MERRIGAN TO BE NOMINATED AS DEPUTY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE (USDA, 2/24) -- President Barack Obama today announced his intention to nominate Kathleen A. Merrigan to be Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. Merrigan currently is an assistant professor and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment M.S. and Ph.D. Program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Boston. In 1999, she was appointed administrator of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service by then-President Clinton. From 1987 to 1992 she was a staff member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry where she helped develop the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 which mandated national organic standards and a program of federal accreditation.

VILSACK ANNOUNCES IMPLEMENTATION OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING LAW (USDA, 2/20) – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the final rule for the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) program will go into effect as scheduled on March 16th. He also released a letter inviting stakeholders to follow additional voluntary labeling practices. The rule, published in the Federal Register on Jan.15, 2009, has been under regulatory review by USDA pursuant to a Jan. 20, 2009, memorandum from the President’s Chief of Staff.

COURT UPHOLDS EPA ‘DUST RULE’ FOR FARMS (National Pork Producers Council, 2/24) -- The National Pork Producers Council expressed disappointment with the ruling by a federal court to uphold a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision to regulate farms for dust.NPPC had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington to review EPA’s decision to regulate emissions of coarse particulate matter (PM), or dust, in rural areas. The organization had argued that while EPA identified problems with coarse PM in urban areas – where it is mostly the byproduct of engine combustion – it failed to show any health effects associated with rural dust, which comes mostly from naturally occurring organic materials such as plants, sand and soil. While recognizing the distinctions between urban and rural PM sources, EPA nonetheless decided to regulate agricultural operations for coarse PM. A 2002 National Academy of Sciences report found that there were no scientifically credible methodologies for estimating emissions from animal feeding operations.

LMA RAISES SEVERAL OBJECTIONS IN OPPOSING GIPSA’S PROPOSED 5-YEAR ‘REGISTRATION RENEWAL’ RULE, CALLING IT ‘DEEPLY FLAWED,’ AND ASKING FOR ITS WITHDRAWAL (Livestock Marketing Assn., 2/19) -- The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s proposed rule requiring registrants to renew their registration every five years is “deeply flawed” and should be withdrawn, LMA told GIPSA this week. LMA raised several objections to the proposal. The entire letter from LMA to GIPSA can be found at http://www.lmaweb.com/alerts/files/ProposedRegulation/GIPSAregistrationComments.pdf

JUDGE GRANTS NMA PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION ON “DOWNERS” (National Meat Assn., 2/20) -- U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill granted on Feb. 19 NMA’s request for a preliminary injunction against the State of California to stop it from enforcing California Penal Code 599f. The law had been amended on January 1, 2009 to require immediate euthanization of all nonambultory livestock. NMA was prompted to act, because the law was in clear violation of the Federal Meat Inspection Act, which expressly prohibits state requirements that are “in addition to” or “different than” the federal standards. NMA argued that the law wrongly and incorrectly targeted swine. According to the judge, “Having allowed pigs and swine to enter the food supply, California cannot alter the federally mandated requirements of inspection.” The reason being that the FMIA sets a uniform standard for all meat produced in the U.S. and the specter of differing standards state to state raises the threat of significant, irreparable injury to the meat industry. “The evidence presented show some level of significant monetary harm.”

GRASSLEY/FEINGOLD REINTRODUCE ANTI-CONCENTRATION BILL (Brownfield Network, 2/24) -- U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin are re-introducing legislation that aims to reduce concentration in agriculture. Similar to the transparency and anti-competitive bill they introduced last year, Grassley says it will require 25 percent of a packer’s daily kill to come from the spot market, “This legislation would guarantee that the packers are in the cash market, purchasing livestock from independent producers every day.” Grassley says he’s also introducing legislation to clarify his 1986 update of the false claims act. While the whistleblower legislation isn’t used a lot in the Agriculture Department, he says it could be. Grassley says the law has recovered nearly $22 billion for the U.S. Treasury that would otherwise have been lost to fraud.

MONTANA HORSE SLAUGHTERHOUSE BILL MOVES FORWARD (AP, 2/25) — The Montana House of Representatives strongly endorsed a bill that paves the way for construction of a horse slaughterhouse in Montana and aims to bring the industry back to the United States. The measure was endorsed 67-33 Tuesday in the first of two scheduled House votes. If it passes again Wednesday as expected, it will go to the Senate for more hearings and votes.

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES WITH OPEN COMMENT PERIODS:
• Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.on Market Agency, Dealer, and Packer Bonds comments due March 23rd. This Notice can be viewed at edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-30515.pdf

JBS ABANDONS NATIONAL BEEF TAKEOVER (Wyoming Business Report, 2/23) — The world’s largest beef producer, Brazil’s JBS beef group, owner of Colorado-based JBS-Swift, has announced that it is dropping plans to take over the National Beef Packing Company LLC. The U.S. Department of Justice, along with the attorneys general of 13 beef-producing states, had filed suit to block the acquisition in October. According to a Justice Department statement, the deal would have combined two of the top four U.S. beef packers, resulting in the a U.S. beef “super packer” with unprecedented control over the market, leading to lower prices paid to cattle producers and higher beef prices paid by consumers. The company claimed in an October release that its increasing size actually reduced costs and would “introduce the synergies which will add value to both suppliers and customers.” The Dept. was insisting that JBS sell two of its eight North American units so that it did not surpass the size of U.S. food giants Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc.

CANADA-PIG FARMERS ANGRY WITH UNITED STATES (Farming UK, 2/24) -- Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) -- a provision of the 2008 U. S. Farm Bill that demands that hogs (and other livestock, such as cattle) that aren’t born, raised or slaughtered in the U. S. be identified for the benefit of American consumers -- is making it increasingly difficult for local producers to market their animals south of the border. Some U. S. slaughterers find the red tape so frustrating that they’re just not accepting Ontario hogs, while others are waiting for the fine print in the COOL legislation to be determined before they make any move. That lack of decision and finality is causing some American packers to turn their back on Canadian hogs, said Patrick O’Neil, sales team manager for Guelph-based Ontario Pork, the province’s marketing board for hogs.

CANADIAN CATTLE NUMBERS DOWN (BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly / CME Group Daily Livestock Report, 2/20) -- Total cattle inventories in Canada as of Jan. 1 were 13.180 million, 5.1% fewer than a year ago, according to Statistics Canada. Canadian cattle inventories have declined for four consecutive years and current inventory levels are down 12.5% from the peak of the last cycle in 2005. Canadian beef-cow inventories were reported at 4.655 million, 6.6% lower than a year ago. The magnitude of the decline in Canadian beef-cow numbers was surprising and reflects the extremely difficult conditions under which Canadian producers had to operate in 2008, according to the CME Group Daily Livestock Report. Those tough conditions included a strong currency, very high feed costs and implementation of mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) in the U.S.

CANADA'S BEEF INDUSTRY CALLS ON OTTAWA TO FILE TRADE CHALLENGE AGAINST U.S (Canadian Press, 2/25) — Only a week after expressing hope that U.S. President Barack Obama would soften a trade rule that is already hurting Canada's ailing beef industry, worried producers say they've learned that Washington's final plan will hurt them even more. The final U.S. Country-Of-Origin-Labelling rule, which takes effect March 16, would effectively force all American meat companies to label beef with a sticker that states where the product came from, the Canadian Cattlemen's Association said Tuesday. Some companies have already stopped buying Canadian beef and cattle due to the extra cost of meeting an interim version of the trade rule that was introduced in September. The final rule will be even more costly and onerous, CCA President Brad Wildeman said Tuesday.

DAIRY INDUSTRY CONSORTIUM LAUNCHES INITIATIVE TO REDUCE ON-FARM COSTS AND INCREASE REVENUE STREAM (Dairy Business, 2/24) -- The dairy industry unveiled a major initiative to help reduce on-farm expenses while meeting a growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly products. The industrywide effort focuses on the fluid milk value chain — from farm to table. It includes a series of projects that will reduce energy, increase efficiency and help dairy producers tap into new sources of income. The announcement was made by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, an organization bringing together leaders from across the dairy value chain. The industrywide group includes producer organizations, dairy cooperatives, processors and manufacturers such as Hilmar Cheese Co., Leprino Foods, Dairylea Cooperative Inc., Anderson Erickson Dairy, Land O’Lakes and Dairy Farmers of America.

QUALITY FOCUS CAN HELP DAIRIES FACE HARD TIMES (Cattlemen’s Beef Board, 2/20) -- At the recent Cattle Industry Annual Convention, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board sponsored a dairy producer luncheon and forum featuring an expert panel consisting of CattleFax representative Kevin Good, DVM and owner of DairyWorks Consulting Tom Fuhrmann, and dairy producer/recent BQA award winner Jim Docheff from Longmont, Colo. The group discussed the economics of the current dairy beef industry, animal welfare and what dairy producers can do to add value to their market cows.

ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CONTINUE ATTACK ON USDA (American Sheep Industry Assn., 2/20) -- On the heels of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) denial to eliminate the use of Sodium Cyanide in M-44s and Compound 1080 (sodium flouroacetate) in Livestock Protection Collars (LPC) as requested by the WildEarth Guardians, the group is now making an attempt to abolish the entire Wildlife Services (WS) Agency. The activists continue to extol the very allegations, predator control tools being terrorist threats to the security of the United States, that were wholly rejected by the EPA earlier this month. The group erroneously reported on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) budgets and programs that are responsible for wildlife conflicts involving disease management, protection of lambs and calves and human safety, such as birds at the nation's airports.

TREAT ’EM RIGHT (Ag Journal, 2/20) -- As director of Kansas State University’s Beef Cattle Institute, veterinarian Dan Thomson has a bully pulpit, and he’s using it to deliver a serious message about animal welfare. Here’s the short version: Let’s be proactive and make sure we get our act together. The longer version is that more assessments are coming. Thomson said it started with the packers because those entities are easiest to find and evaluate. The feedyards will be next. But eventually everyone in the meat production chain will feel the impact of tighter standards and more routine audits. He recommends animal welfare standards take the form of “best management practices” rather than additional laws.

GRAIN PRICES IMPACT ENTIRE LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION CYCLE (USDA, 2/17) -- Between 2006 and 2008, feed costs nearly doubled and are expected to result in lower meat and dairy production in 2009. Feed prices have declined since mid-2008 and are expected to be lower in 2009, but the biological timeline of livestock production means meat producers are limited in what they can do in the shortrun to change production. Changes in U.S. livestock-industry structure and the use of alternative feeds, such as byproducts from ethanol production, will help reduce the impact of higher input costs on livestock producers.

TYSON TO OFFER $500 MILLION NOTES, ARRANGE NEW CREDIT FACILITY (Meatingplace.com, 2/19) -- Tyson Foods Inc. said Thursday the company will offer $500 million of unsecured senior notes due 2014 and will be arranging a new senior secured credit facility of up to $1 billion. The Springdale, Ark.-based protein giant said in a press release it intends to use the proceeds from the note offering to repay borrowings, terminate commitments under its existing accounts receivable facility and repay or refinance other indebtedness. Subject to market and other conditions, the sale of the notes and closing of the new credit facility are expected to be completed in March.

U.S. PREMIUM BEEF, LLC, ANNOUNCES RECORD CASH DISTRIBUTION (CattleNetwork, 2/24) -- U.S. Premium Beef, LLC (USPB) announced today that the company has paid its unitholders a record cash distribution of $32.5 million, or $44.25 per linked unit, from calendar (tax) year 2008 earnings, which were also a record at $81.4 million. USPB is the majority owner of National Beef Packing Co., LLC, (NBP) the nation’s fourth largest beef processor.