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GIPSA
Rule Creates Law of Unintended Consequences
The USDA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
Administration (GIPSA) proposed rule aimed at “leveling the playing
field,” which was published on June 22, is a potential can of worms
for pork producers, growers and packers. That is not to say that some
among these groups will not benefit from the rules should they become
final. But the rules appear aimed at other species and, by and large,
are solutions looking for problems in the pork industry.
In a nutshell, these rules will remove flexibility and add to the cost
of doing business with production contracts and/or marketing contracts.
But I am confident that the result will not be a rush back into
negotiated trades and small farms.
On the contrary, the primary impact will be to drive vertical
integration by growers backwards into owning production facilities and
backwards by packers into owning a higher proportion of their
production. And if that happens, my bet is that the next set of
regulations will be aimed at reversing vertical integration.
The law of unintended consequences will reign supreme.
The genesis of this rule is two-fold. First, the 2008 Farm Bill
required GIPSA to promulgate rules that establish criteria that the
secretary of agriculture would consider to determine:
• Whether an undue or unreasonable preference has occurred
under Section 202 of the Packers and Stockyards Act;
• Whether live poultry dealers have provided reasonable notice to
growers of any suspension of the delivery of birds under a growing
contract;
• When a requirement of additional capital investments over the
life of a swine or poultry production contract constitutes a violation
of the Act;
FULL ARTICLE
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Performance by Weaning Age Continued
Building on the impact of weaning age on other, select
performance parameters discussed last week, let’s take a look at
weaning age effects on wean-to-first service interval, farrowing rate,
farrow-to-farrow interval and female death loss.
Since we get data from over 20 different sow recordkeeping programs,
there is some question about how various programs handle and record
nurse sows, partial weans and crossfostering. Each farm needs to review
how their sow record program calculates weaning age of pigs at their
farm.
The information in Table 1 shows data from 686 farms with 1,211,000
females that are producing at 20+ pigs weaned/mated female/year
(PW/MF/Y). The accompanying data (Charts 1-15) are sorted by weaning
ages: less than 18 days of age (70 farms), 18 days of age (126 farms),
19 days of age (172 farms), 20 days of age (163 farms), 21 days of age
(72 farms), 22-23 days of age (57 farms) and 24+ days of age (26 farms).
We have summarized four areas that are then broken down as follows:
Average Top 10%, Top 25%, Top 50%, All, Bottom 50% and Bottom 50% based
on PW/MF/Y.
Chart 1 shows wean-to-first service interval decreasing as
weaning age increases, but it is not a linear progression. The average
of all farms ranged from 7.48 days for the farms weaning under 18 days
of age to 6.60 for farms weaning over 24 days of age – a 12%
improvement.
FULL ARTICLE
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Producers, Industry Want Extension on GIPSA Rule
Comments
Producer and industry groups have requested an extension
of the comment period regarding the proposed USDA Grain Inspection,
Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) livestock procurement
rule. The groups indicated that the proposed rule would result in
significant changes in how livestock are marketed and procured by meat
packers. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), in its request for
an additional 120 days for comment said, “The proposed rule goes well
beyond the parameters set out in the (2008) farm bill, specifically with
regard to sections on unfairness, purchasing practices, contracts,
competitive injury and recordkeeping. Our initial reading of the
proposed rule is that it is overly broad and very vague. We need more
than 60 days to determine all of the ramifications this regulation could
have on America’s 67,000 pork producers.” The American Meat
Institute (AMI) indicated in its request for additional time, “The
agency has taken almost two years to develop and publish this proposed
rule, which would have a highly restrictive impact on how livestock is
procured in the United States. Because of the breadth of the proposal
and the impact it almost certainly would have on how packers and
producers interact, the proposed rules warrant careful scrutiny,
analysis and the submission of comprehensive comments.” Others who
asked for an extension of the comment period included National
Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Chicken Council, National Meat
Association and the National Turkey Federation.
Agriculture Appropriations for 2011 — The House Agriculture
Appropriations Subcommittee has marked-up the fiscal year 2011
agriculture appropriations bill. The bill includes $23 billion in
discretionary funds, which is $27 million below the administration’s
request. Key areas highlighted by the subcommittee include:
FULL ARTICLE
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Coalition
Calls for Fast Action On Free Trade Agreements
An ad hoc coalition of agricultural and food groups have
sent a letter to Congress urging congressional members to work with the
Obama administration to eliminate any barriers to a “rapid
implementation” of the free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and
South Korea.
President Obama at the recent G20 Summit in Toronto announced a November
deadline for dealing with remaining obstacles to the implementation of
the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to gain congressional passage
of the pact in 2011.
The agreement with Korea and the FTAs with Columbia and Panama were
finalized more than three years ago, and approved in those countries,
but still await action by Congress.
FULL ARTICLE
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July 18-21, 2010: 21st International Pig
Veterinary Society Congress, Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre,
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;
For more information
contact: (604) 688-9655 ext. 2 or ipvs2010@advance-group.com
or go to http://www.ipvs2010.com/.
August 31, 2010: 20th Annual Carthage Veterinary
Service, Ltd. Swine Conference, Western Illinois University
Macomb,
IL
For more information contact: (217) 357-2811 or go to www.hogvet.com.
August 31-Sep. 2, 2010: Feet First Sow Lameness
Symposium, Hilton Minneapolis
Minneapolis, MN
For more information contact: (612)-376-1000 or go
to www.zinpro.com/feetfirst.
FULL ARTICLE
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MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS
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NPPC and the National Pork Board have launched a program, We
Care, to promote pork producers' commitment to responsible pork
production. From animal care and the environment to food safety and
quality, pork producers demonstrate best practices daily.
For more on continuing the tradition of doing what’s right, Click here
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