In abrupt reversal, USDA extends summer school food waivers
The Department of Agriculture said Monday that it would extend school meal waivers through Dec. 30—less than a week after Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue had said the programs would lapse by Sept. 30. The sudden reversal came amid an outcry from advocates and lawmakers from both parties, who argued that Perdue’s refusal to extend key waivers and flexibilities around free summer meals would worsen record levels of child hunger.
Perdue hopeful China will meet ‘phase one’ trade targets
China has “really stepped up” its purchases of U.S. farm exports in recent weeks, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday, and he is hopeful of the sales bonanza promised in the “phase one” agreement that de-escalated the Sino-U.S. trade war.
August takes the sheen off of U.S. corn and soybean crops
The condition of the corn and soybean crops nationwide took a beating from derecho damage in Iowa and droughty weather in the Midwest during August, said the USDA in an assessment on Monday.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Cornavirus outbreaks at 775 plants: Covid-19 cases have been confirmed at 775 meatpacking and food processing plants. At least 234 workers at the plants have died and at least 50,586 were infected by the coronavirus. In addition, at least 14 farmworkers have died of the disease.(Food and Environment Reporting Network)
Deadline near, 41 percent of ag aid is unclaimed: Payments of coronavirus aid to farmers and ranchers ticked upward to $9.44 billion, an increase of $240 million in the past week, meaning two-fifths of the $16 billion offered to producers remained available ahead of the Sept. 11 deadline for applications; Iowa has received 10 percent of the payments. (USDA)
New chief at USDA economics agency: Economics professor Spiro Stefanou, with nearly four decades of academic expertise in agricultural economics, most recently at University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture, was appointed the new administrator of the USDA’s Economic Research Service. (USDA)
Homeless and out of sight in rural America: Homeless people are largely invisible in rural America and they are more vulnerable during the pandemic because of poor health care and lack of transportation. (Cronkite News)
Ag giants give cold shoulder to FBN: Some of the world’s largest seed and ag chemical companies refuse to do business with six-year-old FBN, which asks farmers to share agronomic data so they can use their combined buying power to get better prices on supplies. (Wall Street Journal)
