It’s been a tough year for farmers here in Iowa and across much of America. After several years of low commodity prices, President Donald Trump’s tariffs and government shutdown have rocked the markets. Only the largest of operations are making any money. Land prices are down, farm real estate listings are up, younger farmers are looking bankruptcy in the face and older farmers are saying they’ve had enough, and retiring. [node:read-more:link]

Farmers driving $250,000 combines across wheat fields and the niche growers of fruits and vegetables, he said, to some extent have been grappling for five years with economics of rising input costs, weak commodity prices and a political system unwilling or incapable of a balanced response to recession. He said farmers paid a price for international trade conflict given traction by President Donald Trump. “It put many farmers on the edge or over the edge,” Teske said. “This is probably the kicker year, because of the added tariff stress. But mostly because this has been accumulating. [node:read-more:link]

Delayed for weeks by the partial federal shutdown, the Trump administration published its proposal to restrict states from allowing able-bodied adults to collect SNAP benefits for more than 90 days if they are not working at least 20 hours a week. The Federal Register notice ignited a campaign to block the proposal, which opponents said is contrary to the 2018 food and farm law. [node:read-more:link]

Bud Light made an enemy of the corn industry on Sunday by boasting in a Super Bowl ad that, unlike its fiercest competitors, it does not brew its beer with corn syrup. While corn lobbyists responded in anger, and competing brands fought back, some viewers were left to wonder: Does it matter if corn syrup is used during fermentation?“The bottom line is that the claims regarding corn syrup in brewing are more marketing than science,” said David Ludwig, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Beer is made by fermenting sugar. [node:read-more:link]

The vast majority of Argentina’s soy products are exported, mostly to China. Rising Asian demand — for soy sauce, tofu, animal feed — has fueled the explosion of the soybean industry across Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The pattern is a familiar one for Argentina. A century ago, it became one of the world’s wealthiest countries on a per-capita basis by shipping the pampa’s abundant yields of grain and beef to Europe. Today, however, it is the price of soybean futures that dominates the electronic tickers on the wall. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its Short term energy outlook for 2019 this month - and it's good news for the U.S. electrical grid. even as coal-fired power plants decline. In 2019, a surge in wind power is set to surpass the nation's longstanding renewable mainstay, hydroelectric power. Hydroelectric power generation - a renewable energy source, has been around for at least 100 years, but it is also seeing slow growth due to permitting restrictions and protections of wildlife. [node:read-more:link]

The Texas Department of Agriculture wants to create a skimmer fraud unit and asked the state legislature for the power to dedicate money to the idea. The department will have to overcome opposition from gas station representatives before the budget is set at the end of May, however.Skimming crime can take less than a minute, placing a small device in a gas pump. The victim filling up their tank might not know they've been robbed until they see their bank statement. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $200 million to 57 organizations through the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP) to help U.S. farmers and ranchers identify and access new export markets. The ATP is one of three USDA programs created to mitigate the effects of unjustified trade retaliation against U.S. farmers and exporters. USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) accepted ATP applications between September 4 and November 2 – totaling nearly $600 million – from U.S. [node:read-more:link]

A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked for a second time a San Francisco law requiring health warnings on advertisements for soda and other sugary drinks in a victory for beverage and retail groups that sued to block the ordinance. The law violates constitutionally protected commercial speech, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous ruling.The judges granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the ordinance from taking effect and kicked the case back to a lower court. [node:read-more:link]

After nine minutes of debate, the Virginia House sent a bill providing more than a half-billion dollars in incentives for Amazon to Gov. Ralph Northam for his signature. News outlets report that the House voted 83-16 on Monday in favor of the measure, which would create $550 million in "post-performance" incentives for the technology giant, based on job creation.Northam has said he will sign the bill, which would give Amazon cash grants of $22,000 per new full-time job for the first 25,000 jobs. [node:read-more:link]