Farm sector rebounding but may need more aid, says Duvall – January 15, 2021

Farm sector rebounding but may need more aid, says Duvall

The farm economy, battered since 2018 by a trade war and a pandemic, is rallying, though it is too early to declare a return to prosperity, said the president of the largest U.S. farm organization on Thursday, reserving judgment on whether more stopgap federal aid will be needed.

 

Biden: Higher SNAP benefits for the rest of the year

As part of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus package, President-elect Joe Biden said on Thursday that the 15 percent increase in SNAP benefits approved last month should be extended through the end of this year. Biden, announcing his American Rescue Plan, vowed his administration would “tackle the growing hunger crisis in America.”

 

Significant gene edits for hogs ‘are on the horizon,’ say U.S. producers

At least five other nations are moving toward gene editing of hogs, which could put them miles ahead of the United States in producing disease-resistant and faster-growing hogs that cost less to grow, said a group speaking for American hog farmers on Thursday.

 

EPA plan would give small refiners more time to comply with RFS

Small oil refineries would have an additional six months to show they had complied with their obligations to mix corn ethanol into gasoline during 2019 under an EPA proposal published on Thursday.

 

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

Plaskett is impeachment manager: Democrat Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands, who chairs a House Agriculture subcommittee, was named one of the House impeachment managers, although as a delegate from a U.S. territory, she is not allowed to vote on the House floor. (New York Times)

Disappearing delta smelt: Once the most abundant fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the 2- to-3-inch-long delta smelt seems to be vanishing. For the third straight year, state wildlife workers did not find any of the fish during an annual survey. (Stockton Record)

 

Boycott of online retailers is alleged: A lawsuit in federal court in Illinois alleges the manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of seeds, ag chemicals, and other crop inputs coordinated a boycott of online merchants, resulting in farmers paying higher prices for the goods. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)

 

World wheat production to climb again: The first projections of the world wheat crop for 2021/22 “point to record production and, despite higher consumption, a further accumulation of global stocks,” said the monthly Grain Market Report. (International Grains Council)

 

Lawsuit against Yazoo Pumps: Environmental groups filed suit in federal court to block the Yazoo Pumps project — which would drain backwater behind Mississippi River levees south of Vicksburg — saying it threatens 200,000 acres of wetlands and the endangered species that live in them. (WLBT-TV)

Bookmark the permalink.