Biden says starvation will rise as Russia ends grain export deal
UN and European leaders called on Russia on Sunday to revive the international agreement for grain exports from Ukraine, calling it crucial for stabilizing grain prices and keeping food flowing to tens of millions of people.
Farmers say cover crops are on 40 percent of cropland
Cover crops are more popular than previously known, according to a USDA survey. Growers reported using cover crops on 40 percent of their cropland in 2021, suggesting a sizable increase from the 15.4 million acres of cover crops listed in the 2017 Census of Agriculture.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Less Colorado River water: Less water would be released from Glen Canyon and Hoover dams under a proposal by the Bureau of Reclamation to conserve water in the drought-stricken Colorado River basin. (Interior Department)
Ag-labor reform: Pennsylvania farmers say the congressional session after the midterms is their best chance for Senate passage of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would give legal status to undocumented workers and streamline the guestworker visa. (USA Today)
Food inflation indicator: Commodity prices are far more volatile than food prices, so the core CPI “is a better indicator of what’s happening and going to happen to prices,” said ag economist Aaron Smith. (Ag Data News)
Ag pavilion at COP27: The first-ever Food and Agriculture Pavilion at the 27th UN climate change conference “will put the transformation of agrifood systems at the heart of the COP agenda.” (FAO)
Stewardship agreement: The U.S. Forest Service will provide $50 million for a 20-year program with the National Wild Turkey Federation to reduce wildfire risk and improve wildlife habitat and water quality in national forests and grasslands. (USDA)
ON THE CALENDAR
Monday
Boo! It’s Halloween, believed to have originated 2,000 years ago in a Celtic festival ahead of the Nov. 1 start of the new year, according to the History Channel. Nov. 1 “marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.” The festival of Samhain was held on Oct. 31, “when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth,” causing trouble and damaging crops.
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh leads an agribusiness trade mission to Kenya and Tanzania, through Friday. In 2021, Kenya and Tanzania imported $67 million worth of U.S. food and agriculture products.
U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai meets European counterparts, through Tuesday, Prague, Czech Republic. Tai “will emphasize the importance of U.S.-European cooperation on a range of shared priorities, including building supply chain resilience, holding Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine, and confronting the non-market economic challenges posed by China and other economies,” said a USTR release.
USDA releases monthly Agricultural Prices report, 3 p.m. ET.
USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report, 4 p.m. ET.
Tuesday
Farm Foundation holds an online forum on “Ag Trade and Commodity Outlook for 2023,” 10 a.m. ET. Speakers are USDA chief economist Seth Meyer, associate professor Amanda Countryman of Colorado State University and former U.S. chief agricultural negotiator Gregg Doud.
Purdue University releases Ag Economy Barometer, a monthly gauge of the health of the agricultural economy.
Clean Fuels Foundation holds inaugural Sustainability Workshop, through Wednesday, St. Louis.
The National Institute for Animal Agriculture holds 12th Antibiotics Symposium, through Thursday, Alexandria, Virginia.
Wednesday
Western Growers Association holds 96th annual meeting, through Saturday, Las Vegas.
American Seed Trade Association holds Farm and Lawn Seed Conference, Kansas City.
Sunday
American Bankers Association holds the annual National Agricultural Bankers Conference, through Nov. 9, Omaha, Nebraska.
The 27th UN climate change conference, known as COP27, meets through Nov. 18, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. President Biden will attend the conference on Nov. 11 and “will highlight the need for the world to act in this decisive decade,” said the White House.
