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CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
The U-S secretary of agriculture and U-S Ambassador Terry Branstad, the former Iowa governor, will meet in Beijing Friday for a ceremony “to formally mark the return of U.S. beef to the Chinese market.” According to the U-S-D-A, Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue will arrive in China with a shipment of beef from the Greater Omaha Packing Company. The beef is from cattle that were raised in Nebraska.
Perdue and Branstad plan to cut into a piece of prime rib at the ceremony in Beijing.Thirteen years ago China forbid shipments of U.S. beef after a case of Mad Cow disease was confirmed in Washington state. Secretary Perdue says there’s no doubt in his mind that “when the Chinese people taste our high-quality U.S beef, they’ll want more of it.”
The U-S-D-A’s Export Verification Program so far has confirmed processing facilities in Nebraska and Kansas are now eligible to ship U-S beef to China. According to the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, the requirements to export beef to China are “more stringent” than for other countries. Iowa ranks seventh among U-S states in beef production. China imported two-and-a-half Billion dollars worth of beef last year, none of it from the United States.
On Friday at noon, Perdue and Branstad will host the event promoting U.S. beef at the huge new InterContinental hotel in Beijing. On Saturday, Perdue will be in a Shanghai supermarket for a “cooking demonstration” to promote U-S beef.
(Radio Iowa)
There are sections of the state that could use some rain, but overall, Iowa’s corn and soybean crops are faring well according to a weekly report from the USDA. Seventy-nine percent of the corn crop is rated in good to excellent condition, while 74 percent of soybeans are in that category, according to Monday’s report from the USDA’s Ag Statistics Services. It notes topsoil moisture levels continue to fall in southeast Iowa – with 78 percent of topsoil rated short to very short on moisture.
New Hampton, in northeast Iowa, recorded the most rain last week with 4.28 inches, while portions of west-central and southwest Iowa recorded no rain at all. Temperatures last week ranged from a high of 97 on Wednesday at Little Sioux to a low of 43 on Saturday morning in Chariton and Grinnell.
(Radio Iowa)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The son of a Nigerian farm laborer who rose out of poverty to earn graduate degrees in agricultural economics and spent his career improving the availability of seed, fertilizer and financing for African farmers is this year’s World Food Prize winner.
Akinwumi Adesina, president of African Development Bank, says the future of global food security relies on making farming in Africa a profitable business to help move farmers out of poverty. An official announcement for the $250,000 World Food Prize was expected in a ceremony Monday at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington. Adesina will receive the prize Oct. 19 at the Iowa Capitol.
The prize was created by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug in 1986 to recognize scientists and others who have improved food quality and availability.
DES MOINES –Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today (Monday) announced that four successful watershed-based demonstration projects funded in 2014, and set to end this year, will receive a 2nd round of funding. The locally-led projects will build upon previous demonstration objectives and continue working towards accelerated implementation of practices that improve water quality. Among the projects receiving extensions, is the Walnut Creek Watershed Project (Montgomery County). More details about each of the projects can be found at https://www.cleanwateriowa.org/farm-1/.
Northey said “Extending these projects will allow us to build on the strong foundation that has been created in these watersheds and continue to learn more about the best ways to get water-quality-focused practices on the land. These projects create a great opportunity for farmers to see practices up close and better understand how they might work on their own farm.”
The projects will receive a total of $1.88 million in additional funding through the Iowa Water Quality Initiative over the next three years. In addition to the state funds, these four projects will access approximately $4.1 million in matching funds to support water quality improvement efforts as well as other in-kind contributions.
The funds will allow the projects to focus on scaling up implementation of conservation practices identified in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy and continue to build on existing assessment and evaluation methods. Also, an additional $200,000 has been allocated for these projects which will be targeted towards implementation of select priority nutrient reduction conservation practices including wetlands, saturated buffers and bioreactors.
These four projects will continue to build upon existing partnerships as well as expand efforts to include new partnerships developed during the first three years.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship also has been successful in securing additional federal resources for several of these projects through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Project (RCPP). Northey says those funds, when paired with Iowa Water Quality Initiative and partner investments, do more than what any one group or organization can accomplish alone.
A delegation of ten agricultural producers and officials from countries as far away as Australia completed their tour of Iowa this week. They visited a host of farms and agricultural facilities as well as communities, large and small. Murilo Betarillo works for an agriculture company in Brazil and says it was a thrill to see how farmers are respected in Iowa.
“I was really impressed with how people here are proud of agriculture and how connected with agriculture they are,” Betarillo says. “People here really give the love for the farmers, for agriculture, so I loved it.” Brazil and the U-S may be on separate continents but when it comes to farming, he says they could practically be next door.
“Brazil and the United States have a lot of similarities,” Betarillo says. “We are a big country so people in the city, they don’t care too much about farmers. It’s the same in Brazil. People in the big cities, they are not very connected to farmers but people in the agricultural states, it’s strong, like here in Iowa.”
The visit included stops on farms and tours of agricultural industries in the Des Moines area as well as Ames, Anita, Bridgewater, Sigourney, Nevada and Ellsworth. They also took in an Iowa Cubs game in Des Moines, the first baseball game for many of them. Delegates were from Australia, Brazil, England, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
(Radio Iowa)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta says it will appeal a Kansas federal jury’s awarding of nearly $218 million to Kansas farmers who sued the company over its introduction of a genetically modified corn seed variety.
Syngenta says in a statement that it is “disappointed” by Friday’s verdict after a three-week trial in Kansas City, Kansas. That case involves four Kansas farmers representing more than 7,000 growers in the state. Another trial involving about 60,000 cases begins next month in Minnesota.
The lawsuits allege Syngenta introduced the seed variety to the U.S. market before China approved it for imports, wrecking an increasingly important export market for U.S. corn and causing price drops.
The Kansas trial was the first test case. It and the Minnesota trial will provide guidance for how the complex web of litigation in state and federal courts could be resolved
Clothing Event, Communication Event, Share-The-Fun, and Style Show July 12
July 12th is a big day for Guthrie County 4-H’ers! With all of the events being held at The New Homestead in Guthrie Center, it all starts with the Clothing Event and Communication Event at 1 pm. The Clothing Event is an opportunity for youth to show what clothing they have made or purchased. A Fashion Show will follow at 7 pm. The Communication Event is educational presentations, working exhibits, extemporaneous speaking, and posters. Share-The-Fun will be incorporated into the Fashion Show at 7 pm. Share-The-Fun includes skits, songs, short one-act plays, dances, plus other entertainment.
Static Exhibit Judging July 10th
Static Exhibit Judging Day is Monday, July 10, from 1 to 5 pm at the Event Center at the Guthrie County Fairgrounds. Youth entering non-livestock exhibits for the Guthrie County Fair will participate in a conference judging experience. Static judging registration closes on July 6th.
Grill Food Safely
Please remember the following tips when grilling food on these beautiful summer days. Thaw food safely. Completely thaw meat, poultry, and seafood before grilling so it cooks evenly. Marinate food in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Do not reuse marinade sauce. Cook to the correct temperature. Always use a food thermometer. Keep hot food hot. Once meats are cooked, set them to the side of the grill rack. Use a different plate for serving cooked meat. Do not put cooked meat on the same platter that held raw meat. Enjoy your summer and safe grilling!
(Washington, DC, June 22, 2017) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the suspension of all imports of fresh beef from Brazil because of recurring concerns about the safety of the products intended for the American market. The suspension of shipments will remain in place until the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture takes corrective action which the USDA finds satisfactory.
Since March, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been inspecting 100 percent of all meat products arriving in the United States from Brazil. FSIS has refused entry to 11 percent of Brazilian fresh beef products. That figure is substantially higher than the rejection rate of one percent of shipments from the rest of the world. Since implementation of the increased inspection, FSIS has refused entry to 106 lots (approximately 1.9 million pounds) of Brazilian beef products due to public health concerns, sanitary conditions, and animal health issues. It is important to note that none of the rejected lots made it into the U.S. market.
The Brazilian government had pledged to address those concerns, including by self-suspending five facilities from shipping beef to the United States. Today’s action to suspend all fresh beef shipments from Brazil supersedes the self-suspension.
Secretary Perdue issued the following statement:
“Ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply is one of our critical missions, and it’s one we undertake with great seriousness. Although international trade is an important part of what we do at USDA, and Brazil has long been one of our partners, my first priority is to protect American consumers. That’s what we’ve done by halting the import of Brazilian fresh beef. I commend the work of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service for painstakingly safeguarding the food we serve our families.”
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