USDA

California growers are curtailing rice plantings by 18 percent due to drought but larger plantings in the Delta will offset much of the downturn for the sticky rice used in sushi. "The decline in California medium-grain plantings due to drought and water restrictions have attracted more acres of medium-grain rice in the Delta where plantings in 2014 are projected up 39 percent," says USDA. In the end, medium-grain area will drop 6 percent.

Jerry Bange, overseer of USDA's monthly supply/demand report, will retire on May 31 after 20 years as chairman of the World Agricultural Outlook Board, USDA announced. Bange has worked at the Agriculture Department for 43 years, starting in 1971, before he got his doctorate from the University of Maryland.

AgSec Vilsack announced the availability of $78 million to promote farmers markets and local and regional food sales. The funds are authorized through the 2014 farm law. They include $15 million to promote farmers markets, $15 million for marketing and promotional support for local food businesses, such as food hubs, and $48 million in loan guarantee for projects that focus on local food enterprises. For details, click here.

The Drought Monitor says arid conditions deepened in the central and southern Plains during the past week with Kansas as the leading edge "of the intense drought that seems to be waking up and pushing rapidly north along with warmer temperatures."

The weather-damaged winter wheat crop will be the smallest in eight years, if a survey of analysts ahead of USDA's crop report proves correct. The report, due for release Friday at noon ET, is the first field-based USDA estimate of the winter wheat crop. An accompanying report will project the fall harvest for corn, soybean, cotton and rice as well as overall U.S. wheat output.

U.S. farmers will face more dry spells, shorter winters and hotter nights under climate change in coming decades, says the National Climate Assessment. Warmer weather can abet the spread of weeds, diseases and pests, says the report.

Some 14 pct of U.S. farms are 10 acres of smaller and most do produce little, says a USDA report adding, "Small acreage does not necessarily mean small sales." About 50,000 of the farms had sales above $10,000 a year; 6,000 grossed over $250,000 and 3,600 had sales of at least $500,000.

Slowed by a cold and wet spring, farmers have planted 29 pct of corn land in the 18 major states, 13 points behind the five-year average of 42 pct planted by the first week of May, says the weekly Crop Progress report. A week ago, planting, at 19 pct, was 9 points behind average. If corn is planted after May 20, yields are lower.

Some 70 pct of U.S. farmers have Internet access, up 14 points in five years, says the new Census of Agriculture, based on a 2012 survey. After trailing for years, the farm access rate is similar to the U.S. avg. The Census Bureau says a 2011 survey found 72 pct of U.S. households used the Internet at home.

Federal and private-sector scientists are looking at a variety of steps to help the honeybee population recover from a startling drop off in population. Winter losses average more than 30 pct, double the rate a quarter-century ago. There were 3 mln colonies in 1987 and 2.5 mln colonies now with a shorter avg lifespan.

Many poor neighborhoods are close to a supermarket - 86 pct are within a mile, says Tufts associate professor Parke Wilde in his U.S. Food Policy blog. That's a shorter distance than commonly thought and a shorter trip than faces higher-income people, according to research by Wilde and colleagues.

The annual Kansas wheat tour moved through southwestern and southern Kansas on Wednesday and scouts projected an average yield of 30.8 bu/ac, compared to 37.1 bu/ac last year and the five-year avg of 38.8 bu/ac. The first day of the tour also found drought-reduced yields.

Americans believe USDA's organic label on food means no antibiotics and no synthetic pesticides were used in producing the food, says Consumer Reports in objecting to exemptions to those general rules.

The big questions for the emerging Big Data era in agriculture will be resolved in the next couple of years, a panel of experts said on Tuesday, although none suggested the likely results.

With a wet and cool spring in the Farm Belt, "it would not be surprising for (corn) acreage to fall short of intentions, particularly in northern growing areas," says economist Darrel Good of U-Illinois at farmdocdaily, unless corn prices improve.

In a monthly update, the Agriculture Department stuck to its forecast of a 3 pct annual increase in food prices this year.

Crop scouts set off today for the annual inspection tour of the winter wheat crop in Kansas, the No 1 grower. The tour provides a timely look at a crop that will be ready for harvest in a few weeks.