New rules meant to boost animal welfare
The Food Marketing Institute and National Council of Chain Restaurants are setting rules they hope improve the living conditions of farm livestock that ultimately become food.
The supermarket and restaurant industry groups are trying to put pressure on farmers and ranchers to improve animal treatment practices.
New guidelines will include requiring more legroom and headroom for hens in their cages, increasing space from 48 square inches to 67 square inches per bird.
Also, farmers will no longer be able to withhold feed from birds to encourage them to lay more eggs.
Sows will get more room to move about their pens when they are pregnant by limiting the number that can be kept in a single barn. Also, dairy cows will no longer have their tails cut short.
Officials are still trying to prepare guidelines for the hog industry. The goal is to create pens where pigs have enough space to walk around and turn.
Guidelines were prepared in the past two years. The groups are still trying to figure out how they will inspect farmers and ranchers to ensure the guidelines are being followed.
"It's part of most everybody's program," Iowa Egg Council Chairman Russ Dugan told the Des Moines Register. "If a company doesn't go along with these guidelines, they may lose accounts."
The industry groups are not the first to try to deal with animal conditions. Various fast food chains have set their own standards in the past year, requiring their franchises to do business only with food suppliers whose livestock are treated properly.
Bruce Friedrich of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called the actions "historic."
"The entire grocery and chain restaurant industries have agreed that there are standard practices in the meat industry that are clearly abusive toward animals," Friedrich said.
European meat:
Denmark's Food, Fisheries and Agriculture Ministry is proposing a barcode system on all European food items to allow them to be traced back to individual farmers.
Government officials say that food products, particularly meats, should contain bar does allowing them to be traced back to the farm or slaughterhouse where they were initially produced.
They say that such a move would allow them to identify contaminated foods more quickly. The Copenhagen Post reported that the proposal would be a priority during the country's chairmanship of relevant European Union committees.
"The control of meat (in the European Union) is hopelessly outmoded," Agriculture Minister Mariann Fischer Boel said. "We need to pursue areas where there are known problems, for instance, salmonella."
Taxes-Argentina:
Officials in Argentina have approved a reduction in taxes on agricultural exports in hopes they will encourage agriculture officials in other countries to help boost their economy.
Export taxes on certain types of peanuts and malt will drop from 20 percent to 10 percent, while taxes on seeds for corn, wheat, sunflower, soybeans and other crops will drop from 20 percent to 5 percent.
Officials could not say how long it would take exporters to resume doing business with Argentina, where the value of the peso has declined nearly 70 percent due to economic troubles.
Honors:
The Agriculture Department's natural resources conservation service honored a California rancher who has undertaken efforts to conserve, maintain and improve natural resources and the environment on privately-owned land.
Al Poncia, who owns a 700-acre ranch in Marin County, Calif., has used methods such as culvert crossings to protect streams, electric fences to protect sensitive land, and planting of native species on streambanks while monitoring grazing on his land.
"Mr. Poncia is an outstanding example of an agricultural producer who is committed to conserving the resources on his land and sharing his passion with other ranchers," Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said.
Crop progress:
The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday 11 percent of the corn crop is silking, compared to 5 percent last week, 15 percent at this time last year and 13 percent average for the past five years. Fifty-three percent of the crop is excellent or good, with 32 percent fair and 15 percent poor or very poor.
For winter wheat, 74 percent of the crop is harvested, compared to 61 percent last week, 68 percent last year and 64 percent the past five years.
For cotton, 74 percent of the crop is squaring, compared to 63 percent last week, 76 percent last year and 75 percent the past five years. Twenty-seven percent is setting bolls, compared to 18 percent last week, 27 percent last year and 24 percent the past five years. Fifty-two percent of the crop is excellent or good, with 32 percent fair and 16 percent poor or very poor.
For soybeans, 19 percent of the crop is blooming, compared to 6 percent last week, 20 percent last year and 21 percent the past five years. Fifty-two percent of the crop is excellent or good, with 34 percent fair and 14 percent poor or very poor.
For peanuts, 52 percent of the crop is pegging, compared to 36 percent last week, 49 percent last year and 47 percent the past five years. Sixty-eight percent is excellent or good, with 29 percent fair and 3 percent poor.
For spring wheat, 52 percent of the crop is headed, compared to 32 percent last week, 56 percent last year and 63 percent the past five years. Forty-seven percent is excellent or good, with 32 percent fair and 21 percent poor or very poor.
For barley, 51 percent of the crop is headed, compared to 28 percent last week, 59 percent last year and 59 percent the past five years. Fifty-seven percent is excellent or good, with 31 percent fair and 12 percent poor or very poor.
For oats, 78 percent of the crop is headed, compared to 60 percent last week, 74 percent last year and 79 percent the past five years. Forty-five percent is excellent or good, with 28 percent fair and 27 percent poor or very poor.
For rice, 17 percent of the crop is headed, compared to 14 percent last week, 13 percent last year and 14 percent the past five years. Sixty-nine percent is excellent or good, with 26 percent fair and 5 percent poor or very poor.
For sorghum, 25 percent of the crop is headed, compared to 24 percent last week, 25 percent last year and 22 percent the past five years. Fourteen percent of the crop is coloring, compared to 14 percent last year and 14 percent the past five years. Thirty-nine percent is excellent or good, with 38 percent fair and 23 percent poor or very poor.
Grains:
Grain futures were mostly lower at the close Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Soybeans were mixed. Nearbys rose on strong demand and scarce supplies in some parts of the United States while other contracts languished because of positive weather conditions.
Corn fell on beneficial rains in parts of the Midwest during the weekend.
Wheat fell on influence from corn and soybeans and word Brazil is threatening to cut Argentine wheat imports because of a dispute over sugar trade between the two countries.
Oats were lower on negative influence from other commodities.
The prices:
Soybeans: Jul 5.73 1/2 up 3 3/4, Aug 5.43 off 2 3/4, Sep 5.21 3/4 off 5, Nov 5.07 1/2 off 6 1/2.
Corn: Jul 2.23 1/4 off 6 1/4, Sep 2.29 1/4 off 7 1/4, Dec 2.39 1/2 off 7, Mar 2.45 1/2 off 6 3/4.
Wheat: Jul 3.14 1/2 off 4, Sep 3.17 off 5 3/4, Dec 3.26 off 6 1/4, Mar 3.29 1/2 off 6 1/2.
Oats: Jul 2.11 1/4 off 2 3/4, Sep 1.65 1/2 off 7 1/4, Dec 1.60 3/4 off 6 1/4, Mar 1.65 off 4 1/2.
