High commodity prices shift conservation lands to crop fields
Landowners told the USDA they will take 1.7 million acres out of the long-term Conservation Reserve and put it back into crop production, betting on profits from sky-high commodity prices. This year’s “general signup” for the reserve would also bring the smallest amount of land into the reserve since it was created in 1985, the USDA said Tuesday.
Many farmers expect cost increases will last into 2023
A significant number of America’s biggest farmers expect this year’s sharp increases in the price of fertilizer, pesticides and machinery parts to continue in 2023, said Purdue University on Tuesday. Three of every four producers polled for the monthly Ag Economy Barometer said they expected farm input costs to rise by at least 20 percent this year, while more than one-third expect crop input prices to be at least 10 percent higher next year.
White House to hold conference on ending hunger in America
With more than 38 million Americans food insecure, President Biden announced on Wednesday the White House will hold a conference on hunger and nutrition in September. It will be the first presidential hunger conference since 1969 and would launch a national plan on ending hunger in the United States, said the White House.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Barriers to higher blends: Biofuel and farm groups see E15 and other higher blends of corn ethanol into gasoline as the route to higher sales, but the current structure of the Renewable Fuel Standard “does not serve to incentivize ethanol blends higher than E10.” (USDA Office of the Chief Economist)
Kentucky poultry cleared: State officials gave permission to two poultry farms in western Kentucky to resume operations after being quarantined since early February because of outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza. (Kentucky Department of Agriculture)
Wisconsin towns vs. CAFOs: Three small towns in northwestern Wisconsin have passed ordinances regulating factory farms but face opposition from dairy groups who say the towns infringe on powers held by the state. (Grist)
India stumbles on wheat: After five years of record-setting wheat harvests, India faces a downturn in production this year due to a heat wave, jeopardizing the nation’s role in offsetting the loss of exports from Ukraine. (Reuters)
Farmer PAC backs Grassley: The Iowa Farm Bureau Political Action Committee designated seventh-term Sen. Chuck Grassley, a proponent of biofuels, as its favored candidate in the Republican primary election for the Senate on June 7. (Iowa Farm Bureau)
