Number of low-income children eating school breakfast hits plateau
After years of increases, the number of low-income children eating free or reduced-price breakfast at school plateaued at 12.4 million during the 2018-19 school year, said the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger group.
Trump proposals for SNAP cuts add up to $230 billion, says think tank
Limited initial impact on U.S. ag exports from China deal
Jury orders Monsanto, BASF to pay peach farmer $250 million in punitive damages
A federal jury determined that German agribusiness giants Bayer and BASF will have to pay $250 million in punitive damages to Bader Farms, the largest peach farm in Missouri, for damage caused by their dicamba-related products. The verdict comes at the end of a three-week trial of a case where Bader Farms alleges it is going out of business because of damage incurred by the companies' dicamba herbicides moving off of neighboring fields and harming their 1,000 acres of peach orchards.
Consolidation and climate change threaten U.S. fisheries, say FERN panelists
While overfishing no longer threatens U.S. fisheries, other pressing sustainability issues, such as finfish aquaculture and consolidation, top the list of concerns among fishers and fisheries experts, according to panelists who spoke at FERN Talks and Eats in New York City on Monday.</strong>(No paywall)</strong>
White House renews call for broader work rules for SNAP
The Trump administration proposed a 29 percent cut in food stamps on Monday, to be achieved by requiring more recipients to work at least 20 hours a week and by providing some benefits in the form of a box of food instead of letting people buy food themselves at grocery stores. The White House also asked Congress for stricter rules for access to free meals for low-income children at public schools.
Trump again proposes large cuts in crop insurance
Three weeks after President Trump boasted of protecting crop insurance in the 2018 farm bill, the White House proposed a 31 percent cut in the federally subsidized program on Monday. The cuts, part of the administration's budget package for fiscal 2021, were proposed — and rejected by lawmakers — in previous years.
Balance safety, innovation in gene-edited animals, says FDA chief
Gene editing has enormous potential to improve health and food production, but innovation must be governed by well-rooted standards of safety and effectiveness, said FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn. "The agency is a trusted global regulator and we are committed to overseeing this space in a manner that fosters innovation, protects consumer confidence and protects the public health."
Election outlook improves for four House ag panelists
Sabato's Crystal Ball says the path to re-election is a bit easier for four members of the House Agriculture Committee — Democrats Antonio Delgado of New York State, Josh Harder of California and Kim Schrier of Washington State, and Republican Mike Bost of Illinois — and a bit rockier for Republican Jim Hagedorn of California. The political handicapping newsletter said Democrats are favored to retain control of the House in the Nov. 3 general elections but a highly nationalized election could give Republicans a chance.
Amid growing interest in hemp, USDA stands firm on rules
A lot of farmers will give industrial hemp a try this year, the first time cultivation is allowed nationwide, USDA officials predicted on Thursday. But they said there was no way they could allow more THC in hemp despite complaints that the limit of 0.3 percent is so low that some growers will be penalized unfairly for a "hot" crop.
Missouri peach farmer testifies about alleged dicamba damage
In the early 2000s, Bader Farms was the largest peach farm in Missouri, with annual yields averaging about 160,000 bushels. Fifteen years later, yields had dropped by more than 90 percent. Bill Bader blames dicamba, and now he’s suing its makers for millions of dollars in damages.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Trade war aid is slanted in favor of the South, says Stabenow
Farmers and ranchers are on their way to receiving $14.5 billion in trade war payments on their 2019 production, but that aid is skewed toward large farms and Southern states, said the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday.
U.S. heads for highest farm income in seven years
Thanks to a steady recovery, U.S. farm income this year will be the highest since 2013, the peak of the commodity boom, said the government on Wednesday. The USDA forecast net farm income, a broad measure of profits, at $96.7 billion this year, with higher crop and livestock revenue offsetting the end of two years of mammoth Trump tariff payments.
Al Gore promotes carbon markets, regenerative agriculture at D.C. conference
Agriculture can be “one of the most promising and biggest solutions to the climate crisis” if carbon sequestration and regenerative practices are implemented, former vice president Al Gore said on Wednesday at the annual Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research conference in Washington, D.C.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
With beef plant, Walmart tests supply chain and consumers
Walmart entered the beef business when it opened a processing plant in Georgia that will cut and prepare steaks and roasts for sale in 500 of its stores in the U.S. Southeast. If the plant is successful, says an analyst, “it could mean Walmart takes another step up the supply chain towards the producer.”
Trump backs high-speed internet access, ‘especially’ in rural America
Farmer sentiment rose with China trade deal
Sarasota officials oppose EPA aquaculture pilot project
The city commissioners of Sarasota, Florida, decided Monday to send a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency opposing an aquaculture pilot project that sought to farm fish about 45 miles off the city's coast. In the letter, signed by Sarasota mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch, the commissioners file "strong and formal opposition" to the project.
Coronavirus will delay sales boom to China, says Kudlow
‘Tough year,’ says Perdue as USDA boosts trade-war payments to $14.5 billion
At the same time he saluted the de-escalation of the Sino-U.S. trade war, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced on Monday the release of $3.6 billion in trade-war payments to farmers and ranchers. The money will raise the total for Trump tariff payments to producers to mitigate the impact of retaliatory tariffs on 2019 production to $14.5 billion.