Federal

The National List of Reportable Animal Diseases (NLRAD) was created through a deliberative process led by the United States Animal Health Association/American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians’ Committee on Animal Health Surveillance and Information Systems and the National Animal Health Reporting System Steering Committee. The paper proposes a single, standardized list of reportable animal diseases, and outlines who will be responsible for reporting, and describes how diseases are to be reported. [node:read-more:link]

In a notice published in the Federal Register, the agency requests information from the public about how to establish appropriately targeted durations of use for the approximately 32% of therapeutic products affected by GFI #213 with no defined duration of use in order to foster stewardship of medically important antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals and help preserve the effectiveness of these antimicrobials in animal and human medicine. [node:read-more:link]

Two federal programs are coordinating on $20 million in prizes for all phases of competition for new, innovative, and novel laboratory diagnostic tests to combat the development and spread of drug-resistant bacteria.  Announced Sept. 8 by the National Institutes of Health and the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the competition — the Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostic Challenge — is designed to tackle what officials call “a rising public health threat.” [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. [node:read-more:link]

This document is a “Statement of Principles”(link is external) to inform the public how federal law applies to activities associated with industrial hemp that is grown and cultivated in accordance with Section 7606. The term “industrial hemp” includes the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part or derivative of such plant, including seeds of such plant, whether growing or not, that is used exclusively for industrial purposes (fiber and seed) with a tetrahydrocannabinols concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. [node:read-more:link]

Understanding the current era of US economic malaise lies, at least in part, with the most basic of American enterprises - the production and marketing of food.   A historical, even defining feature of economic growth has been a decline in the share of expenditures that consumers devote to food and food services (hereafter food). However, since 2002 for the US, Engel's Law, so named for the economist who first observed it, has not held. Real inflation adjusted Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased by 27%, but the share of consumer expenditures spent on food has flat-lined at 11.8%. [node:read-more:link]

The US has accused China of illegally subsidising rice, corn and wheat farmers, adding agriculture to a growing list of Washington's concerns over Chinese overproduction and distortion of global markets.  The launch on Tuesday of a new World Trade Organisation case comes as President Barack Obama is campaigning to get a vast new Pacific Rim trade deal ratified by Congress later this year and selling it as a vital element of America’s strategic response to China’s economic rise.  It also comes amid global concerns about China’s industrial overcapacity and a heated US presidential election in [node:read-more:link]

Some of Wisconsin's largest farm groups are worried federal regulators will expand restrictions on atrazine, a weed killer sprayed on corn fields and other crops.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a draft ecological risk assessment of atrazine this summer and recommended reducing the allowable levels.  Farm groups have asked farmers to contact the EPA and urge the agency to reconsider its stance.  Wisconsin Corn Growers Association officials said the reduced allowable levels would effectively ban the use of the weed killer in nearly 100 herbicide mixes. [node:read-more:link]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has scheduled some must-see TV for farmers and other involved in the seed, biotechnology and chemical mergers.  Grassley released a witness list late Wednesday for the Sept. 20 hearing by his committee -- Consolidation and Competition in the U.S. Seed and Agrochemical Industry. [node:read-more:link]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that up to $5 million in grant funds is available to help schools create or strengthen farm to school programs this school year.  Farm to school programs help form healthy habits and support local economies. [node:read-more:link]