Agriculture

To encourage economic recovery, the Federal Reserve responded to the Great Recession by slashing interest rates and engaging in monetary easing. Short-term interest rates were pulled down and held near zero for several years. Due to these historically low interest rates, borrowing has been inexpensive for farmers. Along with lower income, the availability of cheap debt encouraged farmers to take on more credit. According to the most recent official USDA Farm Income and Wealth Statistics data (2018), farm sector debt has grown by more than 50% since the Great Recession began. [node:read-more:link]

More than 100 dairy farmers in eight states need to find a new home for their milk.  Dean Foods issued a written statement saying they made the difficult decision to end milk procurement contracts with selected farmers on May 31st. The farms are in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina.  Dean foods says the surplus of raw milk at a time when the public already is consuming less fluid milk is one factor in the decision.  They also say companies expanding their presence in the milk processing business have exacerbated the situation. [node:read-more:link]

Judges in Madison this week will sample 3,402 types of cheese, butter, and yogurt — all in the name of crowning the winner of this year’s World Championship Cheese Contest. The competition first took place in 1957, as a panel of judges tried about 50 different cheddars in the back of a creamery warehouse.Now, it’s the largest competition in the world. And this year, it has a record number of entries.  [node:read-more:link]

Sid Miller maintained about 56 percent of the vote in a three-way race to lead a department whose wide-ranging responsibilities include inspecting lottery balls and running the federal school lunch program. [node:read-more:link]

January milk prices fell 5.8% since December in the Southeast and are down 14.8% since last year. In the Appalachian region prices dipped 4.8% since December and were 14.4% below where they were the same time last year. [node:read-more:link]

At least two dozen producers who ship milk to Dean Foods in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Ohio were told they have until May 31, 2018 to find a new home for their milk. If this sounds familiar that’s because, almost one year ago, producers in Wisconsin were told by their processor, Grassland Dairy, that they had 30 days to find a new home for their milk. While that wave of milk rehoming was due to export market woes, Dean says their issue is purely domestic. [node:read-more:link]

As farmers count the structural, livestock and income losses caused by Storm Emma, the south-east and eastern regions are emerging as the “most severely” affected, according to FBD Insurance. Farm organisations are demanding that farm inspections take account of the scale of the damage; while also calling for penalty restrictions on losses directly caused by the extreme weather conditions of recent days. “While the storm itself has moved on, farmers are now coming to terms with the impact of the weather at farm level. [node:read-more:link]

General Mills announced a deal Tuesday to create South Dakota's largest organic crop farm as the company works to secure enough organic ingredients to meet growing consumer demand worldwide. Gunsmoke Farms will convert 34,000 acres — more than 53 square miles — near Pierre to organic by 2020, where it will grow organic wheat for General Mills' popular Annie's Macaroni & Cheese line. [node:read-more:link]

According to the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, more than 50 percent of community college students nationwide do not have access to healthy and affordable foods. The majority of these students are financially independent and provide for others. Many are single parents. They grew up in the middle class and did not qualify for reduced-cost or free meals during their K-12 education through the federally funded School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program. But once they graduate high school, parental support often ends and so do the programs meant to help feed them. [node:read-more:link]

University of Georgia and Georgia Tech Research Institute scientists have found that the contribution of poultry processing plants to stream bacterial load may be overestimated. The research aimed to identify and quantify the level of preexisting background indicator organisms under dry conditions in watersheds impacted by poultry processing facilities in urban heavy industrial, suburban light commercial, and rural settings. Investigators determined the typical level of bacterial contamination found in surface water upstream from the site of a poultry processing plant. [node:read-more:link]