Former Ag chairman Conaway, farm subsidy defender and SNAP skeptic, will retire
Staunch conservative Michael Conaway, an eight-term Republican from west Texas and the most divisive House Agriculture chairman in decades, said on Wednesday that he will retire at the end of 2020.
‘Dead zone’ in Gulf is eighth-largest on record
The fish-killing “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico this summer covers 6,952 square miles, midway in size between Connecticut and New Jersey, said researchers on Thursday. It is the eighth-largest dead zone in 33 years of keeping records.
With Costco chicken plant set to open, Nebraskans want more oversight of poultry farms
The arrival of a Costco chicken processing plant in Fremont, Nebraska, spurred the introduction of the state’s first industrial chicken farms in 2018. With the plant set to begin operations after Labor Day, some residents are pushing for stronger — or any — oversight of large poultry farms in the state.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
China says, again, that it will buy more U.S. farm goods
During the second day of trade talks in Shanghai, Chinese officials “confirmed their commitment to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural exports,” said the White House on Wednesday. “The U.S. side agreed to create favorable conditions for it,” said a Chinese editor believed to have contacts in the government.
SNAP benefits “fall short,” an increase would improve food security, says think tank
Trump threatens long-running trade war with China
USDA says no link between school meals and SNAP proposal
As U.S.-China talks resume, the biggest U.S. farm group asks for an end of trade war tariffs
The largest U.S. farm group urged trade negotiators “to write the next chapter” in Sino-U.S. relations this week by eliminating trade war tariffs that are depressing ag exports, an important part of farm income. On Monday, the USDA reported an uptick in soybean exports to China, but there was no sign of large “goodwill” purchases on the eve of negotiations in Shanghai.
In SNAP proposal, USDA hides effect on school meals, says House chairman
Although a half-million children would lose access to free meals at school under a Trump administration proposal to restrict eligibility for food stamps, the USDA has not published that fact, said the chairman of the House Education Committee on Monday.
St. Albans dairy co-op members vote to merge with Dairy Farmers of America
The farmer-members of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery in Vermont voted overwhelmingly on Monday to merge with the nation’s largest dairy cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America.
Sino-U.S. trade war could last until late 2020, says Trump
President Trump was ambivalent about this week's trade talks with China, saying "I don't know if they're going to make a deal," even as China hinted at goodwill purchases of U.S. farm exports. Meanwhile, the White House said China, the second-largest economy in the world, ought to shed its status at the WTO as a developing nation and to play by the same rules as the United States and other industrial nations.
Japan buys U.S. wheat, puts new GMO testing system in place
Japan's Ministry of Agriculture purchased $18 million worth of U.S. wheat last week, days after announcing it would not interrupt imports because of the discovery of GMO wheat in a fallow field in Washington State. The Japan Agricultural Times reported the ministry said on July 17 that it had adopted a new inspection method so there was no need to suspend purchases.
Farmers to get $7 billion in trade aid this summer, with more on tap
The Trump administration will send more than $7 billion in trade war payments to farmers this summer, a total that could soar to more than $14 billion if the Sino-U.S. dispute persists into the winter, said officials on Thursday. For the second year, agriculture is the only sector of the U.S. economy to receive trade mitigation payments.
Bright hopes, uncertain pace for industrial hemp
The 2018 farm bill legalized the production of industrial hemp and farmers are clearly interested in a potential new cash crop, but many obstacles must be overcome before the industry can take root, said lawmakers and federal regulators on Thursday.
Farm income will surge 4 percent if China ends soy tariffs, say analysts
If China eliminated its punishing trade war tariffs on U.S. soybeans, net farm income would climb by nearly $3 billion this year and $4 billion in 2020, said three university economists in examining one aspect of the Sino-U.S. trade war. The two countries will resume trade talks next week in Shanghai.
Declining investment in public ag research threatens innovation, report says
A new report from Purdue University, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and other groups says that public spending on agricultural research in the United States has plummeted, threatening innovation and public access to information. At the same time, it says, ag research is becoming increasingly privatized.
Different types of corn drive U.S.-Mexico trade
The United States and Mexico are among the world’s largest corn producers, and both are expanding production. A USDA report says that despite their geographic proximity, there are fundamental differences in the “corn economies” of the two countries.
Wild bees outperform honeybees, but our farms don’t make them welcome
Scientists are discovering that wild bees are far better pollinators than the honeybees that dominate commercial agriculture, according to FERN's latest story, published with HuffPost. But that discovery, which coincides with a worldwide collapse in pollinator numbers, spotlights a "desperate need" for new approaches to farming that work with these wild bees.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
First round of Trump tariff payments could top $4 billion