Tag Archives: Department of Agriculture

What’s wrong with our government? USDA cannot report reliable information to Congress or the public about where and how much US agricultural land is held by foreign persons

US Farmland

Important Takeaways:

  • China Is Buying Up US Farmland, But Just How Much Isn’t Clear
  • Foreign ownership and investment in US farmland, pastures and forests jumped to about 40 million acres in 2021, up 40% from 2016, according to Department of Agriculture data. But an analysis conducted by the US Government Accountability Office — a non-partisan watchdog that reports to Congress — found mistakes in the data, including the largest land holding linked with China being counted twice. Other challenges include the USDA’s reliance on foreigners self-reporting their activity.
  • Outside ownership of US cropland is drawing attention from Washington as concern rises about possible threats to food supply chains and other national security risks. Lawmakers have called for a crackdown on sales of farmland to China and other nations.
  • “Without improving its internal processes, USDA cannot report reliable information to Congress or the public about where and how much US agricultural land is held by foreign persons,” the report said.
  • The GAO made six recommendations, including that the USDA share more timely and complete data with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, an interagency panel led by the Treasury Department that reviews foreign business deals.

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U.S. says trade aid payments to farmers to range from $15 – $150 per acre

FILE PHOTO: A farmer drives tractor along a road in Pearl City, Illinois, U.S., July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Lott

The U.S. government will pay American farmers hurt by the trade war with China aid ranging between $15 to $150 per acre starting from mid- to late August, Department of Agriculture officials said on Thursday, as part of President Donald Trump’s up to $16 billion support package.

The fresh aid program would be the second round of assistance for farmers after the USDA’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.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said farmers have been disproportionately hurt by the trade dispute with China and therefore a fresh round of aid was justified. “They are fighting the fight and they are on the front line,” he said.

U.S. farmers, a key Trump constituency, have been among the hardest hit in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Soybeans are the most valuable U.S. farm export, and shipments to China dropped to a 16-year low in 2018.

In the new package, the USDA has developed varying county rates, calculated based on estimated trade damage caused by retaliatory tariffs imposed by China, the top export market for many U.S. agricultural products.

Sign-ups for the payments will begin on Monday and last until Dec. 6, USDA officials said in a conference call. Additional tranches of the payments are scheduled for November and January but will be subject to whether the trade disputes with China and other countries are still ongoing or not by then.

To be considered eligible for payments, acreage of non-specialty crops and cover crops must be planted by Aug. 1, 2019, the USDA said.

The number of farm acres that could not be planted due to weather were at historic levels this year, USDA officials said but added that the department was still working to finalize its estimate.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; additional reporting by P.J. Huffstutter and Karl Plume in Chicago; writing by Caroline Stauffer; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)

U.S. reports low pathogenic bird flu outbreak in Wisconsin: OIE

PARIS (Reuters) – The United States reported an outbreak of avian flu on a farm in Wisconsin, the second in the country in less than a week although the virus found this time is considered less virulent, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday.

A strain of low pathogenic H5N2 avian flu has been discovered in a flock of 84,000 turkeys in Barron County, Wisconsin, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a report posted on the website of the Paris-based OIE.

The USDA said the turkey flock was tested after birds showed signs of depression and the infected premises were quarantined.

The new outbreak comes after the detection of highly pathogenic H7 bird flu last week in a chicken breeder flock in Tennessee farm contracted by U.S. food giant Tyson Foods Inc.

As opposed to highly pathogenic strains which can cause high mortality rates among poultry, low pathogenic ones typically cause few or no clinical signs in birds.

In 2014 and 2015, during a widespread outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu, primarily of the H5N2 strain, the United States killed nearly 50 million birds, mostly egg-laying hens. The losses pushed U.S. egg prices to record highs.

The USDA said tests had shown that the H5N2 virus detected in Wisconsin was of North American wild bird origin and distinct from the H5N2 viruses found in 2015.

The risk of human infection in poultry outbreaks is low, although in China more than 110 people died this winter amid an outbreak of the H7N9 virus in birds.

The detection of a first case of bird flu in the United States this year prompted several Asian countries, including South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, to limit imports of U.S. poultry.

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide and Gus Trompiz, editing by David Evans)