In worrisome trend, FDA says animal-antibiotic use still rising
The amount of antibiotics sold for use in food animals in the United States rose 1 percent in 2015, and has been rising since the government started counting, according to a report released by the Food and Drug Administration. In a worrisome finding, the FDA said the majority of the livestock drugs sold were “medically important” to human health and were bought over the counter rather than prescribed by a veterinarian.
Grocery prices to shrink by 1 percent in greatest decline since 1959
Recent declines in the retail price of beef, veal, poultry and eggs are contributing to a 1 percent drop in grocery prices this year, the largest instance of food deflation since 1959, said the Agriculture Department. Going into the final month of the year, grocery prices are running 1.2 percent below their 2015 level, thanks to the strong dollar and low petroleum prices.
Delay asked on EPA rules on farmworkers and pesticides
The largest U.S. farm organization and state agriculture directors petitioned the EPA to delay the Jan. 2 implementation of revised pesticide safety rules for growers and farmworkers. Under the rules, for the first time, people under the age of 18 years will be prohibited from handling pesticides.
US wins WTO case over Indonesian limits on food imports
A WTO dispute panel agreed with the United States and New Zealand on all 18 points of their challenge of Indonesian trade barriers to imports of fruit, vegetables and meat. The U.S. trade representative's (USTR) office said removal of the barriers could lead to a vast increase in sales of the goods affected by the licensing rules, which totaled $87 million in 2015.
Trump looking for ‘absolute most highly qualified, best person’ for USDA
President-elect Donald Trump is flirting with the record for the slowest announcement of a nominee for agriculture secretary in 24 years, but transition spokesman Jason Miller says "the focus is making sure that the president-elect picks the person he wants to go with and that he's comfortable that he's picking the absolute most highly qualified, best person."
Relatively balmy weather in Arctic makes scientists uneasy
Temperatures in the Arctic are expected to be 27 degrees Fahrenheit above normal this week, which has scientists unnerved, says The New York Times. In mid-November, temperatures were 35 degrees above the average, before cooling again. But the “heat” has returned.
The future of WOTUS, under the new POTUS
President-elect Donald Trump has promised repeatedly to get rid of WOTUS — a rule that the EPA says is crucial to keeping pollution out of America’s waterways. And if WOTUS’ future wasn’t already uncertain, Trump has enlisted one of the rule’s greatest detractors to head the EPA. “What is this all about?” Scott Pruitt says in a Facebook video he posted last year about the Waters of the U.S. rule. “It’s about power. It’s about the EPA trying to assert itself in decision making that is exclusively the providence [sic] of the states, of the private property owners.”
FAO project restores irrigation to farmland near Mosul
Some 225,000 hectares (556,000 acres) of farmland near Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, will regain irrigation water for the first time in two years under a project run by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The project includes clearing obstructions from the main irrigation canal, repairing a pumping station and clearing mines from fields.
USDA awards $225 million for region-spanning conservation projects
Half of the 88 projects selected to receive $225 million in funding for 2017 through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program focus on drought and water quality, says USDA. Private, local and state sources will provide up to $500 million matching funds for the program, which stimulates voluntary soil and water conservation on private land across a landscape.
Ag Insider on winter break next week
Ag Insider will be on winter break December 26-30, so will not be publishing. We plan to return rested and well-fed on January 3. The only exception might be a special edition if president-elect Donald Trump names an Ag Secretary during that period, in which case Chuck Abbott will put down his hot toddy and get to work.
McDonald’s to test home delivery in three Florida cities
Tough year ahead for farmers due to low grain prices, says Purdue
Grain prices will run at or near decade lows, keeping farm income in a slump, say Purdue agricultural economists. In the Purdue Agricultural Economics Report 2017, they say the average value of farmland in Indiana was $7,041 an acre, down by 13 percent from the 2013 peak because of weakness in the farm sector.
Farmers oppose larger flows on three California rivers
More than 900 people packed a Modesto hearing, "most of them determined to stop the state's plan" to roughly double the flow on the lower Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers from February to June each year, says the Modesto Bee. "Farmers and wataer managers said the plan would put people out of work while doing little for fish."
Rise in interest rates unlikely to affect farmland values, for now
Mars steps away from study questioning limits on sugar consumption
Another USDA possibility emerges, along with a candidate for USTR
Texas rancher Susan Combs, the first woman elected as state agriculture commissioner and a former state comptroller, was to meet Vice President-elect Mike Pence, said the Trump transition team. The move ignited speculation that Combs might be in line for USDA chief.
As world gulps more coffee, inventory tightens
The global stockpile of coffee is headed for a five-year low, at less than a three-month supply, thanks to record demand that has driven up coffee prices 31 percent since the start of the year, says a semi-annual USDA forecast. "Global consumption is forecast at a record 153.3 million bags," each weighing 60 kg, says USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service.
Democrats add Van Hollen to Senate Agriculture Committee
Newly elected Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland will be the only Democratic newcomer on the Senate Agriculture Committee in the two-year session that opens Jan. 3, according to party leaders. Van Hollen will be the 10th Democrat on the committee, reflecting the closer balance of power between the Republican majority and Democratic minority.
Farms tally $8.7 billion in local sales of food
Growers in California reaped one-third of the $8.7 billion in direct marketing of food nationwide, said USDA in its first-ever Local Foods report, based on 2015 sales of fresh and value-added products. Farms who sold directly to institutions or intermediaries, such as wholesalers or food hubs, took the largest share, $3.4 billion, of the U.S. total.
Drought spreads in winter wheat states
One-third of the land growing winter wheat is in drought territory, triple the portion that was affected two months ago, says USDA's Ag in Drought report. Dry conditions are a threat to establishment — and potential yields — of the crop, which is planted in the fall, lies dormant during the winter and is harvested in the spring.