Agreement on spending limits may prevent USDA shutdown
House and Senate leaders announced an agreement on Sunday to limit federal spending to $1.66 trillion this fiscal year, a step toward averting a partial government shutdown in 11 days. Stop-gap funding expires on Jan. 20 for the Agriculture, Transportation, Energy, Veterans, and Housing and Urban Development departments.
Study of five cities finds soda taxes cut consumption by one-third
Residents of five U.S. cities reduced their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) by an average 33 percent following imposition of so-called soda taxes, said researchers who studied years of sales data. “Scaling SSB excise taxes across the United States would likely generate significant population health benefits and medical cost savings,” said the researchers in the journal JAMA Health Forum.
AFR LATEST
Can $3 billion convince Black farmers to trust the USDA?
The Biden administration’s $3.1 billion Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities grant program seeks to make amends for a century of discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the grants. In its program description, USDA said Black, Native, and other “historically underserved” farmers needed to be a key part of all projects in the climate-smart program. It is a laudable goal, but one that faces many obstacles. The climate-smart partnerships are just underway, but it’s clear that some of the biggest projects—the ones that got the most taxpayer money and are led by giant for-profit companies and major agricultural lobbying groups—have not thought through in any detail how they will serve BIPOC farmers.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Six-month food-price decline: The FAO Food Price Index, based on prices for globally traded food commodities, declined for six months in a row and was 10-percent lower at the end of 2023 than it was 12 months earlier. (Food and Agriculture Organization)
‘Raise fertilizer fees’: Minnesota state Rep. Rick Hansen, who chairs the House environment committee, says incentives and voluntary management practices have failed, so the state should raise its fees on fertilizer to help pay for mitigating nitrate pollution in drinking water. (MPR)
Chromium in applesauce pouches: Laboratory tests found chromium in applesauce pouches that were recalled because of potential lead contamination. (FDA)
Stefanik drops House candidate: Rep. Elise Stefanik withdrew her endorsement of Craig Riedel, the GOP’s preferred challenger of Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat who formerly served on the House Agriculture Committee. (Politico)
ON THE USDA CALENDAR
Monday
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack holds a town hall discussion of USDA investments in rural healthcare services and strengthening farming operations, 9:30 a.m. ET, Durham, New Hampshire. In the afternoon, Vilsack joins Rep. Chellie Pingree for a roundtable discussion in Portland, Maine, of climate resilience and USDA aid to farmers in Maine to recover from recent damaging storms.
Pennsylvania State Agriculture Department holds 108th Pennsylvania Farm Show, “the largest indoor agricultural exposition under one roof in the nation,” through Saturday, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The Risk Management Agency holds an online workshop to discuss new and expanded livestock risk management products such as Dairy Revenue Protection, Livestock Gross Margin, and Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage insurance, 1 p.m. ET. The USDA agency will hold a second online workshop on Jan. 17. It has scheduled nine of its Livestock Roadshow sessions in-person from Wednesday through March 7..
Tuesday
Peoples Company, a farm real estate and asset management company, holds the annual Land Investment Expo, Des Moines.
University of Illinois Extension holds the 2024 Illinois Farm Economic Summit, through Thursday, in three cities: Mount Vernon on Tuesday, Peoria on Wednesday, and Dekalb on Thursday.
The Maine state Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry holds the Agricultural Trades Show, through Thursday, Augusta, Maine.
Wednesday
House debates HR 4768, the No Russia Agriculture Act, which instructs U.S. officials serving at international financial institutions “to support projects that decrease the reliance of countries on Russia for agricultural commodities, particularly fertilizer and grain.” The bill will be considered under rules that limit debate, bar amendments, and require a two-thirds majority vote for passage, said a schedule circulated by Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
The American Sheep Industry Association holds annual convention, through Saturday, Denver.
Thursday
The Labor Department releases monthly Consumer Price Index report, 8:30 a.m. ET. In its latest report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the food inflation rate was 2.9 percent and the overall U.S. inflation rate was 3.1 percent.
International Grains Council releases Grains Market Report, London.
Friday
USDA releases the monthly Crop Production and WASDE reports, the quarterly Grain Stocks report, the Crop Production — Annual report, and the annual Winter Wheat Seedings report, noon ET. The reports will provide a new look at USDA estimates that the 2023 corn crop was the largest ever, at 15.2 billion bushels, and would drop the season average corn price by 26 percent and fatten the U.S. stockpile by 57 percent. Farm-gate prices for wheat and soybeans also are expected to be much lower this marketing year. The USDA has projected a 1.6 million-acre decline in wheat sowings, to 48 million acres, this year.
U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai and India Minister of Commerce and Industry co-chair the 14th ministerial level meeting of the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum, New Delhi. India is forecast to import $1.6 billion of U.S. food and agriculture products this year, roughly 1 percent of total farm exports. The United States is forecast to import $3.2 billion of food and agriculture products from India.
The USDA animal welfare rules for organic livestock take effect today, with most producers having one year to comply.
Saturday
Final day to apply for a share of $2.2 billion in assistance for producers who experienced discrimination at USDA in the past.
Jan. 15
Martin Luther King Day, a federal holiday that commemorates the life of the civil rights leader and has become a day to promote equal rights for all. In 1983, President Reagan signed legislation creating the holiday, observed on the third Monday of January, close to King’s birthdate of Jan. 15, 1929. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, four years before he was assassinated in Memphis, where he was to lead a march in support of striking garbage workers.
Iowa Republicans hold precinct caucuses, the first step in the nation toward nominating the party’s candidate for president, 8 p.m. ET. Former president Donald Trump is the frontrunner. Iowa Democrats also will hold precinct caucuses but will not test presidential preferences. The party will announce on March 5 the results of a mail-in vote for president. The presidential preference cards will go into the mail on Jan 12 and the last day to request a card is Feb. 19. The first Democratic presidential primary is Feb. 3 in South Carolina.
