Costly fire year greets new head of the Forest Service
Forest Service chief Vicki Christiansen, who took office on Thursday after six months as interim chief, said the USDA agency would spend $2.6 billion on fire suppression “for this historic fire season,” roughly the same as in 2017.
North Carolina offers to buy out floodplain hog farms
A month after Hurricane Florence swamped southern North Carolina with up to 40 inches of rain, state officials offered on Thursday to buy out hog farms that have a high risk of flooding in severe storms.
Michael threatens Southeast’s crops and livestock
As Hurricane Michael made landfall Wednesday, farmers in the Southeast were still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Florence just weeks ago.
Dinner at school is a growing option for U.S. students
Compared to the long-established school lunch program, after-school programs that provide snacks or supper to pupils are tiny. In fact, just 1.2 million suppers, versus 30 million lunches, are served in school each day.
North Carolina ag losses from Florence soar to $2.4 billion
Gov. Roy Cooper earmarked $235 million for agriculture out of a proposed $1.5 billion in state spending for recovery from Hurricane Florence “and future storm resiliency” on Wednesday.
Diversity is destiny for agriculture’s leaders, says Merrigan
In a speech on the future of agriculture, a former USDA official forecast a fundamental shift in the demographic makeup of the food and ag sector.
Christiansen moves from interim to permanent Forest Service chief
After six months as the agency’s interim leader, Vicki Christiansen will take the oath of office today as chief of the U.S. Forest Service, one of the USDA’s largest agencies.
Trump gives the order for year-round sale of E15
On his way to a campaign rally in Iowa, President Trump started the regulatory process on Tuesday for year-round sales of a 15 percent blend of corn ethanol in gasoline, sought in the Farm Belt as a tonic for trade war jitters. E15 sales are banned during the summer now, and the EPA will have to move expeditiously, given the federal rule-writing process, to implement Trump's order by next June 1, the usual cut-off date.
Fighting dicamba damage in Arkansas
After nearly 1,000 complaints from neighbors about damage from the weedkiller dicamba, the Arkansas State Plant Board banned use of the herbicide on soybeans and cotton during the growing season this year. Yet state officials still are receiving complaints about dicamba, especially in the northeastern corner of the state, near the Missouri border, says NPR's The Salt, and the state is looking for the culprits.
Former federal officials protest moving ERS from Washington
A bipartisan coalition of former federal officials wrote a letter opposing the planned move of USDA's Economic Research Service from Washington, D.C. The move was announced by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in August. Perdue has said the move will save taxpayers money and allow USDA to better recruit from land-grant universities far from Washington.
U.S. losing market share in global corn and wheat sales
For decades, the United States was the super power of the grain world, holding one-third of the international trade in wheat and shipping roughly seven of every 10 bushels sold on the world market. The world market is growing in size, but USDA analysts say the United States is falling off the pace.
‘It’s not just SNAP.’ Regional shift in subsidies tying up farm bill, Stabenow says.
Corn, wheat, rice yields at risk as global temperature rises
Second federal court allows challenge of USDA over organic livestock
Federal judges on the east and west coasts have rebuffed the USDA and are allowing lawsuits to proceed against the Trump administration's dismissal of animal welfare standards for organic farms, a regulation that was in the works for years. The Organic Trade Association (OTA) says that by delaying and then withdrawing the livestock rule, the government "engaged in a pattern of misconduct that can only be corrected by a federal court."
Lowest food prices in a year, says FAO
Global prices for cereal grains, dairy products and vegetable oils fell during September, pulling the Food Price Index to its lowest reading in at least a year, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Corn prices dropped by more than 4 percent, "mostly on expectations of a very large crop in the United States and ample supply prospects globally," said the FAO.
U.S. ‘locking up’ trade access to Canada and Mexico, says Perdue
Wheat and dairy groups were guarded in their assessments of the North American trade pact, while Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asserted on Thursday the agreement "is locking up two of our top three markets for the future." The administration says the agreement, which needs approval by Congress, will enable fairer trade in food and agriculture but has not suggested what additional trade flow to expect.
Farm bill negotiators link arms in pledge of cooperation
The "big four" negotiators set a new target of mid-November to wrap up work on the 2018 farm bill during a half-hour meeting on Thursday, quashing partisan squabbling. In a physical show of solidarity, the Senate and House negotiators linked arms and told reporters they were making a determined effort on the $87 billion a year legislation.
In the mid-terms, many Senate Ag panelists ‘safe’
With two screaming exceptions, it's becoming safer and safer electorally to be a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee in a farm bill year. Five of the 10 committee members facing the voters on Nov. 6 are rated as "safe" for a new term, with Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the panel, awarded that rating on Thursday by Sabato's Crystal Ball, a political analysis site.
Climate change is forcing farmers to migrate from Central America
In Central America's Dry Corridor, a historically drought-prone region that stretches from Mexico to Panama and is home to 10.5 million people, climate change is producing longer and more frequent dry spells and forcing a growing number of farmers to attempt to migrate to the U.S., according to FERN's latest story, published with The Weather Channel. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Farm bill proposal on yields ‘does not seem prudent,’ say analysts
House Agriculture chairman Micheal Conaway says he tried to help every section of the country in his version of the 2018 farm bill, which was ratified by his fellow House Republicans but now is stalled by myriad House-Senate disputes. One of the House provisions, to give some but not all growers the opportunity to potentially increase their subsidy payments, "does not seem prudent," said four university economists.