diff --git a/kafka-producer/src/main/resources/logback.xml b/kafka-producer/src/main/resources/logback.xml
index 7c52f7b..8aee745 100644
--- a/kafka-producer/src/main/resources/logback.xml
+++ b/kafka-producer/src/main/resources/logback.xml
@@ -11,16 +11,16 @@
         <host>${HAYSTACK_GRAPHITE_HOST}</host>
         <subsystem>pipes-kafka-producer</subsystem>
     </appender>
-    <logger name="com.expedia.www.haystack.pipes.commons.kafka.KafkaStreamStarter" additivity="false" level="INFO">
+    <logger name="com.expedia.www.haystack.pipes.commons.kafka.KafkaStreamStarter" additivity="false" level="${HAYSTACK_LOG_LEVEL:-INFO}">
         <appender-ref ref="STDOUT" /><!-- Display start up message without flooding logs with other info messages -->
     </logger>
-    <logger name="com.expedia.www.haystack.pipes.kafkaProducer.ProduceIntoExternalKafkaAction" additivity="false" level="INFO">
+    <logger name="com.expedia.www.haystack.pipes.kafka.producer.KafkaToKafkaPipeline" additivity="false" level="${HAYSTACK_LOG_LEVEL:-INFO}">
         <appender-ref ref="STDOUT" /><!-- Display start up message without flooding logs with other info messages -->
     </logger>
-    <logger name="com.netflix.servo.publish.graphite.GraphiteMetricObserver" additivity="false" level="INFO">
+    <logger name="com.netflix.servo.publish.graphite.GraphiteMetricObserver" additivity="false" level="${HAYSTACK_LOG_LEVEL:-INFO}">
         <appender-ref ref="STDOUT" /><!-- Display start up message without flooding logs with other info messages -->
     </logger>
-    <root level="WARN">
+    <root level="${HAYSTACK_LOG_LEVEL:-WARN}">
         <appender-ref ref="STDOUT" />
         <appender-ref ref="EmitToGraphiteLogbackAppender" />
     </root>
diff --git a/kafka-producer/src/test/resources/logback.xml b/kafka-producer/src/test/resources/logback.xml
index 256c28e..613ffd3 100644
--- a/kafka-producer/src/test/resources/logback.xml
+++ b/kafka-producer/src/test/resources/logback.xml
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@
             <pattern>%d{HH:mm:ss.SSS} %level [%thread] %X{requestid} %logger{10} %msg%n</pattern>
         </encoder>
     </appender>
-    <logger name="com.expedia.www.haystack.pipes.commons.kafka.KafkaStreamStarter" additivity="false" level="INFO">
+    <logger name="com.expedia.www.haystack.pipes.commons.kafka.KafkaStreamStarter" additivity="false" level="${HAYSTACK_LOG_LEVEL:-INFO}">
         <appender-ref ref="STDOUT" /><!-- Display start up message without flooding logs with other info messages -->
     </logger>
-    <logger name="com.netflix.servo.publish.graphite.GraphiteMetricObserver" additivity="false" level="INFO">
+    <logger name="com.netflix.servo.publish.graphite.GraphiteMetricObserver" additivity="false" level="${HAYSTACK_LOG_LEVEL:-INFO}">
         <appender-ref ref="STDOUT" /><!-- Display start up message without flooding logs with other info messages -->
     </logger>
-    <root level="WARN">
+    <root level="${HAYSTACK_LOG_LEVEL:-WARN}">
         <appender-ref ref="STDOUT" />
     </root>
 </configuration>
diff --git a/sample-key-extractor/src/main/java/com/expedia/www/haystack/pipes/kafka/producer/extractor/SampleExtractor.java b/sample-key-extractor/src/main/java/com/expedia/www/haystack/pipes/kafka/producer/extractor/SampleExtractor.java
index a68ba18..d5a3443 100644
--- a/sample-key-extractor/src/main/java/com/expedia/www/haystack/pipes/kafka/producer/extractor/SampleExtractor.java
+++ b/sample-key-extractor/src/main/java/com/expedia/www/haystack/pipes/kafka/producer/extractor/SampleExtractor.java
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ public void configure(Config config) {
     @Override
     public List<Record> getRecords(Span span) {
         try {
-            Map<String, List<String>> producerTopicsMapping = new HashMap<>();
             Record record = new Record(jsonPrinter.print(span), key, producerTopicsMapping);
             return Collections.singletonList(record);
         } catch (InvalidProtocolBufferException e) {