Iowa ag director choice to run USDA subsidy, stewardship, insurance programs
President Trump nominated Bill Northey, the Iowa agriculture secretary, to be undersecretary of agriculture for farm production and conservation, the No. 3 post at the USDA. The president also nominated Nebraska state agriculture director Gregory Ibach to be undersecretary for marketing and regulation.
Montana ranchers worry new radioactive waste rule isn’t enough
Since 2013, nearly 233,000 tons of radioactive waste, much of it from the Bakken oilfields in North Dakota, has been disposed of at a site near Glendive, Montana. Now, after years of prodding, the state has finally proposed a rule for handling oilfield waste, but area ranchers and farmers think the plan leaves them deeply vulnerable.
Documenting the struggles on a Nebraska family farm
In FERN’s latest story, produced in collaboration with Harper’s Magazine, Ted Genoways documents the struggles of a fifth-generation Nebraska farm. The article, “Bringing Home the Beans,” details the everyday difficulties that a farm family faces as it tries to harvest its crop, deal with a generational transition, and not lose money in the fluctuating commodity markets.
Food banks brace for SNAP fight
The nation's food banks, worried that demand will overwhelm them if Congress follows through on threats to make substantial cuts to food stamps and other nutrition programs, are making their concerns known to key lawmakers, reports Politico. "Food banks and other anti-hunger charities spent the congressional recess urging lawmakers to protect SNAP, with a special focus on moderate Republicans, who will be key in the fate of their party’s decade-long budget plan."
American farmers react as trade tensions flare
Once again, farmer groups expressed concern over the heated rhetoric coming out of the White House over trade agreements. The American Soybean Association and U.S. wheat groups were especially critical as a result of indications that the White House would withdraw from the free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea as early as Tuesday.
Groups pledge to do more to save Pacific bluefin tuna
As Pacific bluefin tuna stocks dwindle to 2.6 percent of their historic population, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission have promised to increase the fish’s population sevenfold.
Food companies go their own way on certifying what’s ethical, sustainable
In an effort to save money and better serve their brand image, some major companies are breaking from third-party certifiers, such as FairTrade and the Rainforest Alliance, and developing their own schemes for certifying which products meet standards of sustainability and ethics, reports Reuters.
Spotty progress in slowing obesity rates across U.S. states
Obesity continues to rise in the United States, with rates now exceeding 35 percent in five states, compared to four states in the previous year. But there are signs that adult rates are leveling off, says the annual State of Obesity report. Rates are holding steady in more states and for the second year in a row, at least one state showed a decline.
Consumers and the U.S. diet have a stake in the new NAFTA
USDA eases food-stamp rules in Texas in response to Harvey
The 3.75 million food stamp recipients in Texas are cleared to buy hot food with their benefits through Sept. 30 because of damage from Hurricane Harvey and schools in the disaster area can serve free meals to all of their students, said the USDA. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said President Trump "made it clear ... that process and paperwork can wait until later."
Grocery stores step up during Hurricane Harvey
The biggest grocery store chains have been quick to reopen in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, a sign of just how vital the retailers are to disaster food relief. “On Tuesday, at the height of the flooding, Walmart had closed 134 Houston-area stores. By Thursday, only 21 stores remained closed. H-E-B (a Texas-based grocery chain) also had reopened almost 90 percent of its stores by then. Of the 20 stores owned by Albertson's, 16 are now open,” says NPR.
U.S. soybean price to sink under weight of record crop
A University of Missouri think tank says the season-average price for this year's soybean crop, forecast at a record 4.381 billion bushels, will fall to $9.07 a bushel. The 43-cent a bushel drop from the average price paid for the 2016 crop will encourage growers to plant somewhat fewer acres of soybeans and more acres of corn in 2018, says the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.
In admission of failure, USDA allows farmers to leave dairy program
The insurance-like dairy subsidy created in the 2014 farm law has been roundly criticized as a failure by farmers and dairy-state lawmakers. The USDA signaled its agreement, telling producers they can opt out of the Margin Protection Program for 2018, rather than remaining locked into it while Congress writes a new farm bill.
Trump calls Grassley to talk about ethanol
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of one of the committees investigating Russian meddling in U.S. elections, said on Twitter that President Trump called him and "he assured me he's pro-ethanol ... he knows that ethanol is good, good, good." The phone call came on the same day the Senate Judiciary Committee said it would interview Trump's son, Donald Jr., in coming weeks as part of the Russia investigation.
U.S. farm income noses upward after three years of declines
Commodity prices are still in a trough but U.S. farm income is on the rise for the first time since 2013 because producers are sending more crops and livestock to market than initially expected, said the USDA. It forecast net cash farm income, a measure of liquidity, of $100.4 billion this year, far stronger than the February forecast of $93.5 billion, but only three-fourths of the record set in 2013.
Dicamba is ‘tremendous success,’ says Monsanto; EPA mulls rule change
Monsanto chief technology officer Robb Fraley says there will be enough dicamba-tolerant seed available to account for half of U.S. soybean plantings next year. At the same time that EPA reportedly is considering new guidelines on use of the weedkiller, Fraley described dicamba as a "tremendous success" for "the overwhelming majority of farmers using" the low-volatility formulation of the herbicide.
Trump touts tax reform, Perdue says it should include the estate tax
The first overhaul of the tax code in three decades should result in a one-page tax return for most Americans, President Trump said in Missouri, while declaring that tax reform is the foundation of job growth. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said separately that the estate tax, a bugaboo of the farm sector, should be part of the overhaul expected to be a Republican priority in Congress this fall.
Perdue schedules a two-day, three-state ‘back to our roots’ tour
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue plans to visit three New England states today and Friday "to gather input for the 2018 farm bill and increasing rural prosperity," announced USDA. The "back to our roots" tour follows a swing through five Midwestern states at the start of August.
High exposure to pesticides linked to higher risk of birth abnormalities
In Colorado River Basin, project pays ranchers to leave land dry
A first-of-its kind program in the Colorado River basin is paying ranchers and farmers to forgo their water rights in order to conserve the region’s rivers and lakes. Launched in 2014, the $15-million “money-for-water program” was funded “by the four largest municipal water providers in the Colorado River basin (which includes Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and California), along with the Bureau of Reclamation,” says High Country News.