News Update
September 14, 2015
The World Economy
Global marketplace shifts during the next three to five years may cause uncertainty for U.S. farmers and ranchers, says Dan Basse, expert economist at Ag Resource Co. He cites a strong U.S. dollar, an oversupply of global grains and population decline in mature economies like Europe, Japan and Russia as potential barriers to the market moving forward.
Cattle prices could soon top out near $160 per hundredweight (cwt.) before softening to $120 per cwt. or lower, he predicts. Adding that with normal weather, $3 per bushel corn prices until 2019 may be common.
“The U.S. dollar has rallied some 23% since last October. It’s had a tremendous impact on local agriculture. The big reason is that as we see production expanding around the world, by that I’m saying Brazil, the Black Sea and even portions of southeast Asia, it means that the United States becomes less competitive,” Basse says.
He reasons that beef may not be all that impacted by global market shakiness but grain, poultry and pork farmers may see the worst.
See Basse’s full interview on this week’s The Angus Report.
Ag Education for Transitioning Military Service Members
Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden and Susan Kelly, director of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Transition to Veterans Program Office, announced Sept. 14 the integration of agriculture into the career training and counseling programs Service members receive as they transition out of the military. Information about USDA resources and programs will now reach 200,000 transitioning Service members every year.
“Rural America disproportionately sends its sons and daughters to serve in the military. When Service members return home, we want them to know that rural America has a place for them — no matter where they’re from,” said Deputy Secretary Harden. “This expanded collaboration between USDA and DOD will help to ensure that returning Service members know that there are a wide variety of loans, grants, training and technical assistance for veterans who are passionate about a career in agriculture, no matter their experience level.”
For more information, please view the full USDA release online.
Food System Transparency
As consumer interest in food system transparency increases, the Center for Food Integrity (CFI) is on a mission to better define the term for farmers and food companies, retailers and restaurants, knowing transparency means different things to different people.
CFI launched the National Food Transparency Project late last year, beginning with consumer focus groups and following with extensive consumer research in 2015 to zero-in on the information consumers most want about products, policies and practices in each segment of the food chain.
Now, the CFI is inviting consumers to weigh in directly by logging on to www.TransparencyTable.org and sharing with CFI what information will meet their desires for greater transparency in the food system. Responses will be tabulated and included in the key learnings at the 2015 CFI Food Integrity Summit, Nov. 17-18 in New Orleans, where results of the National Food Transparency Project will be unveiled.
For more information, visit www.foodintegrity.org.
FDA Releases Final Rule for Preventive Control Standards
On Sept. 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the much-anticipated final rule detailing preventive control standards for facilities producing food for human consumption. Once officially published in the Federal Register — scheduled for Sept. 17, 2015 — the rule will go into effect in sixty days and compliance clocks will start ticking for facilities covered by this rule. The Produce Safety Rule, another key component of FDA’s new approach to food safety under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), will be finalized by late October 2015.
This final rule comes after significant public outreach and two rounds of public comment on certain key provisions.
“We commend FDA for its continued engagement with stakeholders throughout this process, and appreciate the agency’s responsiveness to our concerns,” said National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) Policy Specialist Sophia Kruszewski. “The final rule reflects many of the issues raised by the sustainable agriculture community and provides several important modifications to avoid ensnaring farms and local food markets in ill-fitting rules designed for large-scale industrial food facilities.”
For more information, please view the full release online.
Wildlife and Range Workshop set for Sept. 25
A Wildlife and Range Workshop has been scheduled for Sept. 25 at the Robert Lee Community Center, 150 County Park Road in Robert Lee, Texas.
Registration is set from 8-8:45 a.m. followed immediately by the program, which should conclude by 2 p.m., said Morgan Runyan, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent in Coke County.
“This workshop is a collaborative effort between AgriLife Extension and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Coke County,” Runyan said. “The program’s purpose is to help landowners prepare for this hunting season and those in the future through improved habitat to keep wildlife in good condition, thus aiding reproduction.”
She said they are specifically targeting ways to keep wildlife present on low-fenced properties. Also, there will be a plant ID contest with the winner receiving a copy of the user-friendly book “Range Plants of North Central Texas,” donated by the Coke County Soil and Water Conservation District.
For more information, view the full release online.
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