“Cuba Trade Bill Receives Support”
The American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association both are backing legislation introduced by House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson that would expand U.S. agriculture exports to Cuba. The bill would accomplish its goals by expanding one-way trade and lifting current travel restrictions with Cuba.
ASA President Rob Joslin, a soybean producer from Sidney, Ohio, says – ASA favors a normal trading relationship with Cuba including direct banking and elimination of the cash in advance rule. ASA also supports the country’s eligibility for the Foreign Market Development and Market Access Programs.
NCGA Firs Vice President Bart Schott, a grower from Kulm, North Dakota, says – this legislation will increase one-way agricultural trade from the U.S. to Cuba. We currently export food to Cuba and these changes will level the playing field for American farmers. Schott notes, – it does not eliminate the embargo itself.
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“Sorghum Production Part of Commodity Classic”
The National Sorghum Producers will host what it calls – a dynamic and informative general session – at the Commodity Classic in Anaheim, California next Thursday. A panel will cover the latest developments and upcoming technology in the sorghum industry, sprinkled with a healthy dose of humor.
NSP Chairman Gerald Simonsen, a producer from Ruskin, Nebraska, says this is – an opportunity for producers to catch up on what NSP is doing in the industry and how new policies and technologies will impact their production in the coming year.
Simonsen adds – one of the highlights will be a panel discussion with some of our national yield and management contest winners. He says, – I think farmers really like the opportunity to interact with their peers and learn what works and doesn’t work for them in grain sorghum production.
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“Jobs Bill Passes Senate”
By a vote of 70 to 28 the U.S. Senate has passed a 15-billion dollar jobs-creation bill. As written, the bill would extend a tax break for businesses that spend money on capital investments, such as equipment purchases. It would also give Businesses tax breaks for hiring the unemployed and states more money for infrastructure projects.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Wednesday’s vote – a small step forward but an important one. He said, – this vote is a victory for hard-working Americans, especially those trying to find work. The bill now moves to the House, which may take it up as soon as Friday.
The administration says it strongly supports the measure but indicated it is only one step in the job-creation effort. The President wants lawmakers to take up a bill that would increase small businesses’ access to credit.
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“Extension Bills Next Up”
Several issues left out of the Senate passed jobs-creation bill are now being discussed. They include year-long extensions of expired tax provisions with similar continuations of expanded unemployment coverage and health insurance subsidies for jobless workers. On Wednesday, a top Republican leader said any deal depends on working out the fate of the expired estate tax. Republicans also might raise – pay-as-you-go issues about such an extension package.
A Republican aide points out that newly enacted pay-as-you-go rules require new mandatory spending or tax cuts to be offset with new revenue or spending cuts elsewhere in the budget. The aide said, – the Democrats probably won’t offset it, and we expect that debate to happen in the next week.
Minority Whip Jon Kyl says – Republicans will block consideration of a new bill unless they get – a path forward fairly soon – on the estate tax. The tax lapsed at the end of 2009, and if Congress does not act, it will return in 2011 at much higher rates and lower exemptions than most lawmakers want.
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“NFU Applauds House Passage of HR 4626″
The U.S. House has approved the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act – a bill that would repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies. The measure was approved with a 406 to 19 vote. National Farmers Union says the measure would level the playing field for small insurers, encourage market competition and ultimately lower costs for consumers.
NFU President Roger Johnson notes rural areas – on average – feel the impacts of concentrated insurance markets more acutely than their urban counterparts. And according to the American Medical Association – one company dominates over 80-percent of the market in many rural states. Ending the antitrust exemption – he says – is a common sense way to introduce choice and competition into the marketplace.
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“Poultry Labels Questioned”
Senator Barbara Boxer of California has teamed up with Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Bill Mattos, the president of the California Poultry Federation, in turning up the heat on USDA over the amount of salt water poultry processors are allowed to inject into poultry products and call them – natural.
Boxer says – I have long fought to ensure that all consumer product labels are fair and truthful. Unfortunately, since 2003, chicken injected with sodium additives has been allowed to be misleadingly labeled as – 100 percent all-natural. She says, – there is nothing ‘all-natural’ about chicken injected with sodium additives.
The consumer advocates’ concern is, when a sodium solution is injected, poultry meat’s inherent health benefits are diminished. Injected poultry products have a sodium content that offers up to eight times more salt per serving than natural chicken that is not injected, an issue for consumers seeking to reduce the amount of salt in their diets.
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“USDA Reports on Dairy Demand”
USDA is projecting commercial use of dairy products will rise as much as 1.4 percent in 2010. In addition, exports are also expected to rebound from 2009. The projections are contained in the agency’s Livestock Dairy and Poultry Outlook report. Bottom line, USDA expects the U.S. all-milk price to average from 16.20 to 16.90 in 2010. That compares to the 2009 average of just 12.81. That suggests a 28 percent improvement over 2009 prices.
Dairy exports are expected to rebound by as much as 25.7-billion pounds on milk equivalent skim-solid basis. But there are flies in the ointment. How the European Union disposes of its excessive butter and non-fat-dry milk will play a key role in how quickly export markets recover. The stronger value of the dollar versus the euro also will play a role.
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“Wisconsin Wants Dairy Farm for Interstate”
The state of Wisconsin has given dairy farmer Mark Lefke until Mach 20 to vacate his property. The state wants to build an interstate that will dissect Lefke’s property and take 10 acres out of its center. That acreage includes the family’s home of 25 years. Originally, the state hired a third party to estimate what it would take to make Lefke – whole. The amount came in at over one-million dollars and the state balked. In an effort to keep to its schedule, the state told Lefke he’d still have to leave.
Lefke says, – the classic line is how they promise to compensate us to make our lives whole again, but how do you make someone whole again after you’ve cut out their heart. He said the money they offer is irrelevant. I need the land to survive. Comparisons are being made between the Lefke case and earlier cases in Nevada and New Mexico, where the government battled two landowners for eminent domain.
Singer Michael Martin Murphey was involved in the two earlier cases, fighting for landowner rights, and he’s involved in the Lefke case. On March 14, Lefke’s birthday, Murphey will perform twice in Cashton, Wisconsin, following a VIP Farmers’ Freedom Fighters Brunch.
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“Japan Keeps Buying U.S. Pork & Beef”
Japan was again a key trading partner for the U.S. beef and pork industries in 2009, outperforming the market and either maintaining or increasing U.S. beef and pork imports even as total retail and foodservice spending in Japan slumped in the global economic slowdown.
In calendar year 2009, U.S. pork sales in Japan – our top market for pork export value – nearly matched the all-time value record set one year ago. The latest figure is 1.54-billion dollars. In this same environment, sales of U.S. beef in Japan ended the year 23 percent higher than the previous year in both volume and value while the global market for all beef exporters fell 16 percent.
U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Phil Seng, says – one of the keys to growing market share for U.S. beef and pork in this economic environment has been to provide products that deliver tremendous versatility and value.
The United States now holds 46 percent of the imported pork market share in Japan and 72 percent of the chilled pork market. Since reentering the market after BSE, U.S. beef market share is also on the rise. The U.S. captured 20 percent of the market in 2009, compared to just 10 percent two years earlier.
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“USDA Highlights Mapping Tool”
USDA officials have highlighted one of its newest web-based mapping tools, Your Food Environment Atlas, which will enable researchers, policy makers, and the public to find information on a range of factors that affect access to healthy, affordable food, and will allow users to map the data by county. The map will provide highly detailed information on local food environments and health outcomes, including grocery store access and disease and obesity prevalence.
The Food Environment Atlas was developed by USDA’s Economic Research Service and assembles information on three broad categories of food environment indicators: Food Choices-Indicators; Health and Well-Being-Indicators; and Community characteristics-Indicators.
The Community characteristics-Indicators focus on community characteristics that might influence the food environment. Examples are demographic composition; income and poverty; population loss; urban versus rural location; natural amenities; and recreation and fitness centers.
