Category: Farm Report

Farm bill hurdles include the difficult politics of SNAP, says Stabenow The “very difficult” politics of SNAP are among the greatest obstacles to passing the new farm bill, said Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow on Wednesday. The Michigan Democrat is a stalwart defender of public nutrition programs in a… Continue reading

Grocery inflation rate in 2024 forecast as lowest in five years In its first forecast of 2024 food costs, the government said grocery prices would climb by a modest 0.9 percent next year. If so, it would be the lowest annual grocery inflation rate in five years and mark the… Continue reading

White House threatens to veto USDA-FDA funding bill House Republicans are “wasting time with partisan bills,” said the White House in a three-page list of objections to the $198 billion USDA-FDA funding bill on Monday, including cuts to clean energy programs and a ban on over-the-counter sales of the abortion… Continue reading

For U.S., regional ag imports are ‘a story about Mexico’ Agricultural imports from Latin America and the Caribbean grew at a compound annual growth rate of 6.9 percent in the 12 years following the Great Recession, much faster than the global rate of 5.6 percent, says the USDA in a… Continue reading

Black Sea shutdown could have multiyear impact on Ukraine’s farmers Ukraine is losing its place as one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat and corn because of warfare, and its role could shrink further with the closure of Black Sea shipping lanes this week, said analysts at the IFPRI… Continue reading

Aided by grassland signup, Conservation Reserve reaches enrollment limit For the first time in more than a decade, the Conservation Reserve, which pays landowners an annual rent in exchange for taking fragile cropland out of production, is full, thanks to surging interest in the Grassland CRP option, said the Agriculture… Continue reading

U.S. gives $250 million to support Ukrainian agriculture On the same day Russia aimed a “retribution” attack on the port of Odesa, USAID administrator Samantha Power announced an additional $250 million to support Ukraine’s war-battered agricultural sector on Tuesday. The money, put into the U.S.-created Agriculture Resilience Initiative-Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine), will… Continue reading

Ukraine grain exports to suffer as Russia blockades Black Sea The United States will work with allies to find new ways to get Ukrainian grain onto the world market following Russia’s decision to effectively blockade its ports again, said an administration spokesman on Monday. Nonetheless, exports from Ukraine, a leading… Continue reading

What to feed ‘cultivated’ meat? Soybeans The emergence of cell-cultured meat and plant-based meat substitutes may put some sizzle into soybeans, said a Purdue University paper. In particular, cell-cultured meat, when grown in a soy-based medium, uses more soybeans to produce a single unit of “cultivated” meat than go into… Continue reading

High costs and softer markets weigh on outlook for farm economy With interest rates sharply higher, farmers are increasingly relying on savings or tightening their belts instead of seeking bank loans to cover their expenses, according to ag lenders nationwide. “The outlook for the U.S. farm economy has moderated in… Continue reading