WILDFIRE DAMAGE DETAILED THROUGH PHOTOS BY EXTENSION SERVICE

TRADE NEGOTIATIONS UNDERWAY FOR KOREA AGREEMENT

WHAT'S NEW @ COTTONSEED.COM

ANNUAL CONVENTION HOTEL RESERVATIONS

WEEKLY COTTONSEED CRUSH TRENDS HIGHER PAST TWO WEEKS

COTTONSEED PRODUCTS EXPORT REPORT

COTTONSEED PRODUCTS IN THE NEWS

BSE CASE CONFIRMED; TESTING PROTOCOLS ENSURE SAFETY OF US BEEF

MOVING?

WILDFIRE DAMAGE DETAILED THROUGH PHOTOS BY EXTENSION SERVICE - AgNews, a news source from Texas A&M’s agriculture program, is making photos available of damage from 2006 wildfires.  The site ( http://agnews.tamu.edu/ wildfire/index.html ) shows graphic images of acres and acres of damaged pasture, and notes the problems are far from over. Wildfire-damaged range, the experts note, needs proper management to   make a complete comeback.  Grazing before grasses have enough re-growth or grazing new growth too long after a fire is harmful to both grass and livestock. It’s harmful to the grass because the root systems will shrink. And it’s harmful to the livestock because there is not enough available forage to sustain them.  Ranchers are having to make difficult decisions of whether or not to keep cattle on marginal rangeland or sell them.  In addition to the thousands of dollars from lost livestock, burned out cedar post fences across the Panhandle will have to be replaced at a cost of anywhere from $6,500 to $10,000 per mile. An estimated 2,500 miles of fence line will have to be replaced when the fires are burned out. (Source: Texas Cooperative Extension Service, photos by Kay Ledbetter)

TRADE NEGOTIATIONS UNDERWAY FOR KOREA AGREEMENT - The Office of the US Trade Representative began negotiations for a free trade agreement with Korea in early February, a development the US is calling “the most commercially significant free trade negotiation launched in 15 years.”  Korea is the world’s 10th largest economy, with an annual GDP rapidly approaching $1 trillion. Its 49 million people enjoy a high standard of living and its economy has averaged a growth rate of nearly five percent a year for the past ten years.  Korea is already the US’ seventh largest trading partner with two-way trade amounting to roughly $73 billion a year. U.S. exports of goods to Korea have grown 53 percent over the ten years since the WTO was established. U.S. exports in services have nearly doubled over the period. Several recent academic studies indicate the agreement will boost the incomes of both countries by several billions of dollars. The American Oilseed Coalition (AOC), which includes the NCPA as well as the American Soybean Association, the National Oilseed Processors Association, the National Sunflower Association, and the U.S. Canola Association, is preparing comments to urge the Administration to actively pursue the agreement. The goal of the AOC is to provide policymakers in Congress and the Administration with a unified voice on policy matters affecting the U.S. oilseed industry, particularly with respect to matters related to bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations. (USTR & AOC)

WHAT'S NEW @ COTTONSEED.COM - In the Statistics section: NCPA’s popular Statistical Database for 2006 has been recently updated.  It’s available to download as an Excel file or a  request for a printed copy may be sent to the NCPA office…..US Census has provided data for US exports of cottonseed products through January 2006.  Meal exports to Mexico, at 32,743 metric tons, are more than double year ago levels, and near the high-water mark of 40,372 mt during the Oct 2001-Jan 2002 period.  Cottonseed exports, pushed higher by abundant supplies this season, have surged past the 160,000 mt mark for the first four months of this marketing season, the highest total so far in the Oct-Jan period in the past 15 years…..NCPA’s Cottonseed Calendar tracks important industry meetings throughout the year…..In the Publications section: Let your beef cow  customers know about NCPA’s “Cottonseed Feed Products for the Beef Production Cycle” brochure.  Cottonseed meal, fed at one or two pounds per day, can help increase intake and digestibility of low quality forage, keeping brood cows in good condition for producing healthier, heavier calves.

ANNUAL CONVENTION HOTEL RESERVATIONS - Reservations for the Westin La Paloma may be made by calling 1-800-WESTIN 1 (800) 937-8461 or the hotel directly at (520) 742-6000.  Note the change in the hotel’s direct line.

WEEKLY COTTONSEED CRUSH TRENDS HIGHER PAST TWO WEEKS - Weekly cottonseed crushings for the most recent weekly reporting periods have trended higher than their five-year average, according to the Association’s latest weekly report.  The cottonseed crush for the week ending March 12 totaled just over 65,000 tons, compared to nearly 67,000 tons a year ago but just 61,000 tons two years ago.  This follows a week when cottonseed crushings were at 65,500 tons.  The five year average crush for the weekly periods 31 and 32 are 57,800 tons and 59,300 tons, respectively.  According to NCPA’s weekly reporting data, year-to-date crushings have reached 1.947 million tons, compared to 1.747 million tons at this point a year ago and 1.612 million tons two years ago.

COTTONSEED PRODUCTS EXPORT REPORT (January 2006)

COTTONSEED PRODUCTS IN THE NEWS - Nashville, TN’s The City Paper reports that beautiful lawns require maintenance, and that most people already know lawns require fertilizing, watering and weed control......Cottonseed meal, the Paper advises, along with other blood meal, bone meal, fish emulsion and all manures are examples of organic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers usually contain relatively low concentrations of actual nutrients, but they perform other important functions that the synthetic formulations do not. These functions include: increasing organic content of the soil, improving physical structure of the soil, and increasing bacterial and fungal activity…..The Wichita Eagle points out that Kansas has a big stake in the battle over trans fats. Cottonseed oil, sunflower oil and corn oil, the report correctly notes,  are naturally high in oleic acid. In simplest terms, linolenic acid is chemically unstable, while oleic acid is stable.  Thus, for a state with large oilseed processors and food manufacturers, and whose farmers produce $1.6 billion worth of sunflowers, soybeans, corn and canola, premiums for any of these oils could be a boon.

BSE CASE CONFIRMED; TESTING PROTOCOLS ENSURE SAFETY OF US BEEF - USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced March 15 that the second of two bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) confirmatory tests conducted on an Alabama cow has returned a positive result. Earlier, USDA announced that an Alabama cow was positive for BSE after receiving the results of a Western blot confirmatory test. APHIS’ National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, which conducted a second confirmatory test, the immunohistochemistry (IHC), received positive results today. Under APHIS protocols, if either the IHC or the Western blot returns a positive result the animal is considered positive for BSE. APHIS is currently conducting an epidemiological investigation into the animal's origin in order to attempt to trace the animal to its place of birth. It had been on the Alabama farm less than a year. One of the first steps in this investigation will be the recovery of the carcass for examination to allow APHIS investigators to directly examine the breed and age of the animal as well as check the animal for any form of identification such as ear-tags. The cow, initially reported to be a Santa Gertrudis, is now believed to be a red crossbred (possibly crossed with a Santa Gertrudis or similar breed). The animal was buried on the farm. The animal did not enter the animal or human food chain, in accordance with USDA protocols. Human and animal health in the United States is protected by a system of interlocking safeguards, which ensure the safety of U.S. beef. The most important of these safeguards is the ban on specified risk materials from the food supply and the Food and Drug Administration's ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban. To date, only two of these highest risk animals has tested positive for the disease as part of the surveillance program, for a total of three cases of BSE in the United States. The enhanced surveillance program was designed as a one-time, intensive effort to provide a snap shot of the U.S. cattle population, in order to determine the prevalence of BSE in this country. (USDA)

MOVING? - Please send all change of address information to: National Cottonseed Products Association, 104 Timber Creek Drive, Suite 200, Cordova, TN  38018, or email to info@cottonseed.com.

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© National Cottonseed Products Association, Inc.

March 15, 2006