Democrats’ Plan to Advance Infrastructure Bill & Budget Blueprint Together in Jeopardy
Republicans on Senate Ag panel want hearings re: $135 billion in new ag spending
In Today’s Digital Newspaper
Market Focus:
• USDA daily export sales:
— 326,200 MT soybeans to unknown destinations. Of the total, 200 metric tons is for
delivery during the 2020-2021 marketing year and 326,000 metric tons is for delivery
during the 2021/2022 marketing year.
— 126,000 MT soybeans to China during 2021-2022 marketing year.
• On this day in 1981, Reagan signed into law the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981
• Home prices surged in almost every corner of U.S. in second quarter
• Tesla’s Elon Musk points fingers at two suppliers
• Private trade forecasts badly missed USDA report estimates/projections
• Many coffee drinkers can expect to pay more for their cup of joe
• Cheese prices have come down because lumber has been up
• First data dump of FSA certified acreage… what it means
• Kansas City Southern’s board rejected new takeover bid from Canadian Pacific
• Friendly USDA data lifts corn, soybean and wheat
• Argentine exchange expects soybean plantings to slide for sixth year in a row
• Russian tax on wheat exports edges lower
• Sunny weather should speed along French wheat harvest
• Uptick in demand at Chinese auctions of state corn reserves
• Brazilian meat processors BRF posts Q2 loss
• Impressive beef rally continues
• Hogs hold up in face of disappointing export news
Policy Focus:
• Moderate House Democrats warn Pelosi re: budget resolution/infrastructure
• Senate Ag GOP members wants hearings re: $135 billion in new ag spending
China Update:
• Key Chinese terminal at the Ningbo-Zhoushan port closed indefinitely
• Hub of Los Angeles bracing for another potential decline in traffic from China
• Chinese restrictions severely curtail cargo operations at several
• CIA weighing proposals to create an independent ‘Mission Center for China’
Trade Policy:
• ITC to hold vote on prelim. vote on determination in fertilizer investigation
• Europe delays new requirements for U.S. exports of dairy ingredients
• USTR Tai, South Korea trade minister meet
Energy & Climate Change:
• Climate farming bill hits House hurdles
Livestock, Food & Beverage Industry Update:
• Rockefeller Study: Tear down U.S. food supply chain so Americans pay more for groceries
• SNAP/food stamps boost to end
Coronavirus Update:
• FDA authorizes third Covid vaccine dose for those with weak immune systems
• Fauci: Everybody will likely need a Covid vaccine booster shot eventually
• WHO leader says Chinese pressure shaped conclusions on lab leak
• Share of job postings requiring that a new hire be vaccinated nearly doubled past month
• First vaccine-mandate case reaches the Supreme Court
Politics & Elections:
• America’s white population shrank for 1st time in U.S. history, census data show
• David Wasserman: Dems must be happy with Census results
• Rand Paul belatedly disclosed his wife’s purchase of Covid-19 drugmaker’s stock
• Canada’s snap election Sept. 20
Congress:
• House staffers can now make more than their lawmaker bosses
Other Items of Note:
• Cotton AWP moves higher
• U.S., U.K., and Canada deploy troops to speed Kabul exit
• Antitrust activity is heating up, with new bipartisan legislation aimed at Big Tech
• Mergers are surging in “astounding” numbers: FTC
• Vilsack continues Minnesota visit focusing on drought and health care grants
MARKET FOCUS
Equities today: Global stock markets were mixed overnight, with European shares mostly up and Asian shares mostly down. The U.S. Dow opened up around 80 points higher. Walt Disney’s parks saw a strong rebound in visitors as people left their pandemic cocoon, but the company acknowledged uncertainty ahead because of the coronavirus Delta variant. Asian equities were mostly with an eye ahead on coming economic data. The Nikkei declined 37.87 points, 0.14%, at 27,977.15. The Hang Seng Index fell 126.20 points, 0.48%, at 26,391.62. European equity markets are seeing gains in early trading. The Stoxx 600 was up 0.2% with other markets moving 0.2% to 0.5% higher.
U.S. equities yesterday: The Dow closed up 14.88 points, 0.04%, at 35,499.85 after spending most of the day lower. The Nasdaq rose 51.13 points, 0.35%, at 14,816.26. The S&P 500 was up 13.13 points, 0.30%, at 4,460.83.
On tap today:
• U.S. import prices for July are expected to increase 0.6% from a month earlier. (8:30 a.m. ET)
• University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index is expected to tick up to 81.3 in the opening weeks of August from 81.2 in July. (10 a.m. ET)
• Baker Hughes rig count is out at 1 p.m. ET.
• CFTC Commitments of Traders report, 3:30 p.m. ET.
On this day in 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, the biggest tax cut in American history. It streamlined the federal income tax brackets, lowered the top rate to 36% and created the universally deductible individual retirement account.
Home prices surged in almost every corner of the U.S. in the second quarter as robust demand continued to overwhelm the supply of homes for sale. The median sales price for single-family existing homes was higher in the second quarter compared with a year ago for 182 of the 183 metro areas tracked by the National Association of Realtors, the association said Thursday. In 94% of those metro areas, median prices rose by more than 10% from a year earlier.
Tesla’s Elon Musk pointed fingers at two suppliers, Germany’s Robert Bosch and Japan’s Renesas, calling them the “most problematic by far” as the electric car maker deals with a shortage of chips. Meanwhile, Volkswagen held talks with major suppliers, including Bosch, about possibly claiming damages and Ford saw a Renesas factory fire as a major risk to production schedules.
Market perspectives:
• Outside markets: The U.S. dollar index is lower, with the euro and British pound both registering advances against the greenback. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note has eased slightly to trade around 1.34% while global government bond yields are nearly unchanged to slightly higher. Gold and silver are moving higher ahead of U.S. trading, with gold around $1,762 per troy ounce and silver around $23.38 per troy ounce.
• Crude oil futures are nearly unchanged ahead of U.S. trading, with U.S. crude trading around $69.05 per barrel and Brent around $71.25 per barrel. Futures were under pressure in Asian action, with U.S. crude down 48 cents at $68.61 per barrel and Brent down 44 cents at $70.87 per barrel.
• Perhaps a “white paper” is needed on how to improve private trade forecasts of USDA reports. Reason: Most grain industry analysts widely missed many of the USDA estimates and forecasts, including the direction of some of them. USDA’s World Board surprised many by getting close to or at other forecasts for several countries’ production prospects.
• Many coffee drinkers can expect to pay more for their cup of joe at supermarkets and cafe registers. Coffee roasters and cafe operators are responding to poor harvests in major coffee-growing regions and logistics snarls that executives said have constrained bean supplies, delayed shipments and boosted costs. Companies are also raising wages to recruit and retain workers. The price of coffee futures traded on Intercontinental Exchange markets this year has averaged about $1.43 per pound, the highest it has been since 2014, according to Macrotrends LLC. Some sellers have managed to shield themselves from rising prices by buying extra supplies in advance or hedging. Starbucks says it has more than one year’s worth of coffee on hand, with favorable prices locked in. Those strategies have limits, however, and rising labor and shipping costs are undermining the gains. Link to WSJ article for more.
• Cheese prices have come down because lumber has been up. Why? As lumber costs soared this year, some cheesemakers switched to barrels instead of wooden boxes. Cheese prices are sitting at a 15-month low. Link for more.
• First data dump of FSA certified acreage. Pro Farmer notes that the first FSA certified acreage figures released Thursday showed prevent-plantings of only 2.039 million acres for the 10 major crops — that’s below average. If reported total planted acres for the 10 major crops of 250.9 million acres, the most ever for August dating back to 2011 when FSA started releasing the data. Our initial analysis of the data follows:
For corn, FSA reported planted/failed acres of 90.3 million acres. In the June Acreage Report, USDA estimated corn plantings at 92.7 million acres. FSA data already exceeds USDA’s June acreage estimates in Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska and North Dakota, suggesting corn planted acreage will increase around 1 million from the June estimate of 92.7 million acres.
For soybeans, FSA reported planted/failed acres of 85.3 million acres. FSA data already exceeds USDA’s estimates in Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and North Carolina. But increases in those states could be offset by lower plantings in others. For now, USDA’s June estimate of nearly 87.6 million acres appears to be in the ballpark.
FSA reported planted/failed acres of 10.9 million acres of upland cotton and 116,854 acres of extra-long staple (pima) cotton. Cotton plantings appear to project about 200,000 to 300,000 acres under USDA’s June estimate.
FSA will update certified acreage through January. USDA’s NASS has historically started to incorporate FSA acreage data into its crop estimates in October.
• Kansas City Southern’s board rejected a new takeover bid from Canadian Pacific, keeping a buyout offer from Canadian National on track. Meanwhile, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways told regulators they are adjusting operations to limit congestion at their U.S. intermodal terminals.
- USDA daily export sales:
— 326,200 MT soybeans to unknown destinations. Of the total, 200 metric tons is for delivery during the 2020-2021 marketing year and 326,000 metric tons is for delivery during the 2021/2022 marketing year.
— 126,000 MT soybeans to China during 2021-2022 marketing year.
• NWS weather: Monsoonal thunderstorms expected in the Southwest through the end of the week... ...Rounds of thunderstorms likely along and ahead of a front from the Central Plains to Ohio/Tennessee Valleys to the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic... ...Fred is forecast to impact much of Florida with heavy rain as it crosses the Keys on Saturday... ...Oppressive heat continues across the Northwest, Eastern Seaboard, and south-central Continental U.S.
Items in Pro Farmer's First Thing Today include:
• Friendly USDA data lifts corn, soybean and wheat
• Argentine exchange expects soybean plantings to slide for sixth year in a row
• Russian tax on wheat exports edges lower
• Sunny weather should speed along French wheat harvest
• Uptick in demand at Chinese auctions of state corn reserves
• Brazilian meat processors BRF posts Q2 loss
• Impressive beef rally continues
• Hogs hold up in face of disappointing export news
POLICY FOCUS
— Moderate House Democrats warn Pelosi they will withhold support for budget resolution unless bipartisan infrastructure package considered. Nine moderate House Democrats are to send a letter today to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warning they will not vote for the budget resolution until the House has voted on and approved the bipartisan infrastructure package approved this week by the Senate. Pelosi has pledged she will not bring the physical infrastructure package up in the House until the Senate has sent over the “social” infrastructure package. “With the livelihoods of hardworking American families at stake, we simply can’t afford months of unnecessary delays and risk squandering this one-in-a-century, bipartisan infrastructure package,” the letter stated, according to a copy of it obtained by the New York Times. “It’s time to get shovels in the ground and people to work.”
If the nine withhold their support for the budget resolution that the House was set to consider the week of Aug. 23, that would prevent the measure from moving forward as Democrats have just a three-seat margin in the House.
The draft letter was signed by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Filemon Vela (D-Texas), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.).
— Senate Ag Committee Republicans urge Stabenow to hold hearings re: allocating $135 billion spending increase. A letter (link) by all Senate Ag panel was sent to Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) to request hearings, with outside witnesses, “to engage stakeholders in the process of allocating the $135B spending increase:. Additionally, the signers request that the committee hold a business meeting where all members are afforded the opportunity to consider the proposed legislation and be allowed to offer amendments. “As the Republican members of the Committee, we respectfully request that you hold hearings with outside witnesses to learn more about the needs of our nation’s farmers, ranchers, foresters, rural communities, and those participating in our nutrition programs. We believe these hearings should be broad-based and include producers and rural community leaders from across the country, similar to what our committee has done in the past as we draft Farm Bills. The spending of $135 billion of the taxpayers’ money should be informed by those we represent, and not solely by interest groups with Washington offices and lobbyists.”
CHINA UPDATE
— A key Chinese terminal at the Ningbo-Zhoushan port — one of the world’s busiest by container volumes — was closed indefinitely Thursday after just one worker was diagnosed with coronavirus. This is just the latest example of the unpredictable bumps coming from China. It will add to supply-chain disruptions such as the global microchip shortage, and Beijing’s proclaimed zero-tolerance on the virus could lead to other similar decisions.
Meanwhile, the hub of Los Angeles is already bracing for another potential decline in traffic from China. The resulting delays could also add to the price of container shipping, which is already up more than 220% this year.
Chinese restrictions to control a spike in Covid infections have severely curtailed cargo operations at several airports and reduced crew availability, forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights as the peak shipping season kicks into high gear in a sector already struggling to keep up with high demand. “You’re taking a few thousand tons a week of capacity out of an already very tight market, so that is going to have a subsequent impact on rates. They’ve gone up in the past several days as a lot of these decisions have been made. And I suspect we’re going to be in super peak market conditions here in the coming days,” said Neel Jones Shah, executive vice president and global head of airfreight at Flexport, in a phone interview with American Shipper.
— U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is weighing proposals to create an independent “Mission Center for China,” an escalation of its effort to gain greater insight into America’s top strategic rival, Bloomberg reports. The proposal, part of a broader review of capabilities by CIA Director William Burns, would elevate the emphasis on China within the agency, where it has long been part of a broader focus on East Asia.
TRADE POLICY
— U.S. ITC to hold vote on preliminary vote on determination in Russia, Trinidad and Tobago fertilizer investigation. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to hold a preliminary vote today on whether imports of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago are materially injuring or threatening material injury to a US industry. If the ITC makes a negative finding regarding a specific country, then the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations would end. Otherwise, the AD and CVD investigations would continue.
Commerce is to reach its preliminary determination Aug. 16 in the investigation. The case was brought by CF Industries Nitrogen, LLC; Terra Nitrogen, Limited Partnership; and Terra International (Oklahoma) LLC, all of Deerfield, Illinois.
— Europe delays new requirements for U.S. exports of dairy ingredients. The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) is welcoming a decision by the European Commission to extend the implementation deadline for new health certificate requirements for dairy ingredients used in infant formulas and adult nutrition products, saying the EU is “backing off threats” to shut down U.S. dairy exports to European Union member states. U.S. dairy interests have criticized the EU certification requirements which include animal health monitoring and veterinarian signoffs that the U.S. industry contends are onerous and in conflict with international standards set by the World Health Organization.
The provisions were to start Aug. 21 but will now be effective Jan. 15, 2022.
The extension, the IDFA said, will allow U.S. and European officials to determine appropriate implementation procedures for U.S. exports.
Perspective: Annual U.S. dairy product sales to the that would have been affected by the new rules were pegged at $600 million to $900 million by IDFA.
— USTR Tai, South Korea trade minister meet. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai held virtual discussions with South Korea’s Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo. A readout of the session from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) indicated the two discussed “areas of interest, such as supply chain resiliency efforts, tackling climate change, and WTO reform.” The two also agreed that a U.S./Korea bilateral trade relationship was important.
While issues with China were not identified in the readout as has been the case with nearly every other session Tai has held with her trade counterparts, that may have been discussed under what the statement said was Tai highlighting the Biden administration’s “trade priorities.”
ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE
— Climate farming bill hits House hurdles. Legislation that aims to boost climate-friendly farming practices is getting bogged down amid opposition in the House and questions over how USDA would carry out its mandates. The measure, which would reward agricultural practices that sequester carbon, breezed to passage in the Senate in June. Supporters — including agriculture and environmental groups — billed it as a way to help farmers’ bottom lines while cutting greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. But the Growing Climate Solutions Act has stalled in the House, with Republicans in the chamber opposing the idea of federal intervention in carbon markets, while progressive Democrats fret over a boon for big industrial operations.
LIVESTOCK, FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
— Rockefeller Foundation Study: Tear down the U.S. food supply chain and rebuild it so Americans pay more for their groceries. Farm Policy Facts (FPF) (link) exposes what it calls “the misguided farm policy stances taken in a Rockefeller Foundation Study that was the subject of a fawning Washington Post article.” FPF exposes some dangerous themes that will be recycled by U.S. farm policy critics.
— SNAP/food stamps boost to end. The temporary 15% increase in SNAP benefits, enacted last winter by Congress in response to the pandemic, is due to expire on Sept. 30, which anti-hunger groups say will mean greater food insecurity.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
— Summary: Global cases of Covid-19 are at 205,498,261 with 4,335,943 deaths, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. case count is at 36,306,963 with 619,093 deaths. The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center said that there have been 353,859,894 doses administered, 167,354,729 have been fully vaccinated, or 50.98% of the U.S. population.
— FDA authorizes third Covid vaccine dose for those with weak immune systems. U.S. regulators on Thursday said transplant recipients and others with severely weakened immune systems can get an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna Covid-19 vaccines to better protect them as the Delta variant continues to surge. The late-night announcement by the Food and Drug Administration applies to several million Americans who are especially vulnerable because of organ transplants, certain cancers or other disorders. Several other countries, including France and Israel, have similar recommendations.
— Fauci: Everybody will likely need a Covid vaccine booster shot eventually. White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday everybody will someday “likely” need a booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccines. “We’re already starting to see indications of some diminution” in the durability of the vaccines, Fauci told CBS This Morning. However, he said it’s not likely that they will be widely administered any time soon. The priority, Fauci said, is to give boosters to people who have compromised immune systems, including those with cancer and transplanted organs. “We don’t feel at this particular point that, apart from the immune-compromised, we don’t feel we need to give boosters right now,” he said.
— WHO leader says Chinese pressure shaped conclusions on lab leak. The former head of the World Health Organization (WHO) team that investigated the origins of Covid-19 admitted Chinese officials pressured his team to conclude a Wuhan lab leak was “extremely unlikely” in their flawed final report. Peter Ben Embarek, a Danish scientist and food safety program manager at WHO, helped lead the international team that went to Wuhan earlier this year and, along with China, issued a report largely dismissing the possibility the virus originated in a Chinese government lab. Embarek revealed the pressure from China during an interview with TV2, a television station in Denmark, as part of a documentary.
— Share of job postings requiring that a new hire be vaccinated nearly doubled in the past month, according to job search site Indeed. The rate remains low — 1,200 per million postings in the first week of August. But that compares with about 600 in early July, and about 50 in early February.
— First vaccine-mandate case to reach the Supreme Court — an emergency injunction request filed by Indiana University students — was rejected by Justice Amy Coney Barrett. In Texas, a group of school districts is suing the governor over a ban on mask mandates.
POLITICS & ELECTIONS
— The white population saw a historic decline, a census report revealed Thursday, with growing numbers of Latino, Asian and multiracial resident, beginning a push to redraw the nation’s political map. The results will lock in the political map until the 2030 census and, more immediately, set the stage for next year’s battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. With Democrats holding a narrow margin in the House, some analysts expect that Republicans could pick up enough seats just through partisan gerrymandering to win the majority in 2022.
In Texas, the white population outpaced the number of Latinos by more than 7% in 2010; now the two groups are practically equal in size. And white residents now make up narrow majorities in Georgia, Florida and Arizona.
White people remained the largest racial or ethnic group in the nation at 57.8% of the total. But there were more than 5 million fewer white people than there had been 10 years ago, marking the first time on record that their overall population shrank. Among those under 18, just 47% were white. Latinos were the second-most-prevalent group, with 18.7% of the country’s residents. In California, the nation’s most populous state, Latinos were the largest ethnic group, making up nearly 4 in 10 residents.
The non-Hispanic white population dropped 2.6% between 2010 and 2020, a decline that puts that group’s share of the total U.S. population below 60%. The number of people who identify as more than one race or ethnicity grew at the fastest rate of any group, partly due to changes that captured more detailed responses. The nation’s population grew just 7.4% during the decade, the second slowest on record for a decennial census. Only the 1930s — the era of the Great Depression — saw slower growth.
— David Wasserman: Dems must be happy with Census results. As previously noted, the Census Bureau just released detailed, block-level demographic data needed to kick off the redistricting process. Although Republicans hold more sway in redistricting, “Democrats have to be pretty happy with the results,” says David Wasserman, House editor of the Cook Politcal Report with Amy Walter. His reasoning:
“First, the major Latino undercount many Democrats and minority advocacy groups feared didn't materialize, throwing cold water on theories about a Trump-induced chilling effect on census participation. Hispanic residents were 18.7% of the U.S. population in the 2020 Census, in line with pre-census estimates and up from 16.3% in the 2010 Census. Non-Hispanic whites fell from 64% to just 57.8% of the population. That means Hispanic-heavy urban areas in states like California (where Hispanics just became the state's largest ethnic group) and Texas will get to keep slightly more political power that otherwise might have gone to whiter, more Republican areas.
“Second, urban areas in general fared better than expected in [the] population counts. New York City counted a massive 7% more residents than pre-census estimates suggested, and Chicago's Cook County tallied 3% more. That should marginally help Democrats draw more favorable districts in Illinois and New York to offset expected GOP gerrymandering gains in Texas, Florida, Georgia and elsewhere.
“Meanwhile, most rural counties (and 52% of all counties) reported population losses since 2010, and many reported even weaker numbers than expected. That could make it slightly more challenging for GOP mapmakers to dilute urban and suburban Democratic votes. In Texas, for example, it could make the strategic difference between Republicans settling for a 25-13 map versus attempting a 27-11 gerrymander.”
— Rand Paul belatedly disclosed his wife’s purchase of a Covid-19 drugmaker’s stock. The Kentucky senator’s wife bought stock in Gilead Sciences, the maker of remdesivir, in February 2020. He disclosed the purchase this week.
— Canada’s snap election. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to call a snap election for Sept. 20, Reuters reports (link), as he seeks a mandate to move forward with plans to spend $80 billion in economic stimulus over three years. Polls currently put Trudeau’s Liberal party comfortably ahead of his main rival, the Conservative party, putting him in a strong position to regain the majority he lost in 2019 elections.
CONGRESS
— House staffers can now make more than their lawmaker bosses, Democratic leaders announced yesterday. The move, revealed in a “Dear Colleague” letter from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), is a bid to attract and keep expert staffers on Capitol Hill who have more lucrative prospects in the private sector. The new maximum pay for staffers is now $199,300. Most lawmakers make $174,000, though party leaders make more.
OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE
— Cotton AWP moves higher. The Adjusted World Price (AWP) for cotton moved up to 76.74 cents per pound, effective today (Aug. 13), marking nine straight weeks of being at 70 cents or more. Meanwhile, USDA announced Special Import Quota #17 would be established Aug. 19 for 55,262 bales of Upland cotton, applying to supplies purchased not later than November 16 and entered into the U.S. not later than Feb. 14.
— U.S., U.K., and Canada deploy troops to speed Kabul exit. Western powers appear to be preparing for the fall of Kabul, after the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada all announced fresh troop deployments to help evacuate citizens and other residents of the Afghan capital on Thursday. The United States will send 3,000 troops to secure Kabul’s international airport and mount an evacuation effort for U.S. embassy staff alongside Afghans with special visa status, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. Separately, the United Kingdom announced plans to send 600 troops to retrieve its personnel, while Canada will send special forces to assist in closing its Kabul embassy.
— Antitrust activity is heating up, with new bipartisan legislation aimed at Big Tech just introduced in the Senate and federal agencies adopting a skeptical stance on dealmaking. “I believe the antitrust agencies should more frequently consider opposing problematic deals outright,” the FTC chair, Lina Khan, wrote in a letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, released yesterday. The tough talk advances the Biden administration’s position, expressed in a sweeping executive order last month, that cracking down on consolidation protects consumers, markets and workers.
— Mergers are surging in “astounding” numbers, the FTC said recently. A “tidal wave” of filings has strained resources, and the agency is adjusting its pre-merger review process, telling companies they close at their own risk after the usual 30-day review deadline, as deals may later be deemed illegal. The agency can already retroactively challenge done deals, but the initial review framework is meant to minimize this insecurity, the Republican FTC commissioner Christine Wilson wrote this week. She said that the FTC’s altered process may be driven as much by politics as the rise in merger activity.
Mergers
— Vilsack continues Minnesota visit focusing on drought/health care grants. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack talked about the drought situation in Minnesota as he met with lawmakers and farmers Thursday, and he announced new health care grants for rural areas of the state. He continues his visit today but there has been no indication that additional announcements are planned, including any word on dairy program efforts that are potentially on track to be announced.
— What a baseball game in Iowa last night, huh? Says one viewer: “That’s the closest many Americans have ever been to a corn field. My favorite was the two Chicago White Sox players trying to eat the corn and spitting it out.”
