The Produce Safety Rule, part of the Food Safety Modernization Act, will go into effect January 26 for farms with $500,000 or more in revenue. The Food and Drug Administration has emphasized the first year will focus less on regulation and compliance and more on education and readiness. Regardless, AFBF economist Veronica Nigh says produce growers need to be ready …
U.S. Crop Acreage Still Moving to Soybeans
Farmers in the United States have been slowly switching their cropland to just two field crops. Corn is king in the United States. Soybeans have been on a swift move upward. And wheat acreage has been on the decline for about 40 years. About half-way through those four decades two important things happened. Congress passed the 1996 farm bill – …
The Farm Bill Is in Our Future
The Farm Bill is going to be in our future. There is a 10-year baseline, but every five years, we get a new Farm Bill. The 2014 Farm Bill is projected to cost about $956 billion. Coming up, we don’t know the exact budget figures as of yet. But SNAP, the Food Stamp program, is a full 77 percent of …
Will Brazilian Beef Again Be Imported into the U.S. Soon?
After losing the ability to export beef into the United States and several other countries around the world due to food safety concerns in recent months, Brazilian agriculture officials say they look forward to, and expect, the U.S. market to soon reopen for Brazil’s beef exports. But USDA isn’t saying yet whether it’s ready to allow it or not. Here’s …
NAFTA Concerns with AFB Pres. Zippy Duvall
It seems trade issues abound as we enter the new year of 2018. In this radio brief from our network headlines this week, American Farm Bureau President “Zippy” Duvall, who is from one of the states where specialty crop producers are not so happy about NAFTA, briefly shares his concerns about the renegotiation efforts underway for NAFTA, which will soon …
Planning Your Garden for the New Year
Cathy Isom has some tips about starting the new year off planning for your new garden. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. Planning Your Garden for the New Year New Year, new garden. Winter may seem like it just started but it will be ending soon and before long the first leaves of Spring will bloom. No better time …
Another Year of Tight Budgets in Washington
2018 will be another year of tight budgets in Washington, especially after the passage of a sweeping tax overhaul bill. That will also likely mean less money to write a new farm bill. The 2014 farm bill was tough enough to write but the 2018 bill could be tougher. And it’s not just automatic budget cuts begun in 2011, but a …
America Has Plenty of Apples This Winter
Although U.S. production won’t approach record volume, American apple suppliers have plenty to sell in 2018. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projected a national apple volume of 248.7 million bushels. That’s well short of a record harvest of 281.3 million bushels in 2014. Despite that, U.S. apple farmers are getting more efficient every year. With the 248.7 million bushels this …
Downward Pressure Expected on 2018 Cash Rents
As commodity prices fell over the past few years, many landowners across the country agreed to lower cash rents. The annual LandOwner/Pro Farmer Cash Rent and Values Survey shows a majority of the respondents expecting cash rents to continue their lower trend in 2018. LandOwner consultant and columnist Mike Walsten says the survey also shows the focus on lowering cash …
USGC Report Says U.S. Corn Harvest Quality was Excellent
The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) issued a report on this year’s corn harvest quality, saying a good growing season resulted in record yields that had very good quality. The report says the majority of crop conditions in 2017 were good-to-excellent. That led to strong plant size, good kernel health, and a projected record yield of 370.3 million metric tons, or …