Office of Communications (202) 720-8138 AgNews Summary for USDA Executives Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 FARM & FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICES LAMY IS ONLY CANDIDATE FOR NEXT HEAD OF WTO (101 wires 1/5) The current head of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy, is the only candidate to be the next director-general, since no one has emerged to challenge him for the job, a WTO spokesman said Monday. Lamy was the only candidate to have come forward when nominations closed on Dec. 31, the spokesman said. Lamy’s four-year term as WTO head expires at the end of August this year. WTO members must now decide whether his re-appointment is automatic or the organization should still go through the motions of a formal selection process. FOOD, NUTRITION AND CONSUMER SERVICES JOHANNS NAMES JOHNER STATE DIRECTOR (102 AP 1/6) Incoming Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns says Nancy Johner will be his state director, managing constituent services and attending events on his behalf. Johner has served as under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services for USDA. Before that, she was director of Nebraska’s state healthy department. Johanns also named state Sen. Phil Erdman as his state agriculture director. Johanns is to be sworn in today. MARKETING & REGULATORY PROGRAMS MAD COW RULE MAY MEAN FARMERS DUMP MORE DEAD CATTLE (103 Omaha World-Herald 1/2) Nebraska’s state veterinarian is among those worried that dead cattle could be left to rot in windbreaks or ditches because of a federal regulation intended to prevent mad cow disease. The new rule, which takes effect April 27, says cattle over 30 months of age can’t be rendered for animal feed unless their brains and spinal cords are removed first. The Food and Drug Administration regulation is intended to prevent the prions that cause BSE, or mad cow disease, from slipping into livestock feed and causing an outbreak in cattle. Some fear that rendering companies may stop picking up dead cattle or that higher fees will discourage farmers from calling a rendering company when an animal dies. The result could be dead cattle that are illegally dumped. HONG KONG CONFIRMS CHINESE WOMAN HAD H5N1 BIRD FLU (104 Reuters 1/6) A 19-year-old woman has died of the H5N1 bird flu virus in Beijing, the Beijing Municipal Bureau and Hong Kong government said today. The woman fell ill on Dec. 24, was hospitalized on Dec. 27 and died on Monday, the bureau said. NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT PLUM CREEK WANTS TO DROP ROAD DEAL (105 Washington Post 1/6, AP 1/5) Plum Creek Timber Co. said Monday it no longer wants to pursue changing the easements governing the use of Forest Service roads near company lands. The company cited widespread opposition to the proposal it negotiated behind closed doors over two years with Under Secretary Mark Rey. The changes were challenged by officials from Missoula County, Mont., and by Montana Sen. Jon Tester. Critics said the amendments could ease property development by Plum Creek, and could saddle counties with high costs to provide fire protection or other services for new subdivisions. Rey indicated as recently as last week that the changes would probably become final before he leaves office when the Bush administration ends this month (AgNews 1/5 #107). Plum Creek, the nation’s largest owner of private land, retreated Monday in a letter to the Missoula County commissioner, with copies to Rey and others. Commissioner Jean Curtiss said the county has “actually been working with Plum Creek for some time. Our whole impetus is that the Forest Service was the one who was out of line. They were the ones holding meetings without public input or public knowledge.” A spokeswoman for Plum Creek said the firm doesn’t want people to think “we’re out to pave a lot of roads in Montana, because we’re just not.” TRIBES APPEAL DECISION IN ARIZONA SNOWBOWL CASE (106 AP 1/5) American Indian tribes are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision that allows for snowmaking on an Arizona peak that the tribes consider sacred. In their petition filed Monday, the tribes contend that the use of treated wastewater to make snow violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and could contaminate natural resources. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco cleared the way for snowmaking last August after a years-long battle. The court also granted a request to delay any construction at the ski resort northwest of Flagstaff until the high court decides whether it will hear the tribes’ appeal. The tribes sued the resort and the Forest Service in 2005 to block expansion of the resort. A federal judge’s ruling a year later cleared the way for the use of snowmaking equipment using reclaimed water piped from Flagstaff. USDA -- MULTI-MISSION HARKIN ANNOUNCES CONFIRMATION HEARING FOR VILSACK NEXT WEEK (107 wires 1/5) Sen. Tom Harkin says the confirmation hearing for former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as the nation’s next agriculture secretary will be on Jan. 14. Harkin predicts an easy confirmation for Vilsack. Though he hasn’t had a broad history with agricultural issues, Vilsack’s appointment has stirred little opposition, and his confirmation is likely to be routine. VILSACK COULD TAKE OFFICE JAN. 20 (108 Des Moines Register 1/6) Tom Vilsack could take office as agriculture secretary as soon as Jan. 20, the same day that President-elect Obama is sworn in. The Senate Agriculture Committee has scheduled a hearing for Vilsack for Jan. 14. That would make it possible for the full Senate to vote to confirm him as soon as Obama takes office and signs the nomination papers, said Mark Halverson, the committee’s chief of staff. “Assuming everything goes according to plan, our intention is to get Gov. Vilsack confirmed as secretary on inauguration day,” Halverson said Monday. VILSACK COULD BE NAMED TO REPLACE RICHARDSON (109 N.Y. Daily News 1/5) A brief article on the Daily News Web site cites “a well-placed source” who says one option under consideration in filling the now-vacant commerce secretary slot is to tap former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack for the job. Vilsack already has been named to serve as President-elect Obama’s agriculture secretary, and could easily move into the commerce position. An Obama transition spokeswoman declined to confirm that Vilsack is under consideration to replace New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who withdrew his name from consideration for commerce secretary amid a federal probe into a state contract. TWO SEATS UP IN THE AIR AS NEW SENATE CONVENES (110 dailies 1/6) The fate of two would-be senators remained unsettled as Congress prepared to resume business, presenting a quandary for Democratic leaders. In Minnesota, the state Canvassing Board certified a 225-vote lead for Democrat Al Franken out of 2.9 million votes cast. Incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman led the vote tally until mid-December, and his campaign says he will legally contest the election. Meanwhile, Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s Senate appointee from Illinois, Roland Burris, arrived in Washington on Monday with plans to attend a swearing-in ceremony, even though the Senate formally rejected his certificate of election. Democrats in Congress have expressed a desire to seat Franken on a provisional basis. They have said they will not accept Blagojevich’s appointee. The governor was arrested on federal corruption charges Dec. 9 after he was taped allegedly discussing selling the former Senate seat of President-elect Obama. Neither Burris nor Franken has received the usual certification from his home state, creating problems for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid if he wants to seat one and not the other. FARMERS REMAIN HOPEFUL EVEN AS 2008 PROFITS ERODE (111 Reuters 1/5) The article leads with a look at Gordon Wassenaar, an Iowa farmer who says he is “cautiously optimistic,” even though economists say he and other farmers may be lucky to break even this year because of plunging grain prices and continued high farm costs. Wassenaar acknowledges that “nobody thinks that prices are going to go anywhere near as high as they were in 2008.” Unless farmers have an exceptionally good crop, he says, they need to get more than $4 a bushel for corn to make a profit, and between $8 and $9 a bushel for soybeans. Corn futures are currently near $4 a bushel, a historically high price but still down 50 percent from the record high of $7.85 posted last summer. Soybeans are at around $9.80 a bushel, down 41 percent from last summer’s all-time peak of $16.63 a bushel. One bright spot for farmers is the ethanol industry, despite its struggles after prices tumbled. Farmers view the incoming Obama administration as supportive of renewable fuels. COTTON INDUSTRY FACES DAUNTING 2009 (112 Reuters 1/5) American cotton growers will face a hard struggle in 2009 because of low prices, steep production costs and sinking demand brought on by a global recession, an influential economist said Monday. “The cotton industry looks grim,” said Carl Anderson, an influential economist with Texas A&M University, at the beginning of the annual Beltwide cotton conference in San Antonio, Texas. While the conference will concentrate on ways to improve the productivity of U.S. cotton farmers, the global recession’s impact on demand and shrinking acreage will be on the minds of most in the industry. Anderson said most U.S. farmers believe there is just too much risk involved in sowing cotton, and most will opt to plant better-priced corn or soybeans instead. COTTON PLANTINGS MAY HIT 140-YEAR LOW (113 Reuters 1/5) American cotton farmers may plant their smallest crop in 140 years as growers opt to sow higher priced grains, and this could push production to a 20-year low, an economist said Monday. “We’re not hearing any enthusiasm about planting cotton,” Carl Anderson said at the start of the annual Beltwide cotton conference. Anderson believes cotton plantings in 2009 could fall to 7.6 million acres, and harvested acreage may be only 7 to 7.1 million acres. At that level, USDA historical data shows that 2009 cotton sowings would be the lowest plantings ever. The lowest harvested cotton acreage is 6.973 million acres in 1868. DEADLINE NEARS TO SELL CARBON CREDITS FOR PAST YEARS (114 AP 2/5) The main U.S. market for greenhouse gas credits will soon impose new rules designed to bolster the credibility of the carbon credits it sells. After Jan. 30, ranchers won’t be able to market their past efforts to store carbon dioxide in the soil dating back to 2003. Going forward, the Chicago Climate Exchange will accept only efforts to limit greenhouse gases related to the current year and future years. Ranchers and farmers sign up with the National Farmers Union Carbon Credit Program or another program that bundles many credits together before selling them on the exchange. The credits are bought by companies, cities or others that want to offset their emissions because they are concerned about carbon dioxide contributing to global warming. CONSERVATION GROUP SUES EPA OVER CHESAPEAKE POLLUTION (115 AP 2/5) A conservation group filed a lawsuit Monday to force the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the law and clean up the polluted Chesapeake Bay, citing 25 years of failure to restore the nation’s largest estuary. The lawsuit asserts that EPA’s failure to meet its obligations “has led to the continued degradation of water quality” in the bay, harming natural resources and the residents who depend on them. EPA has said it is committed to fighting pollution, and that partnerships – not lawsuits – are needed. But the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other supporters of the suit said political foot-dragging has gone on too long, and that enforcement of the Clean Water Act could revive the bay within five years. SCHAFER NAMED NORTH DAKOTAN OF THE YEAR (116 KFYR-TV, Bismarck, N.D.) A North Dakota television station reports on its Web site that Secretary Ed Schafer was named North Dakotan of the Year in a contest by a Fargo radio station. The station urged listeners to vote for the person they believed best represented North Dakota in 2008. AGRICULTURE AND TRADE PRESS AGRI-PULSE 2/5 (117) Senate confirmation hearing for Vilsack Jan. 14 AGWEB.COM 1/5 (118) The week ahead: New Congress begins DELTA FARM PRESS 1/5 (119) ARS develops new field tool to help reduce runoff USAGNET 1/5 (120) Cattlemen’s association names new CEO DTN 1/5 (121) Ethanol will remain big issue to watch in 2009 AND ALSO… DUDE, REALLY – BEER PONG IS SERIOUS (122 AP 1/5) Don’t let the smell of beer and the rock music fool you – beer pong is a serious game. Some dare say sport. Granted, they tend to be grinning and drinking when they say it. There was plenty of both this weekend at the World Series of Beer Pong IV, a loud and sloshy annual tournament that elevates a college fraternity house staple involving ping pong and beer to an (almost) serious competition. With a $50,000 prize on the line, more than 400 teams flocked to Las Vegas for a chance to bring their skills out of the bar and into the big time. NETWORK NEWS Monday, Jan. 5 NBC: Al Franken is declared the winner in Minnesota's recount 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. * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ACCESS AGNEWS ARCHIVES ON THE USDA INTRANET – AgNews archive files are available on the USDA Intranet at http://agnews.usda.gov. AgNews summary and PDF clip files for the past week can be found under the days of the week at the top of the page. 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