NHF_WEEKLY PREVIEW_ A Penton Media Property June 8, 2009 If you want to view this on the web go to: http://enews.penton.com/enews/nationalhogfarmer/v/399 MARKET PREVIEW --Producer Retirement Program Unveiled at Expo This week's World Pork Expo was far from a celebration of, or by, the nation's pork industry. Old friendships were renewed, some business was transacted and knowledge was shared just as in the past. But the specter of a summer that will quite possibly bring no profits to already beleaguered producers hung heavy over the normally festive occasion. And there was little news to change the moods or the outlook. The hottest topic in most conversations was the Producer Retirement Program (PRP) officially unveiled at Expo. PRP is an Iowa corporation with a one-member, one-vote structure like a cooperative. Organizers hope to raise $50 million that would then be parceled out on a bid basis to PRP members willing to remove sows from production for two years. The program is patterned after the Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) milk production buyouts of the past few years. All producers with sows are eligible to be members. Organizers have been talking to the nation's largest sow owners for several weeks, but no membership or participation announcements have been made.Legality The first question regarding PRP is: "Is it legal?" The Sherman Anti-Trust Act prohibits sellers of products from colluding to increase prices -- whether by price agreements or by restricting output. And it does not matter whether the sought-after price levels are reasonable. Price fixing is a per se (read that as "every time") violation of the Sherman Act. To view the full article go to: http://nationalhogfarmer.com/marketpreview/0608-producer-retirement-program SWINE HEALTH PREVIEW --Mycotoxin Testing Can Be Perplexing The 2008 corn harvest was complicated by a wet growing season and wet harvest. Some corn was not adequately dried for long-term storage because of the cost of fuel to dry the corn. As a result, some corn was damaged in the field and some corn has continued to deteriorate in the bin. Eleven of 94 (11%) cases submitted to the Iowa State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ISU VDL) from August 2008 through May 2009 had corn that contained a mycotoxin. Aflatoxin ranged from trace amounts up to 640 ppb (parts per billion), vomitoxin varied from 0.5 ppm (parts per million) up to 17 ppm, zearalenone varied from 1-38 ppm, zearalenol from 0-2 ppm, and T2 toxin varied from 0-0.6 ppm. Vomitoxin (DON) and zearalenone are mycotoxins that are poorly tolerated by swine. DON can cause nearly complete feed refusal at high concentrations (> 5 ppm), and zearalenone is a hormonal toxin similar to the effects of estrogen, causing infertility in sows when fed at high concentrations (3-10 ppm or more). DON, T2 and DAS (diacetoxyscripenol) are all in the trichothecene class of mycotoxins and the effects can be additive. To view the full article go to: http://nationalhogfarmer.com/health-diseases/0608-mycotoxin-testing-perplexing LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW --MCOOL and Processed Meats Mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) would be required for processed foods, including meats, that are inspected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under proposed FDA food safety reform legislation by Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA) and John Dingell (D-MI). The "Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009" would require food manufacturers to identify the country in which final processing occurred. The legislation would also require food manufacturers to identify the country-of-origin for all ingredients on their website. Mandatory COOL would also cover all produce. FDA Food Safety Reform -- The House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to consider the "Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009," a major Food & Drug Administration (FDA) food safety reform bill, this month. The legislation would grant FDA new authority and resources. The committee provided these highlights of the bill: To view the full article go to: http://nationalhogfarmer.com/pork-quality/0608-mccool-processed-meats NEWS FLASH --Pork Board Asks Industry for Pork Quality Program Support The National Pork Board (http://www.pork.org/) has adopted a resolution asking all U.S. pork producers to become certified in the Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus program (http://www.pork.org/Producers/PQAP.aspx)by June 30, 2010 and to achieve PQA Plus site status by Dec. 31, 2010. The board is also requesting producers adopt the ethical principles the industry developed in 2008. National Pork Board President Steve Weaver announced the board's action at World Pork Expo (WPX) last week in Des Moines, IA. To view the full article go to: http://nationalhogfarmer.com/behavior-welfare/news/0608-pork-board-industry-support PORK INDUSTRY CALENDAR June 12, 2009: Annual Pork Chop Scramble, York Country Club, York, NE; for more information contact the Nebraska Pork Producers Association at (888) 627-7675 or nppa@nepork.org (mailto:nppa@nepork.org) June 21 - 24, 2009: Reciprocal Meat Conference 2009. Rogers, Arkansas; Hosted by University of Arkansas and Tyson Foods. Contact: Thomas Powell, AMSA Executive Director (tpowell@meatscience.org (mailto:(tpowell@meatscience.org)). Web site: www.meatscience.org/rmc/09invite.html (http://www.meatscience.org/rmc/09invite.html) To view the full article go to: http://nationalhogfarmer.com/calendar/ ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER You are subscribed to this newsletter as #email# To subscribe to this newsletter go to: http://subscribe.nationalhogfarmer.com/?tc=NLSUB To unsubscribe from this newsletter go to: http://subscribe.nationalhogfarmer.com/?tc=NLSUB&cid=#message_id#&lid=#list_id#&email=#email# Send Comments & Questions Dale Miller, Editor, National Hog Farmer, mailto:dale.miller@penton.com Penton Media | 249 W. 17th Street | New York, NY 10011 Copyright 2009, Penton Media. All rights reserved. This article is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, re-disseminated, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium without the prior written permission of Penton Media.