Green light for gene-edited animals? Maybe.
Administration says its proposal to tighten SNAP rules would cut 3 million recipients
The Trump administration would oust 1 in every 12 SNAP recipients, a total of 3.1 million people, under a plan released today to restrict access to food stamps through so-called categorical eligibility. “Some states are taking advantage of a loophole” to load SNAP rolls, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Crop insurance costs could rise steeply with climate change
Climate change is expected to lower U.S. corn, soybean, and wheat production and drive up the cost of the federally subsidized crop insurance program. The increase could be as small as 4 percent or as large as 37 percent, depending on how much temperatures rise and whether mitigation efforts are effective, said a USDA report on Monday.
Money begins to flow on second year of Trump bailout of U.S. agriculture
Two months after President Trump announced a $16-billion package to buffer the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war on farmers and ranchers this year, the first driblet of the money is flowing — $100 million for market development. The awarding of the funds, announced by the USDA over the weekend, suggests the rest of the program could swing into operation in the days ahead.
Food stamp multiplier makes $1 worth $1.50 to GDP
Analysts agree that federal spending on low-income people during a recession has a large multiplier effect because the recipients are quick to spend the money, which ripples through the economy. Using the newly compiled Social Accounting Matrix, USDA economists Patrick Canning and Brian Stacy said the SNAP multiplier is a healthy 1.5.
USDA expected agency relocation would drive away employees
With the USDA on the cusp of moving two research agencies to Kansas City, a senior official said on Thursday that massive staff turnover — so far, 250 employees have declined to leave Washington — is par for the course for cross-country relocations. Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow offered a different take: “This is not a relocation. It’s a demolition.”
Producers borrow more, need more time to repay
Agricultural bankers are lending a markedly larger amount of money to farmers and ranchers, with loan volume up 11 percent from April, May, and June of last year, said the Federal Reserve on Thursday. It was the highest rate of growth in loan volume in the spring quarter since 2011.
USDA says agencies are going to Kansas City regardless of staff refusals
Newly hired USDA employees will begin work in Kansas City on Monday as part of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s decision to move two research agencies out of Washington. The USDA said it would use “an aggressive hiring strategy” to replace the 250 staffers who declined the offer to move halfway across the United States.
Public interest law firm launches food project to take on corporate ag
This week, the public interest law firm Public Justice announced the rollout of a national food project that will unite attorneys and communities across the country to work on cases that involve agribusiness. The announcement comes as concerns about the power of corporate agriculture are growing, from the heartland to Capitol Hill.
Ibach: Gene editing might fit in organic agriculture
The USDA official overseeing organic agriculture said the sector, which rejects GMO crops along with the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, might benefit from gene-edited varieties. “There is the opportunity to open the discussion,” said Agriculture Undersecretary Greg Ibach.
For livestock groups, USMCA and year-round labor visas are top priorities
White House fleshes out immigration plan, but no mention of farm labor
President Trump's proposal for a "merit-based" immigration system that favors younger, highly-trained and high-salary workers is now a 620-page bill that will be released "very soon," said presidential adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner on Tuesday.
World hunger up, afflicts 820 million people
One in nine of the earth's population is undernourished and the global hunger rate is creeping up from the low set in 2015, said five UN agencies in a report on Monday. Hunger is most prevalent in Africa, at nearly double the global level, but on every continent, women are more likely than men to go hungry.
Who will reap the benefits of Mexico’s ‘miraculous’ nitrogen-fixing maize?
Last summer, researchers from Mars Inc. and UC Davis announced the "discovery" of a variety of corn grown in Oaxaca that fixes its own nitrogen through mucus-covered aerial roots. Their study, in the journal PLOS Biology, touched off a debate—in Mexico and beyond—about the effectiveness of global policies designed to safeguard the genetic resources of indigenous communities, according to FERN's latest story, published with Yale Environment 360.
Labor Department would go digital with H-2A paperwork
USDA identifies two Monsanto strains in rogue GMO wheat in Washington State
The GMO wheat discovered growing wild in a Washington State field this spring actually sprouted from two different strains developed by Monsanto, the USDA announced over the weekend. Genetically engineered wheat is not approved for cultivation anywhere in the world, yet "volunteer" herbicide-resistant plants have been confirmed four times in the U.S. Northwest more than a decade after field trials ended.
EPA approves sulfoxaflor as crop insecticide after studying impact on bees
Four years after an adverse ruling by a federal appeals court, the EPA approved the insecticide sulfoxaflor for use on a wide variety of crops, saying the chemical posed less of a risk to honeybees than previously thought. The law firm that won the 2015 ruling said the EPA decision "to remove restrictions on yet another bee-killing pesticide is nothing short of reckless."
Short crop will slash record-large soy stockpile by one-fourth
The loss of nearly 6 million acres of corn and soybeans to a cold and rainy planting season this year will be felt into autumn 2020 and beyond, said the government on Thursday, as fat U.S. stockpiles will be drawn down to compensate for short crops.
Buy our farm exports, Trump tells China
On Thursday, for the second time this week, the White House called on China to buy U.S. farm exports. After meeting with President Xi Jinping nearly two weeks ago, President Trump said China would begin “almost immediately” to buy large amounts of U.S. food and ag exports. So far, those purchases have not materialized.
Bill calls for more ag inspectors at U.S. ports
The government would hire 240 agricultural inspectors a year to work at U.S. ports under a bill introduced on Thursday by four senators. The inspectors would work for the Customs and Border Protection agency and specialize in preventing entry of agricultural pests and diseases.