This week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) formally approved a request by the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture & Land Stewardship to allow blending of corn with more than 20 parts per billion (ppb) of aflatoxin with corn with lower levels or no aflatoxin for animal feeding. Aflatoxin is a fungus that produces a carcinogen that can cause health problems for livestock that eat contaminated corn. Corn containing greater than 500 ppb cannot be blended. This summer’s drought followed by the heavy rains of Hurricane Isaac spawned an aflatoxin explosion in parts of several Midwestern states, including reported episodes of contract truckers refusing to move corn that didn’t test aflatoxin-free. The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) wrote this week to the president of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which represents state feed regulators, asking AAFCO to urge other ag officials in states with a high presence of aflatoxin in this year’s corn crop to also seek FDA permission to blend corn in their states. AFIA wants states where blending is allowed to extend that freedom to feed manufacturers. The feed association is concerned feed companies may receive non-blended corn in excess of FDA’s allowable aflatoxin levels and wants companies permitted to blend corn as well. At this point, FDA says it’s up to the state where FDA allows blending to make that determination. In Iowa’s case, before grain dealers do any blending, they must join with the state department and sign a compliance agreement based upon FDA’s permission and long-standing guidance policy on blending (FDA Guidance Document/Compliance Policy Guide (CPG) – Section 683.100, “Action Levels for Aflatoxin in Animal Feeds”). A copy of the agreement can be found at www.iowaagriculture.gov under “hot topics.” Every batch of blended corn must be analyzed to determine aflatoxin levels, the Iowa department said, and the testing must be done using approved sampling and analysis protocols and testing procedures outlined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). All test results must be provided to the buyer of the corn, and the buyer must provide written assurance the corn will be used only for animal feed and in accordance with FDA guidance. The blended corn must be clearly identified and labeled for animal feed use only.
USDA this week announced its National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) will issue several of its major “lock-up” reports at noon Washington time beginning in January, 2013. The move drew immediate praise from the National Grain & Feed Association (NGFA), which has pushed the department to shift the release times due to the expansion of electronic and open-outcry trading hours begun earlier this year on several major exchanges. The reports affected are USDA’s World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates, Acreage, Crop Production, Grain Stocks, Prospective Plantings and Small Grains Summary. Livestock reports will continue to be released at 3 p.m. eastern time. “The shift to a noon release allows for the greatest liquidity in the markets, provides the greatest access to the reports during working hours in the U.S., and continues equal access to data among all parties,” said USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber. NGFA said USDA’s action “should assist market participants by minimizing added market volatility that could result if the reports were issued in more thinly traded times of the day.”
This week, it was announced that $11.8 million in additional drought relief for producers will be made available in 22 states by USDA, with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack also announcing he will hold four regional meetings on drought recovery over the next several weeks as part of a new National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF). The new money will be sent to producers through the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and will be targeted at planting cover crops to hold nutrients and moisture in the soil, providing feed for animals during the winter, for constructing water holding equipment and for grazing rotation. All drought assistance available to producers by state can be found at www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/?cid=stelprdb1048818. Vilsack said the regional meetings will be held in Omaha on October 9, with subsequent meetings to be held in Colorado, Ohio and Arkansas. The meetings will be coordinated through state agencies, universities and business groups and will be by invitation, and will include representatives of the Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Details of the new NDRF program can be found at www.fema.gov/recoveryframework/.
The Pesticide Registration Improvement Renewable Act (PRIA), due to expire September 30, was passed by both chambers of Congress with remarkable speed this month, and is headed for President Obama’s desk with the expectation he’ll sign the bill quickly. PRIA provides funds to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pesticide Program to run the fee and registration schedule for pesticides. The program is popular because it mandates review time frames. The newly re-authorized program will have a new 30-day time frame for label review, new chemical categories and a new electronic tracking system. The bill also provides EPA with data review time on each submission, but mandates the agency give a sponsor time to correct any problems.
A plan by the Army Corps of Engineers to charge access fees for “surplus” Missouri River water drew sharp attacks this week from Midwestern senators. The senators – representing North and South Dakota and Montana – are demanding a hearing in the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee on the proposal under which the Corps would set fees for gaining access to Missouri River reservoirs. The Corps manages water releases from the six dams on the river and from the reservoirs created by the dams. The three states have access to the water through an agreement that includes easements and permits. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) called the plan “an unprecedented power grab,” and said the new plan would violate the 1944 Flood Control Act. Thune said residents should not have to pay for water that is “legally and historically theirs.”
Congress approved re-authorization through 2015 of the E-Verify program, the federal computerized system that permits employers to verify the citizenship status of prospective employees. About 300,000 companies use E-Verify and nine states require the program to be used to identify illegal aliens. The program has been controversial because of alleged inaccuracies in the database, but supporters said they’ll use the 113th Congress to push for national mandatory use of the E-Verify program by all employers.
Rabobank said this week world food prices will spike to record highs in 2013, the result of “agflation” based on rising ag commodity prices. The spikes will affect feed crops and have “serious repercussions” for livestock, dairy and poultry producers. Price spikes are predicted to “stall the long-term trend towards higher protein diets in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa,” the ag lender said. Rabobank said the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index will rise by 15 percent by the end of June, 2013, and the lender sees prices for grains and oilseeds remaining “at elevated levels for at least the next 12 months.”