USDA’s Equity Commission calls for department-wide reform
From its top officers down to its local offices, the Agriculture Department needs to institutionalize equity in its programs and its operations, said an administration-appointed commission on Tuesday after a year-long study of the USDA. Sometimes called “the last plantation” because of racial bias in its operations, the USDA has paid $3 billion since 1999 to resolve lawsuits by Black, Native American and Hispanic farmers.
FDA aims to unveil in the fall a detailed plan for food regulation
One month after he pledged a new emphasis on food safety, FDA commissioner Robert Califf said the agency has begun a national search for a powerful deputy commissioner for human foods, and it intends to finalize by the fall its proposed reorganization of offices under the “empowered” deputy secretary’s control. “I’m looking forward to starting the interview process and making a selection for this important position as soon as possible,” Califf said on Tuesday.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Soda taxes’ limited impact: The one-cent-an-ounce sales tax levied by three California cities had little impact on sales of sugary beverages, perhaps because of limited pass-through to consumers in the initial years, said a study by UC-Davis economists. (University of California)
Panel votes to nix WOTUS: The House Transportation Committee approved and sent to the floor a resolution of disapproval to overturn the “waters of the United States” regulation issued by the Biden administration. (House Transportation)
Bird flu is ‘new reality’: The outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza that began a year ago have killed 58.5 million birds in domestic flocks, and disease experts are beginning to think of continued losses as “a new reality.” (DTN/Progressive Farmer)
Satellite steering is popular: Automated guidance is used on more than 50 percent of U.S. land planted to corn, cotton, rice, sorghum, soybeans and winter wheat. But adoption of yield maps, soil maps and variable-rate technology is much slower. (USDA)
Reform checkoff programs: Five senators filed a new version of the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming bill to increase transparency in the operation of agricultural checkoff programs and prohibit conflicts of interest and anti-competitive practices in them. (Booker)
