In this
issue: Ag Land Assessment
Advisory Task Force
Referral
vote – SB174
Brand
Board update
rbST
Labeling
Rolling
Stones rocker calls for more ag,
nature education
YF&R
Summerfest
Quote of
the Day
July 1,
2008
Upcoming
events:
Ag Land Assessment Advisory
Task Force Meeting – July 28,
Pierre
GF&P legislative interim review
– August 11-12, Pierre
YF&R SummerFest – August 16,
Pierre
Dakota Fest – August 19-21,
Mitchell
Century Farms recognition –
August 28, Huron
Highway Needs & Financing
interim study – September 24-25,
Pierre
SDFB Annual Meeting – November
21-22, Sioux Falls
National Farm-City Week –
November 21-27
AFBF Annual meeting – January 11
– 14, San Antonio, TX
Ag
Land Advisory Task Force
The first meeting for
the Ag Land Assessment Advisory
Task force will be held on
Monday, July 28, starting at
10:00 AM in the Capitol
Building. An agenda for the
meeting will be posted later on
the Legislative Research
Council’s website at:
http://legis.state.sd.us/interim/2008/
Referral vote – SB174
Late last week
Secretary of State Chris Nelson
announced that opponents to
SB174 did not have enough valid
petition signatures to place the
referral issue on the November
ballot. State law requires
16,776 valid signatures;
however, referral supporters had
gathered only 15,214 valid
signatures.
Brand Board update
The State Brand Board
takes over the livestock brand
inspection program today. The
Board has hired Wray Shouldis of
White River as the chief brand
inspector. He has been a
livestock inspector for seven
years, and replaces Jim Reed who
had served as the chief
inspector for the SD
Stockgrowers for 16 years.
All but two of the full-time
inspectors who were working for
the Stockgrowers have signed
contracts with the Brand Board.
rbST
Labeling
The American Farm
Bureau Federation has sent a
letter to the Food & Drug
Administration concerning the
implications “absence labeling”
with regard to rbST. The text
of the letter follows:
Dear
Director Billingslea:
The American Farm Bureau
Federation (Farm Bureau) is the
largest general farm
organization in the U.S. with
more than 6 million member
families. We are concerned about
milk labeling practices with
respect to recombinant bovine
somatotropin (‘rbST’).
We appreciate the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA)’s issuance
of the 1994 Interim Guidance on
the Voluntary Labeling of Milk
and Milk Products from Cows That
Have Not Been Treated with rbST.
However, more must be done.
Dairy farmers work diligently to
care for their animals in a
manner to ensure they are the
most productive and efficient
producers of milk. FDA
determined nearly 20 years ago
that milk from dairy cows that
receive additional rbST is
completely safe and nutritious.
The practice of labeling ‘from
cows not treated with rbST’
implies that milk from cows
treated with rbST is different.
This is not true since cows
naturally produce somatotropin,
a hormone in the pituitary gland
that stimulates the production
of milk. Any labeling practice
that disparages milk from cows
that have been supplemented with
rbST is a serious concern.
Over the past year, the amount
of milk labeled as coming from
cows not supplemented with rbST
has grown dramatically. More
than half of the fluid milk is
now marketed as ‘rbST-free.’ All
10 of the top grocery chains in
the U.S., a group that
constitutes roughly 85 percent
of total grocery sales, now have
a policy that restricts the sale
of milk from cows supplemented
with rbST. Typically this milk
sells at a significant premium
compared to milk that is not
labeled.
Farm Bureau is concerned about
the trend of ‘absence’ labeling.
Claims made regarding the
composition of milk, such as ‘no
hormones, hormone-free, rbST-free
and bST-free’ are false and
misleading. These claims are
simply advertisements, not
statements or guarantees of
health, quality or safety.
Various forms of modern
technology, including but not
limited to the use of rbST,
allow farmers to produce more
milk with fewer cows resulting
in a food supply that is among
the most affordable and safest
in the world.
Farmers and ranchers are
struggling with record-high feed
and fuel prices while trying to
maintain competitive in a
challenging domestic and
international marketplace. The
use of rbST delivers
approximately $400 per cow
profit to dairy farmers per year
at current prices. Over the life
of the product, it has delivered
a $4.5 billion profit to dairy
farmers.
Farm Bureau strongly urges FDA
ensure strict adherence to the
current guidance as well as a
detailed review and thorough
analysis of the current trends
in product labeling to ensure
that the Interim Guidance is
up-to-date with the domestic
marketplace.
Sincerely,
Bob
Stallman
President
Rolling Stones Rocker calls for
more ag, nature education
Today’s children are
increasingly disconnected from
the natural world and schools
can play a big role in fixing
this. That’s the message Chuck
Leavell, Rolling Stones
keyboardist, shared during his
keynote address at the Ag in the
Classroom conference in Costa
Mesa, Calif., last week. Leavell
addressed the teachers present
not as a musician but as a
Georgia tree farmer and the
author of the 2007 American Farm
Bureau Foundation for
Agriculture Book of the Year,
The Tree Farmer.
Leavell told the group of more
than 500 attendees he wrote his
book in response to what he
calls "nature-deficit disorder,"
where younger generations don’t
understand or appreciate nature
and agriculture. He adds that
classrooms are the ideal place
to fix this but teachers are
facing increased pressure to
teach towards standardized
tests.
"Programs like Ag in the
Classroom and the American
Forest Foundation’s Project
Learning Tree help educators
make outdoor experiences part of
their everyday lesson plans,"
Leavell said. "They teach core
subjects through experiences in
nature and show that learning
through environmental education
is not incompatible with math
and reading instruction." He
added that this method has also
been shown to improve test
scores.
STIHL power tools sponsored
Leavell’s appearance, which
included playing the piano after
his remarks. AFB Inc. provided
autographed copies of The
Tree Farmer to conference
attendees.
YF&R
Summerfest
When: Saturday,
August 16 starting at 11:00 a.m.
(Central Time)
Lunch will be served about 1:00
p.m.
Where: Oahe Downstream Park
near Pierre
What: Fun on the river – bring
your water toys!
Questions? Contact Kara Nagel
at
knagel@pie.midco.net
Quote of the Day:
“Problems
are only opportunities in work
clothes.” –
Henry J. Kaiser