Trump visits derecho-hit Iowa, talks about China
President Trump spoke of large corn exports booked for delivery to China while assuring Iowans of “the full support of the federal government” in recovering from a derecho in a Tuesday visit. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said agriculture — flattened crops and wind-blasted farmsteads — accounts for most of the $4 billion in estimated damage from the storm.
Beef slumps while pork exports surge
For the first six months of the year, exports of American beef tumbled by 15 percent, probably due to Covid-19 turmoil, while pork exports soared by 28 percent compared to 2019 levels, said the USDA on Tuesday.
AFR’S LATEST
https://thefern.org/2020/08/can-grazing-save-endangered-grasslands/
In Oregon, an effort to build grassland biodiversity while helping ranchers succeed
In eastern Oregon, an experiment is underway to determine whether conservationists and ranchers, two groups often at odds, can work together to stave off development, support ranch economies and preserve biodiversity on the Zumwalt Prairie, America’s largest remaining bunchgrass prairie.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Apple industry matriarch dead at 194: The only long-term survivor of the first apple trees planted in the U.S. Northwest in 1826, considered the matriarch of the apple industry in the region, has died in the small city park specifically designed for “The Old Apple Tree” in Vancouver, Washington. (KUOW)
Protesters temporarily allow grain traffic: Indigenous protesters, who say the Brazilian government has not protected them from the coronavirus, temporarily allowed grain trucks to pass through their roadblock on the BR-163 highway that connects the farm state of Mato Grosso with export terminals. (Reuters)
Peeling away Trump’s rural voters: Democrats are trying to reduce President Trump’s margin in rural America, which was key to his 2016 victory, by hammering on issues such as disruptions in mail service, the trade war, and his handling of the pandemic. (Politico)
Food costs a burden with online school: About one-fourth of parents say they’re going into debt to pay the costs of school online and many blame the higher cost of breakfast, lunch, and snacks at home compared to the lower price of school meals. (USA Today)
Wolf pack exterminated in national forest: Wildlife managers in Washington State killed the members of a wolf pack in a national forest near the Canadian border after investigations showed the wolves took part in 16 attacks on livestock belonging to three different ranchers. (Courthouse News)
