Dairy likely to highlight USMCA consultations
Trade ministers from Canada, Mexico and the United States are scheduled to confer digitally on Monday and Tuesday in the first meeting of the USMCA’s Fair Trade Commission, with dairy expected to be the hot topic. U.S. dairy groups called on Sunday for the Biden administration to escalate an ongoing complaint against Canadian dairy quotas unless this week’s meeting produces results.
China buys lower-cost ‘new crop’ corn from U.S.
After buying huge amounts of the 2020 U.S. corn crop, China bought a total of 3.74 million tonnes (147 million bushels) of American corn last week, all of it for delivery after this year’s crop is mature, reported the USDA. “New crop” corn was 80 cents to $1 a bushel lower in price at the Chicago futures markets than the 2020 crop.
Join us for an Ag Briefing!
On May 19th at 5pm CST on KAMA Radio, we will be discussing the issues that are top of mind for anyone immersed in food and ag policy: The Biden administration’s appointments and legislative agenda; What’s happening at USDA under Secretary Tom Vilsack; Who’s driving the food and ag policy agenda, i.e. who has power and how are they using it?; The post-Trump administration landscape for anti-hunger programs and school food. And of course, there will be plenty of time for a Q&A. Don’t miss this program on KAMA Radio / Americana.
Today’s Quick Hits
Windfall of wind taxes: The arrival of wind farms in rural America has been a financial boon for school districts, but the impact on school achievement is limited because of complexities in school financing that keep class sizes large. (Daily Yonder)
Horses to slaughter: An Interior Department program, which paid $1,000 per animal to people who “adopted” wild horses or burros removed from federal rangeland, has in fact been “subsidizing their path to destruction” at slaughterhouses. (New York Times)
Bayer loses appeal: The federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld a $25-million verdict against the maker of Roundup, saying the jury award of $20 million to a Sonoma County man who blamed the weedkiller for causing his cancer was constitutional. (Los Angeles Times)
Barge traffic resumes: The Coast Guard opened the Mississippi River to barge traffic beneath the crippled I-40 bridge at Memphis on Friday, after a two-day shutdown that stranded more than 1,000 barges. (Reuters)
One-third at risk: If global warming continues at its current rate, one-third of world food production would be at risk by the end of the century due to higher temperatures and shifts in rainfall patterns, say researchers at Aalto University in Finland. (Guardian)
On The Calendar
Monday
House votes on HR 210, Rural STEM Education Research Act, “to coordinate federal research and development efforts focused on STEM education and workforce development in rural areas.”
The Wheat Quality Council holds 2021 Hard Red Winter Wheat Tour, through Wednesday. Crop scouts will spend most of their time in Kansas with side trips into northern Oklahoma and southern Nebraska.
Kansas Wheat, a cooperative agreement between the grower-funded Kansas Wheat Commission and the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, holds 2021 Wheat Tour, through Thursday.
USDA releases North American Flour Milling Products summary, 3 p.m. ET.
USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report, 4 p.m. ET.
Tuesday
The House Agriculture Committee holds a “member day” session, 10 a.m. ET, 1300 Longworth.
House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture and FDA holds “member day” hearing online, 10 a.m. ET.
House Appropriations subcommittee hearing online, “The need for universal broadband: Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic,” 10:30 a.m. ET.
USDA releases monthly Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook, 3 p.m. ET.
Wednesday
Senate Environment and Public Works hearing ” to examine biodiversity loss, focusing on drivers, impacts and potential solutions,” 10 a.m. ET, G-50 Dirksen.
Thursday
Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, “Federal, state and private forestlands: Opportunities for addressing climate change,” 9:30 a.m. ET, 301 Russell.
Friday
South Korean President Moon Jae-in meets President Biden in a visit the White House says “will highlight the ironclad alliance” between the nations. South Korea is the fourth-largest market for U.S. ag exports, forecast at $13.7 billion this fiscal year.
USDA releases monthly Cattle on Feed report, 3 p.m. ET.
