June 6, 2012
www.gfb.org
Vol. 30 No. 23
GFB WRITES GA. CONGRESSMEN ABOUT LFP, SENATE EGG PRODUCTS BILL In separate letters to Georgia congressmen dated May 31, Georgia Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall asked for a resumption of funding under the USDA’s Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) and voiced opposition to a Senate bill introduced on May 24 that would mandate care standards for egg-laying hens. Duvall wrote to all members of the Georgia congressional delegation asking for funding for LFP, which was funded under the 2008 farm bill from Jan. 1, 2008, to Oct. 1, 2011. A key provision of the LFP was to assist livestock owners who suffered grazing losses during that time by helping them withstand increased feed and forage costs brought on by drought conditions. Duvall said that drought conditions have persisted in Georgia, referencing a U.S. Drought Monitor report from May 22 in which two thirds of Georgia’s counties were listed in the “D2-Severe” drought category and at least 40 counties were listed as “D4-Exceptional,” the most severe drought classification. He also noted that while producers who are selling their brood stock are generally receiving good prices for their animals, significant costs will be involved in replacing those herds, and if the number of brood stock remains low, U.S. meat supplies will be affected. “Without some type of assistance, many producers might be forced to liquidate their herds, which would cause market disruptions for quite some time,” Duvall wrote. Duvall also wrote to Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson expressing GFB’s opposition to S. 3239, the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012, which was introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). The bill would implement the 2011 agreement between the Humane Society of the United States and United Egg Producers. The bill would authorize the federal government to regulate enclosures used on layer hen farms. GFB policy opposes any laws which would mandate specific farming practices in livestock or poultry production. It is anticipated by some that the bill will be offered as an amendment to the Senate version of the 2012 farm bill. Duvall asked Chambliss and Isakson to oppose both S. 3239 and any attempt to attach it to the farm bill. “If Washington has the jurisdiction to regulate layer hen cages, it will not be long before similar arguments are made for all animal enclosures,” Duvall wrote. “Georgia Farm Bureau members fear that S. 3239 is merely the first step toward complete federal regulation of the entire livestock and poultry industry.”