Corn planting lags in cold, wet spring
As milk prices stay low, a call for drastic dairy reform
More than fifty rural, agriculture, and labor organizations signed onto a letter demanding that Congress and the Department of Agriculture do more to support dairy farmers as low prices continue to threaten small and mid-size dairies across the country. The organizations include the National Family Farm Coalition, the Food Chain Workers Alliance, the Rural Coalition, Pesticide Action Network North America, and many others.
To get food stamps, applicants navigate a maze of paperwork
It's far from simple to qualify for food stamps, says Harvest Public Media in the first story of a five-part series this week on SNAP. Most states allow people to apply online as well as by paper applications. For Iowa and Missouri, the printed form runs six pages, but it's 17 pages in Kansas.
Perdue: Too many states abandoned ‘goal of self-sufficiency’ for SNAP
The Trump administration will hold states accountable "for transitioning able-bodied [SNAP] recipients permanently into the workforce," said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in an essay that underlined the White House call for new or tougher work requirements in federal welfare programs. "Too many states have abandoned this goal of self-sufficiency."
Trump names Keenum to lead food security panel
The president of Mississippi State University, Mark Keenum, is President Trump's choice to become chairman of a USAID advisory group, the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, said the White House. Keenum was the No. 3 Agriculture Department official during the George W. Bush era, overseeing U.S. farm subsidies, ag exports and foreign food aid before becoming university president in his home state in 2009.
Farm bill debate: Eggs, animal welfare, and the ‘free trade zone’ of America
California’s animal welfare regulations, among the strictest in the nation, have spawned a series of court challenges. This week, those regulations became part of the farm bill debate. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Republican-drawn farm bill would loosen limits on collecting farm subsidies
There is little bite in the weak limits the government imposes on farm subsidy payments, and now reformers say the limits will become toothless under provisions in the Republican-drawn farm bill in the House.
Perdue names new head of Foreign Agricultural Service
On Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue appointed Ken Isley to be administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service, which promotes U.S. farm exports, monitors food and agricultural issues worldwide, and has a role in U.S. food aid.
Trump: ‘I don’t want to go back into TPP’
When Japan and the United States begin a new round of trade talks, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, they should be in the format of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the free trade agreement that was the bête noire of President Trump’s campaign.
For CFTC commissioner, Trump chooses the agency’s former lawyer
President Trump selected Dan Berkovitz, who was general counsel at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during the Obama era, as his nominee for commissioner of the agency, said the White House.
ICE officers target upstate New York farmworker
Officers from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement targeted a farmworker in Rome, New York, in an early morning confrontation Wednesday. The officers detained the worker while his employer attempted to film the incident.
As a dairy scandal settles, a fight in Oregon about the future of farming
A scandal involving Lost Valley, Oregon’s second-largest dairy, illuminates a broader debate in the state: whether or not it should welcome more industrial, large-scale farming operations, and particularly large-scale dairies. <strong>No paywall</strong>
GOP-controlled panel approves SNAP overhaul that Democrats say is unworkable
After Democrats spent three hours criticizing House Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway’s plan to overhaul SNAP, the committee approved its draft of the farm bill on a party-line vote.
Peterson’s farm bill plan: ‘Ask a lot of questions and vote no’
The Democratic leader on the House Agriculture Committee said that “you can’t fix a bad bill,” so when the committee meets on Wednesday to vote on the proposed farm bill, “We’re going to ask a bunch of questions and vote no.”
House committee considers SBA poultry loans
Members of the House Small Business Committee convened for a hearing Wednesday to discuss the findings of a recent report by the Office of the Inspector General on lending to poultry farmers.
Farm bill? Rural America doesn’t have the time.
The farm bill was the missing topic during a 45-minute session recently with farmers in southwestern Missouri, recalls Sen. Roy Blunt. "The farm bill never came up." Instead, growers talked about threats to farm exports, over-regulation and the need for rural broadband. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says low commodity prices, the slump in farm income, attacks on corn ethanol and, most of all, anxiety about a possible trade war are the top concerns in farm country. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Spanish pigs touch down in Georgia, birthing a new ham
For centuries, a coveted type of ham — jamón ibérico de bellota — has been produced from a special breed of pigs in Spain. Now a Georgia farmer is aiming to create an American version of the iconic food, writes Maryn McKenna in FERN’s latest story, produced with Eater. <strong>No paywall</strong>
GOP work rules would end or reduce SNAP for 1 million households
The work requirements for SNAP recipients proposed by House Republicans "would cause more than a million low-income households with about 2 million people — particularly low-income working families with children —- to lose their benefits altogether or have them reduced," said Robert Greenstein, the head of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "We really believe they need to go back to the drawing board," saying the package is too poorly designed to be salvaged by amendment.
Trump taps former Forest Service deputy to run USDA natural resources arm
James Hubbard, who retired as deputy chief of the Forest Service in 2017, is President Trump's choice to become agriculture undersecretary for natural resources, announced the White House. His primary job will be oversight of the Forest Service, with its 154 national forests and 20 grasslands on 193 million acres in 43 states and Puerto Rico.
GOP sees a path out of poverty, but SNAP defenders see a scam
Millions of poor Americans will gain the opportunity for a better way of life if Congress toughens the work requirements for SNAP recipients and offers job training to them, says conservative Texas Rep. Micheal Conaway, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. The Republican-controlled panel could approve Conaway's restructuring of the largest U.S. anti-hunger program today, clearing the politically charged bill for an election-year floor vote.