Bad timing for trade war (Wall Street Journal): President Trump’s tariff battle with China “could not be happening at a worse time for American agriculture,” said the American Farm Bureau’s president, as farm income has dropped to its lowest level since 2006.
A reckoning for biofuels? (Los Angeles Times): The cleaner-burning second generation of biofuels “aren’t getting made,” and the first generation, dominated by corn ethanol, was crafted to burn up grain stockpiles more than to reduce air pollution, say critics.
Big gains in rural broadband? Maybe not (Daily Yonder): FCC data showing a large increase in rural broadband includes satellite connections that are expensive and dodgy during bad weather.
Cover crops cover more but not enough (Iowa Ag Connection): Iowa farmers planted 760,000 acres of cover crops in 2017, up 22 percent from 2016 but far from the goal of 12.5 million acres to reduce nutrient runoff.
A lot more cattle in feedlots (Drovers): Some 11.7 million head of cattle are being fattened for slaughter in U.S. feedlots, up 9 percent from a year ago. It’s the largest one-year increase since 2006.
Snack merger (Food Business News): Campbell Soup Co. completed its $6.1-billion acquisition of Snyder’s-Lance, and will bring the company’s products into its new Campbell Snacks line.
McConnell: Let states regulate hemp (Politico): The Senate majority leader says he will sponsor legislation to allow states, in consultation with the USDA, to regulate the hemp industry. Law now limits cultivation to research.
Blame the geese for nitrates in the water (City Pages): A Minnesota lawmaker who says geese are to blame for ag runoff is trying to block the state Agriculture Department from enforcing rules against using nitrogen fertilizer on porous soils during fall and winter.