An RFS compromise? No, says Grassley. Maybe, says Perdue.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said that he doubts there is room for a compromise with oil-state senators over the Renewable Fuel Standard, and that there had been no discussion among senators about one.
EPA may revise rule protecting farmworkers from pesticides
The EPA is considering changes to a 2015 rule that requires pesticide handlers to be at least 18 years old and bars the application of pesticides if farmworkers are nearby, said Bloomberg.
Small-farm group proposes $50,000 limit on premium subsidies for crop insurance
The Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs says the 2018 farm bill should improve USDA land stewardship programs, expand programs for rural economic development and beginning farmers, and target crop insurance toward small and medium-sized farms.
One-fifth of land in Conservation Reserve enrolled two decades ago
More than one-fifth of the 24 million acres now in the Conservation Reserve, a long-term farmland retirement program that pays landowners to idle fragile land, have been in the program for 20 or more years.
Greenhouse-gas emissions again on the rise
Global climate emissions are on the rise again, after staying relatively flat between 2014-2016. Researchers with the Global Carbon Project predict that emissions levels will increase anywhere from 0.8 to 3 percent in 2017, says NPR.
House farm bill website: Stronger safety net and food stamp ‘ladder of opportunity’
In preparation for the 2018 farm bill, the House Agriculture Committee unveiled a website that will serve as a central location for its activities on the panoramic legislation.
Perdue wants farm bill to end ‘permanent’ food stamps for able-bodied adults
Reviving a White House budget theme, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Americans do not believe food stamps should be “a permanent lifestyle” for able-bodied adults without dependents.
Did Hurricane Irma blow U.S. citrus crown into California?
The USDA cut its estimate of Florida’s orange crop for the second time in two months, raising the possibility that California will be the No. 1 orange grower in the country this season.
Minnesota is fourth state to set a cut-off date for dicamba on soybeans
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture set a June 20 cut-off date for spraying the weedkiller dicamba on GE soybeans and barred application of the herbicide when temperatures top 85 degrees, said the Associated Press.
U.S. share of Mexico rice market lowest in two decades
Mexico is the largest rice importer in the Western Hemisphere and the top market for U.S. rice, but American dominance is slipping, says USDA's monthly Grains: World Markets and Trade report. South American competitors are gaining ground, especially Uruguay, which is forecast to take 15 percent of the market. The U.S. share, which reached 100 percent after NAFTA took effect, is expected to drop to 80 percent, the smallest since 1996.
Iowa farmland values rebound after three-year decline
An Iowa State University survey said the average acre of Iowa farmland rose in value by 2 percent in 2017, to $7,326, ending the first three-year decline in values since the agricultural crisis of the mid-1980s.
Deadline arrives for livestock farms to report air pollution
Beginning on Wednesday, from 60,000 to 100,000 livestock and poultry operations will be required to report emissions of ammonia or hydrogen sulfide, said Drovers. The EPA previously exempted livestock farms from filing the reports but a federal court, in response to a lawsuit filed by environmentalists, vitiated the exemption.
New York City to offer digital hub for urban agriculture
On a 47-0 vote, New York’s city council passed legislation to create a digital hub meant specifically for urban agriculture, said Metro Media.
New York dairy farms ‘swimming in milk,’ Perdue is told
The two top officers of the New York Farm Bureau told Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue that trade and immigration are the top ag issues in the Empire State, reports the Glens Falls Post-Star. "We are swimming in milk," said vice president Eric Ooms, placing the blame on Canadian barricades to U.S. dairy.
Bad weather batters wheat crops in Australia and Brazil
Wheat production in Australia is down by 36 percent from a year ago because of drought, said the USDA’s World Agricultural Production report.
USDA delays, and may rewrite the rules of care for organic livestock
For the third time this year, the Agriculture Department is holding up a regulation that would give livestock on organic farms more elbow room than is common at conventional operations, and this time, it says, it may rewrite the rule, which already is a decade in the making. "We will see the department in court and are confident that we will prevail on this important issue for the organic sector," said the Organic Trade Association, which sued USDA two months ago for unlawful delay of the animal welfare regulation.
R&D for ag deserves more funding – get it from subsidies, says AEI
Agricultural productivity growth is slowing down in the United States because of a decline in spending on food and ag research, says the free-market American Enterprise Institute, presenting a long-term threat to domestic food production and international competitiveness. The authors of an AEI position paper said funding on research and development should double and said it could be offset by cutting "wasteful farm bill spending" in crop insurance and crop subsidies.
California limits pesticide spraying near schools and day-care centers
Effective Jan. 1, California farmers will be prohibited from spraying pesticides within a quarter-mile of public schools and licensed day-care centers from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on school days under a rule issued by the state Department of Pesticide Regulation. Regulators say the rule is among the strictest in the country, according to The Associated Press.
Peterson sees farm bill ‘sooner rather than later’ in 2018
With hurricane losses clearer, USDA cuts Florida orange forecast
Florida, the largest citrus-growing state in the nation, will harvest less than three-fourths as many oranges as last year because of damage from Hurricane Irma, said the USDA. In its monthly crop report, the agency estimated orange production at 50 million boxes, 9-percent less than it estimated a month ago and 27-percent less than the 2016/17 crop of 68.75 million boxes.