The long-running discussion over food safety as it applies to different types and sizes of farms continued this week during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on nutrition and local food. During the hearing, Senator Pat Roberts asked Walmart’s Senior Director of Local Sourcing & Sustainable Agriculture, Ron McCormick, – why is it more difficult for a grower with 50 acres to implement food safety standards and undergo food safety audits? McCormick told the panel, – it’s time and money.
McCormick said – I think it’s not necessarily harder, I think it’s a matter of the obstacles being greater for a small farmer who doesn’t have a lot of capital, and who doesn’t have a lot of time to invest in it. A piece of it is simply the cost of the audit itself. The average cost of an audit is 15-hundred dollars.  McCormick says, for the small farmer, that’s a – large capital outlay for them.

According to Walmart’s McCormick, – one of the great values is a routine audit.  It’s not just about what the auditor prevents from happening. The repeated visits from an audit, help a farmer get better, whether he’s small or he’s large. It helps them develop a system that prevents the threats to food safety from occurring.

Courtesy: NAFB News

President Obama has made fuel efficiency and alternative vehicles staples of his energy policy by establishing increasingly stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards and investing in alternative vehicle and fuel infrastructure.  It is recognized that efficiency and alternative fuel vehicles are key elements in extending fuel supplies and making better use of the resources America has at its disposal.

While much emphasis is being placed on electric vehicles, the Renewable Fuels Association points out that such vehicles certainly have a role to play in America’s vehicle mix, as do other alternative fuel vehicles running on natural gas, propane, and other fuels.   So, too, do flex fuel vehicles  capable of running on a wide range of ethanol blends – the most abundant, renewable, and domestic alternative to gasoline available today.

RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen says the President’s plan – is the kind of initiative needed to expand fueling options available to American consumers. According to Dinneen, – America’s vehicle fleet in the future will feature a wide range of technologies and must include an increased reliance on flex fuel engine technologies. RFA continues to push for the installation of 10-thousand blender pumps across the nation.

Courtesy: NAFB News

A bipartisan group of 60 members of Congress has signed letters to the White House urging the Obama Administration to follow through with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to increase the biodiesel volume requirement under the Renewable Fuel Standard. At issue is an EPA proposal to increase the biodiesel volume requirement under the RFS to 1.28-billion gallons in 2013.

Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board, says – the skyrocketing gas prices we’re seeing should remind us why Congress started the RFS in the first place, which was to diversify our energy supplies and limit our vulnerability to just these kinds of price spikes. Steckel adds – this is strong energy policy and we shouldn’t shy away from it now.

Steckel believes – this really should be an easy decision for the Obama Administration. We’re talking about modest growth for the only EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel that’s in commercial-scale production across the country. Steckel says – we hope the White House hears their message.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Dozens of House and Senate Democrats are blaming speculative trading in energy futures as being a major factor behind the run-up in gasoline prices. The 23 Senators and 45 Representatives have sent a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission underscoring how gas prices have soared to the top of the political agenda on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. They are asking for limits on speculative trading in energy futures markets.

The letter from lawmakers states – it is one of your primary duties — indeed, perhaps your most important — to ensure that the prices Americans pay for gasoline and heating oil are fair, and that the markets in which prices are discovered operate free from fraud, abuse and manipulation.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The United States has requested consultations with India under the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system concerning India’s prohibition on certain American agricultural exports.The ban includes poultry meat and chicken eggs. India claims the trade ban is aimed at preventing avian influenza, but according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office it has not provided scientific evidence in line with international standards on avian-influenza control.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk says – India’s ban on U.S. poultry is clearly a case of disguising trade restrictions by invoking unjustified animal health concerns. The United States is the world’s leader in agricultural safety and we are confident the WTO will confirm that India’s ban is unjustified. Kirk notes that – opening India’s market to American farmers will promote jobs here at home, while also providing Indian consumers with access to high quality, safe U.S. products.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says – over the last few years, the United States has repeatedly asked India to justify its claim that a ban on poultry products from the United States is necessary. However, to date, India has not provided valid, scientifically-based justification for the import restrictions. The Secretary adds – I am hopeful for a swift resolution that allows Indian consumers access to safe, high-quality U.S. poultry and poultry products, and restores the economic opportunities our American farmers have earned.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking applications for loans and grants through the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program. Eligible recipients are USDA rural utilities program borrowers. Those recipients pass the funds to local organizations. The funding is leveraged to create projects that retain or create jobs and upgrade public infrastructure. The maximum amount of funding for any one project is one- million dollars for loans and 300-thousand for grants.

USDA plans to award up to 79-million dollars in loans and 10-million in grants through the program. The deadline for submitting applications is the last business day of each month through September 30th of 2012. Applications must be submitted to the Rural Development state office where the project will be located.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The American Soybean Growers Association, meeting last week during Commodity Classic, revised its policy direction. One hundred thirty three producers from ASA’s 26 state affiliates served as Voting Delegates in this annual process that guides the ASA as it pursues future initiatives to improve U.S. soybean farmer profitability.

Some of the most significant additions and modifications in the area of trade include: support of normal trade relations with Russia; opposing the merger of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative with other trade agencies; and opposes any move to unilaterally regulate the value of foreign currencies.

As for the new farm bill ASA: strongly supports programs that provide the greatest possible planting flexibility; says agriculture should accept its fair share of any required spending reductions, provided they are proportionate with other federal programs and they do not require restructuring of the federal crop insurance program and payments under a revenue-based program should be commodity-specific.

ASA also supports maintaining and funding programs that encourage effective conservation practices on working lands; ASA supports reauthorization and funding of the Biodiesel Fuel Education Program, the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, and the Biobased Market Program. ASA also voiced its support for an infrastructure funding framework that allows for public and private investment in the U.S. commercial transportation system.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Last year, Howard Buffett challenged National Farmers Union members to donate 50-thousand dollars to Feeding America, and pledged to match every dollar donated through Farmers Union, up to that amount. This year Buffet presented NFU with a check for more than 55-thousand dollars at the opening night of its 110th Anniversary Convention in LaVista, Nebraska. According to Feeding America, 37-million Americans do not get enough to eat, including one-fourth of all children.

NFU President Roger Johnson says – as family farmers, ranchers, and rural community members, we are very well aware that many people, both in the United States and around the world, often go to bed hungry at night, and that’s a big concern for us. Farmers Union members really stepped up to meet Howard Buffett’s challenge and showed they really care about the less fortunate among us.

Courtesy: NAFB News