March 15, 2010
TW Garner Food Company began in 1929 when Thad W. Garner, at age 17, bought the Dixie Pig Barbecue stand in Winston-Salem. He was joined by his father, Samuel W. Garner, and brothers, Harold and Ralph. The company remains a family owned and operated business. TW Garner Food Company is best known for its Texas Pete ® brand of sauces; Garners ® jams, jellies and preserves and most recently Green Mountain Gringo ® salsas and tortilla strips round out the company’s product lines. Garner Foods was selected in 2003 as the Mass Mutual Family Business of the Year. In 2004, the company was honored by Business North Carolina magazine as Small Business of the Year. TW Garner Food Company is proud to support the North Carolina Agribusiness Council. For More Information about TW Garner or any of their products, please visit their website at
WashingtonNEWS
HSUS-Backed Animal Cruelty Bill Introduced: U.S. Reps. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) and Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) this week introduced the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act to set rules around confinement of animal used to produce food purchased by the federal government. The Humane Society of the United States praised the proposal and encouraged Congress to act swiftly to pass the bill. In a news release, HSUS said the bill "simply requires that any food purchased for federal programs comes from animals raised with enough room to stand up, lie down, turn around and stretch their limbs." "This bill requires meat producers who sell to the federal government to follow the same guidelines that California producers have in place to ensure the animals are raised humanely," said Rep. Gallegly in a statement.
Search for GOP Backing Delays Senate Immigration Bill: Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer said Wednesday he and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham are “getting real close” to a deal on a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Schumer said the two major unresolved issues are finding a second Republican sponsor and getting unions and business “on the same side” regarding how to handle the future flow of low-skill workers.
Campaign NEWS
NC Rep. Watt Endorses Attorney Lewis for Senate: North Carolina Rep. Mel Watt has endorsed attorney Ken Lewis in his bid for U.S. Senate. Lewis is looking for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr.
People NEWS
NC Producers on American Egg Board: Richard L. Simpson, Monroe, N. C., will serve as a member, and Ronald S. Braswell, Nashville, N.C., will serve as an alternate on the American Egg Board for the 2010-2011 term. The board is composed of 18 members and 18 alternates representing six regions and serving 2-year terms.
NC Producer on Cattlemen’s Beef Board: Ernest B. Harris of N.C. was one of 36 appointments to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board. All appointees will serve 3-year terms beginning immediately.
NC Producer President-Elect of NPPC: The National Pork Producers Council recently elected new officers and members to its board of directors. R.C. Hunt, a producer from Wilson, was elected to the vice president's position.
Former Wake Co. Representative Dies: Former Rep. Betty Hutchinson Wiser recently died while on vacation in the Bahamas. She was 78. Wiser represented WakeCounty from 1985-1990.
Pork Council Members In the News: BrunswickCounty porkproducer Mary Earp recently received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from Governor Perdue. Bill Prestage, founder of Prestage Farms, was recently honored with the National Turkey Federation's (NTF) Lifetime Achievement Award. CabarrusCounty pork producer Vicky Porter has been appointed by Governor Perdue to serve on the Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Beulaville pork producer Dexter Edwards was awarded the 2010 Melvin Cording Service to Agriculture Award for his leadership in agriculture.Pork producer and former NCPC director Gerald Warren was awarded "Business Person of the Year" by the Clinton-Sampson Chamber of Commerce.
Commodity NEWS
Organic Initiative Boosts Carolina Production: Organic grain production in the upper Southeast got a big boost from the Organic Initiative in the 2008 farm bill. As organic production continues to increase in the Southeast, growers are urged to take advantage of incentive programs and to be aware of the upcoming March 12 deadline for EQIP funding. Organic grain production in NC has grown at more than 20 percent per year since 2004. Projections are for continued growth at better than 20 percent through 2014, which would make organic grain production a competitive partner for acreage in the state. Growers interested in more information on marketing organic crops can find a list of buyers at
NC Tomato Growers Get New Web Site: N.C. MarketReady, a program of North Carolina Cooperative Extension, has launched the Tomato Growers Information Portal. The new Web resource is the third in a series of "grower information portals" developed by the program that provide North Carolina producers with one-stop shopping for their fruit and vegetable production needs. Go to
USDA’s Pork Projections Unchanged Despite Russian Reopening: Russia's recent reopening to U.S. pork didn't move USDA to increase its 2010 projections for pork exports. In its latest World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates report, the agency noted that exports to Russia will be limited by import quotas. Russia reduced the U.S. pork quota to 126.8 million pounds this year from 220.5 million pounds. The country has ramped up efforts to become self-sufficient in animal protein production. The agency did not budge on last month's projections that U.S. pork exports would total 4.5 billion pounds this year, an increase of 8.4 percent from last year. USDA also did not change projections for poultry and beef exports.
Contracts Short for Virginia-Type Peanuts: Virginia-Carolina peanut growers are again facing a spring planting season with a surplus of peanuts in the pipeline and no firm contract in their hands. As of Feb. 1, the only contracts being offered were runner contracts in the $425 a ton range, some with flex options to get the dollar number up. Growers cut into the huge carryout excess in 2009, but there remain about 800,000 tons of peanuts in carryover from 2009.
Business NEWS
BlueberryFestivalOfferingCollege Scholarships: The 2010 N.C. Blueberry Festival will award up to $20,000 in scholarships to high school seniors in the blueberry region of North Carolina. Public, private, and home school students who reside or attend high school in New Hanover, Pender, Bladen, Duplin, and Sampson counties are eligible to apply for these scholarships. Deadline for application is March 30. More info can be found at
Smithfield Posts First Profitable Quarter Since 2008: Smithfield Foods Inc. said Thursday it recorded its first quarterly profit since 2008 as its hog production businesses slashed losses and its packaged meats segment continued to excel. The company's long bleeding hog production unit narrowed losses in its third fiscal quarter to $55.6 million, from a loss of $253.6 million in the year-ago period, as costs of production decreased and sales prices rose. Raising costs decreased by $10 to $51 per hundredweight, while prices rose $4 to $44 per hundredweight. "It looks like the cycle in hog production has turned," CEO Larry Pope told investors in an analysts' call. For the quarter ended Jan. 31, Smithfield's net income was $37.4 million, or 22 cents per diluted share, compared with a loss of $107.5 million, or 74 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
Video ofCitizens UnitedSeminar Online: The North Carolina FreeEnterprise Foundation held an educational seminar on the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission. You can view the seminar at ncfef.org/Citizens_United.html.
Environmental NEWS
U.S. Makes Progress Toward Cleaner Air: The EPA is making the most recent data available on the state of the nation’s air quality. EPA regulatory actions and voluntary efforts have led to cleaner cars, industries, and consumer products that in turn have contributed to improvements in the nation's air. Since 1990, nationwide air quality has improved significantly for the six common air pollutants: ground-level ozone, particle pollution, lead, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. Emissions of toxic air pollutants, such as benzene, have declined about 40 percent nationwide between 1990 and 2005. Despite this progress, about 127 million Americans live in counties violating at least one of the national air quality standards.
Clean Smokestacks Act Making a Difference?: State officials have oversold the benefits of a landmark anti-smog law that was supposed to send power-plant emissions plummeting, according to the conservative John Locke Foundation. The Raleigh-based think tank says that smog levels show no change after the 2002 Clean Smokestacks Act took effect. The foundation also notes that North Carolina's air looks no better than in four neighboring states. The N.C. Division of Air Quality countered that smog is trending steadily down, reaching the lowest point statewide on record last year. According to the Division of Air Quality, since the act took effect, smog levels have climbed in fewer places in the spring and fine-particle pollution has stayed within federal limits across most of the state. Because vehicle emissions, weather and federal laws also influence smog levels across the Southeast, they say, it's impossible to compute the smokestacks act's role. But power-plant emissions that form smog, haze, acid rain and fine-particle pollution have dropped dramatically, according to state officials. Both Duke Energy and Raleigh-based Progress Energy are on track to meet the reduction targets set out by the smokestacks law.
USDANEWS
USDA Seeking Nominations for Forest Landscape Restoration Advisory Committee: Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced he is seeking nominations from the public for the new Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Advisory Committee. The committee will inaugurate a new level of collaboration between the USDA Forest Service and the American people in the restoration of forested landscapes. Committee members will serve terms of up to two years. For info go to edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-4686.pdf.
Partial 2009-Crop Counter-Cyclical Payments for Upland Cotton and Peanuts: Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA will issue approximately $121 million in partial 2009-crop counter-cyclical payments to producers with upland cotton and peanut base acres enrolled in USDA's Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment (DCP) program. USDA will not issue final 2008-crop counter-cyclical payments for long grain rice and short and medium grain rice because their average market prices exceed levels that would trigger these payments. The partial 2009-crop upland cotton counter-cyclical payment rate is 1.03 cents per pound, equal to 40 percent of the difference between the target price of 71.25 cents per pound and an effective price of 68.67 cents per pound. The effective price is equal to the projected average market price of 62 cents per pound plus the direct payment rate of 6.67 cents per pound.The partial 2009-crop peanuts counter-cyclical payment rate is $9.20 per ton, equal to 40 percent of the difference between the target price of $495.00 per ton and an effective price of $472.00 per ton. The effective price is equal to the projected average market price of $436.00 per ton plus the direct payment rate of $36.00 per ton.
Mark Your Calendar
A public hearing will be held on a proposal to designate North Fork New River in Ashe and Watauga counties as an Outstanding Resource Water to add more protections on Tuesday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m., Ashe Family Central Cafeteria, 626 Ashe Central School Road, Jefferson. Contact: Susan Massengale, 807-6359.
The Environmental Review Commission will meet on Thursday, March 18 at 10 a.m., 544 LegislativeOfficeBuilding.
The Offshore Energy Exploration Subcommittee will meet on Tuesday, March 23 at 10 a.m., 544 LegislativeOfficeBuilding.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a series of public meetings to discuss this year’s Cultch Planting Program. All meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m., HollyRidgeCommunityBuilding, 404 Sound Road, HollyRidge. Tuesday, March 16, VarnumtownTown Hall, 100 Varnamtown Road Southwest, Supply. Wednesday, March 17, PamlicoCounty Courthouse, 302 Main St., Bayboro. Thursday, March 18, CarteretCounty Courthouse, District Courtroom, 300 Courthouse Square, Beaufort. Monday, March 22, N.C. DENR Regional Office, 127 Cardinal Drive Extension, Wilmington. Tuesday, March 23, NorthTopsailBeachTown Hall, 2008 Loggerhead Court, North Topsail Beach and at the Division of Marine Fisheries office, 1021 Driftwood Drive, Manteo. Contact: Clay Caroon, 252-808-8058.
The North Carolina Energy Policy Council will meet on Thursday, March 18 at 1 p.m., 301 N. Wilmington St., Raleigh.