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Conveyor Currents March 21, 2014
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| Upcoming Dates |
2014
April 23-26, 2014 CGFA Annual Convention ~ The Sheraton Resort, Maui, HI
*** Information Click Here ***
May 14-15, 2014 California Animal Nutrition Conference, Radisson Hotel in Fresno, CA
2015
April 22-25, 2015 CGFA Annual Convention - The Monterey Plaza Hotel on Cannery Row.
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| Quick Links |
California Dept. of Food & Ag
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| FDA Announces Livestock Feed Problem Reporting Portal | |
FDA announced this week it has opened on its food safety website a new portal through which anyone can voluntarily report any problem with "livestock" feed. FDA defines "livestock" as "including but not limited to, horses, cattle, swine, poultry and fish." "FDA encourages anyone with concerns about livestock feed to file a report, including veterinarians and livestock producers," the agency said. The portal can be found at www.safetyreporting.hhs.gov/
The new online portal also allows "an additional means for consumers to register complaints," the agency said. The "new" portal is an expansion of the existing "Safety Reporting Portal" for general product safety complaints to the agency. Insiders say the addition of the livestock portal was to make general phone calls and emails registering complaints to FDA easier to handle.
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| 1800 FFA'ers Rally to Save Ag Incentive Grant - Receive Strong Industry Support | |
Ag Day at the Capitol was a huge success this year. Bringing more excitement and many more people was the FFA who planned a rally and attended a press conference with 16 bipartisan legislators to support AB 2033 (Salas, Gray, Cannella) which is recently amended to fund the Ag incentive program to its historical levels. The Governor and Secretary Ross both spoke and encouraged continued advocacy for education and praised the students for their enthusiasm, however, no commitments were made to fund the programs. The ag industry is providing strong advocacy support to continue the funding and will continue to advocate for the program.
Earlier in the week, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Senator Galgiani, held a hearing on the Future of Ag Education and the UC Cooperative Extension. FFA members, Farm Advisors, researchers and farmers all testified about the importance of funding both these programs.
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| Labor Bills Passed Committees | |
Two labor bills that would require paid medical leave and immediate abatement for issues identified by OSHA passed the Assembly Committee this week. AB 1522, (Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego), would require employers to provide paid sick leave, was approved by the Assembly Labor & Employment Committee on March 19. Under AB 1522, employees who work 7 or more days in a calendar year would accrue sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked and would be entitled to begin using sick leave beginning on the 90th calendar day of employment. Employers would be required to allow use of accrued leave for diagnosis, care or treatment of an employee's health condition or that of a family member or for leave related to domestic violence or sexual assault. The bill's next stop will be the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
AB 1634 (Nancy Skinner), which would require employers to immediately abate conditions that Cal/OSHA alleges are a violation of occupational safety and health regulations if the agency classifies the citation as a serious, repeat serious, or willful serious violation, was also approved. Under current law, if an employer appeals the citation the employer is not required to abate the violation unless and until the appeal is denied.
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| Anti GMO Bill Set for Hearing Next Week | |
Legislation similar to the failed Prop 37 from 2012 has been set for hearing in the Senate Health Committee for next week. SB 1381 (Evans) would mandate labeling for all foods containing any GMO ingredients. The bill also contains a citizen suit provision allowing for trial lawyers to sue grocers and food companies if there is an issue with the label. A large coalition led by the California Seed Association, GMA and Bio is actively opposing the bill. Studies show mandatory labeling schemes will cost the average California family $400 more for groceries every year. Additionally, this citizen suit provision is substantially similar to one in Prop 65 and will drive litigation.
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| FDA Denies Extension FSMA Feed Rule Comments; Updates Other Rules | |
The American Feed Industry Assn. (AFIA), the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA), the National Renderers Assn. (NRA) and the Pet Food Institute (PFI) this week got word from FDA the agency will not extend the 60 requested days for the comment period on the 405-page Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) performance standard proposed rule for animals foods.
Comments are due March 31, and all three groups said they'll meet that deadline, but comments would have been more detailed, including cost impacts, and more comprehensive had they been given the extra time. The human food version of the rule was given 11 months to comment; the feed industry was given just five months.
However, FDA further muddled the future of the FSMA rulemaking by reporting this week: "Because the proposed rule on current good manufacturing practice and preventative controls for animals is a companion rule to the proposed rule on human food, FDA is announcing that it will publish revised language for this proposed rule as well. For that reason, the comment period for the proposed rule on animal foods...is not being extended."
On the other hand, FDA announced it was granting an additional 90 days - to June 30 - for comments on both the proposed rule on intentional adulteration of food - which exempts animal foods - and the proposed rule on qualitative risk assessments. It is also granting an extra 45 days for comments on the designation of high-risk foods for traceback. Those comments are now due May 22, 2014.
CGFA has emailed a Call To Action - Member Alert requesting members to comment and provided background information and instructions on how to submit comments to FDA.
Email Donna Boggs at donna@agamsi.com if you have not seen this email and would like a copy.
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| RFS Wars Continue; Ethanol Post 2nd Highest Profits |
The continuing war over whether EPA should reduce, increase or leave unchanged the amount of biofuels mandated for gasoline blending under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) continues to rage, with aggressive lobbying planned as well as a national one-day TV advertising campaign by those who want to see a higher RFS.
In a related development, a study by Dr. Scott Irwin, University of Illinois, reported this week shows the average ethanol plant enjoyed a profit of $23 million last year, the second most profitable year in the industry's history, behind the $25-million-per-plant reported in 2007. The university reported lower corn prices helped boost third and fourth quarter returns. The study based "profitability" on three components: Ethanol prices, dried distillers grains (DDGs) prices and corn prices.
A group called Americans United for Change (AUC) plans to pay "high six figures" for an advertising campaign on Sunday, March 23, on the morning news talk shows, aimed at making its case for increasing the RFS. AUC refers to its "Bottom Line" ad campaign as "anti-Big Oil/pro-homegrown jobs." The Sunday morning news talk shows were chosen because they appeal to "opinion elites and ultimate decision-makers" on the EPA's proposal to reduce or hold unchanged the RFS.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) this week said it's confident it can garner a majority of House members to vote for legislation repealing the RFS. The group says it's counted 205 members (it takes 218 to pass a bill) who have either signed a letter or cosponsored legislation aimed at reducing the RFS and changing the formula by which the law mandates EPA compute RFS levels. An API spokesperson said the Senate numbers look "as good." API wants a full repeal of the RFS, and is concerned EPA's move to reduce the RFS may distract from its ultimate goal.
Meanwhile, the National Corn Growers Assn. (NCGA) took a shot at the livestock industry this week for its opposition to the RFS when NCGA President Martin Barbre said in a newsletter article, "It is one thing to complain about the price of corn when it is $8 a bushel," Barbre wrote in the NCGA newsletter, citing the drought reduced 2012 crop. "Now, with corn nearly half that price, livestock and poultry producers are still complaining and singling out ethanol. The fact is there are a lot of people who want the corn price around its historic, if unsustainable, two bucks a bushel."
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| Eyes Turn to Ag in Battle for Immigration Reform |
While the likelihood the House will cobble together comprehensive federal immigration reform legislation, conference it with the Senate-passed bill and get it to the President by October are exceedingly slim, the push continues with increased attention focused on the need for ag labor.
The U.S. today imports more fruits and vegetable because there isn't enough labor to allow domestic producers to expand production, said two groups - the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform (ACIR) and the Partnership for a New Economy (PNE) - at a press event in Washington, DC, this week where they released a joint report detailing the needs of agriculture broadly and the produce industry specifically when it comes to labor. Individual dairy, fruit, vegetable and livestock producers presented the report and answered questions about their reliance on imported labor, legal and illegal, to keep their operations running.
Fruit and vegetable imports are 79% higher than 14 years ago, the groups said, citing USDA and federal data. Much of that production could have been domestic. The loss to domestic producers in 2012 is estimated at $4.8 billion, the report said.
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), one of the more the 300 state, regional and national ag groups who are members of ACIR, said: "This report proves what we've been saying since this debate began: Either we import labor to help America's farmers tend their crops or we import food." The group said the U.S. has the technology and food safety protocols to ensure domestic consumer demand is met.
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| Industry Confident Water Bill Conference Deal Coming |
A compromise between House and Senate bills to reauthorize the Waterway Development Development Act (WRDA) could be finalized by conferees as early as April, according to reports circulating this week. The push to complete the conference negotiations is so the Army Corps of Engineers can finalize its reviews and recommendations on which lock, dam and dredging projects will get federal funding, Congressional Quarterly (CQ) reported.
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair Bill Shuster (R, PA) said the Senate has agreed to accept the House system for project funding selection, which basically inserts Congress into the project review/approval process. The House bill lists several specific projects for funding, but also requires the Corps to make recommendations to Congress every two years on projects it deems need federal money.
The Senate modified the House language to allow "conditional" authorization for about 15 more specific projects pending but for which Corps reviews and reports are not in hand. The last of those reports is expected at the end of April, Shuster said.
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| EPA Publishes Ag Pesticide Worker Protection Proposed Rule |
As reported last week, EPA on March 19 published its proposed rule and is seeking public comment on measures it wants to take to protect ag employees and workers from pesticide exposure. The proposed rule, approved for publication February 20, seeks to improve training, increase information access, modernize safety precautions and update compliance requirements, EPA said, adding the agency logs 1,200-1,400 accidental pesticide poisoning reports each year. Comments are due by June 17, and the full proposal can be found at www.epa.gov.
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CDFA Pest Exclusion Advisory
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PEST EXCLUSION ADVISORY NO. 07-2014
Repeal of CCR 3277 (Cereal Leaf Beetle State Exterior Quarantine)
In August 2013, the Cereal leaf beetle (CLB- Oulema melanopus) was detected in commercial small grain fields for the first time in California (Modoc and Siskiyou counties).
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is issuing this advisory to announce that in lieu of promulgating a State Interior Quarantine for CLB, CDFA will approach this new introduction by working closely with cooperators from Industry, the University of California, and the Oregon Department of Agriculture to develop a CLB Integrated Pest Management Program. Key components of this program will include grower outreach and education, CLB field surveys, recommended treatments, and release of Bio-Control agents. As a result of taking this approach, the CLB State Exterior Quarantine (CCR 3277) will be repealed. The rulemaking process has begun to repeal the CLB State Exterior Quarantine and will take approximately six months to complete.
Beginning April 1, 2014, CDFA will administratively discontinue enforcement of CCR 3277, the CLB State Exterior Quarantine. Specifically, all articles previously regulated by CCR 3277 will no longer be required to meet the conditions of CCR 3277 as of April 1, 2014. The Plant Quarantine Manual will be updated to reflect this change in enforcement.
Additionally, on February 28, 2014, Pest Rating Advisory 01-2014 was issued to propose a permanent pest rating change for CLB from "A" to "B." If no objections are received, the proposal will become permanent on April 1, 2014. Please note that action may still be taken if CLB is actually intercepted based on the rating.
If there are any questions concerning this advisory, contact Vince Arellano at (916) 654-0312, or by email at vince.arellano@cdfa.ca.gov. |
| Vilsack: 'Actively Engaged' Definition Proposal Not Until End of Year |
When 2014 Farm Bill conferees set new payment limitations on how much federal program aid farmers could collect, they couldn't agree on how to more tightly define which farmers qualify to get the federal checks, so they ordered USDA to write the new definition. This week, Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack said he will release a proposed rule defining what it means to be an "actively engaged" farmer or rancher by the end of the year.
He said particular attention will be paid to investors who qualified for federal support under the old system, but who have no day-to-day involvement in the management of the farm. Appearing at a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture and FDA, Vilsack pledged to take in account when crafting the qualifying definition, the long menu of activities that are part of operating a farm or ranch.
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| Gillibrand Wants FSA Offices Kept Open | |
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D, NY) is the latest political voice to wade into the ongoing debate over USDA's plan to close or reduce manpower in 250 Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices as a cost-saving move. She has 10 FSA offices in her state, and this week pressed Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to keep all 250 offices open.
Gillibrand said farmers and ranchers rely on FSA help to "navigate" program sign-ups, assistance programs, etc., and this is especially important given all the changes in the crop and dairy programs authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill. It's not right that farmers have to drive around for four hours to their local USDA office, she said.
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| Bill Gates Meets with Senators to Talk Research Funding | |
Billionaire Bill Gates got three senior U.S. Senators behind closed doors to talk about the value of agricultural research and how Congress needs to spend more money. Microsoft founder Gates, now head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, met with Sen. Thad Cochran (R, MS), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Sen. Roy Blunt (R, MO), minority whip of the Senate and an appropriations committee member, and Sen. Mark Pryor (D, AR), chair of the appropriations subcommittee on agriculture and FDA.
Gates wouldn't discuss what he and the Senators discussed, but told reporters, "Investments in agriculture research show a great way to reduce poverty." He went on to say part of his foundation's work is to enable small, independent producers around the world to become profitable and escape poverty and improve children's diets, adding, "Until the children get proper nutrition, you're not going to end poverty."
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