…meal participation rates, and increased willingness of the students to try new foods, notably fruits and vegetables. In addition, in school year 2013-2014 alone, schools purchased more than $789 million…
EPA Violated Personal Privacy of Farmers and Ranchers
…The ruling concerns the EPA’s decision in 2013 to release to three environmental groups a large number of spreadsheets containing personal information of farmers and ranchers that raise poultry and…
NPPC, Farm Bureau Win FOIA Case Against EPA
…lawsuit to prevent the EPA from doing this again.” The case stems from the February 2013 release by EPA’s Office of Water to several activist groups, which filed a Freedom…
Ag Producers Cut Expenses by Nine Percent
…Report. The peak outlay for expenses was 2014, when farmers spent nearly $400 billion, just as commodity prices began a sharp decline. Average spending per farm last year was $171,000,…
Heritage Foundation Looking to the 2018 Farm Bill
…the 2014 farm bill to be eliminated, including support programs like Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage. The group also wants to eliminate the dairy insurance program and current…
No Actions Under Feedstock Flexibility Program
…may repay the loan in full or forfeit the collateral (sugar) to USDA if prices are too low. The Feedstock Flexibility Program was re-authorized by Congress in the 2014 Farm…
Food Insecurity in the United States
…ensure every child has a safer, healthier future filled with unlimited opportunity. In 2015, household food insecurity fell 1.3 percentage points from 2014 and 2.2 points from 2011–the peak of…
California State Organic Program
…(USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service, organic acreage has grown 46 percent from 2008 to 2014. California alone produced over $2.2 billion in organic agriculture in 2014, accounting for more than…
China Plans to Dramatically Increase Soybean Acres
…announced a goal of increasing soybean production 56 percent from 2014 to 2020. The shift toward planting more soybeans comes on the heels of policies designed to shrink the number…
Increased International Collaboration on Agricultural Science
…align their research with Fiscal Year 2016 NIFA-funded competitive grant research projects of mutual benefit to both nations. This new opportunity builds on an existing 2013 NIFA-BARD agreement to promote…
Economic Analysis of the 2016 CA Drought for Ag
…California’s agriculture in 2016, but with much less severe and widespread impacts than in the two previous drought years, 2014 and 2015. Winter and spring were wetter in the Sacramento…
Vermont, Grocery Industry, Agree to Dismiss GMO Labeling Lawsuit
…the federal GMO labeling bill passed by Congress in July and signed by the President, preempts state labeling laws. The lawsuit was filed in 2014. In August, Vermont’s Attorney General…
DOJ Seeks to Stop Deere from Purchasing Monsanto’s Precision Planting Division
…high-speed planting systems in 2014, after years of research and development. The complaint details how the intense head-to-head competition between Deere and Precision Planting since that time has directly benefitted…
USDA Sharply Revises Farm Income Forecasts
…2016 follows a double-digit decline in 2015 after average NCFI reached an historic high of $121,600 in 2014. Average net cash farm income is generally expected to be lower in…