News Update
March 12, 2012
Missouri House Passes Bill to Head Off Activists
Michael Fielding of Meatingplace.com reports the Missouri House of Representatives last week voted 116-33 to approve H.B. 1513, a bill sponsored by Rep. Ward Franz to prevent future state laws from giving animals the same rights as humans.
"The laws of this state shall not confer upon any animal a right, privilege, or legal status that is equivalent or that exceeds a right, privilege, or legal status as that which this state confers by law upon a human being," states the bill, which now moves to the state Senate. "This provision shall not be construed as limiting laws that protect the welfare of animals in the state."
Organizations Dispel Myths About 'Pink Slime'
Media hype has created another wave of hysteria among American consumers. The latest rumor targets boneless lean beef trimmings (BLBT), with journalists accusing food chains like McDonald's of using "pink slime" in their hamburger patties.
ABC News reported on this topic, spurring a frenzy of related articles, blogs, tweets and Facebook posts. Here's an excerpt:
"Gerald Zirnstein grinds his own hamburger these days. Why? Because this former USDA scientist and, now, whistleblower, knows that 70% of the ground beef we buy at the supermarket contains something he calls 'pink slime.' Pink slime is beef trimmings. Once only used in dog food and cooking oil, the trimmings are now sprayed with ammonia so they are safe to eat and added to most ground beef as a cheaper filler."
However, beef experts are working hard to keep the rumor mill from scaring consumers from enjoying a great-tasting burger. Last week, beef supplier Beef Products Inc. (BPI) and the American Meat Institute (AMI) shared the facts about beef.
BPI has launched an educational consumer-friendly website called, "Pink Slime Is A Myth," which aims to debunk the myths spread by the sensational coverage.
Meanwhile, AMI explains the science behind it all, stressing the safety and wholesomeness of ground beef and its production. Here is part of a statement.
"Boneless lean beef trimmings (BLBT) is a safe, wholesome and nutritious form of beef that is made by separating lean beef from fat. To make the product, beef companies use beef trimmings, the small cuts of beef that remain when larger cuts are trimmed down.
"These trimmings are USDA-inspected, wholesome cuts of beef that contain both fat and lean and are nearly impossible to separate using a knife. When these trimmings are processed, the process separates the fat away and the end result is nutritious, lean beef. It's a process similar to separating cream from milk.
"One process uses food grade ammonium hydroxide gas, something commonly used in the production of many foods, to destroy bacteria. Whatever process is used, it is all done under the watchful eye of USDA inspectors and according to strict federal rules. Lean finely textured beef is blended into foods like ground beef. Producing BLBT ensures that lean, nutritious, safe beef is not wasted in a world where red meat protein supplies are decreasing while global demand is increasing as population and income increases.
"Some recent media reports created a troubling and inaccurate picture, particularly in their use of the colloquial term 'pink slime.' The fact is, BLBT is beef. The beef trimmings that are used to make BLBT are absolutely edible. In fact, no process can somehow make an inedible meat edible; it's impossible. In reality, the BLBT production process simply removes fat and makes the remaining beef more lean and suited to a variety of beef products that satisfy consumers' desire for leaner foods."
High Grain Prices Could Mean Fewer Acres Entering CRP
The USDA's offer to pay farmers and landowners more money to stop farming their land to create additional wetlands and grasslands may not be enough incentive to get more growers to forgo planting crops that have fetched record prices in recent months, an Ohio State University (OSU) expert said.
In a move to get farmers to enroll up to 1 million new acres of land into the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the USDA said it would increase a one-time signing bonus for the program to $150 per acre from $100. The increase will be available only to owners of approved land that features wetlands and benefits duck nesting habitat and certain animal species, including upland birds, the USDA said.
Currently, some 30 million acres are in the program, but 6.5 million acres of land are set to expire from the program this fall.
With crops fetching higher prices, such as soybeans, which increased 9.5% last month to $13.13 a bushel, more farmers are likely to consider returning their farmland to crops rather than participating in CRP, said Brent Sohngen, an ag economist with OSU's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC).
The general sign-up program for farmers who want to put land into CRP is from March 12 to April 6. Farmers and landowners can offer new land for evaluation for the program, while those who are already in the program with contracts that expire this year can make new contract offers. New this year, USDA said producers whose land meets eligibility criteria for wetlands and certain animal species can enroll in the program at any time.
"What is the tradeoff between environmental advantages from CRP versus additional supply of commodities from farming land in CRP?" asked Carl Zulauf, an ag economics professor and OARDC researcher. "Additional supply could benefit consumers, especially the poor, through lower food prices, so the question becomes how many acres should the U.S. withdraw from production to put in CRP?"
This question will likely be an issue in the 2012 Farm Bill debate, especially if commodity prices remain high, Zulauf said.
Sohngen said the question of how much land to keep in CRP is cyclical and that the amount of land coming out of conservation programs has been on a downward trend in recent years.
"But if we refocused our efforts on CRP to get the right land enrolled in the program, we could do just as good a job of conservation with fewer acres," he said.
Meetings Added to Calendar of Upcoming Events
Angus Productions Inc. (API) maintains a Calendar of Upcoming Events (http://bit.ly/qzZ7JM) in the API Virtual Library that includes links to the full announcements of the events. Recently added:
• The annual Veterinary Teaching Hospital Open House at Colorado State University is slated for March 30-31. The event features interaction with animals, educational opportunities for children and adults, and tours of the hospital. The program includes sessions on pet first aid, becoming a veterinarian, equine first aid, police canine training and more.
Global Food Production Trends, Food Waste and Food System Vulnerability Topics Ag Issues Forum
Global trends in food production and availability were key topics during the 2012 Ag Issues Form, hosted by Bayer CropScience, in Nashville, Tenn., last week. Three speakers provided insights on this topic from differing viewpoints, but all shared the growing importance of agriculture in feeding a hungry world population.
Bill Lapp, a grain economist with Advanced Economic Solutions, discussed ongoing domestic and global trends affecting food, fiber and fuel production. He shared three factors that are driving agricultural market volatility and rising prices:
• Growth in economies in the developing world. As more people around the world have money to spend on their diet, demand for food skyrockets and supply tightens.
• Weakening of the dollar. As the value of the dollar weakens relative to the world market, commodity prices rise.
• Biofuel production. Dramatic increases in ethanol production from corn creates strong demand and reduces supply in a growing world economy.
"Due to the Energy Independence Act of 2007, 13.2 billion gallons of ethanol was produced from 5 billion bushels of corn in the 2011-2012 crop year," explains Lapp. "While the amount of corn produced per capita has increased, consumption has actually decreased, since large volumes are used for ethanol production. The ethanol policy has promoted increased prices and demand while supply has been reduced in a growing economy."
Another key takeaway from Lapp's presentation was the recent rise in oilseed demand, which is growing faster than supply. "In crops like wheat and corn, our global supply and demand are growing at similar rates. However, oilseed yields are increasing by 2% annually while demand is growing at a rate of 4%. Developing countries want more protein and vegetable oils in their diets, which will continue to drive demands for oilseed production," he says.
While developing countries crave more nutrients in their diet, Kai Robertson from the Business for Social Responsibility discussed the effect of food waste on the sustainability of the food production system. More than 67 billion pounds of food goes into landfills annually, a number that has grown dramatically in recent years. With more than 47 million Americans in poverty, the billions of pounds of wasted food could equate to more than three meals per day for every hungry American.
Food waste, Robertson says, is happening throughout the food supply chain. "Food waste happens from farm to fork," says Robertson. "A large portion of the food in landfills could have been eaten before it got there. While the solutions to the program are varied, there are lots of little opportunities to reduce food waste."
Some companies and cities are starting to pay attention to this growing issue. Large grocery stores are working toward zero-waste goals since wasted food is expensive to their business. Some cities, like San Francisco, have food composting bins in restaurants and some grocery stores will let customers purchase only what they need. But even so, Robertson points out that a lot of food waste is being created inside consumers' homes.
"In the United States, we have a lot of food waste at the consumer level. We live in a culture of abundance and plenty, and many never realize the impact. While the solutions aren't simple, it will be key for us to think innovatively about the topic," she explains.
Gawain Kripke, director of policy and research, Oxfam, then turned attendees' focus to vulnerabilities within the global food system, particularly related to food availability and hunger.
"The biggest challenge we face is that by 2050, there will be 9 billion people on earth. A lot more people will be richer, which will put pressure on our food system," explains Kripke. "A real crunch is happening, which is causing prices to rise and greater volatility in the marketplace."
With more people, more poverty is anticipated, says Kripke. "There are currently 1 billion people that experience the result of high prices; most of them don't get enough to eat. If we don't do anything about this, there will be more people hungry in 2050 than there are today," he notes.
It's not just about food availability, but also about food access, Kripke explains.
"In many ways it has less to do with agriculture's ability to provide food and more to do with food access. For example, while women are very involved in agriculture around the world, in many countries they don't have the same rights as men to purchase land or sign for credit. Recent analysis has shown that by giving women equal rights, we can increase global food supply by 4%. We believe that providing basic human and civil rights can improve our hunger situation."
Video interviews with each of the speakers and members of the Bayer CropScience team from the 2012 Ag Issues Forum are available on the newly launched BayerCrop Science social media hub, connect.bayercropscience.us.
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