Senators Chambliss and Klobuchar Introduce Bill to Improve Food Safety

The Ranking Member of the Senate Ag Committee Saxby Chambliss and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced the Food Safety Rapid Response Act of 2009 Tuesday. The bill - which complements the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 introduced in March - calls for an increase in participation of public health and food regulatory agencies and laboratories to share findings and develop a centralized database. The measure was created to promote a more effective national response to outbreaks of food-borne sickness.

Senator Chambliss says the recent nationwide salmonella outbreak demonstrates the need for better coordination between public health agencies when responding to a food-safety crisis. Chambliss believes this legislation will expedite needed improvements to identifying and responding to food-borne illnesses throughout the country. Senator Klobuchar says the government can save lives and money by strengthening the nation’s food safety system.

GET IT Pushing Conventional Beef Production

The Growth Enhancement Technology Information Team - or GET IT - is launching a marketing campaign trumpeting the economic and environmental benefits of conventional beef production over those of grass-only or natural beef production systems. GET IT is made up of animal-health manufacturing executives who say the program will provide beef producers with facts about the eco-friendly and economical benefits of conventional beef production.

A key message is that conventional beef production is environmentally friendly compared to grass-only or natural beef-production systems. GET IT’s Paul Parker says it may seem counter intuitive that conventional beef production has less environmental impact than grass-only, natural or organic beef production - but he points out that cattle finished on grain-based rations using growth-enhancing technologies are more land efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

With U.S. consumers facing rising food costs in a tight economy - Parker adds beef producers have a great opportunity to be proactive and positive with messages about beef's affordability and environmental and economic sustainability. GET IT cites an Iowa State University study which showed that conventional production reduces by two-thirds the amount of land needed to produce a pound of beef.

National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition to Partner with Growth Energy

The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition announced at the 2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop that it plans to join forces with Growth Energy and become Growth Energy Market Development. NEVC is the second ethanol association to join Growth Energy. This will help the coalition continue its 13-year task to increase availability of higher ethanol blends and flex fuel vehicles. Co-Chairman of Growth Energy - Retired General Wesley Clark says Growth Energy is excited for NEVC to join the company and continue its work as part of the company.

Phil Lampert - Executive Director of NEVC since 1997 and Vice President of Market Development for Growth Energy - says notes there were 10 E-85 pumps and 500 flex fuel vehicles in the U.S. in 1995 - and now there are more than two-thousand pumps and over eight-million flex fuel vehicles. Lampert looks forward to doubling or tripling those numbers in the next few years with the help of supportive groups and individuals.

LMA’s 46th World Livestock Auctioneer Championship Concludes

The Livestock Marketing Association’s 46th Annual World Livestock Auctioneer Championship took place Saturday, June 13th at the Fergus Falls Livestock Auction Market in Minnesota. The WLAC - an actual sale where contestants are scored on vocal clarity, talent at keeping the sale going and bid-catching ability - is held every year to spotlight competitive livestock marketing and the auctioneer’s role in that process. In his 12th WLAC - Montana auctioneer Ty Thompson won the title of World Champion.

Thompson received five-thousand dollars, the Champion’s sculpture and a new 2009 Chevy Silverado Quad Cab truck from LMA - among other things. Thompson will appear at livestock markets and other events across the country for LMA. He says he’s looking forward to doing so because livestock marketing has been good to him and his family - and he wants to give something back.

Quarterfinals to qualify contestants for the 2010 WLAC are already planned and will be held at four different locations on four separate dates: September 25th at Public Auction Yards in Billings, Montana – October 9th at Crawford Livestock Market LLC in Crawford, Nebraska – October 15th at Calhoun Stockyard in Calhoun, Georgia – and December 2nd at Parsons Livestock Market in Parsons, Kansas. The 2010 WLAC will take place at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City on June 19th.

Preconditioning Could Help Calf Profitability

A 2007 survey of Oklahoma livestock markets - conducted by Oklahoma State University - revealed that only 11.9-percent of the calves sold through the surveyed markets were considered preconditioned - or value-added. And because of the economy - many market watchers believe cow/calf producers face stagnant to lower markets this fall and potentially slimmer profit margins. So - they say having preconditioned calves now can be a financial advantage in the near future.

Dr. Frank Hurtig - director for Veterinary Services for Merial - says cow/calf producers need to start exploring every possible avenue for adding value to their calves and bottom line. Hurtig adds since feedyards will likely be feeding fewer cattle than most years - buyers are more likely to be picky on sale day - potentially giving producers who follow a preconditioning program an edge.

Preconditioning programs are designed to help reduce stress for calves at weaning and improve their immune systems - which helps them to perform better postweaning. Dr. Jeremy Powell - professor of Animal Sciences at the University of Arkansas - says if buyers can spend about 20-dollars more per head and as a result save 75-dollars in medical expenses and performance losses because calves stay healthy - they’ll do it.

Meat and Poultry Industry Big Contributor to U.S. Economy

The American Meat Institute released a new Economic Impact Study Friday that shows the nation’s meat and poultry industry contributes roughly 832-billion dollars - nearly six-percent of total Gross Domestic Product - to the U.S. economy along with nearly 6.2-million jobs and 200-billion dollars in wages and benefits.

President and CEO of AMI J. Patrick Boyle says companies and individuals in America that produce, process, distribute and sell meat and poultry products continue to be a vital part of the U.S. economy.

According to the study - conducted by John Dunham and Associates in New York City - the industry also generates sizeable tax revenues - more than 81-billion dollars in revenues to federal, state and local governments and more than 2-billion dollars in state sales taxes.

The complete study - which includes state-by-state and Congressional district breakdowns - is available online at www.meatfuelsamerica.com. Boyle says he hopes the interactive format to drill down to the state and congressional district level will be useful to media who cover the industry - and lawmakers wanting to understand the impact of public policy initiatives in their states.

Pressure to Make NAIS Mandatory

It’s been no secret that Rosa DeLauro - the Chairman of the House Appropriations Ag Subcommittee - wants a mandatory National Animal Identification System. And this week - she emphasized that message - telling USDA and the livestock industry to agree to a mandatory program or the program will be zeroed out in the 2010 fiscal year budget. The program has already been reduced to zero in the Ag Appropriations measure approved last Thursday (June 11) by the Subcommittee.

DeLauro charged that USDA has mismanaged the program while spending millions. She says a mandatory program is needed to provide assurance against economic calamity and to protect our export markets. The move was not totally unexpected. Earlier Collin Peterson - Chairman of the House Ag Committee - said he would support cutting off funding for the program unless USDA finds a way to make the program mandatory.

To date - only 35 percent of animal premises across the nation have been registered. USDA has found - through its recent listening sessions around the country - almost no support for a mandatory program. In fact - they are finding an organized uprising that is calling for an elimination of the program.

NCGA President Responds to Food Inc Documentary

National Corn Growers Association President Bob Dickey says the producers of the new documentary Food Inc. don’t like the steps government, the food industry and commodity groups like NCGA have taken to keep food prices low and help feed the world’s hungry. But instead of offering a workable solution - he says they suggest more outdated practices that will reduce yield and drive up costs - ultimately ensure fewer mouths are fed at a higher cost. Dickey says they need to look at the real costs and causes of obesity and its related health issues and recognize - as scientific experts have - that corn is a healthy and safe natural food product.

Dickey says U.S. corn farmers are proud of their work that results in a versatile product used for countless products from food to fuel to fiber. He notes growers are planting, growing and harvesting the crop in a more efficient and environmentally sustainable manner each year thanks to reliable technology in the seed and in the field.

Cap & Trade Study Released

The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis has released an economic study regarding the impact a cap-and-trade system would have on the agriculture community. The study maintains that cap-and-trade is - an energy tax in disguise - that will cause farm income to drop dramatically because of higher operating costs. It further argues that people living on fixed incomes and struggling in tough economic times can expect higher food prices as the result of this policy.

The Heritage Foundation study projects that farm income - after expenses – will drop 8-billion dollars in 2012, 25-billion in 2024, and over 50-billion in 2035. Decreases of 28%, 60%, and 94%, respectively. The report projected an average net income loss over 25 years of 23 billion dollars. Also, Construction costs will increase 10 percent, gasoline costs will increase 58 percent and electric rates will go up 90 percent over the 25 year period.

House Ranking Member Frank Lucas says - no wonder agriculture groups are increasingly coming out against the Waxman-Markey bill. They know agriculture is a target. They know that cap-and-trade promises to destroy their livelihoods. According to Lucas, - a bill of this magnitude deserves thoughtful consideration and debate. Instead, Speaker Pelosi is rushing it through Congress to the detriment of all of us.

Ag Subcommittee Holds Stimulus Hearing

The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Biotechnology, Specialty Crops and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing on Wednesday to review USDA’s rural development programs and the status of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for these programs. Subcommittee Ranking Member Michael Conaway said - testimony highlighted several critical barriers to getting funding to where it is most needed in rural America, and we hope USDA will be able to address those problems quickly.

The Subcommittee heard testimony from two panels of witnesses, including Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager, who spoke about USDA's rural development programs as well as American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds targeted for those programs. Congressman Mike McIntyre of North Carolina is Chairman of the subcommittee.

McIntyre said. - from key infrastructure and housing to broadband and business loans, federal funds are playing a critical role in helping communities move forward, and it is critical that these dollars are spent wisely and appropriately. McIntyre pledged - this subcommittee will continue to do all we can to support Rural America and ensure that taxpayers' dollars are being spent in the most efficient manner.

New Test Available for Angus Influenced Cattle

Neurophathic Hydrocephalus is a lethal genetic defect that affects Angus and Angus-influenced cattle. Calves carrying two recessive genes—resulting from the mating of two carrier animals—are born dead with an extremely large cranium with little or no brain matter or spinal cord. A large percentage of mortalities relating to NH occur through embryonic or fetal loss during gestation, which causes the defect to go misdiagnosed or unnoticed.

Dr. Jon Beever at the University of Illinois and Dr. David Steffen at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in collaboration with the American Angus Association, have identified the gene mutation responsible for NH and a commercial test has been developed and validated. The new diagnostic test is now available through Pfizer Animal Genetics.

Also, Pfizer Animal Genetics has been approved by the American Angus Association as an NH testing laboratory. Pfizer Animal Genetics has proactively worked to expand its testing capacity in order to provide results to producers in a timely manner. Samples are being tested in the order in which they are received at the new laboratory located in Kalamazoo, Michigan.