Selected examples of recent progress and trends 1. Standardization and related activities.— (a) The universal standards for American upland cotton were revised and became effective June 15, 1963. This major revision was adopted by 14 foreign and 42 U.S. industry groups at the annual Universal Cotton Standards Conference held in Washington in May 1962. (b) After 4 years of study the Department completed the development of "Minimum Standards for Milk for Manufacturing Purposes and its Production Land Processing Recommended for Adoption by State Regulatory Agencies." The [standards were developed in close collaboration with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Assistance was also received from industry, college workers, and others. There are wide variations in quality of manufactured milk throughout the country and the implementation of these standards should bring about greater uniformity on a national basis. (c) Following more than 2 years of study, the developmental work was completed and new grade standards were issued for potatoes for processing. U.S. standards for grades of sweetpotatoes were revised. Both standards were made I effective in July, 1963. In addition the "U.S. Standards for Sawdust Pack Grapes" were amended early in the fiscal year. Revised or amended standards were completed for several processed fruits and vegetables including canned apricots, asparagus, lemon juice, orange juice, clingstone peaches, plums, sauerkraut, and frozen apricots. (d) A review of flaxseed standards was initiated because a large amount of bin burned flaxseed has been found in flaxseed removed from storage. The present standards do not provide a quality factor on this condition. The sedimentation test for wheat was evaluated in a variety of studies during the year. As a result of the Department's decision to utilize the sedimentation test as a basis for premiums under the price support program for all Hard Red Winter, Hard Red Spring, and Hard White wheat beginning with the 1962 crop, field offices were equipped and personnel trained to make the tests in large volume and maintain accuracy. (e) A major aspect of livestock standardization activity during the year involved further work on the dual grading system for beef carcasses and cattle. Requests for demonstrations and discussions of dual grading continued. Twentytwo such presentations were made at meetings of producers, market agencies, packers, and educational workers. A kit of available materials, including a set of color slides was sent to 48 agricultural colleges to aid staff members in handling local requests to explain dual grading. During fiscal year 1963, a proposed dual grading system for beef carcasses was made available for optional use by industry on a trial basis. At the end of the trial period, all comments received from interested parties were carefully considered. While the majority of the comments supported the general idea of dual grading, many livestock producers and some packers opposed the omission of carcass conformation as a factor in determining quality grades. On September 13, 1963, therefore, the Secretary announced a decision against adoption of the dual grading system. At the same time, announcement was made of a proposal to modify the current grade standards for beef. This proposal retains the longestablished quality and conformation standards and adds a cutability designation which provides an estimate of the yield of salable meat from a given beef carcass. Consumer preferences can thus be more effectively transmitted back through the marketing channel to the producer. (f) During the year there were several amendments to the various regulations on grading of poultry, rabbits, shell eggs and their products. For example, the "Regulations Governing the Grading and Inspection of Poultry and Edible Products Thereof" were amended to provide for the issuance of export certificates at point of export or at a warehouse other than the point of export. (g) Official standard grades for Flue-cured tobacco, U.S. types 11-14 were updated to reflect current production and marketing practices. The number of grades was reduced from 173 to 157. This modification involved extensive correlations between these findings and preliminary drafts of proposed changes to standards. Later numerous meetings were held with trade and other interested groups to evaluate the fundamental concepts and effects of the proposal. (h) Table I reflects the volume of standardization activity in 1963. 2. Inspection, grading, and classing activities. (a) A total of 15,300,199 cotton samples were classed by Federal employees during 1963 including 14,016,141 (94 percent) for members of cotton improvement groups organized under the Smith-Doxey Act. A new service was initiated on a pilot basis under the Cotton Testing Service Act in October 1962. It provided micronaire readings on a fee basis for farmers on cotton samples submitted to area classing offices for classification under the Smith-Doxey program. This laboratory measurement is an importan: quality factor which the producer may obtain in addition to grade and staple length. Approximately 14 million samples were tested under this program in 8 offices located in the high plains area of Texas and Oklahoma during the 196263 marketing season. (b) A new alltime high of 5.9 billion pounds of dairy products were inspected and graded in fiscal year 1963. This is 25 percent over the previous high of 47 billion pounds graded in 1962. In order to provide better and faster grading service to plants located in the Eastern States, plans were developed during 1963 and a new testing laboratory was established in Syracuse, N.Y., on September 18, 1963. Formerly all testing service was provided from the Chicago laboratory. (c) Total volume of fresh fruits and vegetables inspected during fiscal year 1963 was lower than the previous year when an alltime record was established. Fiscal year 1963 is the second largest year in the history of the inspection serv ice. The heavy freeze damage was, to a large degree, responsible for reductions in inspections at shipping points and raw products for processing. This was particularly true of citrus in Florida. TABLE I.-Volume of standardization and demonstration activities, by commodity group, fiscal year 1963 Standardization activities: Grade standards in effect June 30, 1963. Demonstration activities: Farm demonstration: Number.... Attendance. Farmer meetings: Number. Distributed: Copies of standards. Farmer bulletins, leaflets, etc... 1 Includes turpentine, rosin, and 24 types of tobacco. 2 Includes radio and television appearances. Excludes radio and television attendance. Not available. TABLE I.-Volume of standardization and demonstration activities, by commodity group, fiscal year 1963—Continued In contrast to the situation in Florida, the crop of raisins in California was considerably larger than anticipated. However, the high quality of the incoming raisins permitted handling of the program expeditiously with a minimum staff of inspection personnel. (d) There was much technical progress in grain inspection in fiscal 1963. The Motomco moisture meter was favorably tested and adopted for all corn and soybeans on September 1, 1962, and all grains effective May 1, 1963. Widefield microscopes were acquired for positive identification of rodent excreta in wheat. In addition, lighting and sampling equipment were improved to provide the greater grading accuracy and uniformity. The number of inspection points where grain was officially inspected decreased from 400 to 393. Inspectors were stationed at 194 of the points and sampling services were available at the remaining points. The total quantity of grain inspected decreased from 7,386 million bushels to 6,276 million bushels, a reduction of 15 percent. This reflects the reduction in the total quantity of grain produced from 7,490 million bushels in 1962 to 6,404 million bushels in 1963. (e) The total volume of all classes of federally graded meat increased approximately 1 percent. This increase was principally in beef. A decline in total pounds of veal and calf graded paralleled a decrease in total commercial slaughter in these classes. While the total pounds of meat graded and accepted increased during the fiscal year, the grading staff required to perform the service remained constant. The application of improved managerial techniques increased the productivity of the staff and reduced overtime work substantially. (f) The quantity of poultry and poultry products officially graded in 1963 was, in total, about 1 percent larger than a year earlier. This was slightly greater than the increase in total farm marketings of all poultry and poultry products in 1963 over 1962. (g) Estimated percentage of crops marketed under Federal grades is as follows: (h) Fees and charges are adjusted from time to time as necessary to cover the cost of the service. Revision in 1963 and plans for 1964 are shown in the following table: |