Right-to-repair pact has worrisome tradeoff, says consumer group
Federal and state lawmakers "should move full steam ahead with their right-to-repair bills" this year, said consumer group PIRG, which took a skeptical view of a memorandum of understanding between Deere and Co. and the largest U.S. farm group on equipment repair. In the agreement, the American Farm Bureau Federation says it will urge state affiliates to stay on the sidelines of the right-to-repair debate.
Groceries for July 4 cookout cost $10 more than last summer
The supermarket tally for an Independence Day cookout is a first-hand look at inflation — up by 17 percent from last summer, with the skyrocketing price of meat a leading reason. The American Farm Bureau Federation said on Monday that data from its volunteer price checkers nationwide indicated the groceries to feed 10 people at a cookout would cost $69.68, almost $10 more than last year.
‘You have a partner in the White House,’ Biden tells farmers
In a video message to a sector that overwhelmingly voted against him, President Biden told farmers on Monday, "you have a partner in the White House" who is pursuing agricultural prosperity and fair prices in the marketplace. Biden, who has assailed meatpackers for high profits during the pandemic, pointed to a proposed $1 billion to expand slaughter capacity and efforts to keep ag exports moving despite port congestion.
Stronger safety net needed, says second-largest U.S. farm group
Many farmers "are struggling to stay afloat" because of the trade war and persistently low commodity prices, said the National Farmers Union board on Tuesday, calling on Congress and the White House to strengthen the federal safety net. Separately, the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) said another multibillion-dollar round of Trump tariff payments may be needed.
North Carolina nuisance verdict ‘despicable,’ says Perdue
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue joined farm groups on Monday in calling for a $50 million judgement against a North Carolina hog farm to be overturned. "This is despicable," Perdue said of the judgement reached by a federal jury in a lawsuit that challenged the hog farm as a nuisance that exposed neighbors to health risks and a reduced quality of life.