Left out at USDA: Minority-group farmers get less than their proportional share of USDA loans, according to an analysis of loan programs. Advocates for Black farmers say the Biden administration must address obstacles such as loan terms that favor large and wealthy farms. (Politico)
Large-scale fallowing: Drought and tightening regulations on pumping groundwater have put California farmers at “the beginning of a large-scale fallowing of land,” said the chief executive of Western Growers. (The Packer)
How to make it right?: Georgia farmer Stacie Marshall represents “the national soul-searching writ small”: Are the descendants of people who enslaved others responsible for that wrong, and how do they make things right? (New York Times)
Hunger target miss: The world will miss the goal of eliminating hunger by 2030 and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture will increase without an “agri-food systems transformation,” said the leaders of the FAO and OECD. (FAO)
Pandemic cotton recovery: “After one of the most traumatic and disruptive years in living memory,” global cotton production is forecast to rise by nearly 6 percent and return to pre-pandemic levels in 2021/22. (ICAC)