Despite small crop, U.S. is top cotton exporter
U.S. cotton exports will shrink by 14 percent this trade year, the result of a drought-stunted crop, but America will remain the No. 1 supplier to the world market, said the USDA on Thursday.
Food stamp fights are possible in 2023 farm bill, says Stabenow
Although lawmakers may try to cut SNAP benefits as part of the farm bill due in 2023, “we’re not going backwards,” said Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow at a food conference on Thursday. Deadline for the bill is Sept. 30, although “oftentimes there has to be an extension. So that may happen.”
Biodiversity loss, climate change driving an ‘escalating nature crisis’
Wildlife populations plummeted 69 percent worldwide between 1970 and 2018, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Wildlife Fund. Food systems were a key driver of this biodiversity loss, responsible for 70 percent of the population decline of land animals and half of the decline in freshwater species monitored for the report. Conservation alone will not be enough to halt these declines, wrote the authors, who said that scaling up sustainable food production is crucial.
Lawsuit seeks to restore U.S. aid for Black farmers
The government must honor its 2021 offer of $4 billion in loan forgiveness to Black and other socially disadvantaged farmers, even though Congress repealed the aid program this summer, said a class action lawsuit filed on Wednesday. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who filed suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, likened the situation to the loss of assistance to Black farmers after the Civil War.
Talks & Eats returns to Brooklyn, 10/24!
The climate crisis in agriculture is a frequent topic of reporting here at FERN. But climate change is also having a significant effect on wine and beer. How are vintners and brewers responding? In this panel discussion, wine writer Alice Feiring — proclaimed “the queen of natural wines” by the Financial Times — will talk about what she’s seen and what she’s worried about. Garrett Oliver — Brewmaster, The Brooklyn Brewery and Editor-in-Chief, The Oxford Companion to Beer — will talk about the ancient grains he’s now using to brew climate resilient beers. And author Rowan Jacobsen will focus on the explosion of winemaking in the northeast as the climate has warmed. Tickets include complimentary beer and wine. A tax-deductible VIP ticket includes a reception with beer, wine, and eats.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Money for water: The Interior Department will pay farmers, cities, and tribes up to $400 for each acre-foot (326,000 gallons) of water from the lower Colorado River they save through voluntary reductions in usage. (CNN)
Warnock, Walker neck and neck: Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, led Republican Herschel Walker 46 percent to 43 percent in a recent poll. If neither candidate gets 50 percent of the vote in November, there will be a December runoff. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
New BIO leadership: Rachel King, co-founder of GlycoMimetics, was named interim chief executive of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization a day after her predecessor abruptly left the job. (BIO)
Turkey despite bird flu: There will be plenty of frozen turkeys available for Thanksgiving dinner despite the loss of 7 million birds to this year’s outbreaks of avian influenza, said the National Turkey Federation. (Meat and Poultry)
Birds under pressure: Bird populations across the nation are declining, with 70 species at a tipping point, said the annual State of the Birds report. A bright spot is wetlands, where decades of conservation has resulted in dramatic population gains. (North American Bird Conservation Initiative)
