U.S. hunger rate is lowest since start of pandemic After cresting at 13.7 percent at the end of 2020, the U.S. hunger rate is now the lowest, 7.8 percent, since the pandemic began in early 2020. Analysts say the expanded child tax credit, coronavirus relief programs and rebound from recession… Continue reading
Arguments over Prop 12 sizzle as implementation nears After years of fighting California’s voters-approved Proposition 12 in court, meatpackers and the pork industry are asking for more time to comply with its animal welfare requirements. Estimates of the impact on consumers when Prop 12 takes effect on Jan. 1 vary… Continue reading
High prices, strong demand mean back-to-back records for U.S. ag exports Propelled by the global economic recovery from the pandemic, U.S. farm exports will set back-to-back sales records this fiscal year and in the new year beginning on Oct. 1, the government forecast on Thursday. China would account for $1… Continue reading
New pandemic aid program encourages dairy donations to food banks To reduce food waste and help feed hungry Americans, the USDA will spend an estimated $400 million to reimburse dairy organizations for donating products to food banks, said Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh on Wednesday. The donation program was the… Continue reading
USDA offers $1 billion in pandemic aid to contract growers Nearly seven months after it froze a Trump-era plan, the Biden administration said on Tuesday that up to $1 billion was available to contract growers of pigs and poultry to offset revenue lost to the pandemic in 2020. With the… Continue reading
After years of shrinking, Conservation Reserve to expand this year The federal program that pays landowners to take environmentally fragile land out of crop production to prevent erosion, protect water quality, and preserve wildlife habitat will expand for the first time this year after losing ground annually since 2007. The… Continue reading
‘Murder hornet’ nest is found in Northwest for second time State wildlife officials expect to destroy a nest of the Asian giant hornets in the northwestern corner of Washington State this week, and say “there may still be more” nests of the so-called murder hornet in the area near the… Continue reading
Dairy farmers to get pandemic payments due to market volatility In an expansion of its pandemic portfolio, the Biden administration said it would pay an estimated $350 million to dairy farmers to offset lower milk prices caused by market abnormalities during the second half of 2020. The payments will benefit… Continue reading
Heartland embraces precision agriculture practices Half of the farmers in the biggest corn, soybean, and wheat states employ precision agriculture in their operations — from GPS guidance of tractors and combines to deploying drones to scout fields or monitor livestock — twice the national average, said a USDA report on… Continue reading
Biofuel, farm groups ask for a second look at ban on summertime E15 The market for corn ethanol will be stunted unreasonably if sales of gasoline containing a higher blend of the homegrown fuel are banned during the summer, said corn growers and two biofuel groups on Tuesday. They asked… Continue reading
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