Senator would block salt, whole-grain rules for school lunch
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven says he will try to block the stricter salt and whole-grain requirements proposed for the school-lunch program. The senator's proposal is backed by the School Nutrition Association, whose members run the school-meals programs.
“Classic boom-and-bust price pattern” looms for hog farmers
After hitting record highs last year, hog prices hit a five-year low in recent weeks, writes Purdue economist Chris Hurt at farmdoc daily. An expansion in hog numbers has "helped create what may be the greatest collapse of hog prices ever.
States, tribes will test ways to reduce rural child hunger
Five pilot projects will test ways to reduce child hunger in rural America, with approaches that range from home delivery of food to providing three school meals a day, says the Agriculture Department. The USDA awarded $27 million in grants for the demonstration projects in Virginia, Kentucky and Nevada, and the Chickasaw and Navajo nations, from money provided in the 2010 child-nutrition law.
Bill would curtail medically important antibiotics in livestock
A newly filed Senate bill would require the FDA to withdraw its approval of the use of medically important antibiotics in food animals unless drugmakers show there is no risk to human health.
Climate change boosts risk of future drought in California
Stanford scientists say the risk of drought in California is being increased by climate change caused by human activity, reports the Contra Costa Times.
U.S. ag-trade delegation begins meetings in Cuba
"The most important U.S. agricultural delegation to visit Cuba in more than a decade" hopes to find business partners and is urging an end to the decades-old trade embargo, says Reuters.
Alberta farm had two of Canada’s mad cow cases
Canada's latest case of mad cow disease, reported on Feb. 13, was born on the same farm in Alberta as an animal afflicted with the brain-wasting disease in 2010, says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Ag Summit organizer accustomed to controversy
Iowa entrepreneur Bruce Rastetter, who played a major role in the development of large-scale hog farming and the ethanol boom in Iowa, tells the Des Moines Register that he doesn't view himself as a political kingmaker.
USDA allows one more month for yield and acre updates
Farmers have an additional month, until March 31, to tell the USDA if they want to update their yield and acreage "bases" for crop subsidies. Operators also face a March 31 deadline to select a crop subsidy program - either the shallow-loss Agriculture Risk Coverage or the traditionally structured Price Loss Coverage - for the life of the 2014 farm law. The department announced "a one-time extension" on Friday, the previous yield-and-base deadline; the decision period opened on Sept. 29, 2014.
From football field to community garden
After Paul Quinn College ended its football program, the historically black college in Dallas converted its football field into a massive organic garden. College president Michael Sorrell "decided that the college would grow its own food," writes Amy McCarthy at Civil Eats.
Soy farmers back voluntary non-GMO label
The American Soybean Association "wants to change the dialogue on GMO labeling by supporting a voluntary certified non-GMO label through USDA," says DTN.
Assessing when quality standards turn into protectionism
A team at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development surveyed the literature on quality standards in an attempt to better characterize when the measures become a form of protectionism.
Interior-No irrigation water for Central Valley for second year
The Interior Department says there will be no irrigation water for most farmers in California's Central Valley for the second year in a row, calling it "an unprecedented situation."
Goat, the other red meat
Sustained high prices for beef are leading to creative changes to restaurant menus - such as the addition of goat meat, "an alternative, and normally budget-friendly, option to beef," reports Reuters.
On the farm, “a death trap” of ordinance and Agent Orange
Four decades after the war in Vietnam ended, farmers in Quang Tri province, one of the most heavily bombed places in the history of warfare, still struggle with the threat of unexploded ordinance and with the health effects of Agent Orange, a powerful herbicide and defoliant, says The Nation.
World rice inventory to be smallest in five years
A surge in rice consumption will pull down stockpiles to a five-year low, a reduction of 8 percent that will be felt the most in major exporters Thailand and India, said the International Grains Council in its monthly Grain Market Report.
Food waste is global issue, not just a rich-nation problem
A report from the Waste and Resources Action Program says food waste is becoming a global problem with the expansion of middle-class consumers, says the New York Times.
Food stamp review “is the big deal,” says Conaway
Food stamps, the largest U.S. antihunger program, "lacks a clear mission," said chairwoman Jackie Walorski of the House Agriculture subcommittee on nutrition. In opening a hearing on characteristics of food-stamp recipients, the Indiana Republican said the program, which helps poor people buy food, "is not helping lift people out of poverty." She also complained of "many levels of bureaucracy" and overlapping federal, state and local programs.
First Lady brings in star power to boost produce consumption
First Lady Michelle Obama "is enlisting some high-wattage star power — including actresses Jessica Alba and Kristen Bell, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz — in a new national campaign to convince moms and teens to eat fruits and veggies," reports Politico.
Grain research center names new director general
The rector of Wageningen University in the Netherlands will become director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on June 1. Martin Kropff will succeed Thomas Lumpkin, who has been CIMMYT chief since 2008.