For more than 80 years, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has been a pioneer in conservation, working with landowners, local and state governments, and other federal agencies to maintain healthy and productive working landscapes. NRCS Acting Chief Leonard Jordan says NRCS continues Helping People Help the Land. NRCS Helping People Help the Land Image: Courtesy of USDA/NRCS-The Soil Conservation Act …
NAFTA ‘Nervousness’ Dominates Senate Confirmation Hearing
NAFTA ‘nervousness’ dominated a Senate confirmation hearing for two Trump Deputy U.S. Trade Representative nominees, as concerns about a possible North American Free Trade Agreement pull-out continued to surface. Senate Ag Chair Pat Roberts told fellow Kansan C.J. Mahoney, tapped by the president to be a Deputy U.S. Trade Representative with a portfolio including NAFTA talks, that it’s the wrong …
Cargill Enters Plant-Based Protein Market
Cargill has signed a joint venture agreement with the largest North American producer of pea protein, stepping into the plant-based protein market. The agreement with Puris, is called a “game changer in terms of taste and vertical integration” in plant-based protein, according to Cargill officials. Meat industry publication Meatingplace reports Cargill’s financial backing and market reach will drive significant expansion …
Brazil Considers Dropping Tariff on U.S. Ethanol Imports
Brazil is considering removing a 20-percent tariff on ethanol imports from the United States. An agriculture official from Brazil said Wednesday the decision could depend on the U.S. lifting a ban on fresh beef exports from Brazil, according to Reuters. Brazil imposed the ethanol tax last year on U.S. imports that exceed a 600-million-liter annual quota to protect local producers. …
Organics Encourage Support for Livestock Rule
The organic food sector is drumming up support for the recently ditched organic livestock rule. Leading the charge, Organic Valley cooperative of Wisconsin says the group is demanding that the Department of Agriculture stop interfering with the public process that created the rule. The coalition, which includes the National Farmers Union, published a paid open letter in the Washington Post …
Trump Falling Behind on USDA Nominees
President Donald Trump has nominated just seven of the 13 Agriculture Department positions that require Senate confirmation. The Senate has confirmed just four nominations, being Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Deputy Secretary Steve Censky and Undersecretaries Ted McKinney and Greg Ibach. The undersecretary nomination of Bill Northey remains on hold by Senator Ted Cruz, and one Trump nomination, Sam Clovis, withdrew …
Canada Official: U.S. Direction on NAFTA Like Following a Pinball
An agriculture official from Canada says trying to determine the U.S. direction for the North American Free Trade Agreement is like “following a pinball.” Ron Bonnett, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture president, was attending when President Donald Trump spoke at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention last week. Bonnett told an Ontario, Canada-based newspaper that he is still optimistic that …
Major Reservoir Project Could Take Years
After receiving legislative approval last spring, a massive reservoir intended to help shift water south from Lake Okeechobee remains years away from reality, the head of the South Florida Water Management District said Wednesday. A big factor in the timeline for design and construction of the reservoir is waiting for federal-government approval of its half of the roughly $1.6 billion …
Returning to the New Era Corn Price Mid-Point
The agricultural economists at the University of Illinois have been championing a new era for grain prices since the rise of ethanol as a major player in the U.S. corn market. Scott Irwin is an agricultural economist from the University of Illinois. He and his colleagues believe grain prices have achieved a new higher plateau era. An era that started …
Researchers Studying Feed-Carried Viruses
Could viruses be transferred around the globe by the import of feed stuffs from foreign countries? Dr. Scott Dee of the Pipestone Veterinary Clinic in Minnesota talks about a study carried out by Pipestone Veterinary Services, South Dakota State University and Kansas State University. Feed Prior to the last Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea outbreak in the U.S., it was seen in …