Reuters — Mountaire Farms, a top U.S. chicken company, is pressuring its contract farmers to oppose a Biden administration proposal aimed at improving their conditions because the company says it would ultimately reduce farmer pay, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and interviews with farmer advocates. The privately owned chicken company, said to be the
U.S. chicken company Mountaire asks contractors to oppose transparency rule
Biden administration putting up US$2.1 billion to strengthen food system
Reuters – The Biden administration plans to spend more than US$2.1 billion in funding to shore up weaknesses in the country’s food supply system exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will unveil the new funding, designed to enhance competition in food processing
U.S. pitches rule on chicken contracts
Reuters – The Biden administration proposed a rule May 26 requiring U.S. meat packers to be more transparent in their dealings with contract farmers, in an effort to enhance competition in the highly consolidated industry. Farmers and consumer groups have argued for decades that consolidation in the beef, pork and chicken sectors, where four companies
U.S. sheep herders’ suit alleges cartel-like wage suppression
Reuters –– Sheep herders in the U.S. West have banded together to sue their employers, accusing them of operating an illegal cartel that artificially suppresses their wages, according to court documents filed Wednesday in Nevada. The case could have implications for how antitrust laws are applied to labour markets, according to legal experts, as the
U.S. beef price-fixing investigation proposed
U.S. senators, Elizabeth Warren and Mike Rounds on May 19 introduced a bipartisan resolution asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate beef companies for potential price-fixing. It is the latest effort by politicians to hold meat companies accountable for high food prices, which critics blame in part on U.S. beef production being controlled by
Manure releases from Smithfield hog farms raise environmental concerns
Reuters – More than 20 Missouri hog farms have reported an increase in emergency manure releases since U.S. pork producer Smithfield Foods took them over in 2006, an environmental advocacy group says, citing equipment failures and improper maintenance that raise concerns about the impact on air and water quality. The group, Socially Responsible Agriculture Project
Food, farming, forestry must be transformed to curb global warming, UN says
Earlier draft of panel report called for reduced intake of meat
Reuters — Protecting forests, changing diets, and altering farming methods could contribute around a quarter of the greenhouse gas cuts needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations’ climate panel. But the changes are unlikely to happen unless governments act to spur them along, the report from the Intergovernmental
USDA opens inquiry into fertilizer, seed prices
Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is opening an inquiry into the impacts of concentration in the fertilizer, seed and retail markets. The inquiry stems from the Biden administration’s July 2021 executive order to promote competition across the U.S. economy, the agency said in a release Friday. Global supply chain problems and inflation have
Study finds corn ethanol worse than gasoline
Ethanol ‘at least’ 24 per cent more carbon intensive, researchers find
Reuters – Corn-based ethanol, which for years has been mixed in huge quantities into gasoline sold at U.S. pumps, is likely a much bigger contributor to global warming than straight gasoline, according to a study published recently. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contradicts previous research commissioned by the
U.S. corn farmers overpaid in Trump trade aid
An impartial government agency said industry overestimated the value of lost export business
Reuters – The Department of Agriculture overpaid U.S. corn farmers in 2019 by around US$3 billion for impacts from former president Donald J. Trump’s trade policies, in part because the agency overestimated the value of their lost export business, according to a non-partisan government agency report. The Market Facilitation Program in 2018 and 2019 distributed