that is from the usda's most recent statistics. the government programs make up nearly half of that amount and learning from all farm jobs make up the rest of the household's in come. the income of full-time farmers is 19% below u.s. average. farm income is in keeping up with the cost of producing crops even though the price of corn and soy is higher since 2007. the ever inflating cost of seed is a really good example. i am sure you will know chemical and pharmaceutical giants now dominate the feed industry, companies like monsanto and the prices have skyrocketed. corn seed prices rose 34% since the fiscal crisis and soybean seeds are up 24%. also the cost of fuel, fertilizer, seed and other imports climbing pretty expensive venture not to mention the bad weather and drought, making it really a roller-coaster ride, and small and mid-size farms operate at a really slim margin. if the program is eliminated, without creating a fair market, farmers can sell into, we are going to lose a lot more farms. a family-run operation that will r

we have a thing called strikeforce at usda. are focusing on persistently poor areas in the country, taking out teams there and making sure all the resources and partnerships the senator talked about are actually being utilized. we find often times in those persistently poor areas folks are a little bit discouraged about government because they have not seen the assistance. with strikeforce we are beginning to develop new business opportunities, developing new markets. beginning to support and strengthen communities. i think the president has proposed in his ladders of opportunity effort a real focus, providing intensive care to these communities that have high unemployment and persistent poverty. we started that with strikeforce. you will see more of that. >> i know these really brilliant questions from these young people have intimidated you all , but i have time for two more questions. yes? >> thank you. i work for arista life science. inet secretary vilsack vietnam. for the past two years it appears the whole nation has been

we at usda will do everything we can to make that happen.e need you engaged in this process and encourage those in congress to help us to help you. we want to continue to make ever culture: -- agriculture cool. agriculture is the answer to the moral dilemma of our times. hardly feed our populations as resources become scarce? --how do we feed our populations as resources become scarce? we need to mitigate the impacts of climate change. we need a new -- it will help spur an american economy that is focused on innovating and growing and manufacturing and exporting. that is why this is important. the long-term security and safety of this nation is absolutely dependent on managing these risks we have identified today. it is that important for this country. you all can help. one man who understands this better than most is tom daschle. i can say a lot of things about tom daschle. i can talk about his military career in the air force. i can talk about his service in the house of representatives and his extraordinary leadership in the senate. the o

his daughter worked at the usda.nd she did an extraordinary job of helping to lead an effort with president obama, lindsey basically led that effort. and she left the usda because she had a calling. a calling to help kids in trouble. she is pursuing an advanced degree in social work and her proud father told me just a few days ago that she was getting straight a's. what he is going to share with you is his insights. i saw him the other day at lunch and one of the restaurants in washington dc. what impressed me the most about what he saw was that virtually no one passed by the table without greeting senator tom daschle. ladies and gentlemen, senator tom daschle. [applause] [applause] >> thank you, for that very generous introduction. it is so nice to be with all of you and to be here this morning. and i do mean, in the morning. only at an agriculture conference can you hear for speakers by 9:00 o'clock. [laughter] tom vilsack just gave us an eloquent and powerful analysis of the risks we face in agriculture. man-made

so we take our job very seriously at usda.'s something we don't want to do, but it may be something we have to do. and this is a risk that is manmade. the same thing is true on march 27th. march 27th comes, if congress has not continued the budget process and provided a continuation of the continuing resolution or passed a budget, theoretically all government activity stops. and that, of course, would impact our trade promotion efforts, it would impact food safety, it would impact the ability to provide credit to farmers right at the time when they have to finalize the credit opportunities to put their crop in the ground. this is another risk that's manmade and can be avoided. then there's the uncertainty and the risk associated with not having a five-year farm bill. we know that the senate passed a farm bill last year, we know the house agricultural committee passed a farm bill last year, but it did not get done. and that now creates uncertainty as to what the safety net will be for farmers who are face with the the drought o

and the investments usda made in advance biofuels.as you all know, former secretary of defense leon panetta was a vocal advocate for diversifying our military's energy resources. from biofuel drones to a green fleet, i expect similar policies to continue when my former colleague chuck hagel is confirmed, hopefully as early as next week. for all these reasons, i have long been a supporter of renewable fuels, and i encourage the further development of an industry that is important both to our national security as well as to our farm economy. whether we are talking food or water or energy security, let me put it this way -- in the future, more crops in the field can mean fewer soldiers in the field. at the same time, as important as our defense capabilities are, we also need to rebalance toward the other three d's. the u.s. today spends more on defense than on diplomacy, democracy, and development all put together. meanwhile, in the past year china has more than doubled its investment in developing new agricultural technologies. those ar

but if the usda inspector doesn't show up, the plant can't open. is there any way to prioritize those kind of individuals showing up so 100 other workers or 1000 other workers can show up that day? >> unfortunately, i don't think there is, senator. the way the budget is structured for the food safety inspection service at usda come is that 80% of their total funding spent on salaries and benefits for front-line personnel that are doing the very inspections you refer to. so it becomes a math asia ultimately. they're going to get a certain amount of budget come if we have is the question, will be canceled and there's no way in which to find other sources of funds because 88% of entire budget are those very people that need to be at those needs plans doing that inspection to keep them open. so this is one of the very tangible and clear and significant bags of sequester is that this division within usda will not be able to make its core mission, sending inspectors to these locations, and, therefore, under appropriate laws and regulations they will be s

we at usda will do everything we can to make that happen.e need you engaged in this process and encourage those in congress to help us to help you. we want to continue to make agriculture cool. agriculture is the answer to the moral dilemma of our times. how do we feed our populations as resources become scarce? we need to mitigate the impacts of climate change. we need a new -- it will help spur an american economy that is focused on innovating and growing and manufacturing and exporting. that is why this is important. the long-term security and safety of this nation is absolutely dependent on managing these risks we have identified today. it is that important for this country. you all can help. one man who understands this better than most is tom daschle. i can say a lot of things about tom daschle. i can talk about his military career in the air force. i can talk about his service in the house of representatives and his extraordinary leadership in the senate. the only person to serve as a majority and minority leader. i have said a lot ab

it mandates the usda is one does the inspections.nnis: wonder whether a company can be trusted to protecits own brand making sure not to ship spoiled food. i have a numbers. kind of a "mission impossible". i looked at one of your food service inspection report of 2011, they have 6200, 6300 sites to inspect. they have 147 million head of livestock every year to inspect. they got 9.1 billion chicken carcasses and doing that is maybe like, a staffof 8600 in the field. and which means, i have to be inspecting 53 carcasses per hour, almost one a minute. aren't thee guys kind of rubber stamping stuff anyway? could the food go out and let the company take care of it. >> the problem the law doesn't allow that. it doesn't mandate that. it mandates that usda basically be there in order to conduct the inspection. the mandates that the company has to have the food inspected. i will tell you not just simply watching the food go down the line. it is also some testing that is done. some of the pathology that's done to make sure there is not salmone

what steps the usda take to allow for emergency haying and grazing? >> well, you are absolutely right. it doesn't help you much if you allow haying and grazing when there is no pastor to speak of. i think we allowed about 2.8 million acres. there are restrictions on that in terms of nesting. right now we do it with disaster designated counties. i might add that with things like pastors, it doesn't help to have a pastor 1000 miles away that is in good shape. certainly we would be happy to work with you and try to improve the flexibility. remember this year, it was such an expensive area where you really are talking about 60 or 65% in drought conditions. >> a quick follow-up to the issue of the mississippi. upstream, about 20% of what comes into the basin and from the standpoint of how we look at monitoring, there is a strong effort in the conservation program. the idea of monitoring places around the world understand help us to understand what is happening mr. he. >> from that standpoint, i would really like to add to the issue, given the importance of

>> reporter: the american meat institute wanted to know why the usda couldn't cut elsewhere and not furlough meat inspectors and the usda secretary tom vilsack wrote back and said that they had to cut meat inspectors, that they had no choice given the budget congress has put forth. live in mclean peggy fox, wusa9. >>> we are following breaking news tonight. federal investigators have charged former illinois congressman jesse jackson jr. with misusing campaign money, spending $750,000 on personal luxuries. wbb mtv reports jackson signed a plea agreement with prosecutors. they've charged his wife with filing false income tax forms. an attorney for sandra jackson says she's signed a plea deal with prosecutors as well. mr. jackson has released a statement that says he offers no excuses for his conduct and he accepts responsibility for the mistakes he's made. >>> we could see some snow tonight and i'm here in the weather center with topper shutt. i understand you're breaking out the flake-o-meter. is that where we are now? it comes to this. >> i like that. right now we have rain showers, start wi

>> the has been a concerted effort at usda on this issue.erhaps it has not been couched in quite the same way but there is a deep concern about the health of the nation. it is one of the reasons why we put our my plate initiative to simplify what the the plate looks like. with half of the plate with fruit and vegetables and the other half protein and so forth. we have tried to re-formulate the school lunch program to provide more fruits and vegetables, less fat and sodium and sugar. we improved tie wic -- the wic program for more healthful choices. we have done a study suggesting they are not as expensive as some people think they are. we have expanded opportunities to use snap cards at farmers' markets. we are looking at several other and as this to enhance on that -- several other initiatives to enhance on that. also dealing with the obesity and hunger issue. there are twin evils. too many of our youngsters are suffering from either one of those and they do not perform as well in school. they have chronic diseases that they take into adult

olive oil importers can ask usda for its seal of approval, essentially certifying extra virgin oil is in the bottle. >> it has to meet a very high level of chemical and flavor in smell profiles to be able to make that grade. >> reporter: but the program is voluntary and only one oil producer has asked for the usda seal. so today when you spend extra bucks for extra virgin -- >> nobody is really out there minding the store. if you're going to spend that kind of money you really deserve to get a really good quality oil. >> reporter: liz crenshaw, news4. >> sure, we all want the real thing. right? so how can you tell then if you're getting really good quality extra virgin oil? experts say it tastes fresh, like fresh olives. it's peppery, it's grassy and it is really strong. color, however, not an indicator and it is best if it's less than a year old but not every bottle gives you that harvesting. >>> celebrities like beyonce made them popular, but is a detox diet right for you? experts talk about the benefits and the risks. >>> and why the first lady self-described mid life crisis is now

and these are usda sponsored efforts, working with keep america beautiful.nd as a result we donated nearly 3 million pounds of produce the food kitchens and to food banks. so she gets a lot of attention for her one, but i guess she is first lady so maybe she should. but we do have 1800 complementary gardens. >> i would just add, i think first of all, i applaud the secretaries efforts. i think there's great progress. with a long way to go. if this were a football field i would have this on about the 20-yard line with 80 yards to go but i think we all have to recognize, far more collectively and more concerted way than we do today, how much of a challenge we have in changing our health care system to a wellness system. and that means far greater degree of attention to exercise and was nutrition. nutritionally has two components. it has the combination of foods we need, that the food plate depicts. but it's also a factor of our or portions, and our portions are so much bigger, and we have to begin to address that part of it as well. our caloric intake of childr

. >> usda estimates 18 percent of all stake and roast in the u.s. are tenderize. that includes meat sold in grocery stores. but according to one trade group that 18 percent is a low estimate. the north american meat association says they survey just one part of the market. hotel and restaurant trade and found 80 to 90 percent of the beef served there is mechanically tenderize even though so prevalent he says the industry won't commit to labels without that risk of study. >> i think as an industry we are not ready to say whether or not anything different would be con. >> there have been recall of meat mechanically tenderize in some cases marinated here in the u.s. data from the american meat institute a lobby for the meat industry lists 6 recall since 2003. during the latest incident in 2009 at least 21 people got sick and 16 states including california. and that's the bottom line for whiz el blower groups like the food integrity campaign. >> has been associated with illness. still apparently not enough illness to justify a simple label. simple label. so that consu

the direct villain here is the usda secretary tom vilsack. committed to imposing liberal thought on the people who work for him. note the word imposing. contents put out there isn't cal lengthed. the big picture is that the obama administration is not only escaped is spousing liberal policy it is now demanding that federal employees tow the line. that is not what the federal government is in business to do. it is supposed to represent all of the people. not just the far left. i mean this guy is off the chart. mexicans have a right to violate immigration law because of the mexican american war in the mid 19th century? is that what the guy is saying? yeah, that is what he is saying. and we are paying for are it. just another add on to the $17 trillion national debt. i now pronounce the federal government officially out of control. that is the memo. now, the top story tonight, reaction joining us from washington, tom fitten, president of the aforementioned group judicial watch and here in new york city alexis, the executive director of the ameri

. >> usda estimates 18 percent of all stake and roast in the u.s. are tenderize.es meat sold in grocery stores. but according to one trade group that 18 percent is a low estimate. the north american meat association says they survey just one part of the market. hotel and restaurant trade and found 80 to 90 percent of the beef served there is mechanically tenderize even though so prevalent he says the industry won't commit to labels without that risk of study. >> i think as an industry we are not ready to say whether or not anything different would be con. >> there have been recall of meat mechanically tenderize in some cases marinated here in the u.s. data from the american meat institute a lobby for the meat industry lists 6 recall since 2003. during the latest incident in 2009 at least 21 people got sick and 16 states including california. and that's the bottom line for whiz el blower groups like the food integrity campaign. >> has been associated with illness. still apparently not enough illness to justify a simple label. simple label. so that consumer can make

schwartz: the usda asked that i go to herminie and provide an independent evaluation of the problems to determine if it was severe enough to warrant funding. i've worked in a lot of communities in pennsylvania, i've seen a lot of things that were pretty startling, however, the trip to herminie absolutely, um... astounded me. i wrote a letter to usda, saying that it was the worst thing i'd ever seen in pennsylvania and that if they could award funding, that they do so. and they did. they did. over $15 million, grant and loan, for that project. mcmillen: and it took years to get funding. what kept this project going was the steadfastness of the community -- they knew they needed sewage, and they just kept plugging along till we got through every issue that came up. the project will consist of 44 miles of line that we're going to put in, and a treatment plant. it will permanently eliminate the problem, the health hazards. i anticipate a definite regrowth in herminie, and it will be a good thing for everybody. zdravecky: maybe it won't help me too much because i'm an old lady, but whoeve

. >> usda estimates 18 percent of all stake and roast in the u.s. are tenderize. that includes meat sold in grocery stores. but according to one trade group that 18 percent is a low estimate. the north american meat association says they survey just one part of the market. hotel and restaurant trade and found 80 to 90 percent of the beef served there is mechanically tenderize even though so prevalent he says the industry won't commit to labels without that risk of study. >> i think as an industry we are not ready to say whether or not anything different would be con. >> there have been recall of meat mechanically tenderize in some cases marinated here in the u.s. data from the american meat institute a lobby for the meat industry lists 6 recall since 2003. during the latest incident in 2009 at least 21 people got sick and 16 states including california. and that's the bottom line for whiz el blower groups like the food integrity campaign. >> has been associated with illness. still apparently not enough illness to justify a simple label. simple label. so that consu

they have a record of doing this at the usda.ent $22,000 of taxpayer money making an oil portrait of vilsack and spent a million dollars on an internship program, hired one intern. so it's -- >> super intern. >> did he a lot of work. what i don't understand is the left has always hated pilgrims. they always said they came overd raped the indians and took all the land. and destroyed the environment.. now they're saying, pilgrims ary illegal aliens. the left loves illegal aliens! >> are you sure the whole left is like that? >> i don't get it. >> the whole y left? this is what greg does when he sits here. it is certai on people who do that. do i thinker that's good idea? no, i do not. it's a waste of taxpayer money. do i think that the pilgrims and the people who came in forcedeo the indians off their land and murdered them? yes. s. >> together we can make an extension of each other's quest america stronger, healthier and freer to work for all of us. say thank you, black folks.la say thank you, black folks. i want you to say america

consistent focus on the idea there's been focus inside the usda., but hiring somebody a couple hundred grand in the universe. i want on that gravy train. >> megyn: it sound like a lucrative position if he's getting $200,000 for all the sessions. it wasn't all that-- but repeat every federal agency has discriminated against african-americans, hispanics, native persons and other groups. it's strange when someone makes you repeat it. it feels a little like brainwash. >> well, i have to say i fuelly run training programs as a big part of the organization that i run. we do a lot of leadership communication and diversity is a big piece of what we do. >> megyn: do you make them repeat after you. >> every trainer has their own style. i do not, but i will say could criticize the merits of the way he trains. ill he' say in the training environment, the reason it's not a public video when you're doing any kind of training it evokes a lot of emotions to people and in this case to diversity. at usda a big part of the work they're doing is working with migrant w

they have a railroad of doing this at the usda.ent $2 22,000,000 of mony making oil portrait of him. they had $1 million on internship program and hired one intern. great intern. did a lot of work. but what i don't understand is the left has hated pilgrims. they said pilgrims came over and raped the indians and took all the land. destroyed the environment. but now they are saying that pilgrims are illegal aliens. sure you're sure the -- >> bob: you're sure the whole left is like that? this is what greg does. andrea is guilty of this, too. it's certain people do that. that is a good idea? no, i do not. west of taxpayer money. do i think that the people who came in to force indians off their land and murdered them? >> were you coming over on the may flouer? >> my family came over in chains as enemy of the state. >> dana: then they were part of apartheid or something like that. listen to one more sound bite from this. >> together we make extension of each other's quest. to work for all of us. so thank you, black folks. say thank you,

they have a railroad of doing this at the usda.ent $2 22,000,000 of mony making oil portrait of him. they had $1 million on internship program and hired one intern. great intern. did a lot of work. but what i don't understand is the left has hated pilgrims. they said pilgrims came over and raped the indians and took all the land. destroyed the environment. but now they are saying that pilgrims are illegal aliens. sure you're sure the -- >> bob: you're sure the whole left is like that? this is what greg does. andrea is guilty of this, too. it's certain people do that. that is a good idea? no, i do not. west of taxpayer money. do i think that the people who came in to force indians off their land and murdered them? >> were you coming over on the may flouer? >> my family came over in chains as enemy of the state. >> dana: then they were part of apartheid or something like that. listen to one more sound bite from this. >> together we make extension of each other's quest. to work for all of us. so thank you, black folks. say thank you,

the usda inspector general says the program wastes almost a million dollars per year.er way to handle less? >> if you did have more options and easier requirements but the good intentions of that act passed by congress but at the federal level of regulation it comes out of federal agencies here is enormous pratt the affirmative education three force are federal employees to monitor compliance. gerri: so if you have to charge more for the school lunch? >> we are good at keeping costs low as the regulations come out, they are just guarding we have to do an analysis but the larger systems charge retreat into a and $3 per meal because we meet those requirements we have to see of cost does go up to assess the schools to keep the price low. we don't want it to be unaffordable. we have 400 charter schools and they're not required to participate because we tried to expand school choice by deregulating. and out of 400, 150 choose to participate. gerri::but some kids are going hungry because they don't like the food. is that a problem there in arizona? >> it is an actual problem

anddmean cutbackk to usda meat innpectors. 3 meat inspectoos here then we cant ship out.. so we basically shut doon.. which meanssno one wwrkss. and no & one gets paid."(side shot)"i got 75 faaiiies depending on - everything toonnt lettthiss happen."thhs compann has a stellar heelth inspection message for washington &plawmakers. message for 3 is taking way to long"(jim 3to re hink this." 3 nationwide it could llad to 400-million dollars in lost -& wagessii the meat industry ann leed o rising prices foo meat ffr consumers..... kccfoo 45 - news at five. & 3 earlier we told you about he supreme court hearing a maryyand cse ver the &pcollectionnof ddnn- samples frrm peopll accused of viooent crimes. ccrmes. and thattbbinggsus to our quessionnof the day... do you thiik police should be able to collect d-n-a with a warrant. - 3& barbara writes on ur fingerprint you when you are arrrsted. iidon't see hoo this is any differenn." 33 but steve writes..." it is unconstitutional....no way arouud it." question....and sommestrong oppnions on both sidee of this -3&pissue. go to fox-baltimooeedot com and

we have the threats of usda cutting food inspection. we know the department of defense, 800,000 civilian employees furloughed. where is the sensibility in any of this? >> the sensibility is something i think jonathan was driving at. the idea that the government and size of our government is what the concern needs to be and focus needs to be on if we're looking at long term solvency, if we're looking aually recovering from is still a very beleaguered economic time. the sequester is not the greatest way to cut spending. it is not the most efficient way to try to trim the sizes of government but it is at least a step in the right direction. you will hear fear-monger from all sides, about defense, usda, whatever agency is is the most important to them. the thing tt people realize and need to focus on just because the government is spending money doesn't mean they're spending it well. to spend more doesn't mean they're doing more. that is something that agencies need to come to terms with the sequester coming down the pike. adam: former cong

perdue is the first and the only chicken company to have usda process verified programs for fresh, all natural chicken. our chickens are not fed steroids or hormones. [ jim ] we raise our chickens cage-free. we're trying to make a better chicken. >>> welcome back. this is our friday noon puppy. this is jinx. >> wow. >> wow is right. he also has a brother available should you want to keep them together. he's at the maryland spca, of course. we'll show you the number here. there's the website. >> that little face. >> i think they heard you. >> i think so. have you felt him? >> he's darling. >> that is the most unique coat i've ever felt in my wife. that's that wired hair pom-type mix. always look for your shelters to adopt puppies and dogs and cats and kittens because they need a good home. >>> meteorologist tim williams it's going to be an interesting 30 hours. don't you think? >> oh, yeah. interesting is definitely the word for it. it starts with this temperature. keep in mind we are half way through february right now. we are now as the updated numbers have come in at 56 degrees. we a

perdue is the first and the only chickenompany to have usda process verified programs for fresh, all natural chicken. our chickens are not fed steroids or hormones. [ jim ] we raise our chickens cage-free. we're trying to make a better chicken. well i always worry about what's in the fo

so, we take our job very seriously at the usda. it's something we don't want to do. but it may be something we have to do. and this is a risk that is man-made. >> those comments came earlier today at the usda and water cultural work form. you can see all of what he said >>> the national governors' association is holding its winter meeting on saturday here in washington. delaware governor from the very start when told the board the approach we were going to take, which was pretty straightforward. and remember we were sent there to sort of fix gm the was the mission is to go make this thing a viable company again. so we were all focused and brought the message we're going to design and sell the world's best vehicles and we are going to move quickly we need your input and we change a few things about the board meeting we shortened them considerably and we stayed away from the details or get into the weeds and how you build a car and the bigger question of financing morrell, positioning marketing, that sort of thing. the board was very supportive of that and then we kept

almost a year since usda sent proposal for label to the white house.s approved there both side say they are gearing up to fight over just what that label will say. for now the best bet is to cook the steak all the way through just to be safe. no need to take a chance. >> coming up here. which monopoly token must go? fans voting right now. have fa[ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thankyou card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? and with all the points i've been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot, even on a holiday weekend. ♪ things are definitely... looking up. [ male announcer ] with no blackout dates, you can use your citi thankyou points to travel whenever you want. visit citi.com/thankyoucards to apply. so we created the extraordinarily comfortable sleep number experience. a collection of innovations designed around a bed with dualair technology that allows you to adjust to the support your body needs. each of your bodies.

also, fewer head start programs for the youngest of students, and even the usda could see employees furloughed. here's the inspectors who inspect our food supply. keep that in mind. if you would like to read more about this, the white house report on the impact of the sequester on california is on our website and you can go to abc7 news a report from the white house. republicans at this time are saying a lot of these threats are being overhypeed. >> mike nicco has the forecast. mike? >> as we come up on 11:17 you can see the haze. today is the last day of the winter "spare the air" season and we have had ten so far. thank you for the warnings. we have rain in the forecast and in snow. i will show you the two chances in the seven-day outlook. >> and a new push to get treatment for people with autism, a law that some insurance companies are not >> santa rosa, berkeley, san jose and all the bay area, this is abc7 news. >> california state officials are going after insurance companies for not covering treatments for autism patients. insurance commissioner dave jones is proposing emergency regulati