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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Friday, December 20, 2024
Year after year of drought and intense heat that have cooked crops in Texas also have fueled a clash between USDA and the crop insurance industry that has spilled over into discussions of a new farm bill.
Dry weather has helped speed Midwestern and Southern farmers through most of this fall’s corn and soybean harvest while also limiting the amount of grain they could send down the Mississippi River. As many park their combines for the year, they are hoping rain storms can replenish soils parched and waterways shrunk by months of drought.
High food prices have become major talking points in the upcoming presidential election, with both sides pointing to different causes for pricey grocery store receipts over the past four years. Economists say a number of factors have been at play, depending on the type of food.
The Agriculture Department is launching a $400 million effort with 18 irrigation districts to pay Western farmers to cut back on water use, so long as they promise to keep farming.
Winter precipitation and spring rains have held off the drought that has gripped large swaths of the country over the last several years, and that's a welcome relief for producers in the Midwest and West.
When it comes to water issues in the western U.S.—specifically the seven states dependent on the Colorado River system for their lives and livelihoods—John Boelts thinks farmers are giving up more than their share.
Snowpack conditions are among the lowest levels ever recorded at many measuring stations in the Natural Resources Conservation Service Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) Network.
Farmers who bought crop insurance in 2022 will receive dramatically less in disaster aid than they have in recent years because of a “progressive factoring methodology” USDA made to the Emergency Relief Program for last year’s losses, according to an analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Drought, low prices, supply chain disruptions have been plaguing California’s walnut farmers for years and a heat wave during last year’s harvest scorched the state’s groves, but ideal weather so far this year has the sector optimistic that growers are going to see their fortunes change.
