In Farm Belt, objections mount to ‘endless tariff war’
In a sign that their patience is waning, soybean leaders called for talks, not tariffs, in the Sino-U.S. trade war. “With depressed prices and unsold stocks expected to double by the 2019 harvest, soybean farmers are not willing to be collateral damage in an endless tariff war,” said Davie Stephens, a Kentucky farmer and president of the American Soybean Association.
An uneven record of tracking pesticide exposure in Midwest
In an investigation, Harvest Public Media found that when farmworkers are exposed to crop chemicals in the Midwest the incidents aren’t routinely tracked.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Menu labeling is here to stay (The Hagstrom Report): The National Restaurant Association and Center for Science in the Public Interest say they will work to maintain menu labeling, if a court invalidates the Obama healthcare law that put calorie counts on menus.
You can’t write off rural America (Daily Yonder): Rather than give up on rural areas, a former agriculture undersecretary for rural development says community development financial institutions “are proving the fight can be won.”
Hog disease is game-changer for soy trade (USDA): Global demand for soybeans will fall 17 million tonnes in the 2018/19 trade year, and will contract another 22 million tonnes in the following year, because African swine fever has killed so many hogs in China, reducing the need for feed.
Perdue takes to the grill to sell beef (AP): Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue donned a blue apron with the words “USDA Prime” emblazoned on a red, white and blue shield in a promotional stunt in Tokyo to encourage Japan to import more U.S. beef.
Did Monsanto have a list of ‘influencers’? (Reuters): French prosecutors opened an investigation into a complaint that the seed and ag chemical giant, now owned by Bayer, collected a list of 200 people, including lawmakers and journalists, in hopes of influencing their opinions about pesticides. Bayer said it would investigate as well.
Farm Bureau, Farmers Union back bankruptcy bill (AFBF): The two largest U.S. farm groups co-signed a letter to Congress in support of a bill that would raise to $10 million the volume of farm debt that can be reorganized or written down in a Chapter 12 bankruptcy; the limit now is $4.1 million.
