The United Egg Producers and Humane Society of the United States are focusing their efforts this year on Congressional passage of the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012. The legislation – introduced Monday by Representatives Kurt Schrader, Jeff Denham, Elton Gallegly and Sam Farr – will require egg producers to double the cage sizes for their laying hens – among other things. It’s part of an agreement between the UEP and HSUS that supposedly will end HSUS attacks on the egg industry.

Gene Gregory – UEP President and CEO – says egg producers shouldn’t have different, costly rules in all 50 states – which he says would happen if the legislation is opposed. Gregory says the legislation is needed for consumers and the survival of egg farmers. The National Pork Producers Council disagrees. NPPC President Doug Wolf says passage of the legislation would set a dangerous precedent for allowing the federal government – and special interest groups – to regulate how producers raise and care for their animals. He says pork producers don’t need or want the federal government and HSUS telling them how to do their jobs.

Treating farm animals humanely is an age-old principle for American farmers – Wolf says – a standard that doesn’t require an act of Congress. NPPC is urging opposition of the new legislation from lawmakers – saying a one-size-fits-all farm takeover bill is government intrusion on family farms at its worst.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The fate of the 17-hundred-mile Keystone XL pipeline was not decided last week when President Obama rejected a permit for its construction. Instead, proponents have declared, the fight has just begun. The war of words surrounding the pipeline is continuing on the campaign trail and some House Republicans have vowed to seek new legislation to clear the path for the controversial pipeline.  Environmentalists say they will fight not only new Keystone proposals but also other major oil pipelines that would carry crude from Canada’s oil sands region.

In the meantime, TransCanada, which proposed the pipeline, said it will consider a truncated system within U.S. borders. That system would not need State Department approval. The pipeline could serve the growing output from the Bakken shale oil fields in Montana, ease the bottleneck of crude oil at the major terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma, and later hook up with cross-border lines.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford points out – there is a regulatory process in place, and we have to respect that process. The good news is that the President said he wasn’t making a decision on the merits of the project. It does allow for reapplication. TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha says – at the end of the day, we’re interested in building a pipeline that will move additional crude oil into the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Courtesy: NAFB News

In a shift that will save money for businesses and taxpayers while improving food safety, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing a modernization of young chicken and turkey slaughter inspection in the United States. This new approach will focus FSIS inspection resources on the areas of the poultry production system that pose the greatest risk to food safety.

Currently, some FSIS employees in poultry establishments perform several activities which are unrelated to food safety, such as identifying visual defects like bruising, while others conduct the critical inspection activities. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says -by revising current procedures and removing outdated regulatory requirements that do not help combat foodborne illness, the result will be a more efficient and effective use of taxpayer dollars.

Under the proposed plan, all FSIS inspection activities will focus on critical food safety tasks to ensure that agency resources are tied directly to protecting public health and reducing foodborne illnesses. Additionally, some outdated regulatory requirements are being removed and replaced with more flexible and effective testing and process control requirements. Finally, all poultry establishments will now have to ensure that their procedures prevent contamination in the production process and provide supporting data to FSIS personnel.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Enrollment for the 2012 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program and the Average Crop Revenue Election Program begin today. USDA urges producers to make use of the electronic DCP automated website to sign up, or producers can visit any USDA Service Center to complete their 2012 DCP or ACRE contract. According to Farm Service Agency Administrator Bruce Nelson, – eDCP saves time, reduces paperwork and speeds up contract processing at USDA Service Centers. The sign-up deadline is June 1, 2012.

eDCP is available to all producers who are eligible to participate in the programs and can be accessed at www.fsa.usda.gov/dcp. To access the service, producers must have an active USDA eAuthentication Level 2 account, which requires filling out an online registration form atwww.eauth.egov.usda.gov followed by a visit to the local USDA Service Center for identity verification.

For 2012, advance direct payments are not authorized and Counter-Cyclical payment rates vary depending on market prices. Counter-cyclical payments are issued only when the effective price for a commodity is below its target price. The ACRE Program provides a safety net based on state revenue losses. When the ACRE option is chosen, it acts in place of the price-based safety net of counter-cyclical payments under DCP.

Courtesy: NAFB News

A University of Illinois expert is making recommendations for restoring production in the 133-thousand acres of Missouri farmland damaged by last summer’s frontline and fuse plug flooding at Birds Point, Missouri. Kenneth Olson, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences Department at the University, says the damage will be – long-lasting, if not permanent. Olson says – some of this lost cropland, adjacent to the patched levees, could be restored as wetlands and wildlife habitat.

In reclaiming the fields, Olson believes – the soils are likely to have lower productivity. The resulting land surface will have less soil aggregation, less organic carbon, and be more sloping, making it difficult to farm the land. Olson has recommended several actions, including: creating temporary water storage structures, changing crop rotation in the upland to include more forages rather than row crops, converting more of the agricultural land to timberland or grassland that can use or store more water, and building higher and stronger levees that are located farther from the riverbanks to widen the river flow channel.

Olson and his colleagues Mike Reed and Lois Wright Morton contend that strategically placed wetlands, settling basins, nutrient filtering, and levees are effective management for internal control of water and sediment.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Answering a challenge made earlier by Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, The National FFA Officer team has shared their recommendation for the new farm bill. Their recommendations fell under four main categories. Those are: Getting started in production agriculture; creating vibrant rural communities; who should care about agriculture and why; and planning for the future.

The challenge the Secretary presented to the FFA was to, work with fellow students and the adult leadership of the organization to develop a series of recommendations around the upcoming Farm Bill that will encourage more young people to pursue careers in farming. National FFA President Riley Pagett, says – never before had we been invited to submit direct input that could enhance the ability of agricultural education and FFA to help students succeed and strengthen American agriculture.

Items that were recommended were as follows: USDA and other agencies should encourage and assist beginning farmers to start or continue in production agriculture; USDA should help transition farms from older related and non-related farmers to younger of beginner farmers who may not come from a farm; USDA should help keep young people in rural communities and make rural communities an even more important part of our nation’s economy and society; USDA should support efforts to increase the public’s knowledge of agricultural literacy; USDA should strengthen the capacity of agricultural education to produce more students that pursue production agriculture and other agriculturally related careers and the USDA should provide authority, responsibility and support for school-based agricultural education and FFA.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Texas Representative Pete Olson, who sets on the House Energy and Commerce committee, has co-sponsored legislation that would add natural gas and coal to the list of acceptable alternative fuel sources under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Olson believes his bill would increase competition, stabilize food prices and enhance American energy security and global competitiveness.

HR 3773 would establish Domestic Alternative Fuel as an independent fuel category and list it within the regulations that specify volume obligations to meet the RFS. Olson believes broadening the number of feedstocks eligible within the RFS will enable greater capital investment in research and development and promote the construction of new domestic production facilities, creating American jobs.

Several Agriculture organizations have voiced their support for the legislation.  National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Bill Donald says, the RFS has allowed the federal government to mandate corn-based ethanol production volumes, which has put cattlemen and other end-users of corn at a competitive disadvantage. Donald calls Olson’s bill – a step in the right direction. Grocery Manufacturers Association Director of Energy and Environmental policy Geoff Moody says – we must embrace innovative new technologies – which is what this bill would facilitate.

Courtesy: NAFB News