Senate defeats White House bid to cut spending by $15 billion
Two Republicans joined the Democratic minority in the Senate on Wednesday to defeat a White House proposal to cut federal spending by $15 billion. The cuts were intended as a counterweight to the $1.3 trillion spending bill approved in March.
Farm groups see added risk, and no escape, as U.S.-China dispute escalates
Commodity prices are falling in the wake of President Trump’s threat of round after round of tariffs on China, and on Tuesday, groups representing wheat and soybean growers warned that the White House is making trouble for U.S. agriculture with its aggressive tactics.
Conservatives omit H-2C farmworker visa in new immigration bill
The chairmen of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees unveiled an immigration bill on Tuesday that “addresses the four pillars for immigration reform outlined by President Trump.” Unlike an earlier version, though, it does not create a new, year-round H-2C visa for farmworkers.
Trump: ‘We’re getting there’ on NAFTA
Even as he continued to blast Canadian dairy tariffs, President Trump said on Tuesday that “we’re getting there” in negotiations for the new NAFTA.
FDA to reconsider labeling rule for honey and maple syrup
Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree said the FDA will take a second look at how it will identify pure honey and maple syrup on the updated Nutrition Facts label.
Deadline nears for House attempt to revive farm bill
The electoral circuitry to revive the Republican-written House farm bill this week looks like the mechanism of a Rube Goldberg machine. Republican leaders plan floor votes on two immigration bills, neither certain of passage, to generate support among hardline conservatives for the farm bill. A close vote is expected, just like the roll call that sank the bill a month ago.
Private equity firms are buying up your favorite food brands
Last week, the private equity firm High Bluff Capital Partners bought Quiznos’ parent company for an undisclosed sum. Quiznos joins the dozens of popular fast-casual chains that have been bought by private equity firms in recent years. The quickening pace of private equity buys in the food sector is bringing greater scrutiny to an opaque business model and its ramifications for companies’ workers. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Advocates ask North Carolina governor to veto right-to-farm law
Several national and local advocacy groups are calling on North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to veto a bill that would greatly restrict the public's ability to sue large-scale animal farms over negative health and environmental effects. The state general assembly passed the bill on Friday.
Farm sector fears large losses from mounting trade conflict
The Farm Belt will get walloped if China retaliates in equal measure against Washington's $50 billion in announced tariffs on Chinese goods, said economists at Midwestern universities. Ohio State researchers said farmers in the Buckeye State could see a 50 percent drop in farm income while Iowa State's Chad Hart said producers in the Hawkeye State could lose up to $624 million this year, depending on how long the tariffs are in place and if other customers are found.
Play nicely, Canada, and you can keep supply management, Perdue says
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was quick to say he's not a NAFTA negotiator but he repeatedly told reporters during a visit to Prince Edward Island that "it is not our desire to do away with" Canada's supply management system for dairy – if Canada does a better job of managing the supply. "They can't use the supply management system to negatively affect our producers south of the border," said Perdue during a teleconference.
FDA says it has jurisdiction over lab-grown meat
The field of lab-grown meat is "dynamic," "complex" and "evolving," said FDA leaders in declaring the agency, which regulates most of the food supply, has the technical expertise and the statutory authority to regulate so-called clean meat. The cattle industry protested that the USDA is in charge of meat safety.
Handful of GMO wheat plants found in southern Alberta
Canadian regulators are puzzled by the discovery of seven genetically modified wheat stalks in southern Alberta that contain herbicide-tolerant genes, said the Manitoba Cooperator, but they say there's no sign of GMO wheat in the country's seed or wheat supplies. No country has approved GMO wheat for commercial use. Japan suspended purchases of Canadian wheat on Friday until it is certain there are no GMOs in the grain, reported Global News.
Second year of decline in summer meals participation
Nearly three-fourths of meals served in school lunch programs — 22 million on an average school day — are eaten by poor children. But when the school year ends, only about one in seven of those children gets a meal through the USDA’s summer nutrition programs.
NAFTA talks will continue through summer, says Canada
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is in Canada for a bilateral meeting today with Canadian Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on “issues of shared importance in agriculture.” At the same time, NAFTA negotiations seem to be gaining new footing.
In tussle over immigration bills, farmworkers play a role
House Republican leaders say they will call votes next week on two immigration bills dealing with so-called Dreamers. The bill favored by conservatives would create, as a sidelight, a new, year-round H-2C visa program for farmworkers.
Continuing dairy crisis shuts down well-known New Hampshire farmer
Amid an ongoing dairy crisis, the former commissioner of agriculture for New Hampshire is closing his 48-year-old dairy farm in Meriden. While Steve Taylor will no longer produce milk, he will continue to make cheese and maple products.
Farm bill is cleared for Senate debate with clash possible on payment limits
Thanks to speedy action by the Agriculture Committee, the Senate is on track to pass its five-year farm bill before the end of June, boosting the chances that the Republican-controlled Congress will enact the major legislation before election-year tensions stymie work later this year.
McConnell quashes objections to industrial hemp
Industrial hemp, used in products from clothes to health aids, could be the new cash crop for small farms, perhaps the successor to tobacco for making money on limited acreage, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday.
Farmers urge King to drop amendment from farm bill
A group of farmers traveled to Capitol Hill Tuesday to deliver a 4,000-signature petition asking Rep. Steve King of Iowa to drop his Protect Interstate Commerce Act from the House version of the farm bill.
Payment limits? Ask the chairman, says Grassley.
Congress can "restore common-sense rules and fiscal integrity" to the farm program by setting a $125,000-per-person limit on farm subsidies, said seven farm advocacy groups in advance of the Senate Agriculture Committee vote today on its farm bill. Rather than give his own opinion, the sponsor of the $125,000 limit told reporters to ask chairman Pat Roberts about the chances it will become part of the bill.