“We would like to see the whole thing just completely be removed because it’s going to prohibit our ability to train the next generation to come back home and take over the family farm.”

While there were indications that the parental exemption would be removed from the proposed rule – Chinn tells Brownfield they’ve seen nothing in writing from the Labor Department and that’s what’s making the ag industry nervous.

“Even if they take the parental exemption out it still leaves the question, can grandkids still go work on grandma and grandpa’s farm – or, can kids go work on their aunt and uncle’s farm,” says Chinn, “And that was some questions we brought up during the hearing last week but we never did get an answer on those questions.”

Chinn says the proposed rule runs the risk of keeping her kids from working on a relative’s farm, “Our son collects eggs from grandma’s hens and she pays him for that. He helps her clean up the hen house,” Chinn says, “Our daughter helps grandma breed sows up in the hog barn. She also does some power washing of alley ways and stuff for grandma, as well, for payment. So, these are all things under the new proposed regulations our children would no longer be allowed to do.”

Chinn says the rule would also prevent the use of hand or foot-powered machinery by children under 16 to include garden hoses, flash lights and similar things used on the farm. She says children need safety on the farm but they also need hands-on experience in order to learn.

AUDIO: Chris Chinn (4:00 mp3)

Asked by reporters whether the USDA will insist on mandatory funding for Value Added Producer Grants, Merrigan said they know the program works – but Congress writes the farm bill. “I’m too poor to put any money down on the table what’s happening this farm bill season. I’m as confused as can be.”

Merrigan says the Value Added grants DO help producers – and will be featured in the USDA’s report about the Know Your Farmer – Know Your Food Initiative as mandated by the Fiscal Year 2012 appropriations bill, “Generally, we think anything that helps farmers improve their bottom line, whether they’re doing local, whether they’re doing export markets – that’s the business of USDA and we’re going to stay in that business.”

Merrigan said Living Water Farms, in Strawn, Illinois, is one of the grant recipients – using the funds to expand their hydroponically-grown greens for specialty markets – their current customers include Illinois grocery stores, restaurants in Chicago and St. Louis and a “Midwest college food service program.”

AUDIO: Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Conference Call (18:00 mp3)

USDA – Value-Added Producer Grants

Ethanol incentives are one, says Marshall,“We want to make sure that the government here in Missouri follows through with the last of the incentives for our ethanol industry. We still have two plants that are vulnerable, we think, particularly with the federal subsidies going away now. So, we want to make sure and protect those.

Preventing property tax increases is another. Marshall tells Brownfield, “(Property taxes) go across the board whether you’re making money or whether you haven’t. This year, we had some folks who had a really good crop but if you lived along the Missouri River or along Birds Point (Levee) down in New Madrid or if you happened to be in northwest Missouri – or – northeast Missouri where we had droughts, it was a very tough year. So, we think increasing taxes – it’s the wrong time to do that.”

And, Marshall says, support of the livestock industry in Missouri is equally important. He says the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is continuing to try and go after the industry through ballot initiatives. Marshall says the HSUS “stretches the truth a lot”….and Missouri

“We live here in Missouri, our farmers are in Missouri, we live with this every single day and we’re gonna be as truthful as Missouri citizens as we possibly can. We’re going to look out for the best interests of livestock because not only is it in our best interests to do it but it’s in the best interest of the livestock as well.”

Growers met one-one-one with Missouri legislators and held their annual business meeting – NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace was their luncheon  keynote speaker – telling growers he will continue to tirelessly promote Missouri corn, corn growers and corn ethanol.

AUDIO: Gary Marshall (4:00 mp3)

The CRA takes issue with the study by the Georgia Health Sciences University that says there are cardiovascular risks associated with consuming fructose – which is found in many sweeteners including both table sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

In a news release, the CRA says researchers relied on “the memory of adolescents about what they ate” – something the authors have acknowledged as one of the weaknesses in their study. And, the study suggests consumption of HFCS is increasing, while the Corn Refiners say USDA data shows that intake from all added sugars has been declining for more than a decade.

Last week, Audrae Erickson, President of the Corn Refiners Association, debunked a study in the journal Metabolism that said high fructose corn syrup was metabolized differently in the body than sugar, pointing out – in a news release – limitations in the study and a conflict of interest disclosed by one of the authors. The American Medical Association and the American Dietetic Association say previous studies have shown that table sugar and high fructose corn syrup are similar in composition and are metabolized in the body the same way.

 The Corn Refiners Association declined to be interviewed about the studies by Brownfield Ag News.

“We would urge, strongly urge anyone who is viewing this video to understand that some of the practices they are showing and that they are saying are abusive are taken out of context or could potentially be taken out of context,” says NPB’s Cindy Cunningham. She tells Brownfield they are still studying the videos – that the HSUS says were taken in late 2011 – to determine if actual abuse occurred. Cunningham says “America’s pork producers take seriously (their) ethical responsibility for the proper care of pigs.”

The HSUS says the videos were taken at pig breeding facilities in Goodwell, Oklahoma — one owned by Seaboard Foods and the other by Prestage Farms. They are calling on all hog producers to commit to phasing out “gestation crates” – as they say Smithfield and Cargill have agreed to do.

Paul Shapiro, director of HSUS Farm Animal Protection, says “We documented pigs living in these inhumane cages perpetually. Many were driven mad by the confinement, some biting the bars of their cages until their mouths bled onto the concrete before them.”

He says the videos taken by HSUS activists who were hired at both locations, detail abuse of pigs and piglets by other employees.

“We’re calling on these pork companies and their buyers, like Wal Mart, to end this practice. We’re calling on them to do the right thing. To end their use of gestations crates,” says Shapiro.

Cunningham says if abuse did occur then the proper steps need to be taken.

AUDIO: HSUS News Conference, OKC, Paul Shapiro (23:00 mp3)

AUDIO: Cindy Cunningham, National Pork Board

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says U.S. producers have not benefitted from COOL and is urging the U.S. Trade Representative’s office NOT to appeal the ruling.

The deadline for the US to file an appeal in the WTO decision is March 23, 2012.

HEALTHY LIVING PROGRAM – Changes to school lunches (1:30 mp3)

 USDA Food & Nutrition Service – Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act final rule

Sample school meal menus

Foos faces up to five years in federal prison without parole –as much as $250-thousand in fines – plus – restitution. He faces sentencing later.

HEALTHY LIVING PROGRAM – Keep produce fresh (1:30 mp3)

HSUS says two public hearings on the Florida bill brought up serious concerns over “First amendment rights, food safety, animal welfare and workers’ rights.”

The HSUS says lawmakers in other states with pending versions of “ag gag” legislation – Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, New York and Minnesota – should follow Florida’s lead and reject the bills. The bills grew out of frustration over animal rights activists gaining employment under false pretenses – and – publicly releasing videos of alleged abuse they had taken at livestock operations.