Farm bill should offer three months of paid family leave
The farm bill is America’s rural agenda and should include a system of paid family and medical leave, said the Democrat-leaning One Country Project on Monday. The program would guarantee three months of paid leave per year and be financed by a 1 percent tax on income, with employers paying the bulk of it.
Biomass-based diesel crowds out petroleum rival in California
By the end of this decade, “there is a high chance there will be no petroleum diesel used” in California, said agricultural economist Aaron Smith on Monday. This historic upheaval of the fuel market is being driven by state regulations promoting cleaner-burning fuels, he said. “Most California diesel is now made from animal fat, corn oil, soybean oil, or used cooking oil.”
Ag Insider
Alone on the range
Originally from Peru, the brothers, Gustavo and Iván, had been recruited to work as sheepherders in the United States under a temporary work visa. For the past few years, they’d split their time between a ranch outside Cokeville, Wyoming — where they helped wrangle sheep for shearing and selected lambs for meat production — and the state’s remote deserts and mountains, where they grazed the sheep on the open range. The hours were long and conditions were brutal, but they couldn’t see how to just leave. Their employers, Jon and Vickie Child, took his passport, Gustavo said, and the brothers had limited cellphone access; he said they also lacked access to a car, or even a map. If Child flew into a rage, “we were afraid he’d kill us,” said Iván.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Drug user fees reauthorized: As part of legislation to fund the government for 45 days, Congress reauthorized for five years the laws creating user fees that support FDA review of animal drug applications. (FDA)
Dreyfus income down 14 percent: Grain trader and processor Louis Dreyfus reported net income of $568 million for the first half of its accounting year, down 14 percent from the same period in 2022. (Dreyfus)
SNAP fee prohibition lapses: Retailers and SNAP recipients lost long-standing protection against having to pay processing fees on electronic transactions when the 2018 farm bill expired over the weekend. (The Hagstrom Report)
Overworked wildfire dispatchers: A U.S. Forest Service survey of wildfire dispatchers in the Pacific Northwest found they experience “problems that compromise their own health and safety” due to understaffing and a longer fire season. (High Country News)
Insurance for indoor crops: A new crop insurance policy, available in 25 states, protects indoor growers from losses that are the result of state or federal orders to destroy plant materials due to disease. (Risk Management Agency)
