Bright Ag Ideas

Dozens of nations around the world have sharply decreased food exports in order to ensure they have enough to feed their own populations, according to a report in today’s New York Times. This trend could help drive food prices higher in parts of the world and add to global tensions concerning food supplies. Read the story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/business/worldbusiness/30trade.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=todayspaper&adxnnlx=1214838019-wBxVvX3LPMvLPKcH8QXThQ

Today, June 18, a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives is possible to override the veto of H.R. 6124, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill). An earlier version of this legislation was enacted into law in May.  But due to a clerical error that omitted one of the bill’s titles, the Congress has resubmitted the legislation.  More information about the House floor schedule can be found on the website of the Office of the Clerk.

http://clerk.house.gov/

WASHINGTON, D.C. June 12, 2008 - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer today announced USDA has delivered its first actions implementing the new farm bill. Within three weeks of commodity title enactment in the 2008 farm bill, USDA is implementing marketing assistance loan and loan deficiency payment (LDP) provisions.

Read the full USDA news release here:

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/06/0156.xml

In this MarketWatch column, Jennifer Openshaw makes some interesting points about the nature of rising food prices and how the Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzes prices.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/why-rising-food-prices-eating/story.aspx?guid=%7BE2C47792-2693-48BF-8967-26B070F10EBF%7D