USDA seeks ways to ‘de-risk’ climate mitigation, says Bonnie
Farmers face significant expenses in adopting climate mitigation practices, and the Biden administration is pondering how to “de-risk those investments,” possibly through a so-called carbon bank, said USDA climate adviser Robert Bonnie on Thursday. “Can we look at some new authorities to create some new financing mechanisms?”
Biden order upping FEMA cost share allows restaurants to get paid in full to feed the hungry
The executive order President Joe Biden signed on Tuesday effectively bypasses a major pandemic relief bill that had been stuck in Congress, and represents a significant step in addressing two major crises: unprecedented rates of food insecurity and the nation’s ailing restaurant industry.
New Senate Ag members include farm reformer and election deniers
New Jersey’s Cory Booker, sponsor of bills to place a moratorium on large livestock farms and to expand Black ownership of farmland, is among five newcomers to the Senate Agriculture Committee, said panel leaders. The new members also include Republicans Roger Marshall and Tommy Tuberville, both of whom challenged President Biden’s election on the same day a mob attacked the Capitol.
Land O’Lakes, Microsoft in carbon credit program
Truterra, a subsidiary of farmer-owned Land O’Lakes, launched a carbon credit program on Thursday in which Microsoft, its first buyer, will pay $20 per ton for carbon sequestered in the soil. The program “will help farmers generate and sell carbon credits to private sector buyers,” said the company.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Food prices soar: Global food prices rose for the eighth month in a row, due to higher grain, sugar and vegetable oil prices in January, and the Food Price Index is at its highest level since July 2014. (Food and Agriculture Organization)
High-flying wings: Chicken wing “prices have been flying high” during the pandemic, and now there’s a scramble among restaurants and food service companies to stock up for Super Bowl Sunday. (Washington Post)
Much greater risk: Workers on livestock farms and large animal veterinarians are at a much higher risk than the general public — 15 times higher on hog farms — of picking up antibiotic-resistant bacteria, says a Michigan State University researcher. (Wisconsin State Farmer)
Klobuchar antitrust bill: Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, proposed an overhaul of U.S. antitrust laws that would limit market-dominating mergers as a way to “replenish competition and push for more startups.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Cover crop tool: An updated version of the “cover crop decision support tool” released last October simulates the decomposition of a terminated cover crop to help farmers decide whether to plant cereal rye during the fallow season. (farmdoc Daily)
