High prices encourage larger world cotton crop
Cotton production is forecast to grow by 5 percent worldwide this year, the second expansion in two years due to market prices that are far above average, said the International Cotton Advisory Committee. In a monthly update, the intergovernmental body estimated the 2017/18 crop at 24.01 million tonnes, up by 1.1 million tonnes from the 2016/17 crop.
Perdue endorses former chief of staff to chair Georgia GOP
The first Republican elected governor of Georgia since Reconstruction is backing a key operative in the campaign, John Watson, in a four-way fight for Republican state chairman. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue endorsed Watson in an email that began circulating on Wednesday, saying, "I do not think there is anyone better prepared or positioned to lead our party organization to continuing victories."
Maryland joins California in restricting use of antibiotics on livestock
Gov. Larry Hogan stood aside and let a Maryland law take effect without his signature that will bar use of medically important antibiotics to promote weight gain among cattle, hogs and poultry. The Maryland law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2018, the same implementation date as a similar law enacted in 2015 in California, the only other state to control antibiotic use with the goal of preserving the effectiveness of the drugs to fight disease in humans.
Viral disease attacks tilapia, a vital food fish
Tilapia are one of the world's most widely consumed fish and "a mainstay of global food security and nutrition," says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in a warning of a viral disease that can decimate wild and farmed populations of the fish. Tilapia Lake Virus is reported in five countries in three continents — South America, Africa and Asia.
BPI and ABC News go to court over ‘pink slime’
Jury selection starts this week for a lawsuit filed by Dakota Dunes-based Beef Products Inc. in 2012 against ABC News and correspondent Jim Avila over “pink slime.” BPI is seeking $1 billion in defamation charges, claiming that ABC made its product — beef that has had the fat removed and then ammonia gas added to kill bacteria — seem unsafe to consume.
Trump says a decision ‘very soon’ on Paris climate treaty
During brief exchanges with reporters, President Trump said he would announce "very soon" whether he would withdraw the United States from the Paris climate treaty, adding, "I’m hearing from a lot of people, both ways." There were widespread reports that the White House has decided on withdrawal.
California gets in the dirt to fight climate change
Starting this summer, the state of California will pay farmers to return nutrients to their soil that were lost to monocultures and tillage. The first of its kind in the country, California’s Healthy Soils Initiative will give growers grants to add “compost on rangelands or [seed] fields between harvests with so-called cover crops such as grasses and mustards, which add organic matter to the soil,” says The New York Times.
Not a peachy year in the South, but the sun shines on the Northeast
Peach orchards in Georgia and South Carolina will produce a meager harvest this year, the result of a warm winter followed by a hard freeze in the early spring, said the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "What does that mean for peach eaters in the Peach State? Probably only a shorter season," said the newspaper, as growers sell the fruit close to home and curtail out-of-state sales.
Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to California egg law
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to the landmark California law that says table eggs shipped into the state for sale must come from farms that give chickens enough room to stand, turn around, and fully extend their wings.
Most Americans—even in red states—want the U.S. to stay in the Paris climate treaty
Seven out of 10 registered voters think the United States should stay committed to the Paris Climate Agreement, says a survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. What’s more, nearly half of Trump voters say the U.S. should participate.
Why killing coyotes might hurt livestock
Last year, the USDA’s Wildlife Services killed 76,859 coyotes, in large part to protect livestock, especially sheep and calves. But killing coyotes may actually make the problem worse, says New Food Economy.
Shareholders, activists pressure restaurants on antibiotic use in meat
Activism around the contentious issue of giving antibiotics to meat animals is moving from the farm to the plate by putting pressure on restaurant chains. Last week, a coalition of 30 consumer and environmental groups pressed the cult California burger chain In-N-Out to change its antibiotics-related buying policy. At the same time, a shareholder group pushed McDonald’s to increase its antibiotic-free buying — and while the measure did not pass, 30 percent of shareholders voted for it.
Democratic senators oppose Trump cuts in rural development
Some 29 Senate Democrats, including all of the party’s members on the Agriculture Committee, signed a letter to President Trump objecting to his proposals to scale back USDA rural economic development programs.
Cool, rainy spring delays corn planting, lowers crop rating
Just 65 percent of the U.S. corn crop was rated in good or excellent condition in the USDA’s first assessment of the year. That figure came in well below the 72 percent rating at the end of May 2016, when farmers were headed for a record-setting harvest.
Obesity: A big issue in industrialized nations and getting bigger
One in five adults in the industrialized world is obese and nearly one in six children is overweight or obese, says a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The report also projects “a steady increase in obesity rates until at least 2030.”
Raw milk or cheese involved in most cases of dairy-borne illness
More and more states are allowing the sale of unpasteurized milk, a trend that raises public health concerns, according to research published in the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Losses of honeybee colonies are lowest in five years
Beekeepers lost one-third of their colonies in the year ending in March, down 6 percent from the previous year and the lowest loss rate since 2011-12, when less than 29 percent of colonies were lost, says the Bee Informed Partnership of university researchers. Assistant entomology professor Dennis vanEngelsdorp, of the University of Maryland, said the decline in losses was encouraging but added, "It's hard to imagine any other agricultural sector being able to stay in business with such consistently high losses."
Batista brothers, owners of meatpacking giant JBS, resign from senior posts
JBS chairman Joesley Batista and chief executive Wesley Batista resigned from senior posts "in a corruption scandal that threatens to topple Brazil's president Michel Temer," said Reuters. The brothers, who own the world's largest meat producer, which has operations in the United States, admitted to paying $150 million, mostly in bribes, to nearly 2,000 politicians in Brazil, including its past three presidents, said the Wall Street Journal.
Two House committee chairs call for dismissal of wetlands lawsuit
California farmer John Duarte, the poster boy for farm groups complaining of federal over-regulation of wetlands, has high-powered supporters in Congress who are appealing for the government to drop its long-running case against him. The Republican chairmen of the House Agriculture and Judiciary committees wrote Attorney General Jeff Sessions to argue that the case against Duarte is unfounded.
Trump promises Paris climate decision this week
During the last day of the G-7 summit in Italy, President Trump tweeted that he’ll decide later this week whether the U.S. will stay in the Paris Agreement, says the Los Angeles Times. The agreement, signed by almost 200 countries, including the U.S. under President Obama, calls for lowering greenhouse-gas emissions. It's widely supported by the other G-7 countries: Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan.