Statement from Agriculture Secretary Vilsack on Record U.S. Farm Exports for Calendar Year 2011

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2012 –Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the following statement regarding data released today showing U.S. farm exports reached a record $136.3 billion in calendar year 2011:

“The data released today by USDA represents a record-breaking calendar year for farm exports, demonstrating—once again—that American agriculture remains a bright spot in our nation’s economy. We saw a rise in both the value and volume of U.S. agricultural exports worldwide in 2011, as international sales rose $20.5 billion over the previous record set in calendar year 2010. Total agricultural exports for calendar year 2011 were a robust $136.3 billion.

“These figures indicate how demand for the American brand of agriculture continues to soar worldwide, supporting good jobs for Americans across a variety of industries such as transportation, renewable energy, manufacturing, food services, and on-farm employment. During the past three years, the U.S. farm sector has continued to support and create jobs on a consistent basis, strengthening an American economy that’s built to last. Every $1 billion in agricultural exports supports 8,400 American jobs, meaning that U.S. farm exports helped support more than 1 million U.S. jobs in 2011.

“And that gets to the innovation of our American farmers, ranchers and growers. American agriculture continues to apply the latest in technology and achieve a nearly unparalleled level of productivity. In fact, U.S. agriculture is the second-most productive sector of our economy in the past few decades outside of information technology.

“Exports of almost all major U.S. commodities rose in calendar year 201l, helping us to reach President Obama’s goal of doubling all U.S. exports by the end of 2014. Grains were the biggest contributor to the overall record, reaching an all-time high of $37.7 billion, a $9.2 billion increase over 2010. Cotton experienced the biggest year-to-year increase, up 44 percent from 2010, reaching a record $8.5 billion. Dairy and pork exports also set records in 2011, reaching $4.8 billion and $6 billion respectively.

“Another success story is U.S. beef exports. Last year, the United States exported an all-time high of $5.4 billion worth of beef and beef products, surpassing the previous record by more than $1.6 billion. The volume of shipments also surpassed the 2003 levels, the last year before a detection of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Washington State disrupted U.S. trade. The return to pre-2003 levels marks an important milestone in USDA’s steadfast efforts to open and expand international markets. Despite this progress, restrictions continue to constrain exports to many of our key markets and we remain fully committed to breaking down those trade barriers.

“There was more good news for U.S. beef exporters when United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials issued a decree on Jan. 24, 2012 liberalizing imports of U.S. beef by eliminating age restrictions. The expansion of U.S. beef access to UAE—one of the largest markets for U.S. beef in the Middle East—underscores the tenacity of the Obama Administration to improve our trade relationships, expand export opportunities and strengthen an American economy that’s built to last.”

The latest export data is available via the Global Agricultural Trade System at http://www.fas.usda.gov/data.asp

This is video of inedible kitchen grease thieves in action recently in the Sacramento area. There has been a lot of interest in this issue, and CDFA is continuing its program teaming up with law enforcement to try to catch the crooks in the act. Please watch the video to its conclusion.

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/safety/story/2012-02-03/Latest-illnesses-point-to-raw-milks-popularity/52951204/1

WASHINGTON – An outbreak of bacterial infections on the East Coast illustrates the popularity of raw, unpasteurized milk despite strong warnings from public health officials about the potential danger.

Even presidential candidate Ron Paul has joined the cause of consumers looking to buy unprocessed “real foods” straight from the farm, saying government shouldn’t deny them that choice.

An outbreak of a campylobacter bacterial infection on the East Coast is a reminder of the potential hazards, however. Raw milk from a dairy in Pennsylvania is now linked to 38 illnesses in four states, and the farm has temporarily suspended sales.

Consumers who want unpasteurized milk have to work to find it. It’s against federal law to transport it across state lines and most states don’t allow it to be sold in stores off the farm. Twenty states prohibit raw milk sales altogether.

The government says the milk is unsafe because of the pathogens cows may encounter on the farm. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out that raw milk killed many people — especially young children — before the onset of pasteurization, which heats milk to high temperatures to kill disease-causing germs.

The CDC says pasteurized milk is rich in proteins, carbohydrates and other nutrients, and that heat only slightly decreases thiamine, vitamin B12, and vitamin C.

While the government contends that milk is only a minor source of those nutrients anyway, raw milk advocates say that’s proof that pasteurization makes milk less wholesome and pure.

The government doesn’t keep records of raw milk consumption or sales but it’s clear that the product is riding the coattails of a larger food movement that encourages less processing and more “real food.” Raw milk goes a step further than organic milk free of growth hormones. Organic milk, too, has enjoyed a sales boost in recent years.

“We are pushing for consumer choice and freedom and a variety of dairy options for people,” says Kimberly Hartke of the Weston A. Price Foundation, an activist group that advocates “restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet.” Price was a dentist who studied global nutrition around the turn of the 20th century.

Advocates say far more illnesses are caused each year by leafy greens, deli meats and other products produced in much larger quantities than raw milk.

“To outlaw or ban any natural food because it could possibly make you sick is an extreme position, because there is no safe food,” Hartke says.

That’s a position that presidential contender Paul, a doctor, understands. He appears to have acknowledged the potential risks of raw milk when he said last summer that “what I’m doing in politics is not exactly the medical opinion.”

Still, he said, “as long as you don’t force other people, and as long as you don’t defraud people, you ought to have a choice.”

Supporters of raw milk are passionate, and the issue has become one of the most animated food debates. Raw milk consumers and Price foundation representatives have held protests in Washington to fight Food and Drug Administration crackdowns on some farms that sell raw milk.

The fact that there’s even a debate infuriates many in the public health community.

“The intensity with which raw milk supporters believe in this product is almost unheard of, certainly for a food,” says Sarah Klein, an attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “It’s like snake oil.”

Klein says advocates often mislead consumers by describing bucolic settings and happy cows.

“These are still animals, they defecate inches from where the milk is produced,” she says. “They stand in it, they swat their tails through it. That’s all very natural. It’s just a matter of course that raw milk is contaminated.”

The owner of the Pennsylvania dairy, Family Cow farm in Chambersburg, posted a message on the farm’s website last week saying that several customers had called them to say they had been experiencing “acute diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps.”

Owner Edwin Shank said in the posting that the farm’s testing had shown samples to be negative for campylobacter and speculated that the illnesses may be from another cause. But the Pennsylvania health department has linked the outbreak to the farm, and a spokeswoman for the Maryland’s health department says an unopened bottle from the farm tested positive. For campylobacter? What is it, anyway?

Raw milk sales are illegal in Maryland, but the state has four illnesses from the outbreak. Those sickened presumably drove to Pennsylvania and brought the milk back for their own consumption, said Maria Said of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

One person is also sick in New Jersey and two in West Virginia, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Thirty one people are sick in Pennsylvania, many of them in Franklin County, where the farm is located.

Pennsylvania has had at least seven disease outbreaks linked to raw milk consumption since 2006, involving almost 200 people, according to the health department. Pennsylvania is one of 17 states where some type of raw milk sales are allowed, according to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

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Online:

CDC on raw milk safety: http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-index.html

Weston A. Price Foundation: http://www.westonaprice.org

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Associated Press writer JoAnn Loviglio in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/31/4226717/capital-area-matchmakers-link.html

Published Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/26/BU011MUBO0.DTL

Stacy Finz, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, January 26, 2012

A new Plant Hardiness Zone Map released by the federal government Wednesday shows that temperatures across the country are getting warmer and could affect gardens and crops.

The map is designed to help the estimated 80 million gardeners in this country, as well as farmers and horticulture businesses, identify where and when plants grow best by breaking up geographical areas into 26 zones.

It’s the first time since 1990 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has updated the map. The new one offers an interactive format and looks at 30 years of weather patterns, showing that in some cases – Ohio, Nebraska and Texas – nearly entire states have been updated to warmer zones. Even California’s temperate climate has seen change, with a number of communities in the Bay Area also being shifted to warmer zones.

The USDA is attributing the zone modifications to better data and technology. The new map also takes into account topography – slope, elevation, prevailing winds and proximity to water – for the first time.

Not for climate change

“The map is not a good instrument for determining climate change,” said Kim Kaplan, a spokeswoman for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service., “In some cases where areas changed zones there was less than a one-degree change in temperature.”

The new map, which allows users to find their zones by ZIP code, includes two new warmer zones – 12, for climates with average lows of 50 to 60 degrees, and 13, for 60 to 70 degrees.

William Miller, a Cornell University horticulture professor and a leading expert on floriculture, said while the zones provide some useful guidelines, the map is less relevant for areas with microclimate variation.

“This is a real ho-hum for California,” he said, adding that the state is too diverse for a map based mostly on average minimum temperatures.

“If the temperature changes by a fraction of a degree or a degree it’s not going to change almonds growing near Woodland,” he said.

‘Push the envelope’

Christopher Carmichael, associate director of collections of horticulture at UC Berkeley’s Botanical Garden, agreed.

“We have to go with our own experiences,” he said. “And as gardeners we like to push the envelope.”

Carmichael also believes that Californians are better served by Sunset’s “Western Garden Book” than they are by the USDA’s map. The Menlo Park-based magazine has been putting out its own zoned map since 1954 and specializes in the microclimates of the West, specifically California. For decades, Sunset has consulted with top scientists who, besides temperatures, have based the zone map on elevation, continental air influences, the effects of the ocean and latitude, said Kathleen Brenzel, the book’s editor.

The latest version of the “Western Garden Book,” an update from 2007, is scheduled to be released in February. Brenzel said the new edition addresses climate change.

“We’ve seen warming in our area,” she said. “But it’s very subtle. What it means is that we can plant a little bit earlier in spring.”

Although the USDA updated Berkeley to a warmer zone more suited for the types of plants grown in Southern California, Florida and Hawaii, gardening expert Griff Hulsey said it will be business as usual at Berkeley Horticulture, the 90-year-old gardening store where he works.

“It’s one thing for zones to change on a map,” he said. “But we’re not going to start recommending plants that we haven’t had years of experience growing in this area.”

Anni Jensen, of Annie’s Annuals and Perennials, a Richmond nursery, said she doesn’t see much change for her business either.

“Local nurseries may shift their inventory a bit, but with our mail-order business I don’t see that happening,” she said, warning, “Habitual dependence on any guideline can always get you in trouble.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/us/ear-tagging-proposal-may-mean-fewer-branded-cattle.html?_r=1

By ERICA GOODE