News Update
February 29, 2012
AMI Foundation and Alchemy Start
Animal Handling Training Videos
The American Meat Institute Foundation (AMIF) in partnership with Alchemy Systems, has announced the release of two new animal handling training videos designed for cattle and hog plant employees.
Designed with the animal in mind, the videos detail basic principles of livestock behavior and low-stress handling, including eliminating distractions, understanding the flight zone and proper stunning. The videos also include questions and answers to validate learning. Both videos are delivered in English and Spanish. AMI's Animal Welfare Committee worked with Alchemy in developing the new training videos.
The new videos are the latest effort in AMIF's 20-year leadership in animal handling guideline development and training. AMIF's Animal Care & Handling Conference, now in its 14th year, will be Oct. 17-18 in Kansas City, Mo. The online- and DVD-based training provides an excellent introduction to livestock handling and behavior for new employees and as a refresher for conference veterans. The training will be available for viewing at the October conference. In late 2012, AMIF and Alchemy plan to release a second module that teaches animal welfare guidelines according to AMI's Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide.
Current Alchemy customers have access to the training materials via the SISTEM training platform. The videos are available for $250 from the AMI Foundation.
To order the videos, go to the AMI's online store at: www.meatami.com/ht/d/StoreMO.
Taking a New Approach With the Farm Bill
The Farm Bill plays a huge and significant role in farming operations across the nation, shaping everything from the ebb and flow of how farmers go about their daily business to their conservation efforts and even disaster relief. Understandably, formulating a new Farm Bill every five years is no easy task.
The Farm Bill that Congress is working on now will certainly look different than any previous legislation. Times have changed. The U.S. economy, consumers' attitudes on food production and even farmers' opinions on how best to run their businesses are all different from the last go-round.
Earlier this year, after much thought and deliberation, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) developed a plan to establish a catastrophic revenue loss program. This plan is unique in that it will help protect America's farmers from losses that truly endanger the very core of their farms. At the same time, it recognizes today's budget realities. It is also unique in that it can be applied to a broader range of commodities, like fruits and vegetables.
There have been several recent proposals for program crops with payments that kick in after only a small decrease in farm revenue for some crops and set up higher target prices for others. However, as AFBF sees it, the government should take on the very serious, large-scale risks that happen infrequently instead of smaller risks. Agricultural programs are intended to help farmers deal with big challenges they cannot handle alone, not minimal losses.
AFBF members have serious concerns about the other proposals floating around that dictate different rules, different crops and different payments. Not only would such programs be a nightmare for local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices to administer, but farmers would have the ability to cherry-pick which program works best for them. Because of distortions in price, we'd have a system of farmers deciding what to produce based on government payments rather than market signals.
In past farm programs, the government simply wrote checks to farmers to help them sustain America's food supply, but times are changing. While the majority of Americans think farmers need help, they don't agree on just writing checks. We want to flip that around. Government should accept systemic risk, which would lower insurance premiums for farmers and allow them to choose their own coverage at a much lower cost.
Not only would the Farm Bureau's plan get rid of direct and countercyclical payments, it would eliminate the need for ad hoc disaster assistance for crops, which, as we've experienced in the past, offers no assurance to farmers when catastrophe happens.
The plan is scalable depending on what the final budget is and could be utilized for all commodities as long as they are covered by crop insurance. Most importantly, though, it offers farmers peace of mind that when the going really gets tough, they will have someone watching their back.
Federal Government Announcement Likely
to Boost Ohio Ag, Industry
The Obama Administration's announcement last week that it plans to increase federal government purchasing of bio-based products could mean a significant financial boost for Ohio, an Ohio State University (OSU) Extension expert said.
According to a statement from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the announcement calls for the federal government to increase the purchasing of bio-based products over the next two years, which they project will create jobs and drive innovation where bio-based products are grown and manufactured.
Ohio ranks No. 1 nationally in terms of polymer employment, has a major bio-based product industry and is a strong agricultural producer.
The announcement will also result in a 50% increase in the number of new products that are designated as bio-based, Vilsack said.
That means the potential for more jobs and a financial boost for Ohio growers, producers and manufacturers, said Dennis Hall, assistant director of the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center at OSU. This is significant because the polymer and specialty chemical industry in Ohio has an estimated economic impact of $89 billion, he said.
Bio-based products include items like paints, soaps and detergents and are developed from farm-grown plants, rather than chemicals or petroleum bases. Vilsack said the government's plan is a way to bring jobs to rural areas, noting that more than 20,000 companies now create bio-based cleaning agents, paints, lubricants and personal care items from renewable sources.
"We're No. 1 in paints and coatings, rubber, adhesives, and cleaners and detergents producers and manufacturers," Hall said. "As those companies innovate, they're looking for bio-based materials. "Job creation is where Ohio will see its greatest benefit."
The government's BioPreferred labeling program began in 2009 and identifies products made from renewable sources such as corn, with a goal of lowering petroleum consumption. To qualify for the designation, an item must contain enough renewable material to meet or exceed USDA-specified standards.
The Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center at OSU works to accelerate the commercialization of bio-based products, which enhances Ohio's economic growth.
"The federal government just signed up to be a larger consumer of those products than in the past," Hall said. "Our job now is to help companies be in a position to sell these bio-based products."
Kansas Rancher Takes Realities of
Overregulation to Washington
The Senate Western Caucus and the Congressional Western Caucus today hosted a hearing to directly address the federal government's role in creating obstacles to economic growth and eroding property rights in the West. As such, the hearing was coined "Washington Obstacles to Prosperity and Property Rights in the West." Mark Knight, a cattleman and a grain farmer from Lyons, Kan., testified on behalf of the Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) to express the realities of overregulation in rural America.
"Like death by a thousand cuts, each regulation adds costs to my operation, eventually bleeding us to death," said Knight of the onslaught of regulations coming from the Obama administration. "Unfortunately, the list of harmful regulations bleeding agriculture to death goes on and on."
Knight cited several examples of regulations negatively affecting agriculture. He said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) current standard for coarse particulate matter, also known as dust, costs cattlemen in Western regions of the country a lot of money. While Knight said cattlemen are encouraged by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's promise to back away from the possibility of doubling the current dust standard, permanent relief can only be accomplished by the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2012 (H.R. 1633), which passed through the U.S. House of Representatives and awaits action in the Senate.
The EPA's reporting rule on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), proposed last year, would require cattlemen to report a laundry list of information to the agency. EPA intends to require producers to upload this information to its website. Knight fears the unintended consequences of this public disclosure of private information.
"This rule puts my own family at risk. My house is a few hundred feet from our feedyard. Information about the feedyard is information about my home. Any acts of terrorism or harassment occurring on or near my feedlot have the potential to endanger my family," said Knight. "It seems EPA would rather put our food system in jeopardy than come to the table with industry and truly work with us in solving any concerns."
Knight told the policymakers of the increased costs associated with the dramatic increase in regulations. In fact, he noted the decision not to expand his current operation was based solely on avoidance of "regulatory headaches."
CattleFax names 2012 officers, directors
Kent Bamford of Haxtun, Colo., has been elected president of CattleFax, a member-owned, member-directed cattle market information and research organization. Kevin Hughes, Boise, Idaho, was named president-elect.
Bamford is owner of Bamford Feedyard, a Colorado operation that includes a 15,000 head feedyard and diversified farm, both irrigated and dryland, as well as a trucking company. He is a past president of the Colorado Livestock Association, a board member and treasurer for the Colorado Beef Council, and a board member for NCBA. Bamford also serves as the intermountain regional director for CattleFax. He is a graduate of Colorado State University.
Hughes is a cattle feeder and president of Agri Beef Risk Management Co., a division of Agri Beef Co., a vertically integrated ranching, cattle-feeding and processing company based in Boise. A native of Arizona and graduate of the University of Arizona, he is a past member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), trading in the live cattle futures and options market as an independent floor trader. He served on the CME live cattle marketing and advisory committees and currently serves on the NCBA marketing committee. He serves as the northwest director for CattleFax.
Named new directors on the organization's board were Todd Allen, Newton, Kan., central director; Tom Jensen, Omaha, Neb., finance director; and Dale Smith, Amarillo, Texas, southwest director.
Allen is president of Cargill Cattle Feeders. Jensen is senior vice president of the First National Bank of Omaha, heading up the Agribusiness, Correspondent Banking and Renewable Fuels Departments. Smith is a partner and president of McLean Feedyard Ltd. and a managing partner in Corsino Cattle Co., which runs a commercial cow-calf herd in the Texas Panhandle and a stocker operation in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Mississippi.
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