The picturesque setting of Carmel, CA, was once again the location of the Pacific Coast Renderers Association’s (PCRA’s) Annual Convention. This year’s meeting, the group’s 70th, may have seen a smaller than usual attendance, but the issues addressed were of large proportions.
Rich Matteis, California Grain and Feed Association, began by presenting the latest legislative news from Sacramento. One bill currently making its way through the system would require restaurants to have their inedible kitchen grease collected by a licensed renderer. Currently, restaurants are exempt from the state law. Although the California Restaurant Association (CRA) opposes the proposed legislation, they are turning to the rendering industry for assistance.
“CRA wants to meet with California renderers to see how best to go forward with this issue,” Matteis stated. He also addressed recent passage of legislation that exempts diesel sales tax for farmers and food processors. Matteis commented that the state Board of Equalization has a package that would exclude diesel used for transportation.
In regards to fuel conversion, Matteis informed members that California grants are available to provide reimbursement of up to 65 percent of the cost to convert equipment from natural gas use to yellow grease, or any other alternative fuel except diesel. Renderers have until May to apply for those funds. More information on the Agriculture Energy Conservation program can be obtained on the Internet at www.energy.ca.gov/ag.
Matteis presented a Standard Operating Procedure form developed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in regards to transportation of animal proteins prohibited from animal feeds. CDFA and the feed industry created the form out of concern that carriers are hauling other feed ingredients in the same trucks used to haul prohibited mammalian material without conducting a clean-out of the equipment. Matteis said the National Grain and Feed Association is devising a more comprehensive form.
With regards to mammalian protein, Matteis informed the audience that California recently made changes to the state commercial feed regulations, including numerous modifications to the feed definitions, clarifying what items are “prohibited mammalian protein,” imposing new requirements on selenium users including the maintenance of daily inventories and some label changes, and making various other technical changes.
Gary Conover, Western United Dairymen, followed with challenges the California dairy industry is currently facing. He stated that the state’s dairies are going through a major consolidation, with the current herd size at 700 milk cows and a projection of that number increasing to 1,000 or more cows in the future.
Other challenges dairy farmers are facing include confined animal feeding operation rules, lawsuits, energy costs, air quality, and agro-terrorism. Conover presented current dairy product prices and production, stating there are 2,195 permitted dairies in California, with 1.5 million milk cows generating 32 billion pounds of milk per year.
“California accounted for 19.2 percent of the milk produced in the United States,” Conover said. He also covered state legislation and emphasized that, “In my opinion, you can’t do work in Sacramento without forming a coalition.” Conover discussed the California Dairy Quality Assurance Program, which educates and certifies dairies on environmental issues. Unfortunately, the program has not proven popular among the state’s dairies for a number of reasons, one being the required classroom work. To date, only 60 dairies have been certified.
Dr. Dennis Thompson, CDFA, recapped some of the agency’s activities over the past year. He informed members that CDFA has stopped and cited one hauler who was transporting dead animals to an Arizona landfill, which is illegal in California. Unfortunately, Thompson believes the hauler is still in operation, but transporting the animals to an out of state renderer.
Thompson also shared how the department stopped another illegal operation – a trash hauler who was picking up meat scraps from 40 accounts that were serviced by a California renderer. The state intervened, informing the accounts that meat scraps must be collected by a licensed renderer.
Other activities Thompson addressed included the joint effort of CDFA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in calming China’s fears about U.S. meat and bone meal. China was considering banning the importation of meat and bone meal due to bovine spongiform encephalopathy concerns.
“To date, it appears those efforts were successful,” Thompson said. He also covered several out of court settlements under California’s grease theft program, although none were grease theft related.
Thompson advised PCRA members to reconsider the state’s rendering definition that was created in 1998, which removed renderers from an industrial category and placed them under food processing. Thompson believes a clearer definition could preempt any future misinterpretations.
“One could argue, and maybe get a judge to agree, that if you collect carcasses and process them, but not primarily for feed, you don’t fall under the definition of rendering,” Thompson stated. “I know that wasn’t the intention.”
According to Thompson, three new state inspectors have joined the agency primarily targeting illegal slaughter operations in California, but who could indirectly benefit the grease theft program.
“Having these three additional investigators gives us a lot more latitude, a lot more eyes and ears out there that could help the grease program,” Thompson said. He added that the CDFA is working on reducing the grease program’s licensing fees by 50 percent due to a surplus that is not depleting as quickly as anticipated. Regulation is required each time fees are changed, which were previously dropped by 50 percent several years ago.
Thompson shared with the audience that the biggest issue being brought to CDFA at this time is the requests, demands, and complaints of individuals taking carcasses and slaughter material to places other than renderers. He stipulated that it can be difficult justifying why meat, bone, and fat scraps fit for human consumption must be rendered. A forum is planned for April to gather representatives from all affected industries and discuss the matter.
One issue California renderers are encouraging CDFA to pursue is implementing a permit system that would allow raw material to be transported from a rendering plant. Thompson said the department envisions three types of permits: 1) one for routine ongoing shipments, i.e., from plant to plant; 2) one that would address equipment breakdowns; and 3) one for any other situation, such as a catastrophe, that is not predictable.
Following Thompson was Dr. Heidi Hamlen, CDFA’s lead animal health specialist. After she presented an overview of the state’s Animal Health Branch, she reported on California’s development of an emergency plan to deal with an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD), should it ever occur in the state. Hamlen’s presentation also highlighted what she learned from her experience in the United Kingdom (UK) during the FMD outbreak.
“Four million animals were killed because of the disease,” Hamlen stated. “Another two million were culled due to welfare purposes.” She shared the various carcass disposal options in the UK, which included rendering, high temperature incineration, burial on-farm and off-site, burning, and landfilling. Hamlen commented that at one point, they were doing it all.
“They just couldn’t go fast enough,” Hamlen said, who added that rendering was seen by the UK public as the way to go. And renderers were glad to help. She explained that when orders came to stop the movement of cattle due to the FMD outbreak, renderers soon discovered they had the capacity to collect the carcasses.
Don Franco, National Renderers Association (NRA), provided a perspective on the future in rendering. He discussed European Union (EU) issues that are frustrating to North American renderers, and shared the events of a recent two-day “whirlwind” visit to Brussels he made with several NRA representatives (see “International Report” on page 52).
“We met more people than I thought physically possible,” Franco declared. The contingency presented the North American industry’s concerns on such European issues as the banning of yellow grease in feeds, a species to species feeding ban, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk categorization of countries, and the concept of cannibalism.
Humphry Koch, NRA chairman, next recapped several industry-related events that took place in the past several months, including a Food and Drug Administration hearing held in late October regarding the agency’s feed ban, and the November release of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis study that concludes BSE is unlikely to occur in the United States. He highly recommended reading the executive summary of the Harvard report, and shared with the audience that in the near future, he felt some good news might come in the form of a tightening in the tallow market due to the Japanese eating less beef.
Koch also informed members that the retirements of Franco and Jim Rudbeck, NRA international programs, at the end of the year brings about major administration concerns for NRA.
Tom Cook, NRA president, touched on the Farm Bill that was recently passed by both the House and Senate, highlighting some of the issues that could affect renderers. He stated that rendered products were included in the definition of biodiesel in government programs and funding was up for Foreign Market Development and Market Access Programs, both of which benefit the industry.
With regards to fuel substitution, Cook explained NRA is still working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on publishing a guidance document that states No. 6 and No. 2 fuels may be substituted with yellow grease. He said at this point EPA has no concerns with replacing No. 6 but is still examining the substitution for No. 2 fuel.
Following on the success of last year’s Congressional Fly-In, Cook informed the audience another fly-in is scheduled for the week of June 10 and highly encouraged all to participate. He stated that the International Market Development Committee (IMDC) plans to examine new uses for tallow and the industry is seeing a demand for meat and bone meal in China due to the tremendously high price of fish meal.
The afternoon’s activities focused on the PCRA’s business matters. It was decided the group would join the California Restaurant Association and renew their membership in the California Grain and Feed Association. Two new associate members, Nutro Products and Western United Dairymen, were approved, and representatives from seven rendering companies pledged to donate over $15,000 to the IMDC. George Congleton, Baker Commodities, Inc., emphasized that prices on the West Coast would not be at their current level without the China market. Pledges came from Baker, Darling International, SRC Companies, Salinas Tallow Co., John Kuhni Sons, Inc., Modesto Tallow Co., and Southern Oregon Tallow Co.
The PCRA will return to Carmel, CA, February 21-23, 2003.
April 2002 Render