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Federal Crop Insurance AIPs: Some Misconceptions about Underwriting Gains

For Export, Public Policy, USDA /

Debate over the 2018 Farm Bill, likely to start in earnest this week with House consideration of H.R. 2, may focus sharp attention on the question of whether taxpayer costs for Federal Crop Insurance are reasonable and supportable.  At least five amendments filed for floor consideration are intended to limit these costs in different ways. […]

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Woman selecting hot food at supermarket

Selling Too Much Food Hot? SNAP-Authorized You’re Not!

For Export, SNAP, USDA /

Small grocery stores and specialty retail food stores that sell hot foods are facing an unprecedented threat to their businesses.  Not from competition or due to rising costs.  Instead, thousands of small fish and seafood markets in impoverished urban neighborhoods across the country are threatened with the withdrawal of their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”)

Selling Too Much Food Hot? SNAP-Authorized You’re Not! Read More »

John Block: Debt

Public Policy, USDA /

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Here is what I read in the Wall Street Journal: “Deficit financing has become the mother’s milk of politics. Each party is giving the other its wish list with all the bells and whistles included and asking future generations to pick up the tab.” The Congressional Budget Office projects

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John Block: Clean Meat

FDA, USDA /

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block All the time, we hear the loud voices of consumer groups that insist the public must be informed about the food we eat. “Label it organic.”  “If it has GMOs, the consumer must know.”  “You should not label it natural if it is not natural,” whatever ‘natural’ means. Now,

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Judge's gavel on American flag

Oh, SNAP! Maryland Federal Court Judge Enters Summary Judgment Against Baltimore Food Stamp Retailer Without Permitting Any Discovery

For Export, Public Policy, SNAP, USDA /

In a highly unusual decision, a Federal District Court judge in Maryland granted summary judgment in a food stamp licensing appeal brought by a Baltimore convenience store without permitting the retailer to conduct any discovery whatsoever.  In Negash v. United States, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Bennett dismissed the retailer’s appeal of a Final Agency

Oh, SNAP! Maryland Federal Court Judge Enters Summary Judgment Against Baltimore Food Stamp Retailer Without Permitting Any Discovery Read More »

Dietary Guidelines 2020

Public Policy, USDA /

By Marshall Matz, as published in Agri-Pulse The drafting of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) has started….and it’s a good start. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have announced that, for the first time, the departments will seek public comments on the proposed priority topics and supporting scientific questions

Dietary Guidelines 2020 Read More »

Tomato injected with growth hormones

How the Federal Government Can Get Biotech Regulation Right

EPA, FDA, For Export, Public Policy, USDA /

By Nina Fedoroff and Alison Van Eenennaam, as published in the Des Moines Register In his speech at the recent American Farm Bureau convention, President Trump said his administration was “streamlining regulations that have blocked cutting-edge biotechnology.” Why is this necessary?  Paraphrasing New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s words on economic policy, it’s because we’re still living with “zombie” biotech

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Food drive called "Stamp Out Hunger"

Variety May Be the Spice of Life, But Not as Much as the Food and Nutrition Service Would Like in the Food Stamp Program

For Export, Public Policy, SNAP, USDA /

Congress Bars FNS from Enforcing Portions of its Enhancing Retailer Standards in SNAP Final Rule Federal agencies are viewed by many as possessing immense power over regulated businesses.  This is especially true at the Food and Nutrition Service (“FNS”) in the context of retail food stores that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”),

Variety May Be the Spice of Life, But Not as Much as the Food and Nutrition Service Would Like in the Food Stamp Program Read More »

Farmer riding a tractor

Top Priority for the 2018 Farm Bill: Protect Federal Crop Insurance

For Export, Public Policy, USDA /

Of all the issues surrounding a new Farm Bill in 2018, perhaps none unifies American agricultural producers more than Federal Crop Insurance, provided by USDA’s Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC).  Be it North or South, big or small, row crops or specialty, organic or conventional, the FCIC crop insurance program is today viewed almost universally

Top Priority for the 2018 Farm Bill: Protect Federal Crop Insurance Read More »

Bottle of milk

“Milk” Comes from Breasts/Udders

FDA, For Export, Public Policy, USDA /

According to the Wall Street Journal: “Organic milk sales have cooled as the very shoppers who drove demand for the specialty product not long ago move on to newer alternatives, leaving dairy sellers and producers grappling with oversupply….Now, organic-milk supplies have ballooned just as demand has stalled.  Many shoppers have moved on to substitutes such

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John Block: Tax Reform Passes, a Present for the Holiday Season

Public Policy, USDA /

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block The Holiday season is here.  Amazing – Tax reform legislation has passed, and President Trump has said he will sign it.  That is a big Christmas present.  President Trump and Republicans in Congress got it done without any Democratic help.  Before President Trump was elected, Democrats — including President

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John Block: Egg Regulations

USDA /

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Maybe the “chickens are coming home to roost” in California. The state of California can’t think of enough new regulations. In 2015, California passed legislation demanding that those who sell eggs in the state must adhere to their cage-size law. Midwest states such as Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska are crying

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John Block: NAFTA

Public Policy, USDA /

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Today, let’s talk about trade and tax reform. President Trump wants to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the Congress is presenting a tax reform package. NAFTA is in the spotlight right now. The whole farm and food industry is worried that President Trump could formally

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SNAP Retailers Beware: FNS Wants to Take Away Your SNAP Authorization

Public Policy, USDA /

Virtually all grocery stores, convenience stores, and supermarkets sell hot foods.  Nearly all sell cold prepared foods as well.  Most of the more than 260,000 retail food stores authorized by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (“FNS”) to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) benefits sell some hot foods and cold prepared foods.  But the SNAP

SNAP Retailers Beware: FNS Wants to Take Away Your SNAP Authorization Read More »

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