Today's Ag News
Welcome to Today's Ag News, a list of news story links provided by the Kansas Department of Agriculture as a benefit to our website visitors. These news stories are the work product of media outlets nationwide. Reference to outside entities on our website, or links to outside entities from our website, or reference to outside entities by our officers or by our employees, does not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of the accuracy, relevancy, timeliness, or completeness of information available from these outside sources or from their websites.
Some media outlets require that visitors activate an account before they are given access to news stories. Media outlets linked to here do not, to our knowledge, charge a fee to establish an account.
All links to websites not hosted by the Kansas Department of Agriculture will open a new browser window.
This page is updated every week day.
Congress Agrees on Farm Bill as Bush Veto Is Threatened
The New York Times
One of the biggest sticking points has been how much money would be paid to wealthy farmers. Under the legislation, married farmers with joint incomes of up to $1.5 million a year and individuals who make more than $750,000 could still qualify for some crop subsidies.
Letter: Labels will be clear
The Topeka Capital Journal
Some label claims are patently false, like "hormone-free," or misleading, like "pesticide-free" and "antibiotic-free." All milk has hormones, and pesticides and antibiotics are prohibited in all milk. These claims clearly mislead the public, so they violate Kansas law. The regulation will prohibit these claims.
Bush will veto farm bill
Meatingplace.com
"I have visited face to face with our President and he was direct and plain. The President will veto this bill," Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said in a statement, just hours after House and Senate conferees held a news conference to announce completion of the bill.
KLA: Legislators Pass Stimulus Package, Adjourn
The Cattle Network
The Department of Agriculture has agreed to continue to work with KLA and others to try and resolve key differences through the regulatory process this summer. KLA will continue to work toward an amicable resolution.
The Law of Intended Consequences
Yahoo News
And it was always implausible for Congress to claim, as Steny Hoyer puts it, that the goal was to "become more dependent on the Midwest than the Middle East" for our fuel--because it was never plausible, even with all of the subsidies poured into it, that ethanol would supply more than a fraction of America's fuel needs. If all we wanted was to increase domestic fuel production, it always made a lot more sense to lift controls on arctic and offshore oil drilling.
Kick the oil habit and make your own ethanol
Reuters
E-Fuel Corp unveiled on Thursday the "MicroFueler" touting it as the world's first machine that allows homeowners to make their own ethanol and pump the brew directly into their cars.
High Prices for Staple Foods Dip, but Volatile Markets Persist
The New York Times
Prices remain volatile and remarkably high by historical standards, and few agricultural experts expect the days of inexpensive food to return soon. There is no sign of a drop steep enough to make food affordable again for the hundreds of millions of people in poor countries who are struggling to maintain adequate diets.
Corps uncertain about condition of nation's levees
Chicago Tribune
"We have to get our arms around this issue and understand how many levees there are in the country, who's watching over them, what populations and properties are behind them," said Eric Halpin, the corps' special assistant for dam and levee safety. "What is the risk posed to the public?"
Before Congress, NCGA Stands Proud Behind Renewable Fuels Standard
Agnetwork
In testimony today before members of Congress, National Corn Growers Association Chief Executive Officer Rick Tolman countered a massive disinformation campaign against ethanol and offered a clear and concise defense of the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard that was overwhelmingly passed by both House and Senate in December.
Oil Companies Focus On Buybacks, Not Renewables
Agnetwork
HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--The most recent earnings reports from the oil giants show that despite pressures to spend part of their eye-popping profits in alternative-energy projects, oil companies are sticking to their guns by bolstering share-buyback programs and putting off major portfolio diversification.
Ethanol Fantasy Fuels a Food-Price Nightmare
Bloomberg.com
May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Last year, U.S. farmers planted the most land with corn in any year since World War II, and it wasn't enough. Demand for corn rose faster than the size of the crop, boosting the price to about $6 a bushel from $4.
Wheat disease threatens supplies
The Washington Times
The new strain of wheat-stem rust, first identified in Uganda nine years ago, is threatening crops during a global crisis over rising food prices, depleted reserves, rising agricultural trade barriers and violent food-related protests on four continents.
Europe Delays Decision on Growing of Modified Crops
The New York Times
The commission has come under pressure from industry and environmental groups over the products, which include a potato produced by the German chemicals giant BASF, and two strains of corn, one from DuPont and Dow AgroSciences of the United States, and another from the Swiss company Syngenta.
AS I SEE IT: Colombian trade deal would help Kansas farmers
The Kansas City Star
The future prosperity of Kansas business and agriculture is tied to worldwide expansion of trade. The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement before Congress provides tremendous opportunities for Kansas and other exporters in the United States.
Wheat industry forecasts crop at 379 million bushels
The Lawrence Journal World
Wichita - Surpassing expectations, the 2008 winter wheat harvest in Kansas was forecast to top 379.1 million bushels, industry leaders said Thursday.That was the consensus of about 60 farmers and other trade officials who spent three days checking fields across the state as part of the Wheat Quality Council's annual winter wheat tour. The announcement was made at the end of the tour on the floor of the Kansas City Board of Trade.
Government asks court to block wider testing for mad cow
The New York Times
The Agriculture Department currently tests less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease. It argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers.
Plow It Under - A farm bill larded with giveaways deserves President Bush's veto
The Washington Post
It includes a dubious sugar-to-ethanol program and billions of dollars for a permanent disaster relief fund that essentially pays farmers to grow crops on land too dry to sustain them. And it perpetuates the multibillion-dollar system of direct payments to corn, wheat, rice, cotton and soybean growers, with only minimal limitations on how much of this corporate welfare rich farmers can receive.
Negotiators Agree on Farm Bill, but Bush Vows to Veto It
The Washington Post
Dairy farmers will get as much as $410 million more over 10 years to cover higher feed costs, and negotiators tucked in an annual authorization of $15 million to help "geographically disadvantaged farmers" in Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa and Puerto Rico.
A Vital Disaster Program
The Washington Post
We disagree with Ruth Marcus's attack [op-ed, April 30] on a vital program we developed in the farm bill to aid farmers and ranchers devastated by weather-related disasters.
When disaster strikes, we all suffer. Agricultural disasters result in lost crops, livestock and livelihoods. When production is lost, food prices rise. And if disaster aid is uncertain, banks hesitate to lend farmers money to replant.
Wheat's fate
Garden City Telegram Online
Rain that fell on the region in the past few days was welcome in an area that's been mired in drought.
The hail, however, was another story.
Storms that moved into the area Monday night hammered Garden City with hailstones that ranged from pea size to softball-size whoppers.
Wheat crop looking 'excellent'
The Hays Daily News
In the western third of the state, meanwhile, timely rains -- on top of the cushion of moisture left behind when more than 30 inches of snow fell in late 2006 -- made for ideal growing conditions.
In the northwest crop-reporting district, for example, average yields last year amounted to 43 bushels per acre. This year, the forecast is calling for average yields of 38 bushels.
Retailers can use DNA tracing to track meat
The Wichita Eagle
Dave Schafer, executive director of the Kansas Meat Processors Association, said he is skeptical that DNA tracing is necessary in the U.S. or that producers will want to add to already high food prices.