China takes cautious path on GE crops
A top Chinese agriculture official says the world's most populous nation will continue research into genetically engineered crops, and will assure the safety of the technology, Reuters reports.
USDA announces $30 million for citrus greening research
The Agriculture Department awarded $53 million for research to help growers combat citrus greening, a devastating plant disease, and to search for a way to prevent it.
Dow gets cold shoulder for its 2,4-D seed technology
Two major seed companies say they don't plan to use Dow's genetics that allow soybeans to tolerate the herbicides 2,4-D and glyphosate, says Bloomberg.
California dairies ask to join federal milk order
The three largest dairy cooperatives in California, unhappy with their statewide milk-pricing plan, petitioned the USDA to create a milk marketing order for the state, according to the news site Dairy Herd Management.
Older farmers control one-third of U.S. farmland
The largest bloc of U.S. farmers, those aged 65 and over, owns or leases one-third of the 980 million acres of farmland in the country, writes economist David Widmar, adding, "How the land held by older producers is transferred, and the timing, will have major implications for the industry."
Dry winter compounds chronic food shortages in North Korea
"Markedly lower" rainfall is raising concern about the winter wheat and barley crops in North Korea, says the Washington Post. The winter grains supply only 5 percent of North Korea's food but are a vital bridge, the so-called barley hump, during the spring...
Buffer strips would help Iowa curb nutrient runoff – EWG
If Iowa farmers plant buffer strips alongside waterways, they "could get two-thirds of the way to the state’s goal for reducing phosphorus pollution and one-fifth of the way to the nitrogen pollution target," says a report by the Environmental Working Group.
A three-year process to get a $2 beef checkoff
A cattle industry leader spelled out a three-year timeline that ends with a doubling of the current $1-per-head beef checkoff. Scott George, past president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, provided the timeline during a session at the...
Obama plan gives food safety to HHS, ends USDA meat role
President Obama has proposed creating a new agency at the Health and Humans Services Department that would consolidate the food-safety activities of FDA and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. "The new agency would be charged with pursuing a modern, science-based food safety regulatory regime drawing on best practices of both agencies, with strong enforcement and recall mechanisms, expertise in risk assessment, and enforcement and research efforts across all food types based on...
U.S. cotton output to plunge under weight of low prices
U.S. growers will curtail cotton plantings due to the lowest prospective prices in six years with the harvest to contract by 13 percent from its 2014 total, according to a survey of growers by the National Cotton Council. The survey, completed in mid-January, pointed to a crop of 14 million bales vs 16.08 million bales last year. That would make it the third-smallest in a decade. Plantings would total 9.4 million acres, down 15 percent.
Cattle herds may expand for the rest of this decade
The upturn in U.S. cattle numbers "is likely to continue for multiple years," writes Chris Hurt of Purdue in an analysis of the USDA's semi-annual Cattle inventory report.
Iowa county seeks moratorium on new CAFOs
Dickinson County in northwestern Iowa, by asking for a temporary moratorium on new, large-scale livestock farms, "could become the next battleground" over massive feedlots, says the Des Moines Register.
Crop insurance cut of 17% is proposed in USDA budget
Two crop insurance reforms would cut the cost of the federally subsidized program by about 17 percent under the fiscal 2016 budget proposed for the Agriculture Department. The program is a routine target for cuts, most of which are rejected. This time, the administration proposed a lower premium subsidy for so-called revenue policies based on prices at harvest time, and reforms to prevented-planting coverage. Together, the changes would save $16 billion over 10 years.
Nunnelee dies, was on House panel for USDA funding
Mississippi Rep. Alan Nunnelee, a fiscal and social conservative who was the second-ranking Republican on House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, died on Friday at age 56, only a few weeks into his third term in Congress.
Farming important but small share of Midwest economy
Even with the boom years of 2003-14, agriculture's share of the Midwestern economy is shrinking, to 1 percent or so, said a paper from the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank.
Dual-herbicide seeds to be Monsanto’s biggest GE launch
After a decade of development, Monsanto anticipates its genetically engineered Xtend soybean and cotton varieties will be its "largest biotech trait launch...with six times the number of varieties" that it offered in a previous set of GE strains.
Rural, urban poor children show differences in memory skills
Low-income children do not score as well as higher-income children in tests of "working memory," the ability to manipulate information in the mind.
FDA Commissioner Hamburg says will leave agency in March
Margaret Hamburg, head of the FDA for six years, says she will step down as commissioner at the end of March. She announced the decision in a letter to employees, in which she praised the FDA's accomplishments...
USDA expects uptick in school lunch participation number
A program that provides free school meals to all pupils in high-poverty neighborhoods will be the main driver in boosting participation in the school lunch and school breakfast program, says the Agriculture Department. In its proposed budget for fiscal 2016, USDA forecasts average lunch participation of 30.3 million students daily, up 100,000 from the current year, and school breakfast of 14.6 million students daily, up 600,000.
Premium cap on crop insurance could hurt enrollment-Vilsack
The Senate proposal to place a $50,000 cap on premium subsidies for farmers buying crop insurance "could potentially impact participation" in the program, says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The government pays an average of 62 cents of each $1 of premium, although the subsidy rate is as high as 80 percent on some policies. During a tele-conference, Vilsack said, "We don't want to go back to the days of ad hoc (disaster relief) legislation. That could potentially be much more expensive."