Kentucky requiring Wisconsin horses to be tested for metritis
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Stallions imported from Wisconsin will have to undergo testing for a sexually transmitted disease that has been detected in Kentucky.

State Veterinarian Dr. Robert C. Stout ordered the testing Feb. 26 after an investigation into an outbreak of equine metritis, a venereal disease that causes infertility in mares. The investigation found that a Wisconsin horse brought to Kentucky for the 2008 breeding season was infected with the organism that causes the disease.

Three stallions, all on an undisclosed farm in central Kentucky, have been diagnosed with the disease.

Iowa Power Fund approves cellulosic ethanol project
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Power Fund Board has given final approval to a $14.75 million award for a company developing a commercial-sized cellulosic ethanol plant that can use corn byproducts to produce fuel.

The POET Project Liberty was approved Feb. 26 during a conference call. According to a news release from Iowa Office of Energy Independence, POET, with help from other funding sources, is putting about $216 million into the project.

Officials say the plant will be added to an existing ethanol plant in Emmetsburg in northwestern Iowa. It will be capable of producing 25 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol each year from corn fiber and corncobs.

The release says state energy officials will get quarterly reports from the company on its activities.

Group says Iowa lawmaker too close to hog industry

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A citizen’s group filed an ethics complaint Feb. 24 against a northern Iowa legislator who heads the state House Agriculture Committee.

The complaint by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement claims Rep. Dolores Mertz’s (D-Kossuth) close ties to the hog industry had unfairly influenced her decision as head of the agricultural panel. Mertz attended a budget committee meeting Feb. 24 but left the Statehouse soon after the group held a news conference. A telephone call left at her office wasn’t immediately returned.
Rep. Helen Miller (D-Webster), who heads the House Ethics Committee, declined to comment because she said she hasn’t had time to study the complaint.

U.S. maintains access to Philippine pork market

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Philippine government indicated last week that it will maintain current rules for the administration of its tariff rate quota (TRQ) for pork, preserving U.S. access to a fast-growing market for U.S. pork exports, according to the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC).

The Philippine government had threatened in recent months to severely restrict pork imports by denying to legitimate Philippine importers the licenses they need to import pork within the country’s 54,210 metric ton pork TRQ. (Amounts of imported pork below the TRQ are subject to a lower, or in-quota, tariff rate. Once imports reach the TRQ threshold a higher tariff rate kicks in.)

In response, the NPPC filed a petition with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in December 2008, requesting removal of the Philippines from the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The NPPC noted the Philippine action would have violated World Trade Organization rules and a 1999 Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and the Philippines.
The NPPC explained GSP is a program designed to provide developing countries such as the Philippines with preferential duty access to the U.S. market. In 2007, the Philippines exported $1.1 billion worth of products to the U.S. under GSP.

U.S. pork sales to the Philippines in 2008 surged by 360 percent to 25,300 metric tons valued at $46 million, according to the NPPC.

2 Tennessee counties get federal farm assistance

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Giles and Macon counties in central Tennessee are getting federal farm assistance.

Gov. Phil Bredesen said Feb. 23 the USDA has designated the counties as natural disaster areas for agriculture due to drought in 2008. The designation makes farmers in Giles, Macon and adjoining counties eligible to apply for emergency loans, livestock assistance and supplemental farm payments as provided by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.

Farmers in more than 75 percent of the state’s counties are now eligible to apply for some form of federal assistance.

Argentine exports plunge 36 percent amid downturn
BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Argentina says annual exports plunged 36 percent in January as demand fell for its wheat, soy, oil and cars amid the global economic downturn.

The national statistics agency said exports from South America’s second-largest economy fell to $3.7 billion, while imports fell 38 percent to $2.8 billion. Exports plunged because of a 25 percent drop in volume coupled with a 14 percent drop in prices for wheat, soy, corn, beef and other products. Argentina is one of the top grain and beef exporters.

Agricultural products accounted for nearly two-thirds of exports in the year ending Jan. 31. For nearly a year, farmers have been periodically protesting what they say are inflated export taxes.