U.S. forests feel the heat of climate change
Over the past two decades, higher temperatures and variable precipitation have increased the severity of drought in forests across the United States, says the lead author of a study on climate change and forests.
Big increase planned in biggest U.S. rice state
Growers plan a 20-percent increase in rice plantings this year in Arkansas, the state that often grows half of the U.S. rice crop, says U-Arkansas.
White House opposes Congressional menu labeling bill
Two days ahead of a vote scheduled in the House, the administration announced its opposition to a "common sense" menu labeling bill sponsored by the fourth-ranking Republican leader, Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Conaway calls USDA cotton proposals ‘smoke and mirrors’
USDA will begin fleshing out a cotton-ginning cost-share program as a response to the third year of low cotton prices and financial stress on growers, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Second-largest U.S. farm group backs voluntary GMO labeling
Formerly a proponent of mandatory labeling, the National Farmers Union now supports voluntary labeling, said president Roger Johnson.
Dry weather threatens world’s largest rice exporter
The rice harvest for the world's largest rice exporter, Thailand, is shriveling due to water shortages. USDA forecasts a crop of 10 million tonnes for 2015/16, down 15 percent from last season.
Pinched by El Niño, global rice crop is smallest in four years
Rice farmers curtailed plantings by nearly 2 percent in the face of dry weather caused by the El Niño weather pattern, leading to the smallest world rice crop in four years.
GMO food-label chaos coming, but a vote is postponed
Vermont's first-in-the-nation law to require special labels on food made with genetically modified organisms "is going to create a chaotic situation," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told lawmakers in backing a nationwide solution. "We want some standardization ... We need to get this fixed."
Report calls for Hawaii to clamp down on pesticide use
Hawaii’s legislature should “undertake a major update of [state] pesticide laws and regulation,” says a draft report commissioned by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, and by Kauai county.
Capitol Hill says a stony ‘no’ to crop-insurance reform
Leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees quickly rejected the Obama administration's proposed $18-billion cut in the federally subsidized crop-insurance program.
Two dozen countries in Africa need food aid
Drought in southern Africa has "significantly dampened production prospects, with severe negative implications for food security in the sub-region," says the FAO's quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.
Two new routes offered for aid to cotton growers
While a $1 billion-a-year cottonseed subsidy may be off the table, financially strapped cotton growers could be helped through two other federal options. One could pump $150 million into the sector through a cost-share program with cotton ginners and the other would be revival of so-called cotton transition payments.
USDA files rule to ban food-stamp recruitment
The Federal Register is to publish a proposed rule today that would bar the use of federal funds to encourage people to apply for food stamps.
After two years of steep declines, farm income stabilizes
U.S. farm income plummeted by a combined 31 percent in 2014 and 2015. It will fall again this year, says a USDA forecast, but by a modest 2-3 percent. Large crop-subsidy payments, estimated at $9.5 billion, will buffer a 4-percent drop in livestock receipts and a 1-percent decline in crop receipts.
Obama trip to Cuba will include Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on a trade mission to Peru and Chile this week, will travel to Havana next Monday and Tuesday as part of President Obama's trip to the island, the first U.S. president to visit in nearly 90 years.
Small fishermen track their fish with a new wave of tech
“A fish will often go through five to 15 sets of hands in the supply chain, from the boat to the retailer or restaurant,” reports Ensia. Many customers are willing to pay a premium to know the origins of their fish, especially if they've heard how rampant fraud is in the seafood business.
Farm income forecast at half of 2013’s peak for years
Low commodity prices will hold net farm income below $60 billion annually - half of the record $123 billion of 2013 - for years to come, said a University of Missouri think tank.
School-food group asks for 35 cents more per meal
A push for a Senate vote next week on GMO pre-emption
Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts was negotiating terms of a bill that could be called for Senate debate next week to pre-empt state GMO food-labeling laws.
Conservation ag has little impact on soil carbon, climate change
A meta study of two key food producing regions in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa concluded that conservation agriculture has minimal impact on carbon sequestration, meaning it won't have much impact on mitigating climate change.