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FDA
Says Products from Cloned Animals Safe for
Consumption
NFU Urges Further Research, Labeling of
Products
NFU President Tom
Buis said, "In the face of ever-increasing food
safety concerns, it is troubling to see the FDA approval of
products from cloned animals to be sold to the public, when
questions surrounding the health risks, legal implications and
ethical concerns remain unanswered. Furthermore, there is no
data to suggest any consumer demand for such products."
"NFU believes consumers have the right to know if the
food they feed their families comes from a cloned animal. I
strongly urge Congress to pass Senator Mikulski's Cloned
Food Labeling Act and direct the FDA to take the
necessary steps to label cloned food products," Buis
said.
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NFU Poll of the Week
How do you feel about cloning animals
for human consumption?
Last week we asked what you thought of the e-newsletter
so far, 95% said they can't wait to read it every Monday and
5% said they usually read it! Thanks for your great
feedback!
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NFU Government
Relations Office Gets New
Intern
Ashley Peppler Joins D.C.
Staff for Spring Term
 Ashley Peppler,
daughter of Rocky
Mountain Farmers Union President Kent and Colleen
Peppler, grew up on her family's farm in Mead, Colo. along
with her younger brother, Tyson. She graduated from Longmont
High School in 2006, where she ran track and cross country for
four years.
Ashley is currently a sophomore at American University in Washington,
D.C. majoring in International Relations, and has joined the
NFU Government Relations staff for the spring semester as an
intern. She recently completed an internship with Sen. Ken
Salazar, D-Colo., where she learned about the
legislative process and the farm bill. Ashley is excited to
utilize her knowledge of the process to help Farmers Union
while continuing to learn about agricultural and political
issues. Ashley hopes to attend law school and work in
international agricultural trade law after graduating from
American.
"So far, living in D.C. has been a great experience,
although it is very different from home! I am very excited for
the next few months as an intern for National Farmers Union
and am grateful for the opportunity," she said.
Students interested in a internship with either the
Government Relations office in D.C. or the Headquarters in
Colorado should check
our website for more information. The
Feb. 22 deadline for summer internships is quickly
approaching.
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Graduating Seniors -
Don't Forget!
Hubert K. Seymour Schloarship Applications Due Feb.
15
 Each year, the
National Farmers Union Foundation and the Hubert K. Seymour
family awards one
$2,000 scholarship to a graduating high school
senior enrolled in an accredited two- or four-year college or
university for any area of study.
Farmers Union members who submit an application by the
Feb. 15 postmark deadline will be considered. A selection
committee will choose finalists based on a written essay on
the significance of rural values in America, social and
community activities and academic record. The committee will
also interview finalists via phone.
Seymour was a Farmers Union leader throughout his life
at the local, state and national levels. He served the Illinois Farmers Union as
secretary-treasurer for eight years and vice president for 12
years before he stepped down in 1990. He traveled each year to
the National Farmers Union Convention
until his passing from brain cancer at the age of 72. The
scholarship is his family's way of paying a living tribute to
his dedication to Farmers Union and the family farmer.
Application materials are available through the NFU web
site. For more information, contact NFU Education
Director Laura Johnston Monchuk at (202) 741-9410.
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2008 Convention
Countdown - National Youth Advisory
Council
Meet Melissa Bushfield, Hitchcock,
S.D.Leading up to the National Farmers Union
Convention in Las Vegas, we will be counting down the weeks by
introducing the eight members of the NFU
National Youth Advisory Council. The NYAC members
will be serving as pages at the convention. Check back next
week for our next profile!
 Melissa Bushfield
of Hitchcock, S.D., is a freshman at South
Dakota State University, majoring in pharmacy with
a double minor in business and biology. Melissa is involved in
the SDSU Collegiate Farmers Union Chapter and cheers on the
football and basketball players as a Jackrabbit
Cheerleader.
Melissa is a 2007 graduate of Hitchcock-Tulare high
school, where she was student body president and yearbook
editor and was involved in cheerleading, volleyball, track,
drama and the music program. Her parents, Mark and Mary Ellen
Bushfield, live in Hitchcock, where her dad farms and is a
member of the South Dakota Wheat Growers board of directors
and her mother works in coding and billing at a local
clinic.
Melissa was introduced to Farmers Union early in life by
her grandparents and has been "hooked ever since," working her
way through the youth education program, serving on the South
Dakota Farmers Union Junior Advisory Council, and
receiving the Torchbearer Award, the highest honor bestowed
upon a Farmers Union youth.
"I'm really excited to have been chosen to serve as a
NYAC," she said. "Farmers Union has provided me with so many
opportunities to learn and grow as a person and I'm excited to
be able to share my experiences with the next generation of
Farmers Union youth and be a positive role model for them. No
other organization does a better job at educating its youth,
and I want to become a bigger part of that
education." |
Join us in Las Vegas!
 NFU's 2008
Convention will be held March 2 - 4 at
Bally's in Las Vegas. Guaranteed to be an exciting mix of
top-notch speakers, policy makers and Farmers Union members
from across the country, the 2008 NFU Convention is a can't
miss event.
Last year we were privileged to have House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi provide the keynote address and we are looking
forward to another successful event in 2008. See you in Las
Vegas!
Additional Las Vegas Information:
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Kansas Annual Convention a
Success
Officers Elected
and Awards Given
 Donn Teske was
re-elected president of the Kansas
Farmers Union during the organization's annual
convention held Jan. 11 - 12 in McPherson, Kan. John Rempe
stepped down from the vice president position, and Daryl
Larson was elected. John Rempe, currently president of the
Nemaha County Farmers Union received the County President of
the Year Award. Nearly 150 KFU members and Farmers
Union Insurance agency representatives attended the
event.
Featured presenters brought information on a variety of
hot-button topics including carbon emissions and global
warming, wind power, bio-agri-defense, agricultural and
industrial trade, commodity marketing, the role of
cooperatives in the market place, changes in enforcement of
transportation regulations and health care.
Updates on state and federal issues were given by State
Rep. Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg and Kansas Secretary
of Agriculture Adrian Polansky. An update on the work
of NFU's Government Relations office was provided by NFU
Vice President of Government Relations Katy Ziegler. Jeff
Moser, Director of Economic and Cooperative Development, also
spoke and NFU President Tom
Buis was the keynote speaker for the
event.
Rep. Nancy
Boyda, D-Kan., addressed the convention
banquet Friday evening. Teske presented Boyda with the
Ruth Hirsh Award for Outstanding Service to Agriculture and
America's Family Farmers and Ranchers during the
event. |
| State News
Sterling Farmers
Union Insurance agent Rick Jackson, who hosted the
gathering, was among those honored. Jackson not only recruited
other participants, he helped them through the complex process
of qualifying acres and he enrolled some of his own farmland.
"This is not just a feel-good program," he said. "The program
benefits producers, the land itself, and the environment.
We'll remember this beginning fifty years from now."
Photo: Stulp and Peppler pose with Sterling area
carbon credit producers. (left to right) Neil Lindstrom,
Bob Dee, Doris Hiatt, Commissioner Stulp, Peppler, Mike
Stafford, Rick Jackson, Jim Aranci and Ron
Hart.
North Dakota: Throughout January, North
Dakota Farmers Union staff is fanning out across
the state to meet with all county boards to unveil NDFU NOW, a
selection of events, activities, challenges and new ideas to
engage the organization's members. Among the events and
activities will be Unlock Your Power, a series of leadership
building sessions that sold out last year. Other activities
will focus on a special Ag Week event in March, strengthening
ties with affiliated cooperatives, and developing new ways for
members to build friendships and talk about topics of common
interest. Contact
NDFU for more information or to register for these
events.
 Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Farmers Union exhibited
at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Jan 5 - 12 in
Harrisburg with a display about the carbon credit program
as well as information on the definition of milk. Throughout
the convention PAFU collected 27 pages of signatures opposing
FDA's proposal to change the definition of milk. Nearly
400,000 people attended the eight-day event.
Have NFU news you want to share? Send
any info about meetings, conventions, state fairs, individual
members' success, state government news, or anything else
relevant to NFU and its members to Amber
Birtcher. |
Farmer's Share
of Retail Food Dollar
December
2007
Farmer's Share of Beer
There have been several reports in the media, beginning
around the fourth of July, indicating the rise in the cost of
beer is due to increased production of ethanol. NFU looked
into the issue and here's what we found:
A 6-pack of Miller Light cans retails for $5.05 at
Safeway -
the farmer's share
of that 6-pack is only $0.11.
Farmer's Share of Retail Food
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Farm Price
Barometer
December 2007
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On Jan. 15, The 
Rocky
Mountain: Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture
