Author: The Farm Report

Oregon adopts heat safety rule to protect farm labor and other workers In the wake of a heat wave blamed for the death of a farmworker, Oregon adopted an emergency rule on Thursday that guarantees workers rest breaks in the shade and plenty of cool water to drink during hot… Continue reading

After pandemic pain, school meal programs brace for next year School districts across the country pared their menus, reduced staffing, and canceled equipment purchases because of the pandemic, but nearly half of them still lost money in the cafeteria during the past school year, said a survey released on Thursday… Continue reading

Solar leases are more popular than carbon contracts among farmers The relative handful of farmers who have signed carbon sequestration contracts is half the size of the group that has leased land for solar electricity production, said Purdue University on Tuesday. Solar leases, which may exceed $1,000 an acre annually,… Continue reading

Court losses are only temporary setbacks, says ethanol industry Despite losing two high-profile cases in seven days, the ethanol industry says the future is bright for the corn-based biofuel that it promotes as a low-carbon alternative to gasoline and a tool to slow global warming. Ongoing delays in P-EBT slow… Continue reading

Vilsack trade view: ‘Over-reliance on China,’ no deal with EU soon Ag exports, a key part of U.S. farm revenue, are expected to generate 36 cents of every $1 in cash income this year, thanks to high commodity prices as the world recovers its appetite and the pandemic recedes. Agriculture… Continue reading

Bumper U.S. corn and soybean harvests are within reach The United States is headed for its largest corn harvest ever and its third-largest soybean crop, based on the USDA’s annual Acreage report, issued on Wednesday. The mammoth crops would be ready for harvest late this summer, replenishing U.S. grain inventories… Continue reading

In the Amazon, farming the forest to save the forest     Continue reading

Biden says no to higher gas taxes to pay for infrastructure If a bipartisan infrastructure deal holds, Midwesterners can expect upgrades to roads, bridges and broadband networks, President Biden said on Tuesday in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. “There is no gas tax (increase),” he said. “Working families have already paid enough.” Sonny… Continue reading

Supreme Court rejects challenge of California animal welfare referendum The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to hear a meat industry challenge to California’s voter-approved Proposition 12, which requires farmers to give sows, veal calves, and egg-laying chickens more room to move about and bans shipments of pork, veal, and… Continue reading

Trump administration tried to influence state response to meatpacking plant outbreaks, documents reveal Former Agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue and staff at USDA and the Vice President’s office sought to influence how states responded to early outbreaks of Covid-19 in meatpacking plants last spring, a trove of documents reveals. Rebuffed in… Continue reading