Long-time agriculture proponent, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, lambasted House Republicans for trying to trim funds needed for disaster relief and cutting a clean energy program to pay for the disasters:
“Farmers who have lost their crops to floods and families who have lost their homes to hurricanes shouldn’t be used as pawns in a budget bidding war.”
NPPC Satisfied with GAO Report on Antimicrobials
The Government Accountability Office recently released the findings of an investigation into antibiotic resistance transference to humans when antibiotics are used in the production of food animals. The GAO stated they weren’t able to find any correlation in drug use in animals or humans. Liz Wagstrom Chief Veterinarian for the National Pork Producers Council says that NPPC was satisfied with the report:
“Yeah, we were very pleased with the outreach that they had, with the effort they made to be unbiased and to really look for all the evidence.”
The investigation was requested by New York Representative, Louise Slaughter in an effort to support her legislation -- Perseveration of Antimicrobials for Medical Treatment Act. Read the full story...
USTR Files Case against China Before WTO
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has filed a case before the World Trade Organization against China for imposing unfair duties on American chicken products. The U.S. is requesting dispute settlement consultations to challenge China’s imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties against imports of U.S. chicken “broiler products.
Lawmakers Still Awaiting Cost-Benefit Analysis of GIPSA Rule One Year Later
House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas says it's now been more than a year since USDA released a proposed rule that would dramatically change the way livestock are marketed in this country. It's been known as the GIPSA rule - and after it was proposed - Lucas joined more than 100 Members of Congress to ask Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for a cost-benefit analysis on the rule for public comment. That request was denied.
But during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing - Lucas says Cass Sunstein of the Office of Management and Budget agreed that public analysis is important - stating the fundamental importance for economic analyses to be available for public review...tape
“A year later, one administration official has finally conceded that a cost/benefit analysis of this rule, for public comment is the right thing to do. I’m glad that someone in the administration has seen reason, but until they complete a cost/benefit analysis and release it for public evaluation, we should not move forward.”
Lucas says the last thing we need when the U.S. economy is struggling is ill-considered government regulations that could hurt the very producers they're designed to help.
FTA Votes One Step Closer
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says the Senate’s vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed with the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences legislation takes us one step closer to finalizing Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. NCBA’s Manager of Legislative Affairs, Kent Bacus, says this legislation is one of the many requirements President Obama has demanded before he will send the agreements to Congress.
Pessimism about the Economy Growing
Pessimism about the economy is growing...according to the latest USA Today/Gallup poll. Eight out of ten say the U-S is in a recession...and six out of ten say it won't be any better a year from now. Gallup's Frank Newport says there's a lot of doom and gloom.
“Thirty-seven percent say it’s going to be better next year than now, which in our interpretation is pretty pessimistic because that leaves a majority who says same as now, and we even have a fifth of Americans who say it’s going to be worse a year from now than it is now.”
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