News Update

News Update
March 4, 2008

Survey Shows Pasteurella May be Responsible for More BRD Cases

Survey results released by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. March 3 suggest a portion of the nation’s bovine respiratory disease (BRD) cases caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida may be rising.

According to the survey of cattle pneumonia diagnoses reported by U.S. veterinary diagnostic laboratories, P. multocida — long considered a secondary, even minor, cause of BRD — could play a larger role in the cattle disease.

Data from 35 members of the American Association of Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories show that although the proportion of isolates identified as Mannheimia haemolytica typically outnumber those associated with P. multocida, the gap between the two is rapidly closing.

Visit www.bi-vetmedica.com for further information.

— Information provided by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica.

Administration Analysis Provides Look at Ag Programs Without New Farm Bill

A 14-page report prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) analyzes the effect to current USDA programs should Congress extend the 2002 Farm Bill or fail to enact a new Farm Bill.

The report, which was released Feb. 29, was conducted at the request of senior House and Senate agriculture committee staff, USDA reported.

According to USDA, provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and the Agricultural Act of 1949 would again become legally effective if a new farm bill is not enacted or if lawmakers don’t extend the 2002 Farm Bill. Such a result would “dramatically narrow the universe of producers who receive support, and would do so in a way that most producers will view as irrational,” USDA reported.

Minimum price support rates would rise significantly for wheat, corn and cotton, and could not be offered for sugar or oilseeds, including soybeans, sunflower seed and others.

The mandatory programs most severely affected would include conservation and trade programs. New enrollments in most conservation programs would cease March 16 if a new law is not enacted by March 15. Producers currently enrolled in both the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) would continue to receive technical assistance and program payments. Enrollment and payments for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Security Program (CSP) would continue.

According to USDA, mandated funding for certain trade and international development programs would expire March 16.

Although the basic farm loan program activities would continue, a number of farmers currently eligible for farm loan program loan guarantees would cease to be eligible, and beginning farmers and ranchers would no longer benefit from direct loan funds.

A link to the USDA document is available at www.usda.gov.

— Information provided by USDA.

S. Korea President Expected to Resume Beef Trade

During a visit to Washington next month, South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak is expected to express his intention of easing import regulation on U.S. beef, according to Meatingplace.com.

A U.S.-Korea free trade agreement pact has been submitted to South Korean lawmakers, but it hasn’t been submitted to Congress, Meatingplace.com said.

USDA, DOE to Invest up to $18.4M for Biomass Projects

USDA Secretary Ed Schafer and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel Bodman today announced that combined, USDA and DOE will invest up to $18.4 million, over three years, for 21 biomass research and development (R&D), and demonstration projects. These projects specifically aim to address critical barriers to making production of biomass more efficient and cost-effective.

Projects announced today are integral to furthering President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, which aims to change the way this nation powers its cars, homes and businesses by increasing energy efficiency and diversifying energy sources in an effort to increase energy, economic and national security. Funding for these projects will be provided through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, a joint USDA-DOE effort established in 2000 to develop the next generation of clean, bio-based technologies.

Grant recipients are required to raise a minimum of 20% matching funds for R&D projects, and 50% matching funds for demonstration projects. For a list of entities selected as grant recipients, visit www.usda.gov.

USDA Awards Water Quality Grants

Secretary Schafer announced March 3 that USDA is awarding $5.2 million in grants to 14 universities and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct research aimed at improving and maintaining healthy watershed habitat and water supplies. 

The awards are administered by USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) through the National Research Initiative (NRI) Water and Watershed competitive grants program. The program seeks to reduce pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses and protozoa, in waters derived from agricultural and rural watersheds, as well as maintain adequate water supplies for agricultural crop and livestock production and rural use. In the past five years, the program has awarded more than $23 million in grants.

Visit www.usda.gov for a list of grant recipients.

President Signs Trade Extension Act

President Bush signed an interim measure last week while Congress negotiates passage of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and implementation of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.

“The signing of the 10-month Andean Trade Preference Extension Act (H.R. 5264) by President George W. Bush is an important interim measure,” Secretary Schafer said in a statement released Feb. 29. “Now we need both chambers to move forward with the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.

Schafer said the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement will replace one-way with two-way free and fair trade by providing U.S. farmers, ranchers and businesses with duty-free access to that market.

“Opening the Colombian market and increasing our two-way trade will strengthen our economic ties and also promote increased stability that will benefit all the nations of the Western Hemisphere. … This agreement will provide U.S. companies and farmers with duty-free access to the Colombian market,” Schafer asserted.

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