Daily News Update, Feb. 15, 2008

Appropriations hearings

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture held a hearing on Feb. 13 to review the fiscal year 2009 budget for the Department of Agriculture. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer and Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner testified.

A top priority for Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) is timely implementation of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL). Schafer and Conner assured her that USDA was focused on implementing COOL on Sept. 30, 2008, although the department's compliance costs for the program remain a concern.

Subcommittee ranking Member Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) applauded the department for including in the proposed budget $59 million for bio-based fuel research. This is nearly a $20 million increase from last year.

On the issue of animal identification, Schafer and Conner told the subcommittee that the program should remain voluntary and said the livestock industry works best in a market-based situation. USDA intends to use $24 million budgeted this year for continued cooperative agreements to register premises. About one third of U.S. premises have been registered to date.