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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
The Agriculture Department is moving to improve its firefighting efforts in the West with more than $490 million in funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador may have thought he was offering a reasonable compromise when he told U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that Mexico would remain open to importing genetically modified feed corn, but American farmers don’t see it that way.
Mexico is willing to make a deal to annually exempt U.S. feed corn from a coming ban on genetically modified corn, but no deal is being considered on white corn for direct human consumption, according to a statement issued by the office of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The Agriculture Department reduced its fiscal 2023 forecast for U.S. ag exports to $190 billion, a $3.5 billion drop from the agency’s last estimate in August, largely reflecting weaker expectations for soybean sales.
Moving livestock from field to field to lessen the impact of their grazing practices is a practice slowly taking hold, and some proponents say new federal funding coupled with better outreach could get more producers on board.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack personally warned Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador against banning genetically modified corn and later said the Biden administration expects to receive a proposal soon from Mexico on how to “engage in dialogue assuring the safety of biotechnology products.”
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall has introduced a bill to cut restraints on domestic fertilizer production, legislation that the Republican lawmaker aims at getting into the farm bill.
An Agriculture Department program that is set to play a big role in the Biden administration's efforts to deploy renewable energy and increase energy efficiency on farms and in rural areas has been steering the bulk of its funding into solar projects, but USDA officials will be looking to diversify technologies somewhat with a historic infusion of new funding from the Inflation Reduction Act
The Agriculture Department has launched an online tool that will streamline the farm loan application with an eye toward ensuring more equitable treatment of producers.
Despite some improvement from a week ago, record-low water levels are continuing to hinder grain transportation on the Mississippi River, leaving farmers with fewer alternatives for getting their crops onto barges to export.
