Briefs: Corn stocks expected to drop to 13-year low
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Next year’s corn stocks are expected to drop steeply to a 13-year low, the Department of Agriculture reported on Friday, as U.S. farmers cut back on corn acreage this spring to grow more soybeans.
Corn futures traded lower on the Chicago Board of Trade, after a record close in the previous session as the projected drop in corn stocks had been widely expected by traders.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects corn production this year to be down 7 percent from the record breaking heights of 2007.
The report released Friday projects about 12 billion bushels of corn will be harvested this year. About one-third of that amount will be directed toward ethanol production.
Wet weather has slowed corn plantings, causing the greatest delay since 1995. The USDA reports that only 27 percent of the nation’s corn crop had been planted through May 4. As of May 4 in Nebraska, the planting was 31 percent finished — 2 percentage points behind last year at this time and 16 points behind the average of 47 percent by the first week of May.
Thousands of acres of sugar beets destroyed *SCOTTSBLUFF — Bad weather has taken a toll on the fledgling sugar beet crop.
While recent snowfall was welcomed for its moisture content, the accompanying wind and freezing temperatures contributed to the destruction of 10,000 to 12,000 acres of sugar beets in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming.
The trouble started on April 27 when 890 acres of beets in the Gordon area were frozen. This was followed by the snow and wind that tore through the Panhandle on May 1 and 2, making it necessary to replant about one-third of the 2008 crop, the first major Roundup Ready seeding in the Co-op's history.
Crop insurance will cover some of the losses and costs of replanting.
Government wants to block mad cow testing WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is urging a federal appeals court to keep meatpackers from testing all their cattle for mad cow disease.
Government lawyers told a three-judge panel Friday they should reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Creekstone Farms Premium Beef in Kasnas to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy overseas customers.
The Agriculture Department currently tests less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease. It argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers.
Creekstone claims the Agriculture Department has no authority to prevent companies from using the test to reassure customers.
Government wants more union info WASHINGTON — Unions should be required to make public more details of their internal finances, the Labor Department said Thursday as it proposed new changes to union disclosure forms.
Unions are required every year to file financial disclosure forms with the Labor Department. But federal officials are proposing a more detailed form, and penalizing small unions that get into trouble with the law by prohibiting them from filing a simple form.
The proposed changes will be printed on Monday in the Federal Register.
“This proposed rule provides union members with more complete information about union finances and will better protect their legal rights to transparency and accountability under the law,” said Don Todd, deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Patrick Szymanski, lawyer for the Change to Win labor organization, said there was no indication that the current disclosure forms were inadequate. “It’s another attempt by the Department of Management to find a way to tie unions up in red tape so they can’t continue to organize workers,” he said.
— From news wires
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