Agriculture

The US House of Representatives passed by a vote of 306 to 117 a bill that establishes mandatory, nationwide labeling requirements for food products containing bioengineered ingredients. The Senate passed the bill by a 63 to 30 vote on July 7. The bill was sent to President Barack Obama for his signature. It was expected the president will sign the bill into law. The bill nullifies the Vermont mandatory GMO labeling law that took effect July 1. [node:read-more:link]

Everything was humming along in the U.S. Corn Belt in middle July 2011 up until the 3rd week of July when a major heat-wave and dry spell hit much of the Eastern half of the U.S. and the U.S. Corn Belt. Let's compare 2016 with 2011. First, let's compare meteorological Summer 1 June - 13 July here in 2016 compared to the same period in 2011. Eerily similar only this Summer has been hotter/drier than 2011 so far, except in Texas. Actually the extreme June temperatures in the Western and Southern Corn Belt in June this year were much worse in 2016 than they were in 2011. [node:read-more:link]

The Young Farmer Success Act isn’t a handout. It’s a repayment plan, where those entering the agriculture industry are making income-based repayments consistently for 10 years, prior to qualifying for debt forgiveness. That means they have to make a 10-year commitment to agriculture before benefiting from such a program. If in 10 years, a grower has outstanding student debt, it’s forgiven. [node:read-more:link]

Critics of water markets and efficient allocations in general claim that this flexibility is dangerous because high-income households and profitable firms could enjoy all the water they want, leaving low-income households to die of thirst. Would this happen if water was allocated by a market?  Drinking is one of the highest valued uses of water in the entire market. A market for water is going to place a very high priority on getting people drinking water precisely because it is a high-valued use. [node:read-more:link]

A simple metric of water scarcity is the water availability per capita. We calculate it for both water-endowed and water-short countries. [node:read-more:link]

Confusion exists about water scarcity, but much more confusion and disagreement prevails about policies and the means to address water scarcity.  In an article published at the beginning of the millennium, Glieck (2003) compares 20th century water policies and those needed for the 21st century. Policies developed in the previous century were based on development of physical means, such as pipes and reservoirs. [node:read-more:link]

A new survey conducted by Dow AgroSciences shows a widening gap between agriculture and consumers. The survey questioned 155 growers, between 35 and 65 years old, in the Midwest.  Less than 2 percent say policymakers understand the impact of regulations on their businesses.  Nearly 80 percent contend policymakers don’t understand the ag industry overall. Seventy-nine percent contend a more-informed consumer benefits U.S. agriculture. Only one in 10 say farmers can influence food company decisions on ag inputs used in their products. [node:read-more:link]

Maple Leaf Foods has received $90,380 in federal and provincial government grants to bolster employee training at the company’s Hamilton, Ontario, processing plant. [node:read-more:link]

Following in the footsteps of “Food, Inc.” and “Cowspiracy” before it, the latest film to use entertainment as a tactic to plant questions in consumers’ heads about their food supply is set to premiere this week. "At the Fork" positions itself as a “refreshingly unbiased look at how farm animals are raised for our consumption” —but I can’t see how that’s possible when the film was produced in partnership with HSUS, an organization with a vegan CEO and a 15-member “meatless transition team” working to take meat off the menu at restaurants and in schools and institutions. [node:read-more:link]

A newreport from theOrganic Seed Alliance found that the supply of organic seed isn’t keeping pace with the rising demand for organic products. [node:read-more:link]