Russia still top wheat exporter; U.S. falls off the pace
Due to bad weather, Russia's wheat crop will be one-fifth smaller than last year. But Russia will remain the No. 1 wheat exporter in the world while the EU pushes the United States into third place, according to a USDA forecast released Tuesday. In its monthly WASDE report, the USDA said farm-gate prices for this year's U.S. corn, wheat and soybean crops would be the highest since the commodity slump began early this decade.
Studies: Corn at risk from climate change
Two newly published studies highlight the risk that climate change could lead to the failure of corn crops around the world and reduce the nutritional content of vegetables, reports InsideClimate News. While looking at different subjects, the studies "reiterate the prospects of food shocks and malnutrition with unchecked global warming."
What is the farm bill and why does it matter? A FERN video explainer.
With the Senate Agriculture Committee set to begin review of its version of the farm bill, FERN put together a video explainer, which unpacks this sprawling — and often misunderstood — piece of legislation that shapes the nation's food, farming, and anti-hunger programs. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Will high-tech urban ag be the future of local food?
High-tech, indoor, urban agriculture is growing in places like New York, but so is controversy around them, according to FERN's latest story, produced in partnership with Edible Brooklyn magazine. The story, by Rene Ebersole, points to one indoor company that produces high-end specialty greens for restaurants called Farm.One. "In a town of eight million, Farm.One is part of a rising movement to cultivate produce where large numbers of people live by using high-tech systems and smart greenhouses placed at grocery stores, in basements and even inside cargo vessels."
Grassley’s farm bill challenge: Limit subsidies to actual farmers
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley wants to tighten down access to U.S. farm subsidies, a lightning-rod issue as Congress tries to update ag and public nutrition programs this year. "Why can't we require farmers who collect huge sums of money from the government to actually work on the farm?" said Grassley on Monday, arguing for a "hard" cap of $125,000 per person in annual payments and restricting payments to farmers, their spouses and one manager per farm, regardless of size.
Trump wants to ruin us, say Canadian dairy farmers
President Trump has repeatedly attacked the Canadian dairy industry with the aim of "wiping out dairy farmers here at home," said Dairy Farmers of Canada on Monday. Meanwhile, U.S. and Canadian farm groups urged government leaders "to engage in positive discourse that protects the strong trade ties that benefit American and Canadian farmers alike."
Senate farm bill designed to clear 60-vote hurdle
Roughly 16 months ago, at their first hearing for the 2018 farm bill, Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts and Sen. Debbie Stabenow agreed to write a bipartisan bill that would be enacted on time, a seemingly simple goal that has eluded Congress repeatedly. With a committee vote set for Wednesday on their 1,006-page bill, the two committee leaders say they are on the verge of a major bipartisan victory.
Puerto Rico’s agro-ecology brigades are a model of resiliency in a changing climate
After losing 80 percent of its crop value to Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico's farmer brigades are not only helping their neighbors rebuild, but steering the island toward agro-ecology as a sustainable way to farm in the face of a changing climate, reports Audrea Lim in FERN's latest piece, published with The Nation. <strong>No paywall</strong>
In contrast to House, Senate ag leaders announce no-drama farm bill
The Senate Agriculture Committee will vote next week on a bipartisan farm bill that makes few changes to food stamps, farm supports, and crop insurance, a marked contrast to the decision by House Republicans to pursue welfare reform in their farm bill.
The last days of the vaquita
Despite a last-ditch effort by a group of radical conservationists, the vaquita — a small porpoise found only in Mexico’s Gulf of California — is going extinct, and will likely disappear this year, reports Ben Goldfarb in FERN’s latest story, published with Pacific Standard. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Looming renewal of ‘fish bill’ reveals industry-advocate divide
More than 100 organizations submitted a letter to members of Congress on Wednesday asking them to oppose ocean aquaculture. The letter was delivered as the looming renewal of the “fish bill,” the Magnuson-Stevens Act, reveals divides between the fishing industry and environmentalists, ocean advocates, and other stakeholders about the future of fisheries regulation.
Trump says more ag sales to Japan on the way
On the same day that President Trump said he expected increased agricultural exports to Japan, the chief U.S. agricultural negotiator told farmers in Iowa that more than 14 percent of U.S. farm exports have been or will be tagged with retaliatory tariffs in U.S. trade disputes with countries such as China and Mexico.
Trump signals ethanol decision to Iowa senator: ‘I did you a good favor for the farmers’
President Trump confirmed in public what was being whispered in private — that he would not allow ethanol exports to count toward meeting U.S. biofuel targets — in greeting Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst at a bill-signing ceremony on Wednesday.
Report: Federal reorganization would move SNAP to ‘welfare’ department
A Trump administration plan to reorganize the federal government would include consolidating food stamps, now run by the USDA, and other social safety net programs at the Department of Health and Human Services, said Politico.
North Carolina legislators move to tighten right-to-farm law
In the wake of a jury verdict that awarded millions to the neighbors of industrial hog farms in Duplin County, North Carolina, the state’s Senate Agriculture Committee approved language that would make it more difficult to bring similar “nuisance” lawsuits in the future.
Napa voters lean toward limit on vineyard development
Voters in the heart of California wine country, by a slim, 42-vote margin, would restrict the planting of new vineyards in order to protect oak trees and waterways, according to the unofficial results of a Napa County referendum.
‘We’re taking on water fast,’ say U.S. hog farmers as Mexico applies tariffs
Mexico, the top importer of U.S. pork, announced retaliatory 10-percent tariffs on Tuesday, rising to 20 percent in a month's time, that would effectively shut the door to the American meat. One of every five pounds of pork produced in the U.S. is sold to a foreign buyer.
Senate will vote on farm bill before end of June, says McConnell
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put the farm bill and a defense bill at the top of his list for Senate passage before the Independence Day recess three weeks from now.
Appeals court allows challenge of North Carolina ag-gag law
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found that a challenge to North Carolina’s expansive “ag-gag” law can move ahead, overturning a prior decision of the federal district court. The challenge was brought by a coalition of animal advocacy and environmental groups.
Some farmers received USDA payments every year for 32 years
Nearly 28,000 farmers received crop subsidy or agricultural disaster payments every year for 32 years, said the Environmental Working Group in a report released today. The payments, from 1985-2016, averaged $687,204 per person annually and totaled at least $19.2 billion, according to EWG's analysis of USDA data.