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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Farmers across the country are largely ahead of schedule at getting their crops out of the field as fall and its chillier temperatures descent on farm country.
The Agriculture Department, along with major agribusiness firms and foundations, are joining with U.S. cotton growers in a series of efforts aimed at filling a growing global demand for textiles that can be produced with a much smaller environmental footprint.
The Biden administration is pouring $2.8 billion, far more than originally planned, into a series of pilot projects aimed at developing markets for climate-smart commodities in every state and across a wide range of commodities and farm types. Another $700 million for smaller projects will be awarded later.
The USDA Tuesday raised its forecast for ag exports in fiscal year 2022 to $196 billion, but the department also predicted the value of overseas shipments will fall in FY 2023.
Drought in the American West, Southwest and Central Plains hit farmers and ranchers hard last year, buta new survey from the American Farm Bureau Federationshows the situation has worsened this year as more producers are abandoning scorched crops, destroying orchard trees and paying for livestock feed.
Texas farmers are facing a drought that will all but eliminate the hopes of many for a good cotton crop in 2022 as attention turns to topsoil conservation measures that producers hope will allow them to try again next year.
Leaders of major crop groups say the farm bill commodity programs won’t adequately protect their margins at a time of skyrocketing input costs, but the organizations aren’t ready to propose specific changes.
Surging commodity prices have pushed crop insurance guarantees to record highs or near-record highs for farmers in the Midwest and Plains states this spring, which will help them protect their revenue against the soaring input costs.
