Farmers upset House does nothing about drought
The House adjourned this week for a month-long recess without voting on financial assistance to farmers who suffered financial losses due to drought.
The House completed its business for the month, adjourning late Wednesday. The National Farmers Union said lawmakers had effectively "left rural America in the dust."
"As the House left Washington, it left emergency disaster assistance on the table and farmers and ranchers in an economic bind," union President Dave Frederickson said.
"Farm families across the nation are disappointed, disheartened and discouraged today because the administration and House leadership have essentially ignored their continued pleas for help."
Union officials placed blame squarely on Republican leaders of the federal government, pointing out in a statement issued Thursday the Democrat-controlled Senate passed three bills that would have provided emergency aid to farmers. The farmers union, along with other agriculture groups, had consistently said any one of the measures would have been adequate.
The first of those bills would have cost nearly $600 million to implement and Republicans consistently said they would craft an alternative measure that would be affordable.
Instead, Frederickson said, "The House has taken no action, no hearings, no votes, no amendments and no consideration of stand-alone legislation."
Farm groups have argued that approval for aid was needed now to provide it in time to benefit farmers although the farmers union said it will renew its requests for aid when Congress returns to Washington after the election.
Farm groups argue more assistance is needed to help U.S. agriculture deal with the hot, dry weather conditions that plagued the 2001 and 2002 growing seasons, devastating many crops, wreaking financial harm on many farmers across the United States.
But damage has not been consistent. While some parts of the country are suffering from the "worst drought since the Dust Bowl" of the Great Depression era, other areas have experienced floods, insect infestations and diseases that have wiped out crops.
As of Sept. 26, 55.1 percent of counties in the U.S. were considered to be disaster areas this year by the Agriculture Department. About 30 percent of counties in the United States qualified as disaster areas both this year and last.
Listeria Recall:
The Agriculture Department is working with the Centers for Disease Control and other federal and state agencies to find the cause of contamination of ready-to-eat meats from a processing facility in Pennsylvania.
Officials say 27.4 million pounds of meat products were tainted with Listeria monocytogenes.
Those products already are being recalled and federal officials said they are conducting more than 400 product tests and environmental samples, while the Food Safety and Inspection Service is trying to come up with a long-term plan for addressing the situation.
Livestock:
The Agriculture Department is amending its standards for the Livestock Compensation Program to allow ranchers who custom feed their livestock to be eligible.
Congressmen had argued on behalf of farmers in their home states that existing rules contained overbroad definitions for ineligibility, leaving thousands of ranchers unable to collect financial aid.
Under old definitions, a rancher was ineligible if they "for monetary reimbursement or other gain, feed and provide facilities on a custom feeding basis for livestock owned by another person."
Pesticide Use:
The California Pesticide Regulation Department reported pesticide use dropped by more than 30 million pounds in 2001, the lowest level in more than a decade.
Preliminary figures show reported pesticide applications totaled 151 million pounds, down from 188 million pounds in 2000.
Officials say there has been a 60 million pound decline since 1998 and also note declining use of chemicals classified as possible carcinogens, reproductive toxins and toxic air contaminants.
Scandinavian Cheese:
Cheesemakers connected to the University of Wisconsin said they have found a new specialty cheese based on types made in Finland and Sweden that can easily be made and sold in Wisconsin.
Juustoleipa, which means bread cheese, is a flat cheese with a buttery flavor that can be refrigerated for up to two months or frozen for up to one year.
It has been produced for more than two centuries in Europe. It does not melt, and can be warmed. The Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research developed ways to make the cheese in the United States.
Grains:
Grain futures were mixed at the close Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Soybeans rose on increased buying interest resulting from beliefs weather has not yet been factored into the market.
Corn was mostly higher on anticipated positive news from export sales report to be released Friday by the Agriculture Department.
Wheat fell on beliefs price gains earlier this week were overdone.
Oats suffered from the wheat decline.
The prices:
Soybeans: Nov 5.50 3/4 up 3 3/4, Jan 5.52 3/4 up 2, Mar 5.53 3/4 up 1 1/2, May 5.53 1/4 up 1 3/4.
Corn: Dec 2.55 1/2 up 2 1/4, Mar 2.61 up 3/4, May 2.63 1/2 up 1/4, Jul 2.62 3/4 off 1 1/4.
Wheat: Dec 4.06 off 2 1/4, Mar 4.05 1/4 off 3 1/2, May 3.83 off 4 1/2, Jul 3.93 1/2 off 3 1/2.
Oats: Dec 1.97 1/4 off 1/2, Mar 1.95 off 1 1/2, May 1.94 off 1 1/2, Jul 1.80 off 4.
