Office of Communications (202) 720-8138 AgNews Summary for USDA Executives Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AgNews is intended for use by authorized government personnel only. Redistributing AgNews by any means to any unauthorized person violates copyright on the source material. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To access AgNews on the USDA Intranet, go to http://agnews.usda.gov ********TOP STORY: VILSACK NAMED AGRICULTURE SECRETARY******** OBAMA CHOOSES VILSACK TO OVERSEE FARM PROGRAMS (101 dailies, wires 12/17-12/18) Barack Obama’s pick to head USDA is expected to push the president- elect’s pledge to trim wasteful farm subsidies, an elusive goal that has confounded President Bush and scores of lawmakers. Obama introduced former Iowa Gov. Thomas J. Vilsack and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar on Wednesday as his choices to lead the departments of agriculture and interior. Both Obama and Vilsack face long odds in getting such an agenda past powerful farm state lawmakers in Congress. Vilsack’s first task will be to help USDA determine how to put the new $290 billion farm law in place. Vilsack acknowledged challenges in finding ways to lead the Department through tough times, saying “it must be innovative and creative in all its work during a time of economic anxiety and limited resources.” He should have better luck promoting renewable fuels such as corn-based ethanol. As governor of the nation’s largest corn-producing state for eight years, Vilsack was a leader on the issue and made it a central part of his short-lived campaign for president. Farm groups praised his nomination. The president of the National Corn Growers Association said Vilsack understands the corn industry and was a “wise choice.” Others were not as pleased. Food and environmental groups have taken on the powerful ethanol industry in the past year, arguing that government subsidies have led to increased damage of lands used to plant corn and contributed to a run-up in food prices. VILSACK BRINGS VISION AND UNDERSTANDING, OBAMA SAYS (102 Des Moines Register 12/18) President-elect Obama said Wednesday that Tom Vilsack would bring to the office of agriculture secretary an appreciation for rural America, as well as a forward- looking approach to agriculture’s role in the nation’s energy and environmental debate. “Tom understands that the solution to our energy crisis will be found not in oil fields abroad, but in our farm fields here at home,” Obama said at a news conference with Vilsack in Chicago. Vilsack pledged to take up what Obama has called his chief domestic priorities, while looking out for rural Americans. “As a small-town lawyer, I have the responsibility of helping farm families during tough economic times. I know these people,” Vilsack said. “America’s farmers and ranchers deserve a secretary of agriculture that respects them for the contribution they make to all of us every day. I hope to be that secretary.” Vilsack is expected to have little trouble winning confirmation from the Senate. Sen. Tom Harkin, who lobbied for Vilsack’s appointment, chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee. The process is expected to begin next month. FARM OFFICIALS PRAISE SELECTION OF FORMER IOWA GOVERNOR (103 AP 12/18) Agriculture officials praised President-elect Obama’s selection of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as his choice for agriculture secretary. Oklahoma Rep. Frank Lucas, the ranking Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, said Vilsack’s background as a leader of one of the nation’s largest agriculture producing states bodes well for his understanding of challenges facing Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers. Praise also came from South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, who said Vilsack understands the need for a good farm bill and its implementation as a support network for Midwestern farmers. OBAMA’S CHOICE LAUDED BY PRO-ETHANOL GROUPS (104 Dow Jones 12/17) Tom Vilsack, former governor or Iowa and President-elect Obama’s pick to head USDA, has long been a supporter of corn-based ethanol, and farm and fuel lobby groups were quick to announce their relief Wednesday that Vilsack was chosen. The government-subsidized ethanol industry is a major consumer of corn, but fuel makers are not buying as much as previously expected. USDA last week lowered its forecast for corn usage by the ethanol industry. And with recent suggestions by the Bush administration that some ethanol protections may need to be eliminated, a pro-ethanol leader at USDA is very welcome. Vilsack chaired the Governor’s Ethanol Commission, a group of 24 governors that sought to boost production. In testimony before the Senate Agriculture Committee in 2000, then-Governor Vilsack stressed that he was “a strong believer in ethanol” and had “seen first-hand the positive impact ethanol has on local communities and the environment...Expanding ethanol opportunities is one part of a larger, long-term answer to expanding the farm economy.” SALAZAR, VILSACK NOMINATIONS GIVE VOICE TO RURAL AMERICA (105 L.A. Times 12/18) Some environmentalists call Ken Salazar, President-elect Obama’s nominee for interior secretary, too centrist and friendly to drilling and mining interests. But in Salazar and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Obama is adding two rural-tuned voices to the Cabinet of the most urban president in at least 100 years. The majority of conservationists and rural interest groups say that by choosing Salazar and Vilsack, Obama has taken a step toward fulfilling his campaign promise of revitalizing rural economies. “We’re very encouraged” by the choices, said Mark Maslyn, executive director of the American Farm Bureau, which recently honored Salazar for his work on agricultural issues. “They’re men of substance, and they have a record” of supporting the renewable energy efforts Maslyn called “critical” for rural economies and the nation. PRAGMATIST ENTERS “FOOD VERSUS FUEL” DEBATE (106 Financial Times 12/17) Barack Obama’s choice of Tom Vilsack as the next agriculture secretary is likely to bring a pragmatic approach to the “food versus fuel” debate. As the former governor of Iowa, one of the top corn-growing states, Vilsack is a long-time supporter of corn-based ethanol production as a way to support rural economies and reduce dependence on foreign oil. But he has also pressed for a shift to second-generation biofuels, which will use non-food crops, and for the phasing out of subsidies for corn-based ethanol, amid concern about the impact of biofuel production on food supplies. Obama said both Vilsack and Ken Salazar, his nominee for interior secretary, would be “guardians of the American landscape” with policies “designed to serve not big agribusiness or Washington influence peddlers, but family farmers and the American people.” FAMILIAR CHALLENGES ON BIOFUELS, SUBSIDIES AWAIT VILSACK (107 Des Moines Register 12/18) Tom Vilsack will have plenty on his to-do list at USDA, and a lot of it will look familiar to an Iowan. One of the biggest challenges he will face is dealing with the growing global demand for crops for food and managing the effects of that farm production on the environment. No state has been more affected by the growth in biofuel production than Iowa, where livestock farms have been paying higher prices for feed, and increased fertilizer for corn is threatening water quality. If crop prices soar again as they did this year, he could face pressure to release idled cropland from a federal conservation program. He must also implement key details of the new farm bill, including new subsidy and disaster aid programs; manage disputes over trade; and oversee an agency that is supposed to maintain the safety of meat. Also, Congress is due next year to rewrite rules for school lunches and other nutrition programs administered by USDA. And USDA’s budget, now $96.5 billion, could be the target of budget cuts if Congress acts to rein in spending. FARM REFORM AN EARLY TEST FOR VILSACK AT USDA (108 Reuters 12/17) Tom Vilsack will wade into one of the loudest fights in U.S. farm policy – denying subsidies to rich Americans and non-farmers – early in his days as agriculture secretary. As a candidate, President-elect Obama called for a $250,000-a-year hard cap on farm subsidies and closing loopholes that allow mega-farms to get around limits. At present, there is no real limit on payments, but analysts say true reforms could save up to $200 million a year. Critics say it is easy for “paper” farmers to qualify for subsidies because of a lax USDA definition of who is a farmer. Reformers hope USDA will write a more stringent definition as part of rules now under review at the White House budget office. One of Vilsack’s earliest decisions could be whether the rules need to be rewritten of allowed to take effect. VILSACK GOT FARM SUBSIDIES FROM 2000 TO 2006 (109 Politico 12/18) President-elect Obama has pledged to cut farm subsidies and embrace renewable fuels – two initiatives that hit close to the wallet of his newly unveiled pick for agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack. From 2000 to 2006, Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa, and his wife collected $42,782 in subsidies from the department he was tapped Wednesday to oversee. Also, Vilsack is a partner at a lobbying firm that trumpeted his advice to clients on agribusiness development and renewable energy – a job that appears to bump up against Obama’s promise to bar appointees from working on issues related to their employment for two years. Vilsack said he “will do whatever is appropriate in the face of the conflict” between his job as agriculture secretary and his work for the law firm. And he said that “if the law requires that I forego (the farm subsidy) income, then that is what I will do.” PICKS HIGHLIGHT ENERGY POLICY; CABINET CHOICES NEARLY COMPLETE (110 Reuters 12/17) The selection of Tom Vilsack to head USDA and Ken Salazar as secretary of the interior move President-elect Obama closer to his goal of completing his Cabinet selections before he leaves on Saturday for a vacation. Obama has also chosen Financial Industry Regulatory Authority executive Mary Schapiro to become chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a Democratic official said. Also on Wednesday, a senior Democrat said Rep. Ray LaHood, an Illinois Republican, has been offered the job of transportation secretary, and is likely to accept it. The article notes Salazar’s comments that he will “do all I can to reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil”; it also notes Vilsack’s support for renewable fuels. OBAMA’S CABINET TAKING SHAPE (111 Reuters 12/17) The article summarizes President-elect Obama’s Cabinet choices so far. It notes that a few jobs remain outstanding, including secretary of labor and U.S. trade representative. FARM & FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICES SOUTH KOREAN LAWMAKERS BRAWL OVER U.S. FREE TRADE DEAL (112 AP 12/18) Brawling South Korean lawmakers tried to sledgehammer their way into a parliamentary meeting room barricaded by the ruling party as the National Assembly descended into chaos today over a free trade agreement with the U.S. Opposition parties were incensed by the ruling Grand National Party’s move to submit the agreement to a parliamentary committee on trade, setting in motion the process for the accord to win approval in the legislature. Security staff and aides from the ruling party stood guard outside the room to keep opposition lawmakers away after the committee’s GNP-affiliated chairman invoked his right to use force to “keep order” in parliamentary proceedings. Scuffles broke out as dozens of opposition members and their aides attempted to push their way into the office. Opponents later used a sledgehammer and other construction tools to tear open the room’s doors, only to find barricades of furniture set up inside as a second line of defense. The opposition attempt failed, and 10 GNP legislators introduced the bill to the committee. WTO MEMBERS CONSIDER EARLY COTTON DEAL (113 Reuters 12/17) Developing countries called Wednesday at the World Trade Organization for an early deal on cotton, now that chances of an overall agreement in the Doha round have been put back well into 2009 at the earliest. Dusting themselves down from last week’s decision not to seek a breakthrough in the seven-year-old Doha round by the end of this year, many members want to implement an “early harvest” of what has been agreed to so far – and cotton is on the list. West African cotton producers, backed by other developing nations, are leading the charge against trade-distorting U.S. subsidies, which they say squeeze their own poor farmers out of the market. BAUCUS PRESSES VIETNAM ON U.S. BEEF IMPORTS (114 Congress Daily 12/17) Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus called Wednesday on Vietnam to work with Washington on lifting restrictions on U.S. beef imports, as well as on intellectual property concerns. Speaking in Hanoi on the second leg of an overseas trip, Baucus also said he would back expanding the Generalized System of Preferences program, which extends tariff-free benefits to 132 developing countries, to include Vietnam if the country improves workers’ rights. USDA TO DONATE $212 MILLION TO FOOD FOR PROGRESS (115 Reuters 12/17) USDA said Wednesday it would provide $212 million to buy and donate U.S. commodities to help feed 7.5 million people in 13 countries around the world. The Department said the donation, made under USDA’s Food for Progress program, will benefit people in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. FOOD, NUTRITION AND CONSUMER SERVICES SCHOOL MEALS MAY BE KEY TO BETTER CHILD HEALTH (116 Reuters 12/17) Many American children are not eating enough fruit and vegetables, and their diet lacks key nutrients, according to a report released Wednesday that focuses on school food programs as a way to prevent long-term health problems. School kids in the U.S. are getting too many calories from solid fats found in foods such as pizza and hamburgers, and sugars from candy and soda, said the report by the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academies. “Most Americans, not just children, are not eating as balanced a diet as we want,” said Virginia Stallings, a professor at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who chaired the committee that conducted the review. The Institute of Medicine conducted the review of the country’s school breakfast and lunch programs at the request of USDA, which oversees them. Tom Vilsack, who was nominated Wednesday by President-elect Obama as secretary of agriculture, said USDA “must place nutrition at the center of all food assistance programs administered by the Department.” MARKETING & REGULATORY PROGRAMS AUTHORITIES SEIZE CHICKENS IN SUSPECTED COCKFIGHT OPERATION (117 Washington Post 12/18) Authorities in Loudoun County, Va., have seized about 500 chickens from two farms suspected of being cockfighting operations, and where roosters were found fettered, caged and with body parts amputated, according to county officials and court records. On Sunday, Loudoun County Animal Care and Control officers seized more than 400 roosters and hens from a residence in the Lovettsville area. The next day, about 100 fowl were seized at a nearby property after a tip that game birds were being fought on the property, according to officials and court records. NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTALISTS CRITICAL OF ENDANGERED SPECIES CHANGES (118 wires 12/17) A Bush administration rule change that gives federal agencies more leeway with the Endangered Species Act could imperil sage grouse, wolverines and Canada lynx, according to environmentalists. Environmental groups and fishermen filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the administration in an effort to reverse the rule change. Bush administration officials finalized a rule last week that lets federal agencies decide whether to consult the Fish and Wildlife Service when planning a project that could affect endangered species. Previously, agencies had to consult with Fish and Wildlife. Wildlife advocates contend that the change removes a level of checks and balances for federal agencies, and guts one of the most important provisions in the act. Interior officials said federal agencies would still seek the expertise of federal wildlife biologists on a voluntary basis, and that other parts of the law will ensure that species are protected. PLUM CREEK TIMBER GETS $150 MILLION FOR SALE OF FOREST LAND (119 AP 12/17) Plum Creek Timber Co., one of the nation’s largest timber companies, said Wednesday it received $150 million in cash from the sale of Montana forest land to The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land. The sale, which was the first component of a three-phase deal, included about 130,000 acres of Montana forest land, and will add 40 cents per share to the company’s fourth-quarter earnings. USDA -- MULTI-MISSION FORECAST SAYS U.S. WILL NOT MEET BIOFUELS MANDATE (120 wires 12/17) The U.S. will fall well short of a federal mandate to blend a large amount of biofuels like ethanol into gasoline by 2022, the government’s top energy forecasting agency said Wednesday. The country will blend only about 30 billion gallons of such fuels by 2022, the Energy Information Administration said in its annual long-term forecast. That is about 17 percent short of the U.S. mandate of 36 billion gallons by that year. Blending will fall short because the mandate has loopholes that allow regulators to waive the requirements if needed, an EIA forecaster said at a press conference in Washington. EDITORIAL AND OPINION VILSACK, IN HIS OWN WORDS (121 AgWeb.com 12/17) Columnist Jim Wiesemeyer provides quotes from Tom Vilsack, nominated Wednesday as secretary of agriculture, on a variety of topics. Vilsack’s comments range from his personal background to budget deficits, biotechnology, energy security, farm policy and other subjects. Wiesemeyer comments that Vilsack “will have to manage a large department at USDA, and will have to deal with growing calls for reforms in farm policy...and a planned reorganization push by House ag committee Chairman Collin Peterson. And once the Obama administration and the Democratically controlled House and Senate begin focusing on the bulging budget deficits, Vilsack will very likely have to be the front person in selling cuts to the agriculture budget, including farm program subsidy reductions.” FARMERS HAVE A FRIEND IN VILSACK (122 Fargo Forum, N.D. 12/18) An editorial says Tom Vilsack is qualified to serve as agriculture secretary “by both political experience and his knowledge of production agriculture.” It notes his “enthusiastic support” for biofuels, but adds that he understands that corn-based ethanol is “transitional technology, to be replaced by ethanol derived from biomass.” Most importantly, the editorial says, Vilsack “is realistic about farm support programs.” He can expect a smooth transition, it says, as the current secretary, Ed Schafer, has said he wants to make sure his successor gets a good start and is able to step easily into the work of implementing the farm bill. Vilsack will face “a shifting, treacherous farming and agribusiness landscape” with collapsing commodity prices, a global recession and volatile costs for fuel and fertilizer. Nonetheless, “Vilsack appears to be uniquely qualified for the USDA job,” the editorial says, with experience in managing a bureaucracy and knowledge of how federal farm policy can benefit or harm farmers, ranchers and agribusiness. AGRICULTURE AND TRADE PRESS DTN 12/17 (123) President-elect announces ag, interior secretaries (124) New ag secretary to face challenges ahead AGRICULTURE ONLINE 12/17 (125) Farmers react to new ag secretary choice BROWNFIELD 12/17 (126) Nebraska ag leaders like Vilsack pick (127) Vilsack could ramp up cellulosic research, incentives (128) Renewable energy group offers recommendations to bolster economy DELTA FARM PRESS 12/17 (129) Iowa’s Vilsack next ag secretary USAGNET 12/16 (130) NFU calls Vilsack appointment “a great choice” (131) Farmer Mac raises $50 million in new capital MEATINGPLACE 12/17 (132) Obama names Vilsack ag secretary: good news, bad news for meat industry AGRI-PULSE 12/17 (133) Vilsack choice sparks surprise, welcome and warnings AND ALSO… SANTA CLAUS TICKETED FOR DOUBLE PARKING IN NEW YORK (134 AP 12/17) Santa Claus has added a New York City traffic agent to his naughty list after she gave him a ticket while he was delivering gifts to children. Chip Cafiero says he’ll fight the $115 ticket he received on Brooklyn. Dressed as Santa, Cafiero was riding a horse- drawn carriage and handing out toys and candy canes. An SUV carrying the toys and protecting the horse from traffic was double parked next to him. Santa says he yelled “HoHoHo!” to get the traffic agent’s attention, but “the grinch just went ahead and fined me.” NETWORK NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 17 CBS: Bush administration plans to auction off more than 100,000 acres of public land in Utah to allow oil-and-gas drilling. Conservation groups are suing the government, trying to block the sale. USDA RELEASES Wednesday, Dec. 17 0306 Statement by Secretary Ed Schafer on the Nomination of Tom Vilsack as the Next Secretary of Agriculture 0305 USDA ANNOUNCES $212 MILLION IN INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE UNDER THE FOOD FOR PROGRESS PROGRAM To obtain a USDA release, access USDA’s Home Page at http://www.usda.gov To access AgNews on the USDA Intranet, go to http://agnews.usda.gov * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DISCLAIMER -- AgNews content is derived from major wires, news magazines and mass distribution press. Inclusion of an item in AgNews does not imply USDA agreement; nor does USDA attest to the accuracy or completeness of the item. * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *