The Hagstrom Report | Ag News As It Happens House to take up Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRDA) today Farm bill conferees, leaders hear from many farm groups Report: No action on industrial food production policies WFP awarded U.S. commodities for school meals USDA urges South Dakota ranchers to sign up for programs, document losses hagstromreport Wednesday, October 23, 2013 | Volume 3, Number 177 *** House to take up WRDA today The House will take up the Water Resources Reform and Development Act today with a long series of amendments, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., announced late Tuesday. Leader’s Daily Schedule Rules Committee — H.R. 3080, Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 *** Farm bill conferees, leaders hear from many farm groups A number of groups have written to members of the House and Senate conference on the farm bill, urging support for their positions. NSAC opposes payments on planted acres In its letter to farm bill conferees, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said Tuesday that conferees should reject the House proposal that would tie payments to planted acres up to base acres. Conferees should “reject all the environmentally destructive and trade distorting provisions that propose to tie program payments of any type to actual planted acres or yield updating,” NSAC said. NSAC also urged the conferees to adopt the payment limitations that are in both bills, develop whole farm revenue insurance for diversified farming operations, and retain the Senate provision to cut crop insurance premium subsidies for farmers who make more than $750,000 per year, as well as many other provisions in both the House and Senate bills. National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Letter to Farm Bill Conferees Growers urge support of specialty crops The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, composed of growers of fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, nursery plants and other products, has written a letter to farm bill conferees urging them to maintain support for specialty crops. The growers are also opposed to provisions reducing crop insurance premium support for high earners and linking crop insurance to conservation compliance. Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance Letter to Farm Bill Conference Committee Leaders Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance Letter from House members supports USDA catfish inspection repeal Seventy-six members of the House have urged House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., to insist on keeping the House farm bill repeal of the USDA catfish inspection program during the farm bill conference, according to a letter released today by the National Fisheries Institute. The letter was organized by Rep. Vicki Hartzler, R-Mo., and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif. Letter to Rep. Lucas and Rep. Lucas on Catfish Inspection Program Repeal USDA Catfish Inspection Program House members ask for food aid changes Fifty-three House members have written House and Senate conferees urging them to make changes to the U.S. international food aid programs, according to a letter released today by Oxfam America. House Letter to Conferees on Food Aid Programs *** Report: No action on industrial food production policies The Obama administration and Congress have done nothing to act on the recommendations made by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production five years ago, according to a new analysis by Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future. Robert S. Lawrence The Pew report called for a ban on non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in food animal production and a number of changes in how animals are handled. “There has been an appalling lack of progress,” said Robert S. Lawrence, a physician who is the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. “The failure to act by the USDA and FDA, the lack of action or concern by the Congress, and continued intransigence of the animal agriculture industry have made all of our problems worse.” Randy Spronk But the National Pork Producers Council said that the report ignores advances in animal care and environmental standards. “Just as it was five years ago, the charges against animal agriculture made in the CLF report bear little resemblance to the truth,” said Randy Spronk, a pork producer from Edgerton, Minn., and president of the National Pork Producers Council. “The report is wrong in every aspect, and the CLF ignored the extensive steps animal agriculture has taken over the last decade or more to address various industry challenges,” Spronk said. “We have continuously made improvements in animal care, including protecting them from diseases, and we always have been good stewards of the land, air and water we use.” The Animal Agriculture Alliance also issued a report to counter the Center for a Livable Future report. Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production — Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America John Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future — Industrial Food Animal Production in America: Examining the Impact of the Pew Commission’s Priority Recommendations Animal Agriculture Alliance — What the Center for a Livable Future, Pew Commission & Others Aren’t Telling You About Food Production *** WFP awarded U.S. commodities for school meals The United Nations World Food Program has been awarded $81 million in food commodities under the Agriculture Department’s McGovern-Dole international school meals programs, WFP announced today. The food will be provided over a three-year period to feed children in Cambodia, Kenya, Liberia and Malawi. Each country will receive food valued at $20 million except Malawi, which will receive food valued at $21 million. USDA’s contribution will allow WFP to feed 3.9 million schoolchildren: 1.5 million in Kenya, 1.4 million in Malawi, 578,136 in Cambodia and 454,000 in Liberia. The commodities provided are rice, yellow split peas, vegetable oil, bulgur (regular and soy-fortified) and a fortified nutritional product called Corn Soy Blend-Plus. This program is in addition to school meals support that WFP is receiving from the McGovern-Dole program for five other countries: Bangladesh ($30 million), Ethiopia ($26.5 million), Haiti ($24 million), Laos ($10 million) and Nepal ($18 million). They are in different stages of previously-awarded, three-year grants. Last year, WFP provided school meals or take-home rations to 24.7 million children around the world. McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program United Nations World Food Program *** USDA urges South Dakota ranchers to sign up for programs, document losses Michael Scuse Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse told South Dakota ranchers Monday that USDA is offering a special signup through the Natural Resources Conservation Service Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to help them address the impacts of the recent blizzard. Scuse also urged them to submit forms to the Farm Service Agency to document their losses even though the livestock disaster assistance programs have expired, USDA said in a news release Tuesday. “This blizzard impacted lives and livelihoods across the region and USDA is committed to doing all we can to help ranchers during this difficult time,” Scuse said in a release datelined from Rapid City, S.D. “Due to the lack of a new farm bill, our means to help are limited — but we will do all we can. This disaster is a reminder of the unpredictable nature of agriculture, and the need for a strong farm safety net that would be provided by a new food, farm and jobs bill.” © 2011 - 2013 The Hagstrom Report, LLC | PO Box 58183 | Washington, DC 20037-9997
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 05:14:30 +0000
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