Biden proposes 16 percent increase in child nutrition outlays
The Biden administration’s proposals to expand a summer food program for school-age children and to encourage schools in high-poverty areas to provide meals for free to all students would add an average $4 billion a year to the cost of USDA’s child nutrition programs.
USDA spending nearly doubles during pandemic
The Agriculture Department will spend nearly $289 billion this fiscal year, almost double its pre-pandemic level of outlays, according to USDA budget data. The increase is due chiefly to coronavirus relief payments to farmers and increases in public nutrition programs.
Land stewardship would get a modest increase from Biden
President Biden’s months-delayed budget calls for small increases in land stewardship spending, around $300 million a year in the near term, by USDA to mitigate climate change. The administration also proposed a $65 million increase in funding for USDA’s ReConnect program to deploy broadband to under-served areas.
Today’s Quick Hits
Hackers hit JBS: The world’s largest meat processor, JBS, shut down operations in Australia, as well as facilities in the United States and Canada, due to major cyber attacks, said a union representing meat workers in Queensland. (news.com.au)
Fake farm loans: A House subcommittee opened a formal investigation into how at least two online lenders facilitated Paycheck Protection Program loans to questionable borrowers, including 378 loans to single-person businesses, often described as farms with no apparent farming operations. (ProPublica)
Lesser prairie-chicken listing: The Fish and Wildlife Service set a 60-day comment period on its proposal to list two population segments of the lesser prairie-chicken on the Endangered Species List because of threats to its habitat in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado. (USFWS)
Australian mouse plague: An explosion in the mouse population in Australia’s eastern grain belt has farmers fearing the rodents will destroy grain in storage bins and eat the seeds if they plant winter crops. (New York Times)
CFTC whistleblower fix: The Senate passed and sent to the House a bill to keep the CFTC Whistleblower Office in operation even if its fund to reward whistleblowers for exposing fraud is depleted, a possibility in the near future. (National Law Review)
On The Calendar
Tuesday
Purdue University releases its monthly Ag Economy Barometer, a gauge of the farm sector.
Former agriculture secretary Dan Glickman discusses his book, “Laughing at myself: My education in Congress, on the farm and at the movies,” at the Bipartisan Policy Center, 1 p.m. ET..
USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report, 4 p.m. ET.
Wednesday
Consumer Federation of America holds Virtual National Food Policy Conference Series session on “Policies for a post-pandemic hang-over: Addressing alcohol use in the time of Covid-19 and beyond,” 2 p.m. ET.
National Grain and Feed Association holds 125th annual convention, through Friday, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Thursday
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization releases monthly Food Price Index, measuring the monthly change in international prices for a basket of food commodities, Rome.
Friday
Livestock Marketing Association annual conference and world livestock auctioneer championship, through June 7, Nashville.
Potential deadline to apply for payments through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program; USDA said on April 5, when it re-opened the application window that signup would run for “at least 60 days.”
