Nutrition programs should be in farm bill, Duvall says
School nutrition association calls for free school food for all students
School meals should be free for all kids, regardless of their families' incomes, said the School Nutrition Association in a position paper released on Wednesday. Students have racked up $19.2 million in debt for meals they couldn't pay for since the waivers that made school meals universally free during the pandemic expired last spring, said the group.
Right-to-repair pact has worrisome tradeoff, says consumer group
Federal and state lawmakers "should move full steam ahead with their right-to-repair bills" this year, said consumer group PIRG, which took a skeptical view of a memorandum of understanding between Deere and Co. and the largest U.S. farm group on equipment repair. In the agreement, the American Farm Bureau Federation says it will urge state affiliates to stay on the sidelines of the right-to-repair debate.
Poll: Ethanol is more popular than crude oil
More than half of Americans have a favorable view of ethanol as a fuel source, compared to 45 percent for crude oil, according to a poll commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association. The trade group said the results "demonstrate that Americans strongly support expanded use of lower-cost, lower-carbon renewable fuels like ethanol."
Farm Bureau chief urges U.S. to resolve GMO corn dispute with Mexico
On the day before President Biden was to meet Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the head of the largest U.S. farm group called for prompt resolution of a threat by Mexico to block imports of U.S. corn in one year's time.
World food prices down for ninth month in a row
The Russian invasion of Ukraine drove food prices to record levels during 2022 and the Food Price Index remains elevated after a nine-month decline, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Potential breakthrough on right-to-repair dispute
The Farm Bureau Federation and John Deere signed a memorandum of understanding on farmers' right to repair their equipment on Sunday — potentially a breakthrough after years of complaints that manufacturers prevented access to the increasingly computerized controls of tractors, combines and other equipment.
Nutrition, conservation advocate Stabenow to retire in two years
Senate Agriculture chair Debbie Stabenow, who rejected Republican attempts to slash SNAP in the 2014 and 2018 farm bills, said on Thursday that she would retire from the Senate in two years — enough time to enact another farm bill. Stabenow, the first woman elected to the Senate from Michigan, is serving her second stint as Agriculture chair and has said for months that “we’re not going backwards” on SNAP in the new farm bill.
McCarthy foes include two aggies
Reps. Mary Miller of Illinois and Andy Harris of Maryland were part of the Republican bloc voting repeatedly against elevating Kevin McCarthy to House Speaker. Harris was the senior Republican on the House Appropriations subcommittee in charge of USDA and FDA spending, and Miller served on the House Agriculture Committee in the past session of Congress.
Chesapeake Bay cleanup hinges on agriculture, says report
A watchdog group gave the bay and its watershed a health grade of D+ for water pollution, habitat, and fisheries on Thursday, the same as its last assessment in 2020. “Overall, the unchanged score is largely the result of failures to make needed changes on farmland to reduce pollution,” said the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Plan for prolonged period of higher interest rates, analysts tell farmers
The highest interest rates in years will complicate farm finances, and operators should expect higher rates to persist for several years as part of efforts to quash inflation, said a team of agricultural economists on Wednesday. Farmers will pay more when they borrow money, face higher break-even levels on investments, and feel downward pressure on the value of farmland, their largest asset.
Farmland values will stay strong in 2023, says ag real estate firm
High commodity prices will combine with strong demand to hold farmland values at near-record levels in 2023, said Farmers National Co., a farm real estate and management company, on Wednesday.
After year-end surge, farmers’ financial confidence wavers
Strong harvest-time commodity prices pushed farmer confidence to its highest level in 16 months, said a Purdue University poll of large operators released on Tuesday. The abrupt 24-point climb in the Ag Economy Barometer "was motivated by producers' stronger perception of current financial conditions on their farms," said agricultural economists James Mintert and Michael Langemeier.
USDA corn estimates are accurate overall, says review
The government often is the best source of information about U.S. corn plantings, yields per acre, production and likely season-average prices, said three researchers who analyzed 80 studies on the accuracy and market impact of USDA reports involving corn. "USDA helps uncover these market conditions for all market participants, thereby providing a level playing field for all, even though the process is sometimes bumpy," they concluded.
Biden administration defines upstream reach of clean water laws
Stepping ahead of a pending Supreme Court ruling, the Biden administration spelled out through a new regulation the upstream reach of water pollution laws, saying it would assure safe drinking water for Americans "while supporting agriculture, local economies and downstream communities." Farm and home-builder groups, who helped stall an Obama-era definition of the "waters of the United States" (WOTUS), said the Biden WOTUS rule also was a regulatory nightmare built on murky interpretations of the law.
Rural businesses fret about economy’s direction
Three out of four small-business owners in rural America say revenue is back to pre-pandemic levels or stronger than it was before the coronavirus hit, according to a newly released survey. Yet slightly more than half of rural entrepreneurs said they felt somewhat or extremely negative about the economy, said the "Megaphone of Main Street" report.
The ‘four corners’ of ag policy are back for the farm bill
House Democrats elected Georgia Rep. David Scott as their leader on the Agriculture Committee on Thursday for the congressional session that begins on Jan. 3. The vote means the “four corners” of the 2023 farm bill will be the same four lawmakers who led the House and Senate ag committees for the past two years.
Senate confirms U.S. ag negotiator and USDA food safety chief
In some of its final actions of the year, the Senate approved by voice vote on Thursday the nominations of Doug McKalip as chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S. trade representative’s office and Jose Esteban as Agriculture undersecretary for food safety.
USDA raises forecast of grocery inflation in 2023
Grocery prices will rise 3.5 percent in the new year, nearly double the long-term average but a dramatic slowdown from this year’s 11.5 percent, said the Agriculture Department Thursday in its Food Price Outlook.
U.S. shrugs at Mexico claim of accord on GMO corn
Biden administration officials refused to say more than that they were studying potential resolutions to a blossoming dispute over GMO corn exports on Wednesday, although Mexico’s agriculture minister said an informal agreement already existed. Minister Victor Villalobos claimed U.S. officials were satisfied with a proposal to delay a ban on the import of GMO corn until 2025, according to a published report.