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Daily Market Summary | Weekly Hog Update | NPPC Capital Update State and USDA agreement creates new Ag Water Quality Certification Program View Memorandum of Understanding (pdf) U.S. Pork Trade and Export Update (Jan. 4, 2012)
Minnesota Board of Animal Health Animal Bytes December (pdf) MPCA Monthly Feedlot Update January 2012 (pdf) |
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High Court Tosses California ‘Downer’ Law WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2012 – In a unanimous decision issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law that bans the processing of all non-ambulatory animals, including hogs. NPPC hailed the ruling. The California Legislature approved the law in 2008 after a video was released by animal activists, showing non-ambulatory, or “downed,” cows at a California beef packing plant being dragged and prodded to enter the processing line. The statute prohibited the buying, selling, or receiving of non-ambulatory animals, the processing, butchering or selling of meat or products from non-ambulatory animals for human consumption and the holding of non-ambulatory animals without taking immediate action to humanely euthanize them.[As part of its efforts to address Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture already forbids the slaughter of “downed” cattle.] The National Meat Association (NMA) challenged the law, and a federal district court judge in California blocked it. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco in 2010 overturned the lower court ruling. NMA appealed the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) pre-empts the California law. The high court agreed with NMA, ruling that the FMIA “expressly pre-empts” the California law’s application to federally inspected swine slaughterhouses. It reversed the Ninth Circuit decision and sent the case back to that court “for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.” “The Supreme Court’s ruling affirms the supremacy of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and USDA’s role in regulating meat process plants,” said NPPC President Doug Wolf, a hog farmer from Lancaster, Wis. “It also recognized that non-ambulatory hogs with proper recovery time and veterinary oversight do not need to be condemned immediately in all cases.” NPPC, which along with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and the National Farmers Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, argued that the California law would create an animal health risk and criminalizes the work of federal slaughterhouse inspectors. The organization also has pointed out that the state law could have prevented from being shipped to California meat processed in another state that did not adhere to the statute’s ban. “Non-ambulatory hogs that are allowed to recover pose no food-safety risk to the public,” Wolf said. “Such pigs are inspected by USDA inspectors and veterinarians regarding their fitness for processing and entering the human food supply, and strong regulatory safeguards for humane treatment in the processing of animals already exist.” |
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NPPC Opposes Federal ‘Farm Takeover Bill’ WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2012 – The National Pork Producers Council criticized congressional legislation introduced today that would prescribe cage sizes for egg-laying hens, saying it would set a “dangerous precedent” for allowing the federal government to regulate on-farm production practices, including animal housing. The legislation seeks to codify an agreement the Humane Society of the United States came to with the egg industry. HSUS agreed to forego trying to pass state ballot initiatives that would dictate egg production practices and to stop 10 years of litigation against and undercover investigations of the egg industry in exchange for egg producers nearly doubling the size of their cages for laying hens. In addition to cage sizes, the bill, H.R. 3798, includes labeling requirements for eggs and new air-quality standards for hen houses. “This HSUS-backed legislation would set a dangerous precedent that could let Washington bureaucrats dictate how livestock and poultry producers raise and care for their animals,” said NPPC President Doug Wolf, a hog farmer from Lancaster, Wis. “We don’t need or want the federal government and HSUS telling us how to do our jobs.” “This one-size-fits-all farm takeover bill is government intrusion on family farms at its worst and is unnecessary,” he added. “If enacted, it would open Pandora’s Box for special interest groups to pursue similar federal laws on pig farmers, dairy farmers and other family farming operations.” NPPC says the legislation would take away producers’ freedom to operate in ways that are best for their animals, make it difficult to respond to consumer demands, raise retail food prices and take away consumer choice, devastate small and niche producers and, at a time of constrained budgets for agriculture, redirect valuable resources from enhancing food safety and maintaining the competitiveness of U.S. agriculture to regulating on-farm production practices for reasons other than public and animal health. Treating farm animals humanely is an age-old principle for American farmers, and it’s a standard that doesn’t require an act of Congress,” said Wolf. “Unnecessary legislative mandates will only add financial burdens on American consumers and family-owned small businesses that are struggling in a fragile economy.” NPPC is urging congressional lawmakers to oppose the “Farm Takeover Bill.” |
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Voluntary Regional PRRS Elimination Project Information Update from Project Coordinator David Wright, DVM December 21, 2011 - Stevens County pork producers have set the example for the rest of the country in all the efforts made to eliminate PRRS from the county. We have had no reports of new infections or positive test results in more than a year. This has translated into higher profits and reduced risk of re-infection for all area producers. Read More... |
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NPPC Submits Comments on EPA’S CAFO Rule NPPC, along with nearly 90 agricultural organizations, filed two sets of comments with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Thursday on the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Reporting Rule. The first set was signed by a coalition of 88 national, state and local agricultural groups. The second set, submitted on behalf of NPPC and the American Farm Bureau Federation, directly addressed the various legal concerns the organizations have with the rule and the challenges the rule will prompt if and when it is finalized. EPA’s proposed rule would require large livestock and poultry facilities to submit to EPA substantial confidential farm and business information. The CAFO database rule is designed to provide a clearinghouse for activists on the location of farms and was the product of a sweetheart settlement between the Obama administration and anti-animal agriculture activist groups. NPPC voiced concerns that producers will incur substantial legal liability and that in compiling the information, the bio-security of producers’ operations may be compromised. Furthermore, NPPC believes the rule would provide little or no added benefit to improving manure management or protecting water. In December, NPPC Vice President Randy Spronk, a pork producer from Edgerton, Minn., met with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to discuss the pork industry’s concerns with the proposed rule. President Obama Outlines Plan to Reorganize Trade Agencies On Jan. 13 President Obama outlined a plan to consolidate six federal government agencies and departments that focus on business and trade. The president proposed consolidating the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Small Business Administration, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the U.S. Department Commerce’s core business and trade functions into a single cabinet-level department focused on trade and expanding market opportunities for U.S. businesses. Notably, the plan would eliminate USTR as a separate agency under the Executive Office of the President. USTR negotiates, enforces and administers the U.S. trade agreements program, as well as coordinates with different entities within the federal government, such as the Department of Agriculture, that have specialized roles in trade. NPPC is opposed to eliminating USTR as a separate, cabinet level agency. U.S. Pork Exports on Track to Reach $6 Billion for 2011 Export data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for November show that U.S. pork exports are on track to reach a record $6 billion for 2011. November also was a record month for exports with 217,000 metric tons (MT), valued at $598 million, exported globally. The 2011 estimated export value per pig rose 25 percent over 2010 to $55 per pig. In the first 11 months of 2011, the United States has exported 2,039,579 MT valued at $5.5 billion. Year-to-date volume exports have almost exceeded the record set in 2008 of 2,052,314 MT. These record numbers have been driven by strong demand in China, South Korea, Japan and Canada. USDA Approves Brazilian Pork for Export to U.S. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lifted the prohibition on Brazilian pork imports following 18 months of discussions over sanitary standards. USDA agreed to recognize Brazilian inspectors as capable of approving slaughterhouses in the state of Santa Catarina; so far, USDA has authorized six processing plants to export pork to the United States. In 2010, USDA recognized Santa Catarina as free of foot-and-mouth disease, clearing the way for processing plant approval. NPPC supports the principle of regionalization and does not object to the recognition of Santa Catarina as being free of foot and mouth disease and other swine diseases such as Classical Swine Fever. However, NPPC believes it is extremely important that the United States’ trade relationship with Brazil be a reciprocal one and that, like the United States, Brazil maintains sanitary and phytosanitary policies that are based on sound science and legitimate health-related concerns. NPPC continues to be concerned with and frustrated by Brazil’s unjustifiable trichinosis-related import restrictions on U.S. pork. Given the extremely low incidence of trichinosis – 1-in-300 million – in the United States and the very high level of biosecurity practiced by the U.S. pork industry, there is no legitimate science-based reason for this import restriction. The Brazilian pork industry is significantly smaller than the U.S. pork industry, and the United States on average is a lower cost pork producer. Consequently, high import levels of pork are not expected from Brazil, which in 2010 exported almost 660,000 metric tons of pork valued at $1.65 billion. Minnesota, USDA, EPA Sign Conservation Agreement U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Tuesday announced that USDA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the EPA and the state of Minnesota to build a new state program for producers intended to increase voluntary conservation practices. Under the agreement, producers who employ extensive conservation measures to reduce nutrient run-off and erosion will be guaranteed by the state of Minnesota that their farms will meet the state’s water-quality standards and goals. The signing of the agreement is the initial step in establishing the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program. NPPC is carefully monitoring and researching the potential impacts of the agreement and will keep members updated on developments. To read USDA’s press release about the agreement, click here. NPPC Participates in Animal Feed Task Force CODEX Meeting NPPC Chief Veterinarian Liz Wagstrom Wednesday attended a public meeting of the U.S. Delegation to the Codex ad hoc intergovernmental task force on animal feeding. The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization to develop internationally adopted food standards, guidelines and codes of practice. The task force’s role is to develop science-based guidelines or standards for “governments on how to apply the existing Codex risk assessment methodologies to the various types of hazards related to contaminants/residues in feed ingredients, including feed additives used in feeding stuffs for food producing animals” and to compile “a prioritized list of hazards in feed ingredients and feed additives for governmental use.” NPPC has been working as part of an industry coalition to develop comments to the proposed standard for animal feeding. House Subcommittee reviews Impact of Volcker Rule Subcommittees of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee Wednesday held a hearing to review the possible impact of the Volcker Rule, a provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that forbids banks from investing in hedge funds and private equity funds. Titled “Examining the Impact of the Volcker Rule on Markets, Businesses, Investors and Job Creation,” the joint hearing was held by the Financial Services’ subcommittees on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises. To read testimonies, click here. What's Ahead
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