NASDA News - December 4, 2012

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced last week that it is beginning the process to consider listing the Lesser Prairie-Chicken as a Threatened species under the ESA. FWS will accept comments for 90 days. Docket No. FWS–R2–ES–2012–0071.

Under the cooperative agreement with EPA for enhancing pesticide safety, NASDA Research Foundation (NASDARF) announces two new resources available to pesticide State Lead Agencies (SLAs): a revised National Pesticide Applicator Certification Core Exam Blueprint and a refreshed National Core Exam Item Database. SLAs interested in using the blueprint and item bank should contact Michelle Arling at arling.michelle@epa.gov.

The first core exam was completed and available to SLAs ten or more years ago. NASDARF contracted with Mountain West Pesticide Education and Safety Training to refresh and improve the exam blueprint and item bank. They convened a 19-member workgroup representing both SLAs and university Pesticide Safety Education Programs. The project resulted in high quality exam questions and an exam blueprint that can be used across the country. This effort provides significant financial efficiencies to applicator certification by having a small group generate resources that can ...

Fiscal Cliff talks continued to dominate the conversation in Washington this past week, leaving Farm Bill watchers waiting to see if a full five year bill or a shorter term extension may be included in a fiscal package. House Committee Chairman Lucas (R-OK) discussed the possibility that fiscal cliff negotiators could include a short term farm bill extension in that package, which would mandate a certain amount of savings to come from a full Farm Bill early next Congress. Under this scenario, Congress could act on a five year bill early next spring under streamlined budget reconciliation procedures, which would protect the Farm Bill from “poison pill” amendments.

Meanwhile, Senate Ranking Member Roberts (R-KS) signaled last week that he may be open to finding a compromise on commodity programs. Roberts has strongly opposed efforts by southern Senators to include some form of reference price mechanism in that chamber’s Farm Bill. Reference prices have emerged as a ...

The Indiana Board of Animal Health (BOAH) has released a report on a study on the sale of raw (unpasteurized) milk for human consumption. The study was requested by the Indiana General Assembly.

On one hand, public health officials have long believed that consuming raw milk is risky because it may contain pathogens that can cause illness. Pasteurization kills those pathogens and does not significantly alter milk’s nutritional value. On the other hand, advocates for raw milk believe unpasteurized milk contains nutrients that are destroyed by the heating process required by state law, and that the raw milk tastes better.

The BOAH report recommends that state lawmakers consider one of two options:

• Require all milk sold for human consumption be pasteurized, even milk purchased through herd shares or other means that skirt current state law.
• Allow limited raw milk sales directly from farmers, who would have to meet minimum sanitation requirements imposed by the ...

California Egg Farmers filed suit in Fresno County (CA) Superior Court seeking a determination that Proposition 2, a law regulating egg-laying hen enclosures, is unconstitutionally vague. The Association of California Egg Farmers (ACEF) believes the law's lack of clarity in size and density requirements prevents egg farmers from modifying their housing facilities in time to comply with the January 1, 2015, implementation date and does not adequately establish standards that producers can be certain they are complying with.

The ACEF has advocated the use of housing systems that provide 116 square inches of space per hen compared to 67 square inches of space in a conventional cage. But the Humane Society of The United States (HSUS), author of Proposition 2, has indicated that Proposition 2 requires a minimum standard of 200 square inches of enclosure space per bird up to “cage-free” environment. How HSUS reached either interpretation has not been explained. The ...