One in seven on House ag panel collected farm payments
Eight current members of the House Agriculture Committee received farm subsidies at some point since 1998, said the Environmental Working Group on Tuesday. Seven of the eight describe themselves on their congressional websites as farmers or the offspring of a farm family.
Cover crops and no-till planting pay off
The financial and risk-reducing benefits of conservation practices such as cover crops and conservation tillage are increasingly evident, said the AGree Initiative on farm policy in a report on Tuesday. “Further, ecosystem services markets may provide farmers with new economic opportunities to diversify their income,” said the report, aimed in part at farm lenders.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Chipotle settles union-busting charges: The burrito chain will pay $240,000 to 24 workers who were trying to organize a union when the company permanently closed their store. (Maine Public)
Bird flu slows down: A comparatively small 820,000 birds in domestic flocks have been lost to highly pathogenic avian influenza in the first three months of this year, a dramatic reduction from nearly 5.1 million birds in December. (FERN’s Ag Insider)
Mayne to leave FDA: The director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Susan Mayne, will retire effective May 31 amid a reorganization intended to strengthen the agency’s role in nutrition and food safety. (Food Dive)
Aid for distressed farmers: In April, the USDA will release $123 million in additional, automatic assistance to qualifying farm-loan borrowers who are facing financial risk; recipients would be a different group of farmers than the 13,000 borrowers who received $800 million last fall. (USDA)
FDA knew of contamination: Infant formula maker Reckitt recalled 145,000 cans of infant formula in February because of possible bacterial contamination — three months after FDA inspectors learned of test results indicating a problem. (Politico)
