The Hagstrom Report

Agriculture News As It Happens

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Murphy to retire at RMA, Willis named interim administrator

Agriculture Department Risk Management Agency Administrator Bill Murphy will retire December 31, and Brandon Willis, a senior adviser to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, has been named acting administrator. Read More...

Geithner offers farm bill cuts

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner proposed upfront cuts to farm price supports when he met with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Thursday, but did not provide details, the New York Times reported today. Read More...

Senate passes Hagan biofuels amendment

The Senate on Thursday passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that repeals a provision prohibiting Defense Department officials from entering into a contract to plan, design, refurbish or build a biofuels plant or any facility used to refine biofuels unless it is specifically authorized by law. Read More...

RMA starts new high-risk land crop insurance program

USDA Risk Management Agency Administrator Bill Murphy said the agency, which sets the rates for crop insurance sold by private companies, announced revised rates for all major crops on a state-by-state basis earlier this week. Read More...

Restaurant Association hires two officials

The National Restaurant Association has hired two former Capitol Hill staffers in its policy and government affairs department. Read More...

Obama announces appointments to commissions

President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced the following appointments to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, known as BIFAD. Read More...

Scientists analyze bread wheat genome

An international team of collaborating scientists has just completed the first comprehensive analysis of the bread wheat genome, the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., announced Wednesday. Read More...

Ag leaders meet with Vilsack, but offer no farm bill plan details

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the leaders of the House and Senate agriculture committees met today to discuss prospects for a five-year farm bill to be included in legislation to deal with the “fiscal cliff,” while Democrats and Republicans continued to spar over how those larger talks are going. Read More...

Long Thompson named to lead FCA

President Barack Obama today designated Jill Long Thompson as chair and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration, the regulator of the banks and associations of the Farm Credit System. Read More...

Ag committee leaders to lunch with Vilsack Thursday

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will have lunch with the leaders and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture committees on Thursday, a spokesman for Vilsack confirmed late today. Read More...

Lucas, Goodlatte, Ryan elected chairmen

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., was re-elected chairman of the committee by the House Republican Caucus.
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Scuse to lead Russia trade mission

Michael Scuse, Agriculture undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services, will lead a trade mission to Russia next week, just as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., expects the Senate to approve a bill to grant Russia most favored nation trading status. Read More...

Chain restaurants call for RFS repeal, but biofuels fight back

The National Council of Chain Restaurants today released a report on the impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard on its industry, and called for its repeal.
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USDA announces crop insurance rate changes

Crop insurance premium rates for grain sorghum, spring wheat, rice and cotton will go up in some states and down in others in 2013, according to new rates announced today by The Agriculture Department's Risk Management Agency.
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Farm income forecast to drop 3.3 percent

Net farm income is expected to be $114 billion this year, down 3.3 percent from last year, and net cash income is forecast at $132.8 billion, down 1.4 percent, the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service said in a farm income forecast released today. Read More...

Immigration reformers increase ranks in Congress

The number of senators and House members who are inclined to support immigration reform, a key issue to certain agricultural sectors, will increase in the next Congress, according to an analysis by America’s Voice, a pro-immigration reform group. Read More...

Study: Countries that use HFCS have somewhat higher diabetes rates

A study by University of Southern California and University of Oxford researchers released today said that countries with large amounts of high-fructose corn syrup in their food supplies have a 20 percent higher prevalence of diabetes than countries that did not use HFCS, but the Corn Refiners Association called the study “flawed.” Read More...

Consumer Reports: Pork samples contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria

More than two-thirds of pork products sampled in six cities contained potentially harmful bacteria resistant to antibiotics, Consumer Reports said in a study released today in a continuation of its campaign to reduce the amount of antibiotics administered to animals. Read More...

Organic farmer managing White House garden

First Lady Michelle Obama’s kitchen garden is thriving with a wide variety of cool-season vegetables — winter lettuces and cabbages, root vegetables and herbs —planted under the direction of Matt Burch, an organic farmer who has been hired by the National Park Service to be in charge of the garden, Obama Foodorama reported today Read More...

Feeding America hires Aiken as CEO

The board of directors of Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks, announced today that it has hired Bob Aiken as its new president and chief executive officer, effective December 5. Read More...

Christmas tree arrives at White House

First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha, left, and Malia, inspected the official White House Christmas tree, which arrived Friday morning. Read More...

Extension could be as difficult as new farm bill

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said today that he still favors passing a new farm bill before the end of the year, but is preparing a “backup plan” involving an extension. Meanwhile, congressional aides and farm lobbyists said that writing and assembling the votes to extend the 2008 farm bill during the lame duck session may prove at least as difficult as finishing a new farm bill before Congress leaves town in December. Read More...

Turkeys — conventional, organic and wild — take spotlight as Thanksgiving pardoning approaches

The success of the conventional turkey industry, the popularity of organic turkeys and the needs of wild turkeys all came up today when two birds that President Barack Obama will “pardon” on Wednesday were presented to the news media. Read More...

Biden hosts early Thanksgiving for hospitalized troops

Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden hosted their fourth “Early Thanksgiving For Wounded Warriors” event today, welcoming servicemen and women and their loved ones to their home at the Naval Observatory. Read More...

Trarieux named head of EU ag relations unit

BRUSSELS — Jean-Marc Trarieux, a former agriculture counselor at the European Union Delegation in Washington, has been appointed head of the European Commission's unit in charge of bilateral agriculture relations with the United States and other industrial countries and the EU's relations with the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Read More...

Hagstrom to appear on C-SPAN Tuesday

Jerry Hagstrom, founder and executive editor of The Hagstrom Report, will be a guest on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” Tuesday at 9:15 a.m. Read More...

EPA denies renewable fuel standard waiver requests

The Environmental Protection Agency today denied requests for a waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard that governs the use of biofuels, including corn-based ethanol, in the gasoline supply. The announcement triggered the expected reactions from biofuels groups and from the meat industries that had urged governors to request the waiver.
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House passes Russian/Maldovan PNTR bill

The House today passed a bill that provides permanent normal trade relations status to Russia and Maldova, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., called on the Senate to pass a PNTR measure when it returns after Thanksgiving Read More...

Neugebauer, Conaway in jurisdictional battle over CFTC

The release Thursday of a House Financial Services subcommittee report on MF Global has set up a jurisdictional clash between two Texas Republicans who both sit on the House Agriculture Committee. Read More...

Lucas still uncertain on farm bill fate

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said Thursday that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has told him the farm bill is part of the year-end “big picture” for Republicans, but exactly how it will be handled is still unclear, Politico has reported. Read More...

WTO ag negotiators meet

Prospects for a conclusion of the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations have not brightened, but members of the agriculture committee met today in Geneva to try to move the negotiations forward, a source close to the WTO has told The Hagstrom Report. Read More...

Obama to pardon Cargill turkeys

President Barack Obama will pardon two 40-pound conventionally-raised turkeys next Wednesday, but the Obama family and friends will be served two 20-pound organic turkeys on Thanksgiving Day, Obama Foodorama reported today. Read More...

Peterson hasn’t heard from Lucas, still hoping for farm bill

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said today that Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., has not called him since September 22, but that he still hopes the House leadership will move the farm bill during the lame duck session. Read More...

Vilsack expects to stay on, and urges farm bill passage

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters Wednesday that he expects to stay on as Agriculture secretary and that Congress should pass a new farm bill before the end of the year. Read More...

Falling prices, large stocks could impact sugar program talks during farm bill debate

Plummeting sugar prices and large stocks may reshape the debate over the sugar program if Congress resumes consideration of the farm bill this year.
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AEI publishes ‘farmland bubble’ paper

The American Enterprise Institute has published a paper raising the issue of whether there is a farmland price bubble.
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Fudge elected to lead Congressional Black Caucus

The Congressional Black Caucus has elected Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, as its chairman.
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Chimenti named vice president/CEO of CAST

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) announced today it has named Linda Chimenti, its current chief operating officer, as vice president and chief executive officer effective February 1.
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Washington Monthly: Obama failed in fight with big ag

The Obama administration failed in its attempt to stand up to big dairy and meat processing companies under the antitrust laws, the Washington Monthly said in a story published today. Read More...

Obama mentions ag immigration briefly in new conference

President Barack Obama said today that he realizes the agriculture community is concerned about immigration reform. Read More...

Letters keep coming urging farm bill this year

Three coalitions of farm groups wrote congressional leaders on Tuesday urging them to finish the farm bill this year and making specific requests for action.
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NRCS Chief Dave White announces retirement

Dave White, the chief of the Agriculture Department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, today announced that he will retire on December 3. Read More...

USDA makes farm-to-school grants

The Agriculture Department has made more than $4.5 million in grants to connect school cafeterias with local agricultural producers, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced today. Read More...

Cochran may challenge Roberts for Ag committee leadership

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is considering challenging Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., for the position of ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Politico reported late today. Read More...

Failure of rural vote to help Romney may have policy implications

Rural and exurban voters and especially big farmers overwhelmingly supported Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Election Day, but for the first time in decades the rural vote was not enough to help decide the outcome of the general election. That’s a phenomenon that could make it harder for rural and farm leaders to get the ear of President Barack Obama’s administration, and could even affect how their interests fare on Capitol Hill. Read More...

Romney rural vote was different in Ohio, North Carolina and Florida

The importance of the rural vote to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was demonstrated by his victory in North Carolina, the only swing state he won, and by the difference between the urban and rural vote in Ohio and Florida, noted Bill Bishop, co-editor of the Daily Yonder, an online newspaper that publishes the Center for Rural Strategies polls and analyses. Read More...

Rural election results mirror polls

The results of the presidential election in rural America mirrored polls and surveys taken before November 6 that give some insight into the rural vote.
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Food stamp advocate Baca lost in strange race

Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., who lived on food stamps for a time in his childhood and was one of the staunchest advocates for anti-hunger programs on the House Agriculture Committee, lost his seat in one of the strangest races of the 2012 electoral season. Read More...

Indian vote crucial to Heitkamp and Tester wins

While the major news media has focused on the importance of the votes of female, black, Hispanic and Asian-American voters to President Barack Obama’s re-election, American Indian voters “outperformed” for the Democrats in the Senate elections in North Dakota and Montana, according to a prominent Indian writer and analyst. Read More...

Peterson to face challenges in committee recruitment

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., will need to find replacements for at least four and possibly five key allies on the House Agriculture Committee when Congress returns in January, and will probably have to add more members from urban districts and from areas outside the Plains and southern states, where commodity agriculture is dominant in the economy.
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Heitkamp to serve on Ag committee, names chief of staff

North Dakota Democrat Heidi Heitkamp has been offered a seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Heitkamp told supporters last week after winning her election, the Associated Press has reported. Read More...

USDA getting food assistance to hurricane victims

The Agriculture Department is working with states and food banks to provide both food and food stamps to people in the 13 states affected by Hurricane Sandy, USDA said this week. Read More...

USDA provides emergency watershed money in storm areas

The Agriculture Department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has provided $5.3 million in Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program funds to 11 states affected by Hurricane Sandy and related storms, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today.
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Monsanto signs biotech seed accord

Monsanto has signed the accord on the future use of biotech seeds developed by the Biotechnology Industry Organization and the American Seed Trade Association. Read More...

Poultry industry calls for action on Russia PNTR

The U.S. poultry industry on Thursday called on Congress to finish legislation enacting permanent normal trade relations with Russia during the lame duck session. Read More...

Study focuses on farm/food worker problems

Workers in agriculture and the food industry face a wide variety of problems, according to a study entitled “Worker Equity in Food and Agriculture.”
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CIRB launches new website

The Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau today launched a new website. Read More...

Openings available on both Senate and House ag committees

When new members of the Senate and the House of Representatives come to Washington and start bidding for committee assignments, they will have opportunities on both the Senate and House agriculture committees.
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Peterson opposes farm bill extension

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said today he will oppose any effort to extend the existing farm bill. Read More...

Crop insurance indemnities total $3.5 billion

Crop insurance companies have paid more than $3.5 billion to farmers for losses this year, the National Crop Insurance Services reported this week.
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Peterson, Farmers Union, Farm Bureau call for farm bill action; Lucas declines comment

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., joined the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau today in calling for action on a new farm bill in the lame duck session, but House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., declined comment until next week. Read More...

Election over, ag speculation shifts

The voters returned President Barack Obama to office and left the Senate in Democratic control and the House in Republican, but under the surface there are a number of changes that will be important to rural America.
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House Ag Committee turnover adds to farm bill pressure

Most of the 45 members of the House Agriculture Committee don’t have competitive races today, but the number of new members in the next Congress overall — probably between 75 and 85 — is likely to become a new argument for finishing the farm bill during the lame duck session. Read More...

A dozen Senate races for rural America to watch

There are so many senators from key rural states up for election on Tuesday that party shifts in who holds those seats could produce dramatic changes in farm leadership in the Senate. But in reality, only a dozen of the 33 races are both competitive and likely to be important to rural America. Read More...

Farm bill opponent McCain stumps in farm country

BISMARCK, N.D. — Was it a smart move for Republican Senate candidates in farm and ranch states to bring Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to help them campaign in the final days before the election? Or will it be a reminder that McCain opposes the farm bill, the sugar program and the Renewable Fuel Standard? McCain came to North Dakota this week to campaign for Republican Rep. Rick Berg, who is running for the Senate seat held by Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who is not running for re-election. Read More...

Despite storm, one-fifth of lower 48 states in drought

The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor update released Thursday showed that 60 percent of the land in the lower 48 states still was experiencing some degree of drought as of Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. Read More...

USDA helping out with Sandy recovery efforts

Agriculture Department personnel are helping people affected by Hurricane Sandy with everything from clearing downed trees from roads to providing food to helping local governments cope with abandoned pets, the agency said late Wednesday. Read More...

BIO, ASTA reach initial off-patent agreement

The Biotechnology Industry Organization and the American Seed Trade Association announced Wednesday that they had reached an agreement on how to handle biotech seeds when their patents expire that may — or may not — resolve issues between companies and between companies and farmers. Read More...

Panama agreement goes into effect

There were subtle partisan differences when Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and House Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, reacted to the final implementation of the U.S.-Panama free trade agreement that went into effect on Wednesday. Read More...

Soybean growers give views on U.S.-EU trade agreement

The United States should not reach a free trade agreement with the European Union unless it deals with biotech labeling and renewable energy standards that are barriers to U.S. soybean sales, the American Soybean Association told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in a letter this week. Read More...

Report: Schools need to offer healthier snacks

Most secondary schools do not sell fruits and vegetables in school stores, snack bars, or vending machines, according to a report released today by the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project, a joint initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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Republicans challenge school lunch rules

In last-minute campaigning, five House Republicans from rural states are making the new school lunch rules an issue. Read More...

DeLauro distributes GAO food safety report

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., on Wednesday distributed a new Government Accountability Office report that says the Food and Drug Administration can do a better job of monitoring food imports by getting help from the agencies in the countries that send food to the United States. Read More...

NGFA asks STB to make freight rail rate challenges easier

The National Grain and Feed Association has asked the federal Surface Transportation Board to change its rules to make it easier for agricultural shippers to challenge unreasonable freight rail rates. Read More...