Second year of lower returns on corn and soybeans
The continued decline in season-average corn and soybean prices since the peaks of 2022 will pinch farmer returns from the crops for the second year in a row, said three analysts writing at the farmdoc daily blog. They estimated that operator and land returns would fall below $300 an acre, levels last seen from 2014 to 2019.
Solar farms projects get $375 million in USDA aid
The Agriculture Department will provide more than a quarter-billion dollars of low-interest loans for five clean energy projects from Kentucky to Alaska, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. With the announcement, the USDA has awarded half of the $1 billion available through its Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Assessing climate-smart practices: With an eye toward the sustainable aviation fuel market, the USDA is seeking suggestions on how to quantify, report, and verify the effects of climate-smart farming practices on growing crops used to make biofuels. (USDA)
Cookout costs are up: Although the food inflation rate has slowed, the grocery bill for a summer cookout is 5 percent higher than it was a year ago, according to spot checks of prices across the country. (American Farm Bureau Federation)
Child labor concerns: Congress should prohibit federal contracts with meatpackers that violate child labor laws, said Texas Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat, ahead of a closed-door meeting of industry lobbyists and Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee. (Rep. Casar)
H5N1 in 129 herds: Additional outbreaks of bird flu in dairy cattle in Colorado raised the U.S. total of infected herds to 129. The leading states are Idaho (27 herds), Michigan (25), Texas (21), and Colorado (20). (USDA)
Tampering charges: The U.S. attorney in Minneapolis announced charges against five people for attempting to bribe a juror in the Feeding Our Future trial about the theft of federal child nutrition funds. (Sahan Journal)
