Food
issues could complicate Obama’s proposed European trade deal [McClatchy Tribune
News Service]
Europeans
can be downright fussy when it comes to their food. Many of them think, for
example, that only the rich, hard cheese that has been made for hundreds of years
in the Parma region of Italy should be labeled as Parmesan – not the stuff made
by Illinois-based Kraft or others. And despite repeated assurances from the
United States, many of them have questioned whether it’s really safe to eat
meat injected with hormones or the genetically modified crops that Americans
gobble up by the bushels….On Wednesday, administration officials acknowledged
that they’ll be forced to confront a host of sensitive issues as they seek to
wrap up a new deal by the end of 2014. But they said the payoff could be huge,
with millions of jobs at stake….“The negotiations will be a hard slog,
particularly in the agriculture sector, but the resulting billions of dollars
in increased exports will be worth the effort,” said Bill Frymoyer, a senior
adviser and trade expert at the Washington law firm Stewart and Stewart whose
experience dates to the early 1990s, when he worked on the North American Free
Trade Agreement as a top aide to then-House Democratic leader Dick
Gephardt….Frymoyer said U.S. consumers could benefit if the agreement forces
the U.S. government to adopt higher standards for food safety and on
environmental and labor issues. “Clearly, it is easier to obtain progressive
trade objectives with high-wage, high-standard nations like those in the EU
than in some other trade negotiations with developing nations,” he said.
Smelt
threat eases, so pumping is increased [Sacramento Bee]
Federal
wildlife officials ruled Tuesday that water exports from the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta will be allowed to increase again, following signs that the
threatened Delta smelt may be out of harm's way. The move by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service follows its order Friday that sharply curtailed pumping by
state and federal water systems that serve 25 million Californians. That move
came after smelt continued to be killed, or "salvaged," in the pumps.
But on Tuesday, the agency allowed water diversions to increase again. It did
not completely lift the pumping limits but restored about 60 percent of the
diversion volume lost after Friday's cut. "No Delta smelt have been
reported as salvaged since February 6, 2013, suggesting this year's unusual …
event may be over," the agency wrote in a determination letter posted
online.
Farm
community discusses impact of water apportionment on business [Imperial Valley
Press]
Two
years of water over-consumption as well as water transfer obligations will
finally, directly impact the Imperial Valley group that relies on water the
most, the agricultural community. And while a committee of farmers hammers out
a water-apportionment plan to bring before the Imperial Irrigation District’s
Board of Directors, some farmers are considering the impact that the proposed
cap of 5.24 acre-feet of water per eligible acre will have on their
business.…An apportionment program is essentially a fallowing program, Scaroni
said, in that farmers may have to take fields out of production to stay within
their allotment of water. Tom Brundy, a Southend alfalfa farmer, said the most
immediate impact of a water apportionment plan would be increased costs, loss of
production and a loss of jobs. Alfalfa is a water-intensive crop, typically
irrigated by flooding the field. Brundy said he installed a drip irrigation
system on 40 acres of land about one year ago at the cost of some $2,300 per
acre. “We’re utilizing our water better but it’s coming at a big expense,” he
said. Ultimately, he said, the Valley farmers cannot switch en masse to crops
that require less water to grow. “We all cannot grow lettuce,” he said. “It
would overwhelm the market.”
World
Ag Expo: Other states try to lure California dairies [Fresno Bee]
Faced
with continued low milk prices and high feed costs, California dairy operators
are increasingly being wooed by states offering cheaper costs and expanding
markets. Texas, Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, Illinois and Kansas were
among states at the World Ag Expo in Tulare on Wednesday trying to entice
California dairies and anyone else interested in relocating. California, like
many other states, has been hit hard by a sagging dairy economy. Dozens of
dairies have shut down in the San Joaquin Valley, the heart of the state's
dairy industry. Although the visiting states have been at the ag expo before,
their pitch this year has taken on a new tone. "We know it is going to be
difficult for some people to move because they are in debt, but we want them to
know that if they have a son or daughter interested in starting their own
dairy, they should think about Nevada," said Lynn Hettrick, executive
director of the Nevada Dairy Commission.
Harvest
of apps at the World Ag Expo in Tulare [Visalia Times-Delta]
Amid
the tractors, tools and other products drawing the attention of the thousands
of visitors attending this week’s 2013 World Ag Expo were a group of products
that farmers and ranchers couldn’t touch. Apps for smartphones and computer
tablets designed for the agricultural industry were in abundance at various
vendor booths here. They range from apps that let farmers program their
irrigation systems to others that track their livestock’s health….Several
vendors noted that a large number of apps are being rolled out for the first
time during this year’s show, and visitors are noticing. They include Jack
Brouwer, 76, a nut and rice farmer from Escondido who listened to a
presentation about an app that allows farmers to manage and review their entire
farm operations — from monitoring costs to scheduling workers — through their
smartphones. Brouwer noted that as farmers go, he’s strictly low tech, but his
grandson, Joel Broek, who is preparing to take over part of the family farming
operation, isn’t.
Farm
boom sows jobs bounty [Wall Street Journal]
Iowa
State University student Andrew Filipi faced a quandary recently that many
college seniors today can only dream of: choosing between two job offers six
months before graduation. With a double major in animal science and international
agriculture, Mr. Filipi is part of a wave of students at U.S. colleges of
agriculture who are in high demand amid an expanding and increasingly global
farm economy….With U.S. farm incomes hitting record levels in recent years as
global grain prices have climbed, farmers have more money to spend on corn
seed, harvesting combines, fertilizer and other products, fueling growth for
the agribusiness industry. So, while many U.S. undergraduates continue to face
a tough job market amid a slow-growing economy, agriculture students are
benefiting from increased on-campus recruiting by agribusinesses such as
Monsanto Co., MON -0.87% DuPont Co.'s DD -0.86% DuPont Pioneer and Deere DE
+0.29% & Co….The prospect of a well-paying job is helping U.S. colleges of
agriculture attract more students, experts say. Nationally, undergraduate
enrollment in agricultural colleges and departments rose 20% from 2006 to 2011,
to roughly 145,000 students, according to Virginia Tech researcher Bill
Richardson. Ag schools also are drawing students interested in playing a role
in the small-but-growing organic-food industry and in developing
more-sustainable agricultural practices, according to university officials.
*Link may
require paid subscription; text included in attached Word file.
Ag
Today is distributed to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for
information purposes, by the CFBF Communications/News Division, 916-561-5550; news@cfbf.com.
Some story links may require site registration. To be removed
from this mailing list, reply to this message and please provide your
name and e-mail address.
No comments:
Post a Comment