 |
 |
|
March 5, 2008 - Vol 8, Issue 4
Commodity Classic Draws Record Attendance.
The combined educational event for the America Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association and the National Association of Wheat Growers, Commodity Classic is a premier trade show and convention which brought together 4,532 registered delegates and 145 media of the agricultural industry. In addition to commodity specific meetings, this year's Commodity Classic, held in Nashville, Tenn., from Feb. 28 to March 1, offered a wide range of venues to learn about developments in federal policy, research, technology and market opportunities for grains and oilseeds. The trade show housed over 847 exhibitors, where ASTA sponsored a booth providing information on intellectual property, Market ChoicesTM and the seed industry as a whole. Representing ASTA in the booth and at the many functions at the convention were Vice President of Government Affairs Leslie Cahill, Vice President of Communications Gretchen Flanley and Director of State Affairs Pat Miller. The booth drew many interested growers and industry representatives who also participated in a contest to guess the number of corn, soybean and wheat seeds in a jar, which were donated by Becker Underwood. Congratulations to contest winner of a $200 gift certificate, Judy Hieser from Minier, Ill. She and her husband Bryan raise specialty crops including soybeans high in isoflavins for The Solae Company as well as seed for corn and soybeans. "The whole event - from the meetings to the awards ceremonies to the busy trade floor - provided an opportunity for ASTA staff to share with our customers the exciting developments in seed technology of the direct benefits by increasing yield, reducing inputs as well as delivering products to the expanding market place," commented Flanley. "We look forward to our continued involvement with Commodity Classic." The 2009 Commodity Classic will be held Feb. 26-28 in Grapevine, Texas, and will add the National Sorghum Producers.
Registration Now Open for the American Seed Trade Association's 125th Anniversary Annual Convention! The 125th Annual Convention will be held June 21-25, 2008, at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando (Kissimmee), Fla. We truly hope you will join us for this monumental event, which will include special anniversary features plus a full slate of essential educational sessions and meetings! Please visit the convention registration page on the ASTA website. Members will need to enter their member login information in order to take advantage of member rates. If you are unsure of your login information, please contact Jason Laney. Once you have registered for the 125th Annual Convention, we suggest you make your hotel arrangements as soon as possible because of the expected high attendance for this conference. The group rate cutoff date is May 20. To make your hotel reservations, please contact the hotel directly:
Sustainable Agriculture Initiatives Continue to Develop There are several initiatives that are on-going throughout the United States that are striving to establish a "sustainable agriculture" standard for growers and the agriculture industry as a whole. The promoters of these standards are seeking to satisfy the perceived "growing consumer demand" for food products that are produced in a sustainable manner. As with many initiatives such as these, there are various sides to the effort and ultimate goals for the organizations sponsoring the efforts. The most challenging from the agriculture community's standpoint is an agreed upon definition of what is "sustainable agriculture production." While the need to be sustainable "sounds" admirable, the end product needs to be manageable and still provide a return to the grower in order to stay in business. These efforts can be beneficial to American agriculture, but they must be done in a sound, practical manner with a great deal of input and direction with those that have experience in agricultural production. ASTA, seed companies and several state associations are participating in order to provide sound direction to the efforts. Additional support and participation will be needed in the future. ASTA will keep the industry appraised of the progress of these efforts as they move forward. Two prominent efforts are being developed at this time. Please click on each initiative for further information: The Keystone Center - Creating Sustainable Outcomes for Agriculture and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) - Agriculture Practice Standard for Food, Fiber and Biofuel Crop Producers and Agricultural Product Handlers and Processors. ASTA will provide more detailed information on each initiative in upcoming issues of Seed E-News.
USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum Focuses on Energizing Rural America in the Global Marketplace Held Feb. 21-22 in Arlington, Va., this year's forum provided an opportunity for experts in economics, industry, policy, science and government to explore the future of agriculture. Although the first forum was held by USDA 85 years ago, the goal of sharing information to promote an "intelligent balance of production, marketing, and consumption of farm products for the greatest good of the entire Nation" continues to exist today. ASTA President and CEO Andy LaVigne attended the conference, "There was a lot of good information presented this year that would be of interest to the seed industry as they look toward market trends and their future investments." ASTA members are encouraged to visit the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum website to access the many presentations given during the sessions.
Mississippi Seedsmen's Hold Association Convention
On Feb. 22-24, the Mississippi Seedsmen's Association brought together over 160 seed professionals at their annual meeting in Tunica, Miss., providing an excellent venue of outstanding programming. Among the topics presented was an update on the farm bill by Chip Morgan, executive vice president of Mississippi Delta Council. In addition, a program directed toward retailers to help them assist their grower customers in managing high input costs was presented by Darrin Frye, president and CEO of Agri-Business Solutions. ASTA Director of State Affairs Pat Miller provided an overview of ASTA activities and state legislation. A highlight of the program was the scholarship auction, offering fun coupled with the support of a fine cause, which raised over $16,000 for the endowment program. Congratulations to the retiring President Terry Dulaney, Dulaney Seed Co., and the association's leadership on the successful meeting and the recruitment of 53 new members in the past year - a job well done on all fronts!
Phytosanitary Issues Impact Seed Trade to Australia ASTA has stepped in to help member seed companies address and resolve various phytosanitary issues that impact the movement of seed products internationally. One issue that occurred recently involved meeting Australia's import requirements for testing ryegrass seed shipments for a weed seed contaminant (Glyceria sp.). USDA maintains a database (EXCERPT) of current import requirements of over 120 countries that is used by USDA and state officials to issue phytosanitary certificates. In the case of Australia, EXCERPT did not contain the latest Australian requirements for Glyceria testing, which inhibited USDA and state officials from issuing proper phytosanitary certificates. This resulted in costly shipping delays for several consignments. ASTA quickly worked with Australian and USDA officials to get this new information into the system. Countries frequently change their import requirements, making it increasingly difficult to keep the database up to date.
Re-exported Seed Just One of Many Complex Phytosanitary Issues These more complex issues will require close coordination and interaction not only with USDA, as was the case with Australia, but also international organizations such as the International Seed Federation and the International Plant Protection Convention. One of the most difficult and contentious issues is re-export, in which seed is imported, mixed with domestic and/or seed imported from other countries, and re-exported. Currently it is very difficult to document that all collective phytosanitary requirements of the final seed product have been met to the satisfaction of the country of final destination. Innovations such as a "seed passport" system are being explored as a means to track the history of seed from origin to final destination, including all testing and other mitigations it received along the way. The goal is to develop an international standard that will be recognized and used by all countries that are involved in the international movement of seed. ASTA will continue to work with the seed companies, USDA and the international community to achieve successful outcomes.
Whiteaker Completes Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Training Program Dr. Gary Whiteaker, Verdant Partners, LLC, participated in the Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA) "Train the Trainer" Patents Program on behalf of ASTA. The 5-day program held Feb. 25-29 in Alexandria, Va., was sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Office of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). The program is designed to provide training for individuals who will subsequently train others on plant breeders' rights under the UPOV Convention. Whiteaker remarked that the training was "very worthwhile, extremely educational and we developed a great network with the classmates," which totaled over 20 individuals from 19 countries. As an officially certified UPOV trainer, Dr. Whiteaker will be assisting ASTA in Plant Variety Protection (PVP) training activities in some of our key market countries. Plans are under way for programming in India and China.
African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) Holds 8th Annual Congress in Casablanca
The congress, which took place Feb. 25-29, was well attended by over 250 AFSTA members from 35 countries. The program included multiple information and discussion forums on topics including seed certification, seed care and the harmonization of regulations, as well as the effect of globalization on the seed industry as a whole. It was decided in the course of the meetings that the undertakings of AFSTA's four working groups, Fund Raising, International Treaties, Harmonization of Regulations and Biotechnology, would continue their efforts. Also resultant from this year's congress was the accession of Mr. Marcel Kanungwe of Zambia as the association's president, proceeding Mr. Mark Sachs of South Africa. Lisa Nichols, ASTA's director of international programs, was also nominated and accepted as an associate member of the AFSTA Board. Other board members include representatives from Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali and France. Next year's 9th Annual Congress will be held March 2-6 in Cape Town, South Africa. Nichols stated, "AFSTA is playing an integral part of the creation and support of national seed associations in Africa, as well as serving to direct efforts on harmonizing seed legislation and policies in the regions represented within its membership. I look forward to representing the interests of ASTA and being part of these important efforts by AFSTA."
Detection of Low Level Quantities of Regulated Biotech Product Reported USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a joint press release with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the presence of a regulated corn event, E-59132 (E-32), in very low levels of a limited quantity of Dow AgroSciences commercial seed. The event has been traced to commercial seed sold in the United States from 2006 to 2008 found through regular company testing of its hybrid varieties. Containing no additional genetic material, E-32 also contains the same Bt proteins as the Herculex RW (DAS-59122-7) product which has regulatory approvals in the United States and in many other markets. Please click here for a copy of the press release as well as a reference document of Frequently Asked Questions. APHIS, EPA and FDA were able to conclude that "there are no public health, food or feed safety concerns" because the proteins produced by the regulated product are identical to the registered product, Herculex RW. In addition, USDA and EPA found that the event poses no plant pest or environmental concerns. Dow AgroSciences has been forthcoming with information regarding the nature of the incident ASTA, as well as others throughout the food value-chain. ASTA will notify members of any further developments regarding this issue. Please contact ASTA staff if you have any questions.
Webinar to be Held on Hedging Weather Risk in Agribusiness Weather is a major risk for companies across the agriculture production and supply chain. On March 24, at 1pm EST, a webinar will be conducted which will allow participants to learn how to improve performance with a weather hedge. Unlike insurance, hedging programs pay out based on the weather -- without the need for claims adjustors or proof of loss. In this webinar, students will hear the latest forecast predictions for the upcoming growing season; learn how to identify the probability that unwelcome weather will impact revenues; and gain knowledge in how to structure a hedge to either protect revenues, accelerate sales or both. The session is hosted by Storm Exchange, a company that helps businesses improve their performance in the face of increasingly volatile weather. To register, click here or call (877) 499-7475, ext. 5325.
Free Webinar: Virtual Open House for the MS-MBA in Food and Agribusiness Management Degree Program The Purdue University Department of Agricultural Economics and the Indiana University Kelley School of Business have collaborated to offer a dual-degree, distance-delivered program resulting in two degrees. On March 26, a virtual open house will be offered to give an introduction to the virtual classroom environment, where participants will be able to talk live with program faculty, alumni and current students. Click here for more information.
Registration Now Open for 2nd Annual Plant Breeding Workshop The workshop is sponsored by the Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee, which serves as a forum regarding issues and opportunities of national and global importance to the public and private sectors of the U.S. national plant breeding effort. The 2008 workshop, to be held from June 16-18 in Des Moines, Iowa, will focus on building partnerships between society and the global community of plant breeders. The workshop will include a visit to Monsanto's facilities at Ankeny, Iowa, as well as invited speakers and discussion sessions. Register by April 15 to get the early bird discount. Click here for registration information.
Applications Now Being Accepted for Plant Breeding Academy (PBA) Sponsored by the University of California, Davis, Seed Biotechnology Center, PBA is accepting applications for Class II, which will begin in Sept. 2008. The PBA is a two-year program designed to meet the needs of working professionals, providing tools needed to manage a breeding program. Meeting for six one-week sessions over two years, the academy's schedule allows participants to maintain their current working positions. Already accepted to Class II are a number of outstanding professionals from the United States, Central America, Europe and Africa. These individuals work with a variety of crops including grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes. Taught by internationally recognized plant breeders, PBA is limited in size to give students personal attention. Visit the Plant Breeding Academy website for more information or contact Program Representative Cathy Glaeser by email or at (530) 752-4414.
New Master's Degree in Seed Technology and Business Offered at Iowa State University Designed for working professionals, the program teaches students to apply the principles of business management to rapidly-changing seed industry issues such as intellectual property protection, biotechnology and communications. The first group of students began in July 2007, representing nine countries. North America was by far the largest, but representation was spread over four other continents. Students in the program came from a number of different seed jobs: general management, operations, research, product development and sales. There was diversity in the organizations they represented from public sector to private sector, including very small seed businesses to large corporations. For more information, please visit the website.
Click here for a schedule of additional industry events
ASTA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact ASTA at (703) 837-8140.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Grain Handler's Database • Seed Quality Management • CSS 2008 & Seed Expo • 48th Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference • 125th Annual Convention |