WIC shortfall would squeeze Black and Hispanic families the most
Some 600,000 parents and young children would be denied WIC benefits under USDA funding bills pending in the House and Senate, said the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Thursday. “The eligible people who would be put on waiting lists are disproportionately in Black and Hispanic families,” said a CBPP blog.
How the H-2A visa program failed two farmworkers from Mexico
In 2021, Vicente Gomez Hernandez and Humberto Feliciano Gomez, cousins from a poor village in Oaxaca, joined the hundreds of thousands of men and women from Mexico who come to the U.S. each year on an H-2A seasonal visa to work on farms around the country. The visa is meant to be a safe and efficient alternative to illegal border crossings, a win for farmers, who need the labor, and for workers, who get much higher wages than they can earn at home. It did not turn out that way for the two cousins.
Stabenow sees farm bill passage in 2024, later than hoped
The new farm bill will not enacted until next year because of continuing disagreements over issues such SNAP benefits and higher crop subsidies, said Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow on Wednesday. “I am committed to passing a strong, bipartisan farm bill as soon as possible,” she said, but the process is taking longer than hoped.
USDA strengthens animal welfare standards for organic livestock
Organic farmers will have stronger and more consistent standards for treatment of their livestock under an animal welfare regulation that could take effect by the end of this year, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. The rule requires unlimited outdoor access for animals, an industry norm, and prohibits the small enclosed “porches” that some poultry farms have said are sufficient.
Food insecurity soars 30 percent as pandemic aid ends
More than 44 million Americans experienced food insecurity last year, the highest number since 2014, at the same time that pandemic assistance was reduced, said a USDA report on Wednesday. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and anti-hunger groups called on Congress to protect funding for public nutrition programs, including WIC and SNAP.
USDA pumps $2.3 billion into export promotion and food aid
Facing a back-to-back decline in food and ag exports, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Tuesday the USDA would provide an additional $1.3 billion to build overseas demand for U.S. products and an additional $1 billion for global hunger relief. The USDA currently spends a combined $2.5 billion a year on those objectives.
Fewer children in after-school nutrition programs
With the expiration of pandemic waivers, student participation in after-school meal programs dropped by 23 percent, said the antihunger Food Research & Action Center on Tuesday. With the return to pre-pandemic operations, many after-school programs and meal sponsors continue to struggle with staffing shortages and increased food prices, said FRAC in a report.
Farm bill: ‘There will be an extension,’ says Vilsack
Congress will have to extend the life of the 2018 farm law into 2024 so it can finish work on its successor, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday. "Most people acknowledge there will be an extension," although its duration is unclear, he said.
Hands off climate change funds, say House Ag Democrats
All 24 Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee signed a letter telling panel leaders on Monday "it would ultimately be a disservice to American farmers" to hijack the $20 billion earmarked in the farm bill for climate-mitigation projects. Some lawmakers, with Republicans the most vocal, would use the money to fatten the crop subsidy system.
USDA report finds barriers to farmers in carbon markets
More than nine out of 10 farmers are aware of carbon markets but only a fraction of them are participants, said a USDA report on Monday that listed several barriers, including a "limited return on investment as a result of high transaction costs." Carbon contracts have been promoted as a way for farmers to be paid for locking carbon into the soil as part of their day-to-day operations.
Red meat for Republicans, cuts for Democrats in Ag chair’s farm bill wish list
To pay for farm bill priorities such as crop subsidies, House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson suggested $50 billion in cuts, mostly to climate change and public nutrition programs that are strongly supported by Democratic lawmakers. The proposal, quickly rejected, pointed to long-running disagreements over the farm bill with time running out for action this year.
Navigator cancels Midwest carbon pipeline
Navigator CO2 said it canceled its 1,350-mile carbon pipeline because of "unpredictable ... regulatory and government processes" in the five Midwestern states the pipeline would cross. The Heartland Greenway pipeline was among three projects proposed to capture carbon dioxide, mainly from ethanol plants, and transport it through pipelines for injection thousands of feet underground.
Austin Scott runs again for speaker
Relatively unknown but ambitious, Georgia Rep. Austin Scott launched his second campaign in a week for House speaker with a call for Republican unity. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker three weeks ago and House Republicans hope to select a nominee from nine aspirants this week.
High interest rates discouraging farmers from borrowing money
Ag bankers say farmers are tapping their savings from recent boom years instead of borrowing money at what are the highest interest rates since 2007. The average operating loan issued this past summer was nearly 20 percent smaller than the average a year ago, the lenders said in surveys by regional Federal Reserve banks.
New FDA food chief names top three priorities
A month after starting work as the FDA’s first deputy commissioner for human foods, Jim Jones on Thursday listed three areas for attention to promote the health and wellness of Americans: preventing foodborne illness, decreasing diet-related chronic disease through improved nutrition, and protecting the food supply through the safe use of chemicals and dietary supplements.
Expect another round of ‘WOTUS whiplash,’ warns senator
The Biden administration made only minimal changes to its “waters of the United States” regulation to comply with the Supreme Court’s new and stricter definition of wetlands, and that will perpetuate litigation over the Clean Water Act, said West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito on Wednesday.
Ag leaders discussing farm bill extension
The senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee “is having conversations about an extension” of the 2018 farm law into the new year, said a spokesperson on Wednesday. Farm leaders in Congress have said they intend to enact a new farm bill by late December, but a legislative logjam is growing on Capitol Hill.
Lower fertilizer costs will ease breakeven challenge for farmers, says Purdue
Commodity prices are forecast to fall in 2024 but so will crop production expenses, said agricultural economist Michael Langemeier of Purdue University. "Moderation in input prices, particularly fertilizer prices, is likely to result in lower breakeven prices in 2024."
Arkansas orders Syngenta to sell 160 acres of farmland
Citing a new state law against foreign ownership of land in Arkansas, state Attorney General Tim Griffin ordered Syngenta, one of the world's largest seed companies, on Tuesday to sell 160 acres of farmland in northeastern Arkansas within two years. Gov. Sarah Sanders said Arkansas was the first state to take such action.
Second round of USDA awards aims to expand domestic fertilizer production
Seventeen new projects will receive funding from a $900 million grant program created to expand U.S. fertilizer production in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, announced Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday. Fertilizer prices soared on fears of wartime disruptions in shipments from Russia, the world's largest fertilizer exporter.