The Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday took a look at the proposed sale of Smithfield Foods to Shuanghui International, which would be the largest acquisition of an American company by a Chinese company in history. Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) says the sale raises many questions about issues such as food safety, protection of intellectual property, and increased foreign ownership …
Sing a Song of Hot Dogs
It’s summer hot dog time and National Hot Dog Month is almost here. According to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, Americans are expected to eat 150 million hot dogs over the July 4th holiday alone, part of the 7 billion hot dogs eaten over the summer season from Memorial Day to Labor Day. That’s a lot of dogs! …
Reaction to COOL Decision
USDA has issued the final rule for mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), including an amendment to the regulations for muscle cut covered commodities derived from animals slaughtered in the United States. The decision pleased some livestock organizations, but disappointed others. “We are deeply disappointed with this short-sighted action by the USDA,”said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Scott George. …
Recap From Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit
The 12th Annual Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit is a wrap. Each year staff and board members try to bring topics that are hot to the table for experts to share their insights into what the agriculture industry is facing. This year the theme was focused on animal activists and ways we can protect our animals, farms and food but …
Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Kicks Off
This morning kicked off the 12th Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit here in Washington, D.C. or more specifically Arlington, Virginia. This year’s topic of discussion was on “Activist at the Door: Protecting Animals, Farms, Food & Consumer Confidence.” The Animal Ag Alliance is focused on connecting, educating & protecting and that is exactly what this conference is all about. Today …
Got Meat Processing Sense
Here’s a class I would love to attend. It’s the Aggie Processed Meat School Program. This program is not just for people who do meat processing but also those involved in quality control, business management, public relations and marketing. Here what you will learn if you attend. By attending the Aggie Processed Meat School you will discover both the science …
Media Bias in Animal Ag Story
Fox News loves to point out media bias in mainstream reporting on politics in particular, but probably not when it comes to agriculture. Fox carried an AP story over the weekend about state bills seeking to make it more difficult for animal rights activists to go undercover at agricultural operations to get video of abuse and sometimes hold it for …
Unconfusing the Confused Consumer
Recent information shows that the meat industry in this country has a lot of work to do with the American consumer. At the recent 2013 Annual Meat Conference in Nashville Michael Uetz with Midan Marketing, spoke during one of the sessions titled, “Demystifying the Meat Case for Today’s Confused Consumer.” “We were shocked when we went in and talked with …
King Richard Talks Smithfield at Meat Conference
One of the greatest race car drivers of all time, “King” Richard Petty was at the 2013 Annual Meat Conference in Nashville, talking up one of the sponsors of his NASCAR team, Smithfield Foods. “This is first time I’ve ever been to a show like this, but it looks pretty interesting,” he said during an interview, jokingly adding that he …
Economic Outlook in Meat Industry
Our morning two general session featured several economists including Steve Meyer, President, Paragon Economics. I talked with him afterward to get a few of his thoughts on how things are looking for the meat industry. The number one item is weather. Of course Steve says that’s harder to predict than the markets! Steve says we’re on such a tight supply …