While lawmakers laud compromise, Trump urges SNAP work requirements
Farm bill negotiators spoke smilingly of comity and compromise while budging not an inch on major issues such as SNAP work requirements on Wednesday during their first, and possibly last, public meeting.
Food insecurity rates continue to fall, USDA report finds
National food insecurity continued to decline in 2017, according to a new report from the Department of Agriculture, and now affects 11.8 percent of U.S. households, down from 12.3 percent in 2016.
Administration optimistic on Canada, less so on China, say ag leaders
On Wednesday, three state Farm Bureau presidents told administration leaders, including President Trump, that farmers, hit hard by retaliatory tariffs, need open markets soon. “There’s a fairly short runway,” said South Dakota’s Scott VanderWal.
USDA: Farm anxiety understandable, aid package will ease it
The administration’s aid package for farmers will shield U.S. agriculture while President Trump negotiates new and fairer trade deals, said a USDA spokesman on Wednesday.
Farmers fear trade war impact despite Trump tariff payments
Half of the producers in a Purdue poll say announcement of Trump tariff payments did nothing to allay their concerns about lost income during trade war with China and other major customers for U.S. ag exports. Some 71 percent of crop and livestock producers expect a decline in farm income from trade conflicts but not as deep as initially feared, according to the Ag Economy Barometer released on Tuesday.
As farm bill conference begins, Grassley says he may vote ‘no’ in the end
Senate and House negotiators will make little progress during a pro forma public meeting today despite expressions of determination to agree on, and enact, a compromise farm bill before the 2014 farm policy law expires at the end of this month. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the dogged advocate of stricter farm subsidy rules, said on Tuesday that he might vote against the farm bill if his payment limit provision is cut.
New campaign targets top cafeteria operators
A coalition of organizations that represent farmers, ranchers, fishermen, students, and food system workers launched a new campaign Tuesday that targets the purchasing practices of the country's top cafeteria operators. Those operators—Aramark, Sodexo, and Compass Group—run a huge percentage of the country's institutional cafeterias, including 47 percent of hospitals, 21 percent of college campuses, and 11 percent of public school districts. The coalition aims to shift the purchasing practices of the biggest operators to support a more sustainable food supply chain.
Duration of decline tops magnitude as farm income issue
When the commodity boom collapsed in 2014, U.S. farm income plunged along with it. While there are signs that income is stabilizing, economists Brent Gloy and Dave Widmar say their foremost concern "is more about the duration than the magnitude" with the fourth year of persistently low income going into the books.
China trips soybeans, corn wins race for top U.S. crop
A year after making soybeans the most widely grown crop in the country, U.S. farmers will make corn king again, driven by trade war with China and a burdensome soy stockpile, said the FAPRI think tank at the University of Missouri. "China's tariffs will reduce U.S. soybean exports," said FAPRI. The research group expects farmers will slash soybean plantings by 5.5 percent in 2019 in the face of the lowest market price in 12 years.
U.S. farm group would support supply management in NAFTA
Agriculture amounts to a small part of NAFTA trade volume but it is a major sticking point for U.S. and Canadian negotiators who are scheduled to resume negotiations on the new NAFTA on Wednesday. The second-largest U.S. farm group said the White House ought to adopt the dairy supply management system that it reportedly is trying to eliminate in Canada and reinstate country-of-origin labeling on beef.
Farm bill on parade: ‘Let the games begin’
When House and Senate negotiators sit down to reconcile differences between legislation, as the 56 farm bill conferees are scheduled to do on Wednesday, there are few formal rules to govern their work. "It is most common that a conference committee holds a single public meeting, sometimes for members to offer opening statements only," says one guide. Illinois Rep. Ed Madigan probably set the record for brevity with an opening statement of four words on the 1990 farm bill: "Let the games begin."
Farm income stabilizes a bit, but financial stress edges upward
U.S. farm income is higher than expected this year and is regaining its footing after taking a tumble early this decade, said the Agriculture Department on Thursday. Nonetheless, net farm income will be the lowest since 2006, and the debt-to-asset ratio is rising for the sixth year in a row.
Dairy is the big farm issue for NAFTA, says Perdue
Dairy is not the only agricultural dispute between the United States and Canada, but it is the biggest one, according to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Senior U.S. officials say the new NAFTA must include greater U.S. dairy access to Canada.
State regulators call for early cutoff date for dicamba use
Many states have reported significant complaints from farmers about dicamba damage to their crops and plants, said an association of state pesticide regulators in calling for the EPA to tighten its rules on use of the weedkiller.
U.S. citrus harvest down 20 percent in one year
Citrus production has trended downward for years, but it dropped abruptly, by 20 percent, in the just-ended 2017/18 season, affected greatly by Hurricane Irma in Florida, said the USDA in its annual Citrus report.
Trade war ends China’s role as top U.S. ag export customer
Canada, runner-up for most of this decade, has replaced China as the top market for U.S. farm exports because of the high tariffs that have discouraged sales in the Sino-U.S. trade war, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. China will finish this year as the No. 3 customer for U.S. ag exports, behind Mexico.
Trudeau says Canada won’t yield on dairy system
With negotiators facing an informal deadline of Friday for agreement on the new NAFTA, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will reject U.S. proposals to dismantle its supply management system, said Canadian Press on Wednesday.
‘Looking for the right balance’ on ethanol, says Perdue
In the No. 1 corn and ethanol state, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told a friendly farm audience on Wednesday that the Trump administration is looking to balance the needs of ethanol makers and oil refiners so that it can allow year-round sales of E15.
Groups ask appeals court to take dicamba off the market
Environmental groups told a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday that the EPA had failed to properly assess the risks posed by the weedkiller dicamba to nearby crops and should be ordered to revoke its approval of Monsanto’s version of the herbicide, reported Reuters.
Midwest scores big on Trump tariff payments; decision on second round in early December
Nearly half of the $4.7 billion in Trump tariff payments will go to five midwestern states that are the largest soybean and hog producers in the country, said a farm group analysis on Tuesday. At the same time, an environmental group challenged the USDA to explain its opaque development of the bailout package.