Red meat for Republicans, cuts for Democrats in Ag chair’s farm bill wish list
To pay for farm bill priorities such as crop subsidies, House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson suggested $50 billion in cuts, mostly to climate change and public nutrition programs that are strongly supported by Democratic lawmakers. The proposal, quickly rejected, pointed to long-running disagreements over the farm bill with time running out for action this year.
Navigator cancels Midwest carbon pipeline
Navigator CO2 said it canceled its 1,350-mile carbon pipeline because of “unpredictable … regulatory and government processes” in the five Midwestern states the pipeline would cross. The Heartland Greenway pipeline was among three projects proposed to capture carbon dioxide, mainly from ethanol plants, and transport it through pipelines for injection thousands of feet underground.
Austin Scott runs again for speaker
Relatively unknown but ambitious, Georgia Rep. Austin Scott launched his second campaign in a week for House speaker with a call for Republican unity. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker three weeks ago and House Republicans hope to select a nominee from nine aspirants this week.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Bird flu in Iowa: The first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Iowa, the No. 1 egg state, since mid-March was on a turkey farm in Buena Vista County. (Iowa Department of Agriculture)
El Niño winter: The United States will see its first winter in four years under the influence of an El Niño weather pattern, which is expected to bring above-normal temperatures to the northern tier of the 48 contiguous states and a wetter than usual winter in the wheat-growing southern Plains, the Southeast, and much of California. (NOAA)
St. Lawrence Seaway strike: Workers went on strike over wages at the St. Lawrence Seaway, shutting down cargo shipments on the waterway that runs between Montreal and Lake Erie; grain and iron ore are about half of the traffic on the seaway. (CBC)
‘Clash of the combines’: In a demolition derby with an agricultural ambience, lumbering grain harvesters crash into each other at a fundraising festival in tiny Banks, Oregon, about 25 miles northwest of Portland. (Ambrook Research)
ON THE CALENDAR
Monday
USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report, 4 p.m. ET.
Tuesday
The World Food Prize Foundation holds the annual Borlaug Dialogue, through Thursday, Des Moines. The theme for the conference, which includes a speech by humanitarian Heidi Kuhn, this year’s winner of the $250,000 World Food Prize, is “harnessing change.”
House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing, “How the Biden administration plans to redraw the poverty line and rob resources from rural America,” 2 p.m. ET, B-318 Rayburn. For details, click here.
The National Organic Standards Board holds fall meeting, through Thursday, 10 a.m. ET, Providence, Rhode Island.
Wednesday
USDA releases annual Household Food Security in the United States report, 9 a.m. ET. A webinar on the report will be held at 1 p.m. ET. A year ago, the USDA said 10.2 percent of U.S. households were food insecure, meaning they had difficulty providing enough food for all their members at some point during the year due to lack of resources. The insecurity rate has been relatively stable since 2019.
USDA hosts a webinar on its expanded list of stewardship practices that are eligible for climate funding, 2 p.m. ET. Speakers will be Terry Cosby, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Dana Ashford-Kornburger, NRCS national climate coordinator.
USDA releases monthly Food Price Outlook, 9 a.m. ET. At present, the USDA forecasts grocery price inflation of 5.1 percent this year and 1.6 percent in 2024. The long-term average is 2.5 percent annually.
USDA releases monthly Cold Storage report, 3 p.m. ET.
Friday
National Black Farmers Association holds 33rd annual conference, through Saturday, Natchez, Mississippi.
The Reducetarian Foundation holds 2023 Reducetarian Summit, through Sunday, Denver.
