White House’s Kudlow hopeful on U.S.-China trade talks, agriculture buys [Reuters]
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday called it a good sign that top U.S. officials would be traveling to China to discuss reviving stalled trade talks, and said he expected Beijing to start buying U.S. agriculture products soon. In recent phone calls with Chinese negotiators, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had emphasized the need for Beijing to make good on its pledge to buy more U.S. agricultural products….U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross downplayed the prospect, however. Asked whether China was moving toward buying more agricultural goods, Ross told Bloomberg TV, “I’m not aware that the gate has opened to any significant degree.”
U.S. to pay $15 minimum per acre to farmers hurt by China trade war [Reuters]
The U.S. government will pay a minimum of $15 per acre to farmers hurt by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China under an aid package to be unveiled before the end of the week, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Tuesday….A new aid program would be the second round of assistance for farmers, after the Department of Agriculture’s $12 billion plan last year to compensate for lower prices for farm goods and lost sales stemming from trade disputes with China and other nations. The USDA has redesigned last year’s aid program based on feedback. The new package will have a single payment rate per county, calculated by the damages in that area, instead of a rate for every commodity across the nation.
Trump administration moves to limit food stamps, restrict free meals for children [McClatchy News Service]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing that families who receive temporary government benefits should no longer be automatically eligible for food assistance, a change that could restrict access to free school lunches for 265,000 children….Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue framed it as a necessary change to cut down on abuse of the system….A similar policy was proposed in a House Republican version of the farm bill in the last Congress, which was rejected….California generally represents roughly 10 percent of the national SNAP caseload, but it is not clear at this point if Californians would represent 10 percent of the individuals affected by the proposal.
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/regional/the-west/article233016022.html
Close to $3 million of water has reached Ventura County’s overstressed groundwater basin [Ventura County Star]
Close to $3 million worth of water has rushed down the Santa Clara River over the past several weeks to recharge groundwater basins in the Oxnard Plain. The release was part of a deal between the United Water Conservation District and Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency to help recharge aquifers still struggling after years of drought….As of Monday, roughly 36,000 acre-feet of water had been released. Of that, about 14,300 acre-feet had made it to Fox Canyon’s area, which could mean an early end to the release expected to go through mid-August.
USDA Report Sees Dire Climate-Change Impact on U.S. Crops [Wall Street Journal]
Unchecked climate change could mean that the weather conditions hurting farmers this year will become increasingly common and result in higher costs for the federal government, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report. The report, issued by the USDA’s Economic Research Service, found that if greenhouse gases are allowed to continue to increase, U.S. production of corn and soybeans—which are more susceptible to extreme heat during growing season—could decline as much as 80% in the next 60 years. As a result, corn and soybean prices would skyrocket in that period, as would the cost of crop insurance.
Napa County supervisors order cannabis initiative report [Napa Valley Register]
Napa County wants to learn more about what commercial cannabis cultivation and activities might mean for rural areas, from possible effects on wine country tourism to odors associated with cannabis grows….That left the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday with the choices of placing the initiative on the ballot, adopting the initiative—or doing a study before choosing. Supervisors went the latter route and called for the 9111 report, named after a section in the California election code….Napa Valley Farm Bureau opposes the cannabis initiative….Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Klobas asked supervisors to move forward with a 9111 report to answer unanswered questions.
