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Category Archives: United States Department of Agriculture
The end of price supports will send acreage plummeting, but the government's stockpile is estimated to last for years Fred Gale is still trying to figure out how China's new corn policy will affect grain markets, but his initial thought is that it won't.a China announced in March that it is ending its corn price support and procurement program for the country's northeast region.a That region accounts for 40 percent of production for the world's second largest corn producer, so the new policy could have a big impact on global corn output, depending on how it unfolds.a The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in last week's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report that Chinese growers will plant 89 million acres of corn this year.
This week has been a particular bruising one for anti-GMO activists, with the release of two reports that disprove most of their claims that GMOs are bad for people and the planet. On May 17, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued a lengthy study, "Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects," that supports the safety of GMO foods and finds no evidence of harm to human health or the environment.
Bumper corn and soybean crops are expected in the United States this fall but the harvests will likely fall short of records projected by the U.S. government, according to estimates released on Friday from farm advisory service Pro Farmer at the end of its annual Midwest crop tour. Pro Farmer predicted that average corn yields will be 170.2 bushels per acre, or enough to produce a record 14.728 billion-bushel crop, at the end of a four-day tour of seven major production states in the Midwest.
Under the 2008 Farm Bill, its leader is supposed to serve as the agency's "chief scientist" and be chosen "from among distinguished scientists with specialized or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics." But Sam Clovis - who, according to sources with knowledge of the appointment and members of the agriculture trade press, is President Trump's pick to oversee the section - appears to have no such credentials.
Release of "Preliminary FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food - 10 States, 2009," which is being published in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report . David Goldman, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Administrator, Office of Public Health Science, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service The new report highlights foodborne illness disease trends and growing foodborne illness challenges.