FDA plans to update definition of “milk”
Dairy farmers lament that the supermarket dairy case is packed with soy milk and almond milk as well as milk from cows. FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb says the agency will update its definition of milk over the next year. "An almond doesn't lactate, I will confess," said Gottlieb at a Politico showcase.
SNAP enrollment is lowest in eight years
The USDA says monthly SNAP participation has dropped below 40 million people, continuing a long decline in enrollment. The anti-hunger group Food Research and Action Center said enrollment of 39.6 million people in April, the latest month available in USDA data, was the lowest since February 2010.
In trade war volley, U.S. asks WTO to overrule tit-for-tat tariffs
On Monday, the United States asked the World Trade Organization to swat down retaliatory duties levied by China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and Turkey on U.S. exports as a violation of WTO rules. The move is the latest in the tit-for-tat trade war that began in April.
Trump chooses Big Ag executive for USDA chief scientist
Scott Hutchins, an executive at DowDuPont, is President Trump’s choice for USDA chief scientist, announced the White House on Monday. The post of chief scientist, which doubles as undersecretary for research, has been vacant since Trump took office.
USDA will pay up to $900,000 per farmer in disaster relief
Nearly 11 months after Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast of Texas, the USDA said it will pay up to $900,000 in disaster relief to producers who suffered losses due to hurricanes or wildfires last year.
U.S. heads for near-record corn exports
Thanks to continued strong demand from overseas buyers, U.S. corn exports this trade year could be the second highest ever, the Foreign Agricultural Service said on Thursday.
A much-debated Costco plant draws more ire from Nebraskans
When the plan for a new Costco chicken-processing plant in Fremont, Nebraska, was announced in 2016, it drew angry local protests. Now large-scale chicken farms that will supply the plant are popping up across the state, causing a new round of protests amid concerns about environmental and health effects.
Prospects dimming for House vote on ag guestworker bill
House Republican leaders promised a vote this month on creating a new agricultural guestworker program. But it now appears that vote may be delayed, in part due to inter-party squabbling over more comprehensive immigration reform.
As commodity prices fall, Trump says ag exports will be ‘better than ever before’
Senators signaled their strong dissatisfaction with President Trump’s policy of trade warfare on Wednesday, while Trump said, falsely, that “farmers have done poorly for 15 years,” and pledged to remove trade barriers so that U.S. exports flow “better than ever before.”
Houses passes reauthorization of the ‘fish bill’
The House reauthorized the Magnuson-Stevens Act in a roll call vote on Wednesday. A multi-hour debate over the bill, which regulates fishing in federal waters, centered on its two controversial measures: weakening catch limits for several species of fish, and eliminating a 10-year deadline for fish stock rebuilding.
House to call farm bill showdown with Senate
With the support of the Trump administration, the Republican-controlled House wrote welfare reform into the farm bill. Now, GOP leaders say they will call a vote as early as Tuesday in the House for a face-to-face confrontation with the Senate over broader and more rigorous work requirements affecting an estimated 7 million food stamp recipients.
FERN Q&A: Beaver-created wetlands could be a farmer’s best friend
In his new book, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, FERN contributor Ben Goldfarb makes the case that this widely vilified rodent, which was trapped nearly out of existence in the U.S., is not only making a comeback but could play a major role in mitigating the effects of climate change and other problems afflicting farmers. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Biggest Trump tariff damage to ag may appear in the long run
President Carter imposed the 1980 Soviet grain embargo to punish the Soviet Union for its invasion of Afghanistan, an inexact analogue for the Sino-U.S. trade war that started in April. All the same, an analysis of the embargo suggests the greatest damage to the U.S. farm sector may be a diminished role in the world market over the long run rather than a short-term loss of exports, write four university economists.
EPA dropped plan to require refiners to blend more ethanol
In late June, days before it proposed a target of 15 billion gallons for U.S. consumption of corn ethanol, the EPA was ready to force refiners to blend a larger volume of biofuels into the gasoline and diesel fuel supply, reported Reuters on Wednesday.
Survey: farmers support Conservation Stewardship Program
In a survey of over 800 farmers and ranchers across five states, the Center for Rural Affairs found overwhelming support for the farm bill's Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). The Nebraska-based organization, which advocates for environmental stewardship and rural communities, concluded that the CSP should continue to exist and be funded as a standalone farm-bill initiative.
Indiana mega-farmer to represent U.S. at UN food agencies
President Trump has selected Indiana mega-farmer Kip Tom, long rumored to be in the running for an administration appointment, to become the U.S. representative to the UN agencies for food and agriculture, the White House said on Wednesday.
Trump pardons Oregon ranchers whose case sparked Malheur takeover
Father-and-son Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond, sent to prison for arson on public land, received full pardons from President Trump on Tuesday, more than halfway through their five-year sentence. Farm groups applauded the decision while the Center for Western Priorities said the Trump "has once again sided with lawless extremists."
Both China and U.S. will feel the pain of a soybean trade war
U.S. soybean exports will be down a quarter-billion bushels in the coming year due to steep Chinese tariffs on the oilseed, estimated the USDA on Thursday. In a boomerang effect of the U.S.-China trade war, Brazil would indisputably replace the United States as the world’s largest soybean grower as China scouts, without full success, for alternative soy suppliers.
USDA cuts off early look by news agencies at crop reports
Bowing to complaints that high-frequency traders are profiting in the 1 or 2 seconds after it releases its market-moving crop reports, the USDA said on Tuesday that it would no longer allow news agencies to look at the reports before they are released. The news agencies transmit their reports at the same instant that USDA makes its data public.
At FDA meeting, controversy over lab-grown meat
The Food and Drug Administration held a public meeting Thursday on the safety and labeling of alternative “meat” proteins produced with animal cell culture technology. In a packed room, FDA employees, industry stakeholders, and scientists discussed current trends in the controversial sector, which some imagine could reshape how Americans consume meat. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>