The breaking point in GMO negotiations: a package label
Congress will have to decide whether to require special labels on foods made with genetically modified organisms, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who tried to broker a compromise between labeling advocates and foodmakers, who oppose mandatory labels.
GE rice sheds leaves to survive drought
Researchers at Purdue say genetically engineering plants to produce high levels of the protein PYL9 can dramatically improve drought tolerance in rice.
USDA calls referendum on pecan checkoff program
Pecan growers in 15 states nationwide will vote from March 9-30 on creating a checkoff program that would raise up to $8 million a year for research and promotion of the nut crop, according to a notice to appear today in the Federal Register.
Contrary to expectations, soy returns may exceed corn
After record-setting soybean crops two years in a row, U.S. farmers are expected to expand corn plantings and throttle back on soybeans this year.
Drug tests for food stamps? Not fair, says Vilsack
Two days after President Obama requested $1.1 billion to combat heroin and prescription drug abuse, a senior House appropriator suggested USDA should allow drug testing of food stamp recipients.
Chicago Council hires Gates Foundation ag expert
Alesha Black, who spent eight years working on agricultural development at the Gates Foundation, is the new director of the global food and agriculture portfolio at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, one of the most active think tanks on the topic.
West Coast sardines are in for another bad year
The West coast summer sardine population is expected to fall 93 percent from to its 2007 peak, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
At ethanol industry meeting, it’s all about the octane
The U.S. produced a record 14.7 billion gallons of corn ethanol last year, notwithstanding the dispute over the federal biofuels mandate and perennial jostling with the oil industry for market share.
Slump in commodity prices pulls down Farm Belt land values
Farm bankers across the Midwest and Plains say that the persistent slump in crop and livestock prices pulled down farmland prices, with further declines expected through spring.
House Ag joins the digital age
At its first business meeting of the year, the House Agriculture Committee passed around computer tablets instead of paper copies of the business at hand, which happened to be a letter to the Budget Committee. "I would like to call your attention to the letter in your iPads," said chairman Michael Conaway in speeding through an introduction of the new equipment, which he described as "an effort to go green, save trees, that sort of stuff."
Voices lowered, cottonseed-subsidy debate continues
The cotton industry and a leading ally on Capitol Hill are pressing to make cottonseed eligible for crop subsidies despite the USDA's conclusion that it lacks the authority to do so. Payments could total $1 billion a year, according to an estimate by university economists.
Montana milk law stars in film on food waste
In the state of Montana, milk has to be tossed twelve days after pasteurization even though it can easily last up to 21 days. Storeowners can’t donate the extra gallons to food banks either. In the new film “EXPIRED? Food Waste in America” a team of researchers from Harvard investigate Montana’s spilled milk.
California salmon devastated by drought in 2015
Only 3 percent of juvenile Chinook salmon survived the 2015 spawning season in California’s Sacramento River, said the National Marine Fisheries Service on Monday. With drought haunting the state, there wasn’t enough cold water in the river. The fish “were cooked to death,” says The Sacramento Bee.
Lowest U.S. corn, soy, wheat prices in a decade
The outlook for commodity prices has worsened since last fall due to large harvests that fattened stockpiles around the world, said USDA chief economist Robert Johansson at the annual Outlook Forum.
CA bill would move billions from bullet train to water projects
California's $53-billion agriculture industry is rallying behind a bill for the November ballot that would move money intended for the state’s high-speed bullet train to new water projects.
Ostrich, the other red meat
Idaho farm Alex McCoy could be the ostrich evangelist of America. "I believe in the potential of ostrich to really transform the red meat industry in the United States," McCoy tells Modern Farmer.
Rural Iowans helped Cruz win Republican caucus
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican winner of Iowa's presidential caucuses, drew a larger share of the vote from rural counties than billionaire Donald Trump or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, reports the Daily Yonder.
U.S. farm exports tumble, led by China
U.S. farm exports will slump this year to $125 billion, the lowest level since 2010, due to strong competition from other exporting nations and reduced demand for imports, said the Agriculture Department in a quarterly update.
Retailers would stock greater variety of foods under SNAP proposal
Retailers who want to be part of the food-stamp program would be required to offer a wider array of foods under a USDA proposal intended to give low-income Americans access to healthier food choices.
Wood pulp in your Parmesan
Some brands of Parmesan cheese sold in U.S. grocery stores contain unexpectedly large amounts of cellulose, reports Bloomberg, which hired an independent laboratory to test samples of the popular grated cheese.