Washington Insider-- Tuesday

Livestock and Welfare

Here's a quick monitor of Washington farm and trade policy issues from DTN's well-placed observer.

Transportation Chairman Calls for Long-Term Highway Bill

House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., says he is committed to passing a long-term highway bill of five or six year's duration. There is general agreement among members of Congress that action is needed on Shuster's long-term highway bill, but lawmakers have not settled on any plan to fund such a measure, Shuster last week seemed to rule out a higher gas tax, observing that "I just don't believe the votes are there in the Congress at this point to do that."

As an alternative, Shuster mentioned using the one-time revenue that would result from the repatriation of corporations' overseas profits, a provision that would be part of a broader tax overhaul, to fund the highway bill. "We've got to find the dollars and we're working very closely with the [House] Ways and Means Committee … to figure out a funding stream," he said. "The No. 1 source that's being talked about is this repatriation of funds.

The major problem that transportation supporters will face with this funding solution is that others in Congress also have their eyes on this potential pot of money for their own projects. A second problem is that the windfall that Treasury would receive from repatriation would apply only once, and thus would not provide the "stream" that Shuster wants. Transportation infrastructure construction, repair and maintenance –– and the funds to pay for these items –– are expected to be necessary forever. So, too, the funding.

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Russians Find that Banning Imported Food Can Boost Prices

Russia last August banned imports of food from Western countries that were engaged in an economic embargo of Russia. Since Russia's agriculture and its food processing industry were not geared up to meet the unexpected domestic demand that resulted, prices for a number of food products at Russian groceries have gone up significantly. Russian government officials are blaming many of the links in the country's food supply chain for the increases and vowing to crackdown on what they say is unfair pricing.

Western European nations, along with the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, initiated their embargo of Russia in retaliation for that country's incursion into Ukraine and its subsequent activities there.

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Russia's Prosecutor General's Office said it was implementing new measures aimed at combating what it called "illegal" activities, which officials claim have contributed to prices of some products rising by as much as 150%. Prosecutor General Yury Chaika already has ordered officials to carry out spot checks on supermarkets owned by large retail chains in different parts of the country.

Rising food prices are causing serious headaches for the Russian government, which has repeatedly assured consumers that markets will stabilize as banned Western suppliers are replaced by alternatives both at home and from other countries. Prices may stabilize at some point in the future, but until the embargo by the West and the import ban by Russia are terminated, the new, stabilized price is likely to be higher than most Russians want to pay.

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Washington Insider: Livestock and Welfare

A new skirmish broke out last week with the publication by the New York Times of an exposé of USDA's Clay Center, Neb., livestock experiment station. The article highlighted examples of some animal deaths during experiments and alleging widespread cruelty during researchers' efforts to increase livestock productivity. Throughout the article, the reporter charged that the overall effort was deeply unworthy, and was undertaken merely in pursuit of "cheaper meat and corporate profits," a favorite NYT theme.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack appears to have been blindsided by the article. He responded quickly that he has "directed agency staff to create and deliver an updated Animal Welfare Strategy plan within 60 days," according to press reports.

He sent his staff and the press a memo signed by Chavonda Jacobs-Young, head of the agency's Agricultural Research Service, noting that the agency is responding to recent media reports over "controversial animal welfare conditions" at its U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska.

The "new strategy" appears to be fairly limited and predictable and likely will be seen as such. It includes "updated training for USDA employees and others who work with animals in the service's research labs. In addition, an independent panel will be convened to review the group's animal handling protocols, policies and research practices."

Maybe Vilsack didn't anticipate the depths of the Times outrage. On Monday, the newspaper proclaimed editorially that "You don't have to be a vegan to be repulsed by an account in The Times revealing the moral depths to which the federal government — working as a handmaiden to industrial agriculture — has sunk in pursuit of cheaper meat and fatter corporate profits."

The editorial concludes that "The humans who work at the center are not necessarily oblivious to its failings." But they — presumably including Vilsack — "should not have their consciences degraded by what is supposed to be beneficial work. Congress founded the center 50 years ago. It should oversee it and reform it — or shut it down."

The real target of the article almost certainly is beyond the cases presented. It likely is the very idea that livestock production is a business and livelihood for many Americans — including many, many small operators — and that research that finds better and more efficient approaches is often a make or break deal for them.

So, USDA is in this research business for a reason and Vilsack needs to defend the livestock business better than he has — or, as the Times says, shut that lab down.

Animal welfare certainly is important and should be high on all priority lists. All animal research should be managed sensitively and fully. But, the Times' hyper-ventilation about conscience and greed is not credible and looks mightily like the urban screed it is about a business it doesn't understand.

Livestock production is often a tough business, especially when the rains are late; the winds strong; the snow deep; and the predators doing their thing. It certainly is not as readily, happily sustainable as the foodies believe.

So, this is a conversation Vilsack needs to change. Now it is dominated by those who insist that livestock are sort of "large scale" pets — work horses that shouldn't work; beef cattle and hogs with little link to meat; etc. In reality, livestock are business partners, valuable and treasured but often required to participate in the practical decisions in a tough business that presses all involved for production and productivity.

If Vilsack can't make that that case along with the many key considerations of animal well-being, the industry certainly can expect to suffer, Washington insider believes


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(GH/CZ)

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