News Update

News Update
Feb. 6, 2006

Bush’s FY 2007 Ag Budget Released

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today released details of President Bush’s fiscal year (FY) 2007 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget.

According to USDA, total agency expenditures are estimated at about $93 billion in 2007, nearly $3 billion below the 2006 level. Roughly 77% of expenditures, or $71.3 billion in 2007, will be for mandatory programs that provide services required by law, which include many of the nutrition assistance, commodity, export promotion and conservation programs.

USDA’s discretionary programs account for the remaining 23% of expenditures, or $21.5 billion, in 2007, a decrease of $1.2 billion from 2006. Discretionary programs include the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program; rural development loans and grants; research and education; soil and water conservation technical assistance; management of National Forests and domestic marketing assistance.

Highlights of the FY 2007 budget include:

Avian Influenza. The 2007 budget includes $82 million for USDA to continue to work closely with states in domestic surveillance efforts and to improve preparedness and response capabilities to help stem the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza overseas. Excluding emergency funding in 2006, this is a $66 million increase in avian influenza efforts from 2006.

Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative. The budget proposes $322 million in USDA funding for the multi-agency Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative, which is funded at nearly $540 million government-wide. Excluding funding for the construction of the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames, Iowa, which was fully funded in 2006, the 2007 budget represents a $127 million increase.

Energy Initiatives. For 2007, USDA’s core investment in energy-related projects increases to $85 million, up from $67 million. This funding includes resources to support renewable energy research and demonstration projects and additional efforts to support energy development and transmission across public lands. In addition, the budget provides in excess of $250 million each year in FY 2006 and FY 2007 for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects through Rural Development’s loan and grants programs.

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). In 2007, a reduction of more than $2 billion in CCC expenditures is expected because of lower emergency disaster assistance, projected modest commodity-price improvements for some crops and the proposed legislative changes to reduce farm support program spending.

Crop Insurance. The budget includes proposals to enhance crop insurance coverage, and reduce costs to deliver the program, so that crop insurance will provide coverage that is sufficient to sustain most farmers in times of loss.

Domestic Nutrition Assistance Participation and Funding. The budget fully funds the expected requirements for USDA’s three major nutrition assistance programs — Food Stamps, School Lunch and WIC, with a combined account of nearly $55 billion.

Farm Bill Conservation Program Funding and Program Enrollment. The budget proposes more than $4 billion to continue implementation of the conservation programs authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill and support the enrollment of an additional 23 million acres, mostly through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Healthy Forests. The budget continues implementation of the President’s Healthy Forests Initiative to mitigate the threat of catastrophic wildfires. The budget also includes $1.8 billion to protect communities and natural resources from wild land fire.

Johanns also announced the launch of www.ExpectMore.gov by the President’s Office of Management and Budget. The Web site provides easily accessible information about federal programs, their performance and actions the Administration is taking to improve performance in the coming year.

Additional information regarding the FY 2007 budget proposal is available on the web at www.usda.gov.

AngusSource^SM Topic of Kentucky Meeting

Ty Groshans, American Angus Association assistant director of commercial programs, will be the featured speaker at a cattle producer meeting Thursday, Feb. 9, in Bowling Green, Ky.

The meeting begins with dinner at 6:30 p.m., at the Barren River Regional Livestock Center in Bowling Green.

Groshans will be discussing the AngusSource^SM program, available to commercial producers through the American Angus Association. AngusSource^SM is a USDA Process Verified Program (PVP) that documents a minimum of 50% Angus-sired genetics, source and group age.

There is no charge for the dinner, but reservations are requested. Please RSVP to the Warren County Extension Office at (270) 842-1681.

For more information visit www.angus.org/newsroom/releases/Angus_Source_Kentucky.html or contact Shelia Stannard at (816) 383-5152 or sstannard@angus.org.

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

ConAgra to Sell Meat Businesses

ConAgra Foods has announced it will sell its Armour, Butterball and Eckrich refrigerated meats brands, according to a report released last week by meatingplace.com. The brands accounted for approximately $1.9 billion in sales last year.

Meatingplace.com reports the sale will take approximately 10 to 12 months to complete, affecting 15 production plants and 6,000 employees. The sale was part of the company’s ongoing plans to “simplify operations and to concentrate in areas where we have the strongest competitive positions,” a spokesman for the company stated in the article.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, Angus Productions Inc.