GMO wheat approved for consumption in Australia and New Zealand
Food regulators approved a genetically modified wheat variety for human consumption in Australia and New Zealand, a victory in the rocky campaign to apply biotechnology to grains directly consumed as part of the diet. No GMO wheat is approved for sale in the United States.
After record high, a marginal decline in global food prices
Sharply lower prices for palm, sunflower and soybean oils helped pull down the Food Price Index marginally from its record high that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Grain prices also fell during April while meat, dairy and sugar prices rose.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Ransomware attack hits AGCO: Farm equipment maker AGCO, owner of brands Massey Ferguson, Gleaner, Challenger and Fendt, said several of its production facilities were affected by a ransomware attack, and that it could take several days to restore its operations. (AGCO)
More Chesapeake Bay funding: The USDA said it would provide $22.5 million to help farmers reduce runoff, conserve wetlands and improve management of livestock and waste in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. (Farm Service Agency)
Beef exports set record: U.S. beef exports were worth a record $1.07 billion in March, up 33 percent from the same month a year ago, due to strong demand worldwide. (U.S. Meat Export Federation)
PFAS on 20 million acres?: Around 20 million acres of U.S. cropland may have been contaminated with the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS because sewage sludge was used as a fertilizer, said the Environmental Working Group. (Guardian)
Three months of bird flu: Nearly 37.5 million fowl in domestic flocks, most of them chickens and turkeys, have died of highly pathogenic avian influenza since the nation’s first outbreak of the viral disease was confirmed in February. (USDA)
ON THE CALENDAR
Monday
The International Fresh Produce Association holds policy forum, through Wednesday, Washington.
USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report, 4 p.m. ET.
Tuesday
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack testifies at Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the USDA budget for fiscal 2023, 10 a.m. ET, 124 Dirksen.
The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology announces 2022 winner of its annual CAST Communication Award, 12:30 p.m. ET.
Wednesday
The Labor Department releases the monthly Consumer Price Index report, 8:30 a.m. ET.
World Food Program executive director David Beasley is among witnesses at the Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on “The global food security and Covid-19 crises: U.S. response and policy options,” 2 p.m. ET, 192 Dirksen.
USAID administrator Samantha Power testifies at House Appropriations subcommittee online hearing on agency’s budget for fiscal 2023, 10 a.m. ET.
USAID administrator Samantha Power testifies at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the agency’s budget for fiscal 2023, 2:30 p.m. ET, G50 Dirksen.
Farm Foundation online Forum, “Farm, food and the policies and practices behind America’s dietary health,” 10 a.m. ET. Panelists are Michael Jacobson, co-founder of Center for Science in the Public Interest; Eve Turow-Paul, founder of Food for Climate League; and Robert Paarlberg, adjunct professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Animal Agriculture Alliance holds stakeholders summit, through Thursday, Kansas City.
Thursday
USDA releases monthly Crop Production and WASDE reports, noon ET. The USDA will make its first estimate of the winter wheat harvest, which will begin soon, and its first projections for production and usage of fall-harvested crops such as corn, soybeans and cotton. Traders expect the USDA to project a record-large soybean crop of more than 4.6 billion bushels, some 185 million bushels, or 4 percent, larger than the 2021 crop which is now the largest harvested.
House Agriculture Committee hearing, “Changing role models: The FTX proposal and trends in new clearinghouse models,” 10 a.m. ET, 1300 Longworth.
House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing, “Reforming the Mining Law of 1872,” 10 a.m. ET, 1324 Longworth.
House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, “Forest conservation in the fight against climate change,” 10 a.m. ET, 2172 Rayburn. Witnesses include House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and M. Sanjayan, chief executive of Conservation International.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack attends the G7 agriculture ministerial meeting, through Sunday, Stuttgart, Germany.
Prairie View A&M University holds a monthly video workshop for its Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program, 2 p.m. ET. The program targets African American forest owners in east Texas.
Reducetarian Foundation holds 2022 Reducetarian Summit, through Saturday, San Francisco.
Friday
Final day for landowners to enroll in the Grasslands CRP option. The Conservation Reserve pays landowners to idle fragile cropland for up to 15 years.
Sunday
It’s the USDA’s birthday; created on May 15, 1862, under a law signed by President Lincoln, who later described USDA as “the people’s department.”
