News Update

News Update
June 13, 2007

Japan Approves U.S. Beef

Japanese inspectors found no safety problems during their inspection of 28 U.S. processing facilities, officials announced today.

As a result of the problem-free inspections conducted last month, Japan will cease checking every U.S. beef shipment, according to The Associated Press. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns is expected to meet with Japan’s newly appointed Agriculture Minister Norihiko Akagi sometime next week to negotiate import restrictions, AP reported.

Japan currently accepts only certain cuts of beef from animals 20 months of age or younger. According to AP, Japanese officials last month said they had no immediate plan to relax restrictions.

USDA, DOE: Biofuels Projects to Receive $18M

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced June 11 a combined total of up to $18 million will be available for research and development of biomass-based products, biofuels, bioenergy and related processes.

USDA and DOE are issuing grant solicitations for several types of projects aimed at increasing the availability of alternative and renewable fuels, and helping further President Bush’s “Twenty in Ten” energy initiatives. According to USDA, the Twenty in Ten initiative promotes greater energy security through increased efficiency and diversification of energy sources. USDA will provide up to $14 million, and DOE will provide up to $4 million (fiscal year 2007).

The $18 million solicitation will fund projects in the following four categories (the share of overall funding is noted in parenthesis): the development of technologies to convert cellulosic biomass into intermediaries for biobased fuels (45%); product diversification (30%); feedstock production (20%); and analysis for strategic guidance (5%).

According to USDA, the President’s Farm Bill proposal includes $1.6 billion in new renewable energy funding for USDA. It seeks $500 million over 10 years to expand the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program, $500 million for bioenergy and biobased research, and $210 million to support $2.1 billion in loan guarantees for energy efficiency measures, with a significant focus on cellulosic ethanol. Since 2002, USDA has awarded $58.1 million in grants to 55 projects in 27 states and the District of Columbia under the Biomass Research and Development Initiative. Since the beginning of 2007, DOE has announced nearly $1 billion in funding for biofuels research and development.

For more information on these grant solicitations, visit www.grants.gov.

AMI Launches Ethanol Policy Web Site

The American Meat Institute (AMI) and other meat, livestock and poultry organizations introduced a web site June 11 dedicated to explaining the effects of national ethanol policy on the meat industry and consumers.

The site, available at www.balancedfoodandfuel.org, features economic analyses, charts, third-party opinions and more.

The site is sponsored by AMI, the National Chicken Council, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), National Meat Association, National Milk Producers Federation, National Pork Producers Council, National Turkey Federation and United Egg Producers.

On the Hill…

In related news, the Senate this week is reviewing a comprehensive energy bill that would increase the current renewable fuels standard (RFS) of 7.5 billion gallons (gal.) by 2012 to 36 billion gal. by 2022. According to the Brownfield Ag Network, the measure could also require that 15 billion gal. of new RFS come from corn by 2012.