House Democrats sink pilot project to limit SNAP purchases – July 11, 2024

House Democrats sink pilot project to limit SNAP purchases

On a voice vote Wednesday, minority-party Democrats deleted from the annual USDA-FDA funding bill a pilot project to block SNAP recipients from buying “unhealthy foods.” Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee said the pilot project, authored by Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, was paternalistic and impractical.

Lower crop returns will pressure farmland market, say analysts

The boom in corn and soybean prices since 2020 is fading, with lower farm income likely in the near term, wrote three agricultural economists in the farmdoc daily blog. “Returns to farming have declined, suggesting that cash rents should decline as well,” they said.

Today’s Quick Hits


‘Where is the farm bill?’:
House Republicans are using their farm bill “as a campaign slogan, nothing more,” because they have not called a floor vote on it, said Rep. David Scott, the senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. Chairman Glenn Thompson responded by saying, “We’re going … to stay grounded in reality.” (House Agriculture)

Summer EBT funding:
The USDA will provide $100 million in grants to states, tribes, and territories to implement a new Summer EBT program, called SUN Bucks, that gives low-income families $120 in food assistance for each school-age child. (USDA)

H5N1 scrutiny varies: Public health and agriculture officials in different states take different approaches to monitoring and testing for the H5N1 avian flu virus, which has infected 145 dairy herds in 12 states and spread to four workers on dairy farms. (Reuters)

Insect forecast: The USDA predicts another bad summer of grasshopper swarms in parts of the West, and some researchers say climate change may be helping to create the hot and dry conditions that boost grasshopper populations. (High Country News)

Sharply lower earnings:
CHS, the largest U.S. agribusiness cooperative, said earnings from its grain and petroleum sectors fell by $100 million apiece during the third quarter of its fiscal year. (CHS)

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