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The ‘four corners’ of ag policy are back for the farm bill
House Democrats elected Georgia Rep. David Scott as their leader on the Agriculture Committee on Thursday for the congressional session that begins on Jan. 3. The vote means the “four corners” of the 2023 farm bill will be the same four lawmakers who led the House and Senate ag committees for the past two years.
Senate confirms U.S. ag negotiator and USDA food safety chief
In some of its final actions of the year, the Senate approved by voice vote on Thursday the nominations of Doug McKalip as chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S. trade representative’s office and Jose Esteban as Agriculture undersecretary for food safety.
USDA raises forecast of grocery inflation in 2023
Grocery prices will rise 3.5 percent in the new year, nearly double the long-term average but a dramatic slowdown from this year’s 11.5 percent, said the Agriculture Department Thursday in its Food Price Outlook.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Arizona no-irrigation zone: The state Department of Water Resources designated the Hualapai Valley, near Kingman, as an irrigation non-expansion area, the first such designation in Arizona in four decades. (Associated Press)
Try again next year: Despite another fruitless congressional session, supporters of labor reforms that include legal status for undocumented farmworkers and modernizing the H-2A guestworker visa “will not give up seeking these important changes,” said Jim Bair, president of the U.S. Apple Association. (U.S. Apple)
Mosquitoes develop tolerance: Mosquitoes in Cambodia and Vietnam are evolving to carry a mutation that resists doses of the pyrethroid insecticide widely used to prevent the spread of diseases such as dengue fever, scientists reported. (Washington Post)
Food donation liability eased: Congress passed and sent to President Biden the Food Donation Improvement Act, which would expand legal protections for food makers, retailers, farmers, and restaurants that donate food directly to needy people. (Food Tank)
Golden State groundwater crisis: Groundwater overpumping is accelerating in California’s Central Valley, which could potentially devastate a critically important water source for the state. (Los Angeles Times)
