House Democrats elect Craig as party leader on Agriculture Committee
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig said she will employ a principled bipartisanship in her new post as senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, "working to find compromise where we can, but fighting for our values where we must." Farm groups said her first goal should be enactment of a new farm bill.
Year-end package has $10 billion in economic relief for agriculture
Congressional leaders have agreed on $10 billion in financial aid to farmers to offset lower commodity prices and high production costs, said House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday. The money would be part of a must-pass bill to fund the government for the next three months.
Trump and Vance oppose funding bill that includes farm aid
President-elect Donald Trump called for a “streamlined spending bill” that also increases the federal debt ceiling on Wednesday as a replacement for the three-month government funding bill that congressional leaders produced the preceding day. That bill included $10 billion to offset a decline in farm income and $21 billion in disaster relief for agriculture.
Louisiana patient is first severe U.S. case of bird flu
A Louisiana resident was hospitalized with “severe illness” due to the bird flu virus, the most serious U.S. case since the viral disease appeared in wild birds in the South nearly three years ago, said the Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as bird flu outbreaks in dairy herds, previously limited to the Central Valley, were detected in Southern California.
Ten RECs get $4.4 billion in New ERA clean energy funding
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $4.37 billion in grants and loans to 10 rural electric cooperatives on Thursday for clean energy projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.1 million tons a year. With the awards, the USDA has allocated nearly $9 billion of the $9.7 billion available in the Empowering Rural America program.
House defeats Trump-backed government funding bill
One day after President-elect Donald Trump shot down a stopgap government funding bill, the House defeated a Trump-backed bill written by Republicans to keep the government running until March 14. The GOP bill included $31 billion to buffer the impact in rural America of natural disasters and lower farm income.
FDA updates its standards for use of ‘healthy’ on food packages
With most Americans eating too much saturated fat, salt, and added sugar, the Food and Drug Administration updated its regulations on Thursday for when food makers can say on their packages that their products are healthy. Consumer groups said the rule, the first update since 1994, was a significant improvement but that further steps are needed to make it easier to eat a nutritious diet.
How climate change could turn America’s poorest region into a produce-growing hub
In FERN’s latest story, published with Switchyard Magazine, reporter Robert Kunzig takes us to the upper Mississippi River Delta, where the idea of growing more fruits and vegetables — to ease the burden on California in the climate-change era — is taking root.
Farmers to get $10 billion in economic assistance
President Biden signed a stop-gap government funding bill over the weekend that calls for speedy payment of $10 billion to farmers to buffer lower commodity prices and high production costs. Congress voted to fund the government through March 14 after a fight that showed the limits of President-elect Trump's control over Republican lawmakers.
USMCA panel rules Mexico ban on imported GMO corn violates trade rules
A day after losing a USMCA decision on GMO corn imports, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico would enact a law against the planting of transgenic corn in order to protect the country's biodiversity and cultural heritage. A three-member USMCA panel ruled unanimously in favor of the United States that Mexico's 2023 ban on imported GMO corn was an unjustified trade barrier. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
What Ohio’s data-center boom means for the state’s rural communities
In FERN's latest story, produced with Switchyard Magazine, reporter Mya Frazier explores the damage—physical, economic, and emotional—done to Ohio's rural communities by the explosion of data centers and the electricity generation needed to power those centers.
Today’s quick hits, Dec. 18, 2024
The strange future of lab-grown meat
In FERN's latest story, published with Fast Company, reporter Joe Fassler explains how Vow, an Australian startup, is reinventing lab-grown meat by ignoring chicken and beef and focusing on what CEO George Peppou calls "weird meat." <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Craig wins first-round vote for House Democratic ag leader
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, elected four times from a swing district south of the Twin Cities, won the endorsement of the House Democratic Steering Committee on Monday to be the party’s leader on the Agriculture Committee beginning in January. The full Democratic caucus was scheduled to vote on the post on Tuesday.
Second recall of raw milk in California because of bird flu
California state agriculture officials ordered the recall of raw milk from a dairy farm in the Central Valley after tests found bird flu virus in a sample from the farm's bulk tank. The state Department of Food and Agriculture warned against consumption of milk from Valley Milk Simply Bottled on the grounds that it "may lead to infection with this rare, emerging flu virus." No illnesses were reported.
Farm groups demand ag aid despite congressional impasse
Major U.S. farm groups said they would try to torpedo a short-term government funding bill in Congress this week unless it contains a multibillion-dollar bailout for agriculture. Negotiations fell apart over the weekend on inclusion of so-called economic aid in the only must-pass bill left before adjournment, scheduled for Friday.
Louisiana finds possible human case of bird flu
A resident of southwestern Louisiana was hospitalized with what appeared to be the state's first case of bird flu in a person, said state health officials. Sixty people in seven states have contracted mild cases of the viral disease this year, according to the CDC.
Vilsack says Rollins has key asset — Trump’s ear
Brooke Rollins is sure to be confirmed by the Senate as Agriculture secretary in the new Trump administration, and she will start with a valuable asset — an ongoing relationship with the president, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
AquaBounty, developer of GMO salmon, to cease fish farming operations
AquaBounty Technologies, which in 2015 became the first company to gain FDA approval of a GMO animal for human consumption, a salmon, said that after months of retrenchment, it would shut down its fish farming operations. Environmental groups had challenged the FDA decision in court for years and won promises from major grocers and food service companies not to stock the AquAdvantage salmon.
Trump says it’s hard to bring down prices
President-elect Donald Trump, who recently told an interviewer, “I won on groceries,” said in a Time magazine transcript released on Thursday, “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up.” Meanwhile, a Purdue University poll found that consumers have lowered their expectations for food inflation.