Enigmatic China key to drawing down global cotton glut
China, the world's largest buyer and consumer of cotton, also owns a huge stockpile of the fiber and is the central figure in determining if market prices will remain stable in the coming year, although at low levels, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee.
USDA to label more bioproducts, revise biorefinery assistance
Along with releasing a report on the size of the biobased industry, the Agriculture Department said it will increase the number of items that carry the USDA Biopreferred label.
Biosecurity lapses helped spread of avian influenza epidemic
The worst avian flu epidemic ever to hit U.S. poultry farms was spread in part by lapses in biosecurity among producers as well as "environmental factors," said the government in an initial report on the disease that will depress table egg and turkey production into 2016. USDA's animal health agency said it plans to meet with industry and state officials in July to discuss security standards.
More belt-tightening by farmers is on the horizon
Corn and soybean growers will need to trim their cash flow again in 2016 if commodity prices repeat this year's comparatively low levels, says economist Gary Schnitkey of U-Illinois.
U.S. judge nullifies Maui County ban on GMO crops
A voter-approved ban on crops containing genetically modified organisms in Maui County, Hawaii, was invalidated by a federal judge, says the Associated Press.
Market is glutted with used farm equipment
With commodity prices down, sales of used farm equipment are drying up as farmers guard their checkbooks, says DTN. The loss of "bonus" depreciation, which allowed a faster write-off of equipment purchases, also deters sales.
“Food stories are everywhere,” says MSNBC’s Tom Colicchio
Chef and food activist Tom Colicchio achieved celebrity on the TV show "Top Chef" and now is food correspondent for MSNBC.
China to sell part of its massive cotton stockpile
China, the world's largest importer and consumer of cotton, "will start to sell down its massive cotton stockpile this year," says Reuters. Beijing holds half, or more, of the world's stockpile of cotton.
G-7 goal: End hunger for 500 million people by 2030
The leaders of the Group of Seven major advanced nations, meeting in Germany, said, "As part of a broad effort involving our partner countries, and international actors, and as a significant contribution to the post-2015 development agenda, we aim to lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030."
Bangladesh organizer Abed wins World Food Prize
The founder of a rural development organization active in 11 countries, Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh, is the winner of the $250,000 World Food Prize.
Rain mires Kansas wheat harvest, soy planting in Missouri
Persistently rainy spring weather is bogging down the winter wheat harvest in Kansas, the No. 1 state for winter wheat, Oklahoma and Missouri, says the weekly Crop Progress report.
Lower crop prices may bring decline in land rental rates
The steep decline in commodity prices from the records set in 2012 are likely to result in more moderate decline in land rental rates, says agricultural economist Brent Gloy, a former Purdue professor. In his blog, Gloy compared the decline in rental rates and corn prices since 1976.
House to vote on CFTC bill under veto threat
The House could vote this evening on the Republican-backed bill to reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, overseer of the derivatives markets. The White House threatened a veto of the bill last week. Besides renewing the operating authority of CFTC, the bill creates new safeguards for customers' funds held by trading houses, relaxes regulations on so-called end users, and makes it more difficult for the five-member commission to write new regulations.
WTO moves closer to decision on U.S. meat-labeling rules
The World Trade Organization has sent an interim report to the three North American nations - Canada, Mexico and the United States - sparring over country-of-origin-labeling rules for cuts of poultry, beef and pork, says a spokesman for the U.S. trade representative's office.
USDA gets bigger role in GMO preemption bill
The sponsors of a House bill to prevent states from requiring special labels on GMO foods are considering a new version that would put the USDA in charge of certifying if foods are made from genetically modified organisms or not. The bill, filed by Mike Pompeo of Kansas and GK Butterfield of North Carolina, would keep labeling voluntary at the federal level.
USDA publishes conservation compliance, sodbuster rule
The Agriculture Department published an interim rule on Monday to require farmers to practice conservation in order to qualify for federally subsidized crop insurance coverage. The so-called conservation compliance requirement was one of the hardest-fought items in the 2014 farm law.
Soybean planting far behind normal in Kansas and Missouri
Growers in Kansas and Missouri, which produce more than 10 percent of the U.S. soybean crop, have planted less than half as much of the soybean land as usual for the first week in June, says the weekly Crop Progress report.
Price of picnic food is up 5 percent in a year
A check of food prices in 25 states says it will cost less than $6 a person to put on a summer picnic. Overall, the price of groceries for the meal is up 5 percent from 2013. Meat and cheese are up the most - more than 13 percent - in the informal survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation and timed to coincide with the Independence Day weekend. Its 84 volunteer shoppers gathered prices for enough food to feed 10 people.
Bad weather may prevent planting of 1 million soybean acres
Growers may be prevented by bad weather from planting 1.1 million acres of their intended record 84.6 million acres of soybeans, says economist John Newton of U-Illinois.
Amid tight supplies, a mammoth soybean crop on the horizon
Three years of ever-tighter U.S. soybean supplies will end this fall in a record harvest if USDA estimates prove true. Its Acreage report, based on a survey of 71,000 operators, estimated soybean plantings at a record 84.8 million acres, or 8 percent above the mark set in 2009, which is also the record year for soybean production at 3.359 billion bushels. Plantings would be 4 percent larger than farmers planned in March.