Trump runs in rural America on ethanol, tax cuts, regulatory relief
President Trump is ending his re-election campaign in rural America on the same issues that boosted him in 2016: Promises of tax cuts, fewer federal regulations and support for corn ethanol. In addition, farmers are wealthy from $23 billion in trade-war payments, said Trump in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday; “That’s why you’re all here and you’re all happy.”
U.S. hits Thailand for blocking American pork
The United States suspended $817 million in trade preferences granted to Thailand “based on its lack of sufficient progress [in] providing the United States with equitable and reasonable market access for pork products,” said the Office of the U.S. trade representative on Sunday.
Agriculture’s meeting season will be mostly digital this winter
Farm groups, from local cooperatives to large national organizations, traditionally hold their annual meetings during the winter, when field work is at a minimum and a meeting in town mixes business with a social get-together. Many of the national meetings will be held online this time due to the pandemic.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Rebuttals to the food-box letter: Food banks, schools and nonprofit organizations “are expending considerable resources in the final days of the election to remove or explain letters from President Donald Trump that are now required” as part of the administration’s food-box giveaway program. (Politico)
Risky livestock ships: Ocean vessels that transport livestock are at least twice as likely to suffer a total loss from running aground or sinking as standard cargo ships. (Guardian)
Hard times for seed saver: Will Bonsall is a longtime member of a network of “seed savers” that aims to preserve plant varieties, but funding has run thin “and his collection has struggled since,” dropping to a few hundred varieties from a peak of 5,000. (Modern Farmer)
Quarles asks money for meat processing: Kentucky agriculture commissioner Ryan Quarles asked Gov. Andy Beshear to dedicate $2 million in pandemic-relief money for use in a program that provides funding and incentives to meat processors who are or plan to become USDA-certified for expansion. (Louisville Courier-Journal)
ON THE CALENDAR
Monday
U.S. Wheat Associates and National Association of Wheat Growers hold Wheat Industry Fall Conference online, through Nov. 10.
USDA issues weekly Crop Progress report, 4 p.m. ET.
Tuesday
General election for federal and state offices. The top agricultural contest is race between House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson and Republican challenger Michelle Fischbach in western Minnesota. Two Senate Agriculture Committee members, Republicans Joni Ernst of Iowa and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, are in races that will help determine control of the Senate.
Purdue University releases a monthly Ag Economy Barometer, a gauge of the health of the agricultural economy.
Thursday
UN Food and Agriculture Organization releases the monthly Food Price Index, Rome.
USDA posts monthly updates of agricultural trade data, 3 p.m. ET.
Friday
USDA “early release” of portions of its long-term agricultural baseline involving major U.S. commodities and macroeconomic conditions, 3 p.m. ET. The rest of the baseline will be released at USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum in late February.
