Office of Communications (202) 720-8138 AgNews Summary for USDA Executives Friday, Aug. 15, 2008 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AgNews is intended for use by authorized government personnel only. Redistributing AgNews by any means to any unauthorized person violates copyright on the source material. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To access AgNews on the USDA Intranet, go to http://agnews.usda.gov FARM & FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICES NEW DISPUTE FLARES OVER WORDING OF REPORT ON WTO TALKS (101 Reuters 8/13) The wording of a report intended to summarize last month’s abortive trade talks on industrial goods has upset the U.S., making an early resumption of the negotiations harder, trade sources said Wednesday. The new row, over the phrasing of discussions on proposals to open up individual industrial sectors, shows that trading powers are already jockeying for position in any new talks that are set up on the wreckage of last month’s ministerial meeting. The World Trade Organization talks foundered over differences between the U.S. and India over a proposal to protect poor farmers in developing countries from surges in imports. Several countries are calling for the talks to resume soon to build on the progress made in other areas. WTO mediators have issued reports summarizing last month’s negotiations and incorporating compromise proposals on tariff and subsidy cuts floated by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy to a group of seven major players, the G7, in an effort to reach a deal. But the report issued by the outgoing chairman of the industrial goods negotiations changes some of the wording from the Lamy text. SUGAR SUPPLIES TO TIGHTEN DESPITE BIG STOCKS (102 Reuters 8/14) The world is sitting on a huge stockpile of sugar, but global supply outlook will tighten into next year due to rain-induced crop problems in Brazil and falling output in India, auguring higher prices. The International Sugar Organization estimates that global stocks of the sweetener will stand at around 70 million tons by the end of September, some 8 million to 9 million more than in the same period a year ago. Despite the high stocks, many trades believe sugar prices will rise in the medium term as supply from Brazil and India tightens and demand increases. USDA DECLARES COUNTIES DISASTER AREAS IN THREE STATES (103 Reuters 8/14) USDA declared 25 counties in three states as primary disaster areas Thursday, making farmers eligible for low-interest emergency loans. The counties included 23 in New York and one each in California and Texas. The counties suffered losses due to causes ranging from drought to excessive rain, hail and high winds. Additional counties in seven states are also eligible for assistance because they are close to the primary disaster areas. FOOD SAFETY NEBRASKA BEEF LTD. RECALL EXPANDS (104 Omaha World-Herald, wires 8/14) A review of Nebraska Beef Ltd.’s records prompted a recall expansion Thursday because USDA investigators determined that the company’s practices couldn’t effectively control E. coli bacteria on June 24. About 1.36 million pounds of beef is now included in the recall, which began Aug. 8 after the company’s meat was linked to an E. coli outbreak in 10 states and Canada. The initial announcement recalled 1.2 million pounds of beef produced on June 17, June 24 and July 8. Nebraska Beef’s products involved in the current recall have been linked to 27 illnesses. Last month, the company recalled 5.3 million pounds of ground beef because of a different E. coli outbreak. After that recall, federal officials were satisfied that the company was operating safely. A USDA spokeswoman said investigators decided that 160,000 pounds of meat should be added to the current recall after examining the June 24 records for the Omaha plant. RECALL TARGETS COMPANY’S BEEF, NOT STATE’S BEEF (105 Omaha World-Herald 8/14) The beef recall by Omaha meatpacker Nebraska Beef Ltd. appeared to cause some confusion when some media outlets used the shorthand “Nebraska Beef,” potentially implying that any beef produced in Nebraska was subject to recall. The Food Safety and Inspection Service posted clarifications on its Web site Wednesday. The agency said that a recall announced last Friday and an earlier one this summer affected only certain products processed at one Omaha firm. The words “Nebraska beef” could be interpreted too broadly, a USDA spokesman said. Since the early 1990s, Nebraska officials and cattlemen have launched a number of marketing efforts to make the name Nebraska a brand name for quality beef. The overall objective has been to make Nebraska beef as common a standard for quality as Idaho potatoes, so any confusion caused by the meatpacker’s name could jeopardize 20 years of image-building. The American Meat Institute also issued a clarification, saying that “Millions of pounds of safe beef produced in the state are currently in commerce and may be prepared and eaten safety.” MARKETING & REGULATORY PROGRAMS USDA GIVES U. OF GEORGIA $4.1 MILLION TO STUDY HONEYBEE DEATHS (106 Atlanta Journal-Constitution 8/14) USDA has awarded the University of Georgia $4.1 million to lead a nationwide investigation into the mysterious deaths of honeybees. “Georgia is one of the lead players” in the honeybee world, said the UGA entomology professor who will direct the four-year study, which will involve 17 colleges and universities. He said the goal of the nationwide research is to eliminate redundancy in a “coordinated attempt to figure out what is causing honeybee decline and what we can do about it.” Secretary Ed Schafer announced the grant to study the causes of colony collapse disorder and other diseases affecting bee populations. JUDGE DENIES CLASS-ACTION STATUS FOR BIOTECH RICE SUIT (107 AP 8/14) A federal judge ruled Thursday that hundreds of farmers will not be able to consolidate their lawsuits against Bayer CropScience AG over the accidental release of experimental genetically modified rice into the food supply. U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry in St. Louis denied a motion to certify the farmers’ claims into one class-action suit, saying they were too different from one another to be lumped into a single case. The rice farmers are suing Bayer CropScience to recoup income they claim to have lost after the release of the company’s so-called Liberty Link rice into the food supply in 2006. After the accidental contamination was announced, some foreign countries temporarily banned U.S. rice exports, drying up foreign markets and causing the price for U.S. rice to drop. CALIFORNIA DECLARES VICTORY OVER MEDFLIES (108 L.A. Times 8/15) The California Department of Food and Agriculture declared victory Thursday over Mediterranean fruit fly infestations in three counties, meaning there are no remaining infestations in the state. The Los Angeles County quarantine is no longer being enforced, and is expected to be formally lifted within days. Quarantines in Solano and Santa Clara counties already have been lifted. The Mediterranean fruit fly is one of many pests that threaten agriculture and residential gardens in California. As travel and commerce increase worldwide, the variety of pests breaching the U.S. border is on the rise. State and farm officials, for example, are now concerned about the Asian citrus psyllid, a tiny insect that can carry a disease that kills citrus trees. It has been discovered just south of the border in Tijuana, sending shock waves through the California citrus industry. NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT CHOPPER DEATHS RAISE CONCERNS ABOUT WILDFIRE TACTICS (109 AP 8/15) When a firefighting helicopter went down in Northern California last week, killing nine and injuring four, the mountain crash site was so remote that it could only be reached by air or a full day’s hike. According to the Forest Service, fighting this stubborn wildfire, even in an area nowhere near homes or businesses, was necessary because massive plumes of smoke were threatening the health of residents across the region. But in a summer when a staggering number of wildfires are costing millions to fight, not everyone agrees that sending firefighters to battle back-country blazes that pose no obvious threat to lives or property is the right approach. The article quotes the executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology: “Sending them out to fight a fire in the wilderness is both overkill and unnecessary. Firefighters are being ordered to take significant risks of their lives, health and safety that are incommensurate with...the benefits of suppression.” MEMORIAL TODAY FOR CHOPPER CRASH VICTIMS (110 Mail-Tribune, Ore. 8/14) A public memorial service will be held this morning for the seven firefighters, the helicopter pilot and the Forest Service employee who died on a helicopter crash Aug. 5 in Northern California. The memorial will be held at the Jackson County, Ore., fairgrounds in Central Point. Among the speakers will be Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell; Tom Harbour, director of fire and aviation management for the Forest Service; and Rep. Greg Walden. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is expected to attend. FIRE PLANE MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING (111 AP 8/14) A firefighting airplane under contract to the Forest Service made an emergency landing at the airport in Redding, Calif., when its landing gear failed. The Forest Service said there were no injuries. A pilot and a Forest Service firefighting coordinator were on board the plane, which is owned by a Utah air service. ENVIRONMENTALISTS SUE FOREST SERVICE (112 AP 8/14) Several environmental groups are suing the Forest Service, saying the agency failed to adequately protect Southern California forests against road building, grazing and oil and gas exploration. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in San Francisco, the groups argued that the Forest Service’s 2005 land and resource management plan failed to protect 3 million acres of forest lands. RESEARCH, EDUCATION & ECONOMICS TOUR TO SURVEY CORN, SOY CROPS AS MATURITY LAGS (113 Reuters 8/14) Gauging the effects of ample moisture and late planting of corn and soybean crops will be among the key tasks for crop scouts fanning out across the Midwest next week on an annual crop tour, crop experts said. But a cloud of uncertainty will remain over yield forecasts even after the tour’s four-day, seven-state swing through the heart of the Corn Belt because crops in many areas are two to three weeks behind the normal pace of development, they said. The immaturity of the crop not only makes it difficult to project yields, it also puts corn and soybeans at an increased risk of frost. “The more mature the crop, the more we’re measuring actual yield. The less mature, the more potential we’re measuring, and when you start measuring potential you start running into potential problems,” said Chip Flory, editor of the ProFarmer newsletter and director of the tour. The John Deere Pro Farmer Midwest crop tour begins Monday, with an eastern leg starting from Ohio and a western leg from South Dakota. The two legs will converge in Minnesota on Thursday, and ProFarmer will release its corn and soy production forecasts on Friday. IDAHO SUGAR BEET CROP COULD BE DOWN 40 PERCENT (114 AP 8/14) The amount of sugar beets being grown in Idaho this year is likely to be down 40 percent from last year as farmers switch to more lucrative crops, agriculture officials say. USDA said in a report released earlier this week that sugar beet production in Idaho is expected to be 3.48 million tons, the lowest since 1984. The report also said the harvested acreage of sugar beets in Idaho has dropped to its lowest level since 1977 at 117,000 acres. A USDA statistician said high prices for wheat, corn and hay have caused Idaho farmers to plant those crops instead. USDA -- MULTI-MISSION COST OF PLANNED LAB FOR ANIMAL DISEASES INCREASES $200 MILLION (115 Atlanta Journal-Constitution 8/15) The projected cost of a bioterrorism laboratory for animal diseases sought by Georgia and five other states has shot up at least $200 million, according to new estimates by the Department of Homeland Security. The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility received congressional authorization for $451 million just two years ago, but DHS now says the facility will cost at least $648 million, and could cost as much at $939 million, depending on where it is located. DHS’s director of laboratories attributed the sharp escalation to additional site-specific costs that were not built into the original 2006 authorization from Congress, which added $75 million to $140 million. General inflation in construction costs accounted for the rest. INFLATION CLIMBS TO 17-YEAR HIGH (116 Washington Post 8/15) Americans paid more last month not only for gas and food but also for a variety of goods and services, including clothes, shoes, hotels and air travel, as inflation unexpectedly jumped to a 17- year high. The Consumer Price Index climbed 0.8 percent in July, the Labor Department said Thursday, twice as much as Wall Street anticipated. It was the third straight month of high inflation, and the 5.6 percent year-over-year change was the highest since January 1991. LAST HOLDOUT, LOUISIANA OUTLAWS COCKFIGHTING TODAY (117 Washington Post 8/15) With a new law that goes into effect today, Louisiana becomes the last state to outlaw cockfighting. In 33 states and the District of Columbia, it is a felony, but it is still popular in some countries, and remains legal in the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and American Samoa. Animal advocacy organizations applaud the closing of the final legal venue in the U.S. for a blood sport they view as cruel and barbaric. The article looks at some who oppose the new law, arguing that it is their “heritage,” and saying that being sanctioned by people who dine on chicken from factory farms is hypocritical. CARBON CREDIT PROGRAM INCLUDES 2,300 FARMERS AND RANCHERS (118 AP 8/15) The article leads with an account of a North Dakota farmer who recently got a $4,000 check for storing carbon dioxide in his soil. While he says he’s “considerate of the environment,” the real reason for participating in the program is “more for my own pocketbook.” Robert Carlson, the president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, says 990 farmers and ranchers in the state got about $2.6 million last month for using no-till and other practices to capture carbon dioxide. The program pools carbon credits for sale on the Chicago Climate Exchange. Members of the exchange can buy carbon credits to help offset their emissions. Producers around the country have earned $8.5 million since the voluntary program began in 2006 in North Dakota, Carlson said. About 2,300 farmers and ranchers in about 20 states are enrolled in the program, he said, and enrollment has tripled in the past year. North Dakota, he said, “is the largest state in terms of carbon sequestration and program participation.” DEAD ZONES APPEAR IN WATERS WORLDWIDE (119 Washington Post 8/15) In the latest sign of trouble in the planet’s chemistry, the number of oxygen-starved “dead zones” in coastal waters around the world has roughly doubled every decade since the 1960s, killing fish, crabs and massive amounts of marine life at the base of the food chain, according to a study released Thursday. “These zones are popping up all over,” said a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science who led the study, which was published online by the journal Science. The study’s authors counted more than 400 dead zones globally, ranging from expansive ones in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Mexico to small ones that appear episodically in river estuaries. Collectively, they cover about 95,000 square miles. “GREEN” LAND GRAB COULD SOW SEEDS OF CONFLICT (120 Reuters 8/15) A race to grab land in developing countries and exploit food supply fears and payments to conserve forests could spark conflicts in areas of land disputes, development and civil rights groups say. Investors say higher land valuations are just what’s needed to settle claims that may have festered since colonial days. But such marginal and forested land is common property, which in the past has given poor local communities little benefit from logging, mining and oil concessions. “No-man’s land and hinterland is suddenly valuable,” said an official of the Washington-based Rights and Resources Initiative. “Communities had been told the land was theirs. Now it’s contested.” Spiraling commodity prices have driven speculative interest in farms and forests in emerging markets where productive land can cost one-tenth of the price in industrialized nations. Land and food prices are expected to remain high as a growing, richer world demands more land for settlement and food, while climate change threatens more droughts. AGRICULTURE AND TRADE PRESS DTN 8/14 (121) Schafer says USDA will implement farm bill according to “letter of the law” (122) Senate ag committee plans biofuel hearing in Omaha Monday SUCCESSFUL FARMING 8/1 (123) New disaster program is tied to crop insurance BROWNFIELD 8/15 (124) Nebraska Beef Ltd. recall expanded DELTA FARM PRESS 8/15 (125) USDA sticks with high yield estimate for rice MEATINGPLACE 8/15 (126) FSIS committee on microbiological criteria for foods seeks nominations AND ALSO… MINIMUM BID $30,000 FOR MILLION-MILE TRUCK (127 AP 8/13) The owner of a 1991 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck that’s traveled more than a million miles is parting with what he calls his “old girl.” Frank Oresnik of Catawba, Wis., planned to put the truck up for sale Thursday night on eBay. The minimum bid is $30,000. Oresnik said the truck has had four radiators, three gas tanks and five transmissions, but that the engine is original. FRIDAY AG HUMOR: A farmer works hard to send his son to college. When the boy comes home for Thanksgiving, the father wants to show him off to his friends. “Go on, son,” he says, “tell us something you learned at college.” The boy says, “Well, okay. Let’s see…pi-r-squared.” The farmer gets embarrassed and says, “What are they teaching you up there?? Pie are round. Cornbread are square.” To obtain a USDA release, access USDA’s Home Page at http://www.usda.gov To access AgNews on the USDA Intranet, go to http://agnews.usda.gov * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DISCLAIMER -- AgNews content is derived from major wires, news magazines and mass distribution press. Inclusion of an item in AgNews does not imply USDA agreement; nor does USDA attest to the accuracy or completeness of the item. * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *