Organic Rules Announced & New H2A Not Popular

Tuesday Feb 16th, 2010 46 Views Northwest Report

Organic Rules Announced & New H2A Not Popular plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

USDA has released the final regulation regarding access to pasture for organic livestock operations. This rule amends the National Organic Program regulations to clarify the use of pasture in raising organic ruminants. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan.

MERRIGAN: This is one step of many that we are taking to improve the national organic program.

The department says the rule provides certainty to consumers that organic livestock production is a pasture based system in which animals are actively grazing pasture during the grazing season.

The U.S. Labor Department has published new changes regarding the H2A program and it is not getting very good reviews. One part says that farmers will now have to provide documented evidence that they have looked for qualified U.S. citizens to fill farm jobs before resorting to hiring immigrants. That has been an on-going battle as many agencies have proven that American’s don’t want to work on farms.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

Antibiotics were a good thing when first introduced back in the nineteen thirties and they still are, we in modern society have just turned them into “too much of a good thing”. Whether it’s for humans or animals the overuse of antibiotics can lead to serious complications. That’s the crux of the intense debate going on right now over the use and misuse of antibiotics. For years doctors and veterinarians have prescribed antibiotics when they have indeed been necessary and when they haven’t been so necessary. What has resulted is drug resistance in even the most minor of infections, and in the instance of humans created a weakened immune system. Does that mean we should ban the use of antibiotics? No, we just need to manage them better. One side argues that overuse in the animal industry contaminates the human food chain and ups the possibility of drug resistance in people; the other side argues antibiotic use in animals is minuscule when compared to the rampant overuse in humans. Both sides make some valid points. With antibiotics as with just about everything moderation would seem to be the key to success.

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.