USDA Unveils $31 Billion In Relief Aid For American Farmers
Image Source: Tom Fisk
This month, the USDA made $10 billion from December's spending bill for the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program available to American farmers. Those who produce row crops like soybeans, corn, or rice are eligible for aid, as the industry experienced high costs, low profits, and faltering prices over the past year. The one-time payment is designed to mitigate these losses dating from the beginning of 2024. Qualifying farmers can apply online until April 15th. Later this year, farmers can expect another $21 billion in relief aid for losses stemming from natural disasters like hurricane Helene.
How USDA Layoffs Are Disrupting Operations And Redirecting Taxpayer Dollars
Image Source: Randy Fath via Unsplash
Recent USDA layoffs of thousands of research scientists, Forest Service workers, and other federal employees across the country have disrupted ongoing projects and left research groups uncertain for the future. The National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are two sub-agencies of the USDA that have experienced mass firings, which are disrupting ongoing conservation projects backed with $300 million of funding. “Stopping or hamstringing efforts midway is a huge waste of resources that have already been spent,” says Emily Bass, associate director of federal policy, food, and agriculture at the Breakthrough Institute.
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Coffee Farmers Prepare For A Future With Beanless Coffee
Cattle Farmers Expand Trials Of Carbon-Negative Beef Production System
Steak From Dairy Cows Offers Lifeline For American Farmers
Image Source: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz
Most American beef steaks come from grain-fed cattle slaughtered at about two years old. Meat from mature dairy cows (upwards of 6 years old) usually becomes dog food and fast-food burgers. For that meat, US farmers only get about 60 cents a pound. However, in Europe, dairy meat is highly prized because the animals are pastured a bit longer, causing fat to be released into their meat instead of into their milk, which makes the beef richer and more tender. American dairy farmers, who have been struggling for years, are now adopting the practice to make ends meet. Enterprising chefs are thrilled. Want a better-tasting steak? Try mature dairy meat!
Southern California Aims To Sextuple Coffee Production
Image Source: Julie Wolfson
Before 2000, little to no coffee was cultivated in California. Now, 14 varieties of coffee are being tended on more than 65 farms from Santa Barbara to north of San Diego. “Over the past almost six years, we put more than 100,000 trees in the ground,” says Jay Ruskey, founder of Frinj Coffee. “We’re suspecting by summer 2024 that we’re going to have six to eight times the coffee that we got in 2023." It's not swill either. Daily Coffee News, a leading coffee industry publication, blind-tasted Ruskey’s California coffee in 2014 and named it 27th in the world.
How America’s Taste For Chicken And Cheese Is Depleting Groundwater
Image Source: Rory Doyle
The average American's consumption of both chicken and cheese has doubled since the 1980s. To produce these foods, several states are now using more water than they receive each year, according to data from the World Resources Institute. For example, the roughly 1 billion chickens raised in Arkansas at any given time now account for more than half the state’s water use, resulting in aquifer decreases that are among the country's most severe. Idaho produces more than 1 billion pounds of cheese a year, requiring 6 million acres of irrigated land to grow alfalfa to feed the cows that supply the milk. As a result, 79% of Idaho's aquifer-monitoring wells have hit record lows. Around the country, water aquifers are not refilling fast enough to meet demand for chicken and cheese, and experts have yet to find workable solution. I suppose a rain dance is out of the question.
