One Year Wonder – October 11, 2019

One-year wonder: U.S. soy stockpile to shrink as quickly as it grew

 

Aided by the Sino-U.S. trade war, the U.S. soybean inventory doubled to a record 913 million bushels in one year, the government said on Thursday. At the same time, the USDA estimated that total will be cut in half by next September.

 

Court documents show beef checkoff sends millions to cattle lobby

 

Newly released documents in a lawsuit between a group of independent Montana cattle ranchers and the USDA show that millions of dollars from an industry marketing fund are being diverted to the top cattle lobby, which some ranchers have long claimed misappropriates those funds for political use. The case could reshape how the beef checkoff, as the marketing program is called, is administered.

 

Farm activists seek ‘robust’ fair-play rules at USDA

The USDA should provide strong protections for livestock and poultry growers in their dealings with meatpackers and processors, said farm activists on Thursday in delivering petitions signed by more than 84,000 people in support of a “robust” fair-practices rule.

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

Yogurt for a worthy cause (Feedstuffs): A percentage of the proceeds from sales of a new limited-edition Chobani yogurt flavor will be donated to efforts by the American Farmland Trust to support dairy farmers.

 

Cleaner air fuels trout revival (AP): For the first time in more than three decades, a breeding population of brook trout has been found in a once-acidified lake in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.

 

U.S.-China talks ‘going very well’ (White House): President Trump, who expects to meet Chinese Vice Premier Liu He today, on the second day of ministerial-level negotiations over the Sino-U.S. trade war, said talks were “going very well,” sparking hopes of a “mini-deal.”

 

Hemp harvest grows by 50 percent (Vote Hemp): Farmers planted four times as much industrial hemp this year as in 2018 but will harvest only 50 percent more acres this fall — an estimated 115,000 to 138,000 acres — because of problems including crop failure, adverse weather, and non-compliant crops.

 

Climate change threatens America’s birds (National Audubon Society):  Climate change could cause the extinction of two-thirds of America’s bird species, according to an Audubon study of 604 North American bird species.

 

Trump tariff payments slow (USDA): While producers have received more than $5.5 billion in trade war payments, that total grew just $300 million in the past week, compared to a $1 billion-a-week pace when disbursements began in late August.

Bookmark the permalink.