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November 2011
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Click this seal to go to the top of the newsletter
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NTF Staff
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President
Joel Brandenberger; Ext. 7226
Legislative
Damon Wells; Ext. 7232
Leslee Oden; Ext. 7228
Scientific & Regulatory
Lisa Picard; Ext. 7233
Andrew Bailey; Ext. 7224
Communications
Sherrie Rosenblatt; Ext. 7227
Adrienne Richards; Ext. 7223
Membership
Jen Zukowski; Ext. 7229
Clara Sackey; Ext. 7221
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President's Message
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Greetings!
Sherrie Rosenblatt, NTF's vice president for marketing and communications, likes to say she is "Queen for a Day" during the Thanksgiving season. In reality, it's more like Queen for a Month.
Obviously, Sherrie doesn't have delusions of royal grandeur. Instead, she is referring to the media spotlight that shines on the turkey industry every November. Most of this attention is good. News stories tend to focus on turkey's great taste and unsurpassed nutritional profile, the industry's many contributions to local economies, or turkey's central role in this most uniquely American of holidays.
However, being in the media spotlight almost always has at least one drawback. For the turkey industry the downside is the desire of animal rights activists to paint the industry in the most negative light possible as they pursue their vegetarian agenda. Several times in the last few years, activists have managed to get hired at turkey facilities and taken undercover video designed to falsely portray the industry as callous regarding animal welfare. Taking advantage of our society's general lack of familiarity with food product, these activists often edit the footage in a way that creates the impression that humane, scientifically validated practices are in some way cruel. That's why the Issues Management section of this newsletter leads with an admonition to be extremely careful in screening potential news employees to ensure activists aren't getting hired. To that, we would add a second admonition: make sure all employees who deal with live turkeys are adequately trained in proper handling techniques. On rare occasions, undercover footage has identified employees being lax in animal care or violating company policies and the NTF Animal Welfare Guidelines. Proper scrutiny of potential new hires and proper training and retraining of all employees will ensure a holiday season focused solely on the best attributes of the industry. For more information about how to prevent an activist from coming onto your farm, please contact NTF's Sherrie Rosenblatt (phone: 202-730-9639 or e-mail: srosenblatt@turkeyfed.org). Sincerely, 
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Economic Update written by Tom Elam, FarmEcon, LLC
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Do Feed Costs Affect Retail Food Costs: The media has given attention to several recent reports stating that increased feed costs since 2008 have had little or no impact on retail food costs. The problem with these reports is that they look at month-to-month correlation of corn prices, or feed costs, to retail food costs. Retail prices do not respond immediately to the price of corn or other feed ingredients. So, the reports are right in the sense that next month's corn price will not immediately affect the price paid for food at a supermarket or restaurant.
Click here to read the full article.
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Legislative
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Renewable Fuels Standard Reform Legislation Introduced in the House: NTF and its animal agriculture partners worked successfully on the Oct. 5 introduction of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) Flexibility Act of 2011 (H.R. 3097). Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Jim Costa, D-Calif., introduced the bipartisan legislation that would grant a partial waiver to the RFS. The waiver would be triggered when corn stocks fall below certain critical thresholds. During a press event to introduce the legislation, Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation, delivered remarks on behalf of the poultry industry. NTF issued a press release on the legislation.
Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Jim Costa, D-Calif., stand
behind Hobey Bauhan (at podium), president of the Virginia
Poultry Federation, who represented the poultry industry at
a press event to introduce the RFS Flexibility Act.
Korea, Columbia and Panama Free Trade Agreements Signed into Law: NTF applauds the U.S. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Korea, Colombia and Panama that have been passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. The three trade agreements pave the way for the creation of new opportunities to export turkey products to these three countries. NTF has strongly supported these agreements since negotiations were concluded more than four years ago. The Korea and Panama agreements will open markets and significantly increase export sales of turkey meat. NTF, USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, National Chicken Council and United Egg Producers released a media statement for Congress' approval of the FTAs and then again when President Obama signed it into law.
Senate Appropriations Committee Passes Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill: Last month, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. The bill totals $19.78 billion in discretionary spending, a reduction of $138 million from the FY2011 bill. The legislation is now being debated on the Senate floor. Unlike the House version, the Senate bill does not include a provision to defund the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration's proposed marketing rule. It also does not include the House language to expand the HACCP-based Inspection Models Project for poultry facilities in order to improve food safety. These issues likely will be addressed when the Senate and House meet to reconcile differences in the two bills.
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Scientific and Regulatory
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Technical and Regulatory
FSIS Pre-Harvest Actions: NTF is working closely with the federation's Turkey Health and Welfare Committee to ensure FSIS and its National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria in Foods (NACMCF) and National Advisory Committee for Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) do not expand the agency's authority. FSIS, NACMCF and NACMPI are looking into how HACCP plans might incorporate pre-harvest activities. NTF is still awaiting reports from both advisory committees.
FSIS Webinars for Nutritional Labeling: FSIS will host webinars on Nov. 8 and Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. ET to provide guidance on meeting the requirements of its final rule on nutrition labeling of single ingredient meat and poultry products and ground or chopped meat and poultry products. The rule takes effect on Jan. 1, 2012. To access the webinars, click here.
Upcoming FSIS Policy: NTF is closely monitoring the expected publication of FSIS Directive 6410.3 that would provide off-line Inspection Program Personnel (IPP) with instructions on how to verify that poultry slaughter establishments are implementing sanitary dressing and process control procedures in a manner that will prevent the creation of insanitary conditions and the adulteration of product. If published, the directive will ensure IPP verify that the establishment is operating in a manner that prevents poultry from becoming contaminated throughout the process and is not just cleaning contaminated poultry in order to meet visible cleanliness expectations. In addition, this directive is expected to tell IPP they are to verify that the establishment's sanitary dressing process results in poultry carcasses that enter the chiller without visible contamination. NTF will meet with FSIS' policy development office to garner additional information on this and other upcoming policies to make sure the turkey industry's interests are known.
Live Production and Environment
EPA Releases CAFO Proposed Rule: EPA on Oct. 21 released the long-awaited proposed rule, "National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Reporting Rule." The agency has proposed two options for collecting facility-specific information to ensure CAFOs are complying with the Clean Water Act. Under one option, the agency would be authorized to collect information from all CAFOs. The other option would allow the agency to get information from CAFOs located within areas identified as having water-quality issues "likely associated with CAFOs." EPA also is requesting comment on three alternative approaches to gather information about CAFOs related to water-quality compliance. EPA plans to hold two webinars in November to provide an overview of the proposed rule requirements. Comments are due on Dec. 20.
Worker Safety and Health/Human Resources
Requirement to Post NLRB Notice Postponed: The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) postponed its requirement for employers to post the NLRB's employee rights poster to Jan. 31, 2012, in order to allow additional time for preparation by employers.
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Marketing Communications
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Marketing
Summary of NTF's Future Marketing Strategic Planning Session: More than 10 NTF-member marketing and state association executives strategized on ways to build the turkey category by helping consumers identify the benefits of including a variety of turkey products in their meal rotation. During a strategic planning session Oct. 11-12 in Chicago, four predominant concepts emerged:
- Quick Service Restaurant (Channel): In order to harness the popularity and influence of Quick Service Restaurants, NTF would promote a leaner protein, such as a turkey burger.
- Ground Turkey (Product): By utilizing one of the industry's most popular products, NTF would promote the consumption of ground turkey by touting its attributes.
- Supermarket Retail (Channel): To influence supermarket retail targets, NTF would develop resources to promote inclusion of more turkey products in their meat cases.
- Ease of Preparation (Attribute): To combat the notion that turkey is not easily prepared, NTF would develop a campaign for simple ideas to add turkey to the meal rotation.
A more detailed summary of the meeting is available here. NTF will now work with the Marketing Communications Committee in February to further flesh out the four options outlined above to determine what ideas may be viable to explore throughout the federation's five-year Strategic Plan (2013-2017) Meal Upgrade Calculator Featured at FMI Conference: NTF's Sherrie Rosenblatt presented the Meal Upgrade Calculator at the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Consumer Affairs Conference. Nearly 50 supermarket consumer affairs and public relations executives heard about the Simple Steps Tool Kit, an educational resource that includes a leader guide, summary facts from the government's Dietary Guidelines, and papers on lower obesity rates and better health outcomes associated with simple changes in the diet. Participants received the kit, along with reproducible handouts that address how people can make simple "upgrades" to their meals. As part of the FMI conference, participants dined on Pan Seared Turkey Cutlets with a Lemon and Caper Sauce. |
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10th Annual T.O.M. Awards
NTF is now accepting nominations for the 10th annual Turkey on the Menu (T.O.M.) Awards. Entries will be judged in eight categories with one winner chosen to accept the award at NTF's Annual Convention in Tampa, Feb. 15-18, 2012.
Nominations for the 2012 T.O.M. Awards are due by Friday, Nov. 18.
An application form is available here.
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Issues
Extra Steps for Security this Holiday Season: Prior to Thanksgiving, NTF urges the turkey industry to review security programs and procedures. NTF has developed a document detailing important security programs and procedures to easily distribute to appropriate business associates. The document covers employee screening, biosecurity, steps to take with local law enforcement and a crisis communications plan.
NTF Encourages Proactive Target Campaign to Counter Meatless Monday: NTF, working with the Animal Agriculture Alliance and other meat and poultry trade groups, developed a targeted strategy to counter the Meatless Monday campaign. Some of the tactics include materials that promote the importance of meat and poultry in a balanced diet and a nutritionist's opinion editorial that can be pitched to non-commercial trade publications
NTF Participates in Food Day Activities: NTF, working with allied trade associations, worked to communicate positive and factual information on modern food production and technology on Oct. 24, Food Day. NTF's message included sharing the Animal Agriculture Alliance's new website, www.RealFarmersRealFood.com, on Facebook and Twitter. The federation's Facebook posts and Twitter updates encouraged consumers to visit the website to watch a video of Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan, a high-profile agriculture advocate, encouraging Americans to celebrate the hard work of our nation's farmers and ranchers. Visitors to the website can also sign a pledge in support of agriculture's diversity and consumer choice, learn about common myths and facts about farming, and view a collection of farm tours on video, including a turkey farm.
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Member Services
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2012 Annual Convention: Registration is now open for the 2012 Annual Convention, Feb. 15-18, at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina. This year's General Session will challenge attendees to look at the turkey industry through the perspective of others by hearing from a consumer advocate for food safety, along with an industry leader on technology's role in the 21st century to make safe, affordable and abundant food a global reality. In addition, Tom Elam will present his highly anticipated economic outlook, and NTF again will bestow its Turkey on the Menu (T.O.M.) Award to restaurants that best utilize turkey products.
NTF's Annual Convention also offers sponsorship opportunities to support the turkey industry at its largest annual gathering. By sponsoring the convention, an NTF member company can gain exposure through outstanding education programs, speakers and networking events.
For more information on NTF's 2012 Annual Convention and to register, please click here.
Call for 2012 Board Nominations: Nominations for NTF's 2012 Board of Directors-At-Large are now being accepted. Candidates must be NTF members in good standing during the year they serve. To submit a nomination, send a letter to Jennifer Dansereau or:
Board of Directors
National Turkey Federation
1225 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005
General Membership Meeting: The 2012 Board of Directors will be elected during the Annual Membership Meeting on Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina. The meeting will convene directly following General Session I, which begins at 8 a.m. The agenda will include NTF Chairman Rick Huisinga's State of the Association Report.
Board of Directors Meeting: NTF's Board of Directors meeting will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012, at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina. The agenda will include the election of the 2012 Executive Committee and officers, along with other priority business. |
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Giblets
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Butterball, LLC's Alice Johnson, vice president of food safety, government regulations and public affairs, and David Anderson, vice president of live operations, were elected to serve on the North Carolina Poultry Federation 2011-2012 Board of Directors. Neal Walsh, Butterball's corporate purchasing director, was elected the board's membership and sponsorship committee chairperson. 
Butterball, LLC and its corporate communications agency of record, Howard, Merrell & Partners, received two awards from the Raleigh Public Relations Society for its 2010 Butterball Holiday Donations news release and its 2010 Fresh Season Millionth Bird events.
Sara Lee Deli introduced a new social media campaign to provide pre-sliced and sliced-to-order deli meat solutions through Facebook.
As a participant in the National Sodium Reduction Initiative, Butterball, LLC now offers Fresh Whole Turkeys with sea salt that have 35-percent less sodium than other alternatives.
Plainville Farms, a unit of Hain Pure Protein, added pre-sliced uncured turkey bologna and pre-sliced uncured turkey salami to its deli line.
Arby's added new items to its Kids Menu, including a Jr. Turkey and Cheese Sandwich that has reduced calorie, fat and sodium counts.
The Midwest Poultry Federation Annual Convention will be March 13-15, 2012, in Saint Paul, Minn. Registration and hotel reservations will open online for attendees on Dec. 9.
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