 |
|||
 |
" I heard it |
||
April 8, 2011
· US farm groups brace for steep spending cuts
· Japan to ease restrictions on some produce
· Montreal boasts huge rooftop garden farm
· World food prices retreat just a little – UN
· Global warming creates ideal crop conditions
US farm groups brace for steep spending cuts
(Dairy
Herd Network) – Facing billions of dollars in potential cuts to government
agriculture programs,
The House Budget Committee, in its fiscal 2012 spending plan released April 5, called for a 23-percent reduction in agriculture spending next year as part of a longer-term farm program downsizing the committee said would save U.S. taxpayers $30 billion over the next decade.
Given the
“Something has to be done about the budget deficit, and agriculture is willing to do its fair share,” said Mary Kay Thatcher, director of agricultural policy with the Washington, D.C.-based American Farm Bureau Federation. “We just don’t want to be asked to do more than our fair share.”
Agriculture is among at least eight federal programs slated for smaller budgets in 2012 as Congress and the White House try to rein in a budget deficit that’s expected to reach nearly $1.4 trillion this year.
The Republican-controlled House Budget Committee said its plan, which it deemed the “Path to Prosperity”, will reduce government spending by $6.2 trillion over the next decade, partly by cutting Medicaid health care benefits and eliminating redundant programs.
Other areas targeted for cuts include environmental programs, health care, science and technology and transportation. Meanwhile, the committee proposed spending increases in areas including Social Security and the global war on terror.
Time to re-examine farm programs
With farmers reaping near-record income amid soaring crop and livestock prices, the committee said it’s time for a “re-examination” of U.S. Department of Agriculture programs to “ensure that taxpayers aren’t funding support for a sector that is more than capable of thriving on its own.”
“Against the backdrop of an overall economy that is recovering slowly, the American agricultural sector is racing ahead,” the committee, led by Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), said in the report: “With crop prices – and deficits – hitting new highs, it is time to adjust support to this industry to reflect economic realities.”
Under the budget proposal, agriculture spending in fiscal 2012, which begins Oct. 1, would fall to $20 billion from $26 billion in 2011. Through the rest of the decade, annual agriculture spending would fall roughly another 14 percent, on average, from 2012 levels.
The committee suggested curbing fixed payments crop growers receive irrespective of price levels and reducing the government’s support for crop insurance so producers “assume the same kind of responsibility for managing risk that other businesses do.”
Also, the committee recommended reforming the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food stamp benefits administered by the USDA.
Based on an initial reading of the proposed budget, “we don’t believe that they have indeed asked for more than our fair share,” the Farm Bureau’s Thatcher said.
Nutrition program cuts may affect livestock producers
It isn’t yet clear what specific agriculture programs may actually be cut or what the impact will be on USDA operations, industry representatives said. A USDA spokesman declined to comment.
The committee’s plan is “light on details,” but implies lower direct payments to crop producers, said Rich Pottorff, an analyst with Doane Advisory Services. Generally speaking, the proposed agriculture cuts probably wouldn’t have a major impact on livestock and dairy producers, he said.
“The bigger impact might come from the cuts in nutrition and other social safety net programs,” Pottorff said in an April 6 e-mail. “To the extent that we reduce people’s ability to buy food or get it at reduced or no cost, we reduce demand for livestock products.”
“Cutting funding for other social programs would probably also tend to reduce demand for livestock products,” he added.
“Over the past few years, pork producers have had to tighten their belts,” Warner said in an e-mail. “And now it’s time for the federal government to do the same.”
Digging out of a deep hole
Frank Lucas (R-Oklahoma), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said the budget proposal merely offered suggestions on where to reduce spending. Ultimately, the agriculture committee will make the spending decisions that will be part of the 2012 Farm Bill.
“The House Budget Committee has outlined a plan that may shock some, but this only illustrates the deep hole we are in,” Lucas said in an April 5 statement. “While I might not agree with every proposed cut, we are well past the point where trillion-dollar deficits can be ignored.”
While farm subsidies have drawn criticism for years, agriculture represents just a fraction of overall government expenditures, or outlays.
At a projected $20 billion for fiscal 2012, agriculture spending would account for 0.6 percent of total federal outlays, which the House Budget Committee pegged at $3.53 trillion.
Defense outlays, estimated at $594 billion in 2012, account for 17 percent, while Social Security, at $766 billion, accounts for 22 percent, according to the report.
Japan
TOKYO (AFP) – Japan on Friday signalled it would lift some restrictions on produce from areas near the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that were imposed due to concerns about radiation contamination.
Restrictions on milk produced in
"The government has received requests for lifting
shipping bans on milk produced (in seven municipalities) in
"I understand that this produce satisfies conditions for the bans to be lifted."
The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and deadly tsunami on March 11
severely damaged the
The government had halted shipments of untreated milk and
many vegetables from
Edano said the process of lifting bans was one about which the government had to be cautious and he warned rice -- the staple of the Japanese diet -- was still restricted in the area.
"Authorities are now inspecting the levels of radiation in soil so as to decide whether farmers can start planting rice in areas concerned," he said.
"The government will restrict farmers from planting rice in areas where produced rice will highly likely be contaminated beyond the limit under the Food Sanitation Law."
News that the ban could be eased came as
"It was decided that a blanket suspension of imported
food items from
"We will ask the Japanese authorities to provide a certificate to prove that the imported food items are radiation free," he said.
Several countries, including
Montreal
"Our vision is a city of rooftop farms," says the Lufa Farms website of the gardens nestled above the Canadian metropolis, as it mourns the loss of good farm land due to commercial development and urban sprawl.
With the world's population continuing to grow while available arable land falls, the young duo behind Lufa Farms believes greenhouses in the sky could be the way forward to providing fresh food for hungry urban dwellers.
Designed by Mohamed Hage and his
partner Kurt Lynn, the greenhouse spreads across 3,000 square metres (32,300 square feet) above
Lettuce, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, bok choy, celery, or fine herbs such as rosemary, basil and parsley -- the choice of produce is varied and plentiful enough to fill 2,000 grocery carts each week.
The urban farm's first harvest looks promising and is almost entirely pre-sold. Buyers signed up online over the winter to receive baskets of fruits and vegetables at distribution points throughout the city, starting later this month.
Marie-Eve Allaire was the first to be tempted by this new kind of market.
"I chose a small basket of produce, which is for one person or a couple. It costs 22 dollars per week, so it's no more expensive than what I'd pay at a grocery store for vegetables," she said.
But the produce is fresher as it is sold on location where it is grown, she noted. It is also better for the environment, say the two men behind the business.
"Everything is automated," said Hage. "We can set the temperature, lighting and humidity according to the needs of each group of vegetables." It is all done by computer.
A system has also been set up to collect rainwater to water the plants and help them grow.
It took a significant investment to get off the ground, almost two million dollars to build and stock the greenhouse.
But the urban greenhouse is closer to the people than rural farms and so saves money on packaging, transportation and refrigeration.
Hage is counting for success on their proximity to food buyers -- distribution is exclusively local -- and the quality of the produce that relies on honeybees for pollinating and ladybugs to attack pests in lieu of using chemical pesticides.
But a return on the investment is only in the long term.
In fact, said Hage, to make a profit the business will have to expand from a single location to include a cluster of greenhouses. "We need more greenhouses, more space," he said.
The company plans to build more greenhouses and is searching
for suitable urban space. About 10 percent of commercial rooftops in
And they are actively recruiting space, calling for building owners to consider lending over their rooftops to greenhouses.
Stanley Kubrow, a professor of
nutrition at
"A large selection of fruits and vegetables is best in terms of nutrition for consumers. And if it tastes better than trucked-in produce, people will buy and eat more of it," he said.
Meanwhile, Lufa Farms is already set to open another greenhouse on a city rooftop, five times larger than the original.
World food prices retreat just a little – UN
The FAO's Food Price Index dropped after eight months of continuous price spikes to an average 230 points in March, down 2.9 percent from its peak in February, but still 37 percent above March 2010, the Rome-based agency said.
"The decrease in the overall index this month brings some welcome respite from the steady increases seen over the last eight months," said David Hallam, director of FAO's trade and market division.
"But it would be premature to conclude that this is a reversal of the upward trend," he added.
March was extremely volatile for grains, largely due to
growing economic uncertainties and the turmoil in North Africa and parts of the
However, the Food Price Index, which monitors average monthly price changes for a variety of key staples, showed that international prices of oils, sugar and cereals had dropped.
Rice prices also fell as a result of abundant supply in exporting countries and sluggish import demand.
By contrast, dairy and meat prices were up, although only marginally in the case of meat.
"We need to see the information on new plantings over the next few weeks to get an idea of future production levels," Hallam said.
"But low stock levels, the implications for oil prices
of events in the Middle East and
The oil and fats price index fell 19 points in March, breaking nine months of consecutive increases, while the sugar price index averaged 372 points -- down as much as 10 percent from the highs of January and February.
The dairy price index averaged 234 points, up 1.9 percent from the previous month and 37 percent above its level in March 2010, while the meat price index changed little from its February levels at an average of 169 points.
World food prices hit record highs at the beginning of the
year and the agency had warned in March that oil price spikes could push them
even higher as increasing violence in
Global warming creates ideal crop conditions
(Forbes) – The news media are flush with stories this week claiming global warming is crushing global crop production. According to the media, global warming is putting the hurt on two of our favorite indulgences – coffee and beer. For the more globally conscious (or less caffeinated/less inebriated) among us, the media are also focusing attention on an alleged African corn crisis. A look at facts rather than alarmist speculation, however, shows global warming is strongly benefiting nearly all global crops, including coffee, beer barley, and African corn.
Without a doubt, global warming is affecting global crop production. The tremendous improvement in global crop production and worldwide growing conditions during recent decades is one of the most important yet least reported news events of our time. As the earth continues to recover from the abnormally cold conditions of the centuries-long Little Ice Age, warmer temperatures, improving soil moisture, and more abundant atmospheric carbon dioxide have helped bring about a golden age for global agricultural production.
During the past decade, which alarmists claim is the warmest
in recent history, record per-acre yields have been recorded for nearly every
important
Global crop yields have also registered spectacular growth
as global temperatures have warmed. Global grain harvests have nearly tripled
since 1961. As is the case in the
Indeed, while the media claim global warming is threatening
our morning coffee, farmers are preparing to harvest a record global coffee
crop. While the media claim global warming is jeopardizing our beer bellies by
harming barley production,
During the past decade, African nations have registered record harvests in a variety of crops, including corn and rice. Moreover, the modestly warming climate is stimulating more frequent and abundant rainfall which, together with more atmospheric carbon dioxide, is greening the African continent.
A March 2009 study in the peer-reviewed Biogeosciences
reported the Sahel region of the southern
A July 2009 National Geographic News article confirmed the Biogeosciences study. “Emerging evidence is painting a very different scenario, one in which rising temperatures could benefit millions of Africans in the driest parts of the continent,” National Geographic News reported.
“Scientists are now seeing signals that the
A January 2007 study in the peer-reviewed science journal
Geology explained the greening of
While alarmists cry about global warming and crop devastation, consumers in the real world have never had such an abundance of plenty.
End Transmission