Midwest cattle farmers embrace pea crop
The Midwest has long been known for its vast fields of corn and soybeans, but there is a new crop on the rise — peas. With growing consumer demand for sustainable and plant-based protein options, farmers are adding peas as a crop rotation because it’s profitable, drought tolerant and can improve soil health.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
A win for salmon: A landmark lawsuit filed by the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe asserting the “rights of salmon” has been settled, with Seattle agreeing to provide passageways for the fish around hydroelectric dams on the Skagit River. (InsideClimate News)
PFAS in pesticides: Some of the most widely used food pesticides are contaminated with “potentially dangerous” levels of toxic “forever chemicals,” new testing of the products found. (Guardian)
Deadline for Lake Erie: Ohio’s environmental regulators will have until the end of June to finish a plan to combat toxic algae blooms that have flourished in Lake Erie since the late 1990s. (AP)
Disappearing dining rooms: McDonald’s and other fast food and fast casual giants are betting on the “digital kitchen” to get diners in and out in record time. (Vox)
Boost for Moroccan ag: Israel and Morocco announced a major new collaboration on a range of agricultural issues, from water usage to desert fish farming. (Jerusalem Post)
ON THE CALENDAR
Monday
The United States hosts the AIM for Climate summit “to bring together partners to increase and accelerate investment in and support for agriculture and food systems innovation for climate action,” through Wednesday, Washington. A number of initiatives will be announced at the opening session. The summit will be live-streamed.
Food and Research Action Council and Feeding America hold a hybrid National Anti-Hunger Conference, through Tuesday, Washington.
Food Safety magazine hosts Food Safety Summit, through Thursday, Rosemont, Illinois.
Members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework hold a third round of negotiations, through May 15, Singapore.
USDA releases Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts — Annual report, 3 p.m. ET.
USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report, 4 p.m. ET.
Tuesday
Organic Trade Association holds 2023 Organic Week, through Thursday, Washington. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is to speak on Wednesday. The annual OTA organic industry survey, which measures retail sales by the organic industry, will be released in conjunction with the event.
Wednesday
Senate Agriculture Committee holds hearing on nomination of Xochitl Torres Small to be Agriculture deputy secretary, 10 a.m. ET, 328A Russell. At present, Torres Small is undersecretary for rural development.
The Labor Department releases monthly Consumer Price Index report, 8:30 a.m. ET. At present, the U.S. inflation rate is 5 percent a year, with food inflation of 8.5 percent.
Agriculture Secretary speaks at Organic Trade Association annual policy conference, 11:20 a.m. ET.
House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, “Closing the digital divide: Overseeing federal funds for broadband deployment,” 10:30 a.m. ET, 2322 Rayburn.
USDA and HHS hold a second meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. The meeting will be live-streamed. For details about the advisory committee’s role in production of the 2025-2030 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Council for Agricultural Science and Technology announces 2023 winner of the Borlaug CAST Communication Award, 3 p.m. ET, USDA headquarters.
Thursday
Susan Mayne, director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,” is lead witness at House Oversight subcommittee hearing, “FDA oversight Part II: Responsibility for the infant formula shortage,” 2 p.m. ET, 2154 Rayburn.
House Agriculture subcommittee hearing, “Stakeholder perspectives on agricultural trade,” 10 a.m. ET, 1300 Longworth.
Friday
USDA releases monthly Crop Production and WASDE reports, noon ET. The WASDE report, released each May, is USDA’s first projections of the year’s harvests of major field crops, including corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and rice, based on farmers’ planting intentions and assumptions of average yields and weather. The March 31 Prospective Plantings report said farmers would plant enough corn, soybeans and wheat to result in the largest-ever soybean crop, the second-largest corn crop and the second-largest wheat crop since 2016.
The Congressional Budget Office is expected to release an updated baseline for farm bill expenditures. It would guide lawmakers in writing the broad-spectrum legislation.
Sunday
The U.S. celebration of Mother’s Day was the work of Anna Jarvis, beginning with an observance in 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia, says History.com. Aided by a letter-writing campaign and wide popularity of the idea, President Wilson signed a measure designating the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day, in 1914. Within a few years, Jarvis was repelled by the commercialization of the day and lobbied to have the holiday removed from the calendar.
