An $8 billion response to fight hunger
President Biden’s goal of ending hunger and reducing diet-related disease by 2030 already is backed by $8 billion in commitments from the private sector, medical groups, schools and charities, said senior administration officials. Biden was to deliver “a call to action to all Americans” on Wednesday at the first White House hunger conference in half a century.
USDA puts in motion grant program to increase fertilizer production
The government will award up to $500 million in grants to increase domestic fertilizer production, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday at a meeting of state agriculture directors. Some of the money will go to projects that would pay off in 2023 or 2024.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Committee advances ag nominees: The Senate Agriculture Committee cleared three Biden nominees for a floor vote: Alexis Taylor for agriculture undersecretary for trade, Jose Esteban for agriculture undersecretary for food safety and Vincent Logan to serve on the Farm Credit Administration board. (Senate Agriculture)
Extend livestock price reporting: The short-term government funding bill proposed by congressional Democrats would extend the USDA’s livestock mandatory price reporting system through mid-December. (House Appropriations Committee)
Sharing grain bin costs: The USDA offered $20 million in cost-share assistance to producers to rebuild grain storage facilities damaged by tornadoes in Kentucky in 2021 and by derechos in South Dakota and Minnesota this year. (Farm Service Agency)
Lead and urban farmers: Urban farming is on the rise but only 10 of 42 cities surveyed have specific policies on “acceptable” levels of lead in the soil and they vary widely, says a study in the journal GeoHealth. (American Geophysical Union)
Typhoon flattens Philippine crops: Initial estimates from the Philippine Agriculture Department said Typhoon Karding flattened vast amounts of rice, corn and other high-value crops when it passed through central Luzon Island just before the harvest season. (Philippine Star)
Measuring soil carbon: The USDA said it would fund four projects across the country at a combined $8 million to monitor soil carbon on working agricultural lands and assess how climate-smart practices affect carbon sequestration. (Natural Resources Conservation Service)
