Farmers and others filed more than 16,000 comments with the EPA regarding its Renewable Fuel Standard proposal...............................4
More cold and snow. Groundhog predictions aside, meteorologists say that’s the weather word for February.............7
Nutrient management represents the year’s main goal for newly-elected IFCA Chairman Brian Waddell...................................8
A service of
Farm bill passes the House Illinois Farm Bureau mission: Improve the economic well-being of agriculture and enrich the quality of farm family life.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Two sections Volume 42, No. 5
Senate vote expected soon BY DEANA STROISCH FarmWeek
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Finally. After years of debate and delay, the U.S. House of Representatives last week approved a five-year farm bill. The vote was 266-151. Agricultural groups across the country, including Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) and American Farm Bureau Federation, immediately applauded the bill’s passage. The bill, formally called the Agricultural Act of 2014, sets agricultural policy for the next five years. It still requires approval by the Senate and President Barack Obama, and faces a lengthy implementation process. IFB President Rich Guebert Jr. said the proposed farm bill strengthens the federal crop insurance program and maintains resources for cost-share, working land conservation programs. “This legislation is not only fiscally
responsible, but helps Illinois farmers put a much needed five-year plan in place to help manage their risk in an increasingly risky business,” Guebert said. “We applaud our representatives’ hard work in crafting and supporting this Rich Guebert Jr. important legislation and urge our senators to follow suit.” IFB issued a call to action last week encouraging members to contact their elected officials in both chambers in support of the bill. A vote in the Senate is expected this week. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Springfield, supports the measure, but it’s unclear how Sen. Mark Kirk, a Republican from Highland Park, will vote, said Mark Gebhards, IFB executive director of Governmental Affairs and Commodities. The majority of Illinois’ Congressional delegation voted in favor of the bill last week. Opponents of the bill say the cuts to the food stamp program are
too severe, given the economy. Rep. Rodney Davis, a Taylorville Republican who served on the farm bill conference committee, said the bill provides “five years of certainty to rural America,” strengthens crop insurance and cuts $23 billion in spending. “I was proud to support this bill because it gives us one of the single largest cuts in mandatory spending that we’ve seen in this Congress and because it is essential that we pass a new, responsible farm bill that cuts spending, protects the agriculture community and reforms federal government,” he said. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, and Bill Enyart, D-Belleville, both members of the House agriculture committee, also supported the bill. “While not perfect, I’m encouraged that Democrats and Republicans finally came together ... to pass a bipartisan farm bill that will protect our region’s economy, critical nutrition programs and create jobs,” Bustos said. Enyart called the bill’s passage a “good day for American agriculture.” “It strengthens America’s standing as
food supplier to the world,” he said. “It’s good for corn, it’s good for soybeans. It’s good for southern Illinois farmers.”
FARM BILL How the Illinois Congressional delegation voted YES: Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville Tammy Duckworth, D-Hoffman Estates Bill Enyart, D-Belleville Bill Foster, D-Naperville Randy Hultgren, R-Winfield Robin Kelly, D-Matteson Adam Kinzinger, R-Manteno Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago Peter Roskam, R-Wheaton Aaron Schock, R-Peoria Brad Schneider, D-Deerfield John Shimkus, R-Collinsville NO: Danny Davis, D-Chicago Luis Gutierrez, D-Chicago Mike Quigley, D-Chicago Jan Schakowsky, D-Evanston NOT VOTING: Bobby Rush, D-Chicago
Livestock producers prepare for new antibiotic rules BY DANIEL GRANT FarmWeek
Periodicals: Time Valued
Livestock farmers should consult with veterinarians and prepare for new federal rules that will affect the use of antibiotics on farms.
The new rules, aimed at curtailing the use of certain antibiotics in food animal production nationwide within three years, were unveiled in December by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The University of Illinois last week hosted a webinar featuring swine nutritionists Jim Pettigrew (emeritus) and Hans Stein along with Larry Firkins, Extension swine veterinarian, to address the issue. “We’ve been engaged in a debate for quite a long time about what the use of antibiotics in food animals should be,” Pettigrew said. “I’d argue those opinions no longer matter. “We have a decision on what the new rules will be,” he continued. “Farmers need to spend their energy to understand the new rules and to adapt to the new rules.” The key elements of FDA’s new policies are as follows:
• There will be no use of antibiotics for production practices, such as growth promotion and feed efficiency; • Antibiotics can be used for prevention of a specific disease identified on a farm that could cause problems; and • All uses of antibiotics on farms must be under veterinary supervision and oversight.
Read about biosecurity page 2
“This point (of allowing the use of antibiotics for disease prevention) sets these rules apart from what we’ve seen in other parts of the world,” Pettigrew said. “In Europe, for example, farmers aren’t allowed to use antibiotics unless an animal is sick.” FDA asked drug manufacturers to voluntarily change labels on some antibiotics to eliminate their use for production practices
FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com
and to shift label requirements from over-the-counter to requiring a veterinary feed directive (VFD). FDA gave the companies three months to formulate plans and respond to the directive. FDA plans to issue a report on the companies’ response in March. “Antibiotics will not be eliminated (from animal ag). That is not the case,” Pettigrew said. “There will be tighter restrictions.” If the new drug labels are put into practice, farmers won’t be able to self-administer antibiotics to their herds or flocks within three years. That action will require a VFD. “Nothing is voluntary about these rules at the farm level,” Pettigrew noted. The new rules could increase costs for producers. There also could be issues for livestock producers in locations that are
underserved by large animal vets or for aquaculture producers due to a lack of vets in that field, Firkins noted. But FDA proceeded with the new rules in response to concerns about drug-resistance in human medicine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 23,000 people die each year from drug-resistant infections. Germs spread in hospitals pose the biggest risk, but FDA felt reducing antibiotics used in animal agriculture was a step in the right direction. “We need to be selective about the drugs we use in animals and when we use them,” said William Flynn, of FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. “Antimicrobial resistance may not be completely preventable, but we need to do what we can to slow it down.” The new rules apply only to food-producing animals, not companion animals.
Illinois Farm Bureau on the web: www.ilfb.org ®