Shift to ‘climate neutral’ agriculture, urges small-farm group
Senate Democrats slam inequities in Trump tariff payments
Arizona farms on the front lines of a climate and water crisis
Arizona's farmers are facing a water crisis, as the state diverts scarce Colorado River resources to booming population centers, reports Stephen R. Miller, in FERN's latest story with National Geographic. To deal with the situation, farmers are drilling deeper into aquifers or selling off land, but pressures will only mount with climate change.
Dean Foods files for bankruptcy, considers sale to Dairy Farmers of America
USDA stumbles on release of market-moving crop report
The USDA was unable to deliver its market-moving crop report, often described as its premiere product, for 10 minutes due to a computer outage in Kansas City, prompting suspicions of profiteering in the grain market during the delay on Friday. The USDA apparently did not have a backup system to put the data on the internet on time.
When U.S. started trade war, ag competition was already rising
For years, the United States was the indisputable global leader for agricultural exports, partly because it had a comparative advantage in farm production. But the U.S. advantage in pork, beef, corn and soybeans is waning, say two university economists, who conclude "this may have been the worst time to enter into a trade war."
Perdue says second tranche of Trump tariff payments is on its way
Farmers can expect a cash injection of billions of dollars in Trump tariff payments later this month or in December, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday. “We hope that trade will supplant the need for aid in 2020,” he said, pointing to progress in negotiations to resolve the Sino-U.S. trade war.
More antitrust lawsuits hit the meat industry. This time, it’s pork.
A class-action lawsuit filed this week on behalf of pork consumers alleges that hog companies have colluded to artificially hike the price of pork — and their profits. The complaint also provides new insight into Agri Stats, a data-sharing company that sits at the center of the wave of antitrust allegations sweeping the meat sector.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Hog epidemic in Asia means less meat worldwide, says UN food group
World meat production will decline for the first time in two decades because of the devastating epidemic of African swine fever in China, the world’s largest pork producer, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on Thursday.
Consensus elusive for Senate reform of ‘national security’ tariffs
Senate Finance chairman Chuck Grassley conceded one point this week: Steel and aluminum will be excluded from any reform of presidential power to impose tariffs based on national security interests. Even so, there is no agreement among senators on how Congress should reassert its authority over international trade.
House Democrats stress USMCA enforcement in meeting with Trudeau
The House Democratic task force on the so-called new NAFTA “has made substantial progress” with U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer on modifications to the tri-national agreement, said a statement from the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.
Farmers expect more Trump tariff payments in 2020
Although farmers and ranchers overwhelmingly believe they will emerge as winners from the Sino-U.S. trade war, they also expect the Trump administration will send them billions of dollars in trade-war payments on 2020 crops yet to be planted, according to a Purdue University poll released Tuesday.
SNAP enrollment is lowest in a decade
Food stamp enrollment is forecast for 37.1 million people this fiscal year, the lowest figure since the early days of the Great Recession. The antihunger program could cost $69.2 billion this fiscal year, according to Senate appropriators, down 6 percent from fiscal 2019, which ended on Sept. 30, and far below the nearly $80 billion cost when SNAP participation peaked early this decade.
Farmers support trade war despite their financial losses
Lawmakers propose USDA agency for agricultural innovation
U.S. economy slows as corn and soy output soar, according to USDA projection
With a return to normal weather, farmers will expand vastly their corn and soybean plantings next year — enough to produce their largest corn crop ever and the fourth-largest soybean crop, according to USDA's agricultural projections. Bumper crops will drive down market prices in the near term and create huge stockpiles that will take years to whittle down.
Trump chooses cancer doctor to lead FDA
Dr. Stephen Hahn, a hospital executive and cancer specialist, is President Trump's choice for FDA commissioner, said the White House. Hahn had been rumored for the post for weeks. But in a surprise, Health Secretary Alex Azar said FDA's interim leader, Ned Sharpless, would return immediately to his previous post of director of the National Cancer Institute because he had hit a statutory time limit of 210 days for service as an acting agency chief.
More students in jeopardy if USDA tightens SNAP rules
Two weeks ago, the USDA said that up to 982,000 children would lose automatic access to free meals at school under its plan to tighten SNAP eligibility rules. Now a study by the Urban Institute says an additional 1.05 million children would be affected indirectly because they attend schools in low-income areas that serve meals for free to all students.
Two ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats vote against House impeachment inquiry
House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson and committee member Jeff Van Drew voted against the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry of President Trump on Thursday, though both men said they are reserving judgment on impeachment itself.
USDA to move two agencies to Pennsylvania Avenue — in Kansas City
The USDA has a permanent home for two research agencies, four months after announcing they would move to “the Kansas City region” and weeks after employees began reporting to work at temporary quarters.