Selected speeches and news releases / United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Public Affairs.

34 Pages·1993·1.8 MB·English

by  United States. Department of Agriculture. Office of Public Affairs (1989- )

Historic, Archive Document
Do not assume content reflects current
scientific knowledge, policies, or practices.

\ Unitea States
Selected Speeches
Department of
V Agriculture
and News Releases
Office of
Public Affairs
Jan. 7 - Jan. 13,1993
IN THIS ISSUE:
Statement—
by Edward Madigan, Secretary of Agriculture on Preliminary Plans to
Restructure USDA Field Offices Jan. 7,1993
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News Releases— r:
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USDA Proposing to Expand Geographical Boundaries of Tobacco Auction
Markets -
USDA Lowers Fees for Some Quarantine and Inspection Services
Official Grain Inspection and Weighing Services Fees Increased -4.
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USDA Announces Prevailing World Market Prk# and User Marketing
Certificate Payment Rate for Upland Cotton ^ t/>
Producers May Enter 1992-Crop Feed Grains Into Farmer-Owned Reserve
USDA Appoints Members to A National Council on Sustainable Agriculture
USDA Uses its Surplus Property to House Homeless Families in Rural
America
Statement Required for Water Added to Export Grain
Forest Service Establishes Wilderness Research Institute and Training Center
USDA Proposes Revising Grading Standards for Frozen Cauliflower
USDA Revises Formula Used to Predict Soil Erosion
First Calves of Predetermined Sex Bom
Continued on Inside Cover
News Releases-Continued
Pakistan Eligible for More Wheat Under Export Enhancement Program
USDA Seeks U.S. Companies for Trade Mission to Belize
US DA Proposes Changing Rice Standards
Madigan Names Watermelon Board Members
Wasp from Mexico Could be First Insect to Control Boll Weevil
USDA Seeks Comments on 1993 Marketing Quotas for 6 Kinds of Tobacco
USDA Authorizes Alternative Perennials on CRP Acreage
USDA Announces Prevailing World Market Rice Prices
Government Announces Public Land 1993 Grazing Fees for 16 Western
States
Artificial Diet Concocted for Potato Pest
USDA Declares Oregon Free of Bovine Brucellosis
USDA Revises Grading Standards for Canned Green and Wax Beans
Statement-
U.S. Department of Agriculture • Office of Public Affairs
by Edward Madigan, Secretary of Agriculture on Preliminary Plans to
Restructure USDA Field Offices Jan. 7,1993
Last May, we began the most sweeping review ever conducted of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s field office network. Today we are closer to
completing the package, and I want to thank the Office of Management and
Budget for its expertise.
There are 14,309 field offices of the Department of Agriculture. Of that
number 7,405 are agencies that deal with the delivery of farm services at the
county level. The remaining number of offices are those that deal with the
Food and Nutrition Service, Food Inspection, Forest Service, Agricultural
Marketing Services and other missions — all of which are the subject of
other studies. But the effort toward restructuring USDA began last May with
an evaluation of the 7,405 county-based offices charged with delivering farm
service benefits. We are dealing today with the preliminary results of that
study.
Those 7,405 offices are in 3,700 locations around the country, because
many offices are located at the same address.
What we are submitting to the Congress and agricultural groups today is
the completed work of a joint USDA/OMB review team. They studied these
county-based offices on the basis of six criteria:
• program delivery costs;
• number of producers served;
• complexity of programs administered;
• geographic service area;
• whether local offices were scattered or located under one roof, and
• intensity of workload at local offices.
Our projections are that we will be reducing the total number of USDA
locations by roughly 28 percent and the total number of USDA offices in
these initially studied categories by 17 percent. That will mean a reduction of
about 1,000 locations and more than 1,000 offices. Next week I will make a
final decision on the number of offices recommended for closing and make it
public.
The current USDA field office structure is comparable to that which
existed when 20 percent of the U.S. population lived on farms and was
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without modern communication. Today less than 1 percent of the U.S.
population lives on farms and has all of the modern transportation and
telecommunication services available to them. Many improvements in the
delivery of services to farmers could be made if the field office structure were
streamlined so that we could afford to place in each of the offices the
technological advances that are available today.
This is not about reducing service to farmers. It is about being able to
afford to improve our services to farmers in a manner that respects the role of
the American taxpayer.
Before leaving office, I will again meet with you to discuss our
recommendations for the reorganization of USDA in Washington.
I’ll be happy to take your questions.
#
Becky Unkenholz [phone]
Arthur Whitmore [phone]
USDA EXTENDS COMMENT PERIOD ON PROPOSED
REQUIREMENTS FOR SHELL EGGS
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7—The U.S. Department of Agriculture has
extended the comment period on its proposed temperature and labeling
requirements for shell eggs to March 29.
Daniel D. Haley, administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing
Service, said, “The 60-day comment period, which was to end Dec. 28, was
extended at the request of an industry organization to allow additional time to
evaluate the proposal.”
The new regulations would require that shell eggs be stored at 45 degrees
F (7.2 degrees C) or below after being packed into containers going to
consumers and that they be transported in refrigerated trucks at 45 degrees F
or below.
The proposed regulations also contain egg carton labeling requirements
that would remind consumers to keep eggs refrigerated until they are
prepared for consumption.
Nouce of the extension will appear in the Jan. 8 Federal Register. Written
comments may be sent in duplicate, postmarked by March 29, 1993, to Janice
L. Lockard, Chief, Standardization Branch, Poultry Division, AMS, USDA,
Rm. 3944-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456.
#
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Becky Unkenholz [phone]
.Arthur Whitmore [phone]
USDA PROPOSING TO EXPAND GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES
OF TOBACCO AUCTION MARKETS
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7—The U.S. Department of Agriculture is
proposing to expand the geographical boundaries of tobacco auction markets.
Daniel D. Haley, administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing
Service, said the geographical area of designated tobacco auction markets
would expand from 3 miles to 5 miles from the boundaries of the city or town
where the markets are located.
“This change would allow more flexibility in building new warehouses,”
Haley said.
In many markets, zoning laws and the cost of land make it impossible to
build new warehouses within the current 3-mile limit, Haley said. With the
spread of residential development and other businesses seeking lower cost
advantages, it has become necessary for new warehouses to locate further
outside the city limits, he said.
The proposed change would also allow existing warehouses, which
received price support and inspection services during the 1992 marketing
season, to continue to operate at the same location.
Notice of the proposed revision will be published in the Jan. 8 Federal
Register. Comments, which should be received no later than Feb. 8, may be
sent to the Director, Tobacco Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, Rm.
502 Annex, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456. Copies of the proposed rule and
additional information are available from the division director at the above
address, telephone [phone].
#
Courtney Billet [phone]
Arthur Whitmore [phone]
USDA LOWERS FEES FOR SOME QUARANTINE AND
INSPECTION SERVICES
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7—The U.S. Department of Agriculture today
announced it will lower several of the user fees it charges for agricultural
quarantine and inspection services. This change affects certain international
airline passangers, commercial aircraft, and commercial vessels.
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The new, lower fees will be $1.45 for international airline passengers,
$61.00 for commercial aircraft and $369.50 for commercial vessels. The fees
are charged for inspections performed to prevent the spread of agricultural
pests and diseases in the United States
“We have looked at incoming revenue since the inception of the fees and
have determined that our operating costs are somewhat lower than the total
amount of money being collected,” said B. Glen Lee, deputy administrator
for plant protection and quarantine with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service. “We are pleased to be able to pass along the savings.”
Because the action is of immediate economic advantage and is consistent
with USDA’s responsibility to ensure the rates are consistent with
expenditures, USDA is not providing for prior public comment on the fee
reductions. Instead, the changes appeared in the Dec. 31, 1992, Federal
Register as an interim rule that became effective Jan. 1.
Comments on the rule will be accepted if received on or before Feb. 1. An
original and three copies of written comments referring to Docket 92-148-1
should be sent to Chief, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, USDA, Room 804 Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road,
Hyattsville, Md. 20782. Comments may be inspected as soon as received at
USDA, Room 1141 South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue,
S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays.
#
Dana Stewart [phone]
Arthur Whitmore [phone]
OFFICIAL GRAIN INSPECTION AND WEIGHING SERVICES FEES
INCREASED
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Federal
Grain Inspection Service is increasing its fees by 3.7 percent for official
inspection and weighing services performed in the United States under the
U.S. Grain Standards Act.
According to FGIS administrator John C. Foltz, the agency, which is
predominantly funded by user fees, operated at a loss in fiscal 1992. The
increase is needed to comply with laws that require FGIS to cover agency
operating costs, he said.
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The fee increase does not include fees for administration and supervision
of official agencies or for inspection and weighing services provided in
Canada.
Because the fee increase is being announced as an interim rule in the Jan.
8 Federal Register, the agency can implement the increase and still accept
public comment. The fee increase will become effective Feb. 1.
Comments should be submitted on or before March 3,1993, to George
Wollam, USDA, FGIS, Room 0624-S, P.O. Box 96454, Washington, D.C.
20090-6454; facsimile machine [phone].
#
Minnie Tom H. Meyer [phone]
Leslie Parker [phone]
USDA ANNOUNCES PREVAILING WORLD MARKET PRICE AND
USER MARKETING CERTIFICATE PAYMENT RATE FOR
UPLAND COTTON
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7—John Stevenson, acting executive vice president
of USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, today announced the prevailing
world market price, adjusted to U.S. quality and location (adjusted world
price), for Strict Low Middling (SLM) 1-1/16 inch (micronaire 3.5-3.6 and
4.3-4.9, strength 24-25 grams per tex) upland cotton (base quality) and the
coarse count adjustment (CCA) in effect from 5:00 p.m. today through 3:59
p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14. The user marketing certificate payment rate
announced today is in effect from 12:01 a.m. Friday, Jan. 8, through midnight
Thursday, Jan. 14.
The Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended, provides that the AWP may be
further adjusted if: (a) the AWP is less than 115 percent of the current crop
year loan rate for base quality upland cotton, and (b) the Friday through
Thursday average price quotation for the lowest-priced U.S. growth as quoted
for Middling (M) 1-3/32 inch cotton, C.I.F. northern Europe (USNE price)
exceeds the Northern Europe (NE) price. The maximum allowable
adjustment is the difference between the USNE price and the NE price.
A further adjustment to this week’s calculated AWP may be made in
accordance with this provision. The calculated AWP is 79 percent of the
1992 upland cotton base quality loan rate, and the USNE price exceeds the
NE price by 5.32 cents per pound. Following are the relevant calculations:
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I. Calculated AWP.41.50 cents per pound
1992 Base Loan Rate.52.35 cents per pound
AWP as a Percent of Loan Rate.79
II. USNE Price.60.50 cents per pound
NE Price.-55.18 cents per pound
Maximum Adjustment Allowed.5.32 cents per pound
Based on a consideration of the U.S. share of world exports, the current
level of cotton export sales and cotton export shipments, and other relevant
data, no further adjustment to this week’s calculated AWP will be made.
This week’s AWP and coarse count adjustment are determined as follows:
Adjusted World Price
NE Price.55.18
Adjustments:
Average U.S. spot market location.11.82
SLM 1-1/16 inch cotton. 1.55
Average U.S. location... 0.31
Sum of Adjustments.-13.68
Calculated AWP.41.50
Further AWP Adjusuncnt.^_0_
ADJUSTED WORLD PRICE.41.50 ccnts/lb.
Coarse Count Adjustment
NE Price.55.18
NE Coarse Count Price.-50.77
. 4.41
Adjustment to SLM 1-1/32 inch cotton.-3.95
COARSE COUNT ADJUSTMENT. 0.18 cents/lb.
Because the AWP is below the 1991 and 1992 base quality loan rates of
50.77 and 52.35 cents per pound, respectively, the loan repayment rate during
this period is equal to the AWP, adjusted for the specific quality and location
plus applicable interest and storage charges. The AWP will continue to be
used to determine the value of upland cotton that is obtained in exchange for
commodity certificates.
Because the AWP is below the 1992-crop loan rate, cash loan deficiency
payments will be paid to eligible producers who agree to forgo obtaining a
price support loan with respect to the 1992 crop. The payment rate is equal to
the difference between the loan rate and the AWP. Producers are allowed to
obtain a loan deficiency payment on a bale-by-bale basis.
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