A USDA report says a comparison between first-quarter 2023 exports of seven animal products with the exports from the same time last year shows some improvement. Four of the categories were year-over-year higher and three were lower so far during this year. In the first quarter of 2023, lamb and mutton exports were up 31%,…… MORE
Category Archives: Agriculture News
House Ag Spending Bill Revealed
The House Agriculture Appropriations bill provides $26.3 billion for total funding. But that’s $532 million below the 2023 funding level. The bill provides $17.1 billion to the Department of Agriculture, which is $11.7 billion below the budget request. Conservative leaders in the House say the bill reins in wasteful spending by redirecting billions in American…… MORE
Farmer Use of Automation Survey
Growers now spend an average of $500,000 a year on automation in response to the persistent ag labor shortage. Western Growers discovered the data in its Specialty Crop Automation Report. The report, which tracks and measures industry progress in harvest automation across the fresh produce industry, is part of the Western Growers Global Harvest Automation…… MORE
Prop 12 Animal Housing Rules Restarting
The California Department of Food and Agriculture issued this response following The US Supreme Court upholding California’s Proposition 12, an animal confinement initiative approved by voters in 2018. “CDFA is grateful that the United States Supreme Court has firmly upheld the people’s will in its decision in the National Pork Producers case. Throughout the country,…… MORE
Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Prop 12
The California prop measure includes banning the sale of pork from pigs that are kept in tightly confined spaces. The justices voted 5-4 to uphold a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau that sought to invalidate the law. The groups argued that…… MORE
Apples and Oranges Top Fruit Choices
Apples held the top spot for total fruit available for consumption in 2021, the newest numbers available. Americans consumed an average of 1.7 gallons of apple juice, roughly nine pounds of fresh apples, and a total of 3.1 pounds of canned, dried, and frozen apples. Among the top seven consumed fruits in 2021, apples were…… MORE
Proposed Tinplate Steel Tariffs Could Impact Food Industry And Consumers
The Consumer Brands Association says implementing proposed tariffs of up to 300% on tinplate steel imports would increase the cost of canned foods and products by up to 30%. The association released two studies on the proposal, which threaten nearly 40,000 union and non-union manufacturing jobs. The economic impact studies bolster Consumer Brands’ efforts to…… MORE
Farm Income Decline Varies by Region
After reaching recent highs in 2021 and 2022, the average net cash income of U.S. farm businesses is expected to decline by 18% in 2023 compared with 2022. According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, farm businesses across the country are forecast to see higher production expenses, lower cash receipts, and lower Government payments in…… MORE
Smaller Cattle Herd Squeezing Meatpacker Profits
America’s beef cow herd hasn’t been this small since 1962. Drought and the high cost of feed forced producers to cut their herd sizes instead of keeping animals for breeding. Livestock producers who fatten cattle suddenly have leverage over meatpackers as they negotiate cattle prices with organizations like Tyson Foods, JBS, and Cargill. U.S. News…… MORE
Farm Sector Chapter 12 Bankruptcies Drop For Most Of The Nation
New data from USDA’s Economic Research Service confirms a decline in the farm Chapter 12 bankruptcy rate for much of the nation. In 2022, the Chapter 12 bankruptcy rate reached the lowest level in nearly two decades, with 0.78 bankruptcies per 10,000 farms. But in California and Nevada which are counted together as a region,…… MORE
