Lowest since June 2021: Food price inflation fell for the 15th month in a row during November to an annualized rate of 2.9 percent, the lowest yearly rate since 2.4 percent in June 2021; dairy prices fell by 1.4 percent in the past 12 months, said the Consumer Price Index. (Labor Department)
Fewer hours, lower pay: Farmworkers in California are working fewer hours and earning less per week on average than before a new state law made it easier to collect overtime pay, suggesting employers pared workloads to stay below the new thresholds for overtime. (University of California)
Modest rise in Iowa farmland: On average, an acre of farmland in Iowa is worth a record $11,835, a relatively minor increase of $434, or 3.7 percent, after two years of explosive gains – 17 percent in 2022 and 29 percent in 2021, say ag professionals in a survey. (Iowa State University)
Pump less water: The Kansas Geological Survey said groundwater levels in the High Plains Aquifer could be sustained for at least a decade in western Kansas if pumping was reduced by from 18-32 percent. (Kansas Reflector)
Woman leads California Farm Bureau: Shannon Douglass, a first-generation farmer from northern California, was elected to a two-year term as California Farm Bureau president and is the first woman to head the 105-year-old organization. (California Ag Today)