To replace proposed food stamp cuts, USDA raises Harvest Box, again
The White House proposed a $19-billion cut in food stamps for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, achieving the 25-percent reduction in SNAP mainly by putting forward, once again, “America’s Harvest Box” of canned and nonperishable food.
Trump seeks 31-percent cut in crop insurance
Farmers would pay a far larger share of crop insurance premiums — 52 percent instead of the current 38 percent — under the fiscal 2020 budget proposed by President Trump on Monday.
With trade war, sorghum stockpile set to hit a 13-year high
A year ago, half of the U.S. sorghum crop was exported. This year, only a quarter of it is headed overseas due to the U.S.-China trade war, which means the sorghum stockpile will double by the time the new crop is ready for harvest this summer.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Mapping rural broadband (Daily Yonder): Three nonprofit groups are sponsoring a smartphone app to measure rural internet service, hoping to produce a more reliable picture than what’s offered by federal agencies or internet companies.
Dems do rural (AP): Rural America was key in President Trump’s election in 2016, but in the early stages of the 2020 campaign some Democratic presidential candidates are heading to small towns
China buys soy (USDA): Exporters reported the sale of 926,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans, raising the sales tally to China to 1.59 million tonnes since last Friday. The administration says China committed to 10 million tonnes on Feb. 22.
The Big Four and a Brazil road (Reuters): The four largest commodity exporters in the world joined the Brazilian company Amaggi in considering whether to bid on a concession to improve and operate a 600-mile stretch of the BR-163 highway, key to moving soy and corn from farms to northern ports.
Quack like a duck, bark like a drone (Radio New Zealand): Cattle and sheep farmers in New Zealand are adopting drones in herding livestock now that drones can record sounds, such as a dog bark, and broadcast them via a speaker.
