California Poultry Federation Weekly News Update

 

 4640 Spyres Way, Suite 4, Modesto, CA 95356

Edited by Mark Looker

 

June 9, 2008 Weekly News Update

 

 

HOTSY PACIFIC WELCOMED AS NEW CPF MEMBER

 

Hotsy Pacific, a provider of pressure washers, parts and detergents, is the newest member of the California Poultry Federation. Based in Modesto since 1987 the company has been providing sales and service for Hotsy pressure washers throughout California's Central Valley. It recently expanded into the Bay Area with a location in Hayward. Hotsy’s full service shop is staffed with three mobile service technicians on the road every day. President Jim O’Connell can be reached at (209) 578-3925 or hotsypac@aol.com

 

PENNFIELD ANIMAL HEALTH WELCOMED AS NEW CPF MEMBER

 

Pennfield Animal Health has been welcomed as the newest member of the California Poultry Federation. A long-time manufacturer of feed grade and water soluble antibiotics, Pennfield’s product line includes Oxytetracycline and Chlortetracycline. Western regional Sales Manager Ronald Antes can be reached at (480) 816-4114 or email rantes@cox.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.

Cobb-Vantress

Cumberland

CVP Systems

Elanco Animal Health

Evonik Degussa

Foster Farms

Haley Farms

Huvepharma

Intervet/Schering-Plough

Jones-Hamilton Company

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

 

CORN FUTURES HIT ANOTHER RECORD HIGH ON MIDWESTERN RAIN

 

Corn futures extended their climb, rising to a record for a third straight session Monday as heavy rains flooded fields and battered crops in Midwestern states. Other commodities traded mostly lower, with crude oil retreating more than $4 a barrel and gold, silver, copper and wheat also falling. Last week's rain-fed jump in corn prices was the largest one-week rally in the contract's history. Corn prices are poised to go even higher, analysts say. Weekend showers dumped as much as eight inches of rain over parts of Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, and forecasts predict more bad weather later this week. Corn for July delivery jumped to a new trading record of $6.6725 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade before falling to settle at $6.5725 a bushel, up 6.5 cents. U.S. farmers were expected to plant 86 million acres of corn this year, but wet weather in Midwestern states has left an estimated 4 million acres unplanted. With the corn planting season already over, farmers will either leave them empty and take insurance payments or switch the acres over to soybeans, which have a later growing cycle. That would likely lift corn prices further, forcing consumers to pay higher grocery bills for meat and pork, as livestock producers would be forced to pass on higher animal feed costs and thin their herd size.

 

ODDS ARE SEEN AS LOW FOR PASSAGE OF ETHANOL TARIFF REDUCTION BILL

 

Legislation By Sen. Dianne Feinstein to cut the U.S. tariff on ethanol imports has little chance of clearing Congress as there is not much time left on the legislative clock and it is too hot a political issue to take up in an election year, congressional aides say, according to a published report by Reuters.

Feinstein and Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, introduced legislation this week to lower the tariff to bring it in line with U.S. ethanol blending subsidies, which a recently enacted farm bill lowered to 45 cents per gallon from 51 cents per gallon. The bill would cut import tariffs to 45 cents per gallon from the current level of 54 cents per gallon, and require Congress to lower tariffs again if blending subsidies are cut even further.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee, where it is likely to sit. The panel's chairman, Democrat Max Baucus, has previously said he is against cutting the ethanol import tariff. In addition, Baucus would not normally put a priority on legislation sponsored by lawmakers who are not members of his finance committee, as is the case with Feinstein and Gregg.

The top Republican on the finance committee, Chuck Grassley, opposes the bill, an aide to the senator said. Grassley said earlier this week that Brazil and other countries can export more than 452 million gallons of ethanol duty-free to the United States this year under a special trade agreement with Caribbean nations, but that threshold has yet to be met.

"Until Brazil and other countries take full advantage of their existing ability to ship ethanol duty-free to the U.S. market, we shouldn't even discuss providing them with yet more duty-free access," Grassley said.

 

ASSEMBLY APPROVES MANDATORY SICK LEAVE BILL

 

llegislation 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. John Kabateck, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business/California, said that while the bill is well-intended, it not only puts the burden of providing the benefit on the employer but also opens companies up to costly litigation if they make a simple mistake. "In a seriously down economy, our Legislature should be looking at supporting and providing incentives to business," Kabateck said. "They shouldn't be imposing costly mandates."

 

 

 

CALIFORNIA POULTRY INDUSTRY CALENDAR OF EVENTS 

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