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March 16, 2001
UDSA: Continue pork checkoff
The Agriculture Department has announced its decision to reverse a Clinton administration decision to discontinue the pork checkoff following a vote by producers.
Pork producers voted 15,951 to 12,396 to end the program in a referendum last fall, but the National Pork Producers Council argued the referendum was unfair. A federal judge in Michigan agreed and temporarily blocked USDA from shutting down the program.
USDA's decision to reverse is tied to a settlement, which requires restructuring, between the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the Michigan Pork Producer Association. The structural changes, effective immediately, require the separation of the National Pork Board and NPPC.
Specifically, the board is required to: use its own management and staff, including chief executive officer and chief financial officer; manage separate contracts for promotion, research and consumer information projects; maintain separate office operation from NPPC; and maintain separate communications from NPPC. USDA allowed the Pork Board two years to build industry support for the program.
Church of England: Pray for the farmers
Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, spiritual leader of the Church of England, is asking that special prayers be written and said for Great Britain's farmers, who find themselves embroiled in a nationwide outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
The impact of the outbreak is extending beyond farmers, with the forced cancellation of nearly all activities in rural areas of the country—horse racing, dog shows, fishing and hiking, and fox hunting—due to the potential of spreading the disease.
Tourists traveling to other parts of Europe from England are being asked to dip their shoes in disinfectant, while authorities spray disinfectant on the tires of trucks arriving in French ports from England.
More than 25,000 head of sheep, pigs and cattle have been destroyed in Great Britain so far, while France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have destroyed thousands more imported animals in an attempt to keep the disease from spreading to the rest of the continent.
Britain's main agricultural group, the National Farmers' Union, estimated that if the outbreak is not under control in three months, it would cost farmers $1.2 billion.
A meatpackers' union said more than 1,000 people have been laid off at processing plants and that more could come soon. Already one of the nation's leading supermarket chains said its stores are beginning to run out of lamb and pork.
Numbers of farms, ranches decline
The number of U.S. farms and ranches decreased last year to 2.17 million, nearly a 1 percent drop, the Agriculture Department said in a recent report.
USDA attributed the decline to low grain prices and unfavorable growing weather.
"The impact of adverse weather, lower commodity prices and competition for land contributed to the overall reduction and consolidation of farms and ranches during 2000," USDA said.
According to the USDA report, the 0.9 percent decline in U.S. operations occurred only among small, independent farms with sales of less than $10,000 per year. The number of operations with annual sales over $10,000 slightly increased in 1999.
Growers farmed 943 million acres in 2000, 4.4 million less than in 1999. The decline is the largest in U.S farms since 1991 when just over 29,000 operations were closed.
Texas Ag Industries Association officers for 2001 include (l-r): Larry Stanberry, Monsanto Co., vice chairman; Vic Aubey, Cargill Fertilizer, executive committee member; Tommy Brandenberger, Migl Feed & Grain Co., executive committee member; James Hopkins, Agrium, chairman of the board; and Howard West, Texas Liquid Fertilizer, secretary/treasurer. Not pictured are David Herndon, Syngenta, immediate past chairman, and Scott Reickhoff, Syngenta, executive committee member.
Notable Quotables
"In times of emergency they will get the assistance they need, when they need it. We will support tax-deferred savings accounts to help farm families guard against downturns. And to keep family farms in the family, we're going to get rid of the death tax."
President George W. Bush, pledging his support for agriculture at Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman's swearing in. Bush said growers should receive the emergency assistance they need and the tax relief important to the survival of family farmers.
