Ag in the News

02/19/2008

National and International

USMEF monitoring international reactions to historic beef recall
Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. last year exported kidneys and livers to the Ivory Coast and livers to Angola. It hasn't exported products to Japan or South Korea since at least 2003, according to USDA. Following issuance of the largest beef recall in U.S. history on Sunday, it's not likely that the company ever will do so again. MORE!

Gold'n Plump reaches $1.2 mil settlement for donning and doffing
Gold'n Plump Poultry will pay out $1.2 million to its processing and cleaning crews in a settlement over a donning and doffing class-action lawsuit, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul reported. MORE!

Pork promotion in California aims at Chinese New Year
The Pork Checkoff has partnered with Swift Natural Pork, Lucky Supermarkets and Save Mart stores on pork promotions in conjunction with Chinese New Year. MORE!

NPPC names science-technology director
The National Pork Producers Council has named Dr. Jennifer Greiner director of science and technology in its Washington, D.C., office. MORE!

Boston Market spices up new meatloaf offering
Golden, Colo.-based Boston Market announced the addition of four new menu items that incorporate global flavors into traditional American meals, such as a home-style meatloaf with a spicy twist. MORE!

Wrap Up

Prices boom to start the week. Overnight a/c/e trade showed strong gains across the board for grain and soybean futures. Soybean futures were 20 to 25 cents higher in overnight trade amid Chinese oilseed crop concerns. Corn futures were 5 to 6 cents higher, while Chicago wheat futures were 5 to 12 cents higher in overnight trade.

Big beef recall. The weekend recall announced by USDA tallied 143.4 million lbs., easily making it the largest beef recall in U.S. history. While the beef in question has likely all been consumed since it covered two years of production at the California plant where workers were videotaped pushing downer animals into the slaughter mix, it will increase the focus on USDA meat inspections and provide proponents of change a powerful tool to use to push their cause. Here's a link to read more.

Australian wheat crop increased. The latest update from the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE) put the 2007-08 Australian wheat crop at 13.1 million metric tons (MMT), up from their prior peg. Rains have improved the prospects for summer grains like sorghum, where the country is forecast to produce a record 2.45 MMT. Here's a link to the story.

Farewell to Fidel. Cuban President Fidel Castro has announced he will not seek nor accept another term as leader of Cuba. This puts his brother Raul in position to succeed the communist leader, likely changing little in terms of the country's situation. U.S. ag commodity sales to Cuba have been rising in recent years and the focus will be on whether or not that will continue to grow under the shift in government.