High production costs and falling commodity prices over the past four years are forcing more and more dairy farmers out of business in Iowa and other dairy states, according to agribusiness experts and farm groups.The global flood of milk has depressed prices to about half what they were in 2014, and they still haven't hit all-time lows. But U.S. [node:read-more:link]
Grain futures are mixed this morning. Though USDA cut its forecast of corn and soybean production in Thursday morning’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, it projected tighter corn carryout but rising soybean inventories. Corn posted modest gains while soybeans sold off as a result. “USDA’s attempt to update the supply and demand situation today was muddied by uncertainty over what’s going on in China,” notes Farm Futures senior grain market analyst Bryce Knorr. [node:read-more:link]
Representatives of U.S. agribusiness, the farming lobby and related industries opened a three-day conference in Cuba on Thursday aimed at increasing sales and cooperation with a country that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly lambasted and promised to tighten sanctions on.The U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cuba, which seeks increased trade with Cuba and the lifting of the trade embargo, is sponsoring the event.U.S. [node:read-more:link]
Florida's vote on Tuesday to ban greyhound racing was a victory for animal rights activists. Voters approved Amendment 13 by an overwhelming 69 percent, which means the state's 11 racetracks will need to close by January 2021. This will displace at least 6,000 dogs, which means rescue organizations — particularly those focused on former racing greyhounds — will be overwhelmed. For many years, Animal welfare organizations have argued that greyhound racing is a cruel sport. [node:read-more:link]
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Seaboard Corp. announced the pork processor has agreed to pay just over $1 million in a civil settlement that concludes an investigation into alleged employment of unauthorized workers from 2007-2012. The government investigated whether Seaboard’s Guymon, Okla., plant hired and employed unauthorized workers and failed to properly complete employment eligibility forms. [node:read-more:link]
The House flip could be a game-changer for the embattled farm bill, which must be renewed every five years, several policy experts tell Axios.Why it matters: Major safety nets for farmers are in limbo while smaller agricultural programs have stopped receiving funding altogether, creating extra anxiety for farmers who are already reeling from tariffs and lower crop prices.The 2014 farm bill expired in September, after the House and the Senate couldn't reconcile their differences.The House wants work requirements for recipients of food stamps, and to allow unlimited subsidy payments to farms, [node:read-more:link]
This year, the cranberry industry will reckon with a flood of a different sort; just like the wet harvest, this one is entirely of its own making. The problem is simple. There’s a cranberry surplus. American farmers have grown a lot more fruit than people will eat and have flooded the market. They can’t save all the extra berries for a rainy day—or a year’s worth of Thanksgiving dinners—because we’re already storing much of the 2017 crop. There are more berries in storage right now then we’ll eat this year. And all that extra fruit is driving prices down below the cost of growing it. [node:read-more:link]
But this year, the Chinese have all but stopped buying. The largest market for one of America’s largest exports has shut its doors. The Chinese government imposed a tariff on American soybeans in response to the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese goods. The latest federal data, through mid-October, shows American soybean sales to China have declined by 94 percent from last year’s harvest.Mr. [node:read-more:link]
Alternative milk is ascending as U.S. cow milk sales are dropping—as of June 2018, they’re down by 6 percent from the previous year. The way some struggling dairy farmers see it, the popularity of alternative dairy products (one of which is now the subject of a class action lawsuit in New York) has partly contributed to dairy farmers’ own travails. [node:read-more:link]
Trade in the market for cow’s milk has always been severely constrained by our understanding of the underlying biology needed to create and protect dairy products, by demand limitations related to tolerance and health implications, and by the state of economic infrastructure. Being close to a complete food, the potential demand for dairy produce has never been in question. As ruminants make good use of land unsuitable for cultivation and as, in any case, humans had learned to husband ruminants for meat production, bovine milk has never been limited in availability. [node:read-more:link]
