By the year 2017 – Burger King will get all of its eggs and pork from cage-free chickens and pigs. The Humane Society of the United States has been pushing U.S. food corporations to consider animal welfare in purchasing policies. HSUS President Wayne Pacelle says the Burger King announcement is significant because the food chain is such a big purchaser of these products. Burger King uses hundreds of millions of eggs and tens of millions of pounds of pork each year. The National Pork Producers Council stated Wednesday that it seems Burger King was bullied by an animal rights group whose ultimate goal is the elimination of food-animal production. NPPC says HSUS has no concern for the hog farmers who care for their pigs every day, for families struggling to purchase food or for the hog farms that likely will go out of business due to its campaign against America’s farmers and ranchers.

NPPC stresses that hog farmers are committed to producing safe, affordable and healthful foods for consumers using industry standards and practices that have been designed with input from veterinarians and other animal-care experts. The Council adds that providing humane and compassionate care for their pigs at every stage of life is one of the ethical principles to which U.S. hog farmers adhere. The group is concerned that Burger King’s decision will significantly increase production costs and eventually consumer prices – and will force the nation’s hog farmers out of business – leading to more consolidation of the industry with no demonstrable health benefits to sows. NPPC supports the position taken by the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians – which recognize gestation stalls and group housing systems as appropriate for providing for the well-being of sows during pregnancy.

McDonalds and Wendy’s announced earlier this year that they have asked their pork suppliers to outline their plans for elimination of gestation crates – though they didn’t set a timetable.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The Center for Rural Affairs is urging Senate Ag Committee members to amend the farm bill proposal presented by Chair Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Pat Roberts. Traci Bruckner of the Center says the farm bill mark slashes investment in rural small business development and value-added agriculture while increasing crop insurance subsidies for some of the nation’s largest farms and wealthiest landowners. According to Bruckner – there are opportunities to fix some of these issues as the committee debates amendments to the bill. An amendment offered by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Nebraska’s Ben Nelson – Bruckner says – is an important first step.

The Brown/Nelson amendment would deny farm payments to those individuals with taxable income over 500-thousand dollars. The money saved would be invested in beginning farmer programs, the Value Added Producer Grant Program, the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program and more. Another amendment supported by the Center would limit crop insurance benefits and premium subsidies for crops grown on native sod or land that a producer cannot verify has ever been tilled. That amendment comes from Senators John Thune of South Dakota, Mike Johanns and Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

Bruckner says much of the direction of the Senate Farm Bill will be determined as the Ag Committee undertakes consideration of over 100 amendments offered by its members. In today’s economy – she says it’s more important than ever that the Senate make wise choices.

Courtesy: NAFB News

National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson has praised the work of Senate Ag Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Pat Roberts on the 2012 Farm Bill – but he’s also urging them to strengthen certain programs within the legislation. According to Johnson – the draft legislation the committee leaders have released provides for strengthened crop insurance programs and simplified protection options for farmers against yield losses through the Agricultural Risk Coverage – or ARC – program. Johnson believes ARC has promise as an effective safety net program and will better ensure only farmers who need assistance will benefit from the program.

Johnson is thankful Stabenow and Roberts included livestock health and disaster programs. In a letter to the leaders – he offered support for amendments to adopt prohibitions on packer ownership of livestock and other market reforms. But he also called for more energy program funding. Johnson says NFU would like to see an amendment by North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad and Indiana Senator Richard Lugar – which would provide 800-million dollars in mandatory funding for core energy programs – included in the measure. These programs – Johnson says – are critical for rural development and for helping America become more energy independent.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The American Soybean Association has taken a closer look at the mark of the 2012 Farm Bill released by the Senate Ag Committee leaders Friday. The group is voicing its overall support of the draft language and calling on the Committee to approve it quickly in the interest of passing the new farm bill as soon as possible. Steve Wellman – Nebraska soybean farmer and ASA President – says the organization supports the decision to achieve 23-billion dollars in savings over ten years. He says farmers and ranchers are willing to do their fair share to address the nation’s fiscal problems – but adds the investments in food, agriculture and conservation should not be cut disproportionately.

ASA has released its title-by-title positions on the Chair’s Mark for the farm bill. As for the commodity programs of Title I – ASA supports the need to replace existing farm support programs like direct payments, counter-cyclical payments and ACRE; using remaining baseline funding to establish the Agriculture Risk Coverage Program; maintaining marketing assistance loans at current levels; and re-instituting current payment limitations.

Under Title II – ASA supports the simplification, flexibility and consolidation of agricultural conservation programs and the priority given to working lands. They support the consolidation of 23 existing programs into 13 and requiring conservation compliance as a condition for eligibility to receive benefits under Title I commodity programs. When it comes to trade – Title III – ASA supports continuing full annual funding for the Market Access and Foreign Market Development programs; the McGovern-Dole Program and the Food for Peace Program.

ASA also strongly supports the efforts made to protect and strengthen crop insurance as a risk management tool. They support new provisions like increasing the transitional yield plug from 60 to 70-percent; requiring USDA to implement an acreage report streamlining initiative project and authorizing supplemental coverage for farmers to buy a county-level revenue policy in addition to individual coverage.

ASA has outlined areas where they would support changes and refinements as well. Among other things – ASA notes the mark authorizes but does not include mandatory funding for energy programs. The group supports efforts to provide mandatory funding for the Bio-based Market Program and the Biodiesel Education Program.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Senate Ag Committee leaders Debbie Stabenow and Pat Roberts say the USDA’s proven firewalls and internationally recognized safeguards that protect against BSE worked as intended. Stabenow says these safeguards are in place so rare cases like this one can be detected. She says the fact we heard about the discovery – and that there was never any threat to consumers – shows the mechanisms in place for protecting our food supply worked. According to Roberts – internationally science performed just as intended by immediately detecting a problem, protecting public health and further ensuring the safety of our nation’s livestock.

Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns also weighed in Tuesday – stating that American beef continues to be among the safest in the world. According to Johanns – Americans and the entire world should continue to be confident in the safety of American beef. To show his own confidence – Senator Roberts stated he was looking forward to a good beef dinner Tuesday night.

Courtesy: NAFB News

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed the nation’s fourth case of BSE. USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford says the animal is a dairy cow from central California. He stresses that the carcass will be destroyed and was never presented for slaughter for human consumption. As such – it never presented a risk to the food supply or human health. In addition – Clifford says milk does not transmit BSE. Clifford says evidence shows the systems and safeguards in place to prevent BSE – including the FDA ban on ruminant material in cattle feed – are working in the U.S. and around the world. He notes there were just 29 worldwide cases of BSE in 2011 – a dramatic decline and 99-percent reduction since the peak in 1992 of more than 37-thousand cases. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack stated that USDA remains confident in the health of U.S. cattle and added the department has no reason to believe any other U.S. animals are currently affected.

USDA collects 40-thousand samples for BSE on an annual basis. Samples from this animal were tested at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. The animal was confirmed positive for atypical BSE – a rare form of the disease not generally associated with an animal consuming infected feed. The results – according to Clifford – will be shared with international animal health reference labs in Canada and England. He says the labs have extensive experience diagnosing atypical BSE and will review USDA’s confirmation of this form of the disease. In addition – USDA will conduct a comprehensive epidemiological investigation in conjunction with California animal and public health officials and the FDA.

Clifford says this detection in no way affects the nation’s BSE status as determined by the OIE – the World Organization for Animal Health – and therefore should not impact U.S. trade. He says USDA is confident in the health of the national herd and the safety of beef and dairy products.

Courtesy: NAFB News