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The Food Safety and Inspection Service plans to publish a Federal Register notice formally designating China, Vietnam and Thailand as eligible countries to export catfish and catfish products to the U.S. FSIS said it determined that the inspection system in each country was “equivalent to the system that the United States has established under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and its implementing regulations.” Congress included provisions in both the 2004 and 2008 farm bills transferring catfish inspection to the USDA, from the FDA. FSIS published a final rule in Dec. [node:read-more:link]

The US Department of Agriculture projected Tuesday domestic corn stocks at the end of the 2018-2019 marketing year, which closes August 31, 2019, to be at 1.774 billion bushels (45.062 million mt), down 228 million bushels from its 2017-2018 estimates of 2.002 billion bushels but up 90 million bushels from its prior forecast for the period.USDA's domestic corn stocks estimates for the next marketing year was within the top end of the range of analysts' expectations of 1.477 to 1.785 billion bushels, but above the average analysts' expectations of 1.693 billion bushel, sources said.The incre [node:read-more:link]

Since the last report, weekly comparisons indicated lower commodity cash prices for some recently tariffed agriculture exports such as soybeans, and the USDA has announced a financial relief program for affected agriculture producers. Sixth District- Atlanta– “Agriculture conditions across the District continued to be mixed. Drought conditions were little changed from the previous report; most of the District remained drought free although there were reports of abnormally dry conditions in much of Louisiana and in parts of Mississippi and Alabama. [node:read-more:link]

Ray Norwood, Director of Sales and Marketing for Auvil Fruit Co., told the news outlet the operation had to lower prices and find alternative destinations for the cherries. Auvil Fruit Co. exports about 80% of the operations’ cherries. Apple growers are equally nervous about the harvest season this year, with China imposing stiff tariffs on U.S. goods including fruits and nuts in retaliation to a U.S-imposed tariffs on imported goods from China.Tariffs on 10 fruit and tree nut exports are expected to cost U.S. [node:read-more:link]

A study by Informa Economics found retaliatory tariffs by China and Mexico will reduce U.S. dairy farmer revenue by $1.5 billion in 2018 and $3 billion in 2019 if they remain in place.While U.S. dairy producers appreciate USDA’s plan to purchase dairy products and increase funding to develop foreign markets in its tariff-mitigation strategy, they say the agency’s plan to distribute $127 million in direct payments to dairy producers falls far short of what’s needed. [node:read-more:link]

Even though hundreds of children separated from their families after crossing the border have been released under court order, the overall number of detained migrant children has exploded to the highest ever recorded — a significant counternarrative to the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the number of undocumented families coming to the United States.Population levels at federally contracted shelters for migrant children have quietly shot up more than fivefold since last summer, according to data obtained by The New York Times, reaching a total of 12,800 this month. [node:read-more:link]

The official poverty measure indicates that child poverty declined by 1.1 percentage points between 2016 and 2017, according to analyses of the latest American Community Survey data released today. By 2017, child poverty across the nation was still 0.4 percentage point higher than before the Great Recession. Child poverty remained higher in cities and rural places than in the suburbs. For the first time, rates in cities dipped below the pre-recession level, although poverty is still slightly higher in rural and suburban places than in 2007.  [node:read-more:link]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today released a detailed accounting of how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) calculated estimated damage from trade disruptions. USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist developed an estimate of gross trade damages for commodities with assessed retaliatory tariffs by Canada, China, the European Union, Mexico, and Turkey to set commodity payment rates and purchase levels in the trade mitigation package announced by USDA. [node:read-more:link]

Mental illness isn’t visible. It doesn’t mottle flesh, shrivel muscles or cause a limp. It grows slowly and silently, chipping away at one’s vitality and sense of purpose. And if left unattended for too long, it can cause unbearable pain that drives people to end their own lives. That’s happening with alarming frequency in California’s rural communities, where economic downturn, slim mental health resources, transportation barriers and high rates of substance abuse are creating breeding grounds for suicide.There’s also a culture of silence. [node:read-more:link]

In the era of climate change, record-setting fires are the new norm — something farmers are learning to adapt to. Delbar says it will be weeks if not months before the USDA compiles a comprehensive list of fire damage on Mendocino and Lake County farms, an area known for its vineyards, orchards and organic vegetable farms, in addition to a handful of large ranches. [node:read-more:link]