Far-reaching tradeoffs as cities, farms drain aquifers
Rural unemployment rate is down
"Job gains in rural America have returned," says the Daily Yonder, citing Labor Department data that show there were 232,000 more jobs in rural counties than one year earlier.
Heading for lowest corn and soy prices in five years
Harvest time is months away but one result is clear - the lowest corn and soybean prices in five years - if crops are as large as USDA's planting data indicate. Analysts such as economist Darrel Good of U-Illinois say the average price for this year's corn crop could be "near $4" a bushel and soybeans "perhaps $10.50" for the 2014/15 marketing year. AgriMoney says the average cost of production in Iowa is $4.29 for corn and $11.13 for soybeans according to Iowa State University figures.
Rainy month erases drought from much of the United States
While drought is entrenched in the West, it has disappeared in the rest of the country for the most part. Some 23 percent of the contiguous United States is in drought, a drop of 15 points since the first week of May, says the Drought Monitor.
Maps and graphs and an infographic
For those who like their food and ag statistics in graphical or map format, here is a trio:
House sends export inspection, livestock price bills to Senate
In less than half an hour, the House passed on voice votes bills to reauthorize the Grain Standards Act and the mandatory livestock price reporting program, each with significant modifications to prevent disruption of service. The bills now go to the Senate. The Grain Standards bill would require the USDA to step in immediately if there is an interruption of inspection of grain at export terminals, either by dispatching federal inspectors or inspectors from state agencies empowered to conduct the work.
JBS in deal to buy Cargill’s pork farms and packing plants
The giant Brazilian meatpacker JBS, a relative newcomer to North America, will buy the pork operations of agribusiness rival Cargill for $1.45 billion, the companies announced.
House panel would delay menu labels, school-lunch reforms
Administration proposals to put calorie counts on menus and to reform school lunches would be delayed by one year under a bill drafted by the House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture. The subcommittee also would restrict the 2015 update of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the government's tips for healthy eating, "to only matters of diet and nutrient intake" - a rejection of the proposal from a panel of experts to encourage sustainable food production.
Soy crop to set record, corn to fall short, says KSU
U.S. soybean growers will harvest a record 3.6 billion bushels of the oilseed this fall but the corn crop, at 13.3 billion bushels, will run 4 percent short of a record, estimated economist Dan O'Brien of Kansas State University. O'Brien also forecast 2014/15 end stocks of 1.3 billion bushels of corn, largest since 2009/10, and 417 million bushels of soybeans, largest since 2006/07.
People on the move
Joe Shultz is the new Democratic staff director on the Senate Agriculture Committee, announced ranking member Debbie Stabenow.
Embassy pact fuels hope for end of U.S. embargo on Cuba
A U.S. agricultural coalition said it hoped for an end to the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba now that the nations agreed to re-open embassies in each other's capital.
Rockey to head new food and ag research foundation
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), created by the 2014 farm law, has hired Sally Rockey as its executive director. She begins work in September.
Record profits for pork producers this summer
Hog farmers made a record profit of nearly $70 a hog this spring and are on track for much larger profits this summer, says economist Chris Hurt of Purdue University at farmdoc daily. He says "third quarter profits are expected to be over $100 per head due to continued high market prices and declining feed costs. Hog farmers have been slow to expand their herds, so the the supply of slaughter hogs remains tight.
Biggest U.S. farm group steps up drive against water rule
The largest U.S. farm group says the EPA's proposed "waters of the United States" rule "is even worse than before." The six-million-member American Farm Bureau Federation released a lengthy analysis of the so-called WOTUS rule...
Berkeley schools to get garden, cooking funds from soda tax
The panel overseeing money collected from Berkeley's 1-cent-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages has recommended that $250,000 of the revenue go to the cooking and gardening program at city schools, says Berkeleyside, the independent news site.
Sixty Iowa cities confront high nitrate levels in tap water
Nitrate pollution affects communities in Iowa ranging from the state's largest cities to "many of its smallest," says the Des Moines Register, "evidence of a contamination problem that reaches across the state."
Bird flu’s implications for large-scale operators
The worst epidemic of avian influenza ever to hit U.S. poultry farms resulted in the death or culling of 48.1 million fowl, most of them turkeys and egg-laying hens. Iowa, the No. 1 egg state, could see "total economic damage" of $957 million, says Fortune. U.S. egg production, estimated down by 5 percent this year, is not expected to recover until 2016.
Using Big Data at the food bank
The Capital Area Food Bank, based in DC, is using Big Data, "a pioneering technology that could one day revolutionize the war on hunger," says the Washington Post.
Nearly 300 groups say no to COOL repeal
Ahead of the House vote on repeal of mandatory country-of-origin labels (COOL) on beef, pork and chicken sold in grocery stores, 283 labor, small-farm, environmental and religious groups published a joint letter asking lawmakers to keep the labeling law in force. "Consumers want more information about their food, not less," said the Consumer Federation of America. R-CALF USA, a cattle-ranchers group, said repeal would "reward the powerful meatpacker lobby" and be a capitulation to threats by Canada and Mexico of retaliatory tariffs.
GMO labeling and a GOP family feud in Kansas
Rep Mike Pompeo, sponsor of a bill to pre-empt states from labeling of GMO foods, is challenged in the Aug 5 Republican primary in Kansas by his predecessor, Todd Tiahrt. The Topeka Capital-Journal describes it as "a GOP family feud punctuated by slash-and-burn denunciations. This is clearly a race capable of ripping Republicans apart."