US farm bill debate likely to go into 2013

The U.S. House has not been able to achieve consensus on the farm bill, and a decision could spill over into late spring or summer of 2013, according to Dr. Clayton Yeutter, senior advisor at Hogan Lovells and panel moderator at the National Chicken Council's industry outlook panel held on October 11.
See video of the panel discussion here.
The current government climate has made negotiating the bill difficult, said Yeutter. “To put a farm bill together, you have to be able to work out a way to strike a deal between the Executive Branch and the Congress," he said. "And often, they’re not in the same hands politically.
“Everybody’s going to have to adjust to those uncertainties and the instability that results from that. There’s still a slight possibility the farm bill would pass in the lame duck session, but I believe the chances are well below 50/50 that that’s going to happen.”
More likely, said Yeutter, nothing will happen until after the new year, which means a new Congress and starting the debate process all over again. “You’re probably talking April (2013)or so at the earliest that this legislation is likely to become law, and that’s only a very calculated guess,” he said.
See videos of the entire panel here.

USDA announces Global Research Alliance Borlaug Fellows to combat climate change

Ten researchers from seven developing countries have been chosen to work with U.S. scientists on climate change mitigation research, according to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The researchers were chosen under the Global Research Alliance Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship (Borlaug Fellows) Program. "With the announcement of these Borlaug Fellows, we are making good on the commitment we made last December, when we joined 20 other countries in founding the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases and pledged to support the participation of developing countries in the development of the new tools and agricultural practices needed to meet [climate change] challenges," said Vilsack.
The researchers come from Chile, India, Malaysia, Ghana, Mexico, the Philippines and Vietnam. One fellowship begins this fall; the others begin in the spring of 2011.

Scientists discover antibiotic-resistant genes

Scientists at the U.S. Agricultural Research Service said they have detected over 700 genes that give microbes the ability to resist antibiotics and other antimicrobial compounds.
Concerned some of these organisms have acquired genetic resistance to the antibiotics used to kill them, researchers said finding genes that offer resistance is an important step for scientists looking for new ways to control the organisms.
Using DNA microarray technology, ARS and collaborators at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center said they have found what makes bacteria, including salmonella, E. coli and campylobacter, resistant. Findings were published in the journal Microbial Drug Resistance.