Farming

[phkrause]

'Most expensive crop in decades': Farmers face higher stakes than ever with inflation

Outside Evansville, near the corner of Indiana where it meets with Kentucky and Illinois, Randy Kron farms about 2,200 acres of corn and soybeans. By now the corn is taller than he is, and the green vigor of the bean leaves are beginning to fade as the crop dries out. 

https://www.news-journalonline.com/in-depth/news/environment/2022/09/30/stakes-higher-than-ever-for-farmers-as-they-feel-squeeze-of-inflation/69520689007/?

[phkrause]

Native American agricultural leaders detail farm bill priorities at U.S. Senate hearing

WASHINGTON — A roundtable of Native American agricultural leaders at a recent U.S. Senate hearing lobbied for increased sovereignty and social justice in the coming farm bill by expanding tribes’ jurisdiction over U.S. Department of Agriculture programs.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/03/26/native-american-agricultural-leaders-detail-farm-bill-priorities-at-u-s-senate-hearing/?

[phkrause]

Colorado becomes 1st to pass ‘right to repair’ for farmers

DENVER (AP) — Sitting in front of a hulking red tractor, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Tuesday making Colorado the first state to ensure farmers can fix their own tractors and combines with a “right to repair” law — which compels manufacturers to provide the necessary manuals, tools, parts and software.

https://apnews.com/article/colorado-right-to-repair-farming-equipment-1da00ea957fd1057bf522cb4725e62d4?

[phkrause]

Use of antibiotics in farming ‘endangering human immune system’

Study suggests antimicrobial used to promote livestock growth breeds bacteria more resistant to our natural defences

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/25/use-of-antibiotics-in-farming-endangering-human-immune-system?

[phkrause]

Agriculture leaders urge a stronger farm safety net at U.S. Senate farm bill hearing

WASHINGTON — Farm and commodity trade association leaders lobbied for updating commodity programs and strengthening crop insurance programs at a Tuesday hearing of the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry committee.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/05/03/agriculture-leaders-urge-a-stronger-farm-safety-net-at-u-s-senate-farm-bill-hearing/?

[phkrause]

U.S. Department of Agriculture to spend $300M to boost climate data in farming, forestry

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will spend $300 million to better measure the effectiveness of techniques to lower carbon emissions in farming and forestry, the department said Wednesday.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/07/12/u-s-department-of-agriculture-to-spend-300m-to-boost-climate-data-in-farming-forestry/?

[phkrause]

?️ Ranchers show Latino shift from Dems

Hispanic ranchers and farmers in New Mexico, whose families have been in the region for centuries, say they're losing confidence in Democrats over policies they say hurt their way of life, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.

• Why it matters: The ranchers in New Mexico's Tierra Amarilla (Yellow Earth) region are one example of how Democrats are losing support among Hispanics, especially in rural areas.

?️ The big picture: Democrats are losing ground with Hispanics in rural areas because they've shaped their agenda around white and Latino college-educated voters, Democratic political consultant Sisto Abeyta tells Axios.

• 39% of Hispanic voters nationally voted for Republicans last November, compared to 25% in 2018, according to new Pew Research Center data.

Manuel Trujillo, a farmer in Ensenada, N.M. Photo: Russell Contreras/Axios

Ranchers and farmers in northern New Mexico tell Axios that Democrats' positions on protecting endangered species ignore their long fights with the federal government.

• David Sanchez, a rancher in Monero, N.M., said Democrats seem too focused on climate policies developed by people who've never lived in rural areas — and on electric vehicles, which aren't feasible in vast regions like northern New Mexico.

Manuel Trujillo, a farmer in Ensenada, N.M., tells Axios that some Hispanic ranchers identify with "Yellowstone," the Paramount Network's blockbuster Western starring Kevin Costner.

• The series deals with a ranching family fighting off developers — and the government seeking to change the region and move ranchers off.

Sign up for Axios Latino, delivered to your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays ...

[phkrause]

YOU LOVE TO SEE IT: Farmworkers Unite

What do fruit farmers have in common with movie stars, video game makers, and delivery workers? They’re all getting on board the union train. Also, traffic regulators take on vehicle emissions and (hopefully) save us all gas money, lawmakers target jet-setting fatcats, and the ocean floor gets international reprieve.

https://www.levernews.com/you-love-to-see-it-farmworkers-unite/

[phkrause]

Farm bill timeline in flux as a messy September for Congress nears

WASHINGTON — The roundtables, listening sessions and appearances at farm shows have largely wrapped up and lawmakers tasked with reauthorizing the nation’s agriculture and nutrition programs are comparing notes and beginning to draft the massive, multi-year farm bill.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/08/16/farm-bill-timeline-in-flux-as-a-messy-september-for-congress-nears/

[phkrause]

Vertical farming uses 99% less land than conventional farming

The UN predicts that food production must increase by 70% by 2050 to feed the world. Vertical farming, where crops are grown indoors in stacked layers, could help. Explore this and other concepts in the Citi GPS Report, Disruptive Innovations IX.

[phkrause]

Billionaires Cash In On Abusive Farm Worker Scam

To staff their agricultural properties, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, and other tycoons are using a controversial visa program linked to labor abuses and human trafficking.

https://www.levernews.com/billionaires-cash-in-on-abusive-farm-worker-scam/?

[phkrause]

Low Mississippi River limits barges just as farmers want to move their crops downriver

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A long stretch of hot, dry weather has left the Mississippi River so low that barge companies are reducing their loads just as Midwest farmers are preparing to harvest crops and send tons of corn and soybeans downriver to the Gulf of Mexico.

https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-river-drought-farmers-barges-e923b5f5e844ae278f42957b91d83f27?

[phkrause]

As consumers flock to organic foods, lawmakers urge more federal grants for farmers

WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers are pushing a bill that would boost support for organic farmers amid rising demand for their products.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/10/06/as-consumers-flock-to-organic-foods-lawmakers-urge-more-federal-grants-for-farmers/?

[phkrause]

‘Frustrating’ partisan stalemate: the new normal for farm bills?

WASHINGTON — The stalemate over the farm bill may be solidifying a new era in farm politics as it joins the last three farm bills in a trend of delays and partisan division — a contrast from the legislation’s history of bipartisanship.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/07/05/frustrating-partisan-stalemate-the-new-normal-for-farm-bills/?

[phkrause]

Corn and soybean associations study: Farmers would suffer from trade wars

The National Corn Growers Association and the American Soybean Association found a tariff-induced trade war with China would “hurt” U.S. farmers, based on a jointly released study that pulled from 2018 tariffs data and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s economic plans.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/10/20/corn-and-soybean-associations-study-farmers-would-suffer-from-trade-wars/?

[phkrause]

Autonomous tech is coming to farming. What will it mean for crops and workers who harvest them?

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Jeremy Ford hates wasting water.

https://apnews.com/article/automation-tractors-robots-agriculture-labor-workforce-farming-df6087837925c14cfdd7ad2f80410a54?

[phkrause]

California farmers enjoy pistachio boom, with much of it headed to China

LOST HILLS, Calif. (AP) — In a sprawling plant in the heart of California’s farmland, millions of shells rush down a metallic chute and onto a conveyor belt where they are inspected, roasted, packaged and shipped off to groceries around the world.

https://apnews.com/article/california-pistachio-boom-farming-water-china-agriculture-c975a6f2bd9d638d58af136621bb5da2?

[phkrause]

The Federal Farm Policy Trap: Why Some Farmers Are Stuck Raising Crops That No Longer Thrive

The seed tractor sank again, no surprise to Steve Williams. Everything sank out here on Dogtooth Bend in Southern Illinois since the floodwaters ran through five years earlier and dumped millions of tons of sand. The ground looked firm, but deep pockets of sticky mud lurked under the sun-cracked surface, pulling him under without warning.

https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-farming-soy-corn-flooding-subsidies-insurance?

[phkrause]

Are America’s farm incomes bountiful or withering on the vine?

Farmers across the nation are unlikely to be taking a check to the bank at the end of harvest — at least not checks big enough to cover their debt payments. But the government’s so-called remedies are a lesson in contradiction.

https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/are-americas-farm-incomes-bountiful-or-withering-vine?

[phkrause]

Farmworkers Are Frequently Exploited. But Few Farms Participate in a Program That Experts Say Could Prevent Abuse.

When Jon Esformes was in his 20s, farmworkers staged protests outside one of his family’s tomato farms, in California’s Central Valley, calling out the fact they were paid less than 50 cents for each bucket of produce they picked. The summer of 1989 was particularly memorable: The demonstrations were tense — strikers warned that anyone who crossed the picket line would “pay with your blood” — and then turned violent. Someone threw a rock at Esformes’ head, leaving him with a scar.

https://www.propublica.org/article/fair-food-program-farmworker-abuse-exploitation?

[phkrause]

American farmers, who once fed the world, face a volatile global market with less federal backing

President Donald Trump appears to have upended an 85-year relationship between American farmers and the United States’ global exercise of power. But that link has been fraying since the end of the Cold War, and Trump’s moves are just another big step.

https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/american-farmers-who-once-fed-world-face-volatile-global-market-less-federal backing?

[phkrause]

For South Dakota farmers, the war in Iran is far worse than it may seem

Iran is more than 6,000 miles from the U.S., but South Dakota farmers, as all American ag producers, are intimately feeling the catastrophic potential of our current war with that rogue Mideast nation.

https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/south-dakota-farmers-war-iran-far-worse-it-may-seem?

[phkrause]

Colorado farmworkers deserve equal rights on overtime pay

Lawmakers should expand—not further limit—farmworkers’ eligibility for overtime pay

https://www.epi.org/publication/colorado-overtime-threshold-farmworkers-letter-sb-26-121/?