China trade advisers push renegotiating U.S. trade pact – report
Some Chinese trade advisers are arguing that Beijing should invalidate the “phase one” trade agreement that de-escalated the Sino-U.S. trade war as retaliation for a U.S. coronavirus blame campaign, reported a state-controlled Chinese newspaper on Monday.
Pay hog farmers indemnities for culling herds, say senators
The next coronavirus relief bill should include indemnity money for hog farmers who killed their animals because slaughter plants were shut down due to the coronavirus, said 14 senators in a letter to House and Senate leaders on Monday. The letter did not suggest how much the indemnities would cost.
Farmland Trust supports 1,000 farmers who sell direct
To offset the impact of the coronavirus on farmers who market directly to consumers, the American Farmland Trust distributed $1 million, raised from donors, in $1,000 checks to 1,000 farmers, said AFT’s president John Piotti.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
More illnesses as meatpacking plants open (Bloomberg): Cases of Covid-19 jumped 40 percent in counties with major meatpacking plants, a week after President Trump’s executive order requiring the idled plants to reopen.
Child obesity rate grows larger (International Business Times): Nearly one of every 5 children – 18.6 percent – in the United States is overweight or obese, the latest in an upward trend due to sedentary lifestyles of Americans, said the CDC.
Who will cover rural coronavirus? (Daily Yonder): The full impact of the coronavirus on rural America may go unreported because of the declining number of rural news outlets and the geographical challenge that metropolitan outlets face in covering rural America.
More testing for food and ag workers (House Ag): Congress should include $250 billion in the next coronavirus relief bill for broad national testing and contact tracing for food and ag workers, first responders, frontline healthcare workers and other vulnerable groups, said House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson and two subcommittee chairmen.
Corn, soy planting races ahead (USDA): Farmers planted more than 15 million acres of corn and 12.5 million acres of soybeans last week, putting the planting season well ahead of its normal pace with 67 percent of corn and 38 percent of soybeans in the ground.
Put out the fire to avoid cornavirus (Los Angeles Times): Fire officials are adopting a blitzkreig approach for this year’s wildfire season, with a heavy reliance on aircraft in an effort to extinguish fires as soon as they start. The coronavirus may prevent the use of large numbers of firefighters working closely together.
