Treasury charts biofuel flight path to claiming SAF credits
The biofuel industry said it is ready for full-throttle production of low-carbon fuel for airplanes, now that the Biden administration has released guidelines for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), potentially a 36 billion-gallon-a-year market. The guidelines allow tax credits of up to $1.75 a gallon, expected to be a powerful inducement for production of cleaner-burning fuels.
EPA to update water pollution rules for meat plants
Meat and poultry processing plants would reduce their emissions of water pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, by 100 million pounds annually under proposed wastewater rules, said the Environmental Protection Agency. It would be the first update of effluent limitation guidelines in a generation.
An ethanol plant, pesticide-coated corn seed, and a lot of dead bees
Judy Wu-Smart is an entomologist at the University of Nebraska, and an expert on bees. In 2017, she set up four hives, wooden boxes stocked with the beginnings of thriving bee colonies. Immediately, though, disaster struck. She and her assistant found dead bees piling up at the entrances to their hives. The next year, in 2018, it happened again. The bees in her hives died in droves. Wu-Smart’s thoughts turned to neonicotinoids. She knew that there have been cases of bee die-offs during corn planting, when machinery blows insect-killing dust from neonicotinoid seed coatings into the air. This was Nebraska, after all, with cornfields blanketing the state. Maybe it was corn seeds that were causing the die-off.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Wolf reintroduction proceeds: A U.S. district judge allowed Colorado officials to proceed with reintroduction of gray wolves, scheduled to occur by Dec. 31, while she hears a lawsuit by ranchers. (Associated Press)
Surge in HPAI toll: Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza were confirmed on egg farms housing 2.6 million hens in California, Kansas, and Ohio last week; 16.6 million birds in domestic flocks have died in bird flu outbreaks this fall. (USDA)
Stabenow blocks milk bill: Saying USDA was updating school lunch standards, Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow blocked a request for Senate passage by voice vote of a bill allowing schools to serve whole milk. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)
Claim: child labor is nothing new: Immigrant activists say the raids that found children working in a poultry plant typified labor abuse in Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Times)
Snake River dams roadmap: The Biden administration agreed to provide $1 billion to improve fish habitat and to study the possible removal of four dams on the Snake River in Idaho and Washington State. (Tri-City Herald)
ON THE CALENDAR
Monday
Center for Strategic and International Studies webcasts a discussion of COP28 outcomes for food security. Speakers include Cary Fowler, State Department special envoy for global food security, and Satu Santala, associate vice president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, 11 a.m. ET.
Tuesday
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visits nonprofit D.C. Central Kitchen to discuss federal programs that expand access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Wednesday
USDA releases annual National Hop Report, 3 p.m. ET.
Thursday
Winter begins in the northern hemisphere with the winter solstice at 10:27 p.m. ET. “The winter solstice is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight throughout the year, making it the ‘shortest day’ of the year. Thankfully, after we reach the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and longer again,” says the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
USDA releases monthly Food Price Outlook, 9 a.m. ET. At present, the USDA forecasts food inflation of 5.8 percent and price increases of 2.1 percent in 2024. The long-term average for food inflation is 2.8 percent annually.
Friday
USDA releases monthly Cattle on Feed, and Cold Storage reports and quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, 3 p.m. ET.
Dec. 29
USDA releases monthly Agricultural Prices report, 3 p.m. ET.
