Lower commodity prices point to belt-tightening for corn and soy growers
Corn and soybean growers will operate in “a much tighter margin environment” this year than in recent years because of lower market prices for the crops, said two University of Illinois agricultural economists on Tuesday. They cited fertilizer and land rents as potential areas for cost cutting.
After warmest year, world likely to cross 1.5 degree C climate-change threshold
The world in 2023 recorded its warmest calendar year since the start of the industrial era, with an average surface temperature that was 1.48 degrees C higher than pre industrial times, said the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service on Tuesday. Very soon, the world will see a 12-month period that exceeds the 1.5 degree threshold, where sustained high temperatures heighten the risk of climate-related catastrophes.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Fight over food aid: U.S. farm groups want to roll back provisions that allow the government to use some of the funding for the Food for Peace program to buy food overseas or to distribute aid in the form of cash and vouchers. (NPR)
Reinstate ‘ag gag’ laws: The U.S. appeals court in St. Louis ruled two Iowa “ag gag” laws were constitutional and not a violation of free speech; the laws prohibit using a camera while trespassing and lying on a job application to work at a feedlot and other agribusinesses. (Des Moines Register)
Co-CEOs at OTA: Matthew Dillon, formerly an executive at an organic poultry producer, was named co-CEO of the Organic Trade Association, joining Tom Chapman, who has led the trade group since April 2022. (OTA)
Seek SRE re-hearing: Biofuel and farm groups petitioned for a rehearing before the U.S. appeals court in New Orleans, hoping to reverse a 2023 ruling in favor of small refiners claiming a hardship exemption from complying with the Renewable Fuel Standard. (Growth Energy)
Week of farm protests: German farmers are midway through a week of protests against a government decision to phase out some fuel subsidies to farmers and truckers in 2026; farmers say they are hard-pressed financially and face the threat of consolidation. (Deutsche Welle)
