News Update
September 25, 2012
Obama & Romney Outline Positions on Farm Issues
President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney recently spelled out their positions on agriculture issues for the American Farm Bureau Federation. In a questionnaire, both candidates went into detail about their positions on energy, environmental regulations, farm labor and more.
Every four years, the American Farm Bureau Federation asks the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees to address the issues that concern farmers and ranchers most. This election, energy issues and farm policy are the driving forces in the candidate's responses.
"Our rural communities, farmers and ranchers can increase our energy independence and boost the transition to a clean energy economy," Obama responded. "Last year, rural America produced enough renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel to meet roughly 8% of our needs, helping us increase our energy independence to its highest level in 20 years…and the new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) helped boost biodiesel production to nearly 1 billion gallons in 2011, supporting 39,000 jobs."
Romney, too, supports the RFS and other agriculture-derived energies.
"I have a vision for an America that is an energy superpower, rapidly increasing our own production and partnering with our allies, Canada and Mexico, to achieve energy independence on this continent by 2020," said Romney. "The increased production of biofuels plays an important part in my plan to achieve energy independence. In order to support increased market penetration and competition among energy sources, I am in favor of maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard."
For more information and the full release, click here.
School Kids Protesting First Lady Obama's
Lunch Menu Changes
Children and parents across the country are fed up with the restrictive new school meal regulations implemented by the USDA under the 'Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010,' which has long been touted by first lady Michelle Obama.
The standards — which cap meal calories at 650 for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, at 700 calories for middle school students and 850 for high school students — also dictate the number of breads, proteins, vegetables and fruits children are allowed per meal.
Some student-athletes in Wisconsin are arguing that the calorie caps hit them especially hard, given their intense workouts and scrimmages.
The new lunch standards have led to the removal of some old food favorites, including a particularly popular item, chicken nuggets, at one school in upstate New York. Students in the Plum Borough School District in Pennsylvania are protesting the new federal restrictions on Twitter.
"Everyone... if you agree school lunches are expensive and small, RT this. we can fight the school! tweet #BrownBagginIt," @TornadoBoyTubbs tweeted, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Administrators have scrambled to find creative ways to make the new menus appealing. A school district in Lake County, Fla., for example, is planning to conduct a survey to determine how to make vegetables more appealing to children, who often throw them out.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Feeding Hay Now Allows Grass To Recover After Drought,
Say MU Specialists
Feed hay in the fall and save the new green grass for winter. That plan can result in more feed for drought-stressed Missouri cow herds.
University of Missouri (MU) Extension specialists urge continued feeding of hay to allow pastures to rebuild root reserves to prepare grass for strong growth next spring.
"It's tempting to turn cows onto new fall growth when rains return after a drought," says Rob Kallenbach, MU forage specialist.
There's another reason to hold off, says Justin Sexten, MU beef nutritionist. Cows will need high-quality grass when winter brings wet and cold weather. The grass growing this fall can be stockpiled in pastures for winter grazing.
"Also, feeding hay in fall is easier than in winter," Sexten adds. "This winter, cows will harvest the stockpiled grass pasture. You don't have to start your tractor."
The save-the-grass message is one of many tips offered at MU field days and farmer meetings. The theme is "Life after drought."
At meetings, Sexten demonstrates adding hydrated lime to cornstalks to break down tough cellulose to release nutrients stored in the corn stover.
Also, poor-quality baled hay can be sealed under a plastic tarp and treated with anhydrous-ammonia gas to boost protein content and improve digestibility.
Cows turned into pastures now will nip off grass as it grows, Kallenbach says. That harms pastures stunted by summer-long drought. "Let the grass grow as long as there is sunshine, heat and available water."
It seems counterintuitive, now that grass growth has returned, Kallenbach admits, but weak stands of grass need fall growth to rebuild reserves for next spring.
During this recovery phase, fall growth can be stockpiled and grazed later.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Tyson Fresh Meats Pushing Steaks For Tailgates
Tyson Foods' Tyson Fresh Meats unit is promoting its Star Ranch Angus steaks for the fall tailgate party season.
A new promotion that runs through Oct. 31 features a cross-merchandising component with steak sauce products.
Consumers who buy steak sauce can pick up an in-store coupon for $1 off a $10 Star Ranch Angus steak purchase. The coupon also includes steak sandwich recipes, which are also promoted on the Star Ranch Angus brand website.
Meatcase point-of-sale elements include a poster, price sign and pennant-shaped wobbler.
Failure To Pass Farm Bill Hurts Livestock Producers
With less than a week until current federal farm policy expires, Congress has gone home for pre-election campaign activities without passing either a new five-year Farm Bill or an extension of the 2008 Farm Bill. While agriculture groups in general reported disappointment and concern over the legislature's inaction, Chris Galen of the National Milk Producers' Federation (NMPF) said livestock producers were essentially left "out in the cold" without a new set of policy marching orders.
In the latest edition of Feedstuffs In Focus, the podcast of big news in agriculture, Galen said there are "no simple answers" when it comes to the ramifications of the current Farm Bill situation. In the simplest terms, the most obvious change is that the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program will come to an end. In the current market, however, Galen said that in and of itself is not a major obstacle.
Not having a new, five-year Farm Bill, on the other hand, is a problem.
NMPF advocates scrapping the current dairy program and creating a "margin insurance" program in which livestock producers could protect their margins in the case of either low market prices, which traditional safety net programs attempted to do, or in case of high feed costs, as producers are currently weathering. Galen said a version of the program is included in both the Senate-passed and House Agriculture Committee-passed versions of the Bill.
Galen's comments, including an overview of the current state of affairs without a new Farm Bill, can be heard in the Sept. 24 edition of Feedstuffs In Focus. For more on the Farm Bill, you can also listen to recent editions of the podcast with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman.
Cutoff Dates for Last Alfalfa Cutting Nearly at Hand
In some areas of Kansas, alfalfa growth resumed somewhat in September after a long period of drought and low production during the summer. This may create a dilemma for producers, said Jim Shroyer, Kansas State University (K-State) Research and Extension crop production specialist.
"Should you make the last cutting of the season now or wait until just before the first killing freeze is forecast to get as much productivity as possible? The timing of the last cutting can have a long-lasting impact on the productivity of the stand," he said.
The agronomics of the question are clear, Shroyer said.
"At this stage of the growing season, alfalfa plants need to store enough carbohydrates to survive the winter. If root reserves are not replenished adequately before the first killing freeze (24° to 26° F) in the fall, the stand is more susceptible to winter damage than it would be normally. That could result in slower greenup and early growth next spring," he said.
The last cutting prior to fall dormancy should be timed so there are four to six weeks of growth time, or about 8 to 12 inches of foliage, before the average killing freeze date. This should allow adequate time for replenishment of root reserves, Shroyer said.
Grazing conference will offer timely information
This summer's high temperatures and dry weather were tough on many forage and animal producers. University and USDA specialists will discuss the drought and other timely topics during the 13th Kentucky Grazing Conference Oct. 30 at the UK Research and Education Center in Princeton.
The conference, hosted by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, will begin at 8:30 a.m. CDT. Forage and animal specialists from UK, University of Tennessee and the USDA will present on the following topics: novel endophyte tall fescue, winter annuals for grazing, pastures for horses, cost of pasture compared to hay, grass-fed beef from a global perspective and strategies to manage the effects of the drought.
Humane Society Files Suit Over Pork Campaign Slogan
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and an Iowa pork producer filed a federal lawsuit that alleges the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) sold an iconic marketing slogan and unlawfully used the proceeds to fund anti-animal welfare campaigns. The lawsuit is asking the court to block the purchase and stop payments related to the transaction.
The lawsuit names Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack because the USDA supervises the checkoff program and can reject expenditures that do not comply with federal laws or regulations.
According to MeatPoultry.com, HSUS claimed the NPPC sold its "Pork: The Other White Meat" slogan to the National Pork Board (NPB) for $60 million to be paid in 20 annual installments of $3 million. HSUS further alleges that the payments allow the NPPC and the NPB to "evade federal restrictions against the use of pork checkoff dollars for purposes of influencing legislation and government policy."
HSUS also alleges that the deal violates the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act of 1985, the Pork Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Order and the USDA guidelines for checkoff program operations.
For more information and the full release, click here.
NPPC Calls HSUS Suit 'Bullying Tactic'
While reviewing the HSUS lawsuit, NPPC said it appears to be without legal merit and is simply the latest HSUS "bullying tactic."
"NPPC is reviewing the HSUS complaint, but it appears there is no legal merit to this claim, and it is another desperate attempt by the radical activist group to severely curtail animal agriculture and take away consumer food choices," said NPPC CEO Neil Dierks in a statement. "This also is the latest bullying tactic by HSUS in its efforts to force NPPC to abandon its position on allowing farmers to choose production practices that are best for the welfare of their animals."
NPPC noted that during the past few months, HSUS has threatened NPPC with a Federal Trade Commission complaint; filed notice of its intent to sue a number of hog operations over alleged emissions-reporting violations; and charged that NPPC was responsible for the deaths of hogs in barn fires because the organization asked to give input on national fire standards for agricultural facilities. "All of the allegations lack merit," Dierks said.
"What does merit concern, however, is the fact that HSUS preys on the emotions of domestic pet owners with deceptive advertising and fundraising. It raises money on images of abused puppies without homes, yet virtually none of those funds go to local shelters. Instead those dollars go toward multimillion-dollar campaigns to attack family farmers and American meat production," Dierks added.
For more information and the full release, click here.
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