Will the next farm bill ‘Make CRP great again’?
The Conservation Reserve, the largest U.S. land-idling program, has shrunk to its smallest size since the late 1980s, when it was only a couple of years old. With low commodity prices forecast for years into the future, putting a pinch on farm income, economist David Widmar says a proposal to expand the reserve, which pays landowners an annual rent in exchange for retiring fragile farmland for 10 years or longer, "is likely to capture broad political appeal."
Dairy farmers say Trump immigration plan would leave them short of workers
The proposal by businessman Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, "to deport undocumented immigrants and wall off the southern U.S. border has created an unexpected bastion of resistance: Dairy farmers," says Bloomberg. "Farmers say they can't get enough relatives or local workers, even with pay starting at $11 an hour or more."
Got food that needs filling? Go to Minneapolis.
The crunchy shells on M&Ms and the creamy filling in Oreos have the same birthplace, a factory in Minneapolis, says the Star Tribune. The FDA-approved sprayers and pumps are a small but fast-growing line of business for Graco Inc., better known for industrial pumps and sprayers used to paint cars or insulate homes.
Report: $1 spent on baby’s nutrition saves a country $16
Only three countries show no serious signs of malnutrition: China, Vietnam and South Korea, according to the 2016 Global Nutrition Report. The rest of the world is plagued by such poor nutrition indicators as “stunted toddlers, anemic young women and obese adults,” says The New York Times. In the United States, each obese family member costs families an average of 8 percent of their income in additional healthcare.
As wheat price falls, U.S. makes progress in export race
U.S. wheat exports are forecast for 900 million bushels this year, "up significantly from the previous year's depressed total," says USDA's monthly WASDE report. The United States would rank third among the wheat-exporting nations of the world, trailing the EU and Russia, and a step ahead of last year's fourth-place finish.
GMO-food-label negotiations ‘moving in the right direction’
Vermont's first-in-the-nation GMO food-label law takes effect in 18 days, a deadline that is a central factor in closed-door discussions on federal legislation to supersede it. "Negotiations are ongoing and we're moving in the right direction," said an aide to Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts.
Q&A: How a soybean boom threatens the Amazon
This year, Brazil harvested around 100 million tons of soybeans from 33 million hectares (82 million acres), making it the second largest soybean producer in the world after the United States. These figures have grown steeply in recent years, partly due to demand from China, Brazil’s largest trading partner and the largest soybean importer in the world.
North Dakota votes on corporate dairy and hog farming
A statewide referendum in North Dakota tomorrow will let voters decide whether to make an exception for hog and dairy farms from the state ban on corporate farming. It may not be the final word, however, since the state Farm Bureau filed suit in federal court early this month in hopes of overturning the 1932 law that bans corporate farms altogether.
Consumers say milk exposed to LED lighting doesn’t taste as good
Grocers "might unwittingly sabotage the product they are trying to sell" by installing energy-saving LEDs in the dairy case, says Cornell. In taste tests, consumers—who prefer fresh and high-quality milk—gave lower scores to milk exposed to LED light for four hours than to milk that was days or even weeks older.
California’s latest attempts to save fish have farmers afraid
In California, federal fisheries regulators are mulling two new plans to save the state’s endangered winter-run Chinook salmon and Delta smelt—plans that could mean serious water shortages for farmers. While this year saw ample rain and snowfall in the northern half of the state, regulators warn that the precipitation wasn’t enough to make up for several years of historic drought.
‘Farms are becoming more like factories’
Thanks to sensors and computer control of water and nutrients, technologically advanced growers like California almond farmer Tom Rogers are leaders in what The Economist calls "smart farming."
FDA has been slow to announce food recalls, says OIG
In two recent cases, the FDA waited months before forcing the recall of contaminated food, said Inspector General Daniel Levinson, calling for "immediate attention" to the shortcoming. "Consumers remained at risk of illness or death for several weeks after FDA knew of potentially hazardous food," Levinson wrote to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in a rare "early alert" warning.
Top Democrat on House Ag panel sure bet for re-election
Republicans failed to recruit a top-tier challenger, so Rep. Collin Peterson, the Democratic leader on the House Agriculture Committee, has a clear path to election to his 14th term in Congress, says the political tipsheet Sabato's Crystal Ball. A "blue dog," fiscally conservative Democrat, Peterson represents a rural Republican-leaning district that gave a 10-point margin to the GOP presidential nominee in 2012.
Hot weather dries the Pacific Northwest as summer nears
A heat wave, with temperatures up to 12 degrees above normal, enveloped the Pacific Northwest with abnormally dry conditions, said the weekly Drought Monitor. "Long-term drought remains in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico as we move into the heat of summer," said the Monitor, which said 84 percent of California was in drought.
Biggest egg producers promise to stop killing male chicks
Responding to pressure from animal welfare advocates, United Egg Purchasers (UEP) has agreed to stop killing male chicks at hatcheries by 2020, says Vox. New technology will enable the companies to tell the sex of the chick while still in the shell, so that the males can be painlessly disposed of before the eggs hatch. The UEP group represents 95 percent of all eggs raised in the U.S.
Crop outlook: Amid a boom, low-prices
If USDA agrees with analysts, its monthly crop report will say U.S. farmers are growing slightly more wheat and soybeans and marginally less corn than previously thought. One thing would not change in the report, due today at noon ET: a slump in commodity prices that began in 2014 is forecast to persist for years to come.
Advocates say aquaculture could boost fish in diet
Expanding U.S. fish farming could boost consumption of essential fatty acids, as Americans eat just half the American Heart Association’s recommended 3.5 ounce bi-weekly fish servings, panelists at the Capitol Hill Ocean Week conference said.
What do you get when you cross Korean barbecue with ice cream?
What do you get when you cross Korean barbecue with ice cream? A Spam ice cream sandwich is one of three answers in Culver City, the Los Angeles suburb. "The Hawaiian Pizza sandwich includes pineapple ice cream and Spam pieces between white chocolate macadamia nut cookies," says the Los Angeles Times.
House panel looks for skulduggery in glyphosate analyses
In a letter to EPA head Gina McCarthy, the House Science Committee says it has "concerns about the integrity" of a WHO-agency review that rated the weedkiller glyphosate as probably carcinogenic in humans. And it wants to know what influence is being exercised on the EPA's review of the chemical by the U.S. scientists who took part in the international review.
Hawaiian lawmakers say conservation move is bad for tuna fishermen
Thirty Hawaiian lawmakers wrote President Obama urging him not to expand the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument by 8 percent, as conservationists have proposed, says Civil Beat.