USDA deregulates GM wheat, says it is safe to grow in the U.S.
For the first time, the Agriculture Department approved cultivation of genetically modified wheat in the United States on Tuesday, deregulating a drought- and herbicide-tolerant variety developed by an Argentine company. A U.S. wheat industry official said it would be years before the HB4 wheat from Bioceres Crop Solutions was successfully commercialized in the country because of the need to gain acceptance on the domestic front and by wheat-importing nations.
Ag trade deficit to set back-to-back-to-back records
The U.S. food and ag trade deficit will soar to a record $42.5 billion in the fiscal year opening on Oct. 1, fueled by steadily growing consumer demand for imported fresh produce, alcohol, coffee, and sugar, said USDA economists on Tuesday. It would be the third year of largest-ever deficits while export sales, hobbled by the strong dollar, retreat from the record set in fiscal 2022.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Higher rural police-shooting rate: Rural and suburban parts of the country experience higher rates of police shooting than do urban areas but they receive less attention, says a Vanderbilt University analysis. (Axios)
Chesapeake Bay warning: States in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are “significantly off track” from their goals of reducing nutrient runoff into the bay, said the EPA, warning that it might increase its oversight of the work. (Bay Journal)
Smithfield sells former hog farm: Meat processor Smithfield Foods sold at auction 1,731 acres of farmland in north-central Missouri, formerly one of its hog farms, divided into 10 tracts, for $5.64 million, or $4.160 an acre. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)
Herbicide tolerance in Wisconsin ragweed: Research by the universities of Wisconsin and Illinois show that giant ragweed in parts of Wisconsin has developed resistance to two types of herbicides widely used on soybeans. (Illinois)
