Office of Communications (202) 720-8138 AgNews Summary for USDA Executives Monday, Aug. 18, 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 SCHAFER TO JOIN SCHWAB, GUTIERREZ IN TRADE TALKS WITH CHINA (101 Dow Jones 8/15) The U.S. announced plans Friday to host the latest round of high-level trade talks with China next month. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez will hold the 19th session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade at the Nixon Library in California. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer will also take part in the talks, which are scheduled to start Sept. 15. EXPORT BOOM HELPS FARMS, NOT FACTORIES (102 N.Y. Times 8/18) Exports are the bright spot this year in an otherwise bleak economy. But the world is not suddenly snapping up made-in-America goods like aircraft and machinery. The great attraction is decidedly low-luster commodities like corn, wheat, ore and scrap metal. This helps explains why manufacturing jobs are disappearing by the tens of thousands and factories are closing even during a mini-boom in exports. While the surge in commodities is a welcome relief, it is an unreliable prop for an industrial power. The article quotes a trade expert who says “don’t get too used to commodity export booms,” because they can disappear quickly. FOOD SAFETY SIX MONTHS LATER, DID THE BEEF RECALL PRODUCE BENEFITS? (103 Riverside Press-Enterprise, Calif. 8/16) The investigation of the Westland-Hallmark Meat Co.’s alleged abuse of cattle at the slaughterhouse prompted a massive recall in January of beef from the facility. Six months later, the recall is over, but its impact is clear and far- reaching. It was felt in school cafeterias, where officials had to dump millions of pounds of meat. It was felt in South Korea, where it set back beef trade negotiations and added fuel to protests. It prompted both federal and state governments to strengthen laws against the slaughter of downed cattle. Campaigners gained traction in their push for a ballot measure to outlaw small cages for chickens and some other farm animals. What is not clear is exactly why USDA officials initiated the recall, considering their continuing assertions that there was never a threat to public health. Requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act were fruitless. In some cases, officials said documents sought didn’t exist. In others, they were withheld pending the outcome of federal investigations into how the federal inspection system at Westland-Hallmark broke down, and whether what happened there was isolated or evidence of a more widespread problem. The article goes on to look at how beef sales were impacted, and whether the recall of Westland-Hallmark meat was justified. MARKETING & REGULATORY PROGRAMS CANADA CONFIRMS ANOTHER CASE OF BSE (104 wires 8/15) Canadian officials on Friday confirmed the country’s 14th case of BSE since 2003. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the case was found in a six-year-old beef cow. The agency said there was no risk to the public because no part of the animal entered the human food system. CFIA has identified the animal’s birth farm in Alberta, and is tracing other animals in the herd. It is also looking for possible sources of infection, concentrating on what the cow ate. SOUTH KOREA TO DECLARE ITSELF FREE OF BIRD FLU (105 AP 8/17) South Korea plans to declare itself free of bird flu this week, more than three months after a series of outbreaks led authorities to slaughter nearly 8.5 million birds, an Agriculture Ministry official said Sunday. The official said the declaration will be reported today to the international animal health organization OIE. Under the OIE’s regulations, a country can officially declare itself free of the disease if no new cases of bird flu have been found for three months. NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT ON THE FIRE LINES, A SHIFT TO PRIVATE CONTRACTORS (106 N.Y. Times 8/18) The article says the mix of people who died in last week’s helicopter crash was not uncommon, with most of those killed being part of a contract firefighting crew. Faced by a series of intense fire seasons and demands on firefighters nationwide, officials are increasingly working within a de facto public-private partnership. The article quotes the operations manager for one private company who says the public is unaware of the extent to which private firefighters are being used. The federal government has long used private contractors for support, such as providing showers, catering, tents, bulldozers, water trucks and aviation. But the increase in ground crews, and the lengthier fire season, has left some firefighter advocates wondering whether taxpayer money would be better spent improving federal resources. The article quotes a Forest Service official who says one reason for the shift to private crews is the loss of federal timber crews, who used to be available to help fight wildfires. As Forest Service timber harvesting declined, so did its number of crews. HELICOPTER VOICE RECORDER DAMAGED IN CRASH (107 AP 8/15) Officials investigating a deadly helicopter crash in Northern California said Friday that the cockpit voice recorder suffered heat damage that is complicating efforts to extract information from the device. Nine men were killed and four were hurt when the firefighting aircraft went down last week. The recorder will be sent this week to England, where its British manufacturer will help investigators try to recover recordings that could shed light on what caused the crash. SERVICE HONORS HELICOPTER CRASH VICTIMS (108 AP 8/15) More than 3,000 family members, friends and firefighters turned out Friday at the Jackson County fairgrounds in Central Point, Ore., to pay tribute to the nine men killed in the crash of a firefighting helicopter in Northern California. Among them was Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell. The president of Grayback Forestry, which employed seven of those who died, urged the public to “keep these firefighters in in your prayers” – and he noted that even as the service was going on, “there are battles raging in the forest” as firefighters work to control other wildfires. FIREFIGHTERS BATTLING FIVE FIRES IN LOS PADRES (109 AP 8/17) Nearly 90,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest in California remained closed Sunday while firefighters battled five wilderness blazes ignited by lightning last week. A Forest Service spokeswoman said fires charred about 250 acres in remote, rugged areas of Santa Barbara County. The forest closure is expected to remain in effect until the fires are suppressed. CALIFORNIA COUNTIES FACE CHALLENGES OVER FOREST REZONING (110 Sacramento Bee 6/16) Two Northern California counties are facing lawsuits over recent decisions to rezone timberlands owned by Sierra Pacific Industries. Lassen County supervisors violated the county general plan when they approved the company’s request to change nearly 5,500 acres from timber production to agricultural forest zoning, said the president of Friends of Lassen Forest, which filed the action last week. In Sierra County, a local group filed a petition in July seeking to reverse county supervisors’ action in March to rezone more than 7,000 acres in a remote area surrounded by the Tahoe National Forest. Lassen and Sierra are among five Northern California counties where the timber company has sought to remove land from timber production zoning. County supervisors, in separate actions, have approved new zones for 18,839 acres of Sierra Pacific lands. The new designations start a 10-year countdown that will end the tax benefits Sierra Pacific has enjoyed under timberland production zoning. After 10 years, the company could request new zoning designations that permit development. RURAL DEVELOPMENT USDA AWARDS $547 MILLION FOR WATER PROJECTS IN 46 STATES (111 Reuters 8/15) USDA said Friday it awarded $547 million in loans and grants to rural communities to provide safe drinking water and improved wastewater treatment systems. USDA said the funding for 232 projects was awarded to rural communities in 46 states and Puerto Rico. The funding comes from Rural Development’s Water and Environmental Program. See USDA release #0124. USDA -- MULTI-MISSION N.Y. FARMERS SAY IMMIGRATION RAIDS THREATEN HARVESTS (112 Journal- News, White Plains, N.Y. 8/14) With the harvest season approaching, farmers around the state say crackdowns on immigrants are causing a widespread labor shortage that threatens this year’s harvest of some fruits and vegetables. The article quotes a spokesman for the state Farm Bureau who says some farmers are “flat-out short of hands,” and are worried about leaving some produce unharvested. New York is home to a labor-intensive farming industry, with many crops that have to be picked by hand. One farmer says plenty of willing workers could be had nearby, but “they don’t have papers” allowing them to work legally in the U.S. The Farm Bureau spokesman says a crackdown on illegal immigrants in the western part of the state has led to a diminishing labor supply. The article says the H-2A visa program has been helpful in bringing workers in legally from Latin America, but that it operates on a small scale and gets mixed reviews from farmers. SALMONELLA WINDING DOWN; FDA STILL CAN’T EXPLAIN WIDE SPREAD (113 AP 8/15) The nationwide salmonella outbreak is finally winding down, but federal health officials can’t yet say how the few tainted Mexican peppers they’ve found could explain such widespread illness. The outbreak isn’t considered over yet, the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety chief cautioned Friday. FDA is focusing its probe on some farms in Mexico where a handful of Serrano and jalapeno peppers and some irrigation water were found to tainted with the outbreak strain of salmonella. FDA has also expanded testing of some Mexican produce, uncovering more cases of salmonella contamination – just not the same strain that caused this particular outbreak. CAGED HENS SET OFF BATTLE IN CALIFORNIA (114 Sacramento bee 8/15) California’s November ballot is studded with weighty issues, but none is ruffling feathers like Proposition 2, which would effectively ban farms from raising hens in cages. The United Egg producers predicts the measure would triple the cost of eggs, drive the industry out of the state and deprive consumers of fresh, safe California eggs. Supporters say it would add only about a penny to the cost of an egg, and would end the practice of cramming hens into cages so small they can’t turn around. They argue that the egg industry has reaped record profits in the past year, while the price of an egg has jumped six cents. A poll released last month showed the measure leading by the highest margin of any initiative – 63 percent to 24 percent, with 13 percent undecided. If approved, Proposition 2 would also require farmers to increase the space available for calves raised for veal and for pregnant pigs. But there is little veal production in California, and farmers have voluntarily phased out confining sows in breeding crates. The focus of the campaign will be egg-laying hens, more than 90 percent of which are raised in cages. FARMLAND AS INVESTMENT: ACRES OF PROFITS (115 N.Y. Times 8/17) The article leads with an account of a California man who bought a walnut farm last spring – a move he thinks will improve his family’s quality of life and build his assets as well. He expects to turn a profit of about $115,000 on the walnut crop, but in the meantime, the property has increased in value by about $200,000. “That’s a lot better than most other investments,” he says. Indeed, farmland in general is considered an excellent investment diversifier. And as many real estate sectors languish these days, agricultural land is going strong. In an annual report issued earlier this month, USDA said property values for farmland nationwide had risen 8.8 percent on average over 2007. SOUTH DAKOTANS EXPECTED TO HAVE QUESTIONS FOR SCHAFER (116 The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D. 8/16) South Dakotans have lots of agricultural questions. They’ll get a chance to have some answered this week when Secretary Ed Schafer shares the speaker’s platform with Sen. John Thune at Dakotafest, near Mitchell. A Thune adviser said a focus of the forum will be the potential of cellulosic ethanol. “People also want to know what the government is going to do to address $4 gas and to bring down the price of diesel fuel,” he said. The article says other questions for Schafer are expected to deal with the impact of the farm bill on area agriculture, concerns about rising feed costs for livestock producers, import tariffs on ethanol, implementation of country-of-origin labeling, and the acquisition of American meatpacking firms by South American interests. SCHAFER, DORR AT NORTH DAKOTA SUMMIT (117 Bismarck Tribune 8/15) North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven will host a Rural Community Summit in Bismarck, N.D., Aug. 26-27. The summit is designed to address major challenges and opportunities and share ideas on economic development, organizers said. One of the expected speakers is Secretary Ed Schafer, who will join Hoeven as keynote speaker. Under Secretary Tom Dorr also will be among keynote speakers at the summit. Schafer is also expected to attend the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture annual meeting in Bismarck Sept. 19-24. EDITORIAL AND OPINION DEMOCRATS OUT OF REASONS TO OPPOSE KOREA FREE TRADE (118 Washington Post 8/18) An editorial says that among pending bilateral and regional trade agreements, “the economic case for the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement in particular...remains strong.” The problem is politics, it says: “Nationalist opposition to greater trade with the United States still roils South Korea; local protectionists have been galvanized by wildly exaggerated fears of mad cow disease in U.S. beef imports.” South Korea President Lee Myung-bak’s party holds a majority in the country’s National Assembly, but “the U.S. Congress is another story,” the editorial says. It cites “much opposition” among Democrats, particularly since both the Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers union remain opposed. However, it says, changes in the agreement address concerns about access to South Korea’s automotive markets – enough to satisfy General Motors. That leaves only Ford and the UAW opposed. Still, that plus the anti-trade sentiment that prevailed in the Democrats’ primary season make prospects for the Korean trade pact “much lower than they should be.” CORN PHONE IS NOT AS GREEN AS IT SEEMS (119 N.Y. Times 8/16) An editorial says “eco-phones” being marketed by Samsung are made from bioplastic, with materials extracted from corn. The phone relies on the “flawed equation” that corn equals green, the editorial says. In fact, the bioplastic requires special handling in recycling, and creates another new industrial demand for corn. Such demands “are driving up world food prices and are increasing the pressure to convert more non-agricultural land to corn production,” the editorial says. It concludes that “the truly green solution” for electronics makers is to reuse the plastics we are already using. NONSENSE ABOUT FOOD AND ETHANOL (120 Fargo Forum, N.D. 8/17) An editorial says there has been a great deal of “condescending, feel-good hooey” from a wide variety of people across the political spectrum about the supposed role of ethanol in harming developing nations. Opponents say ethanol has diverted corn from food use and driven up the price of corn and corn-based feeds. “It’s mostly nonsense and propaganda,” the editorial says. Food companies are reporting increased profits, the editorial says, primarily because they have raised prices on the pretext that their costs are increasing because of the increased cost of corn. Meanwhile, corn prices are down from where they were a few months ago. “Have food prices followed? Will they? Nope,” the editorial says. “Most are still rising, not because of grains but because of energy costs associated with processing and transportation.” It concludes by urging readers not to “buy into the anti-ethanol propaganda.” NATION NEEDS MORE ACREAGE IN PRODUCTION, NOT MORE CRP (121 Fargo Forum, N.D. 8/18) A commentary disagrees with a recent Forum editorial that called for expansion of the Conservation Reserve Program (AgNews 7/31 #114). The writers say idling more acres of U.S. cropland will increase dependence on foreign suppliers for food and will hurt both local and national economies. Expanding CRP restrains American farmers from satisfying the world’s growing demand for grains, they say, and “would take more land out of production at a time when this country needs every bushel it can produce for food, feed and fuel.” Production from land that might go into CRP “can add economic benefit from a local to a national level and relieve some of the upward pressure on prices,” the writers say. They also argue that CRP land hurts the economy because it requires no fertilizer or seed and produces no grain for elevators to handle or railroads to ship. Revenues from hunting make up for only a fraction of the lost agricultural revenue from CRP land, they say. When CRP started in 1987, there was a surplus of commodities, but now the situation is reversed and “we need more production, not less.” AMERICA NEEDS A RURAL BROADBAND POLICY SOON (122 The News and Advance, Lynchburg, Va. 8/17) An editorial calls on whoever is the new president to develop a national broadband policy. It argues that bringing Internet access to rural areas “is as important now as bringing electricity to rural America was for President Roosevelt in the 1930s.” Yet the federal government “unbelievably” has “no vision or plan for making true broadband Internet accessible across the country.” Affordable broadband access “would bring a multitude of benefits to rural America,” the editorial says. Moreover, job telecommuting will be the norm in the not-too-distant future – but can only happen where affordable broadband is available. It suggests a variety of ways the government might make rural broadband a reality: public-private partnerships, tax incentives, public investment. However it’s done, “America needs broadband access at speeds comparable to the rest of the developed world.” ANIMAL RIGHTS TERRORISM (123 L.A. Times 8/18) A commentary cites firebombings earlier this month at the University of California at Santa Cruz as evidence that animal rights extremism is getting worse. The writer says militant animal rights activists have increasingly targeted researchers and their families at home, and he says such attacks “should be a wake-up call to law enforcement.” Congress has given the FBI additional tools to pursue animal rights extremism, by the agency has not apprehended anyone since the new law was passed, and “it needs to make these crimes a higher priority.” He goes on to cite examples of threats and actions by militants, and he argues for the effectiveness of animal research. He concludes: “It’s time for law enforcement to send a message to animal rights extremists by making a more concerted effort to apprehend those involved.” AGRICULTURE AND TRADE PRESS KIPLINGER AGRICULTURE LETTER 8/15 (124) Will farmland values keep rising? You bet (125) Look for farmland rents to play catch-up with land values (126) Russia stealing a page from Canada’s grain export marketing book (127) Country-of-origin rules will be chock-full of exemptions (128) Figure on three more years before U.S. cattle herd is expanded (129) Farm bill’s first-round funding for specialty crop research on its way AGRICULTURE ONLINE 8/15 (130) Energy costs chipping away at Plains farm incomes CAPITAL PRESS 8/15 (131) Commentary: COOL is here, finally FEEDSTUFFS 8/15 (132) Canada confirms BSE in six-year-old cow USAGNET 8/15 (133) Korean broadcaster apologizes over U.S. beef report DTN 8/15 (134) Beef industry preps for COOL times MEATINGPLACE 8/15 (135) USDA seeks comment on guidelines for trim testing for E. coli AND ALSO… PENGUIN RECEIVES NORWEGIAN KNIGHTHOOD (136 AP 8/15) Nils Olav the penguin already has three medals for good conduct and long service. In 2005, he was made honorary colonel-in-chief of the elite Norwegian King’s Guard. And on Friday, he was knighted. This penguin is the third Nils Olav. The original was made an honorary member of the King’s Guard in 1972. After that bird died, he was replaced by a second penguin, and then a third, both of whom inherited the original’s name and rank. All three have been residents of the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, which members of the Norwegian King’s Guard often tour during visits. Friday’s knighthood ceremony began with speeches and a fanfare, then Nils reviewed the troops and was knighted by a British officer on behalf of Norway’s King Harald V. NETWORK NEWS Friday, Aug. 15 CBS: Everyone agrees Jenny the elephant needs a new home, but animal rights groups and Houston zoo officials are locked in a bitter dispute over where she should be sent USDA RELEASES Friday, Aug. 15 0214 SCHAFER ANNOUNCES $547 MILLION FOR 232 RURAL WATER PROJECTS 0213 USDA AWARDS $4.5 MILLION FOR 23 RURAL COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT CENTERS 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. * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ACCESS AGNEWS ARCHIVES ON THE USDA INTRANET – AgNews archive files are available on the USDA Intranet at http://agnews.usda.gov. AgNews summary and PDF clip files for the past week can be found under the days of the week at the top of the page. Archive files for back issues of both the AgNews summary and the PDF clip files can be found under the “Archives” listing. Select a text file for the summary or a PDF file for the AgNews clippings and choose the date of the issue you want to see.