Trump cites sluggish ag sales as reason to expand trade war
A day after the White House reported constructive talks with China, President Trump expanded the Sino-U.S. trade war on Thursday, saying China wasn’t buying enough U.S. farm exports and Beijing wasn’t moving fast enough in negotiations.
‘Dead zone’ in Gulf is eighth-largest on record
The fish-killing “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico this summer covers 6,952 square miles, midway in size between Connecticut and New Jersey, said researchers on Thursday. It is the eighth-largest dead zone in 33 years of keeping records.
USDA proposes change in rules for greater sage-grouse
The USDA intends by this fall to put in place a revised land management plan for the greater sage-grouse, once a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Confusion at the grill (Bloomberg): Although faux-meat burgers are coming to fast-food restaurants, not all chains are cooking them apart from the real meat, leading non-meat eaters to question whether the food they’re ordering conforms with their diets.
Cash concerns at Corteva (Wall Street Journal): Heavy rains that interrupted the planting season are having an impact on agribusiness’ bottom line, as shuttered plants and returned products cut into profits at Corteva, Bayer, and other companies.
Brexit contingency plan (Business Insider): The Boris Johnson administration is working on a $600 million package to support British farmers by purchasing mutton and other meats that would face high EU tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to reports.
Standardizing food-date labels (Pingree): A newly filed House companion to Senate legislation would standardize the language used on food packaging in an effort to help consumers avoid wasting money by mistakenly discarding good food.
Food and politics in rural kitchens (Civil Eats): The USDA’s racially segregated “home demonstration agents,” who brought home economics to rural women beginning in the early 1900s, were political activists as well as educators, says a forthcoming book by Cherisse Jones-Branch, a professor at Arkansas State University.
Second try by Scholten? (Storm Lake Times): While Iowa Democrat J.D. Scholten, who nearly beat nine-term Republican Rep. Steve King in 2018, hasn’t officially announced if he’ll run again, he is increasingly talking like a candidate.
