Hunger halved in strife-torn northeastern Nigeria
The number of hungry people in northeastern Nigeria has dropped by half, to 2.6 million, since mid-year, according to analysis by regional groups, which give credit to improved security and scaled-up humanitarian assistance.
Lots of eggs mean lower prices for cage-free eggs
A CoBank economist, Trevor Amen, says demand for eggs produced by cage-free hens will remain depressed for several months because a flood of conventionally produced eggs is available, reports Feedstuffs.
Would a meat tax bring better health and environmental benefits?
An investment network, Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return, says in a report that countries could begin taxing meat to drive down consumption and meet their goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reports Civil Eats.
Hawaii aims for ag recovery following demise of pineapple and sugar
The amount of land used for agriculture in Hawaii has declined 68 percent since 1980, primarily because of the end of pineapple and sugar cultivation, said the Washington Post.
Boston joins big-city alliance for healthy school meals
The Urban School Food Alliance, whose members serve a combined 3.7 million students across the nation, nearly doubled its membership this year, gaining five members, with Boston as the newest one.
USDA says it will kill its welfare rule for livestock on organic farms
Eleven months into the Trump administration, the Agriculture Department decided it lacks statutory authority to implement the livestock welfare rules that is wrote for organic farmers, and will announce today that it is killing the regulation. Groups representing conventional agriculture cheered the decision, which was disclosed at the end of last week, while the organic industry and its allies in Congress said USDA disregarded public sentiment and "could damage a marketplace that is giving American farmers a profitable alternative."
Crop insurance rises to 31 percent of direct federal farm assistance
In 1994 and again in 2000, Congress voted for the government to pay a larger share of the premium for crop insurance subsidies, one of the reasons for increased participation in the insurance program. One measurement shows the larger role: insurance now amounts to 31 percent of direct financial assistance to farms, compared to 2 percent in 1989, according to the USDA Economic Research Service.
Biofuels groups turn thumbs down on Cruz control for RINs
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz proposed a fixed-price ethanol credit that EPA would sell at 10 cents a piece, and that refiners could use to satisfy the Renewable Fuel Standard. Biofuel makers and farm groups responded with a letter to President Trump that said there are ways to handle problems with the credits, called RINs, "without undercutting the RFS and rural America," reported DTN/Progressive Farmer.
Farm groups sue USDA in hopes of reviving GIPSA rule
In one of USDA's biggest decisions in the Trump era, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue killed the so-called GIPSA rule on fair play in livestock marketing. Two months later, the farm group Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) filed suit in the U.S. appeals court in St. Louis for reinstatement of the rule, issued in the closing weeks of the Obama administration.
Britain-EU break-up leaves farmers short of workers
The "Brexodus" — the British withdrawal from the EU — "is being felt particularly acutely in the agriculture industry, which relies heavily on manual laborers, especially from poor European countries like Romania and Bulgaria," says the New York Times. Thousands of foreign-born workers have left England, or have decided not to return to harvest-time jobs on farms or other industries.
Coffee, a small but growing niche in California
It's a very small undertaking, about 30,000 trees on three dozen farms. Yet Californians are willing to pay $18 for a cup of locally grown coffee, says the Food Observer, produced by the University of California. "To make the most of their precious water, Southern California farmers have begun experimenting with coffee plantings and producing beans that fetch a premium."
USDA may revamp food stamp time limits for able-bodied adults
When Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said this week that food stamps should not be “a permanent lifestyle” for able-bodied adults without dependents, he may have hinted at a forthcoming USDA proposal.
Facing public opposition, Tyson ends bid for a chicken plant in Kansas
Tyson, the largest poultry company in the U.S., has failed at its second attempt to find a location for a new meatpacking facility in Kansas. Last week, an economic development group in Sedgwick County withdrew its bid for the $320 million plant. The decision came amidst an outpouring of public backlash, and follows Tyson’s squashed attempts earlier this year to build the same facility in Tonganoxie, Kansas. (No paywall)
Escaped salmon found 40 miles upstream from Puget Sound
In August, 305,000 farm-raised Atlantic salmon weighing 8 to 10 pounds apiece escaped into Puget Sound when a net collapsed at a floating fish farm near Cyprus Island.
Farm states sue Massachusetts over its livestock welfare law
Thirteen agricultural states filed suit in U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of overturning a Massachusetts law that effectively bans the sale of eggs, pork, and veal produced by farms that use “battery” cages for hens, sow crates in hog operations, and veal-calf stalls.
EPA will review minimum-age rule on handling pesticides
A 2015 update of the EPA’s Agricultural Worker Protection Standard required that farmworkers who handle or apply pesticides be at least 18 years old. The EPA now says it “has initiated a process to revise certain requirements in the WPS.”
Biofuels compromise continues to elude senators
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz “just keeps moving the goalpost and moving the goalpost,” said Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst after an inconclusive meeting between Senate and White House staff workers on the Renewable Fuel Standard, reported DTN/Progressive Farmer.
Mars’ Montana ranch sold for $64.8 million
A ranch covering 93,280 acres in southeastern Montana, assembled by Forrest Mars, former co-president of the giant Mars candy company, sold for $64.8 million to Heal Holdings, of Florida, said Drovers.
U.S. gives short shrift to agro-defense and the risk of zoonotic diseases
The average American consumes more than a half-pound of meat each day, yet the country devotes limited thought or funding to protecting its livestock from diseases that could disrupt production or infect humans, said former Sen. Joe Lieberman during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing.
Climate change hits malt barley, which means your beer
Summer storms and unpredictable “flash droughts” have proven a challenge to farmers who grow malt barley in Montana. As the climate has gradually warmed, a once-hospitable environment for the grain has become far more tenuous, says Ari LeVaux in FERN’s latest story, with The Weather Channel. (No paywall)