Ag in the News

05/09/2008

National

Sigma Alimentos opens meat processing plant in Oklahoma Sigma Alimentos opened its first U.S. meat processing plant in Seminole, Okla. this week, according to local media reports. MORE!

N.C. governor seeking funds for poultry worker protection
North Carolina Governor Mike Easly is asking state lawmakers for extra funds, staff and authorization to determine the conditions in which poultry plant employees work and how those workers are treated when injured on the job, accordin
g to the Charlotte Observer. MORE!

No beef for 'cattle class' on British Airways
British Airways said it has taken beef off its in-flight menu for economy-class passengers, seeking to please the palates of an increasingly international clientele, according to the London Times. MORE!

AMI airs hot dog video on new network
Hot dog! It's almost summer, and the American Meat Institute has added to its Meat News Network today a new video showing how red hots are made. MORE!

Bush will veto farm bill
They've hinted. They've warned. And now the Administration said it straight out: President Bush will veto the 2007 farm bill. MORE!

Wrap Up

USDA data today. USDA today releases its first look at the 2008-09 marketing year for U.S. crops, including non-survey-based production figures for corn, soybeans and other crops. The carryover levels projected by USDA will be key in the new marketing-year data. USDA will release a survey-based estimate of the U.S. winter wheat crop. The reports come out at 7:30 am CT and we'll have details shortly thereafter.

Farm bill questions. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said his desire was not to release the farm bill language until he received the budget score on the bill from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). But this lack of detail is creating mostly confusion regarding some details of the farm bill package announced by lawmakers Thursday. Jim Wiesemeyer has some highlights of the bill in his Washington Insight column as we await the key legislative language details.

Wheat Tour wraps up. The Wheat Quality Council has put together the final peg on the Kansas wheat crop as the Tour wrapped up Thursday. They see a 379.1 million bu. Kansas crop for 2008, up from last year's result. You can read more via this link.

China to buy overseas farmland? The London Financial Times reports that China's ag ministry has drafted a plan to encourage ag firms to make investments in farmland overseas, with the targeted areas mentioned as South America and Africa. However, other reports discount the possibility, quoting a ministry of agriculture official as saying such a plan would carry very high risks and ultimately, China has to rely on its own farms to feed its population.