Florida promotes state-grown chicken

Pilgrim’s Pride has partnered with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to promote state-raised chicken. The Fresh from Florida campaign, denoted with a logo, has launched at Sam’s Club stores in Florida, and other stores are expected to join the program.
The department said the chicken is raised antibiotic-free on an all-vegetable diet and is processed in Live Oak, Fla., that features advanced air-chilling technology to ensure quality and freshness.
In Florida's Suwannee, Lafayette and Madison counties, the poultry industry has an overall economic impact of $347 million annually, supporting nearly 100 farms and creating 3,700 jobs.

US organics board recommends synthetic methionine be allowed in hen feed

The Methionine Task Force of the U.S. National Organic Standards Board recently petitioned for an extension of the deadline on using synthetic methionine in organic laying-hen diets to 2015.
The petition placed an upper intake limit of four pounds of 100% synthetic methionine over the productive life of a hen. The board’s livestock committee recommended that synthetic methionine supplements remain on the organic program’s National List of Allowed Substances with a step-down rate of use.

Proposed synthetic methionine ban in organic diets

The board of the U.S. National Organic Program is considering a proposal to ban synthetic methionine from organic diets, following an earlier decision regarding synthetic lysine. The decision has been deferred following presentations made by the program’s Methionine Task Force, which includes nutritionists and producers of organic products.
Deletion of synthetic methionine from an organic diet to produce specialty organic eggs would result in an additional cost of $100 per ton, compared with comparable formulations using organic ingredients but allowing inclusion of 0.35% synthetic methionine.
Reducing specifications for dietary sulphur-containing amino acids could reduce the incremental cost to $50 per ton, although this would result in a corresponding reduction in egg size and egg numbers. Assuming a differential of $75, representing deletion of synthetic methionine and moderate relaxation of nutritional specifications, the cost to a producer would be $900 per day for 100,000 hens, or between 13 to 15 cents per dozen, depending on the level of flock production.
Supporters of continuing to allow synthetic methionine in organic production point out that the ingredient is derived by microbial fermentation and that it is absorbed and metabolized in the same way as plant-sourced methionine.

Less than 1% of US farmland used for organic products

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released a survey finding that less than 0.5% of U.S. farmland is used for raising organic crops and livestock—a total of 14,450 farms on 4.1 million acres, compared with a total of 2.2 million farms on 922 million acres, according to The Wall Street Journal. Organic farms accounted for $3.16B in sales in 2008.
California accounts for a fifth of U.S. organic farm operations and more than a third of sales, the survey found.

Farmland receives 'Never Ever 3' designation

Farmland Foods recently received the United States Department of Agriculture designation “Never Ever 3” for its Simply Natural line of fresh pork products.
The USDA NE3 standard ensures:
*No antibiotics in feed, water or by injection from birth to slaughter
*No natural or synthetic hormones, estrus suppressants, beta agonists or synthetic growth promotants can be administered
*No mammalian and avian by-products are ever allowed in the feed
The standard uses the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 series standards for documented quality management systems as a format for evaluating program documentation to ensure consistent auditing practices and to promote international recognition of audit results.
Farmland’s Simply Natural line offers cuts including including back ribs, boneless tenderloins, boneless sirloins, bone-in and boneless loins and butts. According to Farmland, it is the first U.S. pork company to receive the designation.

Public vote for new EU organic symbol

The European Commission is inviting members of the public to vote from among three finalists for a new European Union organic logo. The deadline for voting is January 30, 2010, and votes can be cast online.
The winning logo will be required on all prepackaged organic products from EU member states.

Organic pork preservation research reported

American research into the preservation of organic pork products using natural ingredients is reported by the Food Safety Consortium in the U.S. Under U.S. government regulations, the organic products are not permitted to contain preservatives such as nitrate or nitrite. Instead, they may contain vegetable products that provide high concentrations of nitrate in a form which is acceptable because it is from a natural source. The vegetable-based nitrate makes the organic pork product look and taste like it was traditionally cured.
However, the organic products, lacking the directly-added nitrite, do not have the same level of built-in protection against pathogens such as Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium botulinum and Listeria monocytogenes.
Researchers at Iowa State University have tested vinegar, lactate and lemon powder after these became available recently in commercial quantities for use as natural preservatives in foods. Testing showed them to be effective against L. monocytogenes and C. perfringens, although not to the extent that nitrite inhibits the growth of certain foodborne pathogens in traditionally cured pork products.

Ontario official assists in organic turkey conflict

Ontario's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Leona Dombrowsky, is getting involved in the disagreement between conflicting rules for raising organic turkeys, according to reports.
Turkey Farmers of Ontario (TFO) states turkeys must be confined indoors to protect against avian influenza from wild birds. This contradicts the Canadian Food and Inspection Agency (CFIA) mandate that organic birds be raised outdoors. The disagreement could cost some farmers their organic certification.
Dombrowsky has asked the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission to work with the involved agencies to accommodate the free-range organic production of turkeys.

Conventional versus organic production

Even though both conventional and organic production can be sustainable, organic production is actually less healthy for the planet than conventional production, in the view of Alex Avery, director of research for the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
Organic farming leaves a larger footprint, he says, because it’s less efficient, thus more land has to be brought into production, and means less land for wildlife, he says. He continues that contrary to what some contend, both small and large farms can be models of sustainability.

rBST and dairy
Avery believes that the very same people who oppose rBST for dairy cows should be embracing it because it makes cows more efficient, thus it is a more sustainable model. “The debate on rBST needs to be reopened,” he says. In his view “we have a responsibility” to make agricultural production as efficient as possible.
But, he says, the public discussion of agricultural sustainability “is horribly one sided,” because those with an agenda of organic farming and small farms have gained access key makers of opinion, such as The New York Times, Oprah, and Rachel Ray. The facts, he says, suggest that conventional agriculture is more efficient, and more environmentally friendly.
For example, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that organic farming increases soil erosion because neither nitrogen fertilizers nor herbicides can be used, meaning that no-till farming cannot be part of the organic model.

Free range chickens
Giovanni Gasperoni, executive vice president for Novus International, has a concern that the voices from wealthy urban groups will drown out reason on defining sustainability. In his view, free range egg production actually is less sustainable because more land and more resources are required, not to mention the fact that eggs from such a system cost more.
Put another way, the end result of California’s Proposition 2, which passed last November by an overwhelming margin (it outlaws battery cages by 2015 in the state, but cannot stop the import of eggs from other states, or countries, into California) is a system that is actually less sustainable, long term, than the conventional model.
But that, Giovanni and others say, was a difficult point to get across to citizens of San Francisco and West Hollywood during the heat of the debate. Giovanni also has a concern that if some groups who push for organic and free range have their way, eggs and other products will become less affordable for those without high incomes.
At the same time, agriculture has become increasingly more sustainable, Avery has concerns about efforts of urban-based food activist groups “who romanticize the past” and try to define sustainability as small farms because they don’t like anything too big or animals confined. And he is concerned that such groups have the attention of the media, allowing them to set the agenda for what sustainability is, a fact that those involved in agriculture must be aware of. One of the most important missions of agriculture, he says, is to counter such groups with facts on what sustainability is, and is not.

Illinois promotes domestic food production

Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn has signed House Bill 3990 which establishes the Illinois Local Food Farms and Job Council. This body will promote domestic food production in Illinois.
The tenor of legislation appears to favor small-scale and organic enterprises. The bill will provide funding and resources to promote locally grown food and to assist in processing and distribution to Illinois markets.

USDA 'organic' label questioned

Jack Cooper of the Food Industry Environmental Network has circulated a commentary based on a July 3, 2009, Washington Post report alleging that products labeled with the "Organic" seal may not comply with the standards of the National Organic Program.
The Inspector General's Office of the USDA has initiated an investigation into the oversight of private certifiers and the level of adherence to the rigid standards imposed by the statutory regulations. At issue is whether consumers paying a premium for the USDA Organic seal are in fact assured that all the requirements relating to non-GMO ingredients and freedom from pesticides and synthetic fertilizers are met.

Canada, US agree on organic standards

An equivalency agreement has been signed between Canada and the U.S. confirming reciprocity of organic certification. Canadian Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan, an advocate of organic agriculture, stated, "Production of organic foods is a vibrant growth opportunity for American agriculture and by agreeing on a common set of organic principles with Canada we are expanding market opportunities for our producers to sell their product abroad."
She added, "Today's agreement between the world's two largest organic trading partners is an important first step toward global harmonization of organic standards."
This statement has underlying implications for U.S. egg producers since harmonization would impose unrealistic EU standards on egg production in the U.S., specifically with respect to space allowance and outside access by flocks. Further information can be obtained from the Web site of the National Organic Program.