On Tuesday, Secretary Vilsack released the final results of a March 6, 2009 request from Governor Perry to designate all 254 Texas counties as primary disaster counties on account of the record-setting drought that has plagued the Lone Star State.
After more than seven months of collecting moisture data and crop losses, USDA announced that 223 Texas counties are eligible for assistance from the Farm Service Agency. That means producers in these counties may now apply for emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Insurance (SURE) Program created in the 2008 Farm Bill.
Emergency loans can be used for costs associated with operating expenses or replacement of damaged property. The SURE Program provides disaster payments to producers in disaster-designated counties with crops covered by crop insurance or the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage. If you are a producer in one of these counties, I encourage you to contact your local FSA office to take advantage of these vital programs.
To see a list of the designated counties, click here.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Taiwan expands access to U.S. beef imports
More good news for Texas ranchers as USDA and the offices of the U.S. Trade Representative announced yesterday that Taiwan has expanded the type of beef cuts it will now import from the United States. I’ve always said our trade policies must be science-based and this is a step in the right direction, especially coming off the heels of Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s effort last week to try to convince the Taiwanese government to reconsider its decision to expand access to U.S. beef imports.
Contrary to what Mayor Lung-bin and a consumer group in Taiwan think, the U.S. does not want to dump its trash in Taiwan. The beef products we will offer Taiwan are the same ones that are offered and demanded by U.S. consumers.
The Taiwanese government deserves a sincere “thank you” for recognizing that trade decisions should be based not only on science, but also on demand. The promising demand in Taiwan will result in increased prices for U.S. cattle producers who, along with other agriculture producers, have been suffering extensively this past year.
To read USDA’s press release on this announcement, click here.
Contrary to what Mayor Lung-bin and a consumer group in Taiwan think, the U.S. does not want to dump its trash in Taiwan. The beef products we will offer Taiwan are the same ones that are offered and demanded by U.S. consumers.
The Taiwanese government deserves a sincere “thank you” for recognizing that trade decisions should be based not only on science, but also on demand. The promising demand in Taiwan will result in increased prices for U.S. cattle producers who, along with other agriculture producers, have been suffering extensively this past year.
To read USDA’s press release on this announcement, click here.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Nation Catching on that Texas is the Best Retirement Location
The rest of the nation is learning that Texas is the best retirement location. Our favorable tax structure, exceptionable health care facilities, low housing costs and overall low cost of living, as well as wonderful weather create, the perfect setting to enjoy active retirement and golden years. The Chicago Tribune and other publications across the country recently printed an article how Texas is the "new Florida" when it comes to retiring. After reading the article check out www.RetireinTexas.org for information on GO TEXAN Certified Retirement Communities.
Texas, the new Florida, lures seniors with sun, low cost living
Don Lee, October 30, 2009
Washington Bureau for Tribune Interactive, Copyright © 2009
After trying out Atlanta, Miami and Pasadena, Calif., Lilian Junco decided this was the place to retire. Being near her son was the first attraction, but soon she was drawn in by the same combination of features that has lured tens of thousands of others from out of state -- Gulf Coast living, plus super-low costs.
With some of the country's cheapest prices for housing, gas and food, no state income tax and one of the most resilient economies in the nation, Galveston and other parts of the Lone Star state are emerging as the new Florida.
This week, when Florida demographers announce new population figures, they are expected to reveal a decline of 57,000 over the 12 months ended in April -- the first annual drop since the 1940s. Much of the loss has come in parts of southern Florida that long attracted retirees.
Meantime, other Sun Belt states such as Nevada and Arizona have been hit hard by the recession, and expensive California has long seen more residents leave than move in from other states.
But Texas, which has weathered the current recession better than most parts of the country, is almost booming--in part because an earlier oil industry crash had left the state's banks too shaken to go on the home mortgage binge that crippled so many other states when the market collapsed. Texas's population, the nation's second largest at about 25 million, is expected to be boosted this year by net inflows of at least 150,000 people from other states, says Karl Eschbach, the state demographer. Seniors are a growing part of that trend, pushed by aggressive campaigns from state officials and developers.
"It's an easy sell," claims Texas Agricultural Commissioner Todd Staples, who's trying to recruit out-of-state seniors by establishing dozens of high-quality "certified" retirement communities. "All we need to do is get retirees to have a good look at Texas."
They'll see big drawbacks along with the advantages. Poverty, highway gridlock, crime and humidity can be stifling in some parts. And places along the Gulf Coast are notoriously susceptible to ferocious weather, such as Hurricane Ike that slammed the Galveston area last year. Ike flooded downtown and sent waves crashing over a 17-foot-tall seawall built after the devastating Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which is still considered the worst natural disaster in American history.
None of that fazed Junco. Having grown up in Cuba, she didn't fear tropical storms. Florida isn't any better, she says, nor is California with its earthquakes. She remembers the panic when her Pasadena condo rattled a few years ago. "The whole bed was shaking," she says.
Moving to Galveston two years ago, Junco paid $130,000 for a one-bedroom condo with a view of the Gulf. A cap on property taxes for seniors keeps her payments low, leaving a little more money for the 70-year-old widow to travel and frequent the restaurants and shops in this touristy island.
For most of her adult life, Junco lived in Long Island and worked as a computer technician in Manhattan. She says retiring to Hawaii was too expensive. Her second choice was here. "Life is more quiet, it's more simple," she says, sipping a chocolate martini with friends at a café on a balmy Thursday evening.
For health care, she goes to the University of Texas Medical Branch here, or drives an hour west to Houston, which has world-class medical facilities. The downside is that it's not easy for seniors to get from place to place if they don't drive: big Texas cities have poor public transportation, says demographer Eschbach. "It's really hard to get around," he says, "and we have relatively little social services."
Undeterred, retirees head for places like the Rio Grande Valley, in the southernmost tip of the state abutting Mexico. Seniors from the Midwest and other northern states have long flocked here for the winter. Locals call them winter Texans.
Doug and Cheryl Lundy used to keep two homes -- their primary one in Avis, Pa., and the other in a mobile home park outside Brownsville, Texas. They were typical snowbirds, arriving in January. Come April, they'd head up to the Jersey Shore in April. But starting this year the couple decided to stay put.
Cheryl Lundy loves the hot weather -- and the living costs. She says butter costs her $1.77 a pound now, not $2.29 in her old market in Pennsylvania. "It's not just the butter," she says. "It's everything in the store."
Government reports confirm food prices are cheaper in America's breadbasket states. And for seniors on social security and other retirement income, their checks don't change from place to place.
Annual cost of living adjustments are the same nationwide, so their income may actually go farther where prices are lower.
Then there's the Mexico price. Every couple of months, retirees Thomas and Shirley Jones, transplants from Indiana, cross the bridge nearby McClellan into Nuevo Progresso, where he buys medicine for his emphysema at half price. Last year Shirley Jones got a full plate of upper dentures for $325, a fraction of what it costs in the states.
The Joneses used to be Floridians, but "Florida got so high on everything," she says. "We couldn't afford it."
Stanley Smith, the University of Florida demographer who produces official population reports for the state, says the latest recession will make Florida's cost of living more competitive. Home prices have fallen by as much as 60% in parts of the state. What's not yet clear is how Texas will fare with Baby Boomers, whose retirement path remains undefined, experts say.
The oldest of that generation is 63 this year. The recession and loss of wealth may hold back their migration, and many Boomers may look to settle in places where they can find part-time work.
That could be a big plus for Texas. It's expected to outstrip the nation in job growth in the next few years. Already four of the nation's top 10 fastest aging metro areas over the last decade have been in Texas, says the Brookings Institution.
"I think Texas has been attracting many seniors in large numbers and has many amenities along with low living costs which lure them," says William Frey, a Brookings demographer.
California is a primary target for Lone Star boosters. Last year more than 82,000 people from California moved to Texas, while some 32,000 from Texas went to the Golden State, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service.
Charles and Joan Baker will be adding to that trend this year. Even before selling their Rancho Santa Fe townhome, now on the market for $829,000, the California couple closed on a ranch-style house in the Sun City retirement community north of Austin.
Joan Baker, who is in her 60s, wouldn't say how much they paid for the new place, which is slightly larger than their property in San Diego County. But a Sun City spokesperson says the average home in the community of rolling hills is currently running about $218,000.
"I'm not saying it's easy to leave," says Joan Baker, a retired schoolteacher. "The whole San Diego area is lovely. To go north and south, east or west, and be able to see the water, it's pretty unique.
"But other things are beginning to outweigh it," she says, complaining about overcrowding and the state's budget mess. She says her husband is semi-retired and will continue his consulting work -- in Texas.
"It's just real convenient living," she says. "The terrain's a little higher so you get a breeze. There are lots of oak trees. You've got three golf courses that are drop-dead gorgeous…And in Texas, you don't have income tax."
Texas, the new Florida, lures seniors with sun, low cost living
Don Lee, October 30, 2009
Washington Bureau for Tribune Interactive, Copyright © 2009
After trying out Atlanta, Miami and Pasadena, Calif., Lilian Junco decided this was the place to retire. Being near her son was the first attraction, but soon she was drawn in by the same combination of features that has lured tens of thousands of others from out of state -- Gulf Coast living, plus super-low costs.
With some of the country's cheapest prices for housing, gas and food, no state income tax and one of the most resilient economies in the nation, Galveston and other parts of the Lone Star state are emerging as the new Florida.
This week, when Florida demographers announce new population figures, they are expected to reveal a decline of 57,000 over the 12 months ended in April -- the first annual drop since the 1940s. Much of the loss has come in parts of southern Florida that long attracted retirees.
Meantime, other Sun Belt states such as Nevada and Arizona have been hit hard by the recession, and expensive California has long seen more residents leave than move in from other states.
But Texas, which has weathered the current recession better than most parts of the country, is almost booming--in part because an earlier oil industry crash had left the state's banks too shaken to go on the home mortgage binge that crippled so many other states when the market collapsed. Texas's population, the nation's second largest at about 25 million, is expected to be boosted this year by net inflows of at least 150,000 people from other states, says Karl Eschbach, the state demographer. Seniors are a growing part of that trend, pushed by aggressive campaigns from state officials and developers.
"It's an easy sell," claims Texas Agricultural Commissioner Todd Staples, who's trying to recruit out-of-state seniors by establishing dozens of high-quality "certified" retirement communities. "All we need to do is get retirees to have a good look at Texas."
They'll see big drawbacks along with the advantages. Poverty, highway gridlock, crime and humidity can be stifling in some parts. And places along the Gulf Coast are notoriously susceptible to ferocious weather, such as Hurricane Ike that slammed the Galveston area last year. Ike flooded downtown and sent waves crashing over a 17-foot-tall seawall built after the devastating Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which is still considered the worst natural disaster in American history.
None of that fazed Junco. Having grown up in Cuba, she didn't fear tropical storms. Florida isn't any better, she says, nor is California with its earthquakes. She remembers the panic when her Pasadena condo rattled a few years ago. "The whole bed was shaking," she says.
Moving to Galveston two years ago, Junco paid $130,000 for a one-bedroom condo with a view of the Gulf. A cap on property taxes for seniors keeps her payments low, leaving a little more money for the 70-year-old widow to travel and frequent the restaurants and shops in this touristy island.
For most of her adult life, Junco lived in Long Island and worked as a computer technician in Manhattan. She says retiring to Hawaii was too expensive. Her second choice was here. "Life is more quiet, it's more simple," she says, sipping a chocolate martini with friends at a café on a balmy Thursday evening.
For health care, she goes to the University of Texas Medical Branch here, or drives an hour west to Houston, which has world-class medical facilities. The downside is that it's not easy for seniors to get from place to place if they don't drive: big Texas cities have poor public transportation, says demographer Eschbach. "It's really hard to get around," he says, "and we have relatively little social services."
Undeterred, retirees head for places like the Rio Grande Valley, in the southernmost tip of the state abutting Mexico. Seniors from the Midwest and other northern states have long flocked here for the winter. Locals call them winter Texans.
Doug and Cheryl Lundy used to keep two homes -- their primary one in Avis, Pa., and the other in a mobile home park outside Brownsville, Texas. They were typical snowbirds, arriving in January. Come April, they'd head up to the Jersey Shore in April. But starting this year the couple decided to stay put.
Cheryl Lundy loves the hot weather -- and the living costs. She says butter costs her $1.77 a pound now, not $2.29 in her old market in Pennsylvania. "It's not just the butter," she says. "It's everything in the store."
Government reports confirm food prices are cheaper in America's breadbasket states. And for seniors on social security and other retirement income, their checks don't change from place to place.
Annual cost of living adjustments are the same nationwide, so their income may actually go farther where prices are lower.
Then there's the Mexico price. Every couple of months, retirees Thomas and Shirley Jones, transplants from Indiana, cross the bridge nearby McClellan into Nuevo Progresso, where he buys medicine for his emphysema at half price. Last year Shirley Jones got a full plate of upper dentures for $325, a fraction of what it costs in the states.
The Joneses used to be Floridians, but "Florida got so high on everything," she says. "We couldn't afford it."
Stanley Smith, the University of Florida demographer who produces official population reports for the state, says the latest recession will make Florida's cost of living more competitive. Home prices have fallen by as much as 60% in parts of the state. What's not yet clear is how Texas will fare with Baby Boomers, whose retirement path remains undefined, experts say.
The oldest of that generation is 63 this year. The recession and loss of wealth may hold back their migration, and many Boomers may look to settle in places where they can find part-time work.
That could be a big plus for Texas. It's expected to outstrip the nation in job growth in the next few years. Already four of the nation's top 10 fastest aging metro areas over the last decade have been in Texas, says the Brookings Institution.
"I think Texas has been attracting many seniors in large numbers and has many amenities along with low living costs which lure them," says William Frey, a Brookings demographer.
California is a primary target for Lone Star boosters. Last year more than 82,000 people from California moved to Texas, while some 32,000 from Texas went to the Golden State, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service.
Charles and Joan Baker will be adding to that trend this year. Even before selling their Rancho Santa Fe townhome, now on the market for $829,000, the California couple closed on a ranch-style house in the Sun City retirement community north of Austin.
Joan Baker, who is in her 60s, wouldn't say how much they paid for the new place, which is slightly larger than their property in San Diego County. But a Sun City spokesperson says the average home in the community of rolling hills is currently running about $218,000.
"I'm not saying it's easy to leave," says Joan Baker, a retired schoolteacher. "The whole San Diego area is lovely. To go north and south, east or west, and be able to see the water, it's pretty unique.
"But other things are beginning to outweigh it," she says, complaining about overcrowding and the state's budget mess. She says her husband is semi-retired and will continue his consulting work -- in Texas.
"It's just real convenient living," she says. "The terrain's a little higher so you get a breeze. There are lots of oak trees. You've got three golf courses that are drop-dead gorgeous…And in Texas, you don't have income tax."
Friday, October 30, 2009
For now, EPA won’t tax livestock gases
I don't always agree with the legislation that comes out of Washington, D.C. – especially the environmental policies Congress has come up with lately – but every now and then the federal government surprises me.
On Thursday, both Houses of Congress passed the FY2010 Interior Appropriations bill. This legislation funds the Department of Interior, EPA and many other agencies overseeing the environment and public lands. Included in the bill is language that prohibits EPA from requiring livestock producers to obtain Clean Air Act permits to cover livestock emissions during the 2010 fiscal year.
Still, there is fear in many agriculture circles that EPA could later choose to regulate the natural emissions of livestock as it has with greenhouse gases from industrial sources. This regulation would likely force many producers out of business and, in turn, increase costs for consumers, and likely move more food production out of our country. This is why more needs to be done.
There is legislation pending in Congress that would make this prohibition permanent. S. 527, written by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Charles Schumer (D-NY), would statutorily prohibit the EPA from requiring Clean Air Act permits for livestock emissions. It is imperative that Congress move to pass this legislation quickly so America’s livestock producers do not have to worry about possibly adding another cost to the mounting input costs they already cover in order to provide us with the most affordable, most abundant and safest food supply in the world.
On Thursday, both Houses of Congress passed the FY2010 Interior Appropriations bill. This legislation funds the Department of Interior, EPA and many other agencies overseeing the environment and public lands. Included in the bill is language that prohibits EPA from requiring livestock producers to obtain Clean Air Act permits to cover livestock emissions during the 2010 fiscal year.
Still, there is fear in many agriculture circles that EPA could later choose to regulate the natural emissions of livestock as it has with greenhouse gases from industrial sources. This regulation would likely force many producers out of business and, in turn, increase costs for consumers, and likely move more food production out of our country. This is why more needs to be done.
There is legislation pending in Congress that would make this prohibition permanent. S. 527, written by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Charles Schumer (D-NY), would statutorily prohibit the EPA from requiring Clean Air Act permits for livestock emissions. It is imperative that Congress move to pass this legislation quickly so America’s livestock producers do not have to worry about possibly adding another cost to the mounting input costs they already cover in order to provide us with the most affordable, most abundant and safest food supply in the world.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Volunteers Show Farmer True Texan Spirit
Texas has deep roots - not only because of it's long history of family land heritage, but because of the kindness Texans have always shown to their neighbors. This story below truly exhibits the unbreakable spirit that lives within each Texan. It's great to see this spirit alive and well today.
Volunteers swarm to help farmer
By Matthew Mcgowan
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal , October 29, 2009
The timing couldn't have been worse.
With only a month to go before this year's harvest, Wilson cotton farmer Curtis Gicklhorn finally underwent surgery in September to remove a sore on his left foot that had been ailing him for years.
The procedure left Gicklhorn with several large rods running into and through his foot and shin. Doctors told him to stay off his feet until after the harvest in early November.
Gicklhorn began to panic. But word of the farmer's hard times spread to 54 friends and neighbors who descended this week on his farm 20 miles south of Lubbock, just in the nick of time.
"I nearly went to tears," he said Wednesday afternoon as he watched the volunteers in harvest equipment finish their third and final day.
"I was really impressed," Gicklhorn said. "Everybody just got together to come help. It looked like the cavalry was coming."
The 54 volunteers - "a good Christian group," Gicklhorn said - ranged in age from 19 to 80 years and came from all across the county.
Some supplied equipment. Others donated their time.
The community strip, as it is called, is not altogether uncommon in farming communities when one of their own falls ill or otherwise cannot complete a year's harvest, he said, but he has not heard of one involving so many volunteers.
"I cried like a baby," Gicklhorn's mother Pearl Gicklhorn said with tears in her eyes. "It's the way it always has been and it's the way it always will be."
Curtis Wilke, another Wilson resident, recalled a similar situation about 21 years ago when he was in Gicklhorn's position after a triple bypass heart surgery.
He said 33 people showed up on his doorstep and helped him through that year's harvest.
Participating in Gicklhorn's community strip, Wilke said, was just his way of paying it forward.
"It's just a good neighbor community," he said. "We help when we can."
The unusually large number of helpers this year compressed two weeks of harvesting into only three days, Curtis Gicklhorn said.
A local gin operator even pitched in and offered to process Gicklhorn's crops first.
"He just had bad luck, and it's a community deal," said Buzz Cooper of Texas Star Co-op Gin. "We just wanted to get his done and get his money in his pocket first. It's a good community and we're happy to be a part of it."
Volunteers swarm to help farmer
By Matthew Mcgowan
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal , October 29, 2009
The timing couldn't have been worse.
With only a month to go before this year's harvest, Wilson cotton farmer Curtis Gicklhorn finally underwent surgery in September to remove a sore on his left foot that had been ailing him for years.
The procedure left Gicklhorn with several large rods running into and through his foot and shin. Doctors told him to stay off his feet until after the harvest in early November.
Gicklhorn began to panic. But word of the farmer's hard times spread to 54 friends and neighbors who descended this week on his farm 20 miles south of Lubbock, just in the nick of time.
"I nearly went to tears," he said Wednesday afternoon as he watched the volunteers in harvest equipment finish their third and final day.
"I was really impressed," Gicklhorn said. "Everybody just got together to come help. It looked like the cavalry was coming."
The 54 volunteers - "a good Christian group," Gicklhorn said - ranged in age from 19 to 80 years and came from all across the county.
Some supplied equipment. Others donated their time.
The community strip, as it is called, is not altogether uncommon in farming communities when one of their own falls ill or otherwise cannot complete a year's harvest, he said, but he has not heard of one involving so many volunteers.
"I cried like a baby," Gicklhorn's mother Pearl Gicklhorn said with tears in her eyes. "It's the way it always has been and it's the way it always will be."
Curtis Wilke, another Wilson resident, recalled a similar situation about 21 years ago when he was in Gicklhorn's position after a triple bypass heart surgery.
He said 33 people showed up on his doorstep and helped him through that year's harvest.
Participating in Gicklhorn's community strip, Wilke said, was just his way of paying it forward.
"It's just a good neighbor community," he said. "We help when we can."
The unusually large number of helpers this year compressed two weeks of harvesting into only three days, Curtis Gicklhorn said.
A local gin operator even pitched in and offered to process Gicklhorn's crops first.
"He just had bad luck, and it's a community deal," said Buzz Cooper of Texas Star Co-op Gin. "We just wanted to get his done and get his money in his pocket first. It's a good community and we're happy to be a part of it."
Monday, October 26, 2009
Feral Hogs Continue to Ransack Texas Agricultural Land
I thought you would like the statement from Billy Higginbotham, a wildlife specialist at Texas A&M University, as quoted in The Atlantic Magazine:
"There are two types of landowners in Texas — those that have hogs, and those that are about to have hogs."
The Texas Department of Agriculture currently contracts with Wildlife Services at Texas A&M University for feral hog abatement efforts. I have conducted two meetings of statewide stakeholders over the last several months to brainstorm on a strategy for control efforts.
While the task is large and the resources are few to combat the wild hog problem in the Lone Star State, we are trying to find the most effective means to deploy the $1 million dollars appropriated by the legislature to address the ever-growing problem. There are no easy solutions. Control efforts will require direct involvement of all landowners and local governments if we are to make a dent in the problem.
Look for more updates from us on this issue. Meanwhile, you should know my own place has been ransacked by these depredating pigs over the last few weeks and it sends the blood pressure up a bit to see your pasture and range rooted up.
"There are two types of landowners in Texas — those that have hogs, and those that are about to have hogs."
The Texas Department of Agriculture currently contracts with Wildlife Services at Texas A&M University for feral hog abatement efforts. I have conducted two meetings of statewide stakeholders over the last several months to brainstorm on a strategy for control efforts.
While the task is large and the resources are few to combat the wild hog problem in the Lone Star State, we are trying to find the most effective means to deploy the $1 million dollars appropriated by the legislature to address the ever-growing problem. There are no easy solutions. Control efforts will require direct involvement of all landowners and local governments if we are to make a dent in the problem.
Look for more updates from us on this issue. Meanwhile, you should know my own place has been ransacked by these depredating pigs over the last few weeks and it sends the blood pressure up a bit to see your pasture and range rooted up.
Taiwan Reopens its borders to U.S. Beef
As the national leader in beef cattle production, Texas welcomes expanded markets for our top commodity.
When Taiwan recently announced it reopened its borders to U.S. beef, the news was good for Texas cattlemen and the state's economy. With cattle prices and margins at dangerously low levels and our feed lot system having suffered tremendous losses over the past year, we can sure use more good news like that found in the article below.
Taiwan Lifts Ban On U.S. Beef Import
10/23/2009, RTT News
Taiwan lifted a partial ban on importing beef from the United States.
At present, Taiwan only allows imports of U.S. boneless beef that contain no specified risk materials (SRMs) and from cattle younger than 30 months.
Under an agreement signed Thursday by both sides in Washington DC, U.S. bone-in beef, ground beef, intestines and processed beef that have not been contaminated with SRMs will be allowed to enter Taiwan with effect from November 10.
The south-East Asian island nation's health department has stipulated that all imported beef products will have to carry a label of approval from the U.S. Agriculture Department.
The Vice-Minister of Taiwan's Department of Health, Hsiao Mei-ling, told a news conference Friday that Taiwanese importers could apply to import U.S. bone-in beef and organs after Taipei and Washington have made a formal announcement of the protocol within the next 10 days.
Taiwan imposed restrictions on US beef imports in 2003 after the United States reported its first case of mad-cow disease
When Taiwan recently announced it reopened its borders to U.S. beef, the news was good for Texas cattlemen and the state's economy. With cattle prices and margins at dangerously low levels and our feed lot system having suffered tremendous losses over the past year, we can sure use more good news like that found in the article below.
Taiwan Lifts Ban On U.S. Beef Import
10/23/2009, RTT News
Taiwan lifted a partial ban on importing beef from the United States.
At present, Taiwan only allows imports of U.S. boneless beef that contain no specified risk materials (SRMs) and from cattle younger than 30 months.
Under an agreement signed Thursday by both sides in Washington DC, U.S. bone-in beef, ground beef, intestines and processed beef that have not been contaminated with SRMs will be allowed to enter Taiwan with effect from November 10.
The south-East Asian island nation's health department has stipulated that all imported beef products will have to carry a label of approval from the U.S. Agriculture Department.
The Vice-Minister of Taiwan's Department of Health, Hsiao Mei-ling, told a news conference Friday that Taiwanese importers could apply to import U.S. bone-in beef and organs after Taipei and Washington have made a formal announcement of the protocol within the next 10 days.
Taiwan imposed restrictions on US beef imports in 2003 after the United States reported its first case of mad-cow disease
Thursday, October 15, 2009
National School Lunch Week
This week, Oct. 12-16, is National School Lunch Week, and I hope all Texas students are participating by eating the delicious and nutritious meals conveniently served at their schools. Eating lunch at school is all part of the 3E’s of Healthy Living – Education, Exercise and Eating Right.
In honor of National School Lunch Week, I am releasing this sneak peek of a digitally animated video created to encourage Texas students to adopt the 3E’s of Healthy Living. The video is part of a larger campaign called “Texans Bring It!” designed to engage youth to make decisions that will help them live healthy lives free from obesity-related illnesses.
Watch the trailer here!
In honor of National School Lunch Week, I am releasing this sneak peek of a digitally animated video created to encourage Texas students to adopt the 3E’s of Healthy Living. The video is part of a larger campaign called “Texans Bring It!” designed to engage youth to make decisions that will help them live healthy lives free from obesity-related illnesses.
Watch the trailer here!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Palestine Food Pantry Dedication
Sundays are always good for me, particularly when I am in East Texas. Today is even more special.
Court Drive Church of Christ in Palestine dedicated a new food pantry today to meet the needs of those in their community and invited Janet and me to participate. The East Texas Food Bank in Tyler serves the Court Drive food pantry. Our food banks and pantries all across Texas are a key component to meeting the needs of those less fortunate in our society and I think their activity sends the right message about who we are as Texans.
Food pantries and their similar organizations rely heavily, if not entirely, on volunteers. Farmers and ranchers are noted to donate heavily to food banks with their excess and surplus items, as do many grocery stores and retailers. Food banks pre-stage food items and then deliver them in times of disaster, such as during hurricanes.
I am reminded of a scripture in James 1:27 that says “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress….”
With the dedication of this new food pantry and their on-going activities, Court Drive Church of Christ truly puts these words into action.
Court Drive Church of Christ in Palestine dedicated a new food pantry today to meet the needs of those in their community and invited Janet and me to participate. The East Texas Food Bank in Tyler serves the Court Drive food pantry. Our food banks and pantries all across Texas are a key component to meeting the needs of those less fortunate in our society and I think their activity sends the right message about who we are as Texans.
Food pantries and their similar organizations rely heavily, if not entirely, on volunteers. Farmers and ranchers are noted to donate heavily to food banks with their excess and surplus items, as do many grocery stores and retailers. Food banks pre-stage food items and then deliver them in times of disaster, such as during hurricanes.
I am reminded of a scripture in James 1:27 that says “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress….”
With the dedication of this new food pantry and their on-going activities, Court Drive Church of Christ truly puts these words into action.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Conversation of Strategies for Texas Success
On Tuesday, I attended a memorial service for Norman Borlaug – an American agronomist and humanitarian. Borlaug is one of only five individuals to date who has received the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
Shortly after the service, I visited with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who spoke at the memorial. It was a good opportunity to listen to his ideas for American agriculture and share with him some priorities for Texas.
I let him know we appreciate the responsiveness of the USDA state offices in Texas and that we seek to have similar relationships at the senior level in Washington, DC. The USDA state offices are staffed by a fine bunch of people who work hard to support our producers, but many decisions important to Texas are made in Washington.
I also conveyed to him the diversity of Texas agricultural production and how we differ from other states with respect to having multiple needs requiring a direct partnership with USDA. Disaster assistance, trade/exports, plant and animal health, and rural economic development were prioritized issues. Renewable fuels were also discussed and I stressed the need to find win-win strategies that are sustainable and market based.
Due to time constraints our meeting ended before we could finish discussing other topics, including nutrition and the need to encourage the 3 E’s of Healthy Living - Education, Exercise and Eating Right.
I look forward to picking up where we left off and continuing our conversation of strategies for Texas success.
Shortly after the service, I visited with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who spoke at the memorial. It was a good opportunity to listen to his ideas for American agriculture and share with him some priorities for Texas.
I let him know we appreciate the responsiveness of the USDA state offices in Texas and that we seek to have similar relationships at the senior level in Washington, DC. The USDA state offices are staffed by a fine bunch of people who work hard to support our producers, but many decisions important to Texas are made in Washington.
I also conveyed to him the diversity of Texas agricultural production and how we differ from other states with respect to having multiple needs requiring a direct partnership with USDA. Disaster assistance, trade/exports, plant and animal health, and rural economic development were prioritized issues. Renewable fuels were also discussed and I stressed the need to find win-win strategies that are sustainable and market based.
Due to time constraints our meeting ended before we could finish discussing other topics, including nutrition and the need to encourage the 3 E’s of Healthy Living - Education, Exercise and Eating Right.
I look forward to picking up where we left off and continuing our conversation of strategies for Texas success.
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