USDA names Watkins new APHIS chief
Michael Watson, the No. 2 official at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service since 2018, will be the agency’s new administrator, announced the USDA on Wednesday. He will succeed Kevin Shea, who will become a senior adviser to Xochitl Torres Small, USDA deputy secretary.
Soybean oil rapidly gaining ground as renewable diesel feedstock
The skyrocketing growth in the production of renewable diesel has been accompanied by a dramatic expansion of soybean oil as a feedstock for the fuel, said three University of Illinois agricultural economists on Wednesday. Soybean oil’s share of the feedstock market has tripled in the past few years, to 27.4 percent.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Ag exports stranded: Four dozen farm and agribusiness groups said that the closure of two rail crossings into Mexico from Texas had interrupted shipments to the second-largest customer for U.S. food and ag exports. (Renewable Fuels Association)
NASS reviews crop reporting: The USDA agency in charge of estimating farm production asked for public input by Jan. 5 on whether to change the way it covers commodities and states to ensure they provide the most relevant crop information. (National Agricultural Statistics Service)
Funds for environmental justice: The Biden administration announced $600 million in funding for 11 grant makers under an EPA program intended to make it easier for small community-based groups to access funding for environmental justice projects. (EPA)
