NEPA amendments criticized by NCBA
• https://www.thefencepost.com/news/nepa-amendments-criticized-by-ncba/

The Fence Post reported that the National Environmental Policy Act was enacted by Congress in 1969 and signed by then-President Richard Nixon in 1970 to “encourage productive and enjoyable harmony” between humans and the environment.

With that objective in mind, federal agencies were required to prepare environmental impact statements for “every recommendation or report on proposals for legislation and other major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment” and, in doing so, provide opportunities for public participation to help inform agency decision making.

Following the passage of President Biden’s Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, portions of NEPA were amended. Environmental impact statements must now include discussion of reasonably foreseeable environmental effects of the proposed action, reasonably foreseeable adverse environmental effects that cannot be avoided, and a reasonable range of alternatives to the proposed action.

NCBA, Public Lands Council and the American Sheep Industry Association submitted comments back in November 2022 objecting to the proposed rule, claiming that NEPA had evolved into “both the most impactful federal environmental process to the ranching industry and the most effective weapon in the arsenal of those who wish to exploit the process for nefarious means.”

Through relentless, process-based litigation across the range, such groups have driven the transformation of NEPA from its original purpose of analyzing potential impacts stemming from major federal action into a black hole of endless and often fear-driven processes initiated by federal agencies in the hope that such analysis might prevent legal challenge to otherwise proper and appropriate science-based decision-making.

Industry groups challenged the amendments, saying that NEPA had become a “time-intensive, exorbitantly-expensive endeavor that resulted in projects postponed or extended years beyond their original schedule, or in some cases derailed altogether. This is true even for routine assessments of projects with clear positive outcomes, including grazing permit renewals, range improvements, wildlife habitat restoration, fuels reduction treatments, and cooperative projects to improve ecosystem services” – all of which being counter to the multiple-use mission of agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, and serve as a deterrent to responsible land management decision making.

Last week, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council reacted to the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s final Phase 2 rule amending the National Environmental Policy Act which will make the process even more burdensome for livestock producers.

NCBA Executive Director of Natural Resources and PLC Executive Director, Kaitlynn Glover stated, “In a time when the Biden Administration should be focusing on reducing regulatory burden on themselves and their partners, this new NEPA framework does the opposite. The Biden Administration largely ignored the requirements Congress passed in the Fiscal Responsibility Act that would streamline NEPA processes. Instead, this final rule changes the focus of NEPA, making it more ambiguous, less targeted, and nearly impossible to navigate….This rule will make federal permitting, including for grazing permits, so much more difficult and expensive, and gives radical activists groups further license to weaponize NEPA against ranchers and rural communities.”

FAO: Meat, cereal, vegetable oils up; dairy, sugar down
• https://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/

According to the Hagstrom Report, the benchmark for world food commodity prices edged higher in April as rising meat prices and modest upticks for vegetable oils and cereals more than offset decreases for sugar and dairy products.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported Friday that the FAO Meat Price Index averaged 116.3 points in April — up 1.9 points, or 1.6% — from March, marking the third consecutive monthly increase and making the index stand only marginally (0.4 percent) below its corresponding value one year ago. In April, international poultry meat prices rose, underpinned by steady import purchases by Middle East countries amid the continued challenges to production stemming from avian influenza outbreaks. World bovine meat prices also increased, driven by the continued high demand from major importers, despite increased supplies from domestic sources in leading importing countries. Bovine meat prices bounced back slightly on market expectations for supplies to seasonally tighten in Oceania. By contrast, world pig meat prices fell marginally, reflecting slack internal demand in Western Europe and persistently lacklustre demand from leading importers, especially China.

Dairy workers at risk of bird flu
• https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-health-officials-warn-dairy-workers-are-risk-bird-flu-2024-05-03/

Reuters reported that on Friday U.S. health officials warned that dairy workers are at risk from the H5N1 bird flu virus that is infecting dairy herds, and urged them to wear protective gear to avoid infection.
The U.S. CDC urged farmers, workers, and emergency responders to wear appropriate protective gear when in direct or close physical contact with sick birds, livestock, feces, raw milk or contaminated surfaces.

The warning coincides with a letter published online to the New England Journal of Medicine detailing the case of a dairy worker who was infected with the virus in March and developed an eye infection known as conjunctivitis.

Although infection of the bird virus is rare in humans, and the dairy worker’s case represents only the second known infection in the United States, it follows a concerning spread of the virus in a variety of mammalian species.

According to the Hagstom Report, “a polar bear in the Arctic, red foxes in Europe, penguins in Antarctica and a wide range of other wild animals have been infected with the flu virus strain currently spreading in dairy cattle in the U.S,” which raises concerns that widespread exposure in people could cause the virus to spread more easily in people and potentially spark a global pandemic.

Florida bans lab-grown meat as other states weigh it
• https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/05/05/florida-lab-grown-meat-ban/73569976007/

According to USA Today, on Wednesday, May 1 Florida became the first state to outlaw the manufacture and distribution of lab-grown meat.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law which would ban lab-grown meat, also called “cultivated” meat because it’s grown from animal stem cells, but does not include Impossible meat which is made from plant-based ingredients.

DeSantis said the ban is meant to protect cattle ranchers and the “integrity of American agriculture,” but some critics call the move misguided.

The first cultivated meat regulatory approvals in the U.S. came through less than a year ago, and “no one in the field has yet scaled up to the levels you need to produce food for supermarkets,“ so some argue that “there’s not even an industry yet,” while other meat-alternative companies and supporters consider lab-grown meat as a way to address the environmental and ethical concerns tied to traditional mass-production of meat.

With the ban, Florida “is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef.”

When the bill was being debated in the Florida House back in March, not all lawmakers were on board. Rep. Christine Hunschofsky said the “food fight” part of the bill “sends a bad message” to researchers and investors about cultivated meat, and that she’s concerned it “will deter future manufacturers from coming to Florida because they don’t know what day of the week that the Legislature will be OK with them being” there.

In addition to Florida, Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee have recently considered bills banning lab-grown meat as well.

The Alabama bill, which originated in the state Senate, would “prohibit the manufacture, sale, or distribution of food products made from cultured animal cells.” The state House passed it April 30, but an amendment requires it goes back to the Senate before being sent to the Governor.

Similar to the Florida law, Alabama’s approved bill removed a research ban that could affect NASA and the space industry, which is looking at cultivated meat for long-term space missions.

In the Arizona legislature, two different bills passed the House – one banning lab-grown meat and another for tougher meat labeling – but neither made it out of the Senate.

The Tennessee bill, which would ban the sale of cultured meat and impose fines of up to $1 million, was not considered by either house before the General Assembly session ended, but according to its sponsor, farmer Senator Frank Niceley, the bill “would be the death knell for cultured meat.”