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Texas Agriculture Archive

March 19, 2004

Bans on U.S. and Canadian beef due to BSE affect more than one-quarter of world beef trade. Countries affected by bird-flu-related bans account for 50 percent of poultry meat exports.

But there's a winner: Pork. Industry officials signal exports of their product are up 15 percent in the wake of the trade interruptions. That's aiding hog futures.
Source: Pro Farmer, March 6, 2004; Vol. 32, No. 10

GM to make more ethanol-powered cars
According to wire reports, one of the nation's largest automakers, General Motors, said it plans to manufacture more cars and trucks capable of running on ethanol.

The director of alternative fuels reportedly said, "We think real opportunity lies with E85." E85 fuel is an 85:15 mixture of ethanol and regular gasoline.

GM did not provide specifics on how many more ethanol-powered vehicles the company would produce. There are about 3 million vehicles in use today that can run on ethanol fuel. About a third of those were produced at GM plants.
Source: AFBF Executive Newswatch, March 5, 2004

Farm labor numbers fall
There were 847,000 hired workers on the nation's farms and ranches during the week of Jan. 11-17, 2004, down 5 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 667,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 180,000 workers.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $9.41 per hour during the January 2004 reference week, up 7 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $8.39 per hour, up 9 cents from last January, while livestock workers earned $8.84 per hour compared with $8.90 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $8.55 per hour, was up 5 cents from last year.

The number of hours worked averaged 38.1 hours for hired workers during the survey week, up 1 percent from a year ago.
Source: NASS; Farm Labor, Feb. 20, 2004

Austria leads Europe in organic production
Austria, where organic production has been used since 1927, now has the highest percentage of organically farmed agricultural land in Europe. Today, about 10 percent of Austrian farms are certified organic. Approximately 66,900 acres, 8.3 percent of Austrian agricultural land, are under organic management.

On average, organic food production has more than doubled in Austria over the past five years. The biggest increases are in pork, potatoes, onions and carrots.
Source: AgExporter, February 2004

ID: USDA to issue premises numbers
According to the Agriculture Department, animal identification numbers will be issued starting this fall. USDA is planning to compile a list of individual ranchers by the end of this year, followed by a list of individual animals by the middle of 2005.

Under the proposed system, farms, ranches, feedlots, sale barns and packing plants would receive "premises" ID numbers and individual animals would each be assigned their own ID numbers.

Undersecretary Bill Hawkes told a Senate agriculture subcommittee that USDA prefers a voluntary ID system and that they plan to gather data from private groups to get the program started. He also said that USDA does not anticipate that federal funding will be provided for the ID program. The price tag for a national ID system could run as high as $100 million annually, according to some livestock industry estimates.

The American Farm Bureau Federation supports the establishment and implementation of a national animal identification system capable of providing support for animal disease control and eradication, as well as enhancing food safety.
Source: AFBF Executive Newswatch, March 5, 2004

Peanuts, rice to receive 2nd counter-cyclical payment
USDA will issue second counter-cyclical payments for rice and peanuts.

The second payout will make up to 70 percent of the projected total payment on the 2003 crop.

For producers who passed on the first payments, the payment will be $51.80 per ton for peanuts and 63 cents per cwt. for rice. For those who did take the first payment, this second one will be $15.40 per ton for peanuts and 5.25 cents per cwt for rice.

Source: Doane's Agricultural Report, Vol. 67, No. 9-1, Feb. 27, 2004