Record subsidies but weaker ag sector during pandemic year – August 26, 2022

Record subsidies but weaker ag sector during pandemic year

Farmers faced higher expenses and earned less money from their crops and livestock than initially expected in 2020, due to market disruptions caused by the pandemic, said a USDA Covid-19 working paper. By many standards, such as debt-to-asset ratio, the financial strength of the sector softened in 2020, despite $45.7 billion in federal subsidies — the largest ever — said USDA economists.

After relentless increases, food inflation rate stands still

Higher consumer demand and lower supplies are driving up pork and egg prices, but after increasing for six months in a row, the U.S. food inflation rate for 2022 is unchanged this month, said the USDA on Thursday.

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

HPAI hits California flock: An outbreak of bird flu this week at a Central Valley broiler breeder farm with 33,900 birds is the largest in the nation since June 9. More than 40 million birds in domestic flocks have died in outbreaks this year. (USDA)

Chipotle workers form union: On Thursday, by an 11-3 vote, employees at a Chipotle Mexican Grill in Lansing, Michigan, voted to unionize. It will be the first union at the fast-food chain, which has about 3,000 restaurants across the country.

End of free lunch: This fall, after two years during which school meals were free for all students, schools will again need to certify which students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals and which must pay. (NPR)

Ag groups get a say: Overturning a district court decision, the U.S. appeals court in San Francisco ruled that a coalition of agricultural groups can intervene in a legal battle over endangered species protections for the gray wolf. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)

Cutting emissions: Emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, from Corn Belt fields during fallow seasons could be reduced in most cases if farmers applied nitrogen fertilizer in the spring rather than in the fall, said researchers. (University of Illinois)

USDA pulls report: On the day it introduced a new sales tracking system, the Foreign Agricultural Service retracted its Weekly Export Sales report, widely followed in commodity markets, because of malfunctions that affected “physical dissemination of the data as well as data quality.” (USDA)

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