Pence: ‘We have a ways to go’ in settling trade war with China
In a speech at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Vice President Mike Pence pointed on Thursday to China's promises to roughly double its purchases of U.S. farm exports as evidence that there is "no greater fighter on trade than President Donald Trump." The pledge was part of the "phase one" agreement that de-escalated the Sino-U.S. trade war and is scheduled for a six-month review by the two nations this weekend.
Crustaceans and oilseeds ahead of U.S.-China ‘phase one’ review
China bought $188 million worth of U.S. soybeans on Monday, continuing a string of purchases that began last week, as the world's two largest economies approach a six-month review of the "phase one" agreement that de-escalated the trade war.
Anti-hunger groups see promise in Biden-Harris ticket
With Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s running mate confirmed, anti-hunger advocates say the presidential ticket is well equipped to tackle an urgent concern: food insecurity. Sen. Kamala Harris has consistently pushed for bolstering the social safety net, notably calling for the 15-percent increase in SNAP benefits that experts say would significantly reduce hunger. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
USDA to release coronavirus reserve funds, makes more products eligible
USDA’s coronavirus payments to farmers creep to $7 billion
With 18 days left for to apply for coronavirus aid, farmers and ranchers have received $7 billion of the $16 billion earmarked for assistance, an increase of $218 million from the previous week, said the USDA on Monday. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
Pandemic pummels farm income in Midwest and Plains, say ag lenders
The government's coronavirus relief programs are an important shield for farmers and ranchers battling a sharp drop in income in the central Plains, ag lenders said in a Kansas City Fed survey released on Thursday. A similar survey of ag bankers in the Midwest by the Chicago Fed "revealed the broad financial distress from the Covid-19 pandemic in rural areas."
In pandemic year, cropland values in Farm Belt are steady to slightly lower
The coronavirus pandemic may be the defining event of 2020, driving the United States into a recession and pummeling commodity prices, but cropland values in the Farm Belt have been relatively unaffected — stable to slightly softer, said the USDA on Thursday.
Derecho hit 10 million acres of crops in Iowa
Children of workers led virus-driven protests in meatpacking town
This past spring, as meatpacking plants across the nation quickly became invisible hotspots for Covid-19, a group of young adults whose parents work at the massive Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Crete, Nebraska, launched a series of protests that were unprecedented in an industry that likes to keep a low profile, as Esther Honig and Mary Anne Andrei report in FERN's latest story, a multimedia partnership with Latino USA.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Farm state GOP senators speak favorably of more food assistance funds
Four Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee have spoken favorably in the past few days of additional funding for public nutrition programs during the pandemic, possibly including an increase in SNAP benefits. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
‘Outstanding’ conditions point to bumper crops, huge corn and soy stockpiles
U.S. farmers are looking at their largest corn crop ever and a near-record soybean harvest, with huge stockpiles of both crops persisting into fall 2021, said the USDA on Wednesday. Some 2.8 billion bushels of corn would remain in the bin when next year's crop is mature, the largest carry-over since the Reagan era.
Churned by hurricane, ‘dead zone’ is one-third expected size
The fish-killing "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico this summer is the third-smallest in 34 years of surveys, reported scientists. At 2,116 square miles, the hypoxic region is about one-third the size of the forecast of 6,700 square miles.
Pandemic aid is too constricted and too slow, ag groups and lawmakers tell USDA
The USDA should immediately release the $1.4 billion of coronavirus payments it's holding in reserve for farmers and change the rules — particularly on eligibility, payment limits and the deadline for applications — that are keeping aid from producers, said 28 farm and agribusiness groups.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Harris on ag issues: Strong on farmworker protections, against the USMCA
During her time in the Senate, California's Kamala Harris, named Tuesday to be Joe Biden's running mate in this fall's presidential election, has been active on a number of farm and ag issues, including creating a path to citizenship for farmworkers. She has also been an advocate of aggressive action on climate change.
Block dicamba until weedkiller is under control, says report
The herbicide dicamba is too risky to use on row crops such as soybeans and cotton until independent research shows it won't evaporate and harm nearby crops and plants, said a report from three conservation and environmental groups on Wednesday. Dicamba is blamed for "off-target" damage on millions of acres of property, and the EPA is considering possible rules for its use on crops in the future.
[Updated] U.S. agricultural trade balance shrivels to historic low during pandemic
Apparently due to the pandemic, the United States was running its smallest agricultural trade balance at the nine-month mark in a fiscal year, $1.7 billion, since the turn of the century, according to USDA data. The sector ordinarily is a bright spot in U.S. trade data, with annual surpluses that can run into the tens of billions of dollars.
Biden says he would remove tariffs on China
President Trump is "going after China the wrong way" in a go-it-alone trade war that has damaged U.S. agriculture and manufacturing, said Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, in an interview to be aired on Thursday.
Grocery prices surge for fourth straight month, pushed by meat
Beef prices in the grocery store are 14.2 percent higher than a year ago, part of a broad rise in prices for "food at home," said the Labor Department on Wednesday. While it was the fourth month in a row of surging grocery prices, there were signs that food inflation is easing.
Lawmakers seek USDA aid for sheep ranchers
The USDA needs to step in to help sheep ranchers in the West following the bankruptcy of the second-largest U.S. sheep processor, said leaders of the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday.