News Update

Industry News
Oct. 2, 2008

USDA Clarifies COOL Implementation and Enforcement

Country-of-origin labeling (COOL) became mandatory Sept. 30, but it won’t be fully enforced with citations and fines until April 2009, according to a press conference that took place Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Instead, the marketing program will be operated under an “informed compliance approach,” said Agriculture Undersecretary Bruce Knight. Suppliers and retailers of covered commodities are still expected to maintain records of origin, but for the time being USDA will focus on industry education and outreach.

“We are not going to begin enforcement until six months from now because we want to make sure that everyone will be able to come into compliance as quickly as possible,” explained Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) administrator Lloyd Day, noting that retail surveillance for fish and shellfish will continue as normal since COOL has applied to them since 2004.

Enforcement of COOL for fish and shellfish previously received $1 million, but there is no allocated budget for enforcement of the remaining covered commodities, raising some questions as to how USDA will fund the planned education and outreach activities in the next six months, plus future enforcement of the full law. Day said they will work within the existing $1 million for now, but estimates that they will need about $9.6 million to carry out full enforcement, which he hopes is included in an appropriations bill.

Producer compliance. Beef producers now have two options for recordkeeping compliance: an affidavit to support their existing recordkeeping and business practices, or participation in a source-verified program, such as the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), a Process Verified Program (PVP, such as AngusSource®) or a Quality Systems Assessment (QSA) program.

Label and cost disputes. In recent weeks several industry organizations led by R-CALF USA and the American Farm Bureau Federation called attention to a “loophole” in USDA’s interpretation of COOL that would have allowed marketers to use mixed origin labels for meat that may have actually qualified for the U.S. origin label. On Sept. 26 USDA clarified that this was not its intent and released an updated fact sheet of frequently asked questions about COOL that said “it is not permissible to label meat derived from livestock of U.S. origin with a mixed origin label if solely U.S. origin meat was produced during the production day.”

In response, the American Meat Institute (AMI) said that COOL implementation is now estimated at $3.9 billion rather than USDA’s estimate of $2.5 billion specified in the Federal Register. Knight reiterated in the press conference that USDA’s estimate for first-year implementation costs is still $2.5 billion and said that since AMI has not shared its estimates with him he cannot comment on the projected increase in implementation costs.

For more information about COOL, visit www.countryoforiginlabeling.info in Angus Productions Inc.’s library of topic sites.

— Provided by Meghan Richey.

Program in McKinney to focus on emerging pests, fire ant control

The Texas AgriLife Extension Service will co-host the program, “Fire Ant Control and Insect Management,” from 8 a.m. to noon Oct. 10 in McKinney.

The program will take place at the Myers Park and Event Center, 7117 Co. Rd. 166, in McKinney.

“It will be a field day farmers, ranchers, gardeners, landscapers and pesticide applicators won’t want to miss as experts will present preliminary results of ongoing fire ant research at Myers Park,” said Greg Church, an AgriLife Extension agent for horticulture in Collin County.

The program, Church said, will be divided into four topics: fire ant control research results; new and emerging insects; chemistry and managing insects’ resistance to chemicals; and pesticide laws and regulations.

Experts from AgriLife Extension and the Samuel R. Noble Foundation will lead the sessions, he said.

Three continuing education units will be offered to licensed pesticide applicators.

The program’s $10 registration fee can be paid at the door on the day of the event, Church said. But preregistration by Oct. 7 is required to guarantee lunch.

For more information or to register, contact the AgriLife Extension office in Collin County at 972-548-4233 or Collin@ag.tamu.edu.

The program is being co-hosted by the event center and the Noble Foundation, based in Ardmore, Okla., an organization dedicated to improving production agriculture techniques and advancing plant science through research.

— Release provided by Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

Land Use Conference Focuses on Impacts/Solutions During Economic Turbulence

Addressing topics from the mortgage crisis to energy, Ohio State University (OSU) Extension will host its annual Ohio Land Use Conference Nov. 17.

The conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Dr., in Columbus. Registration is $55 and includes all meals and materials. The registration deadline is Nov. 10.

The theme of this year’s program is “Land Use Policy in Turbulent Times.”

“Our goal is to provide resources that will help communities deal with rapidly evolving new issues and find new solutions to traditional land use issues,” said Peggy Hall, director of OSU Extension’s agricultural and resource law program and chair of the land use conference planning committee.

The conference is targeted to county and township officials, planning and zoning officials, government agency personnel, OSU Extension educators, community organizations and resource professionals.

One highlight of the conference will be a session on “Regional Approaches to Resource Protection,” by Sean Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Another session will be a luncheon address on “The Prosperity Agenda,” by Marvin Hayes, Governor Ted Strickland’s director of urban development and infrastructure. Other topics to be covered during the Ohio Land Use Conference include multi-jurisdictional agreements for land use; protecting community water supplies through land use; mortgage crisis impacts for rural land use; small town successful brownfield redevelopment projects; and two sessions on rural zoning issues such as farming, livestock, wind turbines, and oil and gas development. A diverse faculty of attorneys, planners, state and local officials and academics will present the sessions.

The event will conclude with a panel discussion on “Energy and Land Use in Ohio: Prospects, Promises and Problems,” featuring Kimberly Gibson, assistant energy advisor to Ohio’s Air Quality Development Authority; Matt Roberts, an OSU Extension economist with the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics; Larry Long, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio; and a representative from Green Energy Ohio.

“So many of the issues we’re facing today — from the mortgage crisis to energy — are directly related to land use,” Hall said. “It’s important to understand the impacts and potential solutions for these issues.”

For more information or to register, log on to http://comdev.osu.edu/landuse_conf08.html. For questions regarding registration call 614-292-6232.

— Release provided by OSU Extension.

— compiled by Tosha Powell, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.