News Update
April 27, 2012
Obama Administration Pulls On-Farm Youth Labor Rule
Citing concerns raised in "thousands of comments," the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced yesterday evening, April 26, 2012, it will withdraw its proposed rule regarding youth in agriculture. National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) President J.D. Alexander commended the administration's action and said farmers and ranchers made their voices heard on the proposed rule, which could have restricted, and in some instances totally prevented, America's youth from working on farms and ranches.
For the full release, visit http://www.beefusa.org/newsreleases1.aspx?newsid=2474
UK Researchers Find Important New Disease
University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture specialists are encouraging Kentucky wheat producers and crop consultants to scout their fields for a new disease that could have important implications for future crop years.
UK soil scientist Lloyd Murdock found wheat blast on a single wheat head May 18, 2011, at a UK Research and Education Center research plot in Princeton. No additional instances of the disease were found even after extensive scouting of the involved research plots and neighboring fields by UK researchers. It is likely, however, that additional infected heads existed but at levels too low to make detection possible.
Wheat blast is a disease that is recognized as an emerging threat worldwide. Caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae/Pyricularia grisea, the disease was first detected in southern Brazil in 1985 and has since become a problem in several of its neighboring countries. Crop losses of 40% are common and cases of 100% loss have been reported. Currently, there are no commercially available resistant varieties and fungicidal programs targeting wheat blast have generally been ineffective.
The Kentucky find is the first known occurrence of wheat blast outside of South America. However, a related pathogen has caused a disease called gray leaf spot on annual ryegrass in Louisiana and Mississippi since the 1970s and on perennial ryegrass in much of the humid regions of the United States since 1992. Annual ryegrass is a common forage crop in the South, and it is also recognized as a weed in Kentucky wheat fields.
For more information and the full release, visit http://news.ca.uky.edu/article/
uk-researchers-find-important-new-disease
NSAC Comments on Senate Farm Bill Markup and Passage
The Senate Agriculture Committee voted a new farm bill out of committee April 26 by a vote of 16-5. The committee bill saves $23 billion over the next 10 years, according to budget estimates.
The committee bill includes historic reforms to commodity subsidies. In addition to replacing automatic direct payments with a shallow loss revenue-based payment, the bill limits payments to not more than one farm manager per farm operation. Under current law, mega farms collect multiple payments worth millions of dollars through passive investors and landowners who are counted as farm managers.
For the full release, visit http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/
for-immediate-release-nsac-comments-on-senate-farm-bill-markup-and-passage/
K-State Extension Veterinarian Addresses BSE Discovery
A Kansas State University (K-State) veterinarian wants consumers to know that the USDA's discovery of a sick cow in California shows that the meat inspection system in the United States works.
Larry Hollis said the April 24 news of a dairy cow infected with an atypical form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) means safeguards enacted by federal agencies and the U.S. meat industry show that surveillance and testing measures are doing what they are intended to do.
BSE, which is sometimes referred to as mad cow disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that slowly creates holes in brain tissue.
USDA officials reported that the cow was first delivered to a rendering facility in central California and was never presented for slaughter for human consumption. Rendering is a process that takes waste animal tissue and converts it into byproducts. The tissue does not enter the food supply.
"We've had an enhanced inspection system in place since shortly after the large BSE outbreak occurred in the United Kingdom (started in 1986)," said Hollis, who is a veterinarian with K-State Research and Extension. "It's part of a national system, which also protects us in Kansas. Cattle harvested here in Kansas are inspected, just like they are in all other states throughout the country."
For full release, visit http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/news/story/mad_cow042512.aspx
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