The U. S. government would launch an all-out ban on selling junk food at school under a key Senate chairman’s proposal, but funding for school lunch and child nutrition programs would grow by only half as much as the White House proposed. Senator Blanche Lincoln, chairman of the Agriculture Committee, proposed a $4.5-billion increase over
Boost Lunch But Cut Junk Food: U. S. Senator
U. S. Crops, China Becomes Top Soy User
U. S. farmers will grow the second-largest corn and soybean crops on record this year – 13.134 billion bushels of corn and 3.213 billion bushels of soybeans, just below the records set in 2009, said a University of Missouri think-tank March 9. The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute also said U. S. wheat production
U. S. Grain Stockpiles Swell As Sales Slow
U. S. corn and wheat stockpiles will swell to their largest size in years as corn exports slow and Americans use less flour, the government said on March 10 in a report likely to influence planting this spring. Record crops, despite last year’s rain, flooding and snow, are still in the marketing stream. The supplies
Key U. S. Lawmaker Blasts New Livestock-Tracking Plan
Arevamped U. S. livestock-tracking system will fail as a safeguard against disease and may imperil $20 billion a year in meat exports, says a key House subcommittee chairman. The new system would rely on states, instead of the Agriculture Department, to keep track of cattle, hogs and poultry sold across state lines for meat production.
More Corn And Beans In USDA Outlook
U. S. farmers can expect a record corn crop, another huge soybean harvest and strong demand for their exports, which should combine to boost incomes for the farm sector this year, the U. S. Agriculture Department said in its latest forecast Feb. 18. At its annual outlook conference, USDA raised its forecast for farm exports
U. S. House Bill Would Derail EPA Regulations
With congressional action on climate legislation in doubt, two House committee chairmen have filed a bill to block the government from regulating greenhouse gases under its own power. The lawmakers say Congress, not “unelected bureaucrats,” should set envi ronmental policy. The Environmental Protection Agency cleared the way for regulation under air pollution laws a month
U. S. Will Narrow Scope Of Livestock-Tracking Plan
The government will redraft its moribund livestock-tracking program, attacked as a violation of privacy, so it covers only animals that cross state lines, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Feb. 5. In a speech to state agriculture directors, Vilsack said the revamped system would be run by states, with the Agriculture Department bearing much of the
U. S. Farm Group: Stop EPA On Greenhouse Gases
“They don’t have enough lipstick to put on that pig (climate legislation) to make it look good.” – MISSOURI FARM BUREAU PRESIDENT CHARLES KRUSE The largest U. S. farm group called on Congress Jan. 12 to prevent the government from regulating greenhouse gases if lawmakers kill climate change legislation. The six-million-member American Farm Bureau Federation
Modest U. S. Farm Subsidy Reforms Criticized
The U. S. Agriculture Department unveiled tighter eligibility rules for farm subsidies on Jan. 6 but a small-farm group says they don’t live up to President Barack Obama’s call for reform. The rules, effective Jan. 7, bar subsidies to the wealthiest Americans, as required by the 2008 farm law. There is no limit on how
Largest U. S. Farm Group Rallies Against Climate Bill
The largest U. S. farm group will oppose aggressively “misguided” climate legislation pending in Congress and fight animal rights activists, said American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman Jan. 10. In a speech opening the four-day AFBF convention, Stallman said American farmers and ranchers “must aggressively respond to extremists” and “misguided, activist-driven regulation … The
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