USDA
Vilsack: ‘Here’s what I know about myself: I’m an executive.’
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack indirectly turned thumbs down on the idea of running for the Senate with words that might also apply to election-season rumors of a possible job as White House chief of staff. "Here's what I know about myself. I'm an executive. I like making decisions," Vilsack said during a National Press Club luncheon.
Rural electric cooperatives get $3.6 billion for upgrades
The USDA's Rural Utilities Service, a descendant of the New Deal agency that helped bring electricity to rural areas, awarded $3.6 billion in loans to 82 rural electric projects in 31 states. The money will build or improve 12,500 miles of transmission and distribution lines, and includes $216 million for "smart gird" technology to boost the reliability and efficiency of service.
A rare year for food prices — up only 1 percent
U.S. food prices will rise by a marginal 1 percent this year, the second-smallest increase since 1974, and it's all due to lower grocery prices, said a government forecast. Groceries, which are the bulk of food spending, would cost less this year than they did in 2015 — the first taste of price deflation at the supermarket since 1967.
EPA investigates Missouri for misuse of dicamba herbicide
Special agents from EPA's Criminal Investigation Division served federal search warrants on several locations in Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, New Madrid and Stoddard counties in southeastern Missouri, tied to complaints of crop damage from pesticide drift, said the Daily Dunklin Democrat. The EPA is investigating possible misuse of the herbicide dicamba.
Will USDA forecast of soybean crop keep climbing?
Since its first forecast of a record-large soybean crop, the first to top 4 billion bushels, the USDA has twice boosted its estimated size of the crop, now pegged at 4.269 billion bushels. Economist Darrel Good of U-Illinois says history suggests the estimate will keep climbing as the harvest progresses and production data become more precise.
USDA forecasts no rise in grocery prices this year
Overall U.S. grocery prices will not rise at all this year — the first time in four decades of records that the inflation rate would hit zero, says the Agriculture Department, pointing to the effects of low petroleum prices, the strong dollar and falling prices for beef, pork and poultry. Retail food prices were flat or fell during six of the first eight months of 2016, assuring "a rate of inflation (or possibly deflation) that would again fall below the 20-year historical average of 2.5 percent," says the Food Price Outlook.
Whoever the president selects for agriculture secretary, it’s usually a surprise
When trying to predict presidential nominations, a parlor game that enchants Washington with special fervor when a new administration is in the wings, recall the unconventional way Mike Espy persuaded Bill Clinton to tap him for agriculture secretary: He wrote him a note before a Democratic Leadership Council dinner at Union Station.
Trump vows to make EPA more ‘pro-farm’ with a new administrator
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, labeling the Waters of the United States rule as unconstitutional, told the largest U.S. farm group, "I will appoint a pro-farmer administrator [to] EPA."
Corn farmers lead in U.S. adoption of precision agriculture
A USDA study says the largest corn farms, covering more than 4.5 square miles, are the leaders in adopting precision agriculture, which includes yield monitors for GPS mapping of fields, auto-steer controls of planting and harvest equipment, and variable rate applicators.
USDA clears way for two GE potatoes
USDA's biotechnology regulators say that two genetically engineered potato varieties from J.R. Simplot, developer of the first GE potato to resist bruising, can be grown safely and do not need federal regulation.
Countries can’t cut food waste if they fail to measure it, report says
Countries must start figuring out how much food they waste if they’re going to meet the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal of halving global food waste and lowering food loss by 2030, says a report out by Champions 12.3, a coalition of government, business, and research organizations.
Organic checkoff goes on the back burner
The industry proposal for a checkoff program to support organic food and products is moving so slowly at USDA that the Obama administration will probably leave office before producers vote on it. The Organic Trade Association submitted its proposal in May 2015 and as recently as this summer hoped for a referendum this year to establish the producer-funded research and promotion program.
Next USDA chief? ‘Find a governor,’ says Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, nearing the end of eight years at USDA, knows the type of person who would fit perfectly as his replacement at USDA. "If I were to offer advice [it would be] find a governor who cares about agriculture," Vilsack told reporters.
Time is short for USDA to flex its antitrust muscle with meat industry
In the closing months of his tenure as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack is making one last stab at being a trustbuster. Late last week, the USDA quietly moved forward with an effort to strengthen its antitrust authority over the handful of companies that dominate America’s meat system. The action raised hopes for advocates who have pushed for years to toughen antitrust laws, and it already has met resistance from meat companies and their lobbyists. What’s less clear is whether the action will have any meaningful impact.
USDA allots $328 million for Gulf-area agricultural lands
A variety of USDA programs will be tapped to provide $328 million in technical and financial assistance to improve water quality and restore coastal ecosystems over three years on agricultural land in the Gulf of Mexico area, said USDA. The strategy calls for conservation improvements on 3.2 million acres of high-priority land in 200 counties and parishes.
White House unveils two documents on modernizing biotech regulation
Fourteen months ago, the Obama administration launched the first comprehensive review in 30 years of the roles of the USDA, the EPA and the FDA in regulating biotechnology. In a follow-up, the White House released a proposed update to the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology — the division of labor among regulators, first issued in 1986 — and a national strategy for modernizing biotechnology regulations.
Food movement group targets House ag appropriator
Founded four years ago as the first lobbying group for the food movement, Food Policy Action said it will work to defeat second-term Rep. David Valadao, a California republican and member of the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing USDA and FDA funding.
Organic sales surge by 13 percent; number of organic farms rises modestly
Certified organic farms sold $6.2 billion worth of organic products in 2015, a 13 percent increase from the previous year, according to a USDA report on the small yet burgeoning industry. The survey found 12,818 certified organic farms, a modest increase from 12,595 farms in 2014.