NEWS BRIEFS...
USDA: Second-Largest Corn Crop Projected
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report Aug. 12, projecting U.S. feedgrain supplies for 2009-2010 higher. Corn production for 2009-2010 is projected at 12.8 billion bushels (bu.), up 471 million bu. due to higher yield forecasts. U.S. Grains Council (USGC) President and CEO Ken Hobbie said rising demand for ethanol and exports are responsible for the outlook.
Argentina Beef Prices Skyrocket
Local beef prices in Argentina have risen more than 20% in 2009, according to a Fortune magazine article released through CNN.com Aug. 11. According to Fortune, beef in Argentina accounts for 5% of the consumer price index and is the country's third-largest export.
The price increases are reportedly due to scarcity caused by a severe drought and complicated by the global recession. Many farmers there are converting their fields from grazing to grains, now the country's top export.
Senate Amendment Would Slash NAIS Funds
The Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee has accepted an amendment to reduce the budget for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) by nearly half, according to Drovers. The amendment introduced by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) would also limit the use of funds to pay for rule-making activities, Drovers reported mid-August.
First Case of VS Detected in Texas
The nation's first case of vesicular stomatitis (VS) for 2009 has been detected in a horse in Starr County, in far south Texas.
Texas State Veterinarian Bob Hillman said many states and countries will place additional entry requirements or restrictions on the movement of animals from affected states, or portions of the state, to prevent the spread or introduction of infection. Hillman suggests calling the state or country of destination before moving livestock to ensure that all entry requirements can be met.
Cap-and-Trade and What it Means to Agriculture
Lori Wilcox, program analyst from the University of Missouri (MU) Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI), recently explained cap-and-trade legislation and its effects on agriculture during a university field day.
The cap-and-trade or climate-change bill's legislative goal is to create clean-energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming, cut pollution and begin the transition to a clean-energy economy; however, there is much more in the 1,428-page bill, Wilcox warned. Read more.
NPPC Asks USDA To Save Pork Industry
Asking for help to save the U.S. pork industry and thousands of jobs, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Monday urged USDA to lend assistance to U.S. pork producers to help them weather a nearly 2-year-old economic crisis.
In a letter sent to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, NPPC requested $250 million in financial assistance and other actions that should help producers, who since September 2007 have lost an average of more than $21 on each hog marketed.
"U.S. pork producers are in desperate straits right now, and they need a little help from USDA," NPPC President Don Butler said. "The request NPPC has made today not only will help pork producers and Americans who benefit from government feeding programs but tens of thousands of mostly rural jobs supported by the U.S. pork industry."
Governors from nine states Aug. 7 also asked the federal government to help U.S. pork producers, urging USDA to make a supplemental $50 million purchase of pork and to lift the Section 32 spending cap to make additional pork buys.
USDA Launches Retooled Loan Assistance
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Aug. 10 that the USDA is undertaking an unprecedented effort to use the department's administrative flexibility to provide relief to individuals and businesses in struggling agriculture industries. Vilsack has ordered USDA Rural Development and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to use all available means to help producers, processors and other small businesses who have been hit by worsening economic conditions.
Visit www.fsa.usda.gov for further information.
Death Tax Legislation Introduced
Congressmen Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and John Salazar (D-Colo.) introduced legislation that would provide farmers and ranchers relief from the death tax, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA).
HR 3524, the Family Farm Preservation and Conservation Estate Tax Act, would exempt working farm and ranch land from the death tax, as long as the land is kept in production agriculture. Should the land be used or sold for other purposes, a recapture tax would be imposed.