TikTok is trying to highlight the economic impact the app has on American small businesses, including farmers. This comes amid the congressional effort to ban TikTok, if China’s ByteDance doesn’t sell the app.
TikTok’s agriculture hashtag has over 2 million published videos on the app, with over 23 billion views in just one year, according to a TikTok-commissioned survey by Oxford Economics. Some small and mid-sized businesses in the agricultural sector attribute a portion of their success to the app.
By the numbers: Of those surveyed, 33% said TikTok is critical to their businesses’ existence and 41 percent said a “meaningful portion” of the business's success or growth is directly attributable to TikTok marketing efforts.
The app expanded creators' reach to diverse communities and audiences in and outside their own area, according to the survey. Ninety percent of those surveyed said the app improves their ability to reach new audiences outside their community or state.
TikTok has also played a role in attracting investors, increasing sales and even selling out products, according to the report.
Big picture: In March, the House passed a bill that could result in a TikTok ban, and President Biden has signaled he would sign the legislation if it also passes the Senate.
By the way: “To say that this has impacted my life as a first-generation rancher from just the sheer marketing aspect of it is huge,” Brian Firebaugh, a TikTok creator and founder of Trail Boss Ranch in Texas, said in an interview with Agri-Pulse.
Firebaugh's account, which currently has over 430,000 followers, has helped connect him with experienced ranchers, educate the community and market his product, he said.
Baltimore port gets POTUS visit; USDA out with guidance
President Biden is in Baltimore today to inspect the collapsed bridge that forced the suspension of operations at the port there. Biden has been calling for the federal government to pay the full cost of replacing the bridge that collapsed when a container ship rammed into one of its supports, cutting off the port’s main channel.
“Our focus right now, outside of … rebuilding that bridge, is making sure that the ports are open, making sure that we continue … clean out that area,” White House press secretary Jean-Pierre said in previewing his visit.
Meanwhile: As cargo operations at the port remain suspended, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is allowing shippers of plant or animal products with permits for the Baltimore seaport to enter other ports of entry in the North Atlantic region.
Permits for imports of live animals, however, “must arrive at the port of entry specified on the import permit,” the agency emphasized. It asked that shippers contact the agency if they have a Baltimore-specific permit.
Agricultural diversification is a win-win for farms, new study finds
Farms using agricultural diversification methods around the world can have a positive environmental and social impact, according to a study published in this week's edition of the journal Science.
Researchers found diversification methods offer “win-win” outcomes for farmers, meaning positive impacts on biodiversity and human well-being without lower yields.
“Agricultural diversification has often been sort of blamed for having lower yields and not being particularly helpful from a more social perspective,” said Laura Vang Rasmussen, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen. “But we do actually see positive effects for both biodiversity, food security and human wellbeing and we do not see negative effects for yields.”
Rasmussen co-led the study with Ingo Grass, a professor at the University of Hohenheim. It examines 24 datasets from existing research representing over 2,600 farms globally.
While researchers could not determine a single diversification method associated with the most positive outcomes, they found implementing more methods resulted in more positive outcomes.
By the way: For U.S. farms specifically, livestock integration had a positive overall outcome on biodiversity and human wellbeing, says Olivia Smith, a research associate at Michigan State University who contributed to the study. The practice can provide new income streams and fertilizer for crops as well as help with controlling weeds, Smith says.
It’s easy to be “in the know” about what’s happening in Washington, D.C. Sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news! Simply click here.
Diversification can also make farms more resilient amid climate change, she says.
EPW Republicans attack emission standards
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito on Thursday released a report criticizing the EPA’s emissions reduction standards for gas-powered cars and heavy-duty trucks.
Moore, in the report, asserted that standards to cut tailpipe emissions for light- and medium-duty vehicles for model years 2027 through 2032 would cost “more than half a trillion dollars” between 2027 and 2055. She argued a heavy-duty truck rule covering model years 2027 through 2032 would cost $24 billion between 2027 and 2055.
While Capito called the rules “mandates,” EPA said the standards are technology neutral and “performance-based,” allowing each manufacturer to choose the suite of emissions control technologies that will “meet the standards and the needs of their customers,” according to a fact sheet.
He said it. "This case could cause ripple effects across the entire country and impact millions upon millions of Americans. We are deeply concerned about anti-competitive behavior and shortages. in this market, if this case moves forward.” – Harold Wolle, president of the National Corn Growers Association, about the potential effect of imposing duties on imports of 2,4-D from India and China.
The comment came during a hearing Thursday before the International Trade Commission. Read our full report at Agri-Pulse.com.
Rebekah Alvey, Noah Wicks and Steve Davies contributed to this report.
