By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. I think we are all aware that many countries in Africa have a long way to go to modernize their ag industry. Their food systems need to be transformed to help their people. A positive step has been taken. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed Agnes Kalibata […]
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week were something for the record books. On Monday, the first state Iowa held their primary to begin the selection process of choosing a Democratic candidate to run against President Trump this fall. On Tuesday President Trump gave his State of the Union address
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Farmers and the whole agriculture industry fought through 2019, a very brutal year. Exports, prices, trade war and weather took a costly toll. Now we need to turn the page and look at 2020. Last weekend President Trump spoke to the American Farm Bureau Convention. He told us “the
American Farm Bureau and More Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. The ag industry is excited as a number of trade deals are coming together. We will have a phase one deal with China signed this week. Our annual exports to China that have fallen below the $20 billion mark will jump to $40 billion per year. The Senate should
The Issues of the Day Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. It’s a New Year. 2020 got here so fast. I want to look back at 2019. For the American ag industry, I think the weather made our production challenges more difficult than I can remember, and we have farmed through some tough years. Last spring was so wet it
Look Back and Ahead Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Just when I had concluded that we couldn’t get anything done here in Washington, everything happened at once. We have a trade deal with China. According to the Washington Post “China will spend $50 billion on US farm goods, tightening its intellectual property protections and opening its financial services
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. I want to cover some trade issues today, but first let’s take a look at our farm economy. It’s better than it was last year – better than it was the year before. $92 billion net income is the forecast. Where is it coming from? The answer according to
Farm Economy and More Read More »
GSA’s System for Award Management is a comprehensive database of persons excluded from doing business with the federal government. Widely known as the SAM List, most of the people whose names can be found there were debarred or suspended from doing business with the federal government. Debarment and suspension are serious sanctions that prevent persons
Oh SNAP! FNS Removes All Names from the SAM List Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. I have a number of subjects I will put on the table today. I want to open by reporting that I thought the National Association of Farm Broadcasters had an outstanding convention last week in Kansas City. I loved it. Then I went to my farm in Illinois on
Challenges We Face Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. All we hear about are the trade deals we can’t get completed. Our new agreement with Mexico and Canada (USMCA) sits in limbo without Congressional approval. We withdrew from the newly negotiated Asian trade deal the day President Trump took office. We are still deeply concerned if we
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. We are all quite aware that the Ag Industry has had it tough the last 3 or 4 years. Let’s look at what we have experienced. Some of these numbers come from Successful Farming and Top Producers. Look back to 2013, just 6 years ago, when net farm income
Rough Road We Ride Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. The meat industry in the U.S. has been shaken by the explosion of fake meat. Go into your favorite fast food restaurant and you can order a burger that’s not meat. It tastes like a hamburger, but it is soybeans and peas and who knows what. Beyond Meat is
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Last week I was on the farm. Looking out over the fields of corn and soybeans, I couldn’t help but recall how hard it was to get this year’s crop in the ground. We did get some of our corn planted the last week of April and then the
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. I will be on our farm in Illinois later in the week. We haven’t harvested any corn or beans yet, but it is time to get started. When I look out over our fields, I can’t help but think about the roller coaster ride it has been over the
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Ever since the past administration rewrote the WOTUS (Waters of the U.S.) rule, farmers have complained about the government’s over reach. President Trump has acted. Agriculture Secretary Perdue had this to say- “Repealing the WOTUS rule is a major win for American agriculture. President Trump is making good on
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. They are back. House Members and Senators, after a long summer recess, are back to work. Let’s hope they can get something done. Our fiscal year ends September 30 so they have 3 weeks to pass a stop gap spending bill if we don’t want a government shutdown. There
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. As much as we would like to – the Ag industry can not escape the week to week and day to day damage that our industry suffers from the ongoing trade fights. It is just back and forth. We were hopeful last week when our trade team flew to
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. We keep reading that unless we increase farm production, we won’t be able to feed all the people in the world by 2050. One way to boost food production is to respond to higher prices. The market will tell us. We don’t see that now. Our farm income is
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. There were a lot of doubters, including myself, but it looks like we will get a budget deal. It will raise our national debt ceiling and set new spending limits for 2 years. The new budget will authorize the spending of tens of billions of dollars of new money
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Not surprisingly, that means that FNS is required to follow regulations and guidance issued by USDA. This fundamental concept appears to have been forgotten at FNS, at least in the context of the agency’s decision to list the names
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Some listeners might get tired of hearing about trade disputes. Why are they important? Well, for the ag industry it makes the difference between profit and loss because we export 20-30% of our farm production. Chinese tariffs have been very costly. Our government will be providing assistance to farmers
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Here I am on the farm in Illinois. I will update you on what I see, but first I still have our Independence Day Celebration on my mind. All the national attention and the President’s speech can make us proud. On my radio program in 1995 – 24 years
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Hot issues of the day – Are we going to war with Iran? They did shoot down one of our drones worth more than $130 million. News reports tell us that in response, President Trump agreed to a retaliatory strike against Iran. But then at the last minute he
In a major victory for grocers, the United States Supreme Court (in a 6-3 decision) held that store level SNAP retailer data is exempt from disclosure under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). Exemption 4 precludes the disclosure of “commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.” 5
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Agri-Pulse Daybreak reported “when asked if he could say when the U.S. and China would reach an agreement to end this trade war, the U.S. Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Gregg Doud said ‘No is the answer.’” No one knows. President Trump and Chinese President Xi will be meeting at the
Uncertainty in Agriculture Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Finally – my corn and soybeans are in the ground. However, as of last Sunday there were 15.8 million U.S. corn acres still unplanted. The wet spring and ticking time clock have pushed farmers to plant fields before they are dry. This has been a very tough planting season.
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. We all have priorities. I was delighted when USMCA — our new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada — was completed and agreed to. The next step is to get all three countries to vote acceptance. We lifted our steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and Canada, which opened
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Over the last week with Memorial Day we have honored our service men and women that have fought for our country. Some of them paid the ultimate price. Think of the thousands and thousands that didn’t survive. I was just a little boy when we fought in World War
Another Memorial Day Passed Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. I was on the farm last week. We did get some corn planted but then the rain came again. Last year at this time we had all our corn and soybeans planted. The later we are in getting the seed in the ground the lower the yield. As of
Anxiety in Farm Country Read More »
Two years ago, a Kentucky farmer won an unusual $640,000 arbitration award against his Federal crop insurance AIP (approved insurance provider). During the arbitration, the farmer presented evidence to prove that the AIP had mishandled his policy, leaving the farm unprotected for two major crop losses. In one case, the AIP’s agent had placed the
Crop Insurance Arbitration: Navigating the Landmines Read More »
It’s no secret that weeks of heavy rain and snow melt have wreaked havoc with farm operations across the Midwest this spring. Sixty tornadoes hit the lower plains last weekend alone, and rivers in some areas are cresting at levels not seen since the catastrophic floods of 1993. April and May are prime planting months
FARMERS: Yes, heavy spring rains can affect your FCIC crop insurance coverage. Read More »
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Is this a global economy or what? We have been in a trade war with China for nearly 2 years. Farm and ranch exports have suffered a dramatic set back. Soybean prices are in the tank and corn is not looking much better right now. Our domestic market can’t
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Last Sunday former U.S. Senator Richard Lugar died. He served 36 years in the U.S. Senate – what an outstanding leader and great guy. In 1985 we had to write and pass a new farm bill. As Secretary of Agriculture I wanted to create the Conservation Reserve Program. I
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. This weekend I will be on my farm in Illinois. When I booked my flight, I thought we might be planting corn. Not likely – too much rain. At this moment I am looking at the latest U.S. Dept of Agriculture projections for crop carry over after harvesting this
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. What should we focus on today? Let’s start with African Swine Fever. ASF is the deadliest disease threatening the pork industry. It is estimated that China has lost as much as 30% of their swine. We don’t have any vaccine to protect our pigs. Fortunately, the virus does not
Swine Fever & USMCA Read More »
