Ag in the News

04/08/2008

National

Immigration bill could cost $30 billion or more by 2018: CBO
The widely supported Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act of 2007 could cost $30 billion or more to implement between 2009 and 2018, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. MORE!

Seaboard biodiesel plant opens later this month
Seaboard Foods said its High Plains Bioenergy biodiesel production plant it announced last year will open April 24 with a 30-million-gallon annual capacity. MORE!

Sanderson Farms selects new media agency
Sanderson Farms Inc. has selected the Zimmerman Agency as the Laurel, Miss.-based poultry processor's new media agency. MORE!

Kroger names new group vice president
The Kroger Co., parent of Cincinnati, Ohio-based retail grocery chain Kroger, announced that is has promoted Calvin Kaufman to the position of group vice president of the company and president of Kroger Manufacturing. MORE!

McDonald's campaign aims to bust myths about its meat
McDonald's has launched a campaign that includes a Web site, television ads, billboards, food facts on packaging and will at some point add camera shots of where it sources its food to bust myths about such things as the quality of its beef and chicken. MORE!

Wrap Up

Winter wheat condition ratings. The weekly update on winter wheat conditions has resumed via USDA's Weekly Crop Progress Report. The data showed a crop in worse shape than a year ago at this time, but in about the same shape nationwide as it was when the crop went dormant last fall. Julianne Johnston takes a look at how the ratings stack up when plugged into the Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index in her "From the Bullpen" commentary on the Pro Farmer page.

Schafer and the farm bill. USDA Sec. Ed Schafer said that if there has been substantial progress on a deal on funding extra spending of the farm bill and on the policies in the package could open the door for another short- term extension of the farm bill. But there are still plenty of questions about what is "substantial" progress. Jim Wiesemeyer has more via his Inside Washington Today columns found on the Pro Farmer page.

More South Korean bird flu. South Korea's tally of bird flu cases is now at four, with two of those still awaiting final confirmation that it is the virulent H5N1 strain. South Korea's president is calling for aggressive measures to stem the spread in the southwestern part of the country. Some 380,000 birds have been destroyed.

EWG payment database. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) will be releasing their updated database of farm program payments this morning. The updated data will include data from 2006. EWG head Ken Cook said the 2006 data will show fewer people getting more of the farm program payments.