Man charged in woman’s death

ROCKPORT, Ind. (AP) — Police have charged a man with murder in the death of a 42-year-old Kentucky woman whose body was found in a southern Indiana farm field.

Indiana State Police said 41-year-old Lonney Dale Schroeder of Spencer County was arrested without incident Sept. 4. He is being held without bond in the Spencer County Jail. An initial court appearance was scheduled for Sept. 5. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.

State Police say Schroeder was an acquaintance of the victim, 42-year-old Sheila Renee Denson of Philpot, Ky. Denson’s body was found by a farmer Sept. 2 in a field near Rockport, about 25 miles east of Evansville.

An autopsy determined that she died of asphyxiation and multiple trauma.

PETA files federal complaint

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville was cited for improper slaughtering of cattle three days after the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a federal complaint against the facility.

The complaint was filed after PETA reviewed a hidden-camera video shot during the week of Aug. 11-18 that shows workers making a second cut to a cow’s neck without rabbinical supervision, apparently in violation of the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act. The animal-rights group on Sept. 5 also called for the plant to install video cameras with a live feed to the Internet to monitor its workers.

PETA said it initially complained to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on Aug. 22, but has yet to receive a formal response, so it went public with the video. Amanda Eamich, an FSIS spokeswoman, said the agency met with the plant’s management three days after the PETA complaint and told its in-plant veterinarian to review the plant’s slaughter methods.

“One of our in-plant inspectors did cite the facility on Aug. 25,” she said.

The citation did not include a fine or any other penalties, Eamich said, and was simply a record of noncompliance. She declined to say whether the PETA video and complaint prompted the meeting and citation.

A PETA investigator said the group would have preferred to handle the complaint without going public. “We wanted to get that conduct stopped long before (Friday) behind the scenes,” said Hannah Schein, an investigator with PETA.

Schein said the undercover investigator got a job in a different section of the plant, but toured the kill floor during his breaks.
The Agriprocessors plant was the site of one of the largest single-site immigration raids in U.S. history on May 12, when 389 workers were charged with being in the country illegally. Most also faced criminal charges of identity theft.

In a statement, Agriprocessors spokesman Menachem Lubinsky said kosher regulations give “blanket approval” for a second cut when slaughtering cattle.

“The second cut in fact only hastens the elimination of any pain or suffering, if there is any,” Lubinsky said.

FSIS slaughtering guidelines state: “For Kosher slaughter, the sticking is done by a (slaughterer) chosen from the community, trained in the laws of the orthodox religion, and supervised by a rabbi in his area.”

Last year PETA filed complaints about the slaughtering process at that plant, but officials with the USDA and the Orthodox Union said no problems were found.

DNR estimates 31,000 fish-kill

FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) estimates more than 31,000 fish were killed after a leak from a cattle farm affected a 16-mile area on the Winnebago River.

The DNR said the fish, which included more than a dozen species, were worth about $63,000. DNR officials believe the kill occurred after a silage operation reached the Silver Creek and flowed into the Winnebago River. The silage reduced oxygen levels in the stream, killing the fish.

The DNR investigation found that fluid from a containment basin at a cattle farm owned by Monroe Branstad of Forest City reached an underground line that led to the creek and eventually the river. DNR officials said they plan to seek restitution for the dead fish and may consider additional enforcement actions after the investigation is complete.

Peanuts get final 2007 payment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced that USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) will issue $82 million in final 2007 countercyclical payments (CCP) to eligible producers with enrolled peanut base acres in the Direct and Countercyclical Program (DCP).

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) makes final countercyclical payments on behalf of the CCC at the end of an applicable crop’s 12-month marketing year. The final CCP rate for producers with enrolled peanut base acres is $49 per short ton. Peanut farmers who accepted the first partial payment in February 2008 of $7.60 per ton, are now due an additional $41.40 per ton.

No partial or final 2007-crop counter-cyclical payments were made for wheat, barley or oats because prices averaged well above levels that would trigger countercyclical payments. Final 2007-crop counter-cyclical payments for other commodities will be announced when final average farm prices for the marketing year become available.

These prices are scheduled to be released by the National Agricultural Statistics Service as follows: Oct. 10 for upland cotton; Oct. 31 for corn, grain sorghum and soybeans; and Jan. 30, 2009, for rice. For more information on the direct and countercyclical payment programs, visit your local FSA office or www.fsa.usda.gov

Co-op tears down damaged silos

ALTON, Iowa (AP) — Crews are tearing down six massive concrete silos that were damaged in an explosion and fire at a farm cooperative in Alton in northwestern Iowa.

A man unloading corn at the Midwest Farmers Cooperative was injured in the blast on July 9. Structural engineers have determined the silos and a load-out facility were too badly damaged to be safe.
Cranes and other equipment were set up this week, and the demolition is expected to take a few weeks. Midwest CEO Kip Hein says the co-op will replace the million-bushel storage capacity it lost, but no decision has been made on what type of structures will be used.