Record-level Midwestern floods (Bloomberg): After the wettest winter in the U.S. on record, parts of the Midwest remain underwater. Saturated soils froze, leading to runoff from melting snow and rains.
A farmworker crisis (The New York Times): The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants has created difficult conditions for the nation’s migrant farmworkers, and led to a worker shortage among farmers in upstate New York.
White House hints at ag progress with Brazil (FERN’s Ag Insider): Ahead of today’s bilateral meeting of President Trump and President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, a senior administration official said there was “great progress” on agricultural trade issues, which should be evident in a joint statement between the nations.
Trade war summit in June? (South China Morning Post): U.S. and Chinese negotiators may not complete an agreement to resolve the trade war before June, a much later date than suggested in U.S. circles.
Can rural decline be reversed? (The New York Times): In an opinion column, economist Paul Krugman writes that “reviving declining regions is really hard. Many countries have tried, but it’s difficult to find any convincing success stories.”