SASKATOON — The United States continues to face a tsunami of used cooking oil imports from China that is undermining the country’s soybean crush expansion, says an analyst. The U.S. imported 3.2 billion pounds of UCO through the first eight months of 2024, which is double the volume for the same period one year ago. […] Read more
Tag Archives Tom Vilsack
U.S. farmers call for vaccines to fight avian flu
Producers want to vaccinate poultry and cows as wildfowl migration begins, but the move would have trade implications
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) — U.S. farmers are increasing pressure on president Joe Biden’s administration to allow vaccinations for chickens, turkeys and cows to protect them from avian flu infections that have devastated flocks for three years. This autumn, flocks in the US$67 billion poultry industry for the first time face a double risk for infections from […] Read more
U.S. ag secretary rejects biofuel restrictions
Farmers and politicians want biofuel tax credits available only to feedstocks that are produced in the United States
SASKATOON — Canada’s canola sector has a powerful ally in the feedstock fight that has broken out in the U.S. biofuel industry. Forty-one members of the U.S. House of Representatives recently sent a letter to the Treasury Department urging that the final guidance for the Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit restrict eligibility to […] Read more
Hopes high for U.S. clean fuel tax credit
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) — U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack says he is confident that a clean fuels tax credit program set to take effect in 2025 will be finalized by the end of U.S. president Joe Biden’s administration in January. “I’m confident that we’re going to get ’er done,” Vilsack said at a summit in […] Read more
U.S. dairy farms push back on avian flu measures
Government response to the outbreak in Michigan sparks COVID-era worry as farmers resist state-mandated efforts
MARTIN, Mich. (Reuters) — Some dairy farmers are resisting Michigan’s nation-leading efforts to stop the spread of avian flu for fear their incomes will suffer from added costs. The government’s restrictions, which include tracking who comes and goes from farms, are rekindling unwanted memories of COVID-19 in Martin and other small towns in central Michigan. […] Read more
Little ethanol to qualify for aviation fuel credit
U.S. program will require that feedstock be grown using three practices, which many farmers won’t be able to follow
REUTERS — Little to no ethanol will qualify for U.S. sustainable aviation fuel subsidies under a new pilot program by president Joe Biden’s administration, according to a Reuters review of government data and people familiar with the matter. The pilot program toughened climate requirements at the last minute and could hurt the biofuel industry, which […] Read more
U.S. funds virus prevention effort
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The American government will provide nearly $200 million to fight the spread of avian flu among dairy cows in its latest bid to contain outbreaks that have fuelled concerns about human infections. The virus has been detected among dairy cattle in nine states since late March. Scientists have said they believe the […] Read more
Critics question U.S. gov’t focus on sustainable aviation fuel
Federal policymakers and their Big Ag friends have a problem: their hope to make corn and soybeans the feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel hit a wall when the aviation industry ruled that biofuel from either crop did not meet its “sustainable” guidelines. As such, there would be no corn- or soy-based SAF. That’s not the […] Read more
U.S. finalizes higher standard for ‘Product of USA’ meat label
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. president Joe Biden’s administration has finalized a rule requiring meat, poultry and eggs labelled as a U.S. product to come from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the country. The rule, proposed last March, is a victory for U.S. ranchers who argued for years that use of the voluntary label […] Read more
Focus on productivity has high cost: Vilsack
U.S. agriculture secretary says the drive to increase production has taken a heavy toll on the country’s rural communities
SASKATOON — The pendulum has swung too far in favour of production agriculture, says the U.S. agriculture secretary. Tom Vilsack said the landscape of U.S. agriculture forever changed in the 1970s when the federal government decided it no longer wanted to manage supply and instead let the market dictate what would happen. Related stories: Grain […] Read more
