California water districts didn’t track farm water during drought
While California languished in a five-year drought, most state water districts didn’t adhere to a 2007 law that required them to track how much water they delivered to farms, reports The Sacramento Bee.
Organic food sales top $40 billion annually for first time
Americans bought $43 billion of organic food in 2016, the latest in a string of record sales years and the first time that sales topped $40 billion, says the Organic Trade Association in a report released at its annual policy conference. Sales were up by $3.3 billion from the previous year, an 8 percent increase.
Alabama FarmPAC backs Strange out of 19 Senate candidates
Less than a week after the filing deadline for the special Senate election this year, the political action committee of the Alabama Farmers Federation endorsed appointed Sen. Luther Strange out of 19 candidates in the race.
Crop insurance cut 36 percent in Trump budget
As Congress prepares to write a new farm bill, President Trump proposed a 36-percent cut in the federally subsidized crop insurance program over the coming decade, a far more sweeping set of reforms than what was proposed during the Obama era and rejected by farm-state lawmakers. Crop insurance is the largest of USDA's farm support programs at nearly $8 billion a year.
Co-chair of Trump campaign in Michigan will challenge Stabenow
Lena Epstein, co-chair of the Trump presidential campaign in Michigan last fall, says she will run against third-term Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee. The 2018 race is rated as "likely Democratic" at present by political tipsheet Sabato's Crystal Ball.
‘No sugarcoating’ sharp cuts at USDA, Perdue says
The Agriculture Department would lose more than 5 percent of its workforce under President Trump's proposals to slash crop insurance and food stamps, to down-size conservation programs and to eliminate many rural development programs, said USDA officials. "There's no sugarcoating what we will face," said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Food for Peace, created in Cold War, would see the sun set in Trump budget
A mixture of U.S. idealism and Farm Belt pragmatism, the U.S. program that donates American-grown food for hunger relief and food security projects overseas would be eliminated by the Trump administration. Its proposed budget for fiscal 2018 would terminate Food for Peace Title II operations.
USDA weighs open-air trial of GE moth to combat crop pest
New York "is one step closer to becoming the first state to have genetically modified, non-sterile insects released" for an open-air trial against the crop-damaging diamondback month, says news site EcoWatch. The public comment period has closed on USDA's environmental assessment, which says the proposed field trial is unlikely to cause adverse effects on plants, soil, water and people.
Supreme Court refuses to review length of sentences for salmonella outbreak
The Supreme Court assured prison time for Austin DeCoster, once believed to be the largest U.S. egg producer, and his son, Peter, by refusing a petition filed by their attorneys for a review of their sentences.
USAID mulls merger of food-aid and disaster-relief operations
Leaders of USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance are exploring a merger of the agency's food-aid and disaster-assistance programs, says Devex, which follows global development issues.
Senate confirms Iowa governor as U.S. ambassador to China
On an 82-13 roll call, the Senate confirmed Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as the U.S. ambassador to China. The longest-serving governor in U.S. history has said he will push China, the No. 1 customer for U.S. ag exports, to admit American beef and to remove barriers to other U.S. farm exports.
Arctic thaw sends water into entryway of ‘doomsday’ seed vault
An unexpected thaw of Arctic permafrost let water into the famed "doomsday" seed vault 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, reported Reuters. The water, halted in the entrance hall of the seed repository, "had no impact on millions of seeds of crops including rice, maize, potatoes and wheat that are stored more than 110 metres inside the mountainside," said the news agency.
Pediatrics group says kids and fruit juice don’t mix
The American Academy of Pediatrics says that far from being a healthy drink, "Fruit juice has no essential role in healthy, balanced diets of children." American children between the ages of 2 and 18 consume almost half their fruit intake in the form of juice, but doctors warn that has to stop.
Trump selects Callista Gingrich, former House ag staffer, as Vatican ambassador
Callista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and a former House Agriculture Committee staffer, is President Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, said the White House.
Signs of funding cuts for public nutrition in Trump budget
Congress would shear $6 billion from food stamps and the Women and Infants (WIC) food program along with eliminating two overseas food-aid programs, according to data leaked to the think tank Third Way. Proposals to cut farm subsidies and federally subsidized crop insurance in fiscal 2018 also are expected in the Trump administration budget to be released on Tuesday.
Ethanol groups take two routes in pursuit of E15 sales
In hopes of expanding sales of gasoline with a 15 percent biofuel blend, ethanol trade groups are putting pressure on the EPA as well as Congress, says DTN. Their immediate goal is approval by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee of a bill to waive a fuel volatility rule, which would allow the sale of E15 during the summer.
Plant breeders aim for crops that waste less fertilizer
The world's most widely grown crop, wheat, could become "a super nitrogen-efficient crop" if plant researchers succeed in cross-breeding a trait called biological nitrification inhibition into the staple grain, says the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Wheat plants use about 30 percent of nitrogen fertilizer applied to fields at present, but if the trait can be introduced into the plants they will become more efficient users and suppress loss of nitrogen from the soil.
Farm groups to White House: Don’t hurt us in NAFTA renegotiation
With its trade team in place, the Trump administration announced it will renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, fulfilling a campaign promise by the president. Canada and Mexico are two of the three leading markets for U.S. farm exports so U.S. farm groups hope for gains in the talks but fear disruptions.
Craft brewers’ supply of hops squeezed by a brewery giant
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the largest beer producer in the world, is taking another shot at the American craft brewing industry, this time by cornering the market on some key ingredients independent brewers need to make quality beer. The company last week announced that they would no longer be exporting hops from their South African hop farms to U.S. craft brewers, as promised, and would instead be redirecting the hops toward their own in-house brands.
Iowa farmland values begin to inch upward
After falling by 10 percent since 2013, farmland values in Iowa, the No. 1 corn state in the nation, are marginally higher, with the recovery expected to continue into the future, says Successful Farming. "We think the bleeding has stopped," said Iowa State University economist Wendong Zhang at ISU's annual soil management and land value conference.