[Federal Register: May 12, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 92)]
[Notices]
[Page 27672-27674]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12my06-47]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration
United States Standards for Feed Peas
AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: We plan to establish U.S. standards for feed peas under the
authority of the U.S. Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as amended
(AMA). Current U.S. standards for Whole Dry Peas and Split Peas reflect
the needs of the edible dry pea market. The quality and standards
established for the edible dry pea market greatly differ from the feed
pea market. Consequently, the current standards for edible dry peas do
not reflect the current needs of the feed pea market. This action will
provide uniform standards and will facilitate the marketing of feed
peas.
DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by June 12, 2006.
ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this notice. Please
reference the date and page number of this issue of the Federal
Register in your comments. You may submit
[[Page 27673]]
comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: Send comments via electronic mail to
comments.gipsa@usda.gov.
Mail: Send hardcopy written comments to Tess Butler,
GIPSA, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 1647-S, Washington, DC
20250-3604.
Fax: Send comments by facsimile transmission to: (202)
690-2755.
Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver comments to: Tess
Butler, GIPSA, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 1647-S,
Washington, DC 20250-3604.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulation.gov.
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
To read comments: All comments received will be made available for
public review at the above address during regular business hours (7 CFR
1.27(b)).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vicki A. Lacefield, Policies and
Procedures Branch, Field Management Division, USDA, GIPSA, Room 2420-S,
Stop 3630, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3630,
telephone (202) 720-0397; or e-mail to: Vicki.A.Lacefield@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The AMA directs and authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to
develop and improve standards for agricultural products (7 U.S.C.
1622). These are standards of quality, condition, quantity, grade, and
packaging. The intent of such standards is to encourage uniformity and
consistency in commercial practices.
GIPSA establishes and maintains a variety of quality and grade
standards for agricultural commodities. These standards provide market
participants with common terms to describe the quality of agricultural
commodities and; thus, reduce transaction costs and facilitate
marketing. They also provide a common standard to improve risk
management through crop insurance and loan assistance. For example,
USDA programs providing farm loan assistance typically rely on the U.S.
standards to determine eligibility and payment amount. The AMA
standards are voluntary and widely used in private contracts,
government procurement, marketing communication, and, for some
commodities, consumer information.
Standards developed under the AMA include rice, whole dry peas,
split peas, lentils, and beans. The U.S. standards for Whole Dry Peas,
Split Peas, Lentils, and Beans do not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations (although the process by which we develop these standards
is specified through the regulations in 7 CFR 868.102, Procedures for
establishing and revising grade standards); however the standards are
available on the GIPSA Web site, http://www.gipsa.usda.gov. If we
establish new standards for feed peas, we will publish a final notice
in the Federal Register. The new U.S. standards will be available on
the GIPSA Web site at http://archive.gipsa.usda.gov/reference-library/standards/feed_pea_standards.pdf
and by contacting the Field
Management Division at the above address.
Need for New Standards
The United States Dry Pea and Lentil Council and other dry pea
industry representatives requested that we establish standards for dry
peas used as feed for animals (feed peas). Current U.S. standards for
Whole Dry Peas and Split Peas reflect the needs of the edible dry pea
market. The pea industry indicated the need to establish separate
standards for marketing peas as a feed product due to an increasing
demand for peas used in animal feed. The quality and standards
established for the edible dry pea market differ from the feed pea
market. Consequently, the current standards for edible dry peas do not
reflect the current needs of the feed pea market.
To begin, we worked with the United States Dry Pea and Lentil
Council and others in the pea industry to examine the effectiveness of
the U.S. Standards for Whole Dry Peas, Split Peas, and Lentils in
today's marketing environment. As a result, GIPSA concluded that the
current standards continue to meet consumer and processor needs for the
edible pea and lentil markets.
Our work with the United States Dry Pea and Lentil Council and
others in the pea industry also identified a market need for standards
for feed peas. Based on a review of U.S. market needs and other feed
pea standards used in Canada and Australia, we developed proposed
standards for feed peas.
Feed Peas and Pea Production
Feed peas are dry peas (yellow and green) intended for animal feed
purposes. Pea protein helps balance the nutrient deficiencies of grains
such as corn and wheat, which are low in the important amino acids,
lysine, and tryptophan. Peas contain a large concentration of lysine,
which meets the needs of mono-gastric animals, such as swine and
poultry. As a result, more peas are being used for swine, cattle, and
poultry feed; and the trend is expected to continue to increase
according to industry analysts.
As more companies around the world turn to peas as part of their
ingredient base for animal feed, U.S. pea production has increased.
According to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS),
the production of dry peas has been on a steady incline since 2001. For
example, total U.S. planted acreage rose from 184,000 acres in 2000, to
808,000 acres in 2005. NASS projections are based on green, yellow, or
winter dry pea production; they do not distinguish between peas
destined for human consumers and peas destined for animal feed.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of the production increase has been
fueled by the increased demand for animal feed.
Standards
The proposed standards include three parts. Part I includes a
series of definitions for the various terms used in the standards. Part
II covers the basic principles governing application of standards, such
as the type of sample used for a particular quality analysis and how
analytical results are reported. Part III includes the actual quality
grade specifications and how they are recorded for certification
purposes.
We propose to specify standards for both U.S. Grade No. 1 Feed Peas
and for U.S. Sample Grade Feed Peas. For the standard for U.S. Grade
No. 1 Feed Peas, we propose quality factors for the maximum allowable
amount of inert material and heat damaged peas. Feed peas that do not
meet the requirements for U.S. Grade No. 1 Feed Peas would be
classified as U.S. Sample Grade Feed Peas. Within the proposed standard
for U.S. Sample Grade Feed Peas, we specified factors for moisture,
animal excreta, metal fragments, broken glass, odor, heating, and
quality.
To review the proposed standards, you may view or print them from
the GIPSA Web site at http://www.gipsa.usda.gov or contact us by phone,
fax, or e-mail using the information provided above under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
Comments
GIPSA will solicit comments for 30 days. This comment period is
considered appropriate given that representatives of the pea industry
requested the development of feed pea standards and have reviewed the
draft standards. In addition, our goal is to
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implement the new standards for the next harvest, which will be June-
July, 2006. All comments we receive within the comment period will be
made part of the public record maintained by GIPSA and will be
available to the public for review. We will consider those comments
before we take final action on the new standards.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627; 7 CFR 868.103.
James E. Link,
Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.
[FR Doc. E6-7250 Filed 5-11-06; 8:45 am]
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