Ag News, Wednesday July 8, 2015

Bird Flue Topic of Senate Subcommittee Hearing

The Hill reports highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, otherwise known as bird flu, is wreaking havoc on the U.S. poultry industry. That was the testimony from USDA’s deputy administrator John Clifford for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The outbreak started back in December and has affected more than 48 million birds in 15 states. USDA has committed more than $500 million to help and Clifford told a Senate hearing "we can and will request additional funds should we need to." There has not been an outbreak in three weeks as the bird flu strain does not do well in the warmer summer months. The question that remains is what the industry can do once things cool down later this year. Clifford said the U.S. needs to find a better way to control the disease and save the animal protein by developing new strains of vaccines.

Consumers Dining in More than Taking Home

A new report from the NPD Group shows consumers are eating more meals in restaurants than taking meals home. Meatingplace reports the Chicago-based NPD says on-premises restaurant visits were up two percent for the year ending as of May 2015, compared with the same time last year. The increase marks $223.4 billion in annual sales, the third consecutive year that that dine-in visits outpaced off-premises restaurant traffic. Quick-service restaurants increased dine-in visits by five percent in 2015, the highest gain among all restaurant segments, according to the report. The report said consumers believe the on-premises experiences are one of the top benefits of eating their meals at restaurants. That falls in-line with the “experiential purchasing” trend that marketers are seeing across several industries as more consumers want to “do something” rather than just “buy something.”

Missouri River Basin Receiving Above Normal Runoff

Besides the heavy rainfall in parts of the Midwest such a Missouri and Kansas, the Missouri River basin has received above normal rainfall runoff through parts of its northern leg. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa for the month of June was 6.8 million acre feet, or 125 percent of normal. The 2015 forecast is 105 percent of normal. June precipitation was above normal across much of the Missouri River Basin. The Corps have reduced water releases from its furthest downstream dam, Gavins Point, to reduce flood risk. Thanks to a smaller than normal snow-pack runoff however, the Corps report the upper Missouri reservoir system is well positioned for holding back more water, if needed.

Source:  NAFB News