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Top News This Week
Farms Listed In Dioxin Scare. One of the biggest food safety scares in European history continued this week when officials in Belgium completed a list of farms that may be contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical dioxin. Contamination has led to the removal of poultry, pork and beef products from grocery shelves in the country and prompted a brief import ban in the U.S. The government said the contamination was caused by the introduction of dioxin-laced mechanical oil into fattener used in animal feed. House Passes Ag Budget. The House passed a $61 billion measure this week for financing farm and food programs. The bill was passed on a near party-line 246-183 vote. The Senate has yet to write its version. Overall, it would spend about $1.6 billion less than this year and $6 billion less than President Clinton requested. But about $6.5 billion of this year's total was emergency spending Congress approved in response to low commodity prices and diminished overseas demand for U.S. agricultural products. Bumper
Wheat Crop Pushes Prices Down. The output of U.S. wheat may
be off 12 Black Farmers Consider Settlement. With the deadline fast approaching, a black farmers group will meet in North Carolina this weekend, to decide whether to appeal a judge's order settling their claims of discrimination by the Agriculture Department. Black farmers say they were denied loans and treated unfairly. Gary Grant is the President of the Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association. He says the group is facing a deadline of Tuesday on whether to appeal the order, giving the farmers a choice of a $50,000 one time settlement or an opportunity to negotiate for a higher amount. Grant says the one time settlement is not acceptable. He adds they could choose to appeal the order, or possibly file another class action suit. The BFAA includes farmers and supporters from 22 states. What's Up, Doc? Cotton, That's What. A new strain of cotton, bred with genes from a rabbit, is said to be stronger, warmer and 60 percent longer than ordinary fiber. Chinese researchers announced their findings this week. The new strain, produced by using rabbit keratin genes, could account for up to 10 percent of China's cotton output in the near future. Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, said the rabbit cotton research began in 1997 and the new strain was now growing on experimental farms and could be used on a larger scale in one or two years. A Biotech Majority for Soybeans. The United Soybean Board says more than half of all soybeans planted this year in the U.S. are genetically modified. When introduced commercially in 1996, only 2 percent of U.S. acres were planted in genetically modified soybean varieties; this year's number is a whoppng 55 percent. The board said the rapid switch to biotech soybeans reflected the technology's ease of use, and that farmers reported cleaner crops, higher yields and a reduction of 10 to 30 percent in required herbicides. Glickman Praises USDA Workers. USDA Secretary Dan Glickman made a stop in Kansas City on Tuesday to rally the troops in the agency's office there. Glickman is praising workers for their efforts in helping farmers sign up for government help in the wake of the latest crisis on the farm. Glickman came to town to personally thank the two-thousand employees at the office and says the group put off vacations and worked extra hours to help farmers get more than $6 billion in emergency aid to help them through recent tough times brought on by falling commodity prices. Glickman also said he will decide by the end of the week whether or not to adopt a national uniform rate for loan deficiency payments, or LDPs. "The goal is to make the LDP program more equitable," Glickman said. A
Different Kind of Agriculture. Colombia is the world's
leading prodcuer of cocaine, and as a result may move up in the gross domestic product
ranks if its leaders make good on an idea to include the "commodity" in GDP
calculations. "It doesn't mean they're being validated or given some kind of
blessing," says Finance Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo of the illegal drugs to be
included. Authorities say many of the country's peasants farm land under drug cultivation
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Top New This Week provided by Progressive Farmer.
Last updated on 06/13/99 10:55 AM |
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