biofuel moratorium said nations need to rethink programs that divert food
such as corn and soybeans into fuel, given the burgeoning worldwide food
crisis. The group, CGIAR, is a global network that uses science to fight
hunger. It is funded by dozens of countries and private foundations.
<more> April 29, 2008 AP
California egg production up in March - - California’s egg production during March totaled 418 million, an increase of 47.0 million from February’s production, but 18.0 million below March 2007. The average number of layers during the month totaled 19.1 million, up 3 percent from last month, but 2 percent below March 2007. Eggs per 100 layers during the month were 2,193 compared to 2,003 a month earlier and 2,233 in March 2007. April 29, 2008 USDA Report
Friday, April 25, 2008
Outbreaks prompt scrutiny of frozen chicken food
labeling - - Federal food-safety officials are considering whether labels
on some frozen chicken products adequately inform consumers that the chicken
is raw and provide sufficient cooking instructions. Stuffed chicken entrees —
which look cooked because they're breaded and prebrowned so that the breading
sticks — are blamed for five salmonella outbreaks since 1998 that sickened 71
people, Minnesota health officials say. For every illness detected, more go
unreported, officials say. The latest outbreak, in Minnesota in March,
occurred even though the products' labels changed more than a year ago to more
explicitly state that the chicken is uncooked. "We've done everything we think
is appropriate, but if consumer behavior hasn't changed, we have to deal with
that," says David Goldman, assistant administrator for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
<more> April 25, 2008 USA Today
Lawsuit filed against Hanford over ethanol plant OK
- - Center for Race Poverty and the Environment (CRPE) filed a lawsuit
April 17 against the City of Hanford over its approval for the Great Valley
Ethanol plant at the city industrial park. The suit will likely halt the
project from moving forward for now. The suit argues the city did not properly
account for the impact the project has including air emissions. Not part of
any suit is Attorney General Brown's earlier criticism of the plant's CO2
emissions that have been resolved after the city's approval last month.
April 25, 2008 Valley Voice Newspaper
Sanderson Farms to build new
North Carolina
poultry complex
- -
It's a done deal - the nation's
fourth largest poultry processing company will invest $126.5 million in Lenoir
County,
North Carolina, which will
create about 1,600 jobs.
Sanderson Farms Inc., CEO
Joe Sanderson joined local officials Friday morning at Lenoir Community
College to announce his company's decision to expand its business to North
Carolina.
"It's good to be in
Carolina," Sanderson said. "It's an exciting day for you and an exciting day
for Sanderson Farms."
Sanderson Farms Inc. Board
of Directors met Thursday afternoon to discuss the move to Kinston and Lenoir
County. By 3 p.m. Thursday, the board had agreed it should build its 10th
chicken processing plant in Lenoir County.
<more> April 25, 2008 Kinston Free Press
EU warns of end to cheap food and looming global crisis- - EU development commissioner Louis Michel has warned that the days of "cheap food are over" and that the world faces a major food crisis unless there is a global response to higher prices. Speaking during the European Parliament debate on food prices in Strasbourg earlier this week, Michel said that there was a global crisis brewing. "It might be less visible than the energy crisis but it could have devastating economic and humanitarian effects, especially in Africa," said. MEPs were united in their calls for an urgent global response to rising food costs, which they said were caused by climate change, a lack of supply, higher demand and consumption and record oil prices. <more> April 25, 2008 Food Production Daily
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Tyson to Appeal Chicken Advertising Injunction
-- Tyson Foods, Inc. pledges to continue providing consumers with chicken
raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans,
despite a legal challenge by two competitors. Tyson will appeal the ruling of
a federal judge in Baltimore, who has granted a preliminary injunction against
the advertising Tyson uses to promote this line of products. The company will
also seek a stay to suspend the judge's instruction to remove point of sale
materials in stores that sell the products. "We strongly disagree with this
decision and will appeal since we firmly believe we have acted responsibly in
the way we have labeled and marketed our products," said Dave Hogberg, senior
vice president of Consumer Products for Tyson Foods. The company will now take
the legal dispute to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in
Richmond, Virginia.
<more> April 24, 2008 Tyson Press Release
Poultry cage initiative qualifies for ballot.
Similar proposal expected in Washington state - - The Farm Animal Welfare
initiative, backed by the Humane Society of the United States, will be on the
California state ballot Nov. 4. The California Secretary of State's office
announced April 9 that Californians for Humane Farms gathered enough
signatures from registered voters to qualify the measure for the ballot. The
campaign began last September. The measure asks that egg-laying hens, pregnant
sows and veal calves not be kept in enclosures that do not allow them to fully
extend their limbs.
<more> April 24, 2008 Capital Press
FDA bans certain cattle parts from all animal feed
- - U.S. makers of pet food and all other animal feed will be prevented
from using certain materials from cattle at the greatest risk for spreading
mad cow disease under a rule that regulators finalized on Wednesday. The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration, which oversees animal feed, said excluding
high-risk materials from cattle 30 months of age or older from all animal feed
will prevent any accidental cross-contamination between ruminant feed
(intended for animals such as cattle) and non-ruminant feed or feed
ingredients. The new rule takes effect in April, 2009.
<more> April 25, 2008 Reuters
FDA Issues Regulation on Animal Feeds with Added
Safeguards Against BSE - - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today
issued a final regulation barring certain cattle materials from all animal
feed, including pet food. The final rule further protects animals and
consumers against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also known as "mad
cow disease"). "This FDA action serves to further protect the U.S. cattle
population from the already low risk of BSE," said Dr. Bernadette Dunham,
Director of FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine. "The new rule strengthens
existing safeguards." The new measure builds on FDA's 1997 feed regulation,
which prohibited the use of certain mammalian proteins in ruminant feed. The
materials that can no longer be used in animal feed are the tissues that have
the highest risk for carrying the agent thought to cause BSE. These high risk
cattle materials are the brains and spinal cords from cattle 30 months of age
and older. The entire carcass of cattle not inspected and passed for human
consumption is also prohibited, unless the cattle are less than 30 months of
age, or the brains and spinal cords have been removed. The risk of BSE in
cattle less than 30 months of age is considered to be exceedingly low.
<more> April 25, 2008 FDA Press Release
Pfizer Animal Health to Acquire Animal Health Products
from Schering-Plough --Pfizer Animal Health today announced that it has
entered into an agreement to acquire multiple product franchises from
Schering-Plough Corporation covering all major animal health species including
cattle, swine, equine, and companion animal. Specifically, Pfizer Animal
Health will acquire from Schering-Plough a number of animal health products
for sale in the European Economic Area covering the following categories: *
Swine E. coli Vaccines * Equine Influenza and Tetanus Vaccines * Ruminant
Neonatal and Clostridia Vaccines * Rabies Vaccines * Companion Animal
Veterinary Specialty Products * Parasiticides & Anti-inflammatories.
<more> April 24, 2008 Pfizer Press Release
Denham files criminal complaint against Perata -
- Upping the ante in their ongoing recall battle, Sen. Jeff Denham's campaign
announced filing two criminal complaints against Senate President Pro Tem Don
Perata on Thursday. Denham is the target of a Perata-backed recall on the June
3 ballot. The first complaint targets the letter Perata, D-Oakland, sent to
several Democratic senators demanding their chiefs of staff contact a Perata
aide about political campaigning. "This is not an optional activity," read the
Perata letter.
The second complaint targets
Perata's political consultant contacting a state Senate staff member to
translate a political transcript.
<more> April 24, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Schwarzenegger says deficit worsening - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday the state budget deficit will be "probably more than $10 billion" in the next fiscal year as the state takes in lower than expected revenues in a flagging economy. The Republican governor, addressing a district attorneys' conference in Sacramento, blamed budget formulas that lock in spending increases and a downturn in the economy related to problems in the housing market. "So every time we look at our revenues, they're short," Schwarzenegger said. "And so this fiscal year, our revenues are short by $7 billion. This is this fiscal year, 2007-2008. Next fiscal year, probably more than $10 billion short. So this just shows you this is why we have such an extraordinary budget deficit. This is why we have to make all kinds of cuts across the board, if it is in education, law enforcement, health care, all those different things, because we cannot spend what we don't have." <more> April 24, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Judge halts Tyson antibiotic-free chicken
advertising -- A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday
barring Tyson Foods from advertising that its poultry products don't contain
antibiotics thought to lead to drug resistance in humans. The ruling by U.S.
District Judge Richard Bennett was a victory for rivals Perdue Farms and
Sanderson Farms Inc., who are suing to stop the advertisements.
Salisbury-based Perdue and Laurel, Mississippi-based Sanderson argued the
advertisements are misleading because none of the companies uses those types
of drugs and shoppers could be led to think other companies are using the
drugs. Bennett said he was convinced "that the consumer public is being
misled" by the "Raised Without Antibiotics" advertising.
<more> April 23, 2008 AP
State health dept provides additional details on
meat and poultry recalls - - The California Department of Public Health
(CDPH) has provided additional information affecting Class I and Class II
recalls of meat and poultry products based on statutory requirements that
became effective July 1, 2007. According to the state, any meat or poultry
supplier, distributor, processor or broker that sells meat or poultry
associated with a Class I or Class II USDA recall must immediately notify
CDPH by e-mail at FDBINFO@CDPH.CA.GOV
or by phone during normal business hours at (916) 650-6500 and provide the
department with a list of all customers who received any product subject to
the recall, including a firm name, address, contact person's name, telephone
number, fax, and email address. In addition, suppliers, distributors,
processors, and brokers shall immediately notify all customers who received
the recalled product and keep a log of these notifications to be provided to
the Department if requested. For more information, including an excel
spreadsheet with the types of information required,
click here:
April 22, 2008 American Meat Institute Notice
PETA offers $1 million for creation of test tube
chicken -- An animal rights group wants to keep chickens alive and
clucking by offering a $1 million prize for the creation of real poultry
meat that could be mass-produced in a laboratory. People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals says it is looking for commercially viable "in vitro
chicken" _ taking stem cells and growing them into poultry flesh, presumably
without the feathers and bones. The process would eliminate the need to kill
chickens for their meat, the group says. The outspoken group based in
Norfolk, Va., says on its Web site that the prize would be awarded to the
first people who create such a product in a large quantity and successfully
sell it at a competitive price in at least 10 states before June 30, 2012.
April 23, 2008 AP
Valley congressman's bill would tighten standards
on imported food -- Imported food would have to meet domestic U.S.
safety standards under a bill Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, introduced today.
Wading into a food fight that has long stymied other lawmakers, Costa and a
Republican colleague authored a bill they said would boost consumer
confidence. At least in part, the legislation would lift other states to
some food safety standards already imposed in Florida and California. "We
hope this will establish a gold standard for food safety, as well as a
standard for our foreign food supplies," Costa said. Speaking at a sparsely
attended Capitol Hill news conference, Costa and Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla.,
described their 46-page bill as a "landmark" effort to rewrite food safety
standards.
<more> April 23, 2008 Modesto Bee
Close, but no cigar, on farm bill funding yet -
- Another House-Senate Farm Bill Conference Committee meeting took place
yesterday, and it yielded much the same results as all the others so far.
Many had hoped lawmakers would announce an agreement on the funding issues
that have stymied progress on the pending farm legislation. But they were
disappointed. Instead, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin read
a statement from President Bush that urged Congress to pass a one-year
extension of the current farm bill. While not specifically saying so, the
President's statement suggested he won’t sign another short-term extension
when the current one expires at the end of this week. "He's called on us to
extend it for one year," Harkin said. "I know there are some who feel that
that might be the best thing to do," he added. "Maybe that's where we wind
up - I don't know."
<more> April 23, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Wal-Mart's warehouse chain Sam's Club limits rice purchases - - Sam's Club, the membership warehouse division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is limiting how much rice customers can buy because of what it calls "recent supply and demand trends," the company said Wednesday. The broader chain of Wal-Mart stores has no plans to limit food purchases, however. Sam's Club said it will limit customers to four bags at a time of Jasmine, Basmati and long grain white rice. Rice prices have been hitting record highs recently on worries about tight supplies as part of broader global inflation in food costs. The warehouse chain caters heavily to small businesses, including restaurants. Spokeswoman Kristy Reed said she could not comment on whether the problem was caused by short supplies or by customers stocking up in anticipation of higher prices. <more> April 23, 2008 AP
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Federal Judge Rules That Tyson's Advertising
Violates Consumer Interest - - A federal court today entered a
preliminary injunction against Tyson Foods, effectively forcing the company
to stop using its false and misleading “Raised Without Antibiotics” claim in
advertising for its poultry products. “This ruling is a victory for
consumers who want the truth when they are buying food for their families,”
said Charles Hansen of the Truthful Labeling Coalition. “It is a very
important step forward in the fight to provide consumers with accurate,
complete and meaningful information about the foods they purchase. Since
the average American consumes about 80 pounds of chicken every year, this is
a very big day for consumer choice.”
<more> April 22,
2008 TLC Press Release
Treading lighter with low-carbon diets - -
Not every student in line at the University of Redlands cafeteria was ready
for self-sacrifice to save the planet. "No hamburger patties?" asked an
incredulous football player, repeating the words of the grill cook. He
glowered at the posted sign: "Cows or cars? Worldwide, livestock emits 18%
of greenhouse gases, more than the transportation sector! Today we're
offering great-tasting vegetarian choices." The portabello burger didn't
beckon him. Nor the black-bean burger. "Just give me three chicken breasts,
please," he said -- and with that, swaggered off to pile potato wedges onto
his heaping plate. Although this perhaps wasn't the most accepting reaction,
it resulted in the desired dietary shift as Bon Appétit Management Co. rolls
out its new Low Carbon Diet in 400 cafes it runs at university and corporate
campuses around the country. Chicken, it turns out, has a lower carbon
footprint than beef.
<more> April 22, 2008 LA Times
Ethanol's Failed Promise - - The willingness
to try, fail and try again is the essence of scientific progress. The same
sometimes holds true for public policy. It is in this spirit that today,
Earth Day, we call upon Congress to revisit recently enacted federal
mandates requiring the diversion of foodstuffs for production of biofuels.
These "food-to-fuel" mandates were meant to move America toward energy
independence and mitigate global climate change. But the evidence
irrefutably demonstrates that this policy is not delivering on either goal.
In fact, it is causing environmental harm and contributing to a growing
global food crisis. Food-to-fuel mandates were created for the right
reasons. The hope of using American-grown crops to fuel our cars seemed like
a win-win-win scenario: Our farmers would enjoy the benefit of crop-price
stability. Our national security would be enhanced by having a new domestic
energy source. Our environment would be protected by a cleaner fuel. But the
likelihood of these outcomes was never seriously tested, and new evidence
has shown that the justifications for these mandates were inaccurate.
<more> April 22, 2008 Washington Post
Credit
Suisse upgrades poultry maker Pilgrims Pride, predicting higher meat prices
-- Shares of Pilgrims Pride Corp. climbed in premarket trading on Monday
after a Credit Suisse analyst upgraded the poultry company, predicting that
chicken prices will rise through 2009. In a note to investors, Robert Moskow
raised Pilgrims Pride to "Outperform" from "Neutral," proclaiming 2009 "the
year of high protein prices." Moskow also boosted his price target $7 to
$33, meaning he expects shares of the Pittsburg, Texas, company to climb
more than 40 percent over the next year.
<more> April 21, 2008 AP
Illegal Immigrants Who Were Arrested at Poultry
Plant in Arkansas to Be Deported - - Eighteen illegal immigrants
arrested at a poultry plant in Batesville will be processed for deportation,
but will not serve any jail time for using fake Social Security numbers and
state identification cards, federal judges ruled. Magistrate Judge Beth
Deere and Judge James Moody of Federal District Court accepted guilty pleas
from 17 of those arrested last week at the Pilgrim’s Pride plant. Federal
prosecutors dismissed the misdemeanor charges against one man, but said they
planned to ask Immigration and Customs Enforcement to begin deportation
proceedings against him.
<more> April 22, 2008 AP
Survey analyzes animal feedlot regulations -
- The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production and the National
Conference of State Legislatures have released a report on state policies
governing concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. The state
survey is part of a 2 1/2 year study of industrial farm animal production
and its effect on public health, the environment and animal welfare. The
study said that California "appears to be working diligently to curb any
runoff from CAFOs into water sources."
<more> April 22, 2008
Pew Commission Press Release
"Antibiotics and Hormones in Animal Manure" topic
of April 25 webcast - - -- The Friday April 25, 2008, webcast in the
Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center series will be presented
by Linda Lee, Purdue University, Keith Loftin, US Geological Survey, and
JessicaDavis, Colorado State University. They will discuss how to manage
potential risks from antibiotics and hormones used in livestock and poultry
production to protect water quality. The presentation will begin at 11:30
a.m. More information about this webcast is at
http://pubwiki.extension.org/mediawiki/files/d/dd/08aprflyer.pdf On the
day of the webcast, you can access the virtual meeting room by visiting
http://www.extension.org/pages/Live_Webcast_Information and
following the links on that page. April 22, 2008 Learning Center Notice
U.S. EPA proposing to redesignate the San Joaquin
Valley air basin for PM-10 attainment - - The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency is proposing to redesignate the San Joaquin Valley air
basin to attainment of the federal PM-10 coarse particulate matter standard
and concurrently proposing to approve the PM-10 maintenance plan for the
area. As part of the proposed rule the EPA would approve the State of
California’s request to change the boundary of the SJV nonattainment area by
splitting the area into two separate PM-10 nonattainment areas.
Geographically, the area would be divided into the San Joaquin Valley air
basin PM-10 area, and the East Kern PM-10 area. This change reflects natural
geographical and jurisdictional divisions for two distinct air basins. With
this split, PM-10 will follow the same regulatory boundaries as PM-2.5 and
ozone between the San Joaquin Valley air basin and East Kern.
<more> April 22, 2008 EPA Press Release
Valley senator backs smelt hatchery. Facility
aims to ease water cuts for farms, cities - - State Sen. Dean Florez on
Monday proposed a $5 million fish hatchery to expand the population of delta
smelt, a threatened species that has caused major water cutbacks for farms
and cities. Experts estimate that since January, farms and cities have lost
640,000 acre-feet of water -- a year's supply for 1.2 million households --
to protect the 3-inch minnow from extinction. The hatchery proposed in
Senate Bill 994 would build up the smelt's numbers and allow the state's
water projects to avoid future cutbacks, said Florez, a Shafter Democrat,
who joined Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, in sponsoring the measure.
<more> April 22, 2008 Fresno Bee
California sees $4 gasoline up ahead - - With oil and gasoline touching all-time highs again Monday, raging energy-price fever showed no sign of breaking. Before it's over, oil could cost at least $125 a barrel and gasoline more than $4 a gallon in California. Even if oil were to stop its frenzied record-a-day pace, gasoline costs would probably keep rising for several weeks as past oil price increases trickled down to the pump and the summer driving season revved up. "Every day there is a new irritant" propelling prices higher, said John Kilduff, head of energy risk management at MF Global in New York, citing the continued weakness of the dollar, violence near oil installations in Nigeria and declining Russian production. Another factor lending strength to the surge is the apparent willingness of Americans to put up with runaway prices. <more> April 22, 2008 LA Times
Friday, April 18, 2008
South Korean Troops Sent To Slaughter Poultry -
- South Korea dispatched 200 soldiers to chicken farms Wednesday to slaughter
poultry infected with bird flu, as the government confirmed another outbreak
of the disease. The Defense Ministry dispatched the troops to chicken farms in
Gimje, about 160 miles south of Seoul, a ministry official said on condition
of anonymity, citing ministry policy. The Defense Ministry will dispatch
additional troops to other poultry farms if they ask for it, he said. The move
came as the Agriculture Ministry also confirmed the 12th outbreak of the
deadly H5N1 bird flu virus Wednesday since the country's first outbreak of the
disease in a year broke out two weeks ago in Gimje.
<more> April 18, 2008 AP
Sticker Shock in the Organic Aisles - -
Shoppers have long been willing to pay a premium for organic food. But how
much is too much? Rising prices for organic groceries are prompting some
consumers to question their devotion to food produced without pesticides,
chemical fertilizers or antibiotics. In some parts of the country, a loaf of
organic bread can cost $4.50, a pound of pasta has hit $3, and organic milk is
closing in on $7 a gallon. “The prices have gotten ridiculous,” said Brenda
Czarnik, who was shopping recently at a food cooperative in St. Paul. Food
prices in general have been rising, but organic food lagged somewhat behind
last year because of a temporary glut of organic milk and other factors. Some
grocery chains adopted private-label organic products, which are cheaper than
brand products, while others hesitated to raise already high organic prices.
In recent months, however, these factors have been giving way to cost
pressures in the industry. On grocery shelves across the nation, sharp price
increases are taking hold.
<more>
April 18, 2008 NY Times
FBI team searches Lemoore SK plant - - Federal
agents this week searched the Lemoore plant of food processing company SK
Foods. The business office of the Lemoore tomato-processing plant, as well as
another SK Foods plant in Williams, were searched Wednesday by Federal Bureau
of Investigations agents, Special Agent Steve Dupre in Sacramento said
Thursday. Dupre would not comment on the nature of the investigation or what
agents were looking for in their searches. The FBI was serving search
warrants, and affidavits for those warrants have been sealed by the court, he
said.
<more> April 18, 2008 Fresno Bee
South Korea agrees to resume U.S. beef imports
- - South Korea says it has agreed to resume U.S. beef imports that had been
halted over concerns about mad cow disease. The agreement came just hours
before leaders of the two countries were to meet in Washington. The beef issue
had been a key dispute between the allies, and had threatened prospects of a
wider free-trade agreement. The South Korean Agriculture Ministry said Friday
that Seoul would allow American beef imports from cattle younger than 30
months, including cuts with bones. Younger cows are believed to be less at
risk for mad cow disease. South Korea will allow beef from older cattle after
the U.S. strengthens controls on feed to reduce chances of infection. April
18, 2008 AP
Ag land sales steady in valley - - While home
prices plunged last year in Modesto and nearby cities, things were much calmer
out on the farms. Most of the region's farmland sales in 2007 were at prices
that were unchanged or slightly increased from 2006, according to a report
released last week. Experts said the figures reflect the overall strong state
of agriculture in the region. Dairy farmers enjoyed record prices for their
milk, but the report said much of their demand for land was a result of new
rules against water pollution. Farmers need extra ground for spreading manure
in a way that nourishes feed crops without polluting. The report is available
for $15 from the California chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers
and Rural Appraisers, 368-3672 or
www.calasfmra.com.
<more> April 18, 2008 Modesto Bee
Farm bill disputes keep sprouting - - Asparagus
can get pretty tough. Just ask Congress. Late Thursday, House and Senate
negotiators were set to all but complete the specialty crop sections of a new
farm bill. Fruit and vegetable growers will see new grants, more research and
increased federal snack purchases. "It's in a very good place," said Rep.
Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced. "We have gotten the lion's share of what we have
fought for." But because this is Capitol Hill, there is still conflict.
<more> April 18, 2008 Fresno Bee
California unemployment rate jumps to 6.2 percent - - The state unemployment rate shot up half a percentage point to 6.2 percent in March from the previous month, the state said Friday. The overall ranks of the unemployed increased by 84,000 people since February to 1.13 million, according to the monthly survey by the state Employment Development Department. The unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in February and 5 percent in March of 2007. <more> April 18, 2008 Fresno Bee
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Nearly 300 arrested in immigration raids at poultry
plants - - Federal agents arrested nearly 300 people Wednesday in raids at
Pilgrim's Pride chicken plants in five states, the latest crackdown on illegal
immigrant labor at the nation's poultry producers. In separate sweeps,
authorities also arrested dozens of workers at a doughnut factory in Houston
and the operators of a chain of Mexican restaurants in upstate New York. The
arrests at Pittsburg, Texas-based Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the nation's largest
chicken producer, included charges of identity theft, document fraud and
immigration violations. The company worked with Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents ahead of the raid, said Ray Atkinson, a company spokesman.
"We knew in advance and cooperated fully," Atkinson said.
<more> April 17, 2008 AP
Maple Leaf Farms Wisconsin Plant Closing Down Due
to Feed Costs - - Maple Leaf Farms, once a leading processor/grower of
white pecking duck, is closing down after 27 years in Racine, Wisconsin.
Almost 200 people are losing their jobs and they aren’t shutting down due to
the cost of labor. “We've had to offset low demand with a price increase in an
attempt to stabilize. That wasn't able to do it. We've tried to manage our way
through this. But what forced the company's hand the most was not the cost of
labor but rather the cost of corn,” said Rade Dimitrijevic, a representative
for Maple Leaf Farms. According to Dimitrijevic, it's now more expensive to
feed the ducks than to sell them at market.
<more> April 18, 2008 WISN.com
Meat Institute launches YouTube channel focusing on meat plants -
- The American Meat Institute has launched a YouTube channel designed to
inform the public about typical conditions in meat plants. The announcement
was made by AMI President J. Patrick Boyle who testified today before the
House Oversight Committee's Domestic Policy Subcommittee. Boyle acknowledged
that the undercover video from a Chino plant has left a lasting imprint in
the minds of those who viewed it. He announced that AMI was launching a new
on-line video channel called Meat News Network where accurate videos -
including some that represent typical conditions in meat plants --will be
posted. "We are launching this You Tube Channel with a three-part video
that features Dr. Temple Grandin and other members of our Animal Welfare
Committee. We will soon add new videos on other timely topics so that we
can enhance our relationship with the 95 percent of Americans who enjoy our
products." To view the new You Tube Channel, go to:
http://www.YouTube.com/meatnewsnetwork April 17, 2008 AMI Press
Release
Pending emissions rules among top concerns of
haulers, growers. Industry asking for seasonal-truck exemptions - -
Agricultural haulers say new diesel-emissions rules proposed earlier this year
by the California Air Resources Board will push them out of business. The
state's proposed rules, published in late January, would create stringent new
requirements for cleaning up diesel exhaust. The diesel engines of the
goods-transportation industry are blamed for most of California's
transportation-related smog. A central argument among those in agriculture -
growers as well as crop transporters - is that regulations should allow
exemptions for trucks and field machines that operate only seasonally. Many of
those engines run for many years and replacing or retrofitting them with
emissions-control systems can be a sizable investment.
<more> April 18, 2008 Capital Press
Fresno doctor on state air board. Cardiologist John Telles replaces Fresno County Supervisor Judy Case - - Gov. Schwarzenegger on Wednesday named Fresno cardiologist John Telles to represent the Valley on the California Air Resources Board, an influential agency that sets statewide pollution and greenhouse gas regulations. Telles, a 59-year-old Democrat, replaces Fresno County Supervisor Judy Case. Case, a Republican, was ousted earlier this year by the Democratic-controlled state Senate over accusations by environmentalists that she catered to agriculture interests. The governor also named Telles to serve in one of four newly created spots on the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control Board, which sets smog rules in the eight-county region. <more> April 17, 2008 Fresno Bee
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Immigration agents raid Pilgrim's Pride plants in
five states - - Federal immigration agents raided Pilgrim's Pride
poultry plants in five states Wednesday in a crackdown on an alleged scam to
provide fake identification for illegal immigrant workers, authorities said.
More than 100 people were expected to be charged in the raids at the
nation's largest chicken producer, Julie Myers, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement assistant secretary, told The Associated Press. The raids were
part of a long-term investigation, officials said. Plants in Mount Pleasant,
Texas, Batesville, Ark., Live Oak, Fla., Chattanooga, Tenn. and Moorefield,
W.Va., were raided, authorities said.
<more> April 16, 2008 AP
US: Indonesia endangering world by not sharing
bid flu samples -- The world is less safe because Indonesia is
withholding samples of the bird flu virus from the international community,
the top U.S. health official said Wednesday, adding that he is hopeful the
issue can be resolved soon. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike
Leavitt told The Associated Press that Indonesia's refusal to cooperate with
the World Health Organization's long-standing virus-sharing system without
compensation is disappointing. ''If Indonesia decides to not be part of the
world community and the international mainstream on this for a time, that
would be regrettable,'' he said. ''The world will be slightly less safe, but
at some point we have to move onto finding other ways to make the world
safe.''
<more> April 16, 2008 AP
South Korean troops sent to slaughter poultry
- - South Korea dispatched 200 soldiers to chicken farms Wednesday to
slaughter poultry infected with bird flu, as the government confirmed
another outbreak of the disease. The Defense Ministry dispatched the troops
to chicken farms in Gimje, about 160 miles south of Seoul, a ministry
official said on condition of anonymity, citing ministry policy. The Defense
Ministry will dispatch additional troops to other poultry farms if they ask
for it, he said.
<more> April 16, 2008 AP
House passes another farm bill extension until
April 25 - - The House has passed an extension of current farm law until
April 25, hoping to give Congress more time to finish a multibillion dollar
farm bill that is stalled by a dispute over tax breaks. Negotiations on the
roughly $280 billion, five-year bill are in disarray with lawmakers from the
House and Senate squabbling over how to pay for it. The White House says
both the House and Senate versions are too expensive and has threatened a
veto of either one if it reaches the president's desk. House members object
to several tax breaks in the Senate bill, including provisions to help
owners of race horses, landowners who find endangered species on their
property and those involved in litigation over the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
April 16, 2008 AP
Judge: Feds failed to study how delta pumping
affects salmon - - A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that water
regulators failed to consider the effects of global warming and other
environmental issues related to the decline of California salmon populations
when they approved increased pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger said a 2004 study prepared by federal
regulators to support the increased water exports was scientifically
inadequate. "There is no analysis of adverse effect on critical habitat,"
Wanger wrote about winter-run chinook salmon.
<more> April 16, 2008 AP
UN report says ag has to change to meet food crisis -- The way the world grows its food will have to change radically to better serve the poor and hungry if the world is to cope with a growing population and climate change while avoiding social breakdown and environmental collapse. That is the message from the report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, a major new report by over 400 scientists which is launched today. The assessment was considered by 64 governments at an intergovernmental plenary in Johannesburg last week. The authors' brief was to examine hunger, poverty, the environment and equity together. Professor Robert Watson Director of IAASTD said those on the margins are ill-served by the present system: "The incentives for science to address the issues that matter to the poor are weak... the poorest developing countries are net losers under most trade liberalization scenarios." <more> April 16, 2008 UN Press Release
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
EPA bid to exempt farms from waste emission
reports draws critics - - Poultry growers use fans and other methods to
deal with ammonia, which is generated by chicken waste and in extreme
concentrations can blind or kill the flock as well as cause health problems
for those entering the chicken house. "You have got to keep it out," said
Jimmy Miller, who operates four poultry houses in Blount County. The "nose
test" works for most growers who can walk into a poultry house and with a
sniff determine if the ammonia level is too high and immediately switch on a
fan. But is anyone outside the chicken house threatened when the noxious
fumes escape into the air? Farm groups, including the National Cattlemen's
Beef Association and the poultry industry, don't think so. But
environmentalists and others supporting air quality in farm communities say
the fumes need to be monitored - and they are objecting to a proposal to end
such monitoring.
<more> April 13, 2008 AP
Best Method to Chill Chickens Depends on Water
- - Chilling is an important step in processing poultry carcasses before
marketing of the birds, and there are different ways to do it. Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientists at the Richard B. Russell Research Center
in Athens, Ga., recently compared two chilling methods to determine which
better suits processors' needs. Food technologist Julie Northcutt, formerly
with the ARS Poultry Processing and Swine Physiology Research Unit at
Athens, and food technologist Doug Smith, in the ARS Quality and Safety
Assessment Research Unit at Athens, evaluated the two primary industry
methods in terms of meat quality, food safety and water management. Carcass
temperatures must be quickly lowered after poultry slaughter to prevent
growth of bacterial pathogens that may cause food-borne illness when
consumed. Immersion chilling--in which chicken carcasses are submerged in
tanks of cold water or an ice-and-water mix--is the predominant method now
used in the United States. Dry-air chilling blasts carcasses with cold air,
while evaporative-air chilling combines cold air blasts with water misting.
Some poultry processors are beginning to convert to dry-air chilling.
<more> April 14, 2008 ARS Press Release
Drive to recall Denham goes beyond budget bad
blood with Perata - - His name doesn't appear on the ballot, but state
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata is the indisputable driving force behind
the recall of Sen. Jeff Denham, the first of a California legislator since
1995. Ostensibly, the Democratic leader's effort to unseat a Republican who
was easily re-elected in 2006 stems from last year's 53-day state budget
stalemate. Denham joined his GOP colleagues in voting against the spending
plan. But beyond the bad blood over the budget, a successful recall would
move Democrats, who hold a commanding 25-15 lead in the Senate, to within
one vote of being able to pass a budget and raise taxes without a Republican
vote. "Besides pure vindictiveness, what's obvious is (Perata) is making an
attempt to see if he can get a veto-proof state Senate," said Allan
Hoffenblum, editor of the California Target Book, which tracks legislative
races.
<more> April 15, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Ag tax package divides farm bill conferees -
- Options are narrowing for lawmakers as they get down to the final days
before the current extension of the 2002 farm bill expires before April
18th. The time crunch raises pressure on the tax writers charged with
working out a deal to fund the new farm bill, and raises the specter of a
new farm law that won't spend more money than authorized by last year's
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline for farm programs. During the
third official meeting of the House-Senate Farm Bill Conference Tuesday
morning, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel of Harlem
and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana agreed to meet
later in the day, first with each other, then with their respective
committees' ranking Republican members. The goal remains the same as it has
been for months, to resolve the continuing conflict over how to fund the
next farm bill. The current stumbling block appears to be a $2.5 billion
package of ag related tax cuts included in the Senate version of the farm
bill. And during the House-Senate Farm Bill Conference Committee meeting
Tuesday morning, passions on those tax provisions ran high. Senate Finance
Committee ranking Republican Chuck Grassley has championed the tax cuts and
argued they clearly belong in the farm bill.
<more> April 15, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Water
board may modify waiver program - - Modifications to the Central
Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board's program for farms that
discharge water from their operations to surface streams will be considered
April 24-25 in Rancho Cordova. On the agenda is a proposal to change the way
a grower can join a watershed coalition by redefining the conditions for
participation in a coalition and asking the state Water Resources Control
Board to add fees for those who join late. When the Irrigated Lands
Regulatory Program was renewed in 2006, the deadline to join a coalition was
set for Dec. 31, 2006. The deadline resulted in a 30 percent increase in
grower participation in watershed coalitions. Based on current estimates,
annual costs for the state to oversee a discharger enrolled under the
individual waiver ranges from about $2,000 to $8,000 a year. Fees charged by
the coalitions are typically set on a per-acre basis for monitoring and can
range from $1 to $5 per acre a year.
<more> April 14, 2008 Ag Alert
Salmon fishing season canceled in California - - In a decision they called "tragic" and "painful," state wildlife officials today banned fishing for salmon in California coastal waters this year. The unanimous decision by the California Fish and Game Commission closes both commercial and recreational fishing in state coastal waters, which extend out three miles from shore. It brings California into line with a vote last week in Seattle by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which banned salmon fishing in federal waters reaching out 200 miles. The commission delayed a vote on salmon-fishing restrictions in Central Valley rivers until its May 9 meeting. But it looks very likely that the rivers also will be closed to salmon fishing. <more> April 15, 2008 Modesto Bee
Friday, April 11, 2008
Perdue can proceed with lawsuit over Tyson ads
- - Salisbury-based Perdue Farms Inc. can proceed with its false-advertising
suit against competitor Tyson Farms Inc., a federal judge has ruled. U.S.
District Judge Richard D. Bennett denied Tyson’s motion to dismiss the suit,
and promised to rule on Perdue’s motion for a preliminary injunction within a
week. Perdue and its co-plaintiff, Mississippi-based Sanderson Farms Inc., say
Tyson is misleading consumers with claims that its chickens are “raised
without antibiotics” or “without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance
in humans.” Tyson, like Perdue and Sanderson, uses chicken feed that includes
ionophores, which combats intestinal disease in poultry but does not affect
human resistance to antibiotics. The suit alleges that Tyson’s ads amount to
an implied claim that its product is superior to the competition.
<more> April 11, 2008 Baltimore Daily Record
Hen cage ballot measure going to voters - -
Voters will decide in November whether to ban small hen cages in the state's
egg industry as of 2015. The ballot measure got more than the required 433,971
signatures from registered voters, the California Secretary of State's Office
announced late Wednesday. The measure, sponsored by the Humane Society of the
United States and allied groups, would require that cages provide enough room
for hens to stand up, lie down, turn around and fully extend their limbs. They
say this is not possible with industry practice that allows as little as 67
square inches of cage floor space per hen -- less than a sheet of letter
paper.
<more> April 11, 2008 Modesto Bee
Chicken
Producer Cuts Production Due to High Grain Costs, Prices Likely to Remain
High -- Poultry analysts and investors got a bit of good news this week
when poultry producer Cagle's Inc. said it will cut its chicken production by
4 percent immediately. Wall Street analysts have been agitating for production
cuts to help lower costs for all chicken producers and to boost chicken
prices. Producers, including Cagle's, have been hit with higher animal feed
costs due to the rising price of grain. After the market closed Thursday,
Cagle's Chief Executive Doug Cagle said feed ingredient prices have jumped 80
percent in the last two years, which has raised the cost to produce chicken by
more than 17 cents a pound.
<more> April 11, 2008 AP
Denham visits Modesto to kick off defense against
recall - - No brass bands, balloons or hoopla marked the launch of State
Sen. Jeff Denham's latest political campaign today in Modesto & the event was
somber with a tinge of anger. That's because the campaign is to defeat an
effort to have Denham, R-Merced, recalled. The campaign to remove the senator,
who represents the western part of Stanislaus County as well as Merced, San
Benito and parts of Madera and Monterey counties, began in the aftermath of a
battle over the state budget last summer. Democratic leaders singled out
Denham for his vote against a budget proposal, and the recall effort qualified
for the June 3 ballot last month. A number of city and county officials and
politicians showed up today morning at 1010 10th Street to support Denham.
<more> April 11, 2008 Modesto Bee
Salmon fishing closure prompts Schwarzenegger to declare emergency - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger late Thursday declared a state of emergency in California as a result of the unprecedented closure of coastal salmon fishing by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The closure is predicted to cost the state $255 million and 2,263 jobs this year, according to estimates by the Department of Fish and Game. The council, a federal panel, voted to recommend the closure at a meeting Thursday in Seattle. It is likely to be approved later this month by the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the California Fish and Game Commission on Tuesday is expected to impose similar closures in state waters, including Central Valley rivers. <more> April 11, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Federal Court Denies Tyson Foods’ Motion to Dismiss
False Advertising Lawsuit - - The Truthful Labeling Coalition today issued
a press release following a federal court’s ruling denying Tyson Foods’ motion
to dismiss a lawsuit over Tyson’s deceptive advertising that its chicken is
raised without antibiotics. The TLC statement follows: “The Truthful Labeling
Coalition is pleased that a Federal Court today denied Tyson Foods’ motion to
dismiss a lawsuit over Tyson’s deceptive advertising that its chicken is
raised without antibiotics. The Court heard clear evidence that Tyson chicken
is in fact raised with a type of antibiotic called ionophores, as well as
compelling survey data which shows that most consumers are being misled by
this claim. The Coalition is hopeful that the Court will soon make a decision
to enter a preliminary injunction against Tyson Foods, effectively forcing the
company to stop using its misleading “Raised Without Antibiotics” claim in
advertising. The Truthful Labeling Coalition (TLC) is a coalition of chicken
producers and more than 30,000 citizens in all 50 states who are committed to
the truthful labeling of fresh, natural chicken. The TLC believes that
American consumers should not be deceived into buying chicken that’s not
precisely as advertised, whether it be fresh chicken that’s labeled “100% All
Natural” yet contains additives such as seaweed and saltwater or chicken
that’s labeled “Raised Without Antibiotics” but has actually been fed
antibiotics like ionophores. Our bottom line -- Consumers don’t expect
poultry which has been labeled “100% All Natural” to contain added saltwater
any more than they expect poultry labeled “Raised Without Antibiotics” to
contain ionophores.” April 10, 2008 TLC Press Release
Perdue, Tyson spar over labeling claims. Tyson says
USDA-approved language should be safe from suit - - To Tyson Foods Inc.,
the signs that accompany its chickens in grocery stores are USDA-approved
labels. To its competitor, Salisbury-based Perdue Farms Inc., Tyson’s signs
are false advertising. Either way, the signs say the same thing: they promise
that Tyson’s chickens are “raised without antibiotics,” or a recently
qualified version of that, “raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic
resistance in humans.” But the classification could determine the outcome of
the lawsuit now pending in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Helene D. Jaffe,
attorney for Arkansas-based Tyson, has asked for the suit to be dismissed,
telling Judge Richard D. Bennett he should not “second-guess” the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s authority.
<more> April 10, 2008 Baltimore Daily Record
Animal welfare initiative qualifies for November
ballot - - Egg-laying hens, pregnant pigs and calves raised for veal could
not be confined in restrictive enclosures in California that did not allow
them to extend their wings or limbs, under an initiative that qualified
Wednesday for the Nov. 4 ballot. Sponsored by the Humane Society of the United
States, the Treatment of Farm Animals statute is likely to generate spirited
debate between animal rights activists and farmers who contend it would raise
prices for consumers. Since there is no veal production in California and
farmers are voluntarily phasing out confining pigs in breeding crates by 2008,
the initiative primarily targets the state's 19 million egg-laying hens. Scott
Macdonald, spokesman for Californians for Sound Farm Animal Agriculture, an
industry group that opposes the initiative, called it "poorly" written and
predicted it would raise egg prices.
<more>
April 10, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Treatment of Farm Animals. Statute. - -
Requires that an enclosure or tether confining specified farm animals allow
the animals for the majority of every day to fully extend their limbs or
wings, lie down, stand up, and turn around. Specified animals include calves
raised for veal, egg-laying hens, and pregnant pigs. Exceptions made for
transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful slaughter, research and
veterinary purposes. Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to
exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days. Summary of
estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on
state and local government: Probably minor local and state enforcement and
prosecution costs, partly offset by increased fine revenue. (Initiative
07-0041.) You can read the three-page initiative
by clicking here.
Statement by opponents
of animal welfare initiative - - Californians for Sound Farm Animal
Agriculture released the following statement today upon word that the
Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act had qualified for the November
ballot: “The Farm Animal measure voters will face in November promises to
have a tremendous impact on egg supply and prices in California, but experts
say it would have little or negative impacts on the health of egg-laying hens.
Many scientists, veterinarians and animal welfare experts believe the benefits
of the current cage system far outweigh the benefits claimed by the
initiative. And the proponents’ ultimate goal – elimination of cages
altogether - would expose hens to disease, the elements, predators and
aggression from other birds. Two portions of the initiative – veal crates and
gestation crates for pigs – deal with practices that are either practically
non-existent in California or are being voluntarily phased out this year. And
California farmers are already raising their hens in a variety of ways –
confinement care, cage-free and organic – to meet shifting consumer demand.
Many farmers employ different methods on the same farm. The issues raised by this poorly written and ill-defined measure do not belong
on the ballot. Animal welfare policies belong in the hands of experienced
scientists, veterinarians and farmers who are best qualified to protect farm
animals and the food they provide.” April 10, 2008 CSFAA Statement
Audit should prove producers humane. Cage-free
initiative could kill many of state’s egg businesses - - While California
egg producers wait to see if an initiative aimed at eliminating cages for
laying hens will be on the November 2008 ballot, a national egg producer trade
association has announced a new welfare auditing system. United Egg Producers
will recognize with the Denver-based American Humane Association animal
welfare audits as meeting UEP certified standards. Under the agreement, egg
producers who pass the American Humane certified audit and are members of the
UEP certified program and meet their guidelines on 100 percent of their egg
production, may use the UEP Certified logo and market their eggs as UEP
Certified. The advantage to the producer is they will only undergo and pay for
a single audit of their operation. Gene Gregory, president of United Egg
Producers, said the American Humane Association participated in the discussion
when science-based guidelines for egg production were being developed in the
late 1990s.
<more> April 10, 2008 Capital Press
First farm bill conference bears little fruit -
- There finally appeared to be some movement on the farm bill late Wednesday
and into Thursday. But it could be construed as little more than the
appearance of progress, with little changing in the now months-long standoff
on farm bill funding. Senate Ag Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, for his part,
wasted no time in scheduling the first meeting of the Farm Bill Conference
Committee, which met for the first time Thursday morning. But Goodlatte's
warning from Wednesday evening seemed prophetic, as Senate conferees were
unimpressed with the initial House offer on the farm bill, an offer that would
spend just $5.5 billion over the CBO budget baseline and simply eliminate the
permanent ag disaster aid program that is critically important to several
Senators from the Plains, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max
Baucus of Montana. And some House members from the Plains also appeared uneasy
about the prospect of a new farm bill without permanent ag disaster aid
provision. South Dakota Democrat Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, who is on the Ag
Committee but is not a farm bill conferee, promised in a statement Thursday
she would keep fighting for such a program.
<more> April 10, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Californians Baca and Cardoza named to Farm Bill conference committee- - The members of the House conference committee on the Farm Bill were named today. Democratic members include California Congressmen Dennis Cardoza and Joe Baca were named, along with House Ag Committee Chairmen Collin Peterson, Tim Holden, PA; Bob Etheridge, NC; Leonard Boswell, IA and David Scott, GA. Six Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee, plus a member of the Republican Leadership, were named to the official conference committee. House Agriculture Committee Republican Conferees include: Bob Goodlatte, VA; Frank Lucas, OK; Jerry Moran, KS; Robin Hayes, NC; Marilyn Musgrave, CO; Randy Neugebauer, TX and Adam Putnam, FL. Since there are significant differences between the bills, a conference committee comprised of House and Senate members from relevant committees has been appointed to put together a compromise agreement that must then be approved by both chambers. The 2002 Farm Bill expired on Sept. 20, 2007. It has since been extended twice and the current authorization expires April 18. April 9, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Millions ride on chicken feed suit. Perdue is
among producers clashing over antibiotics, ads - - Two of the nation's
largest chicken producers - including Maryland's Perdue Farms - are
challenging Tyson Foods' advertising, claiming in a federal lawsuit that
it's misleading consumers into believing that the Arkansas company's birds
are healthier to eat than competitors'. At a hearing yesterday in
Baltimore's U.S. District Court, Perdue and Mississippi's Sanderson Farms
complained that Tyson's ads say the company's poultry products don't contain
antibiotics thought to affect drug resistance in people. In fact, none of
the three producers' poultry includes those kinds of antibiotics, but Tyson
is the only one making that point through print advertising, commercials and
billboards. The plaintiffs asked the court to bar Tyson from using such
claims in its marketing, arguing that shoppers could infer that others must
be using dangerous drugs if Tyson took the trouble to point out that it
isn't. Meanwhile, Tyson asked that the lawsuit be dismissed. More testimony
and closing arguments on the motions will be heard today.
<more> April 8, 2008 Baltimore Sun
North Carolina power plant runs off chicken waste
- - A company wants to build three power plants in North Carolina that
run on sustainable energy. Fibrowatt burns poultry manure in their power
plants to generate electricity. Raising turkey is in Keith Butler's blood .
"We have always been in farming,” he said. “My parents were in farming; they
had chickens." Now Butler is on the leading edge of poultry farming, selling
turkey waste to companies to burn for electricity. Fibrowatt is considering
Montgomery, Moore, Stanley, Wilkes, Surrey, Duplin and Sampson counties as
possible locations for the three plants. The company will announce which
counties will receive the plants in the next few months.
<more> April 8, 2008 Fayetteville News
TID sets 3.5-foot water cap on farms - - The
Turlock Irrigation District on Tuesday put a cap on water deliveries to
farmers, a measure it last used during the 1987-92 drought. The Modesto
Irrigation District, which shares Don Pedro Reservoir with the TID, does not
have a cap but is watching the 2008 supply closely. And Stanislaus County's
largest domestic water systems, run by the cities of Modesto and Turlock,
expect to get through the year OK if customers follow the outdoor watering
rules. That could start to be tested Friday, when the temperature is
forecast to top 80 degrees. The TID board voted unanimously to cap water use
at 3.5 acre-feet per acre during the 2008 irrigation season, which started
last month. An acre-foot is enough to cover an acre to a depth of 1 foot.
<more> April 9, 2008 Modesto Bee
Voters send Jackie Speier to Washington - -
It took 29 years, but Jackie Speier is on her way to Congress. The former
state senator took a huge early lead Tuesday night in the race to finish the
term of the late Democratic Rep. Tom Lantos and never looked back,
collecting more than the 50 percent plus one vote needed to put her on a
flight to Washington this morning. With all the San Francisco precincts
reporting and only a handful of precincts remaining to be counted in San
Mateo County, Speier had captured more than 75 percent of the vote, far more
than she needed to avoid a June 3 runoff. Her closest competitor was
Republican Greg Conlon, far back with 9 percent of the vote.
<more> April 8, 2008 SF Chronicle
UN: World food shortages to stay, riots a risk -
- Food riots which have struck several impoverished countries could spread
with shortages and high prices set to continue for some time, the head of
the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. A
combination of high oil and fuel prices, rising demand for food in a
wealthier Asia, the use of farmland and crops for biofuels, bad weather and
speculation on futures markets have pushed up food prices, prompting violent
protests in a handful of poor states. Jacques Diouf, director general of the
Rome-based FAO, said on Wednesday during a trip to India that there was a
growing risk of social instability in countries where families spent more
than half their income on food.
<more> April 9, 2008 Reuters
SoCal slaughterhouse worker seeks dismissal of charges - - A lawyer for a man caught on video dragging sick cows and shocking them at a Southern California slaughterhouse has asked a judge to dismiss criminal charges against his client, arguing that he bears no liability for the apparent mistreatment. Attorney Ruben Salazar contends in recently filed court documents that the charges faced by former slaughterhouse worker Daniel Ugarte Navarro apply only to business entities and not to individual people, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported on its Web site Tuesday. <more> April 8, 2008 AP
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
UN chief calls for review of biofuels policy
- - The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has called for a comprehensive
review of the policy on biofuels as a crisis in global food prices - partly
caused by the increasing use of crops for energy generation - threatens to
trigger global instability. "We need to be concerned about the possibility
of taking land or replacing arable land because of these biofuels," Ban told
the Guardian in Bucharest while attending this week's Nato summit. But he
added: "While I am very much conscious and aware of these problems, at the
same time you need to constantly look at having creative sources of energy,
including biofuels. Therefore, at this time, just criticizing biofuel may
not be a good solution. I would urge we need to address these issues in a
comprehensive manner."
<more> April 8, 2008 The Guardian
UNICEF director Veneman discusses concern over
biofuel impact on global food prices - - Former USDA and CDFA Secretary
Ann Veneman spoke in Modesto Tuesday before the Modesto
.jpg)
Rotary
Club about her role as Executive Director of UNICEF, the children's agency
for the United Nations. Veneman took up her post May 1, 2005, after serving
as USDA Secretary from 2001 to 2005. Veneman chairs the UN's Standing
Committee on Nutrition and in an interview with Communications Manager Mark
Looker following her speech she addressed the concerns being raised by
governmental biofuels policies that many analysts believe are impacting food
prices around the globe.
Click here
(2:14) to listen to her interview. April 8,
2008
China sees human-to-human bird flu - -
Chinese health officials have confirmed that a father caught bird flu from
his son last December, according to a report released Tuesday.
Human-to-human transmission of bird flu has happened about a dozen times in
the past, in countries including Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Turkey. In
nearly every case, transmission has occurred among blood relatives who have
been in close contact, and the virus has not spread into the wider
community. In the case in China, a 52-year-old man and his 24-year-old son
in Jiangsu province were diagnosed with H5N1 bird flu within a week of each
other last December. At the time, officials from the World Health
Organization said they could not rule out the possibility of human-to-human
transmission. After the son died, his father was treated with anti-virals
and participated in an H5N1 vaccine trial. He survived.
<more> April 8, 2008 AP
Energy Dept. says gas prices could peak at $4 a
gallon this summer - - Retail gas prices could climb as high as $4 a
gallon this summer, but prices at such lofty levels will make many Americans
think twice about hitting the road this summer, the Energy Department said
Tuesday. High prices and a weak economy are expected to cut demand for
gasoline by about 0.4 percent during the peak summer driving season, the
department's Energy Information Administration said in a monthly report on
petroleum supplies and demand. Overall consumption of petroleum products
will drop by 90,000 barrels a day this year. Previously, the EIA had
projected petroleum consumption would rise by 40,000 barrels a day. Average
monthly gas prices will peak around $3.60 a gallon in June, the EIA said.
However, prices could rise much higher than that at times.
<more> April 8, 2008 AP
Foster
Farms eyes Colorado plant - - Livingston-based Foster Farms Inc. is
studying the possibility of expanding its chicken-processing operations by
opening a plant in Colorado. Foster Farms officials confirmed newspaper
reports in Colorado on Saturday that they were studying the idea, though
they stressed that no final decision had been made. "A final decision is
expected within the next two to three months based on availability of
sufficient labor force and contract grower interest in raising poultry,"
Foster Farms President Don Jackson said in a faxed statement to The Bee. "In
considering expansion, the company believes there is a market need for
fresh, 100 percent natural, locally grown poultry products in Colorado and
the surrounding region." Foster Farms also stressed that establishment of a
Colorado plant would be an expansion, not a move from Livingston, where the
company has been headquartered for much of its 69 years.
<more> April 7, 2008 Modesto Bee
Ex-assemblyman will challenge Sen. Denham in recall campaign - - Former Assemblyman Simon Salinas said Friday that he will put his name on the ballot as the Democratic alternative in the recall campaign of Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced. The move sets up a rematch between Salinas, a three-term assemblyman who left office in 2006, and Denham, who lost to Salinas in a $2.5 million Assembly campaign in 2000."It's crunch time and I've decided I am going to put my name in the ring," Salinas said. With 60 days until the recall, which the governor combined with the June 3 legislative primaries, the campaign is in full swing, with the recall effort airing TV attack ads on Denham this week and Denham countering with a radio commercial. <more> April 5, 2008 Modesto Bee
Friday, April 4, 2008
Analyst: Cutback by chicken producer may be first
of many - - A BMO Capital Markets analyst said Friday a move to lower
chicken production by a small private processor may be the first cut of many
in the industry as the cost of grain continues to rise. On Thursday,
Georgia-based Fieldale Farms said it will reduce its live chicken production
by 5 percent due to "dramatic costs increases," specifically higher chicken
feed costs. Costs for chicken feed have jumped in the past year because of
far higher corn prices. Corn is used to make both animal feed and ethanol.
Demand for the grain for ethanol production has been the main driver of the
higher prices. "It's a tough decision to make, but unfortunately, the markets
we sell in have not yet caught up to the rapidly rising cost of feed and it
seems to be getting worse," said Fieldale Executive Vice President Gus
Arrendale in a statement.
<more> April 4, 2008 AP
Grain futures advance on supply concerns, growing
demand - - Agriculture futures rose broadly Thursday, with corn prices
surpassing $6 a bushel for the first time as supply concerns spurred buying of
the grain used to feed livestock and make biofuel. Corn's record-setting rally
comes amid soaring global demand for the grain but also an expected drop in
production from the United States, the world's largest corn producer. In its
annual planting report released this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
projected farmers will plant 86 million acres of corn - an 8 percent drop from
last year. The bigger-than-expected shortly will likely add to already tight
supplies, leading to higher meat prices and soaring costs for producers of
alternative fuel like ethanol. "If you look at the fundamentals, everything
points to a bullish outlook for corn," said Elaine Kub, a grains analyst with
DTN in Omaha, Neb. Corn for May delivery added 4.25 cents to settle at $6 a
bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after earlier rising to $6.025 a bushel
- the highest ever.
<more> April 4, 2008 AP
EU says antimicrobial agents don’t increase
bacterial tolerance or antimicrobial resistance - - The Panel on
Biological Hazards of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded
that there is no evidence to suggest that antimicrobial agents chlorine
dioxide, acidified sodium chlorite, trisodium phosphate and peroxyacides, used
to decontaminate poultry carcasses, will lead to increased bacterial tolerance
to these substances or to increased resistance to therapeutic antibiotics and
other antimicrobial agents. The EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ)
noted that there was some evidence indicating bacterial tolerance to other
antimicrobial substances or biocides which were not subject of this opinion.
However, these data were either based on laboratory experiments which do not
always mirror real-life situations or resulted from the improper use of
biocides. To view this opinion, click here:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178697425124.htm
April 4, 2008 American Meat Institute Notice
Business plan for National Animal ID system
released by USDA - - USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has
released a draft Business Plan to further the implementation of the National
Animal Identification System (NAIS). AMS encourages participants in voluntary
marketing programs such as the USDA Process Verified, the Quality Systems
Assessment and the Non-Hormone Treated Cattle Programs to meet the inherent
animal identification requirements by using NAIS. "The AMS Business Plan will
allow for integration of the National Animal Identification System with AMS
audit-based marketing programs," said Bruce Knight, under secretary for
marketing and regulatory programs. "NAIS is a voluntary partnership among
producers and government. This immediately provides the producer a twofold
reward for a single investment. It ensures trace back of their animals for
herd health reasons and provides benefits for marketing value-added animals
domestically and internationally."
<more> April 4, 2008 USDA Press Release
Ag issues on tap at Great Valley Center conference May 7-8 - -Several agricultural topics ranging from bio-fuels to protecting farmland from development will be up for discussion May 7-8 in Sacramento when the Great Valley Center holds its annual conference. Climate change and its impact on agriculture will be examined in a panel featuring Ladi Asgill, Sustainable Conservation; Joseph Heinzmann, FuelCell Energy and Russell Lester, Dixon Ridge Farms. Other session include how to turn ag waste into on-site power; valuing and creating habitat for working farms; case studies on how eating locally-grown food benefits the environment, economy and health of a community; and a look at eminent domain ballot measures on the November ballot. For more information or to register please visit www.greatvalley.org/conference. The deadline for early registration is April 15. April 3, 2008 GVC Notice
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Corn jumps to record on rainy weather - -
Corn prices climbed to a record just below $6 a bushel Wednesday as cold,
wet weather in the U.S. corn belt threatened to slow planting,
adding to
concerns over tight supplies. Other commodities traded broadly higher, with
precious metals, wheat, soybeans and energy futures all gaining. Heavy rains
and some snowfall in corn-growing states in the Midwest and the South are
expected to continue into the weekend, raising the possibility that growers
will have to postpone spring planting. That would only increase an already
acute supply crunch for corn, which has shot up in value amid soaring demand
to make ethanol and feed livestock. "We're going to start trading the
weather here," said Jason Ward, analyst with Northstar Commodity in
Minneapolis. "The rainy weekend means that some corn growers may switch
acres over to beans, and it also raises the risk that there will be lower
corn yields."
<more> April 2, 2008 AP
Ag Secretary says fewer corn acres not an issue
- - Speaking with reporters at the National Institute for Animal
Agriculture (NIAA) annual meeting in Indianapolis, April 1, U.S. Ag
Secretary Ed Schafer said he does not expect the 8 percent fewer corn acres
in the March 31 Prospective Plantings report to be a long term issue. “We
don’t particularly see this being an effort that will require drastic
actions,” said the USDA chief. And that, Schafer says, includes any early
release of CRP acres. “I don’t think early release of CRP is an answer here,
certainly export restrictions are not an answer and it is not something we
are interested in at all,” Secretary Schafer said. “The basic answer is, we
don’t see any need for drastic action here to try and manage price.”
<more>
April 2, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Fieldale Farms reduces chicken production - -
Fieldale Farms, one of the nation’s largest poultry producers, said it will
reduce live chicken production by 5%. The company based the decision on
current excess supply and the high cost of chicken feed, especially corn.
"It’s a tough decision to make, but unfortunately, the markets we sell in
have not yet caught up to the rapidly rising cost of feed and it seems to be
getting worse," said Gus Arrendale, executive vice-president. "With the U.S.
Agriculture Department anticipating a substantial drop in planting acreage
this year, further impacted by feed corn being committed to production of
ethanol, prices are not likely to fall." Mr. Arrendale said the reduction
will take effect immediately. April 3, 2008 MeatPoultry.com
Tyson Foods Issues New Sustainability Report --
While all companies are focused on the economics of their business, a growing
number are also monitoring their social and environmental performance. This
includes Tyson Foods, Inc., which today issued a new corporate responsibility
report. The 64-page publication titled "Sustainability -- It's In Our Nature,"
outlines Tyson's economic, social and environmental efforts, which company
officials call their "triple bottom line." The report is available on-line by
going to the following internet site:
http://www.tyson.com/Corporate/PressRoom/docs/2007_Sustainability_web.pdf
"We believe sustainability is essentially doing the right thing, whether it
involves protecting natural resources, creating alternative energy or feeding
the hungry," said Richard L. Bond, president and CEO of Tyson Foods. "It's our
hope the new report will show how sustainability is a natural outgrowth of
Tyson's Core Values and how we strive to take ethical and social
responsibility in the way we do business."
<more> April 3, 2008 Tyson Press Release
County Bank records annual loss for first time
- - The parent company of Merced-based County Bank reported its first-ever
annual loss Wednesday, confirming the bank's previous warnings that the
faltering Central Valley real estate market had hurt its portfolio of loans.
Capital Corp. of the West also will stop paying dividends to shareholders as
required by state and federal regulators, it said in a report to the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission. The 41-branch bank reported a net
after-tax loss of $3.6 million in 2007, down from a profit of $22.6 million in
2006.
<more> April 3, 2008 Fresno Bee
Would-be Denham challenger drops out - - Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse, a Democrat, has announced that he will not run in the recall election of Sen. Jeff Denham. "Although there is so much that can and should be done in state government, my responsibility is to the people who elected me," he said a statement given to the Merced Sun-Star. Former Democratic Assemblyman Simon Salinas has also expressed interest in the seat. <more> April 3, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Ethanol shares decline on planting report - -
Ethanol stocks fell Monday as a government survey showed that corn supplies
will be tighter this year, indicating higher costs for ethanol producers.
Farmers are expected to plant 86 million acres of corn this year, the
Department of Agriculture predicted Monday, down 8 percent from 2007, when
the amount of corn planted was the highest since World War II. The report is
based on sample surveys of 86,000 farm operators in the first two weeks of
March. Corn for May delivery rose 25.5 cents to $5.86 a bushel on the
Chicago Board of Trade on Monday.
<more> April 1, 2008 AP
Reduced corn crop forecast plants fears - -
The U.S. Agriculture Department sent shudders through much of the food
industry Monday when it released estimates that showed farmers would plant
8%
less corn this year. With corn prices already pushing up food prices, a
spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers Assn. called the projection
"alarming" and warned that the estimate bodes ill for consumers at the
supermarket. "Food prices are rising twice as fast as inflation, placing
significant pressure on American families who are already suffering from
economic uncertainty," spokesman Scott Faber said. "It's time for Congress
and the administration to offer families some relief and stop food
inflation. "In particular, the association is protesting federal energy
policies that have created increased competition between the nation's food
producers and energy companies for corn. But don't put all the blame on
corn-based ethanol, the USDA said. Competing demands for farmland from
high-priced wheat and soy crops also play into reduced corn plantings,
officials said.
<more> April 1, 2008 LA Times
Foster
Farms launches ‘Fresh Roasted Turkey Program’ - - Restaurant patrons
have become more interested in fresh, quality and flavorful foods. According
to Foster Farms, this is an easy request for restaurant operators when they
menu the company’s premium cut of ready-to-cook turkey breasts. Now, Foster
Farms has gone one step further to develop a Fresh Roasted Turkey Program
designed to show operators how they can successfully prepare, menu and
market fresh roasted turkey to their patrons. It all fits together to
increase an operator’s profits—a signature turkey menu item, a higher menu
price, increased customer satisfaction, said Foster Farms. For more
information on the program, go to
www.fosterfarmsfoodservice.com. March 31, 2008 Foster Farms Press
Release
Big Chicken Chains Expand Their Range - -
It's getting hot in the chicken coop. Feeling the pressure from McDonald's
and Burger King, which have successfully added poultry options to their
menus, many of the leading fast food chicken chains have responded with new
ads and products. Kentucky Fried Chicken is leading the charge. Last week,
it announced it is testing Kentucky Grilled Chicken in six cities with a
national debut expected next year. Late last month, it scrapped a
four-year-old ad campaign in favor of a new one, themed, "Life Tastes Better
with KFC." The chain also launched a chicken wrap to compete with McD's
successful Snack Wrap.
<more> March 30, 2008 Brandweek
Indonesian child tests positive for bird flu - - An Indonesian child
has tested positive for bird flu, pushing the country's total confirmed
human cases to 130, a health ministry official said on Monday. Lily
Sulistyowati, the ministry's spokeswoman, said the 22-month-old girl from
Sumatra's Bukit Tinggi fell sick on March 19 and the ministry is checking
her neighborhood for possible backyard farming. "Her condition is improving,
and she is being treated at a Padang hospital," Sulistyowati told Reuters by
telephone. Contact with sick fowl is the most common way of contracting H5N1
virus, which is endemic in bird populations in most of Indonesia.
<more> March 31, 2008 Reuters
Governor declares Denham recall election for June
3 - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today set a special recall election for
June 3 in Sen. Jeff Denham's 12th Senate District. Denham, a Central Valley
Republican, ticked off Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata when he helped
prolong a 52-day budget standoff. The state Democratic Party and a committee
tied to Perata spent nearly $300,000 to gather more than 61,000 signatures
to qualify the recall. Voters will be asked if they want to recall Denham
and to pick a replacement should the recall succeed. The June 3 recall
coincides with the regularly scheduled state primary election. April 1,
2008 Sacramento Bee
Finishing farm bill on Congress' plate. Cardoza
is likely to be on committee that reconciles House, Senate differences--
Congress returns Monday to confront a lot of unfinished business, including
a farm bill that's important for the San Joaquin Valley. Many questions have
arisen; here are some answers. Question: Good grief, aren't they finished
yet? Answer: Sadly, no. Technically, much of the 2002 farm bill expired
Sept. 30. Some Senate optimists insisted lawmakers could finish their work
by the end of the year. That didn't happen. Then lawmakers gave themselves a
March 15 deadline. They missed that, too. Now, the House and Senate confront
an April 18 deadline. They probably will make it this time. Q: Isn't it
taking them a long time? A: Yes. The House approved its farm bill July 27,
and the Senate approved its version Dec 14. Q: Who's writing this thing,
anyway? A: Many hands stir the pot, most behind the scenes. On Monday, the
House is expected to appoint members of the "conference committee" who will
conduct negotiations with their Senate counterparts. Rep. Dennis Cardoza,
D-Merced, almost certainly will be one of the committee members.
<more>
March 29, 2008 Modesto Bee
Ecology, ag program at Stan State Wednesday -
- Professor Miguel Altieri, an expert on agricultural ecology at the
University of California at Berkeley, will speak Wednesday at California
State University, Stanislaus. The free program will be at 6 p.m. in the
Faculty Development Center on the Turlock campus. Altieri will speak about
the prospects in the 21st century for producing food while conserving
natural resources. The talk is part of a semiannual series sponsored by
Yosemite Farm Credit. More information is available by calling 664-6648.
March 29, 2008 Modesto Bee
Valley air officials want tougher fireplace rules
- - Valley air officials want to triple the number of days that
residents are banned from burning wood in their fireplaces -- and it's not
because the no-burn days are popular. The bans, which began five years ago,
have been a major reason the region achieved the federal standard for coarse
specks of pollution, called PM-10, such as soot and ash from fireplaces.
Now, the staff of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
wants a far stricter fireplace rule to help control more dangerous fine
particles -- PM-2.5, which include the tiniest bits of soot and ash.
<more> April 1, 2008 Modesto Bee
April 30 Valley air board hearing on PM 2.5 plan - - A public hearing will be held Wednesday, April 30 in Fresno to discuss and receive comments on the proposed PM 2.5 plan. The hearing is being held by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District at 9 a.m. in the board’s Fresno office 1990 E. Gettysburg Ave., Fresno. March 13, 2007 Valley Air District Notice
Friday, March 28, 2008
The Clean Energy Scam - - From Time
Magazine’s cover article on ethanol: "But several new studies show the
biofuel boom is doing exactly the opposite of what its proponents intended:
it's dramatically accelerating global warming, imperiling the planet in the
name of saving it. Corn ethanol, always environmentally suspect, turns out to
be environmentally disastrous. Even cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass,
which has been promoted by eco-activists and eco-investors as well as by
President Bush as the fuel of the future, looks less green than oil-derived
gasoline. Meanwhile, by diverting grain and oilseed crops from dinner plates
to fuel tanks, biofuels are jacking up world food prices and endangering the
hungry. The grain it takes to fill an SUV tank with ethanol could feed a
person for a year. Harvests are being plucked to fuel our cars instead of
ourselves. The U.N.'s World Food Program says it needs $500 million in
additional funding and supplies, calling the rising costs for food nothing
less than a global emergency. Soaring corn prices have sparked tortilla riots
in Mexico City, and skyrocketing flour prices have destabilized Pakistan,
which wasn't exactly tranquil when flour was affordable."
<more> March 28, 2008 Time Magazine
February poultry production up 9% from 2007 - -
The United States Department of Agriculture reports that production of poultry
certified wholesome during February 2008 was 3.451 billion pounds, down 10%
from January but up 9% from the February 2007 total. For the year to date,
production is at 7.285 billion pounds, compared to 6.728 billion for the first
two months of 2007. By category, most of the weight was young chickens at
2.891 billion pounds, an increase of 8% on the year, young turkeys accounted
for 504.331 million pounds, 13% more than in February 2007 and ducks made up
9.714 million pounds, a decline of 7% from last year. The total preliminary
live weight was 4.645 billion pounds, compared to 5.153 billion a month ago
and 4.265 billion a year ago. Young chickens made up 3.924 billion pounds and
young turkeys were placed at 638.396 million pounds. That brings the 2008
cumulative to 9.798 billion pounds, an increase of 8% from 2007.
<more> March 28, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Thursday, March 27, 2008
US officials launch bird flu stockpile in Thailand
- - US officials on Tuesday officially opened a stockpile of equipment in
Thailand designed to help Asian nations react rapidly to battle outbreaks of
potentially deadly bird flu. The US ambassador to Thailand Eric John presided
over the Bangkok launch ceremony for the Regional Distribution Centre (RDC),
which is located in Thailand's eastern province of Chachoengsao. "The RDC will
help ensure that countries in Asia will be able to take fast action to counter
avian influenza without endangering the lives of rapid-response teams," John
said. "This centre will help ensure that avian influenza outbreaks can be
contained safely and efficiently," he added.
<more> March 27, 2008 AFP
Murray’s Chicken debuts eco-thoughtful packaging
- - Murray’s Chicken announced the debut of its new eco-thoughtful
packaging. In time for Earth Day, April 22, Murray’s Chicken becomes the first
poultry company to eliminate the use of polystyrene, or foam trays. The
non-recyclable, chemical compound is an inexpensive and popular choice for
food packaging, and 2.5 million tons end up in landfills each year. “As a
company that takes its social responsibility seriously, the foam tray was
always a thorn in our side and we have long been exploring options”, said
Steve Gold, vice president of marketing for Murray’s Chicken. “We’re excited
to now offer a smart and environmentally-responsible alternative.”
<more> March 27, 2008 Murray’s Chicken Press Release
CPF Quality Assurance seminar called a success -
- The California Poultry Federation kicked off its first Quality Assurance
(QA) seminar of 2008 with great success on March 20
in Modesto. About 40
industry members from both meat and table-egg laying companies were in
attendance. Speakers included Dr. Mark Bland; Writing the QA Plan, Dr.
Robert O'Connor; Biosecurity: Keeping your Employee's Interest, Dr. Bill
Donahue; Pest Control and Chemical Resistance, Bob Shipley; North Valley Task
Force Update, and Bill Mattos; National Poultry Improvement Plan.
QA SEMINAR SPEAKERS, from left, included Dr. Mark Bland, Dr. Bob O'Connor, CPF President Bill Mattos, CPF Chairman Bob Shipley and Dr. Bill Donahue. (Photo by Cody Penfold)
In order to keep California Meat
Poultry Quality Assurance Certified, companies must send employees to the QA
seminars to fulfill the training and education core component of the plan. If
you have any questions about the QA program or need documents from the
seminar, please contact Cody Penfold (209) 576-6355 or
codypenfold@gmail.com. March 27,
2008
U.N. urges caution in biofuel use - - The world
must take care when developing biofuels to avoid perverse environmental
effects and higher food prices, Nobel Peace Prize winner and climate change
scientist Rajendra Pachauri said on Wednesday. Speaking at the European
Parliament, he questioned whether the United States' policy of converting corn
(maize) into ethanol for use as a transport fuel would reduce the emission of
greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Controversy has grown over using
food crops to make biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. Some
environmentalists and politicians say it has raised food prices, distorted
government budgets and led to deforestation in southeast Asia and Brazil.
<more> March 27, 2008 Reuters
USDA might hold back names of retailers in meat
recalls -- Under pressure from the food industry, the Agriculture
Department is considering a proposal not to identify retailers where tainted
meat went for sale except in cases of serious health risk. Had that been the
rule in place last month, consumers would not have been told if their
supermarkets sold meat from a Southern California slaughterhouse that
triggered the biggest beef recall in U.S. history. The plan is being
considered as the USDA puts the final touches on a proposed disclosure rule.
It had lingered in draft form for two years until February, when 143 million
pounds of beef were recalled by Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif.,
after undercover video by an animal-rights activist showed workers abusing
crippled cows. Agriculture Department spokesman Chris Connelly confirmed
Wednesday that the agency is weighing whether to make naming the stores
mandatory only for so-called "Class I" recalls, which pose the greatest health
hazard. The Chino recall was categorized as "Class II" because authorities
determined there was minimal risk to human health.
<more> March 27, 2008 AP
USDA Secretary Schafer joins California's Ag Day
2008 celebration - - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer helped
celebrate National Ag Day 2008 at the state Capitol Tuesday along with other
dignitaries and dozens of exhibits showcasing California's diverse
cornucopia. Schafer, taking a break from his work to shepherd a 2007 farm
bill through Congress, joined California Secretary of Food and Agriculture
A.G. Kawamura and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Tuesday's
festivities on the Capitol's west steps. Schafer and Schwarzenegger sampled
some of the state's 400 different agricultural commodities that were on
display in dozens of booths and viewed exhibits that included horses, sheep,
Alpacas and other farm animals. In prepared remarks, Schafer noted the
importance of Ag Day in the nation's number-one farm state. "It's a great
way to remind everyone how important agriculture is to California and how
important California is to agriculture," Schafer told the crowd that
included hundreds of children, parents, state employees and agricultural
industry representatives. "Thank you California for all that you do for your
49 sister states."
<more> March 27, 2008 Capital Press
Sierra snowpack dips to normal after early storms -- The Sierra snowpack has shrunk to normal levels after a series of big winter storms in January and early February was followed by a relative dry spell. While storms have tapered off in recent weeks, the state Department of Water Resources says the amount of snow remaining should be enough to fill the reservoirs that feed the state's water system. The department's fourth snow survey of the season on Wednesday found the snowpack was 105 percent of normal for this time of year in the northern part of the Sierra and 103 percent of normal for the southern part of the range. It was 89 percent of average in the central Sierra. <more> March 27, 2008 AP
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Homeland Security has a supplemental No-Match
rule - - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released a
Supplemental Proposed Rule for the No-Match Rule. That’s the plan under
which Social Security was going to send letters to employers if they had an
employee that did not match their Social Security number. A U.S. District
Court put an injunction against the plan back in August saying Social
Security’s records were not accurate enough to enforce deportation against
those who came up as a “No Match.” Under the revised rules, the Feds say if
an employer gets a letter, they should check their records, if there is no
mistake, then notify the employee of the discrepancy and instruct them to
contact Social Security and get it cleared up. Homeland Security says if the
employer follows the guidelines within 90 days of receiving the letter, they
will have a “Safe harbor” from the no-match letter being used against them
in an enforcement action.
<more> March 26, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Waste Regulations Proposal Upsets Delmarva
Chicken Farmers - - Dozens of Delmarva chicken farmers on Monday
night spoke out against a proposal that would force them to get new
operating permits. Maryland Department of Environment officials hosted a
public meeting at Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury to hear input from
farmers about new regulations. No guidelines have been passed yet, but the
plan aims to keep the bay clean by reducing the amount of manure in the
water. "We've started with stormwater runoff guidelines and this is our next
step trying to work with farmers to come up with guidelines so we don't have
manure, in other words, nutrient overflows into the bay," said Robert
Ballenger of the MDE.
<more> March 26, 2008 WBOC-TV
Activists sue EPA over Valley air quality
standards - - Air quality activists Tuesday sued the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, claiming officials illegally declared that the San
Joaquin Valley has met the health standard for dust and soot. Activists, who
filed the lawsuit in the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals in San
Francisco, say Valley air monitors in January recorded dangerous levels of
the pollution, called PM-10. There have been several other violations in the
last several years, they said.
<more> March 26, 2008 Fresno Bee
Merrill Lynch launches global emissions index -
- The research arm of U.S. bank Merrill Lynch launched a global carbon index
on Wednesday to track the international carbon markets, which were worth
some $60 billion last year. Merrill Lynch said its MLCX Global CO2 Emissions
Index will allow investors to participate in the world's carbon markets,
including the European Union's emissions trading scheme and emissions
markets under the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol. "The MLCX Global Carbon
emissions indices... come in response to strong demand from our
institutional, asset management, and wealth management clients who seek
exposure to the rapidly growing global carbon market," Abyd Karmali,
managing director and global head of emissions markets, said in a statement.
<more> March 26, 2008 Reuters
Probe into Santa Cruz animal rights attack
stalls; UCSC officials hope for arrests - - The investigation into the
attack on the home of a UC Santa Cruz biomedical researcher last month has
stalled, police reported Tuesday. Detectives are waiting for the FBI to
finish the forensic analysis of a computer confiscated during the
investigation, but have no official suspects, according to police spokesman
Zach Friend. There hasn't been any movement on the case in at least a week
and detectives have not linked the attack to other animal rights protests at
the homes of UC Berkeley and UCLA scientists, police reported. "In the last
week there hasn't been anything," Friend said.
<more> March 26, 2008 San Jose Mercury News
Schwarzenegger: Illegal immigrants not to blame for budget mess - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, responding to the mother of a Republican state legislator, said Wednesday it would be a "big mistake" to blame illegal immigrants for the state's looming $8 billion budget problem. The Republican governor was in San Luis Obispo to pitch his budget proposal to local officials and business leaders when he was asked by Diane Blakeslee, mother of Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, how the state should handle fiscal burdens created by illegal immigrants. "There is, you know, always a time like this where you start pointing the finger at various different elements of what creates the budget mess, and, you know, some may point the finger at illegal immigrants," Schwarzenegger said. "I can guarantee you, I have been now four years in office in Sacramento, I don't think that illegal immigration has created the mess that we are in." <more>. March 26, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Ground broken for new Cal Poly meat processing
center - - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo held a groundbreaking ceremony last
week for its new J&G Lau Family Meat Processing Center and a
dedication
for the recently completed Animal Nutrition Center. California Poultry
Federation members Foster Farms and Richard and Kathy Zacky are major
donors. They and other donors were honored by Dr. David Wehner, Dean,
College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and Dr. Andy Thulin,
head of the Animal Science Department, at last Wednesday’s ceremonies
marking the groundbreaking, as well as the dedication of the college’s
impressive new $5.5 million Animal Nutrition Center. Dr. Charles Corsiglia
was on hand to represent Foster
GROUNDBREAKING. Foster Farms' Charles Corsiglia, third from right, and
Neil and Richard Zacky, participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for Cal
Poly's new Meat Processing Center. (Photo courtesy of
Chris Leschinsky )
Farms at the groundbreaking ceremony, while Richard Zacky and son Neil, a
Cal Poly student, were on hand for the day’s events. The 13,500 square-foot
facility will include meat processing laboratories, food safety research
space and ready to eat product development facilities for Cal Poly and
companies in the meat food industry. Richard Zacky spoke with CPF’s
Communications Manager Mark Looker about his family’s support of the meat
processing center, the dedication of the Animal Nutrition center and their
cumulative impact on the California poultry industry.
Click
here to listen to the interview. (2:00) March 25, 2008
STMicro launches chip to detect bird flu- -
Europe's top semiconductor maker, STMicroelectronics, said it has developed
a portable chip to detect influenza viruses including bird flu in humans.
The device, which functions as a mini laboratory on a chip, can screen and
identify multiple classes of pathogens and genes in a single diagnostic test
within two hours, unlike other tests available on the market that can detect
only one strain at a time and require days or weeks to obtain results. The
chip can differentiate human strains of the Influenza A and B viruses,
drug-resistant strains and mutated variants, including the Avian Flu or H5N1
strain.
<more> March 24, 2008 Reuters
Don't just blame the chickens for flu - -
Intensive rice farming and large duck populations — not the number of
chickens raised — may be the best predictors of where bird flu might develop
in Southeast Asia, according to researchers reviewing outbreaks in Vietnam
and Thailand. About 140 million birds in Southeast Asia have been killed in
recent years to prevent the H5N1 virus from spreading. Researchers are
trying to understand what factors have contributed to continued outbreaks
despite significant control efforts. By isolating those factors,
policymakers can better target efforts to stem or prevent future outbreaks.
For example, they could limit the movement of ducks into the rice paddies at
certain times of the year, which would reduce the prospects of the virus
being exchanged between domestic ducks and wild birds.
<more> March 25, 2008 AP
United Egg Producers announce animal-welfare
auditing relationship with American Humane Association-- United Egg
Producers (UEP), a trade association representing most U.S. egg farmers and
companies, has developed a new working relationship with the Denver-based
American Humane Association, the only national organization dedicated to
protecting both children and animals. American Humane has a 131-year legacy
of being the gold standard of animal welfare. Under terms of the agreement
between the two organizations, UEP will recognize American Humane
Certified(TM) animal welfare audits as also meeting UEP Certified standards
if those egg producers also meet some additional criteria. The American
Humane Certified program -- which is the nation's first and original
animal-welfare label attesting to the humane treatment of animals involved
in food production -- establishes guidelines for the production of eggs from
hens in cage-free and free-range farm systems, while the UEP Certified
program provides science-based guidelines for the production of eggs from
hens either in modern cage production housing systems or cage-free farm
systems.
<more> March 25, 2008 UEP Press Release
Why egg prices are cracking budgets - - The
massive henhouses plopped into a cornfield here resonate with the clucking
of hundreds of thousands of birds. Across the U.S., cash registers beep,
ringing up eggs for more than $2 a dozen. To Bob Krouse, head of the firm
that owns the veritable chicken city, those hens are part of the soundtrack
to a golden era of record egg industry profits. For consumers, well, let's
just say the Easter Bunny shelled out a lot more green this year: Retail egg
prices have been increasing at rates not seen in at least 30 years. Egg
eaters are feeling the pain of soaring chicken feed prices, which egg
producers are successfully passing down to the grocery aisle. What's more,
the egg industry's normal response to good times, which is to feverishly add
capacity until prices drop like a rock, hasn't materialized. That could keep
supplies tight and prices high well into 2009.
<more> March 25, 2008 Chicago Tribune
State Ag Board focuses on creating state’s ag vision - - From backyard fruit trees to supermarket shelves, California’s $31.4 billion agricultural industry touches the lives of individuals worldwide on a daily basis. In the years to come, how this industry adapts and innovates will be vital to its continued success. In planning for this future, the State Board of Food and Agriculture will bring together the public and the agricultural industry to create an “Ag Vision” for California at this month’s board meeting and will begin to determine the format for the agricultural vision and when public input meetings will occur. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 26 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s main auditorium, 1220 ‘N’ Street, Sacramento. The meeting will include presentations by agricultural representatives and departmental officials concerning the strategic planning process. March 25, 2008 CDFA Press Release
Friday, March 21, 2008
New guidance released on compliance with no-match
rule -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a
proposed rule today giving additional guidance to employers on how to handle
“no-match” letters from the Social Security Administration. The new rules
are in response to a federal judge’s order putting the program on hold until
concerns of business and labor were addressed. The rule will be published in
the Federal Register, perhaps as early as Tuesday, and a comment period will
be open for 30 days. “The rule does not create new legal obligations for
businesses,” DHS said in a news release. “It simply outlines clear steps an
employer may take in response to receiving a letter from the Social Security
Administration indicating that an employee’s name does not match the social
security number on file. If the business follows the guidance in the
No-Match Rule, comprising various actions to rectify the no-match within 90
days of receiving the letter, they will have a safe harbor from the no-match
letter being used against them in an enforcement action.”
<more> March 21, 2003 DHS Press Release
Flies and Salmonella: A Bad Combo in Poultry
Houses - - Flies may be more than a mere nuisance. They may also spread
food poisoning bacteria like Salmonella enteritidis to chickens and their
eggs. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) microbiologist Peter S. Holt and
entomologist Christopher J. Geden found that the common housefly, Musca
domestica, readily picks up bacteria from its surroundings. When the
chickens eat the flies, the bacteria get inside the birds. Holt works in the
Egg Safety and Quality Research Unit at the ARS Richard B. Russell Research
Center in Athens, Ga., while Geden is at the ARS Center for Medical,
Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Fla.
<more> March 19, 2008 ARS Press Release
Bird flu may mutate to human form in Indonesia:
FAO - - The bird flu virus, widespread in Indonesia, could mutate and
cause a human influenza pandemic, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday. "I am deeply concerned that the high
level of virus circulation in birds in the country could create conditions
for the virus to mutate and to finally cause a human influenza pandemic,"
FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech said in a statement. "The human
mortality rate from bird flu in Indonesia is the highest in the world and
there will be more human cases if we do not focus more on containing the
disease at source in animals," Domenech said.<more>
March 19,2008 Reuters
Upton Sinclair, Now Playing on YouTube - - An
undercover vegan wired with a camera no bigger than a sugar cube spent six
weeks last fall working at a Southern California slaughterhouse. To fit in,
he brought sandwiches made with soy riblets and ate them in a dusty parking
lot with the other workers. He tried not to worry about the emotional toll
that long days escorting cows to the kill might have. He had more practical
concerns, like whether the camera switch hidden in his pocket would fail or
a cow would smash into him and crack the recording equipment taped to his
body. The Humane Society of the United States first gave a 32-minute video
made from his footage to the San Bernardino County district attorney, then
in January released an edited version on its Web site and to a newspaper.
The video showed workers flipping sick dairy cows with forklifts, prodding
them with electricity and dragging them with chains to be processed into
ground meat, some of which likely ended up in chili and tacos at public
school cafeterias. It was as if someone gave Upton Sinclair a video camera
and a Web link. Animal cruelty charges were filed, the slaughterhouse was
shut down and Congress held hearings.
<more> March 21, 2008 NY Times
Cold
Storage: Red Meat, Poultry & Pork Supplies Up - - Frozen food stocks in
refrigerated warehouses on February 29, 2008 were greater than year earlier
levels for turkey, pork, chicken and butter. Butter stocks were up 7 percent
from last month and up 8 percent from a year ago. Total red meat supplies in
freezers were up 1 percent from the previous month and up 9 percent from
last year. Frozen pork supplies were up 6 percent from the previous month
and up 25 percent from last year. Stocks of pork bellies were up 12 percent
from last month and up 70 percent from last year. Total frozen poultry
supplies on February 29, 2008 were up 6 percent from the previous month and
up 25 percent from a year ago. Total stocks of chicken were down 3 percent
from the previous month but up 21 percent from last year. Total pounds of
turkey in freezers were up 26 percent from last month and up 32 percent from
February 28,2007. March 21, 2008 USDA Report
Cal Poly dedicates new feed mill - - In an
operation that would make Noah envious, Cal Poly has a new four-story mill
operated by computers that will soon make feed for all 13,750 animals on
campus. It’ll help train students on food safety and processing. It also
will serve as a training site for feed managers from the West and Asia. The
computer-operated, 21,000- square-foot operation—called the Animal Nutrition
Center — is on the campus near Highway 1. The center was built because an
older mill was removed to make way for the Poly Canyon Village housing
project, which will board 2,700 students by 2009. The new mill grinds and
prepares nutrients for animals. For many of the animals, such as poultry,
the food pellets produced at the center combine corn, soybean mill, soy oil
and vitamins.
<more> March 21, 2008 SLO Tribune
Valley bank expects big loss. County Bank owner
seeks CEO and outside aid in real estate mess - - The Merced-based holding
company for County Bank anticipates a big loss for 2007 caused by falling real
estate values in the central San Joaquin Valley. Capital Corp. of the West,
owner of the 41-branch bank, also is seeking a new chief executive and has
hired a New York investment firm to "evaluate other strategic alternatives,"
it said this week. Bank officials assured customers that the company remains
financially sound.
<more> March 21, 2008 Fresno Bee
Funding for the multi-million San Joaquin River project passes Congress - - Amendments to legislation that would fund the San Joaquin River restoration agreement appeared to please Friant irrigation district boards. Speaking after a March 14 meeting, Friant Water Users Authority General Manager Ron Jacobsma said all districts welcomed the amendments that include up to $35 million to rehabilitate the Friant-Kern and Madera canals. There is also authorization for a groundwater bank that was sought by the Madera district. There was no opposition, it's encouraging for our board this is moving forward," said Jacobsma. <more> March 21, 2008 Capital Press
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
CPF Quality Assurance seminar Thursday in Modesto -
- The California Poultry Federation will hold a Quality Assurance seminar
Thursday, March 20 at the Harvest Hall of the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. Registration and continental breakfast will be from 8-8:30
with the seminar directly following. Registration is $15 and includes
continental breakfast, lunch and seminar materials. In order to keep your
company's QA plans valid, at least one representative must attend. Speakers
include Dr. Mark Bland, Writing a Quality Assurance Plan; Bill Donahue, Vector
Pest Control; Dr. Bob O'Connor, Biosecurity: Maintaining Your Employee's
Interest; Andy Rhorer, National Poultry Improvement Plan; and Bob Shipley,
Poultry Task Force Update. Please RSVP to Sandy prior to the seminar (209)
576-6355.
Click here
to download registration form. Feb. 29, 2008
Charitable donations to animal rights groups
increase 5 percent - - Charitable donations to animal-rights groups rose
five percent in 2006, according to a new analysis by the Animal Agriculture
Alliance. Donations to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
increased by 17 percent. Additionally, donations to PETA's so-called
Foundation to Support Animal Protection (FSAP) also posted a double-digit
increase, jumping 18 percent. The findings come from the 2007 Animal People
Watchdog Report on 150 Animal Charities - the newspaper Animal People's
annual review of animal charity budgets which is based upon Internal Revenue
Service Form 990 filings the groups are required to file. AAA's analysis
also showed that the largest animal-rights activist group in the United
States, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), increased donations by
nine percent, including its subsidiary organizations the Fund for Animals,
Doris Day Animal League (DDAL) and Doris Day Animal Foundation (DDAF).
Importantly, this increase builds on a 62 percent increase in donations the
organization garnered in 2005. It is important to note that all numbers for
HSUS exclude Humane Society International, the international branch of HSUS,
which was estimated to have revenues of $3 million.
<more> March 19, 2008 Animal Ag Alliance Press Release
Central Valley GOP senator Denham faces recall
vote - - For only the fifth time in the past 90 years, voters will have
a chance to recall a sitting state lawmaker, after the effort to unseat Sen.
Jeff Denham qualified for the ballot on Tuesday. Denham, a Central Valley
Republican, angered top Democrats, particularly Senate President Pro Tem Don
Perata, for his role in prolonging last summer's 52-day budget standoff. The
state Democratic Party and a committee tied to Perata spent nearly $300,000
to gather more than 61,000 signatures to qualify the recall, which the
secretary of state certified Tuesday. The recall is likely to appear on the
June 3 ballot, though Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not officially set the
election date.
<more>
March 19, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Biofuels driving force in ag costs says 10 year
forecast - - Biofuels are a driving force in agriculture and will
continue to be, according to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research
Institute’s latest 10-year projections. “It’s hard to talk about a baseline
without saying something about biofuels,” said Scott Brown, FAPRI livestock
analyst during a March 5 press conference. “We’re expecting in 2008 that
ethanol production from corn to be nearly 11 billion gallons and continuing
to grow to 15 billion gallons. The recently passed legislation (by Congress
mandating biofuel usage) certainly has an effect on ethanol production long
term.” However, ethanol production is just one of the reasons why FAPRI —
whose reports are relied upon by Congress when crafting legislation — sees
crop prices “that have moved higher. When looking at the baseline, we
anticipate those will continue to (remain) higher.
<more> March 19, 2008 Western Farm Press
Friday, March 14, 2008
FSIS Establishes Outreach Training Program Area to
Assist Establishments and Educate Employees - - The USDA’s Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a new program office dedicated to
supporting the agency's continued efforts in outreach to small and very small
plants and education of FSIS personnel. The Office of Outreach, Employee
Education and Training (OOEET) will provide consolidated access, resources and
technical support for small and very small plants to better assist them in
providing safe and wholesome meat, poultry and processed egg products. This
program area also will ensure that all FSIS personnel have the necessary
training to effectively carry out their assigned duties. OOEET will
collaborate with state inspection programs to share training materials,
provide technical advice and conduct outreach activities.
<more> March 14, 2008 USDA Press Release
CPF Quality Assurance seminar March 20 in Modesto -
- The California Poultry Federation will hold a Quality Assurance seminar
Thursday, March 20 at the Harvest Hall of the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. Registration and continental breakfast will be from 8-8:30
with the seminar directly following. Registration is $15 and includes
continental breakfast, lunch and seminar materials. In order to keep your
company's QA plans valid, at least one representative must attend. Speakers
include Dr. Mark Bland, Writing a Quality Assurance Plan; Bill Donahue, Vector
Pest Control; Dr. Bob O'Connor, Biosecurity: Maintaining Your Employee's
Interest; Andy Rhorer, National Poultry Improvement Plan; and Bob Shipley,
Poultry Task Force Update. Please RSVP to Sandy prior to the seminar (209)
576-6355.
Click here
to download registration form. Feb. 29, 2008
California Agriculture Day March 25 at Capitol -
- California Agriculture Day will be celebrated March 25 at the state Capitol.
California Women for Agriculture is working with the California Department of
Food and Agriculture to host the event. The Capitol grounds will be alive with
farm animals, free food and entertainment in celebration of California’s great
agricultural bounty. Participants are invited to share their California
commodities and information with state legislators, legislative staffers,
state agency representatives, media and the general public. The California
Poultry federation will again have a booth offering promotional material about
the state’s poultry industry. This year, the event will feature celebrity
chef, Guy Fieri, with his cook-off competition, “Cooking with your Kids.” In
this presentation, Guy will showcase California grown products while
empowering kids and adults to make better eating decisions. March 14, 2008
CDFA Notice
Colorado animal welfare bill is an effort to head
off ballot initiative- - Colorado State Senator Sen. Jim Isgar has
introduced a bill to require the humane treatment of farm animals. He's trying
to prevent a ballot initiative from animal-rights activists, Isgar said
Monday. Senate Bill 201 would require veal calves and pregnant pigs to be kept
in housing that allows them to stand up and turn around. The Humane Society of
the United States has started a ballot initiative on the same topic. "This
will not be a bill that all the rural people love, but the agriculture groups
understand this is a step we can take to prevent a (ballot) initiative," said
Isgar, D-Hesperus. "When we end up with initiatives, they're not worded well."
<more> March 14, 2008 Durango Herald
Energy Commission Adopts Recommendations to Reduce
Greenhouse Gases - - The California Energy Commission has adopted a report
to develop comprehensive regulatory strategies to meet AB 32 greenhouse gas
reduction goals. The Interim Opinion on Greenhouse Strategies was prepared
jointly by the Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC). The Opinion makes recommendations to the California Air
Resources Board (ARB) for a regulatory structure that includes a combination
of market and program approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the
electricity and natural gas sectors. "Clearly, AB 32's aggressive goals and
timetable require swift action by state regulators and utilities. I am pleased
by the initial efforts of our two agencies," said Jackalyne Pfannenstiel,
Chairman of the Energy Commission. "This interim opinion lays the groundwork
for a balanced and fair approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a way
that will protect consumers, ensure grid reliability and provide a model for
other states and the federal government."
<more> March 14, 2008 Energy Commission Press Release
Businesses Face Cut in Immigrant Work Force - - For years, William Zammer Jr. has relied on 100 seasonal foreign employees to turn down beds, boil lobsters and serve cocktails at the restaurants, golf course and inn he owns on Cape Cod and in nearby Plymouth. This summer, however, the foreign workers will not be returning, and Mr. Zammer, like other seasonal employers across the nation, is scrambling to find replacements. “It’s a major crisis,” he said. “We’re very short on work force. We’ll be looking at opening a little later, closing a little earlier, looking at how we do our menus.” Mr. Zammer is caught up in a Congressional standoff over immigration overhaul that is punishing employers who play by the rules and that, advocates of change say, could cost small companies billions in lost business. <more> March 14, 2008 NY Times
Thursday, March 13, 2008
11 and CPF president Bill Mattos termed
the gathering a success. "It was an excellent opportunity for our members to
get updates on the most recent legislative activities," he noted. "The tough
budget times in California were very much at the forefront of our discussions
as we reminded lawmakers of the powerful economic impact the California
poultry industry has on our state's economy." On Monday, the CPF board of
directors held a business session and then hosted a reception in the Capitol
for lawmakers and their aides.Small business tax seminar in Fresno Friday - -
State Controller John Chiang will be hosting a Tax Seminar in Fresno County
for Small Businesses. The seminar will be held at the Hugh Burns State
Building, 2550 Mariposa Mall, Assembly Room, First Floor, from 9 a.m. to 3
p.m. Topics include Basic Sales and Use Tax Issues, State Tax Updates for
Small Businesses, State Enterprise Zones, Federal Employment Tax
Responsibilities & Resources, How to Start a Small Business and How to Finance
a Small Business. March 13, 2008 State Controller Notice
CPF Quality Assurance seminar March 20 in Modesto -
- The California Poultry Federation will hold a Quality Assurance seminar
Thursday, March 20 at the Harvest Hall of the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. Registration and continental breakfast will be from 8-8:30
with the seminar directly following. Registration is $15 and includes
continental breakfast, lunch and seminar materials. In order to keep your
company's QA plans valid, at least one representative must attend. Speakers
include Dr. Mark Bland, Writing a Quality Assurance Plan; Bill Donahue, Vector
Pest Control; Dr. Bob O'Connor, Biosecurity: Maintaining Your Employee's
Interest; Andy Rhorer, National Poultry Improvement Plan; and Bob Shipley,
Poultry Task Force Update. Please RSVP to Sandy prior to the seminar (209)
576-6355.
Click here
to download registration form. Feb. 29, 2008
Sanderson Farms sees fewer U.S. chicken companies
- - Sanderson Farms Inc, the No. 4 U.S. chicken producer, expects more
consolidation in the U.S. chicken industry over the next year as smaller or
less efficient producers exit the business, the company's chief executive said
on Tuesday. "It would not surprise me if you saw some assets for sale over the
next 12 months," Joe Sanderson, Sanderson Farms CEO, said during a
presentation at the Bank of America Consumer Conference. Some of the
consolidation may be due to older operators selling their businesses. "There
will be some age issues, a lot of the people holding the businesses started
them," he said. "So there will be some of that as families get out of the
business. But it won't be fast."
<more> March 13, 2008 Reuters
EPA slashes ozone levels. Valley's clean-air target
could be set back 6 years; scientists still not happy - - Federal
officials announced a tougher national ozone standard Wednesday, which could
push back the Valley's target date for clean air by six years, to 2030. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lowered the threshold above which the
corrosive summertime gas is considered unhealthy by about 6%. Federal
officials said the new standard would prevent thousands of heart attacks and
tens of thousands of acute lung problems, such as asthma attacks. "I adhered
to the law, I adhered to the science" in choosing the new ozone standard, EPA
Administrator Stephen Johnson said.
<more> March 13, 2008 Fresno Bee
April 30 Valley air board hearing on PM 2.5 plan
- - A public hearing will be held Wednesday, April 30 in Fresno to discuss
and receive comments on the proposed PM 2.5 plan. The hearing is being held by
the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District at 9 a.m. in the board’s
Fresno office 1990 E. Gettysburg Ave., Fresno. March 13, 2007 Valley Air
District Notice
Legislative analyst leaving at end of year - - Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill announced Thursday that she will retire from her "dream job" at the end of the year. "It's time for a new chapter in my life," said Hill, 58, who has served as the Legislature's nonpartisan budget analyst for 22 years. Hill, who recently released her own alternative to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed state budget, said she was under no pressure to resign. <more> March 13, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Poultry producers urged to speak out against
confined animal initiative - - A proposal that would phase out small hen
cages in egg production in California seems almost certain to qualify for
the
November
ballot and the best thing producers can do is talk about their industry and
explain to the public the measure’s unintended consequences. That advice
came from Anita Mangles of Woodward McDowell, one of the nation’s top ballot
measure and issue advocacy firms, as she spoke to CPF members Tuesday as
part of their annual Sacramento Legislative Day activities. The initiative, sponsored
by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and other animal activist
groups, is titled the “California Prevention of Animal Cruelty Act,” a title
Mangles labeled as “incredibly misleading at best.” Backers have turned in
790,486 signatures, far more than the 433,971 needed from registered voters
to place the measure on the November ballot. County election clerks are
verifying the signatures. The measure would force California’s egg ranchers
to greatly expand the amount of space required to house their flocks and
flies in the face of science showing that confinement rearing provides many
opportunities to enhance the health and welfare of food animals by
protecting them from adverse environmental conditions and predators.
PRODUCER INVOLVEMENT will be critical in leading the fight against
a proposed ballot measure on animal confinement, Anita Mangles of issue
advocacy firm Woodward McDowell told CPF members attending Tuesday's
Legislative day in Sacramento. (Photo by Cody Penfold)
The
higher costs coupled with lower production resulting from the expanded cages
would drive some producers out of business and translate into higher prices
for consumers at the grocery store, said Mangles. Poultry producers also
need to make the argument that the marketplace is already making adjustments
based on consumer choice, as ranchers shift some of their production to meet
consumer’s desire for alternative food choices. Science, not emotion,
should drive the debate about animal welfare policy, said Mangles. “A
central question in this election will be: Who is best suited to make
decisions about how to raise animals and run their business- - animal ag
owners or animal welfare activists. Should animal welfare be decided at the
ballot box or by the people who know what they are doing?” Mangles urged
producers to get involved in the campaign and help educate the public. “The
more we talk about this initiative, the better off we are,” she said.
Speaker training will be made available to producers interested in talking
to local community groups about the measure. Several CPF members attending
the meeting indicated they were interested in participating in the education
campaign. Further information is available by contacting CPF President Bill
Mattos at (209) 576-6355 or
califpoultry@cs.com. March 12, 2008
Chill factor: Air-chilled chicken is hot. Cooling
chicken with air, rather than water, improves flavor, some producers say
- - Air-chilled is red hot. In the world of poultry, natural, free-range and
organic have become all-too familiar labels. Now, look for another one at
high-end grocery stores near you: air-chilled. The air-chilling process,
common in Western Europe for more than 45 years, is still fairly new in the
United States. It refers to a specific method used to cool chickens after
slaughtering. Most chickens in this country are processed by being immersed
in ice water. By contrast, air-chilling cools chickens by blasting them with
cold air. Air vs. water? Is there really such a huge difference? Many
retailers think so.
<more> March 12, 2008 San Jose Mercury News
Pilgrim's Pride closing chicken facilities --
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. said Wednesday it will close a chicken-processing
plant and six distribution centers in the United States, laying off 1,100
workers, due to soaring feed costs and an oversupply of chicken. The
Pittsburg, Texas-based poultry company is also reviewing other facilities
for potential product shifts, closures or consolidation. The company said on
Monday that it is also exiting the turkey business because of slim profits.
Pilgrim's Pride expects charges of $35 million, or 33 cents per share, from
the facility closures announced Wednesday. The amount is $21.7 million, net
of tax.
<more> March 12, 2008 AP
U.S. Ethanol Production Totaled 6.48 Billion
Gallons in 2007 - - U.S. ethanol fuel production averaged 423,000
barrels per day in 2007, an increase of more than 34% over 2006 production,
according to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). Ethanol fuel production
totaled 6.48 billion gallons in 2007, far above the 4.7 billion gallons of
renewable fuel required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Ethanol production
will have to continue to increase this year, as the Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007 includes a new Renewable Fuel Standard that requires 8
billion gallons of renewable fuels to be blended into the country's fuel
supply in 2008. That's an annual growth rate of more than 23%, but the
industry appears ready to meet that challenge. According to the RFA, there
are currently 143 ethanol biorefineries with the combined capacity to
produce 13.4 billion gallons per year of ethanol fuel, well above that
required by the new standard. The industry is also building another 57
biorefineries and expanding seven existing biorefineries, an effort that
will boost ethanol production capacity by another 5.2 billion gallons.
March 12, 2008 RFA Press Release
Diesel record: $4.04 a gallon. Fuel prices in the
Valley climb to highest ever. - - The average price of a gallon of
diesel in Fresno hit $4 for the first time Tuesday, according to AAA of
Northern California. The increase means filling a single rig's tank can cost
trucking companies $800 or more. And they're expected to pass on the pain.
"Probably everything that is on the shelf came in a truck," said AAA
spokesman Sean Comey. "That's going to have an effect on [consumers']
financial situation because a wide array of products and services in our
economy have a transaction cost associated with them." The statewide average
diesel price also broke a record Tuesday at $4.04. Other cities across the
state above $4 included Bakersfield, Merced, San Francisco and the Los
Angeles-Long Beach area. Diesel fuel in the Visalia-Tulare-Porterville area
broke a record at $3.97.
<more> March 12, 2008 Fresno Bee
EPA Sets New Ozone Standard, Overrides Advisers - - The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to lower the allowable amount of smog-forming ozone in the air to 75 parts per billion, a level significantly higher than what the agency's scientific advisers urged for this key component of unhealthy air pollution, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The new smog rules -- one of the most important environmental decisions President Bush will make during his final year in office -- will be a major factor in determining the quality of the air Americans will breathe for at least a decade. The standards dictate the amount of nitrogen oxides and other chemical compounds that are allowed to come out of vehicles, manufacturing facilities and power plants across the nation. A slew of industries, including electric utilities and cement manufacturers, had recently urged White House officials in private meetings to keep the ozone limit at 80 parts per billion in order to minimize the cost of installing pollution controls. <more> March 12, 2008 Washington Post
Friday, March 7, 2008
Plenty of politics on tap Monday at CPF Legislative Day - -
CPF
members will not be lacking for political and legislative issues to chew on when
they travel to Sacramento next Monday and Tuesday for their annual winter board
meeting and legislative trip. Animal
welfare supporters have turned in signatures in an attempt to qualify an animal
confinement measure that most experts figure will qualify for the November
ballot. That issue will be top of mind when CPF members gather Tuesday, March 11
to hear from Anita Mangles of the Woodward McDowell, one of the nation’s top
ballot measure and issue advocacy firms. She will discuss a potential campaign
opposing the initiative
that would phase out small hen cages in egg production in California and also
ban crates that hold calves for veal production and pigs for breeding. She will
be one of several speakers who will address CPF members Tuesday morning at the
Sheraton Hotel in downtown Sacramento. Other speakers include George Gomes, CDFA
undersecretary; Assemblyman Roger Niello (R- Sacramento); Tony Quinn of the
highly respected political publication California Target Book and Rich Matteis,
administrator, California Farm Bureau President.
“We think we have an excellent line-up of speakers who will provide very good
insight into some of the most pressing political issues facing California,” said
CPF president Bill Mattos. “This is an excellent opportunity for our members to
better understand the impact these issues will have on the California poultry
industry.”The Sacramento trip opens on Monday, March 10, with a CPF board of directors
meeting at the Hyatt Regency. The 1 p.m. session will feature a state
legislative and regulatory update by CPF’s legislative advocate Michael
Boccadoro of The Dolphin Group; a report on avian influenza detection efforts by
USDA Veterinarian Dr. Kevin Varner and a report from the California Department
of Food and Agriculture on its AI and other disease control efforts.
Monday will be capped by a legislative reception at the state Capital and a
dinner at nearby Chops restaurant. Further information about the Sacramento
events are available by contacting the CPF office at (209) 576-6355.
Bakersfield men arrested after allegedly stealing
their cockfighting roosters back - - California Highway Patrol officers
bagged the two men as they reportedly tried to sneak 45 roosters seized
during a raid on a Bakersfield cock-fighting operation out of the Kern
County Animal Shelter in the early hours of Friday morning. Local law
enforcement officials broke up an illegal cock-fighting operation on Trust
Avenue in Bakersfield on Thursday, according to Kern County Animal Control
Chief Denise Haynes. Haynes said officers from the Kern County Sheriff’s
Department and Bakersfield Police Department and the California
Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team were serving a search
warrant on the property when they discovered the cock-fighting operation.
<more> March 7, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Animal welfare initiatives are 'battle for the
country' - - Ballot or legislative proposals that are being pursued in
four states would effectively make egg producers transition housing to
cage-free egg production systems. The initiatives are being pursued by the
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and essentially would require
that any farm animal not be confined or tethered in such a way that it
cannot lie down, stand up, turn around and fully extend its limbs. The
initiatives specifically address cage production systems for hens and stall
systems for sows and veal calves. HSUS is pushing this in the form of
legislative proposals in Colorado, Washington and New Hampshire and in the
form of a ballot initiative in California, where it would be decided by
voters this fall.
<more> March 7, 2008 FeedStuffs
Specialist Says Cow, Human Waste More Likely to
Pollute Illinois River Than Chicken Litter -- An infectious disease
specialist testified Friday that chicken litter does not pose a threat to
the Illinois River watershed. Dr. Herbert Dupont of St. Luke's Episcopal
Hospital in Houston said the bacteria count in the Illinois River is too low
to cause illnesses such as salmonella. He said human waste and cow manure
are more likely to pollute the river than chicken litter. "It isn't a
problem in my opinion," Dupont said on the sixth day of testimony in
Attorney General Drew Edmondson's attempt to stop 13 poultry companies from
disposing of waste in the 1 million acre watershed in northeastern Oklahoma.
<more> March 7, 2008 AP
Maryland Panel Airs Proposed Foie Gras Ban -
- Animal welfare groups took aim yesterday at one of the staples of haute
cuisine, the fatty livers of geese and ducks, known as foie gras, whose
production entails force-feeding the birds through a pipe down their
throats. But what the enemies of foie gras called cruel, its purveyors
called safe and humane as they fought a proposed ban on the sale of the
traditional French delicacy in Maryland restaurants and specialty shops.The
Senate's education, health and environment committee, accustomed to debating
global warming, septic systems and high-school dropout rates, heard two
hours of testimony on the durability of goose gullets and whether a duck
feels pain as its liver is fattened up. Foie gras is not produced in
Maryland, but many fine restaurants serve it. Their chefs told lawmakers
that banning it would eat into their bottom lines and deprive diners of such
dishes as Tournedos Rossini, the signature seared filet mignon topped with
duck liver and truffle sauce at Aldo's Ristorante Italiano in Baltimore.
<more> March 6, 2008 Washington Post
Valley air quality is getting better - - If
the air seemed to clear recently, it isn't your imagination. Pollution
control officials say air quality is best in springtime, and on top of that,
Stanislaus County residents kept the air cleaner this winter than in past
years. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District detected only
one day this year in Stanislaus County when pollution reached the level at
which the district restricts wood burning. That compared to nine days last
year and 16 days the prior year. Merced and San Joaquin Counties had no days
compared to two and one, respectively, last year.
<more> March 7, 2008 Modesto Bee
Clocks
move forward Sunday with Daylight Saving Time - - On Sunday, March 9
(the second Sunday in March) at 2 a.m.,
Daylight
Saving Time begins in the United States. This is the second year that
Daylight Saving Time is four weeks longer due to the passage of the Energy
Policy Act in 2005. The Act extends Daylight Saving Time by four weeks from
the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. Daylight Saving
Time - for the U.S. and its territories - is NOT observed in Hawaii,
American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and by most of
Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona).
Indiana, which used to be split with a portion of the state observing DST
and the other half not, is now whole.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Vet
shortage threatens food system - - A shortage of veterinarians who treat
farm animals is stressing the nation's food inspection system, prompting the
federal government to offer bonuses and moving expenses to fill hundreds of
vacancies. Veterinarians increasingly have chosen to live in metropolitan
areas and pursue more lucrative practices specializing in pets. The result
is a shortage of veterinarians who treat farm animals or work as government
inspectors.
<more> March 3, 2008 USA Today
Ethanol stocks plummet on record corn prices
- - Ethanol stocks plummeted Tuesday as investors dumped their holdings amid
fears that record-high corn prices will push margins into negative
territory. Corn for March delivery added 9.5 cents to settle at $5.555 a
bushel on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Monday, after earlier reaching a
record $5.615 a bushel. Corn is the key component of most ethanol produced
in the U.S. The ethanol industry's profitability has been limited by the
commodity's surging cost, which producers have not been able to pass
completely onto refiners. Citi Investment Research analyst David Driscoll
noted in a report Monday that ethanol pricing was flat last week, although
margins moved up 2 cents per gallon. Nonetheless, investors expected high
corn prices to bite into upcoming results.
<more> March 4, 2008 AP
Corn is king -- and therefore a growing problem
- - Corn is a key element of the U.S. food supply. It is what dairy cows
eat to make milk and hens consume to lay eggs. It fattens cattle, hogs and
chickens before slaughter. It makes soda sweet. As the building block of
ethanol, it is now also a major component of auto fuel. And that may signal
trouble ahead. Economists are cautioning that the nation's growing
dependence on corn would make for a double jolt in the event of a drought
across the Midwest: soaring prices not just for food but also for gasoline.
Analysts now warn that a "corn shock" might not be far off -- and it could
lead to $5 gas and $3.50 eggs as the effects reverberate across the economy.
"We are replacing price volatility from the Middle East with Midwestern
weather price volatility," said Michael Swanson, a Wells Fargo & Co. vice
president and agricultural economist.
<more> March 2, 2008 LA Times
EPA Proposing Additional Options for Animal
Feeding Operation Rule - - EPA is proposing additional options to a 2006
proposal for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) under the Clean
Water Act. This supplemental proposal will be published soon in the Federal
Register and open to public comment for 30 days. Under current law, if
CAFOs do not discharge pollutants to waters of the United States they do not
need a Clean Water Act permit. Today's proposal would, for the first time,
allow CAFOs to certify that they do not discharge. EPA is also proposing
three different approaches for nutrient management plans (NMPs) that could
be used by permitting authorities and CAFOs to determine application rates
of manure, litter and wastewater to be incorporated into the permit. An NMP
specifies the amount of manure that can be applied to crops so nutrient
runoff to water bodies is minimized. EPA has been regulating CAFOs for more
than 25 years. In response to a February 2005 federal court decision
vacating some portions of a 2003 CAFO rule, EPA proposed a revised rule in
June 2006. This proposed rule supplements the 2006 proposal by adding
additional options. Information on Animal Feeding Operations:
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/afo/revisedrule March 4, 2008 EPS
Press Release
DWR
announces snow survey results, limits on Delta pumping go in effect - -
Results of the snow survey by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR)
show Sierra snowpack conditions at 118 percent of normal for this time of
year. While this would normally be a positive indication that the state’s
water supply is in good shape, DWR also announced that it will need to
further reduce Delta pumping starting today to comply with a federal court
order limiting water exports to Southern California, the Bay Area and
Central Valley. State Water Project exports, which would typically be at
about 8,000 cfs this time of year to fill south of Delta storage and provide
water to communities and farms, will be cut to about one-quarter of that
amount to protect Delta smelt that might be impacted by water project
operations. This reduction initially will last up to seven days.
<more> March 3, 2008 Western Farm Press
San
Joaquin Valley hopes clout brings bucks - - State Sen. Dave Cogdill
maintains the San Joaquin Valley is often treated like a "red-headed
stepchild" in the Legislature when it comes to getting its share of state
money. "Politics is a numbers game, and there are many more representatives
from Southern California and the Bay Area than the valley," said the Modesto
lawmaker, who will take over as Senate Republican leader on April 15. The
240-mile-long valley from Bakersfield to Stockton produces a quarter of the
nation's food and prefers the kinder appellation of "America's Breadbasket."
But it has some of the worst smog, poverty and school dropout rates in the
country. When Cogdill succeeds Sen. Dick Ackerman of Irvine as the Senate's
top Republican, the top two GOP leaders in the Legislature will be from the
valley.
<more>
March 3, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Dan
Walters: California's water war heating up - - It's been nearly three
decades since California has experienced a full-scale battle in its
perennial war over water, but another one may be brewing. In the late 1970s
and early 1980s, then-Gov. Jerry Brown, in alliance with Los Angeles Mayor
Tom Bradley, mounted a drive to build a "peripheral canal" to transport
Sacramento River water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the head
of the California Aqueduct. Schwarzenegger wants to revive the peripheral
canal, which is probably still the best solution to the interrelated
problems of maintaining deliveries while protecting the Delta's fragile
environment. The courts have been ordering reductions in pumping out of the
Delta to protect endangered fish species, creating much angst among water
agencies south of the Delta.
<more>
March 3, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Clocks
move forward Sunday with Daylight Saving Time - - On Sunday, March 9
(the second Sunday in March) at 2 a.m.,
Daylight
Saving Time begins in the United States. This is the second year that
Daylight Saving Time is four weeks longer due to the passage of the Energy
Policy Act in 2005. The Act extends Daylight Saving Time by four weeks from
the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. Daylight Saving
Time - for the U.S. and its territories - is NOT observed in Hawaii,
American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and by most of
Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona).
Indiana, which used to be split with a portion of the state observing DST
and the other half not, is now whole.
Friday, Feb. 29, 2008
Animal confinement initiative signatures turned in
- - Animal-rights advocates Thursday turned in 790,486 signatures for a
proposed ballot measure that would phase out small hen cages in egg production
in California and also ban crates that hold calves for veal production and
pigs for breeding. The total is far more than the 433,971 needed from
registered voters to place the measure on the November ballot, according to
the Humane Society of the United States and other backers. County election
offices will verify the signatures in the coming weeks. Advocates say the
cages provide as little as 67 square inches of floor space per hen, preventing
the birds from turning around or flapping their wings. Industry leaders say
the cages actually are a humane way of protecting the hens from disease and
injury. The Northern San Joaquin Valley is a major producer of eggs, turning
out an estimated 2.8 billion in 2006. Feb. 29, 2008 Modesto Bee
Humane Society seeks cage-free farms - - The
controversial practice of raising hens and other farm animals in cramped cages
came under renewed attack on Thursday, when the Humane Society of the United
States announced it submitted enough signatures to easily qualify a ballot
initiative banning the practice for the state's November ballot. The
initiative, called the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, would prohibit
producers from confining egg-laying hens, gestating pigs and calves in cages
that severely restrict the animals' normal movements. If approved by voters,
it would take effect in 2015. A new group called Californians for Sound Farm
Animal Agriculture, formed to fight the ballot initiative, expressed its alarm
at the prospect of voters dictating farming practices. "This is simply not the
way to go about making regulations, by popular vote," said Scott Macdonald,
spokesman for the Los Angeles-based organization.
<more> Feb. 29, 2008 InsideBayArea.com
Confinement measure threatens science-based farm
practices, says ag group - - The following statement was released today by
Californians for Sound Farm Animal Agriculture as signatures were submitted by
proponents of the “Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act”: “This measure is
primarily an effort to ban the use of a scientifically proven method for
housing egg-laying hens. If implemented it would trigger unintended
consequences which are likely to include increased farm costs, decreased
in-state production and higher egg prices for California families. There
could also be significant environmental and food safety impacts. California’s
farmers and ranchers are committed to caring responsibly for their animals,
and most egg farmers here practice the voluntary care guidelines recommended
by the United Egg Producers - methods which were carefully developed by an
independent panel of scientists and animal welfare experts. This measure
ignores those advances in favor of a one-size-fits all mandate that many
experts believe will do nothing to improve, and may even jeopardize, hen
welfare. California egg farmers already employ a variety of methods of housing
egg-laying hens, including conventional housing, cage free, free range and
organic. This market-driven diversity provides consumers with choices that
inform sound farm practices.” Feb. 29, 2008 Californians for Sound Farm
Animal Agriculture
CPF Quality Assurance seminar March 20 in Modesto -
- The California Poultry Federation will hold a Quality Assurance seminar
Thursday, March 20 at the Harvest Hall of the Stanislaus County Agriculture
Center, Modesto. Registration and continental breakfast will be from 8-8:30
with the seminar directly following. Registration is $15 and includes
continental breakfast, lunch and seminar materials. In order to keep your
company's QA plans valid, at least one representative must attend. Speakers
include Dr. Mark Bland, Writing a Quality Assurance Plan; Bill Donahue, Vector
Pest Control; Dr. Bob O'Connor, Biosecurity: Maintaining Your Employee's
Interest; Andy Rhorer, National Poultry Improvement Plan; and Bob Shipley,
Poultry Task Force Update. Please RSVP to Sandy prior to the seminar (209)
576-6355.
Click here
to download registration form. Feb. 29, 2008
Billboards for chicken sandwiches cause stir -
- A convenience store chain's billboard advertising its fried chicken sandwich
is ruffling some feathers. The Altoona, Pa.-based company, Sheetz, unveiled
the "Crispy Frickin' Chicken" billboards at the beginning of this month. The
campaign consists of 100 billboards placed near locations that carry the
sandwich, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Sheetz, which has received a number of
complaints, will take down the billboards on Wednesday, when the campaign is
scheduled to end. Feb. 29, 2008 AP
USDA Secretary defends meat inspections - -
Agriculture Secretary Edward T. Schafer sparred with Senate lawmakers
Thursday, insisting that regulations governing inspections of slaughterhouses
are sufficient to ensure the safety of the nation's meat supply. Schafer
rejected senators' calls to completely ban from slaughter any cattle unable to
walk. "Downer" cows are at higher risk of carrying E. coli and salmonella
bacteria and of having the wasting neurological illness known as mad cow
disease. The standoff came at a Senate subcommittee hearing triggered by
practices at Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. of Chino that led to the largest meat
recall in U.S. history. Undercover video shot by the Humane Society of the
United States showed downer cows being forced to slaughter by workers who
poked them with electric prods or rolled them with forklifts.
<more> Feb. 29, 2008 LA Times
In beef recall, three agencies differ on why
video's release took so long - - A dispute over the release of video
footage at the center of the largest beef recall in U.S. history underscores a
rift between two organizations that work to protect the nation's animals. And
San Bernardino County authorities are stuck in the middle. Following a
two-month undercover investigation, the Humane Society of the United States
released video footage late last month showing employees at a Chino
slaughterhouse using forklifts, sticks and chains to force sick and injured
cows to their feet for slaughter. Meanwhile, the USDA lambasted the Humane
Society for not bringing the information to them sooner, particularly because
much of the meat was headed for school cafeterias around the country. Roughly
50 million of the 143 million pounds of beef recalled in the aftermath of the
tape's release went to the National School Lunch Program, according
Agriculture Department estimates.<more>
Feb. 29, 2008 Riverside Press Enterprise
Appeals court denies injunction against
controversial Arizona immigration law - - A federal appeals court Thursday
refused to block a controversial Arizona law that shuts down businesses for
knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. The action by the three-judge panel of
the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco clears the way for the
statute to be enforced beginning Saturday. In a brief order, the judges said
that business and immigrant rights groups had not shown an adequate need for
delaying enforcement of the law. After the measure went into effect Jan. 1,
county prosecutors said they would not file any cases until March 1 to allow
the courts time to decide whether to issue the injunction. A trial court judge
earlier this month found the law to be constitutional.
<more> Feb. 29, 2008 LA Times
Valley loses on more air money. Bid to increase
region's cut of grant funds fails. -- San Joaquin Valley officials on
Thursday lost a bid to secure more clean air money when state regulators
approved a grant proposal more favorable to Southern California. Backed by
Valley lawmakers and civic leaders, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution
Control District had lobbied hard for the Central Valley to get $370 million
of a $1 billion bond allotment aimed at fighting diesel pollution. But the
California Air Resources Board voted to give just $250 million to the Central
Valley and $550 million to Southern California, with other regions getting far
less.
<more> Feb. 29, 2008 Fresno Bee
Snow boosts farmers' outlook. Storms raise readings and elevate hopes for more water deliveries this year. - - Recent storms have boosted southern Sierra Nevada snowpacks, raising hopes for many farmers who saw their water deliveries slashed last year. "The snowpack is the key for us," said Kathi Woodward, an Easton-area farmer and dairy operator. "It means we'll have to pump less ground water, it's better for the environment, and it's a lot less costly for us. All around, it's been great." Thanks to the snowpack -- which already exceeds typical annual peaks -- the Fresno Irrigation District will begin delivering water Saturday, two months earlier in the season than last year, officials said this week. <more> Feb. 29, 2008 Fresno Bee
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008
Humane Society Criticized in Meat Quality Scandal -
- As the meat industry scrambles to recover from a public-relations disaster
over an undercover video of abused cattle, the secretary of agriculture and at
least one congressman have picked an unlikely target to share in the blame:
the Humane Society of the United States. The Humane Society shot the video of
what appear to be sick or lame cattle being forced to their feet with
forklifts, hoses and electric prods at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company in
Chino, Calif., in October and November. Released publicly in late January, the
video touched off criticism of the Department of Agriculture’s inspection of
the meat supply and led to the biggest beef recall in history, 143 million
pounds. At a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Representative Michael C.
Burgess, Republican of Texas, assailed the Humane Society for waiting to
inform the federal government. “Why wait until February to release the video?”
Mr. Burgess demanded of a Humane Society representative. “Why wait until now
to bring this to our attention?”
<more> Feb. 28, 2008 NY Times
House panel probing recalls say companies and
federal agencies can't be relied upon to protect American consumers. --
House lawmakers, calling the U.S. food safety system "fragile" and a "mess,"
harshly chastised leading food companies and federal agencies Tuesday for
allowing unsafe products to reach American consumers. "Over the last 18 months
we've had E.coli in bagged spinach, salmonella found in tomatoes, lettuce
contaminated with E.coli at Taco Bell, frozen pot pies contaminated with
salmonella," Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said at a House Energy and Commerce
Committee subpanel hearing probing food safety issues. Stupak, chairman of the
oversight and investigation subcommittee, also highlighted this month's recent
recall of 143 million pounds of beef produced by Westland/Hallmark - the
largest in U.S. history - after a video showed potentially sick cows being
dragged to the slaughterhouse. "Our food safety system is broken. Relying on
the food industry to place safety before profits does not seem to be working,"
Stupak said.
<more> Feb. 28, 2008 CNN
'Virtual Fence' Along Border To Be Delayed. U.S.
Retooling High-Tech Barrier After 28-Mile Pilot Project Fails - - The Bush
administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a "virtual fence" along
the U.S.-Mexico border, delaying completion of the first phase of the project
by at least three years and shifting away from a network of tower-mounted
sensors and surveillance gear, federal officials said yesterday. Technical
problems discovered in a 28-mile pilot project south of Tucson prompted the
change in plans, Department of Homeland Security officials and congressional
auditors told a House subcommittee. Though the department took over that
initial stretch Friday from Boeing, authorities confirmed that Project 28, the
initial deployment of the Secure Border Initiative network, did not work as
planned or meet the needs of the U.S. Border Patrol.
<more> Feb. 28, 2008 Washington Post
Students Are Implicated in Attack on Animal
Researcher's Family - - Students at the University of California at Santa
Cruz reportedly participated in an attack on the home of a researcher there
who uses animals in research, according to an article in the Santa Cruz
Sentinel. The incident happened on Sunday, when six masked intruders banged on
the door of a scientist who studies breast cancer and neurological diseases.
When a family member of the researcher answered the door, he was struck by the
protesters, who then fled. A witness took down the license plate of the car
used by the assailants. Police officers later raided a house where three Santa
Cruz students were apparently residents, the Sentinel reported. The police
confiscated computers and other materials but made no arrests.
<more> Feb. 28, 2008 Chronicle of Higher Education
Assembly makes it official on Speaker-elect Bass
- - The Assembly voted Thursday to elect Los Angeles Democrat Karen Bass
as the next speaker, making her the first African American woman to hold the
post. Bass won unanimously by a voice vote after a closed-door meeting among
majority Democrats. Bass, 54, fended off nine competitors in the battle to
replace current Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. She put together a
majority of the 48 Democrats on Wednesday. She will assume the post later this
year. Bass received three standing ovations from Assembly members during
Thursday's brief floor ceremony.
<more>
Feb. 28, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Top water utilities to study climate change - - Eight of the top U.S. water utilities are joining forces to study how rising sea levels, droughts and other effects of global warming are taking a toll on supplies of drinking water, they said on Tuesday. The coalition, known as the Water Utility Climate Alliance, said water agencies need access to the best possible climate change research as they prepare to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure over the next 15 years. "Our systems are facing risk due to diminishing snowpack, bigger storms, more frequent drought and rising sea levels," said Susan Leal, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, a member of the alliance. "We need to be organized to respond to these risks -- that's why we've formed this alliance." <more> Feb. 28, 2008 Reuters
Wednesday, Feb.27, 2008
Humane Society sues USDA over downer cow rules
after beef recall - - The Humane Society sued the federal government
Wednesday over what it said is a legal loophole that allows sick or crippled
cattle, called "downers," into the food supply. A U.S. Department of
Agriculture rule change made in July allows some downer cows into the food
supply, the Humane Society of the United States alleges in its lawsuit filed
in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. In 2004, the USDA tightened
regulations to prohibit the slaughter of all "downer" cows - animals that
cannot stand - after a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Washington
state. The lawsuit alleges that under last year's change, cows that fell
down after an initial veterinarian inspection but appeared otherwise healthy
were allowed to be slaughtered. The lawsuit asks the USDA to close the
loophole to protect consumers and ensure the humane treatment of animals.
<more> Feb. 27, 2008 AP
Poultry price rises help Sanderson - - US
poultry group Sanderson Farms has reported a first-quarter profit of $11.6m
as a result of improving poultry market prices. The result compared to a
loss of $3.4m in the corresponding period last year. Net sales for the three
months ended 31 January were up to $362m, compared to $293m a year ago. "The
results for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 reflect improvement in poultry
prices over the same period last year, although we still faced, and will
continue to face, much higher grain costs," said Joe Sanderson, chairman and
CEO of Sanderson Farms.
<more> Feb. 27, 2008 JustFood.com
Clean diesel engines - - Kudos to Congressman
Jim Costa for keeping the lungs of his Central Valley constituents foremost
at heart. Democrat Costa, who represents portions of Kern County, has
written legislation that would encourage additional retrofitting of diesel
engines with new, lower emissions technology. HR 3754, co-sponsored by a
bipartisan group of California Congressmen, including Republican Devin Nunes
of Visalia, recently passed the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air
Quality. A U.S. Senate version of the bill is moving forward, as well. The
Environmental Protection Agency has long funded diesel retrofit projects
through settlements with polluters. Costa's bill allows the EPA to continue
that practice, but also helps maintain a separate source of funding for
retrofitting projects. That funding is presently at risk because of the
small appropriation the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act received last year.
<more> Feb. 27, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
FSA has a variety of loan programs to help
farmers and ranchers - - An interest rate as low as 3.75 percent is hard
to beat. John Smythe, Executive Director of USDA’s Farm Service Agency in
California today reminded producers that FSA may be able to assist your
farming operation with a low interest operating or ownership loan. The
current rate for operating loans is 3.75 percent. “It is the time of year
where we begin thinking of our spring planting needs,” says Smythe.
“Whether you need loan funds to finance your spring needs for fertilizer,
seed, or you need to upgrade your equipment line with a new tractor,
planter, baler or perhaps you have been thinking about expanding your
operation or need credit to increase your production, FSA may be able to
help.” Farm loans must be fully secured and can only be approved for those
who have repayment ability and meet certain eligibility criteria. For more
information on FSA loan programs, please contact your local USDA Service
Center or FSA County Office, or visit www.fsa.usda.gov/ca. Feb. 27, 2008
FSA Press Release
Oil spikes above $102, then slips back - - Crude prices spiked above $102 a barrel for the first time Wednesday, then retreated after the government reported the nation is greased with more oil and gasoline than expected. Prices nonetheless stayed within range of Tuesday's record close as the dollar tumbled to fresh lows against the euro and U.S. economic worries drove more money into energy futures as a hedge against inflation. "This is a market that has been trending strongly to the upside, ignoring fundamentals, and focusing on other factors," said Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citigroup Global Markets. "They are not looking at how oil supply compares with oil demand." Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell $1.24 to settle at $99.64 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after surging as high as $102.08 a barrel in electronic trading earlier. On Tuesday, the contract jumped $1.65 to settle at a record $100.88 a barrel. <more> Feb. 27, 2008 AP
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008
North Valley Task Force meets Wednesday - -
The California poultry industry’s North Valley Task Force will meet
Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the Stanislaus Coutny Agricultural Center, Modesto.
The meeting gets underway at 1 p.m. in the second floor conference room in
the Stanislaus Building. Dr. Dennis Wilson, CDFA, will make a special
presentation on emergency response planning. Other agenda items include an
AI update by Dr. Carol Cardona, UC Davis, and an update on CDFA activities
by Dr. Annette Whiteford. More information is available by contacting Cody
Penfold of the CPF at (209) 576-6355. Feb.26, 2008
Chick-fil-A
restaurant coming to Bakersfield - - Atlanta-based fast-food chain
Chick-fil-A confirmed Monday that it plans to open in Bakersfield by year’s
end. The restaurant is expected to occupy a space at the northeast corner of
California Avenue and Stockdale Highway in the fourth quarter, spokeswoman
Brenda Green said. Chick-fil-A’s chicken breast sandwiches are popular
across the South but are relatively scarce in California. With 1,365
locations nationwide, the 41-year-old company opened its first stand-alone
restaurant in the Los Angeles area two years ago, Green said. The chain has
existed in Southern California food courts years before that, she said.
<more> Feb. 25, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
UCSC researcher targeted in attack - animal
rights activists believed to be behind home invasion - - A UC Santa Cruz
faculty member whose biomedical research using animals sheds light on the
causes of breast cancer and neurological diseases was the target of an
attack Sunday afternoon, reportedly by animal rights activists. UCSC
Chancellor George Blumenthal confirmed late Monday that an off-campus home
invasion by six masked intruders occurred at a faculty member's home. In a
statement, Blumenthal called the incident "very disturbing." Santa Cruz
police reported that six people wearing bandanas tried to break into a
Westside home just before 1 p.m., and that one of the family members, not
the faculty member, was attacked before the intruders fled. The male victim
had made sure his wife and children were safe in the back of the house
before he confronted the attackers. He suffered minor injuries after being
hit with an unknown object. None of the other four people in the house were
injured.
<more> Feb. 26, 2008 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Restoring Valley fish run seen as likely - - Restoration of long-dead
salmon runs in the San Joaquin River near Fresno can easily be achieved, and
it might help solve other California water problems, says an authority on
native fish. Biologist Peter Moyle, a University of California at Davis
researcher who is known as an expert court witness on fish issues, will
discuss the river at the Salmonid Restoration Conference March 5 to 8 in
Lodi. It is the first time the conference has ever been in the San Joaquin
Valley, said officials from the Salmonid Restoration Federation, a nonprofit
advocacy group in Humboldt County.
<more> Feb. 25, 2008 Fresno Bee
Sen.
Dave Cogdill. Voice for the Valley - - The Northern San Joaquin Valley
has a bigger presence at the top levels of Sacramento with state Sen. Dave
Cogdill's selection as minority leader. But before you think that will mean
wholesale improvements on local issues such as water and air quality, take a
breather. A whole host of factors limit the ability of Cogdill, R-Modesto,
or any other legislator, from driving huge changes in the charged atmosphere
of capital politics. One even Cogdill concedes: He represents not just a
district, but, to an extent, a party. As leader of the Senate Republican
Caucus, Cogdill said, he's taking into consideration the wishes of GOP
representatives statewide. Some of them care a lot about issues in the
valley. Some don't.
<more> Feb. 25, 2008 Modesto Bee
Doomsday Seed Vault Debuts in Arctic- - A "doomsday" seed vault built to protect millions of food crops from climate change, wars and natural disasters opened Tuesday deep within an Arctic mountain in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. "The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is our insurance policy," Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told delegates at the opening ceremony. "It is the Noah's Ark for securing biological diversity for future generations." The vault will serve as a backup for hundreds of other seed banks worldwide. It has the capacity to store 4.5 million seed samples from around the world and shield them from man-made and natural disasters. <more> Feb. 26, 2008 AP
Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008
Food And Agriculture Groups Pen Letter Against USDA
User Fees - - Twenty-eight food and agriculture groups including the
American Meat Institute, the National Pork Producers Council, the National
Turkey Federation, the National Chicken Council and others signed a letter to
all members of Congress in opposition to "user fees" proposed by USDA to pay
for meat, poultry and egg products inspection. "These new food safety taxes
will be charged directly to the meat, poultry and egg products sector, which
will be forced to pass this additional cost onto tax-paying consumers," the
group wrote. "Furthermore, this proposal to transform government-funded food
safety inspection into an additional fee system provides less accountability
for the government to manage program costs, results or efficiencies."
<more> Feb. 21, 2008 CattleNetwork.com
Universities to look at health of caged hens. Study
being paid for by U.S. egg association - - Animal welfare and poultry
science experts from UC Davis, Michigan State University and other
universities across the country are teaming up to study what are the most
humane and commercially viable methods for housing egg-laying chickens.
Leading the team of researchers in tackling this controversial issue are
internationally recognized animal welfare scientist Joy Mench of UCD, and
animal welfare researcher Janice Swanson and philosophy professor Paul
Thompson, both of Michigan State University. The research team has recently
received $400,000 from the American Egg Board, an egg-marketing organization,
to fund the planning stage of the research program.
<more>
Feb. 21, 2008 Woodland Daily Democrat
Passing: Kathryn Orlopp, 79 - - Kathryn Orlopp,
79, wife of long-time California Poultry Federation member and past-chairman
Paul Orlopp, passed away Tuesday. Paul and Kathryn were married in 1951 and
made their home in Orosi, Tulare County, where they established Orlopp Turkey
Breeding Farms. In addition to Paul, she is survived by daughter Janice Parbst
of Orosi; son Ron Orlopp and wife Mary Jane of Orosi; daughter Paula Caviglia
and husband Chris of Orosi; and six grandsons Jon and Mike Parbst, Bryan,
Jason and Kevin Orlopp, Matt Caviglia and one great grandson Wyatt Parbst.
Kathryn is survived by three sisters Anna Webber, Alicia Surabian and Albra
Nielsen. A memorial service will be held at the Reedley Mennonite Brethren
Church on Monday, Feb. 25 at 11 a.m. Remembrances may be sent to Hospice of
Tulare County, 400 W. Oak Street, Visalia 93291 or Alzheimer’s Foundation of
Central California, P.O. Box 27617 Fresno 93729. Feb. 21, 2008
New Members of First-Ever EPA Agricultural Advisory
Committee Announced -- Continuing efforts to strengthen relations with
the agriculture community, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator
Stephen L. Johnson today announced the appointment of 30 citizens to serve on
a newly-formed Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Advisory Committee. "Through
increased cooperation with our agriculture partners, EPA is planting the seeds
to reap both environmental and economic benefits for the American people,"
said Johnson. "I am honored and pleased to provide leadership to this positive
breakthrough in relations between the EPA and the agriculture community,"
added Committee Chairman James R. Moseley, former deputy secretary of the U.S.
Dept. of Agriculture.
<more> Feb. 21, 2008 Grainnet.com
Grocery bills jump – no end in sight - - You
aren't imagining things – food prices really are shooting up. And the reasons
why aren't going to disappear anytime soon, including prosperity in China and
India and the record-high cost of oil. On Wednesday the U.S. government said
the Consumer Price Index rose a greater-than-expected 0.4 percent in January,
the result of steep jumps in food and energy prices. Food alone rose 0.7
percent, the biggest one-month jump since February 2007. Scores of grocery
items have become pricier. A pound of cheddar cheese is up to an average
$4.62, or 56 cents higher than a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics. A dozen eggs costs $2.18, up from $1.55 a year ago.
<more>
Feb. 21, 2008 Sacramento Bee
UCLA to seek court protection for animal researchers - - Seeking to protect scientists who conduct experiments using animals, UCLA will go to court today to request a temporary restraining order against animal rights groups and activists accused of harassing university researchers. The university said it would ask a Superior Court judge in Santa Monica to limit the activities of five individuals and three organizations that maintain websites, including one that identifies researchers and lists their home addresses. "We are hoping to send an important message that violence and harassment of our faculty is absolutely outrageous and totally inappropriate," said UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block. "We really want to act before someone gets hurt." <more> Feb. 21, 2008 LA Times
Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008
Cogdill elected state Senate Republican leader
- - State Senate Republicans on Wednesday elected Modesto's Dave Cogdill
as their next leader, giving the San Joaquin Valley a monopoly on GOP power
in the Legislature. Cogdill -- whose district includes eastern Fresno County
-- is expected to take over sometime this spring from Irvine's Dick
Ackerman, who is termed out at the end of the year. GOP leadership of the
Assembly is already in the hands of Clovis' Mike Villines, who has held the
post for more than a year. Republican leaders have less power than ruling
Democrats, but will take on a key role in the ongoing fight over the state
budget, which requires some GOP votes. Feb. 20, 2008 Sacramento Bee
California's state deficit grows - - The
state's budget deficit has increased by another $1.5 billion and now stands
at about $8 billion, primarily due to continuing problems in the housing
market and high energy prices, according to an independent budget analysis
released Wednesday. In January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pegged the budget
shortfall at $14.5 billion for the ensuing 18 months. Legislative Analyst
Elizabeth Hill said that figure was closer to $16 billion but noted that
recent moves to sell bonds, delay debt payments and adopt cuts in education
and health care cut the overall deficit to about $8 billion. Hill said the
state's budget picture is continuing to deteriorate. In essence,
California's economy continues to generate fewer tax dollars than
anticipated.
<more> Feb. 20, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Court Order on Ark. Chicken Waste Sought --
More than a dozen Arkansas-based poultry companies have violated state and
federal laws limiting the disposal of animal waste in the Illinois River
watershed, argues Oklahoma's attorney general. Oklahoma is requesting a
preliminary injunction to stop poultry companies from dropping animal waste
in the 1 million-acre watershed. State Attorney General Drew Edmondson
maintains that unless the court grants the request by the spring, the fecal
bacteria found in the waste could pose a health threat to hundreds of people
who visit the river valley each year. Edmondson told a federal judge Tuesday
that waste from the birds is measured in tons and is not processed, treated
or diluted but dumped on the land "ostensibly as fertilizer but far in
excess of agronomic needs, in the most environmentally and ecologically
sensitive watershed in Oklahoma."
<more> Feb. 20, 2008 AP
California farmland disappearing at alarming
rate. New American Farmland Trust report shows prime farmland continues to
be target for development - - "Reckless development" is gobbling up more
California farmland, part of a rampant and troubling trend noted in a new
report issued today by American Farmland Trust. The report, "Paving
Paradise: A New Perspective on California Farmland Conversion," indicates
that unless urban sprawl is corralled, more than 2 million acres of farmland
could disappear under homes, strip malls and asphalt by 2050. Edward
Thompson Jr., the organization's state director, told reporters Wednesday on
a conference call that California is losing its best farmland at an
"unprecedented rate" to residential, commercial and industrial development.
One out of every six acres of farmland developed since the Gold Rush has
been paved over between 1990 and 2004, the report said. During that span of
14 years, an average of 38,000 acres disappeared across California, much of
it prime farmland. "Of all the land converted, 28 percent was the state's
best land. It is the prime, unique, statewide important irrigated cropland
that is responsible for so much of California agriculture's output,"
Thompson said.
<more> Feb. 20, 2008 Capital Press
Congresswoman proposes stripping USDA of safety oversight -- A lawmaker called Tuesday for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be stripped of its responsibility for food safety in the wake of the nation's largest-ever meat recall. The agency's twin mandates of promoting the nation's agriculture and monitoring it for safety have become blurred, Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro said. "Food safety ought to be of a high enough priority in this nation that we have a single agency that deals with it and not an agency that is responsible for promoting a product, selling a product and then as an afterthought dealing with how our food supply is safe," said DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat who chairs the House subcommittee responsible for the USDA's funding. <more> Feb. 20, 2008 AP
Monday, Feb. 18, 2008
Consumers can get to know the farm their chicken
dinner came from - - It's getting easier to know where your food comes
from, one chicken at a time. Murray's Chickens, a New City, N.Y.-based
producer of antibiotic-free poultry, is giving consumers more information
about the chickens they buy, right down to where they were raised. The
company this year began labeling its products - including whole chickens and
parts - with codes that can be used on Murray's Web site to track the bird
back to the farm where it was raised.
<more> Feb. 16, 2008 AP
Animal Cruelty Inquiry Leads To Firings At Tyson
Foods - - Tyson Foods has fired several workers at chicken
slaughterhouses in Cumming and in Union City, Tenn., in the wake of a
federal investigation of animal cruelty charges, the company said this week.
Tyson also is stepping up management surveillance of areas where live
chickens are handled and retraining workers, according to a statement from
spokesman Gary Mickelson. The Springdale, Ark.-based company disciplined
other workers. He declined to say how many employees had been fired. The
company is conducting an internal investigation of allegations made by
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which sent an undercover
investigator into the plants last fall. The group, which promotes
vegetarianism and animal welfare, notified the federal Agriculture
Department of its concerns in mid-January, and it posted video shot by its
investigator online.
<more> Feb. 17, 2008 Atlanta Constitution
Layer, turkey and broiler health management schools
offered - - The University of Wisconsin is presenting a layer health
management school April 30- May 1 and a turkey and broiler health management
school April 28-29. The course is designed to provide personalized training in
a small group setting. Registration will be limited to 30 participants on a
first-come, first-serve basis. Registration fee is $375, which includes course
proceedings, a diagnostic sampling kit, two continental breakfasts, two
lunches, dinner, and refreshment breaks Please contact Dr. Teresa Y. Morishita
at (909) 469-5512 or
tmorishita@westernu.edu Feb. 15, 2008 University of Wisconsin
Notice
USDA issues largest ever beef recall at Chino
plant - - The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the recall
of 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef from a troubled Chino
meat-packing company, deeming it unfit for human consumption because of
lapses in required inspections. Agriculture Department officials called this
the largest beef recall in the United States, surpassing the ban in 1999 of
35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat. The USDA said there was "a remote
probability of adverse health consequences from the use of the product." The
cattle "did not receive complete and proper inspection," according to a news
release issued by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service in Washington.
Information received by the federal agency shows that Hallmark/Westland Meat
Packing Co. "did not consistently contact the FSIS public health
veterinarian" as required when cattle became non-ambulatory after being
inspected, the release said. Department spokesman Keith Williams noted that
today's beef recall, while the largest in history, was not based on the same
levels of concern for public health as in some prior recalls.
<more> Feb. 17, 2008 LA Times
Cruelty charges filed against Chino slaughterhouse boss - - San Bernardino County prosecutors on Friday filed felony charges against a former Chino slaughterhouse manager who allegedly used cruel methods to force ailing cattle into the slaughter box. The charges follow last month's release of a video showing treatment of animals at the plant, which led to schools nationwide pulling beef from cafeterias. In what prosecutors called unprecedented charges, Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, of Pomona faces up to eight years and eight months in prison if convicted of five felony counts of animal cruelty and three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal. Navarro, who was a head pen manager at Hallmark Meat Packing, was shown using forklifts, electric prods and high-pressure water hoses to force cows to their feet in the video surreptitiously shot by the Humane Society of the United States. <more> Feb. 16, 2008 LA Times
Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008
Foster Farms Launches New Foster Imposter(R)
Advertisements - - Foster Farms to West Coast consumers: don't be
fooled by the Foster Imposters! The mischievous feathered duo is at it again
in 2008, and this time the birds are relentless in their efforts to dupe West
Coast consumers. Beginning today, the antics of the Foster Imposters take
center stage in three new entertaining television advertisements: "Opposite
Day," "Fortune Teller" and "100%." Airing throughout California, Oregon and
Washington, the new advertisements feature the Imposters encouraging passersby
to embrace Opposite Day, questioning the future with the help of a fortune
teller and a misplaced chocolate malt ball, and campaigning door-to-door with
some misleading arithmetic, all in an endless quest to qualify as 100 percent
fresh and natural.
<more> Feb. 14, 2008 Foster Farms Press Release
PE/IFE surpasses attendance from previous year
- - The 2008 International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo drew over
20,000 people from more than 100 countries to see the latest products,
services and technology offered by 894 exhibitors. The IPE/IFE took place Jan.
23-25 in Atlanta. According to IPE sponsor, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association,
funds raised at the IPE are distributed back into the industry in the form of
research, education, communications and technical assistance. The domestic
attendance increased to 16,043, which is 559 people more than the previous
show. The states with the largest number of attendees, in descending order,
were: Georgia, Illinois, Alabama, North Carolina and Arkansas. The states
making substantial increases in the size of their delegations were: Arkansas,
Kansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
<more> Feb. 14, 2008 WattPoultry.com
NTF Chairman Says Food Safety and Energy Top Turkey
Industry Priorities - - The National Turkey Federation’s (NTF) Board of
Directors today elected Paul Hill to serve as the federation’s 2008 chairman.
Hill is chairman of the board at West Liberty Foods, headquartered in West
Liberty, Iowa. Hill called on NTF to focus on food safety and energy, along
with educating consumers and elected officials about the turkey industry.
Speaking about these important issues, Hill said during his acceptance speech,
“The question for us today is how are we going to handle what happens at the
National Turkey Federation and throughout the turkey industry this year?”
<more> Feb.
14, 2008 NTF Press Release
Podcasts available from NTF convention - - The
2008 National Turkey Federation Annual Convention at Loews Coronado Bay, Feb.
9 – 12, 2008 is over. You can listen to the conversations the PoultryCast team
had with presenters, including Dr Sally Noll's recent research on DDGs and
Glycerin impact on turkey nutrition and growth and a Salmonella initiative.
Click here to
listen to the talks. Feb. 14, 2008 PoultryCast
Californians elected to NTF board- - Three
Californians were elected this week to the National Turkey Federation’s board
of directors at the NTF’s annual convention this week in San Diego. Elected
were Ira Brister, Foster Farms; Yubert Envia, general manager of Foster
turkeys, and John Ross, president and COO of Zacky turkeys. Both Envia and
Brister are members of the California Poultry federation board of directors.
Feb. 14, 2008 NTF Press Release
Poultry plant's safety questions. Injured sent back
to work - - Cornelia Vicente was packing chicken tenders at House of
Raeford Farms’ Greenville plant in 2003 when a conveyor belt snagged her
glove, snapped her right arm and ripped off the tip of her index finger. Hours
after surgery, Vicente recalled, a House of Raeford nurse who had come to the
hospital gave her some news: The company would expect her back at the plant
early the next day. The following morning, managers put Vicente to work wiping
down tables and handing out supplies, she said. When she asked for time off,
she said, the nurse said no. “So, of course, I stayed so I didn’t lose my job
or my salary,” Vicente said. The nurse declined to be interviewed.
<more> Feb. 14, 2008 The Charlotte Observer
Daniel Weintraub: Governor should allow a fix to
workers' comp bill - - When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, early in his first
term, brokered a bipartisan compromise to overhaul California's troubled
system for compensating workers injured on the job, many observers thought his
claims of success might be overblown, an enthusiastic exaggeration of the kind
for which he was already becoming famous. But Schwarzenegger's claims turned
out to be an understatement. The bill he signed in the spring of 2004 did
everything he said it would and more. The legislation was so effective at
reducing costs that Democrats soon began trying to repeal some of its
provisions, arguing that they and the governor had gone too far. Truly injured
workers, they said, were being damaged by the reforms.
<more> Feb. 14, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Cogdill vies for top GOP Senate spot-
- Capitol intrigue is afoot over who will lead the state Senate's Republicans,
and local Sen. Dave Cogdill is among the leading candidates vying for the
slot.
Cogdill, a Modesto resident
whose district includes much of San Joaquin County and stretches down to
Fresno, is competing against two lawmakers from the Inland Empire: Dennis
Hollingsworth of Murrieta and Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga.
Sen. George Runner of
Antelope was considered a top contender until Tuesday, when he and his wife,
Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, revealed that she requires a double lung
transplant.
<more> Feb. 14, 2008 Stockton Record
New farm bill would give Valley growers less funds
-- Lawmakers are now taking extraordinary steps to salvage a new farm
bill, including stretching it out for an unusual 10 years while purporting to
temporarily cut a popular crop subsidy. If adopted, the new proposals would
change what Central Valley growers could expect from a bill currently priced
at $286 billion over five years. That's a big if, as even congressional
negotiators concede the latest maneuvers may prove to be short-lived. "We
understand the Senate has some concerns with this," Rep. Collin Peterson, the
Minnesota Democrat who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, acknowledged
Wednesday. "We understand even the White House has some concerns over this."
<more> Feb. 14, 2008 Fresno Bee
Target: medical research - - This month
opponents of scientific research set off an incendiary device at the home of
Edythe London to protest her medical research at UCLA. In October, the
research opponents flooded London's home. In the preceding two years,
activists left bombs, which failed to ignite, outside of the home and under
the car of UCLA researchers. Since August, activists have harassed UC Berkeley
professors at their homes late at night and even leafleted the soccer game of
a researcher's child, according to UC Berkeley spokesman Robert Sanders. Who
are these anti-research extremists and why are they waging a campaign of
intimidation against law-abiding scientists? They are animal-rights activists
who oppose medical research with laboratory animals. Of course, these
activists have a right to their opinion. But they do not have a right to
terrorize researchers - and their children - because they don't like the way
these scientists are working to cure disease.
<more> Feb. 14, 2008 SF Chronicle
Registration deadline Friday for CPF Sacramento trip - - Registration is underway for the California Poultry Federation’s annual trip to Sacramento March 10-11. The activities begin with a board of directors meeting at the Hyatt Regency, followed by a legislative reception at the state capitol. The following morning, CPF members will gather for a breakfast session featuring briefings by several state legislators and staff members. The CPF has reserved a block of rooms at the special rate of $170 per night. Deadline for hotel reservations is Friday, Feb. 15. Contact Sandy at the CPF office at (209) 57-6355 or sandy@cpif.org.
Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008
Arkansas poultry producers file lawsuit against
Pilgrim’s Pride - - Chicken growers in Sevier County and Southwest
Arkansas have filed a lawsuit against Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. accusing the
company of fraud. The lawsuit claims Pilgrim’s Pride induced the farmers to
build “at great personal expense” commercial broiler chicken operations for
the “exclusive benefit of Pilgrim’s,” said Little Rock attorney Clark Mason.
“Pilgrim’s Pride induced them into investing hundreds of thousands of
dollars and untold hours for the exclusive benefit of Pilgrim’s only to now
have Pilgrim’s refuse to provide further flocks of birds to the growers,
despite promises to the contrary,” Mason said.
<more> Feb. 13, 2008 Texarkana Gazette
Tyson Expected To Buy 100% Of Brazil's Pena
Branca In March - - Privately held Brazilian chicken company Pena Branca
expects Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) to acquire 100% of its poultry operations in
March, Pena Branca's director confirmed Wednesday. "Lawyers will complete
the due diligence this month and the deal should be completed in March,"
said company director Antenor Barros Leal. Leal estimated Tyson will pay
130 million Brazilian reals ($74.4 million) for Pena Branca's poultry
operation. The U.S. company will acquire meatpacking units in Sao Paulo
state with a capacity to slaughter 320,000 chickens a day, financial
newspaper Valor Economico reported.
<more> Feb. 13, 2008 Dow Jones
Philadelphia High School Students Get Day Off
After Chicken Prank- - When workers arrived to open Philadelphia’s
Northeast High School, they found 50 chickens running loose in the halls.
District officials said the birds were apparently brought into the building
sometime over the weekend and left a big mess behind. The floors were
covered with droppings and chicken feed. Most of the school's 3,600 students
were sent home for the day because the school required extensive cleanup, a
school official said. To view a video report of this prank,
please click here. Officials said there has to be an upset poultry
farmer somewhere who wants his chickens back. For now, the birds are at the
district's agricultural school. And school officials' feathers are more than
a little ruffled. They warn the person who committed the prank will face a
fine that won't be chicken scratch. Feb. 13, 2008 ABC News
GMO industry group sees growing global acceptance
- - Farmers around the world increased plantings of genetically modified
crops in 2007, according to a biotech crop promotion group that said the
controversial crops have delivered "substantial economic and environmental
benefits" to the world's farmers. The findings came under harsh attack
Wednesday from biotech opponents, including Friends of the Earth, which
issued a separate report claiming genetically modified crops have led to a
large increase in chemical use and have failed to increase yields or tackle
world hunger and poverty. But Clive James, the chairman of the International
Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, also known as
ISAAA, said global acceptance of genetically modified crops was unstoppable.
<more> Feb. 13, 2008 Reuters
Stock prices in ethanol makers climb - -
Ethanol stocks mostly rose in midday trading Tuesday, as an analyst said
that ethanol prices and margins have improved, but could be pressured as the
industry adds more than an estimated 3 billion gallons of new production
capacity by the middle of the year. Ethanol prices declined last fall, and
ethanol margins fell to pennies per gallon. The lower ethanol prices
resulted in part from the industry's rapid expansion, with capacity
additions outpacing demand. However, ethanol margins have recently recovered
as prices improved, according to Banc of America Securities analyst Eric
Brown.
<more> Feb. 12, 2008 AP
Thursday, Feb. 14 memorial service for Arnold "Rosy"
Rosenwal - - A memorial service for Arnold "Rosy" Rosenwal will be held
Thursday Feb. 14 at California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory,
Davis, California in the Maddy Room, from 11:45 a.m. until 3 p.m. Please
RSVP to Diana Covington 530-752-1524 by Feb. 11. The Extension Poultry
Pathologist, Emeritus, University of California, Davis, whose career and
contributions to poultry medicine spanned more than 70 years, died in Davis
Jan. 23. He was 98. Feb. 6, 2008 UC Davis Notice
Registration underway for CPF Sacramento trip - - Registration is underway for the California Poultry Federation’s annual trip to Sacramento March 10-11. The activities begin with a board of directors meeting at the Hyatt Regency, followed by a legislative reception at the state capitol. The following morning, CPF members will gather for a breakfast session featuring briefings by several state legislators and staff members. The CPF has reserved a block of rooms at the special rate of $170 per night. Deadline for hotel reservations is Friday, Feb. 15. Contact Sandy at the CPF office at (209) 57-6355 or sandy@cpif.org.
Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008
Thursday, Feb. 14 memorial service for Arnold "Rosy"
Rosenwal - - A memorial service for Arnold "Rosy" Rosenwal will be held
Thursday Feb. 14 at California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory,
Davis, California in the Maddy Room, from 11:45 a.m. until 3 p.m. Please
RSVP to Diana Covington 530-752-1524 by Feb. 11. The Extension Poultry
Pathologist, Emeritus, University of California, Davis, whose career and
contributions to poultry medicine spanned more than 70 years, died in Davis
Jan. 23. He was 98. Feb. 6, 2008 UC Davis Notice
Registration underway for CPF Sacramento trip - - Registration is underway for the California Poultry
Federation’s annual trip to Sacramento March 10-11. The activities begin with a
board of directors meeting at the Hyatt Regency, followed by a legislative
reception at the state capitol. The following morning, CPF members will gather
for a breakfast session featuring briefings by several state legislators and
staff members. The CPF has reserved a block of rooms at the special rate of $170
per night. Deadline for hotel reservations is Friday, Feb. 15. Contact Sandy at the CPF
office at (209) 57-6355 or
sandy@cpif.org.
Stanislaus food processing waste changes include
insurance, fee requirements - - A new ordinance regulating use of food
processing waste won the unanimous approval of the Stanislaus County Board of
Supervisors today. The ordinance is the latest effort by the county to satisfy
the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, which is concerned
about potential ground and surface water contamination from use of food
processing waste on farm land. The county has been involved in a 25-year-old
program that takes about 600 million pounds of waste material from food
processors, such as tomato skins and peach pits, and spreads them on farm fields
as fertilizer. The program was developed by a team that included the Farm
Bureau, the University of California Cooperative Extension, the county
agricultural commissioner, the food processing industry and the waste hauling
companies.
<more> Feb. 12, 2008 Modesto Bee
Poultry Registry May Play Role In Arkansas Chicken Litter Suit -- A paper trail
of chicken litter could someday help Arkansas' poultry farmers mount a
defense against a federal lawsuit. The statewide poultry registry began in
2004 after Oklahoma officials questioned Arkansas' environmental workers
about their chicken litter removal methods. "We didn't have any data at that
point about disposal," said Patrick Fisk with Arkansas Natural Resources
Commission. The registry now documents how chicken litter is disposed of in
Arkansas. Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson sued 14 Arkansas-based
poultry operators in 2005 alleging they were polluting the Illinois River by
improperly disposing of chicken litter. That lawsuit is making its way
through the federal court system. The registry also keeps track of the type
and number of poultry produced in Arkansas. It is administered by the
Arkansas Natural Resources Commission on the state level and by each
county's conservation district on the local level.
<more> Feb. 11, 2008 The Morning News
PETA
Opposes Kentucky Tribute to Fried Chicken -- Animals rights advocates
are squawking at a measure that would make fried chicken Kentucky's official
picnic food. State Rep. Charles Siler is sponsoring legislation to assign
the designation to KFC's ''finger lickin' good'' chicken, first served by
Colonel Harland Sanders in 1940. The late colonel's fried chicken deserves
the title because of the worldwide attention and economic benefit it has
brought to the state, Siler said. KFC, a subsidiary of Louisville-based Yum
Brands Inc., has 11,000 restaurants in more than 80 countries.
<more> Feb. 11, 2008 AP
Injuries at House of Raeford poultry plants go unreported, newspaper reports
- - Poultry giant House of Raeford has hidden the extent of injuries
that have occurred inside its factory walls, and workers who were hurt have
been either ignored, intimidated or fired, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The newspaper reported that it obtained four years of logs for company
plants in Greenville, West Columbia and two in Raeford, N.C. The Observer
reported an investigation revealed the company has compiled misleading
injury reports and defied regulators as it meets Americans' increasing
appetite for chicken. The company, based in Raeford, has been cited for 130
serious workplace safety violations since 2000.
<more> Feb. 11, 2008 The Greenville News To read the
original article from the Charlotte Observer,
please click here.
Series: Poultry production has high human cost
- - The production lines rarely stopped. An endless stream of raw
chickens — thousands an hour — had to be sliced and cut into pieces for
family dinner tables. It was Enrique Pagan’s job to keep his part of the
line running. He paced and often screamed at the Mexicans and Guatemalans
cutting chicken thighs. He demanded they move faster and scolded them when
they left too much meat on the bone. Enrique said most of his 90 workers in
2002 suffered hand and wrist pains. But he had production goals to meet. And
he knew that workers wouldn’t complain because many were in the country
illegally. “A lot of people didn’t like me,” he said.
<more> Jan. 12, 2008 Charlotte Observer
Hurd named USDA food safety under secretary - - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced the appointment of H. Scott Hurd as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the Food safety and Inspection Service, the USDA agency which protects public health through food safety and defense by ensuring that the nation’s supply of meat, poultry and processed egg products are safe and wholesome. Dr. Hurd comes to FSIS from Iowa State University where he has served as an epidemiologist in the College of Veterinary Medicine for the past three years. At Iowa State University Dr. Hurd has led important research of epidemiology and food risks affecting human health. Dr. Hurd specializes in Salmonella, Campylobacter and antibiotic resistance risk assessments. Dr. Hurd was selected in 2007 as a U.S. delegate to the Codex Alimentarius Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance. Prior to becoming an Associate Professor at Iowa State University, Dr. Hurd served in the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) from 1989 to 2004. At ARS, Dr. Hurd managed research programs and laboratory initiatives focusing on Salmonella in turkeys and swine. Feb. 12, 2008 FSIS Press Release
Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008
Beefs About Poultry Inspections - - Public
interest in food inspection spikes whenever illness or death highlights the
danger of bacterial contamination. In 2007, major recalls affected ground
beef, frozen chicken, and turkey potpies. E. coli and salmonella were
identified as culprits. Now, a new flap over inspection protocols is
bubbling in Washington. The Agriculture Dept. wants to reduce the number of
federal inspectors in poultry slaughterhouses, moving to a "risk-based"
inspection system. The new method aims to shift the inspection focus toward
microbial testing from the physical examination of actual chicken carcasses.
The agency maintains the effort will modernize the process, helping to
allocate resources closer to the threats of food-borne contaminants.
<more> Feb. 6, 2008 Business Week
Feb. 14 memorial service for Arnold "Rosy"
Rosenwal - - A memorial service for Arnold "Rosy" Rosenwal will be held
Thursday Feb. 14 at California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory,
Davis, California in the Maddy Room, from 11:45 a.m. until 3 p.m. Please
RSVP to Diana Covington 530-752-1524 by Feb. 11. The Extension Poultry
Pathologist, Emeritus, University of California, Davis, whose career and
contributions to poultry medicine spanned more than 70 years, died in Davis
Jan. 23. He was 98. Feb. 6, 2008 UC Davis Notice
Registration underway for CPF Sacramento trip - - Registration is underway for the California Poultry
Federation’s annual trip to Sacramento March 10-11. The activities begin with a
board of directors meeting at the Hyatt Regency, followed by a legislative
reception at the state capitol. The following morning, CPF members will gather
for a breakfast session featuring briefings by several state legislators and
staff members. The CPF has reserved a block of rooms at the special rate of $170
per night. Deadline for hotel reservations is Friday, Feb. 15. Contact Sandy at the CPF
office at (209) 57-6355 or
sandy@cpif.org.
President Bush makes personal farm bill veto
threat - - President Bush used the ceremonial swearing-in of new U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer to give a substantive address on key
agricultural issues. And the President also issued a very blunt message to
the leading members of Congress who are working on the new farm bill. It was
only at the end of his remarks that President Bush brought up the farm bill.
With Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, Ranking Senate
Agriculture Committee Republican Saxby Chambliss and House Agriculture
Committee Chairman Collin Peterson looking on from the audience at USDA
headquarters, the President gave an explicit warning about the pending farm
legislation, even as he expressed belief a deal could be struck. "It's
critical for farmers and consumers to have a good farm bill in place, so
Ed's going to work with members of both parties on a bill that spends
people's money wisely, doesn't raise taxes, reforms and tightens subsidy
payments - a farm bill that'll benefit the entire economy," President Bush
emphasized. "I'm confident we can come together to get a good farm bill, but
if Congress sends me legislation that raises taxes or not make needed
reforms I'm going to veto it."
<more> Feb. 6, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Fire set at UCLA animal researcher’s house -
- Authorities are investigating a fire caused by a device left Tuesday at a
house owned by a UCLA professor who conducts animal research -- the second
time the house has been targeted in less than four months. The device was
placed Monday morning on the front porch of a Westside house owned by Edythe
London, FBI officials in Los Angeles said. London, a professor of psychiatry
and bio-behavioral sciences and of molecular and medical pharmacology at the
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, uses lab monkeys in her research on
nicotine addiction. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller confirmed that officials
with the Joint Terrorism Task Force were investigating the incident.
<more> Feb. 6, 2008 LA Times
USDA Suspends Inspections at Calif. Meat Plant - - USDA has suspended meat inspections at Hallmark/Westland Meat Company due to what USDA said was a "clear violation" of federal regulations covering slaughter plants. The matter arose from the release last week of a video showing workers at the Chino, Calif., plant using electronic prods and forklifts to move "downer" cattle to slaughter. Federal rules prevent downer animals from entering the food supply.<more> Feb. 6, 2008 AgWeb.com
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008
Chicken Scores Big on Super Bowl Sunday: USDA/AMS
-- Regardless which teams play in the annual Super Bowl, which team
wins, or what the final score is, the U.S. poultry industry and its grocery
partners are among the biggest winners on Super Bowl Sunday each year,
according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing
Service bureau. Each year since 2006, USDA's Poultry Market News & Analysis
Branch prepares a report covering promotional activity for selected chicken
items by U.S. supermarkets, targeting the Super Bowl demand period. Based on
the USDA/AMS poultry survey, nearly 96 percent of sampled stores featured
some form of chicken, nearly 81 percent of which associated chicken directly
with a Super Bowl-themed promotion. Once again, prepared wings were the most
actively featured chicken item in the country, with nearly one-fourth of
this activity concentrated in the Northeast, home of the two contending
teams. The central United States, however, favors fried chicken, and once
again led the nation in supermarket feature activity. Average feature prices
for all sampled chicken items were slightly higher this year, reflecting the
strength in the wholesale chicken market relative to last year.
<more> Feb. 5, 2008 Progressive Grocer
How Will the U.S. Produce 36 Billion Gallons of
Biofuel by 2022? - - The new U.S. Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), signed
into law last month as part of the revised Energy Bill, sets high goals for
the U.S. biofuels industry. It calls for the production of 36 billion
gallons of biofuels—mainly ethanol and biodiesel—annually by 2022, with 21
billion gallons coming from so-called “advanced biofuels,” which can be
produced using a variety of new feedstocks and technologies. Of this,
roughly 16 billion gallons is expected to be from “cellulosic biofuels,”
derived from plant sources such as trees and grasses. But are these biofuels
targets realistic, and can they be met without serious impacts on the
nation’s farmlands, forests, waterways, and rural communities? The answer is
complicated, but fortunately the RFS bill contains a few key caveats that
can be used to “stop the buildup” if things go wrong.
<more> Feb. 5, 2008 Environmental News Service
DWR increases State Water Project allocation -
- The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has increased its allocation of
2008 State Water Project (SWP) water for long-term contractors from 25
percent to 35 percent of requests. "We can credit a wetter-than-average
January for an impressive increase in our water supplies and snowpack," said
DWR Director Lester Snow. "However, tighter pumping restrictions in the
Delta will limit how much of this water we can actually provide to many
parts of Southern California, the Central Valley and the Bay Area." Last
year, a federal court curtailed Delta pumping by state and federal water
projects to protect the threatened Delta smelt. DWR estimates that the 35
percent allocation would be 50 percent without the court decision actions in
place.
<more> Feb. 5, 2008 Western Farm Press
Social Security
mismatch plan unites labor, business - - Kimberly Rhodes is a Sacramento
landscaper who usually votes Republican, and Sharon Cornu is a Democrat and
prominent Bay Area labor organizer. They're partners in an unusual alliance
trying to kill a Bush administration plan that would use Social Security
data to force U.S. employers to fire suspected illegal immigrants. Federal
judges in San Francisco sided last fall with the labor-business alliance,
temporarily freezing the plan by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,
which is responsible for immigration enforcement. By March, Homeland
Security intends to unveil a second version of the plan that it hopes will
pass legal muster. The idea is to pressure employers to fire any worker who
can't explain discrepancies between their names and Social Security
numbers.
<more> Feb. 4, 2008 Fresno Bee
USDA Budget Highlights - - USDA has released
details of President Bush's FY 2009 U.S. Department of Agriculture budget,
which advances the President's goals of building a strong agricultural
economy, improving the quality of life in rural America, increasing energy
security, conserving our natural resources, and improving the Nation's
nutrition and health, according to a statement released by USDA.
<more> Feb. 5, 2008 AgWeb.com
Anguish and apathy in farm country - -Templeton is a slice of rural
California, outside the glare and identity politics of Los Angeles and the
Bay Area. Tranquil. The candidates aren't rushing to campaign here, but
there are delegates up for grabs in similar swatches of rural California in
Tuesday's presidential primary that count just as much as the ones in the
big cities. Presidential candidates don't talk about the most pressing
issue in Tom Jermin's life: How the price of barley has tripled in the past
year. But like others in this predominantly conservative town, it's not so
much who is president that matters to Jermin. They just want government off
their backs and out of their lives as much as possible. Clay White points to
the cab of his truck. Recent air quality regulations would give the
fifth-generation farmer two choices: Retrofit the truck for $25,000, or buy
a new one. It would cost another $100,000 to retrofit each of the tractors
and other large pieces of machinery used to work on his family's 4,200-acre
barley farm and cattle ranch. The inheritance tax "is a big thing for me,
like it is for a lot of family farmers," said the 34-year-old. "But it
doesn't matter who is in there. They make their promises, but they never
follow up."
<more> Feb. 4, 2008 SF Chronicle
Former Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz dies - - Earl L. Butz, an outspoken U.S. agriculture secretary forced from office in 1976 for making a racist joke and once a dean at Purdue University, died Saturday. He was 98. Butz died at his son's home in Washington, D.C., said Randy Woodson, dean of Purdue's College of Agriculture. He said Butz traveled to his son's home last week for a visit with family and had been in poor health recently. The free-market advocate had a relaxed and earthy style that won him acclaim as an after-dinner speaker but caused problems in his public life. <more> Feb. 4, 2008 AP
Friday, Feb. 1, 2008
NCC joins groups urging USDA to allow early-outs
from CRP - - The National Chicken Council and 44 other agricultural
organizations urged USDA to reconsider its position of not permitting a
penalty-free, early-out option for contract holders in the USDA’s Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP) in a letter delivered this week to newly-sworn-in
Secretary of Agriculture Edward Schafer. Among the 45 organizations signing
the letter, 17 were poultry and egg groups. The letter was sponsored by the
Alliance for Agricultural Growth and Conservation (AAGC), which represents a
broad cross-section of meat, livestock, and poultry production; agricultural
inputs; and grain marketing, handling, processing, and export interests. In
January, then Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner told a Midwest
grains group that it was too late to make an early-out decision about CRP for
2008. He indicated market forces were working to allocate the grain and
oilseed crops. However, with the increasingly tightening supply and demand
situation for grains and oilseeds, the AAGC letter said that market forces
could be more fully addressed by permitting non-environmentally sensitive
cropland to opt-out of the CRP. Giving CRP contract-holders the opportunity to
react to market forces would be a positive step to help divert an even more
precarious supply and demand situation in nearby future years, the letter
explained. The AAGC letter pointed out that failing to provide an early-out
option for contract-holders will place even greater economic pressure on major
sectors of U.S. agriculture that are heavily dependent upon competitive
supplies of grains and oilseeds. Traditional grain and oilseed users, such as
animal agriculture producers, are being particularly impacted with the
ever-greater demand on available grain and oilseed supplies. Legislative
mandates for agricultural-based renewable fuels, coupled with significant tax
credit incentives, provide biofuels with a definite competitive advantage when
purchasing grains and oilseeds, the letter said. Feb. 1, 2008 NCC Press
Release
Assemblywoman Parra announces retirement from
public life - - Assemblywoman Nicole Parra is ending her bid for state
senate and her political career generally to focus on her personal life, she
announced Friday. Parra, D-Hanford, has been thinking about leaving public
life for about six months but made a firm decision over the holidays as she
spent time with her family, particularly her two young nephews. Parra is chair
of the Assembly Agriculture Committee.
<more> Feb. 1, 2008 Bakersfield Californian
Bird flu continues march across Asia; 100 dead in
Indonesia - - Fears of a global bird flu pandemic that once dominated
headlines have largely vanished in the West, but four years after the virus
began ravaging Asian poultry, it continues to quietly spread. Most global
health officials continue to warn that the virus could morph into a disease as
threatening to people as it is to chickens. Although a few are now calling the
risk "overestimated," recent developments raise new concerns: -This week
marked the 100th death in Indonesia since the virus was first reported in
humans there in 2005. -India is battling its worst-ever poultry outbreak. No
human cases have been reported, but experts are scrambling to keep the disease
from reaching crowded Calcutta and its 14 million people.
<more> Feb. 1, 2008 AP
Tyson in
Joint Venture to Open Chicken Plant in China -- Tyson Foods Inc. said
Friday it is partnering with a Chinese poultry breeding company to run a
chicken processing plant near Shanghai. Springdale-based Tyson announced at
its shareholders meeting that it was forming a joint venture with Jiangsu
Jinghai Poultry Industry Group Co. Ltd., to raise, process and sell chickens
in east China under the Tyson brand name. Terms of the agreement were not
disclosed, but Tyson will own 70 percent of the venture.
<more> Feb. 1, 2008 AP
Sierra snowpack good - drought fears lessen - -
The big aluminum pole slipped through the powdery snow and hit solid ground a
good 73 inches down, prompting satisfied grins from snow survey specialists
Frank Gehrke and Dave Hart. "That's beauticious," declared Gehrke, who trudges
every year with his colleague at the state Department of Water Resources into
the snowy Sierra backcountry to measure water content and depth. The
measurements Thursday at historic Phillips Station, next to the
Sierra-at-Tahoe resort, were too good for real words, especially after last
year's meager results prompted fears of drought. The Sierra Nevada snowpack,
which, to hydrologists, is a better holding tank than the biggest man-made
reservoir, is 13 percentage points above normal for this time of year. That,
to a man who makes a living off a good water supply, can make a cold day in
the middle of a quickly intensifying storm feel like a summer jaunt. Up to 60
percent of the state's water is contained in the Sierra snowpack, Hart said.
When it melts in the spring and summer, the water is used to irrigate 775,000
acres of farmland and quench the thirst of California's 36 million people.
About a quarter of the state's power comes from hydroelectric plants that
count on heavy mountain runoff.
<more> Feb. 1, 2008 SF Chronicle
Water managers told: Plan now for crisis - - California and Bay Area cities must start planning now for new and costly systems to control increasing runoff from urban storms, springtime floods from swollen rivers and rising sea levels as they invade lowlands, all as a result of global warming, climate scientists and water experts warn. Climate change, they say, will result in thinner winter snowpacks in the Sierra and other Western mountains. As snowpacks melt earlier each spring, the meltwater will increase river flows and raise new threats of floods. Even a small rise in sea levels could threaten cities and farmland in low-lying areas, like the Delta and Silicon Valley. New urban systems to handle winter storm runoff, new designs for dams and flood control structures, and higher dikes and levees around lands that even now lie below sea level will be needed, the scientists argue. <more> Feb. 1, 2008 LA Times
Thursday , Jan. 31, 2008
California
turkey production projected to rise 4% in 2008 - - California turkey
producers estimate that they will increase production by four percent I
n2008, according to a report from the USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics
Service. Nationwide, turkey growers in 23 states intend to increase the
number of birds raised by two percent in 2008. Turkeys raised in the United
States during 2007 totaled 272 million birds, up 4 percent from the 262
million raised in 2006. California ranked sixth in turkey production with 16
million birds. Minnesota ranked first in the number raised with 48.0
million, followed by North Carolina with 39 million, Arkansas with 31
million, Virginia with 22 million, Missouri with 20 million, California with
16.0 million, and Indiana with 15.3 million. These states accounted for 70
percent of the turkeys produced in the United States during 2007. Jan.
30, 2008 NASS report
Winging it on Super Bowl Sunday - - The
National Chicken Council estimates that more than 450 million wings — or 1
billion wing segments — will be consumed this Super Bowl weekend, making it
the MVP (most valuable portion) on any snack food platter. That’s about 90
million pounds of “flats” and “drumettes.” What, you haven’t heard of flats
or drumettes? The flat is the chicken industry’s term for the wing’s
two-boned segment notorious for defending its last strip of flesh against
your encroaching chops. The drumette is the meatiest portion of the wing and
drumstick in shape, thus its name.
<more> Jan. 31, 2008 Providence Journal
Labeling Clash Over Food From Clones - - Food
safety groups, citing polls that indicate most Americans won't knowingly buy
food from cloned animals, are leading a protest against a government policy
of not requiring food labels to disclose details about its origin. Two
bills in Congress, one each in the House and Senate, would require specific
labeling for food from clones. "What I don't understand is why we're not
labeling," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who sponsored the House version
of the bill. "I think it's one more indication of an abdication of a duty to
protect public health." A 2007 poll conducted by Consumers Union, which
publishes Consumer Reports magazine, found that 89 percent of Americans want
cloned foods to be labeled and 69 percent said they have concerns about meat
and dairy products from cloned animals.
<more> Jan. 29, 2008 Chicago Tribune
Team helps reconstruct Iraq poultry industry -
- In this case, the chicken will come first. With nearly five years of war
taking a heavy toll on Iraq's domestic poultry industry, overall chicken and
egg consumption is down in the country, while 40 percent of the commercial
eggs consumed in Baghdad are imported. In Mahmudiyah, an agricultural
community south of the Iraqi capital and a traditional hub of Baghdad
province's poultry industry, some of the most pervasive violence of the war
effectively halted production of a variety of poultry and eggs. But with
recent security improvements, achieved through the cooperation of local
residents and a counter-insurgency strategy implemented by coalition forces,
an opportunity has been gained to resume production.
<more> Jan. 31, 2008 Multi-National Division - Central Public Affairs
Office
Grant will help Pacific Ethanol build test plant
Sacramento - - Sacramento-based Pacific Ethanol Inc. is among a group of
companies to receive a federal grant aimed at building a test cellulosic
ethanol plant in Oregon, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday.
The $24.3 million grant will fund a test plant in Boardman, Ore., where
Pacific Ethanol and its partners will seek to make ethanol -- a biofuel that
is today made from corn or sugarcane -- out of wood chips, wheat straw and
other cellulosic plant materials.
<more> Jan. 30, 2008 Fresno Bee
Ose to seek Doolittle post, backer says - -
Former Rep. Doug Ose, R-Sacramento, will announce Friday his candidacy for
the House seat being vacated by Rep. John Doolittle, Sacramento-area
Republicans were told Wednesday in an e-mail. Doug Elmets, a political
consultant who has worked for Ose before, declined to confirm the report
from Carl Burton, president of Republicans of River City. Ose held the
Sacramento area's 3rd Congressional District seat from 1999 until 2005, when
he retired to keep a promise to serve no more than three terms. He would
face a primary in which former state Sen. Rico Oller, R-San Andreas, and
national security consultant Eric Egland have already announced.
<more> Jan. 31, 2008 Sacramento Bee
The New Food Inspector: You. Lacking Faith in
Government, Shoppers Are Educating Themselves as Never Before - - Ina
Fernandez admits it. She's a little obsessive-compulsive about grocery
shopping. How else to explain that in a single week the 40-year-old
Woodbridge resident visits as many as seven grocery stores -- Trader Joe's,
Wegmans, Harris Teeter, Costco, Safeway, Giant and a local Latin market --
to find what she wants? In season, Fernandez also shops at the farmers
market. Like Fernandez, a growing number of shoppers apparently are trying
to become their own food inspectors, using the Internet and their values
about health, the environment and local communities to guide them. "There's
a crisis of confidence about food. And that's why people are looking to
alternatives to the industrial food system," says Michael Pollan, whose
best-selling books "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food: An
Eater's Manifesto" may be contributing to the growing anxiety. "The safety
of food is a fundamental biological goal, and for 50 years we have
outsourced it to the USDA and to companies who tell us about 'whole-grain
goodness.' It's seductive to outsource this part of our lives, but it's been
a disaster for our health, our welfare and our pleasure." The transition
from consumer to food inspector isn't easy.
<more> Jan. 30, 2008 NY Times
Wal-Mart Chief Offers a Social Manifesto - - Wal-Mart pledged Wednesday to cut the energy used by many of its products 25 percent, to force the chain’s suppliers to meet stricter ethical standards and to apply its legendary cost-cutting skills to help other companies deliver health care for their employees. In a lofty address that at times resembled a campaign speech, the chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores, H. Lee Scott Jr., said that “we live in a time when people are losing confidence in the ability of government to solve problems.” But Wal-Mart, he said, “does not wait for someone else to solve problems.” He then laid out sweeping plans for the company on several health and environmental issues, and he hinted that even more ambitious goals might be on the horizon. Mr. Scott said, for instance, that Wal-Mart is talking to leaders of the automobile industry about selling electric or hybrid cars — and might even install windmills in its parking lots so customers could recharge their cars with renewable electricity. <more> Jan. 30, 2008 NY Times
Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008
Tyson
Foods 1Q profit sinks - - Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat
producer, reported Monday its first-quarter profit slid 40 percent, withdrew
its earnings guidance for the year and said it will hike prices largely to
offset rising costs of commodities used to feed cattle, chickens and pigs.
The company expects to face more than $500 million in additional grain costs
for fiscal 2008, which CEO and President Dick Bond said is well above the
$300 million increase it had expected in November. "Because of these
unanticipated and extraordinarily high corn and soybean meal costs, we have
no choice but to raise prices substantially," Bond said. "For the
foreseeable future, consumers will pay more and more for food, especially
protein, because grain represents a proportionally higher percentage of
input costs compared to other foods," he said.
<more> Jan. 28, 2008 AP
UEP to
launch web site on egg production - - The United Egg Producers is
preparing to launch USA Egg Farmers, a consumer online access to information
about egg production and the UEP Certified animal welfare program, which
covers ethics- and science-based standards to deliver good hen welfare. The
web site, which will be available next month, will include live broadcasts
of UEP animal welfare conferences and farm tours and interviews with
producers, Mitch Head of the advocacy firm GolinHarris told the UEP animal
welfare committee. The site will also feature "chicken care cams" that
consumers may visit to see chickens in hen houses in real time to watch how
they behave and perform in cage housing, Head said. Jan. 28, 2008
FeedStuffs FoodLink
Poultry certifications in December up 6% from
last year - - The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service
reports that the amount of poultry certified wholesome in December 2007 was
3.392 billion pounds, in ready to cook weight, up 6% from the December 2006
total of 3.202 billion pounds. Additionally, the November 2007 figure was
revised to 3.587 billion pounds, 4% larger than the initial estimate.
According to the USDA, the total for January to December 2007 was 42.517
billion pounds, up 1% from the 2006 figure of 42.081 billion pounds. The
total live weight for all poultry inspected in December was 4.570 billion
pounds, an increase of 5% from December 2006. Young chickens made up the
bulk of the total at 3.916 billion pounds, 5% above the previous year, and
turkeys accounted for 577.228 million pounds, a rise of 7%. The 2007 year to
date total was pegged at 57.447 billion pounds, compared to 56.517 billion
for 2006.
<more> Jan. 29, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Poultry Inspection Advisory Committee meets Feb. 5-6 - - The National
Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection will meet February 5-6 at
the Key Bridge Marriott, 1401 Lee Highway, Arlington, Virginia, 22209. The
meeting is scheduled to run from 8:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. each day. Among the
key issues that will be discussed are the planned public health-based
slaughter inspection system for young chickens, and how a similar approach
could be used for inspection in processing and other slaughter
establishments. A copy of the announcement, including registration and
meeting materials, is available on-line at
www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Meetings_&_Events/index.asp.
Jan. 28, 2008 USDA Press Release
FSIS: new salmonella policies for poultry
slaughter facilities - - The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service
has announced new policies and practices for the Agency's salmonella
verification sampling program in poultry establishments. In 2006, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Salmonella serotypes
accounted for 38.6% of human food borne illnesses, making it the most common
human food borne pathogen. The FSIS is taking action to advance efforts to
achieve the Agency's public health goal of significantly reducing human
cases of salmonellosis.
<more> Jan. 29, 2008 WorldPoultry.net
Bush renews call for immigration reform,
guestworker program - - In his seventh and final State of the Union
address Monday night, President Bush issued a call for Congress to finish
work on immigration reform, trade and tax matters. Bush backed a
comprehensive immigration overhaul that failed in the Senate last year as
rancor intensified over the issue of dealing with an estimated 12 million to
15 million illegal immigrants. Republicans resisted supporting the plan,
arguing for stronger border protections. Bush said steps are being taken to
secure the nation's border and to increase worksite enforcement against
undocumented workers. He said by the end of 2008, the U.S. will have doubled
the number of border patrol agents. "Yet we also need to acknowledge that we
will never fully secure our border until we create a lawful way for foreign
workers to come here and support our economy," Bush said.
<more> Jan. 29, 2008 Capital Press
Bush skips ethanol, farm bill in State of the
Union - - President Bush touched on some issues important to ag
producers in his State of the Union Address Monday night and left out some
others. Among the highlights was a call to make permanent tax cuts that
sunset after 2010 and a plea for Congress to tackle immigration reform.
President Bush made no mention of the pending farm bill. But he did threaten
to veto any bill that included any tax increase, and the White House has
characterized the revenue generating components of both the House and Senate
versions of the farm bill as tax hikes. And President Bush did focus on a
specific provision of the farm bill he wants to see included, cash purchases
of local food for foreign aid programs.
<more> Jan. 29, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
World facing ethanol famine, economist says -
- Diverting corn into ethanol production is causing terrible dislocations
around the world, creating an ethanol famine, a University of Idaho
economist says. "Everything is affected by corn prices," said Garth Taylor,
of the university's Department of Agricultural Economy and Rural Sociology.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that corn acreage is
rising, fueled by growing ethanol demand and strong export sales. Planted
acreage in 2007 rose 19 percent, to 93.6 million acres, in some areas
displacing other crops.
<more> Jan. 29, 2008 Capital Press
Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler - - A sea change in the consumption of a
resource that Americans take for granted may be in store — something cheap,
plentiful, widely enjoyed and a part of daily life. And it isn’t oil. It’s
meat. The two commodities share a great deal: Like oil, meat is subsidized
by the federal government. Like oil, meat is subject to accelerating demand
as nations become wealthier, and this, in turn, sends prices higher. Finally
— like oil — meat is something people are encouraged to consume less of, as
the toll exacted by industrial production increases, and becomes
increasingly visible. Global demand for meat has multiplied in recent years,
encouraged by growing affluence and nourished by the proliferation of huge,
confined animal feeding operations. These assembly-line meat factories
consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate
significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn,
soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast
swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests.
<more> Jan. 28, 2008 NY Times
Senate committee kills Schwarzenegger health care plan - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suffered his biggest legislative defeat Monday when a Senate committee blocked his yearlong effort to provide health care coverage to most Californians without insurance. The $14.9 billion annual plan, hailed as the most sweeping effort by any state to provide near-universal health care, was negotiated by the Republican governor and Democratic Speaker Fabian Núñez but died in the Senate Health Committee. Only one of the seven Democrats on the panel voted for AB 1X1 -- authored by Núñez, D-Los Angeles, and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland -- while all four Republicans voted against bill. Opponents, citing a report released last week by the Legislative Analyst's Office that concluded the plan might be underfunded by billions of dollars, said they were concerned about adding to the state's projected $14.5 billion deficit. <more> Jan. 28, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008
California considers cage-free eggs - - Gary
West, Chairman of the United Egg Producers and president of JS West, Modesto
California, discusses the proposed California initiative to ban caged egg
production in this video from Watt Poultry.
Click here to link to video. Jan. 24, 2008 Watt Poultry
Feb. 1 deadline for California Meat Poultry Quality
Assurance Plan - - California Poultry Federation (CPF) members have until
Feb. 1, 2008 to send in their Quality Assurance Plan (QAP). The California
Poultry Meat QAP is a producer food safety program designed to ensure the
highest quality and safety of poultry products. A completed packet includes a
Nutrient Management Plan, biosecurity checklist, and biosecurity self
evaluation. Additionally, a representative from a member company must have
attended the QA Seminar in August. If a company was unable to attend, but
would still like to be certified, contact the CPF to arrange an appointment
with a veterinarian to discuss the QA topics. Once CPF has received the QAP,
CPF will provide an affidavit of compliance stating that the plan complies
with the 13 core components of the program. The core components can be viewed
on the CPF website at
http://www.cpif.org/qualityassurance.htm. Certification of a Quality
Assurance Plan is provided by a CDFA veterinarian who will review the
completed packet and certify the member company as part of the 2008 California
Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Plan Program. Further information is available
from CPF Community Relations Intern Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355. Jan.
2, 2008
Tyson Adjusting Advertising After Complaints
- - Tyson Foods Inc. said in federal district court that it is revamping the
advertising of its antibiotic-free chicken products, after competitors had
alleged false and misleading advertising by the company. In court filings,
the company brushed off competitors' allegations and said it had already
independently changed the advertising. "No advertisement containing the
'Raised Without Antibiotics' claim was approved to run after January 20,
2008," according to a legal filing by Jenna Johnston, senior counsel for
Tyson. Competitors claimed they had witnessed the ads being aired and
displayed since then. Jan. 26, 2008 Wall Street Journal
Judge rejects challenge to Tyson Foods' chicken advertising -- A U.S. District Court judge on Friday rejected a request for a temporary restraining order barring Tyson foods from continuing its "Raised Without Antibiotics" chicken marketing program. Judge Catherine Blake denied the motion by Sanderson Farms, Foster Farms and Perdue Farms. They had claimed that the program contains incorrect information. Blake ruled that the producers did not provide enough evidence to support their case. She also noted that Tyson working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on an agreement to modify the company's program. Tyson announced last month that the company and the USDA had agreed to new labels for the company's Raised Without Antibiotics chicken program. The new label will include the following language: "Chicken Raised Without Antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans." Tyson plans to start using its new advertising and promotional materials next month. Jan. 26, 2008 AP
Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008
Food Legislation Memo: 'Juiced' Chickens That
Wear an All Natural Label - - A coalition in the U.S., led by the
California Poultry Federation, a number of chicken producing and marketing
companies, and over 30,000 consumers, has formed an organization called the
Truthful Labeling Coalition. Their goal: To get the U.S. Congress to change
the current laws which allow chicken producers to call their birds "all
natural" even though in many cases the chickens are pumped-up by as much as
15% with additives like sodium, saltwater, seaweed and other added
ingredients. The coalition says these pumped up birds--or chickens on
steroids--don't deserve the prized label "natural" because they aren't.
<more> Jan. 23, 2008 Natural Specialty Foods Memo
A Pandemic That Wasn’t but Might Be - - Last
year, for the first time since avian flu emerged as a global threat, the
number of human cases was down from the year before. As the illness receded,
the scary headlines — with their warnings of a pandemic that could kill 150
million people — all but vanished. But avian flu has not gone away. Nor has
it become less lethal or less widespread in birds. Experts argue that
preparations against it have to continue, even if the virus’s failure to
mutate into a pandemic strain has given the world more breathing room. There
were 86 confirmed human cases last year compared with 115 in 2006, according
to the World Health Organization, and 59 deaths compared with 79. Experts
assume that the real numbers are several times larger, because many cases
are missed, but that is still a far cry from a pandemic. Dr. David Nabarro,
the senior United Nations coordinator for human and avian flu, recently
conceded that he worried somewhat less than he did three years ago. “Not
because I think the threat has changed,” he quickly added, but because the
response to it has gotten so much better.”
<more> Jan. 22, 2008 NY Times
Passing: Arnold “Rosy” Rosenwald - - Our good
friend and colleague, Arnold "Rosy" Rosenwald died peacefully this morning,
Wednesday, Jan 23. No arrangements have yet been made. Although long
retired, Rosy was a stalwart of the University of California Extension
hallway until recently. He was a giant in poultry medicine and contributed
meaningfully to his discipline and colleagues to the end. His passing
represents an end of an era. He will be missed. More details about funeral
arrangements will be provided as they become known. Jan. 23, 2008
Courtesy of Dr. Carol Cardona
Feb. 1 deadline for California Meat Poultry Quality
Assurance Plan - - California Poultry Federation (CPF) members have until
Feb. 1, 2008 to send in their Quality Assurance Plan (QAP). The California
Poultry Meat QAP is a producer food safety program designed to ensure the
highest quality and safety of poultry products. A completed packet includes a
Nutrient Management Plan, biosecurity checklist, and biosecurity self
evaluation. Additionally, a representative from a member company must have
attended the QA Seminar in August. If a company was unable to attend, but
would still like to be certified, contact the CPF to arrange an appointment
with a veterinarian to discuss the QA topics. Once CPF has received the QAP,
CPF will provide an affidavit of compliance stating that the plan complies
with the 13 core components of the program. The core components can be viewed
on the CPF website at
http://www.cpif.org/qualityassurance.htm. Certification of a Quality
Assurance Plan is provided by a CDFA veterinarian who will review the
completed packet and certify the member company as part of the 2008 California
Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Plan Program. Further information is available
from CPF Community Relations Intern Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355. Jan.
2, 2008
WATT provides video reports from International
Poultry Exposition - - WATT is delivering IPE/IFE daily highlights from
Atlanta through its e-video newsletter, VideoView. Delivered in a convenient
email format, the daily E-video newsletter makes it easy for attendees to
keep abreast of the show news and expert analysis every day. Or, for those
that cannot attend IPE this year, VideoView brings the show to them. Each
day, the E-video newsletter will include four video stories from the IPE/IFE
show. VideoView's coverage will include daily announcements, product
demonstrations, interviews, and more, complete with commentary and analysis
from WATT's industry experts. To view a report on a poultry science forum,
click here. Jan. 23, 2008 WATT Press Release
Scientists
Study Excess Fat in Chickens - - Obesity is a problem for many American
consumers--and now even chickens are getting fat. As a result, Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientists have been looking for ways to help growers
efficiently produce chickens of optimal weight while minimizing excess fat.
At the ARS Animal Biosciences and Biotechnology Laboratory in Beltsville,
Md., animal scientists Monika Proszkowiec-Weglarz and Mark Richards, along
with research leader John McMurtry and Penn State University collaborator
Ramesh Ramachandran, recently identified and sequenced genes responsible for
regulating both energy use by individual cells and the food intake of birds.
They also showed that the genes function in different tissues throughout the
body of the broiler chicken.
<more> Jan. 23, 2008 ARS Press Release
Clone
ruling expected to boost firms - - When Cyagra Inc. holds an office
potluck, no one's stomach churns when the lasagna, meatloaf or tacos are
made with cloned beef. The cutting-edge ingredient was produced on the
company's Pennsylvania farm for the Food and Drug Administration, which
spent seven years evaluating the safety of meat and milk from cloned animals
and their offspring. Cyagra is one of three privately held biotech start-ups
making clones of genetically superior livestock for thousands of dollars
apiece. In the coming years, they hope the rest of the U.S. -- and the world
-- will join them in dining on steaks, pork chops and ice cream derived from
animals conceived in their laboratories.
<more> Jan. 21, 2008 LA Times
Closing the Barn Door After the Cows Have Gotten
Out - - Last week, the Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for
the eventual sale of meat and dairy products from cloned animals, saying, in
effect, that consumers face no health risks from them. The next day, the
Department of Agriculture asked farmers to keep their cloned animals off the
market until consumers have time to get over their anticloning prejudice.
That is one prejudice I plan to hold on to. I will not be eating cloned
meat. The reason has nothing to do with my personal health or safety. I
think the clearest way to understand the problem with cloning is to consider
a broader question: Who benefits from it? Proponents will say that the
consumer does, because we will get higher quality, more consistent foods
from cloned animals. But the real beneficiaries are the nation’s large
meatpacking companies — the kind that would like it best if chickens grew in
the shape of nuggets. Anyone who really cares about food — its different
tastes, textures and delights — is more interested in diversity than
uniformity.
<more> Jan. 23, 2008 NY Times Op-Ed
Lending, down on the farm - - Every year for farmers, the weather warms, the plants leaf out, and the lenders cut checks. Loans are a crucial part of agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley and elsewhere. They help growers get through the lean months each year, before the crop is sold, and they help pay for land, tractors and other long-term needs. Several bankers and other experts took part in a meeting last week aimed at explaining the options, especially for beginning farmers. They advised them to write business plans, to keep their financial records in order and to know the market they aim to supply. <more> Jan. 21, 2008 Modesto Bee
Friday, Jan. 18, 2008
Tyson investigates PETA video claiming poultry
abuse - - Tyson Foods Inc., the nation's second-largest chicken
processor, is investigating claims of animal abuse and human waste at two of
its poultry plants after an animal rights group claimed it had undercover
video footage. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals posted the video on
the Internet and submitted more footage along with detailed complaints to
prosecutors in Georgia and Tennessee. Tyson said Thursday its internal Office
of Animal Well-Being was investigating the allegations and was cooperating
with an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
<more> Jan. 17, 2008 AP
New year
sees significant workers’ comp legislation moving through legislature - -
The second half of the 2007/2008 legislative session is only one week old and
two major bills have already been heard by policy committees and are moving
through the process, reports the California Coalition on Workers'
Compensation. SB 726 (Alquist-D) would retroactively apply the blood borne
pathogen presumption for public safety officers to all claims with a date of
injury on or after January 1st, 1995. The current presumption date is January
1st, 2002. This legislation presents a significant source of additional cost
to ALL of California’s level of government including cities, counties, special
districts and especially to the State of California which is currently faced
with a $14 billion dollar deficit. CCWC along with our public sector partners
are strongly opposed to this legislation. SB 940 (Yee-D) is a repeat of
legislation vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger at the end of 2007 and would
force employers and their contracted temporary staffing company to be jointly
and severally liable in civil court in the event that the staffing company
failed to provide workers’ compensation insurance. This provision of this
complex statute would make it prohibitive for small businesses and large
employers alike to utilize the services of a temporary staffing company and
would further complicate the return to work efforts of employers across the
state. Jan. 18,
2008 CCWC
Newsletter
In the Farm Bill, a
Creature From the Black Lagoon? - - It may not surprise you to learn that
much of the pork and chicken and beef and milk that you buy at the grocery
store comes from huge, industrial-size operations that bear little resemblance
to the quaint family farms that adorn many food packages. But you may be
surprised to learn that your tax dollars have helped pave the way for the
growth of these livestock megafarms by paying farmers to deal with the
mountains of excrement that their farms generate. All of this is carried out
under the rubric of “conservation.” Congress is about to renew the program —
and possibly even expand it — as part of a new farm bill wending its way
through the Capitol. It’s called the Environmental Quality Incentives Program,
also known as EQIP — a name that suggests an initiative to encourage farmers
to improve environmental standards.
<more> Jan. 17, 2008 NY Times
Monsanto says biotech just beginning - -
Monsanto Co. executives told shareholders Wednesday that record profits in
2007 are just the beginning, with growing acceptance of genetically engineered
crops expected to deliver new business opportunities in coming decades. "It's
still like being back in the '60s with computers," Chief Technology Officer
Robb Fraley said. "This is an industry that is very much in the beginning of
its cycle." Such predictions might have seemed far-fetched just five years
ago, when Monsanto faced tough global resistance to its engineered crops -
derisively called "Frankenfood" by critics. Trade barriers kept the seeds out
of many European countries and important foreign markets.
<more> Jan. 17, 2008 AP
Valley air district upset by state offer.
Recommendation gives more than half of $1b for exhaust cleanup to SoCal.
- - Diesel truckers drive more miles in the San Joaquin Valley than any
other corridor in the state, yet this region might get far less money than
Southern California to clean up the dangerous exhaust. So say officials at
the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. On Thursday, they
announced a broad lobbying campaign for a bigger cut of a $1 billion bond
allotment aimed at fighting diesel pollution. The cleanup funding would
target a key polluter as Valley authorities struggle against some of the
nation's worst air pollution and a childhood asthma rate among the highest
in California. The state's recommendation would give more than half the
money to Southern California.
<more> Jan. 18, 2008 Fresno Bee
Valley
Government Agencies Wrestle over
Tougher Composting Rules-
- All that bulky green
waste collected in your green garbage can each week may not have a place to
go next year. Two government agencies are wrestling over rules that could
hurt one environmental cause while helping another.
Looking to cut air
emissions from composting facilities in the Valley, the Air District is
proposing tough new rules on firms that divert green waste plant materials
from area landfills and compost them in piles in the open air. This past
week, the air district had a preliminary “scoping session” on the rule that
could be adopted in final form a year from now. There are 17 such facilities
in the air district boundary, including a handful in Tulare and Kings
counties.
<more> Jan.18,2007 Valley Voice
Task force wants broadband available in rural areas - - Likening high-speed Internet to basic infrastructure needs such as power and roads, a state task force on Thursday urged a new push to make affordable broadband available to all Californians. Saying such a system is crucial to the state's economic health, the California Broadband Task Force said government and private industry must team up to expand Internet access and increase speed. The group released a study that said 94 percent of California residents have broadband access, one of the best rates in the nation. Still, that leaves more than 1.4 million mostly rural Californians stuck in the Internet's slow lane. <more> Jan. 18, 2008 Fresno Bee
Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008
Animal-activist groups merge - - This week,
the Humane Society of the United States and the Association of Veterinarians
for Animal Rights announced that they are uniting to form a new advocacy
group, the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association. They want to give
veterinarians, veterinary students and veterinary technicians an opportunity
to participate in animal-welfare programs, including advocacy for
legislative, corporate and vet-school reform. For more on this alliance,
click here. Jan. 16, 2008 Dairy Herd Management
Farmers challenged to be voices in animal welfare
debate - - Poultry, pork, dairy and cattle producers can be effective
voices against well-heeled, savvy animal activist groups that want to
restrict the raising of farm animals. Speakers at the American Farm Bureau
Federation's annual meeting in New Orleans Jan. 14 indicated that 2008 could
be a pivotal year as animal rights groups press for new regulations on
animal agriculture in California and Colorado. In California, animal
activists hope to place an initiative on the November 2008 ballot to ban
cages for laying hens, gestation crates for swine and pens for veal calves.
In Colorado, the Humane Society of the United States is pressing legislation
to codify its version of humane treatment of pigs, laying hens and veal
calves.
<more> Jan. 15, 2008 Capital Press
Wild turkeys running afoul at Berkeley lab -
- They are breaking windows, defecating on public property and intimidating
workers. Now scientists at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory are calling them a
public safety problem. Who would have thought that a bunch of wild turkeys
could cause so much trouble? At least 60 of them are reproducing like
rabbits, raising concern among officials at the lab that someone is going to
get hurt. The hubbub started this past spring when the growing group of
gobblers got bigger. At the time, they were a cute sideshow, occasionally
interrupting a meeting with loud gobbles and chasing people on Segway
transporters used to get around the hilly campus.
<more> Jan. 16, 2008 Contra Costa Times
Deadly Bird Flu Detected in a Fourth Swan in
Southwest England -- The deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was
detected in a fourth dead swan in southwest England, the U.K. environment
ministry said, six days after the outbreak of the disease was first
reported. The ministry said Jan. 10 that three dead mute swans were found
with the virus, which can be lethal in humans. The outbreak occurred at
Abbotsbury Swannery, a reserve near Chesil Beach in Dorset. The swannery
dates back more than 650 years.
<more> Jan. 16, 2008 Bloomberg News
Building group sues Stanislaus County over ag plan - - The Building Industry Association of Central California has filed a lawsuit against Stanislaus County, seeking to overturn the county's recently approved agricultural element update to the general plan. The BIA objects to a provision calling for residential builders to preserve an acre of equivalent farmland for every acre of farmland developed. The lawsuit contends that the process the county followed in drafting the ag element update was flawed, and violated state and federal constitutions, as well as several state laws. Asking residential development alone to pay for the preservation of farmland is arbitrary, the lawsuit says. The county failed to provide evidence of the need for new housing to make up for farmland loss, and the provision conflicts with affordable housing goals in county and state law, according to the lawsuit. <more> Jan. 16, 2008 Modesto Bee
Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008
FDA gives blessing to food from cloned animals
- - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ruled food from certain
cloned animals and their offspring is as safe as other food, opening the
door to using the controversial technology in the U.S. food supply. The FDA
confirmed preliminary findings in a final risk assessment on cloning on
Tuesday. "Extensive evaluation of the available data has not identified any
subtle hazards that might indicate food consumption risks in healthy clones
of cattle, swine or goats," the agency wrote. The FDA said it did not have
enough information, however, to make the same assertion about cloned sheep.
<more> Jan. 15, 2008 Reuters
Agriculture Department Asks for 'Voluntary
Moratorium' on Cloned Foods - - Food and Drug Administration officials
today announced that food from cloned animals is safe to eat even as their
counterparts in the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked producers to keep
their cloned animals off the market indefinitely. The request for an ongoing
"voluntary moratorium," by Bruce I. Knight, the USDA's under secretary for
marketing and regulatory programs, is aimed at facilitating "an acceptance
process" that Knight said consumers in the United States and abroad will
need to go through over the next few years, "given the emotional nature of
this issue." The two announcements reflected ongoing divisions on the issue
among U.S. food-related agencies. Knight's request provided a somewhat
awkward counterpoint to the message from Stephen F. Sundlof, director of
FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, who oversaw that
agency's six-year review of the safety of milk and meat from clones and
their offspring.
<more> Jan. 15, 2008 Washington Post
Farmers challenged to be voices in animal welfare
debate - - Poultry, pork, dairy and cattle producers can be effective
voices against well-heeled, savvy animal activist groups that want to
restrict the raising of farm animals. Speakers at the American Farm Bureau
Federation's annual meeting in New Orleans Jan. 14 indicated that 2008 could
be a pivotal year as animal rights groups press for new regulations on
animal agriculture in California and Colorado. In California, animal
activists hope to place an initiative on the November 2008 ballot to ban
cages for laying hens, gestation crates for swine and pens for veal calves.
In Colorado, the Humane Society of the United States is pressing legislation
to codify its version of humane treatment of pigs, laying hens and veal
calves.
<more> Jan. 15, 2008 Capital Press
Governor supports term limits measure - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said California voters "went too far" in enacting legislative term limits and will support the Feb. 5 ballot measure to alter the law, his office announced Monday. The announcement was surprising because Schwarzenegger had said he would not support Proposition 93 unless it was paired with a change in the way lawmakers draw their political lines through redistricting. It also puts him at odds with the California Republican Party, which voted to oppose the measure, and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, the only other Republican statewide official and the leader of the term limits opposition. <more> Jan. 15, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Monday, Jan . 14, 2008
Poultry farm permits draw ire - - A plan by
state environmental officials to force tougher pollution controls on large
poultry farms is raising complaints from lawmakers in both parties who worry
the state is trying to set up a burdensome “chicken police.” The plan by
the state Department of the Environment to require large chicken farms to
get pollution permits similar to the ones already required for large hog and
cow farms has lawmakers from both parties alarmed. The plan isn't final yet,
but a panel of lawmakers from the Eastern Shore, where Maryland's poultry
industry is concentrated, criticized the proposal yesterday. “We're going to
really destroy the economics of agriculture,” warned Sen. J. Lowell
Stoltzfus, Somerset Republican. The objections include a plan to allow
inspectors to visit chicken farms unannounced.
<more> Jan. 13, 2008 AP
24
Indicted in Alleged Hiring Scheme Involving Pilgrim's Pride -- Three
former Pilgrim's Pride Corp. employees and another man accused of running an
identity theft ring to help get jobs for illegal immigrants at two poultry
plants have been indicted, prosecutors said. A former human resources
employee alleged to have hired workers even though she knew about the scheme
was indicted on charges related to her citizenship application. Nineteen
other former workers at the Mount Pleasant and Pittsburg plants also were
indicted this week. The 24 arrests were part of a nine-month investigation
in which agents posed as illegal immigrants seeking work at East Texas
plants owned by Pilgrim's Pride, the nation's largest chicken producer.
Agents believe they infiltrated an alleged ring in which job-seekers would
pay hundreds of dollars for fraudulent documents that would get them jobs at
Pilgrim's Pride.
<more> Jan. 14, 2008 AP
NCC Cooking Contest open for entries - - The National Chicken Council reports that entries are now being accepted in the 48th National Chicken Cooking Contest in its new format, in which nine regional contestants, selected from winners from every state and the District of Columbia, go to the National Cook-Off and compete for the grand prize of $50,000. Elanco Animal Health is sponsoring an on-line advertising campaign to publicize the revised format of the contest and attract entries from cooks nationwide. The ad is running on the popular Web site www.Allrecipes.com. The ad links to the website www.eatchicken.com, which is the portal for on-line entries. The vast majority of entries in the contest come in through the on-line portal. Entries can be submitted through www.eatchicken.com or on paper to National Chicken Cooking Contest, PO Box 27997, Washington DC 20038-7997, or by fax, (202) 293-4005. Entries must be original, that is, developed by the cook and not previously published in substantially the same form. Detailed rules for the contest are available from www.eatchicken.com/cooking_contest/rules.cfm . The entry period will remain open until August 31, 2008, and the National Cook-Off will be held May 2, 2009, in San Antonio, Texas. Jan. 14, 2007 NCC Press Release
Friday, Jan. 11, 2008
E-I-E-I Oh? Oh? Oh? - - How many
cock-a-doodle-doos will do? Voters in the city of Riverside decide next month
how many roosters will be allowed in two rural areas. Measure A on the Feb. 5
would limit to seven the number of crowing roosters people can keep in the
"residential agricultural" and "residential conservation" zones. Additionally,
roosters would have to be confined to a sound-reducing enclosure no less than
100 feet from neighboring houses from sunset to sunrise.
<more> Jan. 10,
2008 AP
Inside the UK battery chicken sheds - - A
concerted campaign to raise the standards of British chicken production has
been launched by celebrity chefs, the RSPCA and the animal rights group
Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). They're trying to persuade shoppers that
intensively-reared chicken meat and eggs affect animal welfare, and must be
changed. Broiler chickens are birds that have been selectively bred and reared
for their meat rather than eggs. The industry began in the late 1950s. About
75% of the world's food animals are broiler chickens and some 200 billion are
produced annually - 800 million of them in the UK. But British farmers have
fiercely defended their farming methods in the wake of such criticism. The
British Poultry Council says it believes the campaign will mislead the public
and maintains that its own standards are high, and protect animal welfare.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Farming Today program, poultry producer Nigel Joice,
who with 800,000 birds runs one of the country's largest indoor operations,
was adamant that his poultry were well cared for.
<more>
Jan. 11,2008 BBC Radio
Doolittle's exit opens up contest. Nine-term
lawmaker, 'at peace,' bows out; Oller jumps into race. - - Rep. John
Doolittle's decision to retire after his ninth term in Congress ignited a
growing contest Thursday for a staunchly Republican seat seen as vulnerable
due to an FBI investigation into Doolittle's ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack
Abramoff. After branding would-be election opponents as "weasels" and
repeatedly declaring he would run again despite the corruption probe,
Doolittle on Thursday declared that he was "at peace" and free of bitterness
in announcing he will retire from Congress at the end of his current term.
<more>
Jan. 11, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Analysis: Pundits call Gov’s budget proposal an opening volley - - Stand in Capitol Park, and in any direction you see a state building, something is likely on the chopping block. In his bleakest budget to date, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday proposed a $101 billion general fund spending plan that would release thousands of prisoners, slash school funding, shut down 48 state parks, reduce Medi-Cal health services to the poor and cut aid to blind and disabled people. Some found the governor's cuts so draconian that they suspect his budget is merely a strategic attempt to scare legislators and voters into accepting tax increases to help close a $14.5 billion budget gap. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez even suggested the governor himself probably disagrees with his own proposal. <more> Jan. 11, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008
Were bird flu fears overblown? H5N1 virus
'extremely' stable, says animal health chief - - Fears of a flu pandemic
originating from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus were overblown, the head of
the World Organization for Animal Health said Thursday. The Paris-based body
— an intergovernmental organization responsible for improving animal health
worldwide — has been at the forefront of global efforts to monitor and fight
H5N1, which scientists have tracked because they fear it may mutate into a
human flu virus that starts a pandemic. But "the risk was overestimated,"
said Bernard Vallat, director general of the animal health organization,
also known as the OIE.
<more>
Jan. 10 ,2008 AP
Turning up the Heat on Transport Requirements
- - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service has put forward plans for new regulations on animal transport
requirements. The goal of the proposed rule is to remove the current ambient
temperature requirements for various stages in the transportation of
regulated animals. If accepted, this proposed rule would replace those
requirements with a single performance standard under which the animals
would be transported under climatic and environment conditions that are
appropriate for their welfare making acclimation certificates for live
animals other than marine mammals unnecessary.
<more> Jan. 9, 2008 ThePoultrySite.com
Analysis: Deficit shoves strategy to the right.
Governor's focus on spending limits appeals to Republicans and disappoints
Democrats - - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "post-partisan" strategy for
two years has relied on merging support from majority Democrats with his
personal brand of moderate Republican beliefs, almost entirely without
support from other GOP members in the Capitol.But judging by his State of
the State address Tuesday, the governor is now reaching out to his fellow
Republicans and shifting his political strategy rightward as he faces a $14
billion shortfall. Schwarzenegger made a long-term state spending cap the
centerpiece of his address, a plan that Republican lawmakers praised but
Democrats and education groups slammed.
<more>
Jan. 9, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Judges try to clarify status of migrants. Rulings
leave employers struggling with their links to undocumented workers. --
Federal law prohibits hiring undocumented workers, but it also requires
companies to bargain with unions that represent them, under a recent court
ruling that showcases the unresolved paradoxes that U.S. immigration policy
poses. While Congress remains stalemated, judges keep interpreting how
current immigration law works. The latest ruling by what lawyers consider
the nation's second-highest federal court reveals how the results can appear
to be confounding. "It seems somewhat peculiar indeed ... to order an
employer to bargain with a union representing employees that the employer
would be required to discharge under the Immigration Reform and Control
Act," acknowledged Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
<more> Jan. 9, 2008 Fresno Bee
Feb. 1 deadline for California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Plan - - California Poultry Federation (CPF) members have until Feb. 1, 2008 to send in their Quality Assurance Plan (QAP). The California Poultry Meat QAP is a producer food safety program designed to ensure the highest quality and safety of poultry products. A completed packet includes a Nutrient Management Plan, biosecurity checklist, and biosecurity self evaluation. Additionally, a representative from a member company must have attended the QA Seminar in August. If a company was unable to attend, but would still like to be certified, contact the CPF to arrange an appointment with a veterinarian to discuss the QA topics. Once CPF has received the QAP, CPF will provide an affidavit of compliance stating that the plan complies with the 13 core components of the program. The core components can be viewed on the CPF website at http://www.cpif.org/qualityassurance.htm. Certification of a Quality Assurance Plan is provided by a CDFA veterinarian who will review the completed packet and certify the member company as part of the 2008 California Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Plan Program. Further information is available from CPF Community Relations Intern Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355. Jan. 2, 2008
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008
Processors quarrel over 'natural' chicken --
It's a fight that has the nation's large chicken producers squabbling and
Sara Lee mixing it up with Farmer John. The question: When can food
products, from chicken breasts to soda pop, rightfully be labeled "natural?"
The U.S. Department of Agriculture allows that word on products where it
does not belong, critics say. Pilgrim's Pride Corp., for example, sells
"natural" chicken in a solution that contains seaweed extract and other
additives. The critics, including Foster Farms in Livingston, claim the
labeling misleads consumers about what is truly natural -- and gives them an
unhealthy dose of sodium to boot.
<more> Jan. 5, 2008 Modesto Bee
What
does natural really mean? As Americans hunger for healthier food, new
efforts to define the term turn messy - - Federal meat regulators this
month are soliciting public comments on a label they believe will better
define "natural" meat. The label, dubbed "naturally raised," would attest
that a cut of meat came from an animal free of antibiotics and growth
hormones. Here's a comment from Urvashi Rangan, a senior scientist at
Consumers Union: "It's not quite as bad" as regulators' definition of
"natural" itself. Ouch. Welcome to the complicated battleground over a
seemingly simple word. "Natural" is an increasingly important claim to
American consumers searching for healthier food. Yet the word has long had a
fuzzy regulatory definition, a condition that's increasingly under fire and
not only from advocacy groups such as Consumers Union, but from some
foodmakers, too, including several chicken producers and Downers Grove-based
Sara Lee Corp.
<more> Jan. 7, 2008 Chicago Tribune
Opposition group forms against animal rights ballot
measure - - Californians for Sound Farm Animal Agriculture (CSFAA) has
formed to oppose a proposed ballot initiative that would ban cages for
egg-laying poultry, gestation crates for sows and veal crates for veal calves.
Californians for Humane Farms, sponsored by the Humane Society of the United
States, needs 433,000 valid signatures by February to put the initiative on
the November 2008 ballot. CSFAA is actively seeking support from those opposed
to the initiative and is circulating a form for opponents to sign. The form
can be downloaded by
clicking here. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). The Western Untied
Dairymen board of directors has voiced its opposition to the measure.
Opponents ask that the form be faxed to Ted Green at (310) 996-2673. Further
information about the campaign is available by contacting Green at (310)
996-2670. Jan. 3, 2008 CSFAA Notice
'Natural' will remain undefined, says FDA - - The US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has no plans in the near future to establish a
definition of the term 'natural', saying it has other priorities for its
limited resources. A lack of a uniform approach to the term has resulted in
inconsistent product claims, consumer confusion, and even lawsuits against
food companies accused of misleading consumers. FDA last year received two
petitions requesting it to clearly define the term, in order to avoid such
problems.
<more> Jan. 7, 2008 FoodNavigator.com
British TV chef Jamie Oliver electrocutes
chickens and suffocates chicks on TV - - Gruesome footage of chef
Jamie Oliver electrocuting a chicken while unwanted male chicks are
suffocated is to be shown this week on British TV. The harrowing sequence is
part of the TV chef's crusade to highlight the cruelty of battery farming.
But animal lovers have described the decision to kill the chickens in a TV
studio as "misguided". They fear that the alien environment of the studio
lights and noisy audience will have added to the birds' distress. And in any
case, free-range chickens are slaughtered in the same way despite their
better living conditions.
<more> Jan. 8, 2008 Daily Mail
Cargill’s Sun Valley Acquires UK Poultry Business - - Cargill is
expanding its poultry operations in the UK with the acquisition of Freeman’s
of Newent Ltd. (Freeman’s), a primary chicken processing business in
Gloucestershire. The acquisition, which was completed on 4 January, will
complement Cargill’s Sun Valley chicken operations. Freeman’s is a family
owned business supplying fresh chicken to UK food service, retail and
manufacturing customers. Comments Richard Maxfield, managing director of Sun
Valley Europe: “Freeman’s will strengthen our fresh chicken business,
complement our existing operations in Hereford and reinforce our commitment
to UK agriculture and our UK customers.”
<more> Jan. 7, 2008 CattleNetwork.com
Scientists discover new key to bird flu's spread
- - Flu viruses must be able to pick a very specific type of lock before
entering human respiratory cells, U.S. researchers said on Sunday, offering
a new understanding of how flu viruses work. The discovery may help
scientists better monitor changes in the H5N1 bird flu virus that could
trigger a deadly pandemic in humans. And it may lead to better ways to fight
it, they said. The scientists found that a flu virus must be able to attach
itself to an umbrella-shaped receptor coating human respiratory cells before
it can infect cells in the upper airways.
<more> Jan. 8, 2008 Reuters
National poll finds food producers, processors and manufacturers are losing
the trust of consumers - - U.S. consumers have more confidence in
activists and grocery retailers than in food companies or government as
information resources concerning food choices, according to a new poll
commissioned by Morgan&Myers and Worldcom Public Relations Group. The
national poll found that about two-thirds (64%) of American adults believe
activists and advocates have consumers' best interests in mind in providing
information concerning food choices, according to the poll. Only 46% of
consumers said they are confident in meat safety -- i.e., beef, pork and
poultry safety -- 48% said they are confident in seafood safety and 57% said
they are confident in the safety of dairy products, the survey revealed.
Consumers said they are most confident in the safety of breads, cereals and
grain products (65%) and fruits and vegetables (58%).
<more> Jan. 7, 2008 Feed Stuffs
NPIP
meeting set for Jan. 23 in Atlanta - - The USDA’s Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service will hold a meeting of the general conference
committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) from 1:30 p.m. to
5 p.m. on Jan. 23. The meeting will take place at the Georgia World Congress
Center, Room C-206, 285 Andrew Young International Boulevard, N.W., Atlanta.
The general conference committee serves as the liaison between the poultry
industry and the USDA in matters pertaining to poultry health. In addition,
the committee assists the USDA in planning, organizing and conducting the
NPIP’s biennial conference.
<more> Jan. 7, 2008 Meatpoultry.com
Switchgrass to ethanol extremely energy efficient - - Research out this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows switchgrass delivers much more energy than it takes to grow and process into ethanol. Just how much more? A whopping 540%. Dr. Ken Vogel is a scientist with USDA's Ag Research Service and one of the study's authors. He's stationed at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Vogel told Brownfield he's been working on switchgrass for nearly 18 years and used that data to help growers in the five-year field trial grow the crop in the most energy-efficient way possible. "What we did was used our best management practices that we developed since 1990, and so we provided those to the farmers, and so a lot of the energy inputs were a lot less than people had been using previously," Vogel explained. "And it just shows [what] research on management and agronomic practices and cultivars can do - it can really improve efficiency." <more> Jan. 8, 2008 Brownfield Ag News
Friday, Jan. 4, 2008
Label mystery. What's an antibiotic? Even USDA
isn't sure - - The case seems straightforward enough. Tyson Foods
petitions USDA to use the words "Raised Without Antibiotics" on the labels of
its chicken products, and the department gives a go-ahead. Then some naysayers
complain that such a label is misleading, since a category of antibiotics
called ionophores are present in the chicken feed Tyson specifies and uses for
its so-called antibiotic-free chicken. USDA goes back to Tyson to say it had
approved the previous label too quickly. The company and the government
negotiate a deal, and new wording is approved: "Chicken Raised Without
Antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans." Yet a scent of
mystery hovers in the air. The naysayers, gathered and organized as the
Truthful Labeling Coalition and claiming a membership of "thousands of
grassroots citizens in all 50 states," use a Washington, D.C., address but
don’t have a phone number; email sent to the TLC address bounces back.
However, the TLC did issue a statement back in December congratulating Perdue
Farms on becoming a member. The huge poultry processor joins other "grassroots
citizens" in the TLC such as Foster Farms, Gold’n Plump Poultry and Sanderson
Farms.
<more> Jan. 4, 2008 Meat & Poultry
Chicken Fat Converted Into Biodiesel Using Methanol
- - “Major oil companies are already examining biodiesel as an alternative
to petroleum,” said R.E. “Buddy” Babcock, professor of chemical engineering,
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. “With the
current price of petroleum diesel and the results of this project and others,
I think energy producers will think even more seriously about combining
petroleum-based diesel with a biodiesel product made out of crude and
inexpensive feedstocks.” Under Babcock’s guidance, Brent Schulte, a
chemical-engineering graduate student in the university’s College of
Engineering, subjected low-grade chicken fat, donated by Tyson Foods, and tall
oil fatty acids, provided by Georgia Pacific, to a chemical process known as
supercritical methanol treatment. Supercritical methanol treatment dissolves
and causes a reaction between components of a product — in this case, chicken
fat and tall oil — by subjecting the product to high temperature and pressure.
<more> Jan. 4, 2008 University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville Press Release
U.S. customs and border protection creates new ag
position - - The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has established
a new position of deputy executive director, agricultural operations
oversight, to improve supervision of its agricultural mission. Kevin Harriger,
who has 26 years experience with USDA and CBP, has been appointed to the
position. Harriger will be responsible for ensuring a more consistent
application of agriculture inspection policy across all U.S. ports of entry.
He will be the primary point of contact for Joint Agency Task Force
coordination issues for the Department of Homeland Security, the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service, and stakeholders. Prior to this new
appointment, Harriger was the director of policy and planning for CBP’s
agriculture programs. He also served as a special assistant to the executive
director of agriculture programs and trade liaison office implementing and
coordinating agriculture-related projects and training. Jan. 4, 2008 NCC
Newsletter
2006 U.S. Animal Health Report Now Available -
- The 2006 annual report on U.S. animal health is available
by clicking here Prepared by USDA's Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, the 192-page Bulletin No. 801 is the third such report
that provides a wide-ranging review of the health of domestic animal resources
in the U.S. "The report highlights significant epidemiologic events of 2006
and provides insight into the nation's animal health surveillance activities.
In addition, the report presents an update on programs, both new and existing
that strive to maintain healthy livestock, poultry and aquaculture
populations," says John Clifford, deputy administrator for veterinary
services. Jan. 4, 2008 USDA Press Release
FDA commissioner names directors to food safety and veterinary centers - - Commissioner of Food and Drugs Andrew C. von Eschenbach announced today that Stephen F. Sundlof, D.V.M., Ph.D., is moving from director of FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) to director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). Bernadette Dunham, D.V.M., Ph.D., who is deputy director of CVM, will assume directorship of CVM. For over a decade, Sundlof has served as the director of CVM. In that capacity, with his background as a toxicologist, he has overseen the regulation of feed, including food additives, and drugs intended for animals. These include animals from which human foods are derived, as well as food and drugs for pets (or companion animals) and other non-food-producing animals such as zoo animals, parakeets, hamsters, and aquarium fish. Dunham has worked closely with Sundlof in her role as deputy director of CVM since 2006. While serving as CVM deputy director, Dunham also was the director for CVM's Office of Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Drug Development, the office that oversees drug development for minor species, such as zoo animals, ornamental fish, parrots, ferrets, guinea pigs, sheep, goats, catfish, and honeybees. That office also oversees drug development for uncommon diseases in major species, such as cattle, pigs, chicken, turkeys, horses, dogs and cats. Jan. 4, 2008 FDA Press Release
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008
Traditional Eggs May Have Lower Impact on Global
Warming. Egg Industry Proves to be Greener than other Livestock - - While
some animal rights organizations have been campaigning to ban traditional cage
eggs in the U.S., it turns out that these eggs may be best for the
environment. A study conducted by Adrian Williams, PhD., senior research
fellow at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, found that the
traditional cage egg production currently used by most U.S. egg farmers
decreases the industry's effects on global warming by 10 percent, while
converting to all free-range egg production would increase the effects on
global warming by 10 percent and converting to all organic egg production
would increase the effects on global warming by 40 percent. Free-range and
organic egg farms are more environmentally intense because their need for more
green space, food and energy.
<more> Jan. 3, 2008 United Egg Producers Press Release
Ethanol Demand Drives Iowa Farmland Value to
All-Time High - - The average value of an acre of farmland in Iowa
increased by just over $700 during the past year, to an all-time high of
$3,908, according to an annual survey conducted by Iowa State University (ISU)
Extension. The land boom is being driven by the developing biofuel economy,
according to Mike Duffy, ISU Extension farm economist who conducts the
survey. Duffy said the 22 percent increase recorded this year is the greatest
one-year increase since 1976, and marks a new record for the fifth year in a
row. Since the year 2000, Iowa land values have increased an average of $2,051
per acre, more than a 100 percent increase over the 2000 average value of
$1,857. The increases in values were reported statewide, with the survey
recording averages above $5,000 an acre in four counties, and between $4,000
and $5,000 an acre in 51 counties. Nineteen counties reported increases of
more than 25 percent, and 59 counties had increases between 20 and 25 percent.
Jan. 3, 2008 Iowa State University Extension News Release
State's minimum wage hits $8 - - California's
minimum wage joined the ranks of the nation's highest this year, increasing 50
cents to $8 an hour. Depending on whom you ask, the increase can be chalked up
as a boost to low-wage workers or a blow to the state's business community.
Meanwhile, those at the bottom of the pay scale wonder whether the raise will
actually help workers keep pace with the Golden State's high cost of living.
<more>
Jan. 3, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Climate change's effect on state air detailed - - Global warming is making breathing more hazardous for Californians than other Americans, says a pioneering Stanford University study scheduled for release today. The research is the first to estimate the health effects of air pollution attributed solely to climate change – specifically the heat-trapping or "greenhouse" effect of carbon dioxide from tailpipes and smokestacks – experts said. The findings contradict a Bush administration rationale for denying California the power to enforce its first-in-the-nation limits on cars, passenger trucks and SUVs, said Mark Jacobson, the Stanford atmospheric scientist who did the study. "The study shows carbon dioxide is causing the health impacts, it quantifies those impacts and shows California has been impacted greater than other states," Jacobson said. "They should revisit their decision." <more> Jan. 3, 2008 Sacramento Bee
Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008
Perdue Farms joins truth-in-labeling group --
Perdue Farms, the nation's third-largest poultry producer which employs
nearly 3,000 workers in Delaware at its Milford plant, has joined the
Truthful Labeling Coalition, an industry and grass-roots organization that
consists of more than 30,000 concerned citizens and other leading poultry
companies, including Foster Farms, Gold'n Plump Poultry and Sanderson Farms.
The coalition, with the support of leading consumer and health groups, works
to ensure the truthful labeling of fresh chicken products so consumers can
make informed choices.
<more> Jan. 2, 2008 Delawareonline.com
PETA hounds South Carolina abbey into quitting
egg production - - A monastery in rural South Carolina has been hounded
out of a commercial egg production business that accounted for 60% of the
monastery's annual income by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA). Abbot Stan Gumula of the Mepkin Abbey near Moncks Corner, S.C., said
Dec. 20 the abbey will cease egg production over the next 18 months and
consider a new business to generate revenue for the abbey's operations. The
announcement came after nearly a year of harassment by PETA, which last
February released a clandestine video allegedly made by an undercover PETA
investigator working in the abbey that showed hen handling and housing
conditions that PETA said were cruel, including cage housing, forced molting
and what PETA refers to as "debeaking".
<more> Dec. 31, 2007 Feedstuffs.com
Feb. 1 deadline for California Meat Poultry Quality
Assurance Plan - - California Poultry Federation (CPF) members have until
Feb. 1, 2008 to send in their Quality Assurance Plan (QAP). The California
Poultry Meat QAP is a producer food safety program designed to ensure the
highest quality and safety of poultry products. A completed packet includes a
Nutrient Management Plan, biosecurity checklist, and biosecurity self
evaluation. Additionally, a representative from a member company must have
attended the QA Seminar in August. If a company was unable to attend, but
would still like to be certified, contact the CPF to arrange an appointment
with a veterinarian to discuss the QA topics. Once CPF has received the QAP,
CPF will provide an affidavit of compliance stating that the plan complies
with the 13 core components of the program. The core components can be viewed
on the CPF website at
http://www.cpif.org/qualityassurance.htm. Certification of a Quality
Assurance Plan is provided by a CDFA veterinarian who will review the
completed packet and certify the member company as part of the 2008 California
Meat Poultry Quality Assurance Plan Program. Further information is available
from CPF Community Relations Intern Cody Penfold at (209) 576-6355. Jan.
2, 2008
State to sue EPA over greenhouse gas regulations
-- California plans to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on
Wednesday for denying its first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars,
trucks and SUVs, challenging the Bush administration's conclusion that
states have no business setting emission standards. Other states are
expected to join the lawsuit, which was anticipated after the EPA denied
California's request Dec. 19. The lawsuit will be filed in the Ninth U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The EPA denied California a
waiver that it needs under the federal Clean Air Act to move forward with
regulating greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and light trucks. At least
16 other states had been expected to follow California's lead and adopt the
state's tougher emission limits.
<more>
Jan. 2, 2008 AP
Delta water exports halved. It was the first cut
rising from a court ruling to protect threatened smelt. - - Water
exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were slashed in half Friday to
protect a threatened fish, marking the first action sparked by a federal
court order earlier this month. The Dec. 14 ruling by U.S. District Judge
Oliver Wanger in Fresno requires state and federal water agencies to reduce
their draw from the estuary under certain conditions to protect the Delta
smelt. The agencies operate separate canal systems, which serve 25 million
Californians and more than 2 million acres of farms from the Bay Area to San
Diego. But those water exports have contributed to a steep decline in the
population of the smelt, a fragile fingerling protected by the Endangered
Species Act. The fish are not strong enough to resist the pull of the pumps,
which reverse natural water flows in the Delta. Wanger's ruling requires
pumping reductions under certain conditions that affect the smelt. One of
those triggers was tripped on Christmas Day when water clarity declined at a
South Delta monitoring site.
<more>
Dec. 29, 2007 Sacramento Bee
A growing thirst. Water cutbacks changing Valley agriculture - - "For a long time, water was almost taken for granted," said Mark Borba, his Lincoln Navigator whooshing past a field studded with railcar-sized cotton bales. Borba, 57, has farmed the deep loam southwest of Fresno since 1976. For most of his first 15 years in the business, taxpayer-subsidized water flowed full bore from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. With rich yields of cotton and other crops, Borba built his operation to 23,000 acres. At its peak, his irrigation water could have serviced two cities the size of present-day Folsom. Today, though, the Delta is in trouble. Fish populations are crashing, and scientists have been unable to explain why. Water quality is poor. And the exported water that farmers like Borba had come to count as almost a birthright is in jeopardy as never before. <more> Dec. 31, 2007 Fresno Bee