USDA puts part of its climate windfall into land stewardship Four popular USDA land stewardship and working lands programs will receive an additional $850 million this year to handle the perennial crush of applications for assistance, said the Biden administration on Monday. The outlay will be the Agriculture Department’s first… Continue reading
Food inflation rate rises for 14th month; Americans pare grocery lists More and more Americans are switching to generic brands or looking for discounts at the grocery store in response to sustained high food inflation, now running at 10.9 percent — the highest rate since the inflation-plagued late 1970s. Food… Continue reading
(AG Insider) Last June, as a record-breaking heatwave baked Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Sebastian Francisco Perez was moving irrigation lines at a large plant nursery in 104-degree-heat. When he didn’t appear at the end of his shift, his co-workers went looking for him, and found him collapsed between rows of trees…. Continue reading
Despite inflation, taste matters more than price to food shoppers, says report Americans say they are spending an additional $15 a week on food but that inflation is less important to them at the grocery store than buying good-tasting food, according to a survey by Purdue University. “At present, consumer… Continue reading
Egg prices spike as bird flu outbreaks reach two-month mark Americans will not run out of eggs in the ongoing outbreak of bird flu, the worst since 2015, says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Four percent of the U.S. layer flock has died in the two months since the first confirmation… Continue reading
War in Ukraine means higher U.S. farm costs The largest U.S. farmers and ranchers say the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with its disruption of grain, oil and fertilizer shipping, will drive up their costs of production, according to a Purdue University poll released on Tuesday. The Ag Economy Barometer also… Continue reading
Easter egg supply jeopardized amid bird flu surge In three weeks, outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have killed more than 4 percent of the egg-laying chickens in America. “Egg availability may be limited leading into Easter,” traditionally a high-demand period for eggs, said analysts at rural lender CoBank…. Continue reading
Farm income cushion for 2021: Higher commodity prices Crop and livestock prices have rebounded from coronavirus lows last spring and could bolster farm income as massive federal payments recede in 2021, said economists at a farm conference on Monday. Cortney Cowley of the Kansas City Federal Reserve cautioned “the path… Continue reading
https://www.farmprogress.com/farm-life/remembering-farmer-fourth-july/gallery?slide=1 Continue reading
Happy Fourth of July! Americas Farm Report will be taking the next few days off for the July Fourth holiday. We’ll see you on Monday. Sincerely, Richard Kemp Continue reading
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