Susan grew up on her family's small almond orchard and apiary in Turlock. It was a farm-to-market family business, with Eggman's father and brother tending the orchard and hives, her mother keeping the books, and later her partner, Renee, bottling and selling the honey at farmers markets in San Francisco. Though much of the open space and farmland Eggman explored on horseback as a child has since been paved over, her family is still farming.  Continuing three generations of growing and beekeeping in northern California, with more than 40 acres of almonds and 2000 beehives, the Eggman family is connected to a great variety of agriculture, including tree fruit and livestock. "My stubborn father, like farmers everywhere, won't take a break, and at 80 years old he's still at it full-time," Eggman said.

She plans to pursue legislation that "supports farming and related education as a viable future for the coming generations." She is also a strong supporter of the green economy, and she will maintain "a strong focus on health both in developing healthy communities and healthcare as a vital part of our economy."  

After graduating from high school in the San Joaquin Valley, Eggman served four years as a medic in the U.S. Army. She then attended California State University, Stanislaus, where she earned a B.A. in psychology and a master's in social work. Eggman worked as a mental health provider and a medical social worker, before receiving her Ph.D. from Portland State University and she is a member of the California Faculty Association.

Susan has already shown a strong interest in learning more about agriculture by attending a tour of agriculture processing, supply, growing and packing facilities in Woodland, Davis, and the Delta communities including Walnut Grove, Courtland and ending with a late lunch in Locke. The tour was co-sponsored by the Association and Agriculture Association Management Services Inc. 

2013 Grain & Feed Industry Conference.  Mark your calendars for January 16-17, 2013 at the Embassy Suites on Monterey Bay.  Registration materials will be mailed out in the upcoming week to the membership. 

Our theme this year is:  Develop a Culture of Safety and Quality in the Modern Feed Mill 

Hotel Reservations Need To Be Made ASAP - Click here for on-line reservation form.    

Registration Forms and Detailed Information on the CGFA Website - Click here 

Topics will include:  (click here for program) 

Wednesday: Jan. 16th

• Safety: Confined Space Hazards / DVD: Roberta's Request WorkplaceTragedy
• Case Studies of Grain Explosions
• Fire Safety: Preplanning Guide and What To Do In Case of Fire at the Mill
• Group Luncheon: Networking Opportunities for Grad Students/ Internships
• Virtual Feed Mill Tour / What's New in Feed Mills / Project Showcase
• Feed Food Modernization Act Update
• Trucking Safety:    GPS Equipment Tracking / On-Board Cameras       
• New Innovations by Vendors: Panel of Vendors
• Roll Speed Measurements
• Inventory Management Systems
• Flow Measurements - Dry Products
• Table Top Exhibits and Social Hour
• Group BBQ Dinner Buffet and Fun Casino Night

Thursday: Jan. 17th

• Labor Laws - Employers Rights & Obligations 
• H.R./ People Management / Time Management / Stress Management / Motivational
• Closing, Grand Prize and Group Lunch Buffet  
• Golf at Pacific Grove Municipal Course

While insiders contend there's been far more progress than portrayed in the media on an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff, it's known the hang up between House Speaker John Boehner (R, OH) and President Obama remains from where revenue to buy down the federal deficit will come.  Both Boehner and Obama want to see a deal at least in principle agreed to before the end of the year, but the death of Senate president pro tem Sen. Daniel Inouye (D, HI) this week, Inouye's funeral - and the number of members who will attend that service in Hawaii - and other holiday pressures are interfering with the time frame. With both the House and Senate leadership saying they'll recess for the holidays tomorrow, it appears hopes are pinned on Boehner and Obama cutting the final deal over the weekend and presenting it to members when they return December 26.   

Obama continues to peg his revenue source on increased taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while Boehner wants to see cuts in federal spending, particularly overall spending adjustments in federal entitlement programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.  The figure now agreed to on total deficit reduction over 10 years is $1.2 trillion, the number Boehner wants, and a reduction from the President's initial figure of $1.6 trillion, a number initially dropped to $1.4 trillion last week.  The latest White House offer would cut spending by $800 billion, with half coming from health-related programs and $200 billion from mandatory spending programs, including farm program payments. The cost-of-living adjustments in various entitlement programs would also be cut back over the next decade.  On the personal tax rate issue, Boehner this week agreed to let the Bush tax cuts expire on jointly filed income in excess of $1 million; for his part, Obama has countered with a new ceiling of $400,000 in jointly filed income. Insiders expect the final figure will fall somewhere between $500,000-700,000 a year.

Meanwhile, Boehner's push to the House floor of what was dubbed as "Plan B," a House bill that would freeze the Bush era personal tax rates on incomes below $1 million, while extending several existing and popular tax credits, failed to muster enough votes  for passage.  Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Number 2 House Republican, said that he would not send House members home for the holidays after Thursday night's decision not to take up a vote on "Plan B" and Mr. Boehner indicated that he was still open to talks. 

The four congressional agriculture committee leaders can't agree on a compromise between the Senate and House versions of a five-year Farm Bill, they're split on whether a simple extension of the 2008 bill is acceptable, and House Speaker John Boehner (R, OH) is making noises he may not include a farm program section in the fiscal cliff deal if it looks like it will cost him GOP House votes needed to pass the cliff package. Ag interests in Washington are concerned that if House and Senate agriculture committee chairs and ranking members don't have a compromise package ready to go should they get the green light to be included in the fiscal cliff package, Boehner and President Obama could reinvent farm programs - focusing on direct payments and crop insurance cuts - in their mutual search for a $30-40-billion deficit reduction contribution from agriculture.  

The big stumbling block is now the farm program/payment title cuts in federal food stamp programs now part of the higher-level entitlement debate between Obama and Boehner. While the Senate is willing to add target price payments for rice, peanuts and wheat to its risk-based reinvention of farm programs, Stabenow and ranking member Sen. Pat Roberts (R, KS) are frustrated the House will not modify its target price/countercyclical approach to farm program reinvention to more accommodate the Senate's risk-based program. This week 33 Senators, almost all from northern states, called on Boehner to include the Senate Farm Bill in the fiscal cliff package. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) added fuel to the consternation of aggies by endorsing an amendment to the Superstorm Sandy disaster aid package that would effectively fund for one fiscal year five ag disaster programs using Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC) money. The programs would cover livestock forage, livestock deaths from natural disasters, emergency assistance to livestock producers, along with honeybee and aquaculture producers, and replanting costs for nurseries and orchard growers. In signing on to the amendment to be offered by Sen. Jeff Merkely (D, OR), Stabenow reverses an earlier position to not fund 2008 Farm Bill programs without a new five-year Farm Bill in hand. She also said this week, however, she remains opposed to a simple one-year extension of the full 2008 Farm Bill because it leaves 37 programs unfunded - including those benefiting her specialty crop growers - while continuing direct payment programs on major crops.  

While it's acknowledged quietly that Senate and House ag staffs are crafting a short-term extension bill, House Agriculture Chair Frank Lucas (R, OK) prefers a five-year bill, but says it may be that a one-year extension is all that can be tacked to the fiscal cliff package this late in the game. That extension, however, would likely cost $500 million to $1 billion to fund, depending on the length of the extension and which programs are picked to get money. Rep. Collin Peterson (D, MN), ranking member on the House ag panel, is dead set against any extension, and wants a five-year bill that includes a dairy portion so that USDA authority does not revert to 1949 law. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a small voice in this debate, signaled again he wants to see a five-year bill.  

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D, HI), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the second-longest serving member of the Senate, passed away this week after a brief illness. His death complicated the reassignment of committee chairmanships among Senate committees, and first speculation was Sen. Patrick Leahy (D, VT), former Senate Agriculture Committee chair and now chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, would switch gavels, or that Sen. Tom Harkin (D, IA), also a former ag panel chair and now chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee would switch. However, in surprise moves, Leahy decided not to abandon Judiciary and Harkin opted to stay at HELP, so Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) named Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D, MD) as the first woman to chair the powerful appropriations panel. Mikulski is known for her support of science, research and social program spending. The biggest ag industry in Maryland is poultry.

The Antidumping Advisory Committee of the European Union (EU) this week endorsed a 9.6% "penalty" on U.S. ethanol exports to the EU. The committee's action - the panel is made up of EU national representatives - is just the beginning of the tax penalty process, according to the Renewable Fuels Assn. (RFA). "While we are troubled by the commission's preliminary action, we remain convinced that this matter lacks the merit necessary for imposing such a duty and that, when all the facts are considered, the EU will rightly decide not to impose any antidumping duties on imports of ethanol produced in the U.S.," RFA said.

The Maryland poultry industry won a major court victory this week when a U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of a Perdue Farms' contract grower Hudson Farms and against the Waterkeeper Alliance. The national meat and poultry industries immediately praised the court victory, saying the case was brought on "frivolous assumptions rather than facts." The judge found that Waterkeeper Alliance failed to show by a preponderance of evidence that runoff from Hudson Farms violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) and was polluting local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The allegation by Waterkeeper Alliance was based on a pile of material on the Hudson property that was assumed to be chicken litter when it was actually municipal sludge from Ocean City, MD, used to fertilize crops. After a state inspection, Hudson was told to move the pile, and it complied. Waterkeeper Alliance then alleged manure leaving the poultry houses from ventilation and foot traffic polluted a ditch along the farm which runs to the Pocomoke River, which empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The judge denied both claims. Information about the case can be found at www.savefarmfamilies.com.

Just as the European Union (EU) announced it will no longer require most member nations to routinely test healthy cattle for BSE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt joined Japan, China and South Africa in banning imports of Brazilian beef after Brazil confirmed it found a case of BSE in a breeding animal nearly two years ago, but did not report it. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are much bigger markets for Brazilian beef than the other three nations, with Egypt alone purchasing nearly $500 million in beef between January and November this year. Brazil is sending a delegation to the OIE, the world animal health association, to try and convince the group that the BSE case found in 2010 is atypical. The EU action, expected to take effect in March, 2013, allows all EU member nations, except Romania and Bulgaria, to stop testing healthy cattle at slaughter, but would continue to allow testing of "at-risk" animals as currently required.

What are Safety Data Sheets (SDSs)?

Safety Data Sheets are written or printed materials with information about hazardous chemicals. These documents are provided by the manufacturer or importer of the chemical. They include what chemicals are in a product, the physical and health hazards of those chemicals and what steps must be taken to prevent adverse effects when using the product.

Safety Data Sheets and the Hazard Communication Standard: The Hazard Communication Standard requires a written hazard communication program to be in place. This written program requires:

• SDSs to be obtained and accessible for all chemicals used in the workplace.
• A chemical inventory list.
• Training for all employees to assure they know:

-        How to read and understand the SDSs.

-        The health and physical hazards of the materials they could be exposed to.

-        The proper controls to safely handle the chemicals used.

The contents of a SDS:

When a chemical manufacturer or importer prepares a SDS, it must have 16 headings or sections as outlined below. These sections correspond with the international requirements established by the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The standardized format provides uniformity around the world.

This Week's Training Shorts 

EPA regulations now cost the U.S. an estimated $353 billion per year, twice what any other federal agency's rules cost and a total higher than the gross domestic product (GDP) of Denmark, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) reported this week. CEI also reported that despite the enormous cost to the public, EPA has not provided adequate transparency in how it writes its rules, reporting that from 1999 to 2011, 7,161 final rules were published in the Federal Register and fewer than 5,000 of those rules were ever presented to the public in what's called the Unified Agenda, a feature of the Register designed to alert the public to rulemakings.

The Farm, Ranch & Rural Communities Committee, an advisory committee to EPA on how its rulemakings affect agriculture, will hold a public teleconference January 17, 2013, from 2-4 p.m., EST. The call is designed to discuss "topics of relevance for consideration by the committee to provide advice and insight to the agency on environmental policies and program effect and engage agriculture and rural communities." To participate - brief comments only - you must register by contacting Alicia Kaiser, designated federal officer, at kaiser.alicia@epa.gov, or by calling 202-564-7273 by January 4, 2013. Written comments may also be submitted to Ms. Kaiser.

Are you worried about the rising cost of health insurance for yourself and your employees?

You're probably not alone, and concerns about cost may be one reason why nearly all (87 percent) of business executives nationwide believe workplace wellness programs are beneficial for their companies.

The study The State of Workplace Wellness in America, conducted by the Alliance for a Healthier Minnesota, polled business leaders nationwide and in six states to find out what they thought of workplace wellness programs and what challenges they faced in implementing them.

Three-fourths of respondents said community-based networks of business leaders would be useful resources to learn about workplace wellness initiatives and share information and ideas. Said Tom Mason, president of the organization, in announcing the results:

 Read more....  

MeatPoultry.com, Dec. 19, 2012  

On Dec. 18, Safeway Inc. said it became the first major grocery retailer in the United States to make a national commitment to Certified Humane cage-free eggs and surpassing its sourcing and sales goals for cage-free eggs in the process.

Safeway launched an initiative with existing suppliers in 2008 to have all Lucerne Cage-Free and O Organics shell eggs sourced from Certified Humane farms. Then in 2010, Safeway set a goal of increasing sales of cage-free eggs from 6 percent to 12 percent of the shell-egg category by 2012. At present, more than 15 percent of overall egg sales in the category are cage-free eggs. The company also added the Open Nature label to the Certified Humane program this year. Safeway plans to continue to expand the campaign as their customers respond to the initiative.

"Safeway's commitment has been unique and impressive," said Adele Douglass, founder and CEO of Humane Farm Animal Care ("HFAC"), a nonprofit organization that developed and administers the Certified Humane labeling program for eggs, meat, dairy and poultry products. "Safeway's suppliers had to make the changes necessary to become certified. As a result, Safeway and its suppliers have had a major impact on improving the humane treatment of laying hens in the US Safeway's leadership is unparalleled within the retail food industry."

Regarding this effort, Safeway's quality assurance team worked with HFAC. HFAC is well known for its labeling program, which carries third-party, independent certification for the O Organics and Open Nature Brands.

Egg farms must meet the following animal-welfare standards to qualify for the Certified Humane label:

• Cages are not permitted plus housing facilities must include areas for hens to nest, dust bath, scratch and perch.
• Animals have ample space, shelter and gentle handling to limit stress.
• Animals must have access to ample fresh water and a healthy diet of quality feed containing no animal by-product.
• Egg lifecycle has no added antibiotics due to hens living in more humane conditions.

"We are supporting traditional farming practices and are committed to improving the welfare of farm animals," said John Larsen, Safeway vice president of dairy and refrigerated. "We will continue to work with our suppliers to offer our customers what they have shown us they want to see in our selection. We are determined to move the needle forward for progress across the business. It's the right thing to do."

Safeway stated it will continue working with suppliers to increase their production of cage-free eggs and reward those farmers who adopt humane practices.

Safeway Inc. operates 1,644 stores in the US and western Canada and reported annual sales of $43.6 billion in 2011. Humane Farm Animal Care is a national non-profit 501©3 organization created to improve the lives of farm animals by setting rigorous standards, conducting annual inspections and certifying their humane treatment.