U.S. judge blocks California warnings about glyphosate
In a win for Monsanto, U.S. district judge William Shubb temporarily blocked a state agency in California from requiring warning labels on packages of the weedkiller glyphosate saying it posed a risk of cancer, reported Reuters. The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment added glyphosate to its list of cancer-causing chemicals last July and planned to require warning labels beginning this July.
EPA plans to shutter essential research group
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to close its National Center for Environmental Research, a lauded program that has funded research into the effects of environmental chemicals on children’s health. Advocates fear that the reorganization could result in defunding of essential research programs.
Online survey: 29 percent of consumers would eat lab-grown meat
Americans are twice as likely as Britons to say they would eat so-called cultured meat grown in a laboratory, according to an online survey of 1,000 consumers in both countries. Overall, 29 percent said they were willing to try the meat, with 60 percent of vegans saying they would try it, says Ingredient Communications.
USDA sees billions of dollars in savings even with home delivery of Harvest Box
The USDA official in charge of public nutrition told openly skeptical anti-hunger activists that the administration's proposed Harvest Box of processed and canned food would be a more efficient way to feed poor Americans than food stamps. To an undercurrent of dissent, Brandon Lipps said the boxes of food could be delivered to tens of millions of residences each month "with billion of dollars in savings" compared to current system of food stamp recipients buying groceries from local stores.
Trump administration takes control of topics for Dietary Guidelines debate
The Agriculture and Health departments said they will decide the issues that will be discussed by experts in updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, precluding divisive topics such as meat consumption and long-term availability of food that delayed the 2015-2020 edition for months. Released every five years, the guidelines have a major impact on what the country eats, although three-fourth of Americans don't eat as much fruit or vegetables as recommended.
In absence of federal law, states take up country of origin labeling
Several states are considering country of origin labeling (COOL) proposals, which would require that beef products be labeled as imported or domestic products. The state proposals follow several years of attempts by rancher groups to revive federal law that would require country of origin labeling for beef.
For second time, Trump referees oil-vs-ethanol squabble
Nearly three months ago, President Trump told oil-state and farm-state senators to find a mutually acceptable resolution to their fight over the Renewable Fuel Standard — the requirement that oil refiners mix biofuel, usually corn-based ethanol, into gasoline and diesel. Now the squabble is back in the president’s hands with a familiar set of proposals on the table for a group of senators who found them unpalatable in the past.
Rep. McGovern: ‘I’d rather have no farm bill than a bad farm bill’
The leading House advocate of the food stamp program pointed to forecasts of Democratic gains in the mid-term elections and told anti-hunger activists, "I have a feeling that if we have a lousy farm bill, we'll be in a position to write a better farm bill after November." Rep. Jim McGovern said anti-hunger groups fight relentlessly against "cruel" cuts in food stamps. "I'd rather have no farm bill than a bad farm bill," he added.
Employee alleges years of sexual harassment at USDA
At a USDA event for Black History Month last week, Rosetta Davis took the stage to describe her experiences of sexual harassment and retaliation during her 16 years working for the agency.
Rising share of farm income comes from off-farm work
New estimates from USDA say that this year, 82 percent of farm income will come from off-farm jobs. That’s up from just 53 percent in 1960, demonstrating how falling farm incomes have turned “what was once a way of life into a part-time job,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
Brazil to displace U.S. as world’s largest corn exporter, says analyst
Brazil, the agricultural giant of South America, will supplant the United States as the world's largest corn exporter before a decade passes, says a top Brazilian commodity consultant. The prediction underlines diminishing U.S. dominance of the world market. Brazil already is the largest soybean exporter and a close second to the U.S. as a soybean grower.
Wisconsin toughens its time limit for food stamp recipients
According to Gov. Scott Walker, “Wisconsin continues to lead the way on welfare reform,” including legislation that requires more of its residents to work more hours per week, or spend more time in job training, to receive food stamps for more than 90 days.
Commerce Department authorizes anti-dumping duties on imported biodiesel
Biodiesel makers in Argentina and Indonesia should face anti-dumping duties of up to 277 percent on their shipments to the United States, ruled the Commerce Department in a case brought by domestic producers.
String of record-large corn and soybean crops to extend into this year
U.S. farmers are headed for massive corn and soybean harvests this year that will mean another year of large stockpiles and will throttle farm-gate prices into the summer of 2019, according to updated USDA projections. The bumper crops would be the latest in a string of record-setting harvests that began early this decade.
The ‘Commod Bod’ and USDA’s box-o-food program
There are federal predecessors to the Trump administration's "Harvest Box" proposal, to provide half of food-stamp benefits in the form of a box of processed and packaged foods, says the NPR blog The Salt. "Among those horrified at the thought: American Indians who recognized this as the same type of federal food assistance that tribes have received for decades, with devastating implications for health."
Cruz urges Trump to overhaul biofuels mandate
At a bankrupt Philadelphia oil refinery, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called on pro-ethanol President Trump to protect blue-collar jobs by reforming the federal biofuels mandate.
Former EPA employees slam Trump budget
The Environmental Protection Network, a group of former employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, released a report slamming President Trump’s 2019 budget. The group says that if the budget is approved by Congress, its effects on the EPA “would be more punishing than for any other federal agency.”
Strong public support for menu labeling and Nutrition Facts
Four out of five Americans support the federal requirement that chain restaurants list calorie counts on their menus. An even larger majority — 87 percent — say the Nutrition Facts label is useful, said the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Report touts upside, refutes downside of hedgerows
A two-year study by University of California researchers says that hedgerows, the strips of vegetation along the edges of fields, take up so little space that they are not a shelter for rodents or a source of food-borne pathogens.
Bourbon, cheese could be targets of brewing trade battles
The Trump administration is considering new limits on imported steel and aluminum. Now U.S. trade partners are warning that trademark American products, like bourbon, cheese, and orange juice, could face higher tariffs in retaliation.