‘Let’s get serious’ with 2024 Farm Bill
With the new farm bill months overdue, Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow proposed a farm bill on Wednesday that would boost so-called reference prices — a roadblock issue — while rejecting the $28 billion cut in SNAP sought by conservative Republicans. “That is a hard red line for me,” Stabenow told reporters.
Bird flu virus travels from cow to cow
The “primary vector” for transmitting the H5N1 bird flu virus from dairy cow to dairy cow seems to be milk from an infected animal, said the USDA’s chief veterinary officer on Wednesday. Dr. Rosemary Sifford also said the USDA was considering whether to offer compensation to dairy farmers for cooperating in the investigation of the disease and for adopting stronger biosecurity safeguards.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Still a vegetable: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack personally called Maine Sen. Susan Collins to say that the upcoming version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans would list potatoes as a vegetable, not a grain, as some proposed. (Sen. Collins)
Ban on lab-grown meat: With a blast at the “global elite,” Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a ban on the sale of lab-grown meat in Florida; the state agriculture director said cultured meat, the industry’s preferred term, “is in direct opposition to authentic agriculture.” (Gov. DeSantis)
Canadian rail strike looms: Unionized workers at the Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroads voted overwhelmingly to strike as early as May 22, potentially halting grain shipments in the nation. (Reuters)
