Americans are paying up to 40% more for their vegetables than in 2021, and drought is a big reason for the price hike. A new report from Daily Mail says the increase is due, in large part, to states that grow fresh produce getting hit with water cuts because of droughts and storms destroying some…… MORE
Category Archives: Agriculture News
New Climate-Smart Pilot Project Funding
USDA announces the second group of organizations selected to receive funding through USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Program. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the additional funding of $325 million will be for 71 projects. USDA received more than 1,000 proposals between two funding pools requesting more than $20 billion in funds. The announcement brings the…… MORE
Beef Agreement With Japan To Soon Start
U.S. Trade Rep Katherine Tai and Japan’s Ambassador to the U.S. confirmed that amendments to the beef safeguard trigger level under the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement will trigger on January 1, 2023. The letters confirmed both countries completed their procedures to put the protocol in place. “The new beef safeguard agreement will ensure that America’s farmers…… MORE
American Farm Bureau Urges Labor Reform
Labor demands continue to tax the bottom lines of farmers and ranchers, with rising wage rates and record usage of the H-2A visa program. The American Farm Bureau Federation says meaningful reforms to the federal government’s guest worker program must be a priority for Congress by the end of the year. AFBF and more than…… MORE
Meeting Christmas Tree Demand
The Christmas tree industry wants Americans to know there will be enough trees available to meet the demand for real Christmas trees. Marsha Gray, executive director of the Real Christmas Tree Board, says,” The industry met the demand in 2021 and will do so again this year. This is a year with few surprises.” Gray…… MORE
Immigration Reform Poll
A poll of voters commissioned by the International Dairy Foods Association shows strong support for reforming immigration policy as a way to help control food prices. Almost 90% of Democrat voters and 79% of Republican voters support the idea of immigration reform. When asked about the price of food, it was an almost unanimous 94%…… MORE
Cover Crop Practices & Benefits
USDA’s Economic Research Service finds cover crop mixes account for 18 to 25% of acres with cover crops. However, the use of single-species cover crops is more common. For corn fields in 2021, almost 75% of acres with cover crops used a grass or small grain cover crop, such as cereal rye, winter wheat, or…… MORE
Ag Responds To Senate Action Preventing Rail Shutdown
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is grateful for Congress taking swift action to prevent a crippling national rail shutdown. “A rail strike would have had significant and long-lasting effects on the American economy,” Vilsack says. “U.S. farmers and ranchers can breathe a sigh of relief that the trains will stay on track to deliver food, inputs,…… MORE
DWR Announces Initial Water Allocation
The Department of Water Resources released this announcement. The initial State Water Project allocation is 5% of requested supplies for 2023. The SWP provides water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians. As the state prepares for a fourth dry year and continued extreme drought conditions in California, DWR will also assess…… MORE
Congress Expected To Act On Potential Rail Strike
Agriculture groups welcome President Biden’s call on Congress to avert a potential rail worker strike. Corey Rosenbusch of The Fertilizer Institute praised the action by Biden, adding, “Congress must act now to ensure that fertilizers and other critical materials and goods that U.S. consumers rely on every day get to where they are needed.” The…… MORE
