Perdue says second tranche of Trump tariff payments is on its way
Farmers can expect a cash injection of billions of dollars in Trump tariff payments later this month or in December, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday. “We hope that trade will supplant the need for aid in 2020,” he said, pointing to progress in negotiations to resolve the Sino-U.S. trade war.
More antitrust lawsuits hit the meat industry. This time, it’s pork.
A class-action lawsuit filed this week on behalf of pork consumers alleges that hog companies have colluded to artificially hike the price of pork — and their profits. The complaint also provides new insight into Agri Stats, a data-sharing company that sits at the center of the wave of antitrust allegations sweeping the meat sector.
Hog epidemic in Asia means less meat worldwide, says UN food group
World meat production will decline for the first time in two decades because of the devastating epidemic of African swine fever in China, the world’s largest pork producer, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on Thursday.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Fish threatened by fishing gear (The Guardian): Dumped commercial fishing equipment — nets, lines, traps, and other gear — is the top cause of large plastic pollution in the ocean, endangering a wide range of marine life, says Greenpeace.
Not-so-happy meal (Washington Post): McDonald’s is marking the 40th anniversary of the Happy Meal, though not everyone is celebrating; nutrition advocates consider the kids’ meal a symbol of childhood obesity.
‘Soda tax’ mayor coasts to re-election (Philadelphia Inquirer): Mayor Jim Kenney, who engineered a 1.5 cent-per-ounce soda tax in Philadelphia to help pay for preschool and community services, won a second term with more than 80 percent of the vote in an election that “served as a kind of ratification” of the levy.
Iowa nitrate runoff doubles since 2003 (University of Iowa): Researcher Chris Jones calculates in a blog that nitrate runoff in Iowa has doubled since 2003. More than 90 percent of nitrate in the state’s streams comes from agriculture, a heavy user of nitrogen fertilizer.
A diet one-fifth of the world can’t afford (New Food Economy): The “planetary health diet” recommended by the EAT-Lancet Commission — less meat and more fruits and vegetables — “is simply unaffordable” for 1.6 billion people, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, say researchers from Tufts University and the IFPRI think tank.
