Coronavirus infection ends Grassley’s 27-year voting streak
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said on Tuesday that he was quarantining himself at home while awaiting results of a test for Covid-19. The quarantine ended a 27-year streak, dating voting in every Senate roll call — a record 8,927 in all — since 1993.
In the water and in the courts, fight to save endangered right whales grows urgent
With only an estimated 360 left, the fight to save the North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered species on the planet, has grown urgent — in the water and in the courts, as Rene Ebersole explains in FERN's latest story, published with Yale Environment 360. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Boost SNAP benefits by 15 percent, says Fudge, potential USDA nominee
Coronavirus aid to farmers tops $20 billion
Democrats claim victory in two House Ag races
Two Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee, Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney and Antonio Delgado, claimed re-election as vote counting continued in New York State. And in two other undecided races, Democrats halved their opponents' leads, thanks to absentee ballots.
U.S. and global ag trade resilient in face of pandemic
Partly because food is indispensable, agricultural trade has been remarkably robust despite the disruptions of the pandemic, said Ohio State professor Ian Sheldon during the university's annual agricultural outlook conference. Inventories of key staples are at high levels worldwide so "there's no reason why a health crisis turns into a global food crisis," he said.
China on track for $31 billion in U.S. ag imports over 12 months
While China may not meet the first-year target under the "phase one" trade agreement, it is buying huge amounts of U.S. food, agriculture, and seafood products that could total $31 billion over 12 months, said Iowa State economist Wendong Zhang at a farm conference on Thursday. Neither Zhang nor Ohio State professor Ian Sheldon said they expected the Biden administration to roll back U.S. tariffs on China in the near term.
Will Colorado’s vote to bring back wolves be a model for conservationists?
Colorado voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative directing wildlife officials to reintroduce gray wolves west of the Rocky Mountains. It was the first time in U.S. history that voters mandated the reintroduction of a threatened species. “The ballot initiative was the final Hail Mary approach to get this done, to break the stranglehold that the livestock industry has had over this for decades,” said Rob Edward, president of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund, the organization behind the initiative. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Farmland values rise in Midwest and Plains
Ag bankers in the Midwest reported the largest year-over-year increase in agricultural land values, 2 percent, since 2014, said the Chicago Federal Reserve on Thursday. The Kansas City Federal Reserve said land values rose by 1 to 3 percent in the Plains, with the value of ranchland and non-irrigated cropland rising the most.
Biden review of USDA may have a climate mitigation perspective
Robert Bonnie, an Obama appointee at the USDA and now the head of an initiative to identify agriculture's role in mitigating climate change, will lead a review of the Agriculture Department to prepare the way for the incoming administration, said the Biden transition office. Meanwhile, Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge said on Wednesday that she would be honored to serve as Biden's agriculture secretary. If chosen, she would be the first Black woman to hold the cabinet post.<strong> (No paywall) </strong>
Anti-hunger advocates expect Biden administration to bolster safety net
Anti-hunger advocates are celebrating the outcome of the presidential election, which they say creates a new opportunity to push back against escalating food insecurity in the United States — and they have plenty of ideas for what needs to be done. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Brazil heads, again, for its largest soy crop ever
Despite dry weather at the start of the planting season, Brazil is headed for its second record-setting soybean harvest in a row, said USDA analysts, who forecast the 2020/21 crop at 133 million metric tonnes, up nearly 6 percent from last year.
With food workers likely to receive a Covid-19 vaccine early, experts say states should prepare now
Farm income cushion for 2021: Higher commodity prices
EU targets U.S. agriculture and aircraft in airplane dispute
Women dominate list of potential nominees for agriculture secretary
Obama-era officials and lawmakers top the list of potential nominees for agriculture secretary in the Biden administration, and, for the first time, most of the contenders are women. Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, co-founder of the One Country Project to boost Democratic support in rural America, was the most frequently mentioned name.
Robust U.S. economy, higher commodity prices in 2021, says USDA
A resurgent U.S. economy will grow at its fastest pace in two decades after this year's coronavirus slowdown, helping to boost commodity prices almost across the board, said the USDA in its first projections for 2021. Growers will harvest a record-large crop of soybeans and the crop will sell for an average $10 a bushel for the first time in seven years, thanks to strong demand.
Costa makes it a two-man race for ag gavel
Eight-term Rep. Jim Costa, who represents an agricultural district around Fresno in California's Central Valley, announced his candidacy for chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, saying the committee "should reflect the changing landscape of agriculture in the United States." As the majority party, House Democrats will select the chairman in the weeks ahead.
Scott, seeking to chair House Ag, calls for racial justice and economic equality
Nine-term Georgia Rep. David Scott asked House Democrats to name him Agriculture Committee chairman with a call on Thursday for racial justice and economic equality in agriculture, rural economic development, and a safety net for hungry Americans. He would be the first Black and the first Georgian to chair the committee.
Some states tougher than OSHA on coronavirus workplace outbreaks
While the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been heavily criticized for its handling of workplace Covid-19 outbreaks, California and a handful of other states have implemented more rigorous workplace safety regulations that experts say better protect food and farm workers from the virus. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>