U.S. let in record 317,000 agricultural guest workers
With American farmers increasingly relying on foreign agricultural laborers, the Labor Department approved 317,619 seasonal guest workers during the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, up 15 percent from a year earlier, a farmworker advocacy group said on Tuesday.
Cattle reformers in Senate unite on price discovery bill
In order to increase market transparency, four senators said on Tuesday they would file legislation to require meatpackers to buy a portion of their slaughter cattle on the cash market. The bill also would create a contract library that discloses the purchase terms that packers offer for cattle, so producers might know if a fair price is being offered.
Today’s Quick Hits
Fake meat falls short: A new report finds Beyond, Impossible and the rest of the “ultra-processed” fake meat don’t beat regeneratively-raised meat on greenhouse gas emissions, and aren’t demonstrably healthier than industrial meat. (FoodPrint)
Starbucks union vote: In the Buffalo area of New York, workers at three Starbucks stores filed petitions to hold a unionization vote. They joined three others already due to vote, although Starbucks is opposing the action by seeking a single vote by all of its roughly 20 stores in the region. (New York Times)
Bayer ag boom: Sales revenue soared by 25 percent at Bayer’s agricultural business during the third quarter of this year, the largest increase among its three divisions, said the German pharmaceutical, agricultural and consumer health company. (Bayer)
SNAP helps veterans: About 1.2 million low-income veterans live in households that received SNAP benefits from 2017-19, according to a think-tank analysis released ahead of Veterans Day. (Center on Budget)
Not a record: Lower than expected soybean yields in four states, including top producer Iowa, mean that this year’s crop will fall 3 million bushels short of the record 4.428 billion bushels of 2018 rather than topping it, as was forecast a month ago. (Ag Insider)
Climate-change cattle: Langdon Hill is crossbreeding cattle on his Arizona ranch “in hopes of developing smaller, lankier cows that retain less heat, aren’t as thirsty and live off the native grasses and bushes.” (Los Angeles Times)
