The Biden administration is voicing dissatisfaction with two House spending bills teed up for action this week, criticizing drastic budget cuts and legislative riders targeting the administration’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., added the funding bills for the Transportation Department, Interior Department and EPA to the tentative calendar for this week.
Echoing previous Statements of Administration Policy, the White House Office of Management and Budget said in both of its statements that House Republicans “are wasting time with partisan bills that cut domestic spending to levels well below” those agreed to in the debt-ceiling agreement signed in June.”
Nearly 100 projects awarded $32M to expand local and regional food systems
The Agricultural Marketing Service is awarding more than $32 million to 98 projects to help support “local and regional food producers by broadening marketing opportunities, such as farmers markets, local food hubs and farm-to-institution programs,” says Jenny Moffitt, USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory affairs.
The Local Agriculture Market Program – or LAMP – provides funds through the 2018 farm bill and the fiscal year 2023 annual appropriations. This round of LAMP funding includes 55 projects totaling $13.9 million under the Farmers Market Promotion Program. In Washington, D.C., FreshFarm Markets received $500,000 to grow its customer base and loyalty for local food.
The Local Food Promotion Program is funding 33 projects valued at $14.1 million to help support processing, aggregation, distribution and storage of local and regional food products.
The Regional Food System Partnership Program, with funding of $4.4 million, will support 10 partnerships across eight states and the District of Columbia. In California the RFSP program will establish a program to connect and amplify impacts of good food purchasing initiatives in Los Angeles and the Bay area. One goal is to “increase values-aligned food purchasing by institutions.”
Bird flu cases on the rise
Highly pathogenic bird flu continues to rise across the country, expanding into 14 states with 1.4 million birds affected over the last 30 days.
USDA’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service confirmed nearly 300,000 birds were affected at a commercial upland gamebird facility in Alabama on Oct. 27. A commercial turkey facility in California with 31,600 birds was also added to the list of recently impacted locations.
Brazil’s soybean planting reaches 40% complete amid lingering precipitation concerns
Brazilian farmers have planted 40% of this year’s soybean acres, but dryness and heat remain concerns in the country’s largest producing state of Mato Grosso, according to the consulting firm AgRural. Light rains arrived in some of the state last week, helping to reduce the heat, but “the volumes and distribution were very irregular” and “there remains a fear of replanting larger soybean areas and sowing outside the ideal window …”
Meanwhile, planting is progressing nicely in southern states like Paraná, “where planting continued at an accelerated pace, favored by a respite in the rains, and crops are developing very well.”
Planting progress for the entire country is up from 30% a week earlier, but slower than the 46% recorded at this time a year ago.
Sugar small fraction of Halloween candy cost
Curious how much goes back to the sugar farmer in those bite-size pieces of candy passed around this holiday? For most sweet treats, farms and those working in the sugar industry will receive just pennies.
The American Sugar Alliance, a national coalition of sugarcane and sugar beet producers and related industries, analyzed several different popular treats and the amount of sugar as it relates to the cost to consumers.
Rob Johansson, former USDA chief economist and ASA’s director of economics and policy analysis, determined that in a bag of candy corn that costs $3.49, sugar constitutes 31 cents – just 3 cents for a serving.
And what does the farmer get? Less than a penny.
ERS looking at Midwestern cover crop survey
The Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service is considering a new survey looking at corn and soybean farmers’ use of cover cropping and their interest in federal programs incentivizing the practice.
The survey, ERS said in a public request for comments, will ask farmers their thoughts on "how contract flexibility, ease of applying, payments, and other aspects of cover crop contracts affect farmers' willingness to enroll their corn and soybean fields in cover crop programs.”
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.
The survey would be either be done online or by mail, and participation would be voluntary, the agency said.
USDA prepares application process for 2022 ERP
The USDA is preparing to open up the application process for more than $3 billion in funding for producer crop losses due to disasters last year.
The agency plans to begin accepting applications for the 2022 Emergency Relief Program on Tuesday, according to a press release. The program covers crop, tree, bush and vine losses from natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, and tornadoes, among other things.
Producers interested in applying for ERP should contact their local FSA office, the release says.
He said it: "I call the new speaker ‘Miracle Mike’ Johnson because it is a miracle that we have been able to get back to business when we shouldn't have been out of business in the first place.” — Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, in an interview with Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks.
Steve Davies, Jacqui Fatka and Noah Wicks contributed to this report. Questions, comments, tips? Email bill@agri-pulse.com.
