Winterset, Iowa | Reuters — A U.S. government program designed to convert farmland to wildlife habitat has triggered the spread of a fast-growing weed that threatens to strangle crops in America’s rural heartland. The weed is hard to kill and, if left unchecked, destroys as much as 91 per cent of corn on infested land,
Palmer amaranth threatening U.S. corn fields
U.S. grains: Soy futures crumble after U.S. predicts record plantings
Chicago/Reuters – U.S. soybean futures fell to fresh five-month lows on Friday after federal crop forecasters said spring plantings would reach an all-time high above traders’ expectations. Farmers in arid Plains states, the Midwest and south are shifting to plant soybeans, instead of corn and wheat, as the crop provides one of the few bright
Top U.S. chicken-producing state sees first case of bird flu
Chicago | Reuters — Georgia has confirmed its first-ever case of bird flu in commercial poultry, its agriculture department said on Monday, widening an outbreak of the disease into the United States’ biggest chicken meat-producing state. A flock of 18,000 chickens used for breeding was culled after testing positive for H7 bird flu, according to
Brazil beef scandal leaves fewer options for global buyers
Chicago | Reuters –– Global beef buyers will likely need to cobble together supplies from several nations if a scandal persists in Brazil’s meat sector because supply constraints and politics are already limiting trade flows, market analysts said Monday. China suspended imports of all meat products from Brazil, the world’s top beef exporter, as a
Tyson accelerates shift away from antibiotics in chicken
Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods in June will switch its retail line of company-branded chicken products to birds raised without any antibiotics, a top executive said on Tuesday, accelerating the meat sector’s shift away from the drugs. The change will make Tyson, which is the largest U.S. chicken processor, into the world’s leading producer
In Trump freeze, U.S. agencies delay rules affecting farms
The move creates an air of uncertainty surrounding key provisions, such as the U.S. renewable fuel standard
U.S. regulators under the new presidential administration have instituted a freeze on rules key to the country’s Farm Belt, agricultural groups said Jan. 26, heightening uncertainty for some of the regions that helped propel Donald Trump into office. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will delay implementation of this year’s biofuels requirements along with 29 other regulations
Tyson reveals subpoena linked to alleged price fixing
Reuters — Tyson Foods disclosed on Monday it has received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission following allegations it conspired with rivals for years to fix chicken prices. The chicken sector, which is dominated by a handful of large meat companies, has come under increased scrutiny over the past year as customers
As Trump meets biotech CEOs, farm advisers fret over empty USDA spot
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has left the agriculture secretary as the last department head to be named to his cabinet, while a meeting with the chief executives of two agribusiness giants gave a hint at a roster of farm issues the incoming president will face. Trump met on Wednesday with the
USDA finds bird flu in Montana wild duck
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday it had detected a type of bird flu in a wild duck in central Montana that appeared to match one of the strains found during an outbreak of the disease in 2014 and 2015 that led to the deaths of millions of chickens.
USDA faces backlash over proposed rules
Chicken processors are crying foul over moves aimed to protect producers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed rules Dec. 14 it said will help protect chicken producers from mistreatment by the small group of meat companies that control most of the country’s production. With only a few weeks left to the Obama administration, the agency clarified that individual farmers who feel they have been treated unfairly do
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