Month: December 2021

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California ag exports down by $2.1 billion due to ‘Containergeddon’ The cargo pileup at West Coast ports may have had a greater impact on farm exports from California than the Sino-U.S. trade war did, said three economists on Wednesday. They estimated losses of $2.1 billion in foreign sales during a… Continue reading

As damage continues, EPA ponders whether dicamba is safe to use at all The notoriously volatile weed killer dicamba was blamed for 3,500 incidents of “off-target” damage this year, including to more than 1 million acres of soybeans, said the EPA on Tuesday. The regulator said it was reviewing whether… Continue reading

Trump trade war had ‘winners and losers’ When Trump appointees at the USDA parceled out trade war assistance to farmers, they exaggerated the damage in 2019 and over-compensated corn and wheat growers, said a congressional agency on Monday. “This report confirms that the Trump USDA picked winners and losers in… Continue reading

USDA allots $1.5 billion to counter supply chain turmoil in school meals Up to 100,000 schools will get a share of $1.5 billion intended to ease the impact of supply chain disruptions and the pandemic on school lunch and other school meals, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. School food directors… Continue reading

Ambitious ‘biofuel America’ plan faces overhaul in 2022 During the ethanol boom of the early 2000s, Congress set an ambitious target of quadrupling the amount of renewable fuel mixed into gasoline for America’s cars and pickup trucks. But while corn ethanol has lived up to its part of the plan,… Continue reading

Lawsuit challenges EPA over pesticide-coated seeds Renewing a fight that began five years ago, two environmental groups have sued the EPA to force it to regulate pesticide-coated seeds in the name of protecting bees and other pollinators. Seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticides are used on 80 percent of corn land… Continue reading

A plateau in sales of antibiotics for livestock after steep decline Following the FDA ban on use of medically important antibiotics to encourage weight gain in hogs, cattle and poultry, sales of the drugs are averaging 6.1 million kilograms a year, a decline of 37 percent from their 2015 peak…. Continue reading

‘Spot market’ program aims pandemic aid at hog farmers The government will send up to $50 million to hog farmers who were forced to sell hogs at pandemic-depressed prices on the spot market during the summer of 2020, said the Agriculture Department on Monday. The announcement came a month after… Continue reading