USDA will award the first tranche of funding under its new $1.2 billion Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, or RAPP, in 2024 with $300 million from the Commodity Credit Corporation.
Farm groups, cooperatives, state agencies and others will be able to begin applying for the funds on Feb. 2, 2024 and then will have five years to use the funds to promote U.S. agricultural exports in any foreign markets except China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union. Those are already the largest foreign markets for U.S. farm goods and the USDA says it wants diversification.
USDA says it wants the funds to be focused on expanding markets in Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Hormel profit down for the quarter and the year
Hormel stock was down $1.48 a share Wednesday – a 4.6% drop – after the maker of Spam reported lower-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter and its full fiscal year.
Profit for the quarter was about $196 million, down from the prior year of $280 million. For the year, profit was $793.6 million, down from about $1 billion in fiscal 2022.
On an earnings call, CEO Jim Snee said that looking ahead to fiscal 2024, “there is urgency across the organization to improve our business.” He said Hormel would invest $250 million over three years in “implementation, personnel and project costs. including investments in capital expenditures and technology.”
The re-emergence of high-path avian influenza this fall “creates a heightened level of uncertainty in the outlook of our turkey business,” said Jacinth Smiley, Hormel’s chief financial officer.
“We are closely monitoring sell-through of whole turkeys this holiday season as well as any potential supply impacts from HPAI,” Snee said.
COP28 event begins in Dubai
The 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) launches today until Dec. 12, allowing countries around the world to discuss how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 UAE will deliver the first-ever Global Stocktake – a comprehensive evaluation of progress toward climate goals. Attendees at the meeting will have the opportunity to dine on 1.5°C-aligned menus within the individual “budget” for carbon of 2.3 kilograms of CO2-equivalent per day throughout the event, as part of the wider goal of hosting a carbon-neutral conference for the anticipated 250,000 meals served.
To help identify the carbon footprint, software company Nutritics enables caterers to track the carbon and water intensity needed to produce a menu item, while also calculating nutritional content.
The Global FoodBanking Network and partners also plan to host a series of events highlighting that food loss and waste accounts for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and should provide low-hanging fruit for countries to take immediate action in reaching climate goals. Read more on the emissions impact of food waste in our newsletter story this week.
Alabama researchers seek a drought-tolerant peanut
The Auburn University Crop Physiology Lab together with the Auburn University Peanut Breeding Program, fortified with $650,000 in grant funding from USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, are racing to create a drought-resistant peanut.
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“The American Peanut Council has identified drought as the top challenge facing the peanut industry, with only 35% of U.S. growers having irrigation capabilities,” according to an Auburn publication. “For this reason, breeding for drought tolerance has become a primary research initiative for the $1.5 billion peanut production industry.”
States seek to update to liability provisions of Army Corps cost-share agreements
Provisions requiring non-federal entities to assume liability for projects built under cost-share agreements with the Army Corps of Engineers has become a challenge for states, Upper Mississippi River Basin Association executive director Kirsten Wallace told members of a Senate committee Wednesday.
Wallace told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that as many as 22 states have laws preventing them from fulfilling these obligations, some of which are embedded in constitutions. For example, she said some laws do not allow states to indemnify a third party, including the federal government.
The Upper Mississippi River Basin Association represents the states of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin on Mississippi River management and water resource planning.
She said it: “Today’s announcement will develop new markets for American agriculture and put American-grown food on tables around the world – Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, in a statement released after USDA announced the $300 million in RAPP funding.
Stabenow then went on to say: “I look forward to continuing to work with the administration and farmers on this exciting new program that will effectively double trade promotion investments.”
Steve Davies, Jacqui Fatka and Noah Wicks contributed to this report. Questions, comments, tips? Email bill@agri-pulse.com.
