Ethanol relief vital to state’s cows

Attempts to clean up our air and to ensure that the nation has enough milk to drink are on a collision course.  As a result, the future of California’s dairy industry looks sour. Around 100 farms are expected to go bankrupt this year alone, and the trend seems likely to continue if nothing is done.  Because of the demand for grain to produce the gasoline additive ethanol – which was supposed to reduce air pollution – plus a nationwide drought, many of the state’s cash-strapped farmers are selling their cows for slaughter because they can’t afford to feed them.

Midwest drought claims poultry producer

The bankruptcy of a California poultry producer is showing in detail how the Midwestern drought is still rippling through the U.S. economy. Citing the soaring cost of grains used in […]

Economic data suggest RFS waiver would reduce corn prices more than $2.00 per bushel

A full waiver of the 2013 Renewable Fuels Standard requirement would reduce the price of corn by more than $2.00 per bushel, according to economic data cited in comments submitted today by the National Chicken Council (NCC) to the Environmental Protection Agency in support of a full, one-year waiver of the RFS.

NCC also hand delivered almost 10,000 individual comments from those whose livelihoods depend on the chicken industry, almost three quarters of which came from chicken farmers.

USDA intends to renew National Poultry Improvement Plan for two years

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) gave notice in the  October 1 issue of the Federal Register that the Secretary of Agriculture intends to renew the charter of the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan for a two year time period. The purpose of the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan is to maintain and ensure industry involvement in federal administration of matters pertaining to poultry health.