Earp ‘isn’t the right person’ to head USDA civil rights office, says House panel leader
The head of USDA’s civil rights office, Trump nominee Naomi Earp, was criticized for saying during a House hearing on Tuesday that some people file multiple complaints of workplace discrimination as a way to punish their managers.
A battle brews in rural Wisconsin over factory farms
A community divided. A local official accused of self-dealing. A top political appointee ousted from his job. In Wisconsin, a state where the footprint of agribusiness is growing, the question of how to regulate factory farms is a pressing topic from the town hall to the statehouse.
Trump tariff payments may bring WTO woes, says think tank
The United States could tarnish its leadership for fair trade in agriculture because of its multibillion-dollar trade-war payments to farmers, said a report issued by the free market American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
USDA glitch affects commodity markets (Investigate Midwest): A delay in the availability of a USDA crop report in early November gave some commodity traders an advantage over others.
South Korea gives U.S. a rice-quota share (USTR): The United States won a share of South Korea’s tariff rate-quota for rice, which will allow annual entry of 132,304 tons of U.S. rice into the country.
Iowa Republicans like tariffs (Des Moines Register): Three-quarters of Republicans in Iowa say they support President Trump’s approach to trade with China and half of them say U.S. tariffs have done more to help Iowa agribusiness than harm it.
Lower house approves U.S.-Japan deal (Reuters): The lower house of the Japanese parliament approved a partial trade pact with the United States, a step toward lower tariffs on U.S. farm goods in 2020.
Ice cream goes to court (Boston Globe): A lawsuit alleges that Ben & Jerry’s has misrepresented how much of its milk is sourced from “happy cows” from humane farms.
