Boost Conservation Reserve, hold steady on working lands assistance
If Congress follows the farm bill recommendations of the Conservation Coalition, it would revive a $5-an-acre discount on crop insurance premiums for farmers who plant cover crops. The coalition, an alliance of farm, land stewardship, and environmental groups, also said on Wednesday that the 2023 farm bill should raise the enrollment cap for the land-idling Conservation Reserve.
USDA proposal would make it easier for schools to offer universal free meals
An additional 20,000 schools in poor neighborhoods would have the option of serving breakfast and lunch for free to all of their students under a proposal by the USDA, a step toward a potential expansion of universal free meals by more than 50 percent. “This is an investment in our youngsters,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Low-carbon fuel legislation: Four midwestern senators filed a bill to set a high-octane, low-carbon fuel standard that would open the door to the greater use of corn ethanol. (Senator Grassley)
Fertilizer prices on the wane: Fertilizer prices have trended downward for two and a half months, with the cost of anhydrous ammonia, a widely used nitrogen fertilizer, down 13 percent in the past month alone. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)
Monarchs losing habitat: Populations of the migrating eastern monarch butterfly continue to decline, and their presence on their wintering grounds in Mexico was down 22 percent this past year from the year before. (World Wildlife Fund)
Food banks expand mission: A small but growing number of food banks are shifting their operations beyond food distribution into a community service model that can include health care, clothing, and workforce development. (Food Bank News)
A plague of pigs: The 6 million feral hogs in the United States are so prolific, destructive, and difficult to control that they may be “the perfect invasive species,” says an expert. (Wired)
