Ten RECs get $4.4 billion in New ERA clean energy funding
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $4.37 billion in grants and loans to 10 rural electric cooperatives on Thursday for clean energy projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.1 million tons a year. With the awards, the USDA has allocated nearly $9 billion of the $9.7 billion available in the Empowering Rural America program.
Power cooperative gets $2.5 billion in USDA funding for clean energy
A power cooperative based in the Denver suburbs that supplies electricity to more than a million consumers in the West will receive $2.5 billion in USDA grants and loans for a mammoth solar, wind, and battery energy project, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will announce on Friday.
White House announces $7.3 billion for clean energy in rural America
President Biden announced $7.3 billion in funding for clean energy projects at 16 rural electric cooperatives on Thursday, part of the largest federal investment in rural electrification since the New Deal. The projects, at co-ops from Florida to Alaska, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by harnessing wind, solar, and hydro power and by buying power from a now-idle nuclear plant in Michigan.
Solar farms, clean energy projects get $375 million in USDA aid
The Agriculture Department will provide more than a quarter-billion dollars of low-interest loans for five clean energy projects from Kentucky to Alaska, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. With the announcement, the USDA has awarded half of the $1 billion available through its Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program.
Koch Foods indicted as part of poultry price-fixing conspiracy
A federal grand jury in Denver indicted Koch Foods, the fifth-largest U.S. poultry processor, for taking part in a nationwide conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for poultry products, announced the Justice Department on Thursday.
Tyson to pay $221.5 million to settle price fixing claims
The largest U.S. poultry producer, Tyson Foods, said on Wednesday it would pay $221.5 million to settle antitrust litigation that accuses it of price fixing in the sale of broiler chicken meat.
Big poultry processor to pay $75 million to resolve antitrust lawsuit
Pilgrim’s to pay $110.5 million fine in U.S. price-fixing investigation
The second-largest poultry processor in the country, Pilgrim's Pride Corp., said on Wednesday that it will pay a $110.5 million fine as part of a plea agreement with the Justice Department, which is investigating price fixing in broiler chicken products. Pilgrim's announced the plea deal one week after a second former chief executive was indicted on charges of being part of a multiyear conspiracy among industry executives to rig bids and fix prices. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
Food stamp rolls surge by 6 million people during pandemic
Some 43 million people — or more than one in eight Americans — received food stamps in May, an increase of 6.2 million in three months since the coronavirus pandemic swept the country and economic recession threw millions of people out of work. SNAP enrollment is the highest since October 2017. (No paywall)
Speaker Ryan calls for ‘flexibility’ in school-food programs
In the first plank of an election-year policy agenda, Speaker Paul Ryan said congressional Republicans "are producing reforms in federal policies that will give states, schools and local providers the flexibility they need to provide children access to healthy meals."
Block grant could cut food stamp rolls by 10 mln people
The food-stamp cuts proposed by the House Budget Committee, if implemented, could force states to cut enrollment by 10 mln people or to reduce benefits by $40 a month, says the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Rural America, mostly white, is becoming more diverse
Three-quarters of rural Americans are white, a larger proportion than the roughly six in 10 for the nation overall, but the rural population is becoming more diverse, said a pair of analyses of Census data. The rural America of the future will be increasingly diverse and not as politically conservative as many assume, said the Brookings Institution. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
Minorities lead rural growth, keeping communities alive
Between 1980-2015, 99 percent of rural counties saw a rise in their minority population, bringing new economic vitality and slowing population decline in those areas, according to a report by Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research group focused on Western land use. The U.S. is predicted to have a majority minority-population by 2044.
If it’s a bad night for GOP, Dems may have a chance in Central Valley
Two Republican-held House seats in the heavily agricultural Central Valley of California could be ripe for picking by Democrats if voters are riled by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's criticism of Hispanics and immigrants, says the Los Angeles Times. Rep. David Valadao, a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees USDA and FDA funding, represents a district that is 71 percent Latino, and Agriculture Committee member Jeff Denham has a district that is 26 percent Latino.
USDA proposes base pay rule for poultry-grower contracts
Poultry processors would be barred from making deductions from the base prices that they list in contracts with growers under a rule proposed by the Agriculture Department on Monday. The USDA said the proposal aims to curb abuses of the so-called tournament system that determines a farmer's revenue and processors' demands for growers to make additional investments in their facilities.
Why the surge of co-ops and other ag collectives during the pandemic could continue
The pandemic has given the idea of agricultural collectives a boost—in some instances, a gigantic boost. In 2020, when the coronavirus disrupted industrial food systems, causing widespread backlogs and shortages, local co-ops, farm collectives, food hubs, and other distribution projects found fresh relevance. Some food hubs reported revenue increases as high as 500 percent, according to a May 2021 report from the Wallace Center, a nonprofit that supports community food and farming solutions.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Senators prod USDA for pandemic payments to contract growers
Ag and food research is short-changed, says report
The USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, a program for competitive grants, is running on half of the money that was anticipated when Congress created AFRI 10 years ago, says a report by a group of ag researchers. "Federal investment in food sciences has remained flat as the number of threats to our food system continues to climb," said Thomas Grumbly of the Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR). The groups says ag research should be a top priority in the 2018 farm bill.
Crop insurance a likely target for Obama budget cuts
The Obama administration seems sure to propose cuts in the federally subsidized crop insurance program in its final budget package, which will be released on Tuesday.
Obama to ask for doubling of funds for USDA ag research program
After years of gradual increases in funding, the administration will seek $700 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, said White House science advisor John Holdren.
Florida farm-labor recruiters sentenced for racketeering, human trafficking scheme
Two managers of a Florida farm-labor contracting company are going to federal prison for their role in a multi-state racketeering and human trafficking scheme. Between 2015 and 2017, federal prosecutors say, the company forced more than a dozen workers on H-2A visas to harvest crops against their will, while paying them less than they were owed. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Feinstein to push farmworker bill in Senate
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she will work with fellow senators to give legal status to undocumented farmworkers and streamline the H-2A visa system for agricultural guestworkers. "It's time to give farmers the help they need and protect the essential workers who work hard to put food on our tables," said Feinstein, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
USDA, Labor Department plan would allow guestworkers to shift jobs
To aid farmers worried about an imminent labor shortage, two federal departments said on Thursday that they will help farms find foreign and domestic workers who may be eligible to transfer from one agricultural employer to another. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
For Mexico’s migrant farmworkers, virus risk may be worth it for what they’ll earn in U.S.
The global pandemic feels distant to 31-year-old Manuel Alejandro Lopez Delgado in his town of some 4,000 people in the state of Sinaloa, along the Gulf of California. There’s been just one confirmed case of coronavirus in the state, and that was four hours away, in the city of Culiacan. But in the next two weeks, Lopez, along with three other workers from his town, will be traveling to the U.S. to work in Washington State. The three-day bus journey will take them to the epicenter of the Covid-19 crisis in America.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Idaho may expand use of prison labor in agriculture
The Idaho state Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill that would allow prison inmates to work in all parts of agriculture, an expansion of the 2014 law that authorized prison labor in businesses that produce perishable foods.
Climate change jeopardizes your morning tea
Tea plants around the world are getting too much rain, says Eater. The excessive precipitation is lowering the number of secondary metabolites they produce—the chemicals responsible for caffeine, antioxidants and flavor .
Watermelon, the most unnatural fruit in the world
The watermelon, a part of summer cookouts and picnics, once was a bitter little fruit about two inches in diameter, writes Rebecca Rupp in a National Geographic blog post.
Antioxidant in chocolate may improve memory skills
A small-scale study showed "an antioxidant in chocolate appears to improve some memory skills that people lose with age," says the New York Times.
AquaBounty, developer of GMO salmon, to cease fish farming operations
AquaBounty Technologies, which in 2015 became the first company to gain FDA approval of a GMO animal for human consumption, a salmon, said that after months of retrenchment, it would shut down its fish farming operations. Environmental groups had challenged the FDA decision in court for years and won promises from major grocers and food service companies not to stock the AquAdvantage salmon.
EPA, FDA, and USDA will overhaul biotech regulations
The three federal agencies that share jurisdiction over genetically engineered plants and animals said on Wednesday that they would update and streamline biotechnology regulations in five areas, including modified food animals. The United States is a worldwide leader in agricultural biotechnology.
USDA proposal on cultivated meat labels is expected this year
The USDA's meat safety agency aims to publish its proposed rule on cultivated meat labels this year, roughly three years after it asked consumers if names such as "steak" should be allowed, said a spokesperson on Wednesday.
Bill would label livestock rivals as ‘imitation’ or ‘lab-grown’ meat
With U.S. approval of cultivated chicken grown in fermentation vats, farm-state lawmakers filed companion bills in the House and Senate on Tuesday to require alternative proteins, such as plant-based foods, to carry the words "imitation" or "lab-grown" on their labels. Sponsors said they wanted to prevent confusion in the supermarket between "real farm-raised meat" and its rivals.
USDA grant money to boost sales of higher-blend biofuels
The Biden administration awarded $90.3 million in grants to projects in 26 states, from California to Connecticut, to install blender pumps, storage tanks, and other equipment for the sale of fuels, such as E15, with higher-than-usual blends of biofuels, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. With the grants, the USDA has used $221 million of the $500 available through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program.
Announce summer waiver for E15 soon, asks ethanol group
To prevent the disruption of fuel supplies, the Biden administration ought to announce an emergency waiver soon for the sale of E15 throughout the summer, like it did last year, said an ethanol trade group on Thursday. “We ultimately need a federal fix to air pollution laws to ensure year-round availability of the fuel,” said Emily Skor, chief executive of Growth Energy, during a teleconference.
Biden restores summer sales of E15, a farm-state goal
The EPA will issue an emergency waiver allowing sales of E15 — gasoline that is 15 percent corn ethanol — this summer, announced President Biden on Tuesday, ahead of a trip to Iowa, the No. 1 corn- and ethanol-producing state. The step will save motorists up to 10 cents a gallon on surging gasoline prices and aid the rural economy, said the White House.
USDA moves its Outlook Forum online
Due to the pandemic and limits on public gatherings, the annual Agricultural Outlook Forum will be held online in 2021, said the USDA on Wednesday. The data-filled event includes the first USDA estimate of the year of farm income and early projections of crop and livestock production.