News Update
June 29, 2011

National Day of Action to Preserve Conservation and Local Food Development Funding

On June 28th, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) and a broad coalition of farm, conservation, wildlife and forestry organizations representing millions of Americans joined forces for a National Day of Action to protest the huge cuts to farm bill conservation programs and an initiative to support development of local and regional food systems in the House of Representatives Fiscal 2012 agriculture appropriations bill.

The agriculture appropriations bill just passed by the House slashes $1 billion from mandatory farm bill conservation funding and tells USDA to drop the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative. The coalition is urging members to call their Senators and ask them to protect conservation and local and regional food development funding.

"The House measure would slash programs that support farmers who protect the soil and water on which our nation's future productivity depends," said Ferd Hoefner, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. "Conservation programs were cut by $500 million in fiscal year 2011 and the House is proposing an additional cut of $1 billion for fiscal year 2012 to the Conservation Stewardship Program, the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, Farmland Protection Program, and the Wetlands Reserve Program."

"These cuts are between 20 and 30%, and are grossly disproportionate to other spending cuts," noted Hoefner, calling the Conservation Stewardship Program cut particularly egregious as it would require USDA to break contracts the government has signed with farmers committed to conservation practices.

Conservation programs are consistently oversubscribed with long waiting lists of farmers wanting to implement conservation systems. Conservation program spending has been slashed while funding for commodity programs remains untouched in the House-passed bill. "If cuts to mandatory funding are to be made, then everything has to be on the table," said Hoefner.

A provision denying any funding for the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative is a direct attack on new farm and market opportunities, rural job growth and public health. The initiative provides crucial coordination and public outreach to build new income opportunities for farmers producing for the local and regional markets.

"These markets are essential to rural economic recovery and eliminating the Know Your Farmer initiative is shortsighted and extreme," said Hoefner. "Development of local and regional food systems and markets is a job creator and a good investment in public health."

— Release by National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Cattlemen Chart Course for NCBA Policy at Summer Industry Conference

National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) President Bill Donald encourages U.S. cattlemen to attend the 2011 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Aug. 1-4 in Kissimmee, Fla.

"The summer conference is a very important step in our grassroots policy process," Donald said. "If cattlemen want to change NCBA policy or be involved in the policy-making process for our industry, they should make plans to attend our summer conference."

He said attendees will hear from industry experts and NCBA staff on the latest issues affecting the beef industry, including updates on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) proposed livestock and poultry marketing rule as well as progress on the pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. NCBA members will also attend policy committee meetings to participate in discussions on issues ranging from animal health and food safety to competition and natural resources.

"There are a number of issues facing our industry at this time," Donald said. "This is where the ball really starts rolling. At the summer conference, it is the task of our producer-driven committees to evaluate and adjust current policies and develop new positions for consideration of the full membership at the 2012 annual convention. It's great to see cattlemen intently working to lay the foundation for the future of our organization and the industry as a whole. After the conference, cattlemen will be better prepared to overcome the everyday challenges facing our industry and, ultimately, capitalize on new opportunities."

Registration and the full membership brochure are available online at http://www.beefusa.org. For additional information about the 2011 Cattle Industry Summer Conference not found on the website, call the NCBA Association Marketing Department at 303-694-0305 or email meetings@beef.org.

— Release by NCBA.

Campaign Launched to Help Families Prevent Food Poisoning

The Ad Council is joining the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to debut their first joint national multimedia public service campaign to help families prevent food poisoning in the home.

The Food Safe Families campaign was announced by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in time for the July 4 holiday and the start of summer when foodborne illnesses tend to increase — a time when many families celebrate with food. It's also a time when foodborne illnesses tend to increase with more outdoor meals, and other factors that increase the risk for disease-causing bacteria in food.

CDC estimates that approximately one in six Americans (48 million people) suffer from foodborne illness each year, resulting in roughly 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. While USDA, HHS and other federal government agencies are dedicated to protecting consumers by setting and enforcing food safety standards, it is also the federal government's responsibility to give consumers important safety information for safe food handling in the home.

Created pro bono by ad agency JWT New York, the new Food Safe Families public service campaign aims to raise awareness about the risks of foodborne illness and educate consumers, especially parents, to take specific actions to reduce their personal risk. Through humorous over-the-top depictions of the four key safe food handling behaviors, the television public service advertisements (PSAs) urge parents to keep their families safer from food poisoning and deliver clear steps to reduce their risk. Audiences are encouraged to achieve the following safe food handling behaviors:

• Clean: Clean kitchen surfaces, utensils, and hands with soap and water while preparing food.
  
• Separate: Separate raw meats from other foods by using different cutting boards.
• Cook: Cook foods to the right temperature by using a food thermometer.
• Chill: Chill raw and prepared foods promptly.

"Our food safety strategy is based on preventing food safety problems, and these efforts must begin where food is produced and continue where food is processed and marketed," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "Consumers also play a role in preventing food safety problems by properly handling, preparing and storing food in the home. This campaign will help consumers understand their role in farm-to-table food safety."

The campaign includes English and Spanish-language television, radio, print and Web advertising, as well as an integrated social media program. The program includes a new FoodSafety.gov Facebook page and outreach via the FoodSafety.gov Twitter handle, both emphasizing "Check Your Steps." All campaign elements direct audiences to visit FoodSafety.gov, a recently refreshed and updated site in English (www.foodsafety.gov) and Spanish (www.foodsafety.gov/espanol), where they can learn about food safety practices. Consumers can also access "Ask Karen" (www.foodsafety.gov/experts/askkaren/index.html), an online database with answers to nearly 1,500 questions related to preventing foodborne illnesses.

"When it comes to food safety, our number one priority is prevention," said USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Elisabeth Hagen. "Knowing that the risk of foodborne illnesses may never be zero, it is important for us to get the word out about what consumers can do."

— Release by USDA.

U.S. Stalls on FTA as Canada Seals South Korean Deal

U.S. cattlemen have called on the government to immediately ratify the free-trade agreement with South Korea, following the news that Canadian beef is soon to be allowed back onto the Korean market. NCBA said the U.S. beef industry would be left behind as other countries start to gain a share of the market.

NCBA said that Korea reportedly will allow Canadian bone-in beef from cattle less than 30 months.

This action would officially conclude South Korea's eight-year-old ban on Canadian beef imposed subsequent to the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 2003.

According to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, imports may resume before the end of the year if procedural steps are completed, NCBA said. The decision to lift the ban requires a review by South Korea's parliament, after which the government must implement on-site inspections in Canada before the market can be reopened.

NCBA President Bill Donald said while Korea reopened its markets to beef in 2008, this news is further proof that countries are moving forward to expand trade partnerships, while the United States sits on the sidelines.

"If the Obama administration and Congress quit stalling, we have an opportunity to ratify one of the most significant trade agreements in history. This trade pact is long overdue. The inaction on this trade agreement has jeopardized America's competitive advantage in this very important market and consequently has stymied economic growth and job creation," said Donald. "If implemented, the U.S. beef industry would see $15 million in new tariff benefits in the first year alone, with about $325 million in tariff reductions annually once fully implemented."

Donald said stalling on the U.S.-South Korea free-trade agreement (KORUS FTA) poses serious consequences for U.S agriculture. He said if the FTA is significantly stalled or not implemented the likelihood of relinquishing U.S. agricultural export sales to other countries, such as Canada, is imminent. Donald said there are 13 trade agreements between South Korea and U.S. competitors in place or in the works involving approximately 50 nations around the world.

— Release by USAgNet.

Purdue Grant Will Help Farmers Deal With Changes to Climates

Purdue University researchers will get a $5 million grant to develop decision-support tools to help corn and soybean growers adapt their practices to changes in climate.

"Today's agricultural producers are able to grow more food on fewer acres of land to sustain a growing population," said Purdue President France Córdova. "Successfully meeting this challenge has been due to the industry's willingness to adopt new practices. This project will provide the technologies producers will need in the face of a changing world to plan for, and adapt to, climatic shifts."

Linda Prokopy, an associate professor of forestry and natural resources, will lead researchers affiliated with the Purdue Climate Change Research Center in the five-year project. The research is funded by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, part of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Prokopy said the first part of the project will focus on developing models that can predict how different climate scenarios would affect corn and soybean growth and profits throughout a 12-state region that stretches from the Dakotas south to Kansas and east to Ohio.

"The goal is to help producers make better long-term plans on what, when and where to plant and also how to manage the crops for maximum yields and minimal environmental damage," Prokopy said.

The second part will focus on the best ways to deliver that information to crop producers. Prokopy said effort will be made to ensure that the information is easy to understand and distributed in ways that will give producers the most access to it.

"There are a lot of climate change projections out there, but they're not in a form that's useful for producers," she said. "There's no point in having high-quality data that is difficult for producers to use."

Prokopy will be involved with assessing how best to deliver information to producers. Leading the climate change element of the project will be Dev Niyogi, a Purdue associate professor of agronomy and earth and atmospheric sciences and the Indiana state climatologist. Otto Doering, a professor of agricultural economics and director of Purdue's Climate Change Research Center; Ben Gramig, an assistant professor of agricultural economics; and Bruce Erickson, Purdue director of cropping systems management, will be involved with economic modeling. Xiaohui Song, a senior research scientist in Purdue's Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, will help with information deployment.

Purdue scientists will collaborate with others from Michigan State University, the University of Illinois, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska, the University of Michigan and South Dakota State University.

— Release by Brian Wallheimer, Purdue University.

— Compiled by Katie Gazda, editorial intern, Angus Productions Inc.