Biden review of USDA may have a climate mitigation perspective
Robert Bonnie, an Obama appointee at the USDA and now the head of an initiative to identify agriculture’s role in mitigating climate change, will lead a review of the Agriculture Department to prepare the way for the incoming administration, said the Biden transition office. Meanwhile, Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge said on Wednesday that she would be honored to serve as Biden’s agriculture secretary. If chosen, she would be the first Black woman to hold the cabinet post.
Anti-hunger advocates expect Biden administration to bolster safety net
Anti-hunger advocates are celebrating the outcome of the presidential election, which they say creates a new opportunity to push back against escalating food insecurity in the United States — and they have plenty of ideas for what needs to be done.
Brazil heads, again, for its largest soy crop ever
Despite dry weather at the start of the planting season, Brazil is headed for its second record-setting soybean harvest in a row, said USDA analysts, who forecast the 2020/21 crop at 133 million metric tonnes, up nearly 6 percent from last year.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Peterson backs Scott: Collin Peterson, the departing chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said in a letter that he backs Georgia Rep. David Scott as his successor, pointing to Scott’s work on the committee since his election in 2002 and the significance of the committee having its first Black chairman. (FERN’s Ag Insider)
Four House Ag races undecided: Two Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee, Sean Patrick Maloney and Antonio Delgado, both of New York, were leading in their re-election races, while two others, California’s T.J. Cox and New York’s Anthony Brindisi, trailed. So far, only two members of the panel have been defeated, Democrats Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico. (FERN’s Ag Insider)
More ‘murder hornet’ nests likely: Scientists found more than 200 queens when they destroyed an Asian giant hornet nest near the U.S.-Canada border last month, and said more queens, which establish colonies, may be at large in northwestern Washington State. (BBC)
Ag trade balance shrinks: With ag exports stagnant at $135.9 billion, the U.S. agricultural trade balance, a consistent bright spot in trade data, slipped to $2.7 billion in fiscal 2020, the third year in a row of a decline. (Economic Research Service)
Vertical farming for dairy cows: A Utah dairy is the first to test an indoor vertical-farming system that developer Grov Technologies says can grow as much wheat or barley grass as 35 to 50 acres of farmland while using less water and reducing transportation costs. (Fast Company)
