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Congress Returns for Final Sprint of the Session -- The Hagstrom Report
Source: The Hagstrom Report
November 26, 2018
Jerry Hagstrom
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“Both houses of Congress are scheduled to return to Washington this week for a final period of legislating before the end of the 115th Congress. The House is scheduled to leave on Thursday, December 13 while the Senate is scheduled to adjourn on Friday, December 14. But Congress could stay in session longer if the necessary end-of-the-year business is not completed by the target dates. The No. 1 item of business is to pass a fiscal year 2019 appropriations bill covering the departments and agencies that have not been funded by the bills passed earlier this year. The current continuing resolution for those departments and agencies including the Agriculture Department runs out on Friday, December 7. Leaders of the House and Senate agriculture committees say they still hope to finish a farm bill this session, but they have not shown signs of reaching a final agreement over the Thanksgiving break. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., last week accused the Trump administration and House Republicans of holding up the bill over a demand to include changes to forestry policy after Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke held a news conference asking Congress to give them new authorities in forest management. House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who will chair the committee in the next Congress, signaled his frustration over the break when he said in Minnesota that if the bill does not pass he wants to organize his committee quickly in January and bring up the farm bill in short order. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has said that the farm bill might be added to the appropriations bill so that House leadership would not have to bring it up as a separate piece of legislation that might not have the support of a majority of Republicans.”
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Rising Heat from Climate Change Threatens U.S. Crop Yields -- Bloomberg
Source: Bloomberg
November 24, 2018
Jen Skerritt
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“American farmers’ livelihoods are at risk from climate change as Midwestern grain yields are poised to tumble amid increasing temperatures and more extreme flooding and droughts, according to a new report. Rising heat, drought, wildfires and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity in the U.S., according to a National Climate Assessment report released Friday. While some northern regions may be able to expand production of alternative crops amid the changes, yields from major U.S. crops are poised to drop. “Climate change is also expected to lead to large-scale shifts in the availability and prices of many agricultural products across the world, with corresponding impacts on U.S. agricultural producers and the U.S. economy,” the authors write. “These changes threaten future gains in commodity crop production and put rural livelihoods at risk.” The report was published weeks earlier than expected and on a day that many Americans are occupied with family following the Thanksgiving holiday. President Donald Trump has rejected the global scientific consensus that humans are doing grave damage to the planet and has sought to roll back Obama-era initiatives to slow greenhouse gas pollution in favor of fossil fuels. Many countries are already experiencing rapid price increases for basic food commodities due to production losses associated with more frequent weather extremes and unpredictable weather events, according to the report. Food security, which is already a challenge across the globe, is likely to be further disrupted from climate impacts in the U.S., a major exporter of agricultural commodities, the report states.”
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A Warming Climate Brings New Crops to Frigid Zones -- The Wall Street Journal
Source: The Wall Street Journal
November 25, 2018
Jacob Bunge
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(Article Summarized by Meridian Institute) The farm belt, this article begins, is “marching northward.” In Upper Alberta, Canada, farmers who would never dream of planting corn are now growing it; farmland prices are rising as a result. And more land is being cleared, so farmers can grow even more corn. The reason? A warming planet and longer growing seasons. Temperatures in the region are now 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer annually than in 1950; the growing season is two weeks longer. “It is hard to predict precisely the effects of a changing planet, but the world of business and finance is trying to put prices on it,” this article continues. “Agriculture is among industries on the front lines because a warming climate changes the crops that farmers can plant, affecting the productivity and value of their land.” Agricultural giants like Bayer AG, Cargill and DowDuPont, are sensing opportunity and developing hardier crops and new technologies to help farmers adapt to a changing climate. Earlier this year, James Collins, the head of DowDuPont agriculture-business, said, “no challenge is more important to our industry—and our world—than climate change.” Corn’s march northward is one of the more striking examples of the effect of climate change on agriculture, this article notes. Corn acreage in Canada has increased 20 percent over the past decade, and soybean acreage has roughly doubled. The region’s potential is enticing investors and leading to more and more land being cleared to grow corn and soybeans. One such investor, Joshua Sawchuk, who oversees Canadian farmland investments as part of Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, said, “When we’re looking at investments we’re always looking at crop rotations, and what the rotation’s going to be in 10 years.” He is currently looking at opportunities in western Canadian provinces. And at one of Canada’s most remote ports, 40 miles south of Alaska’s southern tip, agricultural exports have nearly doubled since 2008. Last year, the port added more capacity, so it could handle more soybeans and lentils, which it ships to Asian markets. “It used to be viewed as an overflow port,” said Nick Fox, president of Prince Rupert Grain Ltd., which operates it. But the country’s changing climate is pushing more crops toward the terminal; the company is making improvements to allow it to handle corn and soybeans. The port’s location, added Fox, is “very strategic.”
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A 6-Part Action Plan to Transform Food Systems under Climate Change -- The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security
Source: CCAFS
November 21, 2018
Dhanush Dinesh, Ana María Loboguerrero Rodríguez, Alberto Millan, Tonya Rawe, Lindsay Stringer, Philip Thornton, Sonja Vermeulen and Bruce Campbell
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(Article Summarized by Meridian Institute) The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) recently released a “6-Part Action Plan to Transform Food Systems under Climate Change.” According to CCAFS, if “we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to poverty, climate change and food and nutrition security, the agricultural development community (research institutions, private sector, farmer organizations, national and international agencies) will have to work collectively with the world’s 700 million small-scale farmers by 2030 to transform the way food is produced, processed and consumed. Never before have we faced such ambitious goals.” The plan lists six actions to transform food systems under climate change: Strengthen farmer and consumer organizations and their networking; Usher in the digital era in food systems; Scale up climate-resilient and low-emission practices and technologies; Innovative finance to leverage public and private sector investments; Reshape supply chains, food retail, marketing and procurement; and, Foster gender equality, capacity and enabling policies and institutions. At the same time, the report says, innovation will need to advance within the next decade, so as to redefine the way the food systems function and drive the transformation. CCAFS and its partners are committed, they write in the report, to “operationalizing this theory of change, through the generation of research, informing policies, aligning finance, and developing capacity, which will radically change the future of agriculture and food systems around the world and will define the future working agenda for many organizations.” The full plan can be found on the CCAFS website.
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Farm Bankruptcies Are on the Rise, and Bankers Worry that Far More Are on the Way -- The Minneapolis Star Tribune
Source: The Minneapolis Star Tribune
November 26, 2018
Adam Belz
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“Farm bankruptcies are on the rise in Minnesota and across the Upper Midwest. Eighty-four farms filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana in the 12 months that ended in June, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. That’s more than double the number over the same period in 2013 and 2014, and the number of bankruptcies in Minnesota doubled over the past four years from eight to 20. Banks are also seeing more farm borrowers fall behind on their payments, and the worst is likely yet to come. “Current price levels and the trajectory of the current trends suggest that this trend has not yet seen a peak,” Ron Wirtz, an analyst at the Minneapolis Fed, wrote. The increase in Chapter 12 filings reflects low prices for corn, soybeans, milk and even beef. The situation for most farmers has worsened since June under retaliatory tariffs that have closed the Chinese market for soybeans and damaged exports of milk and pork…The problem is showing up in other parts of the Midwest, too. A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which covers Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and portions of Missouri and New Mexico, showed that more than half of bankers in the district reported lower farm income than a year ago. They also said they expect farm income to weaken in coming months. The worst ag banking conditions were in states with the heaviest concentrations of corn and soybeans. Almost all bankers in those states reported that farmers plan to sell land or equipment to try to make loan payments.”
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Amid Outbreak, Lettuce Growers Agree to Label Where Romaine Is Grown -- Politico
Source: Politico
November 26, 2018
Helena Bottemiller Evich
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“The FDA and industry leaders, scrambling to respond to yet another E. coli outbreak tied to romaine lettuce, have agreed to a deal to give consumers more information about where their lettuce is from. Major distributors in the leafy greens industry — including Fresh Express, Dole, and Taylor Farms — have agreed to voluntarily label the region in which their romaine lettuce was grown as well as the date after which it was harvested. The hope is such steps will allow the government to lift its blanket warning to not consume romaine lettuce and allow some regions to get their product back into the market. “We welcome the step and believe it’s a meaningful action by the industry,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told POLITICO. The voluntary move is expected to take effect immediately and become the industry norm. It will give consumers more information about where and when romaine lettuce on the market was grown, which is particularly useful during foodborne illness outbreaks. The labels could also help health officials identify specific regions during future outbreak investigations…The labeling agreement, which was formalized on Sunday after intensive talks between FDA officials and industry leaders, is supported by all the major produce industry groups, including the United Fresh Produce Association, Produce Marketing Association and Western Growers. The romaine labeling effort is likely to be praised by consumer and food safety advocates as a positive step. But it won’t end pressure on FDA to move swiftly to finalize produce water safety standards that are part of the Food Safety Modernization Act but have been delayed several years after produce growers, local food advocates and others connected to the sector criticized the regulations as being too complicated and unworkable for growers.”
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About the AGree Newsfeed
The AGree NewsFeed highlights important stories surrounding domestic and international food and agriculture to foster inclusive dialogue and raise awareness. It reflects the public conversation on food and agriculture and is not an endorsement of the articles summarized.
AGree drives positive change in the food and agriculture system by connecting and challenging leaders from diverse communities to catalyze action and elevate food and agriculture as a national priority. To learn more, please visit www.foodandagpolicy.org.
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