Costly fire year greets new head of the Forest Service Forest Service chief Vicki Christiansen, who took office on Thursday after six months as interim chief, said the USDA agency would spend $2.6 billion on fire suppression “for this historic fire season,” roughly the same as in 2017. North Carolina… Continue reading
Dinner at school is a growing option for U.S. students Compared to the long-established school lunch program, after-school programs that provide snacks or supper to pupils are tiny. In fact, just 1.2 million suppers, versus 30 million lunches, are served in school each day. North Carolina ag losses from Florence… Continue reading
Trump gives the order for year-round sale of E15 On his way to a campaign rally in Iowa, President Trump started the regulatory process on Tuesday for year-round sales of a 15-percent blend of corn ethanol in gasoline, sought in the Farm Belt as a tonic for trade-war jitters. Fighting… Continue reading
‘It’s not just SNAP.’ Regional shift in subsidies tying up farm bill, Stabenow says. House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway would move hundreds of millions of dollars in crop subsidies to cotton growers to the disadvantage of northern farmers, said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, one of the “big four” farm bill negotiators…. Continue reading
At global summit, farming and land ‘central pillars’ in climate solution At the two-day Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, food, forestry and agriculture—long viewed as step-children when it came to climate solutions—were recognized as central to whatever progress is going to made in reaching climate goals established in… Continue reading
U.S. ‘locking up’ trade access to Canada and Mexico, says Perdue Wheat and dairy groups were guarded in their assessments of the North American trade pact, while Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asserted on Thursday the agreement “is locking up two of our top three markets for the future.” Farm bill… Continue reading
Three things that go together: Young adults, affluence and fast food Roughly 37 percent of U.S. adults eat fast food daily, says a CDC analysis of dietary data, but the rate is much higher for men and women aged 20-39 and for higher-income people. Farm bill proposal on yields ‘does… Continue reading
Farm bill deadlock raises chances of short-term extension Iowa’s Chuck Grassley was one of two senators on Tuesday to suggest an extension of the farm law that expired at the start of this week. President Trump has backed House Republicans in demanding stronger work requirements on a larger number of… Continue reading
‘Dairy was a deal-breaker’ in writing NAFTA’s successor, says president President Trump veered between predicting easy approval of the new Canada-Mexico-U.S. trade agreement and expressing concerns about opposition to the pact on Monday while declaring that the agreement “is a very, very big deal for our farmers.” High costs for… Continue reading
Conaway blames Senate as farm law lapses Two days after farm bill negotiators declared unity in working together on the 2018 farm bill, the House author of the most controversial proposal on the table — stricter work requirements for food stamp recipients — attacked Senate negotiators as “weak-willed”. Canada to… Continue reading
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