Possible USDA Cuts – February 26, 2019

Trump will try again to cut USDA, says Perdue

The Agriculture Department faces large spending cuts, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday, while a White House official said President Trump will ask for one “one of the largest spending reductions in history” in the upcoming fiscal 2020 budget.

How to report on rural America: A conversation with Ken Ward, Jr.

In a lead up to a panel in Austin at SXSW, “Reporting on Rural America Under Trump,” we asked one of our panelists, Ken Ward, Jr., the MacArthur award-winning environmental reporter from West Virginia, to answer a few questions about how newsrooms can better cover rural places.

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

First increase in grocery prices in three years (USDA): Retail food prices increased by 0.4 percent during 2018, the first increase in grocery prices in three years but well below the 20-year average of 2 percent.

Bellwether glyphosate trial opens in San Francisco (AP): A federal jury will decide whether Roundup weedkiller caused a California man’s cancer in a trial starting Monday that U.S. district judge Vince Chhabria views as a bellwether for hundreds of claims against Monsanto.

‘We need resolution,’ says soy leader (DTN/Progressive Farmer): The president of the American Soybean Association says the group is pleased that Sino-U.S. trade talks will continue without higher U.S. tariffs, “but we need resolution…”

S.D. Gov. opposes industrial hemp (Sioux Falls Argus Leader): While legislators advance a bill to legalize industrial hemp, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem says if the state is not prepared to regulate hemp, “we will be opening the door to allowing marijuana to be legalized.”

Macron warns of overseas threat to EU farmers (AgriCenus): French President Emmanuel Macron said he would protect EU farmers from overseas competition in a speech that targeted Black Sea wheat, while urging “food sovereignty” against U.S. demands for larger sales of its ag exports.

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