The Federal Trade Commission cleared Amazon to officially take over Whole Foods. Politico’s Morning Agriculture Report says Amazon will spend $13.7 billion to acquire the Austin, Texas-based high-end food grocery store chain. The FTC wrapped up its investigation and found no anticompetitive effects sufficient to block the deal. Acting competition bureau chief Bruce Hoffman says, “Based on our investigation, we’ve …
McDonald’s Announces Global Antibiotic Phase Out
McDonald’s Corporation announced it’ll be expanding its effort to cut back on the use of antibiotics critical to human health across the global chicken supply. The fast food giant will require its poultry suppliers to phase out drugs categorized under the highest priority category in the World Health Organization’s four categories by January of next year. Those antibiotics will disappear …
IBM Announces New Food Traceability Program
A group of companies in the global food chain announced a partnership with IBM intended to give consumers more confidence in the global food system. The group includes companies like Walmart, Nestle, Tyson Foods, and many others. They’ll work with IBM to find areas in the global supply food chain that can benefit from the IBM program Blockchain. An IBM …
Stabenow Supports Call to Withdraw Clovis Nomination
Democrats Charles Schumer of New York and Brian Schatz of Hawaii called for President Trump to withdraw the nomination of Sam Clovis as USDA Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics. The Hagstrom Report says shortly the announcement, Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow says that if the Clovis nomination isn’t withdrawn, she will highlight his comments on minorities, gays, Barack Obama, and …
Brazil Slaps Tariff on U.S. Ethanol
The Brazilian Agriculture Minister announced on Wednesday that the country’s Chamber of Foreign Trade approved a recommendation to impose a 20 percent tariff on U.S. ethanol imports after a 600 million liter tariff rate quota. Brazilian media are reporting the tariff will be in effect for two years. This will make it much more difficult for U.S. ethanol to access …
Agri View: Resuming Beef Trade
Everett Griner talks about resuming beef trade with China in today’s Agri View. Well, China is buying American beef again. It is not what cattlemen would like to see, but it is happening. China stopped buying American beef 14 years ago. There is still no formal trade agreement between the two countries but, individual buyers, you know …
Rooney, Perdue View Ranchers’ Land and Water Conservation Efforts
FORT MYERS, FL – Friday, August 18, Congressman Tom Rooney (FL-17) and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue observed critical water quality and land conservation projects during a helicopter tour over South Florida and discussed the importance of reauthorizing these programs in the upcoming Farm Bill. These water and conservation projects help Florida’s farmers and ranchers coordinate with state and …
AFBF, AFBIS, Others, Propose Dairy Revenue Protection Insurance Concept
A proposal submitted to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), American Farm Bureau Insurance Services (AFBIS), and others would provide a revenue-based insurance option for dairy farmers, different from the current margin-based insurance options available. AFBF Market Intelligence Director John Newton explains how the Dairy Revenue Protection insurance concept will work for dairy farmers. …
NPB ShellOut Campaign Reaches 13 Million
To celebrate America’s love for the perfectly powerful peanut, the National Peanut Board launched a consumer campaign that brought together a famous athlete, social media stars and everyday peanut lovers to share their peanut passion on Twitter and Instagram. Tyron Spearman reports that the #ShellOut campaign features former NFL player Charles “Peanut” Tillman, who motivated people everywhere to sell out—or SHELL …
NIFA Invests $35 Million in Specialty Crop Research
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced 12 new grants totaling $35 million for science-based solutions and new technology for the specialty crop industry. Funding is made through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI), authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. “Specialty crops generally fetch high value for the farmers, but require more intensive …