Farm News, Wednesday, Sept 9, 2015

NFU Calls for Swift Advancement of Multiyear Tax Extenders Package

The National Farmers Union is calling on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee to advance a multiyear tax extenders package similar to the one passed by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in July. NFU President Roger Johnson sent a letter to the committee Tuesday saying “in this particularly difficult period, our members require a predictable tax structure.” Johnson noted that over the last several years, Congress has approached the extension of valuable tax credits in an unpredictable way that has been unfriendly for family farmers and rural residents. The last minute extensions, some of which were retrospective in nature, left producers scrambling to make purchases during the last few weeks of a calendar year. That nature of Congress, Johnson said, has hampered long-term planning for farmers.

USDA Awarding $8 Million in Grants to Support Healthier School Meals

USDA announced $8 million worth of grants to help school nutrition professionals better prepare healthy meals for their students on Tuesday. Approximately $2.6 million dollars in grants will support implementation of new national professional standards for all school nutrition employees who manage and operate the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. In February, USDA announced the standards for school nutrition employees that went into effect on July 1st of this year. Another $5.6 million will go to help states expand and enhance food service training programs and provide nutrition education in school, child care, and summer meal settings. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said “together we can make sure we're giving our kids the healthy start in life they deserve.”

Research On-going to Improve Food Service Sector Bacon

Researchers at Kansas State University are exploring what level of pork belly fat saturation in bacon will result in longer shelf life and better flavor. Meatingplace reports Terry Houser and his team is studying the influence a pig’s iodine level—a measure of fat saturation—has on shelf life value of bacon. Houser said, “we wanted to see what the effects freezing has on lipid oxidation or off-flavor development in those bacon products.” Increased rates of lipid oxidation have been linked to greater occurrence of rancid flavors in meat products, according to their research. Currently, bacon used in the food service sector is stored frozen but is not vacuum packaged. This method can lead to off-flavors in meat with higher levels of unsaturated fat. Houser and his team’s on-going research to create better bacon will explore ways to identify bacon that is higher in unsaturated fat and how to make the fat more stable in frozen storage.

NAFB News