China sets anti-dumping deposits on U.S. sorghum
The U.S. sorghum industry said it is a victim, not a perpetrator, of the broad trade dispute between China and the United States that threatens billions of dollars of farm exports. China's Commerce Ministry announced on Tuesday that anti-dumping deposits of 179 percent will be levied on U.S. sorghum as part of an investigation that began when President Trump put tariffs on imports of solar panels and washing machines from China.
Conaway’s ‘springboard out of poverty’ is a trap door, say anti-hunger groups
House Republicans said on Thursday that they would expand work requirements to cover 6 million SNAP recipients and were willing to go it alone to pass the first openly partisan farm bill in living memory.
Poll finds farmers support sustainable agriculture policies
A new poll conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists of more than 2,800 farmers across 7 states found that farmers support more sustainable agriculture policies, including those that support conservation and alternative pathways to market, like food hubs or farm-to-school programs.
U.K. retailer, Citigroup take actions against palm oil
It was a tough week for the multibillion-dollar palm oil industry. A British grocery chain with 900 stores said it would remove all palm oil from its branded products by the end of 2018, and Citigroup announced it would suspend loans to IndoAgri, the agribusiness arm of Indonesia’s largest conglomerate, the Salim Group. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Corn Belt senators ask EPA, who got the RFS waivers?
Pointing to reports that big oil companies have received RFS waivers intended for small-volume refiners, 13 Corn Belt senators asked EPA administrator Scott Pruitt for an accounting of the waivers and their impact on the ethanol mandate. The bipartisan group said the waivers "clearly undermine the president's long-standing support of the RFS."
House farm bill would eliminate USDA green-payment program
The Republican-sponsored House farm bill unveiled on Thursday would expand the land-idling Conservation Reserve by one-fifth and eliminate the green-payment Conservation Stewardship Program.
Trump backs year-round sale of E15
President Trump outlined an initiative to help both the ethanol and petroleum industries on Thursday that includes the year-round sale of E15, a gasoline blend richer in corn ethanol than the traditional 10 percent blend.
GOP plan: To get SNAP benefits, get training or get to work
Michael Conaway, the Republican chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, proposed a dramatic change in SNAP today that would significantly tighten eligibility rules for the program.
Perdue forecasts peaceful, successful end to trade conflicts
President Trump is a maverick when it comes to international relations, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Wednesday while assuring farm-state senators that successful negotiations would resolve the threat of a trade war.
New Mississippi senator to join two panels overseeing agriculture
The newest member of the Senate, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, will serve on two committees that her predecessor, Thad Cochran, chaired during his 40 years in the Senate.
Advocates urge Congress not to raise FSA loan limit
A coalition of 19 farm and advocacy groups and lenders wrote a letter to members of Congress Wednesday urging them not to raise the cap on loans issued by the Farm Service Agency.
White House embraces work requirements as SNAP debate nears
President Trump put his weight behind new or stronger work requirements for "work-capable people" enrolled in federal welfare programs in an Executive Order released on Tuesday. Trump ordered eight federal departments, including USDA, to see if stronger work rules are needed within the "public assistance programs of their respective agencies." Meanwhile, House Democrats say SNAP faces a radical, and unworkable, overhaul at the hands of Republicans in the name of work requirements and job training.
Appeals court sides with ranchers on Montana beef checkoff
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s 2017 injunction against the collection of the Montana state beef checkoff in a decision released Monday. The ruling supports ranchers’ claim that the state's beef checkoff program impinges on their First Amendment rights by obligating them to pay taxes to support “private speech.” As the case between the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-CALF) and the Department of Agriculture unfolds, it has greater implications for checkoff programs in other states. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Reply to Trump aid offer: ‘We don’t need another subsidy program’
President Trump says his administration will "make it up" if farmers and ranchers are hurt by Chinese trade retaliation. Two agricultural leaders in Congress were skeptical of possible politically driven bail-outs on Tuesday, with Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts saying, "We don't want another subsidy program. We need to sell our product."
To offset tariffs, USDA may buy farm products
China threatened to put 25 percent tariffs on U.S. farm exports "because they think it hits me," President Trump said on Monday, but "we'll make it up to them (farmers) and in the end they're going to be much stronger than they are now." Deputy Agriculture Secretary Steve Censky, at a separate appearance, said the USDA was considering options that include purchase of surplus commodities to prop up prices.
CBO: Stable SNAP costs in coming years
The cost of the food stamp program spiked at $80 billion in 2013 during the slow recovery from the 2008-09 recession, fueling calls for changes in the program. In its updated budget baseline, the CBO says SNAP costs could dip to $65 billion in the near future due to falling enrollment.
Five senators call for halt to EPA ethanol waivers
In a letter to President Trump, five Corn Belt senators said on Monday the EPA "is currently undermining your commitment of a 15 billion-gallon RFS." The Republican senators sent the letter on the same day White House officials were scheduled to discuss possible revisions to the ethanol mandate, which requires oil refiners to blend in the corn-based fuel.
Marfrig buys National Beef, becoming world’s No. 2 beef company
Marfrig Global Foods, a Brazilian meat processor, has acquired National Beef for $969 million. The deal will make Marfrig the second-largest beef processor in the world, after Brazil’s JBS.
In California, rice farms become a home for wildlife
In California's Sacramento Valley, farmers and conservationists are working together to create habitat for wildlife, trying to mimic wetlands that were once plentiful in the state but have shrunk to one-tenth of their historic size. The focus of their work is the rice industry, which ranks second in production after the Mississippi Delta. The effort is paying off. One farmer pointed out "egrets and herons, Sandhill Cranes, curlews, ibis, and countless ducks and geese filling whole sections of rice fields," reports Lisa Morehouse in her latest story for FERN, in collaboration with KQED's California Report. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Ethanol, ag groups raise alarm ahead of White House meeting on biofuels
Administration officials will hold their first White House meeting in a month on the Renewable Fuel Standard, as ethanol makers and corn growers fear an attack on the ethanol mandate. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association said if the White House weakens the RFS, it "will be viewed as nothing less than a declaration of war on rural America and a complete abdication of [President Trump's] repeated promises to protect the RFS."