Survey finds high risks faced by California farmworkers in pandemic
Farmworkers in California face increased vulnerability to the coronavirus, due to working conditions and lack of access to healthcare, according to a survey released Tuesday by farmworker advocates. In Monterey, one of the top farm counties in the state, the survey found that farmworkers were three times as likely to become infected by the coronavirus than people employed in the county’s non-agricultural industries.
Signs of Covid-19 slump in Indiana farmland prices
Farm managers, land brokers, appraisers, and other professionals attribute a modest decline in Indiana farmland values in the first half of the year, a trend expected to continue into the winter, to disruptions accompanying the coronavirus, said Purdue University on Thursday. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Pace of coronavirus payments to farmers slows, reasons unclear
Meatpackers skeptical of broader disclosure of cattle prices and purchases
Noting complaints about dwindling competition, the USDA listed several ways to improve price transparency in the cattle market on Wednesday and offered to assist stakeholders and policymakers in exploring options to assure fair prices and level the playing field between producers and processors.
Perdue gets $20 billion blank check for ag aid in GOP coronavirus plan
Senate Republicans proposed $20 billion in additional aid to agriculture in their new coronavirus package on Monday, leaving it to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to allot the money. At the same time, Republicans decided against an increase in food stamp benefits, a goal of House Democrats. The proposed increase in farm aid came as the USDA released figures showing that it has only spent a little more than 40 percent of the $16 billion that was earmarked for farmers and ranchers in the CARES act. (No paywall)
Democratic platform redirects farm subsidies, boosts SNAP
Farm subsidies would be reformed "to better support small- and mid-sized farms" if Joe Biden is elected president, says the draft platform written ahead of next month's Democratic National Convention. "Democrats will increase funding for food assistance programs, including SNAP, WIC, and school meals."
Dicamba-resistant weeds established in western Tennessee
The fast-growing weed Palmer amaranth has developed a tolerance for dicamba herbicide in least five counties in western Tennessee and likely several others, said University of Tennessee weed specialist Larry Steckel on Monday. The report was a setback for dicamba, which was introduced a few years ago as a new tool for control of invasive weeds that showed resistance to glyphosate and other weedkillers.
Lax rules, little accountability in Trump food-box giveaway, say House Democrats
FERN launches new map and analysis of Covid-19 outbreaks in the food system
Covid-19 cases appear to be slowing at meat plants. But companies aren’t releasing test results.
After many months of surging cases, the number of new Covid-19 infections reported at meatpacking plants appears to have slowed. Yet with limited information from the major meatpackers on new cases at their facilities, advocates say it isn’t clear whether the trend reflects a true decline.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
China buys more U.S. soybeans despite tensions
School lunch count plummeted as schools closed in pandemic
Participation in the school lunch program nosedived 28 percent during the first months of the pandemic despite breakneck efforts across the nation to provide an alternative to meals in the cafeteria, said USDA data. An anti-hunger group said extension of the so-called P-EBT program and an increase in SNAP benefits were needed to treat "this child hunger crisis."
Food stamp rolls surge by 6 million people during pandemic
Some 43 million people — or more than one in eight Americans — received food stamps in May, an increase of 6.2 million in three months since the coronavirus pandemic swept the country and economic recession threw millions of people out of work. SNAP enrollment is the highest since October 2017. (No paywall)
Hog backlog forecast to rise to 2.5 million head by year’s end
Coronavirus safeguards are constraining slaughter capacity at U.S. pork plants, causing the hog backlog to more than double to 2.5 million head by the end of this year, said a pork industry analyst on Monday. Economist Steve Meyer said the pandemic was "by far, the worst financial disaster ever for American hog farmers, who already were in a weakened financial position due to two years of trade retaliation."
Farm, anti-hunger groups try to squeeze into $1-trillion pandemic bill
"Everything's on the table" as Congress sets to work on a new coronavirus relief bill, and most of it will end up in the wastebasket, said Senate Finance chairman Chuck Grassley. Farm groups are pressing for billions of dollars in aid to offset low commodity prices and anti-hunger activists say a temporary increase in SNAP benefits would reduce hunger and stimulate the economy.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Report: Coronavirus worsens food insecurity in the South
Three Southern states — Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas — are among the eight states nationwide with the lowest SNAP participation rates, says the Food Research and Action Center. The coronavirus pandemic "is exacerbating the already alarming rates of food insecurity in the Southern region," said a FRAC report that recommends expansion of federal nutrition programs, such as SNAP, WIC and school meals, to meet the need.
Poultry to account for half of world increase in meat consumption
Global meat consumption will grow by 12 percent in the coming decade, with lower-cost poultry accounting for half of the increase, said the OECD and FAO on Thursday. Their jointly produced Agricultural Outlook report also said that aquaculture would overtake "capture fisheries" as the leading source of fish worldwide by 2024.
Federal payments soften farm financial stress
Agricultural credit conditions remain weak, but government payments "appear likely to limit the severity of financial stress among farm borrowers in the coming months," said the Federal Reserve in a quarterly report on Thursday. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Cut back on sugar and alcohol, recommends U.S. diet panel
Americans should halve their consumption of added sugars, and men should limit themselves to one drink a day, said a panel of experts helping the government update its advice on healthful diets. The advisory committee report, published on Wednesday, is expected to provide the scientific foundation for a new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, scheduled for publication late this year.
Online SNAP grocery shopping tainted by ‘manipulative’ tactics, says report
State after state joined a USDA pilot program this spring that allows SNAP participants to buy groceries online as a way to reduce the chance of contracting Covid-19. But now, said a report released Thursday, SNAP shoppers face "an often manipulative and nontransparent grocery marketplace" when they shop via the internet. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>