USDA
More than half of producers enroll in new dairy program
More than 23,000 dairy producers - over half of the dairy operations in the country - enrolled in the new Margin Protection Program, created by the 2014 farm law as a replacement to the previous dairy subsidies, said USDA.
Brazil is forecast to reap a record-setting soybean crop
Brazil, No 2 to the United States as a soybean producer, will reap a record 95.5 million tonnes of the oilseed, forecasts USDA - 10 percent than its previous crop.
Meat-origin labels, beef checkoff clipped by omnibus bill
As part of the $1 trillion government funding bill awaiting a vote in Congress, lawmakers would direct USDA to suggest changes by May 1 in the law that requires packages of beef, pork and chicken to list where the meat was born, raised and slaughtered. The language appears in an explanatory statement that accompanies the bill. Such statements do not carry the force of law but are powerful advice to federal officials.
Record US soy exports as world harvests biggest crop ever
U.S. soybean exports are headed for a record 1.76 billion bushels this marketing year although the world is flooded with the oilseed, said USDA. In its monthly WASDE report on crop output and usage around the world, USDA raised its export forecast by 40 million bushels, to 1.76 billion bushels, citing "the record export pace in weeks and prospects for additional sales and shipments ahead of the South American harvest."
USDA reports today may steer commodity prices until spring
The Agriculture Department is to release a handful of potentially pivotal reports today at noon ET that could set the tone for futures markets until spring-planting data becomes available. They include a final look at 2014 U.S. crop production; the monthly WASDE report with its estimates of crop output and usage worldwide; the Winter Wheat Seedings report, the first hint of this year's crops, and the quarterly Grain Stocks report, which will indicate...
Schools in poor areas adopt free-meals-for-all option
Some 51.5 percent of schools in high-poverty areas offer free breakfast and lunch to all students through the so-called community eligibility provision of the 2010 school food law, said USDA.
World meat prices up 8 percent in 2014, says FAO
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says its meat price index rose by 8 percent during 2014 while the other elements in its Food Price Index - cereal grains, vegetable oils, dairy products and sugar - fell.
Incoming House Ag chair calls for vigorous USDA oversight
Texas Republican Mike Conaway, the incoming chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said he expects "vigorous oversight" of federal programs from crop insurance and food stamps to farm subsidies and the futures markets in the new session of Congress. Conaway redrew the jurisdiction of the Agriculture subcommittees and said, "All six subcommittees will be expected to carry out vigorous oversight of their mission areas." At present, there are five subcommittees.
Omnibus bill relaxes whole grain, salt rules for school food
Congress would relax rules that call for schools to use more whole grains and to reduce salt in meals provided to students, according to provisions of a government-wide funding bill. Unveiled on Tuesday night, the bill also calls for USDA to study the nutritional content of vegetables available in the so-called WIC program before removing any of them from the program - a response to complaints that white potatoes were being singled out unfairly.
Coffee, sugar, salt, meat, environment – five diet issues
The upcoming edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, due later this year, could propose "real limits on sugar," says an Associated Press story that lists "five things to watch for as the government begins writing the new guidelines."
Big US shift to soybeans in 2015, says farmer survey
Growers plan "a massive shift into soybeans" and away from corn in 2015, according to an email survey of 1,650 farmers by Farm Futures that concluded a few days ago.
NFU proposes no beef checkoff money to groups that lobby
The second-largest U.S. farm group called for "a major course correction" of the beef checkoff program. The National Farmers Union spelled out five principles "to turn the checkoff into an effective tool," including a referendum every five years on...
Thirty nations restrict US poultry due to bird flu in Northwest
Thirty countries, including Canada, Mexico and Japan, have imposed restrictions or a total ban on imports of poultry from the U.S. Northwest following discovery of a highly pathogenic avian influenza in Oregon and Washington state last month, says Politico.
A broadband bottleneck for Big Data in agriculture
While urban America has nearly universal access to wired broadband, the rate in rural America is 78 percent, according to industry data. USDA's 2012 Census of Agriculture says 70 percent of farms have Internet access but...
The vegetable prescription
An innovative program combats obesity by helping families buy fruits and vegetables, says the New York Times, in describing the Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program, being tested at four hospitals in New York City.
The greening of the Dietary Guidelines?
The 2015 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the government's advice on a nutritious diet, "may look at what is healthy for the environment too," says Associated Press.
School lunch, EPA scale-backs ride on gov’t funding bill
The government-wide funding bill being assembled in private on Capitol Hill would scale back school lunch reforms approved in 2010 and "curtail some clean-water regulations," says the New York Times.
Obama order affects 250,000 farm workers, maybe lots more
President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration will affect indirectly at least 250,000 and perhaps as many as 500,000 farm workers, says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
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.