FYI on Dairy

For managers and supervisors who need an in-depth overview of today’s changing environmental regulations, Lion Technology Inc. presents its Complete Environmental Regulations workshop in the area this September. Key topics include air quality, water quality, chemical controls, and waste management. Recent regulatory changes will be addressed, including the July 7, 2011 Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and new reporting responsibilities under the 261-page greenhouse gas rule.

The comprehensive two-day workshop will be held in Kansas City, MO on September 12-13; Tulsa, OK on September 15-16; Little Rock, AR on September 19-20; Dallas, TX on September 22-23; and Corpus Christi, TX on September 26-27.

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) has introduced H.R. 2631, the Livestock Marketing Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill authored by U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, (R-Wyo.). According to a press release from Lummis, the legislation would target unfair meat packer practices and help restore a level playing field to independent livestock producers.

The National Pork Producers Council opposes the Lummis and Enzi bills because they would restrict private marketing arrangements and contracts between producers and packers.

SEATTLE (AP) — A healthy diet is expensive and could make it difficult for Americans to meet new U.S. nutritional guidelines, according to a study published Thursday that says the government should do more to help consumers eat healthier.

A update of what used to be known as a food pyramid in 2010 had called on Americans to eat more foods containing potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D and calcium. But if they did that, the journal Health Affairs said, they would add hundreds more dollars to their annual grocery bill.

As some recent enforcement actions would indicate, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has put an increased national emphasis on ending harmful discharges of pollutants from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) into rivers and streams.

A new report says agriculture and agricultural sciences are poised to drive economic growth and job creation to new heights, fueled by research and Extension support of land-grant universities like Iowa State University (ISU).

The Animal Care and Handling Conference for the Food Industry is the leading animal welfare educational opportunity for meat companies, their customers and those involved in the production and management of livestock and meat products. This important conference has doubled in size since it was launched in 1999 – testament to the increasing significance of animal care and handling in the meat industry.

Joint Committees and Subcommittees developing plans for the checkoff are being reminded of the strategic intent of the plan, and coming together to create synergy in achieving several of the core strategies outlined in it.

Finalised in early 2011, the Plan identifies six core strategies and goals in reaching its mission, which is to provide the safest, highest-quality, most consumer-friendly beef and beef products in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner.

Temperatures and humidity levels are soaring in most parts of the nation. In addition to making life uncomfortable for livestock and producers, these conditions also make it difficult to manage silage properly for maximum feed value.

The biggest challenge for managing silage feedout in warmer months is caused by temperature increases. When the temperature increases, yeasts and mold in the environment grow exponentially. When that happens, they overtake nutrients in the silage and use them for their own reproduction.

Hay prices may have hit their peak, but supply and quality are very low.

“There is a big void for good-quality hay,” says Norman Beach, with the San Joaquin Valley Hay Growers Association in California. Despite some first cuttings from Nevada, the supply isn’t likely to rebound anytime soon. Good-quality hay is running in the $300-per-ton range.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Grocery shoppers are increasingly interested in where their food comes from, and in the case of meat and eggs, they’re also interested in how the live animal was treated. In fact, consumers may be so interested that they’re willing to pay extra for meat and eggs with a mandatory label indicating animal welfare information, according to a university study.



“The analysis suggests there may be significant support by consumers for mandatory labeling of production practices impacting animal welfare,” said Kansas State University assistant professor, Glynn Tonsor, who along with Michigan State University professor, Christopher Wolf, conducted the study.

Cargill Inc. Chief Executive Officer Greg Page, who runs the largest agricultural company in the U.S., has a good idea whom to blame for the global surge in food prices at the end of 2010: governments.

Page urged 708 delegates and guests at the National Grain and Feed Association convention in San Diego in March to take action, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its September issue. He said government hoarding was the biggest contributor to the rise in prices, which had soared 15 percent from October through January and pushed 44 million people into poverty, according to the World Bank.

In an undoubtedly historic and stunning announcement today, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the United Egg Producers (UEP) said they have reached an agreement -- following "exhaustive" conference calls and meetings -- to jointly petition Congress for legislation to transition the commercial egg industry from one primarily of conventional cage housing to "enriched" colony housing.

The goal is to have the law in place by June 30 next year and the transition fully implemented by Dec. 31, 2029, according to the announcement.

Key Senate lawmakers have reached a deal to end two ethanol subsidies by the end of the month, sooner than expected and a sign of how tax policy can change as attention focuses on the deficit.

A five-year bull market in U.S. farmland values may peak this year as interest rates increase and crop prices decline, Rabobank International said.

An action plan addressing food-price volatility and agriculture” will be submitted to world leaders in November, the G20 meeting of the agriculture ministers decided at the end of their recent meeting. Global food security and sustainable agriculture production must be the ultimate goal of any effective agriculture policy, at global and national level, they concluded.

Three senators are working on a legislative framework to replace the $6 billion a year U.S. ethanol tax credit with far less costly incentives such as helping retailers pay for so-called blender pumps.

The package could terminate the excise tax credit as early as July 1, an industry insider said on Tuesday. He said the challenge for biofuels is how to expand sales and a key way is to introduce pumps that would allow drivers to choose blends from 10 to 85 percent ethanol.

To celebrate its new line of foods made with natural ingredients, Safeway Inc. (SWY) built the world’s largest picnic table on San Francisco’s Marina Green, looking out onto the Golden Gate Bridge, and hired Food Network chef Tyler Florence to cook up meals using the items.

The brand, called Open Nature, rolled out in January and features sausages, ice creams, salad dressings, breads and yogurts -- all made without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. The market for natural foods, which aren’t necessarily organic or low in fat or calories, is worth $4 billion, and it’s largely untapped by big food stores, Pleasanton, California-based Safeway says.

Corn advanced for a third day on signs last week’s slump to the lowest price in three months lured buyers and on concerns rains may flood recently planted crops in central China, the world’s second-largest consumer of the grain.

Corn inspected for export at ports in the U.S., the world’s largest shipper, climbed 21 percent to 43 million bushels in the week ended June 16, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. Severe flooding will persist in the Yangtze River valley, threatening corn, soybeans, and winter-wheat planted areas, Telvent DTN Inc. said in a June 20 forecast.