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USDA Grass-Fed Rule Angers Farmers

By Marian Burros, July 26, 2006 THE Agriculture Department has proposed allowing animals to be labeled grass-fed even if they never saw a pasture and were fed antibiotics and hormones. When Martin E. O’Connor, chief of the standardization branch of the department’s livestock and feed program, explained the proposed rule at a conference of the American Grassfed Association in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday, members were angry. Producers of grass-fed animals have waited for years for the department to develop certification standards and procedures, like the organic certification and seal, to distinguish grass-fed animals from conventionally raised animals. When department officials asked for input four years ago, association members replied that the rule should require that an animal be fed on pastures except in emergency circumstances where its life would be threatened, and also that the animal should be free from antibiotics and hormones. The rule for the voluntary standard that Mr. O’Connor described, which was first announced in May, would require only that the animals be fed a diet that is mother’s milk or 99 percent grass, legumes and forage, which is anything taken by browsing or grazing. The rule, which applies to all grass-fed ruminants, including cattle, sheep, […]

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Evergreen Solar Announces 2Q 2006 Results

Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR) has announced financial results for the quarter ended July 1, 2006. Second-Quarter 2006 Financial Results Net loss attributable to common stockholders for the second quarter of 2006 was $7.5 million, or $0.11 per share. This figure includes approximately $1.7 million of Evergreen Solar’s share of net losses associated with the production ramp-up at EverQ and compares with a net loss of $4.5 million, or $0.07 per share, for the second quarter of 2005 and a net loss of $8.1 million, or $0.13 per share, for the first quarter of 2006. Evergreen Solar recorded equity-based compensation expenses of approximately $1.8 million during the second quarter of 2006. Second-quarter 2006 product gross margin was positive 4.1 percent, compared with positive 6.2 percent for the second quarter a year ago and negative 12.5 percent for the first quarter of 2006. The expected year-over-year decrease in product gross margin primarily resulted from (i) negative gross margin recorded by EverQ associated with incremental manufacturing start-up costs, (ii) incremental costs associated with completing the conversion to thin-wafer production in Marlboro and (iii) increased stock-based compensation expense related to Evergreen Solar’s equity compensation plans incurred as a result of the adoption of […]

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