The first order of business was to pay tribute to an upstanding member of the industry, A. Michael Koewler, Sacramento Rendering Company. Jim Andreoli, Baker Commodities, praised Koewler’s commitment to the industry prior to presenting him with PCRA’s Tallowmaster Award.
“I have had the honor and pleasure of working with this gentleman for many years in the PCRA and the NRA [National Renderers Association],” Andreoli stated. “During his rendering career, he was involved on many committees in the PCRA, was a director from 1977 through 1997, and was president of the PCRA from 1981 through 1983.
“He was on the NRA Board of Directors from 1980 through 1997, and was involved and worked on many committees,” Andreoli continued. “He was also the NRA president from 1995 through 1997...and has been an advocate for the development of our export markets.” Andreoli also shared a few light-hearted tidbits about Koewler.
“He has had a long career in the rendering industry,” Andreoli remarked. “But he has had a longer career and has spent more time in the Delta in a duck blind. He convinced his father that they needed more material for the plant.”
Opening the convention was Rich Matteis, California Grain and Feed Association (CGFA), who highlighted California legislation that could or will affect renderers, such as Assembly Bill (AB) 1065 that was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in October 2005. California law currently requires transporters of inedible kitchen grease to be registered with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). AB 1065 expanded that law to define interceptor grease, increase recordkeeping requirements to two years, allow for license suspension, and require licensed transporters to be insured for at least $2 million, or $1 million if the transporter operates only one vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 10,000 pounds. The bond provision has caused some backlash in the legislature.
“The smaller haulers do not like the insurance requirement,” Matteis stated. “We may have to make some modification in that area, not that we would eliminate it totally, but maybe there should be a lower level for the very, very small operators.”
Another bill Matteis touched on was AB 1333, which would require total removal of grease, water, and solids from interceptors and impose civil penalties for those who violate the provisions of the law, with 50 percent of the monies going to the local environmental health office that investigates the case and 50 percent to a fund for enforcement and training of the law. The bill would also require dedicated vehicles for transporting interceptor grease and prohibit reinsertion unless a local authority and the interceptor owner allow it.
“This bill is still working its way through the legislature,” Matteis commented. “I think there’s a likelihood it will get passed, but I’m not sure it will get signed [by the governor].”
Matteis revealed that there are a lot of lawsuits being filed in California by animal welfare groups. Because of that, the California Farm Animal Welfare Coalition has been reformed and is working on developing a legal defense fund to help producers fight animal rights lawsuits.
Gary Conover, Western United Dairymen (WUD), told attendees that individual organizations need to work together “because we’re under constant attack.” WUD represents 1,000 dairymen in California on issues ranging from environmental to competition from state prisons. Conover explained that California’s prison system has several dairies whose products are used internally, but they are now attempting to sell those products to public schools. The dairy industry opposes this for safety reasons because prison dairies are not regulated to the same extent as private dairies.
Conover noted that the dairy industry is seeing enough pressure on air and water quality that are causing many processing plants to move out of California. However, despite this, California dairies are adding more cows, about 55,000 in 2005. He also mentioned that because of genetics, dairies are getting more milk out of each cow, up about 68 pounds from last year, and when milk prices drop, cows are moved out of production faster.
David Kaluzny, NRA chairman, shared his vision for the rendering industry. He pointed out a few things renderers should keep in mind with regards to the FDA proposed feed rule:
• The rendering industry was one of the only groups offering comments to FDA that supported its point of view with solid facts and figures from an updated study.
• Some of the pressures felt at the government level have abated as more markets have opened to U.S. beef.
• The issue of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (v-CJD), which is linked to eating beef contaminated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is being put into perspective in the United States and around the world.
To illustrate that perspective, Kaluzny shared a commentary written by Dr. Don Franco that states that, globally, there have been 187 cases of v-CJD over a 10-year period. Franco compared that statistic to the number of deaths around the world caused by other human diseases during a two-minute timeframe: 13 people die of tuberculosis; 20 people die of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS; and more than 5,500 babies die from preventable respiratory infections. But aside from the BSE issue, Kaluzny said renderers are moving rapidly into a new age.
“Whether or not we like it, we are moving from an exclusively agricultural and chemical venue to an energy platform in terms of use of our products,” he commented. “It started years ago with the burning of yellow grease in boilers as a replacement for natural gas. It has now gained momentum with the adolescence of biodiesel creeping up on us being supported by the jobs bill [American Jobs Creation Act of 2004] and the 50-cents to one dollar excise tax credit on biodiesel.”
Dr. Sergio Nates, president, Fats and Proteins Research Foundation, briefly introduced himself to the group, providing some interesting facts on aquaculture. He revealed that there is a large opportunity for rendered products in aquaculture since plant products cannot replace fish meal because of their profile.
Dr. Dennis Thompson, CDFA, reported that in response to AB 1065, the agency is mandated to create a manifest system to track grease transportation within the state. He also explained that the agency has received numerous complaints about the $1 million insurance requirement for small haulers in the bill. While there are some positive benefits for the bond, the agency is concerned it might force some small haulers to illegally transport grease.
Thompson reminded renderers that license renewals are due by December 31 of each year and that plants are not legally allowed to operate without a current license.
Kent Swisher, NRA International Programs, covered global markets, pointing out that demand for non-ruminant meat and bone meal in Mexico is huge, up 90 percent in 2005 from 2004. NRA continues to work with the Indonesian government to open their market to ruminant meat and bone meal, with Swisher predicting the market reopening in 12 to 16 months.
One obstacle in the export market is China, where U.S. tallow is banned even though it meets World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE, guidelines. However, the drop in domestic fish meal production in China could help push the reopening of this market for rendered products. Swisher added that meanwhile there are many opportunities for rendered products in other export markets such as aquaculture and biodiesel in the European Union, where usage requirements have been set but feedstock availability is limited.
David Meeker, NRA Scientific Services and president, Animal Protein Producers Industry (APPI), touched on reasons why renderers should worry about the quality and safety of their products: public image, customer expectations, government regulations, and profitability. He encouraged participation in APPI’s Code of Practice, which is recognized by the American Feed Industry Association’s Safe Feed/Safe Food certification program.
Tom Cook, president, NRA, is optimistic that FDA’s final feed rule may not be as stringent as the proposed rule or may not even materialize.
Wrapping up the day-long convention was PCRA’s business meeting. Six rendering companies contributed a total of $22,000 to NRA’s International Market Development Committee and the group welcomed two new associate members: Clean Water Technologies and United Centrifuges. Because of the invaluable efforts of Matteis on behalf of PCRA in the state capital, the association renewed its membership in CGFA. The group also renewed its membership in WUD.
There was much discussion about the association’s current financial situation and it was ultimately decided to impose a $1,500 assessment fee on each PCRA member rendering plant to ensure the group is financially stable in the future.
It was also decided to hold next year’s convention, PCRA’s 75th, at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA, February 23-25, 2007.
April 2006 Render