Ethanol stands out in nationalized campaigning in Iowa
Republican presidential candidates pledged allegiance to corn ethanol ahead of the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses in a contest dominated by former president Donald Trump and his personality. There was little room for any farm policy debate in an effectively nationalized campaign.
As food inflation rate falls, consumer optimism rises
The U.S. food inflation rate, on the decline since August 2022, shrank to an annualized rate of 2.7 percent at the end of 2023, said the monthly Consumer Price Index report on Thursday. A Purdue survey said Americans’ expectations of food inflation are the lowest in two years, suggesting consumers are more optimistic about prices this year.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
‘Fully fund WIC’: Congress should provide an additional $1 billion for the Women, Infants, and Children food program this month to prevent a reduction of benefits in 2024, said the Biden administration. USDA funding runs out next week. (USDA)
Who’s unhappy? Rural Americans: An online poll says that rural residents, Republicans, renters, women, and single people “disproportionately feel like they’re in a big fat funk financially,” with 46 percent of rural Americans saying their financial situation is poor. (Axios)
CRP sign ups resume: Under the one-year extension of the 2018 farm law, signups will reopen on Friday for the Conservation Reserve Program’s continuous enrollment option for high-priority practices, such as buffer strips, and for the re-enrollment of long-term land-idling contracts. (USDA)
Record global corn crop: Although a “solid rebound” in corn production — up 5.6 percent from 2022/23 — will lift world grain output this year to 2.31 billion metric tons, the highest total ever, voracious global demand will draw down stockpiles for the seventh year in a row. (IGC)
Mark Zuckerberg, cattleman: The social media pioneer said he is raising Wagyu and Angus cattle on his ranch in Hawaii and that the animals will be “eating macadamia meal and drinking beer that we grow and produce here on the ranch.” (NBC News)
