[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 92 (Friday, May 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27672-27674]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7250]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 
[email protected].
     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: [email protected].

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

[[Page 27674]]

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]
BILLING CODE 3410-EN-P