Big drop in farm income forecast as pandemic aid ends
After reaching its highest level since 2013, U.S. net farm income would tumble by one-fifth next year, despite continued high crop and livestock revenue, said the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute on Tuesday. "Under current policies, farm income could drop again in 2022, as government payments decline and production expenses continue to rise," the think tank said.
Huge federal payments will make up 36 percent of farm income this year
Some farmers received USDA payments every year for 32 years
Nearly 28,000 farmers received crop subsidy or agricultural disaster payments every year for 32 years, said the Environmental Working Group in a report released today. The payments, from 1985-2016, averaged $687,204 per person annually and totaled at least $19.2 billion, according to EWG's analysis of USDA data.
On today’s agenda in Chicago: Repeal the soda tax
The Cook County Board, overseeing the 41 percent of Illinoisans who live in Chicago and nearby suburbs, is expected to repeal its 1-cent-per-ounce soda tax during a meeting today, only weeks after it took effect. The change of mind in Cook County, the largest jurisdiction in the nation to tax sugary beverages, is a dramatic defeat for public-health advocates.
Soda tax will apply to 41 percent of Illinoisans on Wednesday
Cook County, the most populous county in Illinois, will begin collecting a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages beginning on Wednesday, making it the largest jurisdiction with a soda tax, following a state court decision that the tax is constitutional, said the Chicago Tribune. Som
Will Chicagoans go hazelnutty over the Nutella Cafe?
The world’s first Nutella Cafe is set to open on Chicago’s famed Michigan Avenue in a location abutting Grant Park, whose grassy and wooded expanse leads to the Lake Michigan shoreline, says Eater.
Civic Federation supports 1-cent soda tax for Chicago area
A good-government group, the Civic Federation of Chicago, backed the proposed 1-cent-an-ounce on sugary beverages for Cook County, the second-most populous county in the country and home to Chicago. The County Board will vote on the tax, part of a $44 billion budget for fiscal 2017, in mid-November, roughly a week after four cities vote on soda taxes.
Whole Foods and Starbucks open in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods
Whole Foods and Starbucks are opening locations in Chicago’s crime-ridden Englewood neighborhood as part of a $20-million project to bring better services and products to the area. “The typically upscale Whole Foods will occupy an 18,000-square-foot store in the newly constructed Englewood Square shopping complex during a notably violent year in the neighborhood, one of the city’s poorest — it served as the setting for Spike Lee’s controversial “Chiraq” movie, and median household income is under $20,000, according to Census data,” says MarketWatch.
Senators tell administration to ‘play offense’ on trade
The Biden administration is sitting on its hands when it ought to be knocking down trade barriers and negotiating new trade pacts for U.S. food and ag exports, said a bipartisan chorus of senators on Wednesday. Since President Biden took office in 2021, the administration has not initiated formal talks for a new free trade agreement anywhere, said members of the Senate Finance Committee during a hearing on the U.S. trade agenda.
Economic challenges worldwide force retreat in farm exports, says USDA
After setting a record last year, U.S. farm exports will shrink 8 percent this year, due to tightening economic conditions worldwide and lower commodity prices, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. The $15.4 billion decline in sales would be most pronounced for corn, cotton, beef, and soybeans.
Biden trade strategy: Stronger ties with like-minded countries
The Biden administration is writing “a new story on trade” that emphasizes cooperation with allies because countries such as China have abused open markets and low tariffs, U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai said in a speech on Wednesday.
To avert food shortage, U.S. and allies will boost food aid and grow more
Global food shortages are a real possibility as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Biden told reporters while meeting with allies in Brussels on Thursday. Western leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, joined Biden in saying they would step up their hunger-relief programs and encourage their farmers to grow more food.
Europe to till fallow land to offset food shortages from war in Ukraine
Responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission approved a $550 million aid package for its farmers on Wednesday and said they could grow food and feed crops on fallowed land without losing any of their so-called greening payments.
USDA inaugurates livestreaming of ‘secretary data briefings’
With the arrival of the internet, the Agriculture Department made its vast library of reports and analyses available to the public, from the closely watched monthly crop estimates to assessments of the impact of the pandemic on meatpackers. The USDA went a step further on Wednesday by presenting the first live internet broadcast of one of the briefings USDA analysts give the agriculture secretary whenever a major report is published.
Organic agriculture sales up 31 percent in three years
While still a small sector of U.S. agriculture, organic agriculture is booming, reported the USDA on Thursday. Sales totaled $9.9 billion in 2019, an increase of 31 percent in three years, and 29 percent of organic farmers say they plan to expand production. There are more farms and more land in organic production — 16,585 farms and 5.5 million certified acres — than ever before.
Like fall harvest, USDA’s Crop Progress report will continue into December
The USDA traditionally shuts down its weekly Crop Progress report at the end of November because the growing season is over and the fall harvest is all but complete in most states. But this year, the USDA will continue to monitor the harvest, which is weeks later than usual, into December.
Cattle go uncounted at USDA … again
Americans continued to eat out while filling the pantry when Covid hit
Americans flooded the supermarket when the pandemic hit in early 2020, creating well-documented spot shortages of staples. But they also patronized restaurants at a steady rate in the early weeks, according to a USDA analysis of sales data, suggesting families at first were stocking up for an uncertain future rather than actually eating at home.
For Millennials, convenience tops the grocery list
Members of the millennial generation, born between 1981 and 1996, are less likely to go to the grocery store than Baby Boomers or Gen X-ers and spend less per person when they do go to the store, write two USDA economists. "Millennials are demanding healthier and fresher food — including fruits and vegetables — when making food-at-home purchases, and they place a higher preference on convenience than to other generations."
Burger joint serving food desert earns L.A. Times’ Restaurant of the Year
The L.A. Times has named its first-ever Restaurant of the Year, but it didn’t go to the usual high-end suspects. Instead Locol — a burger restaurant started by renowned chefs to serve customers in Watts, where unemployment and gang violence are rampant — is the winner.
Plant breeders aim for crops that waste less fertilizer
The world's most widely grown crop, wheat, could become "a super nitrogen-efficient crop" if plant researchers succeed in cross-breeding a trait called biological nitrification inhibition into the staple grain, says the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Wheat plants use about 30 percent of nitrogen fertilizer applied to fields at present, but if the trait can be introduced into the plants they will become more efficient users and suppress loss of nitrogen from the soil.
DuPont Pioneer and CIMMYT to jointly develop CRISPR crops
The second-largest seed company in the world, DuPont Pioneer, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, or CIMMYT, said they reached an agreement to jointly develop improved crops using the gene-editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas for smallholder farmers around the world. The agreement, announced at CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary conference in Mexico City, brings the new technology into the public breeding organization for the first time.
Green Revolution 2.0: It’s no longer just about boosting food
At the 50th-anniversary meeting of the main body that launched the Green Revolution, a range of researchers and policymakers made clear that the focus of their efforts is no longer just raising crop yields to “feed the world,” as their mantra had been for decades. Production is now just a starting point for a range of food issues faced by developing countries.
Crowdfunding drive for international germplasm bank
Plant breeding company KWS, of Germany, has pledged $10,000 in a crowdfunding initiative to help maintain the world's largest corn and wheat germplasm bank, says the international research center that owns the bank. The "Save a Seed" drive was launched at the 50th anniversary celebration for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), based in Mexico.
Key changes needed to ensure sustainable fisheries amid climate change, report says
Several key strategies must be implemented if there is any hope for sustainable fisheries in our rapidly warming oceans, says a new report from the Environmental Defense Fund. The report’s release coincides with COP25, a global climate conference being held this week in Madrid.
To mitigate climate change, USDA allots $72 million for carbon storage in soil
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a $72.3 million allocation within the cost-sharing Environmental Quality Incentive Program for activities that boost carbon storage in healthy soil. Vilsack unveiled the initiative during a one-year review of USDA's Climate Smart program to help meet U.S. pledges to mitigate climate change.
Oil and gas is top methane emitter, not agriculture
The jokes about bovine belches melting the polar ice caps can be shelved for the moment, according to a new EPA annual report on U.S. greenhouse-gas production.
Study: Fishermen would make more money if they fished less
A new study by researchers from the University of California Santa Barbara, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the University of Washington demonstrates that adopting “rights-based fishery management” (RBFM) would not only help fish populations recover, but would mean more money for fishermen, reports The Christian Science Monitor.
With new year, animal welfare standards take effect in California and the United States
Six years after voters approved it in a landslide, California's Proposition 12 animal welfare law, which requires farmers to provide more room for egg-laying hens, veal calves, and breeding sows, is fully in effect with the start of 2024. A USDA regulation setting welfare standards for livestock on organic farms will take effect on Jan. 12, creating a rare convergence of starting dates for significant livestock regulations.
New Jersey law bans sow crates and veal-calf stalls
Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law legislation banning sow crates and veal-calf stalls that severely restrict the movements of the animals in New Jersey, saying it would ensure humane farming practices. New Jersey is the 15th state to ban sow crates, veal stalls, or "battery" cages for egg-laying hens, said the Humane Society of the United States, which fought for the legislation for years.
Massachusetts animal welfare law is delayed again
With a lawsuit still unresolved, Massachusetts officials agreed in court to wait until Aug. 23 to enforce a state law that requires farmers to provide enough room for veal calves, breeding sows, and egg-laying hens to stand up, lie down, turn around or fully extend their limbs.
Ban new CAFOs, boost ‘higher-welfare’ farms, ASPCA says
The new farm bill should reflect "Americans' concerns and compassion for animals and the environment" with steps that include a ban on new factory farms and encourage more attention to animal welfare, said the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Public dollars should not support a cruel, polluting factory farm systems that harms animals, the environment, workers, farmers and rural communities alike."
Report finds Trump’s food box suffered from price gouging, poor-quality
The Farmers to Families Food Box giveaway program was the Trump administration's answer to hunger during the pandemic but it undermined its goal by mismanagement and abuse of the $5.5 billion program, said a report released by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on Wednesday. The panel chairman, Democrat James Clyburn, suggested the USDA should pursue reimbursement, where appropriate, of misspent money.
Booker backs a food box program for fruits and vegetables
Sen. Cory Booker, the new chairman of the Senate nutrition subcommittee called for a permanent food box program to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to communities "in desperate need for healthy produce." Booker also said $20 billion a year should be devoted to USDA climate mitigation programs and that a moratorium should be imposed on mergers in the agricultural sector.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
USDA donations of produce and dairy to replace Trump food box
The Trump administration's much-criticized food box will be replaced for the moment by a $400 million dairy donation initiative and fresh produce distributed through a longstanding USDA program, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday.
Food box should be a model for USDA, not scrapped, say GOP lawmakers
The USDA ought to keep President Trump's glitzy food box giveaway program in operation rather than let it die at the end of April, said Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday. A food bank leader said that while the food box had been helpful in responding to pandemic-caused hunger, it was not as useful as programs like SNAP.
USDA’s food box give-away called a model that can be improved
Sales of antimicrobials for use in livestock are second lowest in a decade, says FDA
Drugmakers sold 24 million pounds of antimicrobials for use in food-bearing animals last year, a slight decline from the previous year and the second-lowest total in a decade, said the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday. Sales have declined sharply since the FDA shut down using the drugs to encourage weight gain in cattle, hogs, chickens, and turkeys.
Global declaration calls for lower use of antimicrobials in agriculture
Nearly 200 United Nations member states, warned of the rising health threat of drug-resistant pathogens, approved a declaration on Thursday to step up their work to preserve the efficacy of disease-fighting medicines, reduce the death toll from antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by 10 percent, and “meaningfully reduce” antimicrobial use in agriculture by 2030.
Huge losses in food supply and human health if superbugs spread
Drug-resistant pathogens could throttle meat, dairy, and egg production and cause millions of additional human deaths by 2050 if the superbugs are not controlled, said researchers on Thursday. They called for increased funding worldwide to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
‘Superbugs’ surging in Brazilian lakes, rivers, seas
A new study, to be published in November in the journal Science of the Total Environment, found that the waterways in Brazil’s two biggest cities have become “major sources of multidrug-resistant bacteria,” reports SciDev.Net. It is the first time these so-called superbugs have been found in these waters, which include those off the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, Guanabara Bay, and the waterways of São Paolo.