Talking about…Farm bill, Cloning, Cattle futures, Biofuels, Animal abuse, Fried chicken

“We continue to express our concerns to the U.S. Congress. Specifically, the government is concerned with the level of support provided to certain industries. We question some of the programs that tend to mask market signals and create incentives to overproduce.”
(Source: Country-Guide Canada, February 4, 2008)
Stephen Lavergne, director of U.S. trade advocacy for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, talking about the U.S. farm bill and the possibility that it might invite W.T.O. sanctions in its current form.
>PS: If we want to compete in the international marketplace, we might have to follow international rules and regs.

"I'm confident we can come together and get a good farm bill. But if Congress sends me legislation that raises taxes or (does) not make needed reforms, I'm going to veto it."
(Source: Reuters, February 6, 2008)
George W. Bush telling government employees in an appearance at the U.S. Agriculture Department that there is little room for compromise.
>PS: Bush was speaking at a ceremony marking the arrival of new Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer. Schafer, former governor of North Dakota, now has a tough row to hoe – getting the Mike Johanns abandoned farm bill passed.

“We'll find a better way of resolving it if we have the support of the new Secretary of Agriculture, that he's able to make the commitment that his predecessor didn't make and that is to see that the job gets done."
(Source: Brownfield Network, February 6, 2008)
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) suggesting that maybe Mike Johanns is guilty of an old political ploy called ‘duck and cover.’
PS: When asked to clarify, Nelson said "If the shoe fits, people have to wear it." Mr. Johanns, what’s your shoe size?

“Not a lot of ranchers are huge Star Trek fans. It’s an interesting, philosophical discussion.”
(Source: Flathead, MT. Beacon, February 6, 2008)
Jeremy Seidlitz, executive director of the Montana Cattlemen’s Association, talking about cloned cattle.
>PS: Computer, a cheeseburger, please.

"We have about 20 percent excess packing capacity. We are likely to continue to see some further closures of capacity in North America. I think you will see more (closures) this year."
(Source: Reuters, February 6, 2008)
Randy Blach, executive vice president of Cattle-Fax, talking with a reporter about the recent Tyson plant closure at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association annual convention in Reno, Nevada.
>PS: If you’re in the cattle business, all the rules are changing…all the time.

“While it is important to analyze the climate change consequences of differing energy strategies, we must all remember where we are today, how world demand for liquid fuels is growing, and what the realistic alternatives are to meet those growing demands. Biofuels like ethanol are the only tool readily available that can begin to address the challenges of energy security and environmental protection.”
(Source: New York Times, February 8, 2008)
Bob Dineen, Renewable Fuels Association director responding to two scientific studies that claim renewable fuels are an ecological disaster. “Simplistic,” he said and it failed “to put the issue into context.”
>PS: Joseph Fargione, lead author of the one of the studies and a scientist at the Nature Conservancy, summed up his findings by saying, “So for the next 93 years you’re making climate change worse, just at the time when we need to be bringing down carbon emissions.”

"The land we're likely to plow up is the land that we've had taking up carbon for decades. We can't get to a result, no matter how heroically we make assumptions on behalf of corn ethanol, where it will actually generate greenhouse-gas benefits."
(Source: Washington Post, February 8, 2008)
Tim Searchinger, who conducted the other study at Princeton said the research he and his colleagues did is the first to reveal the hidden environmental cost of producing biofuels.
>PS: Hey, Bobby, should we ignore the elephant in the room because we need the fertilizer it generates today?

"It is unfortunate that one instance can give the industry, not just the dairy industry, but give the cattle industry as a whole a black eye. It's just an action that we certainly condemn. We are very concerned about how our animals are treated while they are in our care and would like to see that carried on as they go through the production chain, including the harvest facility."(Source: Capital Press, February 8, 2008)
Bill Moore, president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, making a statement about the Hallmark incident that everyone in the industry can/should support.

Point:
"The Humane Society, since late October, has been willing to let animals suffer out there, rather than notify USDA immediately of the abuses.”
(Source: Baltimore Sun, February 9, 2008)
Ed Schafer, USDA Secretary, chastising the Humane Society of the U.S. for sitting on the video for months.
Counterpoint:
"It's USDA's responsibility to prevent this abuse. USDA personnel were on site and they are the ones who are paid with American tax dollars to prevent this appalling cruelty."
(Source: Baltimore Sun, February 9, 2008)
Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society president and CEO calling Schafer's statement, “an astonishing and outrageous comment.”
>PS: The award for the most ‘astonishing and outrageous’ inaction goes to the HSUS for not blowing the whistle immediately. No excuses.

"If the state legislature moves forward with this one, then they should change Kentucky's state bird from the cardinal to the debeaked, crippled, scalded, diseased, dead chicken.”
(Source: Lexington, KY Herald-Leader, February 8, 2008)
Bruce Friedrich, PETA vice president, playing the drama queen card in a comment about a Kentucky bill that wants to name fried chicken the state’s official picnic food.
>PS: Brucie continues his long history of over-the-top, chewing-the-scenery histrionics, worthy of a third-rate Shakespearian actor.