BUNGE NORTH AMERICA plans to stop processing soybeans at its plant in Danville, but that should have little impact on a neighboring biodiesel plant. ..................................2
FARM BUREAU MEMBERS were assured last week that the state is sensitive to the need for rail crossings in rural areas as it develops a high-speed rail system. ..........3
WITH THE APPARENT failure of last week’s bipartisan health care “summit,” health debate is largely where it has been for two months — in the Senate’s court. ....................4
Monday, March 1, 2010
Two sections Volume 38, No. 9
Scientist offers inside view on Pew livestock report BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek
Positive projections for the livestock industry were offered but fell through the rhetorical cracks of a Pew Commission report on animal agriculture, according to an animal scientist who spoke at last week’s Governmental Affairs Leadership Conference in Springfield. Leonard Bull, a retired North Carolina State professor, was one of four researchers who wrote a technical report on liveLeonard Bull stock waste. That report and seven others were written to supply scientific background information for a comprehensive report sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. However, the final report, “Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Production in America,” included several controversial recommenda-
tions that weren’t based on information provided by the livestock waste report, Bull said. That technical report is online at {www.ncifap.org/reports/}. Instead, most of the final report’s recommendations focused on public health, including several dealing with antibiotic use in livestock production, Bull said. Much of the report was negative toward animal agriculture. “The Pew group is still active,” Bull said. He speculated some members have an agenda against large-scale commercial livestock production. For example, CBS anchor Katie Couric interviewed a Pew representative about livestock production and antibiotic use, he noted. Bull encouraged farmers to read the technical reports, which contain valuable information, he said. Bull said livestock production as it currently exists should not be expected to stop until perfect solutions are found to address perceived See Scientist, page 3
THE CHORES GO ON
No matter the weather, cattle feeding chores don’t stop for cattlemen such as Tom Moser of rural Galena in Jo Daviess County. He has 156 Angus cross cows and 150 feeder cattle that he must feed daily. He is hoping for 156 calves to be born this spring. Moser operates a calf-to-finish operation in addition to growing corn and hay that he uses for feed. He farms with help from his wife, Courtney, and his father-in-law, Larry Lomax, a retired farmer. (Photo by Ken Kashian. Additional photos from Kashian’s trip last week to Northern Illinois appear at {www.ilfb.org}. Click on Ken Kashian’s Photo Gallery.)
‘Signal’ from Obama sought to move Cuba reforms BY MARTIN ROSS FarmWeek
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Advocates of expanded Cuban trade and travel liberalization legislation are seeking a clear signal from the president and support from a few key lawmakers. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-
Minn.) last week introduced a measure aimed at expanding U.S. ag exports as well as travel to Cuba. The bipartisan Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act has more than 30 co-sponsors, including a scattering of Illinois congressmen. The bill joins existing measures confined to expanding allowable travel between the U.S. and the Communist nation. Through Peterson’s proposal, “the United States will be able to export more food for Cubans to eat,” according to the Latin America Working Group (LAWG). Beyond basic “beans and chicken parts and rice,” U.S. farmers could sell to the underproducing nation, LAWG senior associate Mavis Anderson told FarmWeek, the measure would help the U.S. carve out a high-value piece of an expanding Cuban tourist trade. The bill would allow for direct payment for U.S. goods between Cuban and U.S. banks,
rather than through a third country as is now required, thus saving fees to financial intermediaries and time involved in
legal claims registered against Cuba,” Anderson said. “The Cubans can lose a whole shipment after having paid for it.
new day in our relationship with Cuba.” While some “traditional hard-liners” remain vocal about what they see as conces-
‘ Our mix of commodities and processed products, our ability to send bulk shipments down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, and our willingness to travel to Cuba to foster business and personal relationships make this a worthwhile endeavor.’ — Philip Nelson Illinois Farm Bureau president, in a letter to Illinois congressional delegates supporting the Peterson bill
completing transactions and helping make U.S. exports more competitive. And it would extend to Cuba the same “cashin-advance” policies applied to all other U.S. trading partners. Peterson seeks to allow payment and title transfer for U.S. goods before they are offloaded in Cuba, rather than before they are shipped. “If title transfers while product is still in a U.S. port, it’s subject to being confiscated by people in the U.S. who have
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They’re not going to buy under those circumstances.” In 2008, more than $134 million in U.S. soy products were exported to Cuba, but the American Soybean Association argues sales volume would increase under Peterson’s proposal, given that U.S. suppliers can reach the three major Cuban ports “in a matter of one day or less, compared to 25 days from Brazil.” LAWG is seeking a signal that the president “is open to a
sions to Castro’s Cuba, especially in south Florida, Anderson sees a shift among CubanAmericans “toward engagement” with Cuba. But she noted House Foreign Affairs Ranking Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) remains “one of the loud voices from Florida,” and her group hopes to garner support from committee members such as Illinois’ Donald Manzullo, an Egan Republican.
Illinois Farm Bureau®on the web: www.ilfb.org