As 2025 begins, organic stakeholders are preparing for changes in the political and funding landscape for organic agriculture. New leadership will be appointed at the USDA, though that appointment is forthcoming with no advertised timeline.
The Secretary of Agriculture under the previous Trump administration was nominated in mid-January 2017, the last cabinet position to be filled. Secretary Sonny Perdue presided over the USDA as a trade war raged with a key buyer of US farm products: China.
Perdue infamously quipped that big farms get bigger, and the small are likely to fail. While this tracks with economic reality, agricultural programs are powerful tools that shape the agricultural economy in profound ways.
Hearing the top official presiding over these programs announce that there was little hope for small farms angered farmers and farm groups, eliciting calls for resignation and rebuke from within…
01.07.2025
Biodiesel imports climb 10% from 2-year low; exports fall to lowest level since January 2024
US Census Bureau data released on Tuesday January 7 showed a monthly divergence in biodiesel imports and exports. Biodiesel import volume rose from a two-year low last month, climbing...
01.07.2025
Packer BFT trades higher; rising HO/SBO prices lift UCO sentiment
Three railcars of packer-grade bleachable fancy tallow (BFT) traded higher at 45 cents per lb, Chicago basis on Tuesday January 7.
Apart from this trade and continued activity in choice...
01.07.2025
Poultry by-product pet grade lower on export unease, possible winter weather in Mid-South, Southeast
US animal proteins had limited price changes indicated on Tuesday January 7 due to a quiet tone reported by multiple market sources.
Price pressure was reported on poultry-related...