Author: The Farm Report

Missed some ag news this week? Here are seven agricultural stories from this week. 1. The Ag Economy Barometer declined 18 points in April, the fourth largest one-month decline in the barometer since data collection began in October 2015. Producers appear to be tightening their belts, with 74% saying now… Continue reading

Relocation at hand, USDA research agency staff votes to unionize Employees of the Economic Research Service voted in a landslide to unionize on Thursday in balloting that was an unofficial referendum on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s plan to move the agency out of Washington in the coming months. A vote… Continue reading

(FERN News) Communities in Missouri have been fighting the expansion of large-scale livestock operations in the state for years. But a controversial pair of bills moving through the state legislature would make community oversight of those farms even harder. The bills would eliminate local ordinances that regulate industrial animal farms… Continue reading

China warns of ‘countermeasures’ if U.S. tariffs rise On Wednesday, the Trump administration turned a weekend threat into a promise of sharply higher tariffs on Chinese products and Beijing declared it would take the “necessary countermeasures” — all on the day before ministerial-level talks to resolve the Sino-U.S. trade war… Continue reading

Think tank proposes ‘farmer protection bureau’ to battle ag consolidation America’s family farmers increasingly are out-muscled by large agribusinesses in trying to make a living, says a new report by the Center for American Progress. The authors called on Congress to even the fight by enforcing antitrust laws and blocking… Continue reading

Anti-hunger group suggests ways to reverse a plunge in WIC enrollment Participation in the Women Infants and Children program has plummeted by 25 percent this decade, reaching the point that only 3 out of 5 eligible people apply for nutrition and health support. Corn and soybean planting is half of… Continue reading

Secret sites are on USDA’s short list for new homes of relocated agencies The finalists in Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s plan to move two research agencies out of Washington include “multiple” undisclosed sites in Indiana, a symbol of complaints of hidden motives and scanty material to support the move. Sanders… Continue reading

Missed some agricultural news this week? Here are seven stories you might have missed. 1. African swine fever has been reported across 28 provinces in China, resulting in the culling of hogs. USDA estimated in April that Chinese hog production will decline by 134 million head this year, which is… Continue reading

CAP report highlights inequities for black farmers Since the end of Reconstruction, following the Civil War, many black farmers have felt the twin pressures of hardship and neglect, reinforced by systematic discrimination from government agencies and financial institutions. The Center for American Progress, a left-leaning policy institute, issued a recent… Continue reading

Eating tomorrow: A conversation with Timothy Wise Timothy A. Wise spent four years researching the industrialization of agriculture and the influence of agribusiness on policy creation around the world. Everywhere he traveled, he saw how governments and philanthropies have committed to a vision of hunger eradication that heralds industrial, large-scale… Continue reading