Food safety bill exempts smaller operators

Washington Ag Today December 2, 2010 The food safety bill passed by the U.S. Senate this week includes an amendment that excludes small sized operations from some of the new regulations. Producers and processors will be exempt who sell directly to consumers and have less than 500-thousand dollars in annual sales and who are not more than 275 miles away from the end-user, be it a consumer, restaurant or distribution facility. United Fresh and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association are among groups that have expressed disappointment over the exemption.

The Senate bill must now be reconciled with the House version by the end of the lame-duck session. There is some expectation that the House will pass the Senate bill to speed up the process.

Now here is Jack McGuiness from Stockland Livestock in Davenport.

“This past week we had a nice run of cattle despite the big storm. We ended up with 500-head. Good strong market all the way around. Cows and bulls tried to be a little higher for the few that we did have. Feeder cattle fully steady if not stronger. Coming up on Monday we are going to have a better run of cattle. Looks like the weather is going to be in our favor a little bit. This market is as good as we have ever seen it for all classes. We’ve got several nice consignments of feeders. We will sell those in the afternoon. We will start with cows and bulls and small animals and the stockers and feeders in the afternoon. Stockland Livestock! We are under new ownership here. We appreciate you business and we will talk to you again on Tuesday from right here at the yard.”

Thanks Jack.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net.