Already low, food inflation to slow in 2025, says USDA
Grocery prices will rise by a scant 0.7 percent in 2025, the smallest increase in seven years, said USDA analysts on Thursday in their first forecast of food inflation in the new year. Grocery price inflation was forecast at a below-normal 1 percent this year.
Bird flu spreads among Colorado farmworkers, with nine infected in two weeks
Nine farmworkers at two egg farms in Colorado have contracted mild cases of bird flu since mid-July while killing and disposing of millions of infected chickens, said public health officials on Thursday. “These preliminary results again underscore the risk of exposure to infected animals,” said the Centers for Disease Control, which added that the risk to the general population remains low.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Recess delays farm bill: With the House in recess until early September, the chances of passing the new farm bill this year are increasingly slim, said Georgia Rep. David Scott, the senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, adding, “Farmers need results, and Republicans are failing to deliver.” (Agriculture Committee Democrats)
Whitmer vetoes E15 rebate: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed a $3 million grant program that would have given fuel retailers a 5 cent-a-gallon rebate for selling E15, a blend of gasoline and 15 percent ethanol. (Detroit News)
Merger is paused: Grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons agreed to delay their proposed $25 billion merger until a trial this fall in Colorado state court resolves one of the lawsuits opposing the merger. (Grocery Dive)
AGCO sells grain and livestock unit: Farm equipment maker AGCO said it had agreed to sell the majority of its grain and protein business to American Industrial Partners for $700 million. (AGCO)
Climate change and forests: The USDA is making $190 million in grant money available for climate projects on privately owned forests: $140 million for state-endorsed cost-share programs to make forests more resilient to climate change and $40 million to pay for carbon sequestration projects. (USDA)
