Beef and pork prices soared to record highs in the supermarket in 2014 but shoppers are seeing some relief as producers expand cattle and hog herds. Pork prices "continue to fall below 2014 figures as there are signs of industry expansion and a lower volume of exports due to the strength of the U.S. dollar," says the monthly Food Price Outlook.

A Swiss insurance company will pay as much as $1.05 billion to buy the crop insurance business of Wells Fargo, saying the deal will allow it to diversify its portfolio and counterbalance risk from its general insurance business.

A Des Moines Register survey of people planning to attend the Iowa precinct caucuses on Feb 1 found strong support for the ethanol mandate - not a surprising result considering that Iowa is No 1 in corn and ethanol production. When asked if they supported the Renewable Fuels Standard, which requires use of ethanol and other biofuels, 77 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans said yes. Republicans were just as supportive of the oil industry.

The Organic Trade Association, the main trade group for the organic food industry, said it was filing paperwork early next year for a “transitional” organic designation at the USDA that would benefit farmers going through the three-year transition to organic farming. The aim of the program would be to provide economic incentives for farmers to go organic at a time when demand is growing strongly but supplies still fall short.

The pedal-driven Bicitractor is "a green, silent, healthy alternative" for small vegetable farms that can't afford, or don't want, a conventional tractor, says Makezine. "Created by farmers for farmers, it performs a variety of agricultural tasks, working the soil to a maximum depth of 5 cm, which is popular with the no-till farming movement.

The "Big First" congressional district of Kansas covers nearly two-thirds of the state and perennially is among the top agricultural districts in the country. The Republican primary for Congress isn't until Aug. 2 but the Kansas Livestock Association already decided to back a challenger, physician Roger Marshall, over third-term incumbent Tim Huelskamp, a Tea Party conservative.

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. appellate court in San Francisco to overturn a federal district court ruling that the state's "ag gag" law is unconstitutional. Idaho is among half a dozen states with laws intended to prevent activists from using identity fraud to get hired on farms or to make undercover videos, and it is first state to lose in court, said Food Safety News.

Congress would make some tax incentives, such as Section 179 business expensing, permanent as part of the omnibus government funding bill while other tax incentives will be revived for a limited number of years. Farm groups say Section 179 and bonus depreciation, extended through 2019, free up cash flow and encourage investment.

Hot weather and scanty rainfall are dimming the outlook for crops and livestock in southern Africa, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Some farmers have delayed sowing crops while waiting for rain while dry weather hurts emerging crops. "It's the sixth week of the cropping season now and there's not enough moisture in the soil," said an FAO official.

When monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico for the winter, they flock to oyamel fir trees which grow on mountainsides at altitudes of 10,000 feet. "These dense, dark-green conifers protect the monarchs from cold and rainy winter nights," says Yale e360. With climate change, the firs are affected by hotter and drier conditions.

Hampton Creek, maker of a vegan mayonnaise, says it will get to keep the "Just Mayo" name in an agreement with the FDA, which originally said the name was misleading. Mayonnaise traditionally is a creamy sauce made with egg yolks, oil, vinegar and seasonings.

The farm group representing U.S. soybean growers gave its support to making cotton eligible for crop subsidies as an oilseed as well as having its own subsidy program as a textile fiber. Soybeans and cotton are grown throughout the South and Southwest.

Millions of Ethiopians will need food aid through 2016 as a result of abnormally low rainfall during the main growing seasons this year, says a monitor funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Mexico and Canada objected to U.S. meat-origin labels since they became mandatory under the 2008 farm law, eventually winning a final WTO decision over the United States on May 18. The omnibus funding bill awaiting a vote in Congress would end the labeling system for beef, pork, ground beef and ground pork in order to avoid up to $1.01 billion in retaliatory tariffs.

Sub-Saharan Africa is buying five times as much U.S. poultry meat as it did a decade ago, says the USDA, chronicling the emergence of a new, large market for meat imports.

The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee said they will ask committee approval of a bipartisan bill in January to reauthorize child nutrition programs costing $22 billion a year. School lunch is the largest of the programs.