Opening arguments heard in landmark trial against Monsanto
Opening arguments began Monday in a landmark trial against the chemical giant Monsanto. The plaintiff, a former groundskeeper named DeWayne Johnson, alleges that his ongoing exposure to Monsanto's flagship weedkiller Roundup contributed to his 2014 diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
EPA: One denial among 53 requests for waivers from biofuel mandate
On Thursday, the EPA refused to disclose to senators the names of oil companies that received “hardship” waivers that exempt small-volume refineries from having to comply with the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Loyalty leavens Farm Belt concern over ag tariffs, say senators
President Trump enjoys an unusual amount of tolerance from the farmers and ranchers who are the targets of retaliatory tariffs by U.S. trading partners, said Republican senators on Tuesday. "They're clearly concerned, as I am," said Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt. "It's hard to win a trade war."
Despite big sales, Trump says it’s ‘impossible’ to sell U.S. ag in Europe
The European Union is the fifth-largest customer for U.S. farm exports but it is "impossible for our farmers and workers and companies to do business in Europe," said President Trump on social media on Tuesday.
Trade war hits U.S. beef, dairy, and pork producers
In a video posted Monday on social media, the U.S. cattle industry predicted it would be shut out of the Chinese market and lose an estimated $70 million in beef sales this year due to retaliatory tariffs. Groups representing pork and dairy producers expressed similar concerns.
UN report says global fish production will slow but aquaculture will grow
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in its 2018 report on The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture, says that fish consumption and fishing is expected to increase in the coming 15 years, though at a slower rate than in prior decades.
‘It takes time to get it right’ on the farm bill
Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts, who will chair House-Senate negotiations over the farm bill, plans a thorough but timely resolution of the differences between the two chambers’ versions, said a committee spokeswoman on Monday.
A contract is rebid, and 40 percent of SNAP sales at farmers markets are up in the air
Earlier this year, when the USDA changed the vendor that runs its program that allows farmers markets to take SNAP benefits, it set off a chain reaction that could soon prevent thousands of poor people from using those benefits at the markets, reports FERN’s latest piece, published with The Washington Post. <strong>No paywall</strong>
As tariffs bite, China cancels U.S. soy deals and hunt is on for new export markets
For Iowa farmer John Heisdorffer, the math is brutal in the U.S.-China tariff war: "You tax soybeans at 25 percent and you have serious damage to U.S. farmers." China, the No. 1 customer for U.S. farm exports, canceled purchases of nearly $140 million worth of U.S. soybeans just before the two countries imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on each other's products. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said on Sunday the Trump administration was working on "a number of new free-trade agreements," but China "will be a much longer haul."
Brazil to match U.S. as world’s top soybean grower
After a decade of robust growth, world production of soybeans will grow at a much slower rate of 1.5 percent annually in the years ahead, says two UN agencies in their annual Agricultural Outlook. Brazil, the longtime No. 2 to the United States in soybeans, will reach parity with America, said the report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
USDA predicts decline in global food insecurity in annual report
The Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service in June released its annual International Food Security Assessment (IFSA), an outlook for global food security for the coming decade. The report estimated that global food security would improve over the coming 10 years, with a decline in the number of food-insecure people from 782 million in 2018 to 446 million in 2028.
Pruitt resigns at EPA, a deregulator brought down by scandal
President Trump announced the resignation of scandal-plagued Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator on Thursday but said that the agency’s No. 2 official, Andrew Wheeler, “will continue with our great and lasting EPA agenda.”
Farm sector frets as tariffs hit export customers
Farm country is worrying and waiting for the next shoe to drop in Trump administration trade disputes with leading ag export markets, including China, Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. A Purdue University poll of producers found a “tremendous amount of uncertainty about future conditions.”
Iconic Northwest organic produce company sold, without selling out
Call it the paradox of the organic food industry: Small companies that position themselves as alternatives to mainstream food brands become popular, grow quickly, add employees, and eventually get sold — often to Big Food companies. Now one company is trying to avoid that fate by selling itself to what’s known as a purpose trust. <strong>No paywall</strong>
In a win for the industry, California bans soda tax referendums for 12 years
California’s legislature rushed to pass a last-minute measure that bans cities and counties from passing soda taxes until 2031. The bill was passed to stave off a ballot initiative backed by the soda industry that would have made it much harder for municipalities to hike any type of tax.
Cotton industry targets Senate limits on farm subsidies
The House and Senate made relatively few changes to the farm program in passing separate versions of the new farm bill. The next step is to reconcile differences in the bills, and the cotton industry's desire to protect its subsidies is just one of a long list of likely flashpoints.
In rarity, soy tops corn in U.S. plantings
U.S. farmers planted nearly 2 million more acres of corn and soybeans than they planned in late winter, but soybeans, for the first time in 35 years, will be the most widely grown crop in the country, said the USDA's annual Acreage report. The soybean harvest could be the second-largest ever and corn the third-largest, assuming normal weather and yields.
Senate passes bipartisan farm bill with strong defense of SNAP
The Senate set up a confrontation with the House over U.S. food and farm policy for the next five years with a 2-to-1 rejection of punitive work requirements for SNAP recipients on Thursday. Senators defeated a proposal for a 25-hour-a-week work requirement for able-bodied adults shortly before passing their bipartisan farm bill, 86-11.
Perdue roots for $10-a-bushel soybeans
If the United States and China settle their ongoing trade dispute, commodity prices could recover from their recent decline, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Wednesday. At the same time, he promised a USDA backstop in case of trouble.
Two podcasts – California Foodways and Plate of the Union – launched this week
California Foodways, the critically acclaimed public radio series by award-winning FERN contributor Lisa Morehouse, launched a podcast this week. In the series — which can be found at FERN and multiple podcast platforms — Morehouse travels county by county in California, exploring the intersection of food, culture, history, labor, economy, and environment. <strong>No paywall</strong>