Welcome to the U.S. Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog

A comprehensive news, research, and information resource for the nation’s agricultural community.

Provided as a partnership of the National Agricultural Law Center, the nation’s leading source of agricultural and food law research and information, and the American Agricultural Law Association, the only national professional organization focusing on the legal needs of the agricultural community.

USDA Responds to Sugar Beet Ruling

The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) "announced the agency's next steps in response to a recent court decision on Roundup Ready sugar beets" according to a USDA News Release.

The ruling in Center for Food Safety, et al. v. Vilsack (No. C 08-00484 JSW) revoked USDA's approval of genetically modified (GM) sugar beets until an environmental impact statement is completed.  The decision, by Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern District of California, raised fears about the sugar supply because GM sugar beets make up about 95 percent of the crop grown in the US.  The ruling also caused concern for farmers due to the lack of conventional seeds available.  For more information on this ruling, click here to read a past US Ag&Food Law and Policy Blog Post on the subject.

In response, APHIS will issue permits "to sugar beet seed producers to authorize 'steckling' (i.e. seedlings) production this fall under strict permit conditions."  APHIS "has also received and is evaluating a request for partial deregulation of Roundup Ready sugar beets."  The measures also include a priority placed on the "expedited completion of the EIS [environmental impact statement], a process that is anticipated to take two years."

The court's ruling does not apply to GM sugar beet root and seed crops planted by August 13, 2010.  These crops may be processed and sold as sugar or harvested and stored.

To read the USDA News Release, click here.

Posted: 09/02/2010

Criminal Division of FDA Joins Egg Recall Investigation

The Wall Street Journal reports that the criminal division of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Justice Department "joined the probe of the Iowa farm at the heart of the recent egg recall linked to an outbreak of salmonella, according to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg."

 The egg recall began on August 13, 2010 and involves over half a billion eggs from Iowa producers, Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms.  About 1,500 reported cases of salmonella enteritidis have been linked to tainted eggs since the spring of this year.  For more background on the egg recall, click here and here for past US Ag&Food Law and Policy Blog posts on the subject.

Pat El-Hinnawy, FDA spokeswoman, said "that federal agents visited both Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms" on Tuesday.  Dr. Hamburg said that FDA was working with the companies to "make sure that they clean up the subpar practices" and "that eggs do not go back in to the marketplace that are not safe."

Wright County Egg spokeswoman Hinda Mitchell said that the company is "cooperating fully" with FDA.

To read the Wall Street Journal story, click here.

Posted: 09/02/2010

Farm Foundation to Host Forum on Farm Bill

Farm Foundation will host a forum on Tuesday, September 14 on "Budget Implications for the Next Farm Bill" from 9am to 11am at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington D.C.

Presenters include Craig Jagger, Chief Economist, House Agriculture Committee; Patrick Westhoff, Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute; Chuck Conner, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; and Ferd Hoefner of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

There is no cost to attend the forum, however, the Foundation requests that participants RSVP by 12pm Friday, September 10 to julie@farmfoundation.org.

Farm Foundation, NFP, is a 501(c)(3) public charity that "serves as a catalyst for sound public policy by providing objective information to foster deeper understanding of issues shaping the future for agriculture, food systems, and rural regions.  Farm Foundation's work focuses on six major areas: Agriculture in the Environment; Energy and Agriculture; Food, Agricultural and Trade Policy; Agricultural and Food System Productivity, Research and Technology; Food Quality, Safety and Consumer Perceptions; and Viability of Rural Regions.

For more information on the Forum, click here.

Posted:09/02/2010

Study Shows Vegetarianism More Effective in Reducing GHG Emissions

A recent study titled "Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States" concludes that dietary changes to consume less meat and dairy products or shifting to a vegetarian diet "achieves more [greenhouse gas] GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food."

The study, available here, found that "although food is transported long distances in general (1640 km delivery and 6760 km life-cycle supply chain on average) the GHG emissions associated with food are dominated by the production phase, contributing 83% of the average U.S. household's 8.1 t CO2e/yr footprint for food consumption."  Different food groups "exhibit a large range in GHG-intensity; on average red meat is around 150% more GHG-intensive than chicken or fish."

The study was conducted by Christopher L. Weber and H. Scott Matthews of the Department of Civil Engineering and Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.  Funding for the study was provided by an EPA Science to Achieve Results Fellowship and a National Science Foundation MUSES grant.

To read the full-text of the study click here.

Posted: 09/01/2010

USDA Expects Increase in Agricultural Exports

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) expects agricultural exports to increase 5.1 percent to $113 billion in the federal fiscal year ending in September 2011, according to the Wall Street Journal.

An important factor in this forecast is that the drought in Russia "will allow U.S. farmers to export $8.1 billion worth of wheat" during this fiscal year, which is a increase of 35 percent from USDA's "revised fiscal 2010 forecast of $6 billion."

Agriculture "is one of the only major sectors of the American economy with a trade surplus - expected to be $30.5 billion this year" according to a statement by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.  USDA also expects to sustain this increase.

Secretary Vilsack stated, "Increased agricultural exports - especially of grains and meat - have helped drive this rebound.  It helps create income opportunities for producers as well as the off-farm jobs that are so critical for strengthening economies in rural America.  In fact, every billion dollars in agricultural exports supports over 8,000 jobs and generates an additional $1.4 billion in economic activity."

To read the Wall Street Journal story, click here.
To read the Statement by Secretary Vilsack, click here.

Posted: 09/01/2010

NALC to Host Workshops on Proposed GIPSA Rules

The National Agricultural Law Center (NALC) will host a series of workshops, including a webinar, on the rules proposed by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) for poultry and livestock producers.  For more information, click here.

At the workshops, staff attorneys will provide an overview of GIPSA's proposed rule changes for poultry and livestock, review the GIPSA rule making process, explain how to submit comments of the proposed rules, and end with a question and answer session.  The webinar will be hosted via eXtension for nationwide participants and all workshops are free and open to the public.

GIPSA is the federal agency "responsible for issuing regulations that govern contracting, buying and selling of livestock and poultry."  GIPSA's mission is "to facilitate the marketing of livestock, poultry, [and] meat ... and promote fair and competitive trading practices for the overall benefit of consumers and American agriculture."

The proposed rules, if finalized, "will significantly affect the livestock and poultry industries."  Among other things, the proposed rules include "examples of packer, live poultry dealer, and swine contractor behavior that would be prohibited."  Additionally, the changes would affect the "tournament system" used for many poultry and swine contracts.

For the schedule of the workshops, click here to read the NALC press release.
For more information on the workshops and the GIPSA proposed rules, click here.
For the full text of the proposed rules, click here.
For more information on the Packers and Stockyards Act, click here.

Posted: 09/01/2010