Items Tagged with 'blueberries'

Fruit and vegetable growers are debating potential options for expanding crop insurance coverage in the next farm bill, including reforms to the lightly used Whole Farm Revenue Protection policies.

The US Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) will receive almost $600,000 from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) through its 2022 Market Access Program.

The International Trade Commission decided Thursday to end its investigation into claims that a flood of imported blueberries is hurting U.S. farmers by undercutting prices and stealing business away from domestic producers.

An unlikely pair of senators – Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Republican Jerry Moran of Kansas – is urging U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to avoid letting his investigations into imports of blueberries and other produce from Mexico disrupt trade flows that are already strained because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China is buying a lot more U.S. ag commodities and tearing down major import restrictions — just as it promised in the “phase one” trade deal — but the successes of the pact are being drowned out by growing animosity on both sides of the Pacific.

The “phase one” trade deal with China is paying off substantially for commodities like soybeans, corn, wheat and sorghum, but it’s hit or miss for specialty crop farmers, many of whom are still trying to find replacement markets.

Beef and pork stole much of the spotlight when President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed off on a trade pact last week, but many of the U.S. winners will be American specialty crop farmers.