Ag in the News

05/19/2008

National

FSIS announces recall of ground beef distributed for further processing
Chicago-based meat processor JSM Meat Holdings Co. is voluntarily recalling ground beef product due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Saturday. MORE!

Questions arise over Agriprocessors execs' involvement in illegal employment
Lawmakers and lawyers are raising questions about the extent of Agriprocessor executives' complicity in the alleged employment of illegal immigrants at the company's Postville, Iowa facility. MORE!

E. coli concerns prompt recall of beef sold at defense commissaries
The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) announced last week the voluntary recall of packages of 85 percent lean ground beef product purchased at 10 commissaries between May 1 and May 14, because of possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination. MORE!

Hatfield hamming it up this summer
Hatfield Quality Meats said Thursday it has introduced new products for the summer grilling season. MORE!

Pork Checkoff releases three new YouTube videos
The video-sharing Web site YouTube can be a great place to observe the weird and wacky, but now its visitors also can learn something about pork. MORE!

Wrap Up

Argy strike over? Leaders from the four main farm groups in Argentine will meet today to decide whether to halt their strike, which they are expected to do. The farmer strike was originally scheduled to last until Wednesday, but the Argentine government insists the farmer strike must be halted before they will sit down with farm group leaders to discuss ag export taxes.

Farm bill situation. President Bush on Sunday signed the extension of the 2002 Farm Bill to run through May 23. That means for a few hours, we actually had permanent farm law in place. But the attention still remains on how soon Bush will veto the farm bill and that in turn will dictate how soon any veto override votes will take place in the House and Senate.

South Korea beef talks. The U.S. and Korea have been in additional negotiations on beef trade issues, officials from both sides have confirmed to start the week. South Korean officials are to hold a news conference tomorrow to update reporters on the status of these negotiations. The U.S. ambassador to South Korea says the talks were not to ink a new deal but to clarify some "misunderstandings" between the two sides.

Food price press conference today. USDA will hold a news briefing today at 10 am CT featuring USDA Sec. Ed Schafer and other top officials to explain the food price situation and the factors that are contributing to increased food costs for consumers.