Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:13:00 GMT
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) launched an
investigation on Monday into multi-billion dollar U.S. farm subsidies that Brazil and Canada say break international trading rules.
The size of U.S. farm subsidies is a major battleground in the WTO’s six-year-old Doha round talks on opening world trade.
Monday’s WTO probe of U.S. agricultural support for wheat, corn, rice and other crops comes three days after the U.S. Senate passed a $286 billion farm bill, following a similar bill from the House of Representatives in July.
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Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:25:00 GMT
On Friday, the U.S. Senate passed their version of the
2007 Farm Bill. It will be well into 2008 before the House and Senate conference committee will meet to determine the final version. Click on the above to obtain a full copy of this bill. The Dairy Provisions are located on pages 159-180 of this document.
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Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:43:00 GMT
The 2002 U.S. farm bill should be
extended until mid-March to preserve funding while Congress completes work on its $286 billion successor, heads of the House and Senate Agriculture committees said.
The short-term extension probably would be part of an omnibus spending bill to be passed in the next week or two, House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson said on Wednesday.
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Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:31:00 GMT
The Senate on Tuesday blocked the first of several planned attempts to
slash farm subsidies
in the $286 billion farm bill.
The Senate rejected, 58-37, an amendment by Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., that would have phased out most farm subsidies and replaced them with stronger crop insurance for all farmers. The money saved would have been shifted to nutrition and conservation programs designed to protect environmentally sensitive farmland.
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Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:28:00 GMT
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson had an upbeat outlook on prospects for quick action on the next farm bill in remarks Monday night at the Farm Journal Forum in Washington D.C. But Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin, speaking at the same event Tuesday morning, suggested a slower farm bill timeline.
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Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:47:00 GMT
The December issue of the
WASDE report was released today by USDA. The 2007 all
milk price is forecast 10 cents higher than last month at $19.05 to $19.15. The mid-point of the forecasted 2008 Class III price is $16.55, the Class IV price is $17.85 and the All-Milk price is 18.40.
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Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:47:00 GMT
Economists and analysts believe milk prices have peaked and the worst may be over for companies that have struggled to offset the hefty burden of skyrocketing dairy prices. “Supply and demand are starting to get more back into balance,” said Deborah Perkins, Rabobank’s managing director for
food and agribusiness research. “But (prices) are not necessarily going to fall as low as before.”
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Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:03:00 GMT
The Senate could pass its
$288 billion farm bill to boost food stamp benefits and for the first time guarantee crop revenue by the end of next week under an agreement on Thursday that broke a month-long impasse.
The agreement allows Republicans and Democrats to offer 20 amendments apiece out of the dozens that are pending. Action on the bill was deadlocked since November 6 by the disagreement over how many amendments would be considered and on which topics.
Majority Leader Harry Reid announced the agreement on Thursday evening. An aide to Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the goal was to complete work on the five-year bill next week. Debate on amendments was expected to begin on Friday.
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Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:51:00 GMT
Total cheese output (excluding cottage cheese) was 825 mil. lbs.
Butter prod. was 130 mil. lbs., 9.1% above Oct. 2006 and 16.3% above Sept. 2007.
Dry Milk Powders compared with October 2006:
Nonfat dry milk, human — 98.9 mil. lbs., up 41.4%.
Skim milk powders — 21.4 mil. lbs, down 26.0%.
Whey products compared with October 2006:
Total dry whey — 88.8 mil. lbs, up 1.6%.
Lactose, human and animal — 60.8 mil. lbs, down 2.4%.
Total whey protein concentrate — 32.5 mil. lbs, down 6.0%.
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Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:56:00 GMT
A
month-long impasse over amendments to a five-year U.S. farm subsidy bill is near resolution, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Monday, as Congress began its final three weeks of the 2007 session.
“I think we’re at a point where we should be able to do a farm bill by unanimous consent,” said Reid, referring to an agreement on how to handle legislation.
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