Biden signs school nutrition extension, averting potential ‘summer hunger crisis’
Before leaving Washington for summit meetings in Europe, President Biden signed into law a $3-billion extension of school nutrition waivers. Proponents said the extension would prevent “a summer hunger crisis” and called for Congress to expand the school food program, rather than limit access.
Link between commodity prices and inflation is weak
There is little correlation between commodity prices and inflation rates, said a group of agricultural economists writing at the farmdoc daily blog. “Current high inflation rates do not necessarily signal a continuing period of high commodity prices,” they said, pointing to “plateaus” when corn and soybeans cluster around long-term price averages.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Food inflation forecast rises: Food prices will rise by an average of 8 percent this year compared to average prices in 2021 — 1 percentage point higher than forecast a month ago and the highest inflation rate in four decades, said the monthly Food Price Outlook. (USDA)
Gates’ purchase roils Dakotans: North Dakota state officials are investigating whether the purchase of roughly 2,100 acres (3.3 square miles) of farmland by a trust associated with billionaire Bill Gates violates a law against corporate farming. (Associated Press)
New AFBF exec: Joby Young, who was chief of staff for Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, will become executive vice president of the largest U.S. farm group in mid-July, following the retirement of Dale Moore. (American Farm Bureau Federation)
Romanian farmers dream big: Romania is a much smaller grain producer than Ukraine and its major seaport has limited capacity, but “there are opportunities for Romanian farmers this year” in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (New York Times)
All wildfires aren’t equal: Fires started by human activity, such as a smoldering campfire, burn hotter, spread faster and destroy more trees than wildfires with natural causes, such as lightning, say scientists. (Los Angeles Times)
ON THE CALENDAR
Monday
The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives holds the annual Washington Conference, through Wednesday, Washington.
USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report, 4 p.m. ET.
Tuesday
In a rare matchup of House incumbents, conservative Republicans Rodney Davis and Mary Miller, members of the House Agriculture Committee, seek the GOP nomination on Tuesday in House District 15 in downstate Illinois. Davis and Miller voted to overturn President Biden’s election. Davis also voted to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection. Primary elections also are held in Colorado, New York State, Oklahoma and Utah.
Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund holds listening session “focused on challenges Federation members and their communities face in accessing credit to keep their farms operating,” 5 p.m. ET.
Wednesday
USDA releases quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, 3 p.m. ET.
Thursday
USDA releases annual Acreage and quarterly Grain Stocks reports, noon ET. Traders expect the USDA to report that, for only the third time, farmers planted more soybeans than corn, but the margin will be slightly smaller than growers indicated in March. Durum and spring wheat sowings may be half-a-million acres lower, due to a cold and rainy planting season.
USDA releases monthly Agricultural Prices report, 3 p.m. ET.
July 4
Independence Day. On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring “[t]hat these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown.” The revolution started on April 19, 1775, in fighting between British troops and American militia at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. It effectively ended with the surrender of a British army commanded by Lord Charles Cornwallis on Oct. 18, 1781. Nearly two years later, Britain signed the Treaty of Paris and formally recognized the independence of the former colonies in Sept. 3, 1783.
