According to USDA-FAS GAIN report E42021-0007 released on January 12th 2021, a number of trends affecting E.U. agricultural policy emerged from the Farm to Fork Conference held in mid-October 2020.  The objective of the meeting was to create an international alliance and to develop global standards on sustainability and welfare.  The Conference was strongly supported by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and by the Agricultural and Health Commissioners of Germany and other prominent EU states.  Items considered by the Farm to Fork conference that have relevance to the U.S. include:-

E.U. nations before BREXIT

• The European Green Deal

This initiative to be enacted in the proposed Climate Law will be legally binding for all 27 European Union member states. The proposal will establish carbon neutrality by 2050 and progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The outgoing U.S. Administration has consistently denied the reality of climate change and has relaxed environmental regulations contrary to movements in the Europe and Asia.  This was exemplified by withdrawal from the Paris Accords and characterizing coal as “beautiful and clean”.  It is anticipated that the incoming Administration will reverse many of the policy decisions of the past four years and move towards commonality with the E.U. as a condition for trade.  On December 17th, all 27 E.U. Ministers of the Environment adopted the European Council position on the Climate Law incorporating a target of 55 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to the 1990 base.

• Mandatory Nutrition Labeling

The E.U. will harmonize front-of-pack nutrition labeling by the end of 2022.  The intent is to provide consumers with information enabling health-conscious choices with adoption of the Nutri-Score labeling as introduced in France and since adopted by Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany.  Given that many U.S. producers of food products are subsidiaries of multinational corporations such as Nestle and Danone, it is anticipated that the front-of-pack nutrition labeling will eventually be adopted in the U.S.

• Establishing Nutrient Profiles

The restrictions on salt, sugars and fat established by Regulation #1924 in 2006 will be fully implemented before the end of 2022. It is anticipated that there will be harmonization of nutritional specifications among industrialized nations of the northern hemisphere motivated by trade and health considerations.

• Animal Welfare labeling

 A November 3rd 2020 meeting of the E.U. Platform on Animal Welfare announced a committee to produce a report by mid 2021 to evaluate consumer awareness and the economic impact of mandatory welfare standards. Julia Kloeckner, the German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture stated, "a common E.U. label for animal welfare would increase credibility and transparency in our markets and would enable consumers to make more informed choices and would help reward producers who comply with standards”.

• Country of Origin Labeling

The European ministers of agriculture considered Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) in mid-December 2020. Given a number of foodborne health incidents associated with certain E.U. producer nations, this provision that could be regarded as discriminatory and possibly in contravention of WTO Regulations indicates concern among member nations. 

• Product Dating

The EU will propose revisions to existing rules relating to use by and best before dates.  An improvement of presentation format or wording will be developed possibly abandoning the best before descriptor.

• Chemical-based Pesticides

The European Commission will take action to reduce the application and by extension, exposure of consumers to chemical pesticides.  A target of 50 percent reduction by 2030 is envisaged.

• Feed Additives

The Commission will consider the adoption of sustainable and innovative feed additives by revising current legislation.  Additives will be promoted on the basis of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to sustainable farming.

• Promoting Organic Farming

As part of the Biodiversity Strategy, the European commission set a goal of 25 percent of agricultural land for organic farming by 2030, up from the current eight percent.  Well-meaning legislatures will have to reconcile the need for food with the inherent inefficiency of organic farming as we know it.  A legislative proposal relating to the EU Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy is expected by the end of the current year.

The EU has a long history of advancing welfare, sustainability and reducing the impact of agriculture and industry on climate change. The E.U. comprises close to 500 million in population (including the UK) and is the world's largest trading group with defined rules and procedures. Accordingly the U.S. cannot ignore trends in agriculture if we are to trade freely and enjoy political and cultural relations to our mutual benefit.

COMMODITY

Corn (cents per bushel)

 March 531 (497)

May 534 (498)

Soybeans (cents per bushel)

 March 1,415 (1,377)

May 1,412

Soybean meal ($ per ton)

 March 462 (440)

May 457

EGG-NEWS regrets to record the sad passing of Blair J. Van Zetten an industry stalwart who passed on Monday, January 18th in Scottsdale, AZ.  Blair was born in Oskaloosa, IA and graduated from Upper Iowa University with a Baccalaureate degree in business.  He assumed the presidency of Oskaloosa Food Products in mid-1975, a company founded by his late father, John.

Blair was an active participant in the industry having served the American Egg Board, the United Egg Association, the United Egg Producers and the Farmers and Ranchers Alliances.  He was a founding member of the Iowa State University Egg Industry Center and served as the Chair from 2008 through 2011.

Recognition of his contributions during his productive career included the ISU Alumni Association Award, the Urner Barry Egg Person of the Year in 2016 and induction into the Iowa Poultry Association Hall of Fame in 2019.  He served many community associations including the Oskaloosa Chamber of Commerce, the Oskaloosa Community Development Board and was a past-Chair of the TruBank Board of Directors and was an Elder in the First Presbyterian Church. 

A funeral service will be held at 10h30 January 26th at the First Presbyterian Church in Oskaloosa.

EGG-NEWS joins the industry in extending condolences to his widow Wendy and sons Jason, Brandon and Travis and his sister Cheryl Van Zetten. 

He will be sadly missed.

On Wednesday, January 13th the Department of Labor reported that U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in December compared to November and were 1.4 percent above the comparative value for 2019.  Core prices, excluding food and energy, rose 0.1 percent from November to December and were up 1.6 percent on the year.

According to the Department of Labor, the price of core goods was 1.7 percent higher in November 2020 compared to November 2019.  Core services were up 1.6 percent compared to last year.

In reviewing the impact of inflation in ingredient prices on the poultry industry, the CME per bushel price of corn increased 32.9 percent from January 13th 2019 from $3.89 to $5.17 per bushel on January 13th 2020.  Soybean meal increased by 30.4 percent from $355 per ton on January 13th 2019 to $463 per ton on January 13th 2020. The collective effect of the January 2020 to 2021 escalation in prices of corn and soybean meal alone represents an increase in production cost of 10.5 cents per dozen for eggs and 5.9 cents per live weight pound for broilers.  In addition the cost of fuel, consumables and labor have risen consistent with inflation and producers have borne the additional costs of preventing COVID-19 in 2020.

Article by David and Zachary Eisenberg

Microtracers® are used worldwide to assure quality of mixed feeds. They are used to identify the presence of additives and premixes in final feeds and to confirm the integrity of proprietary pharmaceuticals. In the poultry industry Microtracers® validate cross-contamination control procedures to prevent violative residues. This article describes the procedure to verify the accuracy of feed mixing.  

The cost of validating the accuracy of mixers is trivial when compared with the costs of non-uniform diets that may impact animal performance. Inefficient mixer performance will require longer mixing times or smaller batch sizes than needed, wasting resources and reducing feedmill capacity. 

View the rest of the article here.

Clalit Health Services, the major HMO in Israel has determined that recipients of the Pfizer vaccine showed a lower rate of COVID-19 infection compared to non-vaccinated people over 60 year of age.  The study was based on 200,000 recipients of vaccine with a significant difference recorded 14 days after vaccination. The difference between vaccinates and those not vaccinated was apparent before the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine suggesting that effective immunity is established rapidly after receiving the first dose.

It is noted that the vaccination program in Israel has proceeded efficiently and rapidly with 25 percent of the total population vaccinated within three weeks of the release of the Pfizer vaccine.

Animal Wellness Action and the Animal Wilderness Foundation have mounted a campaign opposing breeding and illegal export of fighting cocks from North Carolina to Mexico, Guam, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Animal fighting of any form is prohibited under a federal law enacted in December 2019.  It is illegal to sponsor or exhibit animals in a fighting venture, knowingly attend a fighting venue, knowingly buy, sell, possess, train, transport, deliver or receive an animal for the purposes of animal fighting and to use the U.S. Postal Service to distribute fighting animals or paraphernalia.

The organizations headed by Wayne Pacelle alerted the three U.S. Federal Attorneys General in the state of North Carolina to the existence of an active game fowl industry operating under the umbrella of the North Carolina Game Fowl Breeders Association despite the fact that cock fighting is a felony under North Carolina law.

Apart from the welfare considerations involved, movement of live birds absent compliance with existing health regulations represents a danger to the poultry industry with respect to persistence and transmission of both erosive and catastrophic diseases including AI and END.

On January 6th Thijs Hendrix founder of Hendrix Genetics in 2005 was inaugurated as a Member of the prestigious French Academy of Agriculture.  Hendrix is the third generation involved in poultry breeding as the son of Harry Hendrix who died in 2010 and Grandfather Thijs Hendrix (1884-1954) who established a breeding enterprise in 1923 in Ospel the Netherlands. Thijs Hendrix serves as the president of Hendrix Genetics and is still active in animal breeding and life sciences.

In 2005, the Institute de Selection Animale of France and Hendrix poultry breeders merged and the company was expanded in 2007 by acquisition of Euribrid, then owned by the Animal Breeding Division of Nutreco, a Dutch agricultural conglomerate.  Currently Hendrix Genetics has operations and joint ventures in 25 nations and supplies genetics to egg, turkey, aquaculture and pork industries in 100 nations.

The French Academy of Agriculture is a source of scientific, technical, legal, political and social information relating to agriculture and facilitates exchanges between scientists and the government of France.  The Academy dates back to 1761 established by royal decree and was formerly restructured by government charter in 1915.

Dr. Paul Patterson of the College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University has demonstrated the efficacy of pulse ultraviolet light to decontaminate shell surfaces.  Dr. Patterson considers that the technology could replace the use of immersion and sanitizers.

Pulse UV irradiation also has application in decontaminating hatching eggs.  During a 27-second period of exposure, eggs are exposed to high intensity ultraviolet light generated by a xenon flash lamp generating 90 pulses with a duration of 360 micro-seconds.

The economics of pulse ultraviolet irradiation has yet to be determined for commercial egg packing plant and hatchery application.  In the case of table eggs, the principle of reducing surface contamination is self-evident.  The process will however not remove fecal staining and accordingly downgrades will be far higher than with conventional washing. The cost of diverting otherwise saleable eggs to breaking should be considered in the cost of the alternative technology.

In the case hatching eggs, many of the pathogens involved in increasing embryonic and first- week chick mortality are motile and penetrate the shell within 30 minutes of lay.  Although subsequent shell decontamination at the hatchery will reduce bacterial load, the installation of equipment in hatcheries may not materially increase hatchability or livability.  Weekly USDA broiler data indicate an average hatch of between 81 and 82 percent of eggs set and the restraints to hatchability and broiler chick viability relate to factors other than bacterial contamination except in specific complexes.

Irrespective of the eventual commercial deployment of pulsed ultra violet technology, the studies conducted by Dr. Patterson represent an advance in applying a physical process to a biological system with potential improvement of food safety.

In an address to the Alliance for Health Policy on January 6th, Dr. Stephen Hahn, outgoing Director of the FDA outlined achievements of his agency following a one year tenure in 2020.  These included:-

• The Smarter Food Safety Blueprint that will create greater traceability.
• 2020 Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan in response to recurring episodes of infection attributed to produce contaminated with irrigation water.
• Approval of 28 drugs to prevent or treat livestock and companion animal diseases.
• Approval of various therapeutic agents and emergency use authorization for two COVID vaccines.

Despite the fact that Dr. Hahn emphasized the science-based decision-making process for the FDA, the reputation of the Agency has been degraded by perceptions of political interference. This is evidenced by  emergency use authorization of hydroxychloroquine and antibody therapy to treat COVID, both unproven “quick-fix” interventions.

Six senators representing corn-production states addressed a letter to President-elect Biden urging rejection of small refinery exemptions, currently the subject of litigation and delay by the EPA.  The Senators led by Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) are requesting the incoming administration to release the renewable volume obligations and restore the integrity of the Renewable Fuels Standard.

Dr. Jewel Hairston Bronaugh has been nominated to serve as the Deputy Secretary of USDA.  The position is the second-highest executive official in the USDA and involves responsibility of running the day-to-day operations of the Department.

Dr. Bronaugh is currently the 16th Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, a position she has held since 2018. Dr. Bronaugh earned a Baccalaureate degree in education from James Madison University and completed both Master’s and Doctoral degrees in technical education from Virginia Tech.  During her career she served as the Dean of the Virginia State University College of Agriculture before being appointed to her current position by Governor Ralph Northam.

In commenting on the appointment, Gov. Northam noted, “as Commissioner of the VDACS, Dr. Bronaugh has been a true leader - promoting the Agency’s core mission while taking on new challenges including our COVID-19 pandemic response and farmers’ mental health, focusing economic development to improve food access in underserved communities and engaging youth in the field of agriculture.”

Matt Lohr of Virginia, who previously was the Director of the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service under the outgoing Administration, observed, “America’s farmers and ranchers can be sure they have a true friend, an advocate working for them in DC.”

A December 31st 2020 decree published in the Diario De La Federacion banned the importation of genetically modified corn for human consumption. The decree was noted in the USDA-FAS GAIN Report MX 2021-004 released on January 14th. There is uncertainty over the exact definition of ‘human consumption’. Mexico imports yellow corn from the U.S. to be used mainly for livestock feeding and industrial applications. The decree has created considerable concern in the agribusiness sector. 

According to the GAIN report, Mexico will harvest 27.8 million metric tons of mainly white and completely non-GM corn for the 2020/2021 season with an average yield of 149 bushels per acre. Mexico will import 16.5 million metric tons of corn or 35 percent of total supply. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (“Amlo”) is firmly opposed to GM technology and issued the edict in an autocratic manner without considering the consequences or advancing an alternative program of supply.  Jose Cacho President of the Mexican Corn Industry Chamber considers the decree as "completely diverse from reality"

A webinar featuring Dr. Max Hawkins of the Alltech Mycotoxin Management Team will air on Monday, January 25th 2021 at 09h30 EST.  Topics to be discussed will include the mycotoxin status of the 2020 harvest.  Alltech is a leader in mycotoxin assay, interpretation of data and providing appropriate recommendations for mitigation.

Registration is available on <go.alltech.com/2020-harvest-analysis-us>.

Dr. Hawkins obtained his masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Tennessee and has extensive experience in nutrition and production having served as a technical consultant for agribusiness companies before joining Alltech in 2011.

The U.S. dairy industry, impacted by declining sales of liquid milk and competition from alternatives is now coming under scrutiny for alleged violation of welfare standards. Having achieved a measure of success in forcing egg producers to transition to alternative housing systems, animal rights advocates have transferred their opposition to milk production.

As with eggs, pork and beef production there will always be “bad actors” that provide activists with images that are disseminated on the internet.  It is axiomatic that management practices that cause pain and stress reflect adversely on performance.  In competitive livestock industries achieving genetic potential is critical to both margin and ultimately survival.  Accordingly dairy farmers should practice sound stockmanship and provide housing consistent with the needs of their herds.

Practices which are coming under scrutiny include debudding and castration without anesthesia; rearing in calf crates; artificial insemination; confinement in barns frequently with shackling.  The most extreme of animal rights activists consider any form of farming including gathering of eggs or collection of milk as “species exploitation”.

Animal scientists are now evaluating management systems based on the analysis of behavior displayed by dairy cattle and are providing recommendations especially in the area of group housing of calves and abolishing invasive procedures.  Given the benefits of improved housing and management, adoption of recommendations by progressive farmers is evident. Current financial realities in addition to innate resistance to changing practices considered standard by generations of farmers are impediments to progress.

The dairy industry would be well served to heed the experience of egg producers since activists influence politicians and consumers.  Given the internet, immense funding and media support, the decline in consumption of dairy products based on negative welfare perceptions will continue.  Ballot initiatives primary directed against egg production have included housing practices used in both pork and veal production.  Restrictive legislation will be a reality except in the most intensive dairy-production states, although a trend towards more concerted opposition is evident.

The dairy industry is advised to intensify their responses to unjust demands but also to recognize deficiencies and implement corrective action on a national scale.  A number of progressive dairymen are leading the way and should serve as ambassadors for change.  The U.S. egg industry has changed for the better over the past two decades and has made strides in improving sustainability, welfare, product quality and image.  The pork and dairy segments of livestock agriculture should follow.