In the news this week, collapse of recent WTO negotiations adds a sense of urgency to farm bill debates and a renewed effort from farm organizations to extend the current farm law for at least one year. Farm groups are getting behind the urgent push for an extended farm bill. Meanwhile, leaders of major U.S. farm organizations were disappointed but seemingly resigned to the collapse of the five-year-old Doha Round negotiations at the WTO's headquarters in Geneva in July. In press statements issued after WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy announced the suspension of the talks, farm groups said they could not have supported an agreement that promised no more than what appeared to be on the table when Lamy declared the negotiations at an impasse. In other news, for the first time this season, Louisiana State University AgCenter specialists have found Asian soybean rust in soybeans. The disease was discovered in a sentinel plot on the Dean Lee Research Station south of Alexandria, Louisiana. Elsewhere, people touting the value of land will often say, "They're not making any more of it." Because "they" really aren't making more land, a University of Georgia economist wants to place values on rural lands that he says are in a tug-of-war between rural and urban interests. Also this week, In one of the most inhospitable climates on Earth, one of mankind's most important treasures will be stored -- seed samples from every known crop variety. In an Arctic mountain on an island near the North Pole, the cornerstone was recently laid for the "doomsday seed vault," a Noah's ark of genetic material for the crops that have been the foundation of man's progress.

Doha Talks Suspended -- Pascal Lamy, WTO Director General, suspended the Doha WTO negotiations after there was failure to reach agreement on the issues of domestic support and market access for agriculture. Lamy in announcing the suspension of the talks said, "If the political will really exists, there must be a way. But it is not here today. And let me be clear: There are no winners and losers in this assembly. Today there are only losers." The negotiations were suspended after the G-6 countries which are the United States, European Union (EU), Brazil, Australia, Japan, and India could not make progress on market access and reductions in domestic support. Lamy said he would not resume the negotiations until "the conditions exist to permit renewed progress and this means changes in entrenched positions." Now the finger pointing has started between the U.S., EU, and others on who is at fault for the failure of the negotiations. In reaction to the EU's statement that the United States had failed to "show flexibility" in the Doha agriculture negotiations, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said, "Unable to endorse the US proposal given substantial opposition from France and a few other member states with strong farm interests, the EU attempted, alternately, to criticize the U.S. proposal as too ambitious or too weak. Most recently, the EU attacked the United States for failing to propose even more dramatic cuts to domestic support while at the same time insisting on the right to lavish more than twice as much trade distorting subsidies on its farmers."

AG Reaction to Failed Doha Talks -- Reaction from U.S. agriculture and Congressional leaders were one of disappointment but supportive of the Administration backing away from a bad deal. Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), House Agriculture Committee chairman said, "The U.S. was asked to come up with a bold proposal to significantly reduce domestic supports and our proposal did just that. Yet, our trading partners refused to even meet us part way. As disappointing as the result may be, from the standpoint of America's farmers and ranchers, no deal is better than a bad deal." Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee said, "The United States made a generous proposal for other countries last fall, particularly the European Union, to reduce their trade barriers as we scale back our trade-distorting farm payments. The ball has been in the EU's court to make a reasonable offer, yet they haven't done so, leading to a suspension of the negotiations in the Doha Round." The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) in a statement said, "We are pleased the United States did not succumb to pressure from India, the European Union and other trading partners who want a Doha 'lite' deal." The American Soybean Association (ASA) said, "ASA is disappointed that WTO negotiators were unable to agree to meaningful trade reforms that would level the global playing field for U.S. agriculture exports. But we've said all along that ASA would not support a WTO agreement that failed to provide significant market access improvement for U.S. soybean and livestock products. As such, we're pleased that the Administration didn't budge on its commitment to produce a robust and balanced agreement." The American Farm Bureau Federation in a statement said, "It is truly unfortunate that other nations of the world failed to seize this Doha Round opportunity for freer trade created by the bold agricultural proposal offered by the U.S. negotiators." The National Farmers Union said, "From the U.S. agriculture producer perspective, there was great fear that the trade round would severely tie the hands of the U.S. government as it attempts to address the challenges facing rural America. We will continue to urge U.S. and global policymakers to only pursue trade agreements that create a fair and level playing field for producers at home and abroad."

CO Meat Packaging -- Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) announced that she will be introducing legislation that will stop the use of carbon monoxide (CO) packaging of meat. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration allows the use of CO for meat packaging. Recently, Texas Tech University and the University of Georgia did an analysis that showed that CO packaging can prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Dr. Melvin Hunt of Kansas State University said the "effort to discredit the science that went into it -- and efforts to discredit the federal agency that reviewed it three times -- is scientifically inaccurate and unfortunate."

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