Author: VFB Governmental Relations

Antibiotics in animal feed: Point/Counterpoint article needs farmers’ comments

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Sam Gardner, president of Gardner Heifers Inc. in Bedford County and a Virginia Farm Bureau Young Farmer, was recently asked to submit an essay to the Roanoke Times on antibiotic use in agriculture for a point/counterpoint article on their “Roundtable” blog.

In his essay, Gardner explains that the use of antibiotics is crucial to his operation. He states, “My family and I work continually to improve animal care because it’s the right thing to do, and because our business prospects are only as good as the foods we ultimately produce. When antibiotics are used on our farm, they ensure the health and well-being of our animals. We follow safety protocols to ensure that all animals that leave our farm will produce food that is safe for my family and your family to enjoy at the dinner table.”

An opposing essay is written by Susan Vaughn Grooters, the director of research and education for STOP Foodborne Illness. She argues that antibiotic use in animal feed increases the number of antibiotic-resistant foodborne illnesses. “Consumers are shocked to learn that the same antibiotics used to treat their children are being fed to animals, not for infection treatment, but for outdated reasons like growth promotion when no evidence of disease is present for ‘prevention,'” she states. “Mothers don’t use antibiotics to treat their children in place of hygienic practices or for prevention purposes; neither should farmers.”

Please visit the blog here: http://blogs.roanoke.com/roundtable/2012/06/antibiotics-in-animal-feed-pointcounterpoint/ and comment on the misconceptions of antibiotic use in agriculture animals and why they are an important tool farmers use to help ensure the health and well-being of their animals. We need more viewpoints from farmers on this article!

Contributors’ rebuttals will be published June 10.

Agricultural Depredation Order for Resident Canada Geese offered again in Virginia for 2012

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The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) and the Wildlife Services Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are working together to offer Virginia farmers an additional tool to manage problems caused by Resident Canada geese. This tool is an Agricultural Depredation Order.

The Agricultural Depredation Order was proposed in the Environmental Impact Statement on Resident Canada geese published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in September 2006.

The Agricultural Depredation Order was offered for the first time in Virginia in 2009. This Depredation Order authorizes landowners, operators, and tenants actively engaged in commercial agriculture to use certain lethal methods to control Resident Canada geese on lands that they personally control where geese are damaging agricultural crops.

The Agricultural Depredation Order is a bit different than the Nest and Egg Order in that it is administered by the state agencies and state authorization is required to conduct this control. There is no federal website registration or federal permit, but a state permit is required. The permit is free and agricultural producers can apply for the permit by calling the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, P.O. Box 130, Moseley, VA 23120 Phone: (804) 739-7739 FAX: (804) 739-7738. The authorization process will provide a quick turn-around for permits and should make the process more user friendly for landowners and managers.

Activities allowed under this permit include the lethal take of Canada geese from May 1 through August 31, and the destruction of Canada goose nests and eggs between March 1 and June 30. All management actions must occur on the property controlled/managed by the applicant. Geese may not be taken using hunting methods such as decoys and calls. Permit holders must keep a log of their control activities and must submit a report by September 30 of each year detailing the number of birds taken. A copy of the Permit Application, detailing the terms and conditions of the permit, and an Annual Report Form can be obtained from the USDA at the address/number above.

Past efforts have shown that Canada goose depredation control is most effective when a combination of management techniques is used in an integrated approach. These techniques include hunting seasons (special early and regular Resident Canada goose seasons with liberal bag limits), nest and egg destruction, non-lethal treatment methods like hazing and harassment, habitat management and lethal alternatives when needed.

For additional information about Resident Canada geese and other waterfowl populations in Virginia, visit the waterfowl section on the Department’s Web site (http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/waterfowl/).

Virginia Farm Bureau News Lead: Easing of Chinese ban on Virginia logs good news for exporters

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This story will appear in the May 31st edition of News Leads, the week’s top ag stories sent out by the VFB Communications Department to media across the state.

China has agreed to re-open its market to exports of Virginia logs, turning around an outstanding barrier to trade between the two countries.

Bans by the Chinese government on poultry and logs from Virginia have proven to be ongoing challenges for the state’s agriculture, forestry and shipping sectors.

“China is our second largest agricultural trade partner and the ban was negatively impacting both Virginia’s exporters and our valued customers in China,” said Gov. Bob McDonnell when he announced a six-month pilot project to re-open the Chinese market to Virginia’s hardwood and softwood log exporters. “My administration will continue working with all involved parties to see that this pilot program is successful and eventually leads to full open market access.”

In April 2011, China banned log exports from Virginia and South Carolina after insects were found in some shipments.

Under the terms of the pilot project, Virginia logs will be allowed to re-enter China beginning June 1 via designated ports and with enhanced pest treatment and testing protocols.

J.J. Keever, Virginia Port Authority senior deputy executive director for external affairs, estimated that the ban was stopping the export of 4,000 to 5,000 shipping containers a month from Virginia during logging season.

“Around 80 percent of forestland in the Commonwealth is privately owned; re-opening the Chinese market is great news for these forestland owners. This will again increase the shipment of their timber grown right here in Virginia. “said Andrew Smith, Senior Assistant Director of Governmental Relations for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

Virginia agricultural and forestry exports totaled $2.24 billion in 2010, which is that state’s second-highest amount ever. Exports of some Virginia commodities increased in 2011 including pork, poultry, soybeans and wood products.

At the end of 2011, Virginia’s secretary of agriculture and forestry Todd Haymore said the record-high exports were good news but the Chinese ban on logs and poultry was an ongoing trade barrier.

Ag Secretary Vilsack Visits Virginia Farm Bureau to Announce New and Expanded Access to Credit for Farmers

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Vilsack attends roundtable at
Virginia Farm Bureau

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the Virginia Farm Bureau building yesterday to announce that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made substantial, year-over-year gains in expanding credit opportunities for farmers and ranchers across the United States. The increase in farm and operating loans has helped improve farmer and rancher productivity, launched new start-up operations, and ensured opportunities in agriculture for many more Americans. With expanded access to credit, USDA is helping a new generation of farmers sustain and build upon what is now the most productive period in history for American agriculture. To that end, Vilsack announced the Department is seeking comments on a new microloan program to help small and family operations progress through their start-up years with needed resources, while building capacity, increasing equity, and eventually graduating to commercial credit.

“Over the past three years, we have expanded farm and operating loans to Americans from all backgrounds to help raise a new crop of producers across the country,” said Vilsack. “As we expand options in agriculture, we’re seeing a new vibrancy across the countryside as younger people—many of whom are now involved in local and regional production—pursue livelihoods in farming, raising food for local consumption. By leveraging USDA’s lending programs for beginning farmers and ranchers and smaller producers, we’re helping to rebuild and revitalize our rural communities.”

In the past three years, USDA has provided 103,000 loans to family farmers totaling $14.6 billion, and under Secretary Vilsack’s leadership, the department is expanding the availability of farm credit with a special focus on beginning farmers and ranchers, as well as socially disadvantaged producers:

•Since 2008, the number of loans to beginning farmers and ranchers has climbed from 11,000 to 15,000. More than 40 percent of USDA’s farm loans now go to beginning farmers;

•Over 50 percent of the loans went to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. USDA has increased lending to socially-disadvantaged producers by nearly 50 percent since 2008.

•The total value of loans in persistent-poverty counties is 60 percent higher today than in 2010.

USDA farm loans can be used to purchase land, livestock, equipment, feed, seed, and supplies, or to construct buildings or make farm improvements. For beginning farmers and ranchers, USDA provides affordable credit, including loans under the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program and Youth Loans. In addition, USDA provides grants under the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. The establishment of a coordinating office for USDA beginning farmer programs has supported education and training for more than 15,000 beginning farmers and ranchers.

As part of ongoing efforts to streamline and modernize its service to American agriculture, Vilsack announced today that USDA is also seeking comments on a proposal to improve its Operating Loan Program to better meet the needs of small farmers with a new microloan program. Under the microloan proposal, producers who need a loan for less than $35,000 may apply using simplified and streamlined procedures. The program will cut the required paperwork in half and simplify the process to obtain a loan. The goal of the microloan program is to better meet the credit needs of small farm operations while making more effective use of FSA resources. Small farmers often rely on credit cards or personal loans, which carry high interest rates and have less flexible payment schedules, to finance their operations. The improvements aim to offer a more efficient processing time for smaller loans, adding flexibility to some of the eligibility requirements and reducing the application requirements.

The proposed rule may be viewed at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/05/25/2012-12685/microloan-operating-loans or through the FSA home page at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/. Comments should be submitted no later than July 23, 2012 by either of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.

Mail: Director, Loan Making Division (LMD), FSA, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Stop 0522, Washington, DC 20250-0522.

Following is a breakdown of the loans to socially-disadvantaged producers in fiscal years (FY) 1999, 2008 and 2011, respectively:

FY99 Direct Loans
Loans 4,005
Volume $296 million

FY08 Direct Loans
Loans 4,281
Volume $379.4 million

FY11 Direct Loans
Loans 5,901
Volume $565.4 million

Overall Socially Disadvantaged Producer Loan Portfolio*
Individuals 15,906 16,910 18,114
Dollars $1.53 billion $1.97 billion $2.35 billion
(*guaranteed and direct)

Through USDA’s Strike Force Initiative, the department is helping to relieve persistent poverty in high poverty counties by accelerating assistance and improving participation in and access to our programs and services. Since Strike Force began, Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans have helped hundreds of minority producers in high-poverty counties in states with large populations of minority farmers and ranchers. Already in 2012, USDA has made 513 direct loans totaling nearly $45 million to producers in Strike Force counties—a 60-percent increase over the same period last year. Of the total, 74 percent of the loans have gone to beginning and socially disadvantaged producers. More information about the loans to Strike Force counties can be found below.

Following is a breakdown of the loans to producers in the Strike Force states in FY 2011 and 2012:

FY11 FY12

Arkansas
Number of Direct Loans 59 97
Direct Loan Amount in Dollars $4,426,410 $9,113,450
Number of Guaranteed Loans 48 57
Guaranteed Loan Amount in Dollars $17,085,250 $22,261,980

Colorado
Number of Direct Loans 70 97
Direct Loan Amount in Dollars $5,257,995 $8,474,330
Number of Guaranteed Loans 34 20
Guaranteed Loan Amount in Dollars $10,507,304 $8,192,600

Georgia
Number of Direct Loans 126 175
Direct Loan Amount in Dollars $13,517,331 $18,533,690
Number of Guaranteed Loans 68 53
Guaranteed Loan Amount in Dollars $25,631,623 $19,035,270

Mississippi
Number of Direct Loans 68 97
Direct Loan Amount in Dollars $3,330,945 $6,106,360
Number of Guaranteed Loans 16 20
Guaranteed Loan Amount in Dollars $7,049,638 $7,125,000

Nevada
Number of Direct Loans 28 41
Direct Loan Amount in Dollars $1,637,300 $1,874,760
Number of Guaranteed Loans 7 1
Guaranteed Loan Amount in Dollars $2,869,000 $80,000

New Mexico
Number of Direct Loans 0 6
Direct Loan Amount in Dollars $0 $755,000
Number of Guaranteed Loans 0 0
Guaranteed Loan Amount in Dollars $0 $0

Know the laws: Beware of scrap metal theft

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With the current sale price of metals so high there are both opportunities and pitfalls that are approaching the agricultural community. While farmers can find scrap metal on their land to take to recycling centers to earn a little extra income, there is also a rampant increase in the amount of scrap metal theft. Farmers need to be extra careful about suspicious activity near old barns and equipment, especially if there is copper lying around.

Scrap metal theft is up 81% nationwide since 2008. Virginia has laws on the books meant to protect both legitimate scrap metal sellers and scrap metal recyclers. Metal recyclers as defined by the state Code are required to collect certain information from any seller of regulated metals and keep records of such information for not less than five years.

Required information that must be collected includes:

• A record of the seller’s identification information from a driver’s license or other government‐issued current photographic identification that includes the seller’s full name, current address, date of birth, and social security or other recognized identification number

• The time and date of the transaction

• The license plate number of the seller’s vehicle

• A description of the items received from the seller

If the seller is a person who is not an authorized scrap seller or the authorized agent and employee of an authorized scrap seller, documentation, such as a bill of sale, receipt, letter of authorization or similar evidence, establishing that the person lawfully possesses the proprietary articles to be sold

• If the seller is not an authorized scrap seller and has no documentation showing lawful possession, the scrap metal processor must document a diligent inquiry into whether the seller has a legal right to sell the property. After purchasing this property, the scrap metal processor must:

o Submit a report to law enforcement by close of business the following day

o Include in the report a description of the article

o Include in the report a copy of the seller’s identifying information.

o Hold the proprietary article for 15 days after the purchase.

Upon request, law enforcement who presents credentials may inspect during regular business hours and at the normal business location any records required by law.

Reports to law enforcement

Upon requested by law enforcement, a scrap metal processor must furnish a report of all purchases of nonferrous scrap, metal articles, and proprietary articles, excluding aluminum cans and interior household items. Each report must:

• Be submitted on the next business day following the date of a purchase

• Include the seller’s name, date of birth, identification number, address, height, and weight and the license plate number of any motor vehicle in which the goods or things were delivered

• Be submitted in the proper format

Virginia law not apply to the purchase, sale or disposal of any material that is used in the provision of health care by any professional who is licensed, certified or registered to practice by a board within the Department of Health Professions.

Multi-Legged Stool Best Approach for Farm Bill

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American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman testified Wednesday before the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management to reiterate AFBF’s priorities for the 2012 farm bill and suggest enhancements to the current farm bill and the Senate Agriculture Committee-passed farm bill.

Stallman’s testimony was based on the premise that the House Agriculture Committee will draft farm legislation that reduces spending by $23 billion over the next 10 years, with proportional cuts of $15 billion in commodity program reductions, $4 billion in conservation program reductions and $4 billion in nutrition program reductions. Stallman called for a Supplemental Coverage Option whereby row crop and specialty crop producers could purchase a county-level, revenue-protection policy on top of their individual crop insurance coverage to cover all or part of the farmer’s deductible. Also, restoring non-program crop disaster programs such as the Livestock Indemnity Program, Livestock Forage Program and Tree Assistance Program would help those producers deal with catastrophic losses.

“Continuation of a multi-legged stool remains the best approach for providing a fair and effective safety net, which should consist of a strong crop insurance program, continuation of the current marketing loan provisions and a catastrophic revenue loss program,” said Stallman. The purpose of the hearing was to review commodity programs and crop insurance options for 2012 farm bill.” said Stallman

In its farm bill proposal, AFBF has prioritized (1) protecting and strengthening federal crop insurance funding and not reducing funding for that program; (2) developing a commodity title that encourages producers to follow market signals rather than making planting decisions in anticipation of government payments; and (3) refraining from basing any program on cost of production.

“These deep loss events that would endanger the financial survivability of the farm are typically beyond any producer’s control, and, in the past, have prompted enactment of ad hoc disaster programs,” Stallman said. “Our plan focuses on protecting farmers from these situations and brings program benefits into play only when they are needed, rather than being considered a supplemental source of annual income.”

The letter stated, “The renegotiation of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement resulted in a $6 billion reduction to the program, with $4 billion in savings applied to deficit reduction. We believe additional reductions would seriously affect producer access to crop insurance coverage and threaten efficient private-sector delivery following disasters.”

Earlier this week, Farm Bureau signed on to a letter urging the House to support the crop insurance program with most of the other commodity groups and farm organizations, including the American Soybean Association, American Sugarbeet Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Cotton Council, National Farmers Union, National Sorghum Producers, National Sunflower Association, U.S. Canola Association and USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council.

USDA, land grant universities celebrate 150 years

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Photo by Ken Hammond

Abraham Lincoln signed the law to establish the U.S. Department of Agriculture 150 years ago this week. He called the new agency “The People’s Department.” That’s a fitting name for USDA because it affects every American every day in ways most people don’t realize.

 “The American Farm Bureau Federation congratulates Agriculture Secretary Vilsack and USDA on the department’s 150th anniversary. President Abraham Lincoln is known for many achievements during his lifetime, but a little known triumph of his—that affects all Americans—was the establishment of the United States Department of Agriculture 150 years ago today,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said.

USDA’s 100,000 employees plus are spread out all over the world and the work that they do runs the gamut from the most basic kind of research in how to approve crop production to ensuring that those who are less fortunate have enough food on the table.

Here are a few facts about USDA:

  •  One in 7 Americans is now receiving some form of nutrition assistance through USDA’s programs to help get them through this downturn in the economy.
  • USDA serves breakfast and lunch to 32 million kids a day through the school lunch program, provides thousands of rural business loans each year and conducts research in renewable energy to lessen our reliance on foreign oil.
  • Meat, poultry and a good part of the egg production in this country is inspected for safety and wholesomeness by the Food Safety Inspection Service. They also, through the Animal, Plant Health Inspection Service, protect against animal and plant diseases and pests.

“The research component is what has given the United States a comparative advantage throughout the world in terms of being able to meet the demands for a growing population on the food production side,” said Dale Moore, AFBF’s Deputy Executive Director of Public Policy who was a senior staff members at USDA for eight years “Not just in raising more crops or raising more pounds of livestock, but also to do that more economically in ways that can better deal with what Mother Nature may throw at a producer when they’re trying to raise those commodities.”

Moore continued, “USDA is literally the only federal agency that can build a town from the ground up. You take its rural development mission and all the different loans whether it’s water and sewer, power , other forms of energy, schools, churches, hospitals, the whole infrastructure part of the process as well as business and economic development. You’ve obviously got the farm program areas, the Farm Service Agency and when when you take into account the Extension agents, you take into account the conservation work, the Forest Service work, you’ve got an agency that literally has a presence in virtually every county in the United States.”

In the same year that USDA was created, Abraham Lincoln also signed another very important piece of legislation – The Morrill Act of 1862. This Act created our land grant universities. Virginia is very fortunate to have two land grant universities – Virginia Tech (established as a land grant in 1872) and Virginia State University (established as land grant in 1920).

The Morrill Act granted vast holdings of federal lands to states based on the size of their congressional delegations. The lands were to be sold to provide an endowment for the establishment of “at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as related to agriculture and the mechanic arts…in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.”

The rationale for the creation of land grant universities was to provide educational opportunities where members of the working classes could obtain a liberal, practical education. It was an educational system to emphasis emerging applied sciences – particularly agriculture science and engineering.

“Lincoln understood the importance of agriculture to America, and, as importantly, he realized science and technology played a major role in the farming industry,” Stallman said.  

Governor McDonnell Signs Agriculture and Forestry Development Legislation

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Gov. Bob McDonnell

 Governor Bob McDonnell signed agriculture and forestry development legislation passed during the recently concluded 2012 session of the General Assemblyat  Cave View Farm in Weyers Cave yesterday.  McDonnell was joined by members of the General Assembly, representatives from the agriculture and forestry industries as well as local economic development associations and chambers of commerce.

During the event he signed legislation establishing the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund which will function similar to the Governor’s Opportunity Fund. He also signed legislation adding the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry and the Secretary of Technology as voting members of the board of directors of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority to increase coordination among economic development entities.

“All this great news emphasizes the importance of agriculture and forestry to Virginia; they are the state’s two largest industries. Together, they have a combined economic impact of $79 billion annually and provide more than 500,000 jobs across the state. But, we can do more to help spur more economic activity in agriculture and forestry. That is one reason we’ve created the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund. This new economic development tool will help incentivize the creation or expansion of businesses that utilize Virginia agricultural and forestry products, thus providing more opportunities particularly in rural areas of the Commonwealth,” McDonnell said. “Recognizing the industries’ importance to Virginia’s overall economic well-being, we also asked the General Assembly to approve legislation that adds the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, along with the Secretary of Technology, to the board of directors of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership so that we can further capitalize on agribusiness and technology potential in Virginia – two important and growing industries in the Commonwealth. All of the legislation being signed today will further strengthen our agriculture and forestry industries, create greater coordination and promotion of the industries by Virginia, and help our growers and producers thrive in the Commonwealth. And all of that means more jobs for our citizens.”

Cave View Farm is a 2,000 acre dairy and crop farm, with 1,100 cows and the highest silo in Virginia, which stands 148 feet high. In 2010, Cave View Farm received the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s “Shenandoah Basin Clean Water Award.” Governor McDonnell first visited the farm as a candidate for governor in August 2009.

“Three years ago we came to this farm to discuss our vision for how to grow Virginia’s agricultural and forestry industries to help create more good paying jobs for our citizens. Today, we can point to the results of that work. Virginia agriculture exports reached an all-time high in 2011, as we exported a record $2.35 billion worth of products,” McDonnell said. “Working with the General Assembly, we’ve significantly increased international marketing funds to help us capitalize on the tremendous growth opportunities in countries like China and India and other key regions in the global marketplace. These efforts are helping our producers and agribusinesses achieve new successes. Since 2010, we’ve helped to facilitate deals that have added more than $150 million in new agricultural exports from Virginia, including major new shipments of soybeans and wine to China; livestock to Russia and Canada; and wine, seafood, and specialty foods to the European Union.”

Bills Signed Today

HB766 (Landes)/ SB128 (Stanley) – Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund
•Creates the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund

•The bill establishes an economic development grant and loan program targeted specifically at agricultural and forestry operations.

•Despite agriculture and forestry being the two largest industries in the Commonwealth, this legislation is the first to create an economic development incentive targeted specifically at these industries.

•AFID is structured much like the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, but is specifically designed to accommodate the unique aspects of agriculture and forestry projects.

•AFID will provide grants for projects that utilize Virginia grown products in value-added or processing facilities.

•These agriculture and forestry value-added or processing facilities can have tremendous impacts on the regions in which they locate.

•Areas where these facilities typically locate are rural with higher unemployment

•Agriculture is already a core economic driver in the area, so facilities of this kind can build on the region’s existing strength.

•These facilities have a greater economic ripple effect as a result of growers in the region having a new market in which to sell products.

•Farm revenue increases as a result of these facilities

•Jobs are created on the farm and in the facility

•Greater opportunities to increase farm profitability lead to more farmland preserved

•The entire region sees an economic benefit from revenue generated on the farms and at the facility

HB292 (Scott, Ed)/ SB405 (Hanger) – Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority; increases membership of board of directors

•Adds the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry (SAF) and the Secretary of Technology (SOT) as voting members of the board of directors of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority

 •Legislation continues the Governor’s strategy to fully integrate agriculture and forestry, the two largest industries in Virginia, into the broader economic development and job creation efforts of Virginia.

•Having SOT on the VEDP board will bring insights regarding emerging technology markets and provide technical insight into the type of infrastructure necessary to support technology adoption.

•SAF membership on VEDP board indicates to prospective companies that agriculture and forestry interests are important parts of Virginia’s economic development efforts.

•As a VEDP board member, SAF will play an even greater role in shaping the programs and policies which will further investment and job creation in agribusiness and related sectors.

•Technology remains an economic engine in the Commonwealth and SOT’s presence on the VEDP board will provide valuable opportunities to leverage expansion/relocation activities in the IT sector into valuable job opportunities.

Animal agriculture advocates address public image challenges

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Lindasy Reames
Assistant Director
VFB Governmental Relations

I attended the Animal Agriculture Alliance Summit this past week in Arlington. The summit brought together around 200 agriculture leaders to address issues facing animal agriculture. This year the focus was on transparency in the industry and finding ways to show the general public and media what farmers do on their operations. It is a challenge to balance the needs of bio security and private property while opening up farms for tours and education. Below is an article done by agri-pulse on the conference.
Animal agriculture advocates address public image challenges
by Sarah Gonzalez
 Transparency and outreach are essential for animal agriculture to close the “communication gap” that exists between the industry and the general public, according to several speakers at the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 11th annual Stakeholder Summit this week. Nearly two hundred animal agriculture representatives attended the summit in Arlington, Va., where Indiana Pork Executive Director Mike Platt described his organization’s approach to the communication problem.

Platt is president of the Fair Oaks Farms’ new “Pig Adventure” organizing board, which is implementing a 2,600 sow operation to be open for public tours. With a “Disney-like” engagement for its customers, Platt said the “Pig Adventure” will convey the main messages that pork farming is compatible with the environment, pork producers care about their animals and that pork is healthy. He said Fair Oaks Farms expects its first visitors to the sow operation by next year’s Memorial Day, which will be an addition to its existing dairy operation with similar public tours.

“Our goal is to bridge the divide between producer and consumer,” he said. “There is no one solution to the problems facing us in terms of consumer education, but there are 100 ‘one percent’ solutions out there.”

Platt said that his goal is to protect producer choice while being transparent about modern agricultural practices to farm visitors.

“If there’s a production practice that we are doing today we ought to be able to explain it,” he said. “If we can’t explain it, maybe we shouldn’t be doing it.”

He noted that pork operations in the United Kingdom no longer have a choice in how to maintain their operations due to a ban on gestation stalls directed by the European Union. The UK already eliminated gestation stalls, but they are to be phased out throughout the EU by 2013.

“We must protect and maintain producer choice in how to raise their animals, in the best way that’s right for their animals and their farms,” Platt said. “Their choice is critical. And that’s what being lost in the United Kingdom.”
Agralytica Senior Consultant Andre Williamson said his firm’s studies show that the UK ban on sow stalls would have a comparable impact in United States of $5.8 billion in capital costs and $1.1 billion in additional annual operating costs. These regulations drive down production and impact producer costs as well as consumer prices, Williamson said. He said feed lot regulations implemented in Colorado contributed to a 50 percent drop in the state’s hog production.

“Regulations have a negative affect on demand,” he said. “And the primary threat is to exports.”

However, consumers are becoming more vocal about agricultural practices, including animal housing, Williamson noted. National Grocers Association Government Affairs Vice President Greg Ferrara provided the retail perspective of the industry for the animal agriculture representatives at the conference. He noted that today’s consumer is more connected and informed than ever before.

“Today’s consumer is very informed,” he said. “In an era of instant communication, our consumer can get information instantly, whether it’s on a product or something that’s happened.”

This connectivity makes it essential for producers to be transparent and open about their practices, noted several speakers at the conference. A central theme of the meeting was “the need to bridge the urban-rural divide to help the average consumer understand today’s agricultural practices,” noted the Animal Agriculture Alliance.

Cause Matters Corp. founder Michele Payn-Knoper said producers are not the dominant voice of agriculture, noting that Michael Pollen, Jamie Oliver and other celebrity names are receiving the attention and serving as agriculture’s representatives for much of the public. She used the lean finely textured beef (LFTB), or “pink slime,” media spotlight as an example of failed communication between agriculture and the public.

“We have to do a better job responding to the media, this is where agriculture has consistently failed,” she said. “You may think you’re in the business of farming, but in reality, you’re in the court of public opinion.”

Meatingplace Executive Editor Janie Gabbett said the pork industry “has been really behind” on addressing the public attention on gestation stalls. Several restaurants, including McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s, vowed to stop buying pork from operations housing sows in the confined stalls.

“The pork industry has really been behind on this story, but not necessarily been behind on the actions,” she said. “The pork industry knows housing has always been evolutionary.”
However, today’s headlines don’t recognize “the hard work the industry’s already doing,” she said. “Make sure that you can explain the science behind your practices,” Gabbett added while encouraging producers to be proactive and open to the media instead of defensive.

“Animal agriculture is less visible to a majority of population that lives in cities,” said Shawn Lawrence Otto, author of Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. “And anything invisible can become politicized.”

Otto spoke about the public’s understanding of science and the challenges that come from science’s relationship with politics.

“Part of problem with scientific communication is it’s hard to understand the invisible,” Otto said. Food production has an invisibility problem, he said, and practices that are invisible to the public often become emotional issues driven from belief.

He noted that science is expanding exponentially thanks to increased technology and global availability. Otto said some estimate that this growth may create as much knowledge in the next 40 years as in the last 400 years.

“Science increases freedom because it gives us choices and expands our power to choose,” he said. “With that efficiency comes a gap we have to fill with communication.”

With producers making up only two percent of the U.S. population, he said it is easy for people to lose understanding of the normal process of agriculture. Combating extremist views of agriculture means working against partisanship and providing public outreach, he noted, because a communication gap exists when people become disconnected from their food.

“The more we can do to reconnect people with the process, the more successful we can be,” he said while emphasizing the importance of reminding people about the science behind their food supply.

Workshop trains processors to meet requirements of federal and state food laws

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The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) today announced a training workshop sponsored by the Food Science and Technology Department of Virginia Tech, along with Virginia Cooperative Extension. The course takes place May 21-22 and is designed for processors of acidified food products such as pickles. The course will take place in Room 132 of Virginia Tech’s Food Science and Technology Building, located at 22 Duck Pond Road Blacksburg, VA 24061. The registration fee for the course includes a student text book, training, lunch on both days and examinations. The cost is $250 per person and space is limited to 36 people.

Topics include Microbiology of Thermally Processed Foods, Acidified Foods, Food Container Handling, Equipment Instrumentation and Operation for Thermal Processing Systems, Principles of Food Plant Sanitation, Principles of Thermal Processing, Recordkeeping for Product Protection, and Container Closure Evaluation for Glass, Flexible and Semi-rigid Containers. Instructors will give examinations throughout the course and will grade them quickly so that students are aware of their progress.

Successful completion of the Better Process Control School certifies supervisors in the requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Part 114, which states: “All plant personnel involved in acidification, pH control, heat treatment, or other critical factors of the operation shall be under the operating supervision of a person who has attended a school approved by the Commissioner [of Agriculture] for giving instruction in food handling techniques, food protection principles, personal hygiene, plant sanitation practices, pH controls, and Critical factors in acidification.”

“During the previous legislative session, several producers expressed an interest in having this training available,” said Matthew J. Lohr, VDACS Commissioner. “I am delighted that Virginia Tech is able to offer these courses at such a low cost. This will be a terrific benefit to those wanting to sell pickles or other acidified foods.”

Pre-registration and payment are required by May 14, 2012. A registration brochure is available by calling VDACS at 804.786.3520. For additional information, interested parties should contact Dr. Karleigh Bacon at 540.231.6806 or kbacon@vt.edu.