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In the United States, a commodity checkoff program collects funds through a checkoff mechanism, sometimes called checkoff dollars, from producers of a particular agricultural commodity and uses these funds to promote and do research on that particular commodity. The organizations must promote their commodity in a generic way, without reference to a particular producer. Checkoff programs attempt to improve the market position of the covered commodity by expanding markets, increasing demand, and developing new uses and markets. Checkoff programs amount to $750 million per year.
Tilletia controversa is a plant pathogen. It is a fungus known to cause the smut disease TCK smut in soft white and hard red winter wheats. It stunts the growth of the plants and leaves smut balls in the grain heads. When the grain is milled the smut balls emit a fishy odor that lowers the quality of the flour.
Adulteration is a legal term meaning that a food product fails to meet the legal standards. One form of adulteration is an addition of another substance to a food item in order to increase the quantity of the food item in raw form or prepared form, which may result in the loss of actual quality of food item. These substances may be either available food items or non-food items. Among meat and meat products some of the items used to adulterate are water or ice, carcasses, or carcasses of animals other than the animal meant to be consumed.
The Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967 was enacted to protect farmers from retaliation by handlers because the farmers are members of a cooperative. The act permits farmers to file complaints with USDA, which can then institute court proceedings, if they believe their rights under the law have been violated. Several bills have been introduced in recent years on behalf of producers to give them more bargaining power under the Act, which, some producers contend, lacks adequate enforcement authorities.
The 2002 farm bill directed the USDA to provide grants and to assist in the establishment of Agriculture Innovation Centers that provide information, training and direct assistance to agricultural producers in the production, processing, development and marketing of value-added agricultural commodities and products. In September 2003, the USDA announced $10 million in grants for the establishment of demonstration centers in Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.
Amenable species is a term used within the context of USDA's meat and poultry inspection program to signify exotic species that might be added to the laws and thus be eligible for mandatory federal inspection, which is taxpayer-funded. An exotic species is considered an amenable species if its anatomy and biology are substantially the same as the animals currently inspected. The Poultry Products Inspection Act was expanded in 2001 to cover ostrich, rhea, and emu (ratites) because USDA determined that the hazards they present to food safety are essentially the same as those posed by chickens, turkeys, ducks, etc., and the existing contamination detection and prevention systems are sufficient to control them. Buffalo have been considered for inclusion under the Federal Meat Inspection Act because they are bovine species. Deer and elk, on the other hand, are cervids, and pose hazards for food safety that are not yet fully known or controlled for under the existing meat inspection system. The term non-amenable sometimes is used to describe cervids and certain other exotics, like rabbits, for example.
The Automated Import Information System (AIIS) is a computerized tracking system introduced by FSIS in 2002 to monitor imports of meat and poultry. While all imported products are inspected in the country of origin and reinspected visually before being released by FSIS, the AIIS selects shipments for additional reinspection verification. The additional reinspection tasks could include testing for residues, microbiology or food chemistry. Whether import shipments are reinspected is statistically based on the annual volume of shipments from the exporting country.
Bonus commodities from the agricultural perspective, are commodities donated to domestic feeding programs that USDA acquires for unexpected surplus removal reasons or because the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) holdings acquired under its price support programs are not needed for other purposes, or are in danger of waste or spoilage. For example, if meat prices fall, USDA may buy beef and donate it to the National School Lunch Program, or if the CCC is holding an excess of cornmeal that is in danger of spoiling, it might donate this to the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP/TEFAP). From the food program perspective, these are commodities that are donated in addition to the commodities that must be provided under mandatory requirements in food program statutes.
Continuous inspection is the USDA’s meat and poultry inspection system, called "continuous" because no animal destined for human food may be slaughtered or dressed unless an inspector is continuously present. The inspector examines each animal before slaughter and the carcass and parts after slaughter. In processing plants, inspectors need not be present at all times, but instead visit at least once a day. Such inspection also is considered to be continuous.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires that any time fecal contamination is detected during meat and poultry processing, it must be removed from the carcass. Wash versus trim is shorthand used to characterize the debate over how this rule has been applied and enforced by USDA in meat and poultry plants.
In the United States meat industry, Test and hold is a requirement that federal meat inspectors not apply the "inspected and passed" mark on the carcasses of cattle that have been sampled by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for its BSE surveillance program until the sample is determined to be negative. Formerly, unless prohibited by a Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) veterinary medical officer, carcasses of BSE sampled animals were allowed to be stamped inspected and passed, and packing plants were allowed to process them for human food before the sample results were received.
Talmadge-Aiken plants are the approximately 250 meat and poultry plants in 10 states where USDA has contracted with state agency inspectors to conduct federal inspection activities. They are now formally known as Federal-State Cooperative Inspection Plants. Even though state employees conduct the inspections in these plants, they are considered to be under the federal rather than state inspection.
In United States agriculture policy, state inspection programs are the state-run meat and poultry inspection programs to which USDA contributes 50% of the cost. State programs must be certified by USDA to be at least equal to federal inspection requirements. However, products from state-inspected plants cannot be sold outside of the state. Small plants and many state officials have endorsed bills in Congress that would permit state-inspected products to be sold into interstate and foreign commerce, but large meat and poultry companies generally oppose such a change.
The Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957 requires the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to inspect all domesticated birds when slaughtered and processed into products for human consumption. By regulation, FSIS has defined domesticated birds as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and guinea fowl. Ratites were added in 2001. The primary goals of the law are to prevent adulterated or misbranded poultry and products from being sold as food, and to ensure that poultry and poultry products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. These requirements also apply to products produced and sold within states as well as to imports, which must be inspected under equivalent foreign standards.
The Safe Meat and Poultry Inspection Panel is an advisory panel to review and evaluate meat inspection policies and proposed changes that the 1996 farm bill permanently authorized by amendment to the federal meat and poultry inspection statutes. Provisions in annual USDA appropriations laws since 1996 have prohibited the department from actually establishing the advisory panel.
The Performance-Based Inspection System (PBIS) is a computer-based system used by USDA’s meat and poultry inspection agency, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The system organizes inspection requirements, schedules inspection activities, and maintains records of findings for meat and poultry processing operations under federal inspection.
In United States agricultural policy, production contracts specify who supplies the production inputs, the quality and quantity of the commodity to be produced, and the compensation for the producer; under such contracts, the farmer is paid to provide housing and care for the animals until they are ready for market, but the contractor actually owns the animals.
The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 requires large packers and importers to report to USDA the details of all transactions involving purchases of livestock and imported boxed lamb cuts, and the details of all transactions involving domestic and export sales of boxed beef cuts, sales of domestic and imported boxed lamb cuts, and sales of lamb carcasses. Additional provisions impose, in turn, new data reporting requirements on USDA, including more frequent price reports along with new monthly information on retail prices for meat and poultry products.
Fed cattle refers to cattle leaving a cattle feedlot, after fattening on a concentrated ration, that are ready to be sold to a packing plant for slaughter. Beef cattle are typically sold to packers at about 1,100 pounds, which yields a carcass weight of about 660 pounds.
The Fat free lean index is one of several measures of hog quality that can be used in determining value. The index was developed by the National Pork Producers Council, an industry trade group.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Womach, Jasper (2005-06-16). "Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws" (PDF). NCSEOnline.org (2005 ed.). Congressional Research Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
