Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow has laid out her priorities for farm program reforms in a new letter to Senate colleagues.
In the letter, she indicates that she’s willing to boost the escalator provision for Price Loss Coverage reference prices and also calls for “improving marketing loans,” but there’s not a lot of detail in terms of proposals.
But, but, but: While she uses the word “bipartisan” several times, it’s not clear the letter will move the ball forward that much. She continues to draw the line at cutting the nutrition title or taking money from conservation programs to shore up commodity programs or expand crop insurance.
Bayer cutting employees to improve performance
Bayer says it’s making “significant” staff cuts in an effort to boost its operational performance.
The company, which recently said it was considering a restructuring of its three divisions, “is currently in a difficult situation for various reasons,” said Heike Prinz, a member of the board of management quoted in a release. ”Far-reaching measures are necessary.”
Job cuts, which will hit managerial ranks hardest, “are to be implemented swiftly over the coming months and completed by the end of 2025 at the latest,” the company said.
A union leader at the company was quoted in the announcement as saying that given Bayer’s “strained economic situation,” the reductions are necessary.
“We are vigorously campaigning for the continued existence of the [Bayer] Group with all three divisions,” said Heike Hausfeld, chairwoman of the Central Works Council of Bayer AG.
USDA defends timeline on DMC enrollment
USDA is pushing back against demands from lawmakers that it start a new signup for the Dairy Margin Coverage program.
A USDA spokesman says in a statement to Agri-Pulse that the Farm Service Agency is “working as quickly as possible” to implement changes to the program required by the extension of the 2018 farm bill.
“USDA is well aware of the importance of the Dairy Margin Coverage program to American dairy farmers. As these lawmakers know full well, when Congress passed a 2018 Farm Bill extension, they made regulatory changes to the Dairy Margin Coverage program that require FSA to take additional steps to implement before we can open this year’s program for producers,” the statement says.
Some state, local officials oppose labeling bill
Some 143 mayors, state legislators and local officials are urging the House and Senate Agriculture committees to reject the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act, a bill that would bar states from imposing their own labeling requirements on pesticides.
"The Supreme Court has ruled that democratically elected local governments hold the power to address the specific needs of their communities. State and local governments are often best positioned to respond quickly to emerging risks within our communities, and proposals to weaken our ability to respond could have a significant impact on public safety,” the state and local officials write in a letter to the Ag committees.
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The Environmental Working Group, a vocal critic of the bill, helped organize the letter.
Extreme heat drives down farm income in Kansas, report finds
Increasing temperatures are bad news for Kansas farmers, a new report from the Environmental Defense Fund, Cornell University and Kansas State University says.
In the last 40 years, for every 1 degree Celsius of warming, gross farm income decreased by 7% and net farm income by 66%, the report says. The results include income recovered by crop insurance.
One degree Celsius is equal to about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit
“Over the past several decades, increasing temperatures appear to have had a greater negative impact on growing conditions because of extreme temperatures than a positive impact through extending growing season length,” the report says.
Grizzly reintroduction to Montana, Idaho being explored
The service initially proposed releasing bears into the ecosystem in 2000 but changed its mind the next year. Environmental groups sued in 2021, and a judge ordered the service to go back and address unresolved issues relating to the 2000 decision.
FWS plans to issue a final EIS and Record of Decision by December 2026.
BEA to begin foreign direct investment survey
U.S. businesses with direct or indirect foreign owners that hold at least 10% voting stock will need to complete a survey by May 31, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The BEA is conducting its annual survey of foreign direct investment in the United States to “measure the size and economic significance of foreign direct investment in the United States and its impact on the U.S. economy,” Paul Farello, the agency’s associate director for international economics, says in a Federal Register notice.
The BEA will individually contact the entities required to report, the notice said.
She said it. “The Farm Bill is not just an opportunity to improve and modernize the current set of tools. It is also our chance to take stock of the emerging challenges we face and develop new tools to support farmers.” – Senate Ag Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., in her letter to Senate colleagues.
