News Update

News Update
Jan. 9, 2008

AgriLabs to Give Away $1,500 for Scholarships

While at the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA) Convention in Reno, Nev., Feb. 6-8, AgriLabs will give away a total of $1,500 to be used for youth scholarships.

Each of the three days the convention’s trade show is open, one lucky attendee will be selected to choose an organization to receive a $500 scholarship grant. In turn, the organization — which must be a state affiliate of NCBA, the American National CattleWomen (ANCW), or the ANCW Foundation — will use the $500 for an educational scholarship for a deserving youth during 2008.

To qualify for the drawings to determine which organizations will receive the $500 scholarship grants, convention participants simply need to register at the AgriLabs booth, No. 801.

Producers who complete a registration form at the AgriLabs booth also will qualify for the grand-prize drawing of a framed print by rural-American artist Bonnie Mohr. “Summer Pastures,” a signed, numbered lithoprint, depicts a cow-calf herd on pasture.

AgriLabs is an animal health sales and marketing organization with distribution throughout the United States.

— Information provided by AgriLabs.

Texas Agriculture Brings in Record $100B

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples touted the work ethic of Texas farmers and ranchers Tuesday, Jan. 5, discussing an economic milestone. For the first time in history, statewide agriculture production in 2007 contributed more than $100 billion to the Texas economy.

“All Texans should be proud of the dedicated men and women who live and breathe agriculture daily, providing food and fiber to feed and clothe their fellow Texans,” Staples said at the Texas A&M AgriLife Conference at Texas A&M University (TAMU).

Texas leads the nation in the number of cattle, horses, goats, sheep and deer, a TAMU release noted. The state also ranks first in production of cotton, wool, mohair and hay. The Texas agriculture industry employs nearly 2 million Texans, contributing approximately 9% of the gross state product.

One in seven individuals in Texas are employed “in some form of agriculture,” and everyone in the industry has to be involved in branding, marketing and selling, Staples said.

Elsa Murano, president of TAMU and former vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences, told attendees that “your work is life-enhancing, and I certainly value the recognition you bring to Texas A&M University.”

Promoting partnerships and collaborative work among the colleges at TAMU is one of many goals Murano outlined. She touted TAMU’s bioenergy alliance, an ongoing research program investigating alternative fuels among both the agriculture and engineering programs, as a lead example.

Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Waco), who received the TAMU AgriLife Outstanding Public Servant Award, also emphasized the importance of telling Americans how important agriculture is and how it plays a key role in daily life.

“It’s more important than ever to tell the positive impact of AgriLife,” he said. “Strong values come from rural life, and it may depend on how well we tell the story agriculture is life.”

The TAMU AgriLife Conference brings together two of the state's premier agencies as part of the TAMU System — Texas AgriLife Research and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service — in addition to faculty that serve the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at TAMU.

— Release provided by Texas A&M University.

EPA Moving Forward on CERCLA/EPCRA Reporting Exemption

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its long-awaited proposed rule change to exempt air releases related to animal agriculture from emergency release reporting requirements under CERCLA and EPCRA, NCBA reports.

The proposal was published in the Dec. 28, 2007, Federal Register, and comments are due by March 27, 2008.

Specifically, EPA is proposing that reporting requirements under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Emergency Planning Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) not be applied to air releases of defined substances — primarily ammonia and hydrogen sulfide — from animal waste at farms. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide are both byproducts of the breakdowns of animal wastes.

“This is very good news for cattle operations,” says NCBA’s Chief Environmental Counsel Tamara Thies. “We have been working on this for a long time, and cattle producers are very pleased EPA has agreed with our position on this rule. Without this rulemaking, cattle operations would be required to regularly monitor and report air emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide to the EPA. The EPA recognizes the fact that there will never be a situation that requires emergency response as a result of these emissions from manure and has, therefore, determined that monitoring and reporting are not necessary. This is a correct and welcomed decision by the EPA.”

The EPA says the proposed change would enable response authorities “to better focus their attention on hazardous substance releases that require emergency response while reducing reporting burdens on America’s farms.”

Release notifications must still be made to emergency response authorities when hazardous substances are released to the air from sources other than animal waste (e.g., ammonia tanks), as well as releases of hazardous substances to soil and water.

More information on the proposed rule is posted at www.epa.gov/emergencies/content/epcra/cercla_dec07.htm.

— Release provided by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.