A Washington, D.C., Circuit Court decision will stay a mandate regarding farm emissions reporting required under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). CERCLA was enacted in 1980 in response to industrial pollution. EPCRA was first implemented in 1986 to help deal with chemical spills. Craig Uden, President of …
GAO: USDA Should Increase Checkoff Program Oversight
At the request of House Minority Leader and California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) prepared a report regarding the Agricultural Marketing Service and its oversight of national checkoff programs. The Hagstrom Report says the AMS should increase its oversight of the 22 national checkoff programs that producers pay fees to for industry research and promotion to expand …
South Korea Looking at New Trade Deal with the Eurasian Economic Union
South Korea’s trade minister met with Russian officials this week in order to lay the groundwork for a new free trade deal with the Eurasian Union. The move comes amid increasing pressure from the U.S. to renegotiate the South Korean – American trade deal, known as KORUS. The South Korean Trade Minister met with the CEO of a state-owned banking …
Fifth Round of NAFTA Talks End
The fifth round of talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ended on Tuesday with the New York Times calling the discussions “bogged down.” While the U.S. has tried to cool down tensions between negotiators by extending the deadline to finish the discussions, tensions are said to still be simmering. The U.S. also asked the top negotiators to …
Turkey Prices Struggling at Thanksgiving
Politico says news outlets around the country are picking up on USDA data that shows how turkey prices have dropped sharply in recent years. Experts say the reason behind the drop in price is the simple economics of supply and demand. Dewey Warner is a research fellow with Euromonitor International who says the prices drop has been building for a …
Pork: A Category Leader
USDA tracks consumer demand for commodity products, like pork, beef and chicken. National Pork Board vice president of domestic marketing Jarrod Sutton says per capita consumption is up for fresh pork. Compared to one year ago, fresh pork prices are up 3.8 percent at the retail level. Sutton says the Pork Checkoff is using insight-driven strategies to grow domestic pork …
Farmers Getting Only 11 Cents of Every Food Dollar
The National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation say that consumers are paying less and farmers are receiving less for this year’s Thanksgiving Day dinner. The NFU Farmer’s Share publication says farmers and ranchers get 11.4 cents of every dollar that consumers spend on their turkey day dinner. The Farm Bureau’s annual Thanksgiving Day Price Survey found that …
New TPP Agreement Heightens Concerns
The 11 remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) recently announced plans to move forward with a modified trade agreement. And according to a story from Joe Schuele with the U.S. Meat Export Federation, the new agreement heightens concerns about market access for U.S. beef and pork in Japan. Sponsored ContentFlorida Cattle Enhancement Board Provides Opportunities That Spark Research ProjectsApril …
Thank a Farmer, It’s Thanksgiving and They Helped Make It Possible
As your family sits down to a Thanksgiving meal this week, take a look around at all the wonderful food and consider where it came from. The sweet potatoes, peas, corn, rice and the wheat in the bread. The cranberries in the sauce and the sugar and pumpkin in the pie. The onions and tomatoes in the salad. The almonds …
China Is The New Top Buyer of American Agricultural Goods
New numbers out this week show that China is the new number one buyer of American agricultural goods. Pork Business Dot Com says the fiscal year 2017 numbers show that China bought $22 billion worth of agricultural products, which is a large jump from the $19.2 billion purchased the year before. That jump meant China moved into the number one …