Food insecurity rises 10 percent in low- and middle-income countries
Nearly one-third of the people in 77 low- and middle-income countries are food insecure, meaning they lack consistent access to enough food for a healthy and active lifestyle, said an annual USDA report. The 9.8-percent increase to 1.3 billion people this year included 41.7 million affected by higher food, fuel and fertilizer costs attributed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Reports: As digital grocery market expands, questions of access, fairness, and affordability loom
The rapid rise of food delivery and online grocery shopping, particularly among SNAP recipients, is both transforming the food system and raising new questions about how to measure and improve access to food and food security, according to two new reports from the Brookings Institution.
Q&A: A rural Montana school district scrambles keep kids fed during pandemic
Like school nutrition staff across the country, Marsha Wartick, food service director for the Ronan School District in tiny Ronan, Montana, spent the last six months feeding hungry kids and their families under a USDA emergency meals program. Now, as kids head back to school, Wartick is scrambling to react to mixed signals from the administration and hoping the emergency program is allowed to continue through the entire school year. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
USDA food boxes for charity called ‘inefficient’
The "farmers to families food box," a $3 billion part of the Trump administration's coronavirus relief package, may not be an efficient use of taxpayer dollars although it is aimed at two vexing issues during the pandemic – crops with no buyers and food banks overwhelmed by demand, said a panel of analysts on Monday.
Midwestern Senators ask, ‘Where’s our ethanol deal?’
EPA should move faster on E15, says Grassley
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to begin work in February to allow year-round sale of E15 and complete the regulation in May, just ahead of the usual June 1 cutoff of summer sales. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, from the top corn and ethanol state, said on Tuesday that the agency "ought to speed it up" to be sure the fuel will be available for the summer driving season.
Wheeler ‘working very hard’ on year-round E15, says Grassley
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is “working very hard to find a solution” for the year-round sale of E15, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley on a conference call with reporters Wednesday. Grassley also said that an earlier proposal that would allow refiners to earn the credits called RINs for exports is “no longer on the table” at the EPA.
Trump okays E15, will mull whether to count ethanol exports as part of RFS
President Trump resolved two persistent questions about biofuels on Tuesday, allowing the year-round sale of higher blends of ethanol in gasoline, which will benefit corn farmers, and saying he will consider whether ethanol exports should be counted as part of the government's target for biofuels use, a step that would relieve pressure on oil refiners.
Lawsuits allege conspiracy by chicken processors to raise broiler prices
The biggest poultry processors in the United States face widespread allegations that they colluded to raise prices over the course of 10 years in the $30-billion broiler chicken market. In just three weeks, two grocery retailers and the country’s two biggest food distribution companies filed lawsuits against Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, Pilgrim’s Pride, Koch Farms, Sanderson Farms, and others. (No paywall)
Few black-owned grocery stores in the U.S.
As the owner of a full-service supermarket in New Orleans, Dwayne Boudreaux "is a rare success in Black and brown communities nationwide, but not for lack of effort," says Civil Eats. "In fact, Boudreaux is one of the nation’s few remaining Black people operating full-service supermarkets."
Luxury goods makers take their well-heeled boots to farms and ranches
At a time when sustainability carries cachet with consumers, companies known for top-quality products are putting their money into the farms and ranches that provide their raw materials, says Business of Fashion.
Top food companies say there are billions to be made by cutting food waste
The average business saves at least $14 for every dollar spent on reducing food waste, according to a new study by Champions 12.3, a coalition of governments, retailers, research organizations and advocates determined to reach the UN’s global goal of cutting food waste at the producer and consumer levels in half by 2030. Some of the group's heavy hitters include Kellogg Company, Sodexo, WRI, and Tesco, a popular UK chain of supermarkets.
Study: Lake Erie fish safe to eat, but still suffering
A new study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment shows that while Lake Erie fish fillets are safe to eat, the fish themselves may not be doing so well.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
As weather warms, algae blooms on waterways nationwide
With views of the Rocky Mountains, the occasional squadron of American white pelicans passing through, and a boardwalk for strolling, northern Colorado’s Windsor Lake is a popular destination for paddle boarding, kayaking, and swimming. But the lake is off-limits this week after city officials sampled the water and found concerning levels of blue-green algae, which can contain toxins harmful to humans, pets, and wildlife. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Report: farms in Chesapeake Bay watershed must ‘urgently accelerate’ conservation efforts
In a new report, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation calls on farms in the bay’s watershed to “urgently accelerate and scale up” their conservation efforts, not only to reduce water-borne pollution — a federal mandate — but to slash their greenhouse gas emissions and stoke local economies.
In Maine, residents rise up against industrial-scale aquaculture
A proposal by a Norwegian-owned company to build two massive salmon farms in the middle of a pristine bay next to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine, has the community in revolt over fears that they will foul the water and ruin the local fishing and shellfish industries.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Algae blooms have cost at least $1.1 billion over past decade, says EWG
Potentially toxic algae blooms, which are caused by farm runoff and urban wastewater running into streams and lakes, have cost an estimated $1.1 billion over the past decade in the United States, and that "is almost certainly a significant undercount," said a report Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group.
As farmland values soar, so do fears of a price bubble
Flush with cash, farmers and investors have driven up farmland values this year at breathtaking rates — a 12 percent gain nationwide and more than 20 percent in three Farm Belt states. “Given recent experiences with fluctuations in the broader economy and prior farmland price dynamics, many market participants express concern that the rapid increase in farmland prices is a signal of a speculative bubble,” said three economists.
Iowa farmland value zoomed by 29 percent this year
Farmland in Iowa is worth an average $9,751 an acre – the highest value since Iowa State University began the annual survey in 1941. Values skyrocketed by 29 percent this year, fueled by high commodity prices, better than expected crop yields and large pandemic relief payments, said associate professor Wendong Zhang.
Farmland prices rise 5 percent in Britain over the summer
Property consultants Strutt and Parker said the price of cropland in England rose by 5 percent in the three months ending on Sept. 30, reversing a two-year decline, reported Agrimoney.
U.S. farm income noses upward after three years of declines
Commodity prices are still in a trough but U.S. farm income is on the rise for the first time since 2013 because producers are sending more crops and livestock to market than initially expected, said the USDA. It forecast net cash farm income, a measure of liquidity, of $100.4 billion this year, far stronger than the February forecast of $93.5 billion, but only three-fourths of the record set in 2013.
Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ is larger than average
As predicted, the low-oxygen “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is larger than average this year, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday. At 6,705 square miles — or roughly the size of New Jersey — this year’s dead zone is more than three times the size of the target set for 2035.
Larger-than-average ‘dead zone’ is forecast for Gulf of Mexico
Based on streamflow and nutrient runoff from the Midwest and Plains, federal scientists forecast a "dead zone" of 5,827 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, 50 percent larger than last year and three times bigger than the 2035 target for reducing nutrient pollution. This year's dead zone would be the equivalent of 3.7 million acres, or 14 percent of the farmland in Illinois.
EPA to update water pollution rules for meat plants
Meat and poultry processing plants would reduce their emissions of water pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, by 100 million pounds annually under proposed wastewater rules, said the Environmental Protection Agency. It would be the first update of effluent limitation guidelines in a generation.
DOE official: Carbon capture is key element in U.S. net-zero goal
Now an infant industry, carbon capture will play a significant role in achieving President Biden’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, said administration officials on Thursday. Senators from coal and gas states said the administration, after including incentives in the 2022 climate law, should unleash carbon capture projects.
Farmland loss in Midwest: 1.6 million acres in 20 years
The Midwest lost 1.06 percent of its farmland in the two decades ending in 2021; development accounted for half of the loss, said three Ohio State University analysts on Monday. "The role of large urban areas is paramount, as 81 percent of land lost to development in the eight states occurred within metropolitan statistical areas," which are regions with a core city of at least 50,000 people and strong ties to its surrounding communities.
In a first, farmworker infected with bird flu has respiratory symptoms
A farmworker in Michigan is the first person to experience respiratory symptoms after contracting bird flu from dairy cows infected with the H5N1 virus, said Michigan officials on Thursday. It was the third U.S. case of cow-to-human transmission and the second in Michigan. The Centers for Disease Control said the risk to the general public remained low.
Dairy worker in Michigan has bird flu in second case of cow-to-human infection
A worker on a Michigan dairy farm contracted a mild case of H5 bird flu from infected cattle — the second cow-to-human infection since bird flu was first identified in dairy cattle in late March — said the Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday. The risk to the public remains low, said Nirav Shah, the CDC’s principal deputy director.
USDA: Test for bird flu before interstate transport of cattle
Michigan officials said the H5N1 bird flu virus has infected three additional dairy herds in the state, just as the USDA recommended farmers test their herds for the virus before moving cattle between states. The tests "should both give us more ... information and should mitigate further state-to-state spread between herds," said the USDA's animal health agency.
Bird flu is found in seventh state
On Thursday, the Agriculture Department confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a non-commercial backyard flock in southwestern Michigan, the seventh state with the viral disease in a domestic flock in a little over two weeks.
More states are incentivizing schools to buy local food
A growing number of states are reimbursing schools for buying locally grown and produced foods in an effort to improve children's diets while supporting local farmers. Before the pandemic, eight states and the District of Columbia had programs that subsidize local food purchases at schools — seven more states have added these programs since 2020.
Local and diverse can displace flavorless and generic in school food
The cafeteria menus in many public schools "suggest a universal idea of what constitutes American food," with tacos as an ethnic crossover, says Civil Eats. "Now, change is under way. Cafeterias have begun to incorporate ingredients like wild rice and buffalo and serve items ranging from poi to fajitas."
Locally-grown food available daily to 30 percent of schoolchildren
If they serve locally-sourced food at all, school districts are likely to serve it every day, say five economists who produced the first USDA study of the prevalence of local food in school meals. They said 19 percent of school districts serve at least one locally-sourced item daily, and because the districts tend to have large enrollments, 30 percent of all students have the option of local food.
Claim: Serving locally grown food boosts school-food popularity
Schools that serve locally grown food and that offer hands-on activities such as school gardens or cooking classes are likely to report higher participation in the school lunch program and less wasted food, says the USDA.
Survey of farmer sentiment sets record for second month
A post-election surge in producer optimism pushed the Ag Economy Barometer to a record high for the second consecutive month, says Purdue University, which conducts a survey of farmers and produces the monthly report.
Yellow perch recovers from overfishing at surprising rate
Yellow perch recovered from overfishing in Lake Michigan much more rapidly - by hundreds of years - than scientists thought possible, says Purdue U.
In farm state, urbanites wary of livestock farms
City dwellers are more likely than rural residents to regard livestock operations as environmentally harmful and to have concerns about impacts on water quality, say Purdue researchers who surveyed 797 Indiana adults during July 2014.
Economist predicts break-even farm revenue for years to come
After the fall-off from record-high corn, soybean and wheat prices in 2012, Purdue economist Mike Boehlje says growers can expect to "bounce along close to break-even for five to 10 years," reports DTN.
Two thirds of large crop farms use precision agriculture technology, says report
Some 68 percent of large crop farms use precision agriculture technology that generates information that aids decision-making by operators, such as yield monitors, yield maps, and soil maps, said the USDA on Tuesday. The annual "Farms and Ranches at a Glance" report showed higher-volume farms are heavy users of the technology, notwithstanding earlier reports showing a low usage rate by farmers nationwide.
Little mixing of crops and solar panels in agrivoltaics, so far
The infant industry of agrivoltaics most often combines a large solar farm with pollinator-friendly vegetation rather than crop production, said USDA analysts. In the near term, the land might also be used for sheep pasturage or for high-value crops such as blueberries, but most farm equipment is too big to work around the panels.
Brazil a stronger U.S. competitor in soybean sales
In the past decade, Brazil has improved its network of roads, railways, and ports, “significantly altering” its competitiveness with the United States in the world soybean market, said an Agriculture Department report on Thursday. Continued improvements would bolster Brazil’s standing as the world’s largest soybean producer and exporter.
GM crops grown on 55 percent of U.S. cropland, says USDA
Farmer adoption of genetically modified crop varieties is spreading beyond the well-known dominance of the major field crops of corn, soybeans, and cotton, said a USDA report. When lesser-known GM crops such as canola, potatoes, and apples are counted, about 55 percent of U.S. cropland is planted to GM varieties, said the Economic Research Service report.
Explosion in U.S. soybean plantings and production
In the past 20 years, U.S. soybean production has soared by 56 percent, driven by higher yields per acre and larger plantings of the oilseed, said the USDA on Monday. Soybeans are the most valuable farm export, although corn remains the most widely planted field crop.