“House Committee Hearing on Food Safety Scheduled”
In preparing for a September 14th hearing on food safety, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has requested documents from both USDA and FDA and the DeCoster family, owners of the two egg farms involved in the recent egg recall. The committee wants to see from the DeCosters inspection records, including – all documents relating to any allegation of violation of any health, safety, environmental or animal cruelty laws.
The hearing could add pressure on the U.S. Senate to pass the stalled FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. S.510 has already passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee. A companion bill passed the House last summer.
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“USDA Takes Steps to Authorize RR Sugarbeets”
A recent court ruling returned genetically engineered sugar beets to regulated status, but the ruling does not apply to genetically engineered sugar beet root and seed crops that were planted by August 13, 2010. The genetically engineered sugar beet root crop that has already been planted may be processed and sold as sugar.
In response, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says – USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service must chart a course for compliance with its statutory authorities and environmental statutes while USDA works to create the environment where all types of producers can and do produce all types of crops.
APHIS is taking the following steps: APHIS is issuing permits to sugar beet seed producers to authorize “steckling” or seedlings production this fall under strict permit conditions. In the meantime, APHIS is evaluating a request for a partial deregulation of Roundup Ready sugar beets. In connection with this evaluation, APHIS is developing an appropriate environmental analysis to inform its decision making regarding this request to authorize future seed and root crop plantings under a combination of permits, administrative orders, or other regulatory measures.
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“Change Possible After November Voting”
Senate Ag Committee members Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota appear to be solid favorites to win re-election this November. But, other Senators in Washington may not be so fortunate, including Senate Ag Committee Chair Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. The Democrat continues to trail her Republican challenger. Those watching the races closely say a dozen seats in the Senate could go either way.
Over in the House as many as 45 seats could go to Republicans. The GOP needs to pick up 39 seats to become the majority in the House. 14 Democratic members of the House Ag Committee are fighting to keep their political heads above water. Those in trouble include Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota, Jim Marshall of Georgia and Steve Kagan of Wisconsin.
So, who will be left to write the 2012 farm bill? Most likely there will be new faces providing input to the process and most of the new faces are expected to be Republicans. Bottom line – analysts believe Republicans will take control of the House and Democrats could lose control of the U.S. Senate.
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“R-CALF CEO Defends Invitation”
R-CALF USA is defending its right to issue what it calls – an open invitation – to U.S. livestock producers and rural Americans to participate in the recent Livestock Marketing Workshop held by USDA and the Department of Justice at Colorado State University. R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard says the invitation was an effort to – encourage public participation in the government’s decision-making process. He says the open invitation – could not be construed as an effort to limit any segment of the livestock industry from participating in the event.
Senators Pat Roberts, Saxby Chambliss, Mike Johanns, Sam Brownback, and Tom Coburn, wrote to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding what they called – questionable behavior leading up to a USDA competition workshop. The Senators cited media accounts regarding a USDA employee who allegedly passed along a message from an interest group soliciting attendance for the joint workshop.
Bullard said he would expect the dominant meatpackers and their allied trade associations – all of which are vehemently opposed to the proposed GIPSA Rule – to exploit the government employee’s decision in order to further their own self-interests, but, he said, such an action is unbecoming of Congress. He called the Senator’s letter – a shameful display of authoritative abuse.
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“Call Issued for New Pathogen Testing Regulations”
Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro is turning up the pressure on USDA for stronger regulation of non-0157 pathogens. Delauro’s move comes following Cargill’s weekend recall of 85-hundred pounds of ground beef over concerns about a connection between E.coli 026 and three illnesses in two states. This was the first recall directly relating a beef product to illnesses traced to a non-0157:H7 pathogen
In a statement, the chairwoman of the House FDA and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, said – it is time for USDA to acknowledge the scientific evidence and classify all toxin-producing E. coli strains as an adulterant that should be made subject to testing. She said – this would close a significant gap in our food safety system and help minimize additional foodborne illnesses.
Bill Marler, a Seattle-based food safety attorney and advocate says – USDA and the beef industry know well that there are at least six additional strains of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli: O45, O111, O121, O145, O103 and O26 that are highly dangerous to humans and should not exist in food. Experts have said only about 10 percent of laboratories in the U.S. are currently capable of testing for non-O157 pathogens.
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“Poultry Research Findings Reported”
The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association has released the results of two research projects that widen the knowledge base of poultry and egg production. In one research project, scientists in the Department of Poultry Science at North Carolina State University examined the effect of single stage and multi-stage incubation on broiler performance, the effect of increased CO2 levels in single stage incubation, and the reduction of ventilation levels in multi-staged incubation systems.
The study found that single stage incubation, when compared to multi-stage incubation, gave the most significant and consistent results in improving broiler performance. Although improvement in hatchability was not consistent, improvements were observed in chick quality, body weight, feed conversion, and leg health issues. As for a reduction of ventilation rates in multi-stage incubation and 6-8 day injection of CO2 in single stage incubation, researchers say inconsistent results were regarded to be non-significant between the two incubation systems.
In other research, at the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas, scientists studied the effects of light stimulation on male broiler breeders following sexual maturity. Results suggest that light stimulation as early as 18 weeks of age did not have negative effects on reproduction and could lower feed cost as opposed to current light stimulation treatments that start at 21 weeks.
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“Turning Up Heat on Corn-Based Plastics”
Your favorite catsup or fruit juice might be “hot-filled” at the food-processing plant—that is, poured into its waiting container while the catsup or juice is still hot from pasteurization. Current containers made from corn-based plastics literally can’t take the heat of hot-filling. But, Agricultural Research Service scientists may have found an answer to this problem.
According to USDA chemist William Orts and a team of collaborators from Lapol, LLC, of Santa Barbara, California, corn-based plastics are made by fermenting corn sugar to produce lactic acid. The lactic acid is used to form polylactic acid, or PLA, a bioplastic. The research team is developing a product known as a heat-deflection temperature modifier that would be blended with PLA to make it more heat-tolerant.
The modifier is more than 90 percent corn-based and is fully biodegradable. By boosting the bioplastics’ heat tolerance, the collaboration—under way since 2007—may broaden the range of applications for which corn-derived plastics could be used as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics.
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“Pioneer Expanding IMPACT Program”
Pioneer Hi-Bred announces it plans to expand the number of experimental products it can test next year by expanding by 50 percent its IMPACT, or Intensively Managed Product Advancement, Characterization and Training trials. This means a significant increase in investment in local research and development, helping to maximize grower productivity and profitability. These plots provide local testing of multiple products at the last stage before they are advanced for sale to growers.
This expansion marks a unique cooperative effort between Pioneer’s research efforts and its sales organization, linking product development and advancement with the company’s “Right Product, Right Acre” strategy to help producers get the best results from each acre.
John Soper, vice president – Pioneer Crop Genetics Research & Development, says – data from IMPACT trials help us understand which products offer the best performance in certain environments, allowing us to more readily target specific customer needs. The IMPACT program represents a multimillion dollar investment by Pioneer in resources, equipment and trial seed production.
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“CCC Rates Announced for September”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation has announced interest rates for September of 2010. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge is unchanged from August at 0.25 percent. The rate for 1996 and subsequent crop year commodity and marketing assistance loans is also unchanged at 1.25 percent.
The interest rate for farm storage facility loans approved for September are as follows –
for a seven-year loan term the September figure is 2.25 percent compared to last month’s 2.5 percent; for loans with 10-year terms, the interest rate is 2.875 percent, compared with 3.0 percent last month: and the interest rate for 12-year loan terms for September is 3.125 percent, compared to last month’s rate of 3.375 percent.
The interest rate for Sugar Storage Facility Loans for September 2010 is down. The 3.375 percent rate is a decrease from the 3.625 interest rate of last month.
The maximum discount rate applicable for September 2010 for the Tobacco Transition Payment Program is 5 percent, unchanged from August 2010. This is based on the 3.25 percent prime rate plus 2 percent, rounded to the nearest whole number.
