USDA
USDA says aeroponics are still eligible for sale as organic
Two months after an advisory board voted to deny organic certification to aeroponic agriculture, the USDA said aeroponic crops remain eligible for the organic seal. "USDA will consider this [advisory] recommendation; aeroponics remains allowed during this review," said the Agricultural Marketing Service in a bulletin to organic growers.
Perdue to release farm bill principles in Pennsylvania
Two weeks after saying he would release guidelines for the 2018 farm bill "very soon," Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is expected to unveil farm bill principles while visiting Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Perdue had told American Farm Bureau Federation earlier this month to expect the outline shortly. President Trump told the group, "I support a bill that includes crop insurance," a change in tone from White House proposals last year for large cuts.
There’s a lot of work to do at USDA during a shutdown
An estimated three-fourths of USDA employees would be furloughed in a federal shutdown, but officials said major activities will continue, such as food stamps, meat inspection and support for the NAFTA negotiations scheduled to resume on Tuesday. Over the weekend, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue sent a series of 12 tweets, most of them illustrated with topical photos, that formed a comprehensive list of ongoing activities.
Trump selects a congressional lobbyist for a USDA short of executives
Nearly a year after taking office, President Trump tabbed farm group official Ken Barbic to be USDA's congressional liaison, rewarding Western growers who backed his campaign. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he was "very excited by the nomination" while noting that two nominees for top-tier posts at USDA are bottled up in the Senate.
Losing ground: Winter wheat sowings smallest in 109 years
In a USDA survey, growers indicated that they planted 32.6 million acres of winter wheat for harvest this spring, the smallest area since 1909 although not as small as expected by analysts. The decline in winter wheat, the dominant wheat grown in the United States, is part of a long-running shift to corn and soybeans that is projected to result in the smallest all-wheat plantings in the country since recordkeeping began.
Food stamp revisions possible but not radical change, says key House Democrat
States have abused their discretion in order to keep able-bodied adults on the food stamp rolls, said Collin Peterson, the Democratic leader of the House Agriculture Committee, suggesting that some changes were possible in the anti-hunger program but also warning that attempts at radical reforms could blow up the 2018 farm bill.
For Millennials, convenience tops the grocery list
Members of the millennial generation, born between 1981 and 1996, are less likely to go to the grocery store than Baby Boomers or Gen X-ers and spend less per person when they do go to the store, write two USDA economists. "Millennials are demanding healthier and fresher food — including fruits and vegetables — when making food-at-home purchases, and they place a higher preference on convenience than to other generations."
For the second year in a row, no overall increase in retail food prices
Thanks to the strong dollar, food inflation is standing still this year following the first instance, in 2016, of food deflation since the 1960s, says the USDA. In a new forecast, USDA economists say overall supermarket price levels in 2018 could be lower than they were in 2015.
USDA’s top lawyer says politics not a part of reassigning senior officers
Stephen Vaden, the former Trump transition official now serving as the USDA’s interim chief lawyer, says politics played no part in the reassignment of 13 of the department’s top-rank and highest-paid civil servants since the new administration took office.
State contractors can handle food stamp data, says USDA
In a step to ease state agency handling of social services programs, the USDA announced that contractors can “provide basic case-specific information” about food stamp applications — work that is usually handled by civil servants.
Debating the differences between gene-edited crops, GMOs, ‘accelerated breeding technology’
Thomas Stoddard used this pitch — “You make a little more money, you have a great experience, and you are part of a revolution” — when he recruited farmers to plant a gene-edited soybean variety that yields a healthier oil, says the MIT Technology Review.
USDA may revamp food stamp time limits for able-bodied adults
When Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said this week that food stamps should not be “a permanent lifestyle” for able-bodied adults without dependents, he may have hinted at a forthcoming USDA proposal.
Bad weather batters wheat crops in Australia and Brazil
Wheat production in Australia is down by 36 percent from a year ago because of drought, said the USDA’s World Agricultural Production report.
Senate ag panel approves controversial nominee as USDA’s top lawyer
The Senate Agriculture Committee cleared for a floor vote the nomination of Stephen Vaden to become USDA's chief lawyer with the senior Democrat on the panel, Debbie Stabenow, expressing reservations over Vaden's past legal work and the personnel practices he has implemented in USDA's legal shop. A member of the administration's "beach head" team, Vaden effectively is the interim leader of the office following his appointment as principal deputy general counsel.
USDA chief scientist slams WHO antibiotic recommendations
The USDA’s acting chief scientist, Chavonda Jacobs-Young, has publicly criticized the World Health Organization’s updated recommendations for curbing antibiotic use on farms, citing poor science.
Trump tells oil-patch senators to look for a biofuel compromise
President Trump, a staunch supporter of corn ethanol, told nine senators from oil-producing states to take their complaints about federal biofuel mandates to their farm-state colleagues and find a mutually acceptable solution.
Senators’ suggestion for GMO labels: Put it in writing
Americans have a right to know what’s in their food, said 11 Democratic senators in urging the USDA to mandate clear and easy-to-understand labels on food made with genetically modified organisms.
Senate confirms Smith to Farm Credit board
The Senate has confirmed Glen Smith to serve on the Farm Credit Administration board, but two other Trump nominees for agricultural posts are being blocked.
Ten RECs get $4.4 billion in New ERA clean energy funding
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $4.37 billion in grants and loans to 10 rural electric cooperatives on Thursday for clean energy projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.1 million tons a year. With the awards, the USDA has allocated nearly $9 billion of the $9.7 billion available in the Empowering Rural America program.