News

RSS

The farm bill negotiators face a self-imposed deadline this week for reaching a deal that Congress could act on by the end of the month when the 2014 farm bill expires.

Argentina, in yet another show of good will towards the U.S., has offered to lift its longstanding ban on U.S. beef as negotiators for the two countries look for ways to bring down another trade barrier. Argentina’s ambassador to the U.S. visited USDA this week to discuss the process for lifting the ban, Argentine government officials told Agri-Pulse.

The retaliatory tariffs imposed by China on imports of U.S. fruits and tree nuts will hurt American producers, but the pain will be eased by increased demand from a surging middle class in the world’s most populous country, according to a RaboResearch report.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pressed farm bill negotiators to finalize an agreement as quickly as possible, but House Republicans used the conference committee’s first formal meeting to continue to press senators to accept tighter work requirements for food stamp recipients.

The Trump administration remains adamant that Canada shut down its Class 7 milk pricing program as part of an overall deal to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters today.

Food insecurity in the United States fell last year from 12.3 percent to 11.8 percent of U.S. households, the sixth straight year of declines following the 2007 recession, USDA's Economic Research Service reported today.