Congress avoids government shutdown, for fourth time
The House and Senate speedily passed a short-term government funding bill on Thursday, averting a partial government shutdown this weekend that would have included the USDA. “Now let us finish the job of funding the government so we don’t have to do this again,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Survey: One in four Americans seeks a healthier diet
One in four Americans entered 2024 with a goal of changing their diet to improve their health or lose weight, according to a survey by Purdue University. “We see that the majority of consumers plan to limit processed foods in their diets, while fewer plan to follow more alternative diets such as vegetarian and vegan,” the survey said.
‘We need a safety net that works,’ say farm-state senators
Pointing to forecasts of a second year in a row of falling farm income, Republican senators called for more money for farm subsidies on Wednesday. “We’ve got to get it right for production agriculture” in the new farm bill, said North Dakota’s John Hoeven at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing.
Mexico chases China for No. 1 export market
Mexico will buy a record $28.4 billion worth of U.S. food and agricultural exports this fiscal year, only $300 million less than China, the first-place customer, forecast the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. China is now buying more corn and soybeans from Brazil and less from the United States.
Stabenow would delay farm bill to 2025 to prevent SNAP and climate cuts
Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow said she would delay the new farm bill, already five months overdue, to 2025 rather than accept cuts — sought by Republicans— in SNAP and climate funds. "Tell you what: If we get to the end of the year [and] instead of a farm bill, I have protected nutrition for children and families in this country, I'm okay with that," said Stabenow on Tuesday.
USDA approves climate funds for unproven practices, say EWG
The USDA has inflated its spending total for climate mitigation by including practices that are not proven to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon in the soil, said the Environmental Working Group on Wednesday. The USDA said EWG's conclusions were "fundamentally flawed, speculative, and rest on incorrect assumptions."
U.S. trade agency opposes giant grocery merger as anticompetitive
The largest proposed supermarket merger in U.S. history, Kroger's $24.6 billion purchase of Albertsons, would mean higher prices for food shoppers and less competition, said the Federal Trade Commission on Monday. The FTC said it would file suit to block the merger as anticompetitive.
Senate resolution would block import of Paraguayan beef
Two senators from the Plains filed a resolution on Monday to overturn USDA approval of imports of chilled or frozen deboned beef from Paraguay. Sens. Jon Tester, Montana Democrat, and Mike Rounds, South Dakota Republican, said they were worried about the possible transmission of foot and mouth disease.
China failed to speed up ag biotech review process
Despite a pledge in early 2020 to do so, China has not shortened the average time — more than two years — that it takes to decide whether to approve agricultural biotechnology products for import, said the Biden administration in an annual review. The slow-moving process disrupts U.S. farm exports and the commercialization of new strains of corn, soybeans, canola, and alfalfa, said the report from the U.S. trade representative's office (USTR).
USDA announces grants for underutilized renewable technology
The USDA will offer $144 million in grants to help farmers install under-utilized renewable energy technology, such as small-scale windmills, announced Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday. The clean energy equipment could reduce costs and increase income, said the USDA.
NFU president appointed to U.S. trade advisory committee
President Biden named Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, to the committee that advises U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai on trade policy, said the White House.
Equity Commission recommends ‘sweeping and generational change’ at USDA
The Agriculture Department, whose programs range from crop subsidies to public nutrition, would reform its operations to assure fair treatment of everyone under the recommendations of an administration-appointed commission, delivered in a final report on Thursday. Co-chair Ertharin Cousin said the goal was “to ensure equity becomes part of the DNA as well as the culture of this great organization.”
EPA approves year-round E15 in Midwest beginning in 2025
Nearly two years after a receiving a petition from eight governors, the Environmental Protection Agency approved on Thursday the year-round sale of higher-blend E15 gasoline in the Midwest, beginning in 2025. Corn growers and ethanol groups said temporary waivers will be needed for E15 again this summer, because otherwise sales will be banned in most of the country under air pollution laws.
Serious oversupply looms for renewable diesel
The boom in renewable diesel is driving U.S. production capacity far above the market for the fuel, said agricultural economist Scott Irwin of the University of Illinois on Thursday. “It’s going to be a very ugly 2024” for refiners, said Irwin during a webinar.
USDA announces $772.6 million in rural infrastructure awards
During a town hall meeting in North Carolina on Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $772.6 million in funding for projects promoting rural growth, including high-speed internet, clean water, and community facilities. The bulk of the money, $664.2 million, would go to rural water and sewer projects across the country.
U.S. crop sector insulates itself from world market with biofuels, says analyst
After decades of pursuing sales to foreign buyers, the U.S. crop sector is “once again becoming domestic market-focused, due mainly to biofuels policy,” said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois, on Wednesday. It would be a significant, albeit gradual, change in focus.
Ethanol for aviation will get tax credits, Vilsack assures industry
Ethanol will be included when the Biden administration spells out eligibility for lucrative tax credits for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and the incentives will reflect the impact of climate-smart farming practices, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told ethanol makers on Tuesday. "We're working very hard to make that happen, and I'm confident that it will happen."
Additional $500 million to reduce risk of wildfire
The Biden administration allotted an additional $500 million to its initiative to reduce wildfire losses in high-risk landscapes, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday. With the new funding, $2.4 billion has been poured into the work.
Food sovereignty pilot should be expanded in next farm bill
In the final piece of The Farm Bill Fight, a series by FERN and Mother Jones on the changing nature of America's most important agricultural law, Bridget Huber makes the case for expanding a pilot program that gives Native Americans more control over their food supply.
Brazil to surpass U.S. as cotton exporter in ‘very near future’
Already the world's leading soybean and corn supplier, Brazil is on track to pass the United States and become the largest cotton exporter in the very near future," said the National Cotton Council, an umbrella organization for the U.S. cotton industry.