(NAFB) – Supported by Goya Foods, the largest, Hispanic-owned U.S. food company, MiPlato, a new food group symbol, has been added to First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Initiative. The MiPlato symbol is a reminder to families about making healthy meal choices with easy “how-tos” about proper portions. In Tampa, Florida, Thursday Mrs. Obama joined Bob Unanue, President of Goya Foods, and leading Latino organizations to promote their nationwide effort to encourage health and wellness in communities across the country.

Goya Foods is rolling out numerous steps to help communities enjoy healthy, tasty and affordable meals including creating brochures, posters, coupons and cookbooks for consumers; developing educational tools for 4^th through 6^th grade students across the country; and imprinting the MiPlato icon on some of their products.

Mrs. Obama says this announcement is – what Let’s Move! is really all about – folks from every sector of our society stepping up and coming together on behalf of our kids. One of the pillars of Let’s Move! is empowering parents with the information they need to make healthy choices.  MiPlato is a tool to help support families in that effort.

(NAFB) – DuPont plans to build one of the world’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol biorefineries in Nevada, Iowa. The plant would require thousands of tons of corn stover from Iowa fields. Steve Mirshak, business director for DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol program, says – “We’re currently working with an exclusive group of growers in a pilot program to collect stover in support of the biorefinery. When completed, the plant will be fueled almost exclusively by corn.”

Andy Heggenstaller, Pioneer agronomy research manager from Iowa, says – as we move forward, cellulosic ethanol production may become a common form of residue management. Experts are keeping in mind long-term impacts. According to Heggenstaller, – university research suggests that at a high yield level, 200 bushels per acre or more, growers can remove 40 percent of stover without negatively impacting soil organic matter.

It is hoped the cellulosic ethanol industry will provide opportunities for growers to help manage residue and provide additional value to their croplands. DuPont businesses Pioneer Hi-Bred and DuPont Industrial Biosciences are collaborating with Iowa State University, performing studies on residue to establish best practices in harvesting, storage and transportation, as well as to assure the agronomic and environmental integrity of cornfields.

(NAFB) – Not all are happy with the new school meal requirements. Meat and potato industry groups are claiming the guidelines add more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to the school menus at a cost.  They say by limiting potatoes at breakfast and dropping a requirement that meat be served at the morning meal the goal of delivering a balanced diet is missed.

Jeremy Russell, spokesman for the National Meat Association, which represents packers, processors and others in the industry, says – protein is very important for the health of growing children, and meat is a high quality source of protein.

 Kristina Butts, director of legislative affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, says – the variety of beef options available allows schools to incorporate lean beef into their menu plans on any budget.

(NAFB) – 2011 Miss America Teresa Scanlan is continuing to speak out on behalf of agriculture.  While wearing her crown, Scanlan established partnerships with several agriculture organizations, including The Hand That Feeds U.S., U.S. Cattlemen’s Association and Real Farmers, Real Food programs. She has noticed – a massive disconnect geographically.  Today, Scanlan has set out to bridge the gap between urban and rural America.

In an article written for FoxNews, Scanlan pointed out the importance of agriculture producers. She wrote: “Can we feed a growing world population, fuel our economy, and still offer wholesome food choices to Americans? Sure, just as long as we avoid weakening the very infrastructure that makes it all possible.

Scanlon, the former Miss America, who turns 19 next month, says she will continue to tell the story of agriculture. In the next few months she will be speaking at a variety of conventions and conferences, including the Kansas Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer and Rancher Conference in Wichita, Kansas, on January 29.

(NAFB) – Through the Environmental Stewardship program, cattlemen from across the nation are annually recognized for outstanding environmental stewardship practices and conservation achievements. The award program was established in 1991 by the national Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation. Nominations for the 2012 award are due by March 2, 2012.

NCBA CEO Forrest Roberts says – the Environmental Stewardship Award highlights our nation’s cattlemen for their excellence in land stewardship and management and allows cattlemen to showcase to the public the positive environmental benefits of farming and ranching. Roberts notes that – award recipients excel in the areas of water management, wildlife, vegetation, air, soil, sustainability and the overall leadership abilities of their farms or ranches.

Nominations can be submitted by any organization, group, or individual on behalf of a U.S. cattle producer. However, individuals and families cannot nominate themselves. Applications are available at http://environmentalstewardship.org.

(NAFB) – The Federal Government spending bill passed by Congress over the weekend had implication for the land. According to Dustin Van Liew, Public Lands Council executive director and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association director of federal lands, the bill included – critical policy provisions related to livestock grazing as well as greenhouse gas reporting requirements. Van Liew says PLC and NCBA encourage President Obama to waste no time in signing the bill into law.

Specifically, Van Liew pointed to a two-year extension of a provision to allow federal lands grazing permit renewals, despite a backlog of National Environmental Policy Act reviews, and a provision to allow grazing permits to be transferred without undergoing a NEPA analysis as long as the permit remains under current terms and conditions. Van Liew says – this commonsense grazing provision will continue to provide livestock producers relief from the uncertainty and instability of the federal lands grazing permit renewal process.

In addition, Van Liew says language exempts the Bureau of Land Management from environmental law, litigation and regulation until the agency is able to complete environmental reviews of livestock trailing and crossing permits, the issuance of which is crucial to many ranchers on federal lands. He said the omnibus will also prohibit the U.S. Forest Service from using funds to reduce domestic sheep grazing due to management for bighorn sheep unless the management is consistent with a state wildlife plan.

Finally, Van Liew hailed Congress for including report language requiring EPA, USFS and BLM to report fees paid by the agencies through the Equal Access to Justice Act.

(NAFB) – Another part of the federal funding package passed by Congress over the weekend includes The Keystone XL Pipeline project, a 36-inch pipeline running 1,600 miles from Canada to Texas. It would transport oil from supply fields in Alberta and North Dakota to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

Missouri’s U.S. Representative Sam Graves, says construction of the pipeline would quickly create thousands of jobs for pipefitters, welders, mechanics, and electricians among others. That does not count the hundreds of other jobs that would be created for manufacturers or for the local businesses along the route. Graves points out that – one Department of Energy analysis concludes that it would essentially eliminate our dependence on Middle East oil.

The President has delayed the final okay of the XL Pipeline until after the election. However, Graves believes – the administration should approve the Keystone Pipeline without delay. We should not wait for an election to create thousands of good-paying jobs. H.R. 3630 requires the President to approve the pipeline or tell Congress why it’s not in our national interest.

(NAFB) – Over the weekend the Senate passed a package of spending bills that include support that enables the Army Corps of Engineers to repair levees along the Missouri River damaged by flooding. Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns says – he voted to ensure this disaster funding didn’t add to the debt, but unfortunately the legislation offsetting the cost of the relief did not pass. 

According to Johanns, – most people would agree that Washington spends too much money and rarely stops to think about how to pay the bill. The Nebraska Senator called on Congress to make tough choices like reducing annual discretionary spending.  He says – much more needs to be done to get our debt under control, but setting priorities and adhering to budget constraints is a step in the right direction.

The legislation now goes to the White House for President Obama’s signature.

(NAFB) – Brazil is about to enact broad new regulations that opponents say could loosen restrictions on Amazon deforestation and increase the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Amazon is the world’s largest rain forest. The move comes after two years of debates and dozens of hearings across the country over how to update a 1965 law that was designed to control slash-and-burn agriculture.

Backers say the proposed Forest Code bill, which is expected to be signed into law early next year, would protect the Amazon while easing the regulatory burden on small farmers. Proponents say it is an improvement over the 1965 law, which requires landholders in the Amazon to have a forest cover over 80 percent of their land. Critics say the law has myriad rules that are hard to understand and routinely ignored.

Under a Brazilian Senate proposal approved earlier this month, farmers would still have to set aside the same amount of their land for forest. But various loopholes, environmentalists warn, would permit farmers in some states to reduce the amount of land covered by trees.

Farmers also would be able to reforest as much as 50 percent of illegally denuded areas with exotic species, rather than native trees, and the overhaul would require farmers to restore only about half of the 212-thousand square miles they would have been required to restore under the current law.

(NAFB) – Pork producers depend on risk-management tools, including futures contracts, to deal with the volatility in feed grain and hog prices. In the wake of the MF Global bankruptcy, and in written testimony to the Senate and House agriculture committees and to the House Financial Services Committee, NPPC said most producers were unaware of their connection to MF Global and were stunned to learn in early November, when the clearing broker filed for bankruptcy, that their futures accounts were frozen and funds were “missing.”

According to the NPPC, pork producers who produce at least 20 percent of U.S. hogs had funds with MF Global. Most, if not all, of them, however, did not deposit their funds directly with the clearing broker. They opened futures trading accounts with an “introducing” broker, which put the funds into MF Global. Now, as much as 1.2-billion dollars those customer funds may have been comingled with MF Global money and used to buy risky European debt.

NPPC has many questions of those investigating the MF Global bankruptcy and may preventative measures were offered. Including: impose stiffer criminal and/or civil penalties for misuse of customer accounts; require brokers to obtain permission before using customers’ funds for purposes other than customer transactions; and extension to commodities exchange customers insurance similar to that provided to securities investors through the Securities Investors Protection Corporation.