World Ag News Trade Videos

A soil scientist’s perspective on mitigating climate change is that a cap and trade system, properly structured, would be profitable for agriculture. Chuck Rice is a Distinguished Professor at Kansas State University and President-Elect of the Soil Science Society of America. He tells Brownfield that the majority of scientists agree that climate change is happening and things can be done to help mitigate it. Rice says he also understands the uncertainty about how much temperatures will increase if nothing is done to mitigate climate change. That’s where agriculture comes in, says Rice – helping capture carbon by increasing organic matters in soil, “So, whether you believe or don’t believe in climate change, improving the quality of our soils, improving the profitability of the farming system is still a good thing.” Rice says the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change shows that over the next 20 years, 85 percent of the mitigation options for agriculture occur through soil carbon sequestration – practices that include crop rotation and reduced tillage. ChuckRice1109 Soil Science Society of America Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The agriculture counselor to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson says new revenue streams for producers are among the various climate change legislation directions taking shape, although legislation is not likely to pass this year. Larry Elworth told Brownfield at the NAFB Convention last week that the impact of climate change on agriculture due to shifts in related weather conditions and the issue of energy independence are important considerations. And Elworth says that whether other countries address climate change should not be a factor in whether the United States does. “Those are things that in the United States we can continue to take leadership on, irrespective of what the rest of the world has done. The United States has taken leadership on economic development and on fighting terrorism – and all of those. Our responsibility and our opportunities to take action – and bring the rest of the world along with us in that situation – because of our leadership has been a key to our policies,” Elworth says. In less than a month international negotiators will be at the table in Copenhagen for UN-sponsored talks with a goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The Obama administration wanted climate change legislation passed in the U.S. before then. This week, Senate leadership announced that debate on climate change legislation this year is being crowded out by health care, financial regulation reform and other measures and likely won’t be taken up next year. The American Farm Bureau Federation and other ag groups applaud the decision. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) AUDIO: Larry Elworth, agriculture counselor to EPA Administrator, at Trade Talk during 2009 NAFB Convention (11 min., MP3)

The U.S. Grains Council says the European Union is finally opening the door to biotech traits and that s a good ting for U.S. producers. The USGC s Ken Hobbie says they hope approval of feed byproducts including DDGS will soon follow. AUDIO: Ken Hobbie, President and CEO of USGC (3:00 min., MP3)

After nearly 20 years, an international team of scientists has completed the first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig—a development they say will spur advancements in swine production and human medicine. The Pork Checkoff donated 750-thousand dollars toward the 24-million dollar genome project – the completion of which was announced in the U.K. on Monday. Paul Sundberg is vice president of science and technology for the National Pork Board, “This opens up the whole book on trying to understand how the pig works and how we can best utilize our tools in order to provide good, quality product for the consumer.” Sundberg says the mapping will also contribute to better understanding of human health issues since there are similarities between swine and human physiology, “We’ll know now the differences between liver cells in a pig and a liver cell in a person and how do they respond and how do they act?” Scientists – led by Lawrence Schook with the University of Illinois say the draft sequence will allow researchers the chance to pinpoint genes involved in immunity and other processes in the pig – while enhancing breeding practices and offering insight into diseases that afflict pigs. Sundberg says this is really the beginning, “It may be a period of time before we actually see this in the market but I tell you this is something that is going to help producers in the long run.” The swine genome research (on a Duroc pig from a University of Illinois farm) is funded with grants from the USDA and various supporters in Asia, Europe and the U.S. including not only the National Pork Board, and the University of Illinois, but the Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa State University, North Carolina Pork Council. The largest contributor is Britain’s Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute where most of the research was conducted. Brownfield s Ken Anderson contributed to this report AUDIO: Paul Sundberg, Vice President of Science and Technology, National Pork Board (6 min., MP3) National Pork Board University of Illinois Research First Draft of the Pig

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack hopes that relationship building may help resolve issues that currently hinder agricultural trade with China. Secretary Vilsack and other high level Obama administration officials are in Asia discussing trade issues. In a telephone interview with Brownfield Tuesday, Vilsack said the delegation is trying to impress on the Chinese that the U.S. is taking action to eliminate concerns China has over U.S. Congressional action that limited poultry sales from China. “We now expect them to reciprocate and our hope is that we can see some progress on one or more of these issues that have been separating us for some time,” said Vilsack from Beijing. AUDIO: U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack (7 min. MP3) Despite issues involving Chinese currency, Vilsack tells Brownfield the focus of his visit is less on monetary issues than it is on increasing agricultural trade with China. “Currencies obviously make exports either more favorable or less favorable in terms of competitive pricing, but right now my focus is trying to get a relationship built so we can remove these very specific barriers that exist today,” said Vilsack, referring to China’s ban on imports of U.S. pork because of the H1N1 flu and continuing beef trade restrictions stemming from the discovery of BSE in the U.S. The United States enjoys an agriculture trade surplus with China despite the overall trade deficit with China, says Vilsack. Secretary Vilsack arrived in China after a stop in the Philippines where discussions also centered on bolstering agriculture trade.

On World Food Day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters the Obama administration is committed to a comprehensive approach in helping solve the increasing problem of global hunger. Clinton says the U.S. is pleased to be part of a three-year, $22 Billion commitment with other countries to spur agriculture economic growth. She says the U.S. has already begun, “We’re going to make nutrition a key component. We’re investing more in research to fortify staple crops with vitamins and nutrients. We’re improving the effectiveness of our humanitarian food assistance. And, we’re working hard to develop better mechanisms to hold ourselves accountable as we go forward.” For the first time, Clinton says more than 1 Billion people are chronically hungry, “And I think nations of the world have begun to agree that the past practice of solely relying on food aid is not enough to solve this problem.” Clinton says at the G8 Summit, the US committed to working with partner countries in “investing in tools that are needed to leverage the skills of farmers, the majority of whom are women.” Clinton says modern agriculture is a key to this approach, “We believe that biotechnology has a critical role to play in increasing agricultural productivity, particularly in light of climate change. We also believe it can help improve the nutritional value of staple foods.” Vilsack says biotechnology is one strategy for more sustainable agriculture but not the only strategy, “There will be circumstances where biotechnology is the answer. It may very well be developed here in the United States. Or, it may be that it isn’t biotechnology that’s the solution – it’s the more traditional, sustainable practices that will make the difference and those two need to be promoted. So, it’s a combination.” Secretary Clinton says food security is crucial to national and global security. AUDIO: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton & US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, (20 min., MP3)