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Texas Agriculture Archive
November 4, 2005
Exelon Energy, which owns Chicago's ComEd and Philadelphia's PECO utilities, has become the nation's single biggest consumer of biodiesel.
Better yet, it's setting an
example for millions of customers by touting that biodiesel is not only cheaper
than regular diesel, but better for the environment and vehicle engine life.
Source: Doane's Agricultural Report; Vol. 68, No. 42-1; Oct. 21, 2005
A $16 million loan guarantee from the Rural Development Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency program of the Agriculture Department is helping finance construction of a wood-fired electrical generating plant in rural Arizona.
Wildfire-damaged timber, along with waste wood and paper fiber from a nearby paper mill, will be the fuel. It is a 20-megawatt biomass electrical generation plant being located near Snowflake, Ariz., costing approximately $23 million to construct.
The electric company will
contract with the U.S. Forest Service for wildfire-damaged timber as part of
the Healthy Forest Initiative.
Source: AFBF; Executive
Newswatch; Oct. 21, 2005
The risk to humans from a pandemic of H5N1 bird flu has been greatly overstated in the popular press, according to new research from scientists at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and the University of Louisville.
According to the scientists,
there have been no signs thus far that H5N1 is turning into a human
disease, and it's unlikely that will happen.
Source: AFBF; Executive
Newswatch; Oct. 21, 2005
According to the president of the Canadian Beef Export Federation, Japan could resume importing Canadian beef by this December.
Japan has banned imports of Canadian beef since May 2003 because of concerns about BSE. Canada may have a leg up on U.S. beef because of the age verification system in Canada. Japanese importers may require proof that the beef came from animals under 21 months of age and Canada has more than 600,000 head of cattle that are age verified.
It will take time for the U.S.
industry to develop an equivalent verification system.
Source: Doane's Agricultural Report; Vol. 68, No. 42-1; Sept. 21, 2005
The Agriculture Department recently announced that $1.7 billion in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) payments will be made to participating producers for fiscal year 2005. According to USDA, this comes out to an average of $4,143 per farm enrolled.
Producers holding 694,226 contracts on 405,792 farms will receive an average of $48.18 per acre. The number of contracts is higher than the number of farms as some producers may have multiple contracts on a single farm.
This latest announcement does
not include rental payments for 1.2 million acres already enrolled under
CRP general signup 29, which was held Aug. 30—Sept. 24, 2004. Payments
for new CRP acreage will be issued starting in October 2006 or
October 2007, depending on when contracts become effective.
Source: AFBF; Executive
Newswatch; Oct. 6, 2005
Inflation hit a 25-year high in September, rising a bigger-than-expected 1.2 percent, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor.
A record 12 percent one-month rise in energy prices fueled the historic jump in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), but core inflation (which excludes food and energy) increased just .1 percent.
Consumer inflation has now
risen 4.7 percent in the past 12 months, the highest since 1991. Energy prices
are up 34.8 percent in the past year.
Source: Doane's Agricultural Report; Vol. 68, No. 42-1; Oct. 21, 2005
The animal rights activist group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has announced a class-action lawsuits against nine companies that sell milk in Washington, D.C.
PCRM is demanding warning labels on milk containers, directed at African-Americans and others who may be lactose intolerant. The group is seeking "monetary awards for pain and suffering experienced from drinking milk."
According to an official statement from the
American Gastroenter-ological Association, lactose
intolerance "need not pose a serious threat to good health"
and "is relatively easy to treat."
Source: AFBF; Executive Newswatch;
Oct. 7, 2005
Thailand announced recently that it will lift the ban on U.S. beef imports that was put in place in December, 2003 after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in the United States.
U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman noted that lifting the ban
is a positive move toward negotiating a free trade
agreement between the two countries. It is anticipated
that a free trade agreement could be finalized early next year.
Source: AFBF; Executive
Newswatch; Oct. 21, 2005
