Author: The Farm Report

White House renews call for broader work rules for SNAP   The Trump administration proposed a 29 percent cut in food stamps on Monday, to be achieved by requiring more recipients to work at least 20 hours a week and by providing some benefits in the form of a box… Continue reading

Organic AG largely avoided trade-war hit (Stateline): Organic farmers are far less reliant on ag exports than conventional growers and they suffered less from the Sino-U.S. trade war; some qualified for Trump’s trade-war bailout.   Funding for fight against locusts (FAO): The Africa Solidarity Trust donated $1 million to combat… Continue reading

Amid growing interest in hemp, USDA stands firm on rules   A lot of farmers will give industrial hemp a try this year, the first time cultivation is allowed nationwide, USDA officials predicted on Thursday. But they said there was no way they could allow more THC in hemp despite… Continue reading

U.S. heads for highest farm income in seven years Thanks to a steady recovery, U.S. farm income this year will be the highest since 2013, the peak of the commodity boom, said the government on Wednesday. The USDA forecast net farm income, a broad measure of profits, at $96.7 billion… Continue reading

Trump backs high-speed internet access, ‘especially’ in rural America With rural Americans continuing to suffer a digital divide, President Trump said on Tuesday that he was committed to ensuring “every citizen can have access to high-speed internet, including — and especially in — rural America.” Farmer sentiment rose with China… Continue reading

‘Tough year,’ says Perdue as USDA boosts trade-war payments to $14.5 billion   At the same time he saluted the de-escalation of the Sino-U.S. trade war, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced on Monday the release of $3.6 billion in trade-war payments to farmers and ranchers. The money will raise the… Continue reading

‘Nobody wants another Flint, Michigan,’ judge tells Smithfield in hog-case appeal hearing   Attorneys for a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, went before the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, last Friday and asked three judges to overturn a $3.25 million jury award… Continue reading

Nearing end of review, EPA finds no risk to human health from glyphosate   Glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world, poses no threat to human health when used as directed and is unlikely to cause cancer, said the EPA in an interim decision on Thursday. Environmental groups… Continue reading

Assessing the 2020 candidates on trade, from Trump’s unilateralism to ‘insular’ Warren and Sanders   President Trump employs a policy of “aggressive unilateralism” that views agriculture’s trade war losses as collateral damage that can be mitigated by a multibillion-dollar bailout, say the authors of a paper on the 2020 presidential… Continue reading