Biden says no to higher gas taxes to pay for infrastructure
If a bipartisan infrastructure deal holds, Midwesterners can expect upgrades to roads, bridges and broadband networks, President Biden said on Tuesday in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. “There is no gas tax (increase),” he said. “Working families have already paid enough.”
Sonny Perdue’s undisclosed deal with ADM raises ethics questions
Several weeks before Sonny Perdue became agriculture secretary, his company bought a grain elevator in Estill, South Carolina, from agribusiness giant ADM for $250,000 – a fraction of the original asking price, reported the Washington Post on Tuesday. ADM denied it was a sweetheart deal but a former federal prosecutor said it “stinks to high heaven.”
U.S. should offer incentives for conservation practices – Report
Economic concerns are often a driving factor when farmers decide whether to adopt conservation practices such as cover crops or diversified crop rotations, said the AGree farm policy initiative in a paper released on Wednesday.
Today’s Quick Hits
‘Small, positive effect’: The trade deals of the past four decades had only “a small, positive effect” on growth and employment in the massive U.S. economy, said the U.S. International Trade Commission in a report ordered by Congress. (Politico)
Cookout costs stable: Groceries for an Independence Day cookout cost an average of $6 per person, a couple of pennies less than last year, with lower pork and beef prices offsetting the rising cost of cookies, strawberries and ice cream. (AFBF)
Food in the freedge: The so-called community refrigerator, sometimes called a “freedge” because it has free food for passersby, is more common in the aftermath of the pandemic and the increase in hunger. (Washington Post)
GE Arctic Gala: A variety of the Arctic Gala apple that was genetically engineered to resist browning should be as safe for cultivation as earlier varieties of GE apples with the same trait, says a USDA agency in inviting public comment. (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency)
Canola rivals wheat: Canadian farmers planted nearly as much land as canola, a source of cooking oil, as their mainstay of wheat – 22.5 million acres vs. 23.4 million acres. (Statistics Canada)
