Farm income jumps 14 percent to record high
High commodity prices, due in part to warfare in Ukraine, will propel U.S. net farm income to a record $160.5 billion this year, despite a steep climb in expenses, said the Agriculture Department on Thursday. Farm income, a gauge of profitability, would be 14 percent higher than last year.
With eye on second-generation biofuels, EPA proposes 10 percent increase in RFS
The EPA proposed a 10 percent increase, mostly reserved for cleaner-burning “advanced” biofuels, over three years in the federal mandate to mix biofuels into the U.S. gasoline supply, and said it would expand the Renewable Fuel Standard to include electricity generated from biogas and used in electric vehicles. The proposal, announced Thursday, would mean greater use of E15 and other blends of corn ethanol above the traditional 10 percent, said ethanol groups.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Trouble for Starbucks: The National Labor Relations Board ruled Wednesday that Starbucks violated labor law by refusing to bargain with unionized workers at its Seattle mega-cafe. (Bloomberg)
Congress imposes rail contract: Acting a day after the House, the Senate voted, 80-15, to impose a contract on railroad workers, sending the measure to President Biden. The vote came after senators rejected a House proposal that would have given workers seven paid sick days. (ABC News)
Baguette on heritage list: UNESCO, the UN heritage agency, named the baguette, the ubiquitous bread of France, to its world heritage list amid economic upheavals that include rising prices and the widespread closing of the country’s rural bakeries. (New York Times)
Virus vs. wheat scab: A naturally occurring fungal virus could disrupt the ability of the disease known as Fusarium head blight, or wheat scab, to contaminate wheat with vomitoxin, which reduces the value of the grain. (U.S. Agricultural Research Service)
Pink snow, red flag: Half the water in the U.S. West comes from snowmelt, and scientists are trying to gauge the impact of snow algae on the melt and how its role may change as the climate warms. (High Country News)
