“In light of the most widespread drought to face the country in more than 50 years, the refusal to grant this waiver is a blatant example of the flawed policy of the RFS,” said National cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President J.D. Alexander, a cattle feeder from Pilger, NE.

And to the relief of many, one of the first bills to begin the lame duck session was a bill passed through the House of Representatives that would upgrade U.S. trade relations with Russia. But the bill has a controversial piece that includes punishment of Russian officials for human rights violations.

Considered long over-due by the Government Accountability Project’s (GAP) Food Integrity Campaign (FIC), the Senate approved the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) which provides new protections for federal employees who report waste, fraud and abuse in government operations.

The lamb market for farmers and ranchers has collapsed to well below half of last year’s prices. That, combined with the severe drought and the corresponding high cost of feedstuffs, has put sheep producers in a very difficult situation. Eight U.S.

According to last week’s USDA Farm Labor report, there were 906,000 workers hired directly by farm operators on the nation’s farms and ranches during the week of July 8-14, 2012, up nearly 9 percent from the July 2011 reference week. Workers hired directly by farm operators numbered 872,000 for the reference week of Oct.

According to USDA’s crop and weather report, winter wheat was rated at 21 percent very poor, 32 percent poor, 44 percent fair and 3 percent good. By this time last year, the crop was 98 percent emerged and the five-year average is 97 percent emerged..

The groups, including National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), are hoping Congress will at least extend the current relief until permanent repeal is on the table. The current estate tax relief is set at $5 million per individual and $10 million per couple at a rate of 35 percent.

The presidential and congressional elections remained relatively unchanged in D.C. following last week’s elections, including the members of the House Agriculture Committee. Republicans continue to maintain the House majority and the Democrats have maintained control of the Senate.

Today, COGCC continues to serve, solicit participation from, and maintain working relationships with all those having an interest in Colorado’s oil and gas natural resources, according to the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA)..

“It will take a few days to sort out the effects of the disruption but chances are that the storm will have some short term impact on meat protein demand. This is particularly the case at the foodservice level. Lost foot traffic and sales will be hard to make up, especially in the current economic environment.