Agribusiness Update for Thursday 04/17/14

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is discussing the possibility of having rules to require reporting of PEDV outbreaks with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians to improve tracking of the disease. PEDV has been difficult to track - partly because veterinarians aren't required to report instances to government officials. Association Executive Director Tom Burkgren says it's a very widely distributed disease - and at this point in the outbreak - he thinks there'd have to be really good reasons to start reporting it.

Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns has written to the FDA - asking them to exempt raw ag commodities, distillers grain and other byproducts from the proposed livestock feed rule. As currently drafted - Johanns tells FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg the new requirements would be illogical and could bring a safe, mutually-beneficial system to a screeching halt. He says the proposal would increase costs and create massive amounts of landfill waste without any improvements to food safety. Johanns says measured regulatory discretion is needed in this situation.

That's today's Agribusiness Update from the Ag Information Network.