Flash drought hits High Plains
Drought deepened during “quite the dry week” in the High Plains, said the Drought Monitor on Thursday. “Flash drought conditions are impacting the region, especially in the Dakotas, where warm, dry, and windy conditions have provided ideal harvest conditions but have started taking a toll.”
Bird flu losses near U.S. record with outbreak on Iowa egg farm
The Agriculture Department has spent $450 million to combat this year’s outbreak of bird flu, but losses among domestic flocks are nearing the record set seven years ago in the largest-ever U.S. animal health emergency. The outbreak has driven up egg prices and tightened the supply of holiday turkeys.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Waivers ‘appear ad hoc’: The EPA has no policies or procedures for deciding whether to exempt small refiners from the Renewable Fuel Standard, and the number of waivers varies year to year, so “agency decisions appear ad hoc, resulting in market uncertainty.” (Government Accountability Office)
Pushing for rail agreement: Dozens of farm and agribusiness organizations were among 320 national, state, and local groups that asked the Biden administration to work with freight railroads and labor unions to avoid a potential strike later this month. (National Chicken Council)
Fertilizer shipments worry Vilsack: “The thing I’m most concerned about” with low water on the Mississippi River “is the ability to get fertilizer to producers upriver,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)
Billions evaporate in California drought: According to a new study from the University of California, Merced, the state’s agricultural sector has lost $3 billion to drought in the past two years. (UC Merced Water Systems Management Lab)
Warnock is No. 1 fundraiser: Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has raised three times as much in campaign funds as Republican challenger Herschel Walker — $115 million vs. $37 million — and is the Senate’s top fundraiser. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Double export funding: In an effort to boost U.S. agricultural exports, a bipartisan House bill would double funding for the cost-sharing Market Access and Foreign Market Development programs. (Rep. Jim Costa)
