Global demand for biofuels to slow in decade ahead – June 30, 2022

Global demand for biofuels to slow in decade ahead

Corn will become less important and sugarcane will become the dominant feedstock for making ethanol in the coming decade, said an agricultural outlook published jointly by the OECD and FAO on Wednesday. The report forecast a relatively slow growth rate for biofuels, averaging 0.6 percent a year worldwide, with growth in the United States constrained by declining gasoline consumption.

Producers receive $4 billion in ERP payments

In the six weeks since the USDA launched the program, farmers have received $4 billion from the Emergency Relief Program as compensation for losses from wildfire, drought, hurricanes, winter storms, and other natural disasters, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday.

As the heat rises, who will protect farmworkers?

In much of the country, as climate change drives increasingly brutal heat waves, farmworkers must rely on their employers to voluntarily provide access to water, shade, and rest breaks. There are currently no nationwide regulations that spell out what employers must do to protect workers from heat, and while efforts to draft a federal rule recently began, it will likely be years before the standards are in place.

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

To people from pigs: A strain of highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria that has emerged in livestock over the past 50 years is a small but growing cause of MRSA infections in Europe, say scientists. (University of Cambridge)

NSAC turns to Lavender: Mike Lavender, a senior official in the food and environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, was named interim policy director at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. (NSAC)

O’Dea vs. Bennet: Businessman Joe O’Dea, who campaigned on such issues as inflation and crime, won the Republican Senate nomination in Colorado and will face Democrat Michael Bennet, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in the fall. (Colorado Public Radio)

Missouri reviews CAFO rules: As Missouri conducts a review of its permitting process for factory farms, environmentalists, pointing to a change in the oversight of a hog farm in the northern part of the state, are concerned that regulations will be weakened. (Harvest Public Media)

Food for undocumented residents: California is expected to become the first state to offer food benefits to immigrants residing illegally in the state, although the aid would be limited to those over 55. (Los Angeles Times)

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