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News archives

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

USDA proposes cutting billions from crop insurance subsidies after industry posts high profits
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The federal government wants to save taxpayers billions of dollars by reducing spending on crop insurance after years of big profits by insurers, but the industry claims the reductions could hurt rural areas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is negotiating a new deal with cro... Continued...

VILACK CONFERENCE CALL WITH REPORTERS FOLLOWING FARM BILL TESTIMONY
Rod Bain: Good day from the USDA radio studios in Washington DC and welcome to today's radio conference with the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. The subject -- the 2012 Farm Bill. A reminder to reporters -- if you wish to ask a question after opening remarks, please let us know by hitting *1 ... Continued...

2012 FARM BILL HEARINGS START NEXT WEEK IN IOWA
House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson released a schedule Wednesday for the panel's first four field hearings on the 2012 farm bill. The first hearing will be held April 30 at the Iowa State Fair Grounds in Des Moines. That will be followed by hearings May 1 in Nampa, Idaho; May 3 in F... Continued...

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Next farm bill: shift to rural development?
As the next farm bill is crafted, it appears a shift from commodity programs to rural development will be a focus for the Obama administration. Testifying before the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday, USDA Secretary Tim Vilsack provided a set of five priorities for rural America: broadband... Continued...

Genetically modified crops are not the answer
The Senate is considering a bill that would overhaul the way Americans deliver foreign aid. With more people going hungry than ever before, the bill’s attention to global hunger could not come at a better time. The Global Food Security Act would streamline the aid process and focus on long-term agri... Continued...

Monday, April 26, 2010

Appeals Court Upholds Environmental Justice in Richmond
Environmental Impact Report for refinery expansion ruled inadequate Richmond, April 26, 2010 - In an unprecedented victory for the community, the California State Court of Appeals has upheld the majority of findings in a lower court decision that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the ... Continued...

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Farmers, schools team up to serve local foods
Locally grown foods are increasingly finding their way to school cafeterias across Minnesota. A January survey conducted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and the Minnesota School Nutrition Association found that the number of Minnesota school districts purchasing local food has m... Continued...

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

A New Climate Movement in Bolivia
Cochabamba, Bolivia It was 11 am and Evo Morales had turned a football stadium into a giant classroom, marshaling an array of props: paper plates, plastic cups, disposable raincoats, handcrafted gourds, wooden plates and multicolored ponchos. All came into play to make his main point: to fight cl... Continued...

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Finance Overhaul Fight Draws a Swarm of Lobbyists
WASHINGTON — Assessing the battle to overhaul the nation’s financial regulations recently, Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, left no doubt about the consequences if Congress cracked down on his bank’s immense business in derivatives. “It will be negative,” he said. “Depending o... Continued...

Monday, April 19, 2010

Bolivian UN Ambassador Pablo Solon on the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth
Today marks the start of the World Peoples' Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth here in Tiquipaya. Bolivian President Evo Morales called for the gathering to give the poor and the Global South an opportunity to respond to the failed climate talks in Copenhagen. We are joined now by P... Continued...

Cash rents are on the rise
Cash rents for cropland and pasture generally were higher in 2009 than in 2008 in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, according to a survey by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, an arm of USDA. The 2007 farm bill mandated that all states collect state and county estimate... Continued...

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Bolivia climate change talks to give poor a voice
Rafael Quispe is gearing up for his trip. He packs a small leather bag, puts on his black poncho, an alpaca scarf sporting the rainbow-coloured, chequered Andean indigenous flag and his black hat. "This will be an important gathering, a very important gathering. It is about saving our Mother Earth, ... Continued...

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Policy specialists discuss farm bill
While the next U.S. farm bill is not scheduled for passage until 2012, the work of shaping the legislation already is under way on Capitol Hill. With that in mind, organizers of the 2010 Commodity Classic, held recently at Anaheim, Calif., brought together the lobbyists for the two largest gener... Continued...

Friday, April 16, 2010

Biomass Crop Assistance Program needs clarification, improvement
Minneapolis – The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) must undergo significant revision before the program’s next phase is launched, said the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) in comments submitted on April 8 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). B... Continued...

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Farmers Gain in Senate Food Safety Battle
Several amendments aimed at lessening the impact on small farms will be adopted in the final version of the food safety bill headed for the Senate floor next week, a key sustainable agriculture group announced yesterday. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) reported that "sever... Continued...

Changes in crops acres since freedom to farm.
URBANA - The 1996 U.S. Farm Bill eliminated many acreage restrictions, thereby allowing farmers to plant what they believe to be their most competitive crops. A study conducted by University of Illinois agricultural economists evaluated subsequent acreage changes across crops to better understand wh... Continued...

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Study Says Overuse Threatens Gains From Modified Crops
By Genetically engineered crops have provided “substantial” environmental and economic benefits to American farmers, but overuse of the technology is threatening to erode the gains, a national science advisory organization said Tuesday in a report. The report is described as the first comprehens... Continued...

Monday, April 12, 2010

Slight Voluntary Degradation
A French criminal court in Beziers has fined José Bové, the farmer-activist elected to the European Parliament, 1,500 euros for uprooting genetically engineered corn plants in a field in 2007. The prosecutor had asked the court for a fine of 12,000 euros, but the judge chose to alleviate the serious... Continued...

Friday, April 9, 2010

Small Farms Balk at Food-Safety Bill
WASHINGTON—Congress's food-safety fight is nearing an end but small farmers still have a bone to pick with the legislation. The Senate version of a food-safety bill has attracted broad bipartisan support and is expected to pass easily soon after Congress returns from recess next week. Iowa Democ... Continued...

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Superchef Jamie Oliver's 'Food Revolution' Flunked out
You've never seen a school lunch like this one, made with hydroponic vegetables and free-range chicken by a brash British superchef. Not that the elementary schoolchildren care. Most sing-song "Pizza!" when given a choice between the gourmet grub and the reheated factory-made frozen pizza. At the en... Continued...