California Ag Network

Tag: NAMI

  • Animal Agriculture Organizations Launch Ambitious New Protein PACT

    Twelve organizations representing farmers and companies who make the vast majority of America’s meat, poultry, and dairy, as well as animal feed and ingredients, today (Monday) unveiled the Protein PACT for the People, Animals, and Climate of Tomorrow – the first joint initiative of its kind designed to accelerate momentum and verify progress toward global sustainable development goals across all animal protein sectors.

    The Protein PACT has been submitted to the UN Food Systems Summit as a sustainability game changer, and sustainable livestock and poultry production will be featured in a side event at the upcoming Food Systems Summit ministerial in Rome on Tuesday, July 27.

    Alongside the debut of the Protein PACT, the North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) released its draft sustainability framework and is soliciting public comments to inform the organization’s efforts to set transparent baselines and measure progress toward ambitious sustainability goals.

    North American Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts commented:

    “Animal protein is at the center of healthy diets, and our commitments to economic, social, and environmental sustainability also place us clearly at the center of solutions for a healthy future.

    The Protein PACT is the first initiative to unite meat, poultry, and dairy farmers and processors in a common vision for transparent communication, continuous improvement, and ambitious commitments to ensure the sustainability of the high-quality protein foods Americans rely on every day.”

    The Meat Institute draft sustainability framework released today encompasses more than 100 metrics developed through extensive collaboration with sustainability experts, supply chain partners, and Meat Institute members.

    After incorporating public feedback, the Meat Institute will set ambitious targets for public commitments by packers and processors of all sizes to verify progress in all five Protein PACT focus areas:

    • Optimize contributions to healthy land, air, and water
    • Be the leading source of high-quality protein in balanced diets
    • Provide the most humane care and raise healthy animals
    • Produce safe products without exception
    • Support a diverse workforce and ensure safe workplaces

    Interested stakeholders can learn more about the Protein PACT and submit feedback on the Meat Institute’s draft sustainability framework here.

    The Protein PACT is partially funded by U.S. farmers and ranchers, including with support from the pork, dairy, and soybean checkoffs.

    About the Meat Institute: The North American Meat Institute is the leading voice for the meat and poultry industry.  The Meat Institute’s members process the vast majority of U.S. beef, pork, lamb, and poultry, as well as manufacture the equipment and ingredients needed to produce the safest and highest quality meat and poultry products.

  • North American Meat Institute on Prop 12 Proposed Rules: Burdensome, Unworkable & Complex

    In comments submitted to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), The North American Meat Institute (the Meat Institute) today said the State of California’s proposed rules for Proposition 12 (Prop 12 or the law) are burdensome, complex and unworkable providing no food safety or animal welfare benefit.

    “The proposed rule by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) admits there are no benefits to Californians as a result of Prop 12 and admits the deaths of breeding sows will increase,” said Mark Dopp, Meat Institute Senior Vice President Regulatory & Scientific Affairs and General Counsel. “Multiple sections of the rule should be withdrawn or significantly revised.”

    The Meat Institute submitted 12 pages of comments, found here that said the rules, if finalized, would create a bureaucratic labyrinth of regulatory provisions:

    • requiring an almost unworkable annual certification of veal and breeding pig (sow) facilities;
    • creating an overly complex accreditation process for entities allowed to certify those facilities;
    • imposing detailed recordkeeping requirements on producers and throughout the supply chain;
    • imposing problematic labeling provisions; and
    • granting legally questionable enforcement authority.

    The text of the notice and proposed rule can be found here.

    The following are key findings in the notice published along with the proposed rule:
     

    • Estimated costs for businesses to comply regarding pork: “Estimated ongoing cost is greater than the initial cost of conversion at $100,000 per year for a typical breeding pig farm due to smaller inventory of breeding pigs, lower piglet output per animal and increased breeding pig mortality.”
    • CDFA acknowledges that animal confinement space allowances prescribed in the Act (cage-free for egg-laying hens, 43 square feet for veal calves and 24 square feet for breeding pigs) “are not based in specific peer-reviewed published scientific literature or accepted as standards within the scientific community to reduce human food-borne illness, promote worker safety, the environment, or other human or safety concerns.”
    • “This proposal does not directly impact human health and welfare of California residents, worker safety, or the State’s environment…”
    • CDFA also identified higher costs for schools, universities, prisons, and county jails. And discussing “Benefits to human health, worker safety, or the State’s environment” CDFA said “The Department has made an initial determination that the proposed regulatory action will have significant, statewide adverse economic impact directly affecting California businesses including the ability of California businesses to compete with businesses in other states.”
    • Finally, the agency identified an impact Prop 12 is likely to have – forcing low income consumers to pay more for food. “Covered pork, and especially covered egg products will become more expensive to consumers starting in January 2022 because of the animal confinement standards mandated in statutes. … Therefore, the Act will disproportionately reduce food purchasing power of low-income consumers. … Food consumers most affected will be those low-income consumers that are not enrolled in assistance programs.”

    The North American Meat Institute is the leading voice for the meat and poultry industry.  The Meat Institute’s members process the vast majority of U.S. beef, pork, lamb, and poultry, as well as manufacture the equipment and ingredients needed to produce the safest and highest quality meat and poultry products.

  • Market Fundamentals Drive the Beef & Cattle Market

    The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute), the largest and oldest trade association for packers and processors of beef, pork, lamb, veal and turkey today said market fundamentals drive the beef and cattle market and additional government intervention will have unintended consequences for livestock producers, packers and consumers.

    “Long time critics of the meat and poultry industry are again proposing additional regulations and shortsighted market interventions that do not consider the basic laws of supply and demand. Many of these proposals have already failed in practice or before the courts,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “The beef market is dynamic, with recent challenges due to labor shortages and the COVID pandemic rather than problems with market structure.

    “The members of the Meat Institute – and their livestock suppliers – benefit from, and depend on, a fair, transparent and competitive market. The North American Meat Institute is prepared to discuss these issues and work with the Administration and the Congress on the issues facing the industry.” 

    The Meat Institute made these remarks in written testimony submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry for a hearing entitled, “Examining Markets, Transparency, and Prices from Cattle Producer to Consumer.”

    The testimony provides a comprehensive picture of the dynamic and growing beef industry and an analysis of rhetoric surrounding oversight of the market, antitrust issues and the market forces at play.

    Of particular interest is a new analysis (pages 8 and 9 of the testimony), using USDA data, of the profit margins of the three sectors of the fed cattle industry: cow-calf producers, feeders and packers. The data show that over the last 25 years, while the four-firm concentration ratio in the fed cattle market has remained relatively constant, it has not ensured packer profitability at the expense of producers. 

    “No sector – cow-calf, feedlot, nor packer – has realized positive margins every year,” Potts said. “For example, the four-firm ratio in 2014, when cow-calf and feedlot profit margins were at record highs, was the same as in 2017 when all three sectors showed positive margins. However, over this 25-year timeline, the cow-calf sector incurred negative margins the fewest number of years of the three.”

    In addressing calls for additional packer capacity as a solution to the challenges due to the COVID pandemic, the testimony demonstrates that packer capacity is already growing as a result of market forces, without government intervention.

    “These new entrants or company expansions were based on decisions to build or expand based on market conditions, not because of government intervention.  Government interference into the market could well undermine this industry growth,” said Potts.

    “During the pandemic, small and midsize beef slaughter and processing companies endured the same challenges large companies faced, perhaps more so. Artificially creating more, smaller regional harvest facilities will not prevent future market disruptions nor protect cattle producers from cyclical or volatile markets. The unintended outcome could be the opposite.”

    For additional information about beef markets see the Meat Institute’s Facts about Common Meat Market Myths and the Meat Institute’s comments submitted earlier this week in response to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s request for comments on efforts to improve supply chains for the production of agricultural commodities and food products. The Meat Institute has several resources about beef markets here. And for more on the pandemic and its effect on the meat and poultry industry, go here.

    About North American Meat Institute

    The North American Meat Institute is a leading voice for the meat and poultry industry. The Meat Institute’s members process the vast majority of U.S. beef, pork, lamb, and poultry, as well as manufactures the equipment and ingredients needed to produce safe, high quality meat and poultry products.

  • UFCW, Meat Institute Call on All 50 States to Prioritize Vaccination of Frontline Meat & Poultry Workers

    Today, the nation’s largest union for meatpacking workers and the association representing meat producers joined forces to urge all 50 U.S. governors to urgently prioritize COVID-19 vaccination for frontline meat and poultry workers across the United States, in accordance with official Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance.

    In a new joint letter to governors, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and the North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) emphasized that quickly vaccinating the sector’s diverse workforce of some 500,000 employees across the country will maximize health benefits, especially in rural communities that often have limited health services, while keeping Americans’ refrigerators full and our farm economy working. Click here to read the full letter to governors.

    COVID-19 vaccinations can, in many cases, be administered through meat and poultry facilities’ existing health programs and staff. UFCW and the Meat Institute committed to assist employees with information and access to off-site vaccination, if needed, and to support vaccine information and education efforts.

    Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts: “Health authorities around the world, employers, unions, and civil rights groups all agree – high priority access to vaccines is critical for the long-term safety of essential frontline meat and poultry workers who have kept Americans’ refrigerators full and our farm economy working throughout this crisis.” 

    UFCW International Vice President Mark Lauritsen: “America’s meatpacking workers are bravely serving on the frontlines so that millions of families can put food on the table during this crisis. To keep our nation’s food supply secure as the pandemic worsens, we need strong action now from our elected leaders to protect these essential workers in meatpacking plants. As the largest union for America’s meatpacking workers, UFCW is joining industry leaders today in a unified call for governors in all 50 states to immediately prioritize meatpacking workers for access to the COVID vaccine. American lives are at stake and these courageous men and women on the frontlines cannot wait any longer.”

    Prioritizing vaccines for frontline meat and poultry workers will build on more than $1.5 billion in comprehensive COVID-19 prevention measures the industry has implemented since the spring. 

    Average case rates amongst meat and poultry workers in November were more than 8 times lower than in the general U.S. population. Further details about COVID-19 health and safety measures and COVID-19 relief contributions are available here.  

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    UFCW International is the largest private sector union in the United States. UFCW International represents 1.3 million professionals and their families in healthcare, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. Our members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at  ufcw.org. 

    The North American Meat Institute is the leading voice for the meat and poultry industry.  The Meat Institute’s members process the vast majority of U.S. beef, pork, lamb, and poultry, as well as manufacture the equipment and ingredients needed to produce the safest and highest quality meat and poultry products. Learn more about at meatinstitute.org