U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and other agency officials today announced further details of the $16 billion package “aimed at supporting American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals.” In May, President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory tariffs …
USDA Corn Acreage Report Surprises
With all the weather-related planting delays we’ve had, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Acreage report out Friday was a big surprise to the trade with corn acres estimated to be three percent higher than last year. At the same time, soybean acres are estimated to be the lowest in six years. Corn planted area for all purposes in 2019 …
USDA Feral Swine Eradication Program is Good News
The meat of feral hogs is pretty good but we would rather have more deer, thanks very much. Since 2013 I have hunted on a piece of land we affectionately call the Crystal Pig Hunt Club in central Georgia with my brother Paul and Gary Cooper of AgNet Media. The hogs started moving in about 2016 and have since made …
USDA Picks Kansas City as New Home for ERS, NIFA
The Kansas City area will be the new home for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “Following a rigorous site selection process, the Kansas City Region provides a win win – maximizing our mission function by putting taxpayer savings into …
WASDE Lowers Corn Forecast
USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report for June sharply lowered the forecast for U.S. corn production this year. Corn production for 2019/20 is forecast to decline 1.4 billion bushels to 13.7 billion, which if realized would be the lowest since 2015/16.Unprecedented planting delays observed through early June are expected to prevent some plantings and reduce yield prospects. USDA …
Secretary Perdue Discusses Disaster Aid in Florida
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue visited Florida and Georgia to participate in roundtable discussions on USMCA and disaster aid signed by President Trump yesterday. At his first stop in Tallahassee, Perdue participated in a short press conference with Governor Ron DeSantis after the roundtable. Listen here:
USDA Announces More Trade Aid for Farmers
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced several actions that USDA will be taking to assist farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation and trade disruption. President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy to support American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals to open more …
The Improving GHG Benefits of Corn Ethanol
The lead researcher of a USDA study on the improving greenhouse gas benefits of ethanol compared to gasoline has shared more details about the agency’s findings. Dr. Jan Lewandrowski of USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist said the study grew out of September 2017 report released by the USDA regarding 11 different emissions categories related to corn ethanol production and …
Censky Addresses Ethanol Group
USDA Deputy Secretary Steve Censky addressed members of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) meeting in Washington DC this week, just a day after the agency released a new study showing the significant greenhouse gas benefits of corn-based ethanol compared to gasoline. Censky talked about that study, as well as many other topics of interest to the farmers and ethanol …
Farmers Expected to Plant More Corn, Record Low Wheat
More corn, but less soybeans, wheat and cotton is USDA’s forecast for Prospective Plantings this season. The report released on Friday puts corn planted acres for this year at 92.8 million acres, up 4 percent or 3.66 million acres from last year. Soybean planted area for 2019 is estimated at 84.6 million acres, down 5 percent from last year. All …