Effort in U.S. Congress to Block Canadian Rule 2 Expected to Fail Several senators have recently introduced resolutions to block older Canadian cattle and beef products from crossing the border again on Nov. 19. However, even if the resolutions were to be approved by Congress – by no means a certainty – President George Bush would veto them and there would not be the votes to override that action, congressional sources said. USDA said last month it wants to resume imports of Canadian cattle and products from cattle over thirty months of age. Younger Canadian cattle have been allowed into the U.S. since July 2005. U.S. officials say the threat from Canadian products is "negligible," despite the country's 10 BSE cases. The American risk assessment assumes Canada will have more in the future. There have been three cases in the U.S.. Officials said they expect only about 75,000 Canadian cows will actually cross the border in the first year, down from an early estimate of 650,000, partly because of the challenges of proving their age. The U.S. considers March 1999 to be the date when a feed ban in Canada to halt the spread of the disease became effective, so cows born after that are welcome....
U.S. officials study Japan for lessons on imports Increasing concerns about the safety of Chinese products have the U.S. government looking at the tough approaches taken by another Asian country, Japan. Japan engages in far more rigorous testing of Chinese imports, particularly food, than the United States, but the innovation getting the most attention is its system for screening Chinese producers even before they ship to Japan. The program is the product of Japan's longer experience with Chinese safety problems, going back to the discovery five years ago of high levels of pesticides on frozen spinach from China. "Japan is five years ahead of the rest of the world in dealing with quality problems from China," said Tatsuya Kakita, the author of several books here on food safety. "The world can learn from Japan." The country, which imports about 15 percent of its food from China, has focused its efforts so far on food safety. But some Japanese and U.S. officials and safety experts say that similar methods may also work for many Chinese exports, not only seafood and processed vegetables but also nonfood items like medicines, toys and paint....
Senate Finance Cmte. Approves Package To Boost Farm Bill Funding The Senate Finance Committee approved the "Heartland, Habitat, Harvest, and Horticulture Act of 2007," a package aimed at bolstering the funding available to the Senate Ag Committee to write its version of the next farm bill. The package was approved 17-4, and will create a trust fund to help ranchers and farmers hurt by crop and livestock losses, convert several conservation payment programs into fully-offset tax credit programs, and offer additional incentives for rural economic development and energy-related tax relief to aid agricultural producers. The $5.1 billion ag disaster aid trust fund was pushed by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)....Go here to view the Committee summary.
MCA backs brucellosis split Most ranchers in this part of the state have spoken harshly of Gov. Brian Schweitzer's plans to create a “split state” category for brucellosis control. However, one statewide ranching group approved a measure last week saying the idea deserves formal consideration. “Not all ranchers are at risk of their cattle contracting the disease and they should not shoulder the burden of brucellosis testing if there is an alternative plan available,” said Kim Baker, vice president of the Montana Cattlemens Association, which has about 2,000 members statewide. Schweitzer has favored working with the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which regulates brucellosis issues, to lay the groundwork for establishing what he calls a “hot zone” around Yellowstone National Park, where bison and elk harbor the disease. The Cattlemens' measure is an interim policy that calls for the Montana Department of Livestock to start moving on that complicated process. If the paperwork is done before another case of brucellosis is detected in cattle, that could mean the entire state would not lose its brucellosis-free status because it could be divided into two zones....
Stakes High In Fight Against The Cattle Fever Tick Livestock health officials say it could cost upwards of $13 million and take as long as two years to stop an incursion of fever ticks into the formerly fever tick free areas of five counties along the Texas-Mexico border. The fever tick, less than a 1/8-inch long, is capable of carrying and transmitting ‘babesia,’ a blood parasite deadly to cattle. “For most of the country, the fever tick has been pushed out of sight, out of mind, since the 1940s. This tick, however, is capable of transmitting a foreign animal disease and it’s sitting in our backyard,” said Dr. Bob Hillman, Texas’ state veterinarian and executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state’s livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. “If we can’t stop it, the fever tick could spread from coast to coast, except the arid lands of New Mexico and Arizona, and as far north as Washington D.C.,” stressed Dr. Hillman. “As the tick spreads, so will the need for personnel and resources. Win the battle along the Rio Grande in Texas, and other states won’t have to fight the war.” The TAHC has placed temporary fever tick quarantines on 1116.3 square miles in five Texas border counties, including parts of Starr and Zapata counties, and a contiguous area encompassing parts of Maverick, Dimmit and Webb Counties. In addition, an 852-square mile permanent quarantine zone butts up against the Rio Grande from Del Rio to Brownsville and is under the management of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 60-person Fever Tick Force....
ConAgra Closes Pot Pie Plant Due To Salmonella Concerns ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) voluntarily stopped production at the Missouri plant that makes its Banquet pot pies after health officials said the pies may be linked to 139 cases of salmonella in 30 states, including Wisconsin. ConAgra officials believe the company's pies are safe if they're cooked properly, but the Omaha-based company told consumers Tuesday not to eat its chicken or turkey pot pies until the government and company investigations are complete. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also issued a health alert Tuesday afternoon to warn consumers about the link between the company's product and the salmonella cases. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been tracking reports of the salmonella cases since Wednesday. A CDC spokeswoman said the largest numbers of salmonella cases had been reported in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Missouri....
U.S. Beef Is Safe, Says South Korean Ag Minister South Korea's agriculture minister told local media Wednesday that U.S. beef poses no significant health risk, a statement sure to please Washington officials seeking to revise Seoul's import rules. USDA Press Secretary Keith Williams has confirmed that the two countries will hold technical talks for two days beginning Thursday at the National Veterinary Research & Quarantine Service located in Anyang, just south of Seoul. "They will discuss measures for revising the import health protocol for U.S. beef," he told Meatingplace.com. South Korea Agriculture Minister Im Sang-gyu told a local radio station that the government plans to renegotiate its rules because U.S. beef poses no health threat, reflecting the World Organization for Animal Health's designation of the United States as a "controlled risk" region for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Yonhap News reported. "While concerns are being raised about whether American beef is safe, most experts agree that risks do not warrant trade restrictions," he reportedly said. Im also said that although the recent discovery of a box of backbones in a Seoul-bound shipment of U.S. beef halted imports, it doesn't affect efforts to change South Korea's sanitary and phytosanitary standards....
AFBF: Retail Food Prices Up 2 Percent In Third Quarter Retail food prices at the supermarket increased slightly in the third quarter of 2007, according to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation Marketbasket Survey. The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 basic grocery items in the third quarter of 2007 was $44.03, up about 2 percent or $1.08 from the second quarter of 2007. Of the 16 items surveyed, eight increased, seven decreased and one stayed the same in average price compared to the 2007 second-quarter survey. Compared to one year ago, the overall cost for the marketbasket items showed an increase of about 7 percent. For the second quarter in a row, regular whole milk showed the largest quarter-to-quarter price increase, up 48 cents to $3.94 per gallon, followed by cheddar cheese, which rose 35 cents per pound to $4.07....