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The time-tested relationship between the U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has been built on collaboration in a shared mission of expanding agriculture exports.
The “bright spot” that FAS sees in the form of increased red meat exports and jobs creation is an important measurement of success, according to FAS Administrator Suzanne Heinen. “FAS and USMEF have a strong partnership, and a partnership that works,” said Heinen in her address to USMEF’s membership recently at the organization’s board of directors meeting in New Orleans.
A voluntary, standardized testing method for aflatoxin is bringing consistency to the Texas grain industry, according to officials.Until recently, grain elevators had no uniform method for sampling and testing corn for aflatoxin and no certainty the results were accurate, officials said.
That’s a problem for the Texas grain industry, said Glen Jones, director of research, education and policy development for Texas Farm Bureau.
The beef checkoff hosted a steak immersion and educational event at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, California, to help educate decision makers from more than 30 major U.S. foodservice operators, major retail chains and the top U.S. packers.
Because rising food prices and reduced beef supply are causing foodservice operators to rethink their menus, the event aimed to inform operators on the versatility and selling power of beef.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced yesterday that the world’s first molecular foot-and-mouth (FMD) vaccine has been granted conditional license for use in cattle by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB).
Developed at DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), this is the first licensed FMD vaccine that can be manufactured on the U.S. mainland. “The important capability of this vaccine compared with other foot-and-mouth disease vaccines that have been developed in the past is that it can be manufactured on the mainland in the United States because it does not contain live FMD virus,” said PIADC Director Dr. Larry Barrett.
Jim Wysocki, chief financial officer of Wysocki Produce Farms in Portage County, Wisconsin, began the process of applying for the permits needed for a 3,500-cow farm in Saratoga.
He also contacted local and regional officials to notify them of the company's plan for the dairy and produce operation and reached out to Gannett Central Wisconsin Media to get the word out to the public, resulting in a story in the Marshfield News-Herald.
Media attention will turn toward the Supreme Court this month for two important rulings.
Did you know the federal government used Supreme Court precedence involving a dairy processor and dairy farmers to argue the constitutionality and precedence for Obamacare and the individual mandate? Contributor Ben Yale explains the context for the government’s case in his article (click here to read).
The court will also issue its ruling in the matter of Arizona v. U.S., which will impact states’ legal bounds for immigration status inquiries and enforcement.
The May 1, 2012 issue of Progressive Dairyman featured an article about dairy operations involved in agritourism through pumpkin patches. Click here to read it. While the idea of agritourism isn't exactly new, the need for a story developed when our editorial team began to realize nearly all of the people featured in "Meet your dairy consumer" last visited a farm by way of a pumpkin patch. Click here to read PD Editor Walt Cooley's explanation.
The article highlighted the operations of Carlton Dairy Farm in Georgia, Oma's Pumpkin Patch in California and the Maris family in Oregon. Photos used in the article came from Kelsay Farms in Indiana and Stoner's Dairy Farm in Pennsylvania.
