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House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, on Friday released the text of a proposed farm bill, which includes provisions to expand disaster relief, protect hog producers from a patchwork of state regulations as a result of California’s Proposition 12 animal welfare law, and would raise the limits on guaranteed operating loans and guaranteed ownership loans to $3 million and $3.5 million, respectively.
Congress has been unable to pass a full, five-year farm bill since 2018. Many provisions that would usually be included in a farm bill were addressed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law by President Donald Trump last year.
“This bill provides modern policies for modern challenges and is shaped by years of listening to the needs of farmers, ranchers, and rural Americans,” Thompson said, in a news release. “The farm bill affects our entire country, regardless of whether you live on a farm, and I look forward to seeing my colleagues in Congress work together to get this critical legislation across the finish line.”
Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota, the committee’s senior Democrat, said the proposed legislation falls short of what’s needed.
“Farmers need Congress to act swiftly to end inflationary tariffs, stabilize trade relationships, expand domestic market opportunities like year-round E15 and help lower input costs,” she said, in a news release. “The Republican majority instead chose to ignore Democratic priorities and focus on pushing a shell of a farm bill with poison pills that complicates if not derails chances of getting anything done. I strongly urge my Republican colleagues to drop the political charade and work with House Democrats on a truly bipartisan bill to address the very real problems farm country is experiencing right now – before it’s too late.”
The committee is scheduled to begin marking up the legislation on Feb. 23.
India feels the heat from angry farmers: India on Friday cleared the way for the export of 2.5 million metric tons of wheat and an additional 500,000 tons each of wheat products and sugar in an effort to placate local growers angered by a trade deal with the U.S, Reuters reported. India is the world’s second-biggest producer of both commodities.
The move came after thousands of farmers staged demonstrations Thursday, accusing the government of compromising their interests despite assurances from the country’s trade ministry that safeguards were in place.
The deal was always going to be a tricky one for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Bloomberg noted that India’s tens of millions of small farmers are a vital political constituency in the world’s most populous nation. They now feel under threat in the wake of the U.S.-India agreement.
- Worth knowing: India has one of the most protected farming sectors in the world, the report noted, which makes opening it up a monumental shift. India agreed to eliminate or slash tariffs on US produce like soybean oil and red sorghum as well as dried distillers’ grain, or DDGS, a type of animal feed.
- The deal was credited with fueling a rally in soybean oil futures this week, with the March contract up 175 points on the week. March hit a contract high on Thursday before a modest Friday pullback.
Inflation, and most beef prices, cool in January: The January consumer price index rose 0.2% in January and was up 2.4% year over year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, coming in below analyst expectations for a 0.3% monthly rise and a 2.5% YOY increase.
- Beef prices, which have been a source of frustration for the White House amid affordability concerns, largely cooled:
- All beef and veal prices fell 0.4% from December, leaving them up 15% YOY, down from 16.4% YOY in December.
- Uncooked ground beef prices continued to accelerate, however, up 1.6% on the month and 17.2% YOY, accelerating from 15.5% YOY in December.
- Uncooked roast prices fell 1.3% in January, leaving them up 15% YOY versus up 17.5% YOY in December.
- Uncooked steak prices saw a 2.2% monthly fall, leaving them up 12.9% YOY, slowing from 17.8% YOY in December.
New swine fever cases in Spain: Two African swine fever cases were detected in Spain among wild boar for the first time outside the area of an original outbreak near Barcelona, Reuters reported, prompting additional restrictions on the movement of people and livestock.
Regional authorities in Catalonia said the new cases were found near the western towns of El Papiol and Molins de Rei in Barcelona’s metropolitan area, where there are no pork farms, officials said. Spain is the European Union’s largest pork producer, accounting for a quarter of the bloc’s output and with annual exports worth about 3.5 billion euros ($4.2 billion).
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