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Five-year Farm Bill is a necessity

May 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The full Senate began debate on the Farm Bill earlier this week.  Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly says it is moving along well.  “It has momentum,” he says.  “We had a strong vote coming out of the committee itself so I’m looking for a five-year farm bill.”

Yesterday the Senate voted on the amount of cuts to the nutrition programs.  “There were some amendments to take cuts out of crop insurance instead,” he says. “You know what on the nutrition cuts – we’re working really hard make sure those cuts are ones that are sensible, that won’t eliminate any nutrition for our children and others.  But at the same time, we have to make sure we have crop insurance.”

Donnelly tells Brownfield he’s thinks this Farm Bill will be good for Indiana’s farmers.  “We were able to work through what we call Farm Flex, which provides planting flexibility for all of our farmers,” he says.  “I kind of held the line on that and said, ‘look we have to make sure this program continues’ so we were able to keep that in place.”

He thinks a vote on the Farm Bill is not too far away.  “I’d like to tell you today – but you never know,” he says.  “We’re ready to go.  We’re ready to move forward and I’m hoping to have a vote here really soon.”

AUDIO: Senator Joe Donnelly, Farm Bill (3:50mp3)

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Human Interest, News, Top Stories, USDA/Government Tagged With: , , , , ,

Illinois added to PEDV list

May 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Illinois has joined Iowa and Indiana on the list of states with confirmed cases of PEDV—porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.

Discovery of the virus was announced by USDA late last week.  It’s the first time the disease has been found in the U.S.

USDA chief veterinarian Dr. John Clifford says mortality rates associated with PEDV are only one to three percent in feeder pigs, but are much higher in baby pigs.

“It can be anywhere from 50 to 80 percent, or even higher, in baby pigs,” Clifford says.

Although the virus can be devastating to individual producers who have to deal with it, Clifford says it’s not something to get overly concerned about.

“We don’t think that this should be a disease that’s quarantined—and we don’t think that states should take action against this,” he says, “and we certainly hope it doesn’t impact our trade.”

Because the virus exists in many other parts of the world, industry officials do not believe exports of U.S. pork will be affected by the outbreak.

The National Pork Board stresses that PEDV is not a threat to food safety and does not spread to other animal species or to humans.

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Scope of PEDV outbreak still unclear

May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A hog virus known as porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has been found in the U.S. for the first time, with confirmed cases in Iowa and Indiana.

But according to Dr. Lisa Becton, veterinarian and director of swine health information and research with the National Pork Board, the scope of the outbreak has not yet been determined.

“It’s still very early to tell where exactly—what other states and how many,” Becton tells Brownfield. “We’re still waiting and monitoring the situation and working with USDA to continue the investigations and to see what’s going on.”

Becton says PEDV is similar to TGE, another disease affecting pigs.  She says PEDV is a swine-only disease and poses no risk to other animals or humans.

“It is not a food safety issue,” Becton says. “Producers and the veterinarians have managed TGE-like diseases before—and so we’re just continuing to work with them to manage the situation.”

Becton says it should not have any impact on U.S. exports of pork.

“This disease has been identified as early as the 1970’s in England, China, South Korea and Japan,” she says.  “There are currently no trade restrictions for those nations and we don’t foresee any for the U.S.”

Officials say there is no effective treatment for PEDV other than good care and the provision of adequate water to combat dehydration.

Becton reemphasized that the virus does not affect pork safety and pork remains completely safe to eat. 

AUDIO: Lisa Becton (6:28 MP3)

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Hog virus found in U.S. for first time

May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The USDA has confirmed that porcine epidemic diarrhea virus—called PEDV for short—has been identified in the U.S. for the first time through testing at the National Veterinary Service Laboratory.

Reuters reports that the virus, which causes diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration in hogs, was first identified in an Iowa herd.  The severity of the outbreak is not yet known.

The virus exists in much of the world, but has not previously occurred in the western hemisphere.

According to a statement from the National Pork Board, PEDV is similar to transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE), another disease only affecting pigs. It is not zoonotic, so therefore it poses no risk to other animals or humans.

PEDV is not a trade-restricting disease and does not affect pork safety.  The Pork Board emphasizes that pork remains completely safe to eat.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Livestock, News, Top Stories, USDA/Government Tagged With: , ,

House Ag Committee’s missed opportunities

May 17, 2013 By 1 Comment

What grade would you give the House and Senate Ag Committees following markup of the Farm Bill?

Based on conservation and wildlife provisions included in the Senate Ag Committee Farm Bill, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) would give them an A, but Julie Sibbing, director of Agriculture and Forestry Programs for NWF, says they were disappointed in the work done by the House Agriculture Committee.

“It failed to include any provisions to re-link conservation compliance, the wetlands and soil protection provisions to crop insurance eligibility and it reduced the funding even further for wildlife programs in the House bill, I guess we would give them a “D” for their effort,” Sibbing said. “We’re happy they got a bill out of committee, but we’re not pleased with the wildlife provisions.”

Sibbing tells Brownfield they’re hopeful they’ll be able to get an amendment offered on the House floor with regard to conservation compliance, but first she says their attention will be on the full Senate.

Audio: Julie Sibbing, National Wildlife Federation (3:35 mp3)

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‘King amendment’ is part of House bill

May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The Farm Bill passed Wednesday night by the House Ag Committee includes the “Protect Interstate Commerce Act”, which would bar states from imposing their own animal-welfare standards on eggs, meat and other ag products brought in from other states.

The amendment is aimed at preventing farmers in other states from having to comply with measures such as California’s Prop 2 initiative that requires farms to provide more space to hens, hogs and other livestock. 

The amendment was introduced by Iowa Representative Steve King.

“I’m fine if California wants to say ‘if you’re going to bring an egg in here, it has to be egg-shaped—and if you want to bring some beef in here, it needs to be produced with the idea of the regulations of the USDA in mind’,” King said.  “But I’m not fine if California—and it isn’t just California, it’s other states–it’s a patchwork quilt of these issues and we need to draw the line now while we still can.”

California Representative Jim Costa objected to the amendment.

“Congress does not have the authority to regulate interstate commerce in a way that strips states—I believe—of their sovereign state authority,” Costa said. “In effect, it’s a federal takeover of a long-standing state’s internal legislative authority.”

The president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, Wayne Pacelle, warns that the King amendment could essentially “nullify” California’s Prop 2 and all state and local laws designed to protect farm animals.

AUDIO: Excerpts from House Ag Comm debate on King amendment (14:38 MP3)

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House Ag Committee passes farm bill

May 15, 2013 By 1 Comment

The House Agriculture Committee worked late into the night Wednesday marking up its version of the farm bill.  The bill passed by a vote of 36 to 10.

As expected, the big issue was food stamps.  In the end, the committee voted to uphold an estimated 20.5 billion dollars in ten-year savings from nutrition programs.

The committee, after a lengthy discussion, defeated an attempt to change the Dairy Security Act in the farm bill. There were no changes to other commodity programs as proposed by House Ag Committee leadership.

Iowa Representative Steve King was successful in attaching his “Protect Interstate Commerce Act”, which would bar states from imposing their own animal-welfare standards on eggs, meat and other ag products brought in from other states.

The amendment is aimed at preventing farmers in other states from having to comply with measures such as California’s Prop 2 initiative that requires farms to provide more space to hens, hogs and other livestock.

Filed Under: Crops, Events/Organizations, Livestock, News, Top Stories, USDA/Government Tagged With: ,

House begins farm bill markup

May 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The House Agriculture Committee began markup of HR 1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 this morning.  In his opening comments, Committee Chairman Frank Lucas says their version of the farm bill is reform-minded and developed with true bipartisanship.  “No other authorizing committee in Congress is voluntarily cutting money from its jurisdiction to reduce the size and scope of the federal government,” he says. 

Lucas adds no one on the committee will like everything in the farm bill, including himself, but it will need both Republican and Democratic support to pass.  “The FARRM Act reforms the SNAP program for the first time since the welfare reforms of 1996,” he says.  “We also reform farm programs.  We eliminate direct payments; the FARRM Act reflects the belief in a true safety net – something used when disaster hits.”

Ranking member Colin Peterson says today is hopefully the ‘beginning of the end’ of a process that has gone on in his words ‘far too long’.  “I’m optimistic we’re going to be able to get this done,” he says.  “Hopefully in June it will go to the floor and then we can get the bill conferenced.  It would be nice to get this done before the August recess.  I think we could do that if we get on track here.”

Passing a farm bill, Lucas says, will “give certainty to an industry that has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal economy” and offer taxpayers billions of dollars in deficit reduction.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Human Interest, News, Top Stories, USDA/Government Tagged With: , ,

Senate Ag Committee approves farm bill

May 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment

On a 15-to-5 vote, the Senate Agriculture Committee has approved a farm bill. “The bill includes major reform in food and agricultural policy by ending direct payments and transitioning to responsible risk management tools that support farmers only when they have been impacted by disaster, saving taxpayers billions of dollars. Overall, the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 will yield a total of over $23 billion dollars in spending cuts by eliminating unnecessary subsidies, consolidating programs to end duplication, and combating misuse and fraud in food assistance programs.” The bill now goes to the full Senate.

A short summary of the bill follows: a more extensive summary is available here:

The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013

[Read more...]

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Supreme Court upholds Monsanto patents

May 13, 2013 By 1 Comment

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled Monsanto can use patents to prevent farmers from planting later generations of genetically engineered seeds. The case was brought by Indiana farmer Vernon Bowman who planted bin-run soybeans which turned out to be Roundup Ready and then saved seed from that crop to plant again, all without paying Monsanto licensing fees. Bowman claimed the patent should only apply to the first generation of a protected seed and that the seed replicated itself.

The high court ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto saying Bowman had made unauthorized copies of a company’s patented inventions. Two lower federal courts had also ruled against Bowman.

Justice Elena Kagen writing the opinion of the court stated “Bowman was not a passive observer of his soybeans’ multiplication,” adding it was Bowman, not the plant who controlled the reproduction to the eighth generation.

The case was viewed as a major test of not only patented seeds but other technologies as well including cell lines computer software.

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