|
|
|
|
|
June 2 , 2006
It's only a matter of time before
it's a new market for U.S. sugar producers as well, especially if U.S.
sugar price support policy is radically reduced.
Source: Doane's Agricultural Report; Vol. 69, No. 20-1
Prime Minister Blair blasts animal activists
Animal rights activists, who are encouraging criminal activities against companies that use animals in medical research, have antagonized English Prime Minister Tony Blair to the point he wants new laws. Intimidation of companies' board members and their families by publishing names on the Internet and making them the target of offensive messages would become a crime under a Blair proposal.
More extreme intimidation occurred recently as part of a six-year hate campaign against a guinea pig farm owner. As part of the campaign, a human body was removed from a grave.
"The appalling details of the campaign intimidation—which includes grave robbing—show the depth to which the animal extremists are prepared to stoop," Blair is quoted in the London Telegraph.
He went on to say, "If more measures are needed to protect individuals, universities and firms or to root out the criminal extremist fringe, we will provide them."
Source: AFBF; Executive Newswatch; May 17, 2006
ERS study shows most
farms are family-owned
The Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service has released a report titled Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: 2005 Family Farm Report.
A key finding of the report is that 98 percent of U.S. farms in 2003 are family farms, organized as proprietorships, partnerships or family corporations. The report notes that even the largest farms tend to be family farms, while very large family farms account for a small share of farms but a large and growing share of sales.
A companion brochure, America's Diverse Family Farms: Structure and Finances, also is available from ERS.
Source: AFBF; Executive Newswatch; May 19, 2006
COLT introduces animal health monitors
Cattle health monitors are now available from COLT Technologies™.
The company has signed deals with major U.S. feedlot operations and several foreign producers to begin using their TekVet System™. It uses devices attached to each animal that monitor core temperatures of beef or dairy animals and then uses a radio frequency to alert owners of rising temperature (an early warning of possible sickness), as well as tracing and tracking historical information about the animal.
Source: Doane's Agricultural Report; Vol. 69, No. 20-1; May 19, 2006
Chevron invests in
new biodiesel facility
Chevron Corporation announced May 11 that through a subsidiary it has invested in a Texas-based company that is building one of the first large-scale biodiesel plants in the U.S.
The facility will have the potential to produce 100 million gallons per year of this clean-burning renewable fuel—an amount that would more than double the current production volume of biodiesel in the U.S.
Chevron, through its subsidiary, Chevron Technology Ventures LLC (CTV), has taken an equity position in Galveston Bay Biodiesel LP (GBB). The Houston-based company is constructing a biodiesel production and distribution facility in Galveston, scheduled for completion by the end of 2006.
Source: AFBF; Policy Links; May 18, 2006
Wall Street takes note
of ethanol's potential
Ethanol from cellulosic matter (such as corn stalks, straw, etc.) got a big boost recently when Iogen Corporation, a leader in the necessary technology, announced Goldman Sachs & Co. of New York has invested $30 million (CDN).
It's the first major Wall Street firm to buy into the technology profit potential of ethanol from cellulose.
And why not? Another major investor in Iogen is Royal Dutch/Shell, one of the world's biggest players in the oil business.
Source: Doane's Agricultural Report; Vol. 69, No. 20-1; May 19, 2006
Sharpshooters target fish-eating cormorants
Sharpshooters hired by the Agriculture Department are in the process of killing 900 cormorants in the Green Bay, Wis., Lake Michigan area in an attempt to reduce the environmental damage from the up to three-foot tall fish-eating bird. Besides shooting birds, crews will also coat eggs in about 6,000 nests with corn oil to prevent hatching of additional birds.
The population of cormorants has exploded since the 1970s when the bird became federally protected against hunting. At that time, counts determined there were less than 100 nests. Now there are an estimated 12,880 nests in Green Bay.
The large cormorant population means about 12 million pounds of fish are annually eaten from the bay by the large birds, and small islands in the bay are without vegetation because of the large amount of acidic feces from the birds. Cormorant control is a concern for other Great Lakes areas other than Wisconsin including Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio.
Source: AFBF; Executive Newswatch; May 12, 2006
