FTC probes grocery and meat supply chain and spiking prices
The two largest U.S. supermarket chains, the leading grocery wholesaler and the No. 1 chicken processor are among nine companies ordered by the Federal Trade Commission to turn over detailed information for its study of “empty shelves and sky-high prices.”
Micro-farm crop insurance policy will debut in 2022
Small farmers who sell their products locally are eligible for a new micro-farm policy, said the Risk Management Agency, which oversees the federally subsidized crop insurance system.
Today’s Quick Hits
Insuring farm consolidation: University of Nebraska researchers say federally subsidized crop insurance accelerated the consolidation of farming into fewer, larger operations. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)
Pesticide’s long shadow on bees: Bees may require multiple generations to recover reproductive fertility after exposure to a single application of a neonicotinoid pesticide, say researchers. (UC-Davis)
Tariffs stop apples: U.S. apple exports to India have plummeted by 79 percent as a result of the nation’s retaliatory tariffs against American tariffs on steel and aluminum, said a trade group. (U.S. Apple Association)
Money for locks: Seven farm groups offered $1 million from farmer-funded checkoff programs to pay for pre-engineering and design work to improve the 82-year-old Lock and Dam 25 on the Mississippi River 50 miles north of St. Louis. (United Soybean Board)
Pismo clam collapse: Pismo Beach on California’s central coast used to be the Clam Capital of the World because of the abundant and eponymous Pismo clam. Now scientists are digging into the mystery of where they went. (Los Angeles Times)
