Biden encourages larger U.S. crops to feed world, blunt inflation
President Biden will announce three steps to encourage American farmers “to boost production, lower food prices, and feed the world” during a visit to a family farm in northern Illinois on Wednesday afternoon, said the White House. Action by the USDA would be a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to high inflation at home.
As digital grocery market expands, questions of access, fairness, and affordability loom
The rapid rise of food delivery and online grocery shopping, particularly among SNAP recipients, is both transforming the food system and raising new questions about how to measure and improve access to food and food security, according to two new reports from the Brookings Institution.
As historic drought worsens, Californians increase water use
So far, 2022 is California’s driest year on record — but that hasn’t stopped residents from watering their lawns. According to the state’s Department of Water Resources, Californians used almost 19 percent more water last March than they did in March two years ago, despite the state’s deepening drought and increasingly strapped reservoirs. Residents also used more water last March than they have in any March since 2015.
Flood of applications for climate-smart funding
More than 350 groups proposed climate-smart pilot projects to help farmers develop a market for sustainably produced commodities, said the Agriculture Department on Tuesday. The large-scale projects, with budgets of up to $100 million, would draw on $1 billion in targeted USDA funding.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Egg prices rise again: Amid the worst outbreak of avian influenza among egg-laying hens since 2015, the nationwide wholesale price of a dozen large eggs now averages $2.67, a 19-cent increase that ended a post-Easter decline in prices. (USDA)
Soy oil rides biofuel boom: Like the ethanol boom a generation ago, the explosion in production of renewable diesel fuel, made from soybean oil, could permanently raise the price of soybeans and corn, its rival for cropland. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)
Reject Roundup appeal, says DOJ: The Supreme Court should refuse to hear an appeal from Bayer of a California case because federal pesticide labels do not override state laws against carcinogens, said Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar in an opinion requested by the justices. (Bloomberg)
Equipment sales down: Sales of agricultural tractors and combines fell for the second month in a row, due largely to supply chain difficulties. Tractor sales fell 22 percent in April, and combine sales were down nearly 6 percent. (Association of Equipment Manufacturers)l.
Shrink-wrap’s footprint: A group of Minnesota businesses, including General Mills and Schwan’s Company, is investing $9.2 million in Myplas USA, a plastics recycler, to build a 170,000-square-foot recycling center in Rogers, Minnesota. (Mbold)
