Where’s The Beef?

By Roger Johnson, Commissioner, North Dakota Department of Agriculture and Ron Sparks, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries

Food safety is extremely important to both of us personally and also to all of the staff at all of the state departments of agriculture.  State inspections of meat products are required to be as strict, if not more stringent than federal requirements.  However, at this time, interstate meat product sales are not allowed without having the federal mark of inspection.

Recently, legislation was proposed in Congress that would allow state inspected products such as beef, poultry and pork to be sold in interstate sales without the restriction of having a federal inspection.  We are encouraging our Congressional delegations to support this legislation and hope that others will do so as well. · Next Page»

Commissioner Ron Sparks Encourages Youth Involvement in Alabama's Beef Cattle Industry

Commissioner Ron Sparks was on hand this past weekend to cheer along the Alabama Junior Cattlemen's Association during the first annual AJCA Round-Up. The AJCA Round-up is a new event for youth involved in Alabama’s beef cattle industry and is focused on providing learning opportunities to youth in a fun, interactive, and competitive format.  The AJCA inaugural event drew 167 youth from 33 counties in Alabama.  Funded in part by the Alabama Cattlemen's Foundation, the Rural Youth Education section of the Alabama 50 Cent State Checkoff, and the Alabama Department of Agriculture, this event's goal is to provide a safe and fun atmosphere for Alabama’s youth and their families to participate in and learn about Alabama’s beef cattle industry.

Commissioner Ron Sparks is shown here with the AJCA Board of Directors. The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industry was a major sponsor of the 3-day event.

USDA DESIGNATES ENTIRE STATE OF ALABAMA A PRIMARY NATURAL DISASTER AREA

Decision Allows Farmers and Ranchers to Apply for USDA Assistance

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2007 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated the entire state of Alabama a primary natural disaster area because of losses caused by severe drought that occurred during the period of Jan. 1, 2007, and continuing.

In addition, contiguous counties listed below in the adjacent states of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee are also eligible.

Florida
Escambia Jackson Santa Rosa
Holmes Okaloosa Walton
Georgia
Carroll Early Heard Seminole
Chattahoochee Floyd Muscogee Stewart
Chattooga Haralson Polk Troup
Clay Harris Quitman Walker
Dade
Mississippi
Clarke Itawamba Lauderdale Noxubee
George Jackson Lowndes Tishomingo
Greene Kemper Monroe Wayne
Tennessee
Franklin Hardin Lincoln Wayne
Giles Lawrence Marion

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on July 2, 2007, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.

USDA has also made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Emergency Conservation Program, Federal Crop Insurance and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.

Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=landing.

FSA news releases are available on FSA’s Web site at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov.

Source: Farm Service Agency