As dairy farmers suffer from dramatically higher costs of production, Cooperatives Working Together announced today that it will conduct its latest herd retirement round. Bids are being accepted starting now through Monday, June 30th, with cow removals to start in seven weeks. "All of the economic indicators and benchmarks that guide CWT's decisions, including farmers' cost of production, show that now is the appropriate time... More [7]...

Both the House and Senate voted last month to override President Bush's veto of the Farm Bill by substantial margins. However, due to a technical glitch, only 14 of the 15 titles are now law. When the Farm Bill was submitted to the President after it initially cleared the House and Senate, it did not contain the Trade Title (Title III), due to a clerical error. Therefore, it is still necessary to correct the Bill... More [8]...

Efforts to provide a transitional solution for America's agricultural employers foundered last month in the Senate, when an immigration reform measure was added to, then dropped from, a spending measure. Shortly after passage of the Farm Bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved including Senator Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) Emergency Agriculture Relief Act amendment... More [9]...

The Senate is expected to begin discussion on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 the first week in June, a measure that would regulate a cap and trade system for U.S. carbon emissions. NMPF has been closely monitoring the debate and making sure the dairy producer sector has an understanding of the potential benefits as well as the detriments of the legislation. More [10]...

The USDA last month took actions that NMPF had requested earlier this spring to completely ban the use of non-ambulatory, or downer, cattle in the food supply. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said the USDA would now make sure that animals that become nonambulatory after initial veterinary inspection are never allowed into the human food supply. More [11]...

A five year-old proposal to change the federal standards of identity for ice cream has been sidelined. On May 15, 2008, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) sent a letter to FDA to withdraw its petition to change the standards of identity for ice cream and frozen desserts. More [12]...

The USDA has opened previously restricted CRP acres to livestock producers for purposes of haying or grazing. On May 30, 2008 the Commodity Credit Corporation published a Notice in the Federal Register... More [13]...

The chairman of the World Trade Organization agriculture negotiations, Crawford Falconer, released his latest WTO text in mid-May. The text was yet another step towards trying to forge consensus among the WTO's member countries in order to try to reach an agreement this year. More [14]...

At a public ceremony last week extolling the benefits of global trade, President Bush urged Congress to complete work on the pending Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. More [15]...

NMPF will host its summer Board of Directors meeting June 10-11 at the Westin Alexandria in Alexandria, VA. More [16]...

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