(m) Some revision was made in standards for flue-curred tobacco. Preliminary studies were also conducted into the tentative standard grades for Pennsylvania seedleaf, type 41, tobacco. The studies will continue and will be broadened to include Ohio cigar-filler types 42-44. Modified tentative standards for Puerto Rican cigar-filler tobacco were issued in January. 2. Inspection, grading, and classing activities. Agricultural commodities are inspected and graded in accordance with the standards discussed in the preceding section. The work is performed by Federal inspectors or by State or industry employees federally licensed. For most commodities, standards are for quality and condition and the inspection service is performed upon request and for a fee. This voluntary service is carried on in cooperation with 49 States under the terms of 244 cooperative agreements in accordance with provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. The fees collected are deposited to a trust fund and cover about 57 percent of the cost of the service. See tables VII and VIII for details. Poultry and poultry products processed in plants that distribute poultry in interstate or foreign commerce are required by law (Poultry Products Inspection Act) to be inspected for wholesomeness. (a) The shortage of trained cotton classers continued to plague the cotton classing program and several training courses were given during the year. A 6-month training school was completed to qualify people with no previous cotton classing experience but having a general background in cotton. Twenty men completed the course satisfactorily and were appointed as cotton classers. Other courses were given to men with previous classing experience, who then qualified for temporary service during the heavy marketing season. Increased emphasis on the use of laboratory instruments as aids in the supervision and classification of cotton was continued during the season. Seventeen classing offices used colorimeters and 19 offices used air-flow instruments. Thirty-one year-round and 11 seasonal classing offices were operated in 1962, classing 15.2 million samples. Of the total, 13.5 million samples were classed for groups organized under the Smith-Doxey Act. This was 94 percent of the total U.S. ginnings. (b) The volume of dairy products graded in 1962 reached an all-time high of over 4.7 billion pounds. This was 50 percent over fiscal year 1961, 100 percent over 1960 and about 20 percent over 1955, the previous high year. The increase was due mainly to the greater volume of work performed in connection with the Government price-support program. Continuous inspection was maintained in 91 plants. (c) Inspections of fresh fruits and vegetables increased 20 percent over 1961. This was due primarily to a 40-percent increase in inspection of raw products for processing and inspection of 69,000 carlots of potatoes under the section 32 diversion program. Similarly, inspections of processed products increased substantially. Continuous inspection of fresh fruits and vegetables was maintained in 2 plants and on processed products in 186 plants. Technological developments in harvesting, processing, and marketing of processed fruits and vegetables have, and will continue to affect this program. New varieties and mechanical harvesting of fruits and vegetables have created problems in the interpretation of the grade standards. New methods of processing and automation within the plant place additional demands upon inspection personnel and require more supervision and better cordination within the service. In the frozen vegetable field there is a trend toward bulk storage, bins holding up to 1 million pounds of products, which creates new problems of sampling and lot identity. State and Federal regulatory officials are placing increased emphasis upon consumer protection, particularly with respect to net weights and the handling of frozen foods. The inspection service must keep abreast of activities in this area and constantly review inspection techniques. (d) The volume of grain inspected under the U.S. Grain Standards Act increased by 240 million bushels-about 3 percent over 1961. Conversely, the number of appeal inspections decreased 9 percent from 36,189 to 32,813. Factors causing the decrease in volume of appeal inspections are: more accurate initial inspection, better quality of grain produced, increase in appeal fees and overtime charges. More licensed inspectors and more official inspection points are factors in the increased volume of grain inspected. Approximately 71 percent more apparent violations of the U.S. Grain Standards Act were reported during the year than the preceding year. Most of the apparent violations involved the deceptive loading of grain. A total of 359 warnings were issued to shippers, inspectors, samplers, and exchanges; and three shippers were prosecuted for the deceptive loading of grain. (e) Increased volume of meat graded. The amount of federally graded and accepted meat increased about 440 million pounds over 1961. All meat graders were trained during 1962 in the application of the proposed. standards for the dual grading of beef. (f) The volume of poultry graded continued to increase as it has over the past 22 years. This increase reflects the ever-increasing acceptance and demand for officially graded chickens and turkeys. During 1962, continuous grading service was maintained in 670 plants located in 541 cities and towns throughout the United States. (g) Poultry inspection.-The compulsory poultry inspection program continues to increase in all phases. The year 1962 was the fourth full year of operation under the Poultry Products Inspection Act and in that period the program has almost tripled. In 1958 there were 356 plants under inspection and in 1962 there were 984. The growth in volume of work has been even greater-about 2 billion pounds inspected in 1958 and over 9 billion in 1962. This growth is due to several factors such as the increase in poultry production from 2.1 billion head in 1958 to 2.4 billion head in 1961; and the increase in percent of this production inspected from 31 percent in 1958 to 85 percent in 1961. Here again the evolution taking place in agricultural marketing affects the service. The vertical integration, formation of a few large companies in place of individual producers and handlers makes for more interstate shipment and, consequently, a larger volume of poultry to be inspected. TABLE II.-Commodities inspected and graded on a fee basis, fiscal years 1962-64 TABLE IV.-Cotton classing and related data, fiscal years 1962-64 TABLE V.-Volume of grain inspection (by licensed inspectors federally supervised) and appeal activities (by Federal inspectors) under the U.S. Grain Standards Act1 1 Users of this service pay a fee to the licensed inspector. No Federal fee is charged except in the case of appeal inspections when licensees' grades are not changed. Not available. |