Reflecting U.S. goal, G20 ag ministers side with Ukraine in war
Pressed by the United States to act, agriculture ministers from most of the world’s leading economies condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said in a statement that Moscow should allow Ukrainian grain to flow through the Black Sea unimpeded. Agriculture undersecretary Xochitl Torres Small said on Tuesday the expression of world support for Ukraine was a U.S. priority at the meeting of G20 agriculture ministers in India over the weekend.
Tougher scrutiny of land purchases by foreigners proposed
The Agriculture Department and the FDA would become members of a powerful U.S. committee that rules on the national security implications of foreign ownership of U.S. assets under a bipartisan Senate bill unveiled on Tuesday. The legislation would also empower the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), led by the Treasury, to consider retroactive divestment of real estate owned by foreign entities.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Drop net-zero claims: JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, said it will no longer use phrases such as “committing to be net zero by 2040” in its ads following a decision by the National Advertising Review Board. (BBB National Programs)
Gene-edited EU crops: According to a leak, the European Commission may apply the same level of regulation to gene-edited crops as it does to conventionally bred crops if they have properties that could have been obtained through traditional methods. (Euractiv)
Non-GMO corn tortillas: President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Mexican food companies have agreed to use non-GMO white corn in making tortillas, an everyday food in the country, and he would encourage domestic production of the crop by setting higher tariffs on imports. (Reuters)
Corn, soy conditions plunge: With drought spreading in the Midwest, 55 percent of the corn crop is rated good or excellent, down from 61 percent a week ago, and 54 percent of soybeans are listed as good to excellent, down by five points from last week. (USDA)
Rusty patched bee genome: Federal scientists released a detailed map of the genome of the rusty patched bumble bee, a possible tool for saving the native pollinator from extinction. (USDA)
