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☆ U.S. raises 'grave concerns' over Mexico's agricultural biotech policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. officials raised "grave concerns" over Mexico's agricultural biotechnology policies in meetings with their Mexican counterparts on Monday, the office of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said. "We made it clear today that if this issue is not resolved, we will consider all options, including taking formal steps to enforce our rights under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement," the USTR office said in a statement. U.S. agriculture and trade officials traveled to Mexico to discuss Mexico's approach to agricultural biotech products. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A TikTok creator’s homemade pickled products have sparked online conversation surrounding food safety
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Brahmjot Kaur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

A TikTok creator’s recent apology after people accused her of improperly packaging her homemade pickled products before selling them online has sparked discourse surrounding influencers and whether they should be allowed to promote and sell homemade food items on the app. Britanny Saunier, executive director of the nonprofit organization Partnership for Food Safety EducationSocial media creates "enthusiasm" around homemade products, said Britanny Saunier, the executive director of the nonprofit organization Partnership for Food Safety Education. The backlash toward PickleMeEverything’s products comes several months after another viral product raised eyebrows over similar food safety fears. He said he’s concerned about the growing number of TikTokers who don’t know or use food safety while promoting food products. Food Science Babe pointed out in her video that several popular creators had promoted PickleMeEverything’s products.

☆ Jim Cramer takes a hard look at markets as we exit 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

(See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on December 06, 2022 in New York City.

The majority of states have declined to reimburse SNAP skimming victims. If Congress’ massive $1.7 trillion funding package passes, a provision tucked inside it would require states to replace SNAP benefits stolen in October or later. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., who introduced a bill last month to help SNAP skimming victims get their benefits reinstated. Washington, D.C., also reimburses SNAP skimming victims. Current regulations prohibit federal funds from being used to replace stolen SNAP funds, according to the Agriculture Department.

Federal dollars are also not an option for reimbursement because regulations prohibit federal funds from being used to replace stolen SNAP funds. SNAP participants say they cannot wait that long after a month or more of stolen benefits plunged them into financial turmoil. Washington, D.C., also reimburses SNAP skimming victims. In the meantime, anti-hunger advocates say there’s no reason states can’t fill the gap for SNAP skimming victims. How states can helpCalifornia, one state that restores stolen benefits, has a law allowing state funds to be used that dates back to 2013.

☆ Cotton-Price Decline Could Cushion Apparel Margins
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jinjoo Lee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Rising cotton and freight costs didn’t unravel the apparel industry on the way up. The reversal of those costs could help pad their margins on the way down next year. Cotton prices, which surged through 2021 and reached an 11-year high in May of this year, have been on a steady decline and are now 47% below that peak. Unfavorable weather—severe flooding in Pakistan and drought in the U.S.—badly hit cotton-harvest forecasts this year, helping push cotton prices up initially. In the nine months through September, China’s cotton yarn imports, which the U.S. Agriculture Department views as a bellwether for global cotton-consumption growth, have fallen by nearly half from the same period a year earlier.

The House agriculture committee will likely be led starting in January by Glenn "GT" Thompson of Pennsylvania. The farm bill has a historical reputation of bipartisanship, so some advocates told Reuters they are warily optimistic. Passage of the 2014 farm bill was held up more than a year as conservative House Republicans tried unsuccessfully to strip the bill of nutrition programs. Every Republican member of the House agriculture committee signed a letter calling the funding “abusive and troublesome." At an August farm conference in Iowa, Thompson said if he led the agriculture committee, he would "ensure that the farm bill doesn't become a climate bill."

CHICAGO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Cooks may have to put away their oversized platters for serving turkey this Thanksgiving. If a farm has an outbreak, producers must disinfect their barns after culling turkeys and wait about six months before restocking. The National Turkey Federation acknowledged that cooks in some geographic areas could see limited supplies of big turkeys. On the U.S. East Coast, Baldor sees a shortage of the bigger sizes as large Thanksgiving celebrations make a comeback, Lindgren said. Shoppers are resuming traditional purchases of turkeys around 18 pounds, after downsizing their birds for smaller gatherings over the last two years, he said.

☆ Mexico not buying U.S. yellow corn as GM ban looms, Lopez Obrador says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Marianna Parraga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The United States wanted to sell Mexico more yellow corn and Mexico declined, Lopez Obrador said in a regular news conference. "There is a market for it, but the government cannot make a purchase because we do not want GM," Lopez Obrador said, citing a lack of scientific investigation into its effects. Lopez Obrador did not specify who made the request to sell more corn, the amount of the requested sale or the time frame. Mexico is ready to halve its U.S. imports of yellow corn when the decree goes into effect and is considering direct agreements with farmers to secure non-GM yellow corn imports, the country's deputy agriculture minister said in October. Chicago Board of Trade corn futures fell on Wednesday after the news, with the benchmark December contract down 6 cents a bushel at a two-month low of $6.61-1/2 a bushel.

Last month, the Food and Agriculture Organization's global rice price index rose 2.2% to hit an 18-month high. "The international market has gone up and it will go up further," said Nitin Gupta, vice president for Olam India's rice business. Reuters GraphicsVietnam's unmilled rice output is forecast to hold flat to last year's 43 million tonnes, according to government data. Neighbouring Thailand is aiming to export 7.5 million tonnes this year, up about 7% from its previous target of 7 million tonnes, said Anucha Burapachaisri, a government spokesman. Meanwhile, Pakistan cannot capitalise on India's export curbs after severe flooding ravaged its crop.

☆ New Zealand plans to tax emissions from livestock burps and dung
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

David Clapp | Stone | Getty ImagesNew Zealand plans to tax agricultural emissions — including those related to the burps, urine and dung from livestock like cows and sheep — in a move its government hopes will help the country meet climate change goals. "This is an important step forward in New Zealand's transition to a low emissions future and delivers on our promise to price agriculture emissions from 2025," she said. Agriculture plays a major role in New Zealand's economy, including exports, but it accounts for a considerable chunk of the country's emissions. In the consultation document, authorities said greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture — carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane — were responsible for more than half of New Zealand's gross emissions. According to the document, carbon dioxide stems from urea, while nitrous oxide comes from livestock dung and urine.

Based on U.S. export inspection data, the United States exported roughly 145 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds in calendar year 2021. In 2021, some 42% of October-December soybean shipments to China left from the U.S. Gulf versus 52% from Pacific ports, though the Gulf share was 58% in 2020. Through 29 days of September, soybean sales to all destinations of 3.1 million tonnes were an 11-year low for the month. About two-thirds of all U.S. grain shipments to Mexico are shipped via interior methods such as rail, but the other third relies on the Gulf. Interior exports accounted for 14% of all U.S. grain and oilseeds last year, third behind the Gulf and Pacific regions.

☆ While DeSantis was flying legal asylum seekers to Martha's Vineyard, business owners in his state are struggling for workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Which is why some business owners in Florida were perplexed when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent legal asylum seekers from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard on two flights earlier this month. Asylum seekers are legally able to work in the United States while they await their asylum cases. Whether the asylum seekers intended to go to Florida or not, business owners there are signaling they would welcome them. Florida granted 7,101 asylum seekers permanent political asylum status between 2018-2020, just behind California and New Jersey. Gautam believes if more asylum seekers are granted permanent status, it will be “a game changer” for the longevity of his business and workforce.

☆ While DeSantis was flying legal asylum seekers to Martha's Vineyard, business owners in his state were struggling for workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Which is why some business owners in Florida were perplexed when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent legal asylum seekers from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard on two flights earlier this month. Asylum seekers are legally able to work in the United States while they await their asylum cases. Whether the asylum seekers intended to go to Florida or not, business owners there are signaling they would welcome them. Florida granted 7,101 asylum seekers permanent political asylum status between 2018-2020, just behind California and New Jersey. Gautam believes if more asylum seekers are granted permanent status, it will be "a game changer" for the longevity of his business and workforce.

☆ Black Farmers Skeptical About Loan Aid After Discrimination
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Kristina Peterson | Photographs Timothy Ivy For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Last month, President Biden signed into law a spending bill intended to reckon with what courts and government investigations have repeatedly found to be a history of discrimination by the U.S. Agriculture Department against Black farmers. But for many Black farmers and their advocates, they will have to see the money to believe it.

☆ Black Farmers Skeptical About Aid After Biased Lending
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Kristina Peterson | Photographs Timothy Ivy For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

But this summer, the food stamps couldn't keep up with the grocery store's rising prices, sending her in search of a food donation for the first time. Some advocates argued for spending more on food stamps or cash distribution, which give people more choice than food handouts and also benefit local businesses. He doesn't qualify for food stamps, and has noticed when the pantry runs low on some items. While food supplies shrink, inflation is pushing more Americans toward food pantries for the first time. Food stamps made up less than 2% of U.S. government spending in 2022, according to U.S. Treasury data.

The White House struck a tentative deal Thursday to avoid a rail strike that risked major disruptions across the United States, with freight workers securing a key demand. Pandemic pressures, including those that scrambled supply chains, worked in freight workers’ favor, logistics experts said. A rail strike would dent many industries, as about 40% of goods that are shipped long-distance rely on the nation’s rail system. Rail workers often are on-call 24/7 year-round and are allotted time off only after being called to a number of consecutive on-call shifts. A labor union source told NBC News that getting rail carriers to negotiate on attendance policies was a major breakthrough.

☆ Yo-Yo Ma and the Meaning of Life
▼ + stars: | 2020-11-23 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +20 min

“People need each other for support beyond the immediate staples of life,” Ma says. “They need music.”Do you think music is fundamentally good? Think about language, think about agriculture, think about navigation, think about engineering. I’m using culture.” It doesn’t need to be defined as “I’m going to play for you this piece of music.” It’s not that. I’m going to figure out what I can do with the cello.” He says, “I’m going to learn everything about the instrument.” He writes the first suite, second, third suites.

Persons: Bráulio Amado, Ma, ”, Kathryn Stott, ” Ma, I’ve, You’re, don’t, you’ve, David, Newton, you’re, It’s, ” It’s, “, who’s, Tell, I’m, Teddy, Oliver, It’ll, Ted Thai, we’ve, Bach, “ I’m, Clive Barda, Seiji Ozawa, ” — Anthony McGill, He’s, Manny Ax, Jeff Vespa Organizations: YouTube, Carnegie Hall, Getty, English, Orchestra, Boston Symphony Locations: London, United States, United States of America, Europe

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