Organic industry takes “big step,” asks for checkoff program
The rapidly growing organic industry petitioned the USDA for a referendum to create a checkoff program to pay for research and promotional work to expand production and sales. The checkoff, to be called the Generic Research and Promotion Order for Organic, or GRO Organic, would be the first such program dedicated to a production method. Two-dozen checkoffs, focusing on products from pork, cotton and popcorn to mangos and watermelons, are in operation and have spawned advertisements such as "Got Milk?" and "Beef - It's what's for dinner."
USDA proposes tighter subsidy rules for 3 percent of farms
A new rule proposed by the USDA would limit joint ventures and general partnerships to a maximum of three people who can collect crop subsidies by declaring they are farm managers. The proposal is open for public comment until May 26. The 2014 farm law empowered the USDA to write stricter rules about who is "actively engaged" in farming, but it exempted family farms, which constitute 97 percent of the 2.1 million farms in the country.
WHO advisers analyze weedkiller 2,4-D for cancer risk
A panel of two dozen scientists begins a week-long meeting today in Lyon, France, to "analyze scientific findings regarding links between cancer in humans and the herbicide known as 2,4-D," says Reuters.
Antibiotic use in livestock to rise by 67 percent by 2030
Livestock farmers around the world will use nearly 106,000 tonnes of antibiotics by 2030, an increase of 67 percent in two decades, a team of scientists estimated.
Drought blossoms in upper Midwest and northern Plains
Most of Minnesota -- 88 percent -- is in moderate drought, a dramatic expansion from 6 percent a week ago, says the Drought Monitor. Record-high temperatures accelerated dryness.
Bird-flu epidemic spreads east to Indiana, 14th state
Highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed in a backyard flock of mixed poultry in northeastern Indiana, the farthest east the disease was been identified since the epidemic began last Dec. 14, said the USDA. The outbreak occurred in Whitley County, about 25 miles west of Fort Wayne. State official quarantined the property and said the flock would be destroyed as a precaution against spread of the disease.
Egg prices plateau, but how long to rebuild hen flocks?
Grade A Large eggs are selling for an average $1.46 a dozen at grocery stores, little changed from the $1.49 a dozen a week ago but below the $1.54 seen a year ago, says the USDA's weekly egg report.
Bill makes livestock price reporting an essential U.S. service
The House Agriculture Committee voted to elevate the USDA's reports on livestock sales prices to an essential federal service that would stay in operation even if there is another government shut-down. The designation was written into a bill to extend the life of the mandatory livestock price-reporting law for cattle, hogs and sheep to Sept. 30, 2020.
Abe: “Japan’s agriculture has to change now”
Japan and the United States are close to an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a speech to Congress that pointed to his domestic agricultural reforms. Automobiles and agriculture have been two major and long-lasting issues in TPP negotiations. The free-trade pact would include 12 countries and 40 percent of the global economy.
TPP talks slow as U.S. wrangles over fast-track voting
Canada and Japan will not wrap up negotiations for the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership unless the United States can guarantee that Congress will not try to re-write the deal, says Reuters.
Catfish inspection may be tougher than U.S. producers expect
As the USDA moves closer to catfish inspection, domestic producers "may have received more than they bargained for," reports the New York Times, which quotes a handful of experts.
California leaders propose $1 billion in drought relief
Gov. Jerry Brown and California legislative leaders proposed a $1 billion drought-relief package as the state enters its fourth year of drought. The pair of bills includes $128 million to alleviate the impact of drought...
Agriculture is big loser when natural disaster strikes
Nearly one-fourth of the damage from natural disasters in the developing world is inflicted on agriculture, says a study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
In key report, USDA projects big corn, soy crops
The government will make its first estimate of the winter wheat crop and project the corn and soybean harvests in a pair of reports on Tuesday that traditionally rank among the most important of the year. They mark the moment when the USDA turns its attention to the new crops and when the key question for 2014's crops becomes the size of the stockpile when the marketing year ends.
Ruling on Vermont GMO label law may put heat on Congress
U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss ruled that Vermont can proceed with its first-in-the-nation law requiring special labels on food made with genetically modified organisms. The law takes effect on July 1, 2016. Foodmakers sued to block the law shortly after it was passed last year, and requested an injunction against implementation of the law while the suit was being decided.
USDA launches three-year employment and training pilots
Pilot projects in 10 states across the nation will spend three years trying different ways to help food-stamp recipients acquire training and find jobs, or better-paying jobs, so they no longer need help buying groceries, said the USDA.
U-Kentucky is tabbed by USDA for rural child-poverty center
The University of Kentucky will establish a Rural Child Poverty Nutrition Center to help local groups find ways to coordinate nutrition programs and reduce food insecurity among children in rural areas.
Roberts’ school food goals: local flexibility, spending lid
Congress should overhaul the school meals programs to allow some local flexibility in serving healthy food, said Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts, who plans to hold down the pricetag - no new spending without an offset. "Our budgetary constraints are real," Roberts said during the committee's first hearing on reauthorization of child-nutrition programs costing $22 billion a year. The chairman said he intended to have a new law in place before the Sept. 30 expiration of the current programs, a fairly tight schedule to move legislation through both chambers of Congress and to the White House, with time out for the summer recess.
Vilsack asks China to scale back ban on U.S. poultry
During a 45-minute telephone call, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asked his Chinese counterpart to scale back the ban on imports of U.S. poultry imposed because of avian influenza in the western half of the country. Agriculture Minister Han Changfu demurred, saying Chinese law required a full-country ban, Vilsack told the North American Agricultural Journalists. "They will have a team come to the United States in the summer" to see firsthand U.S. biosecurity controls designed to spot outbreaks and prevent them from spreading.
Largest U.S. military contractor dabbles in fish farming
Lockheed Martin, "the world's largest defense contractor," has launched a series of series of initiatives tied to climate change as a potential threat to national security," reports the Washington Post.