Ethanol appears almost certain to win the food-versus- fuel contest in the United States. But not just yet. The Agriculture Department forecast that a tad more corn will be used to make ethanol than to feed livestock this year may be a false milestone: ethanol makers say they won’t use that much corn while producing
Food-Versus-Fuel Debate Rages Anew
U.S. Must Lead Fight Against Hunger — Bill Gates
Billionaire Bill Gates knows how to end the poverty and hunger that afflicts nearly one billion people worldwide – help them grow more food. At a food security conference May 24, Gates called for U.S. leadership in a global campaign to expand food production. Agriculture ministers of the Group of 20 major developing and emerging
Global Corn Scenario: U.S. Grows Less, China Eats More
U.S. corn supplies, already stretched thin by relentless feed, fuel and food demand, will grow even tighter in the coming year due to a rain-shortened crop, the government projected June 9. The USDA said rains and floods prevented farmers from planting all the corn they had planned. That means a drop of 300 million bushels
Farm Subsidy Cuts Eyed
Republicans are proposing to slash farm spending by $30 billion o ver 10 years as part of a controversial plan to tackle the giant federal budget deficit. House budget committee chairman Paul Ryan has proposed reducing the $5-billion-a- year “direct payments” subsidy made to growers each year regardless of need. He also wants farmers to
U.S. Farmers Plant Huge Crops As Stocks Dwindle
U.S. farmers say they will plant some of the biggest corn and soybean crops ever this spring, racing to keep pace with unrelenting global demand that’s rapidly depleting stockpiles and driving up food costs. A government survey found corn plantings would be the second largest since the Second World War and soybeans the third highest
U.S. Bankers Keep Close Watch Over Land Boom
The steep rise in U.S. farmland prices creates the potential for agricultural credit problems if there is a sharp downturn in the sector, a leading U.S. financial regulator said March 10. Farmland prices doubled in the past decade, reaching an average value of $2,140 an acre in 2010. Record-high crop prices and low interest rates
U.S. Farmland Surge Worries Key Lender
Agricultural bankers should be careful about lending to farmers who may be tempted to overextend themselves to invest in farmland as values skyrocket, the president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank warned on Feb. 17. Bank chief Tom Hoenig said his bank was watching the land market for signs of a speculative bubble. A
Obama Would End Subsidies To Wealthiest U.S. Farmers
President Barack Obama called in his 2012 budget plan for the elimination of farm subsidies to the wealthiest U.S. growers Feb. 14, arguing that the payments distort the farm sector and some farmers can be paid even if no crops are grown. Lawmakers rejected an identical proposal a year ago, ahead of the 2010 mid-term
Vilsack Seeks Biotech Compromise
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the largest U.S. farm group on Jan. 10 that farmers could see less government interference if they find a way for traditional and genetically modified crops to coexist. Farm groups and the biotechnology industry are skeptical of Vilsack’s “coexistence” proposal. He launched it last month at the same time the
U.S. budget hawks eye $5B ag subsidy
(Reuters) — A direct payment subsidy that guarantees U.S. farmers $5 billion a year is the most prominent target in agriculture’s complex web of subsidies as budget-cutting Republicans flex their new legislative muscle in the House of Representatives. Created in 1996, the subsidy is a point of dispute in farm country. Some farm groups want
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
