FDA will have ‘a more meaningful agenda’ on food additives
While California took the spotlight with a new law banning four food additives, FDA deputy commissioner Jim Jones said on Monday that the agency will adopt “a more meaningful agenda” on food chemicals as it reorganizes its food safety wing. Jones, who began work two months ago as chief of human foods, has said that the safe use of chemicals and dietary supplements is one of his three priorities.
Surge in farmland values slows to 5 percent in Midwest
Agricultural land values in the Midwest rose by an average of 5 percent during the past year, the smallest gain in three years, said ag bankers taking part in a Chicago Federal Reserve Bank survey. While Indiana notched a 16 percent increase, land values in Iowa were stagnant and one lender expressed surprise that land values did not decline in the Hawkeye State, said the Chicago Fed’s quarterly AgLetter.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Vertical farming faces a reckoning: Rising energy prices and interest rates walloped the vertical farming industry, which was promoted like a tech company, with expectations of a speedy payoff in a field —agriculture — with thin margins and customers who didn’t care if food was grown indoors. (Ambrook)
Bankers want tax break: Community banks are asking Congress for a tax exemption on interest income from loans secured with farm real estate on grounds that it would mean lower rates for borrowers and help banks compete with the Farm Credit System. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)
Spanberger runs for governor: Third-term Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, announced she is running for the 2025 Democratic nomination for governor in Virginia and will not seek re-election to the House next year. (Associated Press)
Syngenta pays Arkansas fine: Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said Syngenta paid a $280,000 fine for missing a deadline to report ownership of a research farm in the state and called the fine “a warning to all other Chinese state-owned companies operating in Arkansas.” (Griffin)
Biden, AMLO to meet: President Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will discuss ongoing efforts to strengthen bilateral relations and “address issues of shared concern” during a meeting on Friday in San Francisco, said the White House. (White House)
